Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 3.12.25
HB146 which seeks to deny youthful offender status to anyone older than 16 who is charged with murder or capital murder passes out of committee with a favorable ruling. To quote Rep. Thomas Jackson: “ you don’t fix crime by putting people in prison, you prevent crime by educating them.” Austin Sarat sheds more light on this issue in his article Do State Legislatures Have to Obey U.S. Supreme Court Decisions? - Justia's Verdict and we quote: “And, of course, Alabama has a long history of thumbing its nose at the Constitution in the name of states’ rights. As a report on a local public radio station explained, “Alabama thought that way a century and a half ago when it invoked state’s rights as its rationale for keeping black people in chains…. Alabama thought that way again, half a century ago, when it tried to defy federal desegregation edicts.”
ALABAMA REFLECTOR – “Trump’s death penalty push faces resistance in some red states. Lawmakers have concerns over wrongful convictions, racial disparities and high costs.” The resistance cannot come soon enough!
Thank you to our friends at Equal Justice USA for their petition Stop the Expansion of the Death Penalty in Alabama regarding HB 49.
Esther attended the Alabama State Conference NAACP 60th Selma Bridge Crossing Gala where she was honored to receive the Unsung Hero Award. We all so appreciate the support that we have received over the years from this organization and firmly believe in one of their mantras: “it takes team work to make a dream work!” Thank you from all of us!
Our new Amnesty friends in south Wales are very active and we appreciate them!
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
