Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 6.16.21

“Alabama told a federal judge on Tuesday that it has nearly finished building a system to use nitrogen gas to carry out death sentences, an execution method authorized by state law but never put in use.” An appeal has been filed about the presence of a spiritual advisor at the execution and details of the protocol have not been released. Once more we can count on Alabama on pursuing its goal of killing no matter the cost and no matter that it apparently can’t even afford to provide adequate healthcare to its residents. We signed on to the letter of Patriots Against Gas Executions and also spoke to one of the group leaders. The letter is addressed to FDR Safety and Clinical Pharmacology who have contracted with Alabama for this execution method. We encourage you to sign on. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gwyVieHdiGv5jQZNRpHWQs6cpqgOiTjZ/view 

We received a great resource from Diegans Against the Death Penalty. It is 2 books one by Sister Helen Prejean and the other by former Illinois Governor George Ryan who inscribed a copy of their books (The Death of Innocents and Until I Could Be Sure) for each of the governors of the states that still use the death penalty, and yes that included Governor Ivey. As we believe that the standing of the messenger greatly enhances the value of the gift we are very grateful to say that our good friends at Alabama Arise represented by their Policy Director Jim Carnes will be our messenger to deliver the books to the Governor!

We were pleased to add the Unconditional Freedom Project to our resource list and we quote from its website: “We restore dignity to the cancelled members of society: the marginalized, the cast out, the prison residents and the wild ones. Our programs provide the reflection, nourishment and tools necessary to restore human dignity. Once reclaimed, we believe people naturally find the desire to contribute their unique gifts to society.” Their free of charge program offers 1) workbook, journal and course syllabus.2) Volunteer correspondent to exchange letters with about the course, 3) Certificate of completion. Many of us are definitely interested!

 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