Campaign Update - Week of 2/25/2008

Moratorium Lobby Day
The Moratorium Now! Lobby Day brought about 150 to the State Capitol. Thanks to the ACLU, St. Louis had a free bus. Joe Amrine, Missouri’s first exonerated from death row, was the speaker. Joe challenged the increased involvement of African-Americans who are disproportionately represented on death row. The Moratorium Now! Coalition of 18 organizations will continue to give follow up on legislators. The Justice for Reggie Campaign is a part of the coalition and we will keep you updated, especially when we need you to take action.

Campaign 1515
As stated in previous updates, we are collecting signatures to recognized the 15th year of the Chain of Rocks tragedy. You can represent your family, your church, your organization or just yourself and collect 15 completed sheets of signatures for Reggie’s clemency. The deadline for turning sheets in is April 5. It is a good opportunity to talk about Reggie’s case and get support. If you are interested in participating in 1515, please let the campaign know now as we are planning something special for the participants.

Website Update
Reggie’s website is getting a makeover. Check it out.

Mark your calendar
Actor and Activist Mike Ferrell is coming to St. Louis to talk about his opposition to the death penalty. We expect him to be here the last weekend in June. Details coming.

Health and Welfare
Congrats to Vera Thomas, Reggie’s Mom, who was honored at the 1st annual celebration by Life Victory Church for its First Lady.

Our deepest regrets to Jonnie Warner, a Reggie supporter and the sister of Larry Griffin, on the recent death of her brother.

“Enough Already!”
Jamala Rogers, Coordinator
JUSTICE for Reggie Campaign
P. O. Box 5277
St. Louis, MO 63115
(314) 367-5959
www.justiceforreggie.com

Campaign Update - Week of 2/11/2008

Lobby Day
There is a free bus and the seats are going fassst! The Moratorium Now Lobby Day is February 20, 2008. The bus will leave at 6:30 a.m. from Central Reform Congregation, 5020 Waterman Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63108. To reserve your seat or for more information contact Colleen Cunningham at 314.256.9810.

Moratorium Bills
Moratorium bills have been filed in both the House and the Senate. HB 1870 was introduced by Rep. Bill Deeken ® and is being co-sponsored by 14 Republicans and 43 Democrats (this is no small feat!). The changes from last years bill is to reduce the length of the study from 3 years to 2 years and to include a provision to study the impact of different sentences upon murder victim’s family members. SB800 (SB 800 Summary and Full Bill) was introduced by Senator Rita Heard Days.

This will be an interesting and important legislative session. Gov. Blunt has announced he will not run again. This is a term-limited years for many reps and senators. We need to be letting our own legislator know we want to support the bill. In the next Campaign Update, we will include the Committee and its members who will be hearing the bills. Some of them will need some extra attention from us as well.

Petitions
At an MLK event, a Reggie supporter told me of her personal campaign to get signatures. We think Chlora’s idea is a great one for everyone. She is identifying 15 people to collect 15 signatures each (the number per sheet). That’s a total of 225. If we got 49 others to do likewise, that’s 11,250 signatures. That would almost double the amount we have collected to date. If 100 people collect 15 sheets, well you get the picture. The suggested deadline for 1515 camapign is April 4, the 15th anniversary of the Chain of Rocks Bridge Tragedy.

Super Tuesday is a big opportunity to collect signatures at the polling sites. But there will be candidates coming through before the February 5 Presidential Primary. Barack Obama is scheduled to come to St. Louis on Saturday.

Hit us back if you want to be a part of Campaign 1515.

“Enough Already!”
Jamala Rogers, Coordinator
JUSTICE for Reggie Campaign
P. O. Box 5277
St. Louis, MO 63115
(314) 367-5959
www.justiceforreggie.com

Campaign Update - Week of 2/04/2008

Petitions on Super Tuesday
Get signatures for a petition sheet or two. Download a petition form from the website.

Lobby Day
Reserved your seat for the February 20 Lobby Day? Hurry, seats are going fast.

Legislative Update from Jeff Stack, Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty

Four death penalty bills have now been introduced by state lawmakers. The good news is that three of them are progressive measures. Let’s start with the positives.

1) Lawmakers earlier this week formally introduced House Bill (HB) 1870. HB 1870 would establish a study commission to analyze various aspects of the death penalty in Missouri while putting in place a concurrent two-year moratorium on executions in the state. Rep. Bill Deeken (R-Jefferson City, District 114) has for the third consecutive year assumed the lead role in
sponsoring the measure. Thirteen other GOP representatives joined 44 Democrats (well over ½ of those party representatives)– more than a third of the full legislative body‹in co-sponsoring HB 1870. (See below for a full listing of those lawmakers, their contact information, as well as well as other notes).

To view the text of HB 1870, log onto:
http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills081/biltxt/intro/HB1870I.htm

(NOTE: additional information will also soon be posted on the website of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty at www.moabolition.org, the best site generally for legislative updates).
 ACTION: Please contact Rep. Deeken and thank him for again taking the initiative in advancing this wise public-policy measure. Contact him, writing his Capitol office…The Honorable Bill Deeken, House Post Office, Jefferson City MO 65101, by electronic mail at Bill.Deeken@house.mo.gov, by calling 573-751-2412 or by faxing a letter to 573-526-9774.

ACTION: Please contact the offices of the lawmakers (especially if your representative is a co-sponsor) thanking them for co-sponsoring HB 1870. You can reach their Jefferson City offices via:

Standard/snail mail, writing The Honorable ___________, House Post Office, Jefferson City MO 65101; OR

Phone, calling their office (numbers listed below)

E-mail, addressing a generic letter if you wish, writing, Dear Representative, sending it to Rep. Deeken and sending your note by blind carbon copy or bcc to the other co-sponsors. Copy and paste the block of e-addresses below into the bcc box, then send your note to all co-sponsoring legislators at one time:

Jim.Avery@house.mo.gov, Mark.Bruns@house.mo.gov, Sally.Faith@house.mo.gov, Jeff.Grisamore@house.mo.gov, Mike.McGhee@house.mo.gov, Bob.Nance@house.mo.gov, John.Quinn@house.mo.gov, Therese.Sander@house.mo.gov, Rob.Schaaf@house.mo.gov, Charlie.Schlottach@house.mo.gov, Vicki.Schneider@house.mo.gov, Rick.Stream@house.mo.gov, Steven.Tilley@house.mo.gov, Craig.Bland@house.mo.gov, John.Bowman@house.mo.gov, Michael.Brown@house.mo.gov, John.Burnett@house.mo.gov, Maria.Chappelle-Nadal@house.mo.gov, shalonn.curls@house.mo.gov, Bruce.Darrough@house.mo.gov, Mike.Daus@house.mo.gov,Curt.Dougherty@house.mo.gov, td.elamin@house.mo.gov, tony.george@house.mo.gov, Belinda.Harris@house.mo.gov, Esther.Haywood@house.mo.gov, steve.hodges@house.mo.gov, jason.holsman@house.mo.gov, Theodore.Hoskins@house.mo.gov, Rodney.Hubbard@house.mo.gov, leonard.hughes@house.mo.gov, Connie.Johnson@house.mo.gov, Beth.Low@house.mo.gov, Jennee.Lowe@house.mo.gov, rebecca.mcclanahan@house.mo.gov, Sara.Lampe@house.mo.gov, Tim.Meadows@house.mo.gov, Kate.Meiners@house.mo.gov, jamilah.nasheed@house.mo.gov, charlie.norr@house.mo.gov, Jeanette.Oxford@house.mo.gov, paul.quinn@house.mo.gov, Jeff.Roorda@house.mo.gov, Martin.Rucker@house.mo.gov, luke.scavuzzo@house.mo.gov, ed.schieffer@house.mo.gov, Sue.Schoemehl@house.mo.gov, Trent.Skaggs@house.mo.gov, Michael.Spreng@house.mo.gov, Rachel.Storch@house.mo.gov, Mike.Talboy@house.mo.gov, Thomas.Villa@house.mo.gov, Michael.Vogt@house.mo.gov, Gina.Walsh@house.mo.gov, Juanita.Walton@house.mo.gov, Robin.Jones@house.mo.gov, Patricia.Yaeger@house.mo.gov

2) As noted a few weeks ago, Senate Bill (SB) 800 would also institute a study commission but with a three-year execution while the study would take place. For the second consecutive session, Sen. Rita Days (D-St. Louis) is lead sponsor of the measure, which she pre-filed before lawmakers convened last month in Jefferson City. To view the bill log onto:
http://www.senate.mo.gov/08info/pdf-bill/no%20watermark/intro/sb800.pdf

SUGGESTED ACTION (if you haven’t already): Please contact Sen. Days, thanking her for again assuming leadership in this effort, either by writing her Capitol office…The Honorable Sen.Rita Days, Senate Post Office, Jefferson City MO 65101, by electronic mail
at ritadays@senate.mo.gov by calling 573-751-4106 or faxing a letter to
573-751-0467.

3) Sen. Joan Bray (D-St. Louis) again is lead sponsor of abolition legislation in the Senate, as many of you may already realize. To view the bill, log on to:
http://www.senate.mo.gov/08info/pdf-bill/intro/SB835.pdf.

SUGGESTED ACTION Thank her for her ongoing progressive vision (if you haven¹t
already), either by writing her Capitol office…The Honorable Sen. Joan Bray, Senate Post Office, Jefferson City MO 65101, by electronic mail at jbray@senate.mo.gov by
calling 573-751-2514 or faxing a letter to 573-751-5209.

4) Sen. Kevin Engler (R-Farmington) has introducted Senate Bill 912. The bill would make it more likely someone convicted of murdering a ³criminal justice official² would be sentenced to death (similar to Rep. Michael Parson¹s bill last session). Log onto http://www.senate.mo.gov/08info/pdf-bill/intro/sb912.pdf to view the senate bill. No action is requested of concerned citizens at this time. More thoughts in coming weeks about this regressive measure.

More on the House moratorium legislation…

Several co-sponsors, including Rep. Deeken are in principle death penalty proponents, also believing, however, that Missouri needs to halt executing people at least while the system is thoroughly reviewed. Wrongful convictions are his and many other lawmakers’ gravest concern about the death penalty. As he did in 2007, Rep. Deeken graciously and wisely opened up co-sponsorship to any interested representative regardless of party affiliation.

Here are some other encouraging developments….

– Significantly Rep. Mark Bruns (R-Jefferson City), the Chair of the Crime
Prevention and Public Safety Committee and four other members‹half of those
sitting on the committee are co-sponsors of the moratorium bill. That committee will almost certainly be the one that holds a public hearing considering the measure. One has yet been scheduled; we will share that information as soon as it becomes available.

–There is also great geographic diversity among co-sponsors, coming from every general corner of the state, with at one co-sponsor hailing from a county situated within each of the 9 Missouri Congressional Districts. They represent a variety of rural, suburban and (all three major) urban state centers.

– Several of the lawmakers (18) had not previously co-sponsored a moratorium bill in past legislative session, further indicating growing support for the concept among representatives.

Here’s the complete rundown on the moratorium bill co-sponsors and their contact info:

Rep. Jim Avery (Crestwood, District 95) Jim.Avery@house.mo.gov,573-751-2150;

Rep. Mark Bruns (Jefferson City, District 113) Mark.Bruns@house.mo.gov,573-751-0665;

Rep. Sally Faith (St. Charles, District 15) Sally.Faith@house.mo.gov,573-751- 1452;

*Rep. Jeff Grisamore (Lee¹s Summit, District 47) Jeff.Grisamore@house.mo.gov, 573-751-1456;

Rep. Mike McGhee (Odessa, District 122) Mike.McGhee@house.mo.gov, 573-751-1462;

*Rep. Bob Nance (Excelsior Spring, District 36) Bob.Nance@house.mo.gov,573-751-1468;

Rep. John Quinn (Chillicothe, District 7) John.Quinn@house.mo.gov,573-751-4028;

*Rep. Rick Stream (Kirkwood, District 94) Rick.Stream@house.mo.gov,573-751-4069;

Rep. Therese Sander (Moberly, District 22) Therese.Sander@house.mo.gov, 573-751-6566;

Rep. Rob Schaaf (St. Joseph, District 28) Rob.Schaaf@house.mo.gov,573-751-2183;

Rep. Charlie Schlottach (Owensville, District 111)Charlie.Schlottach@house.mo.gov,573-751-6668;

Rep. Vicki Schneider (O-Fallon, District 17) Vicki.Schneider@house.mo.gov,573-751-2433;

Rep. Steven Tilley (Farmington, District 106) Steven.Tilley@house.mo.gov,573-751- 1488.

Democrats

Rep. Craig Bland (Kansas City, District 43) Craig.Bland@house.mo.gov,573-751-2124;

Rep. John Bowman (St. Louis, District 70) John.Bowman@house.mo.gov,573-751-4726;

Rep. Michael Brown (Kansas City, District 50) Michael.Brown@house.mo.gov,573-751-7639;

Rep. John Burnett (Kansas City, District 40) John.Burnett@house.mo.gov,573-751-3310;

Rep. Maria Chappelle-Nadal (St. Louis, District 72)Maria.Chappelle-Nadal@house.mo.gov;

Rep. Shalonn Curls (Kansas City, District 41) shalonn.curls@house.mo.gov,573-751-3158;*

Rep. Bruce Darrough (Florissant, District 75) Bruce.Darrough@house.mo.gov,573-751-9760;

Rep. Michael Daus (St. Louis, District 67) Mike.Daus@house.mo.gov,573-751-6736;

Rep. Curt Dougherty (Independence, District 53) Curt.Dougherty@house.mo.gov,573-751-6535;

*Rep. Talibdin El-Amin (St. Louis, District 57) td.elamin@house.mo.gov,573-751-2198;*Rep. Tony George (St. Louis, District 74) tony.george@house.mo.gov,573-751-2135;Rep. Belinda Harris (Hillsboro, District 110) Belinda.Harris@house.mo.gov,573-751-2398;*Rep. Esther Haywood (St. Louis, District 71) Esther.Haywood@house.mo.gov,573-751-4468;*Rep. Steve Hodges (East Prairie, District 161) steve.hodges@house.mo.gov,573-751-4085;*Rep. Jason Holsman (Kansas City, District 45) jason.holsman@house.mo.gov,573-751-6607;Rep. Ted Hoskins (Berekley, District 80) Theodore.Hoskins@house.mo.gov,573-751-0169;Rep. Rodney Hubbard (St. Louis, District 58) Rodney.Hubbard@house.mo.gov,573-751-2383;*Rep. Leonard Hughes (Kansas City, District 42) leonard.hughes@house.mo.gov,573-751-1501;Rep. Connie Johnson (St. Louis, District 61) Connie.Johnson@house.mo.gov,573-751-7605;Rep. Beth Low (Kansas City, District 39) Beth.Low@house.mo.gov,573-751-4485;Rep. Jennee Lowe (Kansas City, District 44) Jennee.Lowe@house.mo.gov, 573-751-2437;Rep. Rebecca McClanahan (Kirksville, District 2)rebecca.mcclanahan@house.mo.gov, 573-751-4042;Rep. Sara Lampe (Springfield, District 138) Sara.Lampe@house.mo.gov,573-751-1460;Rep. Tim Meadows (Imperial, District 101) Tim.Meadows@house.mo.gov,573-751-1311;Rep. Kate Meiners (Kansas City, District 46) Kate.Meiners@house.mo.gov,573-751-9469;*Rep. Jamilah Nasheed (St. Louis, District 60) jamilah.nasheed@house.mo.gov,573-751-4415;*Rep. Charlie Norr (Springfield, District 137) charlie.norr@house.mo.gov,573-751-4082;Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford (St. Louis, District 59)Jeanette.Oxford@house.mo.gov, 573-751-4567;Rep. Paul Quinn (Monroe City, District 7) paul.quinn@house.mo.gov,573-751-4028;Rep. Jeff Roorda (Barnhart, District 102) Jeff.Roorda@house.mo.gov,573-751-2504;Rep. Martin Rucker (St. Joseph, District 29) Martin.Rucker@house.mo.gov,573-751-9460;*Rep. Luke Scavuzzo (Harrisonville, District 124)luke.scavuzzo@house.mo.gov, 573-751-4072;*Rep. Ed Schieffer (Troy, District 11) , ed.schieffer@house.mo.gov, 573)751-9459;*Rep. Sue Schoemehl (St. Louis, District 100) Sue.Schoemehl@house.mo.gov,573-751-9804;* Rep. Trent Skaggs (North Kansas City, District 31)Trent.Skaggs@house.mo.gov, 573-751-2199;Rep. Michael Spreng (Florissant, District 76) Michael.Spreng@house.mo.gov,573-751-9628;Rep. Rachel Storch (St. Louis, District 64)Rachel.Storch@house.mo.gov,573-751-1400;Rep. Mike Talboy (Kansas City, District 37) Mike.Talboy@house.mo.gov,573-751-1309; Rep. Thomas Villa (St. Louis, District 108) Thomas.Villa@house.mo.gov, 573-751-0438;*Rep. Michael Vogt (D-St. Louis, District 66) Michael.Vogt@house.mo.gov,573-751-9472;Rep. Gina Walsh (D-St. Louis) Gina.Walsh@house.mo.gov, 573-751-6845;Rep. Juanita Head Walton (St. Louis, District 81)Juanita.Walton@house.mo.gov,573-751-5538.Rep. Robin Wright Jones (St. Louis, District 63) Robin.Jones@house.mo.gov,573-751-6800;*Rep. Patricia Yaeger (St. Louis, District 96) Patricia.Yaeger@house.mo.gov573-751-0220.
Symbol Key*First time co-sponsor of moratorium bills

“Enough Already!”
Jamala Rogers, Coordinator
JUSTICE for Reggie Campaign
P. O. Box 5277
St. Louis, MO 63115
(314) 367-5959
www.justiceforreggie.com