The ABA held a conference at the Carter Center in Atlanta...

The ABA held a conference at the Carter Center in Atlanta to again urge attorneys, judges, and policymakers to support a moratorium on executions. Former President Jimmy Carter joined First Lady Rosalynn Carter in a call for a moratorium. President Carter stated: "During my earlier years in public office I have supported the death penalty for some especially heinous crimes. The Supreme Court's approval of the death penalty came in 1977, but I was quite relieved that there were no executions in the United States when I was Governor or President. Beginning with special studies of human rights abuses at The Carter Center, I became increasingly concerned about the extremely distorted and abusive executions of poor, minority, and mentally deficient accused persons in America. In my book, "Living Faith," published in 1996, I expressed some of these concerns."