PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
DEATH PENALTY IN THE UNITED STATES (12 June 2000)

That this House notes the recent report by Columbia University which describes America's capital punishment system as flawed because more than two-thirds of convictions have to be overturned on appeal; notes with concern that the state of Texas has executed 218 people, more than any other state and about a third of the country's total, since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976; welcomes the fact that the state of Illinois has recently suspended all executions because of doubts about the guilt of those on death row; and calls on the Government to urge all American states to suspend capital punishment in the interests of justice and humanity.

Sponsored by:
Hilary Benn (Labour)