The Moratorium Campaign


Death Penalty:	YES
Prohibit Execution of the Mentally Retarded:	YES. However, this state will need to redefine its definition of mental retardation to conform to the recent United States Supreme Court decision Atkins v. Virginia, which held that it is a violation of the United States Constitution to execute persons with an IQ of less than 70.
Life Without Parole:	YES
Minimum Age to Eligible for the Death Penalty:	18
Number on Death Row:	106
Executions Since 1976:	1
Race of Defendants:	40 black (38%), 56 white (57%), 2 Latino (2%), 2 Native American(2%), 2 Asian (2%)
Race of Victims:	unknown
Racial Make-up of State Population:	80.2% white, 16.4% black, 2.2% Hispanic, Asian 1%, 0.3% Native American, 1% Other
Innocents Exonerated:	NO
Murder Rate:	7.1 per 100,000
Governor:	Don Sundquist (R). Elected 1998, term expires 2003., (),
Presidential Vote:	Bush 51%, Gore 47%, Nader 1%
Public Opinion on the Death Penalty:	unknown
Organizations Endorsing a Moratorium:	County of Nashville-Davidson American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee (Nashville) Amnesty International, Group 149 (Nashville) Appalachian Community Development Associated Catholic Charities of East Tennessee Better Decisions (Nashville) Brookmeade Congregational Church, United Church of Christ (Nashville) Catholic Charities of Knoxville (Knoxville) Christ Church Cathedral (Nashville) Citizens for Police Review, Inc. Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE), Tennessee Invisible Bars Common Ground, Inc. (Nashville) Congregation Micah (Nashville) Covenant Association for Metropolitan Community Relations (Nashville) Crabtree Farms of Chattanooga, Inc. (Chattanooga) Cumberland Center for Peace and Justice Cumberland Countians for Peace and Justice (Pleasant Hill) First Unitarian Universalist Church (Nashville) Food Not Bombs, Knoxville (Knoxville) Foundations, A Course on Healing (Knoxville) Green Party of Middle Tennessee Hobson United Methodist Church (Nashville) Holy Cross Parish Holy Ghost Catholic Church (Knoxville) Holy Spirit Catholic Church Immaculate Conception, Faith in Action Committee Interfaith Alliance of Tennessee John XXIII Catholic Parish Katuah Earth First Knights of Columbus, Knoxville (Knoxville) Ladies of Charity (Knoxville) Marist Missionary Sisters (Memphis) Metropolitan Interdenominational Church (Nashville) Nashville Board of Rabbis (Nashville) Nashville Greenlands (Nashville) Nashville Peace and Justice Center (Nashville) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Nashville (Nashville) National Association for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), Nashville (Nashville) National Organization of Women, Tennessee Chapter National Organization of Women, Nashville Chapter (Nashville) Presbyterian Church (USA), East Tennessee Presbytery Reconciliation, Inc. Reconciliation Prison Ministry (Nashville) Religious Society of Friends, Nashville Friends Meeting (Nashville) Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville (Knoxville) Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, Hispanic Ministry (Knoxville) Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, Office of Justice, Peace, & integrity of Creation (Knoxville) Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis (Memphis) Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville (Nashville) Samaritan Place (Knoxville) Second Presbyterian Church (Nashville) Sisters of Mercy Convent (Knoxville) St. Anthony Church (Knoxville) St. Anthony Pastoral Council St. Elizabeth Church St. Henry Catholic Church (Rogersville) St. John Neumann Catholic School, Faculty St. John Neumann Church (Knoxville) St. Jude Church St. Mary's Medical Center (Knoxville) St. Stephen Catholic Church (Chattanooga) St. Therese Church (Clinton) St. Therese Church, Council of Catholic Women (Clinton) St. Therese Parish Council St. Thomas Church (Knoxville) The Tennessean Tennessee Catholic Public Policy Commission (Nashville) Tennessee Citizen-Action (Nashville) Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing (TCASK) Unitarian Fellowship of Murfreesboro (Murfreesboro) Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations United Methodist Church, Restorative Justice Ministries (Nashville) United Methodist Church, Tennessee Annual Conference University of Tennessee, College of Nursing (Knoxville) Vanderbilt Divinity School, Student Government Association Vanderbilt Divinity School, United Methodist Student Association War Resisters League, Nashville Chapter (Nashville)
Organizations Working FOR a Moratorium:	ACLU of Tennessee* P.O. Box 120160 Nashville, TN 37212 Hedy Weinberg-contact 615-320-7142-(day) [email protected] www.aclu-tn.org Amnesty International State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator Aaron Carlos-contact 615-228-3019-(phone) [email protected] East Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing* 119 Dameron Ave. Knoxville, TN 37917 Marcus Keyes-contact 865-540-8348-(day) Kevin Barry-contact 865-670-2129-(day) Lee Ann Swarm-contact 865-579-6662-(day) 865-971-3575-(fax) www.tcask.org Federal Defenders Office 810 Broadway, Suite 200 Nashville, TN 37203 Paul Bottei-contact 615-736-5047-(day) 615-736-5265-(fax) Friends Outside P.O. Box 321 Murfreesboro, TN 37130 Shirley Dicks-contact Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers 207 Third Ave. N., Ste. 510 Nashville, TN 37201 Barbara N. Short-contact 615-726-1225--(day) 615-726-2560--(fax) [email protected] www.pdknox.org/tacdl Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing P.O. Box 120552 Nashville, TN 37212 Randy Tatel-contact 615-329-0048--(day) 615-329-0058--(fax) [email protected] www.tcask.org
Clemency:	The Governor has absolute power over clemency. The Board of Pardons considers and makes non-binding recommendations concerning all requests for commutation. The Governor may commute a death sentence to life imprisonment when the State Supreme Court finds that the punishment should be commuted.
Who Decides Sentence:	Jury
Method of Execution:	Tennessee authorizes lethal injection for those sentenced after January 1, 1999. As of May 3, 1998, those currently on death row will choose between the electric chair and lethal injection.

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