Death penalty questions for discussion

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"Myths and Realities" provides ‘quick answers to common questions’ about the death penalty. The booklet is interactive in format - allowing readers to read the myth and turn over a flap to discover the reality. We hope it will be a useful guide for activists and advocates of abolition, giving them the arguments they need to tackle common pre- and misconceptions."

Some of the 13 realities to the myths are:

• the death penalty doesn't keep people safer than other sentences;
• you can never be 100% sure you're killing the right person; nobody can say who deserves to die;
• the death penalty is not applied fairly--people who are poor, mentally challenges, or from a minority are more likely to get a death sentence;
• the majority of the public do not want the death penalty;
• and one is not "soft on crime" if they oppose capital punishment-- the harshest sentence isn't the same as an effective response to crime.