Texas is set to execute the 199th person under the current Texas governor Rick Perry, who has been governor for more executions than any other person in U.S. history. Michael Riley would be the 438th person executed since 1982 in the nation’s number one execution state.

Call Governor Perry at 512-463-1782 to protest today’s execution.

To participate in protests of the 200th execution on June 2, visit protest200executions.com.

From the AP:

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) – A man condemned for the 1986 stabbing death of an East Texas store clerk during a robbery faces execution tomorrow.

Michael Riley would be the 15th condemned killer to have his penalty carried out this year in Texas.

Authorities say Riley was a regular customer at the Shop-A-Minit store in Quitman when he killed clerk Wynona Lynn Harris and stole about $1,000.

Riley in 2005 was within days of execution when lawyers won a court-ordered reprieve by arguing that he was mentally disabled and ineligible for execution.

But Riley says he’s not expecting a stay this time around, and he’s asked friends “to not pray for no stay.”

The Texas Pardons and Parole Board voted Friday not to recommend granting a 120-day reprieve sought by the defense.

Quitman is about 75 miles east of Dallas.

Please come to the opening day reception for the exhibit of John Holbrook’s death row photographs in the Texas Capitol at 6 PM on Monday and the artist’s talk at 7 PM.

“Images from Texas Death Row” to be Exhibited in the Ground Floor Rotunda of the Texas Capitol
Monday, May 18 – Friday May 22

Event: Images from Texas Death Row “The Photography of John Holbrook”
Sponsor: Texas Friends and Allies Against the Death Penalty
Dates: May 18 – May 22

Where: The Texas State Capitol Building in the ‘Ground Floor Rotunda’ (Take elevator down to G)

Reception May 18 at 6 PM in the Texas Capitol Members Lounge – Extension, Room E2.1002 (Take elevator down to E2)

Artist’s Talk May 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the Ground Floor Rotunda

Photographer John Holbrook
johnholbrook@sbcglobal.net

Artist’s Statement

These images are of current Texas death row inmates. The photographs were taken in 2008 at the Polunsky and Gatesville units. Ultimately, the message I wish to convey through my art, is simple. The only way we can truly stop suffering is to love and forgive those who have caused that suffering. I have chosen to photograph both those who are clearly guilty of the crimes for which they have been condemned as well as some who have claims of innocence. Guilt or innocence is irrelevant to the point I wish to make with these photographs. My photography is intended to communicate the idea of forgiveness. I want to share this liberating truth that I have learned.

As a private investigator for 17 years, I work capital murder cases. In 1995 I was assigned to a case involving the double homicide of a North Texas teenage couple. The victims were tortured and murdered. I worked on the defense team for one of the defendants. While working the case, I spent hours examining the crime scene evidence, including graphic photographs. Some years later, I started to experience anxiety when I saw anything remotely similar to the injuries done to the victims.

I sought help from a psychologist regarding this anxiety. I was told I likely had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The doctor determined that my photography at that time, pictures of homeless and social outcasts shown in a spiritual light, was a subconscious attempt to correct the ‘bad pictures’ I saw while working the capital murder case .

Ultimately, I learned that I could overcome PTSD by loving and forgiving those who had caused it.

Some family members of murder victims choose to honor their loved ones by asking prosecutors not to seek the death penalty. However, in other cases in order to get a death sentence, prosecutors sometimes argue that the victim’s loved ones endorse the death of the accused. It is said that the surviving loved ones, “Need closure”. Through my pictures, I argue that this disables the survivors’ ability to forgive and accept reconciliation with the person in the future. To me, execution is a grave injustice. Execution virtually denies us the ability to forgive and reconcile with the convicted in the future … ultimately denying everyone involved the ability to stop suffering.

I maintain that it takes a work of art to ultimately address the collective consciousness. Art is a wonderful medium to encourage and enhance civic engagement and dialogue. It was Uncle Tom’s Cabin that spoke and turned the tide against slavery in America. I hope that my images will modestly follow in its footsteps. I aspire to help turn the tide against the death penalty.

New Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2009. New York and New Jersey have also abolished the death penalty in recent years. Last week, the House of Representatives in Connecticut voted to abolish the death penalty. In 2009, there were two bills filed in the Texas House of Representatives to abolish the death penalty.

www.holbrookphoto.com

The Texas House of Representatives has passed House Bill 2267, “The Kenneth Foster, Jr Act”. Sponsored by Rep. Terri Hodge (D – Dallas), the bill would eliminate the death penalty as a sentencing option under the controversial Texas Law of Parties. It would also require separate trials of co-defendants in capital cases. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Please call Texas State Senators and Urge Them to Vote for HB 2267

If you live in Texas, click here to find out who your state senator is.

Click here for a list of all Texas senators.

After you have first called your own state senator, move on to calling the members of the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice (Listed below).

After you call the committee members, just start calling any or all of the other state senators from this list.

Sample Message (change it to your own words) “Hello, I am calling to urge Senator X to vote in favor of HB 2267, the “Kenneth Foster, Jr Act”. It has already been approved by the Texas House of Representatives. HB 2267 would require separate trials for co-defendants in capital trials and would prohibit the state from seeking the death penalty for people who do not kill anyone but are convicted under the Law of Parties. I do not believe it is fair to sentence someone to death, like Kenneth Foster was, if they did not kill anyone.

The Law of Parties allows people who “should have anticipated” a murder to receive the death penalty for the actions of another person who killed someone. A person sentenced to death under the Law of Parties has not killed anyone. They are accomplices or co-conspirators of one felony, such as robbery, during which another person killed someone, but a person should not be executed for the actions of another person.

Thank you and call your state senator today!

Members of the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice

Chair, John Whitmire
Phone: (512) 463-0115
Email Form

Vice-Chair, Kel Seliger
Phone:(512)463-0131
Email Form

John Carona
Phone:(512) 463-0116
Email Form

Rodney Ellis
Phone:(512) 463-0113
Email Form

Glenn Hegar
Phone: (512) 463-0118
Email Form

Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa
Phone: (512) 463-0120
Email Form

Dan Patrick
Phone:(512) 463-0107
Email Form

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACTS: Scott Cobb, President, Texas Moratorium Network, admin@texasmoratorium.org, 512-552-4743;
Bryan McCann, Campaign to End the Death Penalty, bmccann@mail.utexas.edu, 512-739-4024

Texas House of Representatives Passes Law of Parties Bill (HB 2267)
Amendment Adopted for the Bill to be Known as “The Kenneth Foster Jr, Act”

Austin, TX – May 15, 2009 – The Texas House of Representatives today passed House Bill 2267, “The Kenneth Foster, Jr Act”. Sponsored by Rep. Terri Hodge (D – Dallas), the bill would eliminate the death penalty as a sentencing option under the controversial Texas Law of Parties. It would also require separate trials of co-defendants in capital cases. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

The Texas Law of Parties gained national prominence in 2007 during the high profile case of Kenneth Foster, Jr., whose death sentence was commuted by Governor Rick Perry following a national grassroots movement to halt his execution.

“It is my hope that in the future no other families have to deal with the emotional, psychological and financial hell associated with having a loved one on death row for a murder they factually did not commit, like my family has had to deal with for the last 13 years,” said Terri Been, sister of Texas death row inmate Jeff Wood. Wood was sentenced to death under the Law of Parties.

“This bill, when passed, will make me even prouder to be a resident of Texas,” said Kenneth Foster, Sr., father of Kenneth Foster, Jr. “Our family knows first hand the injustices of the Law of Parties, and Rep. Hodge’s bill is a step in the right direction.”

Although Hodge’s bill is not retroactive, and therefore would not affect any current cases like Jeff Wood’s, several families of death row inmates convicted under the Law of Parties have lobbied in favor of the legislation.

“This is a major victory for the families impacted by this unfair law,” said Bryan McCann of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. “We are told the death penalty is reserved for the worst of the worst, but its application under the Law of Parties affords prosecutors far too much discretion in pursuing the most severe form of punishment.”

Executions under the Law of Parties are very rare. Three people have been executed in Texas under the Law of Parties, which amounts to 0.6 percent of the 437 total executions in Texas. The last such execution in Texas was in 1993.

“The Kenneth Foster, Jr Act is a much-needed reform. The current law allowing accomplices who have not killed anyone to pay the ultimate penalty for a murder committed by another person is fundamentally unjust”, said Scott Cobb, president of Texas Moratorium Network.

Texas Moratorium Network (TMN) is a non-profit organization with the primary goal of mobilizing statewide support for a moratorium on executions in Texas. Web: http://stopexecutions.blogspot.com. The Campaign to End the Death Penalty is a grassroots organization dedicated to abolishing the death penalty. Web: http://www.myspace.com/cedpaustin.

The Texas House of Representatives just passed the Law of Parties bill (HB 2267) on second reading. There was no objection. It passed on a voice vote. It now must pass on 3rd reading by the deadline of Friday at midnight. If it passes on third reading, then it goes to the Senate.