Death Penalty

Langley Creations Photography, in partnership with Amnesty International USA, is currently seeking organizations, groups and spaces to host an original, educational photography exhibit about the death penalty.

The Ku Klux Klan rallying in support of a black man's execution in Texas. The North Carolina death row warden wheeling a gurney into the execution chamber. Weeping family members at the moment of a loved one's execution. These are just a few of the images captured in this dynamic and historical photography exhibit.

In the prepared exhibit, each image is also accompanied by a small card that provides a descriptive caption for the photo and current information about the death penalty in the United States. The exhibit is truly a blend of the artistic and the educational, appealing to hearts and minds.

Kerry Maloney, chaplain at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, hosted the exhibit in the Fall of 2005. "For two months, Scott's provocative and moving photographs lined the walls of the Divinity School's Andover Chapel, providing a stirring, difficult, daily confrontation for our community with a particularly harsh and tragic reality of our country,"

For further information, contact Scott Langley at photo@langleycreations.com or 214-226-0503.

Photos may be viewed online at www.langleycreations.com/photo.

Over 150 years ago, Wisconsin was the first state to abolish the death penalty after the public hanging of a man in Kenosha County.  A November referendum is asking voters whether or not to resume executions, if the conviction is supported with DNA evidence.

Many people have followed the CSI TV show phenomenon, where crime is solved quickly with the latest forensic testing equipment.  Some voters might be persuaded to support this referendum because they think DNA evidence allows states to execute only guilty prisoners. 

According to Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, Director of Amnesty International USA Program to Abolish the Death Penalty, "Most people think DNA testing is absolute and infallible.  But, it is not.  This technology's Achilles heel is human error.  Often crime labs have a backed up workload and problems arise if the test is not performed or interpreted correctly."  It is also possible that evidence is handled by inadequately trained staff, contaminated or altered.  Gunawardena-Vaughn also adds, "many cities have crime labs that are located in the police departments.  Analysts sometimes feel pressure to make the science match the police department's case." 

There is substantial evidence related to wrongful death convictions.  Almost five percent of the people sentenced to death are ultimately exonerated.  Already, 125 people have been released from death row after evidence of their innocence was released.  The fact that the current system undoubtedly sentences some people to die for crimes they did not commit brings into question the death penalty's constitutionality.

Death penalty cases cost far more than life without parole. A 2001 Wall Street Journal Article found that in states where counties have the primary responsibility to prosecute capital cases, the expenses are comparable to a natural disaster.  Dartmouth Professor, Katherine Baicker concluded that death penalty cases have a "large negative shock" on county budgets, often requiring tax increases.  She estimates that capital punishment could cost counties $1.6 billion over a 15-year period.  This could be potentially burdensome on Milwaukee County where they potentially will have the most death penalty cases.

This summer a Badger Poll found that, 56 percent of Wisconsinites favored this referendum while 37 percent opposed it.  Since then a burgeoning opposition has surfaced.  A coalition led by No Death Penalty Wisconsin, including Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, and District attorneys in Milwaukee and Dane Counties have been amassing support to oppose the death penalty. 

The religious community is beginning to weigh in on this issue.  Wisconsin's Catholic Bishops announced their opposition to the death penalty on the grounds that they, "value human life even when that life seems unworthy to us."

This referendum comes at a time when the inconsistencies surrounding the death penalty have left courtrooms around the country mired with ambiguities.  Challenges to lethal injection, questions of mental illness, statistics of race and gender inequalities, and exonerations of death row prisoners all leave Americans uncomfortable with the death penalty system.

For more information visit: www.nodeathpenaltywi.org/

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

so last week i mentioned that chief justice william wilkins of the u.s. court of appeals recently stated that, "I think politically, you're not going to find a candidate running on 'Let's do away with the death penalty,"...and he followed that w/the opinion that no one in south carolina could be  elected to statewide office opposing the death penalty...

and this left us the question about how death penalty abolitionists in the mold of an amnesty international human rights organizer deal with this solid reality, solid at least in the former confederate states in 2006 and the near future...

i believe that one respnse to this is that grassroots organizing is always in our long-term best interest, often in our intermediate best interest, and even sometimes in our short-term best interest...

words, words, words, i know - so what does that look like on the ground...

ben jealous, formerly an aiusa staffer, shared this nugget with me a few years ago...

• all organizing is about relationships...period
  
• when you organize ask yourself 3 things...what is my goal, who do i have to work with in order to acheive this goal, and what do they need to hear (from me or someone else) in order to work towards this goal...

so as you ponder wilkins' (or a similar) assessment keep this idea at the forefront of your mind and let these questions shape your actions...

so one way this might "look on the ground" is that you organize inside legislative disticts and not statewide...if you organize at this level sufficiently around a soundly framed message you can eventually get enough votes - 50% + 1 - to pass your proposed legislation and have a statewide effect...

enuf' for today - we'll pick this up later...

peace out <3

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

imagine if you will that you're an amnesty international state death penalty abolition coordinator (or any state based anti-death penalty organizer for that matter)...today's question is why build and a media distribution list???

here are a couple of reasons that this is such a valuable activity to prioritize...

first is education...never assume that reporters or assignment editors, at any level, are any more knowledgeable about the way the death penalty system actually works than any other sector of society...you need to inform them of the facts, regularly, so that when they do report around a scheduled execution or event you have increased the chance that they will get the frame right...what you can be assured of is that if you don't take on this task then it may simply not be getting done...

here's the second reason...even if there is a coalition doing media work in your state you want the media to think of you (and amnesty international) as the "go-to" person (i.e. expert whenever they have a question, want some background, or need a quote)...amnesty international has a more robust agenda than just the death penalty and if you get the media thinking amnesty international on this issue it increases the liklihood that they'll turn to amnesty on other human rights issues...again, the only guarantee is that if you don't do this then that synergy can not happen...

next week i'll share with you some easy and low cost ways to get your message - and name out there...

peace out <3

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

chief justice william wilkins of the u.s. court of appeals for the 4th circuit recently spoke about the death penalty to a gathering at the charleston school of law in south carolina...he commented that decision-makers will have to evaluate whether the punishment is worth its increasing financial costs...but he also noted how difficult it is for a politician to speak openly about this issue: "I think politically, you're not going to find a candidate running on 'Let's do away with the death penalty,' " wilkins said. "No one (in South Carolina) can be elected to statewide office who is opposed to the death penalty,"... 

so i thought what does that mean for amnesty international death penalty abolitionists and how we interact with state based legislative campaigns in which amnesty international is a collaborative partner rather than the "jockey" leading the "horse"...

i'm thinkin' it's an important question that has several possible answers to it and i want to explore those in this blog...so i'll be coming back to this issue because it has nuts and bolts ramifications on how you organize citizens (people)against the death penalty in your state...

if you have any experiences to share with me and would like them addressed in advance of new postings you can e-mail me at aiusa149@bellsouth.net ...

peace out <3

On October 10^th, an international coalition of likeminded associations is joining together in an effort to abolish the death penalty worldwide.  This year 53 human rights organizations, bar associations, trade unions, and local and regional authorities are promoting the theme of the death penalty being an egregious failure of justice.  The five critical aspects being highlighted are child offenders, discrimination of foreign nationals, unfair trials, mental illness, and innocence.  Last year, the World Day resulted in some 263 initiatives throughout the world in 46 countries.

Hundreds of events, debates, concerts, press conferences, radio interviews, exhibitions and plays will be organized around the world to condemn the death penalty. Mark the date to bring the message to the world: the death penalty is not justice.

Further information on the WCADP is available on their website at http://www.worldcoalition.org/ or email http://www.atcoalition@abolition.fr

On October 10^th, John Grisham will release his first work of non-fiction.  The Innocent: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town is expected to be his most extraordinary legal thriller so far.   

The Innocent recounts the story Ron Williamson, a man wrongfully convicted that is condemned to death row for a decade before being exonerated.

If you maintain that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you.  If you support the death penalty, this book will disturb you.  If you insist that the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you. 

To learn more visit: http://www.randomhouse.com/features/grisham/ 

Clarence Hill Scheduled for Execution September 20, Even Though Courts Still Have Not Fully Considered His Civil Rights Claim

Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) today urged Florida Governor Jeb Bush to issue a stay of execution to Clarence Hill, who is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, September 20.  AIUSA Executive Director Larry Cox has written to Governor Bush, calling for a moratorium on all executions in the state.
 
Hill was originally scheduled to be executed on January 24 and was strapped to the gurney, awaiting the administration of the lethal injection cocktail, when the U.S. Supreme Court intervened in his case.  The Court decided to consider whether Hill was entitled to file a challenge to the constitutionality of lethal injection under federal civil rights law. 

Read more on this case.

The myriad of inconsistencies surrounding lethal injections have left courtrooms around the country mired with ambiguities.   In California, a federal judge issued a moratorium on all executions until extensive hearings on lethal injections are carried out.  Similarly, Missouri, Delaware, and Arkansas have also put a stay on their executions.  

Meanwhile, disregarding the broad disparity of court responses to lethal injection, Florida is on course to execute another inmate this week.  Despite questions surrounding the constitutionality of lethal injections, some states continue their executions on schedule. 

Talking about this issue, Richard Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center, reiterates that, "a punishment applied in an arbitrary fashion is a violation of the constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishments." 

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court halted Clarence Hill's execution and unanimously ruled that he could challenge Florida's lethal injection process.  The Supreme Court recommended that that lower courts examine the constitutionality of Florida's lethal injection procedures.  Nevertheless, Hill has been denied an evidentiary hearing and the state is set to execute him on September 20^th.   An appeal is pending with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11^th Circuit.

A federal judge in Tennessee notes, "condemned inmates are bringing nearly identical challenges to the lethal injection procedure.  In some instances stays are granted, while in others they are not and the defendants are executed, with no principled distinction to justify such a result."

In spite of these challenges, Florida Governor Jeb Bush insists that Hill remains scheduled to die at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Florida State Prison outside Starke.

The annual National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty conference will be held in Fairfax, Virginia on October 27-29, 2006. The conference is an amazing opportunity to anyone involved in the abolition movement.  Participants will meet fellow activists from throughout the country and work together to educate and take action on the death penalty. All are encouraged to join this important gathering! Scholarships are available.

Learn more and register for NCADP 2006: Abolition Rising.

The Journey of Hope is an organization led by murder victim family members joined by death row family members, family members of the executed, the exonerated, and others with stories to tell, that conducts public education speaking tours and addresses alternatives to the death penalty.

This year the Journey will be in Virginia from Oct. 13-29.  Sister Helen Prejean will join the Journey in Richmond the weekend of Oct. 22.  Hearing the stories of this group is a powerful experience and sure not to be forgotten.

Learn more about the Journey of Hope.