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Racial, Economic & Gender Justice |
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Racial, Economic & Gender Justice
Fellowship of Reconciliation testifies on death penalty in New York
On January 25, 2005, Sonia Ivette Dueno of the FOR's Racial, Economic & Gender Justice Program testified on the death penalty to members of the Codes Judiciary and Corrections Committees of the New York State Assembly. Testimony of Sonia Ivette Dueno Fellowship of Reconciliation To the Honorable Chairpersons Joseph R. Lentol, Helene E. Weinstein and Jeffrion L. Aubry, and members of the Codes, Judiciary and Correction Committees: Greetings. I am Sonia Ivette Dueño, Coordinator of the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Racial, Economic and Gender Justice Program. At the Fellowship of Reconciliation, we believe in the principles of nonviolence as espoused by Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. As such, we are here today to call for an end to the death penalty in New YorkState. Since 1915, the Fellowship of Reconciliation-USA has undertaken advocacy and educational programs to promote domestic and international peace and justice, nonviolent alternatives to conflict, and the rights of conscience. FOR is a nonviolent, multi-faith, non-profit organization with members from many religious and ethnic traditions. It is part of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR), which has affiliates in over 40 countries. The IFOR has observer and consultative status at the ECOSOC and UNESCO. In the United States, FOR has over 100 chapters and affiliates and 14 Religious Peace Fellowships. In his principles for public policy, Gandhi spoke about Ahimsa (nonviolence) in relationships at all levels. Rooted in that principle is acceptance of the fact that violence cannot be totally eliminated but that through constructive action, we can create social change and uphold justice nonviolently. Implementing justice according to these principles entails as a primary goal eliminating the death penalty as a form of punishment. Should the Death Penalty be reinstated in New York? In People v. Stephen LaValle, the New York State Court of Appeals’ decision that a provision of this state’s capital punishment statute violates the state constitution has given us a golden opportunity to review and determine the effectiveness and equitability of the death penalty. Racism is an act of violence and in its manifestation, it is systemic and institutional, especially as it pertains to the criminal justice system. Violence dehumanizes, dominates, diminishes and destroys you, I and others. We do not believe any death penalty statute in this state or in the nation can be free of racial, ethnic, class or geographic bias. It is clear that in New York, the race of those who pass the laws is not the same as the race of those who are the majority of the incarcerated. I quote from a 1998 report from the Death Penalty Information Center: “Race is more likely to affect death sentencing than smoking affects the likelihood of dying from heart disease. The latter evidence has produced enormous changes in law and societal practice, while racism in the death penalty has been largely ignored.” Regarding geographic bias, we have seen the unevenness of the death penalty in its application in the different counties. This cannot be overlooked. In his speech, “Where do we go from here?” Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr., a member of FOR, said, “Of the good things in life, the Negro has approximately one half those of whites. Of the bad things of life, he has twice those of whites.” He continued: “In Roget’s Thesaurus there are 120 synonyms for blackness and at least sixty of them are offensive, as for example, blot, soot, grim, devil and foul. And there are 134 synonyms for white and all are favorable, expressed in such words as purity, cleanliness, chastity and innocence.” That the death penalty does not deter crime has been proven by numerous studies in states such as Oklahoma, California and Texas, which have a high execution rate. Most people who commit murders do so impulsively, or they are substance abusers, while others murder in a fit of anger. According to a study by Northern Illinois University, 84% of current and former presidents of the country’s top academic criminological societies reject the notion that research shows any deterrent effect from the death penalty. The Death Penalty Information Center reports that two out of every three law enforcement officers do not believe that capital punishment decreases the rate of homicides. The possibility of even one person innocently condemned to death should suffice to abolish the death penalty.
FOR also opposes Senate Bill 7720, especially the provision for retroactive implementation of the death penalty statute because it refers to a time period when no valid death penalty law was in effect in New York State. The Governor’s proposal was flawed in its intent and we recommend the legislature not pass this bill. In addition, we oppose the provision in the New York State statute whereby mentally retarded persons can be executed for the first degree murder of a corrections officer. We uphold the United States Supreme Court’s 2002 decision in Atkins v. Virginia in which the Court barred the execution of mentally retarded persons. As we work in this state to change society by abolishing the death penalty we must also seek to work together to find alternative methods of carrying out justice.
How can we work towards a common goal of reconciliation? The Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation have this statement on their website: “Reconciliation means accepting you can't undo the murder but you can decide how you want to live afterwards.” FOR recommends the creation of a Blue Ribbon Commission to explore alternatives to the death penalty. Thank you.
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