The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE RECORD ON EXECUTIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S11736 on Dec. 7, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE RECORD ON EXECUTIONS
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise with regret to mark another milestone in the history of our system of justice. This morning's papers report that yesterday the state of Texas carried out its 39th execution, the most of any state since 1862, when the military hanged 39 Native Americans in one day in Minnesota. This evening, Texas is scheduled to surpass that record with its 40th execution. This is a regrettable record.
This year, as of yesterday, states in America have executed 82 people. We have reached a sad state of affairs when this Country executes nearly 100 people every year. In 1998, only China and the Congo executed more people a year than did the United States.
And we have reached an inequitable state of affairs when nearly half of the executions this year--39 out of the 82 to date--were carried out in just one state. The state with the next most executions this year, Oklahoma, has had 11 executions. Southern states have carried out nearly 9 out of 10 executions that have taken place this year.
Across the street, the building that holds the Supreme Court of the United States has emblazoned across its pediment the words ``Equal Justice Under Law.'' In a Nation that prides itself in that equal justice, how can we abide a system where nearly half of the executions are carried out in just one state?
Finally, I rise to mark another milestone. On Tuesday of next week, the Federal Government is scheduled to reenter the grim business of execution. For nearly 40 years, no one has been executed in the name of the people of the United States. That is set to change next Tuesday.
In light of the demonstrated evidence of regional and racial disparity in the application of this most final punishment, I call on the President to stay that execution. I call on the President to impose a moratorium on Federal executions and establish a blue ribbon commission to examine the fairness of the system of capital punishment in America.
In September, the Department of Justice released a report on the federal death penalty system. That report found that whether the federal system sends people to death row appears to be related to the federal district in which they are prosecuted or the color of their skin.
After the Justice Department released the report, White House spokesman Jake Siewert confirmed the President's view that ``these numbers are troubling'' and that more information must be gathered to determine ``more about how the system works and what's behind those numbers,'' including ``why minorities in some geographic districts are disproportionately represented.''
We do not yet know why our federal system produces racially and geographically lopsided results. We need a systematic review.
Many are joining in asking the President for a moratorium on executions. Their ranks include, among so many others, Lloyd Cutler, the esteemed former adviser to Presidents Carter and Clinton; Julian Bond, Chairman of the NAACP; and the Reverend Joseph Lowrey, chair of the Black Leadership Forum and President emeritus of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Yes, justice demands that crimes be punished. But if we demand justice, we must administer justice fairly.
Before we reach the milestone of reinstituting Federal executions, let us pause to evaluate the fairness of our Nation's machinery of death.
Mr. President, let this be a milestone that we choose not to reach, next week. God willing, let this be a milestone that we choose not to reach, if ever, for some time to come.
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