Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 1.1.25

The plan had been not to intrude on holidays and yet here we are on New Year’s Day to wish you the courage to make 2025 the best you can.

We did have our Christmas party and were able to enjoy it by refusing to let our surroundings intrude on our feast. Also, over Christmas several different Churches sent a Santa to bring us holiday cheer. We thank them!

The big news of course was the 37 federal death penalty commutations by the president and the 3 sentences that were not commuted. What was the message? The understandable concern voiced by death penalty activists was that the death penalty is okay for the worst of the worst and how individual states might interpret and use this message. At best, as an Alabama organization we can only speak for Alabama and how our attorney general issued a statement just before Christmas stating how proud he was that we were number one for executions in 2024. Also, as a red state in the Bible Belt, Alabama is not likely to follow a Democrat president or seek justification to do what it likes to do, ie. Execute. Biden's Failed Death Penalty Legacy in Alabama | Stephen A. Cooper

We do congratulate the 37 and their loved ones, although we should not forget that life without is the other death sentence. Here at Holman, Cory Maples, Brett Yeiter and Larry Whitehead were resentenced to life without! We wish them well!

The year ahead will not be an easy one and we appreciate your presence in our lives!

We thank all who are working so hard and diligently to stop all killing in Alabama! And as always in closing, we thank all our generous donors who either gave by going to our website and using the “donate” button or who gave directly. Thank you also to all who took the time to read our notes, commented, liked and shared them on Facebook. Stay safe and be kind to each other! 

                                                              Esther