[FADPUpdate] LWVF Letter to Gov. Crist

[melliott3 at aol.com]

Friends,

TAKE ACTION!

Please contact Governor Crist and ask him to continue the pause on executions.  The Governor determines whether or not to sign Death Warrants.  It is his decision.  Ask him to do the right thing.  For info, http://www.fadp.org/takeact.html

---Mark

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EXCITING NEWS!

The League of Women Voters of Florida has sent the following letter to Governor Charlie Crist.  This was directed by the delegates at their 2007 convention.  The Florida League asks Gov. Crist to continue the moratorium on executions.

With 27 Leagues spread throughout the state, the League of Women Voters of Florida is a nonpartisan organization that studies issues and promotes political responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in government.  The League works to build citizen participation in the democratic process and enables people to seek positive solutions to public policy issues through a process of study, consensus and advocacy.

Kudos to the LWVF!

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The League of Women Voters of Florida

540 Beverly Court, Tallahassee, FL   32301-2506

Voice: 850/224-2545 • Fax: 850/222-4485 • E-mail: lwvf1 at comcast.net     

www.lwvfla.org

 

May 28, 2007 

 

The Honorable Charlie Crist, Governor

The Capitol

400 S. Monroe St.

Tallahassee, FL  32399-0001

 

Dear Governor Crist:

 

Subject:   Death Penalty Moratorium 

 

The League of Women Voters of Florida was greatly heartened when Florida followed the lead of other states in declaring a moratorium on the death penalty.

 

We believe, as do many in the developed world, that the death penalty is a violation of human rights, and our state should not participate in this process.

 

The Florida moratorium was primarily adopted due to reports that the methods used to execute the prisoners are not humane and that individuals actually suffer during the ordeal. Other facts, however, should be considered concerning the overall efficacy of capital punishment in Florida: 

 


First, there exists a possibility that the person sentenced to death is innocent.  Too often, those executed are from poor families, under-educated, or from a minority group.


 


In addition, studies have shown that states without the death penalty have murder rates as low or lower than states with the death penalty.  Furthermore, other studies have shown that the death penalty does not deter criminal behavior.


 


Finally, studies have shown that the cost to the state for a prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment is less than the cost of a prisoner sentenced to death.


 

We respectfully request that you as Governor declare a permanent moratorium and make use of other sentencing methods to ensure public safety.

 

Sincerely,

 

Dianne Wheatley-Giliotti,

President


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Shine the Light,


Mark Elliott

Director, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, FADP.org

2840 W. Bay Drive, #118
Belleair Bluffs, FL 33770 
(727) 215-9646

 mark at fadp.org
mark at fadp.org

 

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
"The time is always right to do what is right."
Martin Luther King



 




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