Kucinich Introduces Bill To Abolish Federal Death Penalty
The following is a press release from June 24, 2003, by Kucinich's office in Congress.
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Kucinich Introduces Bill To Abolish Federal Death Penalty
37 Co-Sponsors Have Signed On To Bill Introduced In The House Today
Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH), Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, today, introduced legislation, The Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2003, that would abolish the federal death penalty. The legislation, co-sponsored by 37 Members of Congress, will put an immediate halt to executions and forbid the imposition of the death penalty as a sentence for violations of federal law. Kucinich's bill is the companion bill to Senate legislation introduced by Senator Feingold.
"It is clear the time has come for this legislation," stated Kucinich. "The imposition of the death penalty is both racially and economically biased. African American defendants are more likely to receive death sentences than others who committed similar crimes. Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is an acceptable moral alternative to capital punishment."
Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, 101 men and women have been exonerated from Death Row. One death row inmate is found innocent for every seven executed. Additionally, the death penalty is no deterrent to crime. In fact, average murder rates per 100,000 people in U.S. states with capital punishment is about 8 percent, while it is only 4.4 percent in abolitionist states.
Joining Kucinich, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers (MI) and Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Barbara Lee (CA), are Reps: Jose E. Serrano (NY), Lane Evans (IL), Barney Frank (MA), Bernard Sanders (VT), Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX), Frank W. Balance Jr. (NC), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Anibal Acevedo-Vila (PR), Elijah E. Cummings (MD), Julia M. Carson (IN), Bobby L. Rush (IL), James R. Langevin (RI), William Lacy Clay (MO), Lynn Woolsey (CA), Fortney Pete Stark (CA), Bob Filner (CA), Major R. Owens (NY), Diane E. Watson (CA), Danny K. Davis (IL), Alcee L. Hastings (FL), Charles B. Rangel (NY), Maxine Waters (CA), William D. Delahunt (MA), Edolphus Towns (NY), John Lewis (GA), James E. Clyburn (SC), Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (IL), Maurice D. Hinchey (NY), Louise McIntosh Slaughter (NY), Denise L. Majette (GA), Melvin L. Watt (NC), Chaka Fattah (PA), Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (MI), Donald M. Payne (NJ), and Tammy Baldwin (WI).
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