To: National Desk, Photo Editor

Contact: Abe Bonowitz of the Abolitionist Action Committee, 561-371-5204 (mobile), David Elliot of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, 202-543-9577, ext. 16 or 202-607-7036 (mobile)

WASHINGTON, June 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Hundreds gathered in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Monday for a noon rally protesting the 859 executions in the country since death penalty statutes were upheld in 1976.

The rally came in the midst of a 96-hour fast and vigil, which has drawn activists from 16 states, plus Canada, Great Britain and Puerto Rico. The fast and vigil commemorates the anniversary of both the 1972 Furman v. Georgia ruling, striking down capital punishment, and the 1976 Gregg v. Georgia ruling reinstating it.

"I am a prime example that the death penalty system is broken, that it is not fair and that it is not accurate," said Juan Melendez, who spent 17 years, eight months and one day on death row in Florida before being fully exonerated. "The death penalty must be abolished.

Abe Bonowitz, organizer of the annual event, said, "We are gathered today to educate the public that the death penalty continues to be arbitrary and capricious. It is a violation of human rights. It is a political tool for politicians to mislead the public about how best to address crime. It is biased and it is a colossal waste of tax dollars."

Besides Melendez and Bonowitz, Monday's rally speakers included Washington Wizards basketball player Etam Thomas; musician Steve Earle; Marietta Jaeger-Lane, a leader of Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation; Larry Ruffin, a senior at Washington D.C.'s Anacostia High School and member of the newly organized group Students Against the Death Penalty; Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center; Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn and Mona Cadena of Amnesty International; Judy Coode of Pax Christi, a Catholic peace group; and David Elliot, spokesman for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Jaeger-Lane, whose seven-year-old daughter murdered in 1973, said that death penalty proponents often try to justice capital punishment by saying it represents "justice" for family members of murder victims. "To say that the death penalty is just retribution is an insult to the memory of my little girl's life," she said.

For more information on the fast and vigil, please visit http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=18295&Link=http://www.abolition.org

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