Dear John,

As an EJUSA supporter, I was recently asked why am I against the death penalty. My answer: because it is wrong.

It came to me after reflecting on my values. To take the life of another person acts against my moral compass. As an NYPD Auxiliary Officer in the ’70s and ’80s, I worked with many police officers. I soon came to realize they were human beings and made mistakes. We are all human and make mistakes. And there is no room for mistakes when you’re dealing with a human being’s life.

The level of wrongful convictions alone proves that our system is woefully unjust. Since 1973, more than 185 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

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From inadequate legal counsel to prosecutorial misconduct, the system fails all of us. 

A victim’s family cannot heal when a jury decides to place the accused on death row. That person stays on death row for years.  And each time there is an appeal, a new trial, or an attempt to stay the execution, the family relives the memories of its awful nightmare. 

Please join the fight to end the death penalty in my home state of Ohio and around the country.

Toward justice,

Maggie Irwin