Death Penalty Cartoon

Just wanted to share this amusing little cartoon with you, sketched by resident artistic genius ScofieldBurrows. It amused me so I thought I'd share it with you.

There are some great little cartoon's like this on the web about the problems with the death penalty, and they're great for poking fun at the avid death penalty supporters.

The quality of the photo is not great, but it basically shows an accused man at trial, protesting because he is already been prepared for a lethal injection. The paper in the guard's hand is a death warrant, I think.

The sad thing is, it's practically true.

STAY FOR SKINNER

Henry "Hank" Skinner was granted an eleventh hour appeal... Less than an hour before his execution.

Skinner, who was scheduled to be put to death on March 24th for the 1993 killings of his girlfriend and her two sons, has contended repeatedly that he is innocent because he was unconscious during the murder rampage after taking alcohol and drugs.

The execution would have taken place at 7pm last night (Washington time), had the Supreme Court not intervened and blocked his execution to allow crucial DNA tests to take place which could prove his innocence.

For over ten years, prosecutors and state courts have refused time and time again to allow blood, fingernail scraping, and hair found at the crime scene to be tested.

One can always hope that these tests will prove Skinner's innocence after all, saving an innocent man's life and once again proving the human error which can lead to an innocent man coming within an hour of the needle. If the tests come back and prove his guilt... Well, at least we'll be sure. The fact of the matter is, Texas very nearly executed a man before all the evidence against him was even TESTED. Talk about justice, huh?

URGENT ACTION APPEAL

Okay people, we need to move fast here.

Hank Skinner, left, is scheduled to be executed tomorrow, March 24th, despite the fact that key DNA evidence (which could prove his innocence!) has not gone under analysis yet!!!

Today the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles Death Panel voted to DENY Skinner's request to have the samples tested (and it was 7 to 0 too, from what I hear...)

This is not JUSTICE!!! Even the most avid death penalty supporter cannot agree that a man should be put to death BEFORE all the evidence is properly evaluated. Whether Skinner is innocent or not, this is not right.

We're calling urgently for members to help out. We should have done it sooner, but I'm out of state right now and I honestly didn't think it would get this far. I've hurriedly comprised some contacts so if you want to help out, please do some or all of the following (they won't take you long).

There's a petition set up by the Innocence Project which you can sign to call for urgent DNA testing:

http://www.change.org/petitions/view/order_dna_testing_for_hank_skinner

Here's one to try and influence the governor's decision to grant a 30 day reprieve:

https://secure2.convio.net/ip/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=197&autologin=true&JServSessionIdr004=1rblsvxsp4.app202a

And here are some numbers. You might need to get your parents to call:

Opinion Lines

Texas callers: (800) 252-9600

Out of state callers and Austin residents: (512) 463-1782

Office of the Governor, Main Switchboard (from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST): (512) 463-2000

Office of the Governor Fax: (512) 463-1849

I THINK these numbers are right, if you have any others please post, and get in touch if you can.

Right, I know this was hastily done but if Skinner is executed on Wednesday without this testing being done, a great injustice will have been done. Even if he is guilty

Competition info!

This brilliant video was sent to us by artychic500 for our "Ideas in Motion" competition. We thought we'd post it here to inspire you! So far, support for the competition does not look particularly promising - which is a little disapointing considering everybody was excited about it BEFORE we launched... Come on guys! This is your chance to make your mark. It's all very well and good saying you want to stop the death penalty, but sometimes you've just got to roll up your sleeves and put a bit of effort into it! On top of this, you could win a fabulous prize - if enough people enter, we're in talks about a superstar code for the winner. Can't get much better than this, and if nobody enters this one, don't think we'll be having many more big competitions any time soon. Hint hint.

So get creating! See the post before this one for details on entry requirements, and feel free to email us if you have any questions. We can be contacted on Stardoll (..Dark_Angel.. and ScofieldBurrows) or directly at deathwatchstardoll@hotmail.co.uk

Well done to artychic500, and good luck to you and every other entrant!

Ideas in Motion - Our first BIG competition!

Raise your voice against the death penalty in Death Watch; Stardoll’s first BIG competition!


Our perceptions of important issues are significantly shaped by the media. The same rule applies to the death penalty. That’s why we’re launching our first big competition – to make a short film about the death penalty and why we oppose it.


Your task:
To make a short film demonstrating one or more reasons for opposing the death penalty

The Big Rules:
1. Your film must be at least 1 minute long but no longer than 2 minutes. Hence the short part.
2. You must mention Death Watch; Stardoll somewhere in the movie. It doesn’t have to be much, just mention that we’re against the death penalty, to support us, etc.
3. You must be a member of Stardoll, and a member of our Stardoll club No_DeathPenalty to enter.
4. You must be comfortable for us to put your video on our blog and possibly our YouTube channel. So if you don’t want your real name or face on the video, don’t put them there :)

Everything else is not compulsory but advisory (see the Do’s and Don’ts)


How to enter:
Once you’ve finished your masterpiece, email it to us at: deathwatchstardoll@hotmail.co.uk

If you’ve made your video on Windows Movie Maker, you MUST PUBLISH THE FILE before sending it to us (on Movie Maker, click on file, publish movie, and then follow the steps). Otherwise we won’t be able to see it!
If you’ve having trouble emailing it to us, tell us and we’ll try to work out an alternative way for you to enter your work.

Along with your video, please fill out the following entry form and email to us. (Fields marked with a * are compulsory. The rest is optional.)

Stardoll Name *:
Real (first) Name:
Age:
Country:
Title of your video *:


The Do’s and Don’ts:

DO show creativity, originality, and powerful ideas
DON’T be rude or offensive in any way

DO feel free to expand on any ideas/themes touched upon in our sample video, or other videos you may have seen
DON’T plagiarize (copy). We are not stupid – we will know, and you will be disqualified. Straight lifts from our video are not acceptable. Expand on ideas, but don’t steal them.

DO feel free to use clean music and/or clips from any TV shows, films, etc.
DON’T let clips/music overwhelm the central ideas of your film.
And
DON’T use footage of real-life death row inmates or executions. Such things can be found on the web, but we don’t want that. You CAN mention cases (e.g. we showed a picture of Todd Willingham, who we believe was innocent and executed). But don’t use any media which could be deemed as upsetting or disrespectful. The death penalty is disturbing without seeing it live.

DO email us if you have any questions or want to know more about anything
DON’T bully or intimidate any other entrants. Such behaviour could result in your disqualification from the competition


The Prizes:
We have not yet decided on a prize yet. We are CONSIDERING a superstar membership on Stardoll as first prize. But this is not definite. This would cost us real money, a thing we are only willing to do if a substantial number of people enter. The size of the prize depends on how many people enter – you’ve got to be in it to win it, as they say!

The Deadline:
Again, we’re not sure yet. It will be AT LEAST one month from now, possibly longer. We understand this is a big task and so we’re setting a very broad closing date. We will update you when we come up with an absolute date.


Finally, keep it tasteful, keep it powerful, and the best of luck to anyone entering!