The bad new first: Although there are ongoing appeals on behalf of Mark Schwab, he is scheduled to be killed by the State of Florida on July 1st. We will keep you posted on the outcome of these appeals and plans for a vigil for Mark in front of Gov. Crist’s mansion on July 1 and for a memorial on July 2nd for Mark and for Junny Rios-Martinez.
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The good news: there are two important events coming up in the next 10 days.

#1 On Friday, June 20th there will be a fund raiser (only $10) for the Innocence Project of Florida. This event is to help add dollars to the funds for those people who were wrongly accused and who will finally get out of prison with nothing in their pockets and no place to live. This is truly an emergency fund and is extremely worthwhile. If you cannot attend, please consider sending a contribution. The website is: www.floridainnocence.org

The Innocence Project of Florida will host Innocence Rocks!, an evening of food, ’60s and ’70s music by The Big Kahunas, a silent auction and a cash bar. The event, 7:00 p.m. – midnight at the American Legion Hall at Lake Ella, is being held to raise money for IPF’s Exoneree Emergency Fund.
You can purchase advance tickets by contacting Toni Shrewsbury, at 850-561-6767. You can also see the beautiful flier for the event at http://www.floridainnocence.org

Innocence Rocks!
June 20, 2008
7:00 p.m. - Midnight
American Legion Hall at Lake Ella
$10 per person (tax deductible)
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#2) The FSU Center for the Advancement of Human Rights is proud to present:
Mark Schneider, Senior Vice-President, International Crisis Group and former Director of the Peace Corps will speak on: “Chaos in Afghanistan.”

Human Rights & National Security in the 21st Century Lecture Series
Monday, June 23, 2008
12:30 PM
FSU College of Law — Rotunda
(425 W. Jefferson St.)

Mark Schneider, will kick off a summer lecture series that will examine human rights interests and national security imperatives within the context of the U.S.-led “War on Terror.”

Schneider will address the current conditions in Afghanistan, the ongoing military engagement by the United States and the role of humanitarian assistance and foreign aid. *This special event is free and open to the public. Public parking available across the street at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center — A light lunch buffet will be available from noon to 12:30 while it lasts. Q & A will follow the lecture.

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Sheila Meehan
Chair, TCADP

Dear friends,
Late last year, executions in Florida were put on hold because of the flawed
process of lethal injection.  Now that a government commission has reviewed the lethal injection process (www.fadp.org, Governor’s Commission on the Administrationof Lethal Injection Releases Report), Florida needs to continue the time-out on executions and review the entire death penalty system and all of its flaws.

YOUR involvement is critical to halt executions and study the capital punishment system!
TWO THINGS YOU CAN DO TODAY:
Choose one, or both if you can!

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1. Write letters, emails, and call Governor Charlie Crist to tell him to
maintain the current time-out on executions and do a thorough study of the death penalty. (See AP article below about the need for communication with Crist)
2. Forward this alert to a friend (or five!) and have them contact Governor
Crist too!
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COMMUNICATIONS WITH GOVERNOR CRIST

Each one of us can make a difference!  This is about quantity.  Shortletters
(even 2-3 sentences) are great!  See talking points below for ideas.

ADDRESS:
Gov. Charlie Crist
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL  32399

PHONE: 850-488-7146
FAX: 850-487-0801

EMAIL: Charlie.Crist@myflorida.com
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TALKING POINTS:
Pick what resonates with you–
Thank you for launching an Open Government study of the method and protocols of lethal injection and the circumstances involving the December 15th execution of Angel Diaz.  It is clear that the protocols need to be rewritten, and any process moving forward should ensure that the new protocols are thoughtfully developed and properly vetted through a public process that allows the citizens of Florida to understand clearly this uniquely serious action that the State takes.

Lethal injection involves a medical procedure and should be overseen by
well-trained medical professionals. Florida’s Death penalty lawyers are untrained and under funded.  The performance of appointed lawyers in Florida has been criticized on numerous occasions, including by the Florida Supreme Court.  Some lawyers have little or no experience in death penalty cases and do not raise the correct issues in trials.

Since 1973, 123 death row inmates have been released after evidence proved they were innocent, including 22 in Florida.  We need to figure out what’s gone wrong in these cases so we do not risk executing an innocent person.
The death penalty in Florida costs $51 million a year above and beyond what it would cost to sentence defendants to life without the possibility of parole.  Can we really afford such a wasteful system?  And aren’t our valuable tax dollars better spent on a measures that would prevent violent crimes?

To be meaningful, justice should be swift and sure.  The death penalty is
neither.  Capital punishment prolongs pain for victims’ families, dragging them through an agonizing and lengthy process that holds out the promise of one punishment in the beginning and usually results in a life sentence in the end anyway.

Since 1979, when Florida reinstated the death penalty, none of the 60 executed have been white defendants who killed black victims, and although numerous commissions and task forces have studied and made recommendations to address racial and geographical bias in Florida’s death penalty law, few of those recommendations have been implemented.

The American Bar Association assessment report found that Florida’s system is plagued with problems that can lead to wrongful convictions, such as access to DNA testing, the preservation of evidence, and eye witness identification procedures, including lineups and interrogation procedures that increase the likelihood of false confessions.

**AP Article outlining the need for communication to Governor Crist:

February 27, 2007
OHIO - In one of the nation’s busiest death penalty states, letters to Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland are running almost 5-to-1 in favor of ending capital punishment or temporarily stopping it to study the system.
Strickland supports the death penalty, but almost immediately after taking office, he delayed the executions of three condemned killers while he reviewed their cases.

The decision resonated in Ohio, where former Gov. Bob Taft let 24 executions proceed with little hesitation.
An Associated Press review of correspondence Strickland received since his
election and running through Feb. 15 found 125 letters or e-mails from death penalty opponents.
…In FLORIDA, newly elected Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican and death penalty supporter, has received only 22 letters and e-mails split evenly between capital punishment backers and opponents.

“I wouldn’t say we felt like it was high or low,” Crist spokeswoman Kathy Torian said.
Florida executed 21 inmates under Crist’s predecessor, Republican Jeb Bush. The state has a temporary moratorium on executions while a commission studies whether changes are needed in the way the state carries out the death penalty.

Bush created the commission after December’s botched execution of Angel Nieves Diaz, who survived for more than a half hour after being given two doses of the lethal injection drugs.

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Mark Elliott
State Death Penalty Abolitionist
Amnesty Internqational USA

“The time is always right to do what is right.” Martin Luther King

Monday, November 20th, 7:00 p.m.
Community of Faith Church
1533 South Monroe Street
In September 2006 an Assessment Team of the American Bar Association released a report in which
they found numerous flaws in the way the death penalty is administered in Florida.

Our state should have responded to the ABA Assessment by suspending all executions until its findings are addressed. Instead…
Florida responded with 3 executions.

Speakers:
Gail Anderson, Attorney for Prisoners on Death Row
Dale Landry, Tallahassee Chapter of the NAACP
Marty McClain, Attorney for Prisoners on Death Row
Michael Minerva, Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team
Larry Spalding, American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLU)

Moderator:
Sheila Meehan, Tallahassee Citizens Against the Death Penalty

Sponsors:
American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLU)
League of Women Voters of Tallahassee
Tallahassee Chapter of NAACP
Tallahassee Citizens Against the Death Penalty

The American Bar Association selected nine states, including Florida, for close examination to determine whether those convicted of capital crimes are receiving fair representation, whether our system really works. The Assessment Team have just completed their assessment of Florida, and the report was released in September. They found serious flaw and made a number of significant recommendations.

TCADP and the Tallahassee branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will co-sponsor a public forum, “The Death Penalty as Public Policy: Florida’s ‘Gutter of Shame.’” The panel will include, among others, representatives from the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union, a member of the Florida Assessment Team of the American Bar Association, and an attorney who represents many clients on Florida’s death row.

The public forum will take place Monday, November 20, 7:00 p.m., at the Community of Faith Church, 1533 South Monroe Street.

With this forum we hope to raise public awareness of the serious flaws in Florida’s administration of the death penalty. The time is right, both because of the recent release of the ABA Assessment, and because this year marks the 30th anniversary of the reinstatement of the death penalty.

I will be sending more information, but this is enough information for the moment. Plan now to come and bring your friends–especially those who need to hear the message.

Urgent Appeal from Kindred Spirits!

Kindred Spirits provides friendship and personal support to prisoners in Florida under sentence of death. KS is an all volunteer organization established in 1991 and it is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Each quarter Kindred Spirits makes a small deposit in the accounts of many death row prisoners, most of whom have no family or financial help of any kind. This money is used to buy such things as shoes, toothpaste, writing paper, thermal underwear in winter, or a snack from the canteen. Kindred Spirits also sends letters, stamps, and birthday cards to prisoners. All of this is done through volunteers with virtually no administrative costs. Until now, the organization has been funded through donations and also a small church grant. These monies are running out and there is an urgent need for donations of any size before the next quartrly contributions to prisoner accounts is made in mid-April. Please help with any amount by sending a check to: Audrey Rivers, Kindred Spirits Charitable Trust, 820 McGuire Avenue, Tallahassee, Florida 32303.

Nancy Smith Fichter and the board of the TCADP

[Other speakers/ topics : Bob Spivey, Introduction; Leo Sandon, Church and State; Bill Swain, Abortion.]

Trinity United Methodist Church is at the Corner of Park and Duval Streets, Tallahassee, Florida.