Leader Resource 5: Capital Punishment Resolution
Part of Riddle and Mystery
Find this 1961 UUA General Resolution text online.
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 judgments 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.