Death Penalty

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

amnesty international issued its annual report on global death penalty statistics and it reminds me that sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees...and when you look at the forest it's a pretty uplifting view...

"2006 gave us cause to be optimistic about the prospect ultimately of global abolition," said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA. "Around the world and here at home, there have been increasingly vocal calls to end the death penalty, and lawmakers are finally listening.

consider that in 1977, only 16 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes...in 2006, the philippines became the latest country to join the 99 that have abolished the death penalty for all crimes...many more, including south korea, stand on the brink of abolition...

but we can't forget the trees in the process of the overall assessment, especially when a few of he trees seem infected by blight...consider that 91 percent of all known executions took place in china, pakistan, iran, iraq, sudan, and the united states...amnesty international recorded more than 1,000 executions in china in 2006, but figures on the use of the death penalty are a state secret in china and the true number is believed to be as high as 8,000...iran executed at least 177 people, pakistan at least 82, iraq and sudan each at least 65, and the united sates 53...larry cox added,

"However, it should be a continuing source of national shame that the United States remains on the list of the world's top executing countries. Amnesty International USA is doing its utmost to ensure that the United States is taken off the list of nations that retain the death penalty."

as for domestic victories or gain stateside there were lots of momentum building victories, none greater than when new jersey became the first state to institute a legislatively mandated moratorium on executions...earlier this year, a new jersey commission studying the administration of the death penalty recommended abolition...about a dozen states have placed a hold on executions because of legal challenges and concerns relating to the lethal injection process...in the 2007 session, there were serious attempts at abolition in five state legislatures...

"Lawmakers are finally realizing that the death penalty is an ineffective crime prevention measure that drains resources away from the community and does little to deter violent crime," said Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, director of Amnesty International USA's Program to Abolish the Death Penalty. "There is also a growing awareness of the racial bias, arbitrariness, and fallibility associated with the administration of the death penalty and many are seriously questioning the wisdom of retaining such a system."

amnesty international launched the 2007 edition of its annual global death penalty statistics at a press conference in rome last friday, april 27...the panel at the event included ai secretary general irene khan.

for the full report and data set click here...

peace out <3

Please take a few minutes to watch this video, "Deadly Silence," which recounts some of the circumstances in the case of Philip Workman, who is scheduled to be executed on May 9, 2007 in Tennessee.  The video includes clips of the clemency hearings and interviews with the daughter of the police Lieutenant killed and the one "eyewitness" who recanted his testimony.  The video runs a little over 11 minutes.

Now that you have seen the video, take action through our on-line action center.  You can also learn more details about the case by clicking on the link for the action sheet attached to the on-line action.

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

according to times union columnist fred lebruin new york senate majority leader joe bruno asked the right question:

"What is more important than protecting the lives of law enforcement officers?"

unfortunately he came up with an opportunistic response...according to lebruin, "In a shameless bit of opportunism, he thundered about the need for a death penalty bill as a response."

lebruin's point???

As Bruno well knows, but is conveniently ignoring, passing a death penalty bill would have no effect on protecting the lives of cops, or anyone else. Every study ever done on the subject has shown that the death penalty as a deterrent doesn't work. There's simply no connection, except maybe emotionally, playing to our darker side for revenge.

for lebruin's interesting opinion piece click here...

and click here for the times union's editorial which begins:

Once again, a state trooper has died in a search for a criminal on the loose. Once again, the immediate reaction of some state lawmakers was to call for reinstating the death penalty in New York. Once again, the answer must be no.

peace out <3

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

regardless of one's moral position on the death penalty it's simply bad public policy and the goal as i see it is to put an end to is use - period...so, analyzing our efforts to do so seems not only a reasonable pursuit but a necessary one...

and i keep looking at nebraska thinking, "what if,"...what if nebraska had garnered the necesary resources - internally or externally - to fully carry out a strategy utilizing fundamental grassroots organizing tactics centered around building relationships across the state inside legislative districts...

it's an important question because even without this capacity nebraska's unicameral legislative body came within one vote of abolishing the death penalty earlier this session...setting aside the odds of a gubernatorial veto the question of whether or not the above scenario fully realized would have produced one additional vote strikes me as having only one answer - an affirmative one...

but in spite of it all we do find a certain relentlessness defining the challenge to capital punishment in nebraska..the 3rd challenge of this session - the last one for senator ernie chambers...as a senator - that centers around the revision of execution protocols with a twist, the twist being this is not about nazi-generated lethal injection but about good ol' fashioned "fry em' all" electrocution...

the state‘s new method of electrocution - a single, sustained jolt instead of several shorter ones - could leave the condemned‘s heart beating well after the shock, both backers and foes of the protocol say...

appears to be consensus here...but the uncertainty exists because no one‘s sure if the inmate‘s heart would continue to beat after the current stopped...minutiae maybe but not an incidental issue if you ask me...

but alas rather than waging a battle over ending the use of a poorly conceived, ill-tempered, fiscally irresponsible public policy tool (yes, the death penalty, hang with me) we are witnessing a feisty yet macabre and surreal battle over whether we should fry a human being with a continuous 15-second current or rather a jolt of 20 seconds in the pursuit of um, what...certainly not anything resembling justice in a civil society...

so what could have been in 2007 in nebraska if all the players against the death penalty had convened at the a table 5 years ago, united with suffieint resources - less than 100k/year - and gotten it together while checking their egos at the door???

i'm just asking...cause it's never too late to start to do things in a more effective way...

peace out <3

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

for the entirety of my tenure at the tennessee coalition to abolish state killing the state of tennessee sought to kill philip workman ... five times they set execution dates, once coming within 37 minutes of taking his life...and yet this case is infected with perjured testimony, police misconduct, withheld evidence, and a former medical examiner who was under indictment by federal authorities all making it clear that with more than reasonable doubt and a verdict and/or sentence renounced by five jurors that workman should, but has never, receive a new trial...

the video below outlines key issues that make it clear that lt. ronnie oliver was tragically shot by friendly fire while responding to the robbery of a wendy's restaurant in memphis, tn...a robbery workman has always acknowledged he committed...and that workman should not have been eligible for the death penalty according to tennessee law at the time of oliver's tragic death...

the video also includes oliver's daughter's plea for reducing workman's death sentence to life in prison - an appropriate punishment for the crime he actually committed...

click on these links for detailed information on the case related issues of perjury, official coercion of an "eyewitness" who did not see the shooting to perjure himself, judicial prejudice making a mockery of due process, a state medical examiner clearly confusing his role as relates to science and the role of others in judicial review, and the upholding of a district court judge's order that stayed workman's last execution date in september 2004...

a full accounting of the case and action request from amnesty international is available here...

peace out <3

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

with executions in north carolina on hold over wranglings with the lethal injection protocols, anti death penalty activists are taking the offensive...members of murder victim's families for reconciliation (mvfr) are speaking out...

"As long as we support executions in our state, we're using the same tactics that the murderers are using," said Charisse Coleman, whose brother was murdered.

in the tar heel state members of mvfr says the death penalty actually dishonors their loved ones who were killed and that's why they want to get rid of it...and they challenge the notion put forth by many prosecutors that executions provide closure for victim's families...

"All of that closure you thought you were gonna feel when the person was killed, when the person was put to death, isn't there," said Georgi Fisher, whose sister was murdered in 1996. "You still have to experience the emotions. You still have to process the grief."

today (saturday the 28th) mvfr is hosting a day-long workshop for murder victim family members and leaders in north carolina's anti-death penalty community who work with victims' families...the workshop will share ideas about finding and activating new members, effectively telling your story, dealing with the press, and working with policy makers...the workshop is only for those who have lost a loved one to murder or execution, and abolitionists who work with victim family members...

that's good grassroots skillbuilding designed to build political power that can later be used to effect policy change - now that's what i'm talking about...

peace out <3

there is always a lot of white noise in the background of death penalty discourse and that means that sometimes the policy issue of most concern to the most americans regarding executions is overlooked ---

are we killing even one innocent person???

well, the answer is surely YES...23 probably innocent were documented prior to the modern era of the death penalty (see radalet and bedeau) and now we have evidence that at least four probably innocent have been homicided since executions began anew in 1977...

from the national coalition to abolish the death penalty we get...

We've believed it for years. With at least 123 people freed from death row after evidence of their innocence emerged, it seemed inevitable that one day, news of an execution of an innocent person would emerge.

For many years, however, our strong suspicion that innocent people have been executed has been no more than that - simply a strong suspicion. Once an execution occurs, there historically has been little opportunity to reflect on what has transpired. Overburdened attorneys and advocates have always moved to stop the next execution, knowing that the line is growing and hard choices in favor of the living must be made. Research and fact-finding take time and resources. Officials and wrongdoers who control the crucial evidence and have long hidden or stubbornly ignored the truth continue doing so.

Death penalty supporters maintain "the system works" and that no innocent person has been proven to be executed. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia recently wrote that there has not been "a single case - not one - in which it is clear that a person was executed for a crime he did not commit. If such an event had occurred in recent years, we would not have to hunt for it; the innocent's name would be shouted from the rooftops."

Justice Scalia is wrong.

Following up on a handful of investigations spearheaded by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) with a group of committed cooperating attorneys, the Innocence Project, The Justice Project, and students at Columbia, Michigan and several other law schools, some of the nation's best investigative journalists and leading newspapers have recently exposed grave errors leading to the execution of innocent people.

for four complete investigations from the innocent and executed report click below...

for a full color pdf copy of the investigative package click here... 

so even if you believe the death penalty can be justified in some instances (which amnesty international, the largest grassroots human rights organization in the world does not) what have you to say about executing the wrong person - what have you to say in defense of this policy outcome?

peace out <3

In the wake of the killing of New York State Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff, a renewed push to reinstate the death penalty for the murder of a police officer has gained traction in Albany.  It is our understanding that two bills to accomplish this goal have a hearing before the Assembly on Monday, April 30th.  The text of one of the bills can be found here.  Our coalition partners at New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty have issued the following appeal for New Yorkers to call and write their legislators:

In the aftermath of the murder of another state trooper, Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff, Albany pols are calling for a return of the death penalty. Once again, some members of the State Senate as well as some in the State Assembly are misusing a tragic event.

These public servants are acting in willful ignorance of what New Yorkers have learned at comprehensive hearings in the State Assembly two years ago. These public servants have been incapable of drawing inferences about the risk of executing an innocent person from the growing list of people on death rows released with evidence of innocence, nationwide, and the shameful list of New Yorkers wrongfully convicted (embarrassingly, among the highest in the nation.) These public servants are ignoring the majority of New Yorkers who now prefer life without parole over the death penalty as the most serious punishment (by a margin of over 20%.)

Here's how to help remind them of their responsibility to us:
If you can do one thing, contact your state Assembly member
If you can do two things, contact your State Senator
If you can do three things, contact Governor Spitzer

A phone call is best, a letter is fine. (Email is the least effective approach) Something short is best, and it is important to identify yourself as a constituent. If your legislators are already with us, please thank and encourage them.

NYADP maintains an FAQ page on the New York state death penalty, and has posted a statement by David Kaczynski on the death of Trooper David Brinkerhoff.  New Yorkers within the 5 Boroughs can identity their representatives through this search page, while other citizens of New York can find their state representatives here.  You can also check out DPIC's page on New York and the Death Penalty for more background information.  We will try to post updates on this blog as the situation evolves.

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

yesterday's u.s. supreme court decisions that threw out 3 texas death sentences, like so many instances of systemic failure, bring me back to considering portions of the groundbreaking studies from liebman et. al. broken system I and broken system II...

the cases as i understand them all centered around faulty jury instructions (for a thorough look at these cases check out the capital defense weekly blog) but that's not what i want to point out here...my issue has to do with texas's rate of error in administering the death penalty and broken system II's analysis of why there is so much error rate in capital punishment...

first remember that in liebman et. al.'s a broken system: error rates in capital cases, 1973-1995 the error rate for texas death sentences was 52% - that is, more than every other death sentence meted out over two decades was overturned on appeal due to serious constitutional error...

now that just sucks - really sucks, i mean seriously, if toyota were forced to recall every other automobile they produced because of faulty manufacturing not only would they not have recently surpassed general motors in sales but they might be facing bankruptcy and the risk of going belly up...yet texas constitutionally botches every other death sentence they hand out and they continue running their abattoir in huntsville as non-stop as they like...

and what is the cause of such faulty administration??? that's where broken system II comes in...the main finding was that the more often states and counties sentence people to death, the more often they get it wrong...in fact the summary reports:

heavy use of the death penalty not only leads to errors but drives up costs and slows down all courts; shoddy work at the initial trial leads to mistakes; and the problem isn't getting better over time.

so it's not surprising that texas had three death sentences overturned yesterday, what is surprising is that justice roberts little band of conservative ideologues can't swing kennedy over their way...yet...but that's another blog entry...

peace out <3

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

pro-death penalty republicans are trying to manipulate the emotions of the moment to reintroduce the death penalty for, as the alliterative phrase goes, cop killers...

will they succeed???

sen. george winner jr., r-elmira, called for governor elliot spitzer and the democratic led assembly to act on a death penalty for law enforcement officer killers...and they are doing it with hyper-agitprop language:

"Our New York State Troopers continue to be under siege, and the Democratic leadership of New York State sits back and watches the nightmare unfold," Winner stated in a press release. "It's irresponsible and it's an affront to law officers everywhere."

nightmare??? under siege??? talk about your vitriol...and its these moments that make our work most challenging - we feel like we're one heinous murder away from sliding backwards...

well let me tell you this: to a murder victim's family member EVERY murder is heinous...and mr. winner - murder is an affront to every rational and civic individual whenever it happens anywhere to anyone...but our outrage should not push us towards accepting bad policy responses as the norm especially when we as human beings are always at risk of administrating (yes, i snuck a bushism in on you) the wrong person to death...

so let's keep our eyes on  new york (and the prize) and see how well prepared we are to meet this challenge, a challenge that can and will pop up in every state regardless of how far down the path towards challenge to and repeal of abolitionists are...

peace out <3

Don't be too surprised ...

The Cincinnati Inquirer examined death penalty decisions issued by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, finding that judges consistently vote along party lines.  When organized by the presidents that appointed them, it is clear that many judges  appointed by democrats often vote IN FAVOR of the defendant, while republican appointees vote AGAINST.  This means that the life or death of an individual is often a partisan matter!  You can read a summary from the Death Penalty Information Center.

Now, tell me that the death penalty is not arbitrary ...

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

as more of the american bar association audits of state administration of capital punishment systems are published we learn definitively how an ethically challenged prosecutor may lie or withhold exculpatory evidence in their tunnel-visioned pursuit of an execution notch on their headboard of injustice (though it must be said that these professional sadsacks are a small minority of their peers)...

as new polling data comes out i become more encouraged that citizens and their elected officials in states across this great country are deeply reflecting on what it means to support capital punishment and whether or not they really do (or can) support such final punishment with such an exorbitant rate of failure...

yesterday a poll from elon college in north carolina showed some dramatic shifts in public sentiment from just 18 months earlier:

58 percent of adults support the death penalty
48 percent believe it's always the most appropriate punishment for those convicted of first-degree murder
38 percent of respondents said they believe life in prison is the most appropriate sentence for murderers

a november 2005 poll revealed these stats:

66 percent of adults support the death penalty
61 percent believe it's always the most appropriate punishment for those convicted of first-degree murder
27 percent of respondents said they believe life in prison is the most appropriate sentence for murderers

mark kleinschmidt, executive director of the durham (nc)-based fair trial initiative, said the poll is "another measure of the public's growing distaste for the death penalty."

"I find it remarkable," Kleinschmidt said. "Those are some of the lowest numbers I've seen in the long time. I was actually surprised that the numbers dropped that much."

just another example of the shifting tide in the national discussion of one of this country's most blatant public policy failures...that is to say, while a small number of miscreant prosecutors may lie the numbers don't...

peace out <3

In a new report published Monday by the online journal PLoS Medicine reported that the drugs used in lethal injection sometimes fail to work as planned, causing slow and painful deaths.  While it is assumed that the three-drug lethal injection causes an inmate's heart to stop while they are sedated, the report concluded that the drugs may have actually caused some inmates to suffocate while they were still conscience and unable to move or cry out as thy experienced excruciating pain.  You can read the full report here.  You can also read articles on the report in the Washington Post and New York Times.

This study raises the possibility that some inmates are being tortured before their death, a most definite violation of constitutional bans on cruel and unusual punishment!  It comes out at a time when the use of lethal injection has come into question all over the country, with executions suspended in at least 11 states over questions of lethal injection procedures and administration.  It is also just four months since the botched execution of Angel Diaz on December 13, 2006 in Florida.  The execution took 34 minutes, requiring a rare second dose of lethal chemicals.  According to many, Diaz appeared to be in pain during his final moments.

"I'm not sure a civilized society should be doing this," said University of Miami professor Leonidas G. Koniaris, who led the analysis.

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

as a volunteer leader for amnesty international i love the fact that we have access to and can mobilize activists through a variety of tactics to make an impact on human rights cases and policies in  the u.s. and around the world...but when it comes to abolishing the death penalty here in the u.s. what we need are more organizers at the state level...and that's the honest to g_d's truth, especially here in the death belt of the old confederacy - where, it should be noted, i was born, raised, and have lived save 6 months of my nearly 50 years... (if you'd like to know more about the difference between an activist and an organizer click here)...

and that leads me to today's kudos to the kentucky coalition to abolish the death penalty (kcadp)...if you're going to organize against the death penalty in the south it means traveling and meeting people where they gather in their communities - and in the south that means through their faith communities...

so when i read in the louisville courier-journal that, "parishioners from St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church who oppose capital punishment dropped by the Fort Thomas home of Republican state Rep. Joseph M. Fischer one morning last year," i was intrigued and pleased...such meetings have been happening around the state for a year now, as kentucky's most visible anti-death penalty group has added a tactic to its campaign: enlisting people in religious communities to influence legislators...

now i'm really a grassroots citizen empowerment kinda guy and i'm not sure from the article how grassroots (versus grasstops) the effort really is...but what i can say is that kcadp has committed to a path that is both strategic and fiscally responsible...according to jim adams of the courier-journal kcadp,

"a year ago contracted with Doug Stern (pictured above) to discuss the death penalty within selected churches -- generally, those in districts of some legislative leaders and lawmakers on the House and Senate judiciary committees...And after a full year of that work, the coalition board was sufficiently satisfied to renew Stern's contract for another year at salary and expenses totaling about $15,000 -- roughly half of the coalition's annual budget."

and long-time movement icon father patrick delahanty puts it this way:

"Doug is doing this in a way that is more personal, I think...He is making the one-on-one contacts with ministers and religious leaders that I think in the long run will bear more fruit and generate more activity."

and the warm-hearted good father usually tells it like it is...so let's keep an eye on the long road a hoe committed to by kcadp and see if the death penalty comes under the fire of another grassroots and strategic effort to end this nation's most fiscally irresponsible policy response to murder...

peace out <3

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

a few lifetimes ago when i was an anti-death penalty strategist and organizer in tennessee making a clear connection with the victim's rights movement was a key part of the long-term approach i took to ending capital punishment in the volunteer state, in fact that approach first surfaced in a 2003 press release during the annual victim's rights week...

it's victim's rights week again and i think it important that we, as abolitionists, stress our support of and connection to the victim's of violent crime and in particular to the survivors of homicide victims...it's easy to see our connection to those families who suffer either from wrongful conviction or to the survivors of state homicide victims (the cause of death for those people executed by the state is homicide)...

it's less clear for much of the public that we, as abolitionists, deeply mourn the tragic and unnecessary loss suffered by those who have a family member (dear friend or colleague) murdered...because of the adversarial nature of the criminal justice system (and yes, the political system as we know it today) we are often cast as offender oriented...but the truth is that for me and most people i know we are balanced by both a victim and offender orientation in our beliefs and approach to the issue...we want to see murder decline through the implementation of success driven crime prevention strategies and we know that the death penalty is simply not a tactic that gets us what we as a community either want or need...

all this is to note that the death penalty information center lists this week on its new voices page the following:

Three organizations whose memberships include family members of murder victims recently issued a joint statement in conjunction with National Crime Victims' Rights Week, which takes place April 22 - 28, 2007. The statement, issued by the leaders of  Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, and Journey of Hope, called for governmental policies that serve the true needs of family members.  The groups called for an end to the death penalty, noting that alternatives to capital punishment "provide the certainty and punishment that many families need while keeping our communities safe."

Their statement read:

April 22 - 28, 2007 is National Crime Victims' Rights Week. The theme for this year is "Victims' Rights: Every Victim, Every Time." As victims, and survivors, we strongly support efforts to ensure that the needs of victims' don't fall through the cracks or fall prey to politics.

The death penalty does not serve victims' families. It draws resources away from needed support programs, law enforcement and crime prevention. And the trials and appeals endlessly re-open wounds as they are beginning to heal, and it only creates more families who lose loved ones to killing.

Alternatives to the death penalty provide the certainty and punishment that many families need while keeping our communities safe. Critically, alternatives ensure attention is cast where it is needed most - on the survivors - and not on sensational trials or suspects.

As murder victim family members we also share the same concerns as other Americans with the death penalty. We are concerned about innocent people being sentenced to death, about racial and economic disparities and about arbitrariness. But for us the stakes are higher because an innocent person might be executed in a misguided attempt to give us justice. Losing one innocent life to murder is one too many, the taking of another innocent life because of the first is beyond comprehension.

Those who argue for the death penalty often claim to do so on behalf of us, the victims' families. They say it will give us "closure." We don't want the death penalty, and closure is a myth. Every victim, every time needs help, understanding, resources, and support. We don't need more killing.

Since 1981, the Justice Department's Office for Victims of Crimes has helped lead communities throughout the country in their observances of National Crime Victims' Rights Week (NCVRW). Rallies, candlelight vigils, and a host of commemorative activities are held each year to promote victims' rights and to honor crime victims and those who advocate on their behalf.

(MVFHR, MVFR, and Journey of Hope Statement, April 19, 2007).  See Victims.

so please, if your state movement is not actively pursuing relationships with victims of violent crimes (or only giving lip service to it) please take note of the role this has played in getting new jersey to where it is today and figure out how to make this a core part of you approach to ending capital punishment...

peace out <3

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

it's a legitimate question to ask about who's running the indiana department of corrections...according to the indianapolis star they issued an order to double the amount of sodium pentothal -- the first of three chemical poisons injected into the condemned's body -- to 5 grams from 2.5 grams...the barbiturate serves as a sedative...

but as indiana's department of corrections has reviewed its lethal injection protocol little input on the drugs, their use or dosages has come from medical doctors...and with good reason - doctors often refuse to take part in executions out of ethical concerns in a profession that aims to protect the health of patients...

ever heard of the hippocratic oath???

and this is the catch 22 of using lethal injection to conduct state homicides...doctors are prohibited by oath to assist in what is basically a medical procedure:

"It's close to a medical procedure, and it's being performed by nonmedical personnel," according to Richard Dieter the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, which is critical of how states carry out lethal injections.

and again i ask, which bright soul decided to arbitrarily adjust the lethal injection protocol in this manner - was it pinky...or the brain???

 peace out <3

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

the ever vigilant abolition intern reported on wednesday about the secert death chamber that california governor arnold "i'll be back" schwarzenegger was building...and the surprise was two-fold - first california is under a moratorium on executions until at least may 15th when the government must submit to a federal judge its proposal to remedy the flaws in the state's lethal injection process so WTF....and secondly because the projected cost of the project secretly cited by the governor is (or rather was) $399k...

and this was significant because it was just under the $400,000 that according to california law would have required legislative approval...

so with the cost now cited as at least double this projection the terminator has been shut down - read about it here or here ... now that's what the 4th estate is supposed to do!

peace out <3

from the diaries of the tennessee dude...

yesterday we reported on the release of amnesty international's new report - iraq: unjust and unfair - the death penalty in iraq...

well, even before we posted our report the san francisco bay area independent media center -- a non-commercial, democratic collective of bay area independent media makers and media outlets, that serves as the local organizing unit of the global indymedia network -- posted it on their web site...

it's likely that an amnesty member or supporter is responsible for the post because the site informs you to publish to their newswire yourself...

so kudos to whoever self-published the report and the all-volunteer media center itself for the public service they offer their community and the world...

peace out <3

from the diaries of the tennessee dude... 

in one of yesterday's posts the cover of sister helen prejean's most recent book - the death of innocents - was used as a graphic illuminator of the topic being examined... however, the book had no direct link to the philadelphia gathering that was being reported on...that is not to say that sister helen's influence, neigh inspiration is not everywhere at once all over the just issue of abolishing the death penalty...and to make my point here's a story that ran in the new jersey record yesterday...

peace out <3

Drama provokes reflection on death penalty
Thursday, April 19, 2007

By John Chadwick - Staff Writer

A group of Seton Hall University students had been rehearsing the play "Dead Man Walking" for several weeks when they encountered the woman at the heart of the story: Sister Helen Prejean.

The face-to-face meeting with the charismatic Roman Catholic nun and anti-death penalty activist didn't just fire up the cast members. It transformed them.

"There's a fire burning inside her," said Kathy Stout, a communications major from Basking Ridge who's playing the part of Prejean in the drama. "I think everyone comes away wishing they had something in their lives that they could be as passionate about."

Stout and other cast members have found their "something" in the play -- an unflinching meditation on crime and punishment, focusing on Prejean and a Louisiana death row inmate, Matthew Poncelet.

The play, based on Prejean's 1993 bestseller of the same name, and adapted from the 1995 film directed by Tim Robbins, runs Friday through Sunday at the South Orange Performing Arts Center.

The performance is the centerpiece of Seton Hall's semester-long focus on the death penalty. The Roman Catholic university has supplemented the play with a film series, public lectures featuring Prejean and David Kaczynski, the brother of the Unabomber killer, and classroom discussions on capital punishment in philosophy and religion courses.

"It's so far-reaching," said Deirdre Yates, a Seton Hall theater professor who's directing the production. "College students can be complacent, so it's great to get them fired up, interested and passionate."

Michelle Gibli, a cast member from Fair Lawn, said she's facing the challenge of portraying Poncelet's mother, Lucille, a down-on-her-luck single mother, who, shamed by Matthew's crimes, asks Prejean: "You think I look like the mother of a killer?"

Gibli said she came away from her meeting with Prejean with a deeper understanding of Lucille.

"I originally thought of her as being very weak," Gibli said. "But after speaking with Sister Helen, I learned she was trying so hard to keep it together for her children, even though she felt like falling apart."

School Theatre Project

Seton Hall is one of several New Jersey schools participating this year in the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project, a program created by Prejean and Robbins aimed at sparking debate and discussion about the death penalty in academic communities.

More than 100 colleges and high schools, including Yale and Ohio State, have performed the play, which was written by Robbins and introduced in the 2004-05 school year. Fairleigh Dickinson University's College at Florham Park campus will host the drama later this month. Clifton High School students, with two community theater groups, will do so in May. Queen of Peace School in North Arlington performed the play in February.

Schools staging the play must agree not to use it for commercial gain, and to use at least two academic disciplines in exploring the death penalty.

"The purpose is to open peoples' minds," said Sister Maureen Fenlon, national coordinator for the project. "Sister Helen and Tim see this as getting a future generation of leaders to think about our social policies."

Death penalty in N.J.

Prejean had no shortage of thought-provoking remarks when she spoke to students at the university's theater in the-round this month.

She said, for example, that the states that execute the most inmates share an odious distinction.

"The 10 Southern states that practiced slavery are the ones that really execute people," she said. "That's worth reflecting on."

Noting that New Jersey had imposed a moratorium on executions, she said she hopes the state becomes the first to abolish the death penalty since it was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976.

"We have moratoriums, but we do not have a state yet," she said. "What if New Jersey were a bright and shining light for this county and for the world?"

In the play, Prejean becomes spiritual adviser to Poncelet, who participated in the murder of a young couple parked on a lovers' lane. Her willingness to minister to a convicted murderer, and her opposition to the death penalty, infuriate the Catholic chaplain at the prison as well as the victims' relatives.

But Prejean eventually brings out some humanity in Poncelet, prodding him to admit his crimes and seek forgiveness from the families before he's executed.

The themes of compassion, forgiveness and suffering at the center of the play have left their mark on the cast.

"This show has made me think about my own religion," said Stout, a Protestant. "The core issues of the show, that everyone has dignity, really resonated, and I think it's what the world needs a little more of."

E-mail: chadwick@northjersey.com