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Please respond to these two breaking news stories by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
Here are some tips for writing letters, as well as a list of newspapers. Letters should be very short, less than 150 words. Always include your name, city, and phone number.
Below are some sample messages on these topics:
1. This extraordinary new investigative report in the New Yorker shows that an innocent man has been executed. David Grann's report, in the September issue, exhaustively deconstructs every aspect of the Cameron Willingham case and shows that none of the evidence used to convict Willingham was valid.
2. Since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1974, Grann's report constitutes the strongest case on record in this country that an innocent man was executed.
3. This case has given many people pause for the last five years. There has been mounting evidence that the forensic analysis was completely wrong.
4. This investigative report goes beyond the scientific evidence and debunks every other piece of evidence in the case. We are now able to look at this case in its totality and see that Willingham was innocent.
5. We don't know how many innocent people have been executed, but there's no question that it has happened. As long as our system of justice makes mistakes - including the ultimate mistake - we cannot continue executing people.
6. The new poll released by by UC Santa Cruz Professor Craig Haney reveals that the death penalty is a thing of the past. Californians are ready to find cheaper, more effective, and less barbaric ways to ways to protect public safety.
7. California would save $1 billion in 5 years by ending the death penalty and replacing it with permanent imprisonment instead.
Please write!
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