Testimony in Support of a Moratorium on Executions and
in Support of Repeal of the Death Penalty in New York State

 

Presented to the Assembly Committees on Codes, Judiciary, and Correction at a Public Hearing k
on The Death Penalty in New York State January 25, 2005

Thank you for the opportunity to speak at this important hearing. Interfaith IMPACT of New York State is speaking for the growing numbers of New Yorkers of faith who are convinced that the state's death penalty should be repealed. The court's ruling last summer gives us the option to invoke a moratorium while we study all aspects of this issue, which hopefully will lead us to the conclusion to repeal New York State's 1995 death penalty law.

Interfaith IMPACT of New York State is a statewide advocacy organization representing progressive Protestant, Unitarian Universalist, and Reform Jewish congregations and individuals. We address emerging public policies and their legislative implications from the shared faith traditions of our constituencies. The mandate for this derives from the historic teachings of our faith in God and humankind, which calls upon all people to participate in the ongoing work of perfecting the world.

A Gallup poll in May 2004 showed the emerging consensus of citizens who would choose life without parole as preferable to the use of the death penalty for those convicted of murder. Gallup found that 46% of respondents favor life imprisonment over the death penalty, up from 44% in May 2003. During that same time frame, support for capital punishment as an alternative fell from 53% to 50%. The poll also revealed a growing skepticism that the death penalty deters crime, with 62% of those polled saying that it is not a deterrent. These percentages are a dramatic shift from the responses given to this same question in 1991, when 51% of Americans believed the death penalty deterred crime and only 41% believed it did not. Only 55% of those polled in 2004 responded that they believed the death penalty is implemented fairly, down from 60% in 2003.. (Gallup Poll News Service, June 2, 2004)

In this regard, I want to relate to you the opinions, resolutions, comments, and advice of the many faiths of our members. Nearly every large religious body in the United States condemns the application of the death penalty, as shown in the following statements.

The National Council of Churches in June, 2000, firmly stated its opposition to the death penalty, and continues to do so, since ultimate judgment rests with God, the creator of life. Capital punishment is no proven deterrent to the crime of murder. It is a punishment replete with fatal flaws and constant errors. Its imperfections are repeatedly exposed by modern, effective scientific methods that, as of 2000 , had already saved the lives of 87 prisoners whose innocence was established by DNA evidence. The irreversible consequence is clear: there are no means of redress for those condemned who have actually been killed by the state. Public scrutiny and communities of faith are increasingly taking strong oppositional stands against the death penalty. A moratorium on the death penalty is a most attractive, fair and correct position to assume regarding state executions.

The Episcopal Church states: Whereas,... the life of an individual is of infinite worth in the sight of Almighty God; and the taking of such a human life falls within the providence of Almighty God and not within the right of Man; and....Whereas, a preponderance of religious bodies continue to oppose capitol punishment as contrary to the concept of Christian love as revealed in the New Testament; and Whereas, the institutionalized taking of human life prevents the fulfillment of Christian commitment to seek the redemption and reconciliation of the offender; and...Whereas, there are incarceration alternatives for those who are too dangerous to be set free in society; therefore be it Resolved,... The Episcopal Church reaffirms its opposition to capitol punishment...

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America in 1991 stated ... The state is responsible under God for the protection of its citizens and the maintenance of justice and public order. God
entrusts the state with power to take human life when failure to do so constitutes a clear danger to society. However, this does not mean that governments have an unlimited right to take life. Nor does it mean that governments must punish crime by death. We increasingly question whether the death penalty has been and can be administered justly. It is because of this church's ministry with and to people affected by violent crime that we oppose the death penalty. Capital punishment focuses on retribution, sometimes reflecting a spirit of vengeance. Executions do not restore broken society and can actually work counter to restoration. The Presbyterian Church U.S.A. believes that the government's use of death as an instrument of justice places the state in the role of God, who alone is sovereign; and ... the use of the death penalty in a representative democracy places citizens in the role of executioner: "....Therefore the 197th General Assembly... calls upon governing bodies and members to work for the abolition of the death penalty in the states which currently have capitol punishment statutes....

The Reformed Church in America's General Synod of 1965 adopted the following reasons for opposing the retention of capital punishment as an instrument of justice: 1. Capital punishment is incompatible with the spirit of Christ and the ethic of love. 2. It is of doubtful value as a deterrent. 3. It results in inequities in application. 4. It is a method to irremediable mistakes. 5. It ignores corporate and community guilt. 6. It perpetuates the concepts of vengeance and retaliation, and 7. It ignores the entire concept of rehabilitation. The Christian faith should be concerned not with retribution, but with redemption.

The United Methodist Church cannot accept retribution or social vengeance as a reason for taking human life. It violates our deepest belief in God as the creator and the redeemer of humankind. In this respect, there can be no assertion that human life can be taken humanely by the state. Indeed, in the long run, the use of the death penalty by the state will increase the acceptance of revenge in our society and will give official sanction to a climate of violence.

The Unitarian Universalist position states, Whereas, General Assemblies of the Unitarian Universalist Association have opposed capital punishment by resolutions in 1961, 1966, and
1974; and Whereas, the aforementioned resolutions have urged complete abolition of capital punishment as inconsistent with respect for human life; for its retributive, discriminatory, and non-deterrent character; and opposed its restoration or continuance in any form; and Be It Further Resolved: That the General Assembly urges Governors of all states to commute death sentences and to prevent the restoration or continuance of capital punishment in any form.

The Reform Jewish Movement's position since 1959, has formally opposed the death penalty. The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) resolved that capital punishment "does not act as an effective deterrent to crime," and the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) notes that: "We believe that there is no crime for which the taking of human life by society is justified, and that it is the obligation of society to evolve other methods in dealing with crime. " The Reform Movement will continue to oppose the unjust system of capital punishment that currently blemishes our judicial system.

It is instructive to look at the Death Penalty from the perspective of Jewish values. Biblical law mandates the death penalty for 36 offenses. These range from murder to kidnaping, from adultery and incest to certain forms of rape, idolatrous worship, and public incitement to apostasy, from disrespecting parents to desecrating the Sabbath. The Reform Movement, however, has followed rabbinic interpretations that effectively abolished the death penalty centuries ago. Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 stresses the importance of presenting completely accurate testimony in capital cases, for any mistakes or falsehoods could result in the shedding of innocent blood. If any perjury were to cause an execution, "the blood of the accused and his unborn offspring stain the perjurer forever."

Prevailing Jewish thought in every movement has followed the previous opinions, which
either oppose the death penalty outright, or allow for it only in the most extreme -- once in seventy years -- of circumstances. Following this line of thinking, the major Jewish movements in the United States all have specific policy supporting either abolition of the death penalty, or a moratorium on its use.

Even the Orthodox Union supports a temporary moratorium while it continues to oppose abolition of the penalty. In 2001, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America,
through its Institute for Public Affairs, noted that "Jewish tradition clearly contemplates the death penalty as a legitimate, ultimate sanction within a criminal justice system. But at the same time, our tradition just as clearly requires that capital punishment must be administered by a process that ensures accuracy as well as justice. Over the past year, many questions have been raised as to whether this demand of accuracy and fairness is being met in America's court systems. Academic studies and published news reports have indicated that there may be serious failings with regard to the legal counsel and resources furnished to capital defendants. These serious questions must be addressed " A moratorium should be used to implement reforms and restore confidence in how capital punishment is administered.

Support FOR the Death Penalty
Contrast the positions above to those groups which voice support for the death penalty: Southern Baptist, some Pentecostal churches, Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church, Latter-Day Saints, and Islam. The National Association of Evangelicals and the Southern Baptist Convention use arguments in favor of capital punishment that it serves as an effective deterrent and that victims, and perhaps society as a whole, have a right to just compensation for ultimate crimes. "We believe that the state has a God-given responsibility to protect society, and that the Bible tells us that includes the ultimate penalty," said Barrett Duke, vice president of research for the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. "I don't think it's any accident," said the Rev. Joe Ingle of Nashville, a death row minister since 1974 and a staunch opponent of the death penalty. "The Bible Belt is also the 'Death Belt'."

Death Penalty is not a Deterrent
Capital punishment is not an effective deterrent to crime as illustrated by a number of recent studies. The average of murder rates per 100,000 population in 1999 among death penalty states was 5.5, whereas the average of murder rates among non-death penalty states was only 3.6. Over 80 percent of criminologists believe there is no deterrence justification for the death penalty. Moreover, in 1995, 386 randomly selected police chiefs and county sheriffs throughout the country ranked the death penalty last among seven potential ways to reduce crime. Rather they responded by a 4 to 1 margin that they do not believe that the death penalty significantly lowers the number of killings. At a Justice department news briefing, former Attorney General Janet Reno said, "I have inquired for most of my adult life about studies that might show that the death penalty is a deterrent. And I have not seen any research that would substantiate that point."

A recent New York Times survey, also, found that states without the death penalty have lower homicide rates than states with the death penalty. The gap between the cumulative murder rates of death penalty and non-death penalty states actually widened in 2003, from 36% in 2002 to 44% in 2003. The two states with the most executions in 2003, Texas (24) and Oklahoma (14) saw increases in their murder rates from 2002 to 2003. Both states had murder rates above the national average in 2003: Texas - 6.4 and OK- 5.9. The top 13 states in terms of murder rates were all death penalty states. The murder rate of the death penalty states increased from 2002, while the rate in non-death penalty states decreased."

Numerous studies suggest that America's capital punishment system is severely flawed, that it fails to fulfill the promise of equal justice under the law, and most frighteningly , that innocent people are sentenced to death on a routine basis. In fact, since the death penalty was reinstated nationally in 1976, one death row inmate has been exonerated and freed for every eight who are executed.
Even Sandra Day O'Connor, once an ardent supporter of the death penalty, has begun to express publicly her growing doubts about whether the machinery of death in this country is capable of fair and just administration.

The Costs are Exorbitant
New York will spend exorbitant amounts of money pursuing death sentences. Capital cases are lengthy, complex undertakings. A study by the public defender's office concluded that litigation costs for trial and direct appeal of a capital case would be $1.8 million, almost 3 times the cost of imprisoning the defendant for life. The total cost to taxpayers of maintaining the capital punishment system in New York State is approximately $118 million annually. (Department of Correctional Services 1989 Study) The Daily News estimates that the state could spend as much as $238 million by the time of the first execution. As explained by Professor James Acker, a death penalty expert, "There's all this money being invested up front with the intent of getting an eventual execution. . . . the money is thrown away. If the ultimate punishment were life in prison to begin with, you wouldn't have all the added expense of a death penalty." (New York Daily News, October 17, 1999)

Conclusion
Interfaith Impact of New York State sees the death penalty as a morally reprehensible law of our state government. As people of conscience we cannot support a law that executes someone who may be innocent; and is racially, economically, and geographically biased. This law has not been proven to deter crime, and it has been estimated that the cost has been at least $170 million. How can the state justify this expense when money cannot be found to pass a budget that properly addresses health care and appropriate funding for our schools?

City councils, county governments, and local organizations in all parts of New York have called for a moratorium to re-examine the death penalty. We join religious and civic leaders, editorial boards, and community organizations in urging you to take advantage of the Court of Appeals decision by appointing a blue ribbon commission to look at all aspects of the law, or let it die a quiet death.
Thank you for this opportunity to state our views on the death penalty in New York State.

Resources
Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, Inc.
Death Penalty Information Center
Religious Organizing Against the Death Penalty,
a project of the American Friends Service Committee
Moving Ideas, a project of The American Prospect
Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty
Speaking of Faith, an American Public Media program

 

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