Capital Punishment

Adopted by the CCAR at the 90th Annual Convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

Phoenix, Arizona, March 26-29, 1979.

In 1958 and again in 1960, the Central Conference of American Rabbis stated its opposition to all forms of capital punishment.

We reaffirm that position now.  Nothing which we have observed during the intervening years has shaken our convictions that:

a. Both in concept and in practice, Jewish tradition found capital punishment repugnant, despite Biblical sanctions for it.  For the past 2,000 years, with the rarest ofexceptions, Jewish courts have refused to punish criminals by depriving them of their lives.

b. No evidence has been marshaled to indicate with any persuasiveness that capital punishment serves as a deterrent to crime.

c. We oppose capital punishment under all circumstances.