Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 6.25.25
Stephen Cooper in https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/alabama-savagely-gas-tortured-a-fifth-man-to-death/ where he quotes liberally from Corinna Barret Lain’s “Secrets of the Killing States” also states: “We don’t need the Supreme Court to say gassing is “cruel and unusual punishment”—though history will not forgive or forget their failure to clearly do so. We must ourselves extirpate this abomination, as Alabamians and Americans, if we want to retain any sense of moral standing.” Sadly this state is not known for ever having had any sense of moral standing!
We welcome the following statement from AL.com:” The state of Alabama has a complicated relationship with science, and its criminal courts are no exception. Often, state prosecutors defend debunked junk science, like bite marks, to keep people in prison. Other times, they ignore updated scientific findings, such as recent DNA tests, to defend old theories that led to a conviction. In this series, AL.com will highlight several cases where science is at odds with the sentence.” The first investigation “Confronted with DNA, Alabama offers theory that “defies logic” to keep man on death row” focuses on Christopher Barbour and to quote Robert Dunham: “one of the things you hear about the death penalty, which is true, is that the facts don’t matter once somebody has been sentenced to death.”
We discussed the reflections by members of Witness to Innocence in honor of Juneteenth. Sabrina Butler Smith: “As we come together to celebrate Juneteenth, the day that is supposed to mark our freedom, we also need to face the ongoing struggles for justice in our community. This day also reminds us of the deep unfairness that still exists. The death penalty, which affects people of color the most, shows the serious problems in our justice system. For me, as a member of Witness to Innocence, my time on death row is a painful reminder of how our lives can be overlooked.” So true!
We regret that the next edition of Wings of Hope is slightly delayed due to circumstances out of our control but it is now on its way to the printer!
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
