[CUADPUpdate] Tookie Stuff & other This & That
Abraham J. Bonowitz
abe at cuadp.org
Fri Dec 9 12:21:16 EST 2005
Sent *ONLY* to the recipients of CUADPUpdate
Feel Free to Forward
*********
CONTENTS LIST BELOW
Greetings All,
Again, apologies for that last message going our twice. I am hopeful that
the technical difficulties have been resolved. Many thanks to those of you
who wrote.... And once again, if you want to be removed from this list,
send a polite message to <pam at cuadp.org>.
And now... about Tookie. Everybody wants to talk about Tookie. I've had
radio producers call me for advice on guests for shows about Tookie, and to
ask me to be available when a decision is made. I've had political
columnists ask me for details on Tookie, and several of you have asked me
to post information about the case. To be clear, it has always been the
policy of CUADP NOT to focus on any one case unless there was some larger
ramification. After all, whose life is more valuable than anothers - even
among convicted murderers - guilty or not? And what does all of the hubbub
about Tookie say about the idea of mercy, aka executive clemency? Of
course I want Tookie to get clemency, if not a new and more fair trial, and
I have written my letters, made my phone calls, and everyone receiving a
thank you note for a recent donation to CUADP or who ordered AbolitionWear
recently has also received the DPF postcards on the *three* pending
California extermination dates. But I must confess that my biggest fear
about the possibility that Tookie receives clemency is this: Will it set
the bar for clemency consideration so high that no others can even hope to
be considered? Must you be an "author" or a "Nobel" contender, or have a
movie made about you? Must you be in a position (and use it!) to influence
people for good as a result of your past evils? What about the next guy on
California's death watch - a 70+ year-old blind diabetic confined to a
wheelchair? What about a guy like Shawn Paul Humphries, killed last week
in South Carolina for what most similar crimes result in a jail term *with*
the possibility of parole? Once again, what hits home in Tookie's case and
so many others is the simple fact that the vast majority of murderers get
the "lesser" punishment of life without parole.
Its an unequal system in another way. If you manage to politicize your
case or somehow otherwise become a celebrity and build a following, you get
a massive outpouring of support when your time comes up. If you are just
another shnook without a hook, you get nothing except the bare
minimum. But at least there is that - the bare minimum. I urge everyone
who has been attracted to this movement because of a famous case like that
of Mumia or Tookie to look at the bigger issue and look at the rest of the
cases. Send an e-mail to tollbells-subscribe at yahoogroups.com to get a
(usually) weekly update of pending exterminations, and take action also at
www.NCADP.org, where links are always posted on the front page to action
alerts on *every* pending extermination in the US. We must speak up
*every* time the state kills in our names, not just when there is a band
wagon to jump on.
Have a nice weekend....
--abe
CONTENTS
International Human Rights Day
Mark Fiore: Pokie the Punisher
California Killings
About that Nobel Proze Nomination....
Amnesty International - on the Next California Killing
Mumia Gets Another Chance
Pro-DP DA Now Rejects DP
Judge Alito and the Death Penalty
Lobby Day in NJ
Find Something Useful?
*******
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
Tomorrow is December 10, International Human Rights Day, the anniversary of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Check out text of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, available in 250 languages at
<http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/index.htm>.
And remember, EVERY DAY is HUMAN RIGHTS DAY!
**********
MARK FIORE: POKIE THE PUNISHER
http://www.markfiore.com/animation/pokie.html
**********
CALIFORNIA KILLINGS
It is not too late to communicate.
Things which everyone can do:
Telephone Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at 916-445-2841
Ask for clemency for Stanley Williams.
Ask for clemency for Clarence Ray Allen
Ask for clemency for Michael Angelo Morales
Allow them to live.
Fax Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at 916-445-4633
Ask for clemency for Stanley Williams.
Ask for clemency for Clarence Ray Allen
Ask for clemency for Michael Angelo Morales
Allow them to live.
E-mail Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at governor at governor.ca.gov
Ask for clemency for Stanley Williams.
Ask for clemency for Clarence Ray Allen
Ask for clemency for Michael Angelo Morales
Allow them to live
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* People all over the world can amplify their advocacy by cloning their
message in at least three ways.
* Please, therefore, telephone and send a fax and post an e-mail.
* When?: Please do so now.
********************
ABOUT THAT NOBEL PRIZE NOMINATION
a letter to the LA Times....
><http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-tookienobel4dec04,0,1598571.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions>http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-tookienobel4dec04,0,1598571.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
>Who doesn't have a Nobel Prize nomination?
>Los Angeles Times By Eugene Volokh
>Eugene Volokh is a professor of law at UCLA Law School.
>December 4, 2005
>
>MANY advocates of clemency for Stanley Tookie Williams note that he has
>been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize in literature
>for his anti-gang work, which includes writing children's books. How could
>a convicted murderer and co-founder of the Crips be nominated for such prizes?
>
>According to Nobel Prize nominating rules, any "professor of social
>sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology" and any judge or national
>legislator in any country, among others, can nominate anyone for a Nobel
>Peace Prize. Past nominees include Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Benito
>Mussolini and Fidel Castro. Any "professor of literature [or] of
>linguistics," among others, can nominate anyone for a Nobel Prize in
>literature.
>
>Naturally, many nominees have real merit. But being nominated by one or a
>few of the hundreds of thousands of eligible nominators is little evidence
>of such merit. This is especially so when the nominee is a source of
>controversy, and when it may seem that nominating him may prevent his
>execution.
>
>It would surely be helpful to readers if news stories mentioning Williams'
>nominations or, for that matter, any Nobel peace or literature prizze
>nominations stressed how unselective the nomination process is.<
>
>We're used to prize nominations signifying relatively broad acclaim, as
>for an Oscar. When a nomination means nothing other than a recommendation
>from a professor (or even a few professors and a legislator), that should
>to be made clear.
>
>Besides, a convicted murderer's nominations for Nobel prizes shed little
>light on the complex question of whether he is sincerely contrite, whether
>he has done good deeds and whether his life should be spared.
********************
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - ON THE NEXT CALIFORNIA KILLING
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA
PRESS STATEMENT
December 7, 2005
AIUSA Urges Gov. Schwarzenegger to Give Equal Treatment to All Death
Penalty Cases and to Stay All Executions Until the Senate Commission
Finishes Its Work
Gov.'s Meeting in Stanley Tookie Williams Case Demonstrates Bias Inherent
to Death Penalty
(Washington, D.C.)--Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director, Amnesty
International USA, today released the following statement regarding the
impending execution of Stanley Tookie Williams and the fact that the
attention garnered by this case has overshadowed pervasive, systemic
problems with California's administration of the death penalty:
Stanley Tookie Williams is only one of 648 people currently on death row in
California.
Amnesty International USA is calling on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to
demonstrate genuine leadership and to uphold his obligation to represent
all of the people of California equally, even those on death row. The only
way to achieve that goal is to halt all executions until the Senate
appointed Commission has had time to thoroughly complete its work. The
lives of potentially innocent people depend on it.
While it is our belief that justice and the death penalty can never be
reconciled, the intense focus on the Williams execution is further evidence
of the arbitrary nature and bias inherent to this irrevocably broken
system. Once Williams's case has been decided, will Clarence Ray Allen and
Michael Morales, who are scheduled to be executed in January and February
2006, respectively, receive the same attention?
The notoriety surrounding Williams' pending execution has unintentionally
overshadowed the pervasive, systemic breakdowns plaguing the state's death
penalty. These errors have metastasized to the point that the state Senate
created the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice and
tasked it with the responsibility to "study the extent to which
California's criminal justice system has failed ... resulting in wrongful
execution or the wrongful conviction of innocent person[s]."
The mere existence of this Commission is an admission that there are
serious, fundamental problems with California's justice system and the
administration of the death penalty. In 2003, the Santa Clara Law Review
catalogued more than 80 of these flaws, including: the lack of proper
training for homicide detectives and lawyers; "serious" racial disparities;
the existence of a significant number of death row inmates who have no
lawyers to pursue evidence that might prove their innocence; and the lack
of safeguards common in other states' death penalty systems.
By solely focusing on Williams, the Governor and others are ignoring the
fact that the system under which Williams was convicted is so broken and
flawed that it calls into question his conviction as well those of Allen
and Morales.
For more information please visit:
<http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/index.do>www.amnestyusa.org/abolish.
Contact: Edward Jackson 202-544-0200 x 302
***************
MUMIA GETS ANOTHER CHANCE
> >From the office of Robert Bryan, esq.
>
>Dear Friends and Supporters:
>
>Today the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued
>the most important decision affecting my client, Mumia Abu-Jamal, since
>the lower federal court ruling in December 2001. An order was issued
>this morning that the court will accept for review the following issues,
>all of which are of enormous constitutional significance and go to the
>very essence of Mumia's right to a fair trial due process of law, and
>equal protection of the law under the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth
>Amendments to the U.S. Constitution:
>
> * Claim 14: Whether appellant was denied his constitutional rights
>due to the prosecutiona's trial summation.
> * Claim 16: Whether the Commonwealth's use of peremptory challenges
>at trial violated appellant's constitutional rights under Batson v.
>Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986).
> * Claim 29: Whether appellant was denied due process during
>post-conviction proceedings as a result of alleged judicial bias.
>
>Claim 16 concerns the prosecutorial use of racism in jury selection.Â
>The record establishes beyond question that racism is a major thread
>that has run through this case since Mumia's 1981 arrest, and continues
>to today. Claim 14 relates to the guilt phase. It includes the
>prosecutor's argument that if convicted Mumia would have "appeal after
>appeal." That comment effectively lessened the burden of the jurors,
>and turned the concept of reasonable doubt and presumption of innocence
>on its head. Claim 29 is about the bias and incredible racism of Judge
>Albert Sabo, the trial judge. Unfortunately, it is limited to his
>conduct at the 1995 evidentiary (PCRA) hearing, rather than his
>monstrous behavior at trial. This restriction is because all of the
>prior attorneys mistakenly did not attack Sabo's misconduct at trial, an
>unfortunate oversight and mistake
>
>The court has also issued a briefing schedule. The case is now on the
>fast track, as I have been predicting. The opening briefs are due to be
>filed by January 17, 2006.
>
>Please post this e-mail and the attached Order on your web sites, and
>circulate it. (see order at www.freemumia.com) Today we achieved a
>great victory in the campaign to win a new trial and the eventual
>freedom of Mumia.
>
>Your support, and activism, is badly needed and appreciated.
>
>With best wishes,
>
>Robert R. Bryan
>=============
>Law Offices of Robert R. Bryan
>2088 Union Street, Suite 4
>San Francisco, California 94123
>Lead counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal
>
>PS the order also grants the Prosecutions request to hear claim 25,
>which was the claim which Judge Yohn used to suspend Mumia's death
>sentence. Obviously the prosecution is seeking the reimposition of that
>sentence.
>
>============================================
>
>Prison Radio challenges mass incarceration and racism by airing the voices
>of men and women in prison. Our educational materials serve
>as a catalyst for public activism.
>
>To subscribe to the Prison Radio Zap-email list,
>send a blank email message to prison_radio-subscribe at topica.com
>
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>
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>
>Prison Radio
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>San Francisco, CA 94141
>www.prisonradio.org
******************
PRO-DP DA NOW REJECTS DP
It's a pity that it takes such a horrible mistake to show a guy the error
of his ways. Read more about the Cantu case at
http://www.cuadp.org/updates.html
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/columnists/lburkett/stories/MYSA120905.2O.burkett.1bba740c.html
Lynnell Burkett: Former DA Millsap now rejects capital punishment
San Antonio Express-News
December 9, 2005
A former San Antonio district attorney who five years ago called himself a
"lifelong supporter of the death penalty" now opposes it.
Sam Millsap also must live with the knowledge that a man whom he prosecuted
in a capital case likely was innocent, although he was executed.
In 2000, Millsap, writing in the Express-News, called for a moratorium on
the death penalty in Texas.
In that commentary, he expressed confidence that "every person sentenced to
die while I was district attorney was guilty of the crime for which he was
convicted."
However, he said at the time, he no longer was convinced that the state's
legal system could guarantee protection of the innocent in all capital
cases.
Fast-forward to 2005. An in-depth investigation by the Houston Chronicle
reached the conclusion that Ruben Cantu, who was sentenced to die while
Millsap was DA and later executed, most likely was innocent.
Those whose testimony condemned him have recanted.
What does Millsap think in the wake of that decision? He uses words such as
"painful," "horrible" and "haunting."
"I don't have the same level of confidence in that statement as I did in
2000," he said recently.
"It is troubling to me personally. No decision is more frightening than
seeking the death penalty. We owe ourselves certainty on it."
He had that degree of certainty in the 1980s when he was the district
attorney, "when I was in my 30s and knew everything."
Now, he says, "There is no way to have that kind of certainty."
He has seen injustices in the system other than Cantu.
"Cantu is just the one we're talking about now," he explained. "It's painful
for me because it was on my watch.
"It's horrible when you find out you participated in what ended up being a
bad result, especially when a death is involved."
Now Millsap unequivocally opposes the death penalty. That is not a result of
the Cantu case. He already had reached that conclusion, and this case merely
affirms the position.
Millsap said his wife helped him realize he had become an opponent of the
death penalty.
After reading his 2000 statement calling for a moratorium, she told him he
was merely parsing words - that he didn't have the courage to go the whole
way in opposing capital punishment.
"What I realized was that I was parsing words," he said.
Millsap finds it ironic that the Chronicle chose to focus on the Cantu case
from San Antonio.
"Houston is the capital of the world for executions. They convict more
people and execute more people than Iraq does - more than all other
communities in the United States put together," Millsap said.
"The irony that they chose to write about my case is haunting."
If Cantu was innocent, he said, that means the person who committed the
murder still is out there, and "the misconduct by police officers could be
addressed today."
But Millsap is quick to point out he doesn't want to second-guess those now
charged with the responsibility.
And no one who knows District Attorney Susan Reed thinks she will sit on her
heels on this one.
So far, she is choosing to focus on one of the victims in the crime that led
to Cantu's execution. Juan Moreno says that as a 19-year-old illegal
immigrant, he lied because he feared the police.
That appears a strange place to start, but let's see where she takes the
investigation.
Meanwhile, this could - and should - be the beginning of a reassessment of
the death penalty in Texas.
Realistically, the state needs a new governor for that to happen. But the
state needs a new governor for many other reasons as well.
Meanwhile, Millsap must fight his own battle - both publicly and privately -
on the issue.
At least he knows, without a doubt, where he stands.
- - - - -
lburkett at express-news.net
**************
JUDGE ALITO AND THE DEATH PENALTY
For an informative analysis, go to
<http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-oe-liu27nov27,0,2478089.story?coll=la-sunday-commentary>http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-oe-liu27nov27,0,2478089.story?coll=la-sunday-commentary
******************
LOBBY DAY IN NJ
Death penalty opponents lobby Trenton for repeal
Friday, December 9, 2005
By JOHN P. McALPIN
TRENTON BUREAU
These people weren't pros.
Unlike the career lobbyists who roam the State House, these common citizens
packed hallways, crowded elevators and crammed into committee rooms in
search of elected lawmakers.
Many didn't even know what bill number they were supposed to be supporting.
Some of these one-day lobbyists had to stop and ask, "Are you a senator?"
But unlike the paid bill-wranglers, these men and women who came to Trenton
on Thursday had a personal mission - shut down death row forever in New Jersey.
"Personal witness is always better than calling, writing letters or sending
e-mails," said Sister Jean Amore of Paterson. "When you can tell somebody
your story, that makes it a real opportunity to change someone's mind."
Thursday's citizen activists featured a father whose daughter was murdered,
a man who spent 18 years in prison until DNA evidence freed him, and a nun
whose life story became an acclaimed movie.
Sister Helen Prejean, the nationally known activist who detailed her death
row ministry in the book "Dead Man Walking" - the movie was released in
1995, with Susan Sarandon portraying Dejean in an Oscar-winning turn - was
the headline attraction. As she walked the halls, Prejean introduced
herself to lawmakers, forcing them into impromptu meetings with her as they
headed to committee hearings. She offered copies of her latest book and
pressed them for support.
Sen. John Adler found himself face to face with Prejean as he tried to work
his way to a hearing.
"Soon, sister, soon," Adler said, "we'll get this done."
Death penalty opponents are gathering political support unprecedented since
the Legislature legalized executions in 1982. Many lawmakers now support
halting executions while the state studies the system that has not sent
anyone to die despite 23 years of legal review.
Some legislators are even saying the law should be repealed and that New
Jersey's ultimate penalty be life in prison with no chance for parole.
Acting Governor Codey, meanwhile, "has said publicly that he is open to a
moratorium while the application of the death penalty in New Jersey is
studied. However, he does not support an outright repeal at this time,"
spokeswoman Kelley Heck said.
Death penalty opponents will have an ally in the next governor as well.
Governor-elect Jon Corzine opposes the death penalty and is reviewing the
moratorium issue, spokeswoman Ivette Mendez said.
Even the state Supreme Court might be willing to reconsider the issue.
In 2002, Associate Justice Virginia Long suggested in a strongly worded
dissenting opinion that public attitudes about the death penalty have
changed so much since the death penalty law was written that the
Legislature might consider it time to review the law itself.
But not all lawmakers are willing to consider an end to death sentences,
even after a visit from Sister Helen. These legislators say the state needs
an ultimate penalty for society's most brutal crimes.
"She's an extremely sincere person and has deeply held beliefs that we
should not be putting people on death row," said Sen. Gerald Cardinale,
R-Demarest. "I have no argument holding that position. [But] I don't think
that's the right thing to do with the perspective of crime. I think we are
extremely lenient with crime in this country."
Death penalty opponents, however, say there is a growing grass-roots
support for change in New Jersey.
"The groundwork here is good," Prejean said. "I think that politicians are
learning that you don't get any leverage out of supporting the death penalty."
They have made their case throughout the state, pressing the issue on
several levels, she said.
"What's been going on in New Jersey is education, education, education,"
Prejean said.
Prejean dismissed critics who say New Jersey should leave well enough alone
as the state has not executed anyone since 1963.
"Anyone who says that has no comprehension of what it means to take a
conscious human being and let him sit on death row for 17 years," she said.
For now, New Jersey can't execute anyone because of a state appeals court
ruling last year. Judges sided with death penalty opponents and ordered
corrections officials to rewrite execution regulations. The court said
doctors should be on hand in the event a sentence is overturned on appeal
after a lethal injection is administered.
Death penalty opponents fear that once the regulations are rewritten, one
of the 14 inmates on death row will be executed. Several have exhausted
state and federal appeals.
"The majority of the people now are rethinking the death penalty as far as
whether it's a deterrent and also whether it's fair and just. More people
are concerned now that they may make a mistake and execute an innocent
person," said Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Mercer, who sponsored the moratorium
bill.
Those in favor of the moratorium also point to a recent study that said
that by scrapping the death penalty, the state could save nearly $250
million by eliminating the lengthy appeals process.
"Look what we could do with all that money that we would save. We could do
a lot with fighting those elements that contribute to crime," Turner said.
In six years, the group New Jerseyans for a Death Penalty Moratorium has
grown to 10,000 members and hired a paid staff of five to work on the
effort, said the group's executive director, Celeste Fitzgerald. Three of
the five staff members have had family members murdered, she said.
"People come to the issue for many different reasons." she said. "Nearly
all are driven by the fact that there are innocent people on death row.
Others are simply against it because the process is so terribly harsh for
the families of victims."
Eddie Hicks agrees. Five years ago, his daughter Jamilla, 26, was murdered
after she tried to break up a fight between her brother and another man.
That man killed her, Hicks said. The defendant was not sentenced to death,
but prosecutors considered it, he said.
"To have the state kill somebody and then say that killing is wrong doesn't
make sense," said Hicks, of Atlantic County. "Violence isn't the solution
to any problem."
Larry Peterson isn't on death row, but he was telling lawmakers his story
Thursday. Eighteen years ago, a jury decided against the death penalty for
Peterson and sentenced him to life in prison for killing a Burlington
County woman.
In July, Peterson became the first person in New Jersey to have his
conviction overturned by DNA evidence.
"It's just a privilege to be here," Peterson said. "I'm just grateful,
blessed to be able to be here."
E-mail: mcalpin at northjersey.com
*******************
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Yours in the Struggle,
--abe
Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director, CUADP
<abe at cuadp.org>
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