AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA
Dear I20Justice.com:
William Earl Lynd is scheduled to be executed on May 6th in Georgia for the 1988 murder of Virginia Moore. His will be the first execution in the U.S. in seven months.
Take action today to commute the death sentence for William Lynd.Recently the Supreme Court ended a seven month defacto moratorium on executions by ruling that lethal injection is constitutional. During that time New Jersey abolished the death penalty, and the UN General Assembly called for a worldwide moratorium on executions.
As the world moves away from the death penalty, vast problems continue to plague the capital punishment system in the U.S. and this is not the time for any state to rush to execution.
Mr. Lynd's execution may go forward despite doubts as to the aggravating circumstances of his crime that led the state to seek the death penalty. And while Mr. Lynd should be held accountable for his crime, the nature of the crime and degree of brutality are essential in determining a death sentence. While the state relied on evidence from a non physician, medical experts who reviewed this case more recently drew conclusions about the nature of the shooting that suggest that the charge should have been voluntary manslaughter; a charge that does not carry the death penalty.
Mr. Lynd has a clemency hearing on May 5th before the GA Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Please
send a letter today to the Board – tell them that you oppose the
resumption of executions in Georgia and request clemency for William
Earl Lynd.This is the moment to halt all executions. It is not the moment to speed up the process and resume state killing.
In Solidarity,
Sue Gunawardena-VaughnDirector, Death Penalty Abolition Campaign
Amnesty International USA