The Alabama Supreme Court set November 17th as the execution date for Kenneth Eugene Smith whose jury had recommended life without the possibility of parole by an 11-1 vote.. Talking Points are posted on our website http://www.phadp.org/?q=alerts
Our appreciation and thanks to Elizabeth Bruenig, staff writer at The Atlantic for her latest article about Alabama executions, “Dead Man Living.” Two other articles are noteworthy:”Who’s to Blame for Alabama’s Torture, miserable treatment of Prisoners by John Archibald and “Why is Alabama so bad at executions? They do a terrible job, and they just hide it”' by Ivana Hrynkiw with quotes from Dr.Joel Zivot. Both are up on our Facebook page.
We are glad to be able to announce that Death Penalty Reform is once more part of Alabama Arises’ priorities for 2023. Alabama Arise is the most powerful anti- poverty lobby group in this state and and that we have been one of its priorities for so many years now is very important to us.
We were very pleased to share the announcement of NOT IN OUR NAME: A WORKSHOP ON OPPOSING THE DEATH PENALTY by our sister organization Justice and Mercy. The men of phadp had been asked for their input and were proud to provide it, It was mailed to Shelley Douglass and the Rev. Tom Duley last week.
We have some great news from Dr. Katie Owens Murphy. Our book Ghosts Over the Boiler, Voices from Alabama Death’s row will be available from Vanderbilt University Press February 2023. We quote:” Ghosts Over the Boiler is a curated collection of poetry, visual art, photographs, essays, creative writings, and other archival materials that have emerged from Alabama's death row from the organization Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty (PHADP). This group was founded at Holman Correctional Facility and has been operating autonomously since 1989 toward its mission to abolish the death penalty in Alabama and in the nation.” We are grateful and proud! https://www.vanderbiltuniversitypress.com/9780826505293/ghosts-over-the-…
In closing and as always, we continue to 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. You encourage us and make all the difference. Stay safe!
Esther
