Texas Moratorium Network's campaign to persuade the Texas Democratic Party to endorse a moratorium on executions has succeeded. The Texas Democratic Party on Saturday, June 19, adopted a party platform that calls on Texas to enact a moratorium on executions and a ban on executions of juvenile offenders, among other death penalty reforms included in an extensive new platform section on capital punishment. Charles Soechting, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, spoke to the Democratic Party's Death Penalty Reform Caucus on Friday, June 18, and assured the caucus that he supported the moratorium and that it would be in the platform. Jeanette Popp, chairperson of Texas Moratorium Network, also spoke to the caucus about her daughter's 1988 murder in Austin.

The co-chair of the Platform Committee, state representative Garnet Coleman of Houston, presented the platform to the floor of the convention on Saturday afternoon, saying, "A moratorium is certainly what this party wants." The convention then voted to adopt the platform.

Moments before the state convention adopted the platform, the convention was presented with a moratorium resolution that had been signed by more than 1700 of the convention attendees. The convention adopted the moratorium resolution by an overwhelmingly positive voice vote. Twenty volunteers recruited by TMN from across Texas worked all day Friday and Saturday collecting signatures on the petition. According to Party rules, a petition that receives more than 30 percent of the signatures of the convention attendees must be brought to the floor of the convention for a vote. In the 2000 and 2002 state conventions, the moratorium resolution had passed the resolutions committee, but had not been brought up on the floor for a vote.

TMN's grassroots effort to persuade the Texas Democratic Party to endorse a moratorium this year began in early January. In March, TMN distributed moratorium resolutions to hundreds of voting precincts in cities around Texas, including all of the more than 900 precincts in Harris County. In late March, the moratorium resolution was approved in many senatorial district and county conventions across Texas.

The death penalty language in the platform's capital punishment section was written by TMN's Scott Cobb, who was an appointed member of the chair's advisory committee on the platform and an elected member of the Platform Committee at the state convention. The advisory committee began working in late May and it took some time to agree on the wording of the capital punishment section.

Also speaking at Friday's Death Penalty Reform Caucus was Jim Dougherty, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney & Federal Prosecutor for 10 years. Dougherty is currently running for state representative in a Houston district. In 2000, Dougherty received 46 percent of the vote in a race against Chuck Rosenthal for District Attorney in Harris County. Leslie M. Ribnik, candidate for District Judge, 177th Judicial District, also spoke.

List of Our Volunteers who Worked so Hard Collecting Signatures at the State Convention:

Kellie Peterson (Austin College) -- TMN's summer intern, who recruited the other Austin College volunteers
Ellen Currie (Austin College)
Monica Iyer (Austin College)
Andrea Leonard (Austin College)
Mandy Deen (Austin College)
Abby Shaddox (Austin College)
Regina Schmahl (Houston)
Dulce Aguilera (Humble)
Stephanie Aguirre (Humble)
Odochi Ohia (Houston)
Brian Evans (Austin)
Alison Dieter (Austin)
Kelly Epstein (Houston)
Barbara Acuna (Baytown)
Sister Benedict Shannon (Houston)
Sister Margaret Bulmer (Houston)
Pat Nichols (Houston)
Nancy Bailey (Stafford)
Dave Atwood (Houston>
David Mack (Round Rock)
Angie Agapetus (Houston)
Sara Loeppert (College Station)
Corbet Perkins (Kurten)

Some of TMN's Volunteers Standing in Front of our Convention Booth

The information below was part one of the process.

Preparation

As soon as possible

Talk to your County Party Chair, and ask them to put copies of the Moratorium (PDF File) and Juvenile Offenders Resolutions (PDF File) into a packet that will go to all the precincts in your County. [Resolutions are also available in MS Word format: Moratorium Resolution, Juvenile Offenders Resolution] Your County Party Chair can also provide you with information on where your County Convention is, how you can become a member of your County Convention’s Resolutions Committee, and answer any other questions you may have.

Precinct Conventions

March 9, 2004
7:15 pm

Vote in the March 9 Primary and attend the Precinct Convention of the party for which you voted. Your Precinct Convention will be held at the polling station where you voted, and will take place just after the polls close at 7:00 pm.

Take copies of the Moratorium and Juvenile Offenders Resolutions to the convention. The Precinct Chair may already have copies of these resolutions in a packet, but it’s best to take a copy with you. The resolutions are voted on after the selection of delegates.

The signed resolutions will then be forwarded to the County Convention. Here you should also try to get yourself selected as a delegate to the County Convention.

County Conventions

Saturday, March 27, 2004

If your county is in only one Senate District, your county will hold a County Convention on Saturday, March 27th.

If your county is divided into multiple Senate Districts (e.g. Harris County), there will be a convention in each Senate District. In some counties, even though there are multiple Senate District conventions, the conventions may be held at the same location for ease and cost savings.

Details of the above will be available from your County Party Chair or office at the time of the Precinct Conventions.

During your County (or Senate District) Convention, the Resolutions Committee will discuss and vote on resolutions that were passed at the Precinct Conventions level. Support your resolutions every way you can. To be a member of this Resolutions Committee at the County Convention, contact your County Party Chair.

At the County Convention, delegates will be chosen to represent your County at the State Convention. It is always better to become a delegate if you can. Your County Party Chair can tell you what the process is for becoming a State Convention delegate.

State Conventions

Democratic Party
June 18-19, 2004
George R. Brown Convention Center
Houston, Texas

Republican Party
Thursday, June 3, 2004 - Saturday, June 5, 2004
Henry B. González Convention Center
San Antonio, Texas

Resolutions will be heard by a Resolutions Committee and those that pass are forwarded to the Floor for a full vote of the Convention. Resolutions Committee members are elected at the State Convention. You must be a delegate to get on this committee. TMN will have a booth at the Democratic State Convention and if you are interested in running for a seat on this committee, please contact us there or call Scott Cobb at 512-680-7806 for more info.

We are interested in finding some pro-moratorium Republicans who plan to attend the Republican Convention, so please contact us if you are a Republican and would like more information about operating a TMN table at the Republican Convention.

Links to Texas Political Parties

Democratic Party of Texas
Green Party of Texas
Libertarian Party of Texas
Republican Party of Texas