Printer Friendly

Email to A Friend

Friday June 22, 2001

U.S. Report

NEW YORK (JTA) -- A U.S. Jewish group is calling for a moratorium on the death penalty in light of the first two federal executions since 1963.

The chairman of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Leonard Cole, said the death penalty, which is currently legal in 38 states as well as at the federal level, is "incompatible with the traditional Jewish regard for the sanctity of life."

Last week, Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, was executed; on Tuesday, Juan Raul Garza, who committed a drug-related murder and ordered two other people killed, was put to death.

Did you find this article interesting? Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and you'll be notified each week when "J." goes online. We'll tell you about the most important stories of the week and give you a link to each one.

This page contains a BETA version of Amazon contextual links. They are marked by the dashed underline.  Your purchases support our site. At times they point to items which are not related to the actual link. Please alert us by email if you discover objectionable links.