Law, Divinity Students Protest Reinstitution of Death Penalty

The Harvard Community Against the Death Penalty has scheduled for today a day-long protest against capital punishment.

The organization plans to set up three booths around the University where members of the group will pass out white circles to be worn over the heart to symbolize opposition to capital punishment, Gwen L. Spivey, a first-year Law student and member of the group's steering committee, said yesterday.

The group will also circulate petitions directed to elected officials, urging them to "speak strongly and act swiftly to end the death penalty," Spivey said.

Pulling the Trigger

About a dozen students from the Law School and the Divinity School formed the anti-capital punishment group at a hastily assembled meeting following the execution of Gary Gilmore on Monday, Frank J. Gruber, another member of the group's steering committee, said yesterday.

"We were astounded and appalled by the first execution in this country in ten years," he said.

Gruber said the group held another meeting on Tuesday which was attended by approximately 75 people, including Albert M. Sacks, dean of the Law School.

Goals of the group include raising money to aid legal support for death row inmates, educating the people to the arguments against capital punishment, and establishing a nationwide network of anti-capital punishment groups.

"We want to bring the issue to the people's minds. In the future we will develop symposiums and hold teach-ins on the issue," Gruber said.

Booths for tomorrow's protest will be situated in the Harkness Commons, the Divinity School, and the Science Center. They will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.