Write letters and make phone calls to elected officials. Handwritten letters make a big impact.
If you don’t know who your legislators are, go to Find My Legislators, and use the look-up tools at the top right of the page. If you know your legislator, you can look up his or her address in the following links:
You can model your own letter on the sample below. Please modify the letter using your own words. Short and simple is best.
Date
Representative/Senator ____________________
Legislative Hall
411 Legislative Ave
Dover, DE 19901
Dear Representative/Senator _______________________,
Thank you for your service to Delaware and your willingness to tackle the difficult issues facing our state.
As your constituent, I am deeply concerned about the possibility of the death penalty being reinstated in Delaware law. Since the Delaware Supreme Court found the death penalty statute unconstitutional in August 2016, I urge you to honor the Court’s decision and keep Delaware death penalty-free.
I want Delaware to keep citizens and law enforcement officers safe. Our long history of using the death penalty while still maintaining a high murder rate demonstrates that the death penalty fails as a deterrent. The death penalty wastes taxpayer dollars rather than using them for policies that have proven track records at improving public and law enforcement safety.
Delaware has a history of racial bias in its application of the death penalty. A study of Delaware’s death penalty by Cornell University Law School showed that blacks who kill whites in Delaware are more than six times as likely to get the death penalty as blacks who kill blacks. The value of a white victim’s life should not be more than the value of a black victim’s life.
Several of the men formerly on Delaware’s death row were sentenced to death without a shred of physical evidence. With a death penalty that doesn’t require any DNA evidence, Delaware is at risk of executing an innocent person.
For these reasons, I believe Delaware should remain free of the death penalty and use the savings to support crime victims and fund programs that will make our communities safer. I would like to hear from you about whether you will keep Delaware death penalty free.
Thank you,
(Signature here)
Your Name
Your Address
Delaware Citizens Opposed to the Death Penalty 