Lesniak wins international human rights award

by: Blue Jersey

Sun Feb 01, 2009 at 03:26:03 PM EST

"I hope and believe this award will help efforts to abolish the death penalty where ever it exists," said Lesniak. "I'm am also proud as an American to receive this award for the defense of human rights at Le Memorial de Caen, the famous museum dedicated to honoring the D-Day invasion and the soldiers who lost their lives fighting for our freedom."

Lesniak said he will contribute the award of $9,740 to The Road to Justice and Peace (http://www.theroadtoabolition.com/), a non-profit he created whose purpose is "to advance the abolition of the death penalty around the globe, to support the families of murder victims, and to promote humane alternatives to incarceration."

"The death penalty is a random act of brutality," said Lesniak during his speech before a panel of international judges, which can be viewed online. "Its application throughout the United States is random, depending on where the murder occurred, the race and economic status of who committed the murder, the race and economic status of the person murdered and, of course, the quality of the legal defense."

He continued, "I'm proud of the people of the State of New Jersey for electing political leaders who ended this random act of brutality."