Jewish Clergy & Community Leaders Congressional Sign-On Letter
Congress
While the Torah permits the death penalty, the Talmud, in Tractate Sanhedrin, imposes severe limits on capital punishment even when the crime is murder. There are countless preconditions which must be met in order for a Sanhedrin to issue and carry out an execution, many of which are designed not only to assess guilt, but levels of culpability. The execution of someone when there is any level of doubt about guilt or fairness is forbidden.
Being a religious Jew is not just about observing traditional mitzvot but also about being responsibly immersed within society as an active enlightened moral agent partnering for social progress that enhances dignity for all. Our engagement in the political and social realm of society may indeed be even more religiously important than our pious acts within the sanctuary.
We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with all concerned citizens and without regard to partisanship, call to the United States Congress:
- Address pervasive and systemic racism in the criminal legal system by ending the federal death penalty;
- pass H.R. 262, the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act of 2021, legislation to end the federal and military death penalty and prohibit any further federal executions.
Thank you for joining me by signing this petition and asking others you know to do so as well.
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz
Founder & President: Uri L'Tzedek: Orthodox Social Justice
Board of Advisors: Death Penalty Action
For more information visit: http://deathpenaltyaction.org/federal-death-penalty
PLEASE NOTE:
Additional Jewish resources on the death penalty are here: http://deathpenaltyaction.org/jewish-action
Additional information for everyone is here: http://deathpenaltyaction.org/federal-death-penalty
This will be an ongoing effort until the federal death penalty is abolished. The ask to Congress may be modified at times to remove old information and freshen it with current or arising issues, such as the update on 8/20/2020 to add an ask to investigate and close the legal loophole that allowed the federal government to override the Navajo Nation and execute its citizen, Lezmond Mitchell.
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Jewish tradition presents somewhat contradictory statements regarding the death penalty. While the Torah permits the death penalty, the Talmud, in Tractate Sanhedrin, imposes severe limits on capital punishment even when the crime is murder.
There are countless preconditions which must be met in order for a Sanhedrin to issue and carry out an execution, many of which are designed not only to assess guilt, but levels of culpability. The execution of someone when there is any level of doubt about guilt or fairness is forbidden, and even where there is no question of guilt, Jewish law makes executions practically impossible. Certainly, contemporary US federal death penalty statute does not meet the requirements established to ensure fairness, accuracy and culpability in the Torah (The Five Books of Moses).
We, the undersigned, do not believe secular law should be beholden to any faith's teachings, however the lessons of those teachings certainly may inform our thinking. We believe the teaching is clear: It is not for human beings to decide who lives and who dies. Therefore, we stand in solidarity with all concerned citizens and without regard to partisanship, call to the United States Congress:
* Address pervasive and systemic racism in the criminal legal system by ending the federal death penalty;
* Pass H.R. 262, the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act of 2021, legislation to end the federal and military death penalty and prohibit any further federal executions.
Thank you for your prompt attention to these matters: