One of the best ways you can help abolish Delaware’s death penalty is by writing a Letter to the Editor. Each letter that is published becomes an important part of the public conversation on the death penalty.
Writing a Letter to the Editor is easy. Include your personal reasons for supporting death penalty repeal, your thoughts on important death penalty news stories, or whatever you personally find most important.
Here are some good general tips about writing letters to the editor:
- State the point of your letter in the first sentence, and spend the rest of the letter backing up your statement. Reiterate your original point at the end.
- Use data whenever available. One key statistic to back up your statement can add much more weight to your argument than without it.
- Keep it short – 250 words maximum, or below the limit stated by the publication. That’s about three short paragraphs. Often shorter letters are more likely to be published.
- Stay on topic. Avoid extraneous information that does not back up your original point.
- Write concisely. Try to avoid overly long sentences.
- Use a personal voice. It’s a letter, so it doesn’t need to be written as you would an article.
Visit the resource pages at DCODP and DE Repeal for facts and information you can incorporate into your letter. Topics you may wish to write about include:
Delaware’s death penalty:
- Risks executing an innocent
- Costs more than life without parole
- Doesn’t keep us safer
- Will not keep corrections officers or law enforcement safer
- Violates Conservative principles of small government, fiscal conservatism, and pro-life.
- Is morally wrong
- Is racially biased
- Is reserved for the poor and applied unfairly
- Doesn’t provide closure or support for families of murder victims
- Conflicts with my religious beliefs
- Represents revenge, not justice
- Fails to reliably result in executions
- Allows the state to kill its own citizens
- Can’t happen because the lethal injection drugs are becoming impossible to obtain legally.
You’ll find below a list of Delaware’s newspapers with links to the online submission page or email address where you may send your letter. On the submission pages, you’ll just need to type or click and paste your letter into the appropriate area along with your contact information. Thank you for your help!
Delaware Newspapers
The News Journal – New Castle County
The State News (email to newsroom@newszap.com)
The Dover Post – Dover
The Cape Gazette (email to newsroom@capegazette.com) – Rehoboth Beach
Delaware Coast Press – Rehoboth Beach
Delaware Citizens Opposed to the Death Penalty 