US Supreme Court to Clarify Impact of Ruling That Juries Impose Death
Working to Maintain and Improve Living Conditions for Death Row in Florida
Every one at FDRAG hopes, wishes and prays For a new wind to blow in this New Year we enter.Newsletter January, 2004 | ||||||||
US SUPREME COURT TO CLARIFY IMPACT OF RULING THAT JURIES IMPOSE DEATHThe U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it would decide whether to apply retroactively its ruling that juries and not judges must impose death sentences, an issue that could affect hundreds of death row inmates in 10 states. The high court agreed to hear an appeal by Arizona to clarify whether the precedent-setting ruling in 2002 should be applied retroactively to pending cases under review. Arizona appealed after a U.S. appeals court in San Francisco ruled by an 8-3 vote that the decision should be applied retroactively to inmates who are awaiting execution. Arizona said the ruling affected 88 of its inmates who face execution. It said the ruling created uncertainty in Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Montana, Nebraska and Nevada, states where judges used to make some or all of the sentencing decisions in death penalty cases. Those 10 states have about 880 of the more than 3,500 inmates on death row in prisons across the United States . It was unclear how many of those inmates would be affected by the Supreme Court's decision on the retroactivity question. The high court agreed to decide the issue after conflicting appellate decisions on how the 2002 decision should be applied. The high court said only juries, and not judges, must consider aggravating factors and weigh them against any mitigating circumstances in deciding whether to impose a death sentence. The appeals court said the ruling should apply retroactively because the 2002 decision involved a substantive criminal rule, rather than a procedural one, that transformed the constitutional framework governing the imposition of death sentences. The case about retroactivity involved Warren Summerlin, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1981 murder of Brenna Bailey, 36, a bill collector who came to his house to check on an overdue account. Arizona in its appeal told the high court the case "merits review to settle issues important to the administration of the death penalty." Arizona said the appeals court ruling "opens the door to untold litigation" and urged the justices to decide the retroactivity issue "in the interest of fairness to the parties and to homicide victims." Thirteen states -- Colorado, Delaware, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota , Tennessee, Texas and Utah -- supported Arizona's appeal. The justices will hear arguments in the case in the spring, with a decision due by the end of June. (source: Reuters)
| ||||||||
2003: The Year in DeathSTARTING IN 2000, the number of executions in this country took a two-year nosedive. After climbing to a peak of 98 in 1999, executions fell by nearly a third by 2001. Over the past two years, however, this decline has flattened out. After executing 85 people in 2000 and 66 people in 2001, states and the federal government put 71 people to death last year and 65 this year, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center. This flattening makes it look as if the decline in capital punishment has been arrested, but the story is more complicated. Beneath these numbers, an important recent trend in capital punishment appears to be sharpening: The death penalty is growing ever more regional. In 2002, 65 percent of executions took place in only three states -- Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri. This year Texas alone accounted for 24 executions. The top three states -- Texas, Oklahoma (which killed 14) and North Carolina (seven) -- together carried out 69 percent of the executions nationally. Add in Georgia, Florida, Ohio and Alabama, each of which killed three, and 88 percent of the executions have been accounted for. Only 11 states -- along with the federal government -- carried out executions, the lowest number since 1993. In other words, even as the number of executions holds relatively steady, fewer states are doing more of the dirty work. This is good news for those who believe, as we do, that capital punishment ought to be abolished. Right now the political consensus in most states does not exist to get rid of it. Politicians are committed to the death penalty, and solid majorities of the public support it as well. The best prospect for long-term change lies in the ongoing demonstration that the death penalty isn't necessary or effective and carries great dangers. States with moribund death penalties can evolve over time into states without death penalties with no great disruption to their criminal justice systems or to the expectations of their electorates. The fewer states that execute people regularly, the more exceptional become those like Texas and Oklahoma -- which insist on using capital punishment as a routine instrument of justice. This year also saw some significant breakthroughs in efforts to reform the death penalty, a movement that has been driven by the flood of wrongly convicted people freed from death row. (Ten more people this year were freed because of serious innocence questions.) Most dramatic was the mass clemency granted last January by outgoing Illinois governor George Ryan, who has since been indicted on corruption charges. Mr. Ryan pardoned or commuted the sentences of every one of the state's 171 death row inmates, on the theory that the system in his state had been so gravely flawed that no capital sentence should be carried out. The legislature followed up with serious reforms, and the new governor, Rod Blagojevich, has kept a moratorium on executions in place. Congress, meanwhile, has also begun taking serious steps. A bipartisan compromise broke the logjam over the Innocence Protection Act, an important bill that Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) has been pushing to facilitate DNA testing and to improve the quality of capital defense lawyering. This raises the prospect that the bill, which the House passed in November as part of the Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act 2003, could become law in 2004. Capital punishment in America will not disappear all of a sudden. But if serious reform efforts continue and the penalty becomes ever more regional in its application, it could begin to fade away.
| ||||||||
News From The InsideThanks to all of you for again allowing us the privilege of serving you over this past year. It is an ongoing joy and an honor for us to get to know all of you personally and to work along side of you as we strive to provide a humane and dignified standard of living for the residents of Florida's death row. Thanks for your continued confidence and support. Together we can continue to make progress in the New Year and for many years to come. As you will read in other sections of this month's newsletter, it has been an amazing year for FDRAG on many levels. Hannah is right when she writes that there seems to be a new wind blowing good things our way, and slowly some things seem to be improving for the better. Primarily these new winds are in the form of new connections and new friends made during this past year. There are many truly amazing people out here who work tirelessly and endlessly to support you both directly and indirectly. We are very fortunate to have crossed paths with several of these wonderful, giving, and inspirational people in 2003, and as you have seen, they have already impacted both your lives and ours in a very short period of time. How blessed we are to have them with us! I pray their continued support and generosity will inspire all of us to higher goals and bigger dreams for the future. Yes, we have made some progress, but we all know that there are many more areas of your lives that need improvement. We have taken a few small steps, but we still have a long, long way to go. It has always fascinated me how when one door closes another one opens if we are receptive to it. And, I love to watch how contagious kindness and generosity can be. It can take on a life of it's own when fed with opportunity and promise, growing and spreading like a wildfire if we allow it, and touching our lives with compassion, hope, and forgiveness. This has been such a year for FDRAG-a year of amazing growth, opportunity, and the promise of more good things to come if we just stay the course with an open and honest heart. We are moving in the right direction. I have no doubt of it. It has to be more than just coincidence that we have been blessed with meeting such amazing individuals at precisely the right moment in time for them to make a difference in your lives. We hope this is the beginning of more good things to come. It has to be. To all of you from all of us, may the New Year bring you peace, love, justice, and hope for a brighter tomorrow. Happy New Year, Everyone!!! With Love
FDRAG has existed almost four years. This year however, the group has taken a whole new turn, and as far as I am concerned, it has been absolutely awesome. First of all the newsletter has kinda taken a life of its own, it is being read by people all over the States… Heck, even in Africa and Europe. And one of the goals for this New Year is to get a copy to each of you, not only to read but also to send to family and friends. The more we are, the stronger we are. We have also had Sister Helen Prejean on the front page of our newsletter, one of the biggest abolitionists in the states, and we even made it to her web page. We hooked up with CUADP this year too. And a lot of thanks go to Abe Bonowitz for helping FDRAG to grow. We now have a face in the Media..., we are being acknowledged by the DOC, and we have been able to cooperate and work with the DOC in a nice peaceful manner, and we pray this will grow and continue in the times to come. Recently an article about FDRAG by the Associated Press was broadcast all over Florida and even outside of Florida. For us to be presented like that is really a big step in the right direction. That the newspapers even take an interest is to me proof that hearts and minds are changing. We "hit the jackpot" when we took on Aramark. We caught them with "their pants down" so to speak (thanks to you guys and your grievances) and on top of this miracle, we experienced the absolute miracle.... when going to FSP this Christmas. (See page 5) -And. Our web page is up!. It looks great, so encourage your loved ones to visit: http://www.FDRAG.org (we could still use a logo for the web page and newsletter made by one of you) But all in all. What a year! Next year?? Only our minds set the limits. There are endless possibilities if we just believe in it. And all of you can help too. Send us your ideas, thoughts, how to improve the newsletter, donate some stamps when possible, if we all just work together we CAN and WILL change things. We already have. Thanks for everything…
| ||||||||
Message from FADPWell, it's another new year. I can't tell the difference - I just keep plugging away. As you can see from the photo, last month we plugged away in Jeb's face, and he was quite gracious about it. We did NOT let him off the hook for signing a death warrant a week before Christmas. Now THAT is true Christian Leadership, eh? Just for the fun of it, I suggest you all put in for transfer to Jeb's new faith-based prison. (If you have not heard, on Christmas Eve, Jeb dedicated a prison with a focus on religious programming.) After all, in talking about that new pet project designed to keep his fundamentalist Christian supporters in line and writing checks, our Governor was quoted thusly: "I believe that when people commit violent acts, it is appropriate to enforce the laws and that people should be punished for their actions," said the governor. "But I also believe that lives can be changed." Hmmm.... And with that, I wish you and yours a safe, healthy and productive new year.... --Abe
This is a part of an official Christmas message from Governor Jeb Bush. It might explain a little of what Abe is talking about. "Last Tuesday, I attended a special mass at Lawtey Correctional Institution, dedicating the nation's first faith-based prison of its kind. Although this celebration took place on Christmas Eve, the new faith-based facility is inclusive of 26 different religions. I joined more than 800 prisoners who have made the choice to come to Lawtey and dedicate their lives to their personal faith. Florida continues to lead the nation in developing innovative partnerships with faith-based and community groups. I believe that the programs being offered at this facility will make a tremendous difference and change the lives of many individuals by creating a pathway out of the criminal justice system."
| ||||||||
The Pope's DriverThe Pope was driving around New York City in a limo on one of his papal visits. He was fascinated by the amount of hustle and bustle in the city. He got it in his mind that he wanted to drive the limo...
| ||||||||
A Christmas MiracleIn this very cold hateful world we live in, the light seem so much brighter when it finally shines. To me this has been the most beautiful Christmas I have ever had. After receiving letters from FSP - and having the information confirmed several times over - even from some of you at UCI, the need for something to keep those of you at FSP warm over the winter was obvious. And to make a very long story very short, Abe from FADP helped us raise some needed donations to buy thermal underwear, warm socks and a sweat shirt for each man on death row at FSP, as Christine Smith, (see her account on the next page) President of the Dreams of Freedom charity, had said her charity would pay whatever we lacked to purchase what we wanted. The final result was, that FDRAG with the donations we had received were able to purchase the Sweatshirts and socks, The dreams of Freedom Charity paid for the thermal underwear. At this point we had not been allowed to donate anything at all. But sometimes Faith in a higher power comes in handy when we ourselves have run out of options, and I think God made it that way---We do what is in our power, and then we have faith in HIS power to do the rest. - And this is a season to believe in miracles, as the biggest miracle of all was born in these days, some 2003 years ago. And He teaches us to believe and have faith. …And then all things are possible. So far not much of miracle, you might think, and that is true. The miracle took place when I "happened" to go see Governor Jeb Bush, and he "happened" to ask me if I wished to speak to Secretary Crosby, and he "happened" to be very generous and allowing us to donate the items we wanted to donate, in agreement with Director Bradley Carter who also attended the meeting. I must say that the meeting in itself was a very pleasant experience. Now…Due to Christine's energy and persistence, my pastor, Greg Pusetari, and yours truly got permission to actually go and deliver the clothing on G wing at FSP. And THIS… was the big Christmas miracle, because I KNOW that no man could ever make that happen. God opened the right doors and touched the right hearts… and I felt so very humble and grateful when I walked that wing and got to talk to some of you that have written to FDRAG for years. I thank you for receiving me and my pastor in peace and with smiles and even laughter, I thank you for your kind words and for being decent human beings in spite of your situation and where you are. What an example of the power of the human spirit - that we as humans can keep our dignity and sanity when all the odds and living conditions are against us. And I know that regardless of what we call our God, and regardless of what faith you might have, Jesus is right there with you, because that is his heart, to be with the ones no one else want to "hang out with". Maybe by the Grace of God more miracles like this will happen. Let me end this Christmas tale by giving thanks to HIM who made it all happen, with a few lines from a song: You are the God of the broken
God bless, Hannah
| ||||||||
Christmas Day Meal Sickens Union Correctional InmatesRAIFORD, Fla., December 29, 2003 -- Health and prison officials think a bad batch of turkey is to blame for making 168 prisoners at maximum-security Union Correctional Institution sick on Christmas day. Florida Department of Corrections spokesman Sterling Ivey said Monday that the prisoners were treated for diarrhea and other symptoms and had all recovered. Several inmates from one part of the prison had intestinal illness after the meal. "It looks like right now the cause may be in the turkey dish," Ivey said. Prison officials stopped serving the particular dish, which was prepared at the prison by Aramark, a private contractor that provides food services to Florida inmates. None of the illnesses were life threatening, and all the prisoners have recovered, Ivey said. Two inmates had to receive intravenous fluids. Ivey said no other inmates have gotten sick since Christmas Day. Prison officials have previously denied claims by inmates and advocates for prisoners that Union meals have been rotten. Prison officials received more than 20 reports about a particular meal in November being unfit for consumption, but officials said nothing was found to be wrong with it. Union Correctional houses 1,300 prisoners in all, including death row inmates, Ivey said. None of the inmates who got sick on Christmas was on death row. (Source AP) (This was also mentioned in the news on TV - CNN-December 30th. hopefully it will inspire Aramark to provide what they are obligated by contract to provide.)
| ||||||||
Dreams of Freedom CharityThe Dreams of Freedom charity was happy to give all the men on the "G" and "Q" wings at Florida State Prison the Christmas gifts of the thermal underwear tops and pants. Everything the Dreams of Freedom charity provides to you is given in memory of John Denver. The Dreams of Charity learned of your need for warm clothing from Ms. Floyd, and we immediately began working on buying the thermal underwear for you and obtaining the permission we needed to arrange for Ms. Floyd to personally give you these gifts from both of us for Christmas. Together, our charity and FDRAG were able to receive permission from the state to permit our Christmas gifts to you. The Dreams of Charity invites your letters and other submissions for possible publication in the Dreams of Freedom newsletter. Our newsletter, available to inmates nationwide, publishes inmate prose and poetry. We explore topics such as dreams, hopes, memories, peace, love, family, etc., and also publish letters of appreciation from inmates nationwide who have benefited from our gifts of clothing, hygiene items (such as shampoo, antiperspirant, soap, toothpaste, etc.), the music & videos of John Denver, and our newsletter. We provide humanitarian help to inmates nationwide. Any prison librarian, chaplain or warden may ask us for John Denver cd's, tapes or videos if inmate music listening or TV viewing is available. Our charity plans to continue working with Hannah Floyd to possibly provide other items you may need (such as laundry detergent) throughout the year, as well as continuing our work supplying prisoners throughout Florida with needed items. We also invite inmates to apply for our Christmas toy program, which we provide to families nationwide. Families with young Children (ages 10 and under) whose father or mother is incarcerated and who are struggling financially to provide Christmas gifts for the children may contact Dreams of Freedom. Inmates should have their wife, or whoever is caring for their child, write to the charity directly. Name of inmate, DOC number, prison incarcerated at, children's names and ages, and phone number and address of whomever is caring for the child must be sent from caretaker of child to the charity with a request for Christmas help. We receive more requests than we can fill each year, but will provide gifts of toys & clothing to families in need in order we receive the letters asking for our help. This is a limited program due to demand; and our charity will notify a family as to whether they will be able to receive Christmas toys or not. All requests for toys must be received between August and October. We believe as John Denver sang in his song 'Wandering Soul' that, Love is the answer, love is the way..." We believe in one world, one human family. Any inmate who wishes to be placed on our newsletter mailing list may write to us; all letters and writings sent to Dreams of Freedom may be published in a future newsletter. (We receive far more submissions than we can print--so only a few letters can appear in each issue.) Our charity does not offer pen pal correspondence, and due to volume of mail we receive we cannot reply to letters. However, we would welcome receiving letters from inmates thanking us for the Christmas gifts we were able to provide. To sign up for the newsletter you may write to the charity: Dreams of Freedom, Inc.
| ||||||||
Birthdays, announcements etc…
| ||||||||
Art and Poetry"Life thru My Eyez" Here I am, a Playa playin' da game dat no one was meant to win: THE GAME OF L (life, livelihood, lust, love, leisure + lies)
Some deluded souls think they can win, tho it's common fuckin' sense that LIFE
Shot-callers pontificate on the virtue of
But that's 'cause they got a card up their sleeves: the " ACE OF IMMUNITY"---Whether
Now, you might not be feelin' dis, but dat's on you. But I don't feel fo' ya sucka;
Robert Rimmer, November 2003
| ||||||||
Drug Florida Uses in Executions at the Center of Court FightsBy: RON WORD Associated Press Writer JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -One of the drugs Florida uses to execute condemned killers is being challenged by inmates in Texas who have won appellate court reprieves arguing the drug has been banned from being used on animals. The two states and 28 others execute prisoners by injecting the same three-drug cocktail that includes pancuronium bromide, a drug that paralyzes muscles, including the diaphragm. Opponents of the drug's usage say it can cause prisoners to suffocate before they lose consciousness and is so cruel that some veterinarians won't use it to euthanize animals. "Even a slight dosage error or administration can leave a prisoner conscious but paralyzed while dying, a sentient witness to his or her own slow, lingering asphyxiation," said an appeal filed on behalf of Texas inmate, Kevin Lee Zimmerman, who faces death for a 1987 murder. The U.S. Supreme Court halted his execution Wednesday with minutes to spare so it could consider his appeal. That came a day after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the unscheduled execution of Billy Frank Vickers, who has been sentenced to die for fatally shooting a Texas grocery store owner during a botched robbery attempt almost 11 years ago. The 5th Circuit rejected Vickers' appeal, but agreed the U.S. Supreme Court should consider the issue. TheTennessee inmate, Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman, on death row for a 1986 murder, claims pancuronium bromide paralyzes the skeletal muscles, but does not affect the brain or nervous system. A judge ruled that the drug has "no legitimate purpose" in lethal injections. "The subject gives all the appearances of a serene expiration when actually the subject is feeling and perceiving the excruciatingly painful of death by lethal injection," the judge, Ellen Hobbs Lyle, wrote. "The Pavulon (pancuronium bromide) gives the false impression of serenity to viewers, making punishment by death more palatable and acceptable to society." Hobbs Lyle, however, did not declare the use of the drug unconstitutional. The inmate's execution has been stayed pending a federal court review of alleged prosecutorial misconduct. Deborah Denno, a professor of law at Fordham Law School, an expert on execution methods, said, the "only purpose for pancuronium bromide is to keep someone still." Denno said Texas, the first state to adopt lethal injection, used the three-chemical combination and other states simply followed suit. The Tennessee case quotes the American Veterinary Medical Association as condemning the drug for euthanasia of animals. But Beth Sabin, a spokeswoman, said the drug is not mentioned in the group's report on euthanasia. The report lists other neuromuscular blocking agents. Florida law prohibits the use of neuromuscular blocking agents to euthanize pets. Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections, said state officials are monitoring the cases, but said Florida has no plans to stop using pancuronium bromide, which it has used in 13 executions since 2000. Florida has 363 prisoners on death row, but no scheduled executions. Florida started using lethal injection after court challenges were launched alleging that use of the electric chair constituted cruel and unusual punishment. The issue before the U.S. Supreme Court is not the drug itself, but whether its use can be challenged in the federal courts, said Martin McClain, a defense attorney specializing in death penalty cases. However, Zimmerman's appeal lists both the civil right issue of cruel and unusual punishment, and the use of pancuronium bromide. Abe Bonowitz, director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, agrees with McClain that the issue is whether inmates can challenge the procedure. He also said the chemicals used should be considered. "This is a lot worse than what we use to euthanize animals," he said. "It paralyzes (the prisoners) before their lungs collapse."
| ||||||||
FDRAG Share-a-Book ProgramEach month, FDRAG will collect book wishes from the readers of our Newsletter. In order to submit a book wish, simply fill out the form below, send it to FDRAG and your book may be one of the 10 book titles which will be drawn each month, and purchased via Amazon.com. Because we want this program to benefit as many as possible on our shoe-string budget we ask that you pass on your book when you're done reading it.
| ||||||||
December Share-a-Book WinnersWinners of the book drawing November/December 2003John Blackwelder -- "Four blind Mice" By James Patterson Alphonso Green -- "Stupid White Men" By Michael Moore Michael Tanzi -- "Omerta" By Mario Puzo Robert Rimmer -- "Diary of a groupie" By Omar Tyree
Jim Rose -- "Blow Fly ,Portrait of a killer" By Patricia Cornwell John Chamberlain -- "The 48 Laws of Power" By Robert Green
| ||||||||
FDRAG & MEMBERSHIPThis group is created by families and friends of death row inmates in Florida. It is a given that this group is against Capital punishment. It is however, not the purpose for this group to do anti-death penalty work, instead this group concentrates on making the living conditions for death row inmates tolerable. We also commit to work on making changes that will improve the quality of living in that particular environment called Death Row, and to help keeping the standard that already exists. Everyone who is willing to work for basic human rights is welcome. If you are looking for a group who does anti-death penalty work, we suggest you join one of the excellent groups already up and running. For further information please contact a member near you: USAHannah Floyd, (Can be contacted for info on newsletter, membership, visiting,
places to stay, transport etc.) Janice Figueroa Karin Elsea, (Contact person for the DC/Maryland area) Dianne Abshire The NetherlandsJolanda Arends, Treilerstraat 168
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
