We join together as citizens of San Luis Obispo County to work in affiliation with the national Death Penalty Focus organization toward the total abolition of the death penalty through:

Education about the detrimental effects of the death penalty on all of us, and alternatives to it.

Public vigils and protests in opposition to state or federal executions.

Lobbying political and civic leaders to support a moratorium on the death penalty and to work towards its eventual abolition.

-Studies conducted in 1962, 1967, 1980 and again in 2000, conclude that there is no indication that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime. There is some evidence that states with capital punishment have even doubled their crime rate.

-Innocent people have been convicted of capital crimes they did not commit. Of those 400, 23 were executed before their innocence was proven.

-It costs taxpayers more to execute a person than to keep him or her in prison for life. In California, we pay $90 million a year beyond the ordinary costs of the justice system in order to put murderers to death � costs which divert funds away from preventive measures such as early education and an end to poverty, as well as funds for counseling and other services to victims of violent crimes.

-Most of the men and women on Death Row are poor, uneducated, and often mentally handicapped. In addition, a far higher ratio of African Americans and Latinos are put to death than are Whites, especially if the victim of the crime is White.

More than 95 nations worldwide have abandoned capital punishment. The U.S. remains in the same company as Iraq, Iran and China as one of the major advocates and users of the death penalty.

While it is true that the majority of Americans still support the death penalty, that number greatly decreases when the alternative of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is offered.

Our membership is open to all who stand with us in opposition to the death penalty.

Vigils are every first Wednesday of the month, 12-1 p.m. on the corner of Chorro and Monterey by the Mission in San Luis Obispo. People wishing to participate are requested to dress all in black and join the group.

If you would like to learn more about the death penalty and how you can help to abolish it, please call Sr. Mary Pat White at (805) 543-4105, or visit the national Death Penalty Focus Web site, www.deathpenalty.org.