The Death Penalty: Evolving Issues in Florida

The Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights & the American Bar Association present:The Death Penalty: Evolving Issues in Florida

A two-hour forum that will include perspective and commentary from FSU President Emeritus, former Dean of the College of Law and former American Bar Association President Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte; former Florida Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero; 2nd Judicial Circuit Judge Janet Ferris (retired); 18th Judicial Circuit Judge O.H. Eaton (retired) and former member of the ABA Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team; Harry Shorstein, former Fourth Read More

Valle Executed

Important — from Mark Elliott of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty:
Valle Executed

“The struggle for justice doesn’t end with me. This struggle is for all the Troy Davises who came before me and all the ones who will come after me.” — Troy Davis

Friends,

After an afternoon of misinformation from the some media reports, it has been confirmed by the Governor’s office and the DOC that Manuel Valle was pronounced dead at 7:14 pm Eastern Time.

The 4:00 pm execution had been put on hold for almost 3 hours to await a U.S. Supreme Court decision on a stay. The stay was denied and the execution commenced. It is not yet confirmed that Manuel Valle was on the gurney with IV’s started during the entire wait.

There were a dozen execution vigils and protests around our state today. Thanks to every one of you who are working to end this madness in whatever way you can. Writing Letters to the Editor, calls, emails, letters and visits to your representatives, supporting FADP…are all needed. Working together we will see an end to executions in our time…for all time.

“Never Stop Fighting for Justice and We will Win!”

—Troy Anthony Davis, Oct. 9, 1968 – Sept. 21, 2011

Shine the light,

—Mark

Florida’s Catholic bishops repeated their plea for Gov. Rick Scott ….

Travis Pillow writes in the Florida Independent that Florida’s Catholic bishops repeated their plea for Gov. Rick Scott to call off the execution of Manuel Valle, the subject of Scott’s first death warrant.

Valle was convicted of the 1978 killing of a Coral Gables police officer, and first sentenced in 1981. He then waged a decades-long series of appeals, including most recently a challenge to Florida’s lethal injection drug mixture and procedures, which allowed him to delay his scheduled execution.

The Florida Supreme Court issued a ruling Thursday allowing the execution to proceed. It is scheduled for Sept. 1. Read More

Death Penalty Information Center report

On December 21, the Death Penalty Information Center released its latest report, “The Death Penalty in 2010: Year End Report,” on statistics and trends in capital punishment in the past year.  The report noted there was a 12% decrease in executions in 2010 compared to 2009 and a more than 50% drop compared to 1999. DPIC projected that the number of new death sentences will be 114 for 2010, near last year’s number of 112, which was the lowest number since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Death sentences declined in all four regions of the country over the past ten years, with a 50 percent decrease nationwide when the current decade is compared to the 1990s.  Only 12 states carried out executions in 2010, mostly in the South, and only seven states carried out more than one execution. Texas led the country with 17 executions, but that was a significant drop from last year.  The number of new death sentences in Texas this year was 8, a dramatic decline from 1999 when 48 people were sentenced to death.  Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, 82% of the executions have been in the South. California has not had an execution in almost 5 years, and the same is true for North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and many other states that rarely carry out the death penalty.  “Whether it’s concerns about the high costs of the death penalty at a time when budgets are being slashed, the risks of executing the innocent, unfairness, or other reasons, the nation continued to move away from the death penalty in 2010,” said Richard Dieter, DPIC’s Executive Director and the report’s author.

Alternative Christmas Market supports Kindred Spirits

Dear Friends,

For those of you who celebrate Christmas you know how difficult it can be to shop for gifts and you also know the hassle of commercial shopping.  TCADP wants to tell you about the Alternative Christmas Market which has been taking place at John Wesley United Methodist Church for 24 years.  You can purchase gifts or make donations to honor your friends and family members.  One of the organizations you can select for contributions is Kindred Spirits.

Kindred Spirits Charitable Trust is a 501(c )(3) organization that was started many years ago by Audrey Rivers and others who were concerned about indigent prisoners on Florida’s Death Row.  They rely entirely on donations and have no paid staff.  The mission of Kindred Spirits is to provide friendship and support to those on Death Row by writing letters, sending stamps, magazine subscriptions, small amounts of money for canteen purchases, birthday cards, and other small acts of kindness. Read More

Reception & Movie — Thursday, November 4th — Innocence Project of Florida

Friends,
Please plan to attend the viewing of the very likely award winning movie, Conviction.  The movie is based on the true story of a young woman who got her GED, went to college and then law school — all with the goal of freeing her wrongfully imprisoned brother.

Attend the reception on Thursday, November 4, at the Hotel Duval. The event is sponsored by the Innocence Project, where another person who was wrongfully accused and was ultimately freed will share his story.  See the details below.

You will also find a link that will take you to the Innocence Project’s site where you can purchase tickets for the reception and movie – all for only $25.  The money will go a long way towards investigating and freeing others who have been wrongfully convicted.

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU PURCHASE TICKETS ON LINE OR RSVP to the Innocence Project so they know how many movie tickets to purchase in advance.

Please support this worthwhile cause.  Perhaps more than anything else, the freeing of the wrongfully convicted has helped to convince so many that the death penalty is bad public policy.

Sheila Meehan
TCADP Board

Conviction – The Movie

Starring Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell, Conviction is a movie based on the true story of Betty Anne Waters, who dedicated her life to overturning the wrongful conviction of her older brother, Kenny.

We very excited to have a feature film tell the story of wrongful conviction and its impact on people’s lives, thus bringing a spotlight to the work that Innocence Projects do. Conviction opens in Tallahassee at the Regal Cinemas Miracle 5 on October 29th. Please wait until November 4th to see the movie as we are hosting a reception with at least one Florida exoneree from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Mahogany Room on the 7th floor of the Hotel Duval before the 7:30 p.m. showing of the movie. Multiple sponsorship opportunities are available for the reception and movie showing on November 4th, all of which will enable IPF find and free innocent people in Florida prisons. Become a Sponsor.

Tickets for the reception and movie are $25 per person.

Use this link to go directly to the IP site and purchase your ticket:  http://floridainnocence.org/content/?page_id=2154

Anti death penalty play “The Exonerated”, By Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen

FAMU will present the anti death penalty play “The Exonerated” in Oct.
Charles Winter Wood Theatre
This play about real people exonerated from death row — including Florida’s — will be in Charles Winter Wood theater, which is on the first floor of Tucker Hall, the building next to FAMU’s library.

Parking tends to be hard to find evenings at FAMU. However, FAMU police will NOT ticket people without FAMU decals on evenings and weekends as long as you do NOT park in handicap or reserve parking. There is a parking lot on Orr Drive,which abuts Tucker Hall may have spaces available. There also is a parking garage about 2 blocks away on the extension of Railroad Ave. which is on FAMU’s campus.

The Exonerated
By Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen

Told in their own words, six Americans with vastly different ethnic, religious, and educational backgrounds share stories of their sentences on death row for crimes they did not commit. As an evening of theater that has the potential to change lives, the politics is exemplary, the stories harrowing and uplifting.

Fri., Oct. 22 – 8 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 23 – 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 24 – 3 p.m.

Admission: $12 Adults, $9 Senior Citizens and $7 Students/Child
Free for FAMU Students with valid I.D.

Preview Performaces: Oct. 20 & 21. $5 General Admission, Free for FAMU Students witth valid I.D. A post show discussion will follow the Sat. 2 p.m. matinee performance.

All shows are performed in the newly renovated Charles Winter Wood Theatre located in Tucker Hall (on Orr Drive next to FAMU’s library) on the campus of Florida A&M University unless otherwise indicated. Group rates are available. For more information call 561.2425.

Membership meeting notice

Dear TCADP Members:

I am inviting you to a meeting this Thursday, at noon,  March 25 in the First Presbyterian Church annex (the white building next to the church, 110 North Adams St). We’ll be meeting in the second room on the right on the first floor.

At this all membership meeting, we’ll be following-up on our workshop of a few weeks ago, including writing letters to legislators, planning a morning to talk to legislators, and planning some activities to continue informing the public about why it’s important to abolish the death penalty. This will include our participation at the upcoming Peace Festival in Railroad Sq. Art Park, and discussing ways we can take advantage of FAMU’s Essential Theater’s  upcoming Oct. production of “The Exonerated” — a play based on the experiences of 6 people who were exonerated from death row .

Please come with your ideas. If you can’t come, please e-mail your suggestions to me.

Best,

Louise Ritchie,
Chair, Tallahassee Citizens Against the Death Penalty
LouiseRitchie@aol.com

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