Title
Declaring the week of February 27 - March 4, 2004, Death Penalty Moratorium Week in Philadelphia; renewing City Council's call for a Death Penalty Moratorium; and commending the staff and community of Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty for their dedicated efforts to advance the cause of a statewide moratorium.
Body
WHEREAS, On February 10, 2000, this body overwhelmingly passed Resolution No. 000068, introduced by Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller, calling upon the Pennsylvania State Legislature to enact "a moratorium on the imposition of any death penalty in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania until a fair and impartial study is conducted"; and
WHEREAS, That resolution noted the abolition of the death penalty by the "vast majority of the democratic nations of the world," its universal condemnation by international human rights groups, and the calls for a moratorium by the American Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and the Philadelphia Bar Association; and
WHEREAS, That resolution further noted the enormous role that race plays in the imposition of the death sentence, and that Pennsylvania led the nation in the percentage of people of color who are on its death row; and
WHEREAS, Since 2000, four Pennsylvania death row prisoners have been exonerated, of whom three were Philadelphia residents at the time of their wrongful arrests, prosecutions, convictions and sentencing; and
WHEREAS, Governor Edward G. Rendell promised during his election campaign to call for a moratorium if presented with evidence that there were problems with the imposition and administration of the death penalty in Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, On March 4, 2003, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System issued a 550-page report confirming the profound impact of race on the imposition of the death penalty and recommendi...
Click here for full text