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Campaign Update - Week of 04/28/2008

Orange Alert
Thanks to the US Supreme Court and Atty General Nixon, we are now in execution mode. The campaign must respond accordingly. We are increasing our efforts to get signatures for Reggie’s clemency petitions. We will start identifying events for supporters to get those signatures. We are also going back to meeting twice monthly in order to stay on top of all the activities that will need to be generated to save Reggie’s life. The campaign meetings are open to all, and will be held at the 2nd and 4th Mondays at 7 pm at the Rowan Community Center, 1401 Rowan Avenue.

Press Conference
The Campaign believes we countered the US Supreme’s Court ruling on lethal injection with our own view using Reggie’s case as the centerpiece. Coincidentally, Gov. Blunt called his own press conference to push legislation that would automatically give child rapists the death penalty. In retrospect, we are glad that we gave the media another voice. We also felt that generally the press coverage was decent.

The Color of Justice
Some of us were privy to a documentary screening of The Color of Justice which includes Reggie’s case of injustice. The crew is putting the final touches on the first in a series of documentaries. More on the documentary and how you can get involved later.

At the Death House Door
An independent film, At the Death House Door, will have a couple of showings around town. One will be at Life Victory Center, the home church of Bishop and Vera Thomas, Reggie’s parents. View the film and take part in the discussion on Saturday, May 10 at 1 pm. The church is located at 2922 N. Grand.

“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 04/21/2008

Reception for Supporters This Evening
Don’t forget to join us at 6 pm today at the ACLU office, 454 N. Whittier (at Olive). If you participated in Campaign 1515 or have helped to collect signatures at any time, come on by.

Press Conference Today
We believed this morning’s press conference went well. The panel of speakers were Jamala Rogers, campaign coordinator; Vera Thomas, Reggie’s mother; and Redditt Hudson, ACLU Racial Justice Manager. We need you to help monitor the actual press coverage, especially the TV news at 5, 6 and 10 pm tonite. Please send us feedback. If the coverage is biased, you need to call the network and make a complaint. (This was also encouraged by a media person at the press conference.)

Moratorium Bill
If the Committee is to believe citizens are truly interested in a moratorium, they need to hear from their fellow legislators. First, those legislators must hear from YOU. If you don’t know who your state rep or senator is please go the website http://www.house.mo.gov/. You can also get their phone number and email address (phone call is better).

“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 04/17/2008

ALERT! US Supreme Court Decision on Lethal Injection!!!!
You may have heard that the US Supreme Court held that Kentucky’s lethal injection procedure does not violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The language in the ruling appears to make it more difficult for future challenges to lethal injection. Worse, it re-opens the door on executions that has been shut for months.

In the near future, we ask that you stay tuned to developments in MO in general and Reggie’s case in particular. We must be ready for whatever comes down in Missouri.

PRESS CONFERENCE
As announced in previous updates, there will be a press conference on Monday, April 21 at 10 am to discuss Reggie’s 15th year on death row for a crime that many people think he is innocent of. Obviously, we will also be reacting to the High Court’s ruling. The press conference is being hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 454 N. Whittier (at Olive) in the Old Gaslight Square neighborhood.

RECEPTION for Campaign 1515
We will recognize participants in the Campaign 1515 who have collected signatures for petitions. The reception will be held at the ACLU office (address above). Please let us know by tomorrow, Friday, if you have 15 completed sheets (or close!) so that we prepare accordingly. EVEN IF you didn’t participate, please come out to support Reggie’s family at the critical time.

We encourage you to make plans to attend the press conference and/or the reception.

How you can help

-Collecting signatures is still necessary as we prepare Reggie’s clemency package.


-Talk to friends, supporters, etc. about Reggie’s case and the many injustices that took place before, during and after his trial.




-Make a financial contribution to the Justice for Reggie Campaign. We have put together Reggie buttons in packets of 5, 10, and 20 that can be purchased. You can either sell them or give them away. We need funds at this importance time of publicizing and organizing around Reggie’s case.




-Call your legislator and ask them to support moratorium legislation, HB1870 and SB800. There are only a few weeks left in the Legislative Session and they need to hear from you.




“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 04/07/2008

Campaign 1515
The American Civil Liberties Union will host a reception on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 6:00 pm for those who have submitted the designated 15 petitions. A press conference is being scheduled that day bring attention to Reggie’s case and the impending US Supreme Court decision on lethal injection.

The Campaign 1515 asks supporters to collect signatures to recognize the 15th year of Reggie’s conviction in 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 has been extended to April 15.

HB 1870
From all accounts, the April 1 public hearing for the moratorium bill went well. The proof is in the committee vote. This bill had 13 Republican and 44 Democrat sponsors—pretty impressive for this kind of legislature. Let’s create some buzz by contacting your state rep and letting him/her know that you support HB 1870. Also contact your friends in the state and tell them to do the same.

Bridge Anniversary postponed due to flooding and construction
Next week we hope to have a new date for an anniversary event.

Good news on the national scene…

Missouri was the subject of a recent Arizona Legal Studies paper on capital murder case. The report, “Life and Death Decisions: Prosecutorial Discretion and Capital Punishment in Missouri,” studied 1046 homicide cases and concluded that that geography and race are determining factors for who gets the death penalty. The entire report can be downloaded here.

Glen Edward Chapman, a North Carolina man who was sentenced to death for two 1992 murders, was released from death row on April 2. Chapman is the 128th inmate exonerated from death row. Charges were dropped after a new trial was grant in 2007 because of weak evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, ineffective defense counsel, etc. (sound familiar?).

Maryland lawmakers recently voted to create a commission to study the state’s death penalty.

A judge in New Mexico has barred the state from seeking the death penalty because the legislature has not provided sufficient funding for defense representation. The legislature failed to do so during their legislative session which ended in February.

Let’s keep the pressure on! Join death penalty opponents across the country working to make the death penalty history.

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