Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 3.5.25
On Friday Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted the death sentence of Robin ‘Rocky’ Myers to life without the possibility of parole. Thank you to all who made this happen especially his dedicated attorneys and the organizations who gave it their all. Rocky's attorneys still maintain he is innocent, so advocacy is not at an end! And yes, we celebrated!
ALABAMA POLITICAL REPORTER - Editor Bill Britt: One chose justice, the other chose vengeance. For Marshall, restraint is weakness. His rage over Ivey’s decision reveals a man who sees capital punishment not as a last resort, but as a political weapon and a personal crusade.” Also: ALABAMA POLITICAL REPORTER - Steve Marshall rages as Ivey spares man in flawed death row case. Marshall, ever the political opportunist, instead chose to frame the governor’s decision as an affront to his authority rather than an act of conscience.”
We would like to encourage you to follow the great suggestion from our friends at JAM: “I THINK WE SHOULD ALL CALL OR WRITE TO THE GOVERNOR TO THANK HER FOR COMMUTING ROCKY'S SENTENCE. There will be others berating her, so I think it's important that we give her support for doing this. Remember, there are other cases like Toforest Johnson's, that she can act on. We don't want her to be so discouraged that she refuses ever to do this again. SO PLEASE WRITE GOVERNOR IVEY AND THANK HER FOR THIS COMMUTATION!” At a later debriefing zoom call of the Amnesty Rocky team the same call to thank the Governor Ivey was made.
“ Lawyers for Toforest Johnson, an Alabama Death Row inmate whose conviction has long been questioned even by the original prosecutor, criticized the Alabama Attorney General’s Office in a court filing Monday morning, calling its actions in the case “alarming.”
“The Attorney General’s actions and inactions here are cause for serious concern,” wrote Johnson’s legal team.”
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.”
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
