FROM
CITIZENS UNITED FOR ALTERNATIVES
TO THE DEATH PENALTY (CUADP)
For Immediate Release: 06 December 2002
CONTACT: Abe Bonowitz
800-973-6548
abe@cuadp.org
DECEMBER 7, 2002: THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST U.S. LETHAL INJECTION
On Dec. 7, 1982, Texas prisoner Charlie Brooks became first inmate in the
United States to die on the gurney. In the 20 years since then, 644 have
followed. If Linroy Bottoson is killed in Florida on December 6, 2002, he
will become the 646th U.S. prisoner to be exterminated by lethal injection.
37 states as well as the U.S. Military and the federal government now use
lethal injection as the preferred method of execution, although many of
these states have the option of lethal injection or some other form of
execution. Only Nebraska still uses electrocution exclusively.
Lethal injection was invented by Adolph Hitler's personal physician and was
first used in October 1939 and 1940 in Austria and Germany to eliminate
10,000 "defective" children. "Many Americans assume that lethal injection
was invented in this country," said Abe Bonowitz, director of Floridians
for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "But history reveals its gruesome
origin. Far from learning from history's mistakes, we are repeating them
tonight with the extermination of Linroy Bottoson, a mentally ill black man."
Contact Human Rights Scholar and Historian Rick Halperin for further
details on the history of lethal injection in the United States. Dr.
Halperin may reached at rhalperi@mail.smu.edu.
Visit http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/325/7371/1026 to read "Lethal
injection: a stain on the face of medicine," by Dr. Jonathan
Groner. Synopsis: "The number of executions in the United States has
increased as the acceptability of lethal injection has increased. Despite
the opposition of professional organisations, healthcare professionals
continue to participate. An American doctor describes parallels between
America's use of lethal injection and Nazi Germany's "euthanasia" programme."
SENT BY:
Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director, CUADP
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YES FRIENDS!
There is an Alternative to the Death Penalty
Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
(CUADP) works to end the death penalty in the United
States through aggressive campaigns of public education
and the promotion of tactical grassroots activism.
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Visit www.cuadp.org or call 800-973-6548
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