CITIZENS UNITED FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Thursday July 18, 2002
CONTACT: Abe Bonowitz or Sam Reese Sheppard: 800-973-6548
CUADP SUES ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
First Amendment Violations Could Lead to Wrongful Executions
Jupiter, FL - Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CUADP)
is one of three plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the Arizona
Department of Corrections today by the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) in a constitutional challenge to a new Arizona law which punishes
Arizona prisoners whose case information appears on the internet.
Three Arizona death row prisoners have listings on the "Wrongful
Convictions" section of CUADP's website, located on the internet at
<http://www.cuadp.org>.
CUADP established the "Wrongful Convictions"
section of its website in conjunction with Sam Reese Sheppard, who often
receives requests for help from prisoners and prisoner advocates because
of
the high visibility of his efforts to prove the innocence of his father,
Dr. Sam H. Sheppard. (See <http://www.samreesesheppard.org>).
"We don't have the resources to take on other people's cases,"
said
Sheppard, a CUADP Advisory Board member, "But we also cannot ignore
the
people who come to us for help. In 1999 we established the
"Wrongful
Convictions" section of the CUADP website in order to help link
these
prisoners with others who could fully investigate their claims."
The web page, which provides space to prisoners in 33 states thus far,
contains a clear disclaimer stating that Sheppard and CUADP cannot join
the
cases listed, nor can they vouch for the veracity of the claims made by
prisoners or their advocates. Sheppard, whose father was
exonerated in a
fair trial in 1966, expressed concern that limiting access of prisoners
to
the outside world could lead to wrongful executions.
"My dad faced the death penalty, and he spent ten years in prison
for a
crime he did not commit," Sheppard said. "No one can
deny that there are
problems with the legal system in our country. Since 1972, more
than 100
innocent people have been released from death rows across the United
States. Many of these people are alive today only because they
were able
to interest someone in the outside world in their case. This new
Arizona
law attempts to cut off such contacts, and that makes it more possible
that
innocent people will be wrongly executed. I believe in freedom of
speech."
In May, Arizona death row prisoner Roger Murray, who has always
maintained
his innocence, wrote to CUADP to say that because of the new law, if
information about him appears anywhere on the internet he "would
receive a
disciplinary ticket." CUADP has not removed the information
and is unsure
if Murray has in fact been disciplined.
"I am concerned that a prisoner can be punished for making public
his or
her claims of innocence," said Abe Bonowitz, director of Citizens
United
for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "The purpose and
effect of this
legislation is to suppress the flow of information from prisoners to the
outside world, and to chill the advocacy of CUADP and other anti-death
penalty and prisoner rights organizations. As the lawsuit
contends,
pro-death penalty organizations have not been targeted by the Arizona
Department of Corrections."
-30-
Click here to read the text of the lawsuit.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT :
Kara Gotsch, ACLU Press Officer
<kgotsch@npp-aclu.org>;
(202) 393-4930).
To read the ACLU press release, visit
<http://www.aclu.org/news/2002/n071802a.html>
OTHER PLAINTIFFS :
Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty
Tracy Lamourie or Dave Parkinson, Directors
416-693-9112
<ccadp@rogers.com>
<http://www.ccadp.org>
<http://ccadp.org/arizona.htm>
Stop Prisoner Rape
Contact: Lara Stemple, Executive Director
323-653-7867
<lstemple@spr.org>
<www.spr.org>
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SENT BY:
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Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director
Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CUADP)
PMB 335, 2603 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hwy,
Gainesville, FL 32609
800-973-6548 <http://www.cuadp.org>
<abe@cuadp.org>
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