TMN will soon be announcing a major development in our campaign to convince policymakers to support a moratorium on executions in Texas. An important new voice is about to be raised in support of a moratorium in Texas. The announcement could come next week.
Keep checking our website and this blog over the next couple of weeks for the announcement.
Take action against the execution of Mauriceo Brown on July 19 by sending an email to Governor Perry. When writing Governor Perry to express your opposition to the execution, please remember to ask him to express your sympathies to the friends and family of the victim – Michael LaHood.
Take action against the execution of Robert Anderson on July 20 by sending an email to Governor Perry. When writing Governor Perry to express your opposition to the execution, please remember to ask him to express your sympathies to the friends and family of the victim – Audra Anne Reeves.
In light of the recent reports in The Houston Chronicle and Chicago Tribune that Texas may have executed three innocent persons (Carlos De Luna, Cameron Willingham and Ruben Cantu), we expect there will be an increase in support for a moratorium in the Texas Legislature because even the most ardent supporters of the death penalty are not in favor of executing innocent people. For now, let’s take a look back at the level of support five years ago.
In 2001, there was a vote on a moratorium on executions on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives. The bill was HB 1328 by Rep Harold Dutton. 52 House members voted in favor of a moratorium back then, including one Republican. 91 voted “No” on the moratorium bill. 1 person was recorded as “present not voting” and there were six absent members. A couple of the Democrats who voted “No”, probably did so on procedural grounds and were in fact in favor of a moratorium.
Among the current members of the House, there are 52 members (23 D’s 29 R’s) who were not members in 2001 and so have never voted on a moratorium.
There are 62 current members who were also members in 2001 and voted “No”. There are 3 members who were members in 2001, but were absent or “present not voting” in 2001.
There are 33 current members (32 D’s and 1 R) of the Texas Legislature who were also members in 2001 and who voted “yes” for the moratorium back then.
After the election this November, there will be some new members of the House and some of the current members will no longer be members.
Last night, there were 11 people at the Texas Governor’s mansion protesting the execution of Derrick O’Brien. Seven of the 11 people were members of Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Good Job CEDP’ers!
Ever hear of Paul Begala? He was instrumental in the Clinton campaign in 1992 and went on to co-host CNN’s Crossfire, co-author “Take It Back” and be a political contributor to CNN’s “The Situation Room”. He says in this month’s Texas Monthly how he got his media start by attending an excecution vigil back in the 80’s:
The first time I was on television was when Governor Bill Clements executed the first person in Texas in years. I was a University of Texas student, and I was participating in a candlelight prayer vigil in front of the Governor’s Mansion. Longtime Austin anchor Judy Maggio, who was then just a cub reporter for KVUE, happened to turn a camera on me. I probably owe her a 25 percent royalty for everything I’ve done since.
Come out to the next Execution vigil. Who knows? One day, you may be advising presidents and have a show on CNN.
Statewide Execution Vigils
Huntsville – Corner of 12th Street and Avenue I (in front of the Walls Unit) at 5:00 p.m.
Austin – At the Governor’s Mansion on the Lavaca St. side between 10th and 11th St. from 5:30 to 6:30 PM.
Beaumont – Diocese of Beaumont, Diocesan Pastoral Office, 703 Archie St. @ 4:00 p.m. on the day of an execution.
College Station – 5:30 to 6 PM, east of Texas A &M campus at the corner of Walton and Texas Ave. across the street from the main entrance.
Corpus Christi – at 6 PM in front of Incarnate Word Convent at 2910 Alameda Street
Dallas – 5:30 pm, at the SMU Women’s Center, 3116 Fondren Drive
Houston – St. Paul’s United
Methodist Church, 5501 Main Street (corner of Binz). Parking is available in the church parking lot on Fannin.
Lewisville – St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church, 1897 W. Main Street. Peace & Justice Ministry conducts Vigils of Witness Against Capital Punishment at 6:00 pm on the day executions are scheduled in Texas.
McKinney – St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Community located at 110 St. Gabriel Way @ 6:00 p.m. on the day of an execution.
San Antonio (Site 1) – Archdiocese of San Antonio, in the St. Joseph Chapel at the Chancery, 2718 W. Woodlawn Ave. (1 mile east of Bandera Rd.) at 11:30 a.m. on the day of execution. Broadcast on Catholic Television of San Antonio (Time-Warner cable channel 15) at 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on the day of execution.
San Antonio (Site 2) – Main Plaza across from Bexar County Courthouse and San Fernando Cathedral – Noon
Spring – Prayer Vigil at 6 PM on evenings of executions at St Edward Catholic
Community, 2601 Spring Stuebner Rd for the murder victim, for family
and friends of the murder victim, the prison guards and correctional officers, for the family of the condemn man/woman, for the man/woman to be executed and to an end to the death penalty.
TEXAS DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION MOVEMENT
C/O S.H.A.P.E. Community Center, 3815 Live Oak, Houston, TX 77004
713-503-2633, Abolition.Movement@hotmail.com
July 10, 2006
PRESS ADVISORY
Contact: Njeri Shakur 713-237-0357 or Gloria Rubac 713-503-2633
WITH NEWSPAPERS REPORTING THREE CASES OF INNOCENCT PERSONS BEING EXECUTED IN TEXAS, WE DEMAND A MORATORIUM NOW!
STOP THE EXECUTION OF DERRICK OBRIEN!
At 6:00 PM on Tuesday, July 11, in Huntsville, Texas, members of the Abolition Movement will be protesting the execution of Derrick Sean OBrien, a convicted participant in one of Houstons most well known murder cases.
O’Brien was one of six youths involved in the rape and murder of Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, on June 24, 1993. The girls were Waltrip High School students who were walking home from a pool party when they took a shortcut through a park and the 6 young men attacked them.
The Abolition Movement is opposed to all executions, regardless if the person is innocent or guilty. The state of Texas does not have the right or the moral authority to kill anyone, said activist Njeri Shakur.
As a mother of six girls, I can only extend my sympathy to the parents of Pena and Ertman. What happened to their daughters was truly a parents nightmare. But as an African in America I know first hand that the criminal justice system is fatally flawed with racism and class bias.
The Abolition Movement also stresses that the death penalty is not reversible. In just the last 19 months, newspaper reporters have uncovered that three innocent people have likely been executed by the state of Texas: Cameron Todd Willingham, Ruben Cantu, and Carlos DeLuna.
Since 1973, 123 people in 25 states have been released from death row for reasons of innocence. Eight of these exonerees were from the state of Texas.
We demand an immediate moratorium on executions in Texas. These three cases of innocence must be fully investigated. And we demand a state agency be formed to not only fully examine these cases, but the application of the death penalty in Texas. If newspaper reporters can uncover innocent people being put to death, we need a total revamping of the criminal justice system. Deluna, Cantu and Willingham were surely not the only innocent people sent to death, Shakur stated.
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