On Behalf of Edward Chapman: NC

Below is a letter on behalf of Edward Chapman to Governor Easley. Please feel free to copy, paste, print, mail, and/or e-mail this letter to other groups, churches and individuals. We are trying to mount a ... letter-writing campaign urging Easley to take this important step before he leaves office. Easley's e-mail address is : governor.office@ncmail.net.

Thanks,
Alex Cury

Governor Mike Easley
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301

Re. Pardon of Innocence for Glen Edward Chapman

Dear Governor Easley:

Glen Edward Chapman was released from Death Row on April 2 of this year after being incarcerated for over 15 years for crimes he did not commit. This case is about a man who was very nearly sent to his death because police detectives lied at trial, covered up the existence of a confession by the real killer, buried the results of a photo lineup in which someone else was positively identified, hid witness statements that pointed to the innocence of Mr. Chapman and the guilt of another man, and altered other witness statements to make them better fit the officers’ theory of guilt. Those fabricated statements were disclosed to the defense lawyers to throw them off the track. It is a case of official corruption that exposes striking frailties in our system of justice. The police misconduct was compounded by the complete ineptness of the lawyers assigned to defend Chapman at his trial, as well as by other flaws, including forensic medical evidence demonstrating that one of the two murder victims was not a homicide victim at all. I am very concerned that our criminal justice system lacks meaningful safeguards against the possibility that the truth-finding process will be perverted by unscrupulous officers bent on justifying an arrest, even when the result is to send an innocent man to his death in the execution chamber.

The court found that the officers had lied and concealed evidence, vacated the conviction and granted a new trial. The charges were eventually dismissed and Mr. Chapman was released after many long years on Death Row for crimes he did not commit.

I urge you to award Mr. Chapman an immediate Pardon of Innocence upon the grounds that Mr. Chapman did not commit the crimes for which he was convicted so that he may receive the appropriate compensation from the State of North Carolina for his unjust and unlawful incarceration per N.C.G.S.A. § 148-82-84.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Very truly yours,

NC LeGrande Spared //Pending Executions

JUST IN from People of Faith Against the Death Penalty PFADP North Carolina: LeGrande Spared Death Penalty Another example of the impact RACE plays in capital punishment. See more under blog entitled: Race, Murder and the Search for Justice (just below for July 1, 2008)
_____________

Death Penalty
Prosecutorial misconduct
Originally posted on April 8, 2008

What do Glen Chapman, Jonathan Hoffman and Alan Gell have in common? They are all innocent men released from death row after spending years in prison; in all three cases, issues of serious prosecutorial misconduct led to their wrongful convictions, and all three cases took place in North Carolina.

Most police investigators and prosecutors are honest in their pursuit of justice, but as The Innocence Project explains, prosecutorial misconduct is a serious and common problem evident in many cases of wrongful conviction. With these three recent exonerations, not far behind the ugly disaster of the Duke rape case, clearly North Carolina needs to enact better regulations and reforms to safeguard against such negligent behavior, especially in capital cases when the result equals death!

Since 1976, there have been 128 people exonerated from death row in the United States, 7 in North Carolina. Glen Chapman and Jonathan Hoffman were exonerated months apart from each other while Alan Gell was absolved in 2004. Chapman left death row this month (April 2008), after spending almost 14 years awaiting execution while Hoffman was released last December (2007) after 12 years imprisoned. Alan Gell spent nine years behind bars, half of it on death row.

These three men were almost executed because of prosecutorial negligence. In the case of Chapman, prosecutors Thomas Portwood and Robert Adams, failed to interview several critical witnesses. Hoffman's prosecutors, Ken Honeycutt and Scott Brewe, withheld information of a deal cut with the only person linking Hoffman to the murder weapon. . Gell's prosecutors, Hoke and Graves, also withheld valuable evidence that might have cleared Gell in the initial trial, including an audio tape of one of the girls who accused him saying that she had to "make up a story" about the murder.

Hoffman and Gell have tried to prove prosecutorial misconduct but their efforts have been in vain. The North Carolina State Bar dropped the charges against Hoffman's prosecutors in January 2006, not because the charges were without merit, but because Hoffman's defense attorneys didn't file their complaint in time. At the same time, Alan Gell has argued that "to this day, no one from the state has apologized or made any amends for what was done to me; right now everyone is standing in a circle and pointing their fingers at each other".

It seems to be almost impossible to prove prosecutorial misconduct because courts usually protect prosecutors so they cannot be sued for bringing a weak case or simply making a mistake. To take away their "immunity" attorneys have to demonstrate that the prosecutors acted with malice or intent to harm, which is really hard to get around. But, how do you prove intent and malice? Since withholding information and extreme negligence it is not enough, then it seems that one would need to have a note or a statement of the prosecutors literally saying " I am withholding evidence so this person is declared guilty"; which it is extremely unlikely. Anyone can make mistakes but the innocent people mentioned above were almost executed because of prosecutorial misconduct, not because of simple mistakes.

There has been just one recent case, the famous Duke case, where prosecutorial misconduct was proven. The prosecutor in this case, Michael Nifong, made improper comments to the press which had a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused. The North Carolina State Bar took the latter into consideration and the prosecutor was disbarred.

What circumstances made this case different from the cases mentioned before? Why did the Duke prosecutor get disbarred and the other district attorneys did not? One of the reasons is the media and public attention this case got which pressured the State Bar to act. The other reason is that, contrary to most of the cases, the people accused in the Duke case had the monetary resources which ensure them excellent legal representation through out the whole ordeal. Therefore it was a combination of media and public pressure and monetary resources.

Most of us do not have the money to pay for great lawyers. At the same time, justice is supposed to be free and for all. But when the justice system fails, it is on us as a society to step in and ensure that it is corrected. The lesson to be learned from these cases is the need to take action, raise awareness, go to the media, defend your beliefs and express your concerns. And consider this - how can the use of the death penalty, the most extreme and irreversible punishment, be justified within a system so obviously broken? Take action today, abolish the death penalty once and for all.
~~~
From Death Penalty News & Updates Bookmark or click often on this site
Right Lower Column

Pending U.S. Executions

Please note that these dates are only tentative.

Execution dates known or thought to be considered SERIOUS are marked with a *.The designation indicates that an execution is considered more likely to be carried out.

Please note that this designation should in no way be construed as absolute. Stays can be granted or denied at the very last moment prior to an execution.

A name with no * designation may simply mean that not enough information is currently available to know whether the execution date is serious. In other words, please DO NOT automatically equate the fact that a name with no * designation means that his/her assigned execution date is not serious. It might, in fact, be (very) serious.

2008

July

10* Kent Jackson Virginia

10* Carlton Turner Texas (right now there are mixed reports as to whether delayed)

14 Eric Hanson Illinois

14 Tamir Hamilton Nevada

22* Kevin Young Oklahoma

Courtesy of Rick Halperin

The Long Road to Freedom-- Kim Phuc from Vietnam

A famous little girl from the Vietnam era now runs an organization which helps little ones like she once was--the Kim Foundation International--which aids children who are war victims. Through forgiveness even of deaths and life-long injuries of war: hope and healing for many other little ones...
In one of the most famous images of the Vietnam War, South Vietnamese forces follow terrified children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc (center) as they run down Road No. 1 near Trang Bang after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong hiding places, June 8, 1972. President Richard Nixon once doubted the authenticity of the photo, which earned a Pulitzer Prize for photographer Nick Ut.Kim Phuc is best known as the girl in the famous photo of a Vietnam War napalm-bombing attack near Saigon. She now lives in Toronto with her husband and two children. Her organization, Kim Foundation International, aids children who are war victims. Photo courtesy of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

“Forgiveness made me free from hatred. I still have many scars on my body and severe pain most days but my heart is cleansed.”

from "This I Believe" series on NPR.org's "All Things Considered", June 30, 2008 · On June 8, 1972, I ran out from Cao Dai temple in my village, Trang Bang, South Vietnam;

I saw an airplane getting lower and then four bombs falling down. I saw fire everywhere around me. Then I saw the fire over my body, especially on my left arm. My clothes had been burned off by fire.

I was 9 years old but I still remember my thoughts at that moment: I would be ugly and people would treat me in a different way. My picture was taken in that moment on Road No. 1 from Saigon to Phnom Penh. After a soldier gave me some drink and poured water over my body, I lost my consciousness.

Several days after, I realized that I was in the hospital, where I spent 14 months and had 17 operations.

It was a very difficult time for me when I went home from the hospital. Our house was destroyed; we lost everything and we just survived day by day.

Although I suffered from pain, itching and headaches all the time, the long hospital stay made me dream to become a doctor. But my studies were cut short by the local government. They wanted me as a symbol of the state. I could not go to school anymore.

The anger inside me was like a hatred as high as a mountain. I hated my life. I hated all people who were normal because I was not normal. I really wanted to die many times.

I spent my daytime in the library to read a lot of religious books to find a purpose for my life. One of the books that I read was the Holy Bible.

In Christmas 1982, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior. It was an amazing turning point in my life. God helped me to learn to forgive — the most difficult of all lessons. It didn't happen in a day and it wasn't easy. But I finally got it.

Forgiveness made me free from hatred. I still have many scars on my body and severe pain most days but my heart is cleansed.

Napalm is very powerful but faith, forgiveness and love are much more powerful. We would not have war at all if everyone could learn how to live with true love, hope and forgiveness.

If that little girl in the picture can do it, ask yourself: Can you?

This essay was produced by Anne Penman for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. NPR's This I Believe is independently produced by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman with John Gregory and Viki Merrick.

Please check-out many more beautiful statements of faith and human epiphanies at"This I Believe" series on NPR.org's "All Things Considered"

Time-sensitive Items: Please act NOW!

Help stop the "pre-meditated murder" planned to occur in Florida tonight as well as so many others being RUSHED through our US courts these days. Note the article two items down about former Florida death row official become abolitionist. Also JUST below the book review find the short item from compassionate and astute Peter Rothberg of the excelling magazine, "THE NATION", on the August planned Texas murder of Jeff Wood. Please sign petitions and CALL/FAX appropriate officials. Write your letters & Op Ed.
PS We want/need some personal reports on the Walk, Fast and Vigil soon. Thanks! Connie

Race, Murder and the Search for Justice

JUST IN from People of Faith Against the Death Penalty PFADP North Carolina:
North Carolina death row inmate Guy Tobias LeGrande was found incompetent to be executed under both state law and the 8th Amendment of the United States Constitution, as interpreted by Ford v. Wainwright and Panetti v. Quarterman. More to follow. Thus spared the Death Penalty. LeGrande acted as his own lawyer at the time of his trial and clearly exhibited signs of mental illness. Jay Ferguson, member of LeGrande's current legal team and president of PFADP, emphasized not only the severity of his mental illness, but also noted the impact that race plays in capital punishment.

LeGrande, who is Black, was sentenced to death by an all-White jury while the mastermind of the crime, who was White, was spared the death penalty.

As a result, Ferguson encourages the NC Legislature to pass the NC Racial Justice Act which has signatures of many clergy. If you are in NC and have not already done so, please contact your senator and encourage him or her to support the NC Racial Justice Act. (If not in NC you may want to make sure you have such a Racial Justice Act in your own state.) End note

Now, this Revisiting of another, Willie Francis, where "Race, Murder and the Search for Justice" comes into play...

Revisiting the Execution of Willie Francis: Race, Murder and the Search for Justice
By Eleanor J. Bader, Public Eye Posted today on Alternet Rights Section
Posted on July 1, 2008

Reviewed: The Execution of Willie Francis: Race, Murder and the Search for Justice in the American South by Gilbert King Basic Civitas Books, 2008, $26 cloth, 324 pages

They called the Louisiana electric chair Gruesome Gertie and in her years of service to the state, no case was more notorious than that of long-forgotten Willie Francis. A 16-year-old teen at the time of his 1945 arrest, Francis was barely literate, the youngest of 13 children in a desperately poor, devoutly Roman Catholic, African American family.

The story begins in November, 1944 with the murder of 53- year-old Andrew Thomas, the well-liked owner of Thomas's Drug Store in the pastoral Cajun town of St. Martinville, Louisiana. Thomas, who was white, was hit by five shots fired at close range. Theories of who might have killed him were abundant. The lifelong bachelor and purported Don Juan was suspected of numerous romantic liaisons with married women, but after a nine-month investigation, all leads had run cold.

That changed in August 3, 1945 when police in Port Arthur, Texas, 150 miles from St. Martinville, happened upon Willie Francis who was there visiting his sister. Francis was carrying a large valise and the cops, on the lookout for drug traffickers, took Francis into custody for questioning.

In short order, Francis convinced his interrogators that he was not a narcotics dealer. Nevertheless, the cops noted that he stuttered -- a mannerism they determined indicated guilt -- and proceeded to ask him about his involvement in numerous robberies and assaults in the Port Arthur area.

King reports that police accounts reveal a startling -- maybe even unbelievable -- turn of events. According to Port Arthur Chief of Police Claude W. Goldsmith, "who did not keep any notes or records of the interrogation, Willie confessed to the St. Martinville murder [of Thomas] in a matter of minutes." What's more, when they inspected Francis' wallet they found an ID bearing the name of Andrew Thomas.

Francis' written statement, replete with spelling errors, admits that he stole a .38 pistol for the planned murder. His statement further concedes that he took Thomas' wallet, containing $4, along with a gold watch which he later pawned. No counsel was present at the time of this alleged confession.

A month later Francis was indicted by a grand jury and in no-time flat a trial was scheduled. A jury of twelve white men -- clearly not Francis' peers -- was selected. As testimony unfolded the jurors learned that there was no forensic evidence linking Francis to the crime. "Also missing," King writes, "were the murder weapon and bullets that had been recovered from the scene." Both had been lost in transit to the FBI Crime Lab. Worse, King writes, "no fingerprints had been lifted from the gun. Without the alleged murder weapon or the wrist watch as evidence, the bulk of the District Attorney's case rested exclusively on confessions obtained by police while the teenaged Willie Francis was in custody and without legal counsel." Later, attorneys and journalists reviewing the trial transcript dubbed the proceedings "a farce and travesty."

Nonetheless, Francis was found guilty and sentenced to die in Gruesome Gertie.
His executioners were Angola Prison captain Ephie Foster and prisoner Vincent Venezia. Both men were charged with transporting the contraption to St. Martinville and insuring Francis' death by electrocution. They had done this before and ostensibly knew how to proceed. Indeed, they were so relaxed that they opted for a night of serious drinking in the hours immediately before the scheduled execution.

Eyewitnesses report that the pair were visibly drunk when they arrived at the jail the following morning. Still, they did the state's bidding and strapped Francis into the chair before applying the current.

Then something surprising happened -- despite being zapped by electricity, Francis did not die. Spectators were horrified, then relieved to learn that the mechanical malfunction would be corrected and a second execution ordered.

What happened next can only be described as a whirlwind. Attorney Bertrand DeBlanc, a deeply religious white man just returned from serving in World War II, agreed to take Francis' case -- pro-bono. During the next year-and-a-half, he would share legal work with the NAACP and with another white attorneylater- judge named J. Skully Wright.

The more DeBlanc learned about Francis' case, the angrier he became. At the same time he never challenged Francis' guilt -- Francis himself never proclaimed his innocence or took issue with his arrest or conviction -- but instead zeroed in on proving that a second execution would constitute cruel and unusual punishment and amount to double jeopardy.

The case bounced from court to court and eventually wound up in D.C. where the U.S. Supreme Court heard DeBlanc's argument. King's rendering of the proceedings is fascinating. "Sixty years later," he begins, "alleged violations of double jeopardy, cruel and unusual punishment, and due process would constitute unquestionably valid legal strategies for attorneys. But not in 1946. Not once, not twice, but many times the U.S. Supreme Court had held that the first ten amendments to the Constitution, rights citizens decades later would take for granted, simply did not exist for litigants in a case originating at the state level -- cases like Willie's. In other words, one's right not to be tried twice for the same crime could only be invoked if one was being tried in a federal court. The Supreme Court had ruled that in a state court a man [sic] could be tried twice for the same murder. Furthermore, in 1908, the Supreme Court held that the Fifth Amendment -- the right regarding self-incrimination -- did not apply to state court trials."

DeBlanc, Wright and the NAACP pushed forward anyway, arguing that the Bill of Rights should apply to the states. They also argued that a second encounter with Gruesome Gertie would be cruel, unusual and patently illegal.



The Court disagreed. In a five-to-four decision, issued one day after Francis turned 18, the Justices opted to send him back to the chair. Despite seething and eloquent dissents, the Court refused to save Willie Francis' life.

His attorneys were despondent and tried to push the Justices to reconsider; they simultaneously petitioned Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis to commute Francis' sentence to life imprisonment. In a bizarre turn, Justice Felix Frankfurter, who voted with the Court majority, petitioned Davis on Francis' behalf.

Their efforts failed. On May 9, 1947, Francis was executed, making him the 24th state resident killed by Gruesome Gertie.

To this day no one knows what really happened between Francis and Thomas. Years later, rumors that Thomas was gay -- and that his friendships with married women never strayed beyond the platonic -- began to circulate. Francis' one-time assertion -- his enigmatic explanation of what had transpired, "it was a secret about me and him" -- was never probed. Whether this was because of squeamishness, incompetence, or negligence is unknown.

King's exploration of Willie Francis' tragic life and the myriad efforts to save him is riveting. Well-researched and fast-paced, Francis' poignant story showcases the collision between social justice activists and a legal system hell-bent on maintaining the status quo. But it does more than this, reminding us of the ripples beneath the surface of most social change efforts. In this case, even though DeBlanc and colleagues could not save Francis, their courage, fortitude, and resistance set other acts of resistance into motion. Indeed, their tireless advocacy emboldened others and helped catapult racial injustice and the inhumanity of killing youthful offenders into public consciousness.

Eleanor J. Bader is a Brooklyn-based teacher, writer, and activist. She is the coauthor of Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism (St. Martin’s Press, 2001).
© 2008 Public Eye All rights reserved.

Rothberg of The Nation speaks up for Jeff

SAVE JEFF WOOD FROM THE TEXAS EXECUTIONER! ... Jeff Wood is waiting to die on Texas Death Row with an execution date of August 21st, 2008. See Peter Rothberg's piece from June 30, 2008!

SAVE JEFF -- Peter Rothberg, The Nation

Thanks to Rick Halperin for sending this to the Abolish list! NOTE in recent archives that we have been sending you pleas for Jeff Wood's life from his loved ones and others. Please keep the reminders coming in...usually we don't feature two items in a day but this is so time-sensitive. Do ALL you can to help SAVE JEFF! Thanks PETER!
~~~
Many of you were among the more than 17,000 outraged citizens who successfully petitioned Texas Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles last year demanding the commutation of the death sentence for Kenneth Foster.

Foster was convicted under Texas' notorious Law of Parties, under which the distinction between principal actor and accomplice in a crime is abolished. The law can impose the death penalty on anybody involved in a crime where a murder occurred whether a person had anything to do with the murder or not. (Texas is the only state that applies this statute in capital cases, making it the only place in the United States where a person can be factually innocent of murder and still face the death
penalty.)

Now, Jeff Wood faces similar straits on Texas death row with an execution date of August 21. Having no prior criminal record, Wood was convicted and sentenced to die for killing a convenience store clerk during a January 1996 robbery in Kerrville, TX under the "Law of Parties." Wood was not the shooter in this case and he can reasonably claim that he had no idea that a murder would occur during what he says was meant to be a gas station robbery. The actual shooter in this case -- Daniel Earl Reneau -- was executed by the state of Texas more than 6 years ago.

Here are the facts:

At approximately 6:00 am on January 2, 1996, while Wood waited outside in a car, Daniel Earl Reneau entered the gas station with a gun and pointed it at Kris Keeran, the clerk standing behind the counter. At some point for some reason Reneau fired 1 shot with a 22 caliber handgun that struck Keeran between the eyes. Death was almost instantaneous. Continuing with the robbery, Reneau went into the back office and took a safe. When hearing the shot, Wood got out of the car to see what happened. Reneau then ordered Wood, at gun point, to get the surveillance video and to drive the getaway-car. Both men were arrested separately within 24 hours and gave confessions to the police. Wood, however, was forced into interrogation by the police with no attorney present and says he was kept awake the entire time and eventually broke down saying it was a planned robbery. He later revoked this statement.

Ask Governor Perry and the Board of Pardons and Paroles to commute Wood's sentence and sign an online petition to stop the execution. I happen to be opposed to capital punishment in all instances but from any humane perspective state-sponsored killing of people we know did not commit murder should be way beyond the pale.

(source: Peter Rothberg, The Nation)

Condemned Choir of Luzira Prison, Uganda

Freedom Cry: Songs from the Condemned Choirs of Luzira Prison Uganda, is featured by Condemned Choirs at co.uk.

Condemned Choir Voices Opposition to DP

One in three people on Uganda’s death row could be innocent – claim

Published: 30/06/2008

RELEASE: Ugandan death row prisoners sing for their lives for an album released through the UK’s African Prisons Project

AFRICAN death row inmates who formed a “condemned choir” are singing for their lives this week with a special album released through a British charity.

The Ugandan prisoners, who were convicted for crimes including murder, armed robbery and treason, recorded the CD with the help of the African Prisons Project to campaign against the death penalty.

On Thursday, inmates will take their case for the abolition of the death penalty to the Supreme Court.

Human rights groups estimate that one in three of the 600 or so men and women on death row in the East African country could be innocent.

Alexander McLean, the 23-year-old founder of the project, is calling for leniency.

“When you are on death row, and you face the possibility of death every day, singing becomes a form of release,” he said.

Mr McLean said the atmosphere in death row, situated in the Luzira prisons complex outside Kampala, was “optimistic and expectant”.

There have been no executions of civilian prisoners on death row since 1999 when 28 men were hanged at the gallows in a single day. Since then, a coalition of inmates formed a joint petition against the Ugandan government, arguing that the death penalty is cruel, inhuman and degrading.

In 2005, the constitutional court ruled in favour of the death penalty, but it did find there should be no mandatory death sentence.

Death row inmate Africa Gabula, 37, said he was arrested for treason at the age of 17. He has spent more than 15 years on death row – and has been “dying for 20 years”.

“It’s very easy to go mad here when you live in the shadow of death all the time,” he said during an interview at the prison.

The Commissioner General of prisons, in charge of the country’s 220 jails and 26,000 inmates, IS HIMSELF AN OUTSPOKEN CRITIC of the death penalty and justice system.

“Because of our inefficient systems, you cannot be sure that you are not going to execute the wrong people,” he said.

California Death Row is a Multi-Million Dollar Failure

It’s Official — Now What? A panel of experts, including 10 law enforcement officers and prosecutors, unanimously agrees that California’s death penalty is utterly broken. To fix it, we’ll need to spend over $200 million per year. The current failed system already costs over $137 million more each year than our alternative of permanent imprisonment. Today’s report forces all Californians to ask: how much we are willing to pay for our death penalty when we have an alternative that punishes criminals and protects our communities without making us bankrupt?

(Please go to the death pen blog at ACLU's website for the report/video...)

~~~

Death Penalty: An Open Forum by Nancy Oliveira Monday, June 30, 2008
California's Death Row--long excerpt from her article.

The best-kept secret in California is the real cost of the death penalty system...

...for some reason, the state's coffers seem to be wide open when it comes to carrying out the death penalty in California. Most people think we save money with executions - that it is cheaper to execute prisoners than to lock them up until they die of old age, illness or injury.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

We spend an estimated $117.35 million annually to keep the death penalty on the books in California when we have an alternative: permanent imprisonment. This sentence costs far less - about $23 million a year - and is a severe, swift and certain punishment. It allows the victims' families to move on with their lives, knowing that the convicted murderer will never be free and society will be safe.

Capital cases are expensive because they are so complex; they require more lawyers, more experts, an extensive jury selection process, and two trials (one to determine guilt and one for sentencing) - all constitutionally required to help prevent the conviction and execution of the innocent.

Conversely, executing those on Death Row (673), or waiting for them to die of other causes, will cost California an estimated $4 billion more than if they had been sentenced to permanent imprisonment.

Every tax dollar spent on executions is a tax dollar not available for education. Why are we willing to spend so much money trying to kill prisoners and not on the education of our children? What could $117.35 million dollars a year buy for our public schools?

The real cost of the death penalty is what we sacrifice for it. Perhaps we should join all the other Western democracies that have abolished capital punishment and put our tax dollars to better use.

Nancy Oliveira has been a resident of San Francisco for 35 years. She also serves on the Board of Death Penalty Focus.

San Francisco Gate.com

Be sure to go to the poll and vote at the opinion section

LOOK FOR VIDEO(S) & REFERENCES ON THE CALIFORNIA REPORT HERE SOON!

ALSO JUST IN...

California Crime Victims for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
870 Market St. Ste. 859 San Francisco, CA 94102
Tel. 415.262.0082 - Fax 415.243.0994 - California Crime Victims

For Immediate Release
June 30, 2008

For more information contact:
Aarti Kelapure, 415.262.0082

Survivors of Murder Victims Applaud Report on California's Death Penalty

Commission Report Highlights Many Problems with California's Death Penalty and Encourages Californians to Consider Alternatives

Sacramento-The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice issued the state's first comprehensive report on California's death penalty today. The 116 page report identifies many problems with the state's death penalty, concluding that it is "dysfunctional" and quoting the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court who said the system may "fall of its own weight" if nothing is done.

During a series of hearings around the state, the Commission heard from a growing segment of advocates who oppose the death penalty: family members of murder victims whose personal experiences with the system have lead them to become ardent, outspoken advocates for alternatives to the death penalty.

Fifteen survivors of murder victims opposed to the death penalty testified at the Commission's three public hearings in Sacramento, Los Angeles and Santa Clara. These witnesses, who are active with the coalition California Crime Victims for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CCV), are also available for comment this week.

Many CCV family members told the Commission that funds now spent on the death penalty would be better used helping victims, solving unsolved murders, and preventing violence. Others emphasized the negative impact of the death penalty appeals process on survivors of murder victims.

Witnesses included (find some of these folk on the Journey of Hope website):

* Nick and Amanda Wilcox (Grass Valley), who testified on the anniversary of their daughter Amanda's murder. Amanda was working at a mental health clinic when she was killed by a patient. The Wilcoxes have become leading advocates for expanding treatment for the mentally ill to prevent violence.

* Barbara Zerbe Macnab (San Francisco), who testified that, despite her mother's pleas for clemency, two men were executed for the murder of her father when she was just eight years old, causing even more anguish to their family.

* Aba Gayle, who testified that, despite her requests, the Placer County District Attorney continues to pursue lengthy appeals seeking to reinstate the death sentence for the man who killed her daughter Catherine. At the time of the trial, Aba Gayle supported the death penalty. Ten years later, she realized that holding on to the anger and anticipating the execution would not help her heal.

* Vera Ramirez-Crutcher (Ventura), who testified about the anguish she experienced when her son David was murdered trying to protect his girlfriend, but who has always opposed the death penalty on religious grounds.

* Dawn Spears (San Jose), who became the primary caretaker of her three grandchildren when her daughter Tameca was murdered, testified that she is opposed to the death penalty, as was her daughter.

"I am pleased that the Commission reported noted the moving testimony of the people who have personal experience with the system," said Judy Kerr, spokesperson and victim liaison for California Crime Victims for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CCV). "Ours is an important voice in this debate." Family members of murder victims were instrumental in the persuading the New Jersey legislature to end the state's death penalty.

Aundré Herron, a former prosecutor who now represents people on death row and whose brother, Danny, was murdered remarked, "The death penalty does not help us heal; rather than honoring my brother, executing his killers would have forever tied his memory to an act of revenge."

"Californians should consider how we can best help the survivors of murder victims rebuild their lives and prevent more murders?" asked Kerr. "I believe the first step is to replace the death penalty with permanent imprisonment."

Cousin of the murder victim wants to save the life of Jeff Wood - please help!

Jeff Wood is waiting to die on Texas Death Row with an execution date of August 21st, 2008. Jeff was charged under the Law of Parties and was not the shooter in this crime. Jeff could not anticipate that a murder would occur. The actual shooter in this case has already been executed by the state of Texas.

The cousin of Kris Keeran (the murder victim) wants to save the life of Jeff Wood:
"My cousin was the person killed by Danny, not Jeff. I say this as a family member who realized long ago Jeff had no part in my cousin's murder and he shouldn't be executed. It's insane to kill another person who did not kill Kris. The video showed Jeff took no part in it. Jeff was one of my friends growing up and someone I think deserves a chance. If he didn't kill him, why should we kill Jeff? This is ridiculous." - Amanda Smith, Texas June 19, 2008

Please write the Governor and the Board of Pardons and Paroles; and sign the online petition to stop the execution.

A short case summary of the case can also be found on the webpage to save Jeff's life.

Computer predicts who dies on death row: study

A computer program designed by U.S. researchers can predict with chilling accuracy the very few men among the thousands on America's death row who will actually be executed, according to a new study.

It says the chief factor that determines whether a man will die is neither race nor poverty but education - the less schooling, the higher the chances of a lethal outcome.

There are more than 3,200 men and women in U.S. prisons who have been condemned to death. Some have been on death row for decades, but only a relatively small percentage - 53 in 2006, for example - have been executed.

Previous studies have argued that non-whites are disproportionately sentenced to death in the United States. But with little research as to whether there is any bias in deciding who will actually die, critics say the choice seems arbitrary.

Stamos Karamouzis and Dee Wood Harper of Texas A&M University in Texarkana used a computing tool modelled after the human brain, called artificial neural networks (ANN), to search for patterns linked to executions.

They created profiles for 2000 death-row inmates - half of whom had been put to death - and entered them into the program. Each profile included information on race, sex, age number and type of capital offences, prior convictions, marital status, and level of schooling. The researchers then fed in 300 profiles of other inmates from the same period, and asked the neural network to predict what had happened to them. It correctly predicted the fates of more than 90 % of this 2nd group.

To find out which of the 18 factors best matched these outcomes, Karamouzis and Harper ran the analysis repeatedly, withholding one factor each time.

Being a woman, it turned out, was the best guarantee against having one's sentence carried out - women are rarely executed. But the next most telling indicator was the number of years an inmate had spent in high school.

"The results pose a serious challenge to the fairness of the administration of the death penalty," the pair write.


The paper is published in a British-based journal, International Journal of Law and Information Technology, and features in a report this week by the British magazine New Scientist.

(source: Agence France Presse)

The war on teen terror

The Bush administration's treatment of juvenile prisoners shipped to Guantánamo Bay defies logic as well as international law.
By Jo Becker, children's rights advocacy director - Human Rights Watch

When Mohammed Jawad took the stand in a courtroom at the U.S. Naval base here late last week, he described a litany of abuse he has endured while detained at Guantánamo, including a sleep deprivation regime known colloquially as the "frequent flyer" program.

"Day and night, they were shifting me from one room to another room," Jawad said. "I don't remember how much time I slept, but it was only a short time before they were knocking on my door and shifting me from place to place. No one answered me why they were giving me this punishment."

Military records showed that during a 14-day period in May 2004, Jawad was moved from cell to cell 112 times, usually left in one cell for less than three hours before being shackled and moved to another. Between midnight and 2 a.m. he was moved more frequently to ensure maximum disruption of sleep.

Such tactics used against a detainee would have been severe under any circumstances – Department of Defense guidance limits sleep deprivation to a maximum of four days – but in the case of Jawad, they are particularly disturbing because he was a scared and suicidal teenager at the time. (...)

According to government records obtained by the Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act, more than 20 detainees under the age of 18 have been brought to the prison camp since 2002. The treatment of underage prisoners at Guantánamo, largely in defiance of international law, is one of various ways in which the Bush administration's policies have tainted prospects for Guantánamo detainees ever to be brought to justice under U.S. law.

Although most of the 20 juvenile detainees have now been released, three remain, having spent more than a quarter of their lives at Guantánamo. The other two juvenile detainees were each only 15 years old when they were apprehended. Mohammad El Gharani was arrested at a mosque in Pakistan and brought to Guantánamo in early 2002. Omar Khadr, a Canadian, was apprehended in July 2002 after a firefight in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of a U.S. soldier. Held for several months in Afghanistan, he was barely 16 when he arrived here later that same year.

The presence of juveniles at Guantánamo first came to light in 2003, when media reports revealed the age of the youngest detainee at Guantánamo – who was only 13 years old. (...)

That year, on behalf of Human Rights Watch, I had several meetings with Pentagon representatives to discuss the fate of these children. In early 2004, they were released to UNICEF in Afghanistan for rehabilitation. But whenever I tried to raise the case of Omar Khadr (we were unaware of El Gharani and Jawad's cases at the time) I received the same response: "Khadr is off the table; we will not discuss Khadr."

Unlike with the three boys held at Camp Iguana and released for rehabilitation, the Pentagon has never acknowledged the juvenile status of Khadr, Jawad or El Gharani. Although international law provides that anyone under 18 is a child and entitled to special treatment, the Defense Department created its own standard: Anyone who was 16 would automatically be treated as an adult. When I asked Defense Department officials in 2004 about the rationale for this policy, they had no reply. One official finally admitted to me that it was completely arbitrary. (...)

The Bush administration's refusal to treat these prisoners as juveniles has had profound consequences for Khadr, Jawad and El Gharani. They have had no access to education or recreation facilities and have been housed in the same facilities as adult detainees. After five years of imprisonment, Jawad remains functionally illiterate. None of the three have been allowed to see members of their family.

The effects of prolonged isolation have taken a severe toll. El Gharani has tried to commit suicide at least seven times. He has slit his wrist, run repeatedly into the sides of his cell and tried to hang himself. On several occasions he has been placed on suicide watch in a mental health unit.

Jawad also tried to commit suicide about 11 months after arriving in Guantánamo, by hanging himself by his shirt collar. Prison records also state that he "attempted self-harm by banging his head off of metal structures inside his cell."(...)

Please read complete article here

Virginia executes its 100th inmate

By FRANK GREEN AND JAMIE C. RUFF, TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS

Virginia's 100th execution in modern times was carried out last night as Robert Stacy Yarbrough died by injection for the 1997 slaying of a country store owner.

Yarbrough, 30, was pronounced dead at the Greensville Correctional Center at 9:28 p.m. Asked if he had any last words, he said, "Tell my kids I love them. Let's get it over with. Make people happy," according to a prison spokesman. (...)

The execution took longer than normal. The curtain was closed at 9 p.m., blocking the view of witnesses, as the IV lines were inserted into his arms, a procedure that is usually performed in just a few minutes. Virginia Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor said there was difficulty placing one of the IV lines. The curtain reopened at 9:17 p.m. and Yarbrough gave his last statement, and then the signal was given to start the chemicals.

According to court papers, it takes an average of 4½ minutes for an inmate to die after the chemicals start flowing. But in Yarbrough's case, the process appeared to take about 10 minutes.

Virginia is the second state to execute 100 people since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the death penalty to resume in 1976. Texas, with 406 executions, leads the country.

The two states account for nearly half of all executions carried out across the U.S. since 1976. Virginia's 100th was marked by about 30 protesters holding a vigil in a field in front of the rural prison last night. At 9 p.m., the scheduled execution time, the protesters took turns ringing a bell for each person executed in Virginia. (...)

Please read complete article here

300 NC Clergy Endorse Racial Justice Act

RALEIGH—More than 300 North Carolina clergy members are calling on the NC General Assembly to pass a bill which would allow for court reviews of racial bias in death penalty cases.

Some of the clergy who signed the letter will release the letter to the public at a press conference at the Press Conference Room of the Legislative Building, 16 W. Jones St., in Raleigh at 11 a.m., Wednesday, June 25, 2008.

The letter calls for passage of the NC Racial Justice Act “out of a deep concern over the documented significant and persistent role that racial bias appears to play in deciding who is sentenced to die in North Carolina and who is not.”

The signers of the letter are mostly pastoral leaders of Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Episcopal, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim and other faith communities in North Carolina, from the mountains to the coast.

The letter refers to “the widely reported and compelling evidence of how race affects the death penalty in our state.” The clergy call the bill “an indispensable tool in rooting out any role race plays in the death penalty system.”

The letter calls on “all citizens to demonstrate a strong commitment to fairness and justice by joining us in calling on the NC Senate to pass the Racial Justice Act as passed by the NC House in 2007.”

“Morally, we must act with clarity and caution in the practice of the death penalty. The NC Racial Justice Act offers a prudent and morally justifiable measure to improve our criminal justice system.

The clergy members also call on North Carolina prosecutors “to follow their mandate as agents of justice and support this important measure.”

A study by the University of North Carolina finds that a defendant charged with murdering a white person appears to be more than three times more likely to receive a death sentence in North Carolina than those with non-white victims.

The Racial Justice Act would allow a person accused of a capital crime the opportunity of a court review of whether race played a part in the prosecutor’s decision to seek the death penalty. If a defendant has already been sentenced to death, he may present evidence, if available, that his death sentence was improperly obtained on the basis of race.

The act would also allow a defendant to present statistical or other evidence to support such a claim. If a defendant succeeded in establishing his claim that race was a basis for his death sentence, the court could impose a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

The NC Racial Justice Act is currently assigned to the NC Senate Judiciary II Committee. Supporters of the bill hope the NC Senate will pass the bill in the next two or three weeks.

The letter was distributed to clergy by People of Faith Against the Death Penalty. PFADP is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization based in Carrboro, NC. www.pfadp.org

Stephen Dear
Executive Director
People of Faith Against the Death Penalty

We must each do our part...

At speaking events, I frequently get appeals from concerned people who have loved ones on Death Row. Some of them have driven hundreds of miles to give me volumes of copies of the paperwork from the case.

They cry and implore me to help free their innocent death row denizen. Some of these people pull my heart out with their stories. I wish I could do more but all I can do is connect them with a anti-death-penalty group in the state in which they live or in which the inmate is incarcerated. In each of these cases I invariably find that there are already lawyers and local anti Death Penalty people working on the case . It is sad to see these people, in there desperation, looking for help. They hope that maybe a minister, death row exonoree, social worker or MFFM can find some magic way to accomplish what the lawyers and others cannot. Some are still in shock with the sudden realization that the United States justice system is flawed or corrupt. They now understand that their loved one will not be released because of a just system, but in spite of a unjust one, and it is going to take a lot of work. Some of these victims do not yet know the struggle that awaits them. How do we tell them that they will have to mortgage their homes, sell everything they have, and begin an indefinate struggle (the average is 11 years), dedicating all their free time to this Quest of exonoration and freedom.

I used to lay awake at night tossing and turning, trying to think of a way to help these teary eyed mothers, fathers, wives , girlfriends and relatives . I had to realize that I cannot do much more than make sure that they get in contact with the proper people to help them. I steer them in the right direction, check on them once in while for a follow up and then go on in my life speaking out and writing against the death penalty. It is what I do to do my part. I cannot be a lawyer, social worker minister, counselor, psychologist, or a shoulder to cry on. We have some wonderful people in our groups who can do these jobs, and we must let them do what they do. We must each do our part and try not to punish ourselves by feeling guilty about not doing more. We do what we are qualified to do. That is our part. No one is going to single handedly abolish the death penalty, but colectivly we can and will.

I realized a long time ago that I cannot carry the sorrows of all these people and still keep my sanity. At current count there are over three thousand people on the Row. Statistics have it that one out of ten will be murdered by the state. For every eight executions there will be one exonoration of an innocent man. Although no one can say for sure how many, some of the executed will be innocent. We know these things to be true.

All we can really do is to do our job with the same devotion and dilligence we have always demonstrated.

Ron Keine

Vodicka and "The Green Wall"

VODICKA, a former army veteran and correctional officer of 17 years was brought up by his parents to have integrity, ethics, and to always tell the truth. He said his dad told him on his last breath before he lapsed into a coma "me and Mom love you, believe in you, tell the truth. (Excerpt from the story below)

This amazing story sent by Bill Pelke takes place in "America's Salad Bowl" -- Salinas--in a prison. Salinas has been characterized by the lack of affordable housing, is located roughly eight miles from the Pacific Ocean and is the hometown of famed writer John Steinbeck. This Nobel prize laureate wrote -East of Eden- , -The Grapes of Wrath- , and -Of Mice and Men- as well as many other moving novels--some which became films. Photo below to right is of this famous Salinas' author.

Steinbeck often explored the struggles of those who were down-and-out or who felt abandoned. While he exposed the near-hopeless lives of the disenfranchised he also affirmed the strength of the human spirit. He was my favorite novelist all the way through high school and college. Maybe Steinbeck was the gateway into human rights & abolition for me? I wonder if Steinbeck would have turned this story into a novel? Note by Connie

A High Price to Pay for Integrity; Interview with Donald J. Vodicka
Blowing the Whistle on California's Department of Corrections and "The Green Wall" By Dee, published Jun 17, 2008

When a prison riot between inmates and guards broke out in a maximum security facility, Salinas Valley State prison in California on Thanksgiving Day in 1998, corrections officer Donald J.Vodicka's life would be changed forever. In an attempt to document evidence of injured inmates, Vodicka was behind the camera that day. What was normal standard procedure would be shunned on by a group of guards, and Vodicka was told by other guards to get rid of the photo's and evidence of injured inmates. To cover-up evidence.

Vodicka was up against a prison guard gang known as "The Green Wall." A gang of guards whose corruption would force Vodicka into becoming a "whistleblower." A gang like any other street or prison inmate gang, with a hand signal that flashed the letter W for "wall" and some bearing tattoos, and other signs that gangs have. Named "The Green Wall" for the color of the uniforms they wore. Vodicka stated that what began as 15 members had grown to over 400, of the 600 guards and officers in Salinas Valley prison. A gang who disregarded prison codes and procedures, and whose corruption was worse than some of the inmates they were paid to guard. Vodicka said they "bullied, and instilled fear and intimidation in the prisoners."

Vodicka's intentions were never to open up a can of worms, and he didn't intend to get any of his friends in trouble, but once that can of worms was opened, Vodicka exposed a corrupt prison system in what he thought was just between the guards, but soon find out the hard way that it was only the beginning. "Higher ups" and officers from Internal Affairs were also involved. Vodicka stated that when he went to the prison union about this matter "They wouldn't talk to me and walked away." He realized at that point the seriousness of the matter.

More here

See these at same above link, all by Dee:
Interview with Sherry Swiney, Founder of the Patrick Crusade
Texas Gives Execution Date to Man Who Never Pulled the Trigger
Interview with a Condemned Man: Charles Dean Hood

Why I Oppose the Death Penalty

By Delane Sims

As an African American women living in Oakland, whose brother was murdered, I strongly oppose the death penalty. More than anything, I want to live in a safe community—a community where my six sons and my daughter are able to pursue all of theirs dreams without fear of becoming another number in the city homicide count. We live with the consistent threat that - this time - it will be one of them and not a friend or classmate that will become another Oakland victim. While I love my city, this is simply a reality faced by people of color in Oakland each day. I believe a vital step to help end this tide of fear is to end the use of the death penalty.

Why the death penalty? The death penalty is very hurtful to the minority community in Alameda County and the entire state. One reason for this is due to the tremendous cost associated with the death penalty that is draining the county budget. Every death penalty trial costs local counties $1.1 million more than a trial ending in permanent imprisonment. Every person already on death row costs state tax payers hundreds of thousands.

In total, we are paying $139 million each and every year more, for a broken death penalty system, than we would pay for those individuals condemned to permanent imprisonment instead. And now we know that rebuilding death row at San Quentin will cost nearly $400 million, plus over $1 billion to operate the facility for 20 years. While we are spending all this money on people on death row most of them end up dying of natural causes before their long delayed sentences are carried out. At this time of fiscal crisis, when every state program is being cut, just imagine what that money could buy. For example, our children in Oakland could greatly benefit from more afterschool programs, playgrounds, and other activities that can lead them to a more productive life.

People of color, specifically African-Americans and Latinos, are much more likely to be victims of murder than our white neighbors. Yet, the death penalty is reserved almost exclusively for cases where the victim is white. A statewide study by Professors Michael Radelet and Glenn Pierce on race and the death penalty found people convicted of killing a white person are three times more likely to be sentenced to death than someone convicted of killing an African-American. If the victim is Latino, the disparity grows to four times. I don’t know what causes the disparity, but it may have a lot to do with the fact that homicides of people of color are less likely to be solved than homicides of white victims. In Alameda County, where I live, only 26% of homicides were solved in 2005. Given that we can keep those on death row from returning to the streets without executions, the millions spent on death row could be better spent for more detectives to solve the many cold cases. That could begin to make those in Oakland feel a bite more safe.

But perhaps more disturbing, at least to me, that same study found that counties that are predominately white are more likely to send people to death row than counties that are diverse. Death sentencing in California is based on geography, not on a structured, evenhanded formula. Only ten counties account for 85% of death sentences since 2000 and Alameda County is one of them. The vast majority of California counties rarely or never send anyone to death row.

We should also ask how many of the 670 people on death row are in fact innocent? Thank God for DNA testing and for those that have been exonerated in the past; but have mercy on those that did not escape the clutches of a broken and unfair system. DNA evidence is only available in a small number of cases. We will never know how many innocent people we have already executed in this country, let alone how many innocent people are growing old on death row all the while praying that someone will help them.

My hope is that more people will understand how unjust the death penalty is and will call for a halt to all death penalty trials. In the meantime, the money now spent on death penalty facilities, and all monies directed towards new death penalty cases should be funneled towards resources that will strengthen our communities. The best way to do that is through funding education. Fight Crime, Invest in Kids—a law enforcement organization—found that increasing California’s high school graduation rate by 10% would prevent 500 homicides per year. They found the impact would be greatest in schools that are predominantly African-American and Latino, schools were the majority of students now do not graduate. Educating our children is not only smart policy in and of itself, it is also the most effective violence prevention program we have.

Please don’t surmise that I don’t sympathize with all the families that are victims of murder, being one myself, I certainly care. However, I would not have wanted to relive my brother’s murder over and over again, trial after trial, as happens in death penalty cases. A discovery I made in the wake of my brothers murder is that hating or failing to forgive the perpetrator allows more than one grave to be dug. The stress, pain and hurt that could riddle my body and mind just does not serve me nor honor my brother’s memory. I feel that as long as the perpetrator is permanently locked away, they will serve time in hell here on earth. My heart is with each family that has ever had to face the devastating pain of losing a loved one to a senseless crime.

We are only as strong as our weakest link. Marginalizing communities based on the color of ones skin needs to become a thing of the past - ASAP. We will come closer to that goal if we replace the death penalty with permanent imprisonment and invest the money saved in educating all our children.

Delane Sims is the owner of a nail spa in Oakland but is a social justice activist at heart. She volunteers as chair of a senior group she founded in San Leandro, is a commissioner on Aging in Alameda County, a student at Berkeley City College and is now the Death Penalty Outreach Coordinator for the ACLU of Northern California.
Posted on June 20, 2008 at California Progress Report

Witnessing an Execution; or signing up to be an executioner: You pick!

The death penalty in the United States fails to serve the American people. Capital Punishment in the United States (and around the world!) does not deliver any viable consequences. While its advocates claim that the Death Penalty is a successful deterrent, cost-effective, effective, unarbitrary and FAIR, those that oppose the death penalty realize that these arguments are simply ineffective when one looks at the amount of evidence that points to the contrary. Furthermore, we believe that the Death Penalty is an ultimate Human Rights violation, and the sanctioning of it brutalizes us all and cheapens the value of Human Life, leading to a perpetual cycle of violence. As long as the death penalty continues in the United States, we must recognize that its mere existence requires our complicity in state sponsored killing.

Whatever side of the fence someone is on and whether they like it or not, executions happen in our states and, as we can see from this summer's schedule, won't be going away too soon. But is that something that you would want to witness? On June 4th, Georgia put Curtis Osborne to death, despite Osborne's racist defense lawyer and reformed life in prison. AP writer Greg Bluestein was there to witness it, and wrote an incredibly eloquent article in which he recognized Osborne's humanity even as he was watching his death in a botched execution. You can read it here.

Testimony given by murder victim's families who have witnessed executions for closure have left them reeling over the violence inflicted on their loved one's killer. The emotional toll of watching someone die and being a witness to their death is definitely a memory, and not one that many would like to have. As the bumper sticker says, "Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?" Seems sort of like a twisted cycle and sick sense of justice, right?

A Florida DOC employee stated that any time an execution is looming, or a case is even being heard, the office receives a few dozen volunteers to play executioner. Medical and Nursing Ethics prohibit professionals from participating, so instead you can receive some state training, which is just as good! Here's the requirements for the state of Florida to be competent and experienced enough to execute: 1) Picked by warden. 2) Must be 18 or over. 3) Must get training. 4) Pay of $150. 5) Wear black hood (to prevent against retaliation and guard identity).

Sort of cheap for such a task for a public employee, right? But as Sue Carlton argues in an editorial, we don't need to hide his identity. After all, if they work for the state, shouldn't we know their identity, qualifications, and competency? Besides, with people VOLUNTEERING to EXECUTE, it doesn't seem like it would matter.

Emily
DPAC

Taken from the Death Penalty blog of ai USA, June 17th, 2008

Virginia 100th Expected, NC/VA Walk, Annual Fast &Vigil

As we move into the weekend I want to call your attention to two matters:

#1 - Next week we expect Virginia will have its 100th execution. Please think about who you know and where you will be this weekend where you can ask people of like-minds to call Governor Kaine to ask him to stop the execution.

#2 - A group of abolitionists from North Carolina and Virginia are in the midst of their walk through Virginia to the U.S. Supreme Court. They entered Virginia today at about 2pm and will be proceeding up Rt. 301 all the way into Richmond , setting a pace of about 20 miles each day.

If you would like to offer hospitality as they move north, or join with them for an hour or a day or more, please call Scott Bass at 312-401-3713. Also, they are in need of someone willing to provide and drive a support vehicle on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday as they approach Richmond. If this is something you might consider, please call Scott at 312-401-3713.

This group will double back to be with us at the prison when we protest the execution on Wednesday, and they are on their way to the 15th Annual Fast & Vigil at the US Supreme Court. They are getting good local media coverage and meeting and organizing people all along the way. Again, if you can offer support, please do.

Have an excellent weekend, and we'll be in touch next week in advance of the 100th execution. From Betty Gallagher VADP