As Robert Sherrill made clear in his award-winning Nation essay of January 8, 2001, the death penalty is a bad deal all around. Not only is it ineffective in deterring crime, it’s also considered cruel and unusual punishment in most of the rest of the world, not helping the US image abroad.

To highlight and combat the growing use of capital punishment in America, The Nation recently re-launched Death Row Roll Call with new and improved activist tools.

A monthly calendar compilation of those slated for execution, Death Row Roll Call allows you to email informed letters of protest on behalf of inmates to the appropriate governors and officials presiding over executions nationwide. There are six inmates scheduled for execution in the remainder of November alone.

In addition, find out how you can help work toward a national moratorium on capital punishment, being promoted by many groups and organizations. And stay tuned for more ways you can register your voice in the growing movement to abolish the death penalty in the United States.