Yet, in the U.S., the trend is moving in the opposite direction. Executions are intensifying. In 1997, we have seen a 40-year high in the number of people put to death. This drumbeat of death quickens despite compelling questions about the integrity of the legal system imposing death sentences. Legal representation for most capital defendants is grossly inade-quate.
Race plays a determining role in deciding who lives and who dies.
Citing a crisis in due process in capital cases, the American Bar Association, which has no position on the death penalty, has called for an immediate moratorium on executions . The voices of grassroots people are needed more than ever to summon moral indignation about our nation's fast and flawed march to death. Through its Equal Justice USA program, the Quixote Center is leading a three-year campaign to muster widespread grassroots political pressure for a halt on executions. We are inviting local churches, city councils and other institutions and organizations to pass resolutions urging elected officials on a state and national level to enact legislation halting executions. Winning public support for a moratorium on executions is a first real step towards ending the death penalty.