Michigan hearing told
'We don't want death penalty'
By Jerry
Goldberg
Detroit
At a public hearing March 23 on whether the death penalty
should be restored in Michigan, members of the Michigan Senate
Judiciary heard a resounding "no" from a crowd of over 400
people.
Michigan has had no death penalty for 153 years. It is one
of only 12 U.S. states with out a death penalty, which is
prohibited by the Michigan Constitution. However, the state
legislature is considering a proposal by arch-racist and
neofascist David Jaye, a leader of the anti-affirmative action
campaign, to place the death penalty on the ballot.
Among the many organizations that participated and spoke out
at the hearing were the National Conference of Black Lawyers,
Latinos United for Labor, the American Civil Liberties Union,
the Coalition to Stop the Execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal and the
Coalition to Prevent the Death Penalty. Families of crime
victims spoke out against the death penalty. Several of them
are touring the country in a "Journey of Hope" against capital
punishment.
The crowd was electrified when Wessie Scy rus, founder of
the Texas Coalition to Abo lish the Death Penalty, seized the
floor to expose the racist character of the death pen alty and
the entire criminal "justice" system.
She pointed out that 90 percent of those who wind up on
death row could not afford legal representation. She stated,
"They are arrested, meet their lawyer one day, go to trial the
next day, and then are sentenced to death row the next. If the
death penalty is brought to Michigan, an African American city
like Detroit will be a killing field for the state."
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS ::
SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page