EDITORS: HIGHLY VISUAL PHOTO OP!!!
(See below for European information.)
722 PARISIANS LYING DEAD OUTSIDE THE US EMBASSY
6pm Paris time - Place de la Concorde in Paris, France
722 CANDLES EXTINGUISHED IN ROME
6pm Rome time - Via Veneto in Rome, Italy
722 BLOODY HAND PRINTS IN WASHINGTON, DC
12 pm EDT - US Supreme Court
Anti-Death Penalty activists from across the United States will rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court at noon today, as simultaneous events are held at U.S. Embassies at Place de la Concorde in Paris, France and at Via Veneto in Rome, Italy. Concerned citizens participating in these events will highlight the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's July 2, 1976 decision in Gregg v. Georgia, resulting in the resumption of executions in the United States. Since then 722 prisoners have been unnecessarily executed in the U.S.A.
The purpose of these events is to highlight growing concerns about the application of the death penalty in the United States, to educate the public about why the death penalty is a fatally flawed public policy, and to discuss readily available alternatives. Speakers at the U.S. Supreme Court event include Jennifer Bishop, Chair of Murder Victim's Families for Reconciliation, and Sam Reese Sheppard, whose father was wrongly convicted in the famous 1954 case which inspired the film and television series, "The Fugitive." Other leaders in the movement to abolish the death penalty will speak as well.
"We are standing up against the culture of violence and asking our nation to adopt alternatives to the death penalty," said Abe Bonowitz, Director of Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "As Florida is about to release yet another wrongly convicted man from death row, we ask everyone to give pause, and to reflect on the questions: "Do we really want to trust our government with the power to kill citizens?" and "After 25 years, and the blood of 722 prisoners on the hands of every citizen in this country, do we really need the death penalty when alternatives exist?"
These events are held as part of "Starvin' For Justice," the 8th Annual Fast and Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty, an event held in front of the U.S. Supreme Court each year. More than 30 people are in their fourth day of fasting at the US Supreme Court, with many more people fasting in solidarity in prisons and elsewhere around the U.S. and abroad. The annual fast and vigil began at 12:00 AM on Friday, June 29, the anniversary of Furman v.Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court's 1972 decision which found the death penalty to be unconstitutional in practice, forcing all states to rewrite their death penalty laws. The event will end at midnight on July 2.
WHO: The Abolitionist Action Committee (AAC)
WHAT: Starvin' for Justice: The 8th Annual Fast & Vigil to
Abolish the Death Penalty
WHERE: The Supreme Court of the United States of America
WHEN: June 29 to July 2, 2001 (See Schedule Below)
WHY: "The Blood Is On All Our Hands: Protesting 25 Years of
Executions"
MORE INFO AT <http://www.abolition.org>
REMAINING HIGHLIGHTS IN THE SCHEDULE:
(All events take place on the sidewalk in front of the US Supreme Court.)
July 2, 12pm - RALLY: "The Blood Is On All Our Hands: Protesting 25 Years
of Executions"
July 2, 11:15pm - Closing ceremony
July 3, 12:01am - Breaking the fast (The most unique meal in DC!)
Interviews, both in advance and live from the steps of the US Supreme Court, may be arranged by calling 561-371-5204.
For more information about this historic event, please visit
<http://www.abolition.org>.
INFO FOR FRANCE
722 PARISIANS LYING DEAD OUTSIDE THE US EMBASSY ON JULY 2ND !!
DEATH PENALTY IN THE US : ABOLITION NOW !
DIE IN PARIS - Place de la Concorde - Monday July 2nd at 6pm
All against the death penalty joins Amnesty International and ACAT todemonstrate our strong opposition to the death penalty in the USA.
Join us on Jully 2nd at 6pm, Place de la Concorde
On July 2nd 1976, the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty.
Since 25 years, 722 people have been executed in the USA.
Organizations : Amnesty International - ACAT
Contributing organizations : Penal reform International - All against
the death penalty Mumia Committee.
****
INFO FOR ITALY
WHEN: Monday 2 July, 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
WHERE: in front of the US Embassy, Via Veneto, ROMA
WHAT: "USA 1976-2001: 25 anni di pena di morte, oltre 700 esecuzioni... ORA
BASTA!" [USA 1976-2001: 25 years with the death penalty, over 700
executions...
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!]
WHO:
Amnesty International - Italian Section, with:
ACLI
AGESCI
ARCI Nuova Associazione
Carcere e Comunita'
CGIL
CIPAX
Circolo Mario Mieli
CISL
Coalizione italiana contro la pena di morte
Comitato David Goff
Comitato Edward Green
Comitato Greg Summers
Comitato Karl Guillen
Comitato Paul Rougeau
Coordinamento Non Uccidere
Energia
Fondazione Barnabei
Fondazione Internazionale don Luigi Di Liegro
Movimento Internazionale per la Riconciliazione
Movimento Umanista
Puerto del Sol
S.O.S. dal braccio della morte
SOS diritti umani
Tribù Naranja
UIL
We are planning the following:
- flyers (with the text I sent you in a previous note...), banners and signs
- a visual display listing the 720+ people executed since '77
- distribution of information/material etc. to the public
- life size reconstruction (in cardboard!) of a death row cell
- readings of pieces written by death row prisoners (readers are Pamela
Villoresi and Massimo Wertmuller, two popular Italian actors)
- a candlelight procession, at the end of which all the candles will be
extinguished, symbolising all those put to death in these last 25 years.
Sent Via E-Mail by:
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The Abolitionist Action Committee is an ad-hoc group of individuals committed to highly
visible and effective
public education for alternatives to the death penalty through
non-violent direct action.
AAC c/o CUADP
PMB 335
2603 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hwy
Gainesville, FL 32609
800-973-6548
<aac@abolition.org>
http://www.abolition.org
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For financial & legal purposes only, the AAC is a
project of CUADP
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