FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, December 4, 2008
CONTACT: Kristin Houle, Executive Director
512-441-1808 (office); 202-494-3578 (cell), khoule@tcadp.org
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Releases Report on
Death Penalty Developments in 2008
"Average" Number of Executions Carried Out in Record Time as New Death Sentences Reach Lowest Level in Texas in 30 Years
(Austin, Texas) - Today the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP) released its annual report on death penalty developments statewide, in advance of the December 7 anniversary of the resumption of executions in Texas in 1982. According to the report, Texas juries newly condemned nine individuals (eight men and one woman) to death in 2008, the lowest number of new death sentences since official reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. Juries also resentenced two people to death.
A de facto moratorium on executions nationwide existed from September 26, 2007 until April 16, 2008 while the U.S. Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of the lethal injection protocol used by the majority of death penalty states. On April 16, the Court ruled in Baze v. Rees that the current protocol used by Kentucky (and other states, including Texas) does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. The decision lifted all stays in effect at the time and paved the way for the resumption of executions. Texas' first execution of the year took place on June 11, 2008, when Karl Chamberlain was put to death. The State went on to execute 17 more people in the latter half of 2008, accounting for 50% of all executions in the United States this year. Seven of those executed had been convicted in Dallas County.
"2008 can only be characterized as yet another rollercoaster year for the death penalty in Texas," said TCADP Executive Director Kristin Houle. "The state carried out a 'typical' number of executions in a record amount of time - averaging nearly one per week over a five-month period. Yet officials' zeal for executions was not matched by public desire for new death sentences, as evidenced by the continued steep decline in the number of new inmates arriving on death row."
This past year also was notable for the executions that did not occur. Six inmates with execution dates in 2008 received last-minute stays, due to concerns about possible innocence, the fairness of their trial, or issues related to mental retardation or mental illness. The case of Charles Hood, in particular, challenged the integrity of the Texas judicial system, after solid evidence confirmed that the judge who presided over his original trial was romantically linked to the prosecutor who sought his death sentence. Hood received a stay from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on September 9 on an issue unrelated to the improper relationship; his attorneys continue to seek a new trial.
Other highlights of TCADP's report, Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2008, include the following:
* In 2008, the State of Texas carried out 18 executions in 5 months. Only eight other states carried out executions this year; none executed more than four people. Texas has executed 423 people since 1982. Currently there are 354 inmates on death row in Texas - 344 men and 10 women.
* Michael Blair became the 9th inmate exonerated from death row in Texas after DNA testing failed to connect him to the crime for which he was convicted and sentenced to death.
* Seven other inmates were removed permanently from death row in 2008; their sentences were commuted to life in prison. This includes Thomas Miller-El, Johnny Paul Penry, and LaRoyce Smith, whose convictions and/or death sentences had been overturned at various junctures by the U.S. Supreme Court.
* Jurors rejected the death penalty in at least four capital murder trials in 2008, opting instead for the punishment of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
* Harris County, which accounts for more executions than any state in the country (besides Texas), did not send a single person to death row in 2008.
* Texas defied federal officials and the International Court of Justice when it executed Mexican national Jose Medellin on August 5, 2008, despite the fact that he had been denied the right to contact his consular office upon his arrest in 1993 as afforded by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
* The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana on June 25, 2008 invalidated the death penalty provision of "Jessica's Law," which the Texas Legislature passed in 2007. The Justices ruled 5-4 that the death penalty is unconstitutional as a punishment for the crime of raping a child and they effectively barred its imposition for any crime that does not take the life of the victim.
Texas already has scheduled 11 executions for the first 3 months of 2009. "Despite continued concerns about the flaws and failures of the Texas death penalty system - and growing public awareness of its fallibility - the 'conveyor belt to death' continues to operate on high gear," said Houle. "TCADP urges all elected officials to take a hard look at this costly, broken government system - a system that produces wrongful convictions and most likely wrongful executions - and to support alternatives that protect society and punish the truly guilty."
TCADP is a statewide, grassroots organization based in Austin, Texas.
Contact Kristin Houle at khoule@tcadp.org to receive a copy (of the full report) directly via email.
Please help us track media coverage of the report in your area! Send any articles, news briefs, etc. that appear in your local newspaper (either in print or online) to khoule@tcadp.org. Letters to the editor based on the information in the report and online comments in response to articles are also encouraged. Contact Kristin if you have any questions or would like to receive talking points. Thank you!
TCADP 2009 Annual Conference
Raising our Voices for Abolition, Saturday, February 21, Austin, TX
Keynote Speaker: Celeste Fitzgerald of New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Mark on your calendar and plan to attend. Support the work of your local chapter and the state organization of TCADP by attending the annual conference and learning more about ending the death penalty in Texas...
Become a member of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and support the education and advocacy work we are doing to end the death penalty in Texas. Your support is vital. Join!
Your membership supports our many educational opportunities working to end the death penalty in Texas: the mental illness and the death penalty campaign, religious outreach, "At the Death House Door" film screenings, and more. You also receive a quarterly newsletter that keeps you up to date on what is happening on the death penalty in Texas. We appreciate your generosity!
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For more information on TCADP's activities consult the TCADP website at
Here or call us in Austin at 512 441-1808!
Our postal address is
2709 S Lamar
Suite 109
Austin, Texas 78704
United States
Thursday, December 04, 2008
A Few Photos From Rome
Bill Pelke and members of the Community Sant'Egidioat a vigil in front of the Roman Coliseum
Renny Cushing, director of MVFHR and Mario Marazziti of the Sant Egidio Community prior to a group of the members of the JOH accompanying Mario to City Hall to meet the Mayor and record his statement for the Cities for Life event the following day
Bill with Billy Moore, post-Colosseum event
Bill with Celeste Fitzgerald (who coordinated the successful NJ campaign) enjoying a little time off
Montana: Fantastic Report from Jennifer Kirby, Coordinator, Montana Abolition Coalition
This note came to the participants of The Journey of Hope who were recently in Montana ... Bill says, share it...
********
Just wanted to share something with you…
We recently had a woman contact us and ask how she could be involved. Turns out that she’s the head of a major religious organization that includes a number of our key target districts. She told us that she wasn’t ever sure how she felt about the death penalty. Then she attended a Journey of Hope event and that it not only changed her mind but moved her so incredibly that she’s wanting to know how to help. The Journey of Hope didn’t just get us one volunteer though – because she presented this to her religious group and they voted to be involved. We are putting together an “action day” – where they write letters to legislators and newspapers and basically take action on this issue. So we now have gained an Action Group in target districts and we are building numbers every day. This is directly due to the work that you did in Big Sky country.
Please note this is only one example of how your work made a difference in Montana. You have helped us enormously beyond that – we are busy building such a great network off of the Journey… the momentum is just amazing. The Journey is helping us really build our contact base… because it seems that everyone that signed up helps lead us to a new group of people or a great contact or even a legislator themselves… so its very positive outcome and we couldn’t be more pleased.
On a legislative note. Elections are over and we are looking at a Republican controlled Senate and a split House of Representatives (50/50). However, we are optimistic in this. We are very happy with the legislative assignments. We are blessed in the republican controlled Senate to have such great bi-partisan support. AND the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Judiciary Committee are both Republican allies. The House Chairman is not with us (yet!) – but a majority of the House Judiciary Committee is in favor of Abolition. We have a lot of work still to do – but we head into the legislature with high hopes and a strong grassroots base (which the Journey has helped to nearly triple at this point). We remain extremely confident that we can accomplish our goal.
Just wanted to say thanks again and keep up the tremendous work!
Jen
Jennifer Kirby
Coordinator, Montana Abolition Coalition
406-461-8176
jenk@aclumontana.org
jenk@mtabolitionco.org
Photo by Jack Payden-Travers, ACLU Capital Punishment Project
********
Just wanted to share something with you…
We recently had a woman contact us and ask how she could be involved. Turns out that she’s the head of a major religious organization that includes a number of our key target districts. She told us that she wasn’t ever sure how she felt about the death penalty. Then she attended a Journey of Hope event and that it not only changed her mind but moved her so incredibly that she’s wanting to know how to help. The Journey of Hope didn’t just get us one volunteer though – because she presented this to her religious group and they voted to be involved. We are putting together an “action day” – where they write letters to legislators and newspapers and basically take action on this issue. So we now have gained an Action Group in target districts and we are building numbers every day. This is directly due to the work that you did in Big Sky country.
Please note this is only one example of how your work made a difference in Montana. You have helped us enormously beyond that – we are busy building such a great network off of the Journey… the momentum is just amazing. The Journey is helping us really build our contact base… because it seems that everyone that signed up helps lead us to a new group of people or a great contact or even a legislator themselves… so its very positive outcome and we couldn’t be more pleased.
On a legislative note. Elections are over and we are looking at a Republican controlled Senate and a split House of Representatives (50/50). However, we are optimistic in this. We are very happy with the legislative assignments. We are blessed in the republican controlled Senate to have such great bi-partisan support. AND the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Judiciary Committee are both Republican allies. The House Chairman is not with us (yet!) – but a majority of the House Judiciary Committee is in favor of Abolition. We have a lot of work still to do – but we head into the legislature with high hopes and a strong grassroots base (which the Journey has helped to nearly triple at this point). We remain extremely confident that we can accomplish our goal.
Just wanted to say thanks again and keep up the tremendous work!
Jen
Jennifer Kirby
Coordinator, Montana Abolition Coalition
406-461-8176
jenk@aclumontana.org
jenk@mtabolitionco.org
Photo by Jack Payden-Travers, ACLU Capital Punishment Project
Legislature 2009: Political shift could spell end to death penalty
Abolishing the death penalty is one of those "perennial" bills that pops up in the state Legislature every 60-day session, getting much discussion, raising emotions and eventually dying in some committee.
But with recent political changes in New Mexico, some think a death-penalty repeal stands a better chance of passing this year than in previous sessions.
Viki Elkey, coordinator of the New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty, said last week that she is more optimistic about the chances for a repeal bill this year because of two major political developments — Democratic victories in legislative races, including three state Senate seats, and the likelihood that Diane Denish and not Bill Richardson will be governor.
Richardson, who ran for president last year, was firmly opposed to abolishing the death penalty. The issue is a political hot potato and wedge issue frequently used by Republicans and other conservatives to label their opponents "soft on crime."
In 2005, when the Legislature was considering a repeal bill, national pundit Larry Sabato said Richardson couldn't afford to back such a measure. That bill is deadly to his campaign if he becomes a candidate for president," said Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "It's a no-win proposition for him. He needs to make certain that bill never makes it to his desk."
It didn't. The bill died in the Senate Judiciary Committee when a Democratic senator who previously had supported the bill changed his vote. The same bill met a similar fate in the 2007 session.
But Elkey said Denish — who will become governor if Richardson, as expected, gets appointed as secretary of commerce — is far more sympathetic to a repeal.
A spokeswoman for Denish, asked Tuesday about the lieutenant governor's position on the death penalty, declined comment.
Elkey said Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, once again will carry the legislation. Chasey has sponsored death-penalty bills in the past several 60-day sessions.
Another political change that might affect a death-penalty bill is the fact that there probably will be at least one less district attorney lobbying against it this time. In past sessions, Santa Fe District Attorney Henry Valdez has been on hand to lobby in favor of keeping capital punishment as an option.
But in January, Valdez will no longer be in office and his replacement, Angela "Spence" Pacheco, might not be taking up the cause to keep capital punishment. Pacheco couldn't be reached for comment, but in a May interview, she told The New Mexican she wasn't certain about whether she'd seek the death penalty in cases she prosecutes. "There has been so much in the news lately about innocent people being sent to death," she said. "It's the final punishment, and we have to be so careful we don't kill an innocent person. I would have to look at it very hard before I'd charge it."
In 1991, Pacheco was part of the prosecution team in the death penalty case against Ricky Abeyta in what was called "The Chimayó Massacre." Abeyta was convicted of seven homicides and sentenced to more than 120 years in prison. But the jury decided against imposing capital punishment.
As in previous years, the new bill would establish a penalty of "life in prison without the possibility of parole." Under current law, those who receive life sentences are eligible for parole after 30 years of incarceration.
Also, as in previous attempts to pass the bill, Elkey said most of the people testifying in committees for the bill will be people whose family members have been murdered.
The Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty is an umbrella group that represents dozens of churches, religious organizations, legal and medical associations, and social-activist groups.
New Mexico is one of 36 states with a capital punishment law. The number slowly is going down. Last year, New Jersey became the latest to repeal its death-penalty law, replacing the sentence of execution with life without parole.
Two people are on death row in New Mexico. Timothy Allen of Bloomfield was convicted in 1995 of first-degree murder, rape and kidnapping. Robert Fry of Farmington was convicted in 2002 of two counts of first-degree murder; two counts of kidnapping; one count of rape; two counts of tampering with evidence; and a count of attempted robbery with a deadly weapon.
In Santa Fe, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against John La Bombard, 35, and Justin Romero, 26. Both are charged with murdering Frank Segura in the Santa Fe National Forest in July.
Nine convicted murderers in New Mexico have died in the electric chair, the gas chamber and by lethal injection since the state Corrections Department began conducting executions in 1933. Before that year, executions were handled by individual county sheriffs in New Mexico.
The most recent execution was that of Terry Clark, a confessed child killer and rapist from Artesia. He was lethally injected in November 2001, becoming New Mexico's first legal execution in 41 years.
In New Mexico, serious questions have arisen about at least two men executed by the state — Louis Young in 1947 and Thomas Johnson in 1933. Both were black men convicted of murdering white women in Santa Fe. The Johnson case was the subject of a 2002 book by Ralph Melnick called Justice Betrayed: A Double Killing in Old Santa Fe.
In the past, abolition advocates have brought people who have been wrongly put on death row to the Legislature to talk with lawmakers. One who came in 2005 was Ron Keine, a former member of the Vagos motorcycle gang who was sentenced to death for an Albuquerque murder in the 1970s only to be exonerated a few years later when the true killer confessed. Keine, years after his release, became an official in his local Republican Party in Michigan.
Juan Melendez, who spent nearly 18 years on death row in a Florida prison until he was exonerated, has come to the state at least twice to lobby against the death penalty. Melendez now lives in the state and is involved in a theatrical presentation dealing with the death penalty.
(Steve Terrell | The New Mexican)
But with recent political changes in New Mexico, some think a death-penalty repeal stands a better chance of passing this year than in previous sessions.
Viki Elkey, coordinator of the New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty, said last week that she is more optimistic about the chances for a repeal bill this year because of two major political developments — Democratic victories in legislative races, including three state Senate seats, and the likelihood that Diane Denish and not Bill Richardson will be governor.
Richardson, who ran for president last year, was firmly opposed to abolishing the death penalty. The issue is a political hot potato and wedge issue frequently used by Republicans and other conservatives to label their opponents "soft on crime."
In 2005, when the Legislature was considering a repeal bill, national pundit Larry Sabato said Richardson couldn't afford to back such a measure. That bill is deadly to his campaign if he becomes a candidate for president," said Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "It's a no-win proposition for him. He needs to make certain that bill never makes it to his desk."
It didn't. The bill died in the Senate Judiciary Committee when a Democratic senator who previously had supported the bill changed his vote. The same bill met a similar fate in the 2007 session.
But Elkey said Denish — who will become governor if Richardson, as expected, gets appointed as secretary of commerce — is far more sympathetic to a repeal.
A spokeswoman for Denish, asked Tuesday about the lieutenant governor's position on the death penalty, declined comment.
Elkey said Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, once again will carry the legislation. Chasey has sponsored death-penalty bills in the past several 60-day sessions.
Another political change that might affect a death-penalty bill is the fact that there probably will be at least one less district attorney lobbying against it this time. In past sessions, Santa Fe District Attorney Henry Valdez has been on hand to lobby in favor of keeping capital punishment as an option.
But in January, Valdez will no longer be in office and his replacement, Angela "Spence" Pacheco, might not be taking up the cause to keep capital punishment. Pacheco couldn't be reached for comment, but in a May interview, she told The New Mexican she wasn't certain about whether she'd seek the death penalty in cases she prosecutes. "There has been so much in the news lately about innocent people being sent to death," she said. "It's the final punishment, and we have to be so careful we don't kill an innocent person. I would have to look at it very hard before I'd charge it."
In 1991, Pacheco was part of the prosecution team in the death penalty case against Ricky Abeyta in what was called "The Chimayó Massacre." Abeyta was convicted of seven homicides and sentenced to more than 120 years in prison. But the jury decided against imposing capital punishment.
As in previous years, the new bill would establish a penalty of "life in prison without the possibility of parole." Under current law, those who receive life sentences are eligible for parole after 30 years of incarceration.
Also, as in previous attempts to pass the bill, Elkey said most of the people testifying in committees for the bill will be people whose family members have been murdered.
The Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty is an umbrella group that represents dozens of churches, religious organizations, legal and medical associations, and social-activist groups.
New Mexico is one of 36 states with a capital punishment law. The number slowly is going down. Last year, New Jersey became the latest to repeal its death-penalty law, replacing the sentence of execution with life without parole.
Two people are on death row in New Mexico. Timothy Allen of Bloomfield was convicted in 1995 of first-degree murder, rape and kidnapping. Robert Fry of Farmington was convicted in 2002 of two counts of first-degree murder; two counts of kidnapping; one count of rape; two counts of tampering with evidence; and a count of attempted robbery with a deadly weapon.
In Santa Fe, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against John La Bombard, 35, and Justin Romero, 26. Both are charged with murdering Frank Segura in the Santa Fe National Forest in July.
Nine convicted murderers in New Mexico have died in the electric chair, the gas chamber and by lethal injection since the state Corrections Department began conducting executions in 1933. Before that year, executions were handled by individual county sheriffs in New Mexico.
The most recent execution was that of Terry Clark, a confessed child killer and rapist from Artesia. He was lethally injected in November 2001, becoming New Mexico's first legal execution in 41 years.
In New Mexico, serious questions have arisen about at least two men executed by the state — Louis Young in 1947 and Thomas Johnson in 1933. Both were black men convicted of murdering white women in Santa Fe. The Johnson case was the subject of a 2002 book by Ralph Melnick called Justice Betrayed: A Double Killing in Old Santa Fe.
In the past, abolition advocates have brought people who have been wrongly put on death row to the Legislature to talk with lawmakers. One who came in 2005 was Ron Keine, a former member of the Vagos motorcycle gang who was sentenced to death for an Albuquerque murder in the 1970s only to be exonerated a few years later when the true killer confessed. Keine, years after his release, became an official in his local Republican Party in Michigan.
Juan Melendez, who spent nearly 18 years on death row in a Florida prison until he was exonerated, has come to the state at least twice to lobby against the death penalty. Melendez now lives in the state and is involved in a theatrical presentation dealing with the death penalty.
(Steve Terrell | The New Mexican)
A message from Ron Keine
Some times an old adage really rings true. Like the one that says that if you look hard enough, you can find something you like about any human being. In the case of New Mexico's Governor Bill Richardson, that one thing is his much celebrated and anticipated absence.
President-elect Barack Obama named New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as commerce secretary on Wednesday.
As Governor Richardson packs his saddlebags for Washington, Abolitionists all over New Mexico are saying "Good riddance". Now that the beautiful state is disencumbered of one of the worst pro death penalty proponents the state has even known, abolition looks almost eminent. Bill Richardson, almost single handedly, circumvented every effort by the New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty and other fine abolitionists. It could very well be the Next state to abolish the death penalty.
Note: Jenifer Kirby of the Montana Coalition believes that Montana is so close that it may be the next to abolish. Let us not forget also that Maryland may well surprise all of us.
Stepping up to the plate as Governor Of New Mexico is Lieutenant Governor Diane D. Denish who is against the death penalty. Maybe now we have someone who will do the right thing.
Ron Keine
President-elect Barack Obama named New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as commerce secretary on Wednesday.
As Governor Richardson packs his saddlebags for Washington, Abolitionists all over New Mexico are saying "Good riddance". Now that the beautiful state is disencumbered of one of the worst pro death penalty proponents the state has even known, abolition looks almost eminent. Bill Richardson, almost single handedly, circumvented every effort by the New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty and other fine abolitionists. It could very well be the Next state to abolish the death penalty.
Note: Jenifer Kirby of the Montana Coalition believes that Montana is so close that it may be the next to abolish. Let us not forget also that Maryland may well surprise all of us.
Stepping up to the plate as Governor Of New Mexico is Lieutenant Governor Diane D. Denish who is against the death penalty. Maybe now we have someone who will do the right thing.
Ron Keine
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
A former police officer and military police officer speaks out
I spent 10 years as a law enforcement officer, including seven in the Baltimore Police Department. So I am no stranger to violence.
Indeed, my years surrounded by senseless crime filled me with outrage and the desire for revenge — including the death penalty.
But I have learned a lot since then, including the scary fact that a single mistake could be mean the execution of an innocent person.
As someone who has dedicated my life to enforcing the law, I can't live with that. I testified before the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment this fall, sharing my journey from death penalty supporter to a supporter of repeal. And last month the Commission validated my experience by voting for the same - the repeal of Maryland's death penalty. It was a smart decision and I hope the legislature will move quickly to enact it.
As I said, my opposition to the death penalty evolved. During my years in Vietnam and later as a military policeman in Louisiana, I was exposed to violence as a matter of routine. My anger at those who would harm innocent people boiled over. Then, working in some of the poorest and crime-ridden neighborhoods of Baltimore only strengthened my feeling that some people were simply beyond redemption. It was a fairly simple conclusion for me to think that the most evil people in our society deserved the death penalty. In my view, those who opposed it were muddleheaded, knee-jerk liberals who were just plain wrong.
I felt that way until about ten years ago. The last decade has seen a broad shift in public opinion on the death penalty, and I was not immune to the new information that was coming out about innocent people being sentenced to death. I was also struck by a talk on the death penalty by then Archbishop of Baltimore, William Cardinal Keeler, when he spoke at a mass at my parish in Towson. I realized then that I had to learn more.
I read about Kirk Noble Bloodsworth — a man sentenced to die in Maryland for a crime he did not commit. I could not begin to imagine the absolute horror of languishing on death row an innocent man. I could not imagine the anticipation of being lifted onto a gurney, strapped down and injected with a combination of lethal drugs by an incompetent nurse's aide — knowing all the time that I had done nothing wrong.
As I read about Mr. Bloodsworth and other innocent people that came close to execution, my doubts about the death penalty grew. Human beings are simply not right 100 percent of the time. No amount of reforms, technological advances, or legal procedures can undo that fact. If the death penalty remains, some state, perhaps even our state, will kill an innocent person. Can we live with that?
Like many people, I have struggled to make sense of this issue. The death penalty seems like a proportionate punishment for a grievous crime. At least it brings justice to victims in the face of evil. But does it? My religion teaches that the path to true peace is through forgiveness. John Paul II traveled to an Italian prison to forgive the man who shot him. The death penalty keeps us from following that noble example. It certainly does not bring back or even honor the dead. It also does not ennoble the living. It does nothing to assuage the sorrow of the victim's loved ones. In fact, as I sat through the commission hearings waiting to testify, I heard from victims' families who said the opposite — that the death penalty's uncertainty only brought them more grief.
The closer you look at it, the less the death penalty makes any sense. As the Maryland commission found, the risk of executing an innocent person is just too high to justify maintaining a punishment that does not deter, costs too much, and harms victims' families.
And as a former police officer, I would add that the death penalty is not needed to protect the public. It is time for Maryland to make the common-sense choice and replace the death penalty with life without parole.
Michael May, of Rodgers Forge, is an attorney and formerly served as a Baltimore City police officer and a military police officer.
Source: Baltimore Examiner
Indeed, my years surrounded by senseless crime filled me with outrage and the desire for revenge — including the death penalty.
But I have learned a lot since then, including the scary fact that a single mistake could be mean the execution of an innocent person.
As someone who has dedicated my life to enforcing the law, I can't live with that. I testified before the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment this fall, sharing my journey from death penalty supporter to a supporter of repeal. And last month the Commission validated my experience by voting for the same - the repeal of Maryland's death penalty. It was a smart decision and I hope the legislature will move quickly to enact it.
As I said, my opposition to the death penalty evolved. During my years in Vietnam and later as a military policeman in Louisiana, I was exposed to violence as a matter of routine. My anger at those who would harm innocent people boiled over. Then, working in some of the poorest and crime-ridden neighborhoods of Baltimore only strengthened my feeling that some people were simply beyond redemption. It was a fairly simple conclusion for me to think that the most evil people in our society deserved the death penalty. In my view, those who opposed it were muddleheaded, knee-jerk liberals who were just plain wrong.
I felt that way until about ten years ago. The last decade has seen a broad shift in public opinion on the death penalty, and I was not immune to the new information that was coming out about innocent people being sentenced to death. I was also struck by a talk on the death penalty by then Archbishop of Baltimore, William Cardinal Keeler, when he spoke at a mass at my parish in Towson. I realized then that I had to learn more.
I read about Kirk Noble Bloodsworth — a man sentenced to die in Maryland for a crime he did not commit. I could not begin to imagine the absolute horror of languishing on death row an innocent man. I could not imagine the anticipation of being lifted onto a gurney, strapped down and injected with a combination of lethal drugs by an incompetent nurse's aide — knowing all the time that I had done nothing wrong.
As I read about Mr. Bloodsworth and other innocent people that came close to execution, my doubts about the death penalty grew. Human beings are simply not right 100 percent of the time. No amount of reforms, technological advances, or legal procedures can undo that fact. If the death penalty remains, some state, perhaps even our state, will kill an innocent person. Can we live with that?
Like many people, I have struggled to make sense of this issue. The death penalty seems like a proportionate punishment for a grievous crime. At least it brings justice to victims in the face of evil. But does it? My religion teaches that the path to true peace is through forgiveness. John Paul II traveled to an Italian prison to forgive the man who shot him. The death penalty keeps us from following that noble example. It certainly does not bring back or even honor the dead. It also does not ennoble the living. It does nothing to assuage the sorrow of the victim's loved ones. In fact, as I sat through the commission hearings waiting to testify, I heard from victims' families who said the opposite — that the death penalty's uncertainty only brought them more grief.
The closer you look at it, the less the death penalty makes any sense. As the Maryland commission found, the risk of executing an innocent person is just too high to justify maintaining a punishment that does not deter, costs too much, and harms victims' families.
And as a former police officer, I would add that the death penalty is not needed to protect the public. It is time for Maryland to make the common-sense choice and replace the death penalty with life without parole.
Michael May, of Rodgers Forge, is an attorney and formerly served as a Baltimore City police officer and a military police officer.
Source: Baltimore Examiner
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Greetings from Rome: Bill
Hello,
I am in Rome with the St. Egidio Community for the celebration for the Cities for Life.
Yesterday I spoke at the Law University in Palermo Sicily to about 150 students. There are Journey members speakers spread across Europe at this time. Bud Welch, Marietta Jaeger Lane, Art Laffin, Curtis McCarty, Shujaa Graham, Renny Cushing, George White, Dave Atwood and myself.
The St Egidio Community is a wonderful group of people dedicated to the abolition of the death penalty and other important causes.
Celeste Fitzgerald and Billy Neal Moore also are speaking in Italy. Elizabeth Zitron, from California is also representing the World Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty of which the Journey of Hope is a founding member. There have been numerous interviews with various media sources also. On Saturday evening the was a large conference which concluded with a demonstration at the Roman Coliseum which was lit up in honor of St. Egidio special celebration in which over 900 cities throughout the world lit up special monuments in various cities throughout the world who are calling for world wide abolition of the death penalty...
This is my fifth trip to Italy for this special celebration. A main goal during these days are to gather signatures from students in high schools and colleges throughout Europe.
More later.
Peace,
Bill
I am in Rome with the St. Egidio Community for the celebration for the Cities for Life.
Yesterday I spoke at the Law University in Palermo Sicily to about 150 students. There are Journey members speakers spread across Europe at this time. Bud Welch, Marietta Jaeger Lane, Art Laffin, Curtis McCarty, Shujaa Graham, Renny Cushing, George White, Dave Atwood and myself.
The St Egidio Community is a wonderful group of people dedicated to the abolition of the death penalty and other important causes.
Celeste Fitzgerald and Billy Neal Moore also are speaking in Italy. Elizabeth Zitron, from California is also representing the World Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty of which the Journey of Hope is a founding member. There have been numerous interviews with various media sources also. On Saturday evening the was a large conference which concluded with a demonstration at the Roman Coliseum which was lit up in honor of St. Egidio special celebration in which over 900 cities throughout the world lit up special monuments in various cities throughout the world who are calling for world wide abolition of the death penalty...
This is my fifth trip to Italy for this special celebration. A main goal during these days are to gather signatures from students in high schools and colleges throughout Europe.
More later.
Peace,
Bill
(in) ITALY: Former death-row inmates say death penalty immoral, not a deterrent
Curtis E. McCarty says he is not a religious man, but he admires people whose faith leads them to work for the abolition of the death penalty.
William Moore is an ordained Pentecostal minister, who knows that asking for and receiving forgiveness literally is liberating.
The two men, who were in Rome for a Nov. 29 international conference on abolishing the death penalty, are former death-row inmates.
The conference where they spoke was sponsored by the Sant'Egidio Community, a Rome-based lay group that has been actively involved in the campaign to promote a global moratorium on capital executions and the eventual abolition of the death penalty.
Before leaving Rome to continue a speaking tour around Italy, the 2 men spoke Dec. 1 to Catholic News Service. They were joined by David Atwood, the Catholic founder and president of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
McCarty was freed in May 2007 after DNA and other forensic evidence proved he was not guilty of the 1982 murder for which he was convicted and sentenced to die. He had been in prison for almost 22 years -- half his life -- and spent 19 years on death row.
Moore had pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to death in 1974. After Moore converted and apologized to the victim's family, the family began lobbying the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole to commute his sentence to life in prison. And the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a death-penalty opponent, spoke to the head of the board. The sentence was commuted in 1990 and he was paroled in 1991.
McCarty said that since February he has been traveling and speaking, "trying to change a few minds."
He believes the death penalty is always wrong.
"It is immoral, first and foremost," he said. "It sounds cliched because you hear it so often, but you don't teach people that killing people is wrong by killing people. It's illogical and it's immoral."
"There is just no justification for taking that man, who is now himself defenseless and caged, helpless, and killing him. It serves no purpose. None," McCarty said.
McCarty said he is proud of the religious people involved in the fight against the death penalty; "they are being true to their faith, not just paying lip service to their faith. I have respect for them, unlike the large portion of the religious community in America that speaks rather loudly about the right to life and the sanctity of life," but supports the execution "of caged men who pose no harm to anybody."
The unjustly convicted McCarty, the forgiven Moore and the activist Atwood know people want to believe the death penalty is a deterrent to crime, but none of them buys it.
"There's not a person alive who does not know what will happen to them if they get caught," McCarty said. "People who commit crimes don't think they are going to get caught. It's a universal mindset."
Moore said, "Getting caught is not part of their plan. Every criminal I've talked to didn't plan to get caught, so the punishment of the death penalty never comes into the equation."
Atwood, who started visiting death-row inmates in the late 1980s and has witnessed three executions, said that after talking to the prisoners, even those who were obviously guilty, "I had no problem seeing that all life is sacred. The sacredness of human life applies to everyone."
Texas has executed 18 prisoners this year and 423 since 1982, he said. "Has it helped anything? Has it made Texas any safer? Not at all."
After 423 executions, he said, "if the death penalty was a deterrent, we would not have any murders in Texas."
Atwood's wife, Priscilla, said, "All life is sacred; all life. That means that it is wrong that people should live in poverty. It is wrong that people should suffer from wars. The death penalty is wrong, just as abortion is. I don't think Jesus ever said, 'This life is more valuable than that life.'"
(source: Catholic News Service)
William Moore is an ordained Pentecostal minister, who knows that asking for and receiving forgiveness literally is liberating.
The two men, who were in Rome for a Nov. 29 international conference on abolishing the death penalty, are former death-row inmates.
The conference where they spoke was sponsored by the Sant'Egidio Community, a Rome-based lay group that has been actively involved in the campaign to promote a global moratorium on capital executions and the eventual abolition of the death penalty.
Before leaving Rome to continue a speaking tour around Italy, the 2 men spoke Dec. 1 to Catholic News Service. They were joined by David Atwood, the Catholic founder and president of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
McCarty was freed in May 2007 after DNA and other forensic evidence proved he was not guilty of the 1982 murder for which he was convicted and sentenced to die. He had been in prison for almost 22 years -- half his life -- and spent 19 years on death row.
Moore had pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to death in 1974. After Moore converted and apologized to the victim's family, the family began lobbying the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole to commute his sentence to life in prison. And the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a death-penalty opponent, spoke to the head of the board. The sentence was commuted in 1990 and he was paroled in 1991.
McCarty said that since February he has been traveling and speaking, "trying to change a few minds."
He believes the death penalty is always wrong.
"It is immoral, first and foremost," he said. "It sounds cliched because you hear it so often, but you don't teach people that killing people is wrong by killing people. It's illogical and it's immoral."
"There is just no justification for taking that man, who is now himself defenseless and caged, helpless, and killing him. It serves no purpose. None," McCarty said.
McCarty said he is proud of the religious people involved in the fight against the death penalty; "they are being true to their faith, not just paying lip service to their faith. I have respect for them, unlike the large portion of the religious community in America that speaks rather loudly about the right to life and the sanctity of life," but supports the execution "of caged men who pose no harm to anybody."
The unjustly convicted McCarty, the forgiven Moore and the activist Atwood know people want to believe the death penalty is a deterrent to crime, but none of them buys it.
"There's not a person alive who does not know what will happen to them if they get caught," McCarty said. "People who commit crimes don't think they are going to get caught. It's a universal mindset."
Moore said, "Getting caught is not part of their plan. Every criminal I've talked to didn't plan to get caught, so the punishment of the death penalty never comes into the equation."
Atwood, who started visiting death-row inmates in the late 1980s and has witnessed three executions, said that after talking to the prisoners, even those who were obviously guilty, "I had no problem seeing that all life is sacred. The sacredness of human life applies to everyone."
Texas has executed 18 prisoners this year and 423 since 1982, he said. "Has it helped anything? Has it made Texas any safer? Not at all."
After 423 executions, he said, "if the death penalty was a deterrent, we would not have any murders in Texas."
Atwood's wife, Priscilla, said, "All life is sacred; all life. That means that it is wrong that people should live in poverty. It is wrong that people should suffer from wars. The death penalty is wrong, just as abortion is. I don't think Jesus ever said, 'This life is more valuable than that life.'"
(source: Catholic News Service)
Only 12 % of Texas law enforcement agencies have reasonable lineup policies
New Study Documents Lack of Lineup Polices in Texas Law Enforcement Agencies
Austin, T.X. (originally released November 18, 2008) - The Justice Project (recently) released a new report documenting that only 12% of Texas law enforcement agencies have any written policies or guidelines for the conduct of photo or live lineup procedures. In addition, the few existing written procedures are often vague and incomplete. Overall, most jurisdictions in Texas fail to implement widely endorsed best practices that have been proven to increase the reliability of eyewitness evidence.
Eighty-two percent of Texas’s 38 wrongful convictions exposed by DNA testing were based largely or exclusively on incorrect eyewitness identifications. Texas currently has no statutory requirements for the conduct of eyewitness identification procedures.
To evaluate Texas law enforcement agencies’ adoption of eyewitness identification best practices, the Justice Project (TJP) requested a copy of all written policies regarding photographic and live lineups from over 1000 law enforcement agencies across the state under the Public Information Act. Scientific research has shown that eyewitness evidence, like trace physical evidence, can be tainted or ruined if not collected carefully according to scientifically informed protocols. Organizations such as The United States Department of Justice, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the American Bar Association have recommended best practices for the conduct of eyewitness lineup procedures. TJP evaluated existing policies in four key areas:
* The quality of cautionary instructions provided to the eyewitness;
* Guidelines to ensure fairness in the composition of lineups;
* Blind administration of the lineup by an officer unaware of the identity of the suspect, or equivalent procedure for ensuring neutral lineup administration; and
* Comprehensive documentation of the identification procedure, including witness confidence.
TJP found that only 7% or less of all departments have written policies in each of these areas in line with widely endorsed best practices designed to minimize eyewitness error. The full research report is available
Here
“Photo and live lineups are critical moments in police investigations,” said Edwin Colfax, director of state projects at The Justice Project. “Given the fragile nature of eyewitness evidence and its documented role in wrongful convictions, it is essential that Texas require police to adopt written policies that include key reforms for ensuring the most reliable evidence possible.”
The Justice Project is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works to improve the fairness and accuracy of the criminal justice system. Last year TJP published “Eyewitness Identification, A Policy Review - TJP is based in Washington, D.C. and opened an office in Austin, Texas in 2006.
Article printed from The Justice Project
Copyright © 2008 thejusticeproject dot org. All rights reserved.
Austin, T.X. (originally released November 18, 2008) - The Justice Project (recently) released a new report documenting that only 12% of Texas law enforcement agencies have any written policies or guidelines for the conduct of photo or live lineup procedures. In addition, the few existing written procedures are often vague and incomplete. Overall, most jurisdictions in Texas fail to implement widely endorsed best practices that have been proven to increase the reliability of eyewitness evidence.
Eighty-two percent of Texas’s 38 wrongful convictions exposed by DNA testing were based largely or exclusively on incorrect eyewitness identifications. Texas currently has no statutory requirements for the conduct of eyewitness identification procedures.
To evaluate Texas law enforcement agencies’ adoption of eyewitness identification best practices, the Justice Project (TJP) requested a copy of all written policies regarding photographic and live lineups from over 1000 law enforcement agencies across the state under the Public Information Act. Scientific research has shown that eyewitness evidence, like trace physical evidence, can be tainted or ruined if not collected carefully according to scientifically informed protocols. Organizations such as The United States Department of Justice, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the American Bar Association have recommended best practices for the conduct of eyewitness lineup procedures. TJP evaluated existing policies in four key areas:
* The quality of cautionary instructions provided to the eyewitness;
* Guidelines to ensure fairness in the composition of lineups;
* Blind administration of the lineup by an officer unaware of the identity of the suspect, or equivalent procedure for ensuring neutral lineup administration; and
* Comprehensive documentation of the identification procedure, including witness confidence.
TJP found that only 7% or less of all departments have written policies in each of these areas in line with widely endorsed best practices designed to minimize eyewitness error. The full research report is available
Here
“Photo and live lineups are critical moments in police investigations,” said Edwin Colfax, director of state projects at The Justice Project. “Given the fragile nature of eyewitness evidence and its documented role in wrongful convictions, it is essential that Texas require police to adopt written policies that include key reforms for ensuring the most reliable evidence possible.”
The Justice Project is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works to improve the fairness and accuracy of the criminal justice system. Last year TJP published “Eyewitness Identification, A Policy Review - TJP is based in Washington, D.C. and opened an office in Austin, Texas in 2006.
Article printed from The Justice Project
Copyright © 2008 thejusticeproject dot org. All rights reserved.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Various Religions' Official Positions on The Death Penalty
See the Pew Forum Document with many links...Go
Here
Here
Saturday, November 29, 2008
North Carolina: Justice Obstructed
Regarding your Nov. 18 article "Correction officials, doctors set to argue:"
The group that licenses and sanctions physicians has challenged the state concerning a doctor's participation in the lethal injection process. For those who weren't there, both parties agreed that the state statutes require a doctor's presence at all executions.
I recently witnessed arguments made in the Justice Building in Raleigh that reduced the N.C. Medical Board's case against the N.C. Department of Correction concerning a doctor's role in executions to a disagreement over the word "present." Lawyers (for the doctors) meant to suggest that "present" the way that it is used by students during roll call should mean only "here" while failing to acknowledge that, as long as a student is in the classroom, behaviors such as not paying attention or sleeping are not usually tolerated. I submit that once you enter a classroom, there is also a shared expectation (between teachers and students) that each will respond or be available for the tasks at hand (participate).
2 years have passed since the last execution of a capital murderer in North Carolina. Justice remains obstructed. The courts have decided little. In the meantime or until this matter is settled, so much for public safety -- and for justice.
Wayne Uber----Chapel Hill
(source: Letter to the Editor, News & Observer)
The group that licenses and sanctions physicians has challenged the state concerning a doctor's participation in the lethal injection process. For those who weren't there, both parties agreed that the state statutes require a doctor's presence at all executions.
I recently witnessed arguments made in the Justice Building in Raleigh that reduced the N.C. Medical Board's case against the N.C. Department of Correction concerning a doctor's role in executions to a disagreement over the word "present." Lawyers (for the doctors) meant to suggest that "present" the way that it is used by students during roll call should mean only "here" while failing to acknowledge that, as long as a student is in the classroom, behaviors such as not paying attention or sleeping are not usually tolerated. I submit that once you enter a classroom, there is also a shared expectation (between teachers and students) that each will respond or be available for the tasks at hand (participate).
2 years have passed since the last execution of a capital murderer in North Carolina. Justice remains obstructed. The courts have decided little. In the meantime or until this matter is settled, so much for public safety -- and for justice.
Wayne Uber----Chapel Hill
(source: Letter to the Editor, News & Observer)
Jamaica Vote Backs Death Penalty
Excerpt from article: "Opposition politician DK Duncan warned that the measure could lead to further violence, similar to what happened in the 1970s when the government authorised police to enter homes without a warrant. 'All that did was allow policemen to kick down people's doors, scare children and destroy lives,' he said, 'It developed a culture of brutality, and we have to take responsibility that Jamaica has come to this.' "
Wednesday, November 26 12:20 pm
Jamaica Vote Backs Death Penalty
Jamaica's parliament has voted to keep the death penalty, which has not been used for 20 years, despite pressure to abolish it.
Recent governments in the Caribbean nation have been reluctant to issue death warrants and the last execution was in 1988.
Human rights groups say the death penalty does not deter crime and called on the government to focus on attacking poverty and reforming the justice system instead.
But there have been demands for executions in the past few months, even by members of the clergy, after a young girl was beheaded and an 11-year-old boy's dismembered body was found in a rubbish bag.
The ruling Labour Party vowed to address the issue when it came to power 15 months ago.
Jamaica's House of Representatives voted 34-15 in favour of keeping capital punishment, with 10 abstentions.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding pledged to resume executions in response to the country's high murder rate, which has repeatedly been ranked among the worst in the world.
Opposition politician DK Duncan warned that the measure could lead to further violence, similar to what happened in the 1970s when the government authorised police to enter homes without a warrant.
"All that did was allow policemen to kick down people's doors, scare children and destroy lives," he said.
"It developed a culture of brutality, and we have to take responsibility that Jamaica has come to this."
More than 1,240 killings have been reported this year in the island of 3 million people, with a total of 1,400 murders last year.
In comparison, Chicago, a city of about 2.8 million residents, reported 443 murders in 2007.
Wednesday, November 26 12:20 pm
Jamaica Vote Backs Death Penalty
Jamaica's parliament has voted to keep the death penalty, which has not been used for 20 years, despite pressure to abolish it.
Recent governments in the Caribbean nation have been reluctant to issue death warrants and the last execution was in 1988.
Human rights groups say the death penalty does not deter crime and called on the government to focus on attacking poverty and reforming the justice system instead.
But there have been demands for executions in the past few months, even by members of the clergy, after a young girl was beheaded and an 11-year-old boy's dismembered body was found in a rubbish bag.
The ruling Labour Party vowed to address the issue when it came to power 15 months ago.
Jamaica's House of Representatives voted 34-15 in favour of keeping capital punishment, with 10 abstentions.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding pledged to resume executions in response to the country's high murder rate, which has repeatedly been ranked among the worst in the world.
Opposition politician DK Duncan warned that the measure could lead to further violence, similar to what happened in the 1970s when the government authorised police to enter homes without a warrant.
"All that did was allow policemen to kick down people's doors, scare children and destroy lives," he said.
"It developed a culture of brutality, and we have to take responsibility that Jamaica has come to this."
More than 1,240 killings have been reported this year in the island of 3 million people, with a total of 1,400 murders last year.
In comparison, Chicago, a city of about 2.8 million residents, reported 443 murders in 2007.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
American Majority (Still) Endorses the Death Penalty
American Majority Endorses the Death Penalty
Many adults in the United States remain in favour of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder, according to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today. 64 % of respondents agree with this rationale, down 5 points in a year.
Since 1976, 1,135 people have been put to death in the United States, including 22 this year. More than 1/3 of all executions have taken place in the state of Texas. 14 states and the District of Columbia do not engage in capital punishment.
On Nov. 20, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee voted 105-48 to call for a worldwide moratorium on capital punishment. The resolution is not mandatory, and opponents may refuse to implement it by invoking their national sovereignty.
Italy's ambassador to the UN Guilio Terzi declared: "This years increase in the number of votes cast in favour of the resolution reaching the unprecedented figure of 105 shows the growing support among the membership on an issue to which Italy and its European partners attach a great deal of importance."
Polling Data
Are you in favour of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder?
Oct. 2008 Oct. 2007 May 2006
In favour 64% 69% 65%
Opposed 30% 27% 28%
Not sure 6% 4% 7%
(source: Gallup / USA Today)
[Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,011 American adults, conducted from Oct. 3 to Oct. 5, 2008. Margin of error is 3 %.]
(source: Angus Reid Global Monitor)
Many adults in the United States remain in favour of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder, according to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today. 64 % of respondents agree with this rationale, down 5 points in a year.
Since 1976, 1,135 people have been put to death in the United States, including 22 this year. More than 1/3 of all executions have taken place in the state of Texas. 14 states and the District of Columbia do not engage in capital punishment.
On Nov. 20, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee voted 105-48 to call for a worldwide moratorium on capital punishment. The resolution is not mandatory, and opponents may refuse to implement it by invoking their national sovereignty.
Italy's ambassador to the UN Guilio Terzi declared: "This years increase in the number of votes cast in favour of the resolution reaching the unprecedented figure of 105 shows the growing support among the membership on an issue to which Italy and its European partners attach a great deal of importance."
Polling Data
Are you in favour of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder?
Oct. 2008 Oct. 2007 May 2006
In favour 64% 69% 65%
Opposed 30% 27% 28%
Not sure 6% 4% 7%
(source: Gallup / USA Today)
[Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,011 American adults, conducted from Oct. 3 to Oct. 5, 2008. Margin of error is 3 %.]
(source: Angus Reid Global Monitor)
Monday, November 24, 2008
Sister Helen Prejean, recipient of the 2008 World Methodist Peace Award
Sister Helen Prejean, recipient of the 2008 World Methodist Peace Award, is congratulated April 2 by the Rev. John Barrett (from left), Bishop William Hutchinson and the Rev. George Freeman. UMNS photos by Betty Backstrom.
Note & Intro (from JOH blogger, Connie): This article is posted here now because we are drawing close to the 60th anniversary of The Declaration of Human Rights (December 10, 2008) so how fitting to remember various awards and groups who have chosen to honor abolitionists during the last year - along with the people they have honored, of course.
Sister Helen is a heroine among us if there ever was one. Many may not have known of this award who have some awareness of Sister Helen's work. If you go to her website, you will find many more. She has been a longtime supporter and participant in The Journey of Hope. Congratulations a little late, Sister Helen - and on all your many other awards and honorary degrees as well!
We also need to be constantly aware and getting out the news about the many church, religious and other groups - often overlooked - who've been coming forth more and more to say no to the death penalty by honoring leaders such as Sister Helen.
Please post any such notices under comments here on the JOH weblog and we will try to highlight them in future posts.
************
Sister Helen Prejean, recipient of the 2008 World Methodist Peace Award
By Betty Backstrom* From April 4, 2008 | NEW ORLEANS (UMNS)
United Methodists "stood by my side at the very beginning," said Sister Helen Prejean as she received the 2008 World Methodist Peace Award.
Prejean, 68, the Catholic nun who has become an international spokesperson against the death penalty, was presented the award April 2 by the Rev. John Barrett, president of the World Methodist Council and an ordained member of the British Methodist Church.
She is the author of Dead Man Walking: an Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States, which detailed her relationship with Patrick Sonnier, a convicted killer of two teenagers who was executed in 1984.
Prejean speaks about her efforts to end capital punishment.
Serving as Sonnier’s spiritual advisor, Prejean was present at his execution in Louisiana. "I had never witnessed another person being killed," she recalled. "I came out of the room vomiting. It was then that a mission was born. I realized that most people were never going to see something like this, so the book was written to bear eyewitness."
Prejean spoke of early days when she and others publicly opposed the death penalty. There were marches from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, La., and from Baton Rouge to Angola Prison in Louisiana. "A young Methodist pastor named Tim Lawson was very involved with us during the early '80s," Prejean said.
Serving at the time as chairperson of the Louisiana Conference Board of Church and Society, Lawson was concerned about the death penalty even before he met Prejean. "In 1983, Robert Wayne Williams was the first person executed in Louisiana after the Supreme Court lifted a ban on capital punishment. Although I never met Williams, I just tried to agitate on his behalf for a stay of execution," Lawson said.
Lawson was delighted at Prejean's selection to receive the award. "I can’t think of a better choice," he said.
Before presenting the award, Barrett read from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 6, reminding the audience of Christ’s command that His followers should love their enemies. "Peace is so much more than the absence of war," he said. "It is about truly living in love. Sister Prejean is doing that by working to bring reconciliation between individuals and the society from which they have become alienated."
International best-seller
Dead Man Walking, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1993, was on the The New York Times Best Seller list for 31 weeks. The book also became an international best seller and has been translated into 10 languages. In 1995, the book was made into a movie starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Sarandon won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Prejean.
The Rev. George Freeman, the council's chief executive, cited Prejean's "commitment to abolishing the death penalty in the United States, her ministry to inmates and their families, as well as her ministry to the families of victims" as the key factors in presenting her with 2008 award.
Prejean joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille in 1957 and served as a teacher and religious education director in New Orleans. In 1981, after dedicating her life to the poor and beginning a prison ministry, she began corresponding with Sonnier.
Her second book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, was published in 2004.
Prejean continues to educate the public about capital punishment. She founded Survive, a victims advocacy group in New Orleans, and continues to counsel inmates on death row, as well as the families of murder victims.
The World Methodist Peace Award is presented annually to individuals or groups who have contributed significantly to peace, justice and reconciliation. Among the criteria for the award are courage, creativity and consistency.
The World Methodist Council is a communion of 74 member churches in more than 132 countries reaching nearly 75 million people worldwide.
*Backstrom is the communications director of the United Methodist Louisiana Conference.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Shujaa Graham and Minister Share Stories of Redemption and Forgiveness
Former death row inmate shares story - By David Singleton Pub. Nov 22, 2008
LA PLUME — One is a former death row inmate who shared a story of redemption. The other is the father of a murder victim who recounted a tale of forgiveness.
Together at Keystone College on Thursday, death penalty opponents Shujaa Graham and the Rev. Walter Everett used their personal experiences to challenge conventions of justice in general and capital punishment in particular.
“No one ever has to die to prove that killing is wrong,” said Mr. Graham, 58, of Takoma Park, Md., who spent four years on death row in California’s San Quentin prison before being exonerated in the killing of a prison guard.
The Rev. Everett, 74, a Methodist minister who lives in Lewisburg, said his ability to set aside his anger and not only forgive but embrace his son’s killer showed him reconciliation, not retribution, is the path to healing.
“The death penalty does nothing for the family of victims,” the Rev. Everett said.
The two men spoke to an audience of mostly students and faculty as part of Keystone’s Concerts and Lectures Series. Their presentation, “The Death Penalty: Voices of Experience,” came three weeks after Michael Blakey received life in prison for killing a 7-month-old child when a Lackawanna County jury deadlocked on whether to sentence him to death.
Another capital case looms in the county. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty for Randal Rushing, accused of murdering three people in Scranton in July.
The Rev. Everett recalled his rage after his 24-year-old son, Scott, was murdered in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1987. But when the killer, Mike Carlucci, stood with head bowed at his sentencing and stated, “I’m sorry I killed Scott Everett,” the minister said it was “like God nudged me.”
On the first anniversary of his son’s death, the Rev. Everett wrote a letter to Mr. Carlucci in which he talked about his anger but then included, on the second page, three words that would change both their lives: “I forgive you.”
“Those were the hardest words I have ever written,” the Rev. Everett said.
He would later learn, he said, that Mr. Carlucci cried when he read the letter — no one in his 28 years “had ever said those words to him before — no parents, no teachers, nobody.”
The Rev. Everett later visited Mr. Carlucci in prison and eventually spoke on his behalf when he sought and received an early release from prison. As much as Mr. Carlucci’s life was transformed, the Rev. Everett said his was, too.
“I no longer live with that tremendous anger I lived with before,” he said.
Mr. Graham, who grew up in Louisiana before moving to California as a young teen, had already spent three years in juvenile institutions before he went to prison at 18. In 1973, he and another inmate were accused of killing a guard; three years later, they were convicted and placed on death row.
After their fourth trial on the charges — the first and third had ended in hung juries — they were acquitted, and Mr. Graham was released from prison in 1981. At the time, there were only a handful of exonerated “death row survivors” in the United States; now there are about 130.
“Here I stand wounded by the blows of capital punishment, but not slain,” Mr. Graham said, adding he thinks every day about the death penalty and the years he spent as a condemned man living on borrowed time.
He left the students in the audience with an admonishment to stand up for social justice and human rights, regardless of the career they chose.
“By standing up for social justice and standing up for human rights for all the people, it will make a better doctor, a better teacher and a better lawyer, and when you become a better teacher and a better lawyer, you will make America a finer land for all the people,” he said.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com The Times-Tribune dot com
(Find also under left column 'Death Penalty' at Axis of Logic)
LA PLUME — One is a former death row inmate who shared a story of redemption. The other is the father of a murder victim who recounted a tale of forgiveness.
Together at Keystone College on Thursday, death penalty opponents Shujaa Graham and the Rev. Walter Everett used their personal experiences to challenge conventions of justice in general and capital punishment in particular.
“No one ever has to die to prove that killing is wrong,” said Mr. Graham, 58, of Takoma Park, Md., who spent four years on death row in California’s San Quentin prison before being exonerated in the killing of a prison guard.
The Rev. Everett, 74, a Methodist minister who lives in Lewisburg, said his ability to set aside his anger and not only forgive but embrace his son’s killer showed him reconciliation, not retribution, is the path to healing.
“The death penalty does nothing for the family of victims,” the Rev. Everett said.
The two men spoke to an audience of mostly students and faculty as part of Keystone’s Concerts and Lectures Series. Their presentation, “The Death Penalty: Voices of Experience,” came three weeks after Michael Blakey received life in prison for killing a 7-month-old child when a Lackawanna County jury deadlocked on whether to sentence him to death.
Another capital case looms in the county. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty for Randal Rushing, accused of murdering three people in Scranton in July.
The Rev. Everett recalled his rage after his 24-year-old son, Scott, was murdered in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1987. But when the killer, Mike Carlucci, stood with head bowed at his sentencing and stated, “I’m sorry I killed Scott Everett,” the minister said it was “like God nudged me.”
On the first anniversary of his son’s death, the Rev. Everett wrote a letter to Mr. Carlucci in which he talked about his anger but then included, on the second page, three words that would change both their lives: “I forgive you.”
“Those were the hardest words I have ever written,” the Rev. Everett said.
He would later learn, he said, that Mr. Carlucci cried when he read the letter — no one in his 28 years “had ever said those words to him before — no parents, no teachers, nobody.”
The Rev. Everett later visited Mr. Carlucci in prison and eventually spoke on his behalf when he sought and received an early release from prison. As much as Mr. Carlucci’s life was transformed, the Rev. Everett said his was, too.
“I no longer live with that tremendous anger I lived with before,” he said.
Mr. Graham, who grew up in Louisiana before moving to California as a young teen, had already spent three years in juvenile institutions before he went to prison at 18. In 1973, he and another inmate were accused of killing a guard; three years later, they were convicted and placed on death row.
After their fourth trial on the charges — the first and third had ended in hung juries — they were acquitted, and Mr. Graham was released from prison in 1981. At the time, there were only a handful of exonerated “death row survivors” in the United States; now there are about 130.
“Here I stand wounded by the blows of capital punishment, but not slain,” Mr. Graham said, adding he thinks every day about the death penalty and the years he spent as a condemned man living on borrowed time.
He left the students in the audience with an admonishment to stand up for social justice and human rights, regardless of the career they chose.
“By standing up for social justice and standing up for human rights for all the people, it will make a better doctor, a better teacher and a better lawyer, and when you become a better teacher and a better lawyer, you will make America a finer land for all the people,” he said.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com The Times-Tribune dot com
(Find also under left column 'Death Penalty' at Axis of Logic)
First US Military Execution Since 1961 Scheduled for December
The U.S. military has scheduled its first execution since 1961 for December 10. Two decades ago, Pvt. Ronald Gray was convicted in a North Carolina civilian court for two murders and five rapes and was sentenced to three consecutive and five concurrent life terms. Then, the general court-martial panel at Fort Bragg tried and convicted him of the same two murders and three of the rapes and sentenced him to death.
President George W. Bush approved the Army’s request to execute Gray in July. Gray, who has been on the military’s death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas since 1988, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection by Fort Leavenworth soldiers at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. While the Army has scheduled the execution, there are still important legal issues in the case that have not been fully reviewed.
The last U.S. military execution was in 1961 and the U.S. military hasn’t actively pursued an execution for a military prisoner since President John F. Kennedy commuted a death sentence in 1962. There are currently 9 men on death row.
(CNN, “First military execution since 1961 scheduled next month,” November 20, 2008). See also U.S. Military and Federal Death Row at Death Penalty Information Center (be sure to go often to the links lower right column for an easy click and keep watching Rick Halperin's Death Penalty Information and Updates)
Blogger's Note:
Since, as Kristin Houle does on her "Prevention Not Punishment Site", we abolitionists need to be clearly, consistently seeking and acting for prevention or our work will not get far...
Research Fort Bragg and find plenty of reasons why there are so many similar cases - often hidden - among so many military folk who train there over the years!
(Try Quaker House Fort Bragg and also here:
Here
Also if you do research, you will find - even among some of the military's own stats and training of women that there are an inordinate number of rapes going on in the Iraq war - many of these are US military men on US military women (some leading to deaths attributed to other causes) Also you may find as I have that many US military women die of dehydration for fear of going out at night to get water.(See Marjorie Cohn dot com, Democracy Now! and various search engines)
Friday, November 21, 2008
KRISTIN HOULE Now Executive Director Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP)
The Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty is pleased to announce
that Kristin Houle has been selected as the organization's Executive
Director. Kristin was a 2007-2008 Soros Justice Fellow. Her 18-month
fellowship involved conducting public education around the intersection of
the death penalty and severe mental illness in Texas. Previously Kristin
served for five years as the Program Associate for Amnesty International
USA's Program to Abolish the Death Penalty in Washington DC. Kristin
currently serves on the board of The Journey of Hope.
Kristin has been involved with the human rights and anti-death penalty
movements since 1995. She also has held several volunteer leadership
roles with Amnesty International, including Student Area Coordinator and
State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator for Kentucky, and was active as
a board member and local chapter leader for the Kentucky Coalition to
Abolish the Death Penalty. Kristin is a graduate of the University of
Kentucky. She resides in Austin, Texas.
TCADP is a grassroots, state wide non-profit organization working to end
the use of capital punishment in the state of Texas. This marks the first
time that TCADP has hired someone as an Executive Director. Kristin
begins her duties on December 1, 2008.
that Kristin Houle has been selected as the organization's Executive
Director. Kristin was a 2007-2008 Soros Justice Fellow. Her 18-month
fellowship involved conducting public education around the intersection of
the death penalty and severe mental illness in Texas. Previously Kristin
served for five years as the Program Associate for Amnesty International
USA's Program to Abolish the Death Penalty in Washington DC. Kristin
currently serves on the board of The Journey of Hope.
Kristin has been involved with the human rights and anti-death penalty
movements since 1995. She also has held several volunteer leadership
roles with Amnesty International, including Student Area Coordinator and
State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator for Kentucky, and was active as
a board member and local chapter leader for the Kentucky Coalition to
Abolish the Death Penalty. Kristin is a graduate of the University of
Kentucky. She resides in Austin, Texas.
TCADP is a grassroots, state wide non-profit organization working to end
the use of capital punishment in the state of Texas. This marks the first
time that TCADP has hired someone as an Executive Director. Kristin
begins her duties on December 1, 2008.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Amnesty International Sponsors Photo Exhibition Addressing the DP
Amnesty International is sponsoring a photography exhibition that focuses on the death penalty, a topic the group considers high on its priority list. The exhibition features the work of photographer Scott Langley and runs until Nov. 21 in Belk and Gray Academic Pavilions. Langley is a photojournalist and grassroots human rights activist based in Boston. He has served as an Amnesty International USA State Death Penalty Coordinator since 2004, first in North Carolina and currently in Massachusetts.
He works on a national and international level to end capital punishment and educate others about its effects.
The documentary project showcased in this exhibition, called The Death Penalty Photography Documentary Project, consists of more than 1,000 images that were taken over an 8 year period. According to Langley's Web site, it began as a college art project that required students to creatively address a human rights issue.
It is the largest known collection of photos about the death penalty in the United States. A selection of these photos is being shown at Elon, ranging from photos of the inside of a death chamber to events taking place on the streets.
"It's not a glamorous issue, because it's full of so many legal matters, but it's important that people know about it," said Mary Lyons, coordinator of Elon’s chapter of Amnesty International.
The exhibition has been shown all over the country, as well as in a few European countries, before it made its way to Elon. Amnesty International has exhibited Langley's work at several other universities, including Harvard and Cornell.
Amnesty International strongly opposes capital punishment. Its Web site refers to the death penalty as "the ultimate denial of human rights."
"In the course of this project, I have chosen to simply capture what I have been seeing in my own journey of working against capital punishment," Langley said. "With every rally I have been in, with every execution vigil I have stood with, and with all the incredible people I have met along the way, I increasingly feel the importance to tell these stories and bring the images to those who were unable to see what I saw."
Despite the dark nature of the photographs, Langley views his work as optimistic because he believes they can affect change.
"I just hope it makes people think about it and tests their beliefs on the issue," Lyons said. "We're not trying to change people's minds, just raise awareness that it happens."
Langley has actively worked in opposition to the death penalty since 1999. In 2004, he and his wife co-founded the Raleigh Catholic Worker Hospitality House, where families of death row prisoners can get free shelter, food and support.
Langley travels within and outside of the United States to speak about capital punishment, the work he does to end executions and his photography documentary project.
(source: The Elon Pendulum)
He works on a national and international level to end capital punishment and educate others about its effects.
The documentary project showcased in this exhibition, called The Death Penalty Photography Documentary Project, consists of more than 1,000 images that were taken over an 8 year period. According to Langley's Web site, it began as a college art project that required students to creatively address a human rights issue.
It is the largest known collection of photos about the death penalty in the United States. A selection of these photos is being shown at Elon, ranging from photos of the inside of a death chamber to events taking place on the streets.
"It's not a glamorous issue, because it's full of so many legal matters, but it's important that people know about it," said Mary Lyons, coordinator of Elon’s chapter of Amnesty International.
The exhibition has been shown all over the country, as well as in a few European countries, before it made its way to Elon. Amnesty International has exhibited Langley's work at several other universities, including Harvard and Cornell.
Amnesty International strongly opposes capital punishment. Its Web site refers to the death penalty as "the ultimate denial of human rights."
"In the course of this project, I have chosen to simply capture what I have been seeing in my own journey of working against capital punishment," Langley said. "With every rally I have been in, with every execution vigil I have stood with, and with all the incredible people I have met along the way, I increasingly feel the importance to tell these stories and bring the images to those who were unable to see what I saw."
Despite the dark nature of the photographs, Langley views his work as optimistic because he believes they can affect change.
"I just hope it makes people think about it and tests their beliefs on the issue," Lyons said. "We're not trying to change people's minds, just raise awareness that it happens."
Langley has actively worked in opposition to the death penalty since 1999. In 2004, he and his wife co-founded the Raleigh Catholic Worker Hospitality House, where families of death row prisoners can get free shelter, food and support.
Langley travels within and outside of the United States to speak about capital punishment, the work he does to end executions and his photography documentary project.
(source: The Elon Pendulum)
North Carolina: Should Doctors Monitor Executions?
NORTH CAROLINA: Should doctors monitor execution?----High court wants clarification on law
The N.C. Supreme Court dove into the 2-year stalemate on executions Tuesday by asking attorneys to define what legislators meant by requiring a doctor to be present when convicted murderers are put to death.
The debate over the word "present" has created a de facto moratorium on executions in North Carolina.
The legal battle pits the N.C. Medical Board against the Department of Correction, which wants a doctor to make sure lethal injections are properly administered. That, the department says, guards against a violation of the constitutional law against cruel and unusual punishment.
But the medical board contends that lawmakers, in requiring a doctor's presence, only meant that the doctor should certify that an inmate was executed. Taking part in the execution by monitoring an inmate's vital signs would violate a doctor's basic mission to preserve life, the board says.
That has prevented the Department of Correction from finding doctors to monitor executions.
Several justices peppered the attorneys with questions during an hourlong hearing. Associate Justice Edward Thomas Brady quickly challenged Todd Brosius, a lawyer for the medical board, on the legislature's intent in having a doctor present.
"The physicians are trained to save people," Brosius said. "They are not trained to kill people."
"Aren't they trained to detect pain and suffering?" Brady asked.
Brady and other justices also challenged state Assistant Attorney General Joseph Finarelli, who argued that lawmakers meant for doctors to do more than attend and certify death.
The justices noted that state lawmakers had an opportunity to clarify the law with 2 bills filed last year. But the General Assembly did not take up the legislation. Some justices suggested that the legislature, not the courts, should resolve the stalemate. "Why don't we send this right over where it belongs?" Associate Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson asked.
Finarelli said the court had that option, but he contended the current law supported his position.
The debate swirling around lethal injections helped prompt the stalemate. It is the only method of execution used in North Carolina. Death row defendants have challenged it, saying the three drugs used to sedate, paralyze and kill do not guarantee that those injected do not suffer needlessly.
The U.S. Supreme Court in April upheld Kentucky's lethal injection law. Brosius said that state's law does not require a doctor to be present.
Finarelli said a doctor had been present and had monitored inmates in the previous 20North Carolina executions. But evidence at a state administrative hearing last year suggested the doctor was not in a position to determine how the inmate was reacting to the injection.
That hearing is part of another attack on the state's execution method. Attorneys representing death row inmates say they were improperly refused an opportunity to address the Council of State before it approved the execution protocol. That suit is before Wake County Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens.
At Tuesday's Supreme Court hearing, Brady suggested bringing in a doctor from out of state.
"Texas doesn't seem to have this problem, does it?" Brady asked, prompting some laughter.
The last inmate to be executed was 36-year-old Samuel Flippin on Aug. 18, 2006. He had been convicted of killing his 2-year-old stepdaughter. There are 163 inmates on death row.
The court did not indicate when it would rule on the issue.
(source: News Observer)
The N.C. Supreme Court dove into the 2-year stalemate on executions Tuesday by asking attorneys to define what legislators meant by requiring a doctor to be present when convicted murderers are put to death.
The debate over the word "present" has created a de facto moratorium on executions in North Carolina.
The legal battle pits the N.C. Medical Board against the Department of Correction, which wants a doctor to make sure lethal injections are properly administered. That, the department says, guards against a violation of the constitutional law against cruel and unusual punishment.
But the medical board contends that lawmakers, in requiring a doctor's presence, only meant that the doctor should certify that an inmate was executed. Taking part in the execution by monitoring an inmate's vital signs would violate a doctor's basic mission to preserve life, the board says.
That has prevented the Department of Correction from finding doctors to monitor executions.
Several justices peppered the attorneys with questions during an hourlong hearing. Associate Justice Edward Thomas Brady quickly challenged Todd Brosius, a lawyer for the medical board, on the legislature's intent in having a doctor present.
"The physicians are trained to save people," Brosius said. "They are not trained to kill people."
"Aren't they trained to detect pain and suffering?" Brady asked.
Brady and other justices also challenged state Assistant Attorney General Joseph Finarelli, who argued that lawmakers meant for doctors to do more than attend and certify death.
The justices noted that state lawmakers had an opportunity to clarify the law with 2 bills filed last year. But the General Assembly did not take up the legislation. Some justices suggested that the legislature, not the courts, should resolve the stalemate. "Why don't we send this right over where it belongs?" Associate Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson asked.
Finarelli said the court had that option, but he contended the current law supported his position.
The debate swirling around lethal injections helped prompt the stalemate. It is the only method of execution used in North Carolina. Death row defendants have challenged it, saying the three drugs used to sedate, paralyze and kill do not guarantee that those injected do not suffer needlessly.
The U.S. Supreme Court in April upheld Kentucky's lethal injection law. Brosius said that state's law does not require a doctor to be present.
Finarelli said a doctor had been present and had monitored inmates in the previous 20North Carolina executions. But evidence at a state administrative hearing last year suggested the doctor was not in a position to determine how the inmate was reacting to the injection.
That hearing is part of another attack on the state's execution method. Attorneys representing death row inmates say they were improperly refused an opportunity to address the Council of State before it approved the execution protocol. That suit is before Wake County Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens.
At Tuesday's Supreme Court hearing, Brady suggested bringing in a doctor from out of state.
"Texas doesn't seem to have this problem, does it?" Brady asked, prompting some laughter.
The last inmate to be executed was 36-year-old Samuel Flippin on Aug. 18, 2006. He had been convicted of killing his 2-year-old stepdaughter. There are 163 inmates on death row.
The court did not indicate when it would rule on the issue.
(source: News Observer)
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Durham, NC: Circles of Healing Event
18 November 2008
The Capital Restorative Justice Presents:
Circles of Healing: An Exploration of the Spiritual Health of a Community that Executes
As execution dates potentially approach, please join the CRJP for a day of learning, sharing, listening, and moving forward. In the CRJP's fifth annual gathering, we will explore the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of a community in which state-sanctioned killing is a reality. We will:
? Examine what it means to be a person of faith in a retributive-driven society
? Hear stories of forgiveness and healing
? Discuss alternatives to this cycle of violence
When: Saturday, December 6, 2008, 9:00am?2:00 pm
Location:Duke Memorial United Methodist Church, 504 W. Chapel Hill Street, Durham, NC 27701
Cost:Pre-registration (by Nov. 20th) $15.00. After Nov. 20th cost is $25.00 (scholarships available). Lunch will be provided.
Contact: Please mail registration below to The CRJP, 800 Watts St. Durham, NC 27701. Please see our website for more information or to register online: www.capitalrestorativejustice.org
Please send checks to: The CRJP, 800 Watts St., Durham, NC 27701
Include your name, phone number, address, email, and special dietary needs (lunch will be provided).
If you are unable to attend, you may still send a tax-deductible donation to the CRJP.
The Capital Restorative Justice Presents:
Circles of Healing: An Exploration of the Spiritual Health of a Community that Executes
As execution dates potentially approach, please join the CRJP for a day of learning, sharing, listening, and moving forward. In the CRJP's fifth annual gathering, we will explore the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of a community in which state-sanctioned killing is a reality. We will:
? Examine what it means to be a person of faith in a retributive-driven society
? Hear stories of forgiveness and healing
? Discuss alternatives to this cycle of violence
When: Saturday, December 6, 2008, 9:00am?2:00 pm
Location:Duke Memorial United Methodist Church, 504 W. Chapel Hill Street, Durham, NC 27701
Cost:Pre-registration (by Nov. 20th) $15.00. After Nov. 20th cost is $25.00 (scholarships available). Lunch will be provided.
Contact: Please mail registration below to The CRJP, 800 Watts St. Durham, NC 27701. Please see our website for more information or to register online: www.capitalrestorativejustice.org
Please send checks to: The CRJP, 800 Watts St., Durham, NC 27701
Include your name, phone number, address, email, and special dietary needs (lunch will be provided).
If you are unable to attend, you may still send a tax-deductible donation to the CRJP.
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