Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty


Upcoming Event - Execute Art, Not People Pittsburgh!

Please join us for the second round of Execute Art, Not People Pittsburgh. New local artists and musicians featured. Same great cause with a new flavor.

Welcome to PADP's website.  Please have a look and lend a hand.

Pennsylvania's death row is the 4th largest in the nation, just behind California, Texas and Florida. 

i  n  n  o  c  e  n  t     l  i  v  e  s      i  n      t  h  e     b  a  l  a  n  c  e

Since 1973, 133 men have been released from death row after evidence of their innocence was uncovered. Six of these men were from Pennsylvania, and they served a total of 57 years behind bars. Three major newspapers - the Chicago Tribune, the Houston Chronicle and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch - reported that four executed inmates in all probability were innocent. These four men, Ruben Cantu, Carlos De Luna, Larry Griffin, Cameron Todd Willingham, and most likely more people, have proved the criminal justice system is inherently flawed, and it is urgent that we prevent any more innocent people from being executed. After 21 years on Pennsylvania's death row, Nick Yarris was ready to face execution when DNA evidence was finally brought forward. He was released in 2004. 


P e n n s y l v a n i a n s     w a n t      a l t e r n a t i v e s 

In 2007, Penn State University - in collaboration with PADP, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Amnesty International USA, Jewish Social Policy Action Network and the Pennsylvania Council of Churches - released results from a recent poll on the death penalty in Pennsylvania. The findings revealed a continuing decrease for support of capital punishment. When asked what punishment was the most appropriate for someone convicted of murder, only 42% said death and the plurality chose alternatives to the death penalty. 

e c o n o m i c a l l y     &     r a c i a l l y     s k e w e d 

More than 90 percent of Pennsylvania's death row prisoners were too poor to afford a lawyer for their initial trial. The Pennsylvania State Supreme Court released a report in March 2003 that emphasized that the state is failing to provide adequate counsel to indigent capital defendants. After sending an individual to death row, Pennsylvania provides no state funding for post-conviction legal defense. In Pennsylvania, close to 70% of the individuals on death row are minorities. Of states with more than 10 people on death row, Pennsylvania and Texas have the largest percentage of minorities on death row nationwide.

i n e f f e c t i v e     &     a r b i t r a r y 

Capital punishment does not deter crime. According to the United Nations Development Program, the five countries with the highest homicide rates that do not impose the death penalty average 22 murders per 100,000 people. The five countries with the highest homicide rates that do impose the death penalty average 42 murders for every 100,000 people. 

w a s t e f u l     &     e x p e n s i v e 

Capital punishment is monetarily and emotionally expensive. Putting someone to death has been found to be extremely costly in comparison to a life sentence in prison. Victims' families often suffer through the long and drawn out process of appeal after appeal. Families can become torn apart over whether to seek the death penalty, and many families find that the death penalty is a disservice to themselves and their loved ones.

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