TIKKUN's RABBI MICHAEL LERNER JOINED THE CALL: STOP THE EXECUTION OF KEVIN COOPER; END THE DEATH PENALTY IN CALIFORNIA!
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PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION AT:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-cooper-execution-end-death-penalty-in-caifornia/
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Los Angeles, December 15 - Human Rights Alert and Joseph Zernik, PhD, thanked Tikkun's Rabbi Michael Lerner for joining the call upon California Governer Arnold Schwarzenegger to stop the execution of Kevin Cooper and impose a moratorium on the death penalty in California.

As noted in the petition itself, reasonable doubts remained regarding the guilt of Kevin Cooper, which led five federal judges to take issue with their colleagues' decision to put a stop to Cooper's appeals.

Moreover, corruption of the justice system in Los Angeles County, California was well-documented for over a decade in official, schoarly and media reports.

Thousand of Rampart-FIPs (Falsely Imprisoned Persons) - victims of court corruption of the courts in Los Angeles County, which was uncovered in the Rampart scandal investigation (1998-2000) remain imprisoned to this date, and judges of the Los Angeles Court were documented as objecting to their release, since it would lead to "collapse of the justice system".

"Corruption of the courts and the legal profession" in California was also noted in a recent report of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which called upon the US to abolish the death penalty.

Therefore, the petition called upon California Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger to stop the execution of Kevin Cooper and to impose a moratorium on the death penalty in California.

Rabbi Michael Lerner has previously voiced his principled opposition to the death penalty. Tikkun is committed to "heal, repair, and transform the world".

The Jewish community is vastly over-represented among judges and attorneys in California, and the Jewish community historically held itself committed to Human and Civil Rights in the United States. Therefore, Human Rights Alert repeatedly asserted that the Jewish community must deem itself accountable for the conditions of the justice system in California and the United States.

Asking leading rabbis of the day to voice their opinions on current issues has been a Jewish tradition for some 1,500 years.
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PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION AT:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-cooper-execution-end-death-penalty-in-caifornia//