The following is a quote from a brief filed last week by a lawyer of the state attorney general’s office “The ADOC has completed the initial physical build on the nitrogen hypoxia system. A safety expert has made a site visit to evaluate the system. As a result of the visit, the ADOC is considering additional health and safety measures,” Of course we were aware of the ongoing construction of the gas chamber as well as of the work of those on our behalf who oppose state sanctioned murder nevertheless this was a hard topic for us to discuss no matter where we are with our appeals.
The second very difficult and disappointing topic we discussed was Brandon Mitchell’s news and this time we quote Robert Dunham of the DPIC:” Alabama Appeals Court orders death sentence reinstated for man 10 of 12 jurors said should be sentenced to life. This case is a poster child for why judicial override of a jury's vote for life should be unconstitutional. When a hanging judge has already overridden the jury's vote for life, how can you ever prove that a different constitutional violation made a difference in the case?”
Work has already begun on the next edition of our newsletter Wings of Hope. We discussed possible topics which might be of interest to our readers and the general direction in which we want to go. We hope that our finished product always reflects the effort and hard work on our part.
We also discussed the interesting article from the Death Penalty Information Center addressing reforms needed on how the U.S. Supreme Court deals with the death penalty. We quote:” Legal reform advocates and a committee of high-profile Supreme Court practitioners have urged the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States to recommend changes in the way the Court handles emergency applications for stays of executions in death-penalty cases.” Short of abolishing capital punishment which is the answer there is value in showing again and again from different angles just how flawed our so called justice system is.
We had a nice surprise last week when Montgomery gifted those of us who had opted to be vaccinated with a $5:00 canteen gift bag. We hope that it made those among us who had refused the vaccine think a little bit because not only did they miss out on that but once visits resume they will not be allowed to visit. Visitation for those who do not know is not a right but a privilege. As a Board we are firmly on board with the importance of vaccination for all of us especially for the sake for the more fragile among us. And of course we look forward to the resumption of visitations even though they will take place under more restricted conditions due to Covid 19.
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 and wear a mask!
Esther
