FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
  April 28, 2005

  Massachusetts Citizens Against The Death Penalty 
  opposes Governor Mitt Romney's effort to reinstate 
  the death penalty in the Commonwealth.

  Massachusetts has not had an execution in nearly sixty 
  years and has one of the lowest homicide rates in the 
  nation.

  The Governor's contention that a scientifically "fool 
  proof" death penalty statute is possible, is obviously 
  flawed. First, the Commonwealth has had a dismal 
  history with its Medical Examiner's Office, which was 
  revealed to be riddled with error and mismanagement.

  Second, DNA, the basis for "scientific" evidence, is only 
  available in a fraction of homicide cases and only as 
  accurate as those collecting samples and those testing 
  the samples.

  Since the death penalty is not a deterrent, would 
  depend on DNA in a fraction of cases, and is 
  prohibitively expensive - costing more than $5,000,000 
  per case - we conclude that the governor is playing 
  politics with human life. Many would argue that the 
  millions of dollars spent on the culture of death would 
  better be directed to preventing crime and treating its 
  root causes.

  No other western democracy allows the death penalty. 
  No other western democracy allows the torture of 
  prisoners. Nor should we. A recent editorial in the highly 
  respected British medical journal, The Lancet, proves 
  that prisoners die a slow, agonizing death as a result of 
  lethal injection.

  We urge the legislature to renounce the governor's 
  political ploy and once again defeat any attempt to 
  restore the death penalty in Massachusetts. 

  Martina Jackson 
  Executive Director, MCADP

  website: mcadp.org