Some good news about the death penalty

There has been some good news about the death penalty. Please use this as encouragement to write your state legislators to inform them of your concerns about the death penalty. As many of us learned at the recent TCADP workshop, legislators pay attention to letters from constituents and even a few letters on any issue can make a difference.

The execution of David Eugene Johnston that was scheduled for today in was stayed last week by the Florida Supreme Court: Read More

Orlando sentinel reports stay of execution

The Florida Supreme Court issued a stay of execution for David Johnston, a convicted killer who was scheduled to die by lethal injection on Tuesday.

The delay announced Thursday will allow a circuit judge in Orlando to hold a hearing on whether “newly discovered evidence” shows Johnston is mentally retarded.

Florida prohibits the execution of mentally retarded people.

To be considered legally retarded, a defendant must have an IQ of 70 or below and can’t perform “adaptive functions,” such as holding a job, cooking a meal and balancing a check book. Both conditions must have existed before the person was 18.

Johnston’s attorney, Todd Doss, told the high court Thursday in Tallahassee that a more recent, “more accurate” IQ test scored Johnston at 61 — lower than a previous test — and qualifies him to be spared the state’s death penalty.

Johnston, 49, was convicted in the 1983 murder of Mary Hammond. The 84-year-old woman was found stabbed to death in her Orlando home.

Johnston had been working at a demolition site near Hammond’s home and had spoken to Hammond before her death.

Read more online ….
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-death-penalty-florida-supreme-court-20100304,0,5367932.story

From The Ledger.com

[ TALLAHASSEE ] Death Row Inmate Files New Appeal With Florida Supreme
Court

A death row inmate set for execution March 9 has filed a new appeal with
the Florida Supreme Court.

David Johnston on Friday asked the justices to review a lower court’s
denial of his sixth post-conviction appeal.

Appeal

College students fill Tallahassee journalism void …

Two articles about the TCADP workshop Sat.

The FAMU and FSU student journalists provided excellent coverage of Tallahassee Citizens Against the Death Penalty’s Saturday workshop, “Don’t Kill in My Name.”

Please share these articles with others.

From The Famuan
“Floridians fight against death penalty

By Antonio Rosado
Correspondent

Published: Sunday, February 28, 2010
Updated: Sunday, February 28, 2010
Outsized by the lectern, Tallahassee resident Agnes Furey smiled as she stepped aside the platform in the Leroy Collins Public Library. Furey, 73, gripped her small hands on a chair back as she recounted circumstances surrounding a double-murder that brought her speak at the “Don’t Kill in My Name” workshop.
Read More

Important update!

The situation regarding the death penalty’s imposition in Florida is
even more dire than my message yesterday indicated. David Lee Johnston
is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 9, not in May as I
had written yesterday. He originally had been scheduled to be executed
last May, but the Florida Supreme Court had stayed that execution.

Johnston’s execution will be the second Florida execution within just a
few weeks as Feb. 16, Martin Grossman was executed. Read More

Dear TCADP Members:

Gov. Crist has signed a death warrant for David Eugene Johnston, whose execution has been scheduled for May 27th. This makes it even more imperative that we who oppose the death penalty become active in raising the visibility of our cause, including by letting public officials know that we want Florida to join the 15 states that have abolished the death penalty. During the legislative session, TCADP will schedule a morning to meet with legislators to discuss our concerns about the death penalty.

Consequently, please make it a priority to attend our workshop,  “Don’t Kill in My Name,” that will be  this Sat. from 12:45-4:30 p.m.  in Program Room B of the Leroy Collins Public Library. Please also invite others whom you know who oppose the death penalty.

The free workshop is designed to educate death penalty opponents about advocating to end the death penalty.

It will include expert presentations on legal, ethical, religious, racial and financial problems with the death penalty, presentations by a homicide survivor who opposes the death penalty and by a former journalist who witnessed an execution, instruction from an experienced legislative lobbyist, and it will conclude with a documentary about an innocent man who spent almost 18 years on Florida’s death row.

The first 15 attendees will be given TCADP T-shirts.

Attached is a flyer.

Thank you for reading this. I hope to see you Saturday.

Louise Ritchie, Chair
Tallahassee Citizens Against the Death Penalty

Please contact clemency board to try to prevent execution Tues.

Subject: Please contact clemency board to try to prevent execution Tues.

Passing along these suggestions from the coalition of people trying to stop the planned execution of Martin Grossman Tues. Feb. 16.

Louise Ritchie
Chair, Tallahassee Citizens Against the Death Penalty.

“What I am doing with mine is to send a one-line e-mail to each of them with copies of that e-mail to all the other three (including clemencyweb) so that each time I send one, four travel together. I just change the sentence each time, very simple changes.

Best, blessed,
Michelle

On Sat, Feb 13, 2010 at 8:29 PM, Michael (Chaskel) Bennett wrote:

This is an Urgent request from the. “Commitee to save Martin”
Read More

Upcoming action

1. A coalition of a variety of organizations is holding a phone media conference this Friday morning in an attempt to stop Florida’s execution of Martin Grossman, which is scheduled for next Tues. The participants include some public figures, representatives of peace organizations and religious institutions, and our member, Agnes Furey, a survivor of homicide, is also scheduled to be part of this.

2.  Despite 10,000 people signing petitions requesting that Martin Grossman not be executed, Gov. Crist says he still plans to execute Grossman Tues. Feb. 16. If it goes as scheduled, at 6 p.m. Tues. please come stand outside the governor’s mansion at 6 p.m. Tues. Feb. 16 as we hold a vigil to reflect our opposition to the death penalty, and come to the memorial service we’ll hold Weds. at noon in the courtyard between the old and new capitols.

3.  Sat. Feb. 27 free public workshop to train death penalty opponents about advocating for ending the death penalty. This is the beginning of our campaign to add Florida to the 15 states and D.C. that don’t impose the death penalty. It will be 12:45-4:30 in Program Room B of the Leroy Collins Public Library.

Please come to the workshop and also invite others. We’re particularly interested in involving students in this movement, so please share this information with professors and college and high school students and their organizations.

The workshop will include: experts’ presentations on legal, ethical, religious, racial, and financial problems with the death penalty; presentations by a homicide survivor and by a former journalist who witnessed an execution; instruction from an experienced legislative lobbyist;  and it will conclude with a documentary about an innocent man who spent almost 18 years on Florida’s death row.

We will give free TCADP T-shirts to the first 15 attendees.

Thank you for reading this.

Louise Ritchie
Chair, TCADP

Subject: Important message about pending execution of Martin Grossman

Dear TCADP Members,

This updates the message that I sent last week about how Florida Alternatives to the Death Penalty is requesting our help in attempting to prevent the execution of Martin Grossman, which is scheduled for Feb. 16. The letter that is being organized by Rabbi Zvi Boyarski at the Aleph Institute. Individuals and organizations who can sign on should do so by e-mailing their

Name

Title

Organization

City

State

To   zvi@aleph-http://www.facebook.com/l/7bff7;institute.org as soon as possible. Read More

Tallahassee Citizens Against the Death Penalty Update

Tallahassee Citizens Against the Death Penalty Update

Dear TCADP members: Here’s an update about the pending execution of Martin Grossman, and about a talk by Mayor John Marks that TCADP is cosponsoring Feb. 2.

Florida Alternatives to the Death Penalty has requested our help in doing the following in connection with the execution of Martin Grossman, which is scheduled for Feb. 16.

1.            Write letters and call Governor Charlie Crist to ask him to call for a time-out on executions and do a thorough study of Florida’s Death Penalty. Tell him to PLEASE STOP signing Death Warrants. Florida’s governor has the decision-making authority to do this. Letters can be short, even two to three sentences long.

2.            Sign up to receive future action alerts and news from Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) at http://www.facebook.com/l/b107b;www.fadp.org/esubscribe.html.

3.            Forward this action to a friend (or five!) and have them contact Governor Crist too.”

For talking points and more information: http://www.facebook.com/l/b107b;www.fadp.org/takeact.html

  Read More