Activists ask Governor Perry to grant 30-day reprieve for Johnny Martinez
May 22, 2002
Contact: Scott Cobb xxx-xxx-xxxx
Messages from around the country are pouring into Texas Governor Rick
Perry’s office asking that he grant a 30-day reprieve for Johnny Martinez
after an appeal for mercy form the mother of Mr. Martinez’s victim. A vigil
will be held for Johnny Martinez this afternoon May 22 beginning at 5:30 PM
at the Governor’s Mansion (11th & Lavaca).
At 6.00 PM tonight, Johnny Martinez is scheduled to be executed by the state
of Texas for the murder of Clay Peterson. Lana Norris, the mother of the
victim has asked that Johnny Martinez be granted clemency. The Texas Board
of Pardons and Paroles denied this request by a vote of 9 to 8 this week.
Mrs. Norris (the victims mother) appeared on the Today Show today to share
her message that “to execute him would be a ‘double crime against society’
because it would create another family who has lost a son.”
Texas Moratorium Network would like Governor Perry to ask the Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles to reconvene and reconsider a commutation in this case.
We ask Gov. Perry to stop tonight’s execution by granting a 30-day reprieve
so that the board can meet again and take into consideration the wishes of
the victim’s mother to stop the execution.
Marisa Fehrenbach of Texas Moratorium Network wrote in a letter to Governor
Perry, “The victim’s family must be heard. It is not fair nor moral for the
state to support victims’ families who wish to execute while ignoring the
wishes of a family that does not want their son’s killer executed.”
Fehrenbach continued, “Texas Moratorium Network asks that you grant Mr.
Martinez a 30-day reprieve so that the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
can reconvene and reconsider a commutation in this case. We ask you to stop
tonight’s execution so that the board can meet again and take into
consideration the wishes of the victim’s mother to commute the sentence to
life in prison. Please ask the BPP to hold a public hearing so that the
victim’s family may speak to the entire board about its wishes.”
Mom asks parole board to spare son’s murderer
Condemned convict met with woman in mediation program
A confessed killer, Johnny Joe Martinez, is scheduled to die by injection next week. The mother of his victim is trying to stop it.
In a rare move, she has sent a letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, asking that Mr. Martinez’s death sentence be commuted to life.
“To execute Mr. Martinez would be a double crime against society,” wrote Lana Norris, whose plea came after an unusual face-to-face meeting with her son’s killer.
Ms. Norris, who also asked to talk personally with each member of the
board, says she believes in the death penalty. She and her 2nd husband,
Thomas Dillon, now deceased, backed a law to allow victims’ families to
witness executions in Texas’ death chamber.
Her letter makes it clear how devastated she was by the vicious stabbing
death of her son, Clay Peterson, “my precious baby boy,” as he worked an
overnight convenience-store shift 9 years ago.
“I have hurt more than I knew possible,” she wrote. “I no longer wanted
to live and even counted the pills, considering suicide in those early
days. While I never took the pills, I just wanted out of the pain.”
But, she added, she doesn’t want another mother the killer’s to go
through the same agony. “Please, do not cause another mother to lose her
son to murder, needlessly!” she wrote.
Any impact of Ms. Norris’ letter won’t be known for several days. Gerald
Garrett, chairman of the board of Pardons and Paroles, said he doesn’t
know whether he will schedule a public hearing to consider the case; if
not, members will vote by fax machine, as usual, on whether the sentence
should be carried out.
Ms. Norris declined to talk with The Dallas Morning News about the letter
except to say that, “I’ve been blessed by an extraordinary God and as a
result of that have probably been healed more than most victims.”
She said she prayed long and hard about the decision before writing the
letter May 7. She wrote it 4 days after meeting with Mr. Martinez, 29, in
a mediation program offered by the prison system.
Mediation involving victims and offenders in Texas has been available
since 1994 at the request of victims. Only a handful out of the roughly
100 sessions held to date have involved death row inmates, said Edwardo
Mendoza, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s mediation
coordinator.
Few victims’ families in death row cases have sought mediation, and some
convicts have refused them, perhaps because their cases are still on
appeal.
Information stemming from mediation is confidential and not given to the
parole board for consideration of cases.
Ms. Norris asked for a mediation session even though Mr. Martinez had not
responded to a previous letter. After both parties underwent extensive
counseling to prepare for the session, they met in the chapel of the
prison unit in Livingston that houses death row.
****
Here are the contents of a letter Lana Norris wrote to state pardons
officials, seeking clemency for her son’s killer:
Dear Sir:
It is my understanding that there is a petition on the commutation of the
death sentence to a life sentence in this case. I would like to have this
letter considered as part of your decision in this issue. If possible, I
would also like the opportunity to talk with each of you personally,
either by phone or in person. As Clay Peterson’s mother, I feel that I
have been affected by this crime more than any other person, with the
exception of my precious baby boy, Clay.
Clay was 20 years old at the time of this crime. Even in the turmoil that
existed in the beginning, I knew that Clay was okay and had forgiven
Johnny Joe Martinez (hereafter referred to as Mr. Martinez). Yet, I did
not know if the death sentence was appropriate. I was not and never have
been asked if the death sentence was what I wanted. While I know that
this case is the State of Texas vs. Mr. Martinez, my desires should be
considered. I realize that I was too close to the case and too
emotionally distraught to be able to look at things objectively at the
time of the trial.
For over 8 1/2 years, I have struggled with the knowledge that I was in
some way connected to an inmate on death row. Many times, each day, I
think of Clay, and always my thoughts turn to Mr. Martinez. I am not
trying to minimize the hurt and struggle I have been through. I have hurt
more than I knew possible. I have felt anger, regret and every possible
emotion. For a time, I lost hope and was clinically depressed. I no
longer wanted to live and even counted the pills, considering suicide in
those early days. While I never took the pills, I just wanted out of the
pain.
For 8 1/2 years, I have revisited the pain of that night many times. I
have struggled with the pain of knowing that Clay would not want this
execution. To some extent, having an inmate on death row has complicated
my recovery process. For the last couple of months, I have struggled with
this issue even more. While I do believe in the death penalty, with the
date of execution drawing near, I have done much soul searching. When
Clay was killed, his crime was more than a crime against me and his
family. It was a crime against society.
Clay was a loving, caring, young man. He was active in Christian youth
ministry and would have had a positive impact on many throughout his
life. While Mr. Martinez had a different start in life, there was nothing
before this incident that would have led anyone to believe this crime
would happen. Last Friday, May 3, I had the opportunity to do mediation
with Mr. Martinez. There is no doubt in my mind, that to execute Mr.
Martinez would be a double crime against society. Here is a young man
that has truly repented and regrets his actions of July 15, 1993. If his
sentence is commuted to a life sentence, he will be 54 before his 1st
possible chance of parole. During that time, he could be a positive
influence on other inmates that he comes in contact with. He may be able
to help them understand how to change their life and direction for the
better.
Please, do not cause another mother to lose her son to murder, needlessly!
In His Love,
Lana K. Norris
The murder victim’s father issued this statement to the public:
My son, Clay Peterson, was a Christian who witnessed to many people in
the South Texas area in his short life. I do not believe that he would
have demanded the Old Testament punishment of an eye for an eye, but
instead would have followed the teachings of Christ to forgive not 7
times, but 70 times seven. I can do no less.
Society must protect itself from those who do not value the lives and
property of others. However, I doubt that Johnny Martinez would be a
threat to society by the time he would be eligible for parole if his
sentence were commuted to life.
Paul B. Peterson
*****
The session lasted about 4 hours, said Mr. Martinez’s defense attorney,
David Dow, who witnessed the meeting. He described it as an extraordinary
event that began with Ms. Norris holding Mr. Martinez’s shackled hands in
prayer.
‘I killed her only son’
Mr. Dow said his client was nervous before the session.
“I killed her only son,” he told Mr. Dow as he waited for the session to
begin.
The killing occurred July 15, 1993. After a night of drinking, Mr.
Martinez, then 20, robbed a Corpus Christi convenience store. Mr.
Peterson, a college student who had celebrated his 20th birthday the day
before, was stabbed 8 times in the neck, back and shoulders. The brutal
killing was caught on videotape by a store surveillance camera.
About 15 minutes after the stabbing, Mr. Martinez called 911 from a
nearby motel, told the police dispatcher what he had done and said he
would wait for authorities to arrive. He surrendered without resistance,
expressed remorse and later confessed.
During mediation, Ms. Norris told Mr. Martinez she wanted answers about
what happened that day. The answer was similar to what he said at trial
nine years ago: “I don’t know why. That’s a question I will never be able
to answer.”
Mr. Dow said there was no anger in the mediation session. “I don’t think
there were any raised voices.”
There were tears and occasional smiles.
About halfway through the session, Mr. Dow said, Ms. Norris told Mr.
Martinez that she believed in the death penalty but added, “I don’t think
it’s right for you.”
At that point, Mr. Martinez asked whether she would write a letter on his
behalf. Ms. Norris said she would think about it; she called Clay’s
father, Paul Peterson, who lives in the Dallas area, before sending the
letter a few days later.
Mr. Peterson, who is divorced from Ms. Norris, said he understood why she
wrote the letter. Though he, too, supports the death penalty, he said he
doesn’t object to a commutation for Mr. Martinez.
’70 times 7′
His son discussed his Christian beliefs with many people and “would have
followed the teachings of Christ to forgive not seven times but seventy
times seven,” Mr. Peterson said. “I can do no less.”
He said he had no desire to go through mediation with Mr. Martinez, but
after talking with Ms. Norris, “I doubt that Johnny Martinez would be a
threat to society by the time he would be eligible for parole if his
sentence were commuted to life.”
Mr. Dow said he is considering some last-minute legal maneuvers in the
case, but Mr. Martinez’s fate now rests largely with the Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles. The 18-member board is expected to vote this week on
Mr. Martinez’s case.
Chairman Gerald Garrett said a letter asking for clemency from a relative
of the victim is “out of the norm.” Because Ms. Norris was among those
most directly affected by the crime, it would have more impact than most
letters received by the board.
“Here is a young man that has truly repented and regrets his actions of
July 15, 1993,” she wrote. “If his sentence is commuted to a life
sentence, he will be 54 before his 1st possible chance of parole. During
that time, he could be a positive influence on other inmates that he
comes in contact with.”
No hint of violence
Mr. Martinez is different from most death row inmates, said Mr. Dow,
because he “had absolutely no markers in his own personal history that
would have suggested that he was going to stab somebody to death one day. He had no prior convictions; in fact he had no prior history of violence.”
Mr. Dow says his client, a high school dropout, was abused as a youngster and left home at age 14.
To receive the death penalty in Texas, an offender must be shown to pose a future danger to society. Nueces County District Attorney Carlos Valdez said he knew Mr. Martinez had no history of criminal behavior but the brutality of the crime was enough to seek the death penalty.
“We thought the offense itself, which was captured on videotape, showed the viciousness of the case and the case called for the death penalty,” Mr. Valdez said.
Mr. Valdez said he consulted with family members before seeking the death penalty; Ms. Norris and Mr. Peterson say they were not asked.
Clemency from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which must be approved by the governor, is rare.
“I was appointed in 1995,” Mr. Garrett said, “And during my tenure, Mr. [Henry Lee] Lucas is the only person that has received a commutation recommendation.”
Mr. Lucas, who confessed to being a serial killer, had his death sentence commuted to life in 1998, because of doubts about his truthfulness.
District Attorney Valdez said he didn’t know if Ms. Norris’ plea would sway the parole board to commute Mr. Martinez’s sentence, but he didn’t think it should. “If anybody’s thinking about changing their mind, I suggest they watch the video of the killing,” he said.
Dallas Morning News Editorial: Texas needs to review its processes
5/19/2002
It’s been busy in Huntsville. This year, Texas already has executed 12 men
at its prison facility there. And the state is scheduled to execute another
five in the next several weeks. Texas is unchallenged as the leader in
cumulative executions since 1982, with more than 265 people being put to
death here. It’s not a statistic that should make Texans proud.
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/stories/051902dnedideathpenalty.bbb9b.html
The people executed and awaiting execution were convicted of committing
terrible crimes – actions unthinkable to most people. The public watching
the recent trials, like those for the murder of the Battaglia children or of
Aubrey Hawkins, may find little room for compassion. But, and there’s always
a but, questions in other cases surface, questions that trouble ethical
people about the use of the death penalty – especially in Texas.
State legislators last year attempted to resolve one of the state’s most
egregious wrongs: incompetent counsel. The newly formed Task Force on
Indigent Defense oversees standards for counties’ defense appointments.
However, that won’t help the approximate 450 current death row inmates who
may have been victims of Texas’ infamous too-often-incompetent appointed
lawyers. And with the Court of Criminal Appeals deciding recently that
Texans have “no constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel” in
part of the appeals process, the poor on death row may have little recourse
to justice.
Other questions also persist about access to a fair trial. The Illinois
Commission on Capital Punishment studied the death penalty process for two
years and recently issued its report with more than 80 recommendations. The
commission members included judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers. Its
recommendations for improved justice can apply to most criminal proceedings.
Texans should take heed.
As Greg Wiercioch of the Texas Defender Service says, “These issues are not
only relevant to Illinois because it borders on the Great Lakes. If
anything, Texas epitomizes the issues such as eyewitness identification,
prosecutorial misconduct, elected judges and racism.”
Hanna Liebman Dershowitz, the legal director of Texas Appleseed, says some
of the proposed Illinois safeguards would be easy to implement. They include
videotaping interrogations and allowing eyewitnesses to view possible
suspects in sequence rather than in a lineup.
Also, some basic ethical considerations raised in the study still challenge
Texas, such as executing the mentally retarded.
Texas juries may be becoming more sophisticated in their understanding of
mental illness, but they don’t understand retardation, which is a basic
impairment of intellectual functioning. Retarded Texas death row inmate John
Paul Penry now is getting his third sentencing hearing because the Supreme
Court determined that earlier juries were never properly instructed – new
jury selection and the sentencing process is expected to take months. This
case may be overridden by a ruling from the Supreme Court on whether
executing the retarded should be outlawed as cruel and unusual punishment.
Many hope the court also provides guidelines for defining retardation. One
Texas lawyer notes his mentally retarded client is scheduled for execution
in early June. Even if the Supreme Court doesn’t rule out the death penalty
for retarded people, this state should.
Texas justice is fearsome. But it should be fair. That’s why the Legislature
should use this time between sessions to review the work of the Illinois
commission ( www100.state.il.us). It also should consider whether the death
penalty in Texas suffers from racial bias, the issue that prompted the
Maryland governor to place a moratorium on executions this month. And it
needs to be clear on the financial cost of the death penalty.
The Senate Jurisprudence Committee, chaired by Dallas Sen. Royce West,
and/or the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, chaired by McAllen Rep.
Juan Hinojosa, should take on the task. Other elected officials, like the
attorney general, should review recent reports and reconsider Texas
practices.
Texans must have a clearer conscience about the people it puts behind bars
or to death, especially given the rate of executions in this state.
Execution debate doesn’t slow Texas
As courts consider death penalty questions, other states stopping
05/19/2002
By ED TIMMS / The Dallas Morning News
Texas’ bigger-than-life ethos is sometimes more brag than fact, but one
distinction is apparent: No other state has executed more inmates this year.
http://www.dallasnews.com/texassouthwest/stories/051902dntexdeathpenalty.65473.html
So far, 28 offenders have been put to death nationwide, 12 in Texas. And
Texas accounts for all but two of the 15 executions scheduled in the United
States through mid-September.
Because of legal complications and angst over how the death penalty is
administered, several other states that until recently executed offenders
have stopped – at least for the present.
Several factors contribute to Texas’ sobering record.
Those include a political climate in which the penalty is not a liability,
as well as state and federal appeals courts that are not hostile to the
death penalty.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry repeatedly has voiced his support for the death
penalty, vetoed a bill last year that would have barred the execution of
mentally retarded offenders and opposes a moratorium on executions.
Such sentiments are not uncommon among political leaders in the states where
most executions are carried out.
“You have a lot of states outside the South with very large death row
populations and no executions,” said University of Texas law professor
Jordan Steiker, an authority on capital punishment who once served as a law
clerk law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. “Outside the
South and the border states, there simply hasn’t been the same political
will.”
Some critics claim that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s
highest criminal court, repeatedly has turned a blind eye to serious
shortcomings in how capital cases are tried. Similar charges are leveled
against the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which also reviews Texas
death penalty cases.
“We have a politicized, partisan judicial system,” said Steve Hall, director
of the StandDown Texas Project, which is seeking a death penalty moratorium.
Juries continue
But even as national and international attention focuses on the Lone Star
State because of the death penalty, and legal challenges continue, juries in
Texas, which decide punishment in capital cases, continue to sentence
defendants to die.
“If people in Texas are really, by and large, disgusted with the fact that
we have a death penalty, I think you would see far fewer death penalty cases
handed out,” said Diane Beckham, staff counsel for the Texas District and
County Attorneys Association.
She said she sees little evidence that Texas legislators are being
encouraged by their constituents to oppose the death penalty.
Texans who oppose the death penalty, or seek a moratorium so that its
application can be reviewed, assert that the system under which defendants
are convicted for capital crimes and sent to death row is profoundly flawed.
And they suggest that Texans are increasingly concerned about how the death
penalty is applied.
“No other state carries out executions at such a relentless pace as Texas,”
said Mr. Hall. “This headlong dash occurs in spite of many controversies
over police and prosecutorial misconduct, inadequate standards of legal
representation, dubious testimony by so-called experts, an appeals court
that puts a seal of approval on sleeping lawyers, and a clemency process
that simply does not fulfill its historic responsibility.”
What some have described as isolated incidents, Mr. Hall said, represent
systemic problems.
Roe Wilson, chief of post-conviction writs for the Harris County district
attorney’s office, said that Texas’ death penalty statute has been examined
repeatedly by higher courts and has withstood the scrutiny.
“Anyone who is executing the death penalty, putting it into place and
carrying it through like we do in Texas … then you’ve got a vested
interest in doing it the right way and making sure that the law is as tight
and well-defined as you possibly can,” Ms. Wilson said.
Litigation avoided
Mr. Steiker said that by defining what qualifies as a capital murder
narrowly at the guilt-innocence stage of trial, Texas has avoided much of
the litigation in other states, as has having juries sentence the defendants
in capital cases. Still, some Texas executions have been held up, as courts
consider the merits of appeals. Whether that’s part of a cycle, is a fluke,
or reflects a broader hesitation about the death penalty, is open to
speculation.
Last-minute reprieves this month postponed the executions of two Texas death
row inmates, Curtis Lee Moore and Brian Edward Davis, after the U.S. Supreme
Court received petitions alleging that they were mentally retarded.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals intervened and delayed the execution
of Smith County death row inmate Henry Dunn last week; in that case,
questions were raised about the competence of Mr. Dunn’s appellate counsel.
And in February, the Supreme Court also agreed to hear the case of Thomas
Miller-El, who was sentenced to death in 1986 for the murder of an Irving
hotel clerk during a robbery. Mr. Miller-El’s attorneys claimed that
potential jurors were excluded from his trial because of their race.
Supreme Court cases
Two cases before the Supreme Court, neither from Texas, could have a
significant impact on the death penalty in America.
One case, Atkins vs. Virginia, resulted in reprieves for Mr. Moore and Mr.
Davis. It examines whether executing mentally retarded offenders is cruel
and unusual punishment, which is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution. The court is expected to rule in the Atkins case this
summer.
More than a decade ago, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Texas
death row inmate Johnny Paul Penry, ruling that instructions to his jury did
not allow proper consideration of mitigating evidence, such as his mental
retardation. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote in the majority opinion that,
at that time, there was not sufficient evidence of a “national consensus
against executing the retarded.”
Mr. Penry was convicted in a subsequent trial, but his death sentence was
overturned by the Supreme Court last year. A new punishment hearing is under
way.
Mr. Steiker theorized that if the Supreme Court decides in the Atkins case
“that there is now an emerging, prevailing consensus against executing
people with mental retardation,” that would suggest that the way the court
gauges “societal consensus” is shifting.
Such a shift, he said, could have ramifications for other death row inmates.
For example, he said, the Supreme Court justices might find that executing
offenders who were under the age of 18 at the time of the offense is
unconstitutional, or they might revisit the issue of executing offenders who
were not directly responsible for a capital murder, so-called
“non-triggermen.”
‘Up to the states’
Richard Dieter, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty
Information Center, said that if the Supreme Court decides to bar the
execution of the mentally retarded, the justices “may not lay down neatly
what mental retardation is, and leave it up to the states and courts to
figure this out.”
And that, he said, is likely to set off considerable debate and legal
wrangling.
Harris County prosecutors, for example, assert that Mr. Davis, convicted for
the 1991 stabbing death of Michael Alan Foster in Humble, is not mentally
retarded – and that claim was first raised in legal petitions on the day he
was to be executed.
His attorneys point to Mr. Davis’ long history of difficulties in coping
with day-to-day life, placement in special education classes while in
school, and a test that placed his IQ at 74 – four points above 70, one
benchmark for retardation, but within the margin of error.
The Supreme Court also could decide that the execution of the mentally
retarded does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. If that occurs,
inmates who were granted reprieves because of Atkins could be facing
execution again in the near future.
Sentencing by judge
In the second case, Ring vs. Arizona, Supreme Court justices will examine
the constitutionality of death sentences being handed down by a judge rather
than a jury.
The case does not directly affect cases in Texas, where juries in capital
cases decide punishment. But the Ring case has contributed to Texas’
dominance of death row statistics in 2002: Pending a ruling by the Supreme
Court, several states in which judges assess the death penalty are not
executing offenders.
Ms. Wilson, the Harris County prosecutor, predicts that frequency of
executions in Texas will increase.
Death penalty reforms in 1995, she said, which restructured the appeals
process, resulted in “a tremendous number of cases in the federal system.”
“We had a huge glut of cases that arrived … about the same time,” she
said. “And now they’re starting to come out.”
Letter from TMN regarding Napolean Beazley
Here is an example letter we sent to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles regarding Napolean Beazley. Feel free to use this as a template for your own letters.
May 16, 2002
Chairman Gerald Garrett
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
P.O. Box 13401, Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711
RE: Clemency for Napoleon Beazley
Dear Chairman Garrett:
I am writing on behalf of Texas Moratorium Network to appeal for clemency
for Napoleon Beazley on two major grounds – his status as a juvenile
offender at the time of his offense and the racial aspects of the case. We
would like you to recommend to Governor Perry that he commute Napoleon’s
sentence to life in prison.
Napoleon was only 17 years old at the time of his crime. There is a growing
consensus in Texas that we should stop executing people who commit crimes
under the age of 18. In 2001, the Texas House of Representatives passed a
bill that would have banned executions of juvenile offenders. The bill did
not reach the Senate in time for it to be considered before the session
expired. In 2003, the bill will be filed again and in light of growing
opposition among Texas voters to executing juvenile offenders, and the fact
that by continuing to execute juvenile offenders the United States stands
virtually alone in the world community, the bill will probably pass next
time. Please do not allow Napoleon to be one of the last juvenile offenders
to be executed before the Texas Legislature bans the practice.
Texas Moratorium Network is also concerned about the racial aspects of this
case. Napoleon is an African-American who was sentenced to death by an
all-white jury for the murder of a white person. Potential black jurors were
systematically kept off Napoleon’s jury. Maryland recently enacted a
moratorium on executions in order to complete a study on the issue of race
and the death penalty. Texas also needs to stop executions in cases where
race has played an important factor in determining whether a defendant
receives the death penalty. We need to make sure that defendants are judged
by the relevant facts of their cases and not by the color of their skin.
Texas Moratorium Network, an organization with a growing support base of
more than 6,000 people across the state of Texas, is working to establish a
moratorium on executions, so that a Texas Capital Punishment Commission can
conduct a comprehensive study of the death penalty system in our state.
Thank you for your consideration,
Sincerely,
Scott Cobb
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. Significant death penalty reform in Texas, including a moratorium on executions, is a viable goal if the public is educated on the death penalty system and is encouraged to contact their elected representatives to urge passage of moratorium legislation.
We hope that you will join us in this fight for fairness and social justice.Please join our email list and become one of the more than 20,000 people receiving information through our network.