CEDP National Convention in Austin, TX

The Prison System is the New Jim Crow

The CEDP"s 11th Annual Convention

November 11-13

At Ventana Del Soul

1834 East Oltorf, Austin, Texas

Register at: http://nodeathpenalty.org/2011-national-convention-registration

This November, the Campaign to End the Death Penalty is headed straight to the belly of the beast—Texas—for a weekend of struggle and organizing!

The murder of Troy Davis by the state of Georgia on September 21 horrified millions of people the world over—and has sparked a renewed national discussion of the death penalty in the United States. We will spend the weekend sharing our stories and experiences, working to build our forces and strategizing the next steps forward for our movement and our organization.

Speakers will include former prisoners, family members, activists, lawyers, scholars and others. They include:

Former prisoners: Lawrence Hayes, Jazz Hayden, Mark Clements and Darby Tillis.

Family members: Sandra Reed, Delia Perez Myers, Jeannine Scott,  Terri Been, Barbara Lewis, Lawrence Foster Sr, Kenneth Foster Sr., and Sandrine Ageorges Skinner, Troy’s sister, Martina Correia will address the convention via telecom along with her son DeJaun Correia.

Activists: Jesse Muhammad, Jack Bryson, Jessica Escobar and Elizabeth Gilbert and many others. 

The convention kicks off with a Friday evening event at the University of Texas, Southern Injustice:  Fighting racism and the death penalty.  The panel features 

Sandrine Ageorges Skinner (wife of Texas death row prisoner Hank Skinner, scheduled to be killed on November 9th), Jesse Muhammad (Activist and journalist with the Nation of Islam out of Houston) and Sandra Reed (mother of Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed.)

Other sessions over the weekend include:  

We ARE all Troy Davis: The struggle continues * The Prison System is the New Jim Crow * Prisoner Resistance: From Attica to DRIVE to Pelican Bay * Rick Perry, Cameron Todd Willingham and the scandal of the Texas death penalty * The Texas Law of Parties:  What it is and why we need to fight it. * Not in our name:  How executions create victims on both sides.

For a full program schedule and to register, go to nodeathpenalty.org

Exonerated Death Row Survivors, Family Members, and Supporters Gather in Austin, TX

Twenty exonerated death row survivors came from cities, towns, and farms across the United States and assembled in Austin, Texas from October 19th -23rd for the Witness to Innocence (WTI) 2011 Fall Gathering of members. The 20 exonerated death row survivors were joined by 14 family members/loved ones and 11 allies.

The WTI Gathering was made up of many interesting and inspiring components, including artistic expression, educational workshops, fellowship, peer support, personal sharing, organizational development, skills building, and political action. WTI selected Austin - the Capitol of Capital Punishment – to challenge the death penalty because Texas has earned an international reputation as a human rights based on its fervor for law-sanctioned killing.

WTI members led several hundred people in the 12th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty on Saturday, October 22nd. WTI also introduced Mr. David Love, WTI’s new Executive Director, to the members at the Gathering. David brings more than fifteen years of experience as a community organizer, editor, human rights activist, journalist, legal advocate, legislative staff person, and executive director to his leadership position with WTI. He was warmly welcomed by all the WTI members in Austin.



KXAN coverage of our gathering:

Execution Watch: Frank Garcia

Frank Garcia is to be executed Thursday

By Elizabeth Ann Stein
Producer, Execution Watch

Dozens of San Antonio Police officers will travel by chartered bus Thursday to Huntsville, Texas, to stand outside the death house while Frank Garcia is put to death.

Execution Watch will provide live coverage and commentary of the case and the execution on KPFT FM 90.1 HD3 in Houston and over the internet at http://executionwatch.org starting at 6 p.m. Central Time.

TEXAS PLANS TO EXECUTE
FRANK GARCIA, who turned 39 Friday, was convicted in the shooting deaths of his wife and a San Antonio Police officer in 2001. Both were slain after the officer responded to a call about a domestic dispute at the couple’s home. More background: executionwatch.org > Backpage on Frank Garcia.


SHOW LINEUP
Host: RAY HILL, an ex-convict and activist who founded, and hosted for 30 years, the Prison Show on KPFT. His new show may be heard every weekday on hmsnetradio.org at 2 p.m. CT.


Legal Analyst: JIM SKELTON, a legal educator and retired attorney, he’s a native Texan and  iconoclast who has seen capital trials from both the prosecution table and the defense table. His scheduled guests are fellow attorneys SUSAN ASHLEY and LARRY DOUGLAS.


Featured Interview: VICTORIA PANETTI. Sister of Texas death row prisoner Scott Panetti, she composed and performed Death by Texas, adopted by Execution Watch as its theme song. A case brought on behalf of her severely schizophrenic brother prompted a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, Panetti v. Quarterman, that raised the bar for executing mentally ill people.


Reporter, Death House, Huntsville: GLORIA RUBAC founder and leader, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, abolitionmovement.org.


Reporter, Vigil, Houston: TCADP, a member of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty will report from the execution vigil the group sponsors in Houston,  www.tcadp.org.


BROADCAST DETAILS

Thursday's Execution Watch will be heard in Houston on KPFT's HD3 channel, instead of HD1, because of the ongoing fundraising campaign on HD1. The live internet stream at http://executionwatch.org will not be affected.

NEXT SCHEDULED EXECUTION
On Nov. 9, Texas plans to execute HENRY “HANK” SKINNER. A stay is likely, but we’re prepared to broadcast if need be. Details: executionwatch.org


PRODUCER: Elizabeth Ann Stein, eliza.tx.usa @gmail.com.
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Otis Maclay, omaclay @gmail.com.
STUDIO ENGINEER: Doyle.
THEME:  By Victoria Panetti, SheMonster International, myspace.com/shemonster.

12th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty Saturday Oct 22 at the Texas Capitol in Austin

The 12th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty is Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 at the Texas Capitol at 2 PM (on the north side of the capitol).

Special guests this year include 25 death row survivors who each spent many years on death row despite being innocent.

Before his execution,Todd Willingham told his parents,“Please don’t ever stop fighting to vindicate me.”

Before his execution,Troy Davis told his supporters in a letter,"There are so many more Troy Davises. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this unjust system city by city,state by state and country by country."

Texas has executed 475 people since 1982 (as of Sept 23, 2011). Under current Texas Governor Rick Perry, 236 people have been executed, including some with a strong case of innocence. Twelve people have been exonerated while on death row in Texas, the most recent being Anthony Graves in 2010.Since 1976, there have been 138 death row exonerations in the United States.

“We will be urging all Texans to join us at the March to Abolish the Death Penalty on October 22 in Austin", said Ron Keine, formerly on death row in New Mexico.

“As they see what the death penalty really means, in my case and others, more and more Texans believe that Texas can do without the death penalty,” said exonerated death row survivor Clarence Brandley, from Conroe, Texas, who has been fighting for compensation from the state of Texas for over twenty years.

Each October since 2000, people from all walks of life and all parts of Texas, the U.S. and other countries have taken a day out of their year and gathered in Austin to raise their voices together and loudly express their opposition to the death penalty. The march is a coming together of activists, family members of people on death row, community leaders, exonerated former death row prisoners and all those calling for repeal of the Texas death penalty.

The annual march is organized as a joint project by several Texas anti-death penalty organizations: Texas Moratorium Network, the Austin chapter of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, Texas Students Against the Death Penalty, Witness to Innocence, Texas Civil Rights Project, International Socialist Organization, Amnesty International at The University of Texas, Texas Death Penalty Education and Resource Center and Kids Against the Death Penalty.

"‎They kill people at a record pace + many of them innocent" - Todd Willingham

"‎They kill people at a record pace + many of them innocent. They do not care about Justice, only feeding the machine," Todd Willingham in a letter addressed "Dear Stacy" in April 2000.

If you think you don't have time to come to the 12th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty this Saturday, then think about what it must be like to be an innocent person on death row and how you wish people would stand up and fight for you. It is too late to save Todd Willingham, but you can save other innocent people who are still on death row. Attend the march!

Evidentiary Hearing Granted to Evaluate New Evidence Regarding the Actual Innocence of Robert Gene Will

______________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 19, 2011

Contact           Dawn Bremer

per pro Robert Will

Phone              713-294-3649

Email:             dawn.bremer@gmail.com

Join us:            www.freerobwill.org

LIVINGSTON, TX –– On October 19, 2011 a limited evidentiary hearing will take place for Robert Will who has resided on Death Row for 9 years. Robert Will has always maintained his innocence and instead declared another man shot Deputy Hill, the police officer Robert Will was sentenced to die for killing in 2002.

Now a new witness has joined the voices of three others who support Robert Will’s innocence claim and have provided affidavits to the courts. This witness will give testimony to the courts on October 19^th that they saw the real killer shortly after the shooting with blood on him. The police never investigated the real shooter because he is the son of a police officer. 

Dawn Bremer, the spokesperson for the Robert Will Defense Committee commented on the importance of the developments in the case, “This hearing can open the door to letting the truth finally be brought to light and justice being served not only for Mr. Will, but for Deputy Hill’s family by clearing an innocent man and putting the focus on the real murder.” 

Robert Will’s case is not unique and is in fact very similar to Troy Davis’, the Death Row prisoner who was murdered by the state of Georgia on the night of September 21, 2011. Davis also proclaimed his innocence until the very end and hundreds of thousands of people rallied to his side, here in the United States and around the world. Seven of the nine original witnesses recanted their testimony and no actual evidence exits to tie Davis to the murder of the police officer he was convicted and sentenced to death for killing.

Since 1976 over 130 people have been exonerated from Death Row in the United States despite strict regulations around petitioning for new factual evidence to be reviewed by a jury and judge.

The family of Deputy Barry Hill was devastated by the loss of Mr. Hill. Robert Will’s family, a young son Robert Will hasn't seen since his incarceration in 2000 should not have to suffer that same fate. Someone killed Deputy Hill on December 4^th, 2000. Robert Will is not that guy.

# # #

12th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty Saturday Oct 22 at the Texas Capitol in Austin

The 12th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty is Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 at the Texas Capitol at 2 PM (on the north side of the capitol).

Special guests this year include 25 death row survivors who each spent many years on death row despite being innocent.

Before his execution,Todd Willingham told his parents,“Please don’t ever stop fighting to vindicate me.”

Before his execution,Troy Davis told his supporters in a letter,"There are so many more Troy Davises. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this unjust system city by city,state by state and country by country."

Texas has executed 475 people since 1982 (as of Sept 23, 2011). Under current Texas Governor Rick Perry, 236 people have been executed, including some with a strong case of innocence. Twelve people have been exonerated while on death row in Texas, the most recent being Anthony Graves in 2010.Since 1976, there have been 138 death row exonerations in the United States.

“We will be urging all Texans to join us at the March to Abolish the Death Penalty on October 22 in Austin", said Ron Keine, formerly on death row in New Mexico.

“As they see what the death penalty really means, in my case and others, more and more Texans believe that Texas can do without the death penalty,” said exonerated death row survivor Clarence Brandley, from Conroe, Texas, who has been fighting for compensation from the state of Texas for over twenty years.

Each October since 2000, people from all walks of life and all parts of Texas, the U.S. and other countries have taken a day out of their year and gathered in Austin to raise their voices together and loudly express their opposition to the death penalty. The march is a coming together of activists, family members of people on death row, community leaders, exonerated former death row prisoners and all those calling for repeal of the Texas death penalty.

The annual march is organized as a joint project by several Texas anti-death penalty organizations: Texas Moratorium Network, the Austin chapter of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, Texas Students Against the Death Penalty, Witness to Innocence, Texas Civil Rights Project, International Socialist Organization, Amnesty International at The University of Texas, Texas Death Penalty Education and Resource Center and Kids Against the Death Penalty.

A message from Sister Helen Prejean

The following is Sister Helen Prejean's fundraising appeal for Witness to Innocence

Dear Friends and Supporters of Witness to Innocence:

Over the years I have been asked to write a hundred or more fundraising letters on behalf of many worthy organizations and causes.  I’ve said “yes” to many of these requests and “no” to a handful.  To be truthful, sometimes writing such a letter is a joyous task… and sometimes it is a dutiful chore. When Terry Rumsey, the Interim Executive Director of Witness to Innocence,  contacted me recently and asked me to write a few words and sign my name to a letter asking good folks to make a financial gift to Witness to Innocence, I actually thanked him.  Why? I was thankful that Terry trusted me to find the right words that might inspire someone to write a check – or click on a link on the WTI Web site – for a unique group that I cherish with all my heart.

I admit I feel something akin to a maternal instinct for an organization that was born within our Moratorium Campaign back in 2003 and operated under our fiscal sponsorship until 2009, when it spread its wings and became an independent organization.  Think of that, my friends.  An independent organization composed of and led by exonerated death row survivors.  These were innocent men (and one remarkable woman) who were once branded as monsters, shackled, banished to isolation cells, and wrapped in the cloak of death.  Now, some of them are board members, some are staff members, and all of them are proud members of a change-making organization that has earned the respect of people across the nation and around the world. 

It is not, however, based on a shred of sentimentality that I am asking you to make a generous monetary gift to Witness to Innocence.  This is a professional organization that is getting the job done!  Witness to Innocence played a decisive role in the recent campaigns that abolished the death penalty in New Mexico (2009) and in Illinois (2011).  Both Governor Richardson of New Mexico and Govern Quinn of Illinois cited the moral weight of wrongful capital convictions as the primary reasons why they signed legislation abolishing the death penalty in their respective states.  A recent national poll revealed that the risk of executing an innocent person was the most convincing argument for abolishing the death penalty in the United States. 

We need these brave souls who faced wrongful execution to continue to speak truth to power, and we need their organization to continue its wonderful job of assembling, inspiring, organizing, and supporting them to be that powerful voice for truth in our society.

Please visit the Witness to Innocence Web site at www.witnesstoinnoce.org to make a donation online.  All financial gifts are tax-deductible.

In closing, let me express my thanks to you for taking the time to read this appeal and for sharing my passion for the amazing work of America’s exonerated death row survivors and Witness to Innocence.

Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ

Execution Watch: Todd Willingham Redux

Cameron Todd Willingham, executed 2004

By Elizabeth Stein
Producer, Execution Watch

Execution Watch's first-ever special edition will air today, Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 6 p.m. Central Time on KPFT 90.1 FM Houston, with discussion and analysis of the Todd Willingham case.

The Willingham story is not over. We'll talk about why. We hope you'll join us.

The special edition of Execution Watch will broadcast live on the HD3 channel of KPFT FM 90.1 Houston and stream simultaneously on the internet, http://executionwatch.org > Listen.

Making the show a first for Execution Watch is that it will not involve live coverage of an execution. Instead, it will delve into the Willingham case, including the state's continued denial of culpability in the execution of an innocent person and the reluctance by officials to recognize and embrace the latest advances in arson investigation techniques.

In the studio will be Execution Watch Host Ray Hill; attorney Susan Ashley, who conceived and produced the special edition; Execution Watch Legal Analyst Jim Skelton, and criminal defense attorney Larry Douglas.

The show's esteemed guests will include Liz Gilbert, the playwright and educator who became immersed in Willingham's case after volunteering to be his pen pal and who kick-started the investigation into his conviction.

Also scheduled to be a guest on the show is Gerald Hurst, the widely respected arson expert who first brought to light the profound flaws of the original arson investigation.



(END)

Logo of Rick Perry and His Running Mate Todd Willingham

Rick Perry has a running mate. His name is Todd Willingham.

Graphic by Patricia Turner for Texas Moratorium Network.

Screening of "Incendiary: The Willingham Case" Oct 5 to Benefit Charlie Baird for DA Campaign

Texas Moratorium Network is hosting a screening on Wednesday October 5 at the Violet Crown Cinema in Austin of "Incendiary: the Willingham case" about the case of Todd Willingham. We are hosting it as a fundraiser to benefit the campaign of Charlie Baird for Travis County District Attorney. All proceeds go to the campaign of Charlie Baird. Get your tickets now, seating is limited. Charlie Baird needs your support in his race to bring Justice That Works to Austin and Travis County. To learn more about Charlie Baird visit his website www.charliebaird.com.

Please Join The Texas Moratorium Network as they host "Incendiary: A Night With The Filmmakers & Charlie Baird" benefiting the Charlie Baird for Travis County District Attorney Campaign. The evening begins with a reception at 5:30 and the movie beginning promptly at 7:00 p.m. Immediately upon conclusion of the film, the filmmakers and Charlie--who was interviewed for the film--will speak and answer questions.
Time:	Wednesday, October 5th 05:30 PM — Wednesday, October 5th 09:30 PM
Location:	Violet Crown Cinema 434 West 2nd Street Austin, TX 78701
More Info:	Please join the Texas Moratorium Network for a special screening of "Incendiary: The Willingham Case" benefiting the Charlie Baird for Travis County District Attorney Campaign. This award-winning film features an interview with Charlie Baird. The event begins with a reception with the filmmakers and Charlie at 5:30 p.m. followed by the film screening. Immediately after the screening, Charlie and the filmmakers will make a brief presentation and answer audience questions. Only 50 total movie tickets are available, so please get yours today. Please note that, because of limited space in the theater itself, some ticket options and sponsorship options are limited to the reception only.