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| Mid-Missouri Fellowship of
Reconciliation The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) is a group composed of people from many faiths, and no particular faith -- all coming together to support nonviolence and justice. Offering people of conscience an action response to a morally-impaired U.S. foreign policy. |
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A Report on the Injustice in the Application of the Death Penalty in Missouri (1978-1996)(Microsoft Word document) News
Common Dreams Background Iraq Crisis Issue Guide by Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies U.S. History with Iraq, 1980 - 2 August 1990 Commentary Common Dreams News Center April 12, 2003 April 8, 2003 March 30, 2003 March 29, 2003 March 25, 2003 March 24, 2003 U.S. steps up secret surveillance March 23, 2003 March 22, 2003 March 20, 2003 |
Local News and Announcements... Don't miss anything...please scroll downProtest and Halt Tuesday Execution of Vernon BrownVernon Brown is scheduled to be executed at the Bonne Terre prison in southern Missouri, late Tuesday night, a few minutes after midnight, officially on May 18. He is a man who's mentally-ill and one who has proven himself to truly be a danger to society, receiving death sentences for two horrific murders. In 1986, he kidnapped Janet Perkins, a nine-year-old girl, whom he had tied up and strangled. He also received a death sentence for the 1985 murder of Synetta Ford. Despite the vile offenses he committed, he remains a human being with an intrinsic right to life-- not a right to freedom, but a human right to continue living and breathing. The state of Missouri and its minions have no moral right, despite a legislated “legal right” to kill. We mourn with the loved ones of the two, the child and the woman who were murdered by Mr. Brown. It is impossible for us to fully understand the depth of their emotional suffering over their profound losses. We sadly also realize that killing Vernon Brown will obviously not restore life to the dead. It will however increase the number of human beings killed in our society and the number of humans mourning the violent death of a loved one. Please take a stand for life. What You Can Do: *Contact Gov. Matt Blunt on Monday or Tuesday. Urge him to commute Vernon Brown's death sentence, thus showing a reverence for life--end the killing. Write: Gov. Blunt, and fax him a letter at: 573-751-1495; Phone 573-751-3222 E-Mail: It's best to write, call or fax but if you can't, send a note via mogov@mail.state.mo.us. Please note: FOR's coordinator and a few other volunteers did a count of all correspondence to Gov. Blunt in regards to the last two executions. We found just 43 personalized letters from Missouri residents (a pretty, pitifully small number from my perspective) opposing the execution of Stanley Hall. Just 57 people wrote to protest the state killing of Donald Jones. Perhaps the numbers reflect the lack of faith we understandably have in Gov. Blunt to do the right thing. It’s also worth noting that just one person (a different person each time) wrote to his office urging the governor wrote to him asking him to allow the executions to take place. I am also assuming his workers aren't holding back nor destroying letters. Some people insist they wrote letters (which we did not find). Please do write to the governor and let us know you wrote a letter. Send a copy via e-mail to us if you want as well at jstack@no2death.org. Jeff *Join Vigils for Life Tuesday 17 May 5:00- 6:00 p.m. Boone County Courthouse, Columbia 6:30 p.m. Newman Center, 701 Maryland,Columbia 11:00 p.m.-Midnight State Capitol, High St., Jeff City Elsewhere around state, log onto www.moabolition.org Other Issues worth considering….. * Inadequate legal representation. In the trial for the murder of the little girl, for which he is to be executed, trial counsel did not call a single witness or introduce a single exhibit in the penalty phase. There was much that such an investigation could have revealed. In childhood he was abused by his grandfather and may have been his grandfather’s son, through incest. * His childhood was marked by poor school performance, abuse at home, and a head injury; since then he often fell into trance-like states which he did not remember and in which he was not responsible for his actions. No investigation of possible brain damage was carried out. Also, he had become a chronic user of PCP. He was purportedly under the influence of PCP, which has anesthetic properties (according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) PCP and can induce “a profound departure from reality, which leaves the user capable of bizarre behavior and severe disorientation.” While this would excuse him his violent behavior, it could help explain why he may have done what he did. * Others would mourn his death, including his brother Quin Turner, who while serving in Desert Storm, wrote a strong letter of mitigation for him, revealing another side to his brother, one of warmth and love. However, the trial judge in the trial for the murder of Synetta Ford kept it out of the court records. In addition to the information Quin Turner provides about Brown’s childhood, he reveals the grief he will feel if he loses his brother. He wrote his letter to the court while deployed to Saudi Arabia in “Operation Desert Shield,” as a platoon sergeant in the Army's Headquarters and Light Maintenance Company, 801st Maintenance Battalion with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). “All I know right at this moment is that I must help fight two battles, the one over here, the one over there, my brother's life.... (T)he natural love that two brother might share, my brother has shared with me throughout our lives, (and) truly let's me know that I have been blessed. “I remember the times of being chased home by the bigger boys at school that is until I reached the railroad track where there stood Vernon. He not only stood there to protect me, but my friends as well....through him I learned to stand on my own two feet.” Mr. Brown's brother continued, explaining that the U.S. military's justification for launching the 1991 war on Iraq, theoretically in defense of Kuwait: “Now, here I am with a whole lot of others doing exactly for the people here what he has done for myself and others. “My brother's life means a hell of a lot to me, as well as others that may not show it outright...Please, let God's law (and not a human-imposed 'death sentence') decide his fate-- he has too much good in him to let go of (him). If my brother is guilty, which to me is very hard to believe, then by all means protect the lives of others, yet protect (Vernon) from those that can do more harm than good.” Sadly, we must count state officials among those bent on doing harm to Vernon Brown. Call 573-449-4585 for more information. Email this:  
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| Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation |
P.O. Box 268 Columbia, Missouri 65205 |
| Questions about the Fellowship of Reconciliation? -- contact Jeff Stack at
573-449-4585 or jstack@no2death.org An appeal to conscience and purse-strings Free DHTML scripts provided by Dynamic Drive |
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