Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 12.17.25
“Supreme Court struggles over whether Alabama can execute man found to be intellectually disabled”. Could it be that the U.S. Supreme Court Justices are not really qualified to be the judge of that? The Supreme Court is expected to deliver a verdict in Hamm v. Smith by the end of June 2026. Articles about this abound, including a excellent one in the Political Reporter “Alabama’s death machinery is now driven by politics, not justice” although we would take out the “now” as executions are never driven by justice.
The Board is working on getting permission to set up a law class and things look promising. We are also discussing how best to use the good news of the death penalty abolition bill filed by Rep. Chris England,
On Sunday the Execution Intervention Project invited those who have lost loved ones to execution and their supporters into “a sacred space to create a compassionate community where survivors of execution can share all sorts of stories, while honoring the lives of those taken.”
On Monday there was a zoom workshop “Talking About the Death Penalty in social situations” with people you meet who don’t agree on this issue.
Panelists included Abraham Bonowitz, Kacey Keeton, Katie Owens-Murphy, Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr. and Ronald Wyers. It was sponsored by Death Penalty Action in partnership with Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty and Journey of Hope …From Violence to Healing.
And yes, if you have been wondering we have been working on the Christmas edition of Wings of Hope for a while facing all kinds of obstacles and it is up!!! https://www.phadp.org/owoh29_4/ It includes a so far unpublished Op Ed by Corinna Barrett Lain who wrote: “ You are welcome to share it far and wide, you are welcome to put it in your newsletter so everyone can see that I am calling Alabama a monster. Because after all, they like people getting what they “deserve.” “WHO IS THE MONSTER?”
We appreciated Frank Brehany’s The Death Penalty & the Absurdity of Injustice about Toforest Johnson.
Next week will have our Christmas party for the members of phadp. And speaking of Christmas we thank members from religious organizations and a choir who visited us here on death row and who definitely brought us joy. We loved hearing the Christmas carols you sang as we hope you heard from our applause!
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
