Death Penalty Harm

Suzanne Steckler, the sister of one of the victims in Willie’s case has reportedly stated that his execution will not help her family:

“This is just my personal opinion, and I won’t speak for the rest of the family, but it doesn’t bring our brother back,” she said. “Because of that, we don’t wish that ill will on anyone else’s family. I don’t believe (Manning’s) death helps us in one way or another” (as reported by the Natchez Democrat newspaper here). This view is not uncommon among victims’ families. Read more about how the death penalty causes harm at: Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation

Mary Puckett, mother of an inmate (known to Willie) executed at Parchman, Mississippi, in 2012, has spoken movingly about the terrible impact that the death penalty had on her family. Her words sum it up: “They make the rest of the family victims in the name of what they call legal murder.” Watch videos documenting the enormous stress caused to the family and friends of an executed man (Mary Puckett Part 1 and Mary Puckett Part 2) at The ELLA Foundation

“If the imposition of the death penalty is a grotesque contradiction in a nation founded on principles of justice, human rights, and civil liberties, it is even more appalling when death sentences are handed out to innocent citizens.” Read more about how the American criminal justice system provides no reliable safeguards against the execution of innocent people at Witness to Innocence

Amnesty International states “Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, 82% of all executions have taken place in the South. The Northeast accounts for less than 1% of executions.” Read more about the arbitrariness of the death penalty at Amnesty International

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty states “Numerous studies conducted in various states have concluded again and again that the death penalty is more expensive than alternative sentences.” Read more about how capital punishment diverts resources from proven solutions to crime and violence at NCADP.                         A recent report from The Death Penalty Information Center states, “Each decision to seek the death penalty is made by a single county district attorney, who is answerable only to the voters of that county. Nevertheless, all state taxpayers will have to bear the substantial financial costs of each death penalty case, and some of the costs will even be borne on a national level.” Read more here.

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty states “The death penalty takes a heavy toll on those directly involved in executions— prison wardens, chaplains, executioners, and corrections officers.” Read more at NCADP.

Reprieve states that where prisoners are accused of the most extreme crimes, human rights are most likely to be jettisoned or eroded. Read more about how Reprieve uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners at Reprieve