Letters Editor c/o Topeka Capital-Journal 616 SE Jefferson Av Topeka KS 66607

To the Editor:

Move over California! Your place as trend leader has been replaced by the Garden State of New Jersey! Governor Corzine’s signature of the law replacing the death penalty with life without parole is a historic beginning of the end of capital punishment in this country. Very soon Maryland will follow New Jersey’s lead; many other states will likely do the same.

Abolishing the death penalty in Trenton came about because the public there got tired of the deceptions and falsehoods promised by the so called “law and order” political opportunists.

Knowledgeable District Attorneys pointed out how those few capital cases drained their resources from being able to provide full services to their respective constituencies. Police officers observed that the death penalty never served as an effective deterrent to murder. Many murder victims’ family members spoke of their prolonged suffering and stress due to the increased press exposure related to capital cases. And Legislative researchers pointed to the increased costs of trials and appeals of capital defendants awaiting execution without much likelihood of execution.

Unfortunately all of those arguments which are equally applicable to Kansas have not moved our Legislature to take similar action yet. And Kansas’ experience with capital punishment continues to be plagued with prosecutorial misconduct, judicial error, arbitrariness, covert racism, jury misconduct, withheld evidence and ineffective counsel.

Kansas Legislators need to review those issues in earnest during the next session. Any action short of replicating New Jersey’s leadership will be a sad commentary of our continued “mugwumpism”.

Bill Lucero Kansas Coordinator Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation

LOOK FOR THESE ITEMS IN OTHER PLACES WITH GREATER VISIBILITY SOON!

Greetings. We would like to share some items below. As restorative justice advances nationally and internationally it is always interesting to see what form it takes. Be encouraged.

The New Jersey Legislature has voted to abolish the death penalty in that state. Today Governor Jon Corzine signed that bill into law. Knowing many of the victims of violent crime who supported this effort after years of hard work this is a victory in their eyes.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-abolish14dec14,0,7541517.story?coll=la-home-center

The LA Times does an excellent job of reporting this news. Many of the stories we have read on the topic have excluded the voices of victims who support the abolition of the death penalty in the U.S. Capital Restorative Justice Project in North Carolina :

http://www.divinity.duke.edu/publications/2007.09/features/feature3/print_feature3.htm

Montana Department of Corrections— victims meet offenders: http://newbillingsoutpost.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19936&Itemid=27

Give Restorative Justice A Chance”, Denver, Colorado; http://www.denverpost.com/voices/ci_7323178

Former Rwandan senior government official calls for restorative justice: http://www.sit.edu/news/archive/sebarenzi.html

JRP News: we have received word that the U.S. Department of Justice, through its Office for Victims of Crime, is awarding JRP a grant to continue our work with victims of violent crime and opening doors for healing and offender accountability through victims-driven restorative justice. We are very encouraged by this.

At this time, we are seeking matching grants to allow us to fully expand our work in the U.S. We ask for you to consider an end of the year donation to JRP to allow us to continue. We will be doing outreach to victims nationally, producing a DVD to tell JRP’s story, which are the stories of victims who have experienced some degree of healing through restorative justice, as well as producing a public service announcement as part of our outreach program.

You can donate to us online at our site via Paypal. Thank you so much.

To peace and justice in 2008.

Lisa M. Rea President and Founder

The Justice & Reconciliation Project (JRP) website: http://www.thejrp.org email: jrp@mindsync.com telephone: 530-368-2026 mailing address: P.O. Box 2051, Loomis, CA 95650 U.S.A.

“Working to promote victims-driven restorative justice”

Also you will find a score of photos and blogs from exonerees, family of the executed, activists–including those witht he focus of prevention (Kristin Houle), family of the murdered and much more at the same blogspot.

http://www.thejourneyofhope.blogspot.com

Thanks for tuning in! Connie L. Nash