Campaign update for week of July 30

Black and Green Forum
Don’t forget to join the discussion on Vigilante Groups & the Criminal Justice System on Wednesday, August 1 at 7 pm. Vera Thomas (mother of Reggie Clemons) and Meredith Reese (Amnesty) will be part of the panel. The event will be at Legacy Books, 5249 Delmar.

UK in the Lou
For a short time, Lord Ken MacDonald and Kim Manning-Cooper were in St. Louis checking on our progress to end the death penalty. Ken is a leading attorney and serves in Great Britain’s House of Lords, heading up the committee on the death penalty. Kim is from Amnesty International in Great Britain.We were honored to have their presence, their insights, and the power of their work here in Missouri. Before coming to the Lou, both had spent time in California supporting the efforts of citizens to end the death penalty with Prop 34. Look for Jamala ’s interview with MacDonald in the St. Louis American this week.

Save the dates!
August 30 is Reggie’s 41st birthday
September 15 is Reggie’s pre-hearing rally. Kiener Plaza
Details to follow.

Campaign update for week of July 23

Save the dates! Details to follow.
August 30 is Reggie’s 41st birthday
September 15 is Reggie’s pre-hearing rally

Black and Green Forum
Join the discussion on Vigilante Groups & the Criminal Justice System on Wednesday, August 1 at 7 pm. Vera Thomas (mother of Reggie Clemons) and Meredith Reese (Amnesty) will be part of the panel. The event will be at Legacy Books, 5249 Delmar.

Changes in Lethal Injection Drugs
The debate about what drugs will be used in executions and who administers then is heating up. The supplies of sodium thiopental have dried up so states like Georgia and Texas have moved forward on using a single drug: pentobarbital. Last week Texas executed Yokamon Hearn with the one drug. Yesterday Warren Hill’s execution in GA was stayed because of the abrupt change in the state’s execution protocol. Hill is also mentally retarded which raises another issue of constitutionality. Missouri has decided to use the controversial drug propofol in its executions. That decision now faces a court challenge. With all of the drug use, the moral and ethical issue of doctors being involved is also coming to the fore.

Campaign Update - Week of 7/2/2012

Independence Day
It’s the day that many wrongfully convicted men and women in the U.S. claim when they are released after serving 10, 20, or 30 years of prison. Sadly, there are many who await their Independence Day as the wheels of justice creak ever so slowly. Let’s remember them and their struggles for the truth that leads to their ultimate freedom.

Court Challenge to Lidocaine
Last week, Reggie and 20 other Missouri Death Row inmates were named as plaintiffs in a petition to the Cole County Court regarding the latest change in the state’s lethal injection protocol. Because of a shortage in the lethal injection drug sodium thiopental, the state seems to have arbitrarily made a decision to use propofol as its replacement. We reported in our last campaign update that propofol needed to be administered and monitored by a licensed doctor. However, Attorney John Simon informed us that the move to make propofol a prescription drug after pop star Michael Jackson’s death was unsuccessful. However, Lidocaine is a federally regulated substance which will be used in conjunction with the injection of propofol. As a prescription drug, the petition states that Lidocaine does have to be prescribed by a medical practitioner who is “licensed by law to administer such drugs. We’ll see how the courts rule on this.

Missouri Executions
Michael Tisius had been scheduled for execution on August 3 but his execution has been stayed. There are no execution dates set right now but we will continue to keep our eyes on Attorney General Koster’s office and the Missouri Supreme Court.

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