Campaign Update - Week of 1/31/2011

Bryan Stevenson
(Co-director, Equal Justice& Capital Defender Clinic, N.Y.U. Law School/Executive Director, Equal Justice Institute) will speak on “Poverty, Incarceration, and Injustice in America.” The program will take place Thursday, February 3 at 12:00 noon at Washington University Law School, Bryan Cave Courtroom. The event is co-sponsored by the Black Law Student Association.

Lobby Day for Local Control of the Police
On February 8, Coalition Against Police Crimes & Repression will sponsor a Lobby Day. The car caravan will leave from the ACLU office at 454 N. Whittier at 8:00 am. If you are interested in going to Jefferson City, please respond to John at 652-3114, Ext 26 by this Thursday.

Execution Date for Martin Link
There’s been no change in the execution date. If the execution proceeds, the vigil will be Tuesday, February 8. We will keep you posted.

Meanwhile, it has been uncovered that the Food and Drug Administration has helped a couple of state get access to lethal injection drugs. This is in violation of their own policy which requires that they regulate all drugs coming into the US including sodium thiopental, the drug now in diminishing dosages around the country.

“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 1/24/2011

Chokwe Lumumba to Keynote OBS Anniversary
Attorney Chokwe Lumumba will be in St. Louis on Saturday, January 29 to keynote the 31st Anniversary Celebration of the Organization for Black Struggle. Chokwe is the attorney for the Scott Sisters who were recently released from prison in Mississippi. He is a long-time supporter of Reggie’s and is a member of his List of Influentials. For more information about the dinner program, call 314.367.5959.

Lethal Injections In The US Are At Risk
The company that makes sodium thiopental is discontinuing production at its Italy plant. That puts states like Missouri in a quandary about where to get the drug required in its execution protocol. Their current supply will expire on March 1.

Execution For Martin Link Is Still Scheduled
To date, we have heard no changes in Link’s execution. The attorneys are working on their legal procedures and we don’t know what impact the shortage of sodium thiopental will have on this February 9 execution. We’ll keep you posted.

“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 1/17/2011

REMINDER: Dr. Martin Luther King opposed the death penalty.

Executions
Again, we thank everyone who called in (for some, multiple times!) to ask MO Governor Nixon to commute the execution of Rick Clay. It opens the path for Rick and his attorneys to prove his innocence.

The execution date for Martin Link is still set for February 9 for a 1991 murder. In question is the state’s remaining supply of sodium thiopental, one of the drugs needed for lethal injection. We will keep you posted on any developments.

NCADP Conference
Bishop and Mrs. Thomas were able to attend the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty conference held last weekend in Chicago. The atmosphere was electric and jubilant based upon the death penalty repeal law passing out of both the Senate and the House recently. It is now on the desk of Illinois Governor Quinn for his signing.

Some of our friends were there including Amnesty International and Sister Helen Prejean, both who are on Reggie’s List of Influentials. Bishop Thomas was asked to give remarks about Sr. Helen who was being honored for her work to abolish the death penalty.

“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 1/10/2011

More on Rick Clay
Now that we can slow it down a bit, I wanted to respond to the number of questions about what commutation means and to explain Governor Nixon’s motivations. First, let me remind you that the execution vigil for Clay will still go tonight from 8:30-9:00 pm at St. Francis Xavier Church on the corner of Lindell Blvd & Grand. We need to savor our victory and stand in solidarity for the next battle (see below).

After the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the Rick Clay’s execution, it was in Governor Nixon’s court to intervene. When he commuted Clay’s sentence, that meant he reversed the death sentence to life without parole. Nixon could have also empowered a board of inquiry to investigate the case and possibly get the recommendation to completely overturn the sentence but chose not to go that route. The victory is that Clay will live to continue his fight for freedom and his attorneys can continue the legal battle to prove his innocence.

The Governor’s action are incredulous on the one hand because of the infrequency of commutations in Missouri. There have only been three such actions since the death penalty was re-instated in 1976. Governor Carnahan is responsible for the other two. One was that of Bobbie Shaw in 1993 who was clearly mentally retarded. The other was Darrell Mease whose commutation was at the request of the Pope who coincidentally was visiting St. Louis at the time of the scheduled execution.

As to why Governor Nixon commuted the sentence when he emphatically states that Clay is guilty, I can only speculate. The most compelling reasons may be the lack of evidence and eye witnesses in the Clay case coupled with the recent unraveling of Kenny Hulshof’s convictions which are rife with prosecutorial misconduct. Josh Keezer and Dale Helmig had convictions overturned in the last 18 months and are both victims Hulshof’s handiwork. Hulshof was then Attorney General Jay Nixon’s chief prosecutor so Nixon’s hands aren’t exactly clean.

Having said that, I would encourage you to call Governor Nixon’s office to thank him for the commutation. We are so used to criticizing our elected officials, sometimes we forget to show our appreciation when they do the right thing. That number again is 573.751-3222.

February 9 Execution Date set for Martin Link
While we were fighting for Clay, an execution date of February 9 was set for Link in the 1991 murder of Ellisa Self-Braun. Some observers are wondering if the fast-paced scheduling of executions is to beat the March 1 expiration deadline of sodium thiopental, a drug necessary for the lethal injection drug cocktail. We’ll keep you posted on developments in this case.

“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 1/3/2011

MO Supreme Court to hear Nunley & Taylor Cases
This week on January 5 at 9 am, the Missouri Supreme Court will hear oral arguments by attorneys for Roderick Nunley and Michael Taylor. They are co-defendants in the 1989 murder of a Kansas City teen. The legal teams are challenging the death sentencing by a judge instead of a jury as mandated by a US Supreme Court ruling. The attorneys are requesting the sentences be commuted to life without parole.

Rick Clay Needs Your Support
Please call Governor Jay Nixon’s office and ask him to grant clemency to Richard Clay. Call the Governor at (573) 751-3222. The execution is scheduled for January 12, 2011 so the call needs to be made this week.

As in a number of death row cases, Clay’s case is rife with contradictions. Clay was convicted on the same kind of “evidence” that has Reggie on death row–no murder weapon was ever found, no DNA or other physical evidence was ever presented to the jury, no eyewitness testimony heard, etc. The case was prosecuted by Kenny Hulshof whose prosecutorial misconduct record is comparable to that of Nels Moss. We can’t send someone to their death on this kind of conviction!

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