October 10, 2002

1) 3rd Annual MARCH FOR A MORATORIUM – October 12
2) Trial has started for man who murdered Jeanette Popp’s daughter.
4) Jeanette Popp speaking at UT-Austin on Thursday, October 10.
3) Help Convince the Austin City Council to Pass a Resolution Supporting a Moratorium on Executions- We are incredibly close!
5) Ross Byrd to visit photo exhibit in Austin on Friday, October 11.

Dear Moratorium Supporters,

This is an exciting week. The March for a Moratorium is Saturday. We have a great lineup of speakers. Just this week we heard from Clarence Brandley saying he will be at the march this Saturday. Clarence is an innocent African-American who was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death by an all-white jury. He spent ten years on Texas’ Death Row before walking free in 1990. Come to the march and hear his story.



1) The 3rd Annual MARCH FOR A MORATORIUM – October 12

It’s here! Many, many people have volunteered hours and hours preparing to make The 3rd Annual March for a Moratorium a great success. The march takes place in Austin on Saturday, October 12. Let’s send a message to the Legislature, the Governor, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and all the candidates in this year’s elections: MORATORIUM NOW! STOP EXECUTIONS!
http://www.texasmoratorium.org/marchonthemansion.php

There are two buses bringing people to the march from Houston, so if you =
live in Houston and need transportation, contact Gloria Rubac at =
713-523-8454.

The timeline for the march is:
1 pm – Gather at Republic Park (4th and Guadalupe)
2 pm – March to the Capitol
2:30 pm – Rally at the Capitol
4 pm – Wrap yellow crime-scene tape around the Governor’s Mansion
6 pm – Post-march party at 1311 East 13th Street

There is also a pre-march brunch from 10 AM to 1 PM. The brunch is being organized by Inside Books Project as a benefit for their program to send free books to inmates in Texas prisons. The brunch will be at 810 E. 13th St., on the corner of E. 13th & Olander, one block east of the highway. They are asking for a $5 donation from adults,while CHILDREN ARE WELCOME TO EAT FOR FREE. There will be vegan, vegetarian, and meat dishes available. For more information, please contact Inside Books at 512-647-4803 or insidebooksproject@yahoo.com.

The brunch will be a great opportunity to network and socialize with other supporters of a moratorium from around the state and to grab a bite to eat before the march.

Scheduled to speak at the march are: Clarence Brandley, Ross Byrd (son of Jasper dragging death victim James Byrd, Jr.), Jeanette Popp (mother of Austin murder victim, Nancy De Priest), Rep. Harold Dutton (sponsor of moratorium legislation in the last legislative session), Javier Alejo (Consul General of Mexico), 
Sandra Reed (mother of Rodney Reed, who is on Death Row despite a strong case of innocence), Jeannine Scott (wife of Michael Scott), Renny Cushing (Executive Director of Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation), Will Harrell (Executive Director of ACLU-TX), Yolanda Cruz (mother of Oliver Cruz, a man with mental retardation who was executed by Texas in 2000), Rick Halperin (President of Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty), Walter Long (appeals attorney for Napoleon Beazley and Karla Faye Tucker), Nelson Linder (President of Austin NAACP), Akwasi Evans (Publisher of Nokoa newspaper), Njeri Shakur (Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement) and Raul Garcia (who teaches at Lamar University and has done work among migrants, school dropouts, refugees, immigrants, and prisoners nd their families). Houston City Council member Ada Edwards is sending an aide to read a statement of support.

We just made a bunch of puppets for the march. Come to the march and enjoy the company of people who share similar opinions about the death penalty. Call us at 512-302-6715, if you want to help out on the day of the march. We will meet Friday, October 11 at 6 PM at 1311 E 13th Street in Austin to go over everything one more time. You are welcome to join us for that last planning meeting.



2) The trial of the man who has confessed to murdering Jeanette Popp’s daughter is underway in Austin.

Jeanette Popp, whose daughter was murdered in 1988, is in Austin all this week attending the trial of Achim Joseph Marino. http://www.texasmoratorium.org/article.php?sid=3D166 Several TMNers have been attending the trial with Jeanette. She is our dear friend, TMN’s chairperson, and a tireless advocate for a moratorium on executions. A reporter asked her yesterday if she has changed her mind about asking the DA not to seek the death penalty against Marino and she emphatically answered “no”, and then launched into an impassioned statement against the death penalty. Jeanette is having a difficult week having to attend another trial concerning her daughter’s murder. She has shed many tears this week. She said Tuesday that she feels like she has walked into a time machine and is back in 1990 when two men were wrongfully convicted of her daughter’s murder. This time, thankfully, the system has the right person.

Please send Jeanette messages of support. We will forward all emails to her if you write her at: admin@texasmoratorium.org.



3) Jeanette will be speaking on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin, Thursday October 10 at 7 PM in Painter Hall, Room 2.48. Painter Hall is on 24th Street, between Guadalupe and Speedway. Please come listen to her in the intimate environment of a small room. She will also be speaking at the TX Cure convention on Saturday morning and at the March for a Moratorium on Saturday afternoon.



4) Austin City Council Resolution Supporting a Moratorium on Executions

We are very close to winning passage of a moratorium resolution in the Austin City Council. We now need to concentrate our efforts on getting the votes of two specific council members. The resolution may pass any week now, if we can just get these two council members to support the resolution. Please email, call, fax or write the following two council members:

The Honorable Danny Thomas
Council Member Place 6=20
Danny.Thomas@ci.austin.tx.us
Phone: (512) 974-2266
Fax: (512) 974-1890
Mailing Address
P. O. Box 1088
Austin, Texas 78767

The Honorable Will Wynn
Council Member Place 5=20
Will.Wynn@ci.austin.tx.us
Phone: (512) 974-2256
Fax: (512) 974-1884
Mailing Address
P. O. Box 1088
Austin, Texas 78767





5) TMN is arranging for Ross Byrd to make an appearance at a photo exhibit in Austin on Friday, October 11.

What: Ross Byrd will address questions and speak with the press at the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center’s photo exhibit entitled: “Jasper, Texas – The Healing of a Community in Crisis.” http://www.dailytexanonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/09/20/3d8ab2e5df68e

The exhibit honors the efforts of individuals who worked to keep peace in Jasper in the aftermath of the brutal death of James Byrd, Jr.

Who: Ross Byrd is an important new voice in the movement to abolish the death penalty. His father, James Byrd Jr., was chained to the back of a pickup truck and dragged three miles to his death in a racially 
motivated killing on June 7, 1998 in Jasper, Texas. During the trial of his father’s murderers, Ross Byrd wanted the killers to receive the death penalty, but his sentiments have since changed. He now opposes all 
executions – including those of his father’s killers.

When: Friday, October 11, 2002, 3 p.m.
Where: Carver Museum and Cultural Center, 1165 Angelina, Austin, Texas 78702

See you at the March!

Sincerely,

Your friends at Texas Moratorium Network

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