Announcements

Feburary 13, 2001       Moratorium Update

Bill Martin
Member OCADP legislation committee

Abolitionist Friends,

This is the crucial week at the legislature for HB 1013, which calls for a one-year moratorium on the death penalty while a study is made of all murder cases since 1976 and of policy questions like the cost of life without parole as compared to executions and the number of defendants given death sentences who were later exonerated. This bill also would prohibit execution of persons with "a severe developmental disability."

Please look over the list of House Rules Committee members below. If you know any of them or know persons in their districts who might know them, please make contacts this week.  And if you can come to the capitol on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 10:00 a.m. there will be a news conference in the Blue Room (next to the governor's office) in which fourteen religious leaders will join in a call for the moratorium. Your presence there would be a great support, and you could combine this trip with stopping by a few offices, perhaps before the conference if possible, since there apparently is a legislative session scheduled for 11:00.

Please note that we are not asking legislators to become abolitionists; we are simply asking for a one-year moratorium and study. A recent poll showed that already over 40% of Oklahomans favor a moratorium, which means that many people who believe in the death penalty think it needs investigation. Actually, people who believe in the present criminal justice system have a stake in fixing it where it is "broke"! (If you know persons who support the death penalty but who might favor a moratorium, please talk to them; their calls to legislators would be invaluable.)

The evidence of its being broken is substantial: a second addition below includes the stories of two men who escaped execution not because the system worked but in spite of it. A third addition is about Phillip DeWitt Smith, who is scheduled for execution on March 8.  Even a person who strongly supports the death penalty may well have second thoughts about this execution. Our work for HB 1013 is literally a struggle to save this man's life -- at least for a year.  (If you would like to send him a card of support, his address is PO Box 97, McAlester, OK 74502-0097; be sure to include his DOC #: 110447.)

As an observer now for several years of Pardon and Parole Board clemency hearings, I can assure you that this Board is not working well. Although charged by the Oklahoma Constitution "to make an impartial investigation and study" of applications for clemency, the majority of the Board has never voted in capital cases to recommend it to the governor.  These three members have turned a deaf ear to evidence of possible innocence, developmental disability, sincere repentance, religious conversion, exemplary conduct in prison, contributions to the quality of prison life, family needs, inadequate or incompetent defense counsel, unfair prosecutorial conduct, lack of jury understanding about the meaning of life without parole, proof that the person before the board received a death sentence when the actual killer was given life, recognition by federal judges that executive clemency was in order, requests for clemency by victims' family members, and appeals
for mercy by prison chaplains, state religious leaders, and other ministers.   A study during a moratorium might, for example, produce recommendations for statutory guidelines for this board.

The recent botching of the execution of Loyd Lafevers and his painful death, in which apparently the order in which the injections were given was messed up, is evidence that even for a procedure that we have practiced often we still don't have it right.

Thanks for doing everything you can.

Bill Martin

PS: Just a reminder that Rules Committee Chair Russ Roach has the power himself to kill this bill. It is therefore very important that he hear from persons who insist that he give it a hearing.  Even if you don't know anyone in his district or don't know him yourself, it might still be worth a call. After all, this bill does affect all of us in the state and not just those in his district.
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House Rules Committee

RUSS ROACH (D, Tulsa) (405-557-7390;918-743-1935) Rm 400-B, 
roachru@lsb.state.ok.us. Chair (Presbyterian)

Ray Vaughn (R, Edmond) (405-557-7360;405-341-5059) Rm 541,
vaughnra@lsb.state.ok.us  Vice-Chair (Church of Christ)

Loyd Benson (D, Frederick) (405-557-7307;580-335-35O8) Rm 441,
bensonlo@lsb.state.ok.us (U. Methodist)

Forrest Claunch (R, Midwest City) (405-557-7395;405-427-5473) Rm 510,
claunchfo@lsb.state.ok.us (Baptist)

Kevin Cox (D, OKC) (405-557-7367;405-427-0000) Rm 537-A,
coxke@lsb.state.ok.us (Baptist)

January 17, 2001       Rally & Letter Writing Campaign on Sat. Jan 20th

*PRESS RELEASE*

TIME IS TICKING AND LIVES ARE BEING TAKEN:
A MORATORIUM ON OKLAHOMA EXECUTIONS IS NEEDED NOW.

A RALLY AND LEGISLATIVE LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN WILL BE HELD AT MOUNT ZION BAPTIST CHURCH, 419 NORTH ELGIN, TULSA, OK ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 2001.

REPRESENTATIVE OPIO TOURE WILL SPEAK AT THE RALLY FROM 2 PM TO 3 PM.
THE LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN WILL FOLLOW FROM 3 PM TO 5 PM.

THE RALLY IS SPONSORED BY MT. ZION BAPTIST CHURCH, CHRIST THE KING CATHOLIC CHURCH, AND THE DEATH PENALTY INSTITUTE OF OKLAHOMA. CO-SPONSORING THE EVENT ARE AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AND THE CATHOLIC JUSTICE & PEACE NETWORK.

PAPER, PENS, ENVELOPES, POSTAGE, AND LETTER WRITING ASSISTANCE WILL BE PROVIDED. LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT MAPS AND NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF LEGISLATORS TO HELP IDENTIFY SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE.

For more information, contact Pat Duffy, Social Justice Coordinator,
Christ the King Catholic Church (918) 584-4788 or Robert Peebles, Death
Penalty Institute of Oklahoma, (918) 688-0684

January 16, 2001        Mass for Unborn on 1-22-01

Greetings from the Pro-Life Office!     

January 22, 1973 is the anniversary of one of the darkest moments in American history.  This day marks the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade supreme court decision which legalized procured abortion.  Twenty-eight years and approximately 43 million lives later, we continue to unite for the cause of Life.  The Pro-life office of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa invites you to remember and celebrate the lives of the unborn on Monday, January 22nd.  Adoration of the The Blessed Sacrament will begin at 12:30 p.m. at Holy Family Cathedral.  Mass will be celebrated by the Most Reverend Edward J. Slattery at 5:30 p.m.   After the mass, the Pro-life office will be hosting a reception with light refreshments.

January 10, 2001

Note from Fr. Bryan Brooks, Coordinator of Prison Ministry for the Diocese, and the Schedule of Prayer Vigils for Executions

Please add that in TULSA, vigils have been and will continue at St. Francis Xavier Parish (1st and Atlanta) each Tuesday and Thursday from 7-9 PM with Adoration and prayers for the inmate to be executed and their family and the victims and families. 

January 7, 2001

It has been requested to forward this on to Cursillistas, please keep our leaders in your prayers.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE: A MORATORIUM ON OKLAHOMA EXECUTIONS IS NEEDED NOW. A LEGISLATIVE LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN WILL BE HELD AT CHRIST THE KING CHURCH, FLETCHER HALL, 16th AND SOUTH QUINCY, TULSA, ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 2001. PAPER, PENS, ENVELOPES, AND LETTER WRITING ASSISTANCE WILL BE PROVIDED. WE WILL HAVE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT MAPS AND NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF LEGISLATORS TO HELP YOU IDENTIFY YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES. COFFEE AND DONUTS WILL BE PROVIDED. PLEASE MAKE TIME
TO DROP IN BETWEEN 9A.M. AND NOON. PLEASE BE ASSURED THAT YOUR LETTER WILL HAVE AN IMPACT IN IMPOSING A MORATORIUM ON EXECUTIONS IN OKLAHOMA. TAKING A MOMENT TO WRITE A BRIEF LETTER MAY SAVE THE LIFE OF AN INNOCENT DEATH ROW INMATE.