Campaign Update - Week of 3/3/2008

Moratorium NOW! Campaign
ACTION ALERT: WE NEED YOUR HELP

Speaker of the House, Rod Jetton, has not assigned HB1870 to a committee. We must flood his office with calls to do so or we will never get a hearing on the bill.

MESSAGE:
Urge him to assign House Bill (HB)1870 to the Crime Prevention and Public Safety (CPPS) Committee THIS WEEK. HB 1870 is the bi-partisan bill calling for a death-penalty study and execution moratorium (CPPS is the committee which has traditionally considered such criminal-law measures).

WHEN:
Contact his office Wednesday, 5 March NO LATER THAN Thursday, 6 March at 12 Noon…

CONTACT:
Speaker Jetton’s office
Fax a letter: 573-526-9804 Call: 573-751-5912 OR
E-mail: Rod.Jetton@house.mo.gov
(listed in order of greatest effectiveness; use what means you have available though)

–14 Republicans and 44 Democrats have co-sponsored HB 1870 (1/3 of the
House), but it is stalled by not being assigned to a committee. Without a
committee assignment, the bill cannot receive a public hearing and further
considered by legislators. Late Thursday, March 6, 2008, Speaker Jetton will report which
bills will be referred to the various committees. Let’s make sure HB 1870 is
among the bills moving forward!

MAIN MESSAGE for Speaker Jetton:
–As a Missouri citizen, you want HB 1870 assigned to the CPPS Committee, so
there can be a public hearing and hopefully, later deliberation by the
full House. Explain that you are committed to having a fair and just criminal
justice system in our state, especially when considering such an
irreversible punishment. HB 1870 is a reasonable bill to help ensure that
fairness.

OTHER Optional points:
–You can mention your concern that people in Missouri have been wrongly
convicted, sentenced to death and even executed in Missouri; that you are
concerned by journalistic and academic reports of apparent arbitrariness and
unfairness with how the death penalty is being applied. Please DO NOT
express moral objections or a desire you may have to abolish the death
penalty;
–There is significant interest among legislators with the issue: more than
a third of all members of the House of Representatives are co-sponsors of
the measure;
–There is bi-partisan support for HB 1870 14 Republicans and 44 Democrats
have co-sponsored the bill;
–Such legislative support reflects extensive public concern with this
measure as more than 100 concerned citizens from across the state attended
the Feb. 20 Rally and Lobby Day in support of the bill;
–HB 1870 was introduced on January 28, well over a month ago. Forty-nine other
bills were assigned to the Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee late
in the day, this past week on February 28. The time for the bill to be
assigned has arrived.

PLEASE REMEMBER
In any contact with Speaker Jetton, or more likely, with his staff, please
be polite, respectful and grateful for their attention — while being
assertive.
Again, emphasize you want the bill to PLEASE be assigned to the CPPS
Committee THIS WEEK.

Thank you in advance for your actions and please feel free to share forward
this alert with any colleagues or other concerned citizens. You are also
welcome to contact me if you have other questions and/or concerns.

Sincerely,
Jeff Stack, convener
Moratorium NOW! Campaign
573-449-4585
jstack@no2death.org

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