|
The World Day Cites for Life – Cities against the Death
Penalty was celebrated
for the first time on November 30th 2002, on
the anniversary of the first abolition of the death penalty in a modern European state, the Great Duchy of Tuscany in 1786.
| In New York City
a Prayer Vigil With Reflections by Billy Neal Moore, former death row inmate, now prison chaplain, will be held at Church of St. Ignatius
of Loyola, 980 Park Avenue at 84th Street Cities for Life – Cities Against the Death Penalty November 30, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Cosponsored by: Community of Sant’Egidio, Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, and Catholic Worker | http://www.santegidio.org/en/pdm/index.htm email: dmingey@aol.com
| Supreme Court Orders New Look at Death Row Case | | The New York Times | | | | The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a federal trial court
in Georgia to consider the case of Troy Davis, who is on death row in state prison there for the 1989 murder of an off-duty
police officer. The case has attracted international attention, and 27 former prosecutors and judges had filed a brief supporting
Mr. Davis. Seven of the witnesses against Mr. Davis have recanted, and several people have implicated the prosecution's main
witness as the actual killer of the officer, Mark MacPhail. |
The consistent ethic of life provides a moral framework for
principled Catholicengagement in political life and, rightly understood, neither treats all issues as morally equivalent nor
reduces Catholic teaching to one or two issues. It anchors the Catholic commitment to defend human life, from conception until
natural death, in the fundamental moral obligation to respect the dignity of every person as a child of God. It unites
us as a “people of life and for life” (Evangelium Vitae, no. 6) pledged to build what
Pope John Paul II called a “culture of life” (Evangelium
Vitae, no. 77). This culture of life begins with the preeminent obligation
to protect innocent life from direct attack and extends to defending life whenever it is threatened or diminished.
~Faithful Citizenship USCCB ******************************************************
Drop the Rock  | UPCOMING MEETINGS
|
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH COMMITTEE MEETING
TUESDAY,
JULY 21 @ 6pm
DROP THE ROCK FULL COALITION MEETING THURSDAY, SEPT 17 @ 6pm
Make a donation: One of the most effective ways for you to help repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws
is to make a donation to the Correctional Association's Drop the Rock Campaign. Click here to donate online. | Dear Friend of Drop the Rock,
Please
check out this event announcement sent by the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
TEACH-IN FOR TROY
DAVIS
Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 7-9 pm
St. Mary's Episcopal Church
521 West 126th Street
(between Amsterdam and Broadway)
Featuring:
* AMY GOODMAN, host of Democracy Now!
* MARTINA CORREIA, Troy Davis' sister
* LAWRENCE HAYES, former Black Panther and
NYS death row prisoner
* MICHAEL LETWIN, activist, member of the Association
of Legal Aid Attorneys
* LAURA MOYE, AIUSA Death Penalty Abolition Campaign Director
* YUSEF
SALAAM, exonerated in the Central Park jogger case
* Musical group REBEL DIAZ
Troy
Davis, a man who was sentenced to death in 1991, remains on death row despite a compelling case of innocence. There was no
physical evidence and the case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony which contained inconsistencies even
at the time of the trial. Since then, all but two of the state's non-police witnesses from the trial have recanted or contradicted
their testimony. Many of these witnesses have stated in sworn affidavits that they were pressured or coerced by police into
testifying or signing statements against Troy.
His case has become a symbol of the racism and inequality that
exists within the U.S. criminal justice system. Public pressure has helped halt his execution three times so far --
but today he is nearing the end of his legal options, and could be sent to the death chamber as soon as October if the US
Supreme Court denies Troy his second federal habeas petition.
Please join activists in a "Teach-In"
about Troy's case, learning the facts behind this shocking injustice, and debating what the next steps are for a movement
to stop Troy's execution - and all executions.
Sponsors: Amnesty International USA, Campaign to End the Death
Penalty
Endorsers: Correctional Association, Drop the Rock, International Socialist Organization, NYers for Alternatives
to the Death Penalty (list in formation)
For more information: write nyc@nodeathpenalty.org.
Best, Caitlin Dunklee
Associate Director, Public Policy Project
Correctional Association of NY
tel: 212-254-5700 x 339
fax: 212-473-2807
cdunklee@correctionalassociation.org
www.droptherock.org
www.correctionalassociation.org | | The Drop the Rock Coalition, coordinated by
the Public Policy Project of the Correctional Association of New York, is a statewide alliance of individuals and organizations dedicated to repealing New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws. |
| |
Click here to unsubscribe 
| Death Penalty Disgrace | | New York Times | | | There is no abuse of government power more egregious than
executing an innocent man. But that is exactly what may happen if the United States Supreme Court fails to intervene on behalf
of Troy Davis. Mr. Davis is facing execution for the 1989 murder of an off-duty police officer in Savannah, Ga., even though
seven of the nine witnesses have recanted their testimony against him. Many of these witnesses now say they were pressured
into testifying falsely against him by police officers who were understandably eager to convict someone for killing a comrade.
No court has ever heard the evidence of Mr. Davis's innocence. ************************************************************************************************************ |
| New Network Launched to Mobilize Catholics Against Death Penalty | | Catholic News Service | |
| The Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Death Penalty,
launched Jan. 25 in Harrisburg, is not just another initiative of the bishops but instead represents lay Catholics at the
grass-roots level "taking up the challenge" put forth in bishops' documents, statements and actions over the
past three decades. The network, which will operate independently from the USCCB, will be designed particularly to reach out
to young people and Hispanic Catholics on the issue of capital punishment. It was begun with seed money from the Sisters of
St. Joseph of Medaille, whose best-known member is death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean. Catholic teaching opposes
the use of the death penalty in nearly every circumstance, since society has other adequate means to protect its citizens. |
*****************************************************************
|
