Kids Against the Death Penalty Named 2009 Youth Abolitionists of the Year
Today at 5:16pm
Kids Against the Death Penalty has won the 2009 Youth Abolitionists of the Year award given by Students Against the Death Penalty and Texas Students Against the Death Penalty. The award was announced and presented to KADP at the Texas Capitol on March 24 by Hooman Hedayati, president of Students Against the Death Penalty and Jason Kyriakides, board member of Texas Students Against the Death Penalty.
The award recognizes the hundreds of hours of activism performed by Kids Against the Death Penalty in the last year educating the public about the injustice of the death penalty. The hard work and passionate commitment of members of Kids Against the Death Penalty has greatly benefited the national movement to abolish the death penalty. Several members of KADP are relatives of Jeff Wood, who is on Texas death row convicted under the Law of Parties even though he did not kill anyone.
Scott Cobb of Texas Moratorium Network, one of the many people who nominated Kids Against the Death Penalty for the award said, "Martin Luther King, Jr wrote in a letter from a Birmingham Jail that 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere'. That sense of injustice was what compelled Dr King to carry the gospel of freedom beyond his own home town. I have personally witnessed how Kids Against the Death Penalty have brought their message of justice beyond their own home town to cities throughout Texas. They have marched for miles along Texas streets holding anti-death penalty signs, through neighborhoods in Houston and down Congress Avenue in Austin to the State Capitol. They have stood vigil many times at the Texas Capitol when Texas has executed someone. They have visited the home of Texas Governor Rick Perry and pressed for justice. They lobbied members of the Texas Legislature on Lobby Day Against the Death Penalty March 24, 2009. Carissa Bywater of KADP testified to the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence Subcommittee on Capital Punishment on March 19. (The video of Carissa's testimony is viewable here, click forward to minute 57 and 50 seconds.) KADP has courageously spoken out on an issue in which relatively few other people in Texas, whether adults or children, have found the time or the courage to speak out about. By doing so, they are following in the footsteps of other children in America’s past who have stood up for human rights".
"Children and teenagers played a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement. Barbara Johns was 16 in 1951 when she started a campaign for equal treatment at her school in Virginia. Her case became part of the landmark Brown v Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that ruled that school segregation violated the Constitution of the United States. In 1963, more than a thousand children skipped their classes and marched in downtown Birmingham for equal schools. Many of them were arrested. Because of those kids’ actions during the civil rights movement, we live in a country today where candidates for president are not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their platforms", said Cobb.
"KADP has already inspired kids in other states to join the anti-death penalty movement. Because of KADP's hard work against the death penalty, both Texas and the U.S. have moved closer to the day when we live in a society where the state does not kill in order to teach the lesson that killing is wrong", said Hooman Hedayati. KADP members received commemorative medals and $100 to be used in their anti-death penalty work.
Also Gislaine Williams of Rice for Peace (Rice University) and Ashley Kincaid (University of Indiana) each received a Certificate of Achievement by Students Against the Death Penalty.
2009 Youth Abolitionists of the Year
Gavin Been – Founder and President of KADP Nick Been – 1st Vice President Nathan Been -2nd Vice President Carissa Bywater – Secretary and Committee Chair Paige Wood – Board Member Cory Bywater - Board Member Deanna Nickell - Board Member Tanner Tucker – Board member
Members of KADP holding their awards for 2009 Youth Abolitionists of the Year.
Front row, Left to right: Carissa Bywater 14, Gavin Been 12 Back Row, Left to right: Deanna Nickell 13, Nathan Been 14, Nick Been 13, Cory Bywater 11, and Tanner Tucker 12
Not Pictured: Paige Wood 15
Below, members of KADP after receiving their award at the Texas capitol.
Group sheds light on wrongful convictions 6/27/2009 2:05 PM By: Jenna Hiller
The Freedom March took place at the Capitol Saturday.
A small, but determined group marched to the Capitol Saturday hoping to bring awareness to the number of wrongful convictions in the United States.
Austin's Freedom March was one of 17 across the country. According to group organizers, Texas leads the nation in verified wrongful convictions, with 38 people exonerated by DNA evidence, so far.
"We've seen 133 people exonerated and released from death row, due to evidence of their wrongful conviction, since 1973 and that includes nine here in Texas," Kristin House, with the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said. "I think it's this issue of whether or not we can get it right, and if we can't get it right 100 percent of the time, should we really be in the business of killing people?"
The majority of Saturday's crowd consisted of a group from Corpus Christi who know Hannah Overton.
In 2007 a jury found Overton guilty of capital murder for poisoning a foster child she and her husband were trying to adopt.
She was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Overton's friends and family say the child had an eating disorder and ate a large amount of a salt.
"They were doing all that they knew how to do, and then they were blamed for his death," Overton's mother Lane Hisson said. "They were grieving his death and at the same time they were being blamed for his death."
Overton's supporters say she didn't get a fair trial.
WATCH THE VIDEO
Freedom March News 8's Jenna Hiller caught up with the Freedom March. Personal Story Hiller tells us more about one group's work to raise awareness, and help a friend.
"We believe that the jurors found Hannah guilty of murder without intent, which has to be proven in a murder case," Overton's pastor Rod Carver said.
Carver said the mother of five didn't know the child was suffering from sodium poisoning until he'd been sick for more than an hour.
"They didn't prove she poisoned the child," he said. "They found her guilty of not getting to the hospital quick enough."
Carver believes there are countless other cases like Overton's, which is why he wants to spread the word.
Kristin Houle is with the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
"You're not normally involved until it affects you personally, but when it affects you personally, it's too late. If it happened to a wonderful mother like Hannah, it could happen to anybody," Carver said.
"If you've got supporters like this. If you've got a strong family in back of you, and certainly this woman, Ms. Overton, does. I'd say she's 50 percent free already," Blackburn said.
He says the word about wrongful convictions is spreading.
"This is part of a big movement not only in Texas, but all over the country. It's amazing to me to see this movement getting so much support and getting bigger, and bigger and bigger, gradually and over time," Blackburn said. _________________________________________________
Nathan Been, 14, holds a picture of his uncle, Jeff Wood, at the Capitol on Tuesday. Wood was sentenced to death as an accomplice in a 1996 robbery in which a store clerk was killed. Been is a member of Kids Against the Death Penalty.
On the heels of the recent abolition of the death penalty in New Mexico, dozens of activists lobbied on the steps of the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon to advocate reform in the death penalty system as well as the impeachment of Judge Sharon Keller.
Keller, presiding judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, is under investigation for judicial misconduct after refusing to take a late appeal in 2007 from Michael Wayne Richard, who was executed later that day. Keller said the appeal came 15 minutes after the court’s 5 p.m. closing time and denied all charges against her in an appeal filed Tuesday.
“Sharon Keller is the face of Texas death penalty,” said Bryan McCann, a member of Campaign to End the Death Penalty and a communication studies graduate student. “She represents a pro-prosecution judge and has made no qualms about it.”
In February, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct charged Keller with discrediting the state judiciary for violating execution-day duties. The judge must face a public hearing to respond to the accusations. If convicted, Keller faces the possibility of being removed from office.
“She has made outrageous decisions and shouldn’t be ruling any more cases unless she proves herself innocent,” said government senior Hooman Hedayati, president of Texas Students Against the Death Penalty.
The family members of several people who have been or are currently on death row were also present at the rally, bearing signs and T-shirts printed with the faces of those convicted.
The majority of the signs stated that the person on death row had been convicted under the Law of Parties, which states that people may be found guilty for conspiring, attempting to conspire or not making a reasonable attempt to stop an offense.
Texas leads the nation in the number of executions performed, and 373 people currently sit on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Gov. Rick Perry holds the country’s record for most executions performed under a governor’s term, eclipsing previous record holder George W. Bush, McCann said. He added that regardless of who is serving in the office, the policies should be reformed.
“The Keller case and the Law of Parties highlights problems within the death penalty system,” McCann said. “They provide an opportunity to push reform to the front of state, and even national, attention.”
_________________________________________________
KADP Leads the 9th Annual March to Executions!!
Click the link below to view Scott Cobb's (President of Texas Moratorium Network) photos from the March.
Death penalty opponents say system is broken, executions must end
By Gloria Rubac
Published Oct 30, 2008 11:29 PM
As execution numbers rise in Texas, so does the determination to end all executions. Families of death row prisoners and community activists joined opponents of the death penalty on Oct. 25 for the 9th Annual March to End Executions in Houston.
WW photos: Gloria Rubac
The lively percussion of the Free Radicals Marching Band accompanied the spirited march. As they arrived at the SHAPE Community Center, there were chants of “Death penalty? Shut it down! Huntsville? Shut it down! Executions? Shut it down!”
Clarence Brandley, who was freed from Texas death row in 1990 after a 10-year struggle proved his innocence, was the featured speaker. “I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for people like you standing up and not giving up. I came within hours of execution two times, but today I am here with you. Never stop the fight! Never give up! We can win!” Brandley said to the cheering crowd.
Clarence Brandley
A revolutionary tone was set for the day by the words of solidarity sent by those locked in steel cages. Margaret with the Rice for Peace and Justice student group read a message from Bomani Shakur, who is on death row in Lucasville, Ohio. A statement from Panthers United for Revolutionary Education on Texas death row was also read. (See accompanying articles.)
Words written by Gabriel Gonzales with the DRIVE Movement on Texas death row were read: “Prison issues are class issues—the rich exploiting the poor for economical gain. The insidious crippling of our poor, our young people on death rows and prisons is expanding and none of this is about the rate of crime. It is about capitalism, it is about racism and classism.”
Abolitionist Ester King read a strong message to support Troy Davis in Georgia from Kenneth Foster, who won commutation of his death sentence hours before his Aug. 30, 2007, execution was to take place. A strong, popular movement forced this victory. March participants signed birthday cards for Foster.
Hearts and minds were filled with emotion as well as information when a dozen families of death row prisoners took the stage.
Regina Guidry, spouse of Howard Guidry. Standing next to her is Shelicia Cathey, sister of Eric Cathey, set for execution on Nov. 18.
Delia Perez Meyers said that her brother, Louis Castro Perez, was innocent, and even though he had just lost a round in court, his family continues to fight to win his freedom.
Sonya Chavez spoke for the large family of Melissa Lucio, who was sent to death row in August. Lucio is one of 10 women on death row in Texas. Her family, who drove from Harlingen, Texas, wore tee shirts with her photo.
Eric Cathey is scheduled for execution on Nov. 18, despite strong evidence of innocence. His sister, Shelicia Cathey, spoke about the injustice in his case.
Alisha Joshlin spoke fondly about her fiancée Willie Pondexter and the terror of waiting for his March 3, 2009, execution date. With tears streaming down her face, she asked for help and support.
Four families from the Rio Grande Valley rented a van and drove to Houston together. Their loved ones had all been sent to death row under the Texas Law of Parties, which allows a person who was not even at the scene of a crime to be put to death. After stopping the execution of Kenneth Foster in 2007 and winning a stay for Jeff Wood in August, activists plan to fight this law until it is taken off the books.
Marisol Ramirez spoke for her husband, Juan Raul Ramirez; and Sylvia Garza, with her daughter hugging her, spoke for her son, Robert Garza. With tears streaming, Janie Medrano said she can no longer tell her 7-year-old son that his daddy, Rudy, will be home soon. Lydia Garza spoke for her son, Humberto Garza. All four families had banners with their loved one’s photo on them and a demand for the end of the Law of Parties.
Howard Guidry’s appeal will be heard on Oct. 29. His spouse, Regina, urged people to be in Austin to support Guidry, an innocent man who was sent to death row after Harris County detectives coerced a false confession from him.
A highlight of the day was the participation of Kids Against the Death Penalty, formed by Jeff Wood’s daughter Paige and his nieces and nephews last spring. They participated in a highly public campaign for Wood, who won a stay of execution on Aug. 22. Gavin Been spoke for KADP. Speaking for Wood was Terry Been, his brother-in-law, friend and active supporter.
The last juvenile sent to death row in the U.S., before the Supreme Court outlawed the execution of those under 18, was Robert Acuña of Houston. His mother, Barbara, told of the relief of not waking up every day knowing that the state was going to murder her son.
Before Joseph Nichols was executed on March 7, 2007, he had his mother promise him that, through her, he would continue to be part of the fight against capital punishment. Lee Greenwood spoke at the rally about Joe being executed, even though he hadn’t killed anyone. She has always kept her promise to her son.
Articles copyright 1995-2008 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
While most children are spending their summer vacations camping, swimming, and having fun playing with their friends, there is one group of children in Texas spending their time bringing attention to the death penalty and executions in Texas.
These kids have formed their own group that they call "Kids Against The Death Penalty" Group members include, Gavin Been, President, Nick Been ,Vice President, Nathan Been 2nd VP, Carissa Bywater, Secretary, Cory Bywater, Paige Lynn Wood , Cynthya Dennison. Deanna Nickell, and Steven Been, board members. There are also a few more kids who just help out when needed. "We have 2 meetings a month for 2 hours unless something happens, and then we meet more." said Gavin Been, president of KADP.
They spend their time making posters, and trying to find ways to bring attention to the overwhelming number of executions that take place in Texas. Using the quote, "And A Child Shall Lead Them" they have created a Myspace, which they have decorated with peace signs. "We as children say: Killing of all kinds is wrong..that includes state sanctioned murder." The Myspace includes more photo's, videos and educational information about Capital Punishment.
They have rallied for Charles Dean Hood, and Jeff Wood, both with scheduled execution dates, and also for Karl Chamberlain and Derrick Sonnier, both recently executed by the state of Texas. Sonnier was executed on July 23, 2008 and Gavin said "we also were meeting for Derrick. We are very sad and mad that Texas killed him. Shame on them!"
The group plans on making tee shirts with slogans about the death sentence. "Right now we are meeting a lot so we can get stuff ready for Jeff's rally on the 2nd of August in San Antonio". Gavin is referring to Jeff Wood, a Texas inmate with an upcoming execution. Wood's case is in the public eye right now since he never touched the gun, and was convicted under Texas's "Law Of Parties."
I expect we will be hearing more about this group, "Kids Against The Death Penalty." After all, "Out of The Mouth of Babes," comes the truth.
After months of intensive campaigning and then four days of visits telling him goodbye, Jeff Wood’s family began screaming and jumping up and down with joy around 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 21 when attorneys for Wood told them the federal court had issued a stay of execution and the state of Texas would not try to appeal the ruling.
Hip Hop artist Capital X and Kids Against the Death Penalty.
WW photo: Gloria Rubac
Wood’s family was in Huntsville preparing to join protesters at the death house when the news came. “We are so happy and so relieved that it is quite a sight here with people laughing and crying at the same time,” Wood’s spouse, Kristin Wood, said. Kristin was preparing to witness the execution.
In a blistering opinion, Federal District Court Judge Orlando Luis Garcia in San Antonio criticized Texas courts saying, “With all due respect, a system that requires an insane person to first make ‘a substantial showing’ of his own lack of mental capacity without the assistance of counsel or a mental health expert, in order to obtain such assistance is, by definition, an insane system.”
Judge Garcia halted the execution of Wood to allow mental health experts to determine whether Wood, who has a history of emotional illnesses, is sane enough to be put to death. He expects to hold a hearing by March of 2009. He also appointed attorneys Scott Sullivan of San Antonio and Jared Tyler of Houston to represent Wood and a psychiatrist to work with them.
Activists from around Texas had worked with the Wood family for months trying to stop the execution. Wood was convicted under Texas’ law of parties but he killed no one and was not inside the store when a robbery and murder took place.
Wood spent his Aug. 19 birthday visiting family. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which has the power to recommend clemency to the governor, denied Wood’s clemency petition on this day.
Fortunately, attorneys Sullivan and Tyler had filed petitions in the courts and because of good lawyers and a public political movement in the streets Wood is alive today. Support for Wood had come from all over the U.S. and from Europe and Australia.
“Right now, first and foremost we want to thank everyone who got involved and we just hope and pray people won’t forget about Jeff because the fight is not over. We got a break and we thank god for that but it’s still not over. Even though the stay was issued on issues of Jeff’s mental health, I still think it is important we focus on the rest of the issues in his case and the law of parties,” said a grateful Kristin Wood.
Youth organize protests against death penalty
Wood’s daughter, nieces, nephews and young friends formed their own group, Kids Against the Death Penalty. They meet regularly and have elected officers. They issued their own fliers for Wood, have a My Space page and spoke at San Antonio press conferences. They have helped to gather over 5,000 signatures on petitions and had prominent individuals send letters to the governor and Board of Pardons asking for clemency.
The KADP also led a march in Austin for Wood.
On May 24, Wood’s family, the KADP and supporters joined with Puerto Rican Hip-Hop artist Capital X, who was nearing the end of his 1,700-mile walk from Trenton, N.J., to Austin, Texas, in protest of the death penalty.
On May 25 they demonstrated at the governor’s mansion. Since it was being remodeled, they then went to his temporary home, following another car into the gated community. Gov. Rick Perry did not answer his bell or the intercom, so the family and activists held up the signs to the security camera for the governor to see.
Since Wood attended school in San Antonio, activists and family gathered there in front of the Alamo to hold a press conference and a rally on August 2. Speakers included Wood’s father, Danny Wood; Capital X; Scott Cobb with the Texas Moratorium Network; and the KADP.
Sherri Clausell of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement read a statement from Lawrence Foster, the grandfather of Kenneth Foster. Last summer, Kenneth Foster was facing execution under similar circumstances. Foster was also convicted under the law of parties, but just hours before his execution he was granted clemency.
Foster’s statement said: “I hope no other family would have to endure what the Foster and Wood families have gone through. Jeff’s case is so much like Kenneth’s case that it is like a mirror image. I remember thinking last summer that Texas had already executed the killer and yet they wanted Kenneth. It is the same for Jeff. The killer has been executed. What more does Texas want? Jeff is not guilty of anything and wasn’t even in the store. Where is justice in Texas today? It is sure not in killing Jeff Wood. His execution should be stopped today.”
Then the KADP led an impromptu march around the Alamo. Many signatures were gathered from tourists at the Alamo, some from as far away as North Carolina and even from New Zealand, calling for clemency for Wood.
On Aug. 16, almost 100 people supporting Wood marched on the Capitol in Austin. At the rally, many tourists touring the Capitol signed petitions. A couple from Australia signed and told how in Australia they do not use capital punishment. Rally speakers were from the Texas Moratorium Network, the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, Texas Students Against the Death Penalty and the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Capital X did a rap he had written about Wood.
Belated birthday cards can be sent to: Jeff Wood #999256, Polunsky Unit, 3872 FM 350 South, Livingston, TX 77351. For information, go to www.savejeffwood.com and kidsagainstthedeathpenalty@hotmail.com.
Articles copyright 1995-2008 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Baze v. Rees that the three drugs used in lethal injections were okay, opening the door for executions to proceed after an eight-month hiatus. Since then, 18 people have been executed, 100 percent of them from the South, 33 percent of them in Texas, and all but one by lethal injection.
In the first week of August, Texas authorities drew international condemnation after executing two noncitizens who were denied access to their consulate in violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, signed by 165 countries including the U.S.
Mexican citizen José Medellín’s execution was put on hold for almost four hours on Aug. 5, while the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed appeals. Protestors gathered in Huntsville during thunderstorms from Tropical Storm Edouard.
Chi’s mother and cousin just after the Honduran’s execution in Huntsville.
The crowd grew during the five-hour delay and was joined by Heliberto Chi’s family, who carried signs, wore T-shirts with Chi’s photo on them, and spoke at the rally.
Medellín’s case garnered worldwide attention after the International Court of Justice in The Hague ordered the U.S. to prevent the execution until a review of his case could be held.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry issued a statement that “The Mexican government will continue insisting on the obligation of the United States to provide the review and reconsideration of the death sentence of other Mexican nationals.” (Houston Chronicle)
Demonstrations were held around Mexico, including a large one on the international bridge between McAllen, Texas, and Reynosa, Mexico.
Two days later, protesters again gathered in Huntsville, this time for the Aug. 7 execution of Chi, a Honduran citizen. Not only were Chi’s rights violated under the Vienna Convention, but also under a treaty signed directly between Honduras and the U.S., ironically named the Treaty for Friendship and Commerce.
Chi’s brother Hernan, in front of Huntsville, Texas, Death House.
Chi’s brother Hernán spoke at the rally outside the death house, saying that the U.S. “is an imperial country that only cares about money, not Black people and Brown people and poor people. We are a poor people and here we have no rights.”
At 6:00 p.m. when the execution was to begin, 15 to 20 family members surrounded Mirna Chi, Heliberto’s mother. They stood with protesters during the execution.
Chi’s cousin Édgar witnessed the execution for the family and came out of the death house sobbing and then collapsed into the arms of the family. Through sobs he explained in Spanish to media from Mexico, Honduras and Latin America what had happened in the execution chamber. “He is at peace. He is with Jesus now. He said that he loved all of you.”
Relatives gathered to meet his returning coffin at a Honduran airport on Aug. 10 wearing T-shirts with Chi’s photo and the slogan, “For us and the people of Honduras, you will always live.”
Chi’s 17-year-old brother Germán told Workers World that their grandmother had taken ill in July and told the family she was going to die because she did not want to be alive when the U.S. took her grandson from her. He will be buried near his grandmother on Aug. 12 in the coastal city of San Pedro Sula.
Of the 3,300 people on death row in the U.S., 121 are foreign nationals from 33 countries. Fifty-five are from Mexico.
There are now 21 more executions scheduled in the U.S. and 14 of them are in Texas.
Capital punishment is falling out of favor with many in this country, as fewer people are being charged with capital murder and juries are sentencing fewer people to death. Due to over 125 innocent people being released from death row, many realize that the finality of an execution cannot be undone if a wrongful conviction is discovered.
Of the 14 executions Texas now has scheduled, several have serious legal issues.
Two men convicted under Texas’ controversial Law of Parties statute are scheduled to be executed within the same week: Michael Rodriguez on Aug. 14 and Jeff Wood on Aug. 21. Although neither was charged with being the actual murderer, they were both convicted and sentenced to die. Rodriguez has given up his appeals and is a volunteer.
Wood is fighting and has support from his large family as well as abolitionist organizations. On Aug. 2, they held a press conference and rally in San Antonio in the tourist area around the Alamo. Every television station as well as the daily paper covered the event. Hundreds of people in the park signed petitions for Wood.
The highlight of the day was Kids Against the Death Penalty, who wore their own T-shirts and had their own flyer for Wood. They spoke at the rally, attracting the attention of children and adults alike. After the rally, the KADP led an impromptu march around the Alamo.
Jeff Wood’s family and supporters (including KADP) rally at Alamo in San Antonio to protest his impending execution. WW photos: Gloria Rubac
The next rally for Wood is on Aug. 16 in Austin at the Texas Capitol. See www.savejeffwood.com.
Greg Wright had DNA testing of evidence found on a pair of jeans that showed they were not his jeans, and he passed a polygraph test. There is also a written confession from his codefendant, John Wade Adams, but the state of Texas has issued an execution date of September 9, 2008. See www.freegregwright.com.
Charles Hood is scheduled to die on Sept. 10. Hood’s lawyers allege that Texas state court Judge Verla Sue Holland had “a personal and direct interest in the outcome of the case” and was disqualified from trying the case under the Texas Constitution because of her ongoing affair with Hood’s prosecutor, Collin County District Attorney Tom O’Connell.
Reginald Perkins has a date for Jan. 22, 2009. According to the Coalition for Truth and Justice, “Perkins has a very low IQ and is mentally retarded. There was neglect and emotional and physical abuse of Perkins. He and his sibling were beaten by their mother and spent nights under the porch to avoid more beatings. His family lived in abject poverty. His mother never showed affection toward her kids and called Reginald ‘f***ing cross eyes.’ She told him many times she didn’t want him to be born and did everything she could think of to try to abort him.”
“With so many questionable legal situations and knowing that only the poor face execution, it is crucial that we intensify our efforts to abolish the death penalty,” stated Njeri Shakur, organizer with the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement. “George Bush is a mass murderer but he is not on death row, so the arguments that the death penalty is only for the ‘worse of the worse’ is a fallacy. It is for the poor and oppressed.”
Articles copyright 1995-2008 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
October 25th saw more than a hundred death penalty abolitionists gather in Houston's Third Ward to march and protest the use of capitol punishment in the State of Texas and everywhere. In addition to Houstonians, people came from Austin, the Rio Grande Valley and San Antonio, inluding many family members of people on death row. The march was led by Texas’s newest abolition organization, Kids Against the Death Penalty, formed by the family of Jeff Wood, an innocent man sent to death row under the Law of Parties. Other participating groups included the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement,, the Free Radical Samba Band, and the Coalition to End the Death Penalty.
Dan Sharber713-560-7227713-560-7227713-560-7227713-560-7227
The 9th Annual March to End Executions to Focus on the Flaws of the Death Penalty in Texas; Exoneree Clarence Brandley to Speak along with Several Death Row Families
Hundreds of death penalty opponents will gather in Houston on Saturday, October 25, for the 9th Annual March to End Executions.The march will kick off at 2:00 pm with a pre-rally at the S.H.A.P.E. Center’s Harambee building at 3903 Almeda.
The 2008 march will be lead by a new organization—Kids Against the Death Penalty (KADP) followed by the S.H.A.P.E. Center Council of Elders.Participants will be traveling from Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and the Rio Grande Valley.The Free Radicals Marching Band will accompany the march down Alabama Street.
The featured speaker at the main rally at S.H.A.P.E.'s "Our Park," 3815 Live Oak, will be Clarence Brandley who was released after almost 10 years of wrongful confinement on death row.The S.H.A.P.E. Center was the home of the Coalition to Free Clarence Brandley, which launched a public campaign to win Brandley’s freedom.
In a 1987 evidentiary hearing, State District Judge Perry Picket recommended that the Court of Criminal Appeals grant Brandley a new trial, declaring: “In the thirty years this court has presided over matters in the judicial system, no case has presented a more shocking scenario of the effects of racial prejudice, perjured testimony, [and] witness intimidation. . . .The continued incarceration of Clarence Lee Brandley under these circumstances is an affront to the basic notion of fairness and justice.”
Another featured speaker will be Connie Wright, the wife of Gregory Wright, scheduled to be executed on October 30 despite evidence of innocence.Also, the family of Jeff Wood will speak.Wood was sent to death row because of the law of parties despite never killing anyone. He received a stay of execution shortly before his August 21 execution date this summer.
This march has been held every year since 2000, a year when then-Governor George Bush was campaigning for the presidency and 40 people were executed.
In 2008, Texas has seen questionable cases involving actual innocence, the law of parties, foreign nationals executed but never given their consular rights and a case of a judge and a D.A. having a secret, long-term romantic affair while trying cases together.
Thus, the theme of this year’s march is:The Death Penalty—Guilty on All Counts!Shut It Down.”Organizers point out that the death penalty targets poor people and people of color, executes innocent people through misconduct and the Law of Parties, and does not deter crime in Texas.
To protest pre-holiday executions Texas activists mobilize for annual march By Gloria Rubac, Houston Published Oct 23, 2008 10:29 PM
“With the holiday season five weeks away, early birds are counting shopping days. Texas is counting execution days,” says Elizabeth Ann Stein, producer of Execution Watch, a Houston radio show aired live from 6 to 7 pm on www.KPFT.org on days when executions are scheduled to take place. ”Between now and Nov. 20, the busiest death chamber in the United States will give lethal injections to 10 men. During one three-day period, a prisoner will be executed each day,” posted Stein on the radio show’s blog at www.executionwatch.org/blog. If these executions are carried out, this will bring to 21 the Texas total for people being put to death in 2008. It has been five years since Texas executed anyone during the month of December. In 2003 the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement called two December executions to the attention of the public and the media. The TDPAM stated that it was “horrifying to stand in front of the death house and protest executions while a large holiday display flashing red and green lights on the tall brick walls surrounding the Huntsville Prison Unit announced, ‘We Wish Your Family a Happy Holiday Season.’” Since then, there have been no executions during or after “Thanksgiving,” Christmas and New Year’s Day. On Oct. 25 Texas abolitionists will gather in Houston for the 9th Annual March to End Executions. The honored guest speaker will be one of nine people exonerated off Texas death row, Clarence Brandley.Brandley, an African American, spent close to 10 years in Huntsville for a crime he did not commit. When the sheriffs picked up Brandley and another man for questioning about a murder, they told the two men, “One of you all’s going to pay for this. Since you’re the n - - - - r, your elected,” Brandley recounts. Since his release in 1990, Brandley continues to speak out about the injustice of the death penalty, always commenting that if President Clinton had passed the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act while he was in prison, he would have been executed instead of speaking out. The theme of the 9th annual march is “The Death Penalty—Guilty on All Counts! Shut It Down.” Speakers will focus on how the death penalty targets the poor and people of color, including how innocent people are executed through state misconduct and the Law of Parties, which allows the death penalty to be applied to accomplices in murder cases. The march will be led by Texas’s newest abolition organization, Kids Against the Death Penalty, formed by the family of Jeff Wood, an innocent man sent to death row under the Law of Parties. Wood received a stay of execution in August hours before his date with death. His large family and supporters built a support campaign and the Texas governor granted the stay until next spring. Dozens of family members of those on death row will speak, some coming from as far away as the Rio Grande Valley. Connie Wright, the wife of Greg Wright, who is scheduled to be executed five days after the march despite evidence of innocence, will also be featured. Spoken word artist and Chicana activist, Dee!Colonize, will educate and entertain the rally with her original words about capital punishment as well as sharing the words of some poets on death row.The SHAPE Center Council of Elders will march behind the Kids, and the Free Radicals Marching Band will provide a lively beat to accompany the chants. Since executions resumed this past May after an eighth-month pause while the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of lethal injections, there have been 27 executions in the U.S. One hundred percent have been in the South, including 11 in Texas, four in Virginia and three in Georgia. The writer is a TDPAM organizer.
It is not very often that you come across individuals who define sacrifice. From the Walk 4 Life protesting the Death Penalty, to performing in Italy, performing even when his throat was going out, brother goes hard and it is an honor to bring to you an OG, Capital X.
Jehuniko: Where are you from and how did it all begin?
Capital X: I was born in Brooklyn, New York but I've lived in many places there after. My last known place of residence was BrickCity, Newark, New Jersey where I was last paroled from prison in 2001.
Though I have lived hip hop since the late 70's early 80's I say it all began in 2001. After being in and out of jail, mental institutions, drug rehabs and prisons for more than half my life in April of 2001 I walked out the front gates of Leesburg state prison and have not looked back since. I vowed I would never return in chains again. I've dedicated my life to Christ to hip hop and to the struggle of fighting for prisoners and all humans rights. I am proud to say I have been free for over 7 years now. This is the longest I have been free since I was 17 years old; I am 44 now.
What events in your life led to the path you walk?
Everything in my life as I see it led me to the path I now walk in life. Lets see, I started drugging at 12. I was hustling at 14. I dropped out of the 8th grade when I was 16 and was locked up on Rikers Island (city jail in New York) facing 10 to 15 years when I was 17. From 17 to 37 I was in and out of cages and restraints. My last charges had me facing 21 and a half years. I had to make a serious choice right then and there seeing I had reached the lowest point of my life. I was looking death in face mano, but I chose the narrow path. This is the correct path as I see it.
I worked hard to rehabilitate myself knowing the state wasn't going to do anything for me, because it never had. I started to educate myself like Malcolm X, George L Jackson and many others have. The saying "take the first step and God will help you with the rest" is true. I was blessed from the jump when the DA offered me a 5 year sentence. I took it. For me it was like going to college. I was going for my PhD in life experience, hell I had my masters already.
I stayed clean and sober in prison and studied everything from history to philosophy, psychology to Christianity. I took my GED exam and passed that. I represented so strong for my people in prison that I was given a pass out my clique to walk the righteous path which is not often heard of. I continued educating myself till I was released; then I went to college.
In college my major was music business/music technology. I was on the Deans list/honor roll for 6 straight semesters holding a 4.0 GPA. I was on the right path it seemed especially when I was tapped to intern at Sony in New York City. I was hired on the spot with high recommendations and credentials to back it up. Everything was cool till 3 days before I was to start my internship; I was called and told not to come to work. In the end I was discriminated against because of my criminal history even though I was honest about everything during my interview. My world came to a crashing halt for a minute.
After I shook it off, it all made sense. My path was to fight for prisoners rights. How could I not hear my calling loud and clear. I was in the free world having paid my debt to society, yet I was still treated as if I was still a prisoner. Ever since then I have been fighting for prisoners rights. The main right being violated is their right to live. So yea I fight head up against the death penalty and to a dope beat at that.
I know you worldwide, so who is down with your movement?
I have been blessed to be able to travel all over thanks to my many comrades in the struggle on both sides of the walls. In truth anyone who is against the death penalty and against injustices is down with not my movement but the movement. This movement I am involved in, is really the same movement that was born back in the 60's. But directly I am supported from The World Coalition to Abolish The Death Penalty, to The National Coalition right down to the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and The Students Against The Death Penalty.
In Hip Hop, I have been supported by the likes of Akir, Immortal Technique, Ill Bill, Sabac Red, Mr. Dibbs, Monte Smith and Chuck D just to name a few.
What do people need to know that they’re not being told?
There is to much not being told to get into in one sitting so let me just hit you with the simple facts. The thing people seem to care about the most is the cost when it comes to imprisonment. They think that keeping a prisoner locked up for life is a waste of their tax money. Well the truth is, it costs more to execute prisoners then to house them for the rest of their lives. It costs nearly 3 million dollars for a capital murder trial, the whole appeals process to the execution itself. It costs about $750,000 to house a prisoners for life.
The deterrent factor would be the next biggest issue; it's also the biggest debated issue. The fact is there is no proof that the death penalty deters murder. The deterrence factor is only a theory. One example is that Texas has the largest death row and has executed almost twice as many people as the next leading state. Houston alone accounts for 10% of all people executed in the United States since 1976. Yet, the murder rates in three of Texas' major cities rank among the nation's top 25 cities. In all three, Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth, the number of murders increased significantly in the last years.
There's a lot more but I will top it off with this; Singapore, Japan and the U.S. are the only fully developed countries that have retained the death penalty. According to Amnesty International, 137 countries have abolished the death penalty. 137 countries including our closest allies have done away with the death penalty yet America the country that claims to be so humane still executes it's own citizens by lethal injection which was actully invented and put into practice under Adolf Hitler.
These are just some of the facts, you can go to http://www.amnestyusa.org/ or http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/ for more info.
2 weeks ago, you had people of all ages there to see you, from little kids to Mom’s…I thought the group before you would offend the family because of all the cussing but when you came on, you’re talking shit,cussing……and you killed it, no doubt but I thought that was hella funny and the kids were hyped…Tell us about the family there to see you and the significance of raising awareness about the death penalty.
Well it was longer than 2 weeks ago now but it's still relevent because the kids that was there to see me perform at the White Swan were the family of Jeff Wood who is still on Texas death row. He was granted a stay of execution the day after that show which was a victory but he is still in danger of being executed. The rest of the kids are all down with KADP Kids Against The Death Penalty. The moms and and just about everyone else were members of the Texas Coalition to abolish the death penalty and the Texas Moratorium Network
Yea I keep it real holding back no punches most of the time. The only time you might see me ease up some is when I am called to speak/perform for kids in schools in the USA. Other than that it's on. I rap the same way I talk pretty much, anything else would be a front. The topics I touch upon are harsh realities. I can't see doing it any other way.
Tell me about your history as a working MC, what did you do to get your music heard?
My history as a working MC is to long to speak on in one sitting seeing I was signed once back in the 80's. To keep it simple, since I last got released from prison I started out by doing shows, as many as I could get. I then I got on a number of mix tapes. I then started to work with the internet which is amazing to reach a maximum audience with next to no budget at all. I actually got my first European shows because of my MySpace music page.
When I met Dolores Huerta, she said that her team tried to contact Obama when they were doing work around the U.S. in different Raza communities. She said Obama would never go into any of the Raza communities. What do you think about Obama?
I don't trust any politicians. I hate to sound negative but I just don't see any major changes coming that will directly effect the ones that really truly need change. I am hopeful and I am always open to be proven wrong by all means. But till I am proven wrong a politician is a politician I don't care who he is.
What inspires your music? One sick memory you’ve had, with your music so far?
The struggle inspires my music without question. The struggle for those silenced, the oppressed and for the preservation of the true essence of the hip hop culture.
As for a sick memory I would have to say my first arena show opening up for SlumVillage in Jesolo, Italy in 2006. There was about 4,000 people there and my set was in honor of my boy Anthony Haynes who's on Texas death row, it was a day I will never forget.
On your long walk from New Jersey to Texas, did you see anything crazy?
Meet anyone interesting?
I seen a lot of crazy things and met a lot of interesting people on the Walk 4 Life 2008. I have to say the craziest thing I seen was the amount of poverty there is in America. I have hundreds of stories of crazy things I seen no question about it, but witnessing just how much poverty there really is first hand was by far the craziest thing seeing America is supposed to be so wealthy and powerful.
One of the most interesting people I met on my journey was Juan "Puerto Rican Johnny" Melendez. Juan spent 18 years on Florida death row before he was exonerated. This was a great man, a true warrior of our time. Juan was the 24th inmate in Florida to be taken off death row and the 99th death row inmate in the United States to be freed because post-conviction evidence proved his innocence.
What’s next for you and where can people get your music?
As for what's next for me, I will be releasing my debut full length CD "305375" (The Voice of the Voiceless) in 2009 on I.G.W.T. Records with production by: Anno Domini, Niels Fromm, DJ Emergency, Engineer, UniBeats, Troy Karanta-Troykmusic and DJ Excel
You can check out some music as well as video footage of what I be doing and keep up with where I am going to be at the following sites. Thank you for everything. Peace and progress. "X"
Kristin Wood, the wife of death row inmate Jeffrey Wood, holds sister-in-law Terri Been at a rally at the Alamo. Jeffrey Wood is scheduled to be executed Aug. 21. A second rally is planned for Aug. 16 in Austin.
Supporters of Texas inmate Jeffrey Wood, scheduled to die Aug. 21 for the 1996 murder of a Kerrville convenience store clerk, are hoping Gov. Rick Perry can see how similar Wood's case is to that of an inmate whose death sentence he commuted to life in prison last year.
“It was the exact same thing,” said Wood's wife, Kristin. “He has faith, especially that the truth will come out eventually.”
Jeffrey Wood and his former roommate Daniel Reneau were convicted of murdering Kris Keeran, a clerk at the Kerrville Gold Star Texaco.
According to court testimony, Reneau held up the store . on Jan. 2, 1996, and shot Keeran after he refused to participate in a plan to stage a robbery and split the proceeds. Wood drove the getaway car. In a taped interview with a Kerrville police detective, Wood called Keeran “a real good friend.”
Wood's defense team claimed he was unaware that a robbery, let alone murder, would occur.
Kerr County Assistant District Attorney Lucy Wilke, formerly Lucy Cavazos, won a conviction against Wood under the law of parties statute, which makes someone who participates in an act that leads to homicide as culpable as the actual killer.
In a letter sent in July to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Wilke wrote, “Mr. Wood was the mastermind of this senseless murder. It was Wood who showed his teenage brother the surveillance video tape depicting the murder, while laughing, and then ordered his brother to destroy the tape.”
On Saturday, about 20 people gathered in front of the Alamo to rally for Wood's life, begging Perry for help.
Last August, Perry commuted a death sentence to life in prison for inmate Kenneth Foster Jr., also convicted under the law of parties statute.
“Jeff's case is so much like Kenneth's case; it is like a mirror image,” Lawrence Foster, grandfather of Kenneth Foster Jr., wrote in a statement read at the rally. “I remember thinking last summer that Texas had already executed the killer and yet they wanted Kenneth. It is the same for Jeff.”
The cases are so similar that Norway native Kristin Wood, 29, has found comfort and support from the Foster camp, including from Foster's wife, Tasha, a 24-year-old Netherlands citizen.
Wood's relatives staged the rally with the Texas Moratorium Network, which wants a two-year moratorium on all death penalty cases. A second rally for Wood is planned for Aug. 16 in Austin.
Meanwhile, younger relatives have joined a group called Kids Against the Death Penalty.
“I'm here because Jeff Wood is innocent and on death row for a murder that he didn't commit,” said Gavin Been, 11, Wood's nephew.
According to the Texas Moratorium Network, attorney Jared Tyler with the Texas Defender Service is preparing a clemency package to submit on Wood's behalf.
The victim's father, Charles Keeran, also would like to see Wood live.
“The death penalty, to me, is the easy way out,” he said. “If you had to be down there and get up every morning, as hot and humid as it is, knowing that you are going to spend the rest of your life locked up under those conditions, that's punishment. That's what I think my son would want for him.”
Kids Against the Death Penalty was started by young relatives of Jeffrey Wood. They were a major part of the coalition to Save Jeff Wood, attending protests in San Antonio and Austin. They also walked part of the last leg of Capital X's cross country walk from New Jersey to Austin. They were there when Capital X reached the Texas governor's mansion.
It looks like they have been very busy, holding meetings and protesting every execution in Texas.
They have also accepted an invitation from the Houston organizers of the 9th Annual March to Stop Executions to lead the march on Oct 25 with their banner at the front. ___________________________________________________________________
At last weekend's rally to Save Jeff Wood several of his nieces, nephews and their friends attended wearing t-shirts that read KADP, Kids Against the Death Penalty. The San Antonio Express News mentioned them in their story on the rally:
Wood's relatives staged the rally with the Texas Moratorium Network, which wants a two-year moratorium on all death penalty cases. A second rally for Wood is planned for Aug. 16 in Austin.
Meanwhile, younger relatives have joined a group called Kids Against the Death Penalty.
“I'm here because Jeff Wood is innocent and on death row for a murder that he didn't commit,” said Gavin Been, 11, Wood's nephew.
 "Photo: Bryant Haertlein/The Daily Texan")
Texans March in Third Ward Against Executions
Protest Pre Holiday Executions 
