Many reminders here for us all--please read with care...
Journey of Hope
It's a journey
for many
it's a story
of hope
it's the history
of strong individuals ...
of a people speaking
in more than one tongue
it's their song
of pain over pain
loss over loss
tears becoming rivers
rivers running off to the sea
washing away revenge
it's a journey of hope
of people reaching out with their stories
with their arms
with their hearts
telling of their memories
letting the inside come to the outside
bringing us closer than close can be
it's a journey of hope
turning our pain into promise
helping us to heal our wounds
smoothing over scars of yesterday
it's a journey of hope
parts of a rainbow
coming back together
showing us where to find
a better time
a better world
a safe house
a place where we can free our spirits
this journey pushes against
this dark blanket of oppression...
opening up the skies
letting the sun shine down on our faces
on our dreams...
turning our whispers
into loud choruses of freedom...
turning our candles
into bonfires
of justice..
turning our actions
into a forest of flowers
this is a journey of hope
a time for dreamers
a time for forgiving
a time for understanding
a time for reconciliation
a time for giving
and for receiving
this is a journey of the heart
a time to find new friends
to travel uncharted roads
to open up new doors
into the future
this is a journey
for life
and redemption...
this is a journey
for them
as well as for us
this is a journey of hope
1998
This poem was dedicated to Bill Pelke and Murder Victims Families
(yet really--what a gift to all of us who will spend time with these healing words!
How about, let's revisit this prayer-poem often!)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Magdaleno M. Rose-Avila, his book and more...
First of all, before a rush of the gratitudes for JOH...
I decided to make one of the most gifted JOH supporters and amazingly gifted stage host/comedian/both serious AND funny spiritual guide, Leno, more visible here--rather than to leave this in the Comments only & not as full as what I really wanted to say so here goes...
I've never before enjoyed a banquet more than the one he hosted with such perfect and surprising spontaneous quips and then the way he led the circle of remembrances and re-dedication was the perfect way the end the NCADP conference.
Do see http://www.Magdaleno.org for a very interesting collection of items...
I Hope he'll send his favorite photos soon...
Please buy and read Leno Magdaleno's exceptionally interesting and poignant book
-Looking For My Wings-. The book is of manageable size for a weekend or a long flight or for an uninterrupted day. I read the chapters covering King right around MLK Day heading home from San Jose and the NCADP conference. Made the day come alive! The whole book is so moving, interesting and even has a recipe!
Besides an enjoyable style similar to the talent Leno has when he with surprising grace and humor "conducts" the spontaneous ins & outs of conference happenings--the book covers quickly a lot of territory for abolitionists, human rights activists and all interested in compassion.
I find -Looking For My Wings- particularly fascinating in that it compasses the 60's before I really was aware of the impact of that decade. The book also fills in plenty of details which I missed or knew little about at that time.
Finally I met Leno with a nice exchange about writing at the conference. In fact, he really gave me strong spiritual advise to continue making progress as a writer! THANKS SO MUCH, LENO!
Whether or not you know Leno, do get his book--and go to his variety blog as well:
http://www.magdaleno.org (book info there) You will soon feel that you know him by reading what he writes and values!!!
Leno, you are a gift to us all...
Connie
I decided to make one of the most gifted JOH supporters and amazingly gifted stage host/comedian/both serious AND funny spiritual guide, Leno, more visible here--rather than to leave this in the Comments only & not as full as what I really wanted to say so here goes...
I've never before enjoyed a banquet more than the one he hosted with such perfect and surprising spontaneous quips and then the way he led the circle of remembrances and re-dedication was the perfect way the end the NCADP conference.
Do see http://www.Magdaleno.org for a very interesting collection of items...
I Hope he'll send his favorite photos soon...
Please buy and read Leno Magdaleno's exceptionally interesting and poignant book
-Looking For My Wings-. The book is of manageable size for a weekend or a long flight or for an uninterrupted day. I read the chapters covering King right around MLK Day heading home from San Jose and the NCADP conference. Made the day come alive! The whole book is so moving, interesting and even has a recipe!
Besides an enjoyable style similar to the talent Leno has when he with surprising grace and humor "conducts" the spontaneous ins & outs of conference happenings--the book covers quickly a lot of territory for abolitionists, human rights activists and all interested in compassion.
I find -Looking For My Wings- particularly fascinating in that it compasses the 60's before I really was aware of the impact of that decade. The book also fills in plenty of details which I missed or knew little about at that time.
Finally I met Leno with a nice exchange about writing at the conference. In fact, he really gave me strong spiritual advise to continue making progress as a writer! THANKS SO MUCH, LENO!
Whether or not you know Leno, do get his book--and go to his variety blog as well:
http://www.magdaleno.org (book info there) You will soon feel that you know him by reading what he writes and values!!!
Leno, you are a gift to us all...
Connie
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Pelke's Open Letter to John Edwards//Vote for Abolition
I wrote the following open letter to John Edwards after hearing him speak on NPR.
It would be great if you would go to the John Edwards blog at the link below and respond to this post. If John Edwards took a stand calling for a moratorium on the death penalty it could muster votes he would need for a win in the primary election. It would give abolitionist a chance to show some power at the polls.
Peace,
Bill
http://blog.johnedwards. com/story/2008/1/15/114024/833
Death Penalty
Bill Pelke in Quick Posts
1/15/2008 at 12:38 PM EST
Does John Edwards response on NPR about the death penalty warrant a call for a national moratorium?
January 14, 2007
Dear Senator Edwards,
I listened to you today on NPR radio. Angela, of Wichita, Kansas asked you for your thoughts on the death penalty in America and what kind of affect it would have socially on our ideals.
You stated that you have historically supported the death penalty, but that you have HUGE problems with it right now.
You mentioned race. You stated that if you are a man or woman of color in American today you are more likely to be charged with a capital offence, you are more likely to be convicted and you are more likely to get the death penalty. You said it was the reality of the criminal justice system in America today.
You also said that we have to ensure that it is impossible for us to execute somebody who is innocent.
You also said that in many cases, if we have high quality representation, it makes a huge difference in the likelihood of conviction and the likelihood of the death penalty.
You also stated you were opposed to "death qualified juries" and how it stacked the jury in favor for the prosecution, both for conviction and for the vote on the death penalty itself.
Senator Edwards, these are some of the same reasons that I have been working for a moratorium of the death penalty. If you really believe in your response to Angela then I would ask you to add "Death Penalty Moratorium" to your platform.
This would be in step with the United Nations call for worldwide moratorium on the death penalty.
I would be happy to discuss these and other reasons with you for supporting a moratorium.
Bill Pelke
Anchorage, Alaska
For NPR interview in its entirety
http://www.npr. org/templates/ story/story .php?storyId= 18085237
It would be great if you would go to the John Edwards blog at the link below and respond to this post. If John Edwards took a stand calling for a moratorium on the death penalty it could muster votes he would need for a win in the primary election. It would give abolitionist a chance to show some power at the polls.
Peace,
Bill
http://blog.johnedwards. com/story/2008/1/15/114024/833
Death Penalty
Bill Pelke in Quick Posts
1/15/2008 at 12:38 PM EST
Does John Edwards response on NPR about the death penalty warrant a call for a national moratorium?
January 14, 2007
Dear Senator Edwards,
I listened to you today on NPR radio. Angela, of Wichita, Kansas asked you for your thoughts on the death penalty in America and what kind of affect it would have socially on our ideals.
You stated that you have historically supported the death penalty, but that you have HUGE problems with it right now.
You mentioned race. You stated that if you are a man or woman of color in American today you are more likely to be charged with a capital offence, you are more likely to be convicted and you are more likely to get the death penalty. You said it was the reality of the criminal justice system in America today.
You also said that we have to ensure that it is impossible for us to execute somebody who is innocent.
You also said that in many cases, if we have high quality representation, it makes a huge difference in the likelihood of conviction and the likelihood of the death penalty.
You also stated you were opposed to "death qualified juries" and how it stacked the jury in favor for the prosecution, both for conviction and for the vote on the death penalty itself.
Senator Edwards, these are some of the same reasons that I have been working for a moratorium of the death penalty. If you really believe in your response to Angela then I would ask you to add "Death Penalty Moratorium" to your platform.
This would be in step with the United Nations call for worldwide moratorium on the death penalty.
I would be happy to discuss these and other reasons with you for supporting a moratorium.
Bill Pelke
Anchorage, Alaska
For NPR interview in its entirety
http://www.npr. org/templates/ story/story .php?storyId= 18085237
Friday, January 25, 2008
Three Support the Death Penalty! Let's Discuss...
Three Leading Democrat Candidates Support the Death Penalty
Let's Discuss! I will put up Bill's open letter soon...
http://www.alternet.org/rights/74884/
Let's Discuss! I will put up Bill's open letter soon...
http://www.alternet.org/rights/74884/
Mike Farrell's Thank You Address in San Jose 1/19/08
1/19/08 – NCADP Lifetime Achievement Award, San Jose, CA
Thank you. First I want to thank my beautiful wife, Shelley, for being willing to put aside the fact that today is her birthday and be here to support me. Thank you, sweetheart.
Now, I must confess that this honor, this thought, and your generous reaction thrill me deeply. But I am in equal part embarrassed to be singled out in this way when we all know that so many – all of you here and so many others out there with whom we work, so many who are down in the trenches putting their hearts and their guts on the line every day – should be up here receiving this and every other honor we can bestow. So, if I may, let me accept this honor on behalf of all of you and all of those whose efforts make real Albert Camus’ belief that “when there is no hope it is incumbent upon us to invent it.”
Invent it. I think it’s up to us not only to have it, believe in it and live it, but to embody hope for those who have lost it. Not only for those who live every day in a place designed to promote hopelessness - cold, dank, dreary, spiritless cells, places of misery and inhumanity and violence and shame - but also for those who become volunteers, men and women so defeated, so immiserated by their circumstances that they give up their appeals and ask for death, rather than continue to slip down the road to misery, despair and invisibility.
We have to have hope. I believe in hope because I believe in the human spirit, this ineffable something, this force beyond our understanding that empowers whatever is good in the world to stand against what is not. As Vaclav Havel told us: "Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good."
That is what we do, you and I. And let me say that in this work I have the incredibly good fortune, in working closely with those on the board and those in support of Death Penalty Focus, to be in the company of some of the finest, most caring and most decent people it’s ever been my privilege to know. And I find that fact to be mirrored wherever I go in this country – or in the world, for that matter – to join with others in pursuit of an end to state killing. Oh, like any social movement we have our crazies, of course, but by and large we are in damned fine company.
So, by “working for good,” we stand against that other force, we expose it to the light and watch it, however slowly, coagulate and shrivel away in embarrassment, in shame, just as we saw happen last month in New Jersey because of the hope and love and ferocious dedication of Senator Ray Lesniak and Celeste Fitzgerald and her courageous colleagues at New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NJADP).
I’m not a hater. I’m a pretty easy-going and optimistic guy, but through my years of experience with it I have come to hate the death system in this country. I hate what it is, I hate what it does and I hate the corrupting influence it has on everyone it touches. As I tell people every time I get a chance, there’s no better example of the moral corrosion our society has suffered from this damnable process of dehumanizing those we deem expendable than what is being done today by otherwise normal, patriotic young Americans who are torturing human beings in Iraq, Guantanamo and elsewhere. It’s the poisonous legacy of mindless authoritarians, cowards who slink out of their caves long enough to try to bludgeon others into joining them in their self-imposed agony of fear, loneliness and dystopia.
I’m not a great believer in evil – at least not in the existence of evil people. But I do believe there are evil acts, evil practices, and I believe our tolerance of them does us harm. As Einstein said, "The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of people who are evil but because of people who don't do anything about it."
And I’m not blind to the fact that there are bent and broken people out there who do terrible things, evil things. With Bishop Tutu, I believe that those who do monstrous things are not monsters, but people – damaged, hurt people. And I agree that we have to have a system that keeps society safe from them, but not only by incarcerating and warehousing them, by treating their wounds, educating them, habilitating them so that they may some day return to society able to be productive citizens. And yes, reluctantly, I will agree with the doomsayers that there are some who may not be healed, some whose life experience has been so utterly vile that they may be beyond our poor power to repair; they are the dangerous ones who do harm to others without apparent thought, the vicious ones, whose contempt for life endangers others - think Dick Cheney, for example - who should be kept apart from society.
But if we concede that there are evil acts, we must also face our responsibility as a society to understand how even the worst of them can happen. To understand is not to justify. To understand is to find a way to move us forward.
No evildoer ever believes he or she is doing evil. In the beginning of Mein Kampf, Hitler says, “In dealing with the Jewish question, I’m doing the Lord’s work.”
Simone Weil, in “Gravity and Grace,” tells us that “Evil when we are in its power is not felt as evil but as a necessity, or even a duty.”
Phillip Zimbardo, the Professor of Psychology at Stanford whose prison study exposed the damage to both prisoners and guards done by the distorted power relationship such circumstances impose, says, “For me, evil is the highest level of inhumanity. It could be one-on-one, like the torturer and his victim, but more often than not at that level it’s the individual as an agent of a system.”
It’s that system, the death system – and the willingness of some to submit to it out of fear while others use it to serve their own political ends – that we must expose to the light.
Expose political ambition and, yes, willful ignorance. I cringe at them all, but the killing of Stanley Tookie Williams still makes my blood boil. The cowardice of Gov. Schwarzenegger – a man whom the late Red Buttons perfectly described by saying he didn’t know if harass was one word or two – is staggering. He wrote me a few years ago claiming “California’s administration of the death penalty is free from the kind of systemic defects that have called its accuracy into question” in other states. And today, in the face of a $14 billion dollar budget shortfall, he cuts services for children and the elderly while setting aside $136 million for a new death row.
We have work to do here. And we will do it because it is good work, necessary work, some would say heart work, some would say holy work. It is all those things.
On our board we have clergy and non-believers and everything in between. I’ll never forget Lance, my esteemed friend and our extraordinary Executive Director, a self-proclaimed atheist, who one day at a meeting was extolling the wonders of our small and dedicated staff, he was singing their praises and raised his eyes and just caught himself as he said, “I thank the…” ceiling.” Whether thanking God, the ceiling or something else, atheists, agnostics, rabbis, priests, clergy and laymen and women all work with a shared vision, a shared sense of mission, a shared love of life and a shared awareness that there are mysteries the solution to which are not available to us in our current state of understanding, but which can best be approached through a mutual sense of love and respect. As Einstein said, "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."
I’m not a religious man, though I believe there is something smarter, higher, nobler and more sublime out there. I see it in you, in your eyes, in your work, and I sense it here, in this place where the betterment of humankind is the common goal.
I lost a friend two weeks ago, a magical human being with a poetic soul who died suddenly, inexplicably, at far too young an age, and took from the world an eye and an ear for beauty the loss of which leaves me breathless. When John spoke, with his lovely Irish brogue, he had a way of reaching inside the words to find a deeper meaning. When he reminded us that we are people of privilege and said that ‘the duty of privilege is absolute integrity,’ he helped me to understand our charge here in this life. His death wounded me and, as those events tend to do, it reminded me that we all must die at some point. But it also reaffirmed for me that by God that point should not be determined by some political hack or some heartless, inhumane, arrogant ‘system’ that holds itself more valuable, more meaningful, than some lost, wounded invisible soul who never got the chance to see past the boots of those holding him down.
So in thinking of John, who was himself a former priest, I want to offer to you a bit of a prayer that recently came my way. It was written by an unknown prisoner in Ravensbrück, a Nazi concentration camp, and left by the body of a dead child. It seems to me to speak to much of what we do – and for whom we do it.
“O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted on us; remember the fruits we have bought, thanks to this suffering -- our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of all of this, and when they come to
judgment let all the fruits which we have borne be their forgiveness.”
Thank you for this honor and thank you for what you do.
Thank you. First I want to thank my beautiful wife, Shelley, for being willing to put aside the fact that today is her birthday and be here to support me. Thank you, sweetheart.
Now, I must confess that this honor, this thought, and your generous reaction thrill me deeply. But I am in equal part embarrassed to be singled out in this way when we all know that so many – all of you here and so many others out there with whom we work, so many who are down in the trenches putting their hearts and their guts on the line every day – should be up here receiving this and every other honor we can bestow. So, if I may, let me accept this honor on behalf of all of you and all of those whose efforts make real Albert Camus’ belief that “when there is no hope it is incumbent upon us to invent it.”
Invent it. I think it’s up to us not only to have it, believe in it and live it, but to embody hope for those who have lost it. Not only for those who live every day in a place designed to promote hopelessness - cold, dank, dreary, spiritless cells, places of misery and inhumanity and violence and shame - but also for those who become volunteers, men and women so defeated, so immiserated by their circumstances that they give up their appeals and ask for death, rather than continue to slip down the road to misery, despair and invisibility.
We have to have hope. I believe in hope because I believe in the human spirit, this ineffable something, this force beyond our understanding that empowers whatever is good in the world to stand against what is not. As Vaclav Havel told us: "Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good."
That is what we do, you and I. And let me say that in this work I have the incredibly good fortune, in working closely with those on the board and those in support of Death Penalty Focus, to be in the company of some of the finest, most caring and most decent people it’s ever been my privilege to know. And I find that fact to be mirrored wherever I go in this country – or in the world, for that matter – to join with others in pursuit of an end to state killing. Oh, like any social movement we have our crazies, of course, but by and large we are in damned fine company.
So, by “working for good,” we stand against that other force, we expose it to the light and watch it, however slowly, coagulate and shrivel away in embarrassment, in shame, just as we saw happen last month in New Jersey because of the hope and love and ferocious dedication of Senator Ray Lesniak and Celeste Fitzgerald and her courageous colleagues at New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NJADP).
I’m not a hater. I’m a pretty easy-going and optimistic guy, but through my years of experience with it I have come to hate the death system in this country. I hate what it is, I hate what it does and I hate the corrupting influence it has on everyone it touches. As I tell people every time I get a chance, there’s no better example of the moral corrosion our society has suffered from this damnable process of dehumanizing those we deem expendable than what is being done today by otherwise normal, patriotic young Americans who are torturing human beings in Iraq, Guantanamo and elsewhere. It’s the poisonous legacy of mindless authoritarians, cowards who slink out of their caves long enough to try to bludgeon others into joining them in their self-imposed agony of fear, loneliness and dystopia.
I’m not a great believer in evil – at least not in the existence of evil people. But I do believe there are evil acts, evil practices, and I believe our tolerance of them does us harm. As Einstein said, "The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of people who are evil but because of people who don't do anything about it."
And I’m not blind to the fact that there are bent and broken people out there who do terrible things, evil things. With Bishop Tutu, I believe that those who do monstrous things are not monsters, but people – damaged, hurt people. And I agree that we have to have a system that keeps society safe from them, but not only by incarcerating and warehousing them, by treating their wounds, educating them, habilitating them so that they may some day return to society able to be productive citizens. And yes, reluctantly, I will agree with the doomsayers that there are some who may not be healed, some whose life experience has been so utterly vile that they may be beyond our poor power to repair; they are the dangerous ones who do harm to others without apparent thought, the vicious ones, whose contempt for life endangers others - think Dick Cheney, for example - who should be kept apart from society.
But if we concede that there are evil acts, we must also face our responsibility as a society to understand how even the worst of them can happen. To understand is not to justify. To understand is to find a way to move us forward.
No evildoer ever believes he or she is doing evil. In the beginning of Mein Kampf, Hitler says, “In dealing with the Jewish question, I’m doing the Lord’s work.”
Simone Weil, in “Gravity and Grace,” tells us that “Evil when we are in its power is not felt as evil but as a necessity, or even a duty.”
Phillip Zimbardo, the Professor of Psychology at Stanford whose prison study exposed the damage to both prisoners and guards done by the distorted power relationship such circumstances impose, says, “For me, evil is the highest level of inhumanity. It could be one-on-one, like the torturer and his victim, but more often than not at that level it’s the individual as an agent of a system.”
It’s that system, the death system – and the willingness of some to submit to it out of fear while others use it to serve their own political ends – that we must expose to the light.
Expose political ambition and, yes, willful ignorance. I cringe at them all, but the killing of Stanley Tookie Williams still makes my blood boil. The cowardice of Gov. Schwarzenegger – a man whom the late Red Buttons perfectly described by saying he didn’t know if harass was one word or two – is staggering. He wrote me a few years ago claiming “California’s administration of the death penalty is free from the kind of systemic defects that have called its accuracy into question” in other states. And today, in the face of a $14 billion dollar budget shortfall, he cuts services for children and the elderly while setting aside $136 million for a new death row.
We have work to do here. And we will do it because it is good work, necessary work, some would say heart work, some would say holy work. It is all those things.
On our board we have clergy and non-believers and everything in between. I’ll never forget Lance, my esteemed friend and our extraordinary Executive Director, a self-proclaimed atheist, who one day at a meeting was extolling the wonders of our small and dedicated staff, he was singing their praises and raised his eyes and just caught himself as he said, “I thank the…” ceiling.” Whether thanking God, the ceiling or something else, atheists, agnostics, rabbis, priests, clergy and laymen and women all work with a shared vision, a shared sense of mission, a shared love of life and a shared awareness that there are mysteries the solution to which are not available to us in our current state of understanding, but which can best be approached through a mutual sense of love and respect. As Einstein said, "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."
I’m not a religious man, though I believe there is something smarter, higher, nobler and more sublime out there. I see it in you, in your eyes, in your work, and I sense it here, in this place where the betterment of humankind is the common goal.
I lost a friend two weeks ago, a magical human being with a poetic soul who died suddenly, inexplicably, at far too young an age, and took from the world an eye and an ear for beauty the loss of which leaves me breathless. When John spoke, with his lovely Irish brogue, he had a way of reaching inside the words to find a deeper meaning. When he reminded us that we are people of privilege and said that ‘the duty of privilege is absolute integrity,’ he helped me to understand our charge here in this life. His death wounded me and, as those events tend to do, it reminded me that we all must die at some point. But it also reaffirmed for me that by God that point should not be determined by some political hack or some heartless, inhumane, arrogant ‘system’ that holds itself more valuable, more meaningful, than some lost, wounded invisible soul who never got the chance to see past the boots of those holding him down.
So in thinking of John, who was himself a former priest, I want to offer to you a bit of a prayer that recently came my way. It was written by an unknown prisoner in Ravensbrück, a Nazi concentration camp, and left by the body of a dead child. It seems to me to speak to much of what we do – and for whom we do it.
“O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted on us; remember the fruits we have bought, thanks to this suffering -- our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of all of this, and when they come to
judgment let all the fruits which we have borne be their forgiveness.”
Thank you for this honor and thank you for what you do.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
A Journey of the Heart
From the end of the poem by Magdaleno M. Rose-Avila
entitled "Journey of Hope" in his book -Looking For My Wings-
This is a journey of the heart
a time to find new friends
to travel uncharted roads
to open up new doors
into the future
this is a journey
for life...and redemption...
Join us as we remember together former journey folk moments and joys...
Many vignettes and letters coming soon with photos
inbetween.
Please see below and send your own memories and gratitudes...
Send to Connie at newlease7@yahoo.com
entitled "Journey of Hope" in his book -Looking For My Wings-
This is a journey of the heart
a time to find new friends
to travel uncharted roads
to open up new doors
into the future
this is a journey
for life...and redemption...
Join us as we remember together former journey folk moments and joys...
Many vignettes and letters coming soon with photos
inbetween.
Please see below and send your own memories and gratitudes...
Send to Connie at newlease7@yahoo.com
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
NCADP 2008: Special Recognition Award
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
NCADP 2008: Special Recognition Award
Due to circumstances mostly beyond our control, we are a little tardy in posting the final award given at this year's NCADP 2008: Reaching for the Dream conference. We meant to post on Sunday and couldn't, and then we were travelling back to Washington, D.C. from San Jose on Monday.
But here, at last, is the final awardee. Today we honor Bill Pelke, who is the outgoing chair of the NCADP Board of Directors:
Bill Pelke
Special Recognition: Outgoing Board Chairman, National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
One of the best known and most beloved leaders within abolition circles is Bill Pelke, outgoing chairman of the NCADP Board of Directors. Pelke has served on the NCADP Board of Directors since 1996 and has been board chairman since October 2004, in addition to the countless hours he has served as executive director of The Journey of Hope….From Violence to Healing.
In 2003, Pelke authored a book that mirrors his organization’s name -- Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing. The book details the May 14, 1985 murder of his grandmother Ruth Pelke, a Bible teacher, by four teenage girls. Paula Cooper who was deemed to be the ringleader was sentenced to die in the electric chair by the state of Indiana. She was fifteen-years-old at the time of the murder.
Pelke originally support the sentence of death for Cooper, but went through a spiritual transformation in 1986 after praying for love and compassion for Paula Cooper and her family. He became involved in an international crusade on Paula's behalf and in 1989 after over 2 million people from Italy signed petitions and Pope John Paul II’s request for mercy, Paula was taken off of death row and her sentence commuted to sixty years.
“The answer is love and compassion for all humanity,” Pelke says. “The death penalty has absolutely nothing to do with healing. It just continues the cycle of violence and creates more murder victims’ family members. We become what we hate. We become killers.”
Looking back on his tenure with NCADP, Pelke sees both an organization and a movement that has matured and grown more sophisticated. “The NCADP had a lot of goals and dreams when I joined the board,” he recalls. “We have seen the NCADP grow to the point where many of those dreams have become realities. The funding is much better, the work with affiliates has greatly improved, the staff has grown and continues to grow and the NCADP has taken the leadership role in the abolition movement. The movement itself has changed with the new voices of victims’ families, death row families, exonerated death row inmates and prosecutors, wardens, police chiefs and other activists being heard.”
Pelke, a retired steelworker, has dedicated his life to working for abolition of the death penalty. He shares his story of forgiveness and healing, and how he came to realize that he did not need to see someone else die in order to heal from his grandmother’s death. He also helps organize Journey tours nationally and abroad. Pelke has traveled to over forty states and ten countries with the Journey of Hope and has told his story over 5000 times.
Although Pelke relinquishes the NCADP board chairmanship this month, he by no means is walking away from abolition work. In addition to directing The Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing, he also sits on the board of the Justice and Reconciliation Project and he hopes to be more involved with the restorative justice process in the future. “I plan to continue to walk through any open door in keeping with my commitment to God on Nov. 2, 1986 – the night my heart was touched with forgiveness for Paula Cooper,” Pelke says.
link:
http://deathpenaltyusa.blogspot.com
permalink:
http://deathpenaltyusa.blogspot.com/2008/01/ncadp-2008-special-recognition-award.html
NCADP 2008: Special Recognition Award
Due to circumstances mostly beyond our control, we are a little tardy in posting the final award given at this year's NCADP 2008: Reaching for the Dream conference. We meant to post on Sunday and couldn't, and then we were travelling back to Washington, D.C. from San Jose on Monday.
But here, at last, is the final awardee. Today we honor Bill Pelke, who is the outgoing chair of the NCADP Board of Directors:
Bill Pelke
Special Recognition: Outgoing Board Chairman, National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
One of the best known and most beloved leaders within abolition circles is Bill Pelke, outgoing chairman of the NCADP Board of Directors. Pelke has served on the NCADP Board of Directors since 1996 and has been board chairman since October 2004, in addition to the countless hours he has served as executive director of The Journey of Hope….From Violence to Healing.
In 2003, Pelke authored a book that mirrors his organization’s name -- Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing. The book details the May 14, 1985 murder of his grandmother Ruth Pelke, a Bible teacher, by four teenage girls. Paula Cooper who was deemed to be the ringleader was sentenced to die in the electric chair by the state of Indiana. She was fifteen-years-old at the time of the murder.
Pelke originally support the sentence of death for Cooper, but went through a spiritual transformation in 1986 after praying for love and compassion for Paula Cooper and her family. He became involved in an international crusade on Paula's behalf and in 1989 after over 2 million people from Italy signed petitions and Pope John Paul II’s request for mercy, Paula was taken off of death row and her sentence commuted to sixty years.
“The answer is love and compassion for all humanity,” Pelke says. “The death penalty has absolutely nothing to do with healing. It just continues the cycle of violence and creates more murder victims’ family members. We become what we hate. We become killers.”
Looking back on his tenure with NCADP, Pelke sees both an organization and a movement that has matured and grown more sophisticated. “The NCADP had a lot of goals and dreams when I joined the board,” he recalls. “We have seen the NCADP grow to the point where many of those dreams have become realities. The funding is much better, the work with affiliates has greatly improved, the staff has grown and continues to grow and the NCADP has taken the leadership role in the abolition movement. The movement itself has changed with the new voices of victims’ families, death row families, exonerated death row inmates and prosecutors, wardens, police chiefs and other activists being heard.”
Pelke, a retired steelworker, has dedicated his life to working for abolition of the death penalty. He shares his story of forgiveness and healing, and how he came to realize that he did not need to see someone else die in order to heal from his grandmother’s death. He also helps organize Journey tours nationally and abroad. Pelke has traveled to over forty states and ten countries with the Journey of Hope and has told his story over 5000 times.
Although Pelke relinquishes the NCADP board chairmanship this month, he by no means is walking away from abolition work. In addition to directing The Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing, he also sits on the board of the Justice and Reconciliation Project and he hopes to be more involved with the restorative justice process in the future. “I plan to continue to walk through any open door in keeping with my commitment to God on Nov. 2, 1986 – the night my heart was touched with forgiveness for Paula Cooper,” Pelke says.
link:
http://deathpenaltyusa.blogspot.com
permalink:
http://deathpenaltyusa.blogspot.com/2008/01/ncadp-2008-special-recognition-award.html
SEND Your Gratitudes and Suggestions
NOTE from Connie...
We will soon be posting & re-posting tributes and simple gratitudes to Bill and/or to the Journey of Hope during the coming days and weeks. Some of these are here already under comments for various other blogs. Please remind me if you don't see your's posted or re-posted soon. We would be happy to receive any photos not yet sent of any Journey folk who were at the NCADP conference recently in San Jose. (Or JOH folk who were anywhere else in the world.) We also would be glad to receive suggestions for the JOH from those who know our mission. Keep "tuning in"!
Connie L. Nash newlease7@yahoo.com PO Box 1267 Brevard, NC 28712
We will soon be posting & re-posting tributes and simple gratitudes to Bill and/or to the Journey of Hope during the coming days and weeks. Some of these are here already under comments for various other blogs. Please remind me if you don't see your's posted or re-posted soon. We would be happy to receive any photos not yet sent of any Journey folk who were at the NCADP conference recently in San Jose. (Or JOH folk who were anywhere else in the world.) We also would be glad to receive suggestions for the JOH from those who know our mission. Keep "tuning in"!
Connie L. Nash newlease7@yahoo.com PO Box 1267 Brevard, NC 28712
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
FROM BILL PELKE who sent this the First of January 2008
Happy New Year,
2007 is now history. For the abolition movement great historic strides were made in 2007. The death penalty was abolished in New Jersey. This is the first state to repeal the death penalty in the modern execution era. There was a defacto moratorium around the country waiting for the US Supreme Court, that still continues, to decide on a way to execute someone without being cruel and unusual. Death sentences carried out in 2007 were at a ten year low. States like Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Maryland and others made great strides towards abolition in 2007.
2007 is now history. 2008 is the future. My new year's wish-hope is that we can use the momentum from 2007 to move us to even greater gains in 2008. The Journey of Hope was in New Jersey when they began their fight, and the Journey of Hope will be in any other state that wants our help in moving towards abolition.
Celeste Fitzgerald credits to organizing of the murder victims family members as a key to victory in New Jersey. Exonerated death row inmates also made a great impact on legislators and voters. The Journey of Hope's message of love and compassion for all of humanity, and its approach of combining victim family members, exonerated death row inmates, death row family members and committed activists is the way to go according to many people in the abolition movement.
Please take note of the Journey blog http://www.thejourneyofhope.blogspot.com/ and the great job Connie Nash and Rachel Lawler are doing. Please feel free to contribute you thoughts at any time.
Let us hope that in 2008 the Journey can continue to lead and show the way.
Peace on Earth.
Bill Pelke, President
Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing
PO Box 210390
Anchorage, AK 99521-0390
1-877-92-4GIVE(4483) Toll Free
Cell phone 305-775-5823
http://www.journeyofhope.org
Bill@JourneyofHope.org
"The answer is love and compassion for all of humanity"
~~~
Contribute your own reflections, stories, suggestions here and whatever you might offer Bill/JOH of your own time, talent and gifts to keep the Journey of Hope strong and make it even stronger for 2008. See the contact info above. Email items for the blog to newlease7@yahoo.com. Thanks deeply for all the contributions to the blog! Connie
WATCH for JOH Photos to follow...
Happy New Year,
2007 is now history. For the abolition movement great historic strides were made in 2007. The death penalty was abolished in New Jersey. This is the first state to repeal the death penalty in the modern execution era. There was a defacto moratorium around the country waiting for the US Supreme Court, that still continues, to decide on a way to execute someone without being cruel and unusual. Death sentences carried out in 2007 were at a ten year low. States like Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Maryland and others made great strides towards abolition in 2007.
2007 is now history. 2008 is the future. My new year's wish-hope is that we can use the momentum from 2007 to move us to even greater gains in 2008. The Journey of Hope was in New Jersey when they began their fight, and the Journey of Hope will be in any other state that wants our help in moving towards abolition.
Celeste Fitzgerald credits to organizing of the murder victims family members as a key to victory in New Jersey. Exonerated death row inmates also made a great impact on legislators and voters. The Journey of Hope's message of love and compassion for all of humanity, and its approach of combining victim family members, exonerated death row inmates, death row family members and committed activists is the way to go according to many people in the abolition movement.
Please take note of the Journey blog http://www.thejourneyofhope.blogspot.com/ and the great job Connie Nash and Rachel Lawler are doing. Please feel free to contribute you thoughts at any time.
Let us hope that in 2008 the Journey can continue to lead and show the way.
Peace on Earth.
Bill Pelke, President
Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing
PO Box 210390
Anchorage, AK 99521-0390
1-877-92-4GIVE(4483) Toll Free
Cell phone 305-775-5823
http://www.journeyofhope.org
Bill@JourneyofHope.org
"The answer is love and compassion for all of humanity"
~~~
Contribute your own reflections, stories, suggestions here and whatever you might offer Bill/JOH of your own time, talent and gifts to keep the Journey of Hope strong and make it even stronger for 2008. See the contact info above. Email items for the blog to newlease7@yahoo.com. Thanks deeply for all the contributions to the blog! Connie
WATCH for JOH Photos to follow...
Monday, December 31, 2007
WATCH FOR THIS PHOTO REPEATING HERE AT THE JOURNEY OF HOPE BLOG THROUGHOUT 2008. The arena of the COLOSSEUM in the city of Rome--once a symbol of horror, death and persecution--was bathed in white light for two reasons this past December 2007
The Colosseum was lit 1) to celebrate a U.N. vote calling for a moratorium on the death penalty and 2) for the decision by the U.S. state of New Jersey to abolish capital punishment. A number of Journey of Hope folk were in Italy and other European cities recently--urging life-giving options to execution.
HAVE A MOST FULFILLING NEW YEAR! May your JOURNEY be filled with PRESENT HOPE every day of 2008. HELP THE COLOSSEUM KEEP LIGHTING UP--SUPPORT THE JOURNEY OF HOPE!
CLICK ON COMMENTS (lower right) FOR A PREVIEW OF TRIBUTES to BILL & KATHY from their JOH family, for a run-down of CANDIDATES from BILL P. & MORE...scroll down--DON'T FORGET COMMENTS for other blogs as well and see the archives on right when you have time!
The Colosseum was lit 1) to celebrate a U.N. vote calling for a moratorium on the death penalty and 2) for the decision by the U.S. state of New Jersey to abolish capital punishment. A number of Journey of Hope folk were in Italy and other European cities recently--urging life-giving options to execution.
HAVE A MOST FULFILLING NEW YEAR! May your JOURNEY be filled with PRESENT HOPE every day of 2008. HELP THE COLOSSEUM KEEP LIGHTING UP--SUPPORT THE JOURNEY OF HOPE!
CLICK ON COMMENTS (lower right) FOR A PREVIEW OF TRIBUTES to BILL & KATHY from their JOH family, for a run-down of CANDIDATES from BILL P. & MORE...scroll down--DON'T FORGET COMMENTS for other blogs as well and see the archives on right when you have time!
Journey Folk Texas 2007 at Rice University
Tom Muther who wrote the LETTER below is the handsome tall man holding the JOH banner on your left. He is one of our Journey activists with strong professional experience in counseling those with traumatic pasts.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
LETTERS: How can "the miasma of brutality" cure violence?
From Tom
I’m sorry to hear that you were victimized by violence. I would never criticize an individual for supporting the DP who had experienced violence firsthand. Anyone who has suffered that kind of grievous assault/loss is certainly entitled to their feelings whatever they might be. I happen to be privileged to know several extraordinary individuals who have experinced the loss of a loved one to murder, and yet are opposed to the DP. They have come to believe that our system of “justice” actually contributes to the violence in our midst.
By replicating the violence we supposedly abhor, we legitimize it and further imbue society with the miasma of brutality.
These survivors of violence have come to embrace a restoritive brand of justice, rather than a retributive form--a brand of justice that protects society by other than violent means, that nurtures the survivors and, ideally, would strive to rehabilitate and give some meaning to the rest of the murderer’s life (for instance, involve him/her in meaningful work, the proceeds from which could be used to help the survivors of violence).
In any case, from my viewpoint the state’s mirroring the murderer’s act of brutality with another act of brutality is not healing--for society or the individuals involved.
As Marietta Jaeger-Lane (who lost her 7 year-old daughter to murder) has said: “Loved ones, wrenched from our lives by violent crime, deserve more beautiful, noble and honorable memorials than pre-meditated, state-sanctioned killings. The death penalty only creates more victims and more grieving families. By becoming that which we deplore -- people who kill people -- we insult the sacred memory of all our precious victims.
'Concerning the claim of justice for the victim's family, I say there is no amount of retaliatory deaths that would compensate to me the inestimable value of my daughter's life, nor would they restore her to my arms. To say that the death of any other person would be just retribution is to insult the immeasurable worth of our loved ones who are victims. We cannot put a price on their lives. That kind of 'justice' would only dehumanize and degrade us because it legitimates an animal instinct for gut-level bloodthirsty revenge.”
I also have had the privilege to have met several of the 125 individuals who have been exonerated and freed from death row, as well as some of the mothers who have had sons there. No one wants to look at it, but the DP cures no ones pain--it only increases the pain of other families on the other side of the DP. As long as society continues to rely on the tool(s) of violence to solve its problems, violence will remain--a symptom of society’s ills.
(Incidentally, as far as having “to pay to feed, clothe, house, and provide medical care” for murderers, it should be noted that the whole DP process costs much more than the whole “life-in-prison” process--one of the many reasons New Jersey abolished the DP.)
Peace.
Tom
Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way!
I’m sorry to hear that you were victimized by violence. I would never criticize an individual for supporting the DP who had experienced violence firsthand. Anyone who has suffered that kind of grievous assault/loss is certainly entitled to their feelings whatever they might be. I happen to be privileged to know several extraordinary individuals who have experinced the loss of a loved one to murder, and yet are opposed to the DP. They have come to believe that our system of “justice” actually contributes to the violence in our midst.
By replicating the violence we supposedly abhor, we legitimize it and further imbue society with the miasma of brutality.
These survivors of violence have come to embrace a restoritive brand of justice, rather than a retributive form--a brand of justice that protects society by other than violent means, that nurtures the survivors and, ideally, would strive to rehabilitate and give some meaning to the rest of the murderer’s life (for instance, involve him/her in meaningful work, the proceeds from which could be used to help the survivors of violence).
In any case, from my viewpoint the state’s mirroring the murderer’s act of brutality with another act of brutality is not healing--for society or the individuals involved.
As Marietta Jaeger-Lane (who lost her 7 year-old daughter to murder) has said: “Loved ones, wrenched from our lives by violent crime, deserve more beautiful, noble and honorable memorials than pre-meditated, state-sanctioned killings. The death penalty only creates more victims and more grieving families. By becoming that which we deplore -- people who kill people -- we insult the sacred memory of all our precious victims.
'Concerning the claim of justice for the victim's family, I say there is no amount of retaliatory deaths that would compensate to me the inestimable value of my daughter's life, nor would they restore her to my arms. To say that the death of any other person would be just retribution is to insult the immeasurable worth of our loved ones who are victims. We cannot put a price on their lives. That kind of 'justice' would only dehumanize and degrade us because it legitimates an animal instinct for gut-level bloodthirsty revenge.”
I also have had the privilege to have met several of the 125 individuals who have been exonerated and freed from death row, as well as some of the mothers who have had sons there. No one wants to look at it, but the DP cures no ones pain--it only increases the pain of other families on the other side of the DP. As long as society continues to rely on the tool(s) of violence to solve its problems, violence will remain--a symptom of society’s ills.
(Incidentally, as far as having “to pay to feed, clothe, house, and provide medical care” for murderers, it should be noted that the whole DP process costs much more than the whole “life-in-prison” process--one of the many reasons New Jersey abolished the DP.)
Peace.
Tom
Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Ron Keine at The Walls A Note on Texans
Executions take place in the historic downtown prison known as The Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas. Ron Keine spoke here at The Walls to a very intergenerational crowd during the 2007 Journey of Hope in Texas. He spent 22 months on New Mexico’s death row in the 1970s until another man confessed to the murder Keine was convicted of committing.
Find a link to Ron's JOH 2007 report on this blog at
http://thejourneyofhope.blogspot.com/2007/12/ron-keines-report-on-journey-of-hope.html
Find another important message from Ron about "hatred in our midst" here
http://lists.compar.com/fadpupdate/2007-September/000176.html
NOTE on Texan compassion and open-minds:
Although this editorial from The New York Times below indicates Texas is a state without pity when it comes to the number of yearly executions--we of The Journey of Hope met with many Texans in this beautiful and varied state who agree with us that the death penalty serves no just nor helpful purpose in Texas, the USA, nor the world--who held and exemplified great compassion. We met many others who were open to discussing and considering this issue. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Texas 2007 as we of JOH also did during 2005 and other times. We were enthralled with the spicy food, beautiful churches, schools, universities and the wide open landscapes--often exceptionally open minds. Two high schools were far beyond any I've ever been to in the US in encouraging deep free thought on the death penalty as on other topics. Thanks, Texas, for all the hospitality which was way beyond our expectations. We have lots to learn from you and lots to give. Connie L. Nash
PLEASE SEND YOUR OWN COMMENTS ABOUT TEXAS AND THE DEATH PENALTY for use on our blog to Connie at newlease7@yahoo.com
Find a link to Ron's JOH 2007 report on this blog at
http://thejourneyofhope.blogspot.com/2007/12/ron-keines-report-on-journey-of-hope.html
Find another important message from Ron about "hatred in our midst" here
http://lists.compar.com/fadpupdate/2007-September/000176.html
NOTE on Texan compassion and open-minds:
Although this editorial from The New York Times below indicates Texas is a state without pity when it comes to the number of yearly executions--we of The Journey of Hope met with many Texans in this beautiful and varied state who agree with us that the death penalty serves no just nor helpful purpose in Texas, the USA, nor the world--who held and exemplified great compassion. We met many others who were open to discussing and considering this issue. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Texas 2007 as we of JOH also did during 2005 and other times. We were enthralled with the spicy food, beautiful churches, schools, universities and the wide open landscapes--often exceptionally open minds. Two high schools were far beyond any I've ever been to in the US in encouraging deep free thought on the death penalty as on other topics. Thanks, Texas, for all the hospitality which was way beyond our expectations. We have lots to learn from you and lots to give. Connie L. Nash
PLEASE SEND YOUR OWN COMMENTS ABOUT TEXAS AND THE DEATH PENALTY for use on our blog to Connie at newlease7@yahoo.com
Comment NYTimes Editorial -State Without Pity-
Thanks to Ron for the this comment!
Texas,
Where men are men and the sheep won't look them in the eyes. I don't believe that all Texans are a bunch of backwoods, Moronic, Goat Ropers but there are enough there to embarrass the whole state. They need to wake up and catch up with the rest of the civilized world. They seem to think that killing people in a prison execution chamber is okie dokie and people killing people in the streets is not okie dokie.
One of the sure truths I have learned, in this life, is this. When a government Kills, It shows its citizens that life is cheap. If the government shows that life is for the taking, Sooner or the later People will believe it. Some governments kill again and again making sure that the lesson sinks in. Is there any wonder why states that have the Death Penalty also have the highest murder rates.
Let me ask you this Cowgirl, If your kid steals a candy bar (or a plug of chewing tobacco) from a local store , do you take him back to the store and show him how you can steal one also. Does this deter your kid from stealing. Does this teach the kid that stealing is wrong? Wake up Goober and join the modern world.
I was always proud when discussing Texas with other Americans. It was an honor to have Texas in the union. More and more now I am becoming ashamed of that Great state which brought us brave men like Sam Houston and the defenders of the Alamo.
By RON
"All it takes for evil to prevail -- is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
Texas,
Where men are men and the sheep won't look them in the eyes. I don't believe that all Texans are a bunch of backwoods, Moronic, Goat Ropers but there are enough there to embarrass the whole state. They need to wake up and catch up with the rest of the civilized world. They seem to think that killing people in a prison execution chamber is okie dokie and people killing people in the streets is not okie dokie.
One of the sure truths I have learned, in this life, is this. When a government Kills, It shows its citizens that life is cheap. If the government shows that life is for the taking, Sooner or the later People will believe it. Some governments kill again and again making sure that the lesson sinks in. Is there any wonder why states that have the Death Penalty also have the highest murder rates.
Let me ask you this Cowgirl, If your kid steals a candy bar (or a plug of chewing tobacco) from a local store , do you take him back to the store and show him how you can steal one also. Does this deter your kid from stealing. Does this teach the kid that stealing is wrong? Wake up Goober and join the modern world.
I was always proud when discussing Texas with other Americans. It was an honor to have Texas in the union. More and more now I am becoming ashamed of that Great state which brought us brave men like Sam Houston and the defenders of the Alamo.
By RON
"All it takes for evil to prevail -- is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
Thursday, December 27, 2007
State Without Pity
Two articles Dec 27 & Dec 26 from the NYTimes
Excerpts
It is a shameful distinction, but Texas is the undisputed capital of capital punishment.
Texas should at least take a hard look at a system that still produces so many executions and is so wildly out of step with the rest of the country.
Of the 42 executions in the last year, 26 were in Texas. No other state put more than three people to death during that time.
December 27, 2007
Editorial
State Without Pity
It is a shameful distinction, but Texas is the undisputed capital of capital punishment. At a time when the rest of the country is having serious doubts about the death penalty, more than 60 percent of all American executions this year took place in Texas. That gaping disparity provides further evidence that Texas’s governor, Legislature, courts and voters should reassess their addiction to executions.
As Adam Liptak reported in The Times on Wednesday, in the last three years, Texas’s share of the nation’s executions has gone from 32 percent to 62 percent. This year, Texas executed 26 people. No other state executed more than three.
It is not that Texas sentences people to death at a much higher rate than other states. Rather, Texas has proved to be much more willing than others to carry out the sentences it has imposed.
The participants in Texas’s death penalty process, including the governor and the pardon board, are more enthusiastic about moving things along than they are in many states. Texas’s system also contains some special features, like the power of district attorneys to set execution dates. Prosecutors are likely to be more eager than judges to see an execution carried out.
While Texas has been forging ahead with capital punishment, many other states have been moving away from it. New Jersey abolished the death penalty this month, and other states have been considering doing the same thing. Illinois made headlines a few years ago when its governor, troubled about the number of innocent people who had been sent to death row, put in place a moratorium on executions.
These states have had good reasons for their doubts. The traditional objections to the death penalty remain as true as ever. It is barbaric — governments should simply not be in the business of putting people to death. It is imposed in racially discriminatory ways. And it is too subject to error, which cannot be corrected after an execution has taken place.
In recent years, two other developments have undercut the public’s faith in capital punishment.
There has been a tidal wave of DNA exonerations, in which it has been scientifically proved that the wrong people had been sentenced to death. There is also increasing awareness that even methods of execution considered relatively humane impose considerable suffering on the condemned.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments next month in a case about whether the pain caused by lethal injection is so great that it violates the Eighth Amendment injunction against cruel and unusual punishment. Those who study the death penalty say that if current trends continue, eventually almost all of the nation’s executions will occur in Texas. That is not a record any state should want. Some states, such as Illinois and New Jersey, have already had wide-ranging discussions about what role they want the death penalty to play in their criminal justice system. Texas is long overdue for such a debate.
If it is unwilling to abolish the death penalty, which all states should do, Texas should at least take a hard look at a system that still produces so many executions and is so wildly out of step with the rest of the country.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/opinion/27thu1.html?_r=5&ex=1356498000&en=1ebfd869e3ec77ff&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref&oref=login
~~~~~~
60 Percent of Executions Happen in Texas
By ADAM LIPTAK,The New York Times
Posted: 2007-12-26 18:25:35
(Dec. 26) -- This year’s death penalty bombshells — a de facto national moratorium, a state abolition and the smallest number of executions in more than a decade — have masked what may be the most significant and lasting development. For the first time in the modern history of the death penalty, more than 60 percent of all American executions took place in Texas.
Over the past three decades, the proportion of executions nationwide performed in Texas has held relatively steady, averaging 37 percent. Only once before, in 1986, has the state accounted for even a slight majority of the executions, and that was in a year with 18 executions nationwide.
But enthusiasm for executions outside of Texas has dropped sharply. Of the 42 executions in the last year, 26 were in Texas. The remaining 16 were spread across nine other states, none of which executed more than three people. Many legal experts say the trend will probably continue.
Indeed, said David R. Dow, a law professor at the University of Houston who has represented death-row inmates, the day is not far off when essentially all executions in the United States will take place in Texas.
“The reason that Texas will end up monopolizing executions,” he said, “is because every other state will eliminate it de jure, as New Jersey did, or de facto, as other states have.”
Charles A. Rosenthal Jr., the district attorney of Harris County, Tex., which includes Houston and has accounted for 100 executions since 1976, said the Texas capital justice system was working properly. The pace of executions in Texas, he said, “has to do with how many people are in the pipeline when certain rulings come down.”
The rate at which Texas sentences people to death is not especially high given its murder rate. But once a death sentence is imposed there, said Richard C. Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, prosecutors, state and federal courts, the pardon board and the governor are united in moving the process along. “There’s almost an aggressiveness about carrying out executions,” said Mr. Dieter, whose organization opposes capital punishment.
Outside of Texas, even supporters of the death penalty say they detect a change in public attitudes about executions in light of the time and expense of capital litigation, the possibility of wrongful convictions and the remote chance that someone sent to death row will actually be executed.
“Any sane prosecutor who is involved in capital litigation will really be ambivalent about it,” said Joshua Marquis, the district attorney in Clatsop County, Ore., and a vice president of the National District Attorneys Association. He said the families of murder victims suffered needless anguish during what could be decades of litigation and multiple retrials.
“We’re seeing fewer executions,” Mr. Marquis added. “We’re seeing fewer people sentenced to death. People really do question capital punishment. The whole idea of exoneration has really penetrated popular culture.”
As a consequence, Mr. Dieter said, “we’re simply not regularly using the death penalty as a country.”
Over the last three years, the number of executions in Texas has been relatively constant, averaging 23 per year, but the state’s share of the number of total executions nationwide has steadily increased as the national totals have dropped, from 32 percent in 2005 to 45 percent in 2006 to 62 percent in 2007.
The death penalty developments that have dominated the news in recent months are unlikely to have anything like the enduring consequences of Texas’ vigorous commitment to capital punishment.
A Supreme Court case concerns how to assess the constitutionality of lethal injection protocols. While it is possible that states may have to revise the ways they execute people, executions will almost certainly resume soon after the court’s decision, which is expected by June.
Similarly, New Jersey’s abolition of the death penalty last week and Gov. Jon Corzine’s decision to empty death row of its eight prisoners is almost entirely symbolic. New Jersey has not executed anyone since 1963.
And while the total number of executions in 2007 was low, it would have been similar to those in recent years but for the moratorium, if extrapolated to a full year.
There do seem to be slight stirrings suggesting that other states might follow New Jersey. Two state legislative bodies — the House in New Mexico and the Senate in Montana — passed bills to abolish capital punishment, and in Nebraska, the unicameral legislature came within one vote of doing so.
Texas has followed the rest of the country in one respect: the number of death sentences there has dropped sharply.
In the 10 years ending in 2004, Texas condemned an average of 34 prisoners each year — about 15 percent of the national total. In the last three years, as the number of death sentences nationwide dropped significantly, from almost 300 in 1998 to about 110 in 2007, the number in Texas has dropped along with it, to 13 — or 12 percent.
Indeed, according to a 2004 study by three professors of law and statistics at Cornell published in The Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Texas prosecutors and juries were no more apt to seek and impose death sentences than those in the rest of the country.
“Texas’ reputation as a death-prone state should rest on its many murders and on its willingness to execute death-sentenced inmates,” the authors of the study, Theodore Eisenberg, John H. Blume and Martin T. Wells, wrote. “It should not rest on the false belief that Texas has a high rate of sentencing convicted murderers to death.”
There is reason to think that the number of death sentences in the state will fall farther, given the introduction of life without the possibility of parole as a sentencing option in capital cases in Texas in 2005. While a substantial majority of the public supports the death penalty, that support drops significantly when life without parole is included as an alternative.
Once an inmate is sent to death row, however, distinctive features of the Texas justice system kick in.
“Execution dates here, uniquely, are set by individual district attorneys,” Professor Dow said. “In no other state would the fact that a district attorney strongly supports the death penalty immediately translate into more executions.”
Texas courts, moreover, speed the process along, said Jordan M. Steiker, a law professor at the University of Texas who has represented death-row inmates.
“It’s not coincidental that the debate over lethal injections had traction in other jurisdictions but not in Texas,” Professor Steiker said. “The courts in Texas have generally not been very solicitous of constitutional claims.”
Indeed, the Supreme Court has repeatedly rebuked the state and the federal courts that hear appeals in Texas capital cases, often in exasperated language suggesting that those courts are actively evading Supreme Court rulings.
The last execution before the Supreme Court imposed a de facto moratorium happened in Texas, and in emblematic fashion. The presiding judge on the state’s highest court for criminal matters, Judge Sharon Keller, closed the courthouse at its regular time of 5 p.m. and turned back an attempt to file appeal papers a few minutes later, according to a complaint in a wrongful-death suit filed in federal court last month.
The inmate, Michael Richard, was executed that evening.
Judge Keller, in a motion to dismiss the case filed this month, acknowledged that she alone had the authority to keep the court’s clerk’s office open but said that Mr. Richard’s lawyers could have tried to file their papers directly with another judge on the court.
Copyright © 2007 The New York Times Company
2007-12-26 07:30:33
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/60-percent-of-executions-happen-in-texas/20071226072809990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Excerpts
It is a shameful distinction, but Texas is the undisputed capital of capital punishment.
Texas should at least take a hard look at a system that still produces so many executions and is so wildly out of step with the rest of the country.
Of the 42 executions in the last year, 26 were in Texas. No other state put more than three people to death during that time.
December 27, 2007
Editorial
State Without Pity
It is a shameful distinction, but Texas is the undisputed capital of capital punishment. At a time when the rest of the country is having serious doubts about the death penalty, more than 60 percent of all American executions this year took place in Texas. That gaping disparity provides further evidence that Texas’s governor, Legislature, courts and voters should reassess their addiction to executions.
As Adam Liptak reported in The Times on Wednesday, in the last three years, Texas’s share of the nation’s executions has gone from 32 percent to 62 percent. This year, Texas executed 26 people. No other state executed more than three.
It is not that Texas sentences people to death at a much higher rate than other states. Rather, Texas has proved to be much more willing than others to carry out the sentences it has imposed.
The participants in Texas’s death penalty process, including the governor and the pardon board, are more enthusiastic about moving things along than they are in many states. Texas’s system also contains some special features, like the power of district attorneys to set execution dates. Prosecutors are likely to be more eager than judges to see an execution carried out.
While Texas has been forging ahead with capital punishment, many other states have been moving away from it. New Jersey abolished the death penalty this month, and other states have been considering doing the same thing. Illinois made headlines a few years ago when its governor, troubled about the number of innocent people who had been sent to death row, put in place a moratorium on executions.
These states have had good reasons for their doubts. The traditional objections to the death penalty remain as true as ever. It is barbaric — governments should simply not be in the business of putting people to death. It is imposed in racially discriminatory ways. And it is too subject to error, which cannot be corrected after an execution has taken place.
In recent years, two other developments have undercut the public’s faith in capital punishment.
There has been a tidal wave of DNA exonerations, in which it has been scientifically proved that the wrong people had been sentenced to death. There is also increasing awareness that even methods of execution considered relatively humane impose considerable suffering on the condemned.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments next month in a case about whether the pain caused by lethal injection is so great that it violates the Eighth Amendment injunction against cruel and unusual punishment. Those who study the death penalty say that if current trends continue, eventually almost all of the nation’s executions will occur in Texas. That is not a record any state should want. Some states, such as Illinois and New Jersey, have already had wide-ranging discussions about what role they want the death penalty to play in their criminal justice system. Texas is long overdue for such a debate.
If it is unwilling to abolish the death penalty, which all states should do, Texas should at least take a hard look at a system that still produces so many executions and is so wildly out of step with the rest of the country.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/opinion/27thu1.html?_r=5&ex=1356498000&en=1ebfd869e3ec77ff&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref&oref=login
~~~~~~
60 Percent of Executions Happen in Texas
By ADAM LIPTAK,The New York Times
Posted: 2007-12-26 18:25:35
(Dec. 26) -- This year’s death penalty bombshells — a de facto national moratorium, a state abolition and the smallest number of executions in more than a decade — have masked what may be the most significant and lasting development. For the first time in the modern history of the death penalty, more than 60 percent of all American executions took place in Texas.
Over the past three decades, the proportion of executions nationwide performed in Texas has held relatively steady, averaging 37 percent. Only once before, in 1986, has the state accounted for even a slight majority of the executions, and that was in a year with 18 executions nationwide.
But enthusiasm for executions outside of Texas has dropped sharply. Of the 42 executions in the last year, 26 were in Texas. The remaining 16 were spread across nine other states, none of which executed more than three people. Many legal experts say the trend will probably continue.
Indeed, said David R. Dow, a law professor at the University of Houston who has represented death-row inmates, the day is not far off when essentially all executions in the United States will take place in Texas.
“The reason that Texas will end up monopolizing executions,” he said, “is because every other state will eliminate it de jure, as New Jersey did, or de facto, as other states have.”
Charles A. Rosenthal Jr., the district attorney of Harris County, Tex., which includes Houston and has accounted for 100 executions since 1976, said the Texas capital justice system was working properly. The pace of executions in Texas, he said, “has to do with how many people are in the pipeline when certain rulings come down.”
The rate at which Texas sentences people to death is not especially high given its murder rate. But once a death sentence is imposed there, said Richard C. Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, prosecutors, state and federal courts, the pardon board and the governor are united in moving the process along. “There’s almost an aggressiveness about carrying out executions,” said Mr. Dieter, whose organization opposes capital punishment.
Outside of Texas, even supporters of the death penalty say they detect a change in public attitudes about executions in light of the time and expense of capital litigation, the possibility of wrongful convictions and the remote chance that someone sent to death row will actually be executed.
“Any sane prosecutor who is involved in capital litigation will really be ambivalent about it,” said Joshua Marquis, the district attorney in Clatsop County, Ore., and a vice president of the National District Attorneys Association. He said the families of murder victims suffered needless anguish during what could be decades of litigation and multiple retrials.
“We’re seeing fewer executions,” Mr. Marquis added. “We’re seeing fewer people sentenced to death. People really do question capital punishment. The whole idea of exoneration has really penetrated popular culture.”
As a consequence, Mr. Dieter said, “we’re simply not regularly using the death penalty as a country.”
Over the last three years, the number of executions in Texas has been relatively constant, averaging 23 per year, but the state’s share of the number of total executions nationwide has steadily increased as the national totals have dropped, from 32 percent in 2005 to 45 percent in 2006 to 62 percent in 2007.
The death penalty developments that have dominated the news in recent months are unlikely to have anything like the enduring consequences of Texas’ vigorous commitment to capital punishment.
A Supreme Court case concerns how to assess the constitutionality of lethal injection protocols. While it is possible that states may have to revise the ways they execute people, executions will almost certainly resume soon after the court’s decision, which is expected by June.
Similarly, New Jersey’s abolition of the death penalty last week and Gov. Jon Corzine’s decision to empty death row of its eight prisoners is almost entirely symbolic. New Jersey has not executed anyone since 1963.
And while the total number of executions in 2007 was low, it would have been similar to those in recent years but for the moratorium, if extrapolated to a full year.
There do seem to be slight stirrings suggesting that other states might follow New Jersey. Two state legislative bodies — the House in New Mexico and the Senate in Montana — passed bills to abolish capital punishment, and in Nebraska, the unicameral legislature came within one vote of doing so.
Texas has followed the rest of the country in one respect: the number of death sentences there has dropped sharply.
In the 10 years ending in 2004, Texas condemned an average of 34 prisoners each year — about 15 percent of the national total. In the last three years, as the number of death sentences nationwide dropped significantly, from almost 300 in 1998 to about 110 in 2007, the number in Texas has dropped along with it, to 13 — or 12 percent.
Indeed, according to a 2004 study by three professors of law and statistics at Cornell published in The Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Texas prosecutors and juries were no more apt to seek and impose death sentences than those in the rest of the country.
“Texas’ reputation as a death-prone state should rest on its many murders and on its willingness to execute death-sentenced inmates,” the authors of the study, Theodore Eisenberg, John H. Blume and Martin T. Wells, wrote. “It should not rest on the false belief that Texas has a high rate of sentencing convicted murderers to death.”
There is reason to think that the number of death sentences in the state will fall farther, given the introduction of life without the possibility of parole as a sentencing option in capital cases in Texas in 2005. While a substantial majority of the public supports the death penalty, that support drops significantly when life without parole is included as an alternative.
Once an inmate is sent to death row, however, distinctive features of the Texas justice system kick in.
“Execution dates here, uniquely, are set by individual district attorneys,” Professor Dow said. “In no other state would the fact that a district attorney strongly supports the death penalty immediately translate into more executions.”
Texas courts, moreover, speed the process along, said Jordan M. Steiker, a law professor at the University of Texas who has represented death-row inmates.
“It’s not coincidental that the debate over lethal injections had traction in other jurisdictions but not in Texas,” Professor Steiker said. “The courts in Texas have generally not been very solicitous of constitutional claims.”
Indeed, the Supreme Court has repeatedly rebuked the state and the federal courts that hear appeals in Texas capital cases, often in exasperated language suggesting that those courts are actively evading Supreme Court rulings.
The last execution before the Supreme Court imposed a de facto moratorium happened in Texas, and in emblematic fashion. The presiding judge on the state’s highest court for criminal matters, Judge Sharon Keller, closed the courthouse at its regular time of 5 p.m. and turned back an attempt to file appeal papers a few minutes later, according to a complaint in a wrongful-death suit filed in federal court last month.
The inmate, Michael Richard, was executed that evening.
Judge Keller, in a motion to dismiss the case filed this month, acknowledged that she alone had the authority to keep the court’s clerk’s office open but said that Mr. Richard’s lawyers could have tried to file their papers directly with another judge on the court.
Copyright © 2007 The New York Times Company
2007-12-26 07:30:33
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/60-percent-of-executions-happen-in-texas/20071226072809990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Rick Halperin from Warsaw's Stutthof Death Camp
Rick Halperin--our dear and faithful JOH friend (who teaches at Southern Methodist U in Dallas)also went to Italy for Amnesty--see his blurb below. He had this to say recently about his trip to Poland and the death camps this Christmas season, 2007--I just found my copy of his -Journey of Remembrance- from Christmas 05 and put it nearby to remind me during the holiday..These figures and the photos and your reminder staggers everything human within us...talk about extrajudicial and state executions!
Thank you, Rick, for so faithfully year after year helping us/humanity to remember~
Sending you another warm cup of tea!
--- "Halperin, Rick" wrote:
greetings from Warsaw! we spent several hours in the Stutthof death camp today...a place where 110,000 people passed through the camp during its years of operation, 1939-1945, and a place where over 85,000 of them died from the effects of the
conditions of life to which they were subjected......tomorrow we visit the sites of the old Warsaw Ghetto, the Jewish cemetery, and then to Treblinka, where 980,000 people were murdered.......more soon!
--On his trip to Italy, Rick had this to say a few weeks back: my trip was excellent----mostly in the name of Amnesty International....all for activism against the death penalty...lots of talks to (many!!) students....and some to civic groups...
~~~~
Photos of Bill, Art, Rick and Italy to come...remember to look on UN & Amnesty's websites to see what's happening on Global Abolition/Moratorium! Also see what Sister Helen has been doing in Italy with the same at famous old schools! Someone please ask her to send us/our blog a personal report. Connie newlease7@yahoo.com
Thank you, Rick, for so faithfully year after year helping us/humanity to remember~
Sending you another warm cup of tea!
--- "Halperin, Rick"
greetings from Warsaw! we spent several hours in the Stutthof death camp today...a place where 110,000 people passed through the camp during its years of operation, 1939-1945, and a place where over 85,000 of them died from the effects of the
conditions of life to which they were subjected......tomorrow we visit the sites of the old Warsaw Ghetto, the Jewish cemetery, and then to Treblinka, where 980,000 people were murdered.......more soon!
--On his trip to Italy, Rick had this to say a few weeks back: my trip was excellent----mostly in the name of Amnesty International....all for activism against the death penalty...lots of talks to (many!!) students....and some to civic groups...
~~~~
Photos of Bill, Art, Rick and Italy to come...remember to look on UN & Amnesty's websites to see what's happening on Global Abolition/Moratorium! Also see what Sister Helen has been doing in Italy with the same at famous old schools! Someone please ask her to send us/our blog a personal report. Connie newlease7@yahoo.com
Monday, December 24, 2007
REFLECTIONS FROM ROME
Reflections From Rome During the "Cities of Life" Campaign To Abolish
the Death Penalty (Updated, December 2007)
by Art Laffin
Nov. 27-30, 2007
Heartfelt greetings of love to you from Rome. My time here so far has been simply extraordinary. I arrived on Tuesday morning and immediately went to the dedication of a park/square to Dominique Green, a 30-year-old innocent African American man who was executed in Texas in 2004. The Community of Sant'Egidio took up his case and several members of the community visited him before he was killed. Rejected in the US, Dominique's spirit lives in Italy. His ashes are kept at a shelter for the
homeless in Rome.
During the last two days I have given six talks to about 600 students and teachers. I have been received very well. Last night I attended an inspiring program organized by the Sant'Egidio community at Rome's main university highlighting the worldwide campaign to abolish the death penalty. The program, which was broadcast on live TV, featured, Antoinette, a death row survivor from Lebanon, Mr. Furukawa, an abolitionist from Japan, an Italian murder victim family member who forgave the killer of his father, two famous Italian actors, an acclaimed Italian saxophonist, video messages from Nobel laureates and other abolitionists and a representative of the Community of Sant'Egidio.
Tonight at the the Roman Coliseum, where so many people were sacrificed and executed at the hands of the Roman empire, lights will be lit throughout the stadium to call on the world to abolish the death penalty.
The community of Sant'Egidio has taken good care of me during my stay here. It has been a great blessing to get to know different members of the community and to join their community prayer each evening at the beautiful church of Santa Maria. Please know that I hold you in prayer and heart during this sacred time in the eternal city.
Nov. 30-Dec. 4.
On Nov. 30, at 5:00 p.m., I spoke at a school on the outskirts of Rome where over 200people from the school and community attended. IT WAS AMAZING! A 96 year old woman, who is still a pen pal to a death row inmate, thanked me for my talk.
In the evening I spoke before over 1,300 people in Rome's famous concert hall--just down the street from the Vatican. (The pope wasn't able to make it due to a prior engagement). Nicola Piovani, composer of musical score for the movie, "Life is Beautiful" performed, a renowned Italian singer named Giorgia sang, several famous
Italian actors read selections by death row inmates, and Kerry Cook,(who spent 22 years on death row in Texas before being freed--his brother was also murdered during the time of his imprisonment), Mr. Furukawa, and Mario (from the Community of Sant'Egidio), were the other speakers. There was also a moving video tribute to Dominique Green. This event was part of the Nov. 30 "Cities of Life" campaign where over 722 cities and 33 capitals worldwide had events calling for the abolition of the
death penalty.
On Dec. 1, I spoke at a school to over 150 students who were very receptive.
On Dec. 2, Bill Pelke, co-founder of the Journey of Hope, Kerry Cook and I did a brief interview with Vatican TV. Bill has been in northern Italy speaking during the last week. It was great to get together tonight with Bill and SueZann Bosler, another amazing Journey friend, who has been speaking over the last week in towns south of Rome.
On Dec. 3 I spoke to another student group of over 100 at the Nautical High school in the south of Rome. In the evening I had a great reunion with Journey friend Shujaa Graham, and his wife Phyliss, who were speaking during the last week in Sicily and Naples.
On Dec. 4, I took a train to Genoa and spoke that evening in Pavia (near Milan) to about 60 students, teachers and members of the public.
On Dec. 5 I flew back to the US.
Conclusion
I am very grateful to the Community of Sant'Egidio for inviting me to come to Rome to participate in the Cities of Life Campaign. This was my first time in Italy speaking about the murder of my brother, and why I, as a murder victim family member, oppose the death penalty. I was deeply moved by the empathy I experienced from the people who heard me speak. I was also moved by how deeply people care about those on death row in the US and around the world.
I experienced this compassion first-hand as soon as I arrived in Rome and attended the dedication ceremony for the park named in honor of Dominique Green. The Community of Sant'Egidio truly takes to heart the words of St. Paul that when one person suffers we all suffer.
During my visit I gave eleven talks and visited eight schools. And it was a great honor for me to speak during the November 30 concert at the Auditorium - Via della Conciliazione in Rome. I am thankful to every person I met during my time in Rome and in Genoa and Pavia for their loving support and commitment to abolish the death penalty. I would also like to thank each member of the community who helped translate for me and who drove me to different events. I would also like to thank the
community for the loving hospitality I received. And I will always treasure the shared meals with community members and the sacred moments of community prayer I experienced at the Church of Santa Maria. And special thanks to Bill Pelke, who has been such a vital link between the Journey of Hope and the Community of San't Egidio. The Journey of Hope continues...
Saturday, December 22, 2007
BILL in ITALY with The Community of Sant Egidio
BILL in ITALY with The Community of Sant Egidio
Posted December 2007
The Community of Sant Egidio, headquartered in Rome, is a "Church public lay association". The different communities, spread throughout the world, share the same spirituality and principles which characterize the way of Sant’ Egidio.
The Community of Sant Egidio is a leader in the worldwide abolition movement. Each year they conduct an important event on November 30 called Cities for Life
This year over 700 cities about the world lit up various city symbols calling for a moratorium on the death penalty. Pictured above is the Coliseum in Rome in lights for November 30.
Carlo Santoro, one of Sant Egidio’s long time volunteers, once again asked me to come to Italy for this special occasion. This time Carlo asked me to help with the coordination of other Journey of Hope speakers to come to Europe. Journey cofounders Marietta Jaeger Lane and SueZann Bosler joined with Shujaa Graham, current Journey board member. Journey speakers Art Laffin, Bud Welch, Edward Mpagi also joined with us.
It was a great honor and witness to the powerful testimonies of journey speakers.
Marietta was in the northern region covering Venice, Padova and other cities in the region with her husband Bob. SueZann spoke in Bari and in Rome. Art spoke in the area of Rome, his first time to Italy in 30 years. Bud Welch has traveled to Europe several times for the Cities for Life and this time spoke in Spain.
Marietta, SueZann, Art, Bud and myself are murder victim family members who do not want the death penalty under any circumstance.
Shujaa Graham spoke in Cyprus and Rome, Edward spoke in Rome and northern Italy and were joined in Rome by Kerry Max Cook and his son KJ. All three are death row exonerees. All Journey speakers spoke about forgiveness. Rick Halperin, Journey board member was also in Reggio Emilia in earlier in November.
I started off my Journey flying in to Bologna. I was met by Sant Egidio volunteers Natalie and Paulo and driven to Rimini, a beautiful city by the Adriatic sea.
Speaking usually 3 times a day, including high schools with audiences of 300 and 400 students, colleges, public and media events.
I met with the mayor of Ravenna and presented him a copy of my book, “Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing and he gave me several gifts from the city. There was a picture in the paper the next day and with an article about Cities for Life. I also had lunch with the vice-major of Reggio Emilia.
I was the guest of Arianna Ballotta, Founder of the Italian Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and she took me to several wonderful restaurants that featured the best pasta I have every eaten in all of the trips I have been to in Italy.
I also traveled to Parma and Rome.
It was a wonderful experience for me to speak to the high school students and tell them how over 2,000,000 million Italians, mostly high school students, had signed petitions to spare Paula Cooper’s life. Paula was the girl who was sentenced to die for the death of my grandmother. I was able to thank them and to let them know that they can make a difference. I told them I knew they could make a difference because it was students like them that saved Paula’s life. I also told them how Italy had taken the lead in presenting the United Nations over 5,000,000 signatures called for a moratorium and that the UN had voted in November to call for its members to declare a moratorium on the DP. It was only natural to challenge them to stand up whenever they say an injustice and make a difference.
It was a great experience for us all, and I am so grateful for the Sant Egidio Community for their great work against the death penalty. They don’t have the Death Penalty in all of Europe, yet Italy and the Sant Egidio Community in particular work so hard for worldwide abolition amazes me. They also do many other great things like the efforts with the elderly, homeless, tutoring children and in Africa with the HIV Dream Program.
Sant Egidio should win the Nobel Peace Price in my opinion.
Bill Pelke
Friday, December 21, 2007
"Step by Step"
This video is a clip from the documentary "Step by Step: A Journey of Hope" produced by Micki Dickoff. It does a wonderful and moving job of conveying what the Journey is all about! This clip features Bill Pelke.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)