[ [link removed] ]Add your name to demand that 27 states abolish the death penalty NOW!

Dear MoveOn member, 

On Tuesday, Missouri executed Marcellus Williams, a Black man who
maintained his innocence for decades.^1 Even the victim's family called to
spare Marcellus's life. This is state-sanctioned murder, and innocent
people like Marcellus are being killed under the guise of "justice."

It's beyond time we abolish the inhumane and flawed death penalty. Will
you sign the petition?

There was no reliable evidence linking Marcellus to the crime he was
convicted of back in 2001, and there were concerns of racial bias in the
jury selection at his trial.^2 In fact, even the current prosecuting
attorney acknowledged that errors were made by the trial prosecutors, and
the state of Missouri has been accused of destroying evidence that could
have led to his exoneration.^3

But the state of Missouri and the Supreme Court refused to block his
execution, a decision that his attorneys say emphasized "finality over
fairness."^4

This harrowing week has seen an unusually high number of executions—it's
the biggest week of capital punishment in more than 20 years. Five people
were executed this week in five states, reversing a decades-long decline
in support and use of the death penalty.^5

The death penalty is deeply rooted in white supremacy. According to the
Equal Justice Initiative, people of color are more likely to be prosecuted
for capital murder, sentenced to death, and executed—especially if the
victim in the case is white.^6 And Black Americans, who make up more than
40% of people on death row, are disproportionately targeted by this racist
system.^7 Ending capital punishment is not just a racial justice issue,
it's a human rights one. It is high time we abolish this inhumane practice
now.

[ [link removed] ]For every eight people executed, one person on death row has been
exonerated. This is not justice. Add your name to the chorus of voices
demanding that we abolish the death penalty once and for all.

Six more people are scheduled to be executed in 2024: Garcia Glen White,
Robert Leslie Roberson III, Derrick Ryan Dearman, Carey Dale Grayson,
Christopher Leroy Collings, and Joseph Edward Corcoran. 

We have to keep up the public pressure to oppose the death penalty and
demand that states move to abolish it once and for all.

[3]Sign the petition

Earlier this year, MoveOn worked alongside advocates in Texas to demand a
new trial for Ivan Cantu. Despite false testimony, evidence withheld by
prosecution, and key witnesses later recanting, the system ultimately
failed Ivan, just as it failed Marcellus.^8

The death penalty is cruel, immoral, and must not be a course of action
available in the United States anymore. [ [link removed] ]Will you sign our petition now
demanding the death penalty be abolished in all 27 states where it is
currently legal?

A shocking number of innocent people have been sentenced to death. And the
tragic reality is that capital punishment is mostly imposed on poor people
who cannot afford to hire an effective lawyer.^9

And while proponents claim the death penalty is a crime deterrent and
keeps us safer, that doesn't seem to be the case, according to the
National Research Council of the National Academies. After more than three
decades of research examining whether the threat of a death sentence
deters people from committing aggravated murders, there is no reliable
evidence that the death penalty deters murder.^10

[ [link removed] ]Add your name today to call on governors and state legislatures to
abolish the death penalty in the 27 states where it is still legal.

Marcellus, Ivan, and so many others should be here with us today. As long
as the death penalty exists, we cannot realize true justice. 

Thanks for all you do.

–Aliya, Emma, Toni, Rahna, and the rest of the team

Sources: 

1. "Innocence Project Statement on the Execution of Marcellus Williams,"
Innocence Project, September 24, 2024
[ [link removed] ][link removed]

2. "Missouri executes a man for the 1998 killing of a woman despite her
family's calls to spare his life," AP News, September 24, 2024
[ [link removed] ][link removed]

3. "Marcellus Williams," Innocence Project, accessed September 25, 2024
[link removed]

4. "Missouri executes Marcellus Williams despite prosecutors and the
victim's family asking that he be spared," CNN, September 25, 2024
[link removed]

5. "There are 5 executions set over a week's span in the US. That's the
most in decades," AP News, September 26, 2024 
[ [link removed] ][link removed]

6. "Death Penalty," Equal Justice Initiative, accessed September 25, 2024 
[ [link removed] ][link removed]

7. Ibid.

8. "Save Ivan Cantu Before the State of Texas Kills Him," MoveOn, accessed
September 25, 2024 
[ [link removed] ][link removed]

9. "Death Penalty," Equal Justice Initiative, accessed September 25, 2024
[ [link removed] ][link removed]

10. "Deterrence and the Death Penalty," National Research Council,
accessed September 25, 2024 
[ [link removed] ][link removed]

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