The Death Penalty is Dead Wrong

We welcome your comments, questions, letters to the editor, contributions for future newsletters (reviews of books or films about the death penalty, articles about your involvement in this issue, news about your state situation, etc.), suggestions.

If you need to know who to contact in your state, ask us -- we have an abolitionist directory in our office.

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Death Penalty Does Not Deter Crime spacer

Dedicated to Finding Alternatives to the Death Penalty for Over a Decade

Unitarian Universalists for Alternatives to the Death Penalty was organized in November, 1996 (as Unitarian Universalists Against the Death Penalty) and is an independent group of Unitarian Universalists.

We are a social action group, seeking to give witness to the six UUA resolutions calling for an end to capital punishment. These resolutions on the capital punishment and other related statements of conscience were adopted in 1961, 1966, 1974, 1979, 1989, and 2005. They are the official positions of the denomination made by the democratically elected delegates to the annual General Assemblies.

We are grateful for the enthusiastic support we have received from our denomination, particularly the UUA Faith in Action Office for Justice Programs, and the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility.

Our members come from 43 different states. We are reaching out to all UU congregations, and working to increase membership so that our work may continue effectively.

More Information on Unitarian Universalists for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Board of Directors

President:              Mac Goekler

Mac Goekler is a member of Unitarian Universalists of Southern Delaware and chairs the UU Peace Ministry Network, a Unitarian Universalist group dedicated to building a culture of peace. He is a retired manufacturing executive and resides in Rehoboth Beach, DE with his spouse Susan.

Treasurer:              Arthur Thexton

Arthur Thexton is a career prosecutor in a state without the death penalty. He is Vice President of the Wisconsin Coalition Against the Death Penalty, and a member of the James Reeb Unitarian-Universalist Congregation, Madison.

Secretary:               Robert Bacon

Bob Bacon is a lawyer who represents death-sentenced prisoners. He lives in Oakland, California, and is a member of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco.

Directors:               Rev. Cathy Harrington

In 2004 Cathy Harrington’s 26-year old daughter, Leslie, was murdered in a brutal attack in her own home. It was Halloween night when the killer broke in, also taking the life of another of Leslie’s housemates. A year later, after an extensive police investigation, Eric Copple admitted to the crimes. Copple is now serving two life sentences with no right to appeal. Cathy is a Unitarian Universalist minister serving the Chattanooga church. Since her daughter’s murder Cathy has devoted herself to campaigning for a fairer judicial system.

Martha West

Martha “Marty” West is professor emerita, University of California Davis Law School, where she taught employment law, labor law, and gender discrimination law from 1982 to 2007.  She joined the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis in 2006, and served on the board from 2011 to 2014, chairing the board in 2013-14.  She grew up as a pacifist in the Church of the Brethren, strongly opposed to the death penalty, and participated in the recent California campaign to abolish the death

Mandy Goheen

Rev. Mandy Goheen is the Minister for the UU Church of Chattanooga, TN. Mandy is originally from Southern Ohio and now lives in Chattanooga with her spouse, six children and two dogs.