New York religious leaders representing a range of faiths and regions recently united to voice their opposition to the death penalty and to encourage a moratorium on executions so that issues of fairness and accuracy may be addressed. A statement issued by the group noted:

“[O]ur nation’s continued reliance on the death penalty is extremely costly, ineffective in fighting crime, unequally applied, and handed out with alarming frequency to defendants who are later proved to be innocent. Even most death penalty proponents now agree that there are serious problems with its implementation. We in the religious community now step forward to set the moral tone for the debate on this issue, promote serious and thoughtful reflection, and make known the reasons why we believe executions will not solve the problem or violent crime in the State of New York. We believe that:

Retribution is proper in society; revenge is not.
All people are capable of atonement and forgiveness.
The death penalty is not a deterrent to violent crimes.
The death penalty is not, and probably cannot be, applied equitably and fairly.
The death penalty is not the source of healing for the families of murdered victims.

…

“In the interim, we endorse a moratorium on the death penalty in New York as an attractive, fair, and moral position to assume regarding state executions. It affords an opportunity to examine both the purpose of the penalty and its perceived effectiveness, and can save the lives of the falsely condemned. Because we recognize that people of good will may disagree about the ultimate morality of capital punishment, a moratorium can represent common ground for people on both sides of the issue who care about justice. The time to study New York’s death penalty law is now.”

(New York Religious Leaders Against the Death Penalty, May 2004) See New Voices.

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