CAPITAL PUNISHMENT – LESSON 4
Danny Glover’s Speech
Good evening. Tonight I would like to discuss with you a practice that separates the United States from every other country in the Western Hemisphere. This, of course, is the use of homicide as an official tool of the state, otherwise known as the death penalty.
Since the Supreme Court allowed executions to resume in the 1970s, 741 people have been executed in the United States. Unfortunately, as I give this speech, that number is climbing to 743, courtesy of the states of Georgia and Texas.
And yet 98 people, or about one out of every seven executed, have walked off death row after new evidence emerged that proved their absolute innocence.
Let me be very clear here. I am not talking about people whose sentences or convictions were overturned on what some might call a technicality. I am talking about actual innocence.
Think about it. If one of every seven car tires sold in this country was subject to a blowout, if one of every seven chickens taken to market infected someone with salmonella, if one of every seven cars manufactured had a faulty engine that exploded every now and again, these things would be taken off the market.
But for every seven people executed since 1976, one actually innocent person has been sent to death row. Yet the death penalty remains “on the market.”
There are, of course, many reasons why I oppose the death penalty, in addition to the fact that I believe innocent people can be executed and in fact have been executed.
I'd like to share with you some of these reasons.
Many of you know I worked on the case of Gary Graham. Gary came from the fifth ward in Houston, Texas. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the robbery-murder of a shopping clerk. There are many things about Gary's case that are illustrative of the kind of problems caused by the death penalty.
Number one: Gary was a juvenile when it was alleged he committed the crime for which he was convicted. Only five other countries are known to have executed children in the past decade—Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Yemen. But in the U.S., 13 states, including Texas, allow for the execution of people who commit crimes as juveniles.
Number two: Gary was Black. Black people make up 12.1 percent of our nation's population—but comprise 43 percent of death rows across the United States. Racial disparities continue to define who lives and who dies under this punishment.
Number three: Gary was convicted on the very shaky eyewitness testimony
of one person. The Bible in the Book of Numbers says we shouldn't
convict on the testimony of one eyewitness. But our courts say
otherwise.
Gary Graham was executed in the summer of 2000. His case pointed out then many problems the death penalty brings to our system of justice. Incompetent legal counsel, racial bias. The possibility—in this case the probability of innocence, the very issue of disproportionality—Gary probably would not have been executed if he was from a different state or if he had drawn a different prosecutor or a different jury.
But the tide is turning. The very same tide that swept up Gary Graham and so many like him is now turning.
It has been said that war is never the friend of social justice movements. When we fear, we clamp down on those who do not think like we think or do not look like we look.
Since September 11th, we have seen our federal government incarcerate without trial or access to bail more than 1,000 people, mostly of Middle Eastern or Southern Asian descent.
It is clearly a slippery slope we are on. We cannot be silent while such tactics are employed. We must stand vigilant and work onward and together toward abolition.
Thank you.
Danny Glover
Danny Glover’s Speech
Good evening[w1]. Tonight I would like to discuss with you [w2]a practice that separates the United States from every other country in the Western Hemisphere. This, of course, is the use of homicide as an official tool of the state, otherwise known as the death penalty.
Since the Supreme Court allowed executions to resume in the 1970s, 741 people have been executed in the United States. Unfortunately, as I give this speech, that number is climbing to 743[w3], courtesy of the states of Georgia and Texas.
And yet 98 people, or about one out of every seven executed, have walked off death row after new evidence emerged that proved their absolute[w4] innocence.
Let me be very clear here. I am not talking about people whose sentences or convictions were overturned on what some might call a technicality. I am talking about actual innocence.
Think about it[w5]. If one of every seven car tires sold in this country was subject to a blowout, if one of every seven chickens taken to market infected someone with salmonella, if one of every seven cars manufactured had a faulty engine that exploded every now and again, these things would be taken off the market.[w6]
But for every seven people executed since 1976, one actually innocent person has been sent to death row. Yet the death penalty remains “on the market.”
There are, of course, [w7]many reasons why I oppose the death penalty, in addition to the fact that I believe innocent people can be executed and in fact [w8]have been executed.
I'd like to share with you some of these reasons.
Many of you know I worked on the case of Gary Graham[w9]. Gary came from the fifth ward in Houston, Texas. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the robbery-murder of a shopping clerk. There are many things about Gary's case that are illustrative of the kind of problems caused by the death penalty.
Number one[w10]: Gary was a juvenile when it was alleged he committed the crime for which he was convicted. Only five other countries [w11]are known to have executed children [w12]in the past decade—Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Yemen. But in the U.S., 13 states, including Texas, allow for the execution of people who commit crimes as juveniles.
Number two: Gary was Black. Black people make up 12.1 percent of our nation's population—but comprise 43 percent of death rows across the United States. Racial disparities continue to define who lives and who dies under this punishment.
Number three: Gary was convicted on the very shaky eyewitness testimony
of one person. The Bible [w13]in the Book of Numbers says we shouldn't
convict on the testimony of one eyewitness. But our courts say
otherwise.
Gary Graham was executed in the summer of 2000. [KW14]His case pointed out then many problems the death penalty brings to our system of justice. Incompetent legal counsel, racial bias. The possibility—in this case the probability of innocence, the very issue of disproportionality—Gary probably would not have been executed if he was from a different state or if he had drawn a different prosecutor or a different jury.
But the tide is turning[w15]. The very same tide that swept up Gary Graham and so many like him is now turning.
It has been said that war is never the friend of social justice movements. When we fear, we clamp down on those who do not think like we think or do not look like we look.[KW16]
Since September 11th, we have seen our federal government incarcerate without trial or access to bail more than 1,000 people, [KW17]mostly of Middle Eastern or Southern Asian descent.
It is clearly a slippery slope we are on. We[w18] cannot be silent while such tactics are employed. We must stand vigilant and work onward and together toward abolition.
Thank you.
Danny Glover
Danny Glover’s Speech (Annotated)
Good evening[w19]. Tonight I would like to discuss with you [w20]a practice that separates the United States from every other country in the Western Hemisphere. This, of course, is the use of homicide as an official tool of the state, otherwise known as the death penalty.
Since the Supreme Court allowed executions to resume in the 1970s, 741 people have been executed in the United States. Unfortunately, as I give this speech, that number is climbing to 743[w21], courtesy of the states of Georgia and Texas.
And yet 98 people, or about one out of every seven executed, have walked off death row after new evidence emerged that proved their absolute[w22] innocence.
Let me be very clear here. I am not talking about people whose sentences or convictions were overturned on what some might call a technicality. I am talking about actual innocence.
Think about it[w23]. If one of every seven car tires sold in this country was subject to a blowout, if one of every seven chickens taken to market infected someone with salmonella, if one of every seven cars manufactured had a faulty engine that exploded every now and again, these things would be taken off the market.[w24]
But for every seven people executed since 1976, one actually innocent person has been sent to death row. Yet the death penalty remains “on the market.”
There are, of course, [w25]many reasons why I oppose the death penalty, in addition to the fact that I believe innocent people can be executed and in fact [w26]have been executed.
I'd like to share with you some of these reasons.
Many of you know I worked on the case of Gary Graham[w27]. Gary came from the fifth ward in Houston, Texas. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the robbery-murder of a shopping clerk. There are many things about Gary's case that are illustrative of the kind of problems caused by the death penalty.
Number one[w28]: Gary was a juvenile when it was alleged he committed the crime for which he was convicted. Only five other countries [w29]are known to have executed children [w30]in the past decade—Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Yemen. But in the U.S., 13 states, including Texas, allow for the execution of people who commit crimes as juveniles.
Number two: Gary was Black. Black people make up 12.1 percent of our nation's population—but comprise 43 percent of death rows across the United States. Racial disparities continue to define who lives and who dies under this punishment.
Number three: Gary was convicted on the very shaky eyewitness testimony
of one person. The Bible [w31]in the Book of Numbers says we shouldn't
convict on the testimony of one eyewitness. But our courts say
otherwise.
Gary Graham was executed in the summer of 2000[KW32]. His case pointed out then many problems the death penalty brings to our system of justice. Incompetent legal counsel, racial bias. The possibility—in this case the probability of innocence, the very issue of disproportionality—Gary probably would not have been executed if he was from a different state or if he had drawn a different prosecutor or a different jury.
But the tide is turning[w33]. The very same tide that swept up Gary Graham and so many like him is now turning.
It has been said that war is never the friend of social justice movements. When we fear, we clamp down on those who do not think like we think or do not look like we look[KW34].
Since September 11th, we have seen our federal government incarcerate without trial or access to bail more than 1,000 people[KW35], mostly of Middle Eastern or Southern Asian descent.
It is clearly a slippery slope we are on. We[w36] cannot be silent while such tactics are employed. We must stand vigilant and work onward and together toward abolition.
Thank you.
Danny Glover
[w1]
[w2]
[w3]
[w4]
[w5]
[w6]
[w7]
[w8]
[w9]
[w10]
[w11]
[w12]
[w13]
[KW14]
[w15]
[KW16]
[KW17]
[w18]
[w19]Formal opening
[w20]Personal mode of address
[w21]Use of statistics
[w22]Persuasive language
[w23]Imperatives
[w24]Analogy
[w25]Rational argument
[w26]Repetition
[w27]Case history
[w28]Listing
[w29]Comparison
[w30]Emotive examples
[w31]Authoritative text
[KW32]Shock tactics
[w33]Short sentences
[KW34]General truths
[KW35]Scale of issue
[w36]Unity