Opposition to the Death Penalty Mounts in Puerto Rico

As two men con­vict­ed of cap­i­tal mur­der under the fed­er­al death penal­ty statute await their sen­tenc­ing on April 11, Puerto Rican Governor Anibal Acevedo and the Association of American Jurists, a non-gov­ern­men­tal orga­ni­za­tion act­ing as a con­sul­tant at the United Nations, protest­ed the use of the death penal­ty in Puerto Rico. Though Puerto Rico’s Constitution pro­hibits the death penal­ty and its res­i­dents have con­sis­tent­ly voiced strong oppo­si­tion to it, res­i­dents who com­mit a fed­er­al cap­i­tal crime can be sen­tenced to die. Opposition to this prac­tice is per­va­sive, cross­ing polit­i­cal and religious lines. 

(El Diario, March 31, 2005). See Federal Death Penalty.