Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 9.11.19
posted by PHADP
on Wed, 09/11/2019 - 10:20
Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 9.11.19
Great News! Our issue Death Penalty Reform made it one more time as one of Alabama Arise’s seven issues for 1920! Thank you to all who voted for this and thank you Attorney Spencer Hahn of the Federal Defenders for presenting this issue!
Good news too for Toforest Johnson with the lengthy and comprehensive Opinion Essay by Radley Balka in the Washington Post “ Illusion of Justice The baffling conviction and death sentence of Toforest Johnson reveal a broken system.” And of course as always an individual injustice points to the intrinsic injustice of the death penalty. The same point could be made about the movie just released Just Mercy based on the book by Bryan Stevenson which is described as a powerful argument against the death penalty.
The launch of the exhibit, including a presentation by Dr. Katie Owens-Murphy will be at Collier Library on UNA's campus at 7:30 pm on Sept 20. The exhibit itself will be up through the end of October. Dr. Katie Owens-Murphy named the exhibit after Darrell's poem: "Ghosts Over the Boiler: Voices from Alabama's Death Row." Advisory Board Member Gary Drinkard who was a member of our Board while on death row at Holman and who introduced Dr. Katie Owens-Murphy to our organization will be in attendance. We are also proud to report that our posters made at Holman have been received by Dr. Katie Owens-Murphy and pronounced to be “ magnificent!!!” They will be framed, placed in display cases so that they can be featured prominently in the exhibit!
Our newsletter Wings of Hope went out in the mail yesterday. We hope you enjoy it!
Tomorrow our Executive Director in her role as Chair of the Alabama State NAACP Death Penalty Moratorium Committee has been invited to participate in a meeting with Governor Kay Ivey and the Alabama State NAACP.
We continue to thank anonymous donors who gave by going to our website and using the “donate” button and of course also those who gave directly. We thank all who believe in what we do and stand with us. You make a difference!
Esther
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