Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 3.1.23

The internal review by the DOC of its execution method is over and so the Governor lost no time in calling on the Attorney General to ask the Alabama Supreme Court to set a date so we can “resume our duty of carrying out lawful death sentences.” The Attorney General also lost no time in requesting the Alabama Supreme Court to set an execution date for James Barber.

Once more Alabama in order to kill is willing to totally disregard the advice from outside experts, faith leaders, medical experts and its own history of glaringly botched executions. The obvious question is if indeed the protocol, including the provenance of the execution drugs were above reproach why not “lift the curtain?” The obvious answer to that obvious question is also obvious!

According to the DOC Commissioner “Now, under the new rule, the Court will issue an order permitting you to set a ‘time frame’ for the execution to occur. This change will make it harder for inmates to ‘run out the clock’ with last-minute appeals and requests for stays of execution.” In other words the state can now torture for as long as it pleases!

Our thanks to Alabama Arise for its Press Release addressing Alabama’s refusal to pull back the curtain and other issues pervasive in our system of state killing!

More than 60 Lawyers working in criminal justice from across Alabama have signed an open letter to Gov. Kay Ivey asking her to call for an independent review of the state’s execution process. The questions asked include the qualification of medical staff involved in the execution process and the ever recurring question which the state has refused to answer about the provenance of the drugs used.

Inspired by the Alabama Faith Leaders’ letter to Governor Ivey urging an independent review of how Alabama carries out the death penalty our Muslim members are reaching out to Alabama Imams asking them to add their voices to this issue.

And yes, once more we are working on a new edition of our quarterly newsletter Wings of Hope and are pleased on how it is coming together.

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. You encourage us and make all the difference. Stay safe!

                                                            Esther