In 1959 the Union of American Hebrew Congregations resolved to oppose the death penalty, a position supported by the former Synagogue Council of America representing Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox rabbis. While we continue to work for abolition of the death penalty, we cannot ignore injustices in its application. Statistical evidence, including that compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center, shows that African-American men are disproportionately represented among those on death row and those who have been executed in the last twenty years. Although people of color are the victims in more than half of all homicides, a White victim case is over four times more likely to result in a death sentence than a comparable Black victim case. Some contend that these and other statistics showing disparities can be explained by non-discriminatory factors, but there is strong evidence that race is a determining factor.
Studies also document the role of poverty in death penalty disparities.
Many jurisdictions fail to provide adequate representation for indigents accused of capital crimes and adequate funding for those defending them to properly prepare their defenses. The American Bar Association in 1997 called for a moratorium in executions until each jurisdiction adopts policies and procedures to ensure that death penalty cases are administered fairly and impartially, in accordance with due process, and to minimize the risk that innocent persons may be executed, implementing, among others, ABA policies to assure competency of counsel in capital cases and striving to eliminate discrimination in capital sentencing on the basis of the race of either the victim or the defendant. There has been little response to the Bar Association's call. The brutalizing of Abner Louima while in police custody in New York, and the police shooting of a West African immigrant, Amadou Diallo, in the vestibule of his New York apartment building have raised public awareness of a long-simmering concern. These events, as well as others across the country, sparked massive protests, and opened a dialogue among city officials, minority leaders, and law enforcement agents.