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Death Penalty
The Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal opposes the death penalty. Here are some important web sites with information on how to join the movement to abolish this racist, classist and grossly fallible institution.
Save Kevin Cooper from California's death row:
http://www.savekevincooper.org
Campaign to End the Death Penalty:
http://www.nodeathpenalty.org
Death Penalty Focus:
http://www.deathpenalty.org
For a list of state and national links:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/dplinks.html
News articles and events about the death penalty:
http://disc.server.com/Indices/207906.html
Announcements:
2/9/04 Kevin Cooper wins stay of execution!
11/30/05 AND 12/12/05 EMERGENCY RALLIES!!
!Emergency Rallies for Stanley "Tookie" Williams, Sign Online Petition Requesting Clemency for Stanley Tookie Williams
Dear Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal and anti-death penalty activists,
The State of California is set to execute San Quentin death row inmate Stanley "Tookie" Williams at 12:01 AM, Tuesday, December 13. (A protest rally is set for Monday night at 8:00 PM, December 12.) We urge all anti-death penalty activists to join in the upcoming activities designed to win clemency for Tookie as well as to help continue his legal battles for justice and freedom.
Here are some critical activities on the schedule as the countdown proceeds. Special thanks to Stephanie Faucher and Lance Lindsay of Death Penalty Focus for initiating the events and activities below.
MAJOR PROTEST AT SF CITY HALL
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30 AT NOON
San Francisco City Hall
Front Steps (NEAR THE CIVIC CENTER PLAZA)
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102
The demonstration is sponsored by Death Penalty Focus (See below) and endorsed by The Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and many other groups.
DECEMBER 12, 2005 - PM
Statewide Rallies and Vigils Against the Scheduled Execution of Stanley Williams. Contact Death Penalty Focus for locations.
MAJOR RALLY ON THE EVE OF THE EXECUTION
San Quentin State Prison
RALLY AT 8:00PM
EAST GATE OF SAN QUENTIN
You can park on Francisco Blvd. E. but expect to walk 1-1.5 Miles to get to the East Gate of San Quentin.
Contact: stefanie@deathpenalty.org or 415-243-0143
Death Penalty Focus
870 Market St. Ste. 859 San Francisco, CA 94102
Tel. 415-243-0143 - Fax 415-243-0994 -
www.deathpenalty.org
Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP* (*Legal Counsel for Stanley Williams)
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Nobel Laureates, Faith Leaders, Celebrities Join Growing
Chorus Requesting Clemency for Stanley Tookie Williams
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mike Farrell, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo among activists lending voice to message of redemption, peace and hope
SACRAMENTO: In a letter released today, a group of Nobel laureates, celebrity activists, faith leaders and policy-makers urged Gov. Schwarzenegger to grant clemency for Stanley Tookie Williams, recognizing the five-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee's valuable contributions to steer inner-city youth away from crime and gangs. "Each year at the holiday season, voices the world over cry out for peace," the letter reads. "This year, one of them, a voice of great power, will be lost unless you act."
The letter cites William's work, including a remarkable collection of children's books which landed him four Nobel Literature Prize nominations, as well as his tireless efforts to answer each and every request from schools, ministers, and community leaders asking him to help them teach messages of redemption, peace and hope to inner city children.
"Through his work, gang truces have been mediated and long-standing wounds have been healed. Lives have been saved," the letter states. It concludes with a plea for the governor to use his executive power to "affirm the human capacity for personal transformation and reinforce the meaning of hope for young people everywhere."
"We have far more to gain from granting clemency to Stanley Williams than from killing him, an act of violence that serves no purpose, said Mike Farrell. "Growing up where violence is a too-readily-accepted way of life, Stanley made that choice and knows what it costs. Today, uniquely qualified to reach our children, Stanley encourages thousands with his message of change, of possibility, of hope. We urge the governor to lead us away from the politics of vengeance, to let the children see that change matters and there is reason to hope."
A short list of the letter's signatories include:
Nobel laureates: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Betty Williams, Jody Williams;
Celebrities: Jason Alexander, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Glover, Anjelica Huston, Bonnie Raitt, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Noah Wyle;
Notables: Mario Cuomo, Julian Bond, Reps. Jim McDermott, Jim McGovern, George Miller, and Sen. Tom Harkin, Rev. Jesse Jackson.
They are joined by thousands of citizens who have signed an online petition ( www.savetookie.org) in support of clemency, as well as ministers, teachers and community leaders across the nation who have written to the governor asking that he weigh the value of Williams’ efforts, his message and his example against a death sentence following a trial marred by disturbing racial bias and dishonorable conduct.
A copy of the letter, along with a full list of its signatories is posted below and online at http://www.cm-p.com/clemency.htm
###
November 22, 2005
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,
Each year at the holiday season voices the world over cry out for peace.
This year, one of them, a voice of great power, will be lost unless you act.
Stanley Tookie Williams grew up where violence was a way of life. Now the State says another act of violence must end his life on December 13th.
In prison, Mr. Williams finally realized an opportunity for self-examination. This led him to renounce the lifestyle he had accepted and the gang he helped found. In
the years following, he has written a remarkable collection of books that have touched the lives of thousands of children across the world, his eloquent message turning countless numbers of at-risk youth away from a violent path with only death at its end.
Despite the constraints of San Quentin’s death row, Mr. Williams has become a tireless resource for every child, school district and community group that asks for his help. Through his work, gang truces have been mediated and long-standing wounds have been healed. Lives have been saved.
This work has not gone unnoticed, nor is it unappreciated. Thousands of letters have been sent you from ministers, teachers and community leaders who ask that you weigh the value of Mr. Williams’ efforts, his message and his example, against the death sentence the court has imposed.
The impact and reach of his work have captured noteworthy attention. That an inmate on San Quentin’s death row has earned five nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and four for the Nobel Prize for Literature requires consideration.
The execution of Stanley Williams will silence a powerful voice for peace, but will not resolve unanswered questions about the conviction that put him on death row. The trial record shows disturbing signs of racial bias and cannot disguise a circumstantial case built on testimony from witnesses who personally profited from their story, including a jailhouse snitch with a record of perjury.
In 2002, in an unusual postscript to a U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, one judge wrote, “Although Williams’ good works and accomplishments since incarceration may make him a worthy candidate for the exercise of gubernatorial discretion, they are not matters that we in the federal judiciary are at liberty to take into consideration.”
Stanley Williams’ story has been told in many ways around the world and each time has brought a message of redemption, peace and hope.
Respectfully, we call on you to use your executive power to affirm the human capacity for personal transformation and reinforce the meaning of hope for young people everywhere by commuting Stanley Tookie Williams’ sentence of death to life in prison.
Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams, MD
Jason Alexander
Salam Al-Maryati,
Executive Director, Muslim Public Affairs Council
American Friends Service Committee (Nobel Laureate)
Tom Andrews,
Former Member US House of Representatives
Edward Asner
Reverend Ed Bacon, Pastor
All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena
Bob Balaban
William Baldwin
Dr. Joan Willens Beerman, Ph.D
Leonard Beerman, Rabbi Emeritus
Leo Baeck Temple, Los Angeles
Harry Belafonte
Alan & Marilyn Bergman
Susan Blakely
Julian Bond, Chair
NAACP
Charles J. Brown
Jackson Browne
Gabriel Byrne
Sister Eileen Campbell, RSM
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Gilbert Cedillo
California State Senate
Stephen Colllins
Jill Clayburgh
Peter Coyote
Bryan Cranston
James Cromwell
Russell Crowe
Suzanne Cryer
Mario Cuomo
Former Governor, NY
Sister Anne Curtis, RSM
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Ted Danson
Bishop Joe Morris Doss
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, Ret.
Richard Dreyfuss
Mervin M. Dymally
Member, California State Assembly
Steve Earle
Hector Elizondo
Shelley Fabares
Mike Farrell
Laurence Fishburne
Robert Foxworth
Bonnie Franklin
Greg Germann
Melissa Gilbert
Danny Glover
Elliott Gould
Sister Marilyn Graf, Sisters of Mercy
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Auxiliary
Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, Mich.
Paul Haggis
Robert David Hall
Tom Harkin
United States Senate
Tess Harper
Sister Judith Hilbing, O.P.
Justice Promoter, Dominican Alliance
Sister Mary Jane Hotstream,
President, St. Louis Region, Sisters of Mercy
Ken Howard
Gordon Hunt
Anjelica Huston
Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.,
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
Rabbi Steven Jacobs
Temple Kol Tikvah, Encino
Steve Jaffe
Peter Jason
Casey Kasem
Kerry Kennedy
RFK Human Rights Foundation
Irene Kahn
Secretary General
International Secretariat of Amnesty International (Nobel Laureate)
James M. Lawson, Jr.,
Pastor Emeritus, Holman United Methodist Church, Los Angeles
Most Reverend Oscar H. Lipcombe,
Archbishop of Mobile, Alabama
Rev. S.J. Lucey, S.J.
President, Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala.
Gregory Luke, Esq.
Peter MacNicol
Sister Margaret Maggio
Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille
Mairead Corrigan Maguire
Nobel laureate
Sister Patricia McDermott, RSM
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Jim McDermott
Member, United States Congress
Reverend John McGarry, S.J.,
Jesuit Provincial of California Province
Jim McGovern
Member, United States Congress
Sister Reg McKillip, O.P.
Promoter of Peace and Justice, Sinsinawa Dominicans
George Miller
Member, United States Congress
Alfred Molina
Sister Suzanne Moore, M.M.,
President, Maryknoll Sisters
Sister Dierdre Mullan, RSM
Director, Mercy Global Concern, United Nations
Edward James Olmos
Jane Olson
Chair, Human Rights Watch
Ed O'Neill
Julia Ormond
Paula Poundstone
Sister Helen Prejean
Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille
Bonnie Raitt
Rev. George Regas
Pastor Emeritus, All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena
Carl Reiner
Dr. Timothy Reynolds, M.D.
Dr. Victoria Riskin, PhD
David W. Rintels
Tim Robbins
Dave Robinson
Executive Director, Pax Christi
Phil Alden Robinson
Bill Rosendahl
Member, Los Angeles City Council
Jon Rubin
Sister Marjorie Rudemiller, RSM
President, Cincinnati Region, Sisters of Mercy
Susan Sarandon
John Saxon
Bill Schulz
Executive Director for Amnesty International, USA, (Nobel Laureate)
Betty and Stanley K. Sheinbaum
Roderick Spencer
Mary Steenburgen
Gloria Steinem
Jean Stokan
Policy Director, Pax Christi USA
Loretta Swit
Bishop Arthur Tafoya
Archdiocese of Pueblo, CO
Jeffrey Tambor
Sister Magdala Thompson
Sisters of Mercy
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Nobel Laureate
Reverend Jim Wallis
Convener, Call to Renewal
B.J. Ward-Hunt
Sister Mary Waskowiak, President
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Sister Linda Werthman, RSM
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Sister Barbara Wheeley, President
Baltimore Region, Sisters of Mercy
Betty Williams
Nobel Laureate
Jody Williams
Nobel Laureate
Sister Paulette Williams, RSN
President, North Carolina Region, Sisters of Mercy
Bishop Henry Williamson, Sr.
Presiding Prelate of the 9th Episcopal District, Christian Methodist
Episcopal Church
Alfre Woodard
Noah Wyle
Peter Yarrow
Bishop Gabino Zavala
Auxiliary, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, National President, Pax Christi
Stefanie L. Faucher
Program Director
Death Penalty Focus
870 Market St. Ste. 859
San Francisco, CA 94102
Tel. 415-243-0143
Fax 415-243-0994
mailto:stefanie@deathpenalty.org
http://www.deathpenalty.org
http://www.californiamoratorium.org
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