“Execute justice, not people” is a popular slogan used by people who are against the death penalty. The slogan is often printed on a sign for a protest made at a courthouse or a prison. It is not known who originated the saying.
 
“Execute Justice, Not People” was cited in print in November 1983, in a news story from Starke, Florida.
 
 
29 November 1983, Marietta (GA) Daily Journal, “Condemned Man Wins Last Minute Stay,” pg. 2A, col. 1:
STARKE, Fla. (UPI)—
(...) (Col. 4—ed.)
The anti-death penalty protesters carried signs which read, “Execute Justice, Not People” and “An eye for an eye merely makes the whole world blind.”
 
16 March 1984, Mobile (AL) Register, “Governor denies appeal,” pg. 8-A, col. 4:
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)—Gov. Jim Hunt refused Thursday to halt the scheduled 2 a.m. Friday execution of James W. Hutchins, who was sentenced to death for the slayings of three law officers almost five years ago.
(...) (Col. 6—ed.)
The protesters, many wearing tiny green ribbons symbolizing life, stood silently for about two hours as they held signs up to motorists in downtown traffic that said, “Jim Hunt is not God,” “Execute Justice not People,” and “Stop Killing People to Prove that Killing is Wrong.”
 
Google News Archive
27 March 1989, Lewiston (ID) Morning Tribune, “Death-penalty foes protest at prison” (Associated Press), pg. 7A, col. 1:
‎SALEM, Ore.—
(...) (Col. 2—ed.)
The protest group carried signs with messages that included: “Killing is Killing: Abolish the Death Penalty;” “Execute Justice, Not People” and “Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind.”
 
Google Books
The Good, the Bad, and the Famous
By Len Sherman
New York, NY: Carol Publishing Group
1990
Pg. 57:
“There’s a great button that ACLU is putting out, which says, ‘Execute justice, not people.’”
 
Google Books
Murder Cases of the Twentieth Century:
Biographies and Bibliographies of 280 Convicted or Accused Killers
By David K. Frasier
Jefferson, NC: McFarland
1996
Pg. 161:
“Execute Justice ... Not People!!!”— Letterhead on Gacy’s prison stationery.
Homosexual serial killer of 33 young men and boys in Chicago, Illinois, during the 1970s.
(Serial killer John Wayne Gacy, 1942-1994—ed.)
   
Amnesty International
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Execute Justice…Not people!
This will be a night of remembrance and reflection. Panelist include speakers from the UCF Criminal Justice and Legal Studies department, and Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation, just to name a few. Join other amnesty members, and activists in your area so that we can continue the fight to abolish the death penalty.
 
The Guardian (UK)
Kimberly McCarthy: Texas executes 500th inmate
Put to death by lethal injection for the 1997 murder of her 71-year-old neighbour.
Tom Dart in Huntsville, Texas
Wednesday 26 June 2013 20.31 EDT
(...)
Typically about 10 people gather in Huntsville to protest against each execution. Peter Johnson, 68, stood holding a sign bearing the slogan “Execute justice not people”. He said he had travelled from Dallas, three hours away, and this was the fourth or fifth time he had come to express his disgust in front of the red-brick walls of the Huntsville unit.