Highlighting the recent abolition of the death penalty in Nebraska and concerns about wrongful convictions, National Urban League President Marc H. Morial (pictured) called for an end to executions. In an op-ed for The Philadelphia Tribune, Morial cited declining public support for the death penalty: “56 percent of Americans support the death penalty, this from a high of almost 80 percent in the mid-90s,” he said. He also emphasized the growing conservative opposition to the death penalty, which was critical in bringing about repeal in Nebraska. “There are many experts who contribute much of today’s sea change in attitudes towards capital punishment to the growing number of conservatives coming to the frontlines of the opposition movement to the death penalty, questioning its efficacy and fiscal soundness,” Morial said. Finally, he pointed to the stories of those exonerated from death row, saying, “No matter where you may stand on the death penalty debate, where is the value in maintaining a system that could likely execute an innocent man or woman?” He concluded, “As long as questions of equity, fairness and fallibility persist, we must stop executions and give death row inmates every chance to prove their innocence.”
(M. Morial, “Nebraska executes its death penalty,” The Philadelphia Tribune, June 12, 2015.) See New Voices and Recent Legislative Activity.
