Death penalty under fire in Washington
By REBECCA SULLIVAN, Patriot Ledger Washington Bureau

July 3, 2002

WASHINGTON - It was hot, even for Washington in July, but Archbishop Williams High School theology teacher Eli Sasaran stood his ground on the sidewalk outside the U.S. Supreme Court building.

It was the fourth day of a fast and death penalty protest that had drawn 100 activists from across the country.

"There seems to be growing concern about the fairness and accuracy about the way the death penalty is instituted," Sasaran said yesterday.

Sasaran was referring to a recent court ruling outlawing the execution of mentally retarded people, and a federal District Court judge's ruling in New York Monday that the death penalty was unconstitutional.

Sasaran, 26, who recently finished his first year of teaching at Archbishop Williams in Braintree, was in Washington for the ninth annual ''Starvin' for Justice'' event organized by the Abolitionist Action Committee, a Florida-based anti-death penalty group.

Participants fasted and held a four-day vigil to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the June 29, 1972, U.S. Supreme Court decision that temporarily blocked the death penalty. The activists also marked the 26th anniversary of the July 2, 1976, Supreme Court decision that allowed executions to resume.

The fast and vigil took place in the four days between the two anniversaries. Consuming only water and Gatorade, Sasaran held signs, handed out pamphlets and asked people to sign a petition calling for a hold on executions throughout the country. The fast ended at midnight.

Sasaran said he found fasting forced him to concentrate his energy and helped him "see more clearly why we're here, and to be sincere from our hearts about what we're doing."

Sasaran teaches a social justice class at Archbishop Williams and said he plans to share his experiences from the vigil with his students.

Event organizer Abe Bonowitz said more passers-by signed the petition than during the demonstrations in previous years.

"People in the United States value justice and fairness, and they want a system that is fair and accurate. Right now, it's not," event organizer Abe Bonowitz said.

As vendors across the street sold chips, sodas and hotdogs to tourists on their way to the Supreme Court, Sasaran felt "small moments" of hunger during his fast, he said.

"When the mind and the heart are oriented towards something meaningful, you're able to transcend some of your physical needs," he said.

Copyright 2002 The Patriot Ledger Transmitted Wednesday, July 03, 2002