Do We Deserve To Kill?

Dear Friends,

Today marks World Day Against the Death Penalty. It also marks an important day for us as an organization: our team has saved another person from the death penalty. Our client, originally charged with capital murder, has been sentenced to life in prison. His is the 44th life we have saved from the death penalty since 2018.

On this of all days, it is worth holding in our minds lawyer and author Bryan Stevenson’s words: “The question of the death penalty is not, ‘Do people deserve to die for the crimes they commit?’ I think the threshold question is, ‘Do we deserve to kill?’“

For us at TDS, the answer to Stevenson’s question is clear. The death penalty perpetuates racism and social inequality. It targets people with intellectual and other disabilities. It does not make our communities stronger and safer. It results in the conviction and execution of the actually innocent. And it fails to incorporate the basic human truth that people can grow and change.

It is this final truth that our clients teach us again and again; a truth that motivates our work above all else. Our client Ramiro Gonzales, who was executed earlier this year despite an outpouring of support from faith leaders across the world, loved the 13th chapter of Corinthians, which closes with these words: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” As Ramiro, a faith leader himself, often said, “I’m on death row, but I still have faith. I still have hope. And I can still love everybody around me.”

At TDS, we are motivated by faith in people, hope for a future where everyone is treated with dignity and equality, and love for humanity. We have seen how working passionately year in and out—motivated by faith, hope, and love—has led to real results. We know change is possible in Texas because we have made it happen.

True, the fight for justice in Texas isn’t easy. It requires hard work. It requires skill. It requires patience. It requires faith in justice and in people. It requires hope for a better future and enough love for humanity to know that our incredible effort is worth it—always. It is a fight we believe in—and we are grateful that you do, too. 

With gratitude,