The Alabama Supreme Court set September 22nd as the execution date for Alan Eugene Miller, a severely mentally disturbed man. Talking Points are posted on our website http://www.phadp.org/?q=alerts. Alan Miller has signed a sworn affidavit stating that he had signed the form opting for nitrogen as his execution method and given it to an officer. A federal lawsuit has been filed by his attorneys which argues that Miller turned in a form selecting nitrogen, but that the state lost it. The attorneys are seeking to block the lethal injection from going forward. Alan Miller had an Evidentiary Meeting on Monday where the State asked whether he would waive his claims if he were to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia, a completely untested protocol.
Please contact Governor Ivey and remind her not only that All Lives Matter but also that all executions must stop right now!
We are encouraged that a group of activist in Alabama is not willing to forget about Joe James’ botched execution or the horror of executions in general. At a zoom meeting with Abe Bonowitz of Death Penalty Action, some members of his team and Alabama friends plans were made not to forget. For years one of our focuses has been the State’s refusal to lift the curtains around the total secrecy surrounding executions, provenance of the drugs, date of their expiration and the protocol. Now after the horror of Joe James’s execution it is time “to pull back the curtain!” https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/pull-back-the-curtains?source=direct_link& Please sign!
We plan to be in Montgomery on Wednesday (9/21) for a high visibility petition delivery and protest action at the State Capitol at 10:00 am CDT, and an organizing/educational event in the evening - location is yet to be determined. We hope to see many of you next Wednesday at the State Capitol at 10:00 a.m. We thank Abe Bonowitz and all of Death Penalty Action! We also thank the AL State Conference of the NAACP for supporting this event!
Due to circumstances out of our control there is a delay in the printing of the latest edition of our newsletter Wings of Hope but we can promise you it is worth the wait!
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!
Esther
