Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 3.31.21
When our founders called our organization Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty 32 years ago they were under no illusion that this goal would be reached in their life time and of course it wasn’t. The same holds true for the men who followed them. What has remained true is the hope part and so the news of abolition in VA, efforts to abolish the Federal death penalty, large investments by a coalition of business leaders led by Richard Branson to organize to abolish capital punishment across the world, with a focus on the U.S., all help to keep hope alive even here in Alabama. VA Governor Ralph Northam stated when signing the abolition bill that “This is an important step forward in ensuring that our criminal justice system is fair and equitable to all." He also said that it is the "the moral thing to do to end the death penalty in the Commonwealth of Virginia." And so our question as we discuss these developments is when will Alabama become a moral state?
Our biggest news of the week is without a doubt that Dr. Joel Zivot is joining our Advisory Board. Please read the link below to understand what a great honor this is for us. We are not only very grateful to Dr. Zivot for the work he does as a forensic anesthesiologist in the field of lethal injection but also that in addition he is graciously joining our Advisory Board. Thank you Dr. Zivot!
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
