ACTION ALERT! Oppose State Killing: Write a Letter to Your Local Newspaper! Please take a moment and write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper about the death sentence handed out to Scott Peterson yesterday. A list of email addresses follows. If your local paper isn't here, you can usually find their "letters to the editor" address and submission guidelines either on the page where the letters appear, or on the website under "opinion," "Letters" or "Contact us." It's best to keep your letter under 200 words, unless their guidelines allow longer submissions. When signing your letter include your name, geographic location, and daytime phone for them to verify the letter. Some Suggested Talking Points May Include: When writing, please express your deepest thoughts and feelings about this issue. Some ideas to emphasize would be that the issue of state killing is not about Scott Peterson, but about us. We know what he was accused and convicted of -- murder. And now what's society proposing to do in return? Kill. We should strive to be a society that is better and smarter than our worst instincts for revenge. This case, by everyone's calculation, turned on "emotion," complete with blood-thirsty mobs cheering the verdict in the streets. Justice should not be about emotion, but order. A sentence of Life Without Parole (LWOP), which has been given to more than 3,100 convicted murderers in California, would have been punishment enough. Society would have been protected, and we'd be spared the spectacle of mobs calling for another round of killing. [Note: If you also oppose LWOP, you can mention other options here such as restorative justice, restitution, counseling, parole options, etc. ] Study after study has shown that state killing is not a deterrent to murder. It didn't stop Scott Peterson or any of the other 642 people on Death Row from killing. The death penalty is a medieval instrument, out of place in a modern society. It's wrong to kill - for everyone. Lastly, please try to refer to the death penalty as "state killing" whenever possible. LA Daily News -- [email protected] LA Times -- [email protected] Bakersfield Californian -- [email protected] Orange County Register -- [email protected] San Diego union-Tribune -- [email protected] Sacramento Bee -- [email protected] SF Chronicle -- [email protected] SF Examiner -- [email protected] SJ Mercury News -- [email protected] Contra Costa Times -- [email protected] Oakland Tribune -- [email protected] Ventura County Star -- [email protected] Santa Rosa Press Democrat -- [email protected] Stefanie L. Faucher Program Director Death Penalty Focus 870 Market St. Ste. 859 San Francisco, CA 94102 Tel. 415-243-0143 Fax 415-243-0994 [email protected] www.deathpenalty.org www.californiamoratorium.org
