ACT NOW: Tell President Biden to Commute Billie Allen's Death Sentence

Billie Jerome Allen has been on federal death row for over half his life. [View in Browser]( [Amnesty International candle logo]( [Tell President Biden: Commute Billie Allen’s sentence and abolish the death penalty]( Hi {NAME}, Billie Jerome Allen has been on federal death row for over half his life. Now 45, Allen was just 19 at the time of the crime for which he was sentenced to death in 1998. Allen is one of 43 men who remain on federal death row, despite President Biden’s promises to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level. The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman punishment that violates the right to life. [{NAME}, will you tell President Biden to use his constitutional authority to commute the death sentence of Billie Allen and all others on federal death row?]( [Billie Allen]( Raise your voice: [Tell Biden: Commute Billie Allen’s Death Sentence]( Billie Allen’s case illustrates the racial and geographic biases that have long impacted the death penalty in the U.S. He is Black (as is his co-defendant). The victim, prosecutors, judge, and defense team were white. And the jury consisted of 10 white and two Black jurors. The death penalty has disproportionately impacted Black and Brown people—particularly in the South. Despite comprising 33% of the U.S. population, Black and Latinx people represent 53% of federal death row inmates. Of the 43 individuals on federal death row, 31 were tried in federal court in the South, with Texas alone accounting for seven of the cases. The U.S. Government has carried out 16 executions since 1976 — three under President George W. Bush and 13 under President Donald Trump in 2020 and 2021 — as Trump raced to execute as many people on federal death row as possible during the last six months of his presidency. Billie Allen could have been one of them. [It only takes a minute to urge Biden to commute Allen’s sentence and abolish the federal death penalty — will you speak out today?]( All people have the right to life, and we all have the right to be free from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment. The death penalty violates these rights. Amnesty has been campaigning to abolish the death penalty in the U.S. and worldwide for over 40 years. We also campaign to stop executions of specific individuals — and we’ve proven we can be successful when we raise our voices together. President Biden promised to abolish the federal death penalty while running for president, but his administration has yet to act on that promise. More than half the world’s countries have totally abolished the death penalty. But the U.S. hasn’t — not yet. {NAME}, we need your help and so does Billie Allen. [Raise your voice today and demand that Biden commute Billie Allen’s sentence and end the federal death penalty, once and for all.]( Thank you, Justin Mazzola Deputy Director of Research Amnesty International USA [DONATE NOW]( © 2023 Amnesty International USA 311 W 43rd Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10036 | 1-800-AMNESTY Please don't reply to this email. You can send questions to aimember@aiusa.org. We’re so happy you’re here to hear about the most important updates on human rights! If necessary, you can [opt to receive fewer emails]( or [unsubscribe here](. [supporter]