Executions Lead Activist to Campaign

And in his lecture "Fatally Flawed: The Death Penalty From the Rosenbergs to Mumia Abu-Jamal," Meeropol was able to offer a deeply personal perspective to the ongoing debate over the death penalty.

Meeropol's parents, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, were convicted in 1951 and executed in 1953, during the height of anti-communist sentiments in the United States, for charges of espionage and attempting to transmit the secrets behind the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.

Meeropol has spent the last three decades as an anti-capital punishment activist. His speech focused on drawing parallels to the execution of his parents to the case of Philadelphia journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, who faces the death penalty for the murder of a police officer.

Senior John Johnson, who coordinated the event with the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, said he hoped Meeropol's words would encourage students to unite for an end to capital punishment. "We like to have people who can tell personal stories and motivate people to get involved here," he said.

Johnson said Meeropol and his brother are the only people in the United States to have both of their parents executed by the government. "(The lecture) puts a human face on the death penalty, one you don't often see," he said.

Meeropol vehemently expressed his opposition to capital punishment and made strong ties between his parents' situation and Abu-Jamal's. "As with my parents, Mumia has a family," he said. "What does it feel like to have a parent on death row?"

Because Abu-Jamal was a radio journalist who frequently exposed police brutality, Meeropol said many believe he was unfairly convicted and will be sent to death for political motives, just as the Rosenbergs were. "He is the first political prisoner in this country to face execution since my parents," he said.

Meeropol said international movements to save his parents' lives were sparked prior to their execution and said the same is happening with Abu-Jamal's case.

While explaining people's various justifications for opposing capital punishment, Meeropol explained his personal ideology. "The system has to be perfect," he said. "The problem is human beings are incapable of perfection. You get the inevitability of innocent people being executed."

Meeropol said the greatest problem facing the movement to end capital punishment lies within the government. "It's a national system that is in force by primarily our elected officials."

He said this reflects the ideals of the public, who are putting pro-capital punishment legislators into office. "These people just want revenge," he said. "They're the symptom of the problem. It adds to a climate of violence.

"If we're going to give the government power over us . don't we want these institutions to reflect our highest aspirations instead of base emotions? We should emphasize reconciliation rather than retribution."

Meeropol said educating those uncertain of their stance on capital punishment is vital to abolishing it.

"It is at one with the evolution of our humanity."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.