Equal Justice USA Press Release

Michael Ross survivor speaks against death penalty as Connecticut legislature takes historic vote

Victim forced to file bankruptcy for lack of services, while Ross became a celebrity, she says

HARTFORD, CT - Vivian Dobson, the only woman to survive an attack from Michael Ross, will call for an end to the death penalty today, detailing a 22-year ordeal of psychiatric wards, medical bills, and emotional trauma following her 1983 rape.

"Dobson's story reflects a complete perversion of the criminal justice system in this country," said Shari Silberstein, Co-Director of the Quixote Center, a national organization that advocates for a halt to executions while the system is examined.

"Here is a women who got absolutely nothing, no support, no services, while Connecticut spent millions to turn Michael Ross into a celebrity in an attempt to kill him," Silberstein continued.

Dobson's first public appearance comes as the Connecticut House of Representatives votes on a measure to repeal the death penalty today. The vote marks the first time since the death penalty's reinstatement that a repeal bill passed out of Connecticut's Judiciary committee to be voted on by the full House of Representatives. The forward progress of the Connecticut debate reflects a national trend of states that are reevaluating the death penalty.

"Across the country, states are recognizing that the death penalty isn't working. A thorough examination of victims' services and the impact of the death penalty on victims is sorely needed," Silberstein added. "Is spending millions and millions of dollars to execute a handful of people truly the best use of our nation's scarce resources? Is that the best way to help victims?"

New Mexico's House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the death penalty and improve victims' services last month. New Jersey and New York have moratoriums on the death penalty as the courts and legislature reevaluate their death penalty systems. North Carolina's Senate passed a moratorium bill in 2003 and is reconsidering the bill this year. A total of eleven states are considering moratorium bills while questions of fairness are studied. Juries are sentencing fewer and fewer people to death, and fewer still are being executed.

Earlier this year, the New York State Assembly held five full days of public hearings on the death penalty. Almost a dozen murder victims' family members testified before the Assembly panel, saying they did not want the death penalty for their loved ones' killers.

"The hearings made clear that the death penalty is exactly the opposite of what victims really need," said David Kaczynski, Executive Director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, who also testified at the hearings. "Vivian Dobson is living proof that this system is broken. Victims' services are being cut while tax dollars are wasted on a system that is sentencing innocent people to die and letting the guilty go free.

"Nearly 4,000 organizations, schools, local governments, and businesses have called for a moratorium on executions because of concerns that the death penalty is applied unfairly, risks executing innocent people, and diverts resources from true victims' services and crime prevention. For a full listing, visit www.ejusa.org.

The Quixote Center is a national organization founded in 1976. The Center's Equal Justice USA pioneered the national grassroots movement for a moratorium on executions in 1997. To learn more about the Quixote Center's Equal Justice USA program, visit www.ejusa.org.

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Equal Justice USA
P.O Box 5206, Hyattsvillle, MD 20782
tel: 301-699-3443 fax: 301-864-2182
www.ejusa.org info@ejusa.org