NIGERIA: Death-row prisoners and the government

Death Penalty and Execution News (Rick Halperin's Posts)

Excerpt: "...to be sure, the excruciating mental, physical and psychological agonies which a criminal on death row experiences on daily basis, as he/she awaits the executioner's noose, could be better imagined than described: Every knock on his door brings the hangman. Everyday, he dies, as it were, but lives, pining away, right from the moment the judge read out the terminal judgment: "The sentence of death of the court upon you is that you be hanged by the neck until you be dead and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul."

JANUARY 12, 2009

ACCORDING to recent reports, 27 condemned prisoners at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons, Apapa, Lagos, have embarked on the legal war-path against the Federal and Lagos State Governments over an alleged impropriety of their prolonged stay in prison detention, on death row. The 27 condemned prisoners have filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Lagos, to question an alleged miscarriage of justice inherent in their delayed execution, and to challenge the constitutionality of keeping them on death row for periods ranging from 10 to 24 years, during which they have allegedly been subjected to untold mental and psychological trauma.

In their applications, the plaintiffs are also asking the court to convert their death sentences to terms of imprisonment since, according to them, the governments have lost the power to execute them, presumably through the effluxion of time. All that is for the court(s) to decide.

But, to be sure, the excruciating mental, physical and psychological agonies which a criminal on death row experiences on daily basis, as he/she awaits the executioner's noose, could be better imagined than described: Every knock on his door brings the hangman. Everyday, he dies, as it were, but lives, pining away, right from the moment the judge read out the terminal judgment: "The sentence of death of the court upon you is that you be hanged by the neck until you be dead and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul."

Whereas section 367 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Act (Cap. 80, LFN, 1990) stipulates that "the punishment of death is inflicted by hanging the offender by the neck till he be dead," neither the Constitution nor any of the existing laws specifically states when a condemned criminal may be executed after the sentence of death has been pronounced upon him. It is, however, instructive to note the provisions of section 371F of the Criminal Procedure Act, which states that, where the Attorney-General of the Federation or of a State, as the case may be, decides not to recommend to the Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy (the Council of State), he sentence should be commuted or the offender should be pardoned or reprieved. "He shall cause the sheriff to be informed and the sentence of death pronounced upon the offender shall be carried into effect in accordance with and subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act and the sheriff shall thereupon make arrangements accordingly pursuant to the sentence of death pronounced upon the offender" (emphasis provided).

Although the underscored word, thereupon, apparently suggests that the execution of the convict must be done with efficient speed, it is, nevertheless, contingent upon the President's or Governor's endorsement of the death warrant. Over the years, successive heads of state and state governors have shown extreme reluctance and aversion to signing death warrants, either for moral or metaphysical constraints, with the result that we now have about 725 condemned prisoners, including 11 women, on death row; some of them for several years. The failure to execute the condemned criminals is also ascribed to the dearth of hangmen. A strange excuse, this!

The trend in some industrialised nations has been to first stop executing prisoners and then to substitute long terms of imprisonment for death as the most severe of all criminal penalties. The United States (U.S.) is a notable exception to this trend. The federal government and a majority of U.S. states allow the death penalty, and an average of 75 executions take place each year throughout the U.S. The antagonists of the death penalty contend that it is brutal and degrading, while the protagonists argue that it is a necessary form of retribution for terrible crimes. Amnesty International and several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have expressed concern over the treatment of condemned criminals and the mode of their elimination.

Frantic appeals have been made to all members of the United Nations (UN) to abolish the death penalty, which is viewed as a degrading and inhuman treatment. Sections 4 and 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Nigeria is a signatory, provide (section 4) that "Any one sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence. Amnesty, pardon or commutation of the sentence of death may be granted in all cases," and (section 6) that, "Nothing in this Article shall be invoked to delay or to prevent the abolition of capital punishment by any State Party to the present Covenant."

However, in Kalu vs. State (1998) 3 NWLR (Pt.583), 531, the Supreme Court of Nigeria held that "Death sentence is a reality. It is provided for by our criminal laws including section 319 subsection (1) of the Criminal Code of Lagos State. Our Constitution also recognises the death sentence...Therefore, the sentence of death in itself cannot be degrading and inhuman as envisaged by section 31 subsection (1) (a) of the Constitution." That remains the law.

That, notwithstanding, we believe that, in order to eliminate, or, at least, alleviate the mental, physical and psychological anguish to which a condemned criminal is subjected, to prevent him from dying many times before his death and to reduce the pressure on the 227 prisons in Nigeria, he should be promptly executed if he has fought and lost all the legal battles and if there is no timeous recommendation made for his pardon or reprieve or for the commutation of his sentence to a term of imprisonment.

Section 175 (1) (a)-(d) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 empowers the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (in due consultation with the Council of State) to "grant any person concerned with or convicted of any offence created by an Act of the National Assembly a pardon, either free or subject to lawful conditions." Section 212 (1) (a)-(d) of the Constitution confers similar powers on the governor of a state. We are persuaded that even though the capital punishment remains a part of our municipal laws, the Federal and State Governments should not compound the agonies of condemned criminals on death row.

The argument that such criminals are not executed because of the dearth of executioners is most implausible. Could the insufficiency of hangmen be due to the cost of hiring them, or are qualified hangmen in short supply in the labour market? We appeal to the Federal and State Governments to do something, with dispatch, about the criminals on death row - have them executed under the law or exercise the prerogative of mercy (in terms of pardon, reprieve or commutation of sentences) in their favour.

(source: The Guardian)

NOTE: Although I have posted this item here in it's entirety, in NO way does The Journey of Hope Recommend execution...this is simply posted because of the debate, the complexity of some of these issue - for discussion...

You may also want to see this article a few months back by Amnesty about the likelihood that Nigeria has quite a few INNOCENTS on death row:
here

Hate Crime & the Death Penalty: Blog from Death Row & Film Website--Maryknoll Media Productions

READERS: Here's one which promises a very WIDE LENS: First of all the major question -- The Death Penalty: What's in Texas and the world is it good for? How will it ever serve justice? Among the issues are: Mistaken Identity & Motive among many parties, Hate Crimes, US & Texas Justice issues and a big one is our current lethal environment of extreme prejudices toward so many groups who have more victims among them then most. This begs of PREVENTION including Rights Education among all sectors and ages of our American Society as well as a clear call for ABOLITION.

Take a close look at this video (recommended by Dr. Rick Halperin) and this new website from Maryknoll Media.

Here is something rare, courageous and so needed in the abolition movement and for our time: a look at several vantage points of execution for one extreme case of guilt for the crime of murder. A bonus is a most unheard of blog from Death Row by a very courageous man who killed in rage with an inside view of the House of Death...in a killing state, Texas.

On April 5, 2002, Mark Stroman, a 32-year-old stonecutter from Dallas, entered Texas’s death row for the murder of Vasudev Patel, an Indian immigrant and gas station owner in Mesquite, TX. Patel was Stroman’s third and final victim. In the three weeks after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Stroman also shot and killed Waqar Hasan, a Pakistani immigrant in Dallas, and partially blinded a gas station attendant from Bangladesh in the erroneous belief all three men were Arabs. The press labeled the murders Texas's first post 9/11 hate crime. Stroman himself claimed that “blinded by rage,” he killed to avenge the United States. The prosecution convinced the jury that robbery was his true motive, (even though he hadn’t taken money from his victims) and he was sentenced to death.

What drove Stroman to commit these horrendous acts? This question, along with Stroman’s day-to-day existence on death row, his battle against the state of Texas' determination to execute him, and the plight of his victims' families, are examined in the documentary Execution Chronicles.

Currently in the making, the film explores the anatomy of a crime from its beginnings to its consequences. Director Ilan Ziv has interviewed and followed nearly everyone connected to this capital case, from Stroman and his family to his victims and their families. He plans to document Stroman's case until his execution or appeal.

This companion website, here
offers unprecedented access to death row. Each week, through video interviews with Stroman, and excerpts from his death row diary, viewers can follow his story as it unfolds. The aim is not to rationalize or justify, but to expand upon one man’s experience to explore the range of complex issues surrounding the death penalty itself. www.executionchronicles.org regularly reports on death row cases, on the efforts of organizations and individuals to abolish capital punishment, and encourages debate and the free exchange of ideas on our forum, Speak Out!

Execution Chronicles: here is devoted to the victims of hate, and to the thousands of activists battling racial, religious, or gender violence and intolerance, whether in Dallas, TX, Sarajevo, or the state of Gujarat in India. Weekly, the site highlights stories of survivors and their advocates and invites them to submit news articles, trial updates and videos, meet fellow survivors and share their experiences online.

The site attempts to provide an open forum as long as contributors do not engage in hateful speech, racial slurs or profanities. Post your thoughts, stories and your videos – become involved in this emerging community!
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As Bill has suggested, we plan to put this link on both our website and this weblog soon. Meantime, you may want to know about both this website and the documentary film, now in production. This project certainly does tie together some crucial current events and human rights outrages with our abolition issues! Connie

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing from here. We are a companion website to a documentary film, now in production. The film follows the attacks on three South Asians, mistaken for Arabs, following September 11. Two of them died. Mark Stroman, the man who committed the acts, is now on Death Row in Texas for those crimes. The film will follow Stroman through his execution. The website hosts his blog from Death Row. It also features a blog by the filmmaker, Ilan Ziv, and a religious perspective by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.

In addition, the website posts articles on hate crimes from around the world as well as interviews with people working to fight those crimes or support victims of it. The basis for Stroman’s attacks, we believe it is important to show the conditions in which hate crimes occur--both aspects of crime and punishment.

Finally, the site includes film clips from the upcoming Execution Chronicles, as well as clips from other films on the subject.

We ask that you include our website among your links. We will be happy to include your website in our links page as well. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at renu@tamouzmedia.com.

Thank you for your time.

With warm regards,

Renu Nahata
here
renu@tamouzmedia.com
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PS Be sure to see the Comments to the blog on this site as well! Here's just one which is quite illuminating about what families go through!

November 25, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I can understand the very mixed feelings that people have for Mark Stroman. I myself spent five years with him and we have a child together who is now 15 and has not seen him since she was three years old. She is also a victim in this tragedy. I myself have cried for the family’s left behind of the people he killed, but mostly have spent years trying to explain to our child this tragedy. She cant begin to understand any of it. She thinks that because he chose to do what he did and because he didn’t (think) of her that he doesn’t love her. Not to mention that a girl growing up without a father is just an aweful situation. She is 15 and now looks for that closeness that should have been with him from boys/men and she is too young to have to deal with those emotions and grown up relationships. I know that when this happened he was very heavy into drugs. Between that and the fact that in Texas many people grow up taught to hate, which I why I chose to take my daughter and leave. The part that does not come out in everything that I have read is that the Mark I used to know had one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. I know that he loves our daughter with all his heart. When he grew up his mother left him and his sisters off and on his whole childhood. When she did have him the boyfriend she had beat him all the time. He was always looking for the love he did not have as a child and thought what he did would make him a hero - that it would finally bring him the love he was looking for his whole life. My regret now is that I have not been there for him like I should have through this whole time. My daughter will have to deal with he fact that he will probably be executed before she is even 18 years old. She wants to see him, but we live in Washington and I can’t afford to take her, not to mention the memories she will have of him will be behind a glass screen talking on a phone. I have struggled on my own to just make sure she has a home, food, and clothes on her back. The thing she want more than anything is to hug and hold him. Whether he deserves that or not - she certainly does and I have called the warden and asked if that could possible happen even if they have to leave him in handcuffs and shackles but to no avail. I have never written or responed to anything like this before as sorting out my own feelings of anger about this has been horrible and all consuming trying to help my daughter deal with it and leave out my feelings. I’ve pushed mine aside for her. In the end if anyone reads this who has any idea of any group who has funding for someone like us to visit him I would appreciate the information. You can contact me at sschroder2002@yahoo.com. Thank you!

Robi Damelin, Israeli Bereaved Mother

G.J. McCarthy photo of Robi Damelin, left, and Nadwa Sarandah who both wait for their audience before starting their lecture “Palestinian and Israeli Bereaved Families for Peace”

Robi Damelin, who visits the world with her film and her message of forgiveness & more. She works, heals and speaks with and about a community of listeners in Israel/Palestine. They are bereaved listeners, Palestinian and Israeli, who have a lot to say about the violence overtaking GAZA/ISRAEL and so much of the world today...

She says, "Instead of channeling (the death of our children) into revenge, the people in our group have chosen another direction for their pain. The pain breaks down barriers very quickly between Palestinians and Israelis in the group. There's a sense of trust. It's not hummus and hugs-- it's much deeper than that; it's acknowledgement and empathy, which happen much faster than in a normal meeting between a Palestinian and an Israeli because we recognize each other immediately through the pain."

Robi Damelin's son David was killed by a Palestinian sniper while he was guarding a checkpoint near a settlement during his army reserve service. Robi is an active member of a group of 500 Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost close family members and who work together for reconciliation and a just resolution to the conflict. (The Parents Circle) She speaks with a Palestinian partner in communities and schools throughout Israel and the Palestinian Territories, as well as internationally. Robi Damelin is featured in Just Vision's documentary film, "Encounter Point". Find the URLS for more info on this, her life & the mission of others like her, below...

Here are some highlights from Robi Damelin on her son, David, & her process of grieving to forgiveness...

Occupation and Israeli Military Service:

“ Even in his regular army service [my son] David was torn because he didn't want to serve in the Occupied Territories. He became an officer and was called to go to Hebron. He was in a terrible quandary and came to me and said, "What the hell am I going to do? I don't want to be there." I said, "If you want to go to jail I'll support you, but are you going to make a difference if you go to jail?" Because basically, if he were sent to jail, when he got out they'd put him somewhere else [in the Occupied Territories]. It's a never-ending story...

For more about the bereaved families of Israel/Palestine, who have a particularly important message for their habitats & the rest of the world today, go
here

Personal Loss/Bereavement and Israeli Military Service:

“ David went to his reserve service and I was filled with a terrible premonition, of fear I suppose. He called me on that Saturday and said, "I have done everything to protect us. You know I love my life, but this is a terrible place, I feel like a sitting duck." He never shared that kind of stuff with me, ever. My kids never told me what they were doing in the army. They always told me ridiculous stories thinking that I was going believe them. The next morning I got up very early and ran to work hours before I had to be there. I didn't want to be at home, I had a very restless feeling. ”

Personal Loss/Bereavement and Occupation:

“ David was killed by a sniper, along with nine other people. They were at a checkpoint, a political checkpoint, near Ofra [settlement]. Two days after he was killed it was pulled down; they removed the checkpoint. I suppose all of my life I spoke about coexistence and tolerance. That must be ingrained in me because one of the first things I said is, "You may not kill anybody in the name of my child."...

Personal Loss/Bereavement and Occupation and Israeli Military Service:

“ Everybody had asked me what I thought should happen to the sniper, and if they caught the sniper do I want them to kill him. I said that he killed David not because he was David; if he had met David he would have loved David. David worked for peace, David was part of the soldiers who didn't want to serve in the territories. David was the most loving person, if he had sat down and had coffee with David, they would have become friends. On David's grave there is a quotation by Khalil Gibran that says, "the whole earth is my birthplace and all humans are my brothers." ...he didn't kill David because he was David; he killed David because he was a symbol of an occupying army. ”

Vision and Personal Story and Reconcilation:

“ I wrote a letter to the family [of the man who killed my son]. It took me about four months to make the decision, many sleepless nights and a lot of searching inside myself about whether this is what I really mean. I wrote them a letter, which two of the Palestinians from our group delivered to the family. They promised to write me a letter. It will take time; these things take time...

Personal Transformation and Reconcilation:

“ Each person's development on the path of reconciliation is different. It takes time. I can see how I myself have grown over the past two years, the difference in the way I respond to questions now compared to where I was two years ago; it's completely different. I'm an ancient person but I'm still learning. This is a long difficult path of learning, of tolerance, of being able to dialogue with a settler and to dialogue with somebody who's very angry; you learn that. I've always been able to persuade people because I'm a good salesperson, but now I come from a much cleaner place. ”

Personal Loss/Bereavement:

“ All these people who lost an immediate family member, Palestinians or Israelis, are the people I would least expect to follow another path...we recognize each other immediately through the pain. ”

Obstacles and Challenges and Personal Transformation:

“ It is a challenge for me because I've always been a very independent person. I was my own boss; I did whatever I wanted and if I made a decision that's what would happen… Now I have to work in a team. That's a huge lesson for me. I can't just wake up tomorrow morning and decide to do a project without consulting with anybody else, which is something foreign to me...It's different when you're working with other people to create a dream, which is a shared dream. It's not just my dream anymore.

Women in Society and Martyrdom:

“ I promise you that all mothers are the same, and that the mother of a suicide bomber has a threefold problem: where did she fail, losing her child, he killed himself and innocent people. I don't care what you say, any mother-- me in my little flat in Tel Aviv or a mother in a settlement that says she is proud to have given up her child for the land-- all our pain is the same, otherwise there is no nature, otherwise nothing makes any sense anymore. Mothers are the most powerful and the most humane because they are the only ones who know the pain of losing a child. I am not negating the pain of brothers and sisters and grandparents and fathers, but the pain of a mother is so extreme that I don't buy any mother's story that says she is proud to have lost her child for anything. ”

Political Peace Processes/Political Leadership:

“ Of course we try to talk to as many politicians as we can to show them another sort of aspect of daily life here that could make a difference. What happens politically will affect the work that we're doing. The closer we get to some form of agreement, the more important our work is, because we all feel that no agreement will happen unless there's a reconciliation process built in. ” [Source in Complete Interview]

Nonviolence:

“ I remember when Nelson Mandela came out of prison and he was speaking in a stadium. These people were standing there with sticks, to get revenge. He said, "take your sticks and throw them in the river, because that's not the path we're going to take." Pragmatically, he understood that the best thing for the South African people, for his people, would be to take a nonviolent path. ” [Source in Complete Interview]

Reconcilation:

“ How many Israelis know exactly what happens at a checkpoint and how many Palestinians understand the daily pain of living here, and what soldiers come out of the army with? Very few, but if you allow them to share their narratives, like in our group… if a person like Yakov Gutterman stood up and told the Palestinians that he came out of a Nazi concentration camp to live in Israel and he had a son here on kibbutz and that son died, was killed in the conflict… and you look at Khaled Abu-Awwad's family who were refugees from somewhere near Bet Shemesh and the life they have led and the loss of two brothers… when both of these narratives are told to Palestinians and to Israelis, will it be easier for us to have empathy for each other? ”

Obstacles and Challenges and International Involvement:

“ One of the biggest problems in the situation here is that people are either pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli. When you're pro something it makes you feel very good about yourself. I remember I was with Nadwa at a meeting at a Presbyterian church somewhere in Chicago where they weren't too keen on me. We were sitting at the dinner table and this guy leaned over to her and said, "You know, I'm very pro-Palestinian." So she said, "Well I don't know, where has that gotten me up to now?" There was something very deep in what she said, because being pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian is like saying, the poor Palestinians or the poor Israelis and waving a flag. When somebody recognizes that the Palestinians and the Israelis aren't going to disappear and says, "Let's support Israel to get out of the Occupied Territories," I say they are supporting both sides. If this kind of non-judgmental interference would come from outside, I would be very happy. ”

Vision:

“ The whole world should understand that for the benefit of both the Israelis and the Palestinians there will have to be a homeland for the Palestinians, Israel has to get out of the Palestinian territories because [the occupation] is destroying both sides. We all know that's what is going to happen in the end. The question is, how many people are going to have to die before that on both sides? How much more pain? How many more families are going join this bereaved circle? It has to stop. ”

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Robi Damelin and Ali Abu Awwad in South Africa: (condensed) The trip to South Africa opened a 40 year old scab of painful memories of a childhood of not taking into account all sides of the equation.

On arrival we drove straight through a squatter camp reminiscent of Gaza, however on the other side of the road, new little houses like mushrooms after a heavy rainfall. There is hope, and driving into the Mamalodi school, that hope began to be tangible. A future for children who do not always have enough to eat, but a future forged by a school of people feeding their souls.

I felt tearful all day long. So much of me still belongs to the nature and people of South Africa. ...

The horrors of the days of apartheid and the transformation in motion was powerfully illustrated with our trip to the Constitutional Court of South Africa, which is built on the site of a dreaded prison, where such famous prisoners as Gandhi were subjected to the nightmares created by the South African security police...

The next day we met with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, we were hoping to meet with Madiba as he is so fondly called, but unfortunately he was not well on that day. Nevertheless we met two wonderful representatives from the foundation and we hope to be able to work together in the future. Then off to Cape Town where Nigel surprised us with home hospitality in a township with Mandisa who then proceeded to give us new names . Ali is Remember, Nigel Love and me Forgiving this she did without knowing who we were or our stories.

Saturday night there was a screening of "Encounter Point" at a movie house in Cape Town and even though there was a dreadful storm many braved the weather and participated...

The major highlights of the most beautiful place on earth, Cape Town, were the meetings with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and with Alex Boraine one of the main architects of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Archbishop Tutu has to be one of the most charming men you will ever meet. He embraced us into his office and shared stories and humor for which he is famous. He of course knows all about the Parents Circle and was very interested in our projects. We were so moved by his warmth and his take on forgiving.

Alex Boraine is someone we could learn from and did, we could have spent the whole day with him. He founded the Transitional Justice Institute in New York, but has returned to South Africa to work on the ground .He promised to give us materials for the reconciliation center and we will follow up on this generous offer.

Back to Johannesburg for a screening of "The Letter" a documentary made by the South African Television, at the Witwatersrand University, it was well attended by students, both Moslem and Jewish and we had a very interesting discussion. Unfortunately there is a great strain in relations between the students, so I hope we brought some new ideas about not taking sides.

We also met with Janet Love and Jody Kollapen at the Legal Resources Centre. They are two famous anti-apartheid warriors who spent long periods of time in jail. It was so inspiring. We also spoke at the Temple Emmanuel synagogue, the biggest reform temple in Johannesburg.

Without doubt, the most moving meeting for me was with the African mothers who had lost children during the Apartheid regime. Many of whom have simply disappeared . We all told our stories, many tears were shed, and once again I realized that there is no difference between mothers, we all share the same pain. I will never forget this day...Robi Damelin - September 2008

For More on Robi, her son and others who like them seek peace instead of revenge:

For info & trailer about the film: here

For the Just Vision URLs on Robi, Go here
and
here

More from Just Vision here

An update on Burris:Burris Rebuffed by Senate (For Now)

by Ben Protess , ProPublica - January 6, 2009 12:42 pm EST

Illinois U.S. Senate appointee Roland Burris makes a statement after he left the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2009. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)After having his credentials rejected by Capitol Hill officials this morning, Roland Burris is still not a U.S. senator.

Not yet, at least.

"My name is Roland Burris, the junior senator from the state of Illinois," Burris told reporters [1] outside the Capitol. "I was advised that my credentials were not in order."

Senate Democratic leaders said they would block the pick last week after Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich tapped Burris to fill Barack Obama's vacant seat, but experts have questioned whether Congress has that legal authority. Burris said he would take the issue to court, where he seems to stand a decent chance [2].

Burris has already asked [3] the Illinois Supreme Court to confirm his nomination. Burris' lawyers asked the court last week to require Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White "to certify Governor Blagojevich's appointment of Mr. Burris to the office of United States Senator from the state of Illinois and do all other acts required to confirm such appointment."

White refused to sign off on the appointment as soon as it was announced. Whites' refusal allowed the secretary of the Senate to reject Burris' credentials today.

There's also some U.S. Supreme Court precedent on Burris' side. The court once found that the House could not refuse to seat Adam Clayton Powell, who had been accused of financial impropriety, if he met the constitutionally determined qualifications for age, citizenship and residency.

The Senate has rarely denied [4] seats to candidates, and even then, only to those whose election outcome was in doubt or who were accused of corruption. But neither of those applies to Burris.

And Blagojevich still has the sole power to make the appointment as long as he has not been removed from office.

ProPublica reported [5] last week that Burris' long career in Illinois politics (he was comptroller, then attorney general) has not been free from controversy.

NOTE: While attorney general in 1992, Burris aggressively sought the death penalty for Rolando Cruz, who had been convicted of raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl. Burris ignored another man's confession [6] to the crime and pleas from his own assistant attorney general to drop the case.

Since leaving office, Burris has been a state lobbyist and a consistent donor [7] to Blagojevich's campaigns.

We'll stay on "Burris Watch" and report back when we know more.

Behind the Scenes: 'At the Death House Door'

A scene many of us with Journey & many in Texas know well..

Excerpts from this interesting piece...

When they revealed he'd recorded audio tapes about all 95 executions he'd ministered to, we were hooked.

We didn't anticipate guard Fred Allen, nor Carlos' sister Rose, nor Carroll's family and the significance they would all play in the film. Nor did we anticipate just how closed and "well armored" Carroll was as a person and how this film would ultimately - in his words - prove to be "the therapy he never got."

Steve James of 'At the Death House Door' (And interview with the award-winning director)

Last spring I wrote about the superb documentary 'At the Death House Door' when I interviewed its subject, Pastor Carroll Pickett, who served 15 years as the death house chaplain to the infamous "Walls" prison unit in Huntsville. The film was the 1st-time direction collaboration between award-winning directors Steve James ("Hoop Dreams") and Peter Gilbert ("Vietnam: Long Time Coming"). James was nice enough to answer some of my questions about the film.

How did you first hear about Pastor Carroll Pickett?

Steve James: Gordon Quinn at our film company Kartemquin was approached by The Chicago Tribune because they thought we would be interested in doing a film focused entirely on the investigation of the Carlos De Luna case by Steve Mills and Maurice Possley. Gordon knew that Peter and I would be interested in the subject and set up a meeting with the reporters. In the course of telling us about De Luna, they also mentioned Pastor Carroll Pickett who had been haunted by the memory of De Luna, and recorded these feelings in an amazing audio tape about the execution right afterwards. When they revealed he'd recorded audio tapes about all 95 executions he'd ministered to, we were hooked. We decided from the get-go, that we wanted Rev. Pickett's journey to be our main story, and bring us to why De Luna was so important to him.

What was your original intention for the film and how did it evolve?

SJ: See answer above... As stated, the original intention of the Tribune was to have us do a film about Carlos De Luna, but its hard to do a film about a man who was not famous or led a well-documented life, and who was executed 17 years before. With the mention of Pickett, it was clear that we had a unique and potentially powerful story to tell about a man's past and also who he is today. This is one time when the original conception of what the film could be was pretty much on target for what the film ultimately became. But that doesn't mean that the film-making process did not evolve. We didn't anticipate guard Fred Allen, nor Carlos' sister Rose, nor Carroll's family and the significance they would all play in the film. Nor did we anticipate just how closed and "well armored" Carroll was as a person and how this film would ultimately - in his words - prove to be "the therapy he never got."

What films inspired you to create documentaries? What documentaries most influenced your approach?

SJ: I was initially influenced by fiction films - one director in particular whose work was always characterized by complex portrayals of his subjects. That director was the great Jean Renoir, director of such classics as 'The Rules of the Game' and 'Grand Illusion'. But I was also affected by less celebrated films of his like "Toni" and "The Crime of Mister Lange." Renoir was the ultimate humanist filmmaker, a great observer of the human condition. Documentary influences were the films of Barbara Kopple, particularly Harlan County, U.S.A., 35 Up by Michael Apted, and The Times of Harvey Milk by Rob Epstein.

Why is the Carlos DeLuna story so central to the film? How important to the question of the death penalty is the issue of possible innocence of some of the condemned?

SJ: We certainly could have made the entire film about Carroll Pickett, and some people have suggested we should have. I think including De Luna as a significant part of the film allowed us to delve deeper into the life of one of the 95 men Pickett was with. And it allowed us to do so with the single most important inmate in Pickett's life. Carlos had the greatest impact on Pickett because he was young, and vulnerable, and innocent. One can't overstate the importance of how flawed the system is when it executes the innocent, but Pickett grew to believe that executing the guilty is wrong as well. Carlos' story also allows us to see the ripple effect of one execution on the lives of so many people - Pastor Pickett, Carlos' family, and even a reporter who was looking for a scoop but ended up with a real relationship and profound regrets.

What is the most important contribution a death row pastor can make?

SJ: I think Pastor Pickett's greatest contribution to the inmates was to be there for the men and help them navigate one of the most difficult and unimaginable acts one can face. There's real value in that regardless of one's position on the death penalty. I think Pickett's greater societal contribution has been to speak honestly and painfully about that time, and how he slowly changed from supporter of the death penalty to activist against it.

Why include scenes from his home life?

SJ: We initially intended to deal with his failed marriage because it was the catalyst which sent him to work at the prison in the first place. We did not expect the scenes with his kids when they happened. We were as surprised as the audience is watching the film, to learn that the family to that day had never really talked about the work he did. And we were shocked to learn that they didn't even know of the existence of the tapes. Those scenes reveal something about how closed Carroll was and still remains, and how much he and his family avoided dealing with this job he had. One great result of that filming and the film itself, is that the family is much closer than they've ever been.

How have you responded to the advocates for the death penalty who criticize the film?

SJ: Most supporters of the death penalty who criticize the film think we should have shown family victims speaking out against the convicts who were put to death. They want a kind of "journalistic balance." That's a fair criticism, I guess. But we felt that Pickett himself represented that point of view powerfully when he spoke about wanting to see Cuevas die for his role in the prison siege which killed members of Pickett's church. His own long journey from being pro-death penalty to anti-death penalty was the primary story of this film. So this film has a clear point of view, but we tried not to ram it down people's throats and we also tried to show sensitivity to the anger people feel when loved ones are murdered.

Why is the US the only major developed nation that still has the death penalty?

SJ: I don't feel equipped to answer this question, but suspect it has something to do with our unique history and national identity which is still governed by notions of "frontier justice" and "eye-for-an-eye" beliefs. America has always been a "gun culture" and where there's guns, there's violence and murder. Our collective fascination with violence and retribution probably have something to do with our attitudes towards the death penalty.

The good news is that the death penalty seems to be in retreat around the country. Outside of Texas, Virginia and a few other states, there aren't many states executing people these days. I am hopeful that we as a nation will continue to head in that direction.

Is there one theme or story that draws you to a project?

SJ: I find that I inevitably am drawn to people who's lives are at some significant turning point, whether its two young black kids trying to make a basketball dream come true for themselves and their families in Hoop Dreams, or my former advocate "little brother" facing prison in "Stevie," or immigrants making the courageous step of coming to America in "The New Americans"... Or Pastor Pickett's extraordinary journey that we tell in this film. All these stories are about people who are not famous but who's lives have something larger to say about the world we live in.

(source: Blog at Belief Net

Another article about the piece you may want to read:
here

China's Capital Cases Still Secret, Arbitrary (with US-China Dialogue)

China's Capital Cases Still Secret, Arbitrary (see comments reference below)

By Maureen Fan and Ariana Eunjung Cha
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, December 24, 2008; A01

To find original Go here

BEIJING -- Compared with murder and other violent crimes, the charges against Wo Weihan seemed minor, if a little exotic: copying articles from missile technology magazines in a public library, buying four night-vision equipment scopes, gathering information about the health of senior government leaders and collecting documents from a local Communist Party conference.

Yet the once-respected scientist with his own medical research laboratory in the capital was branded a spy and executed last month after a closed trial. His is one of several recent executions that highlight the secrecy, lack of due process and uneven application of the law that continue to surround capital cases two years after China embarked on a radical overhaul of the way it handles the death penalty.

Starting in 2007, China began for the first time in more than two decades to require a final review of every capital case by the Supreme People's Court. The hope was to reduce the number of executions and bring some consistency to a process that had been handled unevenly by lower courts. The former president of the Supreme People's Court who pushed for the review, Xiao Yang, vowed that the death penalty would be used only on "extremely vile criminals."

As a result of its reforms, China says, the Supreme People's Court overturned about 15 percent of the death sentences handed down by high courts in the first half of 2008. In a brief report in May, the New China News Agency quoted anonymous sources as saying Chinese courts handed down 30 percent fewer death sentences last year compared with 2006. But in a largely closed legal system directed by party committees, the changes have not been as far-reaching as the statistics suggest, and consistency remains a distant goal.

Defendants on death row continue to be executed for such nonviolent crimes as illegal fund-raising, graft, drug dealing and espionage. They are prosecuted and dispatched with a lack of transparency, according to Chinese lawyers who complain of blocked access to their clients and say many confessions are still coerced.

There are also double standards: Public officials accused of embezzling millions receive suspended death sentences that spare their lives, while ordinary citizens convicted of stealing far less die by lethal injection or a single gunshot to the head, according to lawyers and court records.

China remains the world's top executioner -- the Dui Hua Foundation, a human rights group, estimates that China carried out 5,000 to 6,000 executions in 2007. The same year, the United States executed 42 people. On a per-capita basis, China is estimated to have carried out 30 times the number of executions the United States did. (these figures, of course, don't account for the many "disappearances" and extra-judicial killings which take place in both countries,note from blogger Connie)

The Chinese government has a long-standing policy of not commenting on the death penalty and keeps the number of executions secret. There was no response to a fax and phone calls to the Supreme People's Court, the Ministry of Justice and public security officials.

In March, the head of the First Criminal Law Court of the Supreme People's Court, Huang Ermei, said the death penalty was an appropriate deterrent for a country with such fast development and rising crime. Although attitudes were changing among lawyers and academics, the death penalty is "deeply rooted in people's mentality," she said in a report on the Web site of the New China News Agency. "For now, conditions are not ripe for China to abolish the death penalty, not even for a longer period of time," she wrote.
'Shut Her Up by Death'

Prominent Chinese academics have urged Beijing in recent years to abolish the death penalty for nonviolent crimes to bring China in line with international conventions on human rights, said Liu Renwen, a deputy director of the department of criminal law at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

To READ REST of article Go here

Find the COMMENTS after this article which are an interesting if sharp summary of how the rest of the world often doesn't favor US over China in Capital/Justice issues
INVITE to readership: How about a dialogue continuing the comments as on the above site. How do you find the US/China to compare on the Death Penalty?

Some of the comments after the above article are as follows - You seems so forgetful about those people held at Guantanamo Bay for so many years and without trial...(not to mention the CIA renditions, disappearances & extra-judicial killings and the potential military executions for detained ahead.)
,
And your president made a apology over the one million Iraq killing, not to Iraq people, but to Americans because USA spent too much to kill, not the killing itself.

Talking about human rights? Have another think.

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Here is an item simply called CAPTIAL PUNISHMENT still on NYTimes website for some background...look on our earlier end of year blogs as well.

In April 2008, the Supreme Court upheld Kentucky’s method of execution by lethal injection, rejecting the claim that officials there administered a common sequence of three drugs in a manner that posed an unconstitutional risk that a condemned inmate would suffer acute yet undetectable pain.

This ended the de facto moratorium on capital punishment that was created when the Court issued a stay in an execution in Mississippi in October 2007.

At the time of the ruling, the executions in Texas, Alabama and other Southern states with large death rows were predicted to resume shortly, but the fractured decision may actually slow executions elsewhere, legal experts said, as lawyers for death row inmates began to undertake fresh challenges based on its newly announced legal standards.

READ REST of article Go -
here Also find END OF YEAR reports on this site between December 20-24 as well as in the sites listed on our LINKS (lower right side of this home page)

Keep the Dialogue going...over & over again, we find that talking, sharing info, mutual challenge can do a world of good...

Was he willing to sacrifice an innocent life for his political career?

In 90’s, Burris Sought Death Penalty for Innocent Man
by Ben Protess , ProPublica

Former Illinois attorney general Roland Burris, embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s pick to replace Barack Obama in the Senate, is no stranger to controversy.

Public fury over the governor’s alleged misconduct has masked the once lively debate over Burris' decision to continue to prosecute – despite the objections of one of his top prosecutors – the wrong man for a high-profile murder case.

While state attorney general in 1992, Burris aggressively sought the death penalty for Rolando Cruz, who twice was convicted of raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl in the Chicago suburb of Naperville. The crime took place in 1983.

But by 1992, another man had confessed to the crime, and Burris’ own deputy attorney general was pleading with Burris to drop the case, then on appeal before the Illinois Supreme Court.

Burris refused. He was running for governor.

"Anybody who understood this case wouldn’t have voted for Burris," Rob Warden, executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, told ProPublica. Indeed, Burris lost that race, and two other attempts to become governor.

Burris’ role in the Cruz case was "indefensible and in defiance of common sense and common decency," Warden said. "There was obvious evidence that [Cruz] was innocent."

Deputy attorney general Mary Brigid Kenney agreed, and eventually resigned rather than continue to prosecute Cruz.

Once Burris assigned Kenney to the case in 1991, she became convinced that Cruz was innocent, a victim of what she believed was prosecutorial misconduct. She sent Burris a memo reporting that the jury convicted Cruz without knowing that Brian Dugan, a repeat sex offender and murderer, had confessed to the crime. Burris never met with Kenney to discuss a new trial for Cruz, Kenney told ProPublica.

"This is something the attorney general should have been concerned about," Kenney, now an assistant public guardian in Cook County, said in an interview. "I knew the prosecutor’s job was not merely to secure conviction but to ensure justice was done."

Kenney was not alone in her beliefs. Prior to Cruz’ 1985 trial, the lead detective in the case resigned in protest over prosecutors' handling of the case, according to news reports at the time.

And rather than argue Burris’ case before the state supreme court, Kenney also stepped down.

"What I took away was that [Burris] wasn’t going to do anything to seem soft on crime," Kenney said. "He didn’t have the guts."

In her resignation letter, Kenney claimed Burris had "seen fit to ignore the evidence in this case."

"I cannot sit idly by as this office continues to pursue the unjust prosecution of Rolando Cruz," she wrote. "I realized that I was being asked to help execute an innocent man."

Burris' response at the time: "It is not for me to place my judgment over a jury, regardless of what I think." (We have also left a message for Burris at his office and will post an update if we hear back.)

State prosecutors carried on with the prosecution, even after DNA evidence in 1995 excluded Cruz as the victim's rapist and linked somebody else—sex offender Brian Dugan–to the crime.

Eventually, prosecutors’ case hit a wall. The Illinois Supreme Court reversed Cruz's conviction and granted him a third trial. (The court declared that the trial judge in the case had improperly excluded Dugan’s confession, and thus compromised Cruz's defense.) In the new trial, Cruz was acquitted. The judge in that case concluded, "I'd hope and pray the person or persons - whoever is culpable - is brought to justice."

In late 1995, Cruz finally walked free after serving 11 years on death row for a crime he did not commit.

A grand jury later indicted four sheriff's deputies and three former county prosecutors for their roles in the Cruz case. They were eventually acquitted. Burris was never accused of any wrongdoing or misconduct. Dugan is scheduled to stand trial for the crime next year, 26 years after it was committed.

As we pledge our resolutions for the new year ...

... Let us not forget to pray and work for the the following men whom are scheduled to be murdered by the state in the first 5 months 2009.

Many of these men will die without ceremony or anyone caring.

Most of these men have no major support structure and will just be killed by the death mongers whom feel they have the right to kill other human beings. Human beings who just happen to be a different race or in most cases too poor hire a competent defense attorney.

As we know from past statistics, some of these men will be innocent.

Unless we stop these executions it will mean 21 more families devastated by becoming victims of our justice system.

As we make our new years resolutions we know we still have a struggle in front of us. Let us try to save as many of these men as possible as we continue our quest to end the death penalty for ever.

January
14* Curtis Moore Texas
15* Jose Briseno Texas
15* James Callahan Alabama
21* Frank Moore Texas
22* Reginald Perkins Texas
22* Darwin Brown Oklahoma
27 Larry Swearingenn Texas
28* Virgil Martinez Texas
29* Ricardo Ortiz Texas

February
4* David Martinez Texas
4* Steve Henley Tennessee
12* Johnnie Johnson Texas
12* Danny Joe Bradley Alabama

March
3* Jeffrey Hill Ohio
3* Willie Pondexter Texas
10* James Martinez Texas
11* Luis Salazar Texas
19* Phillip Haliford Alabama

April
7* Brett Hartman Ohio
16* Jimmy Lee Dill Alabama

May
14* Willie McNair Alabama

Ronald Keine

How would you describe forgiveness? What does it mean to you?

Is this YOUR experience & understanding or not?

"The post just below speaks of "...forgiveness as a gift freely given in the face of a moral wrong, without denying the wrong itself. It is a relinquishing of resentment, which the wrongdoing incurs, and offering goodwill to the wrongdoer, which he/she has forgone, the right to as a result of the wrongdoing. Forgiveness recognizes the inherent human worth of the wrongdoer, welcomes him/her back into the "human community", and frees the injured party to pursue a process of healing as well as moral and psychological growth..."

This is only a starting place for discussion--this is the definition given in the article just below...this one is somewhat personal as well as a rather psychological treatise...just a starting place...there's no right or wrong answer here with us at The Journey of Hope blog & in the context of our "Journey" family...

We merely want to encourage you, the reader & participant here, to engage in our discussion (silently or "outloud") as you reflect on your own personal experience and understanding - however filled with struggle or incompleteness - however devoid of peace - whatever the emotions or apparent lack of the same - however short or long the journey...

Please find the time to read the following post - make some time & space for this...

Forgiveness as a Process

Because this is an older piece--yet ever so timeless--I am going to post this in full so as to not run the risk that this may not be available by link in near future...Also, look for a little "heads up" at the end about a personal post that both Susanne and I want to write-up for you soon related to this very topic. NOTE: Our Marietta's beautiful true story is mentioned within this piece! Connie

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Is it Time for Forgiveness? The Journey of Forgiveness: A Living Narrative of Transformation By Dr. Gayle L. Reed

Gayle Reed received a PhD from the University of Wisconsin in Educational Psychology. During her work at the University of Wisconsin, Gayle participated in the Forgiveness Research Program under the auspices of Dr. Robert Enright. Dr. Reed's research on forgiveness therapy for women after spousal abuse is published in the October 2006 issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Gayle currently teaches "The Psychology of Interpersonal Forgiveness" at the University of Wisconsin Extension and has an ongoing practice of forgiveness psychology workshops and individual forgiveness recovery consultation.

Forgiveness is perhaps the central virtue in a person’s religious or spiritual life. Yet it may be the most difficult response to consider after a horrific and violent event such as the recent campus shootings at Virginia Tech. Questions naturally arise: Shouldn’t one be angry about such a cruel and senseless event? Isn’t the pursuit of justice more important than forgiveness? Shouldn’t we find out why someone didn’t provide better protection from the violence? Wouldn’t the victims have to ignore their very real feelings of pain and grief if they forgive too soon? But other questions arise also: How should a person best respond to unjust suffering? Can an unfairly injured person become a stronger, better person by forgiving? How does forgiveness impact the restoration of a wounded community?

During the forgiveness process, it is, indeed, important to spend sufficient time uncovering anger and grieving the undeserved pain of the wrongdoing…but with the express purpose of relinquishing debilitating resentment and/or revenge. Most central to forgiveness is the paradoxical benevolent response of goodwill toward the wrongdoer (even if he/she is no longer alive). In this way the injured person him/herself finds release and healing. Then engagement in the pursuit of restorative justice and related social causes can proceed with a positive energy that is no longer confused by or acting as a form of resentment or revenge. Thus can communities also become places of healing rather than the settings of relentless cycles of violence and revenge (however subtle or “legally justified”).

Individuals and communities that practice forgiveness over time and support one another in that process demonstrate “overcoming evil with good.” This deserves our profound respect and they can show us the way. The forgiveness offered after the Amish school shootings near Paradise, Pennsylvania in October 2006 is such an inspiring example. In the aftermath of the shooting of ten innocent school children , this non-violent community responded to the unjust suffering of this shocking violence by offering forgiveness and kindness to the shooter’s family. The Amish families also expressed sadness for the shooter himself thus practicing goodwill for the wrongdoer and offering him a “place in the human community.” For the young people, faculty, and families at Virginia Tech today this can be a powerful model as they face the reality of the unjust suffering that they themselves are enduring. Forgiveness can provide them the path to “becoming stronger, better people,” emotional healing, and community renewal. And these brave survivors will have much to teach the rest of us as they tell their forgiveness stories in the months and years to come.

A summary follows of a forgiveness therapy that has been developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the psychological health benefits that follow that therapeutic experience. But more importantly, it must be stressed that forgiveness is a vital aspect of moral and spiritual wholeness. Forgiveness is choosing to generously offer goodness where unjust harm has been inflicted. Forgiveness means being changed deeply because of this ongoing morally and spiritually transformative response. This transformation is the true foundation of the psychological health benefits that we see in our research.

What happens when people forgive? Nearly twenty years of research at the University of Wisconsin demonstrates that people who choose to forgive do display improved psychological health. Numerous research studies have been conducted with participants who had various deep, unfair injuries to forgive such as parental neglect (Al-Mabuk, Enright, and Cardis, 1995), incest (Freedman and Enright, 1996), and spousal emotional abuse (Reed and Enright, 2006). These studies reveal significant improvements in depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, self-esteem, and positive coping skills. Moreover, participants with drug and alcohol addictions have demonstrated improvements in vulnerability to substance use (Lin, Enright, Mack, Krahn, & Baskin, 2004).

The University of Wisconsin forgiveness research programs are based on two key components: a solid definition of forgiveness and a clearly delineated process of forgiving. In essence, therefore, this is a cognitive therapy. The intervener helps the participant understand what forgiveness is and how to forgive. Then participant’s forgiving feelings and behaviors follow. Thus, at the end of the forgiveness therapy the participant will have changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving toward the offender as well as significant health improvements.

Forgiveness therapy begins with the Definition of Forgiveness. At the University of Wisconsin, we define forgiveness as a gift freely given in the face of a moral wrong, without denying the wrong itself. It is a relinquishing of resentment, which the wrongdoing incurs, and offering goodwill to the wrongdoer, which he/she has forgone, the right to as a result of the wrongdoing. Forgiveness recognizes the inherent human worth of the wrongdoer, welcomes him/her back into the "human community", and frees the injured party to pursue a process of healing as well as moral and psychological growth. We have found that clarity with the definition of forgiveness helps participants overcome important barriers to forgiving, particularly in considering what forgiveness is not. For example, a person who mistakenly thinks that forgiveness is merely forgetting and “moving on” might be very resistant to forgiving a wrongdoer for a significant betrayal or injury. We also clearly distinguish forgiveness from reconciliation. Forgiveness is the offended person’s moral choice whereas reconciliation is the fully engaged choice of both the offended and the offender. This distinction allows participants to work on forgiving an offender who is not yet ready to reconcile or who might cause further injury or who is now deceased. Thus, the forgiving person is not held captive by the readiness, willingness, or availability of the wrongdoer but can instead freely pursue his/her own personal growth and health.

The remainder of the forgiveness therapy is based on the Forgiveness Process Model developed at the University of Wisconsin by Dr. Robert Enright and his graduate research group. This process model has 20 processes that are grouped into four phases. This is a flexible model, which allows participants to spend the time they feel they need on each process and to alter the sequence of the processes where appropriate and helpful.

The first phase of the process model is called the Uncovering Phase and includes processes that allow the individual to become aware of the anger and emotional pain that has resulted from the unjust injury. Consequences of the injury such as psychological defenses, shame, cognitive rehearsal, and energy depletion are explored. As the impact of the injury is revealed and validated, the choice of forgiveness can seem more possible.

The second phase is called the Decision Phase in which the participant can consider the possible continuing damage if he/she does not choose forgiveness and, by contrast, the possible positive outcomes of forgiving. This is a process where a person actively has a “change of heart” and chooses the virtue of forgiveness for moral growth as well as healing. The person also commits to the hard work of forgiveness over time.

The third phase of the forgiveness process is called the Work Phase. This phase includes grieving the pain of the unjust injury, reframing the wrongdoer, and deciding to offer goodwill to him/her. The pain that is grieved includes the injury itself, the betrayal involved, and the subsequent losses (such as the absence of a murdered loved one at future events). The wrongdoer is reframed in his/her larger context (he/she is more than the wrongdoing) and in terms of inherent human worth. This is done without excusing or condoning the wrongdoing. So then, he/she is culpable but vulnerable and valuable. This new perspective lays the groundwork for empathy and the goodwill of forgiveness. This goodwill (mercy, generosity, and moral love) may be offered while, at the same time, taking into consideration current issues of trust and safety in the relationship between the injured person and the injurer.

The final phase is called the Deepening or Outcome Phase during which the forgiving person begins to realize that he/she is gaining emotional relief from forgiving the offender. This is also a time when a foundational aspect of forgiveness is discovered: finding meaning in suffering. The person realizes that choosing the virtue of forgiveness as a response to the undeserved pain from the wrongdoing has indeed led to remarkable personal growth. One can’t change the hurtful past but one can choose to be changed for the better. Thus, the forgiver discovers the paradox of forgiveness; as we give to another the gifts of mercy, generosity, and moral love, we ourselves are changed deeply and healed. Many forgiveness therapy participants then go on to consider how they might help others change and grow in a similar way. Numerous times these forgiving “survivors” have implemented this community outreach freed of the burden of “victimhood” and with a new “living narrative” of ongoing forgiveness.

Marietta Jaeger Lane (1998) is an example of a living forgiveness narrative that demonstrates goodwill, finding meaning in suffering, and finding new purpose. Marietta’s eight-year-old daughter Susie was murdered in 1973. Marietta bravely chose to forgive Susie’s murderer. Since that time, she has experienced profound changes in her life. Marietta has reached deep inside her own experience of forgiving, found support in a community of faith, and has spent the last nearly 30 years helping other families who have also experienced the murder of a child or other family member. Marietta teaches these families the healing alternative of forgiveness. Marietta has also displayed her deepened commitment to mercy for offenders by working to eliminate the death penalty.

There is another narrative that provides an inspiring model of forgiveness. You probably know this one: the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50. This is an ancient story of a favored son, Joseph, whose jealous brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt. Joseph served faithfully as an Egyptian household slave for a powerful man named Potiphar. But Potiphar’s wife, after failing to seduce Joseph, becomes angry and has Joseph thrown into prison. Now Joseph has two very unfair events to cope with. Rather than becoming bitter, Joseph stands by the moral virtues that he believes in and takes strength from the God he relies on. Joseph then finds many opportunities to benefit both his Egyptian overlords and his brothers. On his release from prison, Joseph proves himself to be a wise and capable civil servant in Egypt. Years later, during a famine, both the Egyptians and Joseph’s brothers come to him for help. Joseph helps the Egyptians manage their food supplies and offers his own brothers precious grain as well. Joseph, by this time, had attained a very high position in Egypt and he could have taken revenge. But instead, he extends forgiveness and mercy to his brothers, his entire extended family, and to the Egyptians. An ever-widening circle of benefit flowed out from Joseph’s decision to forgive. Joseph pursued a livelong forgiveness journey and this was his expression of the outcome. “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” Genesis 41:52

Forgiveness can be a powerful impetus for healing and restoration of individuals, families, and communities. Is there anything more needed as a response to betrayal or violence? It is our hope that anyone who has been unjustly wounded will find the timely help and support that is needed to embark on the transformative journey of forgiveness. A book that guides a person through the forgiveness process, “Forgiveness is a Choice” by Dr. Robert Enright, is available at www.amazon.com.

Notes:

For more information on the forgiveness work developed at the University of Wisconsin, please see www.forgivness-insitute.org or ww.forgivenessrecovery.com.

Al-Mabuk, R.H., Enright, R.D., & Cardis, P.A.(1995). Forgiveness with parentally love-deprived college students. Journal of Moral Education. Vol. 24, 427-444.

Enright, R.D. (2001). Forgiveness is a Choice. Washington, D.C.:APA Books.

Freedman, S.R. & Enright, R.D. (1996). Forgiveness as an intervention goal with incest survivors. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64 (5), 983-992.

Jaeger, Marietta. (1998). The power and reality of forgiveness: Forgiving the murderer of one’s child. In Exploring Forgiveness. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 42-45.

Lin, W.F., Enright, R.D., Mack, D., Krahn, D., & Baskin, T. (2004). Effects of forgiveness therapy on anger, mood, and vulnerability to substance use among inpatient substance- dependent clients. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72 (6), 1114-1121.

Reed, G. L. and Enright, R. D., (2006). The effects of forgiveness therapy on depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress for women after spousal emotional abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74 (5), 920-929.

© 2007 Dr. Gayle Reed. Used by permission
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Thanx for "hanging in there" until the end of this post...

Recently, our immediate family was discussing the helplessness of so many around the world who in their homelands face a constant bombardment of killing-- children, doctors, ambulance workers, relief boats, supplies-- The innocents (often on several "sides")are dying & injured along with others who may believe their only recourse for protecting their people is revenge...

Quite a deep conversation for our family who often mostly enjoy light conversation, humor, good food and games!

This was all in the context of the recent news on the tragedy in Israel-Palestine!

Our two eldest sons recalled how many in their homeland of Northern Uganda have been killed, raped, impoverished by various groups such as the nomadic Karamajong who raid their families cattle & more over the years & the fears of the Lord's Resistance Army who brutalize so many all over their area & elsewhere...

Then, our youngest son spoke up and expressed a rare and long inner struggle for revenge at the crime that took place which permanently severed his connection to his birth mother from him. What he had to go to in all of this was unthinkable! I will tell you just this now...that he had JUST visited with his mother for the first time in YEARS before this crime took place.

His "first mom" was either neglectfully or purposefully allowed to die or murdered in an American jail - having been removed drunk & out of control from the street -- & left in restraints until all life was gone. He, I and a number of us, having been in court & done research, understand this to be a case of murder.

Anyway, the youngest son was speaking about his deep desire for revenge...The deep impulse to want to "take them out"... (of course it's a generic "they" since who knows who were the staff in that jail during the crime & who knows who is staff there now...) but you can see a glimpse into the justice that often fuels this kind of deep, ruthless anger --along with the burning desire to help "make" such events "right".

This is a common passion: the wanting retaliation at what is experienced as extreme injustice -- often for years or a lifetime... We all spoke with empathy for this understandable human emotion--The Journey of Hope family came up...

Susanne, my co-blogger here, also, not knowing about this recent conversation, was perceiving the time had come for us to dialogue with our readers about this dilemma, the difficulty for many to forgive such events...

So watch in a few days for more on this topic, will you? I will recap my story & tell you a how the conversation that night ended -- & I believe Susanne will also add her perceptive thoughts as well as experiences...

I'm calling the working title of my part of this coming piece: "When Forgiveness is Difficult" -- and after we start the ball rolling (or even now!) we are inviting YOU to participate - we hope for many- many responses from many of you (including some fresh personal statements from our various "Journey" family)

Thank you so much for tuning in!

Connie Nash

Ocean

As his body lay in the coffin, the man bore no traces of his agonizing death. Instead, he had a subtle smile.

The execution of death row inmate Toshihiko Hasegawa was carried out on Dec. 27, 2001, when he was 51. Two days later, his funeral was performed at a church in Nagoya. About 70 people attended the funeral, including Masaharu Harada, 61.

Akio, Masaharu's younger brother, was killed in January 1983 when he was 30 by Hasegawa and his accomplices. Akio was employed by Hasegawa as a truck driver. Hasegawa had taken out a life insurance policy on Akio and had him killed in collusion with two accomplices to collect the money. Hasegawa and one of the accomplices also killed two other people.

In his testimony at a district court hearing, Harada said he hoped Hasegawa would receive the death penalty, saying, "I believe there can never be any other punishment other than the death penalty."

After Hasegawa was sentenced by the district court, he began writing Harada letters of apology.

Harada, however, would throw the letters away unopened. Only once did he unfold one of the letters.

As his anguish over the tragedy faded, he decided to reply to Hasegawa.

"I am sorry for not to replying to you for so long," Harada wrote. The number of letters from Hasegawa increased, with some containing drawings of religious subjects that he drew "to express my feelings of atonement."

In the summer of 1993, just before Hasegawa's sentence was finalized, Harada visited the Nagoya Detention House.

Up until the moment he entered the interview room, Harada felt he might lose his temper with Hasegawa.

"I'm incredibly glad that you are so kind as to come here to meet me!" the death-row convict said to Harada.

Hasegawa seemed filled with joy while conveying his gratitude. Harada found his anger dwindling. Even after the death sentence against Hasegawa was finalized, Harada visited the detention house three times under special permits to see the convict.

Harada quoted Hasegawa as saying on one occasion, "Should I be allowed to get out of here, I would like to give your mother a massage, as I have learned massage techniques in my cell."

As Harada listened to Hasegawa during these visits, he came to feel that he was truly repentant and deeply cared about the bereaved families of the victims of the murders he was involved in.

"Although I had no intention of forgiving him, I wanted him to live and continue conveying his atonement with all his heart," Harada said. "My mind changed as I became aware that nothing worthwhile could come from his execution."

Harada has more than 100 letters and several drawings made with a ballpoint pen from Hasegawa.

In 2007, Harada founded an organization to encourage dialogue between crime victims and imprisoned criminals.

Once, when he interviewed a convict sentenced to die, Harada advised him to apologize from the bottom of his heart to his victims.
(taken from: "Unmasking capital punishment/Victim's kin questions point of executions" - The Yomiuri Shimbun

Based on his experience, Masaharu Harada established Ocean in June 2008. Ocean is a support group not only for people victimized by crime but also for offenders and their kin. Harada said Ocean is "a symbol of new life and hope."

Ocean was launched as an affiliate of the U.S.-based nongovernmental organization Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, whose members include not only crime victims and family members but also relatives of executed inmates. The group advocates an end to capital punishment.

"I want Ocean to become a sort of oasis" for crime victims as well as offenders, Harada said. "And I believe it is necessary to create a place for crime victims and offenders to face each other and hold dialogue."

Guilt beyond all reasonable doubt?Man gets execution date despite strong evidence of innocence

Larry Swearingen, TX, is scheduled to be executed on January 27, 2009.

He was in Jail while the murder in this case occured and the DNA (blood and hairs) excluded him as the biological donor.

Evidence was withheld from medical examiner and the jury; leading the medical examiner at the time of trial to a wrong time of victim's death that erred in the jury coming to a death sentence. The medical examiner reviewed the case in 2007 and reversed her opinion on the date of death, with now four forensic pathologists independently reaching the same conclusion - that the victim got killed and her body dumped in the woods while Larry Swearingen was in jail on unrelated charges.

We ask that you please stop the scheduled execution of Larry Swearingen based on these facts as far as Texas law allows, and urge a reopening of the investigation, as there is other evidence that points unambiguously to actual innocence.

For more information about Larry's case, check out his website at:
www.larry-swearingen.com

Please contact the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Rick Perry on behalf of Larry Swearingen.

Please send APPEALS TO:

Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
General Counsel's Office
(to the attention of Ms Rissie L. Owens, Presiding Officer)
8610 Shoal Creek Boulevard
Austin, Texas 78758
Phone: 1 512 406 5852
Fax: 1 512 406 5852
Salutation: Dear Ms Owens


Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711-2428
Fax: 1 512 463 1849
Salutation: Dear Governor

Phone (Office of the Governor):
for Texas callers: (800) 252-9600
for calls from other States and outside the US: 1 512 463-2000

Please also sign the online-petition for Larry Swearingen here

NOTE: Montgomery County District Attorney Michael A. McDougal (he set the date for Larry) will leave office on January 1, 2009 and Brett Ligon will become the new Montgomery County District Attorney.

After January 1, 2009 - after he takes office - it might also be worthwhile to write Mr. Ligon and ask him to withdraw the January 27, 2009 execution date for Larry Swearingen.

Brett Ligon
Montgomery County District Attorney
207 W. Phillips, 2nd Flr.
Conroe, Texas 77301

A news story from Australia

December 29, 2008 - 5:42PM - theage.com.au

The family of a teenager stabbed to death at a Sydney railway station have gathered for the much-loved youth's funeral, saying they forgive his killer.

Andrew Motuliki, 17, was stabbed in the chest with a large fishing knife allegedly after a fight broke out between two groups of teenagers on a train at Campsie station, in Sydney's south-west, on December 21.

Passengers on the train tried to give the Marrickville teenager first aid but he was pronounced dead on arrival at St George Hospital.

A 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with his murder, as well as affray and custody of a knife in a public place.

He was refused bail in Parramatta Children's Court the day after the stabbing death.

"This boy who did this to my son, I forgive you," Andrew's father Etikailahi Motuliki told the Ten Network.

"Pray to God, pray for forgiveness."

His mother, Ane Motuliki, echoed the words of forgiveness, happy for the murder-accused to be dealt with by the courts, saying: "(I) leave up to whoever (to) deal with him".

Shortly after the killing, the Motulikis made a tearful public plea for people not to carry knives.

"I would like to appeal to kids everywhere not to carry knives," Mr Motuliki said the day after his son's death.

"They need to find out another way to solve their problems."

Following Monday's funeral, family and friends gathered at the scene of the stabbing, singing and praying for Andrew who was killed on his way to church just days before Christmas.

Attorney speaks up: Why the Death Penalty is Irrevocably Wrong

JUSTICE Section

By MARGARET P. LEVY

December 28, 2008

Mistakes are made. Horrible mistakes are made. It is time for Connecticut's legislature to abolish the death penalty — now, in the 2009 legislative session — to limit future mistakes.

On Dec. 19, Miguel Roman was released from prison after 20 years, based on newly reviewed evidence. Another man has been arrested for the murder that kept Miguel's family fatherless for two decades. Neither case is resolved yet. Can anyone doubt Miguel would not have been released from his 60-year sentence unless prosecutors believed he had been dreadfully wronged? Other mistakes will surely occur. Some may kill innocent persons.

We should abolish the death penalty because it is simply wrong for us, as individuals and as a community, to kill people. It is wrong to kill with premeditation and legal process aforethought. It is wrong to take 20 years to litigate, appeal, remand and re-litigate a case in order to kill a human being. It diminishes our humanity and our respect for life.

It is true that Connecticut has executed only one person in the past 40 years. The infrequency with which the ultimate punishment is used does not make it right. And there is collateral damage from our system of capital punishment. The existence of the death penalty distorts the operation of our criminal justice system. Defendants accept sentences of "life without release" to avoid facing trials and a potential death sentence. The state avoids the burden of proving its most serious cases beyond a reasonable doubt.

The U.S. Supreme Court is moving in the direction of abolishing the death penalty. Fifty years ago in Trop v. Dulles, it declared, "Evolving standards of decency must embrace and express respect for the dignity of the person." The punishment of criminals must conform to that rule. Within the past six years, the Bush court has declared use of the death penalty unconstitutional for the mentally retarded, juveniles and child rapists in cases where the child has not died.

As of April 2007, the Innocence Project reported that 200 persons in the United States had been exonerated through DNA evidence. More have been freed since then, including Roman, who has been granted a new trial after the Innocence Project asked that DNA evidence from his case be retested with modern technology. Most have suffered years of incarceration. Their families were deprived of companionship and support.

Yet most criminal cases do not involve DNA. Many wrongful convictions result from of mistaken eyewitness identifications. Honest but terrified crime victims or witnesses may glimpse attackers for only a few seconds, often in poor light. Victims are often traumatized. They are under pressure from police to identify the attackers. Victims and their families want to help capture criminals, to make the streets safe and spare others from similar experiences. Scared survivors look at mug shot books with pictures of "similar-looking" suspects. Many become genuinely convinced they can identify their attackers. Mistakes in these kinds of cases are even harder to reverse than mistakes resolvable by DNA.

Knowing that mistakes are made, and that exonerations continue, we should not wait any longer to abolish the death penalty in Connecticut. Yes, I know about the tragic murders in Cheshire. Sadly, nothing we can ever do will bring the Pettit women back to life.

Realistically, the most gruesome killers will not be deterred by the existence of a death penalty. We have a death penalty. It didn't prevent Cheshire.

Even State's Attorney John Connelly of the judicial district of Waterbury, which has sent more men to death row than any other in Connecticut, candidly told an informational forum of the legislature in January 2005 that the purpose of the death penalty "is not deterrence. It's retribution. ... The question becomes we as a community, we as a society, who do we feel is appropriate for these types of cases?"

To me the question is, "Is it appropriate for us to kill anyone?" And the answer is, "No."

The Cheshire murder cases are keeping this state, its General Assembly and its criminal justice community from serious consideration of abolishing the death penalty. We should not put our progress toward justice on hold. We should demand that our legislators abolish Connecticut's death penalty. And the governor should sign the abolition bill into law.

• Margaret P. Levy of West Hartford was the attorney for Miguel Roman in 1993 during his unsuccessful appeal of his murder conviction to the Connecticut Supreme Court and his petition to the U.S. Supreme Court for it to hear his case. She has not represented him since.

Copyright © 2008, The Hartford Courant

For URL go here

George White 15th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty

The power of forgiveness at Christmas

"This Christmas, Samuel will celebrate with Jesus, whom he loved so much. This Christmas I only ask Jesus that my husband's ministry - to spread the Gospel - will continue, that people will learn the Good News of our Savior, that people will learn to forgive and believe in His Name." There is no hatred or desire for revenge in the words of Kadamphul Nayak, 47, whose husband was killed by Hindu fundamentalists in the early days of anti-Christian violence in Orissa. "For me, it was a privilege to be his wife," the woman says, "and although we no longer have a home, the presence of Jesus in our hearts is a reason for comfort for us."

Kadamphul Nayakg is one of the many widows who, out of the refugee camps of Orissa, have found hospitality in Bangalore thanks to the work of the Global Council of Indian Christians. Her husband, Samuel Nayak, 52, was a pastor and preached the word of God for more than 25 years in the most remote areas of Orissa. Originally from the village of Bakingia, in the district of Kandhamal, he was killed by Hindu fundamentalists last August 26, because he refused to renounce his faith in Christ and convert to Hinduism.

"Around 8:00 a.m.," the woman says, "an armed mob of 500 Hinduvta extremists came to Bakingia village: they stormed the church, desecrated the church, looted valuables and burned it down. I told my husband to flee into the forest, but he refused, as his aged mother Janamati Nayak (75 years) was staying with us.

"The extremists, who were also carrying inflammables like gasoline and kerosene, came to our house, shouting Hindu chants. They dragged my husband outside and thrashed him severely, some of the men placed a knife and this throat and demanded that Samuel renounce Christ, which he refused to do. This angered the extremists, who then poured kerosene on my mother in-law and set her aflame. As she was burning, they repeated their demand to renounce Christ. One of them had tied me up with a knife to my throat also, but Samuel refused to embrace Hinduism.

The extremists began slashing him on his neck, back and heels, they also slashed me on my stomach reaching up to my back. For the third time, they asked him to denounce Jesus, and in spite of the heavy bleeding and being in great pain, in a gasping low tone he said: 'For 25 years, I have been in the Gospel ministry, I have walked all over Orissa telling people that Jesus loves and Jesus saves, I will never abandon my Jesus'. This angered the extremists, who then slashed his throat, and shouted, 'Now let us see how your Jesus will save you'."

After killing her husband, the fundamentalists covered Kadamphul's body with kerosene; almost miraculously, she was able to get away and hide in the forest before they set fire to her. "The next day, I crept into some bushes and saw my husband's burnt body, exactly where they had killed him, but I was too afraid to go to him. His dead body was lying there for three days in Bakingia. On August 28 some extremists came andy took away the dead body and threw it away. Still today, I don't know where is my husband's dead body."

Now Kadamphul Nayak has found refuge and welcome in Bangalore, but her thoughts go to her two children and her grandchildren in the refugee camps in Orissa. "Every year at Christmas, my husband used to dramatize the Christmas story through a live crib, with animals and shepherds and Mary and Joseph and the new baby. Though we have lost all worldly possessions, this new baby will be born to fill us with hope and a spirit of forgiveness. Here in this relief camp, we can understand the actual reality of the birth of Christ, in these tents, in the cold, in the precariousness."

By Nirmala Carvalho - SperoNews

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

FORGIVENESS and THE STORY of CHRISTMAS

There is a connection between forgiveness and the story of Christmas. It all began thousands of years ago in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve committed a sin-they disobeyed God, their Creator. God knew then that the world would be in dire trouble and He had to do something to forgive save His creation.

He promised a seed (Genesis 3:15). The Old Testament prophets, (Isaiah 7, Micah 5. Hosea11) prophesied about Jesus’ birth and Jesus birth was fulfilled in the New Testament. (Matthew and Luke 1 & 2). The promised seed, Jesus was born and Christmas is celebrated to commemorate the birth of Jesus. Although there are contraversaries about the correct date of Jesus’ birth, I think it is a great opportunity to celebrate His birth. This is my favorite time of the year, because I am grateful to God for giving His son to die, so that my sins are forgiven.

God sent His only son into the world to die for our sins. Jesus died for our sins, yet He Himself never sinned. He was perfect. He asked God to forgive the people who hurt and sinned against Him. We have been summoned to be like Jesus, follow His example and obey His Words which is the Holy Bible. One of the commands given in the Word is that we must forgive.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:14-15).

Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matthew 6:14-15).

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32).

(taken from: http://netwebmarketer.com/pauline/wordpress/2008/12/11/forgiveness-and-the-story-of-christmas/)

AN INMATES NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
AND THERE ALL ALONE
LAY AN INMATE NOT SLEEPING
BUT DREAMING OF HOME

THE BLANKET WAS THIN
AND HIS CELL WAS SO COLD
THE CHILL IN HIS BONES
WAS TAKING ITS HOLD

THERE WASN’T ANY TINSEL
NO GARLAND OR LIGHTS
THERE WON’T BE ANY PRESENTS
DELIVERED TONIGHT

NO SUGAR PLUMS OR COOKIES
NO TURKEY OR HAM
YOU CAN’T EXPECT MUCH
THE MEALS ARE A SHAM!

BUT THE MAN HAD A GLIMMER
A SLIVER OF HOPE
BECAUSE OF THE TREASURE
TIED TO HIS HEART WITH A ROPE

THE ROPE IS MADE OF TEARS
MADE OF STRENGTH AND OF LOVE
WHICH COMES FROM HIS FAMILY
AND FROM HEAVEN ABOVE

KNOWING HE’D MESSED UP
GIVING HIS LOVED ONES MUCH WOE
BUT HOPING AND WISHING
FOR THEM ALL TO KNOW

THE MISTAKES THAT HE MADE
AND THERE’D BEEN QUITE A FEW
HURT HIM THE MOST
THEY ALWAYS SEEM TO

HOW DID HE REACH
THIS LOW POINT OF HIS LIFE
LIVING IN PRISON
AWAY FROM HIS WIFE?

THE MAN LAY IN HIS BUNK
HE THOUGHT AND HE WONDERED
CAN I COME BACK FROM THIS ALL?
WILL THIS BE MY LAST BLUNDER?

BUT SLOWLY A CALM
CAME OVER THE MAN
FOR HE KNEW THAT HIS LOVED ONES
WOULD ALWAYS STAND

RIGHT BY HIS SIDE
THROUGH THICK AND THROUGH THIN
THEY WOULD HELP HIM GET HIM THROUGH
THE MESS HE WAS IN

THERE’S NO NEED TO WORRY
IT MAY TAKE SOME TIME
BUT THIS MAN ONE DAY
WILL BE SO PROUD AND SHINE!

SO STAND BACK AND WATCH
AND YOU WILL FINALLY SEE
WITH YOUR LOVE AND YOUR PATIENCE
THE GREAT MAN I’LL BE

DON’T EVER GIVE UP HOPE
PLEASE DON’T TURN YOUR BACK
STAY WITH ME ALWAYS
AND I WON’T GET OFF TRACK



SO THIS YEAR I CELEBRATE
A CHRISTMAS WITH NO TREE
THERE WON’T BE ANY GLITTER
THERE WON’T BE ANY GLEE

BUT THIS I WILL PROMISE
FROM MY HEAD AND MY HEART
WHEN I COME HOME
I WILL NEVER DEPART

I WILL BRING THE JOY
OF THE SEASON TO YOU
I WILL SHINE BRIGHTER THAN
THE TOYS THAT ARE NEW!

IF SANTA WOULD ONLY
GRANT MY ONE WISH THIS YEAR
THIS MAN WILL BE HUMBLE
AND MAY SHED A TEAR

FOR THE WISH THAT HE WANTS
IS NOT SIMPLE TO GIVE
THIS MAN WISHES TO UNDO
THE HURT THAT HE DID

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

JOANNE, AKA INSPIRATION
DEC. 2008