Model Moratorium Resolution (California)

Urge your church, city council, civil group and other organizations to pass a resolution calling for a moratorium on executions!

WHEREAS death sentences are reserved for the poor:

• About 90% of those persons facing capital charges cannot afford their own attorney.
• No state, including California, has met standards developed by the American Bar Association (ABA) for appointment, performance and compensation of counsel for indigent prisoners.

WHEREAS there is ample evidence that the death penalty is applied in a racist manner:

• In 1987, in McCleskey v. Kemp, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to act on data demonstrating the continuing reality of racial bias.
• In 1990, the U.S. General Accounting Office reported "a pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in charging, sentencing and imposition of the death penalty."
• Nationwide, 82% of those put to death had been convicted of murdering a white person even though people of color are the victims in more than half of all homicides.
• The U.S. Congress has failed repeatedly to pass the Racial Justice Act, which would allow prisoners to challenge their death sentences using standards normal in civil racial discrimination cases.

WHEREAS prisoner appeals have been severely curtailed, increasing the risk of imprisonment and execution of innocent people:

• In a series of rulings since 1991, the Supreme Court has drastically restricted the rights of death row prisoners to appeal their convictions and death sentences in federal courts, even in cases where prisoners present compelling evidence of innocence.
• In 1996, new legislation drastically limited federal court review of death penalty appeals and gutted public funding of legal aid services for death row prisoners.

WHEREAS the American Bar Association has concluded that administration of the death penalty is "a haphazard maze of unfair practices with no internal consistency" and has called for a moratorium on executions.

WHEREAS California allows the executions of mentally retarded or mentally ill offenders in direct contradiction to international standards of human rights and humane treatment of prisoners.

WHEREAS California politicians continue to attempt expanding eligibility for the death penalty to younger categories of criminals and broader categories of crimes, despite the fact that capital punishment, in numerous state and national studies, has never been proved to be a deterrent to crime.

WHEREAS, with over 600 men and women, California currently has the largest death row in the nation; with approximatelyt one-third of inmates lacking any legal representation.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that ______________________[group name] calls on Governor Davis and our representatives in the California Legislature, and the Bush Administration and our representatives in U.S. Congress, to enact and adopt legislation imposing a moratorium on executions at least until this state and nation implement policies and procedures which:

• Ensure that death penalty cases are administered fairly and impartially in accordance with basic due process.
• Eliminate the risk that innocent persons may be executed.
• Prevent the execution of mentally disabled persons.

Be it further resolved that copies of this resolution shall be forwarded to Governor Davis, our state representatives, the President of the United States, and members of our Congressional delegation.

Ratified by:

Group's Name: Contact Person: Contact address/phone/email Media contacted:

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

Return ratified resolutions to:

Additional model resolutions can be found in our moratorium organizing packet.