Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 4.8.26
The Attorney General has asked for a date for Jeffrey Lee. We will keep you updated. Meanwhile it is important to note that he has many powerful issues, including 7-5 jury override of the life without sentence for which the jury had voted and at the time of the crime an untreated TBI. Meanwhile Jaylove, as he is called by his friends and family, continues to be a great asset to our community and is doing well.
The Attorney General has also asked for an execution date for Michael Taylor.
Jeremy Williams is asking the state to carry out his death sentence and could be moved to the top of Alabama’s execution list at his own request.
We are sad to announce that Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has reversed an order vacating the death sentence of Marcus Williams for capital murder.
We continue to work on getting our voices heard and are encouraging each other to write our story. We know that can be challenging but at the same time also rewarding.
We are grateful to Professor Amy McLean with the University of Alabama. We gave a class lecture about the death penalty in Alabama in her classes around problems with mass incarceration on April 6. Always hopeful the message lands on good soil with young minds who will soon be leaders.
We attended the Good Friday “Spiritual Advisor” premiere and Press Conference and received the following message from Joel Fendelman who did the filming :” A Special Thank you to “Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty” and “David Dodge Foundation“ for supporting the making of this film..”
We were honored to receive and accept the following invitation from Joel Fendelman, Director Co-Founder, A Pound of Snow Productions, winner of numerous awards and James Chase Sanchez Director, Writing & Rhetoric Program Faculty Moderator Middlebury College Co-Founder, A Pound of Snow Productions Documentary Film Producer who are planning a documentary about the Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood: “We would love to partner with Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty as an Executive Producer on the film. Your organization would receive prominent credit across the film, as well as in publicity materials and on the film’s website. We believe this film has the potential to reach a wide audience and contribute meaningfully to shifting public opinion around the death penalty.”
We accepted the invitation from Death Penalty Action to be a sponsor of its annual Fast and Vigil, now in its 33rd consecutive year, outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC from 6.29-7.2. For those who can attend registration is now open at: http://abolition.org/register/.
We recommend the article in the Alabama Reflector by Ralph Chapoco “Alabama indigent defense policies can mean the difference between life or death.”The state deviates from American Bar Association recommendations on indigent defense in several key areas, which can leave poor defendants vulnerable.
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
