{"id":381814,"date":"2010-03-02T17:36:37","date_gmt":"2010-03-02T22:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogs.rj.org,2010:\/rac\/\/2.2522"},"modified":"2010-03-02T17:50:18","modified_gmt":"2010-03-02T22:50:18","slug":"we-sentence-innocent-people-to-their-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/381814","title":{"rendered":"“We sentence innocent people to their deaths.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WitnesstoInnocence.jpg\"<\/span>Andrea Woods is a Program Assistant for Witness to Innocence.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is Death Penalty Awareness Week<\/a>, and supporters of human rights across the country have turned their attention to a uniquely complicated injustice – the implementation of capital punishment in the United States. I applaud the excellent work being done by communities of faith, student organizations, and concerned citizens around this issue; I am a firm believer that the more education that takes place around the death penalty, the more difficult it becomes to support. <\/p>\n

For many reasons the death penalty is an egregious violation of human rights. It is utilized in a manner that is racially-discriminatory and targets those who are poor, marginalized, and systematically vulnerable. It instigates cruelty, violence, and suffering in the name of justice. And it denies human beings the opportunity for the redemption, forgiveness, and healing in an ultimate way. <\/p>\n

And we sentence innocent people to their deaths.<\/p>\n

Since the 1976 national upholding of capital punishment laws, there
\nhave been 139 people that were wrongfully convicted and condemned to
\nexecution for a crime they did not commit. That’s 139 stories of trauma
\nand torture. They are 139 stories of cruelty and suffering, of human
\nerror when the stakes were most critical. That number – 139 –
\nrepresents one innocent person for every 8 executions carried out in
\nthe US. <\/p>\n

I work to support these very people through an
\norganization called Witness to Innocence. Witness to Innocence is
\ncomposed of exonerated death row survivors and their loved ones –
\npeople who’ve demonstrated more grace, resilience, and tenacity than I
\nknew possible. This organization has dual missions: to provide a
\npeer-support network for the innocent exonerees and their families, as
\nwell as to educate the American public about the reality of wrongful
\nconvictions at the highest level. For years our witnesses have been
\nsharing their stories with student groups, communities of faith,
\nlaw-makers, and other audiences across the country. These testimonies
\nhave an unprecedented way of transforming people’s perspective on the
\nissue of capital punishment. As we like to say, they bring a human face
\nto an issue that most of us would otherwise only consider
\nhypothetically.<\/p>\n

Through my connection to Witness to Innocence<\/a>, I’ve heard the most
\nextraordinary – and true – stories. I’ve slammed, full-speed, into that
\nrealization that our criminal justice system is nauseatingly cruel and
\nunfair. And yet, every time I want to resign myself to the immense
\ncomplexity of this problem, I am given a demonstration of hope by the
\nmembers of Witness to Innocence. Despite what they’ve been subjected
\nto, these men continue to march forward in the struggle for freedom and
\njustice. Even though it’s painful, they continue to speak out about
\ntheir experiences. Rather than succumbing to the paralysis of
\nbitterness, these men make themselves available to the anti-death
\npenalty community as a uniquely powerful voice for change.<\/p>\n

Please visit our website, www.witnesstoinnocence.org<\/a>,
\nto learn more about our partnership with Amnesty International’s Death
\nPenalty Awareness Week, and to consider hosting an event in your
\ncommunity with one of our witnesses. <\/p>\n

Even after the official week of action comes to a close, may we all continue in the fight for peace, empathy, and justice! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andrea Woods is a Program Assistant for Witness to Innocence. It is Death Penalty Awareness Week, and supporters of human rights across the country have turned their attention to a uniquely complicated injustice – the implementation of capital punishment in the United States. I applaud the excellent work being done by communities of faith, student […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4316,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-381814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4316"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381814\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}