P R E S S R E L E A S E
from
C I T I Z E N S U N I T E D FOR A L T E R N A T I V E S
TO THE DEATH PENALTY (CUADP)
9 February 2004
CONTACT: Abe Bonowitz: 561-371-5204
ANTI-DEATH PENALTY SPOKESMEN AVAILABLE IN CALIFORNIA
DEATH ROW SURVIVOR, VICTIM'S FAMILY MEMBER, ACTIVIST CONTINUE NATIONAL
SPEAKING TOUR
NOTE: Melendez is fluent in English and Spanish
PHOTO-OP!
As California approaches the scheduled execution of Kevin Cooper at San
Quentin State Prison early Tuesday morning, Juan Roberto Melendez Colon,
who survived almost 18 years on Florida's death row for a crime he did not
commit, continues a national speaking tour with events throughout the San
Francisco Bay Area this week. Joining Melendez are murder victim family
member Bill Pelke, director of the victims rights group Journey of Hope
...From Violence to Healing, Abe Bonowitz, a former death penalty supporter
who is now a leading anti-death penalty activist and director of the
national group, Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
(CUADP), and Governor, the canine mascot of the movement to abolish the
death penalty.
These spokesmen are available for interviews, radio call-in programs,
etc. To schedule one or more of these individuals for your program or to
speak with them as part of your story, please call 561-371-5204.
The Journey of Hope Abolition Day '04 Tour centers around March 1st, which
is International Death Penalty Abolition Day, the anniversary of Michigan
becoming the first English speaking territory in the world to abolish the
death penalty (see http://www.cuadp.org/abolitionday.html ). The group
will speak in cities from Seattle to San Diego through the month of
February, then Alaska through March 22nd, and then back across the United
States, concluding in Florida at the end of April.
"We know that support for the death penalty in this country is a mile wide,
but only an inch deep," said Bonowitz. "This tour is a part of our ongoing
work to educate the public about why the death penalty is a bad public
policy. As in my own experience, once people learn the truth about how the
death penalty system fails us, most will reject the death penalty in favor
of the alternatives already available."
Biographical Information and background is
at: http://www.cuadp.org/abdaytour04/SpeakerBios.htm
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA SCHEDULE:
Various events not open to the media or the public
MONDAY 2/9
MEDIA AVAILABILITY regarding the Tour and the possible extermination of
Kevin Cooper. (See http://www.savekevincooper for background on that case.
TUESDAY 2/10
1:00 pm Yuba Community College, 15880 Dam Rd. Extension, Building 701
7:00 pm Clearlake Senior/Community Center, 3245 Bowers Road, Clearlake
WEDNESDAY, 2/11
Santa Clara University. Noon at the law school and 7:30 PM somewhere on
the main campus
THURSDAY, 2/12
MAIN BAY AREA EVENT
University of California at Berkeley
School of Law
Thursday, February 12, 2004, 4-6 PM,
Booth Auditorium in Boalt Hall, School of Law
(corner of Piedmont and Bancroft, Berkeley, CA 94720)
Free Admission - open to the public
The Public Is Welcome at ALL EVENTS
************
SENT BY:
Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director, CUADP
<abe@cuadp.org>
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YES FRIENDS!
There is an Alternative to the Death Penalty
Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
(CUADP) works to end the death penalty in the United
States through aggressive campaigns of public education
and the promotion of tactical grassroots activism.
Visit <http://www.cuadp.org> or call 800-973-6548
PMB 335, 2603 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hwy
Gainesville, FL 32609
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