Urge Congress to Remove Death Penalty Provision from Matthew Shepherd Hate Crimes Prevention Act | S. 909

Please contact your members of congress (House and Senate) to urge them to remove the death penalty provision when it goes to conference.

You can reach the US Capitol switchboard at 202.224.3121 and ask for your Senator’s or Representative’s office.   If you do not know who your two U.S. Senators or your Representative are, or for their direct office phone numbers and e-mail addresses, go here:  http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt

AFTER YOU CALL, please forward this message to your friends, family, etc. and ask them to call, and then please also send an e-mail to each of your two Senators and your Representative.

Thank you for your immediate action.

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
202-331-4090

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We urge Members of Congress to recognize this egregious effort to dismantle the Hate Crimes Prevention Act for what it is, and remove the death penalty amendment from the bill when it goes to conference.The Leadership Conference – along with the sponsors of the bill and the more than 300 civil rights, human rights, religious, and law enforcement organizations that support the strengthening of hate crimes legislation – strongly opposed this amendment.The need for hate crimes legislation has become apparent as we hear stories about individuals like Stephen Tyrone Johns of Washington, D.C., Sean Kennedy of South Carolina, Angie Zapata of Colorado, Luis Ramirez of Pennsylvania, and Matthew Shepard of Wyoming, and others who have found themselves targeted because of the color of their skin, their national origin, their religion, their gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.

In an increasingly diverse America, no civil right is more vital to the American Democracy than the government’s role in protecting individuals from acts of violence because of who they are.”

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