Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 7.5.23
The governor’s office set a time frame for the execution of James Barber that will begin at midnight on July 20 and expire at 6 a.m. on July 21. The 30-hour window is designed to give the state prison system more time after two most recent executions were called off because of trouble with intravenous lines. Barber has requested to die by nitrogen hypoxia, an as-yet untested execution method approved by the state in 2018. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Kenneth Eugene Smith, another Alabama death row inmate who asked to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia, against the state's objections. The AL DOC said that it is not ready to use that method as of yet.
You can find the Execution Talking Points at: https://www.phadp.org/execution-alert-james-barber/. We thank the individuals, including Cantor Mike Zoosman from L’chaim, Jews Against the Death Penalty for their daily weekday calls to the Governor’s office protesting the upcoming execution. Might you join them? PHONE 1-334-242-7100 and please sign the Death Penalty Action petition: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-james-barber-in-alabama/
Alabama People of Faith Coalition organized by Sam Heath of EJUSA, continues to meet regularly by zoom and the following are the two issues they are focusing on at the moment: ( their next meeting is July 6th at 10.00 a.m. central time}1} “We need a location (building) in Montgomery for a vigil for Jimi Barber the week of July 10. This would be a time to pray as well as a time to raise awareness for the public and to urge Governor Ivey to act. Once we have a location, the rest of the planning can begin.
2) Jimi Barber's legal team and our coalition both have expressed that an op-ed from people of faith could have an effect on Governor Ivey. We need people who are willing to help author this. Sam has an outline ready and can send it to those interested in helping. [email protected]” We are so grateful to all Sam Heath is doing and also appreciated hearing from Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty which is also part of EJUSA.
We discussed last week’s anniversary of June 29, 1972 when the nation’s highest court ruled in a 5-4 decision in Furman v. Georgia, that the death penalty is unconstitutional. The primary reasoning for those in the majority: The death penalty, as it was being applied by states, disproportionately harmed minorities and the poor. It still does and statistics prove it but apparently vengeance is more important!
When out of our cell we take turns stopping by at James Barber’s cell to talk, to listen, to pray and to update each other on developments from his attorney and on what is being done on the outside to stop the execution. Jimi is very appreciative!
We thank all who are working so hard and diligently to stop all killing in Alabama!
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.
Esther
