Capital Punishment 1961 General Resolution

WHEREAS, respect for the value of every human life must be incorporated into our laws if it is to be observed by our people; and

WHEREAS, modern justice should concern itself with rehabilitation, not retribution; and

WHEREAS, it has not been proved that fear of capital punishment is a deterrent to crime; and

WHEREAS, human judgements are not infallible, and no penalty should be used which cannot be revoked in case of error; and

WHEREAS, capital punishment has not always been used impartially among all economic and racial groups in America;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the Unitarian Universalist Association urges its churches and fellowships in the United States and Canada to exert all reasonable efforts toward the elimination of capital punishment; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That copies of this resolution be sent to the Governors of all states in which capital punishment has not yet been eliminated, and to the Canadian Minister of Justice.