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 as well as contact for Governor Ivey for letters, emails and calls. Please also sign the petition https://bit.ly/KennnethSmith from our friends at Death Penalty Action. As always we are doing all we can to be supportive of our brother who has an execution date, stopping by his cell for conversation and sharing food. Kenny continues to be is very appreciative of all the support he receives.
We believe that it is special that Kenny even during these dark days thought of his brothers and had advice for them stemming from his situation. He wants them to know that as soon as one loses in the U.S. Supreme Court the first time which can be months before one gets a date it is important to start getting one’s house in order. As he said: “there is so much to do!” And so of course, as Kenny suggested, this was one of our topics of discussion.
One of our Spiritual Advisors, the Rev. Tom Duley will be speaking at the Birmingham Friends Meeting on November 20th at 11:30 a.m. For our supporters in and around Birmingham this is an opportunity not to be missed!
We have been invited to meet with The Honorable Eline Goovaerts, the Deputy Consul General of Belgium in Atlanta. Her jurisdiction includes Alabama. The Hon. Eline Goovaerts has planned a trip to Alabama focused on human rights aspects, including death penalty repeal and prison conditions in Alabama. It is these issues, as well as potential future collaborations between our organization and the Belgian consulate, which will be discussed. We are honored and grateful!
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
