To: The Delaware State House
It's time for repeal of the death penalty in Delaware! No more stalling!
As your constituent, I urge you to vote for repeal of the death penalty in Delaware. Delaware’s death penalty risks executing the innocent, is far more costly than life without parole, is applied in a racially biased manner, and doesn’t make our communities any safer. At the very least, this issue deserves a vote in front of the full House! No more stalling!
Why is this important?
Earlier this year, Delaware’s Senate voted to repeal the death penalty, but the bill has been stuck in the house Judiciary Committee since May, and several legislators have refused to allow the bill to go to the House floor for a vote. An issue as serious as the death penalty deserves an up or down vote in front of the full House! Here are a few reasons why Delaware’s death penalty is fatally flawed:
-->In Delaware, Black defendants who kill White victims are seven times as likely to receive the death penalty as Black defendants who kill Black victims.
-->155 men and women have been released from death rows across the country after evidence of their wrongful convictions emerged. Delaware remains at risk of executing an innocent person.
-->Study after study shows that the death penalty costs far more than sentencing individuals to life in prison without parole.
-->The death penalty traps victims’ families in a decades-long cycle of uncertainty, court hearings, and waiting. In contrast, a sentence of life in prison without parole is a severe punishment that begins immediately and avoids the delays and media circus that come with a death sentence--allowing victims’ families to move on rather than forcing them to endure years of waiting for an execution that may never come.
-->In Delaware, Black defendants who kill White victims are seven times as likely to receive the death penalty as Black defendants who kill Black victims.
-->155 men and women have been released from death rows across the country after evidence of their wrongful convictions emerged. Delaware remains at risk of executing an innocent person.
-->Study after study shows that the death penalty costs far more than sentencing individuals to life in prison without parole.
-->The death penalty traps victims’ families in a decades-long cycle of uncertainty, court hearings, and waiting. In contrast, a sentence of life in prison without parole is a severe punishment that begins immediately and avoids the delays and media circus that come with a death sentence--allowing victims’ families to move on rather than forcing them to endure years of waiting for an execution that may never come.