The Journey Celebrated its 20th Anniversary This Year (Bill Pelke Reports) Part One

The Journey celebrated its 20th anniversary this year by doing an Indiana Journey of Hope Tour and Conference. The first Journey of Hope began at my house in Portage, Indiana in 1993. We honored the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty GO here and their project “World Day Against the Death Penalty." This was the 11th annual World Day Against the Death Penalty. We called this year’s Journey of Hope “World Day Against the Death Penalty Tour”. It began on October 4 and we journeyed around the state sharing our stories until October 20.

We did something this year we had never done before as part of the Journey. We organized a World Day Against the Death Penalty conference October 10-13 while we were in the Indianapolis, the state capital. We began with a press conference in the capitol rotunda on October 10 to commemorate World Day Against the Death Penalty.

The Journey of Hope Website here details the weekend long conference in depth.

It was a great conference. Many great people were involved and I had a lot of help with the organizing. Colleen Cunningham, Equal Justice USA here was the chief organizer and the main reason the conference was so successful.

As I am sure you heard, Paula Cooper was released from prison in June after over 28 years in prison. I did interviews that were aired around the world. CNN, Democracy Now, ABC National News Australia, BBC, Red Letter Christians and CBS News Chicago were some of the better ones. Unfortunately I have not heard from Paula Cooper since she has been released. It is almost 6 months now and I am quite surprised and disappointed. I visited with her 15 times while she was in prison and for the last two years we exchanged mails every week.

I have heard rumors that she has been taken in by a support group and is doing well. I am happy about that because I was quite concerned about how she would do upon her release. I understand that she wants to further her education. I was told that she wants to avoid media and fears that associating with me would bring unwanted attention. I have been approached by the Piers Morgan Show, Travis Smiley and Cornell West Show, Restorative Justice Groups and many others who want to talk to both us so I understand her fears and concerns about the media.

I was in Madrid for the 5th World Congress Against the death penalty June and was able to talk about love and compassion there. I stopped in Indiana on my way back to Alaska. I had planned for years to meet her at the gates of the prison when she was released, but shortly before Paula got out she told me her mother was picking her up and her mother didn’t want me to be at the prison so I agreed not to go. I was hoping to hear from her as I visited with my children and grandchildren in Indiana the following week, but have not heard from her since.

I just finished a 12 day tour in NE Italy for the Community of Sant Egidio and their Cities For Life Project. GO here

I often spoke three time a day, cumulatively to more than two thousand high school students; I spoke at prayer services, a press conference, a home for the elderly, at a college, etc.

(More to come.)

Marietta Jaeger Lane: RePost (added comments)

There are three comments (one new) below this RE:posting...

Marietta Jaeger Lane's Story: Mother shares loss of daughter to teach forgiveness
By Patrick O’Neill, posted on the Garner Citizen December 2011 ( Also reposted earlier on this site.)

It’s hard to imagine the horror Marietta Jaeger Lane felt when she woke up in a Montana campground in 1973 to discover her 7-year-old daughter, Susie, was missing.

After putting her five children to sleep in a tent while on a family camping trip, Lane gave them each a hug and kiss goodnight. Susie had climbed out of her sleeping bag to give her mother a special good night hug. That was the last time Lane ever saw her youngest child again.

In the morning, the family discovered that someone had come in the night, cut a hole in the side of the children’s tent and abducted Susie, whose stuffed animals were left behind on the ground.

What followed was a journey Lane never expected. For a year after Susie’s abduction, Lane, who will be speaking this Saturday, March 19 at Garner’s St. Christopher Episcopal Church, waged a battle with God. Why had her daughter been taken from her under such devastating circumstances?

Before leaving their Michigan home for the trip, Lane said the family prayed, specifically asking God to bless and protect them.

“And then this happened. Where are you God? Where are you in this?” Lane recalled asking.

It wasn’t until a year after Susie’s abduction that Lane learned that her daughter had been tortured and raped for more than a week before being strangling to death and dismembered. The serial killer who abducted her, David Meirhofer, had also confessed to murdering three other children.

“He had her locked up in a broom closet, naked, having to sit in her own excrement in an abandoned farm house,” Lane said. “He would come every night and bring her food and water, but he would also rape her.”

Lane said she was blessed to have a year to work through her questions with God.

“… Because I was Susie’s mother, my motherliness made me go screaming after God, and God was there for me, and I came to understand that nobody grieved more about all the terrible things that happened to Susie, nobody was grieving more about that than God.”

Lane, now 72, said every time she felt rage and anger toward Susie’s abductor, God would tell her: “But that’s not how I want you to feel.”

As the first anniversary of Susie’s abduction approached, Lane gave an interview in which she expressed a desire to speak with her daughter’s kidnapper.

On June 25, 1974 — exactly a year to the minute of Susie’s abduction — Lane’s phone rang in the middle of the night, waking her from a sound sleep.

It was Meirhofer, who had called to taunt her.

“But he wasn’t counting on the spiritual journey that I’d been on during the intervening year,” Lane said.

Rather than get hysterical, Lane spoke with compassion toward Meirhofer, telling him how terrible he must feel to be burdened with the reality of what he had done, and that God loved him.

“He was virtually undone by what God had done to me, and backed down and stayed on the phone for about an hour and 20 minutes,” Lane said. “At one point I told him that I had been praying for him, and I asked him what I could do to help him, and he just broke down and … he said, ‘I wish this burden could be lifted from me.’”

Lane said that she knew what that could mean regarding the fate of her daughter but that she was committed to finding proof of what had happened to Susie.

That proof came in the course of that conversation, which Lane had been taping.

“He just relaxed and said a lot of things that he probably never in his wildest dreams intended to say, but he gave out enough information about himself — and God had graced me to remain calm … It just kind of undid him … but it was enough information that the FBI was able to identify him.”

After Meirhofer’s arrest, Lane stated publicly her opposition to capital punishment for her daughter’s killer. Because he wasn’t facing execution, Lane said he agreed to plead guilty to Susie’s murder and the other three murders. He was suspected in as many as a dozen Montana murders.

Meirhofer committed suicide the same day of his guilty plea.

As part of her healing, Lane befriended Meirhofer’s mother. The two mothers have prayed together at the graves of their children.

“She loves me,” Lane said. “She said I was the best thing that ever happened to her. I had absolutely no ill will toward her whatsoever. I just have grief and enormous sadness because she had no idea that there was anything wrong with her son.”

Today, more than 37 years after her daughter’s death, Lane speaks of her journey as being part of “Susie’s parable.” Jesus used parables, and the way Lane sees it, God is using her to be a living example of what’s possible when it comes to forgiveness and reconciliation.

“I understood after it was over that it needed to happen because this was a very sick young man who had killed many children, and he had never been identified,” she said.

“God had me prepared, had laid the foundation in me, so that I would eventually respond as God needed me to respond, and he allowed Susie to be a sacrificial lamb.”

In the years that have passed, and in the hundreds of talks she has given, scores of people have come up to Lane to tell her that forgiveness in their own lives seemed unattainable, but after listening to her story, they know they can forgive those who have hurt them.

“I know it’s a powerful script, but I don’t take any credit for it because it is not the script I wanted,” Lane said. “It’s a script written by the Holy Spirit to help people understand the importance of forgiveness and how it affects our relationship with God …”

In the fall, Lane, who has lectured all over the world with the group Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights, was interviewed on Vatican Radio during a trip to Rome. In his book, “No Future without Forgiveness,” Archbishop Desmond Tutu gives an account of Lane’s story.

Because hers is a real-life story, Lane says, “There’s nobody who can come to me and say, ‘Well, you wouldn’t be opposed to the death penalty if it happened to your little girl,’ because they hear that it did. They may disagree with my stance on the death penalty but they can’t argue with my human experience. … To kill somebody in [Susie’s] name would be an insult to her memory.”


3 comments:
LaDonna said...
I have 3 daughters with 2 different fathers: Oldest 2 are 27 and 21 and youngest is 5. I feel very much wronged by both of these fathers in that they have walked away and refused to help support their children yet believe that I have become bitter and turned their children against them, which I have not. At present, I am in a very stressful custody battle with the youngest's father. In fact, even though I have court-ordered visits with her during the summer months, he and his family have taken her to an unknown location and refuse to answer my calls, and the father has told me that I will not see her this summer. Although I feel all of this has happened to me for a reason, it's hard for me to believe God is there for me and extremely hard for me to look toward forgiveness, even though I desperately want to so that I can move on with my life. I commend you and hope that one day soon God will give me the same strength to do his Will as well.
June 06, 2011

Anonymous said...
LaDonna, I will say a prayer for u. For Jehovah, God (Psalm 83:18), to give u what u need to be re-united w/your beloved child, to be given the strength & courage during this difficult time. Also, for u to be given the hard task of forgiveness. I know that bitterness & anger can & will only hurt u. Plz tk care of yourself, lean on Jehovah during this time, & also to thank God for the blessings u do have in this life. Lean on Jehovah, he will lift u up, prayer is a gift frm God, let it all out to your Heavenly Father.
September 20, 2013

John Harutunian said...
Marietta- I too am a born-again Episcopalian. I'd have to disagree with two things which you say. Neither the death of Susie nor any other evil is "necessary." And Jesus Christ is the world's only proper sacrificial lamb. Having said that, may God bless you for your insights, and your exceptionally forgiving spirit. Dec. 2, 2013 on Marietta Jaeger Lane's Story: Mother shares loss of daughter to teach forgiveness
on 12/2/13


Marietta Jaeger Lane is the co-founder of the organization JOURNEY OF HOPE...FROM VIOLENCE TO HEALING - a coalition led by murder victim family

(Plz let me know of any new links/articles/pics you have for Marietta via comments. Thanx, Connie)

From Murder to Forgiveness

The Book by the Dad of the Victim -- Azim Khamisa:  A compelling true story of a father's journey from the initial shock of the loss of his son to forgiving the murderer who took his son's life. A journey that will take you from anger to forgiveness, peace and wisdom. A must read for all.

Article/Summary of this healing story: 
Could You Forgive Someone Who Murdered Your Only Son?
By Claudia Ricca: English and Journalism, University at Albany-SUNY 

Originally Posted: 10/02/2012 11:37 am

Seventeen years ago, investment banker Azim Khamisa was 46 years old and leading a pretty ordinary life. He had a good career, two children, and he enjoyed the sunny climate living in beautiful La Jolla, California.

That all changed on a night in 1995 when his only son, Tariq, 20, met with disaster as he attempted to deliver a pizza as part of his job.

A 14-year-old thug, part of a gang out looking for trouble, shot and killed Tariq as he sat in his car.

Khamisa fell into such an intense and agonizing despair that at one point, he was suicidal.

But Khamisa didn't die. In fact, he found himself after much soul-searching, doing something that most people would consider impossible. He reached out to the family of the young shooter, who was tried and convicted as an adult. Khamisa offered forgiveness and compassion to the family grieving on the other side.

"I talked to the boy's grandfather, who was his guardian, and I said, 'we've both lost our sons, my son to murder, and yours to prison.'"

Khamisa decided to set up a foundation in his son's name -- the Tariq Khamisa Foundation -- and he went on to dedicate his life's work to fostering forgiveness. He has since spoken before millions of people internationally and closer to home, in public and corporate workshops, and in video and audio recordings. He also has published four books exploring the way in which his heart-wrenching tragedy transformed him and led to his forgiveness work.

He realizes that many people will be puzzled by his decision to forgive his son's shooter (whose name is Tony.) "Forgiveness is not well understood in our culture," Khamisa says. "But I have a better life because I forgived. I came to realize that resentment is very corrosive. If you're out there carrying resentment, you're not going to be living at 100 percent of your capacity."

Khamisa also was able to see that Tony faced a life of agony and pain because of his crime. There were "victims at both ends of the gun," Khamisa says. "Tony has to live the rest of his life knowing he killed an innocent, unarmed kid. There's no escaping his wrongdoing. He still gets nightmares over the murder."

Key to Khamisa's transformation was his lifelong practice of meditation, and his ability to see that the only way he would ever have peace in his life is if he let go of the hatred and resentment he was initially harboring toward Tony. Today, Khamisa often appears on stage with Tony's grandfather; they speak to school groups talking about the pointless tragedies of gang violence, and in so doing, the two men are promoting peace.

To learn more about Azim and his amazing work, visit his website, www.azimkhamisa.com, where you can download his guided mediations on forgiveness.

Help Stop Extrajudicial Execution of Americans

"(N)or shall any person...be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." --
Article V, US Bill of Rights

The Petition with link below reads: "The secret US government assassination program that targets American citizens abroad and kills them without judicial review is not 'legal', 'ethical,' or 'wise' as the White House claimed.  It is wrong, and it should be stopped."

George W. Bush claimed that he had the presidential authority to declare Americans "enemy combatants" and throw them into a dungeon without access to the court system.

But even Bush, with his breathtakingly expansive view of executive power, never stood in front of the American people and claimed he could order the assassination of an American citizen without judicial review.

Yet yesterday, after a Department of Justice white paper on President Obama's extrajudicial assassination program was leaked, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney shamefully and appallingly defended missile strikes against American citizens as "legal," "ethical" and "wise."

There may not be the political will in Washington, DC, to address this clearly unconstitutional power grab by the executive branch, but as citizens it is our duty to say this is clearly illegal, immoral and a deplorable desecration of the rule of law.

The Obama administration has previously defended the extrajudicial program that has killed a number of Americans, including an American teenager who wasn't involved at all with terrorism.

We have been solemnly told that the constitutional right to due process doesn't mean that the president can't unilaterally order, without any input from or review by the judiciary, a Predator drone to fire a missile at an American citizen.

It has been "explained" that there's a secret legal memo that makes this "legal."

The president has refused to make this secret memo available to Congress or the American people, thus far only releasing an insufficient white paper that purports to summarize the administration's legal justification for extrajudicial assassination.

It's absurd, it's illegal, it's completely antithetical to democratic values, and it's morally repugnant.

Tell President Obama: Assassinating Americans without due process is wrong. Click the link below to automatically sign the petition:

http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6996409&p=secret_killings&id=54376-1036859-h2Do05x&t=4

At times like this, outspoken dissent is an important political act.

Thank you for speaking out. Your activism matters.

Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Racial Bias: Now & Then...

  

STUDIES: Racial Bias in Houston's Use of Death Penalty

Posted: February 01, 2013  Death Penalty Information Center  DPIC  (find at deathpenaltyinfo.org)  

 

In a new study in Harris County (Houston), Texas, criminologist Scott Phillips found significant racial and gender disparities in the application of the death penalty under former District Attorney Charles Rosenthal. Prof. Phillips of the University of Denver examined homicides from 2001 to 2008 and found that death sentences were imposed on behalf of white victims at 2.5 times the rate one would expect if the system were race neutral. Furthermore, death sentences were imposed on behalf of white-female victims at 5 times the rate one would expect if the system were blind to race and gender. Phillips noted that these disparities were particularly troubling because Rosenthal was forced from office in a scandal involving racial improprieties in the workplace. In a previous study, Prof. Phillips also found racial disparities in the application of the death penalty under the previous Harris County D.A., Johnny Holmes, during the latter part of his term (1992-99).

 CANADA: A question of innocence hangs over city's last execution; Harry Lee was the last man hanged in the city, but some say he didn't do the crime60 years ago Sunday, a 37-year-old synagogue caretaker was hanged at the Barton Street jail in what turned out to be the last execution ever to take place in Hamilton. But some people still contend that Harry Lee - whose mother was black and father was of Spanish background - was innocent of killing his girlfriend, Mary Rosenblatt, a Jewish married mother of 2.

"It was racism. There was no doubt about it, as far as I am concerned," says Allison Gowling, whose father knew Lee in the small village of Canfield in Haldimand. Lee grew up in the community before moving to Hamilton in the late 1930s.

"The general consensus was, I remember my mother talking about it, is that he did not do it. He was set up. They were a target because she was a Jewish girl running around with a black man."Gowling was born five years after the hanging but continues to carry the sadness his parents felt about the death of a man they believed was innocent. He says his mother was haunted by seeing grave diggers from her window suddenly showing up at the Canfield cemetery to dig the grave for Lee the night before the Feb. 3, 1953, hanging.

Gowling's view was shared by many at the time. An interesting memo that cropped up in Spectator microfilm written about the case from a William Hill argued the killing resulted from an effort by thugs to warn Lee "to keep away from white women." It escalated into the shootings, the note alleged.

In 1991, The Spectator interviewed Baptist church pastor E. Sidney Kerr, who walked with Lee to the gallows. "All who were involved were clearly of one mind. Harry Lee was an innocent man. It was a dreadful mistake and it should never be duplicated. Harry's colour did not help," said Kerr. In 1952, the case in Hamilton was sensational. Rosenblatt was found shot to death in Lee's 1939 Chevrolet sedan on Highway 8 in Sheffield in the early hours of June 2.

Lee had also been shot and was barely alive but managed to survive after being rushed to hospital. Police argued that Lee attempted to take his own life with a 22-calibre rifle after killing Rosenblatt. But Lee told court a fantastic story of being forced off the road by two strangers who shot them. Later, in his testimony, that story was modified by him saying he and Rosenblatt had been accosted at his Cannon Street home. They were forced into his car then made to drive to a secluded area where the shootings took place.

Lee, who was deeply religious, held out he was innocent right to the end - telling Kerr in his last words, "No, reverend, I did not (kill her). They're hanging the wrong man." He refused a Crown offer to plead guilty to manslaughter, which would not have carried the death penalty.

Hamilton hangingsA total of 8 people were hanged at Hamilton's Barton Street jail for murder from 1876 to 1953. All were men. -- On March 14, 1876, Michael McConnell, 38, was hanged for the murder of Nelson Mills. Mills was a tenant of McConnell and a dispute escalated to a fit of rage on the part of McConnell, who stabbed Mills to death.

-- On June 23, 1899, Benjamin Parrott, 30, was hanged for the murder of his 60-year-old mother, Bridget. During a drunken argument, Parrott split his mother's head open with an axe. -- On Dec. 7, 1900, George Arthur Pearson, 20, was hanged for murdering Annie Griffin. He claimed he meant only to threaten her with a revolver when the gun went off and the victim was struck in the head. After this, and realizing the "enormity" of what had taken place, he said he panicked and shot her a 2nd time.

-- On Dec. 27, 1907, Jacob Sunfield was hanged for shooting and killing Andrew Radzik. Sunfield claimed he was innocent. His last words were, "I have been warned not to make a statement. Goodbye, gentlemen."

-- On Dec. 19, 1919, Paul Kowalski was hanged for murdering Ignace "Knot" Trembluk during a robbery of $700. 2 weeks before his hanging, Kowalski murdered 2 of his jailers. He was not charged in those cases because it was argued he was being hanged and no further punishment could be inflicted on him.

-- On Jan. 12, 1927, John Barty, 50, was hanged for the hammer killing of Nancy Cook of Welland. It's said that "he took his last hours as calmly as if he were settling down before the fireplace for an evening's smoke."

-- On July 8, 1930, Mike Smith, 46, was hanged for the brutal murder of John Iwanetz, who was shot and pushed down some stairs at his Winona home during a robbery. 4 faced charges in the robbery, but Smith was the one to go to gallows. He claimed he was not the robber who fired the shot.

 -- On Feb. 3, 1953, Harry Lee, 37, was hanged for murdering his girlfriend, Mary Rosenblatt. Lee claimed innocence but the Crown held that Rosenblatt died during a murder-suicide attempt that Lee managed to live through after shooting himself. Capital punishment in Canada

-- Between 1867 and 1962, 702 executions were carried out, 691 of them were men.

-- The last Canadian execution took place on Dec. 11, 1962, at the Don Jail in Toronto. Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas hanged for separate murders. -- Crimes that have been punishable by death at various times included murder, rape and treason.

Only 2 people have been executed for treason, 1 of whom was Louis Riel in November 1885 for leading an uprising. -- After years of commuting death sentences, the House of Commons abolished capital punishment on July 14, 1976, in a free vote. 1st-degree murder became punishable by life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for 25 years.  (source: thespec.com)

mmcneil@thespec.com
905-526-4687

Harry Lee is led to court in this 1952 'spec photo

 

"Hate Multiplies Hate; Violence Multiplies Violence" : In Honor of Victor Hugo and MLK

Maryland and the Death Penalty:  Maryland's governor, Martin O'Malley, chose Jan. 15, the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., to announce his determination to repeal the state's law allowing capital punishment. "Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence," he said, quoting Dr. King.

The death penalty does not deter murders, the governor said, since states with the penalty have had higher murder rates than states without it. And prosecuting a capital case in Maryland costs 3 times as much as pursuing a homicide conviction that carries a sentence of life without parole. In short, the penalty has been a huge waste of taxpayer money on a policy that manifestly does not work. Significantly, he said, the state has gathered sobering proof that its use of the death penalty has been so unfair - so arbitrary and capricious - as to be unjust and immoral.

The Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment reported in 2008 that the "administration of the death penalty clearly shows racial bias" and that the chances of a state prosecutor's "seeking and imposing a death sentence differs alarmingly across jurisdictions in Maryland, even when the cases are similar."

In addition, the reversal rate in Maryland death penalty cases has been stunningly high; it was 80 % for the years 1995 to 2007, the commission reported. Prosecutors have withheld potentially exculpatory evidence. Judges have made decisions that were unfair to defendants. The police have forced involuntary confessions.

4 years ago, the Maryland Legislature chose not to repeal the state's death penalty law and instead made it the most stringent in the country. A person cannot be sentenced to death without DNA evidence tying a defendant to the murder, a videotaped voluntary confession or a videotape of the crime. But this law makes the state's administration of capital punishment even more arbitrary and capricious, since this evidence is so rarely collected.

As a practical matter, Maryland cannot execute anyone now. Its highest court ruled in 2006 that the state cannot use the lethal injection protocol devised by the corrections department because the Legislature did not review and approve it, as state law requires. In fact, the state has not executed anyone since 2005. But the law remains on the books, and the time has come to abolish it.

As Governor O'Malley said: "We know what does not work. And we know that the way forward is always found through greater respect for the human dignity of all."
(source: Editorial, New York Times)

********

The same author who wrote the original "Les Miserables"  also spoke the following

Plea Against the Death Penalty:

Look, examine, reflect. You hold capital punishment up as an example. Why? Because of what it teaches. And just what is it that you wish to teach by means of this example? That thou shalt not kill. And how do you teach that "thou shalt not kill"? By killing.

I have examined the death penalty under each of its 2 aspects: as a direct action, and as an indirect one. What does it come down to? Nothing but something horrible and useless, nothing but a way of shedding blood that is called a crime when an individual commits it, but is (sadly) called "justice" when society brings it about. Make no mistake, you lawmakers and judges, in the eyes of God as in those of conscience, what is a crime when individuals do it is no less an offense when society commits the deed.

Victor Hugo, Speech at the Constituent Assembly, September 15, 1848

(Dr. Rick Halperin features the Hugo quote above as a constant reminder on his "Death Penalty: News & Updates".)

For more from Rick,  see the column of links on the right side of this blogsite -- Go there often and support an end to the death penalty.

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New Year Updates Part One (Rick Halperin's News & Updates)

USA: Death penalty is a tool for tyrants Your recent article with state Rep. Claire Levy questioning the death penalty addresses a difficult issue, especially in light of recent horrendous mass murders. She notes how death penalty prosecutions are so expensive that they undermine our ability to adequately fund other criminal cases. However, this misses many bigger problems. First is the often ignored principle that violence (state executions) begets more violence. Another is one we rarely dare mention. Simply put, I do not trust government bureaucrats to decide who shall be put to death. Though not worried for myself, I am concerned for those most effective in speaking truth to power and corruption. Our democracy depends on encouraging and not intimidating the outspoken, perceptive courageous few, not unlike our Founding Fathers. They were equivalent to "terrorists" for the ruling British aristocracy. Many governments use the death penalty on their most hated political adversaries.

The death penalty is the tool of tyrants. Our country already employs solitary confinement as a form of torture that is effective in silencing the offender. Such treatment of Private First Class Bradley Manning is an example, (even if you disagree with his whistle-blowing). The most effective, permanent means to silence political enemies is the death penalty. Is it not possible some associated with our government could be so desperate? The 2012 Defense Authorization Act in its ambiguity could enable indefinite detention of anyone considered a threat, even U.S. citizens not involved with armed conflicts. Will more political enemies as supposed terrorists be targeted for elimination, like an expedited administrative death penalty? Abolishing our state death penalty would be a symbolic yet significant first step in protecting our remaining constitutional rights and reducing our potential for unexpected tyranny.

JOHN C. BOLLINGER----Lafayette (source: Letter to the Editor, (Boulder, Colo.) Daily Camera) 

DECEMBER 31, 2012: USA (NEW YORK):

Rare NYS death penalty case may reach Brooklyn in 2013 The year 2013 will bring a number of new beginnings to Brooklyn. In Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 2 will open with courts for bocce, handball, and basketball. The Prospect Park Lakeside Project, to open in fall 2013, will possess 2 ice rinks. And in the Brooklyn courts, a rare death-penalty case may be heard. The case of Ronell Wilson, convicted cop killer, may come to the Federal District Court in Brooklyn in the new year. Wilson was convicted in 2007 of the 2003 double murder of undercover NYPD Detectives Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin. A Brooklyn jury found Wilson guilty of the murders, which stemmed from an illegal gun buy sting gone wrong, and sentenced Wilson to die by lethal injection -- the 1st time in New York that a federal defendant was sentenced to death since 1954. Wilson's attorneys appealed the decision, and the U.S. Court of Appeals threw out the sentence, but not the conviction due to prosecutorial error. The prosecution, the court said, violated Wilson's constitutional rights by telling the jury that Wilson's decision to go to trial demonstrated his lack of remorse and refusal to accept responsibility. A new jury was set to again decide whether or not Wilson would face death row.

The new trial was hit with a number of delays, primarily the issue of whether or not Wilson had the mental capacity to face a death penalty sentence. "We are concerned for his mental health, as he has no contact with his family and friends and no access to his legal materials so that his ability to assist his legal team is compromised," one of the lawyers wrote in an Aug. 15 letter to the warden at a Brooklyn lockup. This set the stage for Wilson's mental health defense. The United States Supreme Court has long ago ruled that inmates who are mentally insane - or developmentally disabled - cannot be executed. Wilson's attorney's asserted that Wilson is intellectually impaired following a childhood of deprivation and neglect, with a drug-addicted mother who was largely absent from their broken home. During a December 2012 special hearing to address the issue of Wilson's mental capacity, an expert witness for the prosecution, Dr. Raymond Patterson, found Wilson fit and sane enough to face the death penalty. "[Wilson] said that if the judge finds that he was mentally retarded, he cannot face the death penalty," Patterson said to validate his finding that Wilson was narcissistic and articulate. The defense however, presented a number of witnesses to refute the prosecution's findings. Johns Hopkins neurologist Bruce Shapiro told Brooklyn Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis, that Wilson "was functionally illiterate and functionally innumerate." "This young man could not work. He had significant limitations. He could not do many practical household activities," Shapiro said, noting that as a young man Wilson needed instruction on "how to clean himself and how to shop." The issue is now in the hands of Hon. Garaufis, who will eventually rule on whether Wilson is mentally fit to face the death penalty. If the court finds Wilson mentally fit, he will face a new penalty phase trial this spring, where a new jury will decide if Wilson will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole or be executed by lethal injection. (source: Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

More News/Op Ed items for the New Year 2013 to follow...

The Innocent are Executed! New Year Letter from Witness to Innocence

Dear Friend,

One of the most compelling reasons to abolish the death penalty is that the innocent are executed.

Witness to Innocence is the only national organization of exonerated death row survivors, representing the 141 innocent men and women who have been released from death row since 1973, after spending a decade on average awaiting execution. Our members tell their stories in every corner of the country and around the world, as we empower them and their loved ones to take a leadership role in the death penalty abolition movement. Over the past five years, we have helped bring about abolition in five states.

We may never know how many innocent people have been executed. But we do know America has executed the innocent throughout its history.

In 1944, George Stinney became the youngest person executed in the U.S. This 5-foot-1, 90-pound black boy was convicted of the impossible crime of beating two young girls to death with a 20-pound railroad spike. George was interrogated for hours without his parents present, and reportedly was offered an ice cream cone for confessing. At trial his defense counsel did not cross-examine witnesses. And the all-white male jury deliberated for all of 10 minutes before finding him guilty of first-degree murder. The state of South Carolina electrocuted George despite no evidence of a confession, other than the word of a deputy, and no physical evidence linking him to the crime.

A year later, Lena Baker became the first and only woman to be executed in Georgia's electric chair. Baker, who was African-American, was found guilty by a white jury of murdering her white employer. The man reportedly enslaved and beat Baker, and threatened to kill her if she left. 60 years later, the state of Georgia gave Baker a full and unconditional pardon.

Fast forward to today, and America's death machine continues to kill the innocent for the same reasons--including police coercion, witness misidentification, prosecutorial misconduct, bad lawyering and racism in jury selection. The only way to guarantee this doesn't happen again is to get rid of the death penalty altogether. It is a fundamentally broken system that cannot be repaired.

2012 was a busy year for WTI. Our death row survivors worked closely with state abolition groups, lawmakers and communities across the country to bring about an end to executions. We helped shape public opinion and move California closer to repeal of the death penalty. WTI joined the Innocence Network and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. We testified at UN headquarters and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. We spoke at the Coliseum in Rome in celebration of the repeal of the death penalty in Connecticut. And WTI met with European Union officials in Brussels.

And 2013 will be an even bigger year for us. WTI plans to help repeal the death penalty in other states this year. Our gathering in Atlanta will empower our members with the tools to become more effective anti-death penalty activists. We will reach out to new allies, engage communities of color, expand our presence in the South, and fight for federal compensation for the wrongfully convicted.

(Although my policy on The Journey of Hope blog is not to rais funds for other groups, you may want to go to the source to find out this info.  Connie )
 

Yours truly,

David A. Love
Executive Director

P.S. Victory is in sight, but we can't do this without you. End the death penalty in 2013

Consider Ways to Help Stop & Prevent Violence

Just in:  A Way to Stop Violence:
http://oneheartforpeace.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-way-to-stop-violence-by-david-swanson.html

Various Related Links:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9746660/Connecticut-school-shooting-the-aftermath-in-pictures.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/nyregion/witnesses-recall-deadly-shooting-sandy-hook-newtown-connecticut.html?ref=nyregion

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9746923/Connecticut-school-shooting-live.html

http://news.yahoo.com/connecticut-school-shooting-revives-gun-debate-214429154.html

How we might all work together to help prevent such devastation:

http://www.facebook.com/events/291293060978053/

http://thejourneyofhope.blogspot.com/2012/03/blesses-are-merciful-new-video-on-about.html 

http://www.wesleyan.edu/masters/studentservices/homecoming.html

http://www.amuslimvoice.org/html/body_speakers___panelists.html

 

above photos were found in the gallery of telegraph.co.uk

 

Those who forgive killers

SEE "Rais Bhuiyan and the power of forgiveness by a Rabbi here:
http://www.thepowerofforgiveness.com/http://rabbibrant.com/2011/07/11/rais-bhuiyan-and-the-power-of-forgiveness/

Also see items by Debbie Cuevas Morris who was influenced by Sister Helen Prejean's teachings on forgiveness (I was moved by her writing in a woman's magazine years ago where she (Debbie) said something like: Mercy did much more for me than justice ever did. I have seen/heard this truth born out time again as I've been with other victim family & friends.

From a summary on Debbie Morris's book: "Forgiving Dead Man Walking":

It was just another time of enjoying milkshakes and small talk. Neither Debbie Cuevas nor her boyfriend, Mark Brewster, gave much thought to the white pickup truck that had pulled up beside them on the riverfront. Until . . . a revolver thrust through the driver's window . . . a hand jerked Debbie's head back and a voice said, 'Don't do anything stupid' . . . and a quiet Friday evening abruptly became a nightmare. For the first time, here is the untold other half of Dead Man Walking, the movie that depicted killer Robert Willie's death-row relationship with spiritual advisor Helen Prejean. Now the woman whose testimony helped send Willie to the electric chair tells her side of the story--the side America hasn't heard. In gripping detail, Debbie Morris--formerly Debbie Cuevas--recounts her hours of terror . . . and her years of walking an agonizing road back to wholeness. More than a riveting narrative, here is an incredible tale of courage, faith, and forgiveness. In a world where all of us struggle sooner or later with unforgiveness, Debbie Morris is a living testimony to the grace we long for: grace that shines more brightly than we dare believe, bright enough to triumph over the darkest evil.

http://www.amazon.com/Forgiving-Dead-Man-Walking-Entire/dp/0310231876

You may also want to see the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWae9QBmrWc

Hopefully, readers won't be put off by me not linking occasionally.  This may make it easier for you to pass on some items....

Rais Bhuyan: Journey of Hope Profile

here

Rais Bhuiyan

Rais was shot in the face by Mark Stroman, who was on killing spree after 9/11 due to a vision of he was seeking revenge. When Stroman was facing an execution date Rais helped collecting signatures on a petition asking the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to commute Stroman's sentece into life in prison without parole.
Facts

Journey Board member since 2011

Find links to the following:

Rais story at Execution Chronicles

A victim of 9/11 hate crime now fights for his attacker's life

The Hated and the Hater, Both Touched by Crime
Quotes

I was raised very well by my parents and teachers. They raised me with good morals and strong faith. They taught me to put yourself in others' shoes. Even if they hurt you, don't take revenge. Forgive them. Move on. It will bring something good to you and them. My Islamic faith teaches me this too. He said he did this as an act of war and a lot of Americans wanted to do it but he had the courage to do it -- to shoot Muslims. After it happened I was just simply struggling to survive in this country. I decided that forgiveness was not enough. That what he did was out of ignorance. I decided I had to do something to save this person's life. That killing someone in Dallas is not an answer for what happened on Sept. 11.

To click on the above links, simply GO here

Thanx for coming by...

Postive Update from Death Penalty Focus

I'll be honest, these past few days haven't been easy. Last week, California's Proposition 34 lost by a narrow margin at the ballot box. I know you have shared in our disappointment, but now we're dusting ourselves off and getting back to work.

Though the results were not what we hoped for, I cannot express strongly enough just how far we've come. In 1978, California reinstated the death penalty with 71% of the vote. This time, that number was less than 53%. What's more - over 4.5 million people voted to replace the death penalty! This dramatic shift in opinion happened because of the fabulous volunteers who spent so many evenings and weekends knocking on doors, calling voters, and talking to friends and family about the death penalty. You are the reason that we have changed so many minds and gained so much support. Thank you!

This campaign ended with very strong momentum, and now we must grow that momentum even more. That's why we need your continued support in this effort. We know what it takes to win, and we're ready to continue educating every person we can about the risks and costs of the death penalty. Are you in?

In solidarity,

Ana Zamora
Program Director

Why we should execute gun violence -- NOT people

This topic is meant to be a discussion starter...so let's talk about this here on the Journey blog...

comment below...anonymous will be accepted as long as courtesy is shown to the reader...

Also, plz see the post just below for a starter...

Thanx,

Connie

Help End Gun Violence (Mayors Against Illegal Guns)

Support California Now!

The following graph may help readers in & out of California? Send to your California Contacts. Write your OWN letter to Editor in one or several of these news sources? Or use as a guideline for other states?

For an important article on California and the Death Penalty GO here
( Even for those who are on the fence, this article shows that voting to repeal the death penalty could save the state of California as any other state a HEAP of money.)

This just came in from Consumer WatchDog dot org via email...may not be on main website? Maybe you could send a letter to editor in these newspapers, call, or vote where appropriate?

Election Day is now just 2 days away. As a public service, we are sending you the positions of the major newspaper editorial boards on all the California ballot measures. Consumer Watchdog does not endorse these editorial positions. We are simply offering them to you, along with links to the original editorials, so that you can do your own research and make your own decisions.

Some of our supporters have asked if Consumer Watchdog has taken positions on any measures...

Ballot Measure Scorecard: Editorial Board Positions On CA Propositions
Newspaper Prop
30 Prop
31 Prop
32 Prop
33 Prop
34 Prop
35 Prop
36 Prop
37 Prop
38 Prop
39 Prop
40
LA Daily News Y Y Y N Y Y Y N N N Y
LA Times Y N N N Y N Y N N Y Y
North County Times N N Y N Y Y Y N N Y
OC Register N N Y Y N Y Y N N N Y
Press-Enterprise N N Y N N N Y N N Y Y
Sac Bee Y N N N Y N Y N N Y Y
SD Union Tribune N Y Y N Y Y N N N Y
SF Chronicle Y Y N N Y Y Y N N N Y
SJ Mercury News Y Y N N Y Y Y N N Y Y
Ventura Co. Star Y N N N Y N N N N N Y

November 2012 Statewide Ballot Measure Titles

Proposition 30
Temporary Taxes to Fund Education. Guaranteed Local Public Safety Funding. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.

Proposition 31
State Budget. State and Local Government. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.

Proposition 32
Political Contributions by Payroll Deduction. Contributions to Candidates. Initiative Statute.

Proposition 33
Auto Insurance Companies. Prices Based on Driver's History of Insurance Coverage. Initiative Statute.

Proposition 34
Death Penalty. Initiative Statute.

Proposition 35
Human Trafficking. Penalties. Initiative Statute.

Proposition 36
Three Strikes Law. Repeat Felony Offenders. Penalties. Initiative Statute.

Proposition 37
Genetically Engineered Foods. Labeling. Initiative Statute.

Proposition 38
Tax to Fund Education and Early Childhood Programs. Initiative Statute.

Proposition 39
Tax Treatment for Multistate Businesses. Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Funding. Initiative Statute.

Proposition 40
Redistricting. State Senate Districts. Referendum.

We hope this is helpful to you. Good luck sorting through this year's lengthy ballot, and thanks for all your support.

Best wishes,

Jamie Court
President, Consumer Watchdog

Dedication to a path of peace (by a man who's family was murdered)

Staff Photographer Bill Zars/ Daily Herald

Jeff Engelhardt advocates forgiveness, not death penalty

Originally found with 38 Comments here
Article updated: 1/25/2011 6:40 PM

On April 17, 2009, three members of my family were murdered.

My father, grandmother and 18-year-old sister were all stabbed to death in their own home. My mother was in critical condition and my older sister was left with her baby girl and the horrifying sights of what happened to her family.

I was feeling helpless, six hours away at Southern Illinois University.

It didn't take long for the assistant state's attorney to tell me they wanted to pursue the death penalty for the man accused of committing the terrible crime.

As the citizens of Illinois await the governor's decision on the death penalty, it has given me another opportunity to contemplate what I would want done in my situation.

I live with what happened every day and have mulled over what I would like to see become of the man I believe took my family away. My vision was blurred for a while, but the decision became very clear after I remembered where I came from.

I am no governor, but I am my father's son. And as my father's son, that means I choose the path of forgiveness.

This is not a call to repeal the death penalty. Rather this is a declaration of dedication to a path of peace.

I have a long, hard road ahead of me as my journey to forgiveness has just begun. If D'Andre Howard, the man charged with the killings, were sentenced to death and later executed, I could still complete my journey, but its potential would remain unfulfilled.

Because its potential could result in changing the heart and mind of the man who committed the heinous crime. And in turn, he might be able to change a few hearts of those with whom he must now associate.

To me, there is more value in saving a lost soul than sending it away.

Regardless of the future of the death penalty in this state, we can all try to forgive one another a little more and dedicate ourselves to a path of peace.

There are still days where I want the worst for D'Andre, but I keep a quote close with me to get me back on the right path:

“So, as I meditate, I breathe in all their poisons – hatred, fear, cruelty. Then I breathe out. And I let all the good things come out, things like compassion, forgiveness. I take inside my body all these bad things. Then I replace poisons with fresh air.”

If the man who said that, the Dalai Lama, can feel that much compassion after watching his people be killed and driven out of their country, I believe we can all be a little better to each other.

I realized that taking the life of the man who killed my father, grandmother and sister won't bring anyone back. So we should all make the most of the time we have with each other, even those who have wronged us. I want to try to make the most I can out of him while we're both here.

We're not all governors, but I'm my father's son and we're all brothers and sisters in this world, so let's do more to make it a better place.

======
Editor's note from 2011: Jeff Engelhardt is an intern in the Daily Herald's Springfield bureau and a graduate student at the University of Illinois-Springfield, enrolled in its Public Affairs Reporting program. He wrote the following essay about the proposed death penalty ban based on his personal experiences related to the stabbing deaths of his father, grandmother and sister in 2009 in their Hoffman Estates home. The ban is awaiting action — approval or veto — on Gov. Pat Quinn's desk.
======
Find Comments here and consider making a Comment here on The Journey of Hope blog just below...

Death Penalty Doesn't Help Curb Crime (from Pakistan newspaper)

Found at Dawn.com by Peerzada Salman KARACHI, Oct 10:

The death penalty does not help eradicate crime from society. We need to change our social structure so that the crime rate could be brought down. Awarding capital punishment to criminals is not the solution to that end. This was argued by speakers at an event organised to observe the World Day against Death Penalty (Oct 10) by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan at the commission’s office on Wednesday.

HRCP Coordinator Syed Shamsuddin gave a brief background of the issue. He said in 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on a death penalty moratorium for which 106 countries voted in favour and 46 against.

Then amendments were proposed to the resolution for which 105 voted in favour while 48 decided in the negative. In Pakistan, there has been a moratorium on capital punishment for the past four years.

Research suggested poor and illiterate people were usually subjected to the death penalty; they were those individuals who could not afford a lawyer to fight their case.

Dr Sabir Michael said the above-mentioned moratorium was EU-driven. The basic philosophy behind it was that the right to life was a natural right. The question was what to do with those who took someone else’s lives.

He said crime could not be eradicated by the use of power. The crime rate in the countries where it had been abolished was much less. In order to rid society of crime and criminals, people’s mindset must be changed, education must be provided, tolerance must be preached and good governance must be ensured.

He argued that if a person killed someone it indicated inadequacy or inefficiency of law-enforcement agencies. The qisas and diyat system in Islam meant the death penalty was not inevitable, he said. Dr Michael pointed out crime was a product of a social environment where there was no rule of law. The death penalty inculcated fear in people but it did not eliminate crime.

He said there were 8,000 prisoners in Pakistan who were sentenced to death. Usually, it is the lower courts which give such a verdict but by the time it reaches upper courts things tend to change. This was the area they needed to work on, he said and added it was important to engage media, politicians and the youth on the issue. He said two kinds of countries opposed the abolition of the death penalty: powerful and those with large populations.

Dr Tauseef Ahmed Khan said the issue was linked to human rights. Going back in time when there were tribal societies, he said, the state which was based on oppression (jabr) usually imposed such laws so that terror could be spread, and killing people was one such means. If there was a rebellion against a monarch, he would kill the rebels.

With the advent of the industrial revolution, workers and labour movements began to take root and it was agreed upon that unless human rights were not given, things could not improve. He told the gathering that it was in 1948 that the human rights charter came into being.

Dr Khan said in Pakistan and India, the system generally supported the privileged class. He disagreed with Dr Michael that only powerful and densely populated countries supported the death penalty and said that countries with military rule and monarchies (such as Saudi Arabia) also opposed the abolition of capital punishment because they depended on ruthless use of power.

He said when Yousuf Raza Gilani was prime minister he tried to do away with the punishment but the law ministry suggested to him that he should not announce it because it was against Islam.

Dr Khan said there were international conventions because of which 80,000 Pakistani soldiers were not killed after the 1971 war. Such conventions should be implemented in letter and spirit. There was also the need for changing people’s mindset on the subject.

Dr Riaz Sheikh talked about the concept of social control. He said those in minority decided the fate of the majority. He said the philosophy of capital punishment, among other things, had the element of danger to property. Those who had property feared that the underprivileged were after their land. It was Karl Marx who pinpointed the problem and enlightened us that there were social reasons behind every dilemma.

He informed the audience that in Saudi Arabia, 70 per cent of such punishments were awarded to those who were not Saudi citizens, and out of those 90 per cent belonged to South Asia (mainly Pakistan and Bangladesh).

Dr Sheikh said there was a need to look into blasphemy laws and honour killings. In honour killing cases, the killer often surrendered himself on the spot suggesting he could justify the killing later on, he said.

A question and answer session followed during which Dr Michael told a questioner that in many countries crime was treated like a disease. He said nobody was suggesting that the killers should get off scot-free. They should face all other relevant punishments.

NOTE: Other forgiveness stories...

Readers interested in forgiveness stories may want to read the comments under the following post...one has just been added...as several forgiveness stories have been submitted to this post on Rais Bhuiyan story...GO here

I am unfamiliar with the above and would be interested in more on these and on other forgiveness stories (with corroboration/references if at all possible.)

Execution Day Journal (revisited) Part Two

(Please see Part One in the post just below)

Mejdanek was a concentration/death camp in Poland near the city of Lublin. I visited it almost 20 years ago with my father - a Holocaust refugee himself. My father overwhelmed with emotions left my brother and me and returned to the car. We set out to look for the Gas chambers of Mejdanek. The camp unlike death camps ( exclusively reserved for killing) served also as a slave labor camp with barracks for the prisoners. Somewhere in the camp were the Gas chambers. It was a gorgeous autumn afternoon with a golden sun setting lighting the camp. The trees were blazing in red yellow and gold; the dark wooden barracks could be mistaken for some youth camp…at least from the outside. And here were my brother and I stumbling amidst heaps of golden leaves searching for the illusive Gas chambers. And than on the outskirts of the camp we saw this low concrete building that stood out. It simply did not blend with the rest. Sure enough it was Majdanek’s gas chamber.

Twenty years later and totally subconsciously I carried in me this image of a death house set apart and different looking from the rest of the buildings around it. Somewhere in the depth of my mind an association was made. It would haunt me ever since. We went along that low building passed few doors and a warden ushered us through the last door. And here the comparison with that gas chamber was over. In Majdanek we entered a bare room with a very low ceiling stained with bluish greenish color, that the a French tour guide explained to his students, was the reaction of the chemicals of the gas mixed with the plaster.

In Huntsville we entered a bizarre show room. It was small… very small. The ceiling here was very low too. But rather than advancing in a bare dilapidated structure, here we advanced in a darkened freshly painted room towards a glass window. Behind it was yet another chamber,oppressively small and painted in green. In the middle was Mark Stroman strapped to a gurney. Standing in that small room peeking at him through the glass I felt we were in a museum watching some rare exhibit.

When my daughter turned 13 years I took her and her friend to see London. It was the first and only time I was in Madame Tousseau’s museum. What impressed us all were a series of “Tableaux” in the “dungeons”. Here were life size wax statues of Jack the Ripper, Queen Elizabeth in her cell in the Tower of London, to name just few. We were passing from one glass window to the next watching a lifelike “Tableau” through a window. This is how I felt once we entered this very small room and walked towards the glass window, behind which there was a scene out of a Madam Touseau. Mark strapped on his back could only move his head slightly to recognize us. At the head of the gurney was what seemed to be a wax statue of a warden wearing a dark suit. He was standing a foot behind Mark‘s head staring at the space head of him. He was wearing dark sunglasses, his hands clasped behind his back. He had a plastic earpiece like a Secret Service agent.

On the other side of the gurney was the Chaplin who had instructed us in the Hospitality suite. He also stared at the space ahead murmuring some prayers. In one hand he held what I assumed was a small prayer book. He touched Mark’s ankle, with his right hand. He did it too according to “protocol” It was for “ human contact” , he had told us in the hospitality suite where he had ”prepared” us for what were were watching now. If not for his moving lips he too eerily resembled a wax statute from Madam Touseau ‘s wax museum. The only proof of life in this “Tableau” was of course Mark. He was very much alive, and painfully so. While we waved, cried and touched the glass he smiled and recognized us nodding his head. He was for me the only living person in this grotesque show.

Rick Halperin, A Dallas professor of Human Rights and an anti-Death Penalty activist, had warned me, when we met, to be prepared for the sight of tubes. Rick witnessed an execution in 1998 and he particularly remembered one tube carrying a black liquid that was injected into the condemned prisoner’s veins. The State of Texas must have listened to Rick Halperin ‘s description. In our execution chamber there were no tubes in sight, neither were bags of liquid. No machine or other instrument could be seen. Even the point where the needle pierced Mark’s skin was covered up with white bandages. The room was sparkling clean. Mark was covered to his chest by a spotless clean white sheet and some green blanket

It was as if we were in a hospital room. It all seemed to be so clinical.

Few minutes after we all piled into this tiny room taking it all in, the “show “ began.
And what a choreographed shows it was! Samuel Becket, one of the founding fathers of the Theater of the Absurd, could not have conceived of a better play. Performance and Stage directions were honed to perfection. Over 400 executions in Texas (more than all states combined) produced superb acting and precisely choreographed performance.

The “spectacle” began with a door opening at the other side of the tiny chamber. I was so tense focusing on Mark that I have not even noticed that there was a door painted in green, like the walls around it. A man dressed in dark business suit lowered his head and peeked into the little chamber:

“Warden proceeds” he said and than without turning his back to us, he simply retreated back into the darkness from which he had come and the door was closed.

No one moved or recognized the existence of this “intruder”. However that was apparently the signal for Mark to begin saying his final words. I published them in an earlier update. We were all glued to him and the glass. The air was heavy,you could slice it with a knife. To make things worse, in this otherwise implacable show, the microphone was faulty. We were straining to hear Mark’s voice.

I remember the sentences from the scriptures, his beautiful sentence about Hate, the pain it causes and how it needs to stop.

Than according to the “reporters “ who were present he said:

“Let’s do this damn thing. “

But did he say it? None of us remember him ever saying it. What I do remember that he turned his head lightly towards us (he was strapped on his back and this movement of the head must have been painful) and thanked us each by name. It was such a “Mark’s moment” literally seconds before Death thanking each one of us personally.

So did he say, “Let’s do this damn thing” or didn’t he? Some of us agonized over that because the “reporters’ allegation was that he uttered a “curse”.

I could not care less. Actually if indeed he said this sentence I am even more proud of him. What would I have called this surrealist ritual strapped there on the gurney only seconds before my death? Would I have chosen another word to describe it? Hell no!

If Mark indeed uttered a “curse” it paled in comparison with the obscenity of the spectacle we were now condemned to watch.

And than in yet one more typical Mark‘s moment, he said:

I love you, all of you. It’s all-good; it’s been a great honor. I feel it; I am going to sleep now. Goodnight, 1,2… there it goes.

Those were his last words that I will remember as long as I live. Mark calmly giving the cue to the Executioner, even counting till three like we do in field recording:” Coming in 3,…1, 2…

He closed his eyes and I never saw any change in his face afterwards. It looked from the outside as if he was peacefully going to sleep. For me it was a relief. I heard so many stories about the drugs used in execution. Only in late June a man was executed in Georgia after tossing his head dying with his eyes open. I was a worried sick about Mark. But he seemed to die peacefully and at that moment it was a huge relief.

We were standing there hypnotized as the “show” continued: an immobilized waxlike statute of the Warden staring ahead, the Chaplin standing on the other side of the Gurney staring into space too. And in the middle was Mark, now lying with his eyes closed for what seemed to be an eternity.

And than from “stage left” from yet another door that could not be seen through our “window” another man emerged as if he was waiting in the back. He was the doctor. He very earnestly stepped to the gurney and began to examine Mark with his stethoscope putting his fingers to his neck and checking his pulse.

And than he leaned slightly towards the microphone above Mark’s face and said:

“Death occurred at 8.53”

And as if on cue the Chaplin lifted the sheet and covered Mark’s face. He was now officially dead. I felt a slight touch on my shoulder - yet another the Chaplin who was with us in the Hospitality suite. I never noticed him. It was time to go he said quietly. The show was over.

Back in the parking lot of the Hospitality suite to where were driven in the Chaplin’s car we met the other “man of God” who for “human contact” touched Mark’s ankle. His new role now was to deliver Mark’s personal belongings. There were several bags of meshed plastic net. To me they looked like onion bags. We helped the Chaplain to dump all of Mark’s earthly belonging to our pick-up truck. Offender Mark A. Stroman #999409 was no more. Mark’s body was released minutes earlier and there in the parking lot the state finished the process by releasing Mark’s belonging: few sacks of legal work, typewriter, some unanswered letters, photographs and food staples he bought in the prison commissary.

Mark Stroman ceased to be the property of the State of Texas. His body and his belongings were now with us.

Execution Day Journal (revisited) - Part One for this blog

These are selected excerpts (Find the original in full at Execution Chronicles website)

Outsider on the inside
Reflections on our society by an Israeli born filmmaker

Execution Day – the End
August 27, 2011 By ILAN ZIV

Here is the last piece I promised to write about the Day of Execution...I swore when I marched into the execution room to bear witness to what I saw. I feel it is my responsibility to share my experience with as many people as possible. After all so few people ever watched an execution. Thinking or talking about the Death Penalty and witnessing an execution are two very different things. The devil ,as they say, is in the details. And it is the details of that day that I found so illuminating.

My last update ended with a single telephone call in the administrative building and the look of the guard who informed me “it’s a go”. I followed him to the “cafeteria” where we have been waiting for 3.30 hours. I looked at the wall it was around 8.37pm. All hopes were gone. Mark was going to be executed. The mood in the “cafeteria” changed instantly. Some began to cry, some hugged or held hands. I will never forget the walk from the cafeteria across the street to the prison. We all hugged or held hands… some cried. The walk is a short one as you descend some stairs and go literally across the street to enter the prison. However it is a walk that seemed to last for ever. Adding to the surrealism was the knowledge that for those outside, this walk was the signal that all hope is gone and the execution was going to take place. There were only few television cameras but down the road behind the police line I could hear shouts and shrieking. I felt as I would feel for the rest of the evening that I was participating in some absurd show …some bizarre ritual. My role …our role, was now to enter the “theater” where were the selected spectators. The rest watched us knowing full well the nature of what we were going to watch. We were not alone with our thoughts and feelings. We were being watched. This contradiction between knowing that in few minutes Mark Stroman was going to be killed and the sense of this bizarre theater never left me throughout the process. This ritualized killing was for me one of the most haunting aspects of the execution. It was a testimony to how humanly complex this event is. The State has to dress up the execution with legal and clinical trapping as if by that they hope to add legitimacy to it. We had a role to play in the “show”. We were going to watch the ritual as spectators. Nothing was done in the dark, nothing was “hidden”, as if shining light on the killing would dramatically alters its nature.

The sense of theater only increased as we walked slowly towards the “stage”. We were alone accompanied by few prison functionaries,; the Chaplin and Mark’s spiritual advisor (more about them later.) Only later I realized that among this very small crowd there were two reporters. They had a role to play in the show as well. They were to “report” on Mark’s last words and behavior. One of them the AP guy I have been told had an illustrious career of observing over 200 executions. I have no idea if he received any prize for his “brave journalistic endeavors” but I do remember that Sam, my camera person, and (the) British print reporter (who) interviewed Mark only a week ago, told me about how irate was Mark seeing this guy walking around the visitors hall. Mark refused to talk to him and claimed he mistreated and misrepresented inmates. But now it was not up to Mark anymore. He lost the last privilege of the living: to decide who will be witnessing his own death.

We proceeded through corridors. No one talked . I remember a particular corridor that seemed to be a visitor hall where families meet their loved ones separated by a wire mesh, not the cages with glass partition I got used to in Polunsky.

Another door and other curve and suddenly a blast of hot air. We were outside in an inner courtyard inside prison. We were surrounded by tall buildings and barbered wire fence.

To our left there was a very low building with few doors - as if it was an architectural after thought - an appendix in this “courtyard”. I understood instantly that this must be the Death chamber. It is as if that recognition hit me in my guts. But why? Why at that moment with so much tension building up, I sensed that this was the building was heading to? How come I instantly realized that that the building was the “Death house (a series of cells culminating in the Execution chamber)? It was a mystery for me, that believe it or not, pre-occupied me for at least 24 hours after the execution until it suddenly hit me: The Gas chambers of Mejdanek of course!

Find the original at ilanziv.com or GO here or go to Execution Chronicles archives for July/August 2011

"Life After Death" NEW memoir discussed by Damien Echols and Johnny Depp

Excerpt:
After reading a question to Mr. Echols about whether Americans are deliberately ignorant of the conditions faced by prison inmates, Mr. Depp said: “I’d like to shake the hand of whoever wrote that question, because you just spun me completely backwards. I’m not completely sure where I am now.”

After Jail and Release New Fame as an Author GO here