Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 7.26.23
There was much to discuss at our meeting, first and foremost the legacy of forgiveness and peace that Jimi left us. As always it is difficult to come to terms with what those in our state who call themselves Christians call justice. Perhaps they could learn from what we believe was the first time in Alabama that a man while lying on the gurney forgave his executioners? We are grateful that all the events leading up to the execution and the execution itself help us to understand that although the state killed a man it did not win because it could not kill who Jimi was and how he will remain in our memory, along of course with so many others.
It is helpful that there is always work for us to do. We read and discuss the information that Esther sends us and lately with the upcoming execution and then the execution itself there is much to discuss. We also share what we have observed around us at the time of an execution, also at other times, and keep in mind that your attorney is as good as you make him/her.
We had some very good news from a volunteer at the Shambhala Meditation Center in Birmingham and I quote:” We are re-imagining our efforts at community engagement on societal issues that reflect our Buddhist philosophy, such as abolishing the death penalty.” We are very grateful to the Rev.Tom Duley for volunteering to speak at the Center about the death penalty and about who we are!
For months, we’ve been hearing about Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and others receiving millions of dollars in luxury travel, sweetheart real estate deals, and cash payments from right-wing mega-donors and corporate lobbyists. We were glad to learn that the Senate Judiciary Committee last week passed the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act, which would be the first ever binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court. Now let us hope that the next step which is to pass the bill through the full Senate happens soon.
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. And if you would like to order our book Ghosts Over the Boiler you can do so at Amazon.com. Stay well and be kind to each other,
Esther