We were encouraged by the initiative of Alabama Appleseed asking Alabama clergy to sign onto a letter calling for independent review of the state's execution protocols, which was to be hand-delivered to the Governor's office as soon as possible. We also appreciate Death Penalty Action’s help with this initiative. We discussed how approaching clergy had been on our action plan for this year as after all in a state that does not believe in separation of church and state, very few Alabama faith leaders have spoken out on state murder. We are grateful for whatever little part we could play in this important initiative and we thank those leaders who took a stand and signed on to the letter.

We discussed the article Arizona Takes a Step Towards Abolishing the Death Penalty by Austin Sarat posted in Criminal Law about developments in Arizona and appreciated the quote by Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall 50 years ago:.” The more the American people know about “the facts…regarding capital punishment the more likely they are to “find it shocking to… (the) conscience and sense of justice.” Yes, the hope is to get the facts out there and even a small step is positive which is why this has been our mission for the past 34 years.

At the same time we cannot ignore that our neighbor Florida has a racist governor who is determined to take a step back and bring back non unanimous jury death sentences at which point Florida would be the only other state besides of course Alabama. It is well documented that racism and the death penalty are intimate bedfellows and always have been!

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