Scope: US Because Unitarian Universalists believe in the worth and dignity of everyone and have respect for all life; Whereas General Assemblies of the Unitarian Universalist Association have proposed national handgun legislation in past years (1972, 1976, 1991); Whereas handguns are too easily...

Scope: US As the 39th Annual General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association held its Opening Ceremony the evening of June 22, 2000, Gary Graham was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas, the 222nd person to be executed in Texas since that state reinstated the death penalty...

BECAUSE Unitarian Universalists affirm the worth and dignity of every individual; and BECAUSE we affirm justice, equity, and compassion in human relations; and WHEREAS substance abuse is a prevalent response to economic, social, and psychological realities; WHEREAS substance abuse is hazardous to...

BECAUSE Unitarian Universalists affirm the inherent worth of every human life; and BECAUSE safe coexistence within society requires reasonable compromise with the concept of absolute personal liberty; and WHEREAS the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association passed, in 1972, a...

WHEREAS President Schulz spoke in his report to the Assembly about the neglect of youth and the need for racial justice in our society; WHEREAS the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association covenant to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person; WHEREAS...

VOTED: That the Board of Trustees of the Unitarian Universalist Association, gathered in Regular Session, has taken note of the Bernhard Goetz matter; and While not second guessing the New York Grand Jury's evaluation of the evidence in this situation, or minimizing either the many sociological...

WHEREAS, General Assemblies of the Unitarian Universalist Association have opposed capital punishment by resolutions in 1961, 1966, and 1974; and WHEREAS, the aforementioned resolutions have urged complete abolition of capital punishment as inconsistent with respect for human life; for its...

WHEREAS, community-based correctional programs (probation, parole, pretrial intervention, halfway houses, work releases, etc.) are approximately six times less expensive than incarceration in prisons; and WHEREAS, the rate of recidivism is very high for those let out of prison (80 percent of all...

WHEREAS, nearly three out of four murders are impulsively committed by previously law-abiding citizens during arguments with family members or their acquaintances; WHEREAS, for every robber stopped by a homeowner with a handgun, four homeowners or members of their family are killed in gun acciden...

WHEREAS, the most effective and just basis for social change starts with empowerment of those people who suffer most grievously; WHEREAS, instrumental control over the material and spiritual elements of life promotes autonomy and the opportunity for self-fulfillment; WHEREAS, every life is indeed...

WHEREAS, the present court and penal systems have failed in their purpose of rehabilitation, have in fact damaged personalities and wholesome human values, and have resulted in a high rate of recidivism; and WHEREAS, we, who "affirm, defend, and promote the supreme worth of every human personalit...

WHEREAS, at this time, even though there has been no execution in the United States for the past seven years, twenty-eight states have already passed legislation seeking to re-establish capital punishment; and WHEREAS, the act of execution of the death penalty by government sets an example of...

WHEREAS, heroin and other drug addictions have become a modern plague in which every victim becomes a source of contagion; and WHEREAS, heroin addiction is spreading rapidly today, especially among the younger generation and the poor; and WHEREAS, the effort to control heroin addiction by outlawr...

BE IT RESOLVED: That the 1972 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association recommends uniform gun legislation as follows: Licensing for the purchase and possession of all usable guns; Gun registration-holding owners legally accountable for all their guns and registrars legally...

RECOGNIZING: That the rapid increase of violent crime accompanies a vast public ignorance and prejudice about its causes and methods of correction as seen by modern experts; NOTING: That the majority of persons arrested are males between 10-30 years suffering such social injustices as poverty,...

WHEREAS, the present local, state or provincial and federal laws in the United States and Canada regarding the growing, sale, trade, possession and consumption of cannibus sativa (marijuana) are based largely on public hysteria and myth, rather than on any established data about the effects of...

RESOLVED: That the Unitarian Universalist Association urges the complete abolition of capital punishment in all United States and Canadian jurisdictions; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the Unitarian Universalist Association seek to encourage the governors of the states and the Canadian cabinet ...

WHEREAS, federal, state and city narcotics laws declare the habitual use of narcotics to be a crime, while narcotics addiction is considered by the medical profession to be an illness and by many psychiatrists and social scientists to be a personality disorder rooted in psycho-social factors; and...

WHEREAS, a modern approach to criminal law has been needed in this country for many years; and WHEREAS, Unitarians and Universalists have for many years supported more humanitarian dealings with persons charged and convicted of crime in this country; and WHEREAS, the American Law Institute, after...

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 t...