General information about the death penalty in Houston and around the state can be found at the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty website. The most recent TCADP newsletter is available at TCADP Newsletter and its most recent 2011 Annual Report is available.
The current execution schedule and vigils around the state can be found at:
TCADP is hosting its Annual Conference on Saturday, February 18.
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
11939 Brighton
Stafford, TX 77477
281-933-4925
Nancy
Bailey
Links:
Death Penalty Information Center
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
Autobiography of an Execution, David Dow