State Rep Harold Dutton of Houston has filed HB 297 to abolish the death penalty in Texas.

The U.S. Military planned on Dec 10, 2008 to conduct its first execution since 1961, but the execution of Private Ronald Gray was stayed Nov 26 by the order of a federal judge.

Ronald Gray Stay of Execution Order

Texas has no more executions scheduled in 2008. Eighteen people were executed in Texas this year. There probably would have been more, but there was a de facto moratorium on executions lasting from Sept 26, 2007 through the first 2008 execution in Texas on June 11. The de facto moratorium, which was caused by the wait for a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in the Baze case, started one day earlier in the rest of the nation, but Texas was able to execute one more person than it should have in 2007 after Sharon Keller said, “We close at 5” and refused to accept an appeal for Michael Richard on Sept 25, 2007.

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.

In 2008 as of November 26, there were 18 executions in Texas and 18 in other U.S. states.

Executed Offenders

Execution	Link	Link	Last Name	First Name	TDCJ Number	Age	Date	Race	County
423	Offender Information	Last Statement	Hudson	Robert	999353	45	11/20/2008	Black	Dallas
422	Offender Information	Last Statement	Manns	Denard	999405	42	11/13/2008	Black	Bell
421	Offender Information	Last Statement	Whitaker III	George	999196	36	11/12/2008	Black	Harris
420	Offender Information	Last Statement	Taylor	Elkie	999112	46	11/6/2008	Black	Tarrant
419	Offender Information	Last Statement	Wright	Gregory	999253	42	10/30/2008	White	Dallas
418	Offender Information	Last Statement	Nenno	Eric	999188	45	10/28/2008	White	Harris
417	Offender Information	Last Statement	Ries	Joseph	999335	29	10/21/2008	White	Hopkins
416	Offender Information	Last Statement	Watts	Kevin	999456	27	10/16/2008	Black	Bexar
415	Offender Information	Last Statement	Kelly	Alvin	999012	57	10/14/2008	White	Gregg
414	Offender Information	Last Statement	Murray	William	999313	39	09/17/2008	White	Dallas
413	Offender Information	Last Statement	Rodriguez	Michael	999413	40	08/14/2008	Hispanic	Dallas
412	Offender Information	Last Statement	Dorsey	Leon	999359	32	8/12/2008	Black	Dallas
411	Offender Information	Last Statement	Chi	Heliberto	999437	29	8/7/2008	Hispanic	Tarrant
410	Offender Information	Last Statement	Medellin	Jose	999134	33	8/5/2008	Hispanic	Harris
409	Offender Information	Last Statement	Davis	Larry	999316	40	7/31/2008	Black	Potter
408	Offender Information	Last Statement	Sonnier	Derrick	999054	40	07/23/2008	Black	Harris
407	Offender Information	Last Statement	Turner	Carlton	999321	29	07/10/2008	Black	Dallas
406	Offender Information	Last Statement	Chamberlain	Karl	999241	37	06/11/2008	White	Dallas

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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 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.

Kids Against the Death Penalty’s 13 year old Secretary and Committee Chair, Carissa Bywater participated in Today’s Girl Beauty Pageant this morning in Lampasas Texas. (Pictured at left with other KADP members after the pageant.)

“Today’s Girl is a scholarship based, educational program which provides guidance for the development of tomorrow’s leaders through academic achievement and an awareness of the need to improve their social environment through community service. The mission of the program is to offer a positive environment that allows today’s girls to develop poise, self-confidence and character, while developing tomorrow’s leaders.”

Carissa is one of the 6 founding members of KADP, and is a highly active volunteer who helps educate not only the Texas community, but the entire world on the injustices of the Death Penalty.

In the interview portion of today’s contest Carissa spoke about her aspirations to become a senator, and her desire to abolish the “law of parties”, and the death penalty as a whole.

Today’s Girl Contestants are judged not only on a variety of skills but beauty as well. Carissa dominated the competition, taking home several awards! She was crowned Overall winner for her division and now holds the title of ‘Today’s Girl 2009 Lampasas Teen’. In addition she won the following categories: ‘Most Beautiful’, ‘Most Photogenic’, and ‘Best Casual Wear’.

Carissa will be attending the state competition in Dallas Texas in June 2009.

If you’d like to know more about KADP’s anti-death penalty movement, please visit their website @ http://www.freewebs.com/kadp .

George W. Bush could not resist having one more execution while he is in elected office to add to the more than 150 he signed off on as Governor of Texas, so the news is not surprising that he approved an execution by the U.S. Army for Dec 10. Theoretically, Bush could still commute the sentence to life in prison. See contact information below to urge Bush to stop this execution. Email Bush at comments@whitehouse.gov.

We can hope that the incoming Obama Administration will enact a moratorium on federal executions. To tell Obama to stop federal executions after he assumes office, you can sign a petition here. Obama has no authority to stop the execution scheduled before he assumes office on Jan 20.

From CNN:

A U.S. soldier convicted of rape and murder two decades ago will be executed December 10 in the nation’s first military execution since 1961, the Army said Thursday.

Pvt. Ronald Gray has been on the military’s death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, since 1988. A court-martial panel sitting at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, unanimously convicted him of committing two murders and other crimes in the Fayetteville, North Carolina, area, and sentenced him to death.

Gray’s execution by injection will be carried out by Fort Leavenworth soldiers at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, the Army said in a news release.

Only the President, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, can approve the execution of a death sentence [Article 71(a), Uniform Code of Military Justice]. On July 28, 2008, the President approved the death sentence in the case of the United States v Ronald A. Gray.

Contacting the White House

Mailing Address The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500
Phone Numbers Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX: 202-456-2461	TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213 Visitors Office: 202-456-2121

E-Mail

Please send your comments to comments@whitehouse.gov. Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House cannot respond to every message. For further up-to-date information on Presidential initiatives, current events, and topics of interest to you, please continue to use the White House website.

Note: Please submit messages in text format only. This inbox is unable to receive e-mails that contain graphics or attachments. After it arrives, you will receive an e-mail confirmation indicating successful delivery.

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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 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.