Bill Portrait-With Archbishop Desmond Tutu-Speaking for Juveniles

Ron Keine at The Walls A Note on Texans

Executions take place in the historic downtown prison known as The Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas. Ron Keine spoke here at The Walls to a very intergenerational crowd during the 2007 Journey of Hope in Texas. He spent 22 months on New Mexico’s death row in the 1970s until another man confessed to the murder Keine was convicted of committing.





Find a link to Ron's JOH 2007 report on this blog at
http://thejourneyofhope.blogspot.com/2007/12/ron-keines-report-on-journey-of-hope.html

Find another important message from Ron about "hatred in our midst" here
http://lists.compar.com/fadpupdate/2007-September/000176.html

NOTE on Texan compassion and open-minds:

Although this editorial from The New York Times below indicates Texas is a state without pity when it comes to the number of yearly executions--we of The Journey of Hope met with many Texans in this beautiful and varied state who agree with us that the death penalty serves no just nor helpful purpose in Texas, the USA, nor the world--who held and exemplified great compassion. We met many others who were open to discussing and considering this issue. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Texas 2007 as we of JOH also did during 2005 and other times. We were enthralled with the spicy food, beautiful churches, schools, universities and the wide open landscapes--often exceptionally open minds. Two high schools were far beyond any I've ever been to in the US in encouraging deep free thought on the death penalty as on other topics. Thanks, Texas, for all the hospitality which was way beyond our expectations. We have lots to learn from you and lots to give. Connie L. Nash

PLEASE SEND YOUR OWN COMMENTS ABOUT TEXAS AND THE DEATH PENALTY for use on our blog to Connie at newlease7@yahoo.com

Comment NYTimes Editorial -State Without Pity-

Thanks to Ron for the this comment!

Texas,

Where men are men and the sheep won't look them in the eyes. I don't believe that all Texans are a bunch of backwoods, Moronic, Goat Ropers but there are enough there to embarrass the whole state. They need to wake up and catch up with the rest of the civilized world. They seem to think that killing people in a prison execution chamber is okie dokie and people killing people in the streets is not okie dokie.

One of the sure truths I have learned, in this life, is this. When a government Kills, It shows its citizens that life is cheap. If the government shows that life is for the taking, Sooner or the later People will believe it. Some governments kill again and again making sure that the lesson sinks in. Is there any wonder why states that have the Death Penalty also have the highest murder rates.

Let me ask you this Cowgirl, If your kid steals a candy bar (or a plug of chewing tobacco) from a local store , do you take him back to the store and show him how you can steal one also. Does this deter your kid from stealing. Does this teach the kid that stealing is wrong? Wake up Goober and join the modern world.

I was always proud when discussing Texas with other Americans. It was an honor to have Texas in the union. More and more now I am becoming ashamed of that Great state which brought us brave men like Sam Houston and the defenders of the Alamo.

By RON
"All it takes for evil to prevail -- is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke

REFLECTIONS FROM ROME

Reflections From Rome During the "Cities of Life" Campaign To Abolish
the Death Penalty (Updated, December 2007)

by Art Laffin

Nov. 27-30, 2007

Heartfelt greetings of love to you from Rome. My time here so far has been simply extraordinary. I arrived on Tuesday morning and immediately went to the dedication of a park/square to Dominique Green, a 30-year-old innocent African American man who was executed in Texas in 2004. The Community of Sant'Egidio took up his case and several members of the community visited him before he was killed. Rejected in the US, Dominique's spirit lives in Italy. His ashes are kept at a shelter for the
homeless in Rome.

During the last two days I have given six talks to about 600 students and teachers. I have been received very well. Last night I attended an inspiring program organized by the Sant'Egidio community at Rome's main university highlighting the worldwide campaign to abolish the death penalty. The program, which was broadcast on live TV, featured, Antoinette, a death row survivor from Lebanon, Mr. Furukawa, an abolitionist from Japan, an Italian murder victim family member who forgave the killer of his father, two famous Italian actors, an acclaimed Italian saxophonist, video messages from Nobel laureates and other abolitionists and a representative of the Community of Sant'Egidio.

Tonight at the the Roman Coliseum, where so many people were sacrificed and executed at the hands of the Roman empire, lights will be lit throughout the stadium to call on the world to abolish the death penalty.

The community of Sant'Egidio has taken good care of me during my stay here. It has been a great blessing to get to know different members of the community and to join their community prayer each evening at the beautiful church of Santa Maria. Please know that I hold you in prayer and heart during this sacred time in the eternal city.

Nov. 30-Dec. 4.
On Nov. 30, at 5:00 p.m., I spoke at a school on the outskirts of Rome where over 200people from the school and community attended. IT WAS AMAZING! A 96 year old woman, who is still a pen pal to a death row inmate, thanked me for my talk.

In the evening I spoke before over 1,300 people in Rome's famous concert hall--just down the street from the Vatican. (The pope wasn't able to make it due to a prior engagement). Nicola Piovani, composer of musical score for the movie, "Life is Beautiful" performed, a renowned Italian singer named Giorgia sang, several famous
Italian actors read selections by death row inmates, and Kerry Cook,(who spent 22 years on death row in Texas before being freed--his brother was also murdered during the time of his imprisonment), Mr. Furukawa, and Mario (from the Community of Sant'Egidio), were the other speakers. There was also a moving video tribute to Dominique Green. This event was part of the Nov. 30 "Cities of Life" campaign where over 722 cities and 33 capitals worldwide had events calling for the abolition of the
death penalty.

On Dec. 1, I spoke at a school to over 150 students who were very receptive.

On Dec. 2, Bill Pelke, co-founder of the Journey of Hope, Kerry Cook and I did a brief interview with Vatican TV. Bill has been in northern Italy speaking during the last week. It was great to get together tonight with Bill and SueZann Bosler, another amazing Journey friend, who has been speaking over the last week in towns south of Rome.

On Dec. 3 I spoke to another student group of over 100 at the Nautical High school in the south of Rome. In the evening I had a great reunion with Journey friend Shujaa Graham, and his wife Phyliss, who were speaking during the last week in Sicily and Naples.

On Dec. 4, I took a train to Genoa and spoke that evening in Pavia (near Milan) to about 60 students, teachers and members of the public.

On Dec. 5 I flew back to the US.


Conclusion
I am very grateful to the Community of Sant'Egidio for inviting me to come to Rome to participate in the Cities of Life Campaign. This was my first time in Italy speaking about the murder of my brother, and why I, as a murder victim family member, oppose the death penalty. I was deeply moved by the empathy I experienced from the people who heard me speak. I was also moved by how deeply people care about those on death row in the US and around the world.

I experienced this compassion first-hand as soon as I arrived in Rome and attended the dedication ceremony for the park named in honor of Dominique Green. The Community of Sant'Egidio truly takes to heart the words of St. Paul that when one person suffers we all suffer.

During my visit I gave eleven talks and visited eight schools. And it was a great honor for me to speak during the November 30 concert at the Auditorium - Via della Conciliazione in Rome. I am thankful to every person I met during my time in Rome and in Genoa and Pavia for their loving support and commitment to abolish the death penalty. I would also like to thank each member of the community who helped translate for me and who drove me to different events. I would also like to thank the
community for the loving hospitality I received. And I will always treasure the shared meals with community members and the sacred moments of community prayer I experienced at the Church of Santa Maria. And special thanks to Bill Pelke, who has been such a vital link between the Journey of Hope and the Community of San't Egidio. The Journey of Hope continues...

BILL in ITALY with The Community of Sant Egidio

BILL in ITALY with The Community of Sant Egidio
Posted December 2007

The Community of Sant Egidio, headquartered in Rome, is a "Church public lay association". The different communities, spread throughout the world, share the same spirituality and principles which characterize the way of Sant’ Egidio.

The Community of Sant Egidio is a leader in the worldwide abolition movement. Each year they conduct an important event on November 30 called Cities for Life

This year over 700 cities about the world lit up various city symbols calling for a moratorium on the death penalty. Pictured above is the Coliseum in Rome in lights for November 30.

Carlo Santoro, one of Sant Egidio’s long time volunteers, once again asked me to come to Italy for this special occasion. This time Carlo asked me to help with the coordination of other Journey of Hope speakers to come to Europe. Journey cofounders Marietta Jaeger Lane and SueZann Bosler joined with Shujaa Graham, current Journey board member. Journey speakers Art Laffin, Bud Welch, Edward Mpagi also joined with us.

It was a great honor and witness to the powerful testimonies of journey speakers.

Marietta was in the northern region covering Venice, Padova and other cities in the region with her husband Bob. SueZann spoke in Bari and in Rome. Art spoke in the area of Rome, his first time to Italy in 30 years. Bud Welch has traveled to Europe several times for the Cities for Life and this time spoke in Spain.

Marietta, SueZann, Art, Bud and myself are murder victim family members who do not want the death penalty under any circumstance.

Shujaa Graham spoke in Cyprus and Rome, Edward spoke in Rome and northern Italy and were joined in Rome by Kerry Max Cook and his son KJ. All three are death row exonerees. All Journey speakers spoke about forgiveness. Rick Halperin, Journey board member was also in Reggio Emilia in earlier in November.

I started off my Journey flying in to Bologna. I was met by Sant Egidio volunteers Natalie and Paulo and driven to Rimini, a beautiful city by the Adriatic sea.

Speaking usually 3 times a day, including high schools with audiences of 300 and 400 students, colleges, public and media events.

I met with the mayor of Ravenna and presented him a copy of my book, “Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing and he gave me several gifts from the city. There was a picture in the paper the next day and with an article about Cities for Life. I also had lunch with the vice-major of Reggio Emilia.

I was the guest of Arianna Ballotta, Founder of the Italian Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and she took me to several wonderful restaurants that featured the best pasta I have every eaten in all of the trips I have been to in Italy.

I also traveled to Parma and Rome.

It was a wonderful experience for me to speak to the high school students and tell them how over 2,000,000 million Italians, mostly high school students, had signed petitions to spare Paula Cooper’s life. Paula was the girl who was sentenced to die for the death of my grandmother. I was able to thank them and to let them know that they can make a difference. I told them I knew they could make a difference because it was students like them that saved Paula’s life. I also told them how Italy had taken the lead in presenting the United Nations over 5,000,000 signatures called for a moratorium and that the UN had voted in November to call for its members to declare a moratorium on the DP. It was only natural to challenge them to stand up whenever they say an injustice and make a difference.

It was a great experience for us all, and I am so grateful for the Sant Egidio Community for their great work against the death penalty. They don’t have the Death Penalty in all of Europe, yet Italy and the Sant Egidio Community in particular work so hard for worldwide abolition amazes me. They also do many other great things like the efforts with the elderly, homeless, tutoring children and in Africa with the HIV Dream Program.

Sant Egidio should win the Nobel Peace Price in my opinion.

Bill Pelke

Journey of Hope: Life-Altering Community

By Robin Radford

Dear Friends,

About two months ago I had a heart-shaking and life-altering emotional experience that helped me get some perspective on my last four difficult years after going through a major operation for cancer. More on that later because it will be hard for you to grasp what happened to me unless you hear at least a little of what went on in the week I spent in Houston participating in "The Journey of Hope". I could not figure out a way to tell this story in an abbreviated format. In October this year my dear friend from Sweden, Monica Pejovic invited me as her guest to attend "The Journey of Hope" which was held in Houston, Texas.

The Journey of Hope conducts annual events in various states speaking in high schools, colleges, churches, social clubs and various other formats. Murder victim family members and those with other connections put the human face on the issue of the death penalty as they share their stories. The founder and President of The Journey, Bill Pelke, whose grandmother was murdered, came in from Alaska with his partner Kathy. (See Bill's story below). Monica met Bill briefly when she participated for two days in the Journey in 2005.

The fiscal year for the Journey of Hope runs fromAugust 1 to July 31. It is a separate 501(c)3, incorporated in the state of Indiana in 1997. The first Journey took place in Indiana, and the next two, prior to 1997, were special projects of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation.

"The Journey" brings together people from a variety of experiences whose lives have collided with a homicide and/or with the legal system over the death penalty--people who passionately want to help change this system and to abolish state homicide. This collision of experiences has formed a most unlikely community. The process of forgiveness is key to all involved.

The Journey was led by:

-- Murder victim family members
-- Exonerees (individuals proved innocent and legally freed from Death Row).
-- Family members of persons on Death Row and family of the executed

Also participating were activists--people like Monica and myself who are friends and supporters of persons on Death Row. Our friend on Death Row is Roger McGowen who has been there for 20 years for a crime we believe he did not commit. (See www.rogermcgowen.org ).

A documentary team from Seoul Broadcasting System from South Korea was with us also. They were following Mr. Ko, an individual who had lost three members of his family to murder.

I flew from my home in St. Louis, Missouri and met Monica and about 20 others from all over the United States. We were in Houston with the Journey from October 12 to 18. The main events included a benefit (fundraising) concert (Nanci Griffith sang and played. One introduction for this abolition-supportive lady is http://nanci-griffith.com/fans_speak/index.html ) and a rally at Walls Unit, Huntsville, TX where all executions in Texas take place and where twenty-six inmates were executed this year.

The main activity every day--from 7AM through evening--was the many talks given by members of our group who spoke to high school, college, church groups, etc. about the hard won forgiveness and love that motivates their opposition to the Death Penalty. A smaller group, The Founders Tour, continued on from October 18 to 28 speaking at Universities in San Antonio, Austin, Waco, and Dallas - including the eighth annual "March to Stop Executions" on October 27 in Houston.

The core group of participants stayed at the Domincan Sisters Retreat center together and shared meals and other group experiences. A few people were housed at a nearby hotel. We all joined together for various group sessions-- especially in the evening-- but most of each day we all traveled to the various events where people were speaking.

Sister Helen Prejean (author of Dead Man Walking) came to be with us for 2 days and gave several talks herself. She is a very charismatic speaker but wonderfully approachable and unpretentious. She never minimizes the suffering of families that have had members murdered but she pleads very convincingly that the murderer's life is still of value and nothing is gained by another murder done in our name by the state and another family (the murderer's) devastated too.

The stories I heard were heart-rending accounts of ordinary people who had not paid much attention to the Death Penalty. They were most often in support of it until their lives abruptly collided with the issues surrounding it when they had a loved one murdered, were accused of murdering someone themselves or someone in their family was accused of murdering someone. Every story told involved an intense inner spiritual struggle of some kind as people grappled with the inequities in the legal system and how it eventually failed to provide justice, peace or closure.

An extended account of three of the stories of people who have had family members murdered and who were extremely angry at first can be found below this paragraph. These are not saints. These are real people who had all the normal reactions to horrendous crimes but revenge and anger could not heal the hole in their heart and they were propelled to go on an inner spiritual journey to seek other means to come to grips with their pain. These three important stories are at:

http://www.journeyofhope.org/pages/indiana1.htm

Mr. Ko from South Korea is representative of this journey so I will tell his story. One day he came home to find his wife, son and Mother all stabbed to death in a pool of blood. Of course he wanted to find and kill the person who did this. His disturbance and anguish made it impossible to sleep or work. Finally he decided to write out the Bible by hand. For hours every day he wrote with about two hours sleep each night. Eight months later he finished writing and felt that he must forgive the murderer. Resentment and the desire for revenge were killing him. It was a burden he could no longer carry.

When they caught the man it was learned he had killed 23 people. Mr. Ko received a small stipend from the government and he decided to share this money with the murderer and his family who were very poor. This unusual act of generosity might be enough to bring him to the attention of the public, yet Mr. Ko has become a media star in South Korea because of another decision he made which is unprecedented. In Korea there is terrible shame and stigma attached to having someone murdered in your family.

Victim's family members refuse to show their faces on TV or give interviews. Mr. Ko has done both and he has helped found the first organization for victim family members with his priest. He heard about the Journey of Hope and he wanted to understand more so he came to the US with a Korean TV crew to film his experience. He spoke to groups through his interpreter.

Terry Steinberg is a mother of four children, who’s oldest, Justin, now 26, was 20 when arrested and charged with murder. He now sits on Death Row in Virginia with one more year of appeals left. Justin was a good kid, a loving brother and son with so many things going for him that a murder charge was the last thing on earth his mother expected for him. Yet Justin, like so many young people his age, saw nothing wrong with the recreational use of marijuana or with selling it to friends. The turn of events that led him to be suspected of murder is too long to tell here but an overzealous prosecutor aided by the lying testimony of the man who was really the murderer resulted in a conviction.

Justin was never accused of committing the murder. He was convicted solely on the questionable word of the man who committed the murder, saying that Justin told him to kill the man (murder for hire being a capital offense). This murderer avoided the death penalty by testifying against Justin and received a lighter sentence. Instead, Justin got the Death Penalty. Much evidence has come to light since to prove Justin's innocence but legal technicalities and a system that seems to be indifferent at best and hostile at worst to the importance of the truth coming out has so far hampered the overturning of Justin's conviction. Many are not aware of the US Supreme Court's ruling in recent years that legal procedure is more important than innocence (this happened in a case in which a man was executed on a legal technicality even though it was certain he was innocent.)

Terry focuses her attention on speaking to young people, trying to warn them about the dangers of getting anywhere close to the drug scene where the possibility of getting linked to unforeseen criminal charges exist. Meanwhile she and her family, as well as her son, are victims of a legal system that doesn't go the extra mile when a person's life is at stake. She and her family endure ongoing torment while they hope and pray that Justin will come home one day to them and the promising life that was stretched out before him when this nightmare happened.

(For more, go to www.justice4justin.net ) .

One of the biggest windows into the failure of our legal system, especially in the area of capital (murder) cases, is the wrongful conviction and imprisonment on Death Row of innocents. Three of these innocent inmates who were exonerated were with us in Houston. Somehow these situations hit me harder than all the tragic stories I heard. I just kept thinking: "What could be worse than knowing you were going to be executed for a crime you didn't commit?" They explained that inmates on Death Row have experienced their execution MENTALLY thousands of times before they actually die.

It is the mental torture that destroys you. Just think how much greater that torture might be for someone who is innocent. That is why, even in the unusual case where innocence is legally proved and they are released, these men are never the same. It is similar to having been a POW. You never get over it mentally and your physical health frequently deteriorates with the terrible food and bad health care in prison. It is still difficult to get a job even when you have been exonerated just because of the stigma of having been accused of murder and being in prison.

Marriages dissolve, children grow up, and the thread of the life you were trying to live can never be picked up again. Very few of these people have even gotten an apology from the state -- let alone monetary compensation. It is the rare person who can pick up their lives again without great bitterness and go on with the semblance of a normal life.

Now that I've given you a little taste of the enormous irreparable damage that goes on in these cases, now imagine the courage and just plain guts it takes to go out publicly and speak about your experience. You have to make yourself vulnerable all over again as you tell your story -- literally let yourself hurt again. These men frequently broke down emotionally as they spoke even though it has been years since they were imprisoned. They do it because they are convinced that the percentage of innocent people waiting to die on Death Row is very high. The reason they think this becomes very clear as you begin to see the common themes that emerge from all the stories: the underfunded Public Defender services for poor people that cannot afford to hire a lawyer (and the refusal of the courts to rule that legal incompetence can be used as an issue to challenge the guilty verdict - this decided even when the public defender was drunk or sleeping in the courtroom); many overzealous prosecutors, looking for a notch on their gun and notoriety to bolster a run for public office.

So far 124 inmates on Death Row (more since writing this ) have been exonerated and freed from prison. I think this group of exonerees might be in the strongest position to create at least a little uncertainly in the public mind about the savage inequities in our legal system, a system which provides the "best justice money can buy." I have enormous respect for these men and what they're trying to do to help us all wake up. I know I woke up big time by just getting to be around all these incredible people.

Remember -- no saints here -- only real people who have been through enormous suffering and have somehow fought their way through to a bigger love, forgiveness and peace than most of us will ever know. Of course we could get there too if we were willing to pay the price. I haven't found such an enlarged sense of humanity since I was involved with the Civil Rights Movement when I saw people express amazing grace in the face of unbelievable physical violence against them and horrible injustices of all kinds.

During the Journey of Hope I felt my spirit, which had died so low within me (although somehow I had survived physically) come alive again! I felt the best in me start responding and planning a future for me that would be rich with meaning and purpose. I felt that somehow I had been let out of prison!

I reconnected with the possibilities of that magnanimous love so tangibly felt - very real in that group in Houston. What could this love do in action in a desperate world looking for answers? Words fail me. But I hope you get that somehow I got connected again with myself, others and my work in the world through these very special people.

• Mission: Education on the Death Penalty and how to go from violence to healing
• The Journey of Hope is the most powerful tool to change hearts and minds to bring about abolition of the Death Penalty.
•The Journey of Hope is led by murder victim family members conducting educational speaking tours addressing issues of the Death Penalty and alternative sentencing.

Accomplishments for Fiscal Year Ending May 30, 2007:
•17 day speaking tour of Virginia in October 2006
•Participated in Cities for Life in Africa, Italy, and Switzerland November 2006
•Participated in World Coalition Conference in Paris, France in February 2007

Objectives for Fiscal Year Beginning June 1, 2007
•17 day speaking tour of Texas October 12-28
•Major Fundraising events June 28 in conjunction with the 35th anniversary of the Furman
Decision that temporarily abolish the Death Penalty in 1972
•Major participant in the 14th annual fast and vigil at the US Supreme Court June 29-July 2

(Since then, of course, there have been many more events that have involved Journey of Hope participants including a number of speaking engagements for exonerees in the US and in Europe, particularly Italy and Spain . There have also been a number of power point and speaker presentations that have taken place back home put on by various participants.)

Chief Executive Profile for Bill Pelke:

Bill Pelke recently authored a book entitled -Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing- which details the May 14, 1985 murder of his grandmother Ruth Pelke -- a Bible teacher -- by four teenage girls. Paula Cooper who was deemed to be the ringleader was sentenced to die in the electric chair by the state of Indiana. She was fifteen-years-old at the time of the murder. Pelke originally support the sentence of death for Cooper, but went through a spiritual transformation in 1986 after praying for love and compassion for Paula Cooper and her family.

Pelke became involved in an international crusade on Paula's behalf and in 1989 -- after over two million people from Italy signed petitions and Pope John Paul II’s request for mercy -- Paula was taken off Death Row and her sentence commuted to sixty years.

Bill, a retired steelworker, has dedicated his life to working for abolition of the Death Penalty. He shares his story of forgiveness and healing, and how he came to realize that he did not need to see someone else die in order to heal from his grandmother’s death. He also helps organize Journey tours nationally and abroad. Pelke has traveled to over forty states and ten countries with the Journey of Hope and has told his story over 5000 times!

NOTE: This organization is a 501(c)(3) Public Charity. Contributions are deductible, as provided by law. US Federal EIN #35-2022767Mr. Bill Pelke, President (877) 924-4483 Fax (907) 333-0435 email: bpelke@Journeyofhope.org

More information: http://www.journeyofhope.org

Love, Robin Radford

FINAL NOTE: Robin asked her friend, Terri--also a part of the JOH--for input. Here is her recent short note on forgiveness--so in keeping with Journey of Hope...

The taking of another life does not bring the peace and healing needed to keep going after a terrible loss. Nor does it honor or bring back the life of the loved one taken. Forgiveness is the key that opens your heart to love again, to fill the hole and emptiness left with the loss of the loved one. The death penalty only creates more victims, more grieving families, and adds a continuation in the cycle of violence.

Love, Terri Steinberg

We invite others to blog in response to Robin's heartfelt experience and/or send any other personal story related to forgiveness and transformation in the shadow of the death penalty. Maybe you are only in process--that's A-OK-- forgiveness takes time.

Please send your story or comment to Connie L. Nash newlease7@yahoo.com
or mail to PO Box 1267, Brevard, NC 28712

New Jersey Leads the Way!

Find & VIEW more information on the recent VICTORY FOR ABOLITION on

http://www.njadp.org and http://www.deathpenaltyusa.blogspot.com


<http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=IimdS73gasE>http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=IimdS73gasE

NEW JERSEY: Harbinger of Things to Come

NEW JERSEY Bans the Death Penalty!

"A Harbinger of Things to Come" --Maybe to come--even in TEXAS?

December 13-14, 2007

Of special interest to Journey of Hope (JOH) folk:

...Among those testifying for abolition (in New Jersey) was Vicki Schieber. Her daughter, Shannon, was murdered in 1998. She and her husband stunned prosecutors by requesting that the defendant receive life in prison instead of execution... "The death penalty is a harmful policy that exacerbates the pain for murdered victims' families," she said.
The Star-Ledger, December 11, 2007

Top Quotes on New Jersey's Big Move:

Richard Dieter, director of Death Penalty Information Center: "We'll be looking back 7 to 10 years from now and saying that New Jersey was the 1st."

"We are at a unique crossroads in the history of the state, maybe the history of the country," said former Supreme Court Justice Peter Verniero, who participated on several death penalty cases while on the bench. "New Jersey is the 1st state to repeal an entire capital punishment system. There is not a precedent for this."

The 1st state since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the sanction in 1976 to repeal an existing statute through legislative act... "I have absolutely no doubt that other states will follow our lead," the bill's sponsor, Democratic Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo of Newark, said during a 2-1/2-hour floor debate.

"What New Jersey does will be watched very closely by other state legislators and state officials around the country," Matthew Kennis, a field director with the international human rights group Amnesty International, said before the Assembly vote. "This is a harbinger of things to come."

Caraballo: "In the end, it's a matter of conscience."

The nation's last execution was Sept. 25 in Texas. Since then, executions have been delayed pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision on whether execution through lethal injection violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Then two more exonerations just recently...

Larger background--US and international abolitionists--including four JOH folk with several exonerees and Amnesty staff--have been speaking on abolition in Italy--some of the same folk who were recent participants with The Journey of Hope in Texas. Amnesty folk have been in Rwanda during recent months as well-- where the death penalty has just been abolished.

NOW, NEW JERSEY!

The federal court ruled in 1972 that the death penalty violated the Constitution's Eighth Amendment, prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment, because its application could be arbitrary. In 1976, the court ruled the states had satisfied its concerns, clearing the way for its return. New Jersey, which had outlawed capital punishment in 1972, reinstated it in 1982.
Today 37 states, the federal government and the military have the death penalty. New Jersey, which has had a moratorium on executions since 2005 and hasn't put to death a prisoner since 1963...

(sources besides the top death penalty sites-- Bloomsberg News, AP)

New Jersey officials have been barred from executing anyone under a 2004 court ruling that determined the state had to revise procedures on how the penalty would be imposed; It never did.

Among those who have been executed in New Jersey in the past: Bruno Richard Hauptmann, who was executed in 1936 for the kidnapping and murder of aviator Charles Lindbergh's son.

However, the nation has executed 1,099 people since the U.S. Supreme Court reauthorized the death penalty in 1976. In 1999, 98 people were executed, the most since 1976; last year 53 people were executed, the lowest since 1996.

New Jersey Death Penalty Repeal Advances to Corzine ...A measure to replace the death penalty with a sentence of life in prison without parole passed the 80-member Assembly Thursday on a 44-36 vote. Earlier this week, the legislation cleared the state's 40-member Senate, 21-16.

More follows --but first--an INVITATION to all JOH folk , exonerees, DR inmate loved ones and murder victim family members to submit comments with your responses to this volcanic news. These glad tidings effect and strikes us all whatever our background and angle as abolitionists. Tell us and the public who read this how New Jersey's milestone affects you.

In one fell swoop here--today--are summaries of some of our major arguments, quotes, timeline and stats. This is a perfect way and week to get this in the hands of undecided or as yet uncommitted folk. Maybe this will be the time many more will say: "If not us, who? If not now, when?"

Amnesty I/USA Press Statement----FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEW JERSEY ASSEMBLY VOTES TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY, ENDING 'A COLOSSAL PUBLIC POLICY FAILURE,
'Historic Legislation is 'A Harbinger of Things to Come'

Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), released this statement following the New Jersey Legislature's vote to abolish the death penalty:

Amnesty International USA applauds the New Jersey Assembly for voting to abolish the death penalty. Contrary to what some have said, the New Jersey vote was not taken too quickly or lightly. It was only after careful study and deliberation that legislators concluded that the death penalty does not address violent crime or make New Jerseyans any safer. A thorough examination of the state's death penalty system has revealed it for what it truly is: a colossal public policy failure that wastes taxpayer dollars and diverts valuable resources from proven crime prevention measures.

The problems uncovered by this examination of the death penalty are not unique to New Jersey. Lawmakers across the country are realizing that capital punishment is permanently flawed, and the public is increasingly wary of a system that holds the very real possibility of executing the innocent. By holding criminals accountable and eliminating the possibility of a horrific error with a one-two punch, New Jersey stands to embolden lawmakers who were as fearful of eliminating capital punishment as they were of keeping it. This is a harbinger of things to come.
(source: Amnesty International)

More Excerpts
...Among the 13 states without capital punishment, some have statutes that courts overturned, others abolished it before the Supreme Court's 1976 ruling, and others never approved a death penalty law, supporters of the bill said.

...Derek Roseman, a spokesman for Caraballo, said the measure may spare the 8 men now on the state's death row. The legislation stipulates the inmates would have 60 days after enactment to decide whether they want to accept their death sentence or change it to life without parole, he said.

...Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington-based anti-death-penalty group Death Penalty Information Center, said repeal legislation has stalled in five states -- Colorado, Nebraska, Maryland, New Mexico and Montana. He said the rate of executions nationwide slowed to 128 in 2005, from more than 300 annually in the 1990s.

...Dieter, Kennis and sponsors of the repeal legislation said the death penalty is more expensive than imprisonment, has little effectiveness as a deterrent and risks the execution of innocent people. Kennis said more than half of all democratic, western governments have done away with it... (source: Bloomberg News)

"...recognition should go out to all of the exonerees -- those who served time on death row and the numerous New Jersey exonerees who had not been sentenced to death but endured years in prison despite their innocence. They spoke out repeatedly and courageously, met with legislators, and made the most powerful voices in the movement heard over and over again. According to Abe Bonowitz, exonerees were "instrumental" in this victory...With two more death-row exonerations in the past week, it's clear that the role innocence plays in our movement will remain critical as the death penalty moves closer to becoming a relic of the past.
Kurt Rosenberg www.witnesstoinnocence.org

Blogging Celeste Fitzgerald December 13, 2007So the bill to repeal New Jersey's death penalty, save millions and millions of tax dollars, divert resources to programs that actually fight crime and help victims and along the way spare family members of murder victims the terrible anguish that years and years of endless appeals cause has finally passed.
So maybe it is an appropriate time to post something on the woman who, more than any other person, was responsible for this happening. Her name is Celeste Fitzgerald and she is the head of what one imagines could be a group without an office or a staff -- New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

We offer this column, which was in New Jersey's largest newspaper Thursday morning:
Chief repeal advocate says it's time to 'close up shop' Posted by Bob Braun December 13, 2007 10:21 AM 'She took the call early in the evening. It woke her up. "Sorry," said Celeste Fitzgerald, sleep in her voice. "I'm exhausted." 'See http://www.ncadp.org Blog for Dec 13 07

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Please also check back -- as soon as this New Jersey news has a brief chance to sink in -- for a multi-dimensional mini-journal on Journey of Hope--Texas--2007 by Robin Radford

Thanks for tuning in! Connie L. Nash