The State of Texas intends to execute Kenneth Foster on August 30, despite the fact that he did not murder anyone. Unlike any other state in this country, Texas utilizes a unique statute called the Law of Parties, which allows the State to subject a person to death even though he did not kill, intend to kill, help or encourage anyone to do so. The Austin Chronicle has an article explaining how new evidence should exonerate Foster as a responsible party to the murder.
RALLY AND MARCH IN AUSTIN
Saturday, July 21, 5:00 PM
Texas State Capitol, south steps
On July 21, join Kenneth’s friends, family and supporters for a march
and rally with speakers, live music, and food to demand that Texas does not
go through with the execution.
Some Speakers and Performers include:
Tasha Foster – Wife of Kenneth Foster and Hip Hop Performer
Nydesha Foster – Daughter of Kenneth Foster
Shujaa Graham – Exonerated Death Row Inmate from D.C.
Welfare Poets – Politically Conscious Music from NY, myspace.com/welfarepoets
Mario Africa – With MOVE, Activist from Philadelphia
Darby Tillis – Exonerated Death Row Prisoner and Blues Musician from Chicago
Plus many more!
More info: cedpaustin@gmail.com
More info about Kenneth¹s situation: http://www.freekenneth.com
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Contact Gov. Perry and tell him, “Don’t execute Kenneth Foster, Jr.!”
Tel (800) 252-9600 (Texas callers)
(512) 463-1782 (Austin and out of state)
Fax (512) 463-1849
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Join the Save Kenneth Foster Campaign
Get involved with our letter and petition drive and help organize
events for Kenneth. Come to our weekly meeting ever Wednesday at
various local libraries. This Week:
Wednesday, July 17 at 7PM
Cepeda Branch Library at Pleasant Valley and East 7th Street
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Facing execution for driving a car
THE STATE of Texas plans to execute Kenneth Foster Jr. August 30 for
the 1996 murder of Michael LaHood Jr.
What makes Foster’s case unique is that he killed no one–and the state of
Texas is first to admit this.
How is this possible? Texas’ Law of Parties, adopted in 1974, allows
prosecutors to hold all those present legally responsible for a crime.
Because Foster was driving the car carrying Mauriceo Brown the night Brown
shot LaHood, prosecutors were able to try Kenneth as if he was the
shooter.
Brown, who was executed in July 2006, admitted to shooting LaHood, but
claimed it was in self-defense. He also insisted that Foster, who remained
in a car 80 feet away from the shooting with the radio on and windows
rolled up, didn’t know he had left the car with the gun.
What you can do
The Campaign to End the Death Penalty will hold a July 20 phone/fax blast to Gov.
Rick Perry’s office. Call 800-252-9600 (Texas callers) or 512-463-1782
(Austin and out of state), and send faxes to 512-463-1849.
A rally is planned for July 21 at 6pm at the state capital building in Austin.
For more information on Kenneth’s case and the struggle of Texas death row
prisoners against executions and rotten conditions, see the Free Kenneth
Foster and DRIVE Movement Web sites.
You can also write Kenneth to voice your support:
Kenneth Foster Jr.
#999232
Polunsky Unit
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston, TX 77351
In addition to being railroaded onto death row by the Law of Parties,
Kenneth is a founding member of the Death Row Inner-Communalist Vanguard
Engagement (DRIVE), a group of brave death row inmates who organize
protests for abolition and better living conditions on Texas’ death row.
As Kenneth says, “We are neither violent nor passive. We are combative. We
are resisters. We are diverse activists, but more than anything else, may
we be looked upon as men who embraced the sacredness of life and sought to
assert the full measure of their humanity in the face of those that would
seek to destroy it.”
Last week, Kenneth’s criminal lawyer, Keith Hampton, submitted a new
appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. If the court refuses to
grant Kenneth relief, his supporters will then turn to the Board of
Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Rick Perry for clemency.
After Kenneth’s execution date was announced in May, a broad coalition
called the Save Kenneth Foster Campaign was formed. The Austin and Corpus
Christi chapters of Campaign to End the Death Penalty (CEDP), along with
Kenneth’s family and lawyers, as well as other anti-death penalty groups,
have been holding weekly meetings to build a movement around this case.
The coalition held a petition and literature table at Austin’s Juneteenth
festival on June 19. This annual commemoration of emancipation from
slavery provided an excellent opportunity to reach out to the community.
The coalition got over 200 signatures on the petition to the Court of
Criminal Appeals.
Texas is on track to perform its 400th execution since 1982 this summer.
The case of Kenneth Foster Jr.–a Black man sent to death row for driving
a car–is a testament to how rotten Texas’s machinery of death truly is.
