Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Death penalty opponent Donna Marie Oster, of Jefferson Hills, protests yesterday outside the City-County Building, Downtown, where about a dozen people gathered to demonstrate against this week's expected 1,000th execution since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. Click photo for larger image.

Hundreds of miles and 24 hours removed from where Virginia inmate Robin Lovitt is awaiting either commutation or execution as the 1,000th prisoner on death row, an exonerated prisoner and a mother whose child was killed on a Pittsburgh street hugged in protest of the expected execution.

Flanked by a dozen or so protesters in front of the City-County Building, Downtown, the two expressed their disgust and anger at a U.S. justice system that they both said fails not only those on death row but the American public as well.

"Murdering a person for taking a life is not a solution for our country," said Ray Krone, a former Arizona inmate who was exonerated of a murder in 2002 after serving 10 years in prison.

Mr. Krone and Adrienne Young, whose son was killed in 1994, stood on the steps of the building yesterday, along with members of Amnesty International and the Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty, protesting the expected execution of Mr. Lovitt as a part of many similar protests that were happening around the country. Mr. Lovitt would be the 1,000th convict executed in the United States since capital punishment was resumed in 1977.

Ms. Young, the executive director of the Tree of Hope ministry for families of victims of violence and an NAACP organizer who visits inmates in prison and on death row, is an outspoken critic of the death sentence and has continued her activism despite her son's murder.

"Many of these men on death row are poor, many of them are minorities and many had terrible representation," said Ms. Young, who wanted to present more facts and figures to back up her argument, but instead chose a more emotional plea. "When I saw this, my heart was broken."

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, which has recently taken the step of denouncing the death penalty, also defended Amnesty International's stand against state executions. Susan Rauscher, director of social concerns for the diocese, said the death penalty went against the fundamental teachings of the church.

Since 1973, more than 120 prisoners have been released from death row. Many were found innocent after DNA tests cleared them of wrongdoing.

City Councilman Doug Shields told a small gathering on the steps of the building that the debate surrounding the death penalty is often emotionally charged and does not take into account fundamental flaws inherent in the justice system.

"I know this is an emotional issue," said Mr. Shields. "But we don't run this country on emotion. We run on law and order."

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Correction/Clarification: (Published Nov. 30, 2005) The state of Pennsylvania does not have a moratorium on the death penalty. The original version of this story as published on Nov. 29, 2005 about a protest by death penalty opponents incorrectly stated the state did.