Vigil Schedule
During July, August, September and October Houston vigils will be held from 5:30 to 6:20 P. M. at the Dominican Sisters, 6501 Almeda (at Holcombe). There also is always a vigil in front of the Huntsville Unit (Walls) in Huntsville, on Hwy 190 and Ave I.
Currently scheduled executions can be found at the Current Execution Schedule
Death Penalty Report, September 2008
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
along with the French Consulate is hosting an event at Rice
University on September 22. The featured speaker will be Robert
Badinter, probably the single person most responsible for
abolishing the death penalty in France. He defended condemned
prisoners, and subsequently led the effort to abolish the death
penalty when he was Minister of Justice under Francois Mitterand.
He is a Professor of Law at Paris University. Further information
on this event is available on the AI and TCADP website.
TCADP is holding a “teach in” at the University of St.
Thomas on October 11, commemorating World Abolition Day, which is
October 10. There will be speakers and literature. The hope is
that not only will the event attract students, but members of the
community. Help will be needed promoting this event. We hope that
the event will become an annual tradition. Further information
will follow.
A case that’s getting a lot of attention right now is that
of Charles Hood, who is scheduled to be executed Sept. 10. The
issue of debate is did Mr. Hood receive a fair trial. At the time
of the trial, it was common knowledge within the court community
that the trial judge and the prosecutor were engaged in a long
running intimate affair, but no one was willing to go on record
about it. . Mr. Hood’s current defense team has located a
former assistant DA who was willing to sign an affidavit to that
effect. However the Texas CCA refused to consider it, so the
attorneys filed a civil suit. As it stands right now, they have
been granted a hearing, but the hearing is scheduled for Sept.
12, two days after Mr. Hood’s execution.
Jeff Wood, who was scheduled to be executed Aug.21 under the Law
of Parties, had his execution stayed just hours before 6 PM, not
based on the limited degree of his participation in the crime,
but on the question of his mental competence. There will be a
competency hearing in January or February.
The Texas Forensic Science Commission has taken up the case of
Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004 for the deaths
of his three children who died in a fire which Mr. Willingham was
accused of setting. The forensic fire evidence used to convict
him as now been proved to be scientifically invalid. It was much
the same evidence used to convict Ernest Willis, who was
exonerated a short time after Mr. Willingham’s execution due
to the efforts of a team of pro bono attorneys who became
interested in his case. The panel will investigate whether
advances in science should have prompted them to question their
original testimony. This should be very interesting because
evidence of the invalidity of the evidence was submitted in Mr.
Willingham’s final appeals and refused consideration.
Important Annual Dates to Commemorate
January 17 – Anniversary of the Resumption of Executions in the US – Gary Gilmore executed in Utah. Mode of execution – Firing Squad
March 1 – International Death Penalty Abolition Day – Anniversary of Michigan becoming the first English Speaking territory to abolish the death penalty in 1847
June 29 – July 2 – Annual Fast and Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty
June 29 – Anniversary of Furman v. Georgia decision in 1972. US Supreme Court found death penalty to be arbitrary and capricious. 600 were had their sentences commuted to life.
July 2 – Anniversary of Gregg v. Georgia decision in 1976 allowing the resumption of the death penalty in the US
December 7 – On December 7, 1982, Charlie Brooks was the first person executed by the State of Texas under its revised statute – and the first person executed by lethal injection. His execution ushered in a new era in which Texas emerged as the uncontested leader in the use of the death penalty in the United States.
For more information, contact AI Group 23's Anti-death penalty coordinator, Nancy Bailey at:
Nancy Bailey
P. O. Box 1566
Bellaire, TX 77402-1566
281-933-4925
Nancy Bailey
RECOMMENDED READINGS:
The Biblical Truth About America’s Death Penalty, Dale Recinella
Among the Lowest of the Dead: David von Drehle
In Spite of Innocence, Hugo Adam Bedau, Michael Radelet
Dead Man Walking: Sister Helen Prejean
Live from Death Row, Mumia Abu Jamal
The Death of Innocents, Sister Helen Prejean
Executed on a Technicality, David Dow
The Death Penalty In America: Hugo Adam Bedau
The Rope, the Chair & the Needle, Marquart, Ekland-Olson, Sorensen
Living Next Door to the Death House, Owens, Owens
Debating the Death Penalty, Bedau, Cassell
Who Owns Death?, Lifton, Mitchell
Links:
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Death Penalty Information Center