Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 5.5.21

The phone at Holman was down for 9 days meaning that we had to rely on the mail to provide each other with information. If nothing else it made us appreciate our week day daily phone calls.

Significant Alabama news was definitely the refusal of the Alabama Supreme Court to leave Evan Miller who committed his crime at the age of 14 any hope of ever being paroled. No other state has ever committed this atrocity and we now hold the record for the youngest individual to receive life without. And why does this concern a death penalty organization? It concerns us because we have men on the row who committed their crime under the age of 21 who according to experts in the field of Developmental Psychology were not mature enough to be held legally responsible. Unfortunately the individuals who serve on the Alabama Supreme Court as well as on higher courts are sadly deficient in this area.

From the sidelines, because of our special situation, we have been watching with interest the work of a dedicated group to stop the building of 3 mega prisons. There is a saying:” you build ‘em, you fill ‘em.” We salute the group and thank them. To explain our “special situation” our founders made an agreement with the DOC 32 years ago that our focus as an organization would be the death penalty and not prison related issues. We have kept our side of the agreement.

 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