TAKE ACTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Tell President Biden to Commute Billie Allen's Death Sentence

Billie Jerome Allen has been on federal death row for well over half his life. He is one of two Black men sentenced to death in 1998 for the murder of an armed security guard. Allen’s death sentence has been defended under five Presidents – Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and now Joe Biden despite claims of racial bias, his age at the time of the crime (he was only 19 when the crime was committed), and a lack of DNA evidence linking Allen to the crime

More than 40 men remain on federal death row today. President Biden promised to work to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level — but has not acted.

ACT NOW: Tell President Biden to use his constitutional authority to commute the death sentence of Billie Allen and all others on federal death row.

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Dear President Biden,

I welcomed the abolitionist pledge you made before taking office but am concerned at the lack of decisive action in the past two years to make that promise a reality. Indeed, your administration’s defense of federal death sentences – opposing relief and moving individuals closer to execution – is reason to question its commitment to your pledge.
More than 40 men remain on federal death row. One of them is Billie Allen, 19 years old at the time of the crime. He is now 45.  His case illustrates the sort of racial and geographic biases which have long been of concern about the death penalty in the USA.  
I do not seek to minimize the seriousness of violent crime or to downplay its consequences on individuals, their families, and the wider community. However, I believe the death penalty is a symptom of violence not a solution to it and expands the grief and suffering of relatives and loved ones of murder victims to those of the condemned. 
International law requires governments to ensure abolition of the death penalty within a reasonable timeframe.  Nearly half a century after the USA resumed judicial killing, it is falling far short of this responsibility. Mr. President, you and your predecessors have frequently asserted that the USA is a global human rights champion. Just last December, you proclaimed that the “United States is leading the power of our example – demonstrating that our commitment to human rights begins here at home”. 
Please meet your abolitionist pledge. As an immediate first step, I urge you to use your constitutional authority to commute the death sentences of Billie Allen and all others on federal death row.

Yours sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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