Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown Students Protest Death Penalty

Georgetown Students Protest Death Penalty

By Tim Sullivan Hoya Staff Writer

Ten Georgetown students joined in a protest by approximately 40 people of the United States’ death penalty policies yesterday at the Supreme Court. Members of the Georgetown Campaign to End the Death Penalty attended the protest, held to coincide with the first day of the Court’s new term.

On this day every year, the court rules on appellate cases, such as appeals for a stay of execution, with denial effectively ending an inmate’s chances of avoiding death.

In addition to Georgetown students, Amnesty International’s Director of the Death Penalty Project Samuel Jordan attended the protest. Other prominent attendees included John Gilliam Price, the brother of an inmate executed last November.

Campaign President Kay Parish (SFS ’02) said that there were approximately 40 protesters on the steps of the Supreme Court fighting to abolish capital punishment in the United States.

“I thought it was good, though it was a little smaller than I had hoped,” said protester Danny Levy (COL ’01). “I don’t think we had much impact on the Supreme Court today but we got out there and did what we could to fight this injustice.”

One denial handed down yesterday was that of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a convicted cop killer. Abu-Jamal has recently gained national attention because of a benefit concert put on by the Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine last January in New Jersey to benefit his legal defense fund.

Students marched on the steps of the Supreme Court building chanting, “They say Death Row, we say Hell No!” and “Hey ho, Hey ho, the death penalty must go!”

“I think the death penalty is the worst possible way to die, because you’re dying because of a country’s hate for you,” Parish said.

The Georgetown Campaign to End the Death Penalty was founded five years ago and boasts a membership of over 200 members, with over 30 core members, though, according to Parish, the club was not very active until this year. So far this year, members of the organization have attended a workshop in Philadelphia sponsored by the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

For the rest of the year, the campaign plans to bring several speakers to campus and hold forums to educate students. “We want to focus on those students who are either undecided about the death penalty or don’t know anything about it,” Parish said.

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