Weekly Report from the Board Meeting at Holman Prison 8.2.23

Friends are important and for us whose Board is on death row they are even more important as they often act on our behalf and so we never tire of lifting them up to say thank you. All who read this are familiar with our sister organization JAM in Birmingham and the vigils they organize. What perhaps is not known by all is that they are an offspring of Mary’s House Catholic Worker and that they put out a newsletter. In their most recent newsletter they lifted up Jimi Barber and our friend Lee Hedgepeth, the journalist who had written so eloquently about Jimi who while facing death saw hope. They also lifted us up and our weekly reports and our website. A big thank you to Mary’s House and to Lee Hedgepeth from all of us!

We read and discussed the powerful article by Austin Sarat “The Supreme Court’s “anything goes” attitude on the death penalty” and lifted up the final paragraph:” As the Atlantic’s Elizabeth Bruenig notes, “The constitutional right whose protections lie nearest to the skin, flesh, and blood of each American citizen is the Eighth Amendment. … As with any civil right, if it isn’t enforced, it effectively ceases to exist. … And though its disintegration may go unnoticed by those who, through good sense or good fortune, never encounter governmental punishment, its loss is” another way in which the current Supreme Court is working to “dissolve our rights little by little.” Yes, your rights as well, not just ours on death row!

We have connected with the Prison Journalism Project and the names we submitted will be receiving journalism training materials and possibly ideas for articles. We believe it will be one more way to get the word out and also certainly a learning opportunity for the participants.

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