No Justice in the Death Penalty: An Open Letter to the People of Wyoming
The politics of revenge do not serve the cause of justice

The brutal murder of Matthew Shepard has already caused grief to the family and friends of the victim, and outrage among people of good will across the nation. After his murder, former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson said, "The people of my state want you to know this is not who we are." In the same spirit, we want the people of Wyoming to know that many of us in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities find no place for the death penalty in our own struggle for justice. Some of us have also been victims of violence, but we do not believe executions will protect us from acts of hatred and prejudice. Nor do we believe capital punishment is an effective deterrent to other crimes.

When James Byrd, a black man, was dragged to his death behind a truck in Jasper, Texas last summer, people of conscience condemned both this racial assault and the death penalty itself. In Shepard's case, we are likewise obligated to condemn both the crime and any legal moves toward execution. We want the public and the prosecuting attorney to know that the death penalty cannot be carried out in our names. There is a notable history of gay opposition to the death penalty. In 1987, when Anthony Milano, a gay man living in Bucks County, PA, was brutally murdered the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force took a firm stand against the prosecutor's demand for capital punishment. As a Philadelphia based organization, we are supportive of the efforts to obtain a fair trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal and to prevent his execution.

The politics of revenge do not serve the cause of justice. Judges, lawyers, and juries are not gods, and human error has caused the execution of innocent persons. Furthermore, poor people and people of color, as well as political dissidents are sentenced to death more frequently than others charged with similar crimes. If the victims of these crimes also happen to be white, the pattern is even plainer. As the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan wrote in a dissenting opinion, "A majority of defendants in white-victim crimes would not have been sentenced to die if their victims had been black." In practice, the death penalty is incompatible with equal justice under the law.

The death penalty is outlawed in England along with most of Europe, and in most other countries as well. If it had an unmistakable deterrent effect U.S. crime rates should be among the lowest in the world. In fact, murder rates in the U.S are nearly six times higher than England's, and firearms are used much more often here to commit crimes. In 1987, the American Bar Association concluded that the death penalty is "a haphazard maze of unfair practices," and called for a moratorium. The Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay task Force joins with other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered organizations in demanding justice; in seeking fair trials for the accused; and, in seeking the abolition of the death penalty.