The 2007 Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break organized by Texas Students Against the Death Penalty and co-sponsored by Campus Progress, Texas Moratorium Network, the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Campus Progress, Equal Justice USA, Amnesty International, the ACLU, the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Journey of Hope, Victims of Texas and Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights. was a big success.

Students received valuable training and experience in grassroots organizing, lobbying, preparing a direct action and media relations. During the week, students immediately put what they learned into action during activities such as the “Day of Innocence Rally” at the Texas capitol, when they visited members of the Texas Legislature and lobbied them on the need for a moratorium on executions. They also organized a protest in the heart of the SXSW music festival in downtown Austin during the Direct Action Day.

As a result of all their hard work throughout the week, the students generated hugely positive media coverage that helped educate the public on the issue of the death penalty. Scott Cobb, president of Texas Moratorium Network compared the week’s events to past struggles for social justice by saying, “this is an historical echo to what happened in the 1960s when people came down to the South during the Civil Rights Movement to help people register to vote, what they called freedom summers. This is very similar to what was going on back then, but here the issue is the death penalty.”

Planning for the alternative spring break began last October. During the weeks leading up to the event, the students who organized the program had to solve various problems, such as finding replacements for a couple of speaker cancellations and finding cheap housing in Austin during the busy SXSW film and music festival. This year we had students coming from as far away as the UK, Mexico and Canada.

Austin was definitely the place to be during spring break 2007 for young people whose goals include becoming part of the next generation of human rights leaders. As one of the students said, “I could have gone to the beach and changed my state of mind for a week instead I came to Austin this week to change the world forever.” During the spring break, students also had plenty of free time to enjoy Austin – the Live Music Capital of the World.

Texas leads the nation by far in number of executions. Texas performed 45 percent of all the executions in the United States in 2006. Since the U.S Supreme Court ruling in 1976 that allowed executions to resume after a four-year period during which they were considered unconstitutional, there have been 1066 executions in the United States (as of March 12, 2007). Texas performed 387 of those executions, which amounts to about 35 percent of the national total. According to the 2000 census, Texas has only 7.4 percent of the nation’s entire population.

During the week students had the chance to meet and talk with people who have first-hand experience with the death penalty, such as, Kerry Cook, an innocent man who spent 22 years on Texas Death Row and recently wrote a book, “Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After 22 Years on Death Row“. Shujaa Graham, an African American man who spent 3 years on California‘s death-row for a crime he did not commit. Moreese “Pops” Bickham, who was on death row when the Furman v Georgia decision was announced in 1972 abolishing the death penalty. He is now the oldest living survivor of the Furman v Georgia decision. George White, an innocent man who spent years in prison wrongfully convicted of killing his wife only to be finally exonerated. Christina Lawson, whose father was murdered when she was a child and whose husband, David Martinez, was executed in Texas on July 28, 2005 for a murder completely unconnected to the murder of her father as a child.

The students also got a lesson in free speech during the week when a Texas state representative took it upon himself to remove two death penalty themed artworks in an exhibition at the state capitol that had been placed as a part of the spring break. He called the artworks “extremely inappropriate and highly objectionable”.

Several of the students have said that they intend to remain active in the anti-death penalty movement when they return home, including Zainab Alam of Katy, Texas, a spring breaker who spoke at the “Day of Innocence” rally and plans to start a new TSADP chapter in her school.

You can find the full schedule of this year’s events at Texas Students Against the Death Penalty’s website: http://www.springbreakalternative.org

Pictures from top to bottom: 1. Students protesting the death penalty during the SXSW festival in downtown Austin. 2. Protest at the Governor’s mansion. 3. Talking to Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) during the Lobby Day. 4. Shujaa Graham listening during the “Day of Innocence Rally.” 5. Kerry Cook speaking at the “Day of Innocence” rally. 6. Sam Milsap explaining the case of Ruben Cantu to the spring break students.

POLICIES OF LEADING EXECUTION STATES

Texas • Number executed since 1976: 387

• Death row population: 387

• Work program: No

• Contact visits: No

• Group recreation: No

• Group religious services: No

• Television: No

Virginia

• Number executed since 1976: 98

• Death row population: 19

• Work program: No

• Contact visits: Yes

• Group recreation: No

• Group religious services: No

• Television: Yes

Oklahoma

• Number executed since 1976: 84

• Death row population: 84

• Work program: No

• Contact visits: No

• Group recreation: Yes

• Group religious services: Yes, but inmates not released from cells

• Television: Yes

Missouri

• Number executed since 1976: 66

• Death row population: 48

• Work program: Yes

• Contact visits: No

• Group recreation: Yes

• Group religious services: No

• Television: Yes

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that an inmate on death row is on a hunger strike over living conditions.

LIVINGSTON — Life on death row, says Roy Lee Pippin — condemned for killing two men in a Harris County narcotics murder — is a living hell.

And unless courts spare his life, Pippin says, he plans to go to his March 29 execution on an empty stomach. He’s trying to draw attention to what he considers horrendous conditions at Texas’ massive, ultra-maximum-security death row.

…

By early 2000, Ellis’ aging death row was closed, its population relocated to what is now called the Polunsky Unit.

In their new home, inmates were confined to 60-square-foot cells — 20 square feet smaller than the enclosure recommended by the American Correctional Association — and subjected to a reduction in privileges. No longer were they allowed to engage in group recreation sessions or attend group religious services. Officials eliminated work programs, contending that Gurule and others used their time in Ellis’ garment factory to plan their escape. At Polunksy, inmates no longer could watch television, although a Dallas state representative has introduced a bill this session that would restore that privilege.

Pippin, condemned for murdering two men he thought had stolen $1.6 million from his Colombian drug bosses, yearns for the Ellis days. “We could go without handcuffs,” he said. “We could work in the garment factory or go down the hall to talk to friends.”

Now, Pippin’s primary chance to talk to other inmates comes during solitary recreation sessions in a day room near the other cells. Theoretically, he could yell to — but not see — inmates in neighboring cells. But at death row, which is noisy 24 hours a day, Pippin can’t hear. “Too much rock ‘n’ roll,” he said of his damaged hearing.

He complains, too, of the fluorescent lighting in his cell, which he claims has damaged his vision, and of the “child-sized” portions of food. (A typical day’s menu consists of three pancakes for breakfast, a 4-ounce pork cutlet for lunch and a 4-ounce hamburger patty for dinner, all accompanied by side dishes of vegetables, fruit and bread.)

We have been very busy at the capitol this week. KUT has an audio report on the death penalty panel discussion at the Texas Capitol on Wednesday, March 15. The clip features George White, an innocent man who was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife, and later exonerated. And Christina Lawson, whose father was murdered when she was nine years old.

As the Texas Legislature considers expanding the death penalty, anti-death penalty advocates were at the Capitol for an event highlighting their personal experiences with the death penalty.

— Emily Babcock

Other panelists at the event in the Capitol auditorium were Bill Pelke, whose grandmother was murdered. Pops Bickham, who at 89 is the oldest living person whose sentence was commuted from death to life as a result of the Furman v Georgia decision in 1972; Joan Cheever, who wrote the book “Back from the Dead” about the people whose sentences were commuted in 1972; and Shujaa Graham, who spent years on death row in California before being exoerated and released.

Three innocent people who were wrongfully convicted attended today’s “Day of Innocence” rally at the Texas capitol. Two of those people, Kerry Cook and Shujaa Graham, spent time on death row. The other, George White, was wrongfully sentenced to life in prison. All three were completely innocent and eventually exonerated.

Kerry Cook spent more than 20 years on Texas death row before being released and exonerated. He testified against HB8 and SB5 in today’s Senate Criminal Justice Committee, asking lawmakers to address the problems in the death penalty system instead of expanding the death penalty to apply to repeat child abusers. After his testimony, an aide for Senators Deuell and Seliger followed Kerry out of the room and asked him to autograph their copies of Kerry’s book, “Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn’t Commit“. Kerry believes that lawmakers should reject the death penalty expansion in HB 8 and SB 5. If they do not take out the death penalty provision, then lawmakers should at least attach amendments to the bills to create an innocence commission, enact a moratorium on executions and create a commission to conduct a comprehensive review of the death penalty system in Texas.

KVUE in Austin has some excellent coverage of the day’s rally and committee testimony. The link contains a video approximately two minutes long that aired on tonight’s 6 PM newscast.

Kerry Cook will be speaking again at the capitol in the Auditorium tomorrow March 14, from 11 AM to 1 PM as one of the speakers on a panel that includes three innocent people who were wrongfully sentenced to either death or life in prison, two family members of murder victims, and the oldest living person (89) whose sentence was commuted from death to life as a result of the Furman v Georgia decision in 1972.

Every lawmaker who is considering voting to expand the death penalty this session should come hear the stories of these panelists.

Wednesday, March 14

11:00 AM – 1 PM: Murder Victim Family Member and Former Death Row Inmate Panel. Location: the Auditorium in the Texas State Capitol on level E1 in the Annex in room E1.004. (Across from the cafeteria).

The panel includes:

Kerry Cook, an innocent man who spent 22 years on Texas Death Row and recently wrote a book, “Chasing Justice”.

Shujaa Graham, an African American man who spent 3 years of his life on California’s death-row for a crime he did not commit

Moreese “Pops” Bickham, who was on death row when the Furman v Georgia decision was announced in 1972 abolishing the death penalty. He is now the oldest living survivor of the Furman v Georgia decision.

Christina Lawson, who has suffered the loss of her father and her husband. Her father was murdered when she was a child and her husband, David Martinez, was executed this past summer, July 28, 2005. She has witnessed the pain from both sides: the loss of her father, the anger and hate felt towards his killer, the loss of her husband, the sorrow for his victim’s family and loved ones, the loss of a Daddy for their child. She has realized through her pain, that the death penalty does not bring anyone back, it does not heal anyone… it brings back the pain of losing a loved one and destroys another innocent family.

Bill Pelke, president of Journey of Hope and Chairman of the Board of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. He authored a book entitled “Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing”, which details the May 14, 1985 murder of his grandmother Ruth Pelke, a Bible teacher, by four teenage girls. Paula Cooper who was deemed to be the ringleader was sentenced to die in the electric chair by the state of Indiana. She was fifteen-years-old at the time of the murder Pelke originally support the sentence of death for Cooper, but went through a spiritual transformation in 1986 after praying for love and compassion for Paula Cooper and her family. He became involved in an international crusade on Paula’s behalf and in 1989 after over 2 million people from Italy signed petitions and Pope John Paul II’s request for mercy, Paula was taken off of death row and her sentence commuted to sixty years. Bill, a retired steelworker, has dedicated his life to working for abolition of the death penalty. He shares his story of forgiveness and healing, and how he came to realize that he did not need to see someone else die in order to heal from his grandmother’s death.

George White: On February 27, 1985, the White family experienced first-hand the insanity and horror of murder. George and his wife Charlene were shot repeatedly by an armed robber at his place of business in Enterprise, Alabama. George held Charlene in his arms as her life slipped away. Their children, Tom and Christie, were only 12 and 5 at the time. The nightmare had just begun. Sixteen months later, George was charged with murdering his wife. Following a capital murder trial that was later described as “a mockery and a sham”, George was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. His conviction was overturned in 1989 and he was released from prison, but George remained in legal limbo until 1992, when proof of his innocence was finally brought forward. Following a brief hearing the trial court ordered the charge against him forevermore dismissed. The nightmare had lasted more than seven years…had the State of Alabama had its way, George White would be a dead man today. Understanding fully how easy it is to become advocates for revenge, the White family, however, rejects the death penalty as a solution and as way of healing the wounds of their loss.

Texas Alternative Spring Break
by Sarah Samuel
March 7, 2007

MTV is coming to Austin next week to cover students as they give up their spring break to participate in a week long program concerning the death penalty.

Created in 2004 by Texas Moratorium Network, Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break will commence March 12.

“Alternative Spring Break is an excellent tool for creating awareness,” said
20-year-old Jackson Smith who attended last year’s event. “It impacts students so
they will go back with a thorough knowledge and personal understanding about the
death penalty.”

From March 12 to March 16, students will participate in media training, attend a
lobby day, engage in panel discussions, and listen to speakers such as Shujaa
Graham, an exonerated death row inmate.

After the event’s first year, Texas Moratorium Network handed over the
organization of Alternative Spring Break to Texas Students Against the Death
Penalty, a University of Texas student organization.

According to Hooman Hedayati, president of Texas Students Against the Death Penalty, the goal of the event is to educate students enough so they will not forget the issues and will go back home and affect other people.

The 24-hour college network, mtvU, covered the anti-death penalty spring break in its prior years, but this year MTV decided to include the event in its spring break series “The Amazing Break.” Ian Rowe, senior vice president of public affairs at MTV, said this decision came when they began hearing from young people and realized this cause was a grassroots movement in colleges across the country.

About 50 students from all over Texas and across the country have registered for this year’s anti-death penalty spring break, which is more than the past two-year’s attendance combined. Because the event is open to the public, many more Austin community members are expected to attend.

Registration is free, except for out-of-town students who must pay $25 for housing. Texas Students Against the Death Penalty arranged for those who need housing to stay in the Goodall Wooten dormitory near the University of Texas campus, and because of the increase in attendance, some students will stay in a hotel.

The rally on Tuesday will be on the South steps of the Capitol and the protest on Thursday will be conducted at the governor’s mansion. Students will attend workshops held at the University of Texas campus and the Texas State Travis Building. There will also be panel discussions in the Capitol’s committee rooms and a book-signing panel at UT on Wednesday.

“Students will learn life skills needed as young people to help shape a better world,” said Renny Cushing, a second-year speaker and founder of Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights.

Last year’s students rode a bus to Huntsville, Texas to protest the execution of Tommie Hughes for the murder of two Dallas women during a robbery. This protest was described by several participators as the most significant part of Alternative Spring Break last year.

“It was surreal to be present at the execution,” said Smith. “The whole experience was really emotional and personal.”

“It was rewarding to see them become engaged and try to solve a problem,” said Scott Cobb, coordinator at the Texas Moratorium Network. “The bus ride to Huntsville provided a bonding experience for the students, because it opened up many conversations about the effects of the death penalty.”

Alternative Spring Break hopes to have an impact on death penalty legislation in Texas, but according to many participants, its main impact will be on the students.

“There is no other human rights oriented spring break event that I am aware of where young people are invited to come, participate, and be trained,” said Cobb.

“Alternative Spring Break has already made an impact,” said Christina Lawson, a 29-year-old woman whose husband was executed in 2005. “It informs and encourages the next generation who will influence many others.”

The Austin Alternative Spring Break 2007 episode will air March 22 as an MTV news special during the network’s show “Total Request Live.” It will then air as the first of five segments in “The Amazing Break” on Sunday, March 25.

“This was a call to action that was different and intertwined with many emotions,” said MTV producer Megan Desales. “MTV likes to show ordinary students doing amazing things that will prompt other people in the future.”