Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 5.4.22
Congratulations to TN whose Governor Bill Lee had the integrity and leadership to pause executions in his state for the rest of the year to enable review of its lethal injection procedures. A testing oversight had forced the state to call off the execution of Oscar Smith an hour before he was to die.
We discussed the various rule changes by Departments of Corrections and as we have received some inquiries by supporters about communication changes in Alabama thought we should clarify how we are affected as of NOW! Mail should still be sent to Holman C.I. where it is copied. It can include cards and photos and yes, we can still receive stamps. We now have 2 hour open scheduled visits and these must be requested ahead of time by the visitor calling the prison and by us submitting a request. We have tablets and these can be used for emails as well as for phone calls.
As so often, we discussed the hurdles that abolition faces in Alabama. We believe we are correct in stating that since Senator Hank Sanders left office no bill has been filed addressing this issue. We understand that very few voters in Alabama are seemingly directly affected by capital punishment or even know about it just like many of us who are on death row didn’t before we came to death row. When taking a closer look there is one issue which does affect all voters and that is the cost. So far unfortunately we have only been able to use cost figures from other states because this state refuses to release them. The question is how can Alabama be shamed into releasing them?
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