Urge Your Senate Judiciary Committee Member to Support S. 486, the Innocence Protection Act of 2001

In the next two weeks, the Senate Judiciary committee will begin holding hearings on the Innocence Protection Act of 2001 (IPA). The IPA is a carefully crafted package of criminal justice reforms aimed at ensuring that no more innocent people are sentenced to die.

Because your Senator is on the Judiciary Committee, you are in a very special position to help make sure that this important bill becomes law. Your Senator has not yet signed on as a supporter of the IPA, so it's essential that he/she knows you and other constituents strongly support safeguards, such as access to DNA testing and improving the quality of legal representation in capital cases, before the Senate hearing later this month.

Go to http://www.thejusticeproject.org/grassroots and send a free, personalized fax urging your Senator to support the IPA today! After sending your fax, send the message below to other people in your state encouraging them to do the same.

Thank you for your support!

+----Cut and Paste This Message to Send to Friends and Acquaintances----+

Innocent people are being sentenced to die in nearly every state. For every seven executions conducted in the last 25 years, one innocent person has been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death. 96 innocent people have been released from death row since 1973. How many more innocent people must lose years of their lives to our broken capital punishment system?

In the next two weeks, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on an important bill called the Innocence Protection Act of 2001. The Innocence Protection Act of 2001 guarantees that every person accused of a capital crime has access to competent, experienced counsel and has the right to DNA testing of evidence. It also states that juries should be informed of all sentencing options including, where applicable, life imprisonment without parole.

You can help prevent innocent people from being sentenced to die by sending a FREE FAX to your U.S Senators at http://www.TheJusticeProject.org/grassroots. Tell your Senators to support the Innocence Protection Act, and forward this e-mail to your friends!