Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty is grateful to the 33 family members and loved ones of murder victims who have come out in support of a moratorium. We offer a special thanks to Dr. Wilton Bunch, whose article is featured elsewhere on this site. He was the first person to sign the following letter urging our state legislature to enact a moratorium. We at PHADP wish to offer our sincerest thanks to these gracious people.
Dear Members of the Alabama State Legislature,
We are family members and loved ones of murder victims. We desperately miss the parents, children, siblings, and spouses we have lost. We live with the pain and heartbreak of their absence every day and would do anything to have them back.
We are writing today to ask your support for moratorium legislation. What happened to us was a terrible injustice, but the injustice done to us will not be remedied by further miscarriages of justice or retribution for retribution’s sake. Our loved ones are not honored by the current implementation of the death penalty.
We ask you to support moratorium legislation because it will address questions of fairness of the application of the death penalty. As long as economics and race determine who will receive the death penalty, as long as there is jury override, denial of post-conviction DNA testing, no public defenders office and execution of the psychiatric and mentally impaired we cannot speak of justice. We do ask for justice but ask you not to dishonor the memory of our loved ones by creating further victims in their name. Please support Senate and House moratorium legislation.
Signed:__________________________________
(Name)
__________________________ ____________________________
(Murdered loved one) (Relationship)
__________________________________
(City of the murder)
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
(Your contact info)
Please forward to:
Esther Brown
P.O. Box 1362
Lanett, AL 3686
