Abolish the death penalty

To the editor,

I understand the Montana Association of Churches is currently calling on the Legislature to abolish the death penalty in Montana and I am writing in strong support of its efforts.

Statistics have shown that the death penalty is not a deterrent to homicides, in fact, quite the contrary. It’s been shown that homicides are higher in states with the death penalty. In 1996 the American Bar Association called for a suspension of the death penalty. That in itself should tell us something.

I’ve always believed it would be better to allow a guilty person to live than to condemn an innocent person to death. According to the Montana Association of Churches more than 124 condemned prisoners were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to die for crimes they did not commit and at least 23 have ultimately been executed. What a shame on our society!!

We can sentence convicted murderers to life without the possibility of parole, and, surprisingly, it been shown that executions are more expensive to carry out than life imprisonment. Fifteen to 20 years of appeals are not uncommon.

I urge the Montana Legislature to join with the many other states in this country that have already abolished the death penalty and remove this barbaric uncivilized form of retribution from our state.

Annabelle Richards

Helen