by the Abolitionist Action Committee

WHEN:	June 29 and June 30 from 8:30 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.
	July 1 and 2 - around the clock, 24 hour presence (ending at midnight on July 2)
	*** A public rally will be held Tuesday June 29 at Noon ***
WHAT:	A four day liquid-only fast and vigil to mark the anniversaries of the historical 1972 Furman and 1976 Greg Supreme Court decisions to involve the death penalty.
WHO:	Exonerated death row prisoners, murder victim family members, anti-death penalty activists from around the country, and other leaders of state and national anti-death penalty organizations. Over 50 people participating from 15 different states and several countries.
WHERE:	On the sidewalk in front of the United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC

July 2, 2010 marks the 34th anniversary of the Gregg V. Georgia decision in which the United States Supreme Court upheld laws written in various states to reinstate the death penalty in the wake of the Furman decision in 1972.

This press conference is part of the Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty at the U.S. Supreme Court, wherein anti-death penalty activists will converge on Washington, D.C. from June 29 through July 2 for four days of activities commemorating the historic 1972 and 1976 Supreme Court rulings that suspended the death penalty in the United States and later allowed executions to resume. This is the sixteenth year in a row that the Abolitionist Action Committee will hold its annual Fast and Vigil between the dates of these two landmark decisions. Activists, many of whom are fasting the entire four days, are traveling to Washington D.C. from across the United States and beyond.

Highlights of this highly visual and interactive annual event include live music and evening teach-ins by death row survivors, murder victim family members, and noted activists and scholars. Please see details at http://www.abolition.org/fastandvigil/schedule.html

ATTENTION REPORTERS, EDITORS AND PRODUCERS: Consider interviews with activists from your specific state or region.  We can arrange for this.

RAIN ALERT:  In the event of rain or significant threat thereof, evening events requiring amplification will take part inside the United Methodist Church Building, immediately adjacent (across Maryland Ave. on 1st St.)

The Abolitionist Action Committee is an ad-hoc group of individuals committed to highly visible and effective public education for alternatives to the death penalty through nonviolent direct action.

Contact the AAC at: (518) 821-6684, scott@abolition.org, or www.abolition.org.

SOURCE Abolitionist Action Committee