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Florida Death Row Advocacy Group
Working to Maintain and Improve Living Conditions for Death Row in Florida
FDRAG NEWSLETTER
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY FDRAG
VOLUME – XI – NOVEMBER 2004
(Personal opinions of our Guest writers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of FDRAG or its members)
Legal Commentary
Last month’s newsletter introduced FDRAG’s loyal readers of this newsletter to Legal Commentary, a mix of outside and inside; having someone on the inside provide an explanation and chronicle Florida’s capital post conviction review (FCPCR) process and someone on the outside review capital decisions handed down by the Florida Supreme Court (FLSC). The ‘outside’ writer, Karin Elsea, will resume her legal commentary in the December newsletter as she is reporting on the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty dinner cruise which she, Hannah Floyd and Abe Bonowitz attended on October 16th.
FCPCR’s writer, Michael Lambrix, was sentenced to death in 1984 and presently resides at UCI.
Due to space limitations FCPCR is going to appear in several installments; the first one was featured in the September issue and the next - the petition for a writ of certiorari, the state post conviction process (Rule 3.850), the post conviction appeal and the federal court appellate review and the process applicable to subsequent successive review will be featured in the future issues.
Summary of Florida’s Capital Post Conviction Review Process
By Michael Lambrix
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Step 2, Direct Appeal: Once a capital defendant has been sentenced to death in FL pursuant to the state’s constitution, an automatic direct appeal must be brought in the defendant’s behalf and cannot be waived, not even by the defendant himself. Furthermore, the defendant must be provided legal representation.
This ‘direct’ review is limited only to claims of trial error that were originally raised during the defendant’s trial and ‘preserved on the record.’ This is commonly known as the ‘contemporaneous objection’ rule, which means that unless it occurred, the claim cannot be raised upon ‘direct’ appeal.
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 News from the inside
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This is unreal; it feels like just a few months ago I bought a bunch of Christmas cards on sale right after New Years, so we had some for “next year”! Well, next year is right now, so please feel free to ask if you need Christmas cards. And do it so you get them in time to send them, too? 
Things are quietly getting back to normal after the fans arrived and all the aftermath of that, then the big dinner in Washington DC (14 hours in a car?. each way) To – among other things – honor Abe when getting his award as “Abolitionist of the year”, an award he greatly deserves as he is one of the few people with a good heart and a good head and with more integrity than the whole Congress put together.
What an awesome experience, being in the same room with hundreds of likeminded people, a group, of which one of the speakers jokingly said: “according to some homeland security people we would not be allowed to leave the ship until after November 3rd”, but with a touch of the seriousness we all felt, knowing the profound impact it will have on everything we do and fight for, if the Bush dynasty gets another four years to continue on its path to “mass destruction”. Before leaving this subject, Puerto Rican Johnny sends his greetings, and I am happy to say that he looked happier and more peaceful than any of the other times I have seen him. And while at it, Armstrong sends his regards, as does Ault. Both currently at Broward county jail.
As you might already know, the fans have a one year warranty, but as it is now, the shipping to get it repaired is almost as expensive as buying a new one. So if your fan stopped working and if you are unable to buy another, or have it repaired, contact us and we will do what we can to help you get a new one. The same with the hobby crafts.
If you are completely without ways or means to buy hobby crafts and would like to, please let us know and we will try our best to help.
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Which of course brings us to the next subject that is less pleasant.
We are running on a very low budget, and although we try the best we can, it is never enough.
So if you have relatives or friends you think would like to help out, encourage them to send us either money or stamps. In the same breath I would like to thank those of you who have sent us money and stamps these past few months.
It was and is greatly appreciated.
NOW…where is all the artwork we have gotten so used to (spoiled by) in the past? And where are your poetry, your input and your comments? We miss all that, as that is what this newsletter normally gets it life from.
If it is lack of response from our part, I take full responsibility. I have not answered mail in what seems like forever, hence the note last month to address your mail to various people, and have a chance to get a response within the same year.?
The book program is also getting pretty big, in the sense that we get 40-50 requests a month. We cannot, although we would love to, provide that many books – we simply do not have the money. So again, encourage your friends to maybe become a monthly donor. And pray with us that we get permission to get a library for death row only.
And as a repetition from last month. It is okay to sent magazine subscription requests instead of a book wish when entering the book drawing.
And now it seems like I am running out of space, waiting for Dianne to send her rant too. She informed me she couldn’t write this month as her husband was in the hospital- pray for some speedy recovery – but knowing Dianne I kinda knew she couldn’t stay away for that long, and I was right. So she is back in the saddle.? God Bless you all …Hannah
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National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty 2004 Awards Dinner,
October 16th
One day after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Roper v. Simmons on whether a consensus has evolved against executing youthful offenders, the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) kicked off its annual conference at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.
NCADP 2004 featured plenary sessions examining the death penalty through an international human rights perspective, the juvenile death penalty and mental illness. More than two dozen workshops covered such diverse topics as life without parole: progress or human rights violation, women on death row: a forgotten population, and art, abolition, & activism; exploring the power of creativity.
In addition, the conference hosted an evening awards dinner on board the Spirit of Washington which sailed down the Potomac River towards Mount Vernon. Both Hannah Floyd and I were on board and utterly enjoyed ourselves. Our table of was quite diverse and international too; I was seated next to a young man and woman from New Mexico who in turn faced 2 students from South Dakota; Hannah’s friend from Denmark, Lise sat next to Rachel Gross who, as some of you might know, directs the Death Row Support Project, an ecumenical effort started by the Church of the Brethren in Indiana with the largest number of participants coming from the Roman Catholic and Seventh Day Adventist Churches.
After enjoying a buffet dinner and touring the ship with Hannah’s daughters Emilie and Stephanie the program and award distribution began. Elaine Jones, former director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and a longtime lawyer in the fight against the death penalty receive the Lifetime Achievement Award and Abraham J. Bonowitz, a Florida activist and director of the Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, receive the organization’s Abolitionist of the Year Award.
A special award was given to the group – brought to life by students, churches and lobbyists - that had successfully lobbied the
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South Dakota legislature to pass and the bill that banned the juvenile death penalty in their state. 31 states now preclude juveniles from being executed, 12 of which ban the death penalty.
Karin, Johnny, Hannah and Emilie
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South Dakota’s example only reinforced my belief that it is by lobbying each state’s legislature and having bills introduced which attack the death penalty piece by piece, that the fight to abolish the death penalty is best carried forward. In February 2004, South Dakota’s House Judiciary Committee voted 10-3 for a measure (SB 182) that would prevent the execution of those who are 16 or 17 when they commit crimes punishable by lethal injection and on March 3, 2004, Governor Mike Rounds signed the bill establishing eighteen as the minimum age at which the death penalty may be sought for a juvenile.
Florida does not ban juvenile executions but the FLSC did rule in 1999 that defendants must be 17 or older before they can be executed, Brennan v. Florida, 754 So. 2d 1; July 8, 1999
By Karin Elsea
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The following statements about the Bible were written by children. They have not been retouched or corrected (i.e. incorrect spelling has been left in).
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Across
3. A side dish made with bread and often cooked inside the turkey.
5. The name of the ship many Pilgrims came to America on.
8. An American Holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.
9. Sweet potato
10. People that are related to you
Down
1. __________Americans joined the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving.
2. A pie often served on Thanksgiving Day with whipped cream on top.
4. A fall sport
6. A red jellied sauce served with turkey.
7. The _________came to America for religious freedom.
8. Traditional meat served on Thanksgiving Day.
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- In the first book of the bible, Guinessis, God got tired of creating the world, so he took the Sabbath off….
- Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree. Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark. Noah built an ark, which the animals come on to in pears….
- Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day, but a ball of fire by night….
- The Jews were a proud people and throughout history they had trouble with the unsympathetic Genitals….
- Samson was a strongman who let himself be led astray by aJezebel like Delilah…
- Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe of the Apostles….
- Moses led the hebrews to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread which is bread without any ingredients….
- The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert. Afterwards, Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten ammendments…
- The first commandment was when Eve told adam to eat the apple….
- The seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery….
- Moses died before he ever reached Canada. Then Joshua led the hebrews in the battle of Geritol….
- The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him….
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- David was a hebrew king skilled at playing the liar. He fought with the Finklesteins, a race of people who lived in Biblical times….
- Solomon, one of David's sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines….
- When Mary heard that she was the mother of Jesus, she sang the Magna Carta….
- When the three wise guys from the east side arrived, they found Jesus in the manager….
- Jesus was born because Mary had an immaculate contraption….
- St. John the blacksmith dumped water on his head….
- Jesus enunciated the Golden Rule, which says to do one to others before they do one to you. He also explained, a man doth not live by sweat alone….
- It was a miracle when Jesus rose from the dead and managed to get the tombstone off the entrance. …
- The people who followed the lord were called the 12 decibels….
- The epistles were the wives of the apostles…
- One of the oppossums was St. Matthew who was also a taximan….
- St. Paul cavorted to Christianity. He preached holy acrimony, which is; another name for marriage…
- Christians have only one spouse. This is called monotony.
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