We were innocent on death row. Now we are asking President Biden to commute the sentences of everyone currently on federal death row and we are asking Congress to abolish the federal death penalty. 

President Biden and U.S. Congressional Representatives,

There is no such thing as an error proof death penalty. As long as the death penalty exists, innocent people will be sentenced to death, and some will be executed. Researchers estimate that 4% of people on death row are innocent. Official misconduct, mistaken eyewitness testimony, junk science, jailhouse snitches, and racial bias are all among the frightening list of factors that have resulted in at least 174 wrongful capital convictions in the United States. In a system fraught with error, racism, and procedural roadblocks, we can be sure that innocent people have fallen through the cracks and been executed.

We, the undersigned, are standing with the death row exonerees of Witness to Innocence and asking you to help stop this injustice.

We urge you to abolish the federal death penalty and commute the sentences of everyone currently on federal death row.

As the past Board Chair of Witness to Innocence, Freddie Lee Pitts, said “You can free an innocent man from prison, but you can’t free him from the grave.”