Texas performed 18 of 37 executions carried out in the U.S. in 2008. That was 48.6 percent. Ohio, which carried out two executions, was the only state outside the South to impose the death penalty in 2008. 95 percent of all 2008 executions were in the South.

Nine of the eighteen people executed in Texas in 2008 were African-American.

Six of the eighteen people executed in Texas in 2008 were white.

Three of the eighteen people executed in Texas were Hispanic.

66 percent of the people executed in Texas were Hispanic or black.

33 percent of the people executed in Texas were white.

Seven people were executed from Dallas County, the most from any county in 2008.

In 2007, Texas executed 26 people.

Executions in the United States in 2008

First go to the project page, then you have to click on “join project” on the right hand side, then click on “register”. Then to qualify as one of the members who count towards the contest, you have to upload a picture or avatar of yourself.

We were all moved by the family members who spoke at the 9th Annual March to Stop Executions in Houston, so we were thinking of how we could help them. We all know that the death penalty is reserved for the poor. There are no rich people on death row. We will use one half of any prize money we get through this contest to help family members visit their loved ones on death row. Many families have a hard time making ends meet and the extra cost of traveling long distances to visit their loved ones on death row is a great financial burden. Some of the people on death row have young children who rarely get to visit them. The other half would be used for activities during the upcoming Texas legislative session from Jan to May 2009, such as a big anti-death penalty rally at the capitol and other projects to persuade people to support abolishing the death penalty.

This is a photo of Greg Wright 15 minutes after his execution on Oct 30, 2008 in Texas. His friend Bente Hjortshøj is standing on the left. She wrote this caption to the photo:

“The first time we touched you Greg…you were still warm…you looked at peace…as though you were just sleeping and would wake up soon….it was sooooo hard to see you like this though you were finally free..this is just about 15 minutes after the execution…sooo surreal….BUT dearest Greg…..Me and Connie kept our promise to you and for that we are glad…but it was tougher than we thought…. we did it out of love and respect for you!! LOVE YA LOADS!!!!”.

Bente Hjortshøj has given permission for the photo to be distributed around the internet, “me and Connie decided to publish all pictures to show the world the cruel and unusual punishment and its horrible consequences”.

The photos are from her recent trip to Texas when she witnessed the execution of Greg Wright (website) on October 30, 2008.

“The truth doesn’t matter,” Wright said in an interview from death row a few days before his execution. He said he was stunned when his guilty verdict was announced. “I couldn’t believe what was happening … I am innocent.”

Wright again proclaimed his innocence in his last statement at his execution, when asked if he had anything to say:

“Yes I do. There has been a lot of confusion on who done this. I know you all want closure. Donna had her Christianity in tact when she died. She never went to a drug house. John Adams lied. He went to the police and told them a story. He made deals and sold stuff to keep from going to prison. I left the house, and I left him there. My only act or involvement was not telling on him. John Adams is the one that killed Donna Vick. I took a polygraph and passed. John Adams never volunteered to take one. I have done everything in my power. Donna Vick helped me; she took me off the street. I was a truck driver; my CDL was still active. Donna gave me everything I could ask for. I helped her around the yard. I helped her around the house. She asked if there were anyone else to help. I am a Christian myself, so I told her about John Adams. We picked him up at a dope house. I did not know he was a career criminal. When we got to the house he was jonesin for drugs. He has to go to Dallas. I was in the bathroom when he attacked. I am deaf in one ear and I thought the T.V. was up too loud. I ran in to the bedroom. By the time I came in, when I tried to help her, with first aid, it was too late. The veins were cut on her throat. He stabbed her in her heart, and that’s what killed her. I told John Adams, “turn yourself in or hit the high road.” I owed him a favor because he pulled someone off my back. I was in a fight downtown. Two or three days later he turned on me. I have done everything to prove my innocence. Before you is an innocent man. I love my famly. I’ll be waiting on ya’ll. I’m finished talking.”

The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.

Grits For Breakfast, recently named by the ABA as one of the top 100 legal blogs, commented on Wright’s last statement:

When you read the final statements of most executed offenders, at least those who choose to give them, they tend to express remorse, often apologizing to victim families, or else offering comfort to friends and family they’re leaving behind. Wright’s final statement was noteworthy because he defiantly maintained his innocence until the end, instead insisting that an informant who testified against him really did the deed.

From the Amazee “Project of the Day” announcement for Dec 2 featured on their front page.

Put an end to the death penalty!

2 December 08 If the death penalty is just or cruel, right or wrong, has been discussed at length at least since the age of the Aufklärung (Enlightenment). For a group of Americans, the case is quite clear. The death penalty must be abolished.

Ever since Kenneth Foster’s commutation in 2007, we have been looking for a state legislator to file a bill ending the death penalty as a sentencing option for people convicted under the Law of Parties. Several state legislators wrote clemency letters on behalf of Foster and later again on behalf of Jeff Wood. Those letters criticized Texas’ use of the death penalty against people who did not kill anyone but who were sentenced to death under the Law of Parties. Now, State Rep. Harold Dutton of Houston has filed HB 304, which would disallow prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in the future using the Law of Parties.

The anti-death penalty movement in Texas owes another big thank you to Rep. Dutton, who is often the first person in the Legislature to take up new criminal justice reform issues. In 2001, Dutton was the first person to file a moratorium and study commission bill. One of his moratorium bills that year made it to the floor of the Texas House and received more than 50 votes. In 2003, Dutton filed the first bill to abolish the death penalty in recent times. He has re-filed those bills each session since.

Below is the text of HB 304:

By: Dutton

H.B. No. 304

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the extent of a defendant’s criminal responsibility for
	the conduct of a co-conspirator in certain felony cases.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Section 1, Article 37.071, Code of Criminal
	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 1. (a) If a defendant is found guilty in a capital
	felony case in which the state does not seek the death penalty, the
	judge shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without
	parole.
	(b) A defendant who is found guilty in a capital felony case
	only as a party under Section 7.02(b), Penal Code, may not be
	sentenced to death, and the state may not seek the death penalty in
	any case in which the defendant’s liability is based solely on that
	section.
	SECTION 2. Section 2, Article 37.0711, Code of Criminal
	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 2. (a) If a defendant is found guilty in a case in
	which the state does not seek the death penalty, the judge shall
	sentence the defendant to life imprisonment.
	(b) A defendant who is found guilty in a capital felony case
	only as a party under Section 7.02(b), Penal Code, may not be
	sentenced to death, and the state may not seek the death penalty in
	any case in which the defendant’s liability is based solely on that
	section.
	SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
	criminal proceeding that commences on or after the effective date
	of this Act. A criminal proceeding that commences before the
	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
	proceeding commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for
	that purpose.
	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.

We just did a live radio interview with KPFT in Houston about our “Abolish the Death Penalty” project on Amazee.com. It aired at 5:18 pm today, Dec 1.

Join the “Abolish the Death Penalty Project” on Amazee.com and help us win the Amazee Bucket membership contest. We could win up to $5,000 to use against the death penalty. The project with the most members by Jan 22 wins. If we win, we plan to use one-half of any prize money we win to help needy families of people on death row travel to visit their loved ones on death row. We will use the other half of the prize money to fight against the death penalty.

First visit the project page on Amazee, then you have to click on “join project” on the right hand side, then click on “register”. Then to qualify as one of the members who count towards the contest, you have to upload a picture or avatar of yourself.

We were all moved by the family members who spoke at the 9th Annual March to Stop Executions in Houston, so we were thinking of how we could help them. We all know that the death penalty is reserved for the poor. There are no rich people on death row. We will use one half of any prize money we get through this contest to help family members visit their loved ones on death row. Many families have a hard time making ends meet and the extra cost of traveling long distances to visit their loved ones on death row is a great financial burden. Some of the people on death row have young children who rarely get to visit them. The other half would be used for activities during the upcoming Texas legislative session from Jan to May 2009, such as a big anti-death penalty rally at the capitol and other projects to persuade people to support abolishing the death penalty.

Thanks to Amazee for helping non-profits achieve their missions!

Here is how KPFT explains their radio station:

What is KPFT?
We’re an FM radio station, situated at 90.1 on your radio. We are one of the five stations that comprise what is called the Pacifica Network, a subject we’ll explain later.
Nearly 90 percent of our funding comes from individual listener-members. We have no large corporate sponsors. All too often, massive funding arrives with an agenda, not to mention all those commercials! Because of our independence from concentrated control, you can hear the difference between us and any other station in the first 10 or 15 minutes of listening. We are definitely different, and we revel in it.

The Pacifica Radio Network
In addition to being a radio station in its own right, KPFT is also an important part of the nationwide Pacifica Radio Network. Maverick broadcaster and peace activist Lewis Hill founded Pacifica Radio, in 1949. Lew Hill’s dream of a truly alternative media became a reality when its flagship station, KPFA in Berkeley, went on the air as a bold, alternative challenge to the market-driven airwaves. Hill’s vision created the country’s first audience-supported radio station and gave birth to public broadcasting as we know it today.
Lew and Pacifica’s other founders sought to create independent, noncommercial radio in the service of peace, social and racial justice, and the arts. They saw, and we see, radio as a forum to ignite the democratic spirit. For over 55 years, Pacifica has produced challenging, courageous, smart and independent programs.