Illinois: Death penalty abolished

Yesterday Governor Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 3539 thus abolishing the death penalty in the state of Illinois.

We want to express our gratetude towards all the people, organizations and politicians who worked tirelessly to make this happen.

And we want to thank Governor Quinn for doing the right thing. Not only did he abolish the death penalty in Illinois with his signature, he also took the courageous step to comute the sentences of the people on death row natural life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole or release.

I raise my hat to Governor Quinn.

Susanne Cardona

Please watch Governor Quinn's speech here:



Governor Quinn's speech:

Today I have signed Senate Bill 3539, which abolishes the death penalty in Illinois.

For me, this was a difficult decision, quite literally the choice between life and death. This was not a decision to be made lightly, or a decision that I came to without deep personal reflection.

Since the General Assembly passed this bill, I have met or heard from a wide variety of people on both sides of the issue. I have talked with prosecutors, judges, elected officials, religious leaders from around the world, families of murder victims, people on death row who were exonerated and ordinary citizens who have taken the time to share their thoughts with me. Their experiences, words and opinions have made a tremendous impact on my thinking, and I thank everyone who reached out on this matter.

After their guidance, as well as much thought and reflection, I have concluded that our system of imposing the death penalty is inherently flawed. The evidence presented to me by former prosecutors and judges with decades of experience in the criminal justice system has convinced me that it is impossible to devise a system that is consistent, that is free of discrimination on the basis of race, geography or economic circumstance, and that always gets it right.

As a state, we cannot tolerate the executions of innocent people because such actions strike at the very legitimacy of a government. Since 1977, Illinois has seen 20 people exonerated from death row. Seven of those were exonerated since the moratorium was imposed in 2000. That is a record that should trouble us all. To say that this is unacceptable does not even begin to express the profound regret and shame we, as a society, must bear for these failures of justice.

Since our experience has shown that there is no way to design a perfect death penalty system, free from the numerous flaws that can lead to wrongful convictions or discriminatory treatment, I have concluded that the proper course of action is to abolish it. With our broken system, we cannot ensure justice is achieved in every case. For the same reason, I have also decided to commute the sentences of those currently on death row to natural life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole or release.

I have found no credible evidence that the death penalty has a deterrent effect on the crime of murder and that the enormous sums expended by the state in maintaining a death penalty system would be better spent on preventing crime and assisting victims’ families in overcoming their pain and grief.

To those who say that we must maintain a death penalty for the sake of the victims’ families, I say that it is impossible not to feel the pain of loss that all these families share or to understand the desire for retribution that many may hold. But, as I heard from family members who lost loved ones to murder, maintaining a flawed death penalty system will not bring back their loved ones, will not help them to heal and will not bring closure to their pain. Nothing can do that. We must instead devote our resources toward the prevention of crime and the needs of victims’ families, rather than spending more money to preserve a flawed system.

The late Cardinal Joseph Bernadin observed, “[i]n a complex, sophisticated democracy like ours, means other than the death penalty are available and can be used to protect society.” In our current criminal justice system, we can impose extremely harsh punishments when warranted. Judges can impose sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Where necessary and appropriate, the state can incarcerate convicted criminals in maximum security prisons. These means should be sufficient to satisfy our need for retribution, justice and protection.

As Governor, I took an oath to uphold our state’s Constitution and faithfully execute our laws. Honoring that oath often requires making difficult decisions, but I have found none to be as difficult as the one I made today. I recognize that some may strongly disagree with this decision, but I firmly believe that we are taking an important step forward in our history as Illinois joins the 15 other states and many nations of the world that have abolished the death penalty.

(Source: Illinois Government News Network)

"Marietta's Song" has won TEN DAYS STRAIGHT

Find our most recent post on Marietta here

UPDATE: March 9, 2011

Readers and Journey family...I found this HAPPY note on a comment just received so decided it goes here on top.

Dear friends, The Competition is OVER!!!!!!! "Marietta's Song" won it fair and square. It is now headed for the Songcat "Wall of Fame". Listening to "Marietta's Song" via this link is the best possible way to access the song, the lyrics, and the artist's information: http://www.musicxray.com/xrays/101715?afid=44b7ec100625012e867712313b120559 or CLICK here

Perhaps Xanthe has heard from Marietta by now? If not, I will try to arrange a connection soon (unless Bill or Gilles do so before I get the chance.) What a nice connection that will be...what a gift.

CONGRATS dear XANTHE!!! What talent - what heart!

EARLIER:
Xanthe has yet to hear from Marietta about the song, but sincerely hopes she accepts her song-gift in the spirit of lovingkindness it was written. Broken Dreams, Xanthe says to tell you that it was for YOU as well, people who really GET IT, that her songs are written. Thank you for your honest and heartfelt response. Kind wishes, Music Central Recording Studio

By Shanti from Music Central on "Marietta's Song" has won TEN DAYS STRAIGHT at 9:52 AM

UPDATED: March 7, 2011 ………

“Marrietta’s Song” by Xanthe Littlemore (was the winner of past 9 throwdowns and yet looks like for the first time it is no longer on top. Still, what a showing that has been!) Try these connections now:

Leaving for cut and pasting:

http://www.musicxray.com/xrays/101715 or CLICK here

And try YouTube on Xanthe's channel TheXantheL

=========
“The following just came in on a recent comment from a songwriter inspired by our dear Marietta!

Dear Marietta, Hi. I'm an award-winning songwriter. I saw you on Oprah years back, and your story of forgiveness and compassion moved me to tears. It also moved me to write you a song. It's called "Marietta's Song" and it is a gift for you. I wrote to Oprah trying to find you so that I could offer you this song in recognition of your inspiring acts and your amazing depth of soul. Oprah never wrote back. Music Xray, the internet's biggest A&R website liked the song so much they recently entered it into a song contest. The song I wrote for you has won TEN DAYS STRAIGHT, which is very rare, and I believe it now qualifies for the Songcat Wall of Fame. I dearly want you to hear the song that you inspired, Marietta. If you want to, please go to http://song.cat (GO here Click on "Marietta's Song" and please accept my humble offering to you.

Kindest regards, Xanthe Littlemore xanthe.songs@yahoo.com.au

By Xanthe Littlemore on MARIETTA JAEGER-LANE at 10:19 AM (This was originally posted by Xanthe in February. Sorry to be so far behind!)

Soon I hope to find out more about this award-winning songwriter and post more. Anyone heard "Marietta's Song" yet? I'm sure happy to discover this comment in my rush to get back to a family birthday...because IF I were a songwriter, I'd certainly have been inspired to write one based on Marietta's life, story and soul as well!

Thanx so much for posting and I will try to let everyone at the Journey of Hope know right away dear Xanthe Littlemore.

Congrats to MARIETTA as well for continuing to inspire with her obedience to LOVE.

Love and Prayers Xanthe for a long, fruitful songwriting career.

Connie for all the "Journey of Hope" family

For Marietta's story GO here and here

UPDATED (in prison abuse): Bradley Manning may face death penalty

See UPDATES at the end of this post...

MSNBC/Common Dreams

Published originally on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 by MSNBC Wikileaks: Bradley Manning Faces 22 New Charges, Possible Death Penalty
by Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube

'Aiding the enemy' is most serious of new counts filed against private in WikiLeaks case

WASHINGTON — Following an intensive seven-month investigation, the Army on Wednesday filed 22 additional charges against Pfc. Bradley Manning, accused of illegally downloading tens of thousands of classified U.S. military and State Department documents that were then publicly released by WikiLeaks, military officials tell NBC News.

The most serious of the new charges is "aiding the enemy," a capital offense which carries a potential death sentence.

Pentagon and military officials say some of the classified information released by WikiLeaks contained the names of informants and others who had cooperated with U.S. military forces in Afghanistan, endangering their lives.

According to the officials, the U.S. military rounded up many of those named and brought them into their bases for protection. But, according to one military official, "We didn't get them all." Military officials tell NBC News a small number of them still have not been found.

Manning's lawyer, David Coombs, did not immediately return a call from msnbc.com for comment.

But Coombs wrote on his blog Wednesday that it was uncertain whether any additional charges filed against his client would stick.

"The decision to prefer charges is an individual one by PFC Manning's commander," he wrote. "The nature of the charges and the number of specifications under each reflects his determination, in consultation with his Staff Judge Advocate's office, of the possible offenses in this case. Ultimately, the Article 32 Investigating Officer will determine which, if any, of these additional charges and specifications should be referred to a court-martial.”

Manning, 23, was first charged on July 6, 2010, with illegally downloading and transferring defense information to an "unauthorized source," when he worked as a military intelligence analyst in Baghdad. He was also charged on accusations that he obtained 150,000 classified State Department cables, many of which were also eventually released by WikiLeaks.

The charges filed Wednesday include 16 specifications of wrongfully obtaining classified material for the purpose of posting it on the Internet, knowing that the information would be accessed by the enemy. Other charges include the illegal transmission of defense information and fraud.

While conviction on the charge of "aiding the enemy" could result in the death penalty, military prosecutors recommended that he be sentenced to life in prison if convicted on that charge alone. But the presiding military judge would have the authority to dismiss the prosecution's recommendation and impose the death penalty.

Like the earlier charges, the charges made no specific mention of WikiLeaks.

Pentagon and military officials also report that investigators have made no direct link between Manning and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Manning remains in custody at the U.S. Marine Brig at Quantico south of Washington, D.C., awaiting court martial proceedings.

Coombs, Manning's lawyer, has complained that his confinement conditions — in maximum custody under a “prevention of injury” watch — are unduly harsh and undermine his right to a fair trial. Manning has been confined in a 6-by-12-foot cell with a bed, a drinking fountain and a toilet for about 23 hours a day, Coombs has said.

Anti-war groups, a psychologist group as well as filmmaker Michael Moore and Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg have called for Bradley to be released from detention. Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have condemned the Obama administration's imprisonment conditions.

James Eng of msnbc.com contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2011 MSNBC.Login

Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org

Source URL: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/03/02-7 .
CLICK here where you can find plenty of discussion. Better yet, why don't we get a discussion going here at The Journey of Hope blog?

========

Here are some related items:

Is This Quantico or Abu Ghraib?

By Rep. Dennis Kuchinich, Reader Supported News 05 March 11

After initial allegations of mistreatment, I requested a visit with Private First Class Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of leaking classified information to WikiLeaks, to see for myself the conditions of his treatment.

Despite the fact that Manning has not been found guilty of any crime, his lawyer reports that he is in isolation 23 out of 24 hours every day, conditions which may violate his 8th Amendment protection from 'cruel and unusual' punishment. This treatment is in stark contrast to a presumption of innocence and raises questions of whether Pfc. Manning can be fit for trial.

My request to visit with Pfc. Manning must not be delayed further. Today we have new reports that Manning was stripped naked and left in his cell for seven hours. While refusing to explain the justification for the treatment, a marine spokesman confirmed the actions but claimed they were "not punitive."Is this Quantico or Abu Ghraib? Officials have confirmed the "non-punitive" stripping of an American soldier who has not been found guilty of any crime.

This "non-punitive" action would be considered a violation of the Army Field Manual if used in an interrogation overseas. The justification for and purpose of this action certainly raises questions of "cruel and unusual punishment," and could constitute a potential violation of international law.The Army Field Manual, 2-22.3 (FM 34-52): Human Intelligence Collector Operations, Page 5-21, section 5-75 clearly states that: "If used in conjunction with intelligence interrogations, prohibited actions include, but are not limited to -- Forcing the detainee to be naked, perform sexual acts or pose in a sexual manner."

Find this item here

Bradley Manning's Forced Nudity To Occur Daily
By Glenn Greenwald on Counter Currents dot org here

Brig officials now confirm to The New York Times that Manning will be forced to be nude every night from now on for the indefinite future -- not only when he sleeps, but also when he stands outside his cell for morning inspection along with the other brig detainees. They claim that it is being done "as a 'precautionary measure' to prevent him from injuring himself."

Criminalizing The Truth Tellers
By Dr. Lawrence Davidson GO here

There is no doubt that Julian Assange, the head of the Wikileaks organization, and Bradley Manning are being singled out and made examples of by the Obama administration. Their suffering constitutes a message which goes like this: if you inform the public of what the United States government is doing, no matter how illegal and disgusting it might be, our police and intelligence agencies will track you down and turn your life into hell...

From Andy Worthington who wrote "The Guantanamo Files: here Find lots of comments here

Mesmerizing "False Eye Witness" Story

Broadcast on "This American Life" - a terrific radio show with REAL-life stories told better than well - find the audio for free MP3 download soon:

The Story of Mario Hamilton and Carl King (this should be a movie!)

This same episode is to rebroadcast again Sunday 9 pm ET on WCQS.org North Carolina and worth missing some of the grand TV award night to hear...FIND audio here or here

Also find some of this story by transcript here

After four lawyers fail to get an innocent man, Mario Hamilton, out of prison, the prisoner's friend, Carl King, takes on the case himself. He becomes a do-it-yourself investigator. He learns to read court records, he tracks down hard-to-find witnesses, he gets the real murderer to come forward with his story. In the end, he's able to accomplish all sorts of things the police and the professionals can't. Eventually, Carl starts an organization called "Success to Freedom".

CC McWee Left us on the day of Hearts!

Our dear, funny, organized CC left this earth on Valentine's Day 2011. We had been quite out of touch recently yet a mutual friend was doing her best to re-connect us -- in fact the friend was in process of moving to CC's town to be with her when suddenly our CC was hospitalized.

CC and I took my red caravan TWICE across the country all the way to TEXAS and joined The Journey of Hope there for TWO rich, full, amazingly surprising "JOURNEYS". CC spoke from both perspectives at once: that of a victim family member of a murder (her beloved daughter) and that of the mother of a son executed for a murder.

Every time she spoke, she showed the beautiful photographs of both her daughter and her son. She was not at loss for details. Sometimes we were worried about what she remembered fitting into the short spaces allotted. Yet time and again, her true stories so naturally compelled understanding and emotion - even while she herself could tell these without self-pity.

I would not have been able to keep myself nor my car on track for long without CC's practical know-how. She had worked in a jewelry store and was beloved by many. "The boys" as she called them, at death row, also loved her. She kind of adopted several other "sons" along with regularly visiting her most loved son. She worked tirelessly for other family members of inmates and worked hard for places for them to stay when they visited the prison. We also had the satisfaction of working together to improve what the prison would allow in the Christmas Packages -- some years more than others.

She was chair for a great group of family members and advocates for a longtime during which we had terrific speakers such as key lawyers and through which we experienced bonding and were there for one another during the many sad executions which we vigiled in South Carolina - including that of CC's son, Jerry McWee who was taken by the state a few years ago.

There's so much more to tell and photos that need to be put up on this site as well.

So, let's get out the word that this is one place to add your own comments below or send them to me, Connie, at oneheartforpeace@gmail.com.

Also, you can do what we are going to do, donate some $ to Journey of Hope in CC's name. There's more info available at Journey of Hope facebook and website as well.

CC have a good time seeing your dear son, daughter and dance-partner husband whom you also missed so dearly - say hi for us...enjoy your new life to the fullest and DANCE as you've never danced before.

I LOVE YOU, dear CC!

Romancing a Convicted Murderer (by Canadian journalist)

iStockphoto/Zemdega

Originally posted Monday, Feb 7, 2011 20:39 ET at Salon.com

My husband, the convicted murderer
I was a newspaper columnist, he was a former drug dealer. Our romance was complicated. But then, isn't everyone's?
By Amy Friedman

My husband, the convicted murderer

We're going to hear about it any day now: Jared Loughner, the Tucson, Ariz., gunman and the media's latest "monster," is going to receive love letters. It will make sensational headlines, like when women started courting Joran Van Der Sloot. I brace myself whenever a man is convicted of a heinous crime and his photo gets plastered on TV for months. I know it's only a matter of time before we hear stories of "those crazy ladies."

I hate those stories, and not just because they're written with a tone both snide and misogynistic; I hate them because 19 years ago I met a man who was in prison for murder, and I fell in love with him. We were married for seven years.

So here's my sensational headline: "She married a murderer." But what I've found is that most of us who marry convicted men are not mad. (I've also found that most men in prison -- even those guilty of the worst crimes -- are not monsters.) Our stories are complicated -- like every true love story is.

I met my husband when I was a newspaper columnist at Kingston, Ontario's newspaper, the Whig Standard, Canada's oldest daily, which had, until that very spring, been owned by just two families. Both those families were community-spirited, literary types who did idiosyncratic things like letting columnists like me write luxuriously long pieces. The Joyceville Medium Security Institution sat just off the road I drove nearly every day. Lit up by sodium lights, it looked to me like an alien spaceship. I had written columns about my trips to South Africa and Israel and Belfast, columns about date rape and drugs and youth in trouble. Prison seemed an obvious next subject.

Driving there that first day I could hear heaves rise from deep in the river as the ice broke up, but when I walked inside, I learned my first lesson about prison: There is no weather inside. It was always dank and musty, with little light and less air. Prison administrators had arranged for me to meet two lifers, Rob and John, which taught me lesson No. 2: Prisoners don't talk about their crimes. We talked about the food (passable), the guards (good and bad), the time (endless). They took me on a tour, showed me square cells the size of my bathroom, all concrete and steel, most of them double-bunked since the population had expanded beyond the building's capacity...

READ REST of this article and see many readers comments here

Quick Note

Be sure to go to Stephen Soldz site for recent items related to Egypt and new leaders.

To Hell and Back

Published in The Fairfield Patch on Jan 31st, 2011
By Mike Lauterborn

Kirk Bloodsworth, First Death Row Inmate Freed by DNA Evidence, Tells His Story to Parish Group Monday Night

He was wrongly accused of a horrific crime, placed in a hellish penitentiary and sat on death row. If not for an interest in reading, he may never have become aware of DNA testing, which proved to be his ticket to freedom.

Maryland resident Kirk Bloodsworth, the first death row inmate in the world to be freed by DNA evidence, was on hand Monday night at Our Lady of the Assumption Parish at 545 Stratfield Road to tell his riveting tale to a small group of parishioners, speak about wrongful convictions and urge the abolishment of the death penalty.

An honorably discharged former Marine, Bloodsworth was convicted in 1985 of the sexual assault, rape and first-degree premeditated murder of 9-year-old Dawn Hamilton and sentenced to death. Even though five eyewitnesses placed him with the victim, he continued to maintain his innocence.

“It was an awful thing,” said Bloodsworth, reflecting on his arrest and conviction. “You can’t imagine being taken from your home, being accused of something you didn’t do and then facing 12 people and a judge and being convicted. It was just a horrible situation. The gavel came down and the sentence was death.”

Bloodsworth was transported to Maryland Penitentiary. As he described, “It was one of the most notorious prisons ever. It looked like Dracula’s castle. You could smell the pain and feel the tension in the air. It was a god-awful place. I was thrust into this environment and it was so foreign to me. I was only 22 years old. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

It was unimaginable to him to be associated with such a heinous act. “It was the most vicious crime in Maryland’s history and this is what I was accused of. I was a Marine and was no angel, but I knew what I wasn’t. I wrote everybody I could that I was an innocent man and signed my letters with my name and the initials A.I.M. – An Innocent Man.”

From the moment he entered the prison system, fellow inmates wanted to do him harm. “I was hit in the back of the head with a sock containing D-cell batteries that split my skull, struck in the chest with a Master lock and stabbed in the leg.”

To pass the time in his narrow, cockroach-and-rat-infested rundown cell, Bloodsworth began reading. One book, “The Blooding,” by Joseph Wambaugh, which told of how DNA testing was successfully used in a criminal case in England, had a life-changing impact.

“I requested testing through the prosecutor’s office,” he said. “The prosecutor agreed, but said the results would need to be made public. I said, ‘Fine’ as I knew I was innocent. It took a year, as there were only two DNA labs in the country in 1992. The tests proved my innocence and were confirmed by separate FBI tests. I was released five months later on June 28, 1993, after nine years in prison.”

Bloodsworth became a Catholic while incarcerated, in a ceremony conducted underneath the gas chamber. Now he tries to change laws and has a DNA law named after him – the Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Program, which was achieved through The Justice Project and Congress. It provides funding for post-conviction DNA testing for indigents or states that aren’t able to fund it.

“It has already benefited a fellow in Arizona, two inmates in Washington state and people in Virginia,” he said of the effort. “You shouldn’t be in a prison for something you didn’t do and, if you can take a DNA test, it’s the best way to go.”

Bloodsworth added, “I work with people to try and abolish the death penalty because of one fact: We could execute an innocent person. We have a death row population of 3,500 and a prison population of 2.5 million. The risk is too great for error. One hundred and forty inmates have been exonerated from death row – 14 of whom have been proven innocent by DNA testing.”

The ex-Marine admits it’s a controversial topic. “No one can deny the emotional weight on society to punish wrongdoing, but we must rise above letting someone else fall for a crime they didn’t commit. I can’t condone the death penalty. I used to think people got what they deserved but when this happened to me, I realized it could be real bad.”

Even among attendees, there was division on the topic. Fairfielder Irene Gifford said, “I feel very strongly against the death penalty, as many people are likely incarcerated who are not guilty, often inner city people. I think they should just be kept in jail.”

Sharing an opposing view, Fairfielder Diane Quaranta said, “Though I’m pro-life, I believe that people who have committed terrible, heinous crimes should be put to death if they are guilty. But I feel a good advocate needs to be assigned to each individual person to explore all evidence and to make sure nothing’s been overlooked.”

Bloodsworth’s story is told in the book “Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA” by Tim Junkin.

TEXAS: DARLIE Routier Discussion Still Alive

Since accused women don't come up as often as men on this site - and we just received a comment on Darlie Routier, I went to the original post and saw that it had 13 comments and is still quite "alive" although posted 6/08. To review that earlier post and/or become part of that discussion GO here and/or Comment below.

Also, if you want more information from various sides you may want to visit the following:

Official Family Site: here

Wikipedia article(s) here

A discussion group here and here

Also, here's a review about a film which may be relevant to your concerns. Also, I understand that the lawyer featured in the film was also a lawyer for Darlie. GO here

Darin, Darlie's husband, shows where Darlie was attacked.

For all who come here new - be sure to keep in mind that although The Journey of Hope recognizes Innocence issues as one of the major considerations - by no means do we believe that this is the only reason to abolish the death penalty.

You can write directly to Darlie by addressing your envelope to:

Darlie Routier
999220
2305 Ransom Road
Gatesville TX 76528

ARIZONA: Midnight Time for Prevention (Bob Herbert, NYTimes)

Image from NYTimes - See
The New York Times dot com or GO here for general website and GO here for the following...

The article below is by an Op Ed reporter (one of my favorite) who has consistently argued for gun control AND for an end to the death penalty. He is no slouch investigator, research and reporter.

Isn't it TIME for PREVENTION instead of the FALSE CURE of EXECUTION?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 10, 2011


A Flood Tide of Murder


By BOB HERBERT

By all means, condemn the hateful rhetoric that has poured so much poison into our political discourse. The crazies don't kill in a vacuum, and the vilest of our political leaders and commentators deserve to be called to account for their demagoguery and the danger that comes with it. But that's the easy part.

If we want to reverse the flood tide of killing in this country, we'll have to do a hell of a lot more than bad-mouth a few sorry politicians and lame-brained talking heads. We need to face up to the fact that this is an insanely violent society. The vitriol that has become an integral part of our political rhetoric, most egregiously from the right, is just one of the myriad contributing factors in a society saturated in blood.

According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, more than a million people have been killed with guns in the United States since 1968, when Robert Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were killed. That figure includes suicides and accidental deaths. But homicides, deliberate killings, are a perennial scourge, and not just with guns.

Excluding the people killed in the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, more than 150,000 Americans have been murdered since the beginning of the 21st century. This endlessly proliferating parade of death, which does not spare women or children, ought to make our knees go weak. But we never even notice most of the killings. Homicide is white noise in this society.

The overwhelming majority of the people who claim to be so outraged by last weekend's shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others --- six of them fatally --- will take absolutely no steps, none whatsoever, to prevent a similar tragedy in the future. And similar tragedies are coming as surely as the sun makes its daily appearance over the eastern horizon because this is an American ritual: the mowing down of the innocents.

On Saturday, the victims happened to be a respected congresswoman, a 9-year-old girl, a federal judge and a number of others gathered at the kind of civic event that is supposed to define a successful democracy. But there are endless horror stories. In April 2007, 32 students and faculty members at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute were shot to death and 17 others were wounded by a student armed with a pair of semiautomatic weapons.

On a cold, rainy afternoon in Pittsburgh in 2009, I came upon a gray-haired woman shivering on a stone step in a residential neighborhood. "I'm the grandmother of the kid that killed those cops," she whispered. Three police officers had been shot and killed by her 22-year-old grandson, who was armed with a variety of weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle.

I remember having lunch with Marian Wright Edelman, the president of the Children's Defense Fund, a few days after the Virginia Tech tragedy. She shook her head at the senseless loss of so many students and teachers, then told me: "We're losing eight children and teenagers a day to gun violence. As far as young people are concerned, we lose the equivalent of the massacre at Virginia Tech about every four days."

If we were serious, if we really wanted to cut down on the killings, we'd have to do two things. We'd have to radically restrict the availability of guns while at the same time beginning the very hard work of trying to change a culture that glorifies and embraces violence as entertainment, and views violence as an appropriate and effective response to the things that bother us.

Ordinary citizens interested in a more sane and civilized society would have to insist that their elected representatives take meaningful steps to stem the violence. And they would have to demand, as well, that the government bring an end to the wars overseas, with their terrible human toll, because the wars are part of the same crippling pathology.

Without those very tough steps, the murder of the innocents by the tens of thousands will most assuredly continue.

I wouldn't hold my breath. The Gabrielle Giffords story is big for the time being, but so were Columbine and Oklahoma City. And so was the anti-white killing spree of John Muhammad and Lee Malvo that took 10 lives in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., in October 2002. But no amount of killing has prompted any real remedial action.

For whatever reasons, neither the public nor the politicians seem to really care how many Americans are murdered --- unless it's in a terror attack by foreigners. The two most common responses to violence in the U.S. are to ignore it or be entertained by it. The horror prompted by the attack in Tucson on Saturday will pass. The outrage will fade. The murders will continue.

Copyright 2011 The New York Times Company

ACTIONS Suggested - ILLINOIS: Just In - Senate votes to end death penalty

See article at Sun Times dot com here The Senate’s 32-25 vote sends the legislation to Gov. Quinn

Adding the following suggested ACTIONS to this post:

From: "Stefanie Faucher, Death Penalty Focus"
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:17:02 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Historic news!

*Historic News!
The Illinois Legislature just voted to repeal the death penalty! *


*Let's make Illinois the 16th U.S. state without the death penalty!

Please contact Governor Pat Quinn right away to ask him to sign the death penalty repeal bill.*

If you are a constituent, please also mention where you live in Illinois.

Springfield Phone: 217-782-0244
Chicago Phone: Phone: 312-814-2121

The Governor is getting many calls today, so if your call doesn't go through or a voicemail box is full – please call back later.

*Where is the Governor on the issue?*

The Governor has not indicated one way or the other how he'll handle this bill, so we should be supportive and encouraging for him to take this important step for Illinois.

In the past, Governor Quinn has indicated support for the death penalty, while also expressing concerns about the problems with the system. You can remind him that regardless of his position on the death penalty, Illinois can no longer afford to keep a costly and error-ridden death penalty. Illinois legislators have sent the strong message that the system can't be fixed.

*Spread the Word*

Please tell your friends, family, coworkers, churches and organizations that a simple call to Gov. Quinn will help him have the courage to end the death penalty. Forward this message today.

*Vote in two online newspaper polls*

We've started a conversation across the state - and nation - about ending the death penalty. Today, a couple of polls have cropped up today to gauge public opinion about the recent votes to repeal the death penalty. Please take a second to vote YES in these two polls.

Quincy Herald Whig: http://www.whig.com/ or GO here

See also the following reports/Op Ed...which I'm leaving as they are for easy cut/past/forwarding

St. Louis Post Dispatch: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/talk-of-the-day/article_48ea16e8-1dd8-11e0-8ecd-00127992bc8b.html [ http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/talk-of-the-day/article_48ea16e8-1dd8-11e0-8ecd-00127992bc8b.html ]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TERRI

Gilles and Terri (This photo was taken as Terri was leaving the Journey caravan in San Antonio, Texas to fly back to Virginia.)

Gilles made this loving birthday post for her:

Today is Terri Steinberg‘s birthday!

I met Terri in 2009 at the Journey of Hope conference in Hamburg, Germany. This was the first time I heard her speak about her son Justin, about her ordeal as a mother with a 20-year old son on death row. We have met again in Washington D.C. and of course during the Texas Journey of Hope.

On the last day of our stay in San Antonio, as the Journey caravan was heading to Austin, Terri had to leave us and go home. She needed to take care of her family and get ready for Justin’s evidentiary hearing that was about to begin in Norfolk, VA. The hearing gave Justin his first opportunity since his 2002 trial to introduce new evidence in court, and could result in Wolfe getting a new trial or in his conviction being upheld.

I would love for Terri to get the best present ever, and hopefully this will happen soon. Everyone at the Journey of Hope feels the same way and wishes her a very happy birthday! Until then, please write Terri a birthday comment below. Why not also show your support by joining Justice for Justin (website), or the Committee to Free Justin Wolfe from Death Row in Virginia (facebook group).

Terri Steinberg’s page on this blog was ranked #5 of all views. Let’s make Terri’s birthday’s post #1 today!

Here's the link (and be SURE to hear/see the Video of Justin's little sister singing like an angel) here

Thank You Gilles and HAVE THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER, DEAR TERRI!

Love from the Journey Family All

ED CHAPMAN: NC Death Row Exoneree to Speak in Raleigh

NC Death Row Exoneree to Speak in Raleigh, January 8 & 9 (See more details after the following about this hero who has been supported by Asheville friends)... Photo from Details Magazine which has a popular article on Edward Chapman. Also find article in The Journey of Hope blog-site here from his meeting with Transylvanians against the death penalty in Western NC.

People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, Beth Meyer Synagogue, and the Sojourners Class of St. Mark's United Methodist Church invite you to hear death row exoneree Glen Edward Chapman speak at two special events in Raleigh.

Mr. Chapman was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1992 murders of Betty Jean Ramseur and Tenene Yvette Conley, spending 15 years on death row for a crime he did not commit. He was released from prison on April 2, 2008 after prosecutors dropped all charges against him.

On Saturday, January 8, 2011 Mr. Chapman will be sharing his story during service at Beth Meyer Synagogue, 504 Newton Road, Raleigh. Service will begin at 9:30 am.

On Sunday, January 9, Mr. Chapman will be speaking during a special event held in Owen Hall of St. Mark's United Methodist Church, 4801 Six Forks Road, Raleigh. The event will be held from 9:45 - 10:45 am.

If you have any questions, please contact Amanda Lattanzio at amanda@pfadp.org or 919.933.7567

Happy New Year!

People of Faith Against the Death Penalty
www.pfadp.org or GO here
110 W. Main St., Suite 2-G, Carrboro NC 2751

============

Two UPdates: Dallas, Texas: Longest Serving Prisoner CLEARED through DNA evidence

Cornelius Dupree and Selma Perkins Dupree


Press Release just out (Tues, Jan 4th) from Innocence Project - here

Innocent man jailed since 1979 expected to be cleared
January 4th, 2011

Thirty years after Cornelius Dupree Jr. was jailed on rape and robbery charges, he is expected to finally have his name cleared after DNA tests proved he could not have committed the crime, according to the Innocence Project.

If a Dallas County judge agrees with Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins who said the DNA testing shows Dupree "did not commit this crime," he will set aside Dupree's conviction and officially clear his name.

Dupree will have served more years in a Texas prison for a crime he did not commit than anyone else in the state who was exonerated by DNA evidence. Only two other people exonerated by DNA have spent more time in prison in the entire country, the Innocence Project said.

"Cornelius Dupree spent the prime of his life behind bars because of mistaken identification that probably would have been avoided if the best practices now used in Dallas had been employed,” Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project, said in a press release. "Let us never forget that, as in the heartbreaking case of Cornelius Dupree, a staggering 75% of wrongful convictions of people later cleared by DNA evidence resulted from misidentifications.”

Dupree was paroled six months ago after DNA tests results came back and was declared innocent on Monday, the Innocence Project said. Now, the 51-year-old man is just waiting for his record to officially be wiped clean by a judge.

Dupree was accused of being one of two men who forced a 26-year-old woman and another male into a car at gunpoint in 1979, forcing them to drive the car and robbing them in the process, according to court documents. The two men also were accused of raping the female, court documents said.

The female initially identified Dupree from a photo line-up, but the male was unable to do so, according to court documents. At trial, however, both victims said Dupree and his co-defendant Anthony Massingill were the ones who committed the crime. They were convicted, and Dupree was sentenced to 75 years. Massingill, who is also serving time for a separate rape charge, is expected to also have his conviction set aside, the Innocence Project said.

Dupree has been fighting for his innocence since the day he was arrested, and for years following his conviction claiming he was mistakenly identified as the suspect. The Court of Criminal Appeals turned him down three times.

“Mistaken identification has always plagued the criminal justice system, but great strides have been made in the last three decades to understand the problem and come up with fixes like those being considered by the state Legislature that help minimize wrongful convictions,” Nina Morrison, senior staff attorney at the Innocence Project, said in a press release. “We hope state lawmakers take note of the terrible miscarriage of justice suffered by Cornelius. When the wrong person is convicted of a crime, the real perpetrator goes free, harming everyone.”

here

Dallas County man (to be) cleared in 1979 robbery, rape will be Texas' longest-serving exoneree

01:17 PM CST on Monday, January 3, 2011

By JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News
jemily@dallasnews.com

A Dallas County man is expected to be exonerated Tuesday in connection with a 1979 robbery and rape.
Courtesy
Cornelius Dupree Jr.

Cornelius Dupree Jr., the 21st man exonerated in Dallas County, will have served the longest prison term of any Texas inmate cleared through DNA evidence. He was paroled over the summer after serving 30 years of a 75-year sentence.
Also Online

Full coverage: DNA exonerations

Dupree, 51, was convicted of aggravated robbery after two men abducted a man and woman on Dolphin Road in Dallas, said Paul Cates of The Innocence Project in New York.

The two kidnappers forced the man out of the car and later sexually assaulted the woman before shoving her out of the vehicle.

Cates said the rape victim wrongly identified Dupree in a photo array. The man could not pick out Dupree in a photo lineup. At trial, both victims identified Dupree as one of the men who abducted them in court.

Another man, Anthony Massingill, was also cleared in the same case, said Nina Morrison, an attorney with The Innocence Project.

Massingill, 49, will not take part in Tuesday’s court hearing. He was convicted in a second rape case and is waiting to see if there is evidence that can be tested in that case.

Morrison said the two actual perpetrators have not been identified. She said she does not know whether authorities have searched the national DNA database to see if the perpetrators are in the system.

Dupree's exoneration is the first involving DNA in Dallas County since May 2009. Since then, three men have been cleared with other evidence.

NEW YEAR GREETING

2010 was a very good year for the Journey of Hope.

We were represented at the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty’s Conference in Louisville, KY, ECPM’s Fourth World Congress in Geneva, Switzerland, PFADP's KAIROS Conference in Atlanta, Sant' Egidio's Cities for Life Campaign through Europe, and most importantly the very successful Texas Journey of Hope October 15-31!

Led by murder victim family members, joined by death row families, exonerated and other abolitionists we are able to put the human face on the issue of the death penalty. Our unique stories touch people’s hearts and often cause them to change their minds on this important issue.

Thank you once again for your continued support for the Journey of Hope. We appreciate it greatly. Together we can abolish the death penalty!


Bill Pelke
President, Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing

Best Wishes for 2011! here

PS OR GO here

The card may also be printed.

I look forward to a new year of work to lift our organization to the next level!
Best Wishes to you and your loved ones!
Gilles

Gilles DENIZOT
gilles@journeyofhope.org
Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing
Board Member & Secretary

Connect with us on
Texas Journey 2010 Blog - Facebook - Twitter - YouTube - Change

Donate your Birthday
- Start a Holiday Wish

"The answer is love and compassion for all of humanity"
Bill Pelke, President

GEORGIA: We can live without capital punishment

"Some of us also feel that killing people is itself a crime."

GA: Kagel: Living without death penalty
Wed Dec 29, 2010 05:36
195.28.224.59

Kagel: Living without death penalty
Athens Banner-Herald
Published Wednesday, December 29, 2010

It's been a rough year for government budgets, and serious cuts in Georgia's educational programs are being discussed. Wouldn't state legislators be happy to find a way to cut millions of dollars without jeopardizing public services?

We can live without one totally unnecessary and extremely costly program: capital punishment. Although Georgia has not undertaken a systematic study of the cost of its death penalty system, we can learn some lessons from other states.

Tennessee's comptroller found death penalty trials cost, on average, 48 percent more than trials where life imprisonment is sought. A Duke University economist has estimated North Carolina could save $11 million annually by repealing the death penalty. Florida could save $51 million per year by punishing all first-degree murderers with life imprisonment without parole, according to a Palm Beach Post study.

A wide majority of the country's top criminologists don't believe the death penalty deters crime. Check the website of the Death Penalty Information Center for more information.

Some of us also feel that killing people is itself a crime, and that the risk of killing an innocent person has a moral cost too high for Georgia to pay. We can live without the death penalty.

Laura Tate Kagel

• Laura Tate Kagel is affiliated with the Athens chapter of Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

OnlineAthens dot com or GO here

Kevin Cooper and other US hypocrisies (Amnesty and More)

Amnesty has issued several releases calling for Kevin Cooper's Death Sentence to be Commuted:

GO here
and here

Regardless of Cooper's Innocence, where are the safeguards built into our US justice system which supposedly protects the Innocent until PROVEN guilty?

In a recent article by Stephen Lendman:

...Kevin Cooper's case is ... disturbing:

A Black American citizen, he was framed and wrongfully convicted of four June 1983 murders. Evidence proved him innocence, yet he's languished on death row ever since, and faces execution without gubernatorial clemency, pardon, or commutation of his sentence to life.

On December 23, the Los Angeles was supportive in its editorial headlined, "Governor, save inmate's life," saying:

"Even supporters of capital punishment should object to the execution of someone whose guilt is in serious doubt." Since judicial action didn't save him, "the burden is on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger...."

California has 717 inmates on death row. With near certainty, many there are as innocent as Cooper. However, no one intervenes on their behalf because they're poor, Black or Latino - throwaway people out of sight and mind until lethal injections painfully kill them.

"Much of the evidence against Cooper has been seriously questioned, most comprehensively in an opinion by Judge William A. Fletcher of the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, who dissented from a decision not to hear" Cooper's appeal. The above link covers his dissent in detail and his belief that Cooper is innocent, saying:

Based on convincing evidence, Cooper "is probably innocent of the crimes for which the state of California is about to execute him."

The LA Times "opposes the death penalty under any circumstances, and....wouldn't object if the governor commuted" all 717 death row inmates. "But execution is especially outrageous when the prisoner may be innocent. Gov. Schwarzenegger should commute Cooper's sentence."

In fact, Schwarzenegger should pardon him (and others wrongfully convicted), make full restitution for nearly three decades of injustice, and provide substantial aid to help him readjust in society, free at last and fully exonerated.

===================

The International Justice Network's Executive Director, Tina Foster, reported the following - showing ongoing US injustices and inconsistencies in judicial matters affecting the ruin of many lives with imprisonments which amount to living death:

ACLU's Melissa Goodman said:

"Despite concerns that Bagram has become the new Guantanamo, the public remains in the dark when it comes to basic facts about the facility and whom our military is holding in indefinite military detention there. The public has a right to know...." No transparency "is even more disturbing considering the possibility that the US will continue holding and interrogating prisoners at Bagram well into the future."

Stephen Lendman continues in his latest OP Ed:

The ... US District Court for the Southern District of New York went along, violating international and US law, including provisions of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions prohibiting:

* -- "violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
* -- outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;
* -- the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized people;" and
* -- requiring humane treatment under all circumstances.

It's well known that Pentagon/CIA prisoners at Bagram, Guantanamo, and other American torture prisons are brutalized, at times murdered, and denied all basic rights under international law that automatically is US law under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, Article VI, Clause 2. It states:

"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary, notwithstanding."

Others have also written recently on Cooper's behalf - GO here

Here's Tina Foster's Report from Lahore, Pakistan (Tina Foster Continues with International Justice Network)

On December 22, The International News (thenews.com) headlined, "Counsel urges unity to bring to bring Aafia home," saying:

Tina Foster said Muslims get second class justice in America, and unless Pakistan pressures Washington to send Aafia home, all Pakistanis will be at risk.

Others as well everywhere, including American citizens at home or abroad. Washington's extremism is so out-of-control that US and international laws don't matter, nor do those of other countries violated with impunity on their territory.

At the Lahore Press Club, Foster said Aafia's court-appointed attorneys would appeal her sentence, challenging both her conviction and 86 year imprisonment. If all Pakistanis and political parties were united on her behalf, she said, Washington might listen.

"The United States claims to have arrested Aafia in Pakistan (so America) should have sent her (there). But instead, they took a Pakistani sister and illegally transferred her all the way to the US," after torturing her for years at Bagram.

Foster added that Washington claims the right to imprison Aafia for life far from home and family. If Pakistan lets this "stand, the US government would have a green light to hold any Pakistani citizen traveling abroad and illegally send them to the United States, a country where Muslims get second class justice. If Pakistanis don't stand up for Aafia, no one will be able to stand up for other Pakistanis at their hour of need."

FOR URLS to the above and Related Items:
GO here

While I do believe we should network across national boundaries to speak against inhumanity, injustice, death penalty and such threats wherever we find it, the following makes some hard to debate points about US inconsistencies:

GO here for December 30, 2010 article: Western double standards
By Yvonne Ridley

Also see an outspoken activists who's seeking to right wrongs toward women (and particularly the case of a victim who faces hanging in Pakistan):

Marvi Sirmed Columnist / Independent Blogger,Founder Editor of Baaghi:
GO here

Note find more on all the above issue in posts below/in archives and also at the following blogsites:

No More Crusades

One Heart for Peace

Bradley Manning: Example of Inhumane Treatment in our Military Prisons

Manning spent his 23rd birthday on Friday completely isolated, just as he has every day for the last five months months in his cell at the Quantico Marine Base.

Manning is the Marine Private accused of leaking classified documents to Wikileaks. Since July, he has been held in cruel and inhumane conditions akin to how the US detains "enemy combatants." He spends each day completely isolated, with severe restrictions placed on basic activities like sleep and exercise. Yet he has not been convicted of any crime.

The extreme isolation in which Manning has spent every day of the last five months is soul-crushing. It’s already taking its toll: Bradley Manning’s physical and mental health are suffering, according to his attorney and friend who have seen him in prison.

Bradley Manning deserves humane treatment while he awaits trial. Can you please add your name to our letter urging Commanding Officer of Quantico Marine Corp Base to lift the heavy restrictions of Manning’s detention?

Bradley's friend, David House, will deliver your letter to the Commanding Officer at the Quantico Marine Base brig when he visits Bradley next month.

While Manning is held in “maximum custody,” the military’s most severe detention policy, he is also under a longstanding “Prevention of Injury” (POI) order that adds additional restrictions beyond those of other prisoners. While POI orders typically last a week or two, Manning has been held under a POI order for the entirety of his detention.

A day in the life of Bradley Manning is isolating, lonely, and frustrating.

* Manning stays in his cell for 23 hours a day
* Guards must check on him every 5 minutes, and he must respond each time
* He is not allowed to sleep between 5am and 8pm
* Substantive exercise is not allowed beyond walking, potentially in chains
* Communication with other people in the brig is banned, and he cannot write to people outside beyond the few a list approved by the brig commander; any unapproved letters he receives are destroyed.
* He has not been allowed to read newspapers or watch international news during TV time
* Comfortable sleep is impossible; he must surrender his clothes each night, has only a heavy “suicide blanket” akin to an x-ray vest, and guards must be able to see his face at all times.

A psychologist has said Manning isn’t a danger to himself or others, and the POI order is unnecessary. His lawyer has also been unable to have the POI order lifted. But it is clear that Bradley Manning has been subjected to inhumane and unnecessary punishment without being convicted of a crime, and it must stop now.

Stop the inhumane treatment of Bradley Manning. Please add your name to our letter urging the Marine Commander in charge of Manning lift the unnecessary POI order.

No matter what you think of Manning's alleged acts, there is no reason to subject him to these extreme conditions. Thank you for standing up for human rights.

- Michael Whitney
Firedoglake.com

Executing "makes our hearts destructive"

More than 1800 people held a rally in Tokyo on Sunday, calling for the abolition of the death penalty. GO here

"One senseless killing need not beget another"

My brother was murdered and I support ending death penalty

Posted: Friday, Dec. 17, 2010 in the Charlotte Observer

BY Charisse Coleman, a writer and mental health counselor in Durham:

Every time we talk about ending the death penalty in North Carolina, someone throws out the old question: What if someone in your family were murdered? How would you feel then? For most people, that ends the discussion. Not for me.

In 1995, a man walked into the liquor store where my brother worked as a stock clerk and shot him to death. The killer wanted the contents of the cash drawer. For reasons we will never understand, the man launched the robbery by shooting Russell three times in the back, while leaving two other employees unharmed. He now awaits execution in Louisiana.

It was a senseless crime, and it has sometimes been hard over the last 15 years to keep this single event from turning me into someone I don't want to be. Someone more interested in vengeance than justice, for instance.

Precisely because I refuse to let a murderer sour my soul and embitter my life, because I refuse to let him dictate to me the limits of my capacity to heal and thrive, I stand firmly with the growing number of North Carolinians who believe that we must stop looking to a deeply flawed capital punishment system to soothe our anger and grief over violent crime.One senseless killing need not beget another.

Read more here

TEXAS: Is the tide turning?

Pehaps this is in part a result of our faithful "frontline activists" who were part of the most recent (and other) "Journeys" in Texas? Thanx for ALL you continue to do worldwide. Connie

Is the tide turning against the death penalty?
Mon, Dec 13, 2010
Michael Landauer/Editor

A new report by the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty illustrates how doubt is casting its shadow over the justice system in the state. Only eight people were sentenced to death by Texas juries this year, a record low since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Juries opted for life sentences without parole and rejected death sentences in three other cases.

Three prisoners received last-minute reprieves from the Supreme Court, and serious questions were raised about wrongful conviction in another case where Texas had already executed Claude Jones. Also, six prisoners had their sentences reduced on appeal, meaning that prosecutors, judges and/or juries had made serious errors in seeking justice.

The full press release, including links to interactive maps and the full report, can be found here:

Only 2% of Texas Counties Imposed Death Sentences This Year, According to New Report from TCADP
Death sentences, executions drop in 2010 as concerns about reliability and fairness continue to plague Texas death penalty system

(Austin, Texas) -- Death sentences in Texas have dropped more than 70% since 2003, reaching a historic low in 2010 according to the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty's (TCADP) new report, Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2010: The Year in Review. TCADP, an Austin-based statewide, grassroots advocacy organization, releases this annual report each December in conjunction with the anniversary of the resumption of executions in Texas in 1982.

Juries condemned eight new individuals to death in Texas in 2010, which is the lowest number of new death sentences since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Texas' revised death penalty statute in 1976. These new sentences occurred in six counties: Brazos; Dallas; Harris; Nueces; Rusk; and Travis.

Recent sentencing trends illustrate the arbitrary and biased imposition of the death penalty. An analysis of data from 2007 to 2010 reveals that only 21 counties - 8% of the 254 counties in Texas - meted out death sentences over the last four years. Out of a total 43 death sentences imposed statewide between 2007 and 2010, Dallas County leads with seven, followed closely by Harris County, with six new sentences. Bexar and Travis Counties each accounted for three new death sentences since 2007. Nearly three-fourths of all death sentences in Texas over the last four years have been imposed on people of color - 40% African American, 30% Hispanic/Latino, and 2% other.

As part of the report, TCADP has produced two interactive maps highlighting new death sentences by county from 2007 to 2010 and from 1976 to 2010. Clicking on each county reveals the total number of sentences, the number executed, the number awaiting execution, and the number exonerated. See below for links to each map.

The number of executions also dropped in 2010. The State of Texas executed 17 people, the lowest number since 2001. The state remains the nation's leading executioner, accounting for approximately 37% of U.S. executions in 2010. The number of executions in Texas this year represents a smaller percentage of the national total than it has in recent years, however.

"Texas - along with the rest of the nation - is moving away from the death penalty," said Kristin Houlé, Executive Director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. "The system is broken beyond repair, and the continued decline in new death sentences shows that jurors and prosecutors in Texas are seeking other ways to address violent crime."

Concerns about wrongful convictions and emerging evidence of wrongful executions dominated headlines this year. On October 27, 2010 Anthony Graves walked out of the Burleson County Jail after spending 18 years in prison - including 12 years on death row - for a crime he did not commit. Prosecutors dropped all charges against Graves and declared him innocent after conducting their own investigation of the case. His conviction was based on the testimony of Robert Carter, who was convicted and executed for the same crime in 2000 and who recanted several times, including from the gurney. Anthony Graves is the 12th person in Texas to be wrongfully convicted and removed from death row and the 138th nationwide.

The ongoing inquiry into the case of Cameron Todd Willingham also underscored the fallibility of the system. Willingham was executed in 2004 for setting a fire to his Corsicana home in 1991 that killed his three young daughters. The Texas Forensic Science Commission admitted "flaws" in the science used to convict him. In January it will hold a special meeting with some of the fire experts who have examined the case since the time of conviction and concluded that there was no evidence to support the finding of arson.

In another case of "flawed" science, recent DNA testing of evidence that was used to convict and execute Claude Jones ten years ago this month revealed that the strand of hair belonged to the victim, not to Jones, as a forensic expert testified during his 1990 trial. While the DNA results do not exonerate Jones, they raise serious questions about the reliability of his conviction.

Other highlights of Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2010: The Year in Review include the following:
• In three capital murder trials, juries rejected the death penalty and opted for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Over the last three years, juries have rejected the death penalty in a dozen cases (two each in Travis and Bexar Counties).
• Three inmates scheduled for execution in 2010 received last-minute stays; the execution date of another inmate was withdrawn. On March 24, Henry "Hank" Skinner received a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court shortly after eating his "last meal." In October, the Court heard arguments to determine whether Skinner can seek access to post-conviction DNA testing through the federal Civil Rights Act. Texas officials have refused to release key pieces of evidence gathered at the crime scene in 1993 for testing.
• At least six inmates received reduced sentences in 2010 and were removed from the death row population, including several inmates whose death sentences were overturned because jurors did not hear mitigating evidence during their original trials. Three other inmates died in custody, including Ronald Chambers, who spent 35 years on death row and was awaiting a fourth sentencing hearing related to the 1975 murder of Mike McMahan.
• A nationwide shortage of the first drug used in the lethal injection protocol, sodium thiopental, led some states to postpone executions as their supplies dwindle or expire. In November, officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice revealed that they had enough drugs on hand to execute 39 people, but that doses of sodium thiopental will expire in March 2011.
• There currently are 317 people (307 men and 10 women) on death row in Texas. Texas holds the third-largest death row population in the nation, after California (713) and Florida (393).

"2010 may go down in history as the 'Year of Doubt,' when case after case exposed the flaws and failures of the Texas death penalty and shook public faith in the criminal justice system to its core," said Houlé. "During this time of fiscal crisis, TCADP urges all elected officials to take a good hard look at the death penalty system and ask whether this is a good use of tax payers' dollars when there are alternative ways to protect society and punish those who are truly guilty."

Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2010: The Year in Review is available online.

http://deathpenaltyblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/12/is-the-tide-turning-against-th.html OR click here

Poll: End North Carolina Death Penalty?

Note: Find items on AASIA BIBI in post just below this one or click here

December 13, 2010

RALEIGH, N.C. - A majority of people in North Carolina are willing to consider ending their state's death penalty, according to a new poll released today by the Fair Trial Initiative. The survey found that recent news of wrongful convictions and tainted forensic evidence at the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) labs are prompting people to reconsider the controversial punishment.

Mark Kleinschmidt, executive director of the Fair Trial Initiative in Durham, explains the poll results.

"North Carolinians are saying two to one: 'Don't execute anyone until we can be sure that all the evidence was good evidence, and the testing points to the guilty party.'"

Those in favor of the death penalty argue that it still has a place in the justice system for the most extreme crimes. In the poll, 80-percent of respondents identified themselves as either moderate or conservative.

Advocates for ending the death penalty claim that doing so would save $11 million a year in capital punishment costs to the state. Kleinschmidt explains why it's so expensive.

"The way that our death penalty system is operating in North Carolina, it's hard to imagine a less-efficient use of taxpayer dollars. It gives us pause."

In addition to issues with evidence-handling at the North Carolina SBI crime labs, studies have pointed to a racial bias in death sentences. This led to the passage of the Racial Justice Act last year; it allows inmates who can prove racial bias to have their sentence converted to life in prison without parole.

Stephanie Carroll Carson, Public News Service - NC

Find original article featured at Pubic News Service dot org on Monday here

UPDATE - 2nd January for: Aasia Bibi's Cross (Updated December 14)

I decided to post this editorial here to 1) show one clear example of MANY Muslims and other Journalists in Pakistan who've been speaking out against Aasia Bibi's verdict as well as 2) an important piece with truth/wisdom for us ALL: here


Aasia Bibi

The daughters of Aasia Bibi hold a photo of their mother outside their residence in Ittanwalai, Pakistan, Nov. 13. Reuters

See Dec. 14th and other Updates below...

Because there's so much injustice the US has rained down on the world, including with the recent sentencing of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to 86 years and she's now in Texas - an horrific prison with a history of abusing women - I hesitate to bring up another woman's heart-wrenching case in another land. (Since we don't know how to get the motes out of our own eyes)...but we are ONE HUMANITY...and are ALL needed to stand against the death penalty and a harsh sentence to life behind bars no matter what. What should it matter to us whether our stand is for a Muslim woman or a Christian one no matter our own persuasian? In PAKISTAN, Christians, Muslims and NGOs are mobilizing for Asia Bibi...Increasingly, people are speaking out against the blasphemy law as a tool for personal vendettas and fodder for extremism. Hundreds of thousands of people have signed petitions in favor of Asia Bibi's life. Still she and her family wait, wondering. Catholic and Protestant leaders as well as Muslim scholars and non-governmental organizations have slammed a court’s decision to impose the death sentence on this Christian women convicted on blasphemy charges. She is the first woman sentenced to death for such an offense, and many Pakistanis are pressuring the government to change or repeal the country’s “obscene” blasphemy legislation. (This and following intro is from Asia News)

Chair Anis Haroon
Just as activists, scholars and many others in America speak out when it comes to the death penalty, so do many in Pakistan. Among them, the Chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) Anis Haroon said the commission was concerned about Aasia Bibi’s security. She said minorities were not harming the interests of the country. Former chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology Dr Khalid Masood said there was ‘religious illiteracy’ even among the literates. He said nowhere in the Holy Quran there is mention of death sentence for those committing blasphemous acts.

Aasia Bibi was arrested in the village of Ittanwalai under Section 295 C. Judge Naveed Iqbal imposed the death sentence almost year after the offence took place.
Bibi’s husband, Ashiq Masih, 51, told AsiaNews that he would appeal her sentence, which must be upheld by the Lahore high court, the highest tribunal in Punjab before it can be carried out. Asia and Ashiq have two sons and three daughters.

"Aasia is innocent, the villagers are taking out a personal revenge", Sadiq Masih a close relative told AsiaNews. In the meantime, Life for All has launched a nationwide ‘Save Bibi’ campaign. In a week, it got 76,000 signatures. Another NGO, Peace Pakistan, has reached 51,000 signatures.

...Muhammad Hafiz, an Islamic scholar, spoke to AsiaNews about it: “The death sentence of Asia Bibi came as a shock to me” because “Islam teaches us to protect religious minorities,” he said.

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The following article is by Noel Irwin Hentschel who is extensively involved in Interfaith work as a Fransciscan and has spent time in area of Asia Bibi's family:

Pakistan: The Shame and the Promise

The world is shocked by the death sentence imposed in Pakistan on Aasia Bibi, a young Christian mother of five, imprisoned under the country's controversial blasphemy statute. This inhumane act paradoxically occurred while devout Muslims fulfilled their Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca where they prayed for Allah's mercy. This punishment is contrary to Islamic teachings on justice.

How can the benevolent act of sharing water, the source of life, undertaken by this Pakistani Christian woman toward her Pakistani Muslim co-worker lead to a death sentence? The co-worker refused to accept water drawn from the same barrel as a non-Muslim sparking a callous and controversial case.

Court documents indicate that the encounter provoked two unmarried women to accuse Bibi of making an offensive remark about the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. Bibi denies this allegation testifying that she never defiled the Prophet or commented against Islam. She maintains her innocence but asked forgiveness and after already serving 15 months in prison received an astounding response by the judge who condemned her to be executed. Leaving one to ponder, where is Islamic justice?

This harsh Blasphemy Law, forced upon Pakistan by former President Zia ul Haq, was one of the first examples by extremists in Pakistan to manipulate and exploit Islam for their own political gain. In Zia's case, it was consolidation of power. Later his supporter Nawaz Sharif, known for ordering the Pakistan nuclear tests in 1998, now heading the hardliner Pakistan Muslim League PML(N), continued the politicization of Islam. Equally disturbing are the actions of former self installed President, Pervez Musharraf, who defends the cruel Hadood ordinances that force women to produce four witnesses when they are raped or be arrested for adultery.

This pattern of perversion of Islamic principles in Pakistan now rivets the world's attention as it did when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated three years ago. Bibi and her family fear that she will be murdered as well while waiting for justice to be served. The death sentence against Asia Bibi for blasphemy is not only directed against her and her family, but in a broader sense against all of Pakistan, a nation whose international reputation hangs by a thread.

The Blasphemy Laws of Pakistan are antithetical to the protections to minorities guaranteed in Pakistan's Constitution and the very concept of religious freedom on which Pakistan was founded in 1947. A study by the National Commission for Justice and Peace reports that a total of 964 people have been charged under this ordinance: 479 Muslims, 340 Ahmedis, 119 Christians, 14 Hindus and 10 of other religions. Thirty-two people charged with blasphemy have been murdered through extra-judicial killings. In the case of Asia Bibi, the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court said, "the treatment meted out to the woman was an insult to humanity."

Fortunately the current elected President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, has taken a forthright stand, reiterating "Pakistan is a nation of many religions and all Pakistanis, no matter what their faith, are equal under the law." Zardari recently indicated that if his action is necessary, he "will grant clemency to Bibi to insure that she is neither incarcerated nor harmed." However, Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) does not have the necessary votes in Parliament to repeal these dysfunctional blasphemy statutes and there is pressure for him to acquiesce to radical extremist factions. It is wrong and unjust that Nawaz Sharif, head of the second largest party in Pakistan, refuses to join with Zardari to change this discriminatory law.

It is unacceptable that billions of dollars of US economic aid are flowing to a nation that is persecuting minorities. The blasphemy edicts send a message to the international business community that Pakistan is an unwelcome place to invest and to do business. The blasphemy laws do not only undermine justice and decency in Pakistan, but subverts Pakistan's place in the community of nations. My visits to Islamabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi, working with people of Pakistan from various fields, validates the potential promise of Pakistan, but only if these unjust and malevolent laws are repealed.

The Holy Qur'ān demands that Muslims bring about justice with benevolence (ihsān), "Surely God enjoins justice and doing good to others (ihsān) (16:90)." According to Mohammad Hashim Kamali, author of Foundations of Islam: Shari'ah Law "Justice must be attempted in the spirit of ihsān, that is, even when it is not demanded by anyone; the attempt should be in equity and good faith which would gain the pleasure of God." The responsibility of justice by Muslims to non-Muslims is found in Ibn al-Qayyim's teachings in Al-Turuq al-Hukmiyah, "Any path that leads to justice and fairness is an integral part of the religion and can never be contrary to it." Muslims towards non-Muslims are directed in the Qur'ān to act justly with benevolence, "God forbids you not to do good and be just. God loves those who have strived for justice (60:8)."

My lifework is to advance economic opportunities and support for those in need with initiatives that bring people of all religions together for peace. Inspired and mentored by Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity; I travel to far regions of the world supporting their ministry of universal love. As a mother, it was heart wrenching seeing the tears of sorrow on Bibi's 12-year-old daughter, Isham Masih and to hear this child's agonizing pleas for her mother's life...

READ MORE here

14 December UPDATE

Research Brief Pakistan's Jinnah Institute here and another case brought up on the online institute site here

Amnesty International Report/OPed here

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2nd December 2010 UPDATE:

Like the US, Pakistan fails in some significant ways on rights...Although we are in a tough position to point fingers - the anti-death penalty movement universally brings light and makes neutral our concerns. Petitions are easily available online on behalf of Aasia Bibi and this just in from Human Rights Watch:

From: HRW Press
Sent: Thu 02/12/2010 09:59
To: HRW Press
Subject: Pakistan: Allow Pardon for Blasphemy Victim

For Immediate Release

Pakistan: Allow Pardon for Blasphemy Victim
High Court Overreaches in Barring Presidential Pardon

(New York, December 2, 2010) – A Pakistani court’s order to bar President Asif Ali Zardari from pardoning a woman sentenced to death for blasphemy contravenes Pakistan’s constitution and should be withdrawn immediately, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Lahore High Court in Punjab province issued an order on November 29, 2010, barring Zardari from exercising his constitutional authority to pardon Aasia Bibi, an illiterate farmhand who had been convicted by the Sheikhupura District Court of blasphemy and sentenced to death. Zardari had ordered a review of the case in mid-November, after domestic and international outrage over the sentence. A ministerial inquiry concluded on November 25 that the district court verdict was legally unsound.

“The Lahore high court has overstepped its constitutional authority by preventing President Zardari from pardoning Aasia Bibi, who was unjustly convicted under a discriminatory law,” said Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The court has blocked Zardari from promptly correcting a cruel wrong and instead has disgraced Pakistan’s judiciary.”

Aasia Bibi was charged under the blasphemy law after a June 2009 altercation with fellow farm workers who refused to drink water she had touched, contending it was “unclean” because she was Christian. On November 8, the Sheikhupura District Court found her guilty, ruling that there were “no mitigating circumstances.”

She is the first woman in Pakistan’s history to be sentenced to capital punishment for blasphemy, though others have been charged and given lesser sentences.

Pakistan’s constitution is unequivocal in providing the president with the power to pardon, Human Rights Watch said. Article 45 of the constitution states that, “The president shall have power to grant pardon, reprieve, and respite, and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by any court, tribunal or other authority.”

Prior to the action of the Lahore High Court, senior Pakistani government officials had indicated to Human Rights Watch and to the media that Zardari was likely to use his constitutional prerogative to pardon and free Aasia Bibi.

The court stated in its interim order that any pardon would be “premature” as Aasia Bibi’s appeal of her conviction was pending before the court. Senior Pakistani lawyers, including Asma Jahangir, a prominent human rights advocate and president of the prestigious Supreme Court Bar Association, the country’s most influential forum for lawyers, have publicly criticized the Lahore High Court order.

Human Rights Watch reiterated its call for repeal of the blasphemy law and other discriminatory provisions in Pakistan’s penal code. International and Pakistani human rights organizations have long called for the repeal of the blasphemy law, as section 295-C of the penal code is known, which makes the death penalty mandatory for blasphemy. The law has come under renewed scrutiny in recent weeks as a consequence of the Aasia Bibi case. In 2009, authorities charged scores of people under the law. Many of them remain in prison.

“Not only do those charged under the blasphemy law suffer persecution, it is evident the ill effects of discriminatory laws are compounded by unsympathetic courts,” Hasan said.

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Pakistan, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/en/asia/pakistan

For more information, please contact:
In Lahore, Ali Dayan Hasan (English, Urdu): +92-300-842-5125 (mobile)
In Washington, DC, Sophie Richardson (English, Mandarin): +1-202-612-4341; or +1-917-721-7473 (mobile)
In Jakarta, Elaine Pearson (English): +62-812-8222-3591 (mobile)
In London, Tom Porteous (English): +44-20-7713-2766; or +44-79-8398-4982 (mobile)