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It's not about McVeigh. It's about you, me, them, all of us, and the kind of
society we wish to live in. If we go ahead and kill McVeigh without examining
the re-emerging allegations that the Oklahoma City bombing was perpetrated by
more than one or two individuals, and that the government may have had advance
warning, and that the FBI failed to follow important clues, then how can we say
Justice has been done? The government had hoped to close this case with one
execution, but there are too many unanswered questions.
The revelations that the FBI failed to comply with the law has done what
Timothy McVeigh could never hope to do. Who can deny that the U.S. Government
has demonstrated a level of incompetence and arrogance which has undermined
confidence in America's justice system? McVeigh, who had been allowed to waive
his appeals, now has a chance to put the government on trial - if not in the
courts, then certainly in the court of public opinion.
Constitutional protections must prevail even for the lowest and most hated
individuals, because if they do not, then we are all at greater risk for abuse
within the criminal justice system. The fact that Americans are being forced to
swallow the bitter realization that the humans within the system can and do make
mistakes can only be seen as a positive development. Should we allow executions
to continue in the face of a system so fraught with error and official
misconduct? If we do, are any of us really safe?
An execution date has been set for June 11, 2001. Check back soon for more
information and details on actions aimed at STOPPING THE FIRST FEDERAL
EXECUTION IN NEARLY FORTY YEARS!
| "When we take Tim
McVeigh out of his cage in Terre Haute, Indiana, on May 16 for the
purpose of killing him, it won't bring Julie back or any one of the
other 167 others. "It won't bring me any peace, or any of the
rest of them any peace, because God simply did not make normal human
beings to where we are somehow going to feel good out of killing a
caged human being." |
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-- Bud Welch, whose 23-year-old daughter Julie and
scores of other innocent people were killed in the Oklahoma City
bombing. Welch does not want to see McVeigh executed.
Click Here to read Bud's statement to
activists and the media. |
Write the President!
Take Action
ASK BUSH TO BE A LEADER
Please write a brief and polite letter directly to President Bush. The address
is below. E-mail letters are OK, but you are urged to send your appeal both by
e-mail AND by regular postal mail. In your letter,
* acknowledge the serious nature of the crimes for which prisoners are sentenced
to death;
* express sympathy for the victims' relatives and friends;
* ask President Bush to exhibit his compassionate conservatism by commuting the
death sentences of all Federal and Military death row prisoners to life in
prison without the possibility of release, and;
* ask the President to impose a moratorium on the Federal and Military death
penalty pending an independent review of the process for determining which cases
the Government will seek capital punishment.
Letters can be sent to:
George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
The White House Phone Numbers
VOICE: 202-456-1414
TTY/TDD: 202-456-6213
Comment Line: 202-395-1160
FAX: 202-456-2461
E-mail address: <president@whitehouse.gov>
Sample Letter
TAKE ACTION!
Feel free to copy and paste the following letter into your word processor,
change it around a little to put it into your own words, print it on your
letterhead, and mail it. You can also paste this into the body of an e-mail
message. Either way, thanks for taking action!
George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. Bush,
Please exhibit the leadership of a truly compassionate conservative
by commuting all federal and military death sentences to life in
prison without the possibility of release for at least 25 years, if
not forever.
I acknowledge the serious nature of the crimes for which
death-sentenced prisoners face punishment, and my sympathy lies with
the victims' relatives and friends. However, no amount of killing
will bring back the lives of the victims, nor will it make their
survivors feel any better. Instead, killing these individuals will
leave blood on all our hands, and create more homicide survivors in
the friends and loved ones of the prisoners. Killing prisoners sends
an example to the children of this great nation that violence is an
acceptable course of action. That is wrong.
Further, in light of our broken death penalty system, I implore you,
Mr. President, to be a leader instead of a politician by imposing a
moratorium on federal and military death sentences and executions
and ordering an independent review of the process for determining
which cases the Government will seek capital punishment.
Sincerely,
_________ |
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