Bill Lucero's Letter to Editor on New Jersey

Bill Lucero was on the Texas Journey of Hope

My letter to the editor:

Letters Editor
c/o Topeka Capital-Journal
616 SE Jefferson Av
Topeka KS 66607

To the Editor:

Move over California! Your place as trend leader has been replaced by the Garden State of New Jersey! Governor Corzine's signature of the law replacing the death penalty with life without parole is a historic beginning of the end of capital punishment in this country. Very soon Maryland will follow New Jersey's lead; many other states will likely do the same.

Abolishing the death penalty in Trenton came about because the public there got tired of the deceptions and falsehoods promised by the so called "law and order" political opportunists.

Knowledgeable District Attorneys pointed out how those few capital cases drained their resources from being able to provide full services to their respective constituencies. Police officers observed that the death penalty never served as an effective deterrent to murder. Many murder victims' family members spoke of their prolonged suffering and stress due to the increased press exposure related to capital cases. And Legislative researchers pointed to the increased costs of trials and appeals of capital defendants awaiting execution without much likelihood of execution.

Unfortunately all of those arguments which are equally applicable to Kansas have not moved our Legislature to take similar action yet. And Kansas' experience with capital punishment continues to be plagued with prosecutorial misconduct, judicial error, arbitrariness, covert racism, jury misconduct, withheld evidence and ineffective counsel.

Kansas Legislators need to review those issues in earnest during the next session. Any action short of replicating New Jersey's leadership will be a sad commentary of our continued "mugwumpism".

Bill Lucero
Kansas Coordinator
Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation

The Common Thread

Sent by Lisa Rhea, President and Founder of
The Justice & Reconciliation Project (JRP) who was with us on the Texas 2007 JOH

Greetings. I wanted to share with you an experience I had in Houston, Texas some days ago. I was honored to join with a victims-led group called the Journey of Hope. The Journey is (partly) comprised of victims of violent crime opposed to the death penalty. Each victim has a story to tell---stemming from their own personal pain of living through violent crime in America. Each has had a loved one murdered. Extraordinary stories. The Journey of Hope takes its message of hope to one state each year. They bring victims, and other activists, into the state for a 2-3 week period to tell their stories.

No matter your personal opinion of the death penalty in the U.S. you are compelled to listen to these stories. There are many organizations around the U.S. that speak out against the death penalty but organizations like Journey of Hope, Murder Victims for Reconciliation and Murder Victims for Human Rights stand alone as they represent those most directly impacted by violent crime: the victims' families.

I also learned (again) something that I believe I have known for some time -- that these victims of violent crime support restorative justice as a means to bring forth systemic reform in the U.S. Some of victims of violent crime I met on the Journey included Marietta Jaeger Lane of Montana, Bud Welch of Oklahoma, Bill Pelke of Alaska, Renny Cushing of Massachusetts, and Bill Lucero of Kansas. (Each)cruelly injured by violent crime but somehow coming out the other side experiencing some kind of peace, some kind of healing. Each agreeing with the other that no one should take a life "for them" in the name of their murdered loved one.

I also had the great privilege of meeting Sister Helen Prejean who perhaps is best known as the ministering nun in -Dead Man Walking- the book she wrote
as the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, a death row inmate in Louisiana. The book later became a film starring Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon.

Again, the encouraging news for me, apart from meeting these victims and Sister Helen, is that there is a common thread that runs through the experiences
of the victims on the Journey and the work that we do with victims at JRP. That thread is the need for reform that acknowledges that the U.S. criminal justice system is broken. I have said that often over my years of working in this field. And surprising to me, many do not like to hear that fact. But those who are victims of violent crime know better. Those who are the family members of offenders know that the system is broken as well. Often these two groups of affected "camps" do not work together. But on the Journey they often do.

Others I met during this brief period with the Journey included three men who had been on death row but had been exonerated. Greg Wilhoit of California, Ron Keine of Pennsylvania, and Shujaa Graham of Maryland had their stories to tell as well. Each convicted of murder and each innocent. Astounding stories. They had come together with the victims of violent crime to talk about justice. Their stories like those of the victims are based on what has occurred in their lives--- not their opinions, not data, and not polling numbers. But the fact is there are wrongful convictions. There are so many cases of exonerated inmates that it is easy to lose count. There have been 208 people exonerated, to date, by DNA alone, according to the Innocence Project, 15 on death row. A more stunning fact is knowing that all three of these men were on death row. Perhaps it is easy to read newspaper articles on this reality but it is another thing to meet such individuals in person.

I am more convinced than ever that something is changing in our American justice system. It is through the voices of the victims that change will occur. We must listen. To learn more about the Journey of Hope and to read the stories of the victims, go to www.journeyofhope.org

Best regards,

Lisa M. Rea
President and Founder

The Justice & Reconciliation Project (JRP)
website: www.thejrp.org
email: jrp@mindsync.com
telephone: 530-368-2026
mailing address: P.O. Box 2051, Loomis, CA 95650 U.S.A.

Quick note from Connie (whom Sister Helen nicknamed "scribe" for this time's Texas Journey) We suddenly have lots of photos to work with, so look for pictures to flesh out these blogs soon. Now we are looking for more stories...I just heard from Uganda--Our JOH Edward, "vindicated" from Uganda Death Row. (To use a term I learned on this JOH from the released). Edward says he's weak but recovering and thankful for our care.)

This 'n that after the Journey

Hello, glad you tuned in. Here is the first blog we're submitting since the Journey of Hope, Texas, 2007, ended recently. David's name may come up each time for awhile because of the technical set-up. Please bear with me as I get used to doing these blogs. The first may be a bit rough. Also, I'm not yet adept at how to do some of the photos, attachments. Connie L. Nash

First, here's a wonderful collection of photos with an article. All who were with us will love this reminder & for others, it's quite a bird's eye view into this recent Journey:

http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2007/10/61754.php

Here's a brief note from Jim (of Carter and Jim--steadfast friends who were with us on the Journey).

Carter and Lilly Flores have a son, Charles, on death row in Texas. Charles under the Law of Parties, a Texas law. An elder at the Edgefield Iglesia de Cristo Church in Dallas. Carter is active with the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and the Dallas Chapter of Amnesty International USA. See the indymedia url above for a photo of Carter.

Jim and his wife Susan--the Ulrichs--have been long-time friends of several death row inmates and close friends of the Flores. Jim helped the Flores son, Charles, in the writing of his book -Warrior Within- a personal account of his story and of life on Texas death row.

This short piece is from Jim:

I attached a picture of a headstone I found on our visit to Huntsville.

Carter was with me. I knew the man through my wife who was his penpal. I read his letters and have his artwork. He didn't have an execution date when Sue went down to visit charlie and calvin. when she got there she was told calvin wasn't in the unit. come to find out he'd died of an anurism the week before. Sue contacted his sister, who was also in prison, and went to visit her. Within a year, his sister died of the same thing! Calvin was in the midst of making the illustrations for a children's story book.

Carter noticed I was reflecting on Calvin's grave, so I joined with him in prayer for calvin. He held my hand. It had to be difficult for Carter to console me in my grief for Calvin and for Sue in the very place where he wants least to be reminded of what is likely to happen to his own son. But he thanked me for telling the story of Calvin. Through my friendship with Carter and the family I've gotten just a little bit of the experience of the victims in the circle of the condemned. Pray that I don't get a lot more of that experience.

shalom
jim ulrich

See Jim's attached photo

Note:
There is more on Carter & his son's case below:

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

More on Charles Flores book (written with Jim):
http://media.houston.indymedia.org/uploads/2007/10/journeybook.jpg

Great news on Edward--who's full name is Mpagi Edward Edmary. Edward's now finally in full health--having suffered an unexpected and quite serious ailment as soon as arriving with us at the JOH in Texas. This continued to be problematic for him throughout the Journey. Right after the Journey ended, he had outpatient surgery and then shortly afterwards another hospital procedure. He's also now happily back home in Uganda where he works with inmates, their families and their children--especially in the areas of education and forgiveness.

For any who don't know about Edward, he spent 18 years on Uganda's death row although the man he allegedly murdered showed up alive three years before he was finally released. More on Edward and the Global Moratorium Campaign soon. Or if you are interested, email me for more information.

Look for a Bill Pelke's piece next. Bill is our founder-visionary, director and ongoing inspiration. He's not bad at stories either.

Send your items, comments or questions to Connie Nash
newlease7@yahoo.com