Kentucky Coalition to
Abolish the Death Penalty
P.O, Box 3092, Louisville Kentucky, 40201-3092
email: keadp@earthlink.net e
website: www.keadp.org,
Press Release — For Immediate Release September 25, 2007
Contacts: Rev. Patrick Delahanty 502-494-3298 (cell)
Death Penalty C oalition Welcomes U.S. Supreme C ourt
Decision to Hear KY Lethal Injection Case
The Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty applauds the U. S. Supreme Court decision to grant
oral arguments to determine if Kentucky’s execution procedures are cruel or not.
The case was brought to the court by Ralph Baze and others on Kentucky’s death row.
Ironically, the Court made this move on the same day Baze would have been executed if Attorney General
Greg Stumbo and Kentucky’s Govemor, Emie Fletcher, had their way. Even though Baze had this case and
others pending before various courts, Stumbo and Fletcher callously proceeded to seek his death.
Their action flies in the face of the wishes of citizens of Kentucky who overwhelmingly prefer sentences
other than death in capital murder cases according to polling data gathered by the University of Kentucky in
late 2006.
In line with the polling results, more than 3,700 Kentuckians have recently signed a petition prepared by the
NOT IN OUR NAME CAMPAIGN asking the Govemor to sentence Baze to prison rather than executing him.
(These will be presented to Governor Fletcher as soon as copies are made of the documents.) The petition
states in part: “We recognize and abhor his crime, but we and most citizens of Kentucky are turing away from
executions as an appropriate punishment. We believe that execution is not only immoral, but it serves no deter-
rent or social purpose, is increasingly expensive and is irreversible. Mistakes cannot be corrected.”
Rev. Pat Delahanty, chair of KCADP, said, “The law certainly, but unfortunately, grants Govemor Fletcher
the power to kill Ralph Baze. We certainly hope this decision by the court would cause the Govemor to forgo
the use of that power as long as any court proceedings are pending in a capital case.”
Delahanty added, “The right thing for the Governor to do now is heed the voices of Kentuckians and go
ahead and sentence Baze to prison, rather than kill him. This would allow all involved to move on with their
lives.”
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