ACLU Supporter, the death penalty is rife with systemic racism, wrongful executions, and is arbitrarily applied – yet more people have already been executed this year than any year in the past decade.

Today is World Against the Death Penalty Day, and it's past time to abolish the death penalty. Add your name if you agree: Abolish the death penalty.

The death penalty is an inhumane and fundamentally flawed policy that does nothing to protect our communities.

Since 1973, 201 people have been exonerated from death row, more than 1 innocent person for every 8 executions. More than half of those exonerees are Black – a population that is disproportionately sentenced to death to an exponential degree, alongside people with serious mental illnesses, intellectual disabilities, brain damage, and lasting trauma.

Racism and wrongful executions aren't just incidental – they're built into the death penalty system. Ineffective counsel, jury selection that disqualifies jurors who oppose the death penalty who are disproportionately people of color and people of faith, and biased judges all contribute to the disparate treatment of Black and white defendants.

But the tide is turning on the death penalty. 23 states and D.C. have abolished the death penalty, while another 4 have issued gubernatorial holds on executions. Executions today represent public opinion from decades ago, when most of these sentences were handed down. This year, the current trend of a 40 year low in new death sentences is continuing as fewer juries are handing down death sentences and fewer prosecutors are seeking death. Public opinion is clear: The death penalty is unconscionable and must be abolished.

America must end this inhumane practice. Join us in demanding an end to the death penalty.

Thanks for taking action,

The ACLU Team

P.S. State and local organizations across the country are leading the way for abolishing the death penalty – and now more than ever, they need our support. Look up your state's anti-death penalty organization to see how you can get involved in this fight in your community.