Press Release

TEXAS TO KILL AN INNOCENT MAN!

MEDIA ADVISORY

March 3, 2000

CONTACT: Abe Bonowitz
Pager: 888-319-1369
Messages: 800-973-6548

The execution of Odell Barnes, a man who with very strong claims of actual innocence, is scheduled to take place at 6:00 P.M. today in Huntsville, Texas. You can learn more about the Barnes case at http://www.feastofpan.com/odellbarnes

 

"It seems that some in the media have tired of looking beyond the rhetoric of George W. Bush http://www.cuadp.org/bush.html when it comes to the death penalty," said Abe Bonowitz, director of Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

"The rest of the nation seems to be waking up to the issue. In Herrera v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court left executive clemency as the only remedy for those wrongly sentenced to death, and Governor Bush of Texas today hides behind a bureaucratic firewall. We call on Governor Bush to come out of hiding and to stop this execution today."

Members of Anti-death penalty organizations throughout the United States recently organized Wednesday, March 1st, in celebration of International Death Penalty Abolition Day. It is the 153rd anniversary of the date in 1847 when the State of Michigan officially became the first English-speaking territory in the world to abolish the death penalty.

Organizers of "Abolition Day" events point to the State of Michigan as an example that viable alternatives to the death penalty exist. "They got rid of the death penalty because they learned too late that they had killed an innocent man," said Bonowitz.

Michigan has been without the death penalty for 153 years. The first act of their new legislature when Michigan became a state was to abolish the death penalty.

FOR DETAILS ON THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION DAY, PLEASE VISIT www.cuadp.org and click on "Abolition Day."

FOR SELECTED MARCH 1 EVENTS, CLICK HERE:

SELECTED MARCH 1 EVENTS INCLUDE:

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA: 9am hearing on Moratorium and Lethal Injection bills at joint meeting of House and Senate Judiciary Committees: State Office Building at 11 Union St. Activities are also planned in Selma for March 3-5. Contact: Judy Cumbee 334-499-2380 judysi@mindspring.com and/or Lucia Penland 334-264-7416. WEST

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: Noon-hour protest at County Courthouse Contact Carolyn Gray of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) at 800-973-6548 for details.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: Speakers/rally in the Capitol Rotunda from 4:30-6:30pm Contact: Karen Burkhart, AIUSA's State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator, at 317-839-1618.

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: 12:15 pm Mass at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in downtown Detroit. An interfaith service at Central United Methodist Church will follow at 1:30 pm featuring Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm, Wayne County Prosecutor John O'Hair and Sonia Jacobs, an innocent survivor of Florida's death row. Contact Sally Peck of Michigan People of Faith Against the Death Penalty at 248-477-8232 or speck@peck.cncfamily.com.

OMAHA, NEBRASKA: RALLY from 5 to 6pm, at 72nd and Dodge Contact: Marylyn Felion of Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty at 402-551-5834

CLEVELAND, OHIO: Public event featuring George White, who was wrongfully convicted in the murder of his wife. 7-9pm, Jardine Room at John Carroll University Contact: Charles Murray of the Cleveland Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty at(216) 696-6525 ext. 4040

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA: Rally beginning at 11 AM outside the General Assembly Building on 9th between Grace & Broad followed by visits to legislators. It is also possible that Senate Courts of Justice will meet that afternoon to discuss HB1311 (Capital Case Bill of Review). Contact: Henry Heller of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VADP) at 888-567-VADP or www.vadp.org.

***** For more information, please page Abe Bonowitz at 888-319-1369. Free information is available to the public from Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CUADP), a Florida-based national organization working to increase the level of informed dialogue about viable alternatives to the death penalty. CUADP may be reached toll-free at 800-973-6548 or on the internet at www.cuadp.org.

POSTED BY: Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director
Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty