SUMMARY: This year, Rep. Ayanna Pressley introduced H.R. 4052, legislation to abolish the federal death penalty. Please sign this petition to convey your message to congress that you support this bill and the movement to end the federal death penalty.

BACKGROUND: This summer, President Trump ordered U.S. Attorney General William Barr to set five federal execution dates, one of which has already been postponed. The remaining four execution dates are considered serious, and legal teams are still working to stop them. The first round of executions are scheduled for December 9 and 13. The second round is set for January 13 and 15, 2020.

Over the last 56 years, there have only been three federal executions carried out, and the last one was in 2003. To resume federal executions once again is an affront to the progress this country has made in eliminating the death penalty state-by-state and bringing us in-line with international human rights standards.

The law provides for a four month period before clemency hearings, with the President being the final arbiter on whether or not to extend mercy by granting clemency with a commutation of a death sentence. Clemency decisions are expected in the coming weeks. Attorneys in these cases have asked that instead of focusing on the specifics of the cases, that the broader public instead petitions Congress on the broader issue of the law.

CALL TO ACTION: Add your name to the petition to tell Congress and send a signal to the administration: The death penalty is not an effective tool to stop crime. Government makes mistakes, the criminal justice system is fraught with disparity and unfairness, prison workers should not be forced to take on the burden of killing defenseless prisoners once let alone at the rapid pace of the current federal execution schedule, and it is a cruel hoax to suggest that executions provide healing to murder victim family members.