AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS STATEMENT
June 13, 2005
U.S. Supreme Court
Decision in Miller-El Case Highlights Racial Bias; End Death
Penalty Now, Says Amnesty International USA
(Washington, DC)—Today Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), released the following statement applauding the U. S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn the conviction of Thomas Joe Miller-El because, as the Court said in its decision, "prosecutors were selecting and rejecting potential jurors because of race":
"It
is impossible for justice to be blind when prosecutors use a
20-year-old manual providing detailed instructions to help them
keep members of specific racial and ethnic groups from serving as
jurors. The Miller-El case provides significant evidence that, even
if prosecutors have no personal racial bias, some of them have
intentionally exploited racial divisions to improve the likelihood
of a conviction in capital murder cases. The death penalty system
is irrevocably broken and should be abolished."
-End
quote-
Contact: AIUSA Press Office: 202-544-0200 x 302
For more information on racial bias and the death penalty, please visit: http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/racialprejudices.html
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception as it is the ultimate denial of human rights, and we will continue to demand unconditionally its worldwide abolition.
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