Southern Center for Human Rights

The death penalty is a direct descendant of lynching and other forms of racial violence and oppression in the American South. Race, socioeconomic status, the county in which the alleged offense was committed, and the quality of the attorneys ultimately play the most decisive roles in who receives a death sentence.

The evidence is clear that the death penalty does not make us safer.

For 50 years, SCHR has been a leading force in litigating and advocating around capital cases in the Deep South, securing numerous victories on behalf of our clients facing the death penalty.

SCHR has argued and won five death penalty cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, four of which challenged profound race discrimination in capital trials.

Here in Georgia, one of our GA Supreme Court wins resulted in the discontinuation of the cruel and unusual punishment practice of using an electric chair (2001).

For nearly twenty years, SCHR along with the broader capital defense and disability rights communities, worked tirelessly to change a law that puts people with Intellectual Disability at greater risk of ex*****on than any other state. Last year, HB 123, a bill that will protect people with intellectual disability from being sentenced to death was signed into law. This was a huge undertaking decades in the making.

Central to this celebration year is our fundraising campaign “50 Years Forward!” Donors like you sustain us and make this work possible. Please consider a donation in any amount that is meaningful to you. www.schr.org/donate

This week we are celebrating our 50-year anniversary of fighting for racial and class equity in the Deep South with our Golden Jubilee Weekend in Atlanta. Whether you are joining us for the symposium, putting on your fancy clothes for Justice Taking Root or coming out to see old friends at the festival in Piedmont Park; we do this work with and for our community and want to mark this occasion with all of you. Make sure to get your tickets before space runs out. The deadline to purchase tickets is at the end of the day today. Stay tuned this week as we take a look back at some of our most impactful work over the last five decades. https://goldenjubilee.schr.org/