Save Tuesday, March 20, when Quakers will be in Frankfort to meet with lawmakers
about ending the death penalty in Kentucky. Plans are in the works. Meanwhile
contact Doug Stern (dug909@gmail.com) for more information.
http://www.ket.org/cgi-bin/cheetah/watch_video.pl?
nola=WGAOS+013154&altdir=&template= Link to senate hearing on abolition.
WITNESS TO INNOCENCE:
FROM DEATH ROW TO FREEDOM
Shujaa Graham, the 20th Death Row Exoneree
Presented by the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 7 p.m., at Brescia Universitys Taylor Lecture Hall
(Science Building), 717 Frederica St., Owensboro.
Thursday, March 22, 2012, 11 a.m. at Kentucky State Universitys Bradford Hall,
located on the campus at 400 E. Main St., Frankfort, KY.
Thursday, March 22, 2012, 5:30 p.m. at U of Ls Elaine Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom
Library, 2215 S. 3rd St., Louisville, KY. Joining Shujaa for this presentation
are SueZann Bosler, whose father was murdered, and Bill Babbit, who helped the
police arrest his brother, Manny, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who was a
paranoid schizophrenic. Bill thought his brother, convicted in the death of an
elderly woman, would receive treatment and that the justice system would hand
down a fair sentence. Instead, Bill was present in 1999 when the state of
California executed Manny.
Supported by a grant from the Proteus Action League.
Shujaa Graham grew up on a Louisiana plantation in the 50s. He moved to Los
Angeles with his family seeking a better life than the sharecropping he left
behind. Instead he was in and out of trouble and behind bars most of his young
adult life.
Accused of killing a prison guard, Graham spent five years proving his
innocence. Since his release, an additional 120 inmates have been exonerated and
set free from death rows of various states. He is part of Witness to Innocence,
a project challenging the American public to grapple with the fatally-flawed
criminal justice system.
Co-sponsored by
Brescia University and Kentucky Wesleyan College.
For additional information, contact KCADP Coordinator Kaye Gallagher at (502)
636-1330 or email staff@kcadp.org.
On December 22, 1986, SueZann Bosler and her father, Rev. Billy Bosler, were
attacked in the church parsonage by an intruder. Rev. Bosler was stabbed 24
times. SueZann, in an effort to help him, was herself stabbed in the back and
head and left for dead. While lying on the floor pretending to be dead, she
heard the intruder ransack the house as she watched her father take his last
breath.
As a Brethren minister, Rev. Bosler had been an opponent of capital punishment,
and had once told SueZann that if he was ever murdered he would not want his
killer to receive the death penalty. On her father's behalf, SueZann worked for
10 1/2 years to spare the life of his murderer, James Bernard Campbell. She
voiced her opposition to the death penalty throughout three trials and two
sentencings. Her efforts put her at stark odds with Florida prosecutors and
judges, who at one point threatened her with contempt of court if she revealed
her views to the jury considering Campbell's fate.
SueZann devoted many years to seeking commutation of Campbell's death sentence.
On June 13, 1996, her efforts were successful and his sentence was commuted to
three consecutive life terms. "Being able to point to him at that moment, and
express my forgiveness, was like having a weight lifted from my shoulders," she
recalls.
"My father's favorite hymn was 'Let There Be Peace on Earth, and Let it Begin
With Me.! Those of us who work against the death penalty are working for
peace."
http://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/view_stories.php?Shujaa-Graham-27
http://www.journeyofhope.org/old_site2/people/suezann.htm
http://www.willsworld.com/~mvfhr/bill.htm
HCR 173 - http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/12RS/HC173.htm
SCR 190
SB 63
HB 145
I have this "I was glad to see that SB 63 finally got a hearing. I believe that
the information covered is essential to abolishing the death penalty but there
is still a lot more that needs to be covered." Dwight Haggard, Senior Central
HIgh School.
I was impressed with the thoroughness of all three experts. They really brought
home how useless and expensive the death penalty is, particularly at a time when
our resources need to be directed at real problems. I very much wanted to hear
the others who had signed up to speak and to have time to take questions. I was
impressed with how useful "Skype" technology is to bring in others live from
around the country.
Ray Schweri (MVFR member)
Fr. Pat, These are my thoughts regarding last Thursday. Sharon Schuhmann
The hearing on Senate Bill 63 to abolish the death penalty was an historical
hour for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. What impressed me the most was the
factual information presented about the enormous expense and complexity
surrounding capital punishment.
I witnessed our elected officials hearing the issues of racism, wrongful
convictions, and the dysfunctional system of prosecuting death penalty cases. I
was grateful that our system of government provided the process for a hearing on
the issue of capital punishment. Hopefully this is the first step toward
replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment.
My thoughts were about the lack of serious interest and response by senators who
cared so little about other thoughts as well as to facts that were developed
with legal research by three different and independent authorities sincere and
honest beyond doubt.
I also felt seriously regretful that the public, or so few of the public, will
see, hear or know the thoughts the sincere and informed speakers shared.
I should be our goal to spread their ideas far and wide!!!!
- don pratt
Last Thursdays hearing on SB 63 exemplifies the sort of work Christians are all
called to do. The politically charged atmosphere, surrounding religious freedom,
could make it easer for believers to do nothing. As Christians, we are called to
differentiate between an intellectual construct of faith, passivity, and to that
of a faith that is in communion with Christ: action.
Thirty years ago the prospect of a bill to abolish the death penalty was
unfathomable. The recent progress, a committee hearing, we experienced is due,
in large part, to a sustained faith, that calls us to action. I was very honored
and proud to have witnessed a historic moment in the evolution of the death
penalty in the state of Kentucky.
Deacon Keith McKenzie
St Augustine Parish
Louisville Kentucky
Last week I attended a hearing covering the subject of the Death Penalty and its
use in the state of Kentucky. Upon research over the past year, I am now in
favor of abolition of the death penalty in the state of Kentucky. While still
recovering from a recession we need to save wherever we can and the death
penalty is only getting costlier every year. There is no reason to pay for a
broken system that we do not even use.-Jason jewell, Central High School
student.
The fact that we had a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on this bill
was vastly important the first step that has been poised for years by Senator
Neal and other abolitionist legislators. Chairman Jensen was gracious and
attentive but I was really disappointed that co-chair Katie Stine came late, was
obviously distracted throughout the testimony and left early three indicators
of distain not only for the content of the bill but for the process of committee
hearings.
Sr Dorothy Schuette
Bill Babbitt is a member of Murder Victims'Families for Human Rights and the
brother of Manny Babbitt.
Bill helped the police arrest his brother, Manny, a decorated Vietnam War
veteran who was a paranoid schizophrenic. Bill thought his brother, convicted in
the death of an elderly woman, would receive treatment and that the justice
system would hand down a fair sentence.
Instead, Bill was present in 1999 when the state of California executed Manny.
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted