[PAA-Discuss] Fwd: [tcadphouston] TCADP Press Release: 200th Execution Under Gov. Perry [1 Attachment]

[Art Browning]

surely y'all already got this.ah, well. just in case not, here 'tis.
A
PS: I removed the attachment; they often to not work well in listserved
forwards.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Atwood <dpatwood at igc.org>
Date: Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 2:18 PM
Subject: [tcadphouston] TCADP Press Release: 200th Execution Under Gov.
Perry [1 Attachment]
To: tcadphouston at yahoogroups.com
Cc: lampofhope at yahoogroups.com, friends_of_KPFT at yahoogroups.com,
news at kpft.org

 Dear TCADP Board Members, Chapter Leaders, and Regional Reps,

Attached and pasted below you'll find the TCADP press release regarding
tomorrow's scheduled 200th execution under Governor Rick Perry.  I have sent
this release to all of the major metropolitan newspapers throughout the
state, as well as to radio and TV stations in Austin and Houston, Spanish
media outlets in El Paso, and numerous other reporters.

Please feel free to forward the release to your local media contacts and to
add information at the bottom about your local events (I added this info to
the releases I sent to Austin and Dallas-based media).   If you have any
questions about which reporters/outlets are on the statewide media list,
please let me know.

Thank you for all your efforts tomorrow.  Please let us know about any media
coverage this execution/TCADP receives in your community (radio, print, TV)
so that we can respond with appropriate letters to the editor, online
comments, etc.

Many thanks,
Kristin



*Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty*
2709 S. Lamar Blvd. Suite 109
Austin, TX 78704
512-441-1808
www.tcadp.org

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*
Monday, June 1, 2009

*CONTACT*
Kristin Houlé, Executive Director
512-441-1808 (office); 202-494-3578 (cell)
khoule at tcadp.org
*
Texas** Set to Carry Out 200th Execution during Perry Administration**
State Remains Out of Step with Changing National Landscape*

* Austin, Texas* — On June 2, 2009 – barring an unlikely last-minute
reprieve – the State of Texas will carry out its 200th execution under the
administration of Governor Rick Perry.   The execution of Terry Hankins will
mark the 16th this year; 14 other executions have taken place nationwide.  Five
more executions are set to occur in Texas between July and September.

Nearly half of Texas’ 438 executions since 1982 have taken place in the last
eight years alone.  “In this same time period, the death penalty landscape
has changed dramatically both in Texas and nationwide,” said Kristin Houlé,
Executive Director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
(TCADP).  “Since Governor Perry was sworn into office on December 21, 2000,
three states have abandoned the death penalty entirely and numerous state
legislatures have made significant progress in advancing repeal legislation,
particularly during their 2009 sessions.”

Since 2001, 40 people – including two in Texas – have been released from
death row due to evidence of their wrongful conviction.  In addition, the
U.S. Supreme Court has prohibited the death penalty for persons with mental
retardation and juvenile offenders, rendering more than three dozen Texas
death sentences unconstitutional.

While Texas remains far out of step with the rest of the country, and the
world, regarding executions, support for the death penalty in this state
appears to be waning as public confidence in the fairness and accuracy of
the ultimate form of punishment continues to diminish.  New death sentences
have declined more than 50% in Texas in the past six years as prosecutors
and juries have come to accept the alternative punishment of life in prison
without the possibility of parole (LWOP) as a reliable way to protect
society, punish the guilty, and guard against convicting and executing
innocent people.

“Rather than speaking of *seceding*, the leaders of this great state should
be *following* the example of their peers in New Mexico, Maryland, New
Jersey, and many others in examining the necessity and utility of capital
punishment,” said Houlé.  “It is time to divert our state’s valuable
resources to programs that truly prevent crime and provide meaningful
victims’ services, rather than perpetuate the cycle of violence with
state-sponsored killing.”

For more facts and figures related to the 200th execution, go to
http://www.tcadp.org/uploads/Perry200FactSheet.pdf.

TCADP members will hold vigils and other events on June 2 in multiple
locations throughout the state.  See
http://tcadp.org/index.php?page=vigilsfor a complete list of vigil
sites.

###

-- 
Kristin Houlé
Executive Director
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
2709 S. Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 441-1808 (work)
(202) 494-3578 (cell)
khoule at tcadp.org
www.tcadp.org






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