AL HR65

Urges the Alabama House of Representatives to declare a moratorium on capital punishment executions based on moral concerns and systemic flaws in the death penalty system.

Alabama sentences more people to death per capita than any other state and was the last state to abolish judicial override; currently 80 percent of people on Alabama's death row did not receive unanimous jury verdicts.

Since 1976, Alabama has executed 73 people and exonerated 9, illustrating that for every 8 people executed, 1 has been exonerated; over 160 death sentences have been invalidated by state and federal courts.

Identifies problems with capital punishment including potential failures in fair administration, disproportionate sentencing of minorities, inadequate counsel for indigent defendants, perjury, false accusations, and lack of evidence that death penalty deters crime.

Notes that 23 states have abolished the death penalty, 6 additional states have a gubernatorial hold on executions, and the federal government has declared a hold pending review of policies and procedures.