April 26 – Texas Journey Follow-up

Did you find Easter eggs? I certainly did! I found a wonderfully-supportive article by David Kaczynski, Executive Director, New Yorkers for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

Although this blog was only meant to advertise and promote our  Texas Journey of Hope 2010, it keeps getting subscribers and visitors. This blog was viewed about 5,600 times between September and December 2010. It has now reached 7,000 views all-time!

Yesterday, I came across an article by David Kaczynski, originally published on October 18, 2010. At the time, we were already in Texas. David, discreet and modest as always, never mentioned it. But I found it at last and have quoted it below. Thank you for your generosity and support David!

On the Journey October 18, 2010 by David Kaczynski

“Journey” is a wonderful word that evokes notions of a story, a process, and an adventure. When we complement the idea of a worldly journey with an inward journey, then we are also talking about emotional and spiritual transformation.

As of last Friday and for most of the next two weeks, my own journey has taken me back to the state of Texas as a member of The Journey of Hope – from Violence to Healing, founded by Bill Pelke as a promise to his grandmother – a deeply religious woman who was murdered by a group of teenagers in Indiana. I agreed to go on the current Texas journey out of deep respect for Bill, who in my mind is the purest spirit in the abolitionist movement.

Bill’s motto is “Love and compassion for all humanity.” He is kind, patient, always willing to lend an ear or a hand. I learned only yesterday that he has no set funding for the Texas journey and has committed $15,000 of his own money – carefully saved from his steelworker’s pension – to pay for twelve journeyers to travel, eat and lodge ourselves in Texas until the end of the month. (With a knowing wink, I asked Bill about that number, twelve, but he assures me it came about by accident.) Our volunteer support staff includes an opera singer from Germany; two Amnesty International members from Italy; and various local chapter members of the Texas Abolition Coalition. (One thing I want people to know: someone can look and walk and talk like a Texan and still be strongly, even viscerally opposed to the death penalty.)

The Journey was originally formed by murder victim family members, but was later expanded to include death row exonerees and death row family members. Our current cast includes Curtis McCarty, a man who spent 19 years on death row in Oklahoma before he was definitively exonerated by DNA.

On Saturday, we held a vigil with about 100 people outside the Walls unit in Huntsville, where 14 executions have been carried out this year and where more than 450 executions have taken place since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in the late 1970′s. What I found most surprising was the prison’s location in a peaceful, shady residential community. How does a family – especially a family with young children – sit down to dinner knowing that someone (probably but not certainly guilty) is being strapped to a gurney and put to death near by?

In Texas, the concern about executing the innocent is not theoretical. Try googling the name Cameron Todd Willingham and see what you find. But here’s the short version: Forensic experts who reviewed Willingham’s case have concluded that the fire that claimed the lives of Willingham’s three children was accidental. But the review came too late to save Willingham, who was sentenced to death for setting the fire and executed in 2004. Now Governor Rick Perry is doing everything within his power to squelch further investigation into how and why this miscarriage of justice took place.

In San Antonio, I hope to see former district attorney Sam Millsap, whom I first met while on a Journey tour of Montana. Sam says he always believed in the death penalty. As the district attorney for San Antonio, he sent a number of people to death row, including a juvenile named Ruben Cantu who was eventually executed. Sam is now convinced that Mr. Cantu was innocent and had nothing to do with the crime for which he was put to death. Sam has the character and grace to admit his mistake.

You would think the writing is on the wall in Texas: the death penalty is a bad system and should be ended. But Texans are no different than the rest of us. It seems that the most difficult truths are always the hardest to acknowledge.

If you would like to make a contribution to the Journey of Hope, you can do so by visiting http://www.journeyofhope.org/donations.html

This is by far the best Easter egg I found last weekend! If you would like to make a contribution to New Yorkers for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, you can do so by visiting http://www.nyadp.org/content/donate-even-10-helps-keep-our-work-going I encourage you also to join NYADP’s page on Facebook.

Gilles Denizot
Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing board member & Secretary

Today is Terri Steinberg‘s birthday!

I met Terri in 2009 at the Journey of Hope conference in Hamburg, Germany. This was the first time I heard her speak about her son Justin, about her ordeal as a mother with a 20-year old son on death row.  We have met again in Washington D.C. and of course during the Texas Journey of Hope.

On the last day of our stay in San Antonio, as the Journey caravan was heading to Austin, Terri had to leave us and go home. She needed to take care of her family and get ready for Justin’s evidentiary hearing that was about to begin in Norfolk, VA. The hearing gave Justin his first opportunity since his 2002 trial to introduce new evidence in court, and could result in Wolfe getting a new trial or in his conviction being upheld.

I would love for Terri to get the best present ever, and hopefully this will happen soon. Everyone at the Journey of Hope feels the same way and wishes her a very happy birthday! Until then, please write Terri a birthday comment below. Why not also show your support by joining Justice for Justin (website), or the Committee to Free Justin Wolfe from Death Row in Virginia (facebook group).

Terri Steinberg’s page on this blog was ranked #5 of all views. Let’s make Terri’s birthday’s post #1 today!

I shall leave you with Justin’s little sister singing God help the Outcasts. I heard her in Washington D.C. and she has the voice of an angel. Believe me, I know about singers!

Gilles Denizot
Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing board member & Secretary

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is on fire!

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,600 times in 2010. That’s about 13 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 38 new posts and 156 pictures uploaded, not bad in 47 days!

The busiest day of the year was October 13th with 233 views. The most popular post that day was Huntsville’s Walls Unit, Murder Chamber.

Where did you come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, journeyofhope.org, networkedblogs.com, media.causes.com, and twitter.com.

You came searching, mostly for terri steinberg, curtis mccarty, journey of hope wordpress, bill pelke, and journey of hope 2010.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Huntsville’s Walls Unit, Murder Chamber October 2010

About September 2010

Events October 2010

Speakers September 2010

Terri STEINBERG September 2010

October 22 – Texas Journey in Dallas!

Once again, we met murder victim family members at a First Unitarian Church event tonight. It seems that everywhere we go, there are witnesses of the violence that spreads in Texas.

The First Unitarian Church in Dallas has scheduled a whole program of events on human rights, in collaboration with SMU and Dr. Rick Halperin. There were songs by Charlie King and Karen Brandow, stories by George White and Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner, as well as interventions from many attending our event.

Unitarian Universalists promote their Seven Principles and Purposes, of which at least two echo the message and mission we promote in our organization:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations

As Rick Halperin always says: There is no such thing as a lesser person. I hope to see more congregations adopt and respect these basic principles. Our world would be a better place…

Gilles Denizot
Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing board member & Secretary

October 21 – Texas Journey in Dallas!

If you are passionate about human rights and want to learn, there is one place for you: the SMU Embrey Human Rights Program in Dallas, directed by Dr. Rick Halperin.

On October 21, the Journey was featured in DEATH PENALTY MATTERS Fall 2010 Series. Bud Welch, Curtis McCarty, Marietta Jaeger-Lane, Ron Carlson and Bill Pelke spoke for a packed auditorium. There were students from various faculties, abolitionists and families of loved ones on death row. Wherever we speak in Texas, there are members of the audience who have either have lost someone to murder or who know someone in prison. It is overwhelming. In a state that executes more human beings than any other area of the Western world, it is a fact that violence is spreading and that more victims are created.

Our speakers have compelling stories to share. That evening however, Curtis McCarty‘s intervention definitely moved the audience to tears. We all felt a sense of sympathy and revolt as Curtis described the 22 years he was forced to spend behind bars (including 19 on Oklahoma death row). Sympathy for the pain and suffering that was imposed on him, on his family and on the victim’s family. Revolt to hear about the misconducts, perjuries and intentional alteration of crime evidence committed by forensic analyst Joyce Gilchrist.

The most painful and revolting moment certainly was when Curtis McCarty revealed that because of misconducts, the case had been defaulted and could never be re-opened. Whoever raped, stabbed, and strangled 18-year-old Pamela Kaye Willis in her Oklahoma City home on December 10, 1982, shall never be prosecuted. The victim’s family was lured by the prosecution in thinking that Curtis McCarty was the murderer and that executing him would bring them closure. He was innocent.

There will be no justice for Pamela Kaye Willis.

Gilles Denizot
Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing board member & Secretary

October 20 – Texas Journey in Dallas!

An activist uses any opportunity to raise awareness. As I was waiting for my flight, I met an Iranian-American man and we talked about capital punishment.

Due to unforeseen family matters, I had to fly back to Europe for two days. Waiting outside of the terminal, this man engaged me in a conversation.

- What are you doing in Texas?
- I am with the Journey of Hope and educate people on capital punishment.
- So you oppose the death penalty?
- Yes.

A long and calm dialogue ensued, from outside the Houston terminal to after our plane had landed in Frankfurt. During all this time, we exchanged our (dissenting) views on the subject and it quickly appeared that he did not know the basics of capital punishment in the USA:

• It does not bring closure to murder victim family members
• It costs more than a life sentence without the option of parole
• It targets the poor and the minorities
• It does not deter crime
• Innocents have been executed

When we said good-bye, he asked me to help stop executions in Iran. To what I replied: We are very concerned by the Iranian situation and we do stand in solidarity with people who are oppressed there. We oppose the death penalty worldwide, not just in the USA and in Iran. He said: You opened my mind and made me think…

Job done.

Gilles Denizot
Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing board member & Secretary

October 19 – Texas Journey in Houston!

How long will Texas be able to bury innocence cases? Cases of people who have been wrongly accused, wrongly prosecuted, wrongly condemned and sentenced to death, wrongly executed? Already 139human beings have been exonerated and released from death row in the US (19 following DNA testings that proved them innocent), 11 of them were in Texas. There are just too many and the truth always comes out. It is coming out right now…

On October 19, Texas Journey speaker Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner was a guest of activist Gloria Rubac and the Texas Abolition Movement in Houston. Sandrine gave a detailed and articulate summary of Hank Skinner’s story and explained the many flaws that can be found in his case. It is mind-boggling that a state is forcing the way to kill him while 95% of the crime scene evidence remains untested, although the defense has always offered to pay for these DNA tests.

Here is Part 1 of the video. Hear the facts and stay tuned for Part 2.

Hank Skinner had befriended another man on death row, a man who was most certainly innocent of arson, a man who was described by Gov. Perry as a “monster who killed his three children” and who was denied clemency. This man was Cameron Todd Willingham. His last words while strapped to the gurney for his execution in Huntsville, Texas on February 17, 2004 were:

The only statement I want to make is that I am an innocent man convicted of a crime I did not commit. I have been persecuted for twelve years for something I did not do.

This case is coming back and may well haunt Texas for a long time. In Death by Fire, FRONTLINE gains unique access to those closest to the Willingham case. Read the Introduction and watch the documentary.

Before his execution, Todd Willingham said,“Please don’t ever stop fighting to vindicate me.” On October 30 at 2 PM, you can join the fight by attending the 11th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty at the Texas Capitol in Austin. Meet us there!

Gilles Denizot
Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing board member & Secretary

October 18 – Texas Journey in Houston!

Churches are everywhere in Texas. On every corner, there is a church. Along highways, there are churches. How can you have so many churches and so many executions? If you believe that all life is sacred, if you oppose abortion and euthanasia, how can you support the death penalty? Pro-Life? Really?

I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.
Thomas Jefferson January 1, 1802.

Today I saw men serving life, only to be given death at some point. Day after day they are kept in isolation, they are being told: “You are to die by lethal injection. But if that fails, we’ll kill you by electrocution. If the power goes out, we’ll hang you. If the rope breaks, we’ll take you out back and shoot you”. Read what Camus said about this daily torture.

You believe in an eye for an eye? What about respecting your parents and other principles to be found in the same scriptures? When Jesus said “Love thy enemies”, he surely did not mean to kill them. You really have to wonder how some people who call themselves Christians can rejoice in values such as hate, revenge and capital punishment.

Churches are everywhere in Texas. On every corner, there is a church. Along highways, there are churches, destroyed tires, and shops selling junk.

There used to be 70% of so-called Christians supporting the death penalty in Texas. Now, there are less than 50%. Bravo. That still means a whole lot of bigoted people pretending to love their neighbor like themselves, unless they are “monsters who have forfeited their right to life.” Pro-Life?

Abortion is a sin! Forbidding condoms is not? Euthanasia is a sin! Execution is not?
Really?

Churches are everywhere in Texas, and everywhere are these American and Texan flags. I tell you they are HUGE. On the plane to Dallas, someone was wearing a “One Nation Under God” T-shirt with the inevitable star-spangled banner.

The former Texas Governor (who – by the way – sent 152 human beings to the death chamber over a 6-year period) used to justify immoral decisions by saying they were inspired by God. Executing Karla Faye Tucker? A decision he made after praying to God. Just before her execution date, Tucker appealed for clemency on the grounds that she had become a born-again Christian. GWB’s reply: “Please, he whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, don’t kill me“ Launching a war that killed so many? A God-inspired decision. When you turn your heart and your life over to Christ, when you accept Christ as the savior, it changes your heart. I remember Bill Pelke saying: “I don’t know which God he prayed to but we do not pray to the same one.”

Pro-Life? Really?

Gilles Denizot
Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing board member & Secretary

October 17 – Texas Journey in Houston!

There were no less than 9 events for Texas Journey of Hope that Sunday in Houston! Our speakers were sent in all directions to raise awareness and speak against the death penalty in Texas. In the evening, our Journey troubadours Charlie King and Karen Brandow offered their talent at a fundraiser concert for Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing and KPFT.

In the morning, I had the pleasure of introducing both our organization and our guest speakers, Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner and Ron Carlson, at Bering Memorial United Methodist Church. Sitting in circle, a group of adults and teenagers listened to Sandrine and Ron speak then everyone joined the conversation.

What promptly came up was the issue of violence in our society and how state-sanctioned executions give the wrong example to people by endorsing killing. Teenagers attending the meeting mentioned violent video games and guns in the United States and how it might have an impact on some people and open the door to more crimes. I have seen Internet cafes full of teenagers playing war games against one another. I have seen my younger brother spend hours on his video game. The goal is to kill as many enemies while remaining alive. In this particular game, the player automatically is on the “good” side (uniforms, weapons and names all clearly indicate that the “good” ones are American soldiers) whereas the “bad” ones seem to be from the Middle East (the insignia looks like the Iranian coat of arms…). As long as we teach that violence is acceptable, we will never solve the problem (or the disease, as Rick Halperin calls it). But does the high crime rate in the US only come from the use of violent video games and from the second amendment that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms?

This event allowed me to discover the Bering Support Network and the incredible work they do for homeless youth, HIV/AIDS and GLBTQ issues. The Bering Support Network began in 1986 with what is now one of the longest running HIV/AIDS support groups in the country. I was so glad not only to see teenagers attend our event, but also to know that these youth may benefit from this caring and nurturing environment. This surely is an effective way to protect them and keep them away from potentially dangerous drug-related and violent situations. Thank you Constance and everyone involved! If you would like more information on BSN and support their work, please check the bottom of this post.

The evening allowed everyone on the Texas Journey to attend a fundraiser concert by Charlie King and Karen Brandow. I have never seen such an enthusiastic audience! Let me just tell you that when everyone in the room starts singing along, not at the end of the concert but right from the very beginning, you know you are in for a great evening! Charlie and Karen perpetuate the long tradition of activists singers that has been so well personified by Joan Baez. As one of their lyrics stated: Songs of Peace were sung, not only as regards the death penalty, but on a wide range of topics from environment to DADT. If you don’t know Charlie and Karen yet, have a look at their website and treat yourself to their latest CD. The new one is coming out soon!

Gilles Denizot
Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing board member & Secretary

If you would like more information on Bering Support Network and support their work, please visit their website or contact Rev. Jerry Goree at 281-217-9565

October 16 – Texas Journey in Houston!

The Texas Journey of Hope drove from Livingston to Huntsville and back. For the majority of death row prisoners, once they take that road, there is no turning back.

When the caravan left Houston on this Saturday morning, I knew the day was going to be long and filled with contrasting emotions. We headed North towards Livingston and Polunsky Unit, the location of death row for male prisoners since 1999. It made me think of “The Road to Livingston” a documentary currently being shot by Erik Mauck:

After ten years, Delia Perez-Meyer still makes the four-hour drive to Livingston, Texas to visit her innocent brother on death row every week.  At first saddened and frustrated by this journey, Delia discovers others unwillingly involved in the prison system who bring her to a place of redemption and hope.  Though under the shadow of death, bonds are forged and families made on The Road to Livingston.

I was travelling with my friend Sandrine, a speaker on the Texas Journey. She was telling me how many times she drove to Livingston to meet with her husband on death row. How many memories she had: that little restaurant, the inn where you could sleep in-between special visits, the bank where you purchase quarters for the vending machines in the visitation room, the post office… How many have gone down that road to see loved ones on death row?

Suddenly, here it is! Polunsky Unit! It seems so small, so pathetic. Blocks of concrete lost in the middle of a field. You can clearly see the cages and the narrow window in the upper section. Barbed wire everywhere. A camp where over 300 prisoners are locked up in high security and are no threat to society. 11 innocent people have been released from Texas death row. How many wrongfully-convicted prisoners currently sit between these walls?

Not far from death row, a house, neatly kept. Very similar to other small houses, in Eastern Europe decades ago, where there was food, music and laughter. It looks like life but it is not. We briefly stopped in front of Polunsky Unit. I thought about Hank, and Louis, and Jeff, and Tony, and others. We had air conditioning in the car…

And then we did the road to Huntsville. I had often heard about this road from Polunsky Unit in Livingston – the location of death row for male prisoners – to Walls Unit in Huntsville – where the executions take place. I had seen documentaries and pictures but this was the first time I traveled from one unit to the other.

This is the last road. For most death row prisoners, this is the last chance to see the outside life. When they get to Huntsville, they are strapped to a gurney and killed. Unless they have a stay and they are driven back to Livingston.

My friend Tony Medina has written about this road, about the tall green trees and how he tried to soak in as much of this free world as he could, catching glimpses of the view through the back window of the prison van…

It will take me some more time to process what I experienced on that road yesterday. The scenery sometimes is breathtaking, so peaceful, so simple. There is a lake, the sun was shining on it, diamonds on water… Cabins on the shore, the kind of place you want to retire to. To me everything seemed unreal. Empty shapes. Empty houses. Empty shops and restaurants along the road. Empty people. Empty hearts. Hide the ugliness, paint a fresh coat, smile and tell everyone what a beautiful life we have. Or perhaps such beauty is there to comfort those who know what really happens on that road. To comfort those who are brought to the slaughterhouse. I was trying to see the beauty and not the ugliness. I could only see emptiness.

Gilles Denizot
Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing board member & Secretary