Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 12.4.24

It is well documented that public support for the death penalty has fallen to an all time low although in Alabama we are certainly not feeling it. The reason appears to be that although “More than half of adults between the ages of 18 and 43 now oppose the death penalty, according to Gallup. Opposition is especially strong among the youngest adults—58% of Gen Z oppose the death penalty” it is the older ones who impose it, set the dates and support it! May we suggest early retirement?

During our meetings and also at other times we continue to do research and then reach out to legislators in Alabama and recently also to Connecticut. Here in Alabama we addressed Indigent Status Violations which occur on arbitrary or procedural grounds instead of being based on a substantive review of the applicant’s financial status. With CT lawmakers we urged to not allow the prison industrial complex to drag their state back into medieval times by passing laws forbidding the manufacture of masks used for gas execution in our state.

Giving Tuesday was yesterday and we cannot thank Alabama Arise enough for the honor of lifting us up as one of the organizations to support! Thank you, Alabama Arise! We also thank the special friends who lifted us up on Facebook asking their friends and family to donate to us as a Christmas present to them. Now talk about special! Thank you to All who gave!

As we are now in December this year’s Christmas card list is up on our website. https://www.phadp.org/christmas-card-list-2024/

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