National Anti-death Penalty Conference In Austin This Weekend
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2005 AUSTIN TEXAS (h)
HEADS UP: MAJOR MARCH IN TEXAS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY! (SEE MORE INFO BELOW): STOP ALL EXECUTIONS!
NATIONAL ANTI-DEATH PENALTY CONFERENCE JUST GETTING STARTED AT THE HYATT ON TOWN LAKE IN AUSTIN TEXAS THROUGH SUNDAY (Converging with Journey of Hope, led by murder victims’ family members and including families of the executed, exonerees and activists.
MAJOR TALKING POINTS:
The illogic of killing to show killing is wrong: A child’s question, “Who’s going to kill those who kill the killers?”
The issues discussed related to Abolition of the Death Penalty are FOUNDATIONAL for other manifestations of State Violence: injustice, revenge, capriciousness, WHO OWNS DEATH? complete irresponsibility with public money, lack of resources for and attention to prevention/alternatives, issues of faith AND HUMAN RIGHTS–IE who are we? Torture, inadequete or no trial, etc., etc….(AND SO MANY OF THESE ISSUES HAVE RECENTLY SPRUNG FROM TEXAS!)
Major developments with US Federal Death Penalty–Patriot Act and Habeas Corpus/Appeals (refer to Russ Feingold who has been present at past conferences–as the sole Senator to reject the Patriot Act–also has been campaigning for a Federal Death Penalty for years.) Human rights, extrajudicial executions, police corruption.
Texas executed THREE times as many as the rest of the USA.
Executions are swayed by race/economics.
Confessions are often coerced,tortured or fabricated.
The Judicial System is incompetent and injust–especially to the poor. (At the very least, we need to call for a Moratorium to see what can be fixed.)
98% OF US MONEY IS APPLIED AFTER CRIME 2% IS USED FOR PREVENTION
Bill Wiseman, Oklahoma legislator who introduced Lethal Injection in this country, regrets having introduced it and is now an abolitionist (against the death penalty)
CONTACT: David Elliot, NCADP Communications Director 202-543-9577, ext. 16 delliot@ncadp.org www.ncadp.org
Also: Bob Van Steenburg: 512 258-6480 Dave Atwood: 713 529-3826
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS TO BE DISCUSSED:
The Death Penalty and Human Rights Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights (And the UN Commission on Human Rights Debates) www.murdervictimsfamilies.org
Federal rulings and pending rulings related to The Patriot Act
Bill Wiseman, former Oklahoma legislator who introduced lethal injection as a method of execution in the US, now regrets having pushed the concept into law. He was recently ordained as an Episcopal priest and is against capital punishment.
Lethal Injection is not a panacea. There are concerns that much pain and suffering is involved, only masked.
Catholic Bishops (and many other faith groups) are moving quickly toward a November push to abolish the death penalty.
Recent Developments in Death Penalty JurisprudenceËœAn Overview Friday, October 28, 2005 12:30p.m.-5:00p.m. CUTTING EDGE LEGAL ISSUES The State of Federal Habeas Corpus Relief for Death Row (Ruth Friedman, Leading Expert on Federal Habeas Corpus at 1:45 p.m.) The Application of International Human Rights to Capital Cases in US Courts Access to Post-Conviction Relief for Death Row Inmates c Mental Retardation (in Light of Atkins v. Virginia) Naomi Terr,Leading Expert mitigating Evidence in Capital Cases 3:30 p.m.
DNA Law and the Death Penalty, David Dow, Professor,the University of Houston law Center4:30 p.m.
Many other workshops on race, families of murder victims, innocence, law, faith and abolition, etc.
STOP EXECUTIONS! ANTI-DEATH PENALTY MARCH IN AUSTIN,TEXAS SATURDAY Austin City Plaza 3-5:30 PM Central/Texas (meeting near City Hall) Sponsored by: Journey of Hope, National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Texas Moratorium network
3pm Gather at Austin City Hall Plaza (Between Lavaca and Guadalupe on W. Cesar Chavez Street)
4pm March to the Texas Governor’s Mansion (1010 Lavaca)
4:30pm Rally at the Texas Governor’s Mansion
5:30pm Surround Governor’s Mansion in Yellow Crime Scene Tape
Participants at the march will be abolitionists and those working for moratorium as well from all over the US and some from other countries as well. Among these will be:
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (and various other Texas-based groups against execution and/or for Moratorium): www.tcadp.org/factsAndFigures.htm
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/content.jsp?content_KEY=795
See also Austin article on Fed. death penalty facts/pending startling developments
People of Faith Against the Death Penalty Abolition lawyers
Human rights groups including Amnesty International and Amnesty I/USA European Human Rights and Abolition Groups
www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/index.do www.amnestyusa.org/
www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/content.jsp?content_KEY=842
Texas Moratorium Network - Texas Death Penalty, Texas Executions, Texas Death Row Database March to Stop Executions - Oct 29, 2005. Sample Letter to a Legislator. Legislative Phone texasmoratorium.org/mod.php?mod=userpage&menu=807&page_id=82&group=1
The full schedule: NATIONAL ANTI-DEATH PENALTY CONFERENCE TO CONVENE IN AUSTIN OCT. 27-30
Oct. 21, 2005 - The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty will hold its annual conference at the Hyatt on Town Lake in Austin, Texas Oct. 27-30. This is the first time NCADP has convened in Austin and its first trip to Texas since 1997, when it met in Houston.
NCADP 2005: Turning Wins into Winning comes at a time when death sentences are down nationwide, at least a half dozen states are debating abolition, moratorium and other reform legislation and U.S. Catholic leaders have announced a broad campaign against use of the death penalty. In Texas, however, problems remain with the way the death penalty system is carried out.
“Texas continues to operate a system that fundamentally lacks fairness,” said Diann Rust-Tierney, NCADP executive director. “Four times in the last two years, the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Texas death sentences. Texas continues to seek the execution of people with severe mental retardation, mental illness and people who may well be factually innocent. NCADP looks forward to highlighting the many problems in Texas and discussing solutions.”
NCADP’s conference will follow in the footsteps of the Journey of Hope - From Violence to Healing, which was launched in Huntsville Oct. 15 and is traveling to more than a dozen towns and cities across the state before concluding in Austin. The Journey of Hope features the personal stories of family members of murder victims who oppose the death penalty as well as relatives of people on death row and people who have been executed.
NCADP’s conference will feature veteran organizers within the abolition movement, leading lawyers who work on death penalty cases, religious leaders who oppose the death penalty, family members who have lost loved ones to murder yet oppose the death penalty, relatives of death row inmates and people who have been freed from death row due to innocence. The local host for the NCADP conference is NCADP?s Texas affiliate, the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
Conference highlights include:
***Families of executed death row inmates will gather for the first time as part of a project entitled “No Silence, No Shame: families of the executed speak out against the death penalty.” A public launch of this event and media availability will be held at 4 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 27.
***Religious leaders will discuss the death penalty at an opening plenary session at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Oct.
- Speakers include Richard Daly of the Texas Catholic Conference, Suzii Paynter of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Rabbi Kerry Baker of Congregation Kol Halev and Joseph Parker, pastor of David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church.
***State legislators will discuss the opportunities and challenges they face in their efforts to reform death penalty laws or repeal the death penalty altogether. Legislators include state Sen. Rodney Ellis of Texas; Assemblyman Joseph Lentol of New York, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and former state Rep.
Renny Cushing of New Hampshire. Gary Bledsoe, President of the Texas NAACP, will moderate the panel, which will take place at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 28.
***Family members of murder victims who oppose the death penalty as well as death row exonorees will share their experiences at a panel scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29.
***A first-of-its-kind film festival will feature portions from seven just-released or soon-to-be-released documentaries at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27. Documentaries to be aired include Deadline, The Empty Chair, A Question of Justice, Race to Execution, The Trials of Daryl Hunt, Thou Shall Not Kill and After Innocence.
***The 6th Annual March to Stop Executions will take place at 3 p.m. The march will begin at Austin’s City Hall, Cesar Chavez and Lavaca, and will proceed to the Governor’s Mansion, 10th and Lavaca.
Reporters seeking credentials to cover NCADP 2005: Turning Wins into Winning should call David Elliot at 202-607-7036.
For more information about the conference, including registration information, please visit www.ncadp.org
January 11th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
i was a resident in texas for a couple of years of my youth.i have heard rumor that my best friend in the whole world at the time was executed sometime in the late 80’s early 90’s.as i have looked for him there has been no sucsess how do i go about finding out about this
May 30th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
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