Please join the Mid-Missouri FOR for a…

Vigil for Life and Remembrance

5:00- 6:00 pm, Friday, 2 December

Boone County Courthouse, E. Walnut St. in Columbia.   

We will be gather to mark the bloody milestone of 1000 people being executed across the United States since capital punishment was reinstituted in 1976. And please spread the word.

State workers in either South or North Carolina on Friday, 2 December will likely execute a man, making him the 1000^th human being executed in the United States. Participants in Friday's vigil will gather solemnly, declining to allow the grotesque milestone to pass unnoticed. They will read aloud the names of the 66 men executed in Missouri during this era--4^th most of any U.S. state-- along with the names of the people they were convicted of murdering. Those attending will also be able to sign a “Declaration of Life,” stating that should he or she be murdered, they would be morally opposed to having those who may commit the murder, considered for the death penalty. Individuals will convene to affirm the precious-ness of all lives and mourn those people killed-- the 999 individuals previously executed and all victims of murder in communities across the country, while attesting to the human right to life that all people possess, including the 3500 people still living under death sentences in our nation's prisons.

One person has been executed in this nation on average, every 10 days since 1977. No one is scheduled to be executed in Missouri while 53 men remain incarcerated under a death sentence in the state. The death penalty is however, on the decline. Death sentences nationwide have dropped by more than 50% since the late 1990’s, executions annually are down by 40% since 1999. The trend is clear, as a growing number of US citizens are challenging the practice as evidence shows capital punishment to be ineffective, unfair, and inaccurate.

The Mid-MO FOR and the statewide group with which it's affiliated, Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, oppose any execution on moral grounds. MADP member groups held vigils condemning the death penalty in St. Louis and Kansas City on Tuesday night.

Mounting evidence of systematic problems have prompted many death-penalty proponents to join with our groups in advocating that an official, thorough study of the state system at least be undertaken while a simultaneous moratorium on executions be instituted (similar to legislation which has and continues to receive bi-partisan and widespread public support). Among troubling realities of capital punishment: since 1973, 121 people nationally have been found to have been wrongfully-convicted, sentenced to death then exonerated, including three in Missouri; more than 80% of the people executed in the U.S. were killed for crimes involving White victims, even while about 50% of murder victims are White; almost all of those executed were poor, thus many had shoddy representation; frequently, they suffered from mental illness and/or retardation (individuals with the latter condition are now at least constitutionally protected from being subjected to the death penalty). The punishment remains a Southern phenomenon. When considering Missouri appropriately in the geographic region, southern state governments killed more than 85-percent of all people executed during that time.

Earlier today, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner granted clemency to Robin Lovitt, who was scheduled to be killed Tuesday night. He would have been the 1,000th person executed. Next in line for the macabre distinction are Kenneth Boyd, set to be executed by North Carolina officials at 2:00 am, Friday, 2 December, then Shawn Humphries, who South Carolina officials plan to execute Friday evening at 6:00.

For more information please e-mail, call 573-449-4585 or log onto www.1000executions.org .

In peace, solidarity and remembrance,

Jeff Stack

Mid-MO FOR coordinator

 

 

Join Vigil for Life and Remembrance

in Columbia either Thursday or Friday

to Mourn 1000th Execution in USA

The 1000^th execution of a human being nationally by state and federal officials will take place very soon, later in November or early December. Each life is precious—all of ours, those of all murder victims, including all of the 997 individuals previously executed by officials within our nation.  We believe though that this deplorable and significant milestone should not be allowed to pass unnoticed.  The Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation encourages concerned citizens to join us in a Vigil for Life and Remembrance, from 5:00- 6:00 pm in front of the Boone County Courthouse in Columbia, EITHER Thursday, 1 December or Friday, 2 December.  I will also send out an e-mail on Wednesday night or sooner, when it becomes more clear which date we will gather. (E-mail or call me at 573-4585 if you want to be alerted by a phone call about the particular date of our vigil).

Which date will depend upon court and/or gubernatorial developments in three other states. See below for details on planned executions in other states and means for you to intervene, forwarded from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (beyond the basic issue that all human beings have a right to life, that all people and governments lack the moral right to kill, there are as always, other compelling issues of note in these cases). Should the executions of Eric Nance (Arkansas), John Hicks (Ohio) and Robin Lovitt (Virginia) all take place as planned, Mr. Lovitt would become the 1000^th person executed in the USA since the death penalty was resurrected by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976. In that case, we would vigil on Thursday evening.

Should there be stays granted, delaying at least by days, the execution of any of the three men, the FOR will hold our Columbia vigil on Friday, at the same time and location. Sadly, two other executions are planned (state officials plan late Thursday night, to kill Daryl Mack, a “volunteer” who’s given up all his appeals in Nevada, while North Carolina officials intend to murder Kenneth Lee Boyd very early Friday morning). It’s most certain, either Mr. Lovitt, Mr. Mack or Mr. Boyd will become the 1000^th victim of state-sponsored murder in these so-considered modern times. Missouri has executed 66 people since that time, 4^th most of any U.S. state. Thankfully, no person is scheduled to be executed in our state at this time.

There will also be activities in other parts of the state, comemmorating the tragic national milestone and coordinated by other partner-groups with Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty—taking place on Tuesday, November 29. In Kansas City from 5:00-6:00 pm, citizens are welcome to join others in front of the J.C. Nichols Fountain in the Plaza. In St. Louis, the public is welcome to attend a half-hour prayer service beginning at 8:00 pm, in the lower level chapel of St. Francis Xavier Church, located at Grand & Lindell. A vigil will take place in front of St. Francis Xavier’s from 8:30-9:00 pm.

For more information on the national call to action and reflection, check out http://www.1000executions.org/index.php. If you have a digital camera and would like to add your personalized photograph expressing your opposition to the death penalty, you can do so by following the directions outlined on the website.

 

Pending Executions

998th	11/28/2005 9 PM CT	Eric Nance	Arkansas	Act Now!
999th	11/29/2005 10 AM ET	John R. Hicks	Ohio	Act Now!
1000th	11/30/2005 9 PM ET	Robin Lovitt	Virginia	Act Now!
1001st	2/1/2005 9 PM PST	Daryl Mack	Nevada	ACT NOW!
1002nd	12/2/2005 2 AM ET	Kenneth Lee Boyd	North Carolina	ACT NOW!
1003rd	12/2/2005 6 PM ET	Shawn Humphries	South Carolina	ACT NOW!
Murder victims families speak out for end to executions Victims’ Families Call for End to Executions Statement of Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights and The Journey of Hope….From Violence to Healing on the 1000th Execution As our country approaches the 1000th execution since 1977, we think about the losses represented by that number. We think of the loss of the life of the murder victim, and the loss to that victim’s family and community. We are people who have experienced that loss directly. The question, “How would you feel if someone in your family were murdered?” is not a hypothetical question for us; it is the reality we must live with every day. But we do not believe that the death penalty will bring us closure, healing, or justice. Another killing does not bring back our family member and it does not make us feel safer. We would like to live in a society that demonstrates its concern for victims by devoting resources to preventing violence and to addressing the real needs of victims in the aftermath of violence. We think, too, about all the families who have been left behind in the aftermath of 1000 executions: the families of the person who was executed. After 1000 executions, how many parents, siblings, children, and other relatives are left isolated in their grief and lacking the support offered to others who suffer the loss of a family member? It is time to consider the social costs of the death penalty: how many people are affected by a single execution? In particular, how many children? As families of murder victims and families of people who have been executed, we stand together and declare that it is time to abolish the death penalty. Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights and the Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing are two organizations whose membership includes survivors of homicide victims who are opposed to the death penalty. Contact information: Renny Cushing, Executive Director Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights 617 491 9600 (0) 617 930-5196 (c) rrcushing@earthlink.net www.murdervictimsfamilies.org Bill Pelke, President Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing 877-924-4483 (O) 305-775-5823 (C) www.journeyofhope.org bill@journeyofhope.org