Please take at least a few of the following actions to affirm his right to life….. 

 * TODAY, Please urge Gov. Matt Blunt to commute his death sentence. Fax a letter at 573-751-1495, or call 573-751-3222. 

 * TODAY, please urge Board of Probation & Parole: ask the governor to commute his death sentence. Fax a letter at 573-751-8510; call 573-751-8488  

 

Join the Mid-Missouri FOR in our “Vigil for Life” Tuesday, Jan. 31, 5:00-6:00 pm, Boone County Courthouse, on Walnut St. in Columbia. We will definitely convene this vigil —regardless of the courts’ decision. Contact 573-449-4585 for more information.    

 

Additionally, if the execution looks likely by the time the Columbia vigil concludes, there will be a Prayer Vigil in Columbia, beginning at 6:30 pm, in the Newman Center chapel, 701 Maryland;  

There will also be two reflective gatherings, opposing the state killing, in Jefferson City:

-- 10:30 pm, Prayer service, St. Peter's Catholic Church,

-- 11:00 pm-12:01 am, High St. across from Supreme Court. Call Rita at 573-635-7239 for information on either Jeff City activity 

 

Mid-Missourians, tune in as well KOPN-FM (89.5), Monday between 5:00 and 6:00 pm to hear excerpts from interviews with Michael Taylor and his mother Linda Taylor, which I’ll be producing for the radio news tomorrow.  

 

 Here’s some additional material about Michael Taylor’s case for your consideration in comments you would make to the Governor and Parole Board…..

Michael Taylor and his co-defendant Roderick Nunley were sentenced to death for the murder of Ann Harrison in 1989. Michael confessed to the crimes and has steadfastly expressed his remorse. The Mid MO FOR and Michael’s family condemn their violence, mourn her death, extend condolences to her family and urge mercy from the state. Furthermore, we condemn violence perpetrated by the state, including the lethal poisoning vindictively considered “justice.”

Racial Bias

·         The Jackson County Prosecutor Al Riederer had a practice during his 12 years in office of seeking a sentence of life without parole (LWOP) in dozens of instances when defendants plead guilty to murder-- except in this case when the defendants were black and the victim was white. There were other heinous murder-rape cases involving multiple victims whom the same prosecutor agreed to guilty pleas in exchange for LWOP, but in those cases either the accused were white or the victims were black.

·         African-Americans were victims in 64% of Missouri's murders from 1978-1996, yet more than 75% of those executed in our state were convicted of killing white people.

·         Blacks represent almost half (about 48%) of those living under a death sentence and 39% of those executed in Missouri, yet comprise only 11.7% of the state's population. African-Americans accused of killing white victims were nearly five times more likely to be charged with capital murder than blacks accused of killing black victims (“Prevailing Injustices in the Application of the Death Penalty in Missouri,” Lenza et al). Four of the five men who were executed last year in Missouri and four of five most in danger of getting execution dates this year are African-Americans. The death penalty in Missouri and elsewhere in the U.S. amounts to racist legal lynching.

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

·         One of Michael's trial attorneys (who had never worked on a death penalty case) was fired by her office but neither the judge nor the Public Defender System replaced her as Michael’s counsel. The other attorney who did have capital litigation experience quit the Public Defender System and moved to Florida early in the case.

Mitigating Circumstances Meriting Intervention

·         Michael’s public defenders for his trial encouraged his family to keep quiet about negative things in his childhood. (Normally, defense attorneys work hard to get this information considered by the court.) At approximately age four, Michael was sexually abused by his babysitter. (The babysitter’s sister testified to this fact) At five, he was in the next room when his father tried to commit suicide by shooting himself. At age seven, Michael and his cousin found the dead body of a missing neighbor girl.

·         Michael had no convictions of violent offenses prior to these crimes. While incarcerated he has worked in the prison’s hospice unit and with visiting “at-risk” young people, encouraging them to be law-abiding and avoid making the mistakes he did, abusing alcohol and drugs and associating with felonious peers. He is willing to live the rest of his days in prison.

 

 

Thank you in advance for actions you can take. In peace and struggle,

Jeff Stack

Mid-MO Fellowship of Reconciliation

573-449-4585

 

Please take at least a few of the following actions to affirm his right to life…..

* TODAY, Please urge Gov. Matt Blunt to commute his death sentence. Fax a letter at 573-751-1495, or call 573-751-3222.

* TODAY, please urge Board of Probation & Parole: ask the governor to commute his death sentence. Fax a letter at 573-751-8510; call 573-751-8488

Join the Mid-Missouri FOR in our “Vigil for Life” Tuesday, Jan. 31, 5:00-6:00 pm, Boone County Courthouse, on Walnut St. in Columbia. We will definitely convene this vigil —regardless of the courts’ decision. Contact 573-449-4585 for more information.

  

Additionally, if the execution looks likely by the time the Columbia vigil concludes, there will be a Prayer Vigil in Columbia, beginning at 6:30 pm, in the Newman Center chapel, 701 Maryland;

 

There will also be two reflective gatherings, opposing the state killing, in Jefferson City:

-- 10:30 pm, Prayer service, St. Peter's Catholic Church,

-- 11:00 pm-12:01 am, High St. across from Supreme Court. Call Rita at 573-635-7239 for information on either Jeff City activity

 

Mid-Missourians, tune in as well KOPN-FM (89.5), Monday between 5:00 and 6:00 pm to hear excerpts from interviews with Michael Taylor and his mother Linda Taylor, which I’ll be producing for the radio news tomorrow.

 

Here’s some additional material about Michael Taylor’s case for your consideration in comments you would make to the Governor and Parole Board…..

Michael Taylor and his co-defendant Roderick Nunley were sentenced to death for the murder of Ann Harrison in 1989. Michael confessed to the crimes and has steadfastly expressed his remorse. The Mid MO FOR and Michael’s family condemn their violence, mourn her death, extend condolences to her family and urge mercy from the state. Furthermore, we condemn violence perpetrated by the state, including the lethal poisoning vindictively considered “justice.”

Racial Bias

·         The Jackson County Prosecutor Al Riederer had a practice during his 12 years in office of seeking a sentence of life without parole (LWOP) in dozens of instances when defendants plead guilty to murder-- except in this case when the defendants were black and the victim was white. There were other heinous murder-rape cases involving multiple victims whom the same prosecutor agreed to guilty pleas in exchange for LWOP, but in those cases either the accused were white or the victims were black.

·         African-Americans were victims in 64% of Missouri's murders from 1978-1996, yet more than 75% of those executed in our state were convicted of killing white people.

·         Blacks represent almost half (about 48%) of those living under a death sentence and 39% of those executed in Missouri, yet comprise only 11.7% of the state's population. African-Americans accused of killing white victims were nearly five times more likely to be charged with capital murder than blacks accused of killing black victims (“Prevailing Injustices in the Application of the Death Penalty in Missouri,” Lenza et al). Four of the five men who were executed last year in Missouri and four of five most in danger of getting execution dates this year are African-Americans. The death penalty in Missouri and elsewhere in the U.S. amounts to racist legal lynching.

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

·         One of Michael's trial attorneys (who had never worked on a death penalty case) was fired by her office but neither the judge nor the Public Defender System replaced her as Michael’s counsel. The other attorney who did have capital litigation experience quit the Public Defender System and moved to Florida early in the case.

Mitigating Circumstances Meriting Intervention

·         Michael’s public defenders for his trial encouraged his family to keep quiet about negative things in his childhood. (Normally, defense attorneys work hard to get this information considered by the court.) At approximately age four, Michael was sexually abused by his babysitter. (The babysitter’s sister testified to this fact) At five, he was in the next room when his father tried to commit suicide by shooting himself. At age seven, Michael and his cousin found the dead body of a missing neighbor girl.

·         Michael had no convictions of violent offenses prior to these crimes. While incarcerated he has worked in the prison’s hospice unit and with visiting “at-risk” young people, encouraging them to be law-abiding and avoid making the mistakes he did, abusing alcohol and drugs and associating with felonious peers. He is willing to live the rest of his days in prison.

 

 

Thank you in advance for actions you can take. In peace and struggle,

Jeff Stack

Mid-MO Fellowship of Reconciliation

573-449-4585

"Iraq to Palestine - Stories of Occupation & Resistance."

Hip-hop musician/peace activist to perform and speak

7:30 pm, Monday, 30 January

N208 of the Memorial Union, University campus, Columbia

 

Joe Carr, a hip-hop musician and anti-oppression activist will perform Monday, January 30, in N208 of the Memorial Union on the University of Missouri campus. The theme of his spoken and performed words will be, "Iraq to Palestine - Stories of Occupation & Resistance."  He's worked with the Christian Peacemaker Teams & the International Solidarity Movement in Palestine and Iraq.

 

Joe will also be performing on mid-Missouri’s community radio station, KOPN-FM (89.5) from 5-6 pm on Saturday, Jan. 28, during the “Core Issues” program co-hosted by Tyree and Jessica.

 

Recently returned from Palestine, Joe will use his upbeat and creative performance style to share pictures, stories, music, poetry, and analysis from his time in Iraq, Palestine, and working with US direct action movements. He’ll discuss nuances of each conflict and draw parallels between the stories of oppression and resistance. He’s also talk about his work with the International Solidarity Movement supporting the struggle of Palestinian villages against Israel’s Apartheid Wall and settlement expansion & his witnessing the murders of international activists Rachel Corrie & Tom Hurndall. Hear about his visit to Iraq with the Christian Peacemaker Teams, documenting ongoing human rights violations and organizing with Iraqi anti-occupation activists in Baghdad, Karballa, and Fallujah. Learn more about what you can do to oppose US foreign policy and resist the oppression done in our name by attending this gathering.

 

The free event is sponsored by MU Peace Studies, Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation, MU Muslim Student Organization and MU Students For Progressive Action. For more information contact Jeff at 449-4585.

 

For a sample of his music and poetry, check out http://www.lovinrevolution.org.

 

 

~Michael Anthony Taylor~

Son, Brother, Incarcerated Human Being-- Scheduled to be Killed

*Please urge Gov. Matt Blunt to commute his death sentence. Write: Gov. Matt Blunt; State Capitol; Suite 216; Jefferson City MO 65101; fax a letter at 573-751-1495; call 573-751-3222 or locally at 816- 889-3186.

*Urge Board of Probation & Parole: ask the governor to commute his sentence.

Write: Members of the Board of Probation and Parole; 1511 Christy Dr., Jefferson City MO 65101; fax a letter at 573-751-8510; call 573-751-8488

Michael Taylor and his co-defendant Roderick Nunley were sentenced to death for the murder of Ann Harrison in 1989. Michael confessed to the crimes and has steadfastly expressed his remorse. The Mid MO FOR and Michael’s family condemn their violence, mourn her death, extend condolences to her family and urge mercy from the state. Furthermore, we condemn violence perpetrated by the state, including the lethal poisoning vindictively considered “justice.”

Racial Bias

·         The Jackson County Prosecutor Al Riederer had a practice during his 12 years in office of seeking a sentence of life without parole (LWOP) in dozens of instances when defendants plead guilty to murder-- except in this case when the defendants were black and the victim was white. There were other heinous murder-rape cases involving multiple victims whom the same prosecutor agreed to guilty pleas in exchange for LWOP, but in those cases either the accused were white or the victims were black.

·         African-Americans were victims in 64% of Missouri's murders from 1978-1996, yet more than 75% of those executed in our state were convicted of killing white people.

·         Blacks represent almost half (about 48%) of those living under a death sentence and 39% of those executed in Missouri, yet comprise only 11.7% of the state's population. African-Americans accused of killing white victims were nearly five times more likely to be charged with capital murder than blacks accused of killing black victims (“Prevailing Injustices in the Application of the Death Penalty in Missouri,” Lenza et al). Four of the five men who were executed last year in Missouri and four of five most in danger of getting execution dates this year are African-Americans. The death penalty in Missouri and elsewhere in the U.S. amounts to racist legal lynching.

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

·         One of Michael's trial attorneys (who had never worked on a death penalty case) was fired by her office but neither the judge nor the Public Defender System replaced her as Michael’s counsel. The other attorney who did have capital litigation experience quit the Public Defender System and moved to Florida early in the case.

Mitigating Circumstances Meriting Intervention

·         Michael’s public defenders for his trial encouraged his family to keep quiet about negative things in his childhood. (Normally, defense attorneys work hard to get this information considered by the court.) At approximately age four, Michael was sexually abused by his babysitter. (The babysitter’s sister testified to this fact) At five, he was in the next room when his father tried to commit suicide by shooting himself. At age seven, Michael and his cousin found the dead body of a missing neighbor girl.

·         Michael had no convictions of violent offenses prior to these crimes. While incarcerated he has worked in the prison’s hospice unit and with visiting “at-risk” young people, encouraging them to be law-abiding and avoid making the mistakes he did, abusing alcohol and drugs and associating with felonious peers. He is willing to live the rest of his days in prison.

Join the FOR's “Vigil for Life” Tuesday, Jan. 31, 5:00-6:00 pm, Boone County Courthouse, Columbia should the execution look likely. Contact 573-449-4585 for more information.