Press Release

Ethical and Humanist Organizations Support Death-Penalty Moratoriums

Contacts:

Tony Hileman, Executive Director
American Humanist Association

Margaretha Jones
American Ethical Union
(212) 873-6500
aeuoffice@aol.com

June 3, 2000

On June 2, 2000, the 87th American Ethical Union Assembly and the 59th American Humanist Association Conference, being held jointly at Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, approved identical resolutions supporting moratoriums on carrying out capital verdicts and opposing legislation that would make executions more likely.

In addition, the American Ethical Union and American Humanist Association Resolution on Capital Punishment advocates the greatly expanded use of every available means to ensure due process and fair trials for all accused persons. The organizations concluded that new information about the likelihood that wrongfully convicted persons could be executed, along with legislative initiatives to limit or deny death-row appeals, warranted prompt action to halt executions. Both organizations have a history of opposition to capital punishment.

The American Ethical Union and the American Humanist Association, which have often collaborated on social policy, noted in their resolution that more than four score persons have been released from death row after their convictions for capital crimes were shown to have been in error. The organizations also noted that improper and illegal actions by law enforcement officials have prompted the American Bar Association to say that the administration of the death penalty "is a haphazard maze of unfair practices with no internal consistencies." Ellen W. McBride, president of the American Ethical Union, said that the American Ethical Union/American Humanist Association resolution "reflects growing concern that many prisoners are denied the opportunity to have DNA tests performed that might exonerate them, even though in many cases DNA evidence has proved that prisoners have been wrongfully convicted."

In another action at the joint meeting, the American Ethical Union presented its highest honor, the Elliott-Black award, to the Innocence Project of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. The award is named for two late leaders of the American Ethical Union. The Innocence Project employs post-conviction DNA testing to exonerate prisoners wrongly jailed or sentenced to death row.

The American Ethical Union (www.aeu.org) was founded in 1889 and exists to promote the knowledge, the love, and the practice of right living and to join its members in educational fellowship. The organization serves over twenty Ethical Societies in the United States. The American Humanist Association (www.americanhumanist.org) is a national organization founded in 1941 to promote humanism in the United States. The association represents both secular and religious naturalistic humanism. Both the American Humanist Association and the American Ethical Union are affiliates of the International Humanist and Ethical Union.