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Florida Death Row Advocacy Group
Working to Maintain and Improve Living
Conditions for Death Row in Florida
VOLUME –IX November 2005
(Personal opinions of our Guest writers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of FDRAG or its members)
A NOTE FROM ABE BONOWITZ
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Greetings From Ohio!
This is just a quick note to say that I'm still in Ohio and its not clear when I'll be back in Florida. We're trying to sell Beth's house and its just not moving. Unfortunately, there are now 12 houses for sale in this neighborhood, and now another big factory has gone belly-up, so the housing market just isn't happening. Of note, the death penalty issue is staying relatively low key in Florida - I am earning a few dollars working as a consultant with New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, where we have a very good chance of passing an abolition bill this year! And I'm also focused on raising awareness around the upcoming 1000th execution in the US since 1977.
Last month, I was again on the road with Juan Melendez (Puerto Rican Johnny), this Time in Texas with the Texas Journey of Hope ...From Violence to Healing.
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Here's a picture of Johnny with my puppy Governor at the rally across from Texas Governor Rick Perry's official residence. And another picture showing how we surrounded that residence with crime scene tape!
I should note that we only received one response regarding the idea of a hospitality house in the area of the prison that would serve families and friends visiting you folks on death row.
Should we not bother? Please do comment to:
Abe Bonowitz/Beth Wood,
PMB 335, 2603 NW 13th,
Gainesville, FL 32609.
And finally, I want to add my congratulations to Hannah on the installation of tables in your cells. It's amazing what one person can accomplish with a little faith and a lot of perseverance. And the struggle continues....
--Abe
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November Birthdays
Congratulations!!
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Name | date |
| Jermaine Foster | 03 |
| John Freeman | 05 |
| Thomas Overton | 05 |
| Jeffrey Hutchinson | 06 |
| Paul Fitzpatrick | 06 |
| Loran Cole | 11 |
| Alphonso Cave | 12 |
| Robert Preston | 13 |
| Jeffrey Weaver | 16 |
| Anthony Farina | 20 |
| William Cruse | 21 |
| Eric Simmons | 23 |
| Roderick Orme | 24 |
| Michael Bell | 24 |
| Robert Gordon | 25 |
| Daniel Perez | 25 |
| Olen Gorby | 27 |
| Michael Robinson | 28 |
| Maurice Floyd | 29 |
| Micah Nelson | 29
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Winners of the book drawing
November 2005
Juan Chavez UCI. Suppressed Inventions by J. Eisen
Charles Gundlah Charlotte C.I
The ringworld engineers by Larry Niven
Paul Evans UCI. Castle of Wizardry by D. Eddings
Guerry Hertz UCI. Magicians Gambit by D Eddings
John Marek UCI. Witgenstein’s Poker by D.Edmonds
John Chamberlain UCI. The dark tower no. 7 by Stephen king
Guillermo Arbalaez UCI. The art of figure drawing by Glen Robins
John Freeman FSP. The rules of Attraction by B.E.Ellis
Richard England FSP. The game by Neil Strauss
Dennis Sochor English Dictionary by Merriam Webster
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Mildred, the church gossip, and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose into other people's business. Several members did not approve of her extra-curricular activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence.
She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon.
She emphatically told George and several others that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing.
George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned and walked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny. He said nothing…..Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's house... walked home... and left it there all night.
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01/06/1962-11/04/2005
Samuel Pettit finally found peace. May God wrap his loving arms around him, and erase the evil and misery the world put him through the last many years of his life. God have mercy on the souls who allowed it to happen
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This and That
JUST ANOTHER JOKE
An optimist sees the best in the world, while a pessimist sees only the worst. An optimist finds the positive in the negative, and a pessimist can only find the negative in the positive.
For example, an avid duck hunter was in the market for a new bird dog. His search ended when he found a dog that could actually walk on water to retrieve a duck. Shocked by his find, he was sure none of his friends would ever believe him.
He decided to try to break the news to a friend of his, a pessimist by nature, and invited him to hunt with him and his new dog.
As they waited by the shore, a flock of ducks
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flew by. They fired, and a duck fell. The dog responded and jumped into the water. The dog, however, did not sink but instead walked across the water to retrieve the bird, never getting more than his paws wet. This continued all day long; each time a duck fell, the dog walked across the surface of the water to retrieve it.
The pessimist watched carefully, saw everything, but did not say a single word.
On the drive home the hunter asked his friend, "Did you notice anything unusual about my new dog?"
"I sure did," responded the pessimist. "He can't swim."
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Supreme Court urges re-examination of death penalty
Thursday, October 13, 2005
TALLAHASSEE (AP) -- The Florida Supreme Court urged the Legislature on Wednesday to require that juries be unanimous in recommending death sentences or at least in deciding what aggravating factors support the ultimate penalty.
The high court appealed to lawmakers in an opinion that decided a several procedural issues stemming from a pending case involving the murder of a Pasco County sheriff's deputy.
"The bottom line is that Florida is now the only state in the country that allows the death penalty to be imposed even though the penalty-phase jury may determine by a mere majority vote both whether aggravators exist and whether to recommend the death penalty," Justice Raoul Cantero wrote for the court.
Cantero added that lawmakers need to ask themselves if Florida should remain the only exception.
Only judges can impose death sentences in Florida, but they are required by law to give great weight to recommendations from 12-member juries.
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It takes a vote of 7-5 or greater to recommend death in a first-degree murder case. The only alternative is life in prison without parole.
Cantero noted many scholars and courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court in death penalty decisions since the mid-1970s, have concluded that unanimous verdicts are important to ensure "reasoned judgments."
"The requirement of a unanimous verdict can only assist the capital sentencing jury in reaching such a reasoned decision," Cantero wrote in the decision.
The justices voted 7-0 on that issue and in ruling that judges can require prosecutors to tell defendants and their lawyers before trial the aggravating factors they intend to prove in the penalty phase of a capital case.
They split 5-2, however, in ruling that judges cannot require that a majority of jurors agree to each aggravating factor supporting a death recommendation. Such factors include a murder that is particularly heinous, atrocious or cruel, one committed for financial gain or if a police officer is killed while on duty.
Chief Justice Barbara Pariente and Justice Harry Lee Anstead dissented on that point. The majority found that requiring a majority vote on each aggravating factor is not required by the U.S. Supreme Court or included in existing Florida law
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