Say NO to hared this Valentine's Day!

We're launching a mini campaign this Valentine's Day to promote love over hatred, and hatred is - essentially - what the death penalty stands for, so we say 'NO' to that too!

This Valentine's Day, make sure you say you love them to somebody special. Whether you're alone like me this year, are sharing it with a life-long partner, or someone you met last week, you can get involved! Whether it's your boy/girlfriend, husband or wife, best friend, parents, brother or sister, or even your cat, make sure you let them know how special they are to you! Hell, if you can't say it on Valentine's, right?

Let's all get involved this year! Send in photos of your Valentine's message (like the one I took last night - see above!) to us, and we'll put them all together on a special video to promote this simple message! You don't have to show your face if that makes you uncomfortable - do what I did! And if you're dedicating your message to someone special, first name's are okay but no last names thanks! :)

Our email address is:

deathwatchstardoll@hotmail.co.uk

We look forward to seeing your pics! And if you have any ideas about what song should go in the background of the video, tell us!

Don't forget to spread the love below by commenting!!! :)

Death Watch International's Bin it! campaign - Focus on Uganda

I've told you before about the Bin It! campaign run by Death Watch International, and this month the campaign is focussing on Uganda.

As you may have heard, Uganda has caused almost worldwide controversy over it's recent addition of homosexuality to the list of capital offences there. This means being gay is now punishable by death. I hate to be judgemental, but that is seriously messed up.

I'd just like to urge you to take a moment of your time to help the campaign and hopefully preasure Uganda to stick the death penalty in the trashcan of history!!!

It's really easy to do you bit! Just email or write to the ambassador of Uganda and POLITELY tell him that you think he should 'bin' the death penalty. Optionally, attach a piece of virtual trash to your email or stick a real bit in the envelope, and ask him to bin it along with the death penalty (but nothing harmful or offensive. Seriously). Keep your message short and sweet, and don't be rude! It doesn't help matters, believe me.

If you're stuck for ideas, here is what ScofieldBurrows emailed the ambassador:

Dear Mr Ambassador,
Your Excellency, I write to you with the very grave matter of your country's use of the death penalty on my mind. The death penalty is an outdated and barbaric practice which belongs in the past. I urge you to please reconsider the death penalty in your country, especially for homosexuality. Join the rest of the modern world and stop the death penalty.
Thank you for your time.
Yours sincerely,
(Your name)

Why not copy that, or write something of your own!

ScofieldBurrows has emailed His Excellency and I've written a letter, and we've jointly emailed him on behalf of Death Watch; Stardoll, but we'd love it if more people from our organization got involved! Take a stand! Make a difference!

Here are His Excellency's contact details if you want to help:

His Excellency Dr Ruhakana Rugunda
Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary
Permanent Mission of Uganda to the United Nations
336 East 45th Street, New York, NY 10017
USA

E-mail: info@ugandamissionunny.net

[If you send an email - please put the Ambassador's name in the subject line.]


For more info, visit:
http://www.deathwatchinternational.org/do_something.php

But please consider getting involved! Sending an email only takes 2 minutes! There's too much injustice in this world, and too many people turn a blind eye to it, that's why it continues. Don't be one of them.

Oh, and seriously, don't be at all offensive. I can't stress that enough. Smile and the world smiles with you :)

A homegrown video

In light of our proposal to hold a competition for the best homemade short-film against the death penalty, we, the directors of Death Watch; Stardoll, decided to make our own, to give you an idea about what the hell we're talking about!

Unfortunately, ScofieldBurrows has exams in just over a fortnight and was unable to take time from her revision to make her own video, so we combined ideas and I made this!

After deciding what to do, the entire video took a little over one hour to make, including the photography involved, and that's because I'm a perfectionist. It doesn't take much time or effort to make a one-minute movie :)

The song is 'Mad World' if you're wondering. I forget who it's by.

Enjoy!

2009 and the Death Penalty

A brief overview of the death penalty in the US last year

2009 was a turbulent year for the death penalty. Between the economic crisis, the botched execution of Romell Broom and, of course, the uproar over the execution of the recently-deemed-innocent Todd Willingham, eleven states considered abolishing the death penalty, with one actually doing so.

2009 had the fewest death sentences since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 – only 106 new inmates were sent to death row compared to the 111 sentences in 2008, and the incredible 328 sentences of death in 1994. The number of death sentences has been steadily declining for 7 years now. The drop is especially noticeable in Texas – this year, only 9 death sentences were passed as opposed to the average of 34 per year during the 90’s. Only 11 of the 35 states upholding the death penalty carried out an execution in 2009.

The decline can mostly be attributed to the economic crisis. With states facing severe budget deficits, the cost of pursuing even one capital case almost certainly swayed some prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. In a national poll released in 2009, the nation’s police ranked the death penalty last in their priorities for effective crime reduction, as they did not believe it acted as deterrent to murder and thought it was one of the least efficient uses of tax dollars in the fight against crime.

Despite this, the number of actual executions rose since 2008 (probably due to the 4 month long de facto moratorium of 2008 when the Supreme Court addressed the controversy surrounding lethal injection). 52 inmates, all male, were executed in the United States in 2009, 51 by lethal injection and one via the electric chair. Only 37 sentences were carried out the previous year. The Southern states accounted for 45 out of 52 executions (87%), with Texas alone carrying out 24 of these (46% of the total executions for 2009). The Midwest can be blamed for the other 13% of the executions, with none taking place in the West or Northeast.

Of the eleven states which considered dropping the death penalty, only one actually did. In March, New Mexico became only the 15th state to end the death penalty, leaving 35 states upholding it.

2009 also had the second highest number of exonerations since the death penalty was reinstated. Nine men who had been sentenced to death were exonerated and freed, having spent a combined 121 years in prison between receiving their death sentences and being exonerated. This brings the total number of exonerations since 1973 to 139.

On August 17th 2009, the Court ordered a new evidentiary hearing for Troy Davis, an inmate on death row in Georgia. The case had drawn worldwide attention due to new evidence which suggested his innocence and stayed his execution. It was the first time in nearly 50 years that the Court favorably responded to a petition sent directly to them, rather than as an appeal from lower courts. Only two Justices were writing in opposition so the court ordered a lower federal court to the hear Davis’s evidence.

Since the man’s original conviction in 1991, at least 7 eyewitnesses against Davis have retracted their testimony. Significant new evidence points to another suspect as the actual killer. Justice Stevens, with Justice Breyer and Justice Ginsburg agreeing, wrote:

“The substantial risk of putting an innocent man to death clearly
provides an adequate justification for holding an evidentiary hearing.”

Despite such hopeful developments in the issue of innocence for Troy Davis, 2009 has provided the first solid proof that an innocent man has indeed been executed. Cameron Todd Willingham (pictured above) was executed on February 17th 2004 after being found guilty of starting the fire which killed his 3 daughters in his home in Corsicana, Texas, in 1991. But in 2009, a prominent forensic scientist commissioned by a state legislative panel reported that the evidence of arson that was used to convict and sentence Willingham to death failed to show any crime had been committed. This report concurred with similar reports on the case from leading forensic scientists commissioned by the Chicago Tribune and the Innocent Project. Willingham’s jury was misled by faulty evidence to believe that he set the fire which killed his children. The Governor, Rick Perry, has been accused of covering up the investigation of whether or not Texas has indeed executed an innocent man until after the March 2010 primary election. Perry had denied clemency for Willingham despite reports stating his innocence surfacing as early as January of 2004.
June 2nd 2009 was the date that the 200th person was executed in Texas since Rick Perry became governor in December 2000.

October 2009 also saw hundreds of people converge on the Texas capitol in Austin to call for abolition of the death penalty in Texas during the 10th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty. The skies were blue and enthusiasm was high as told over 500 people, including myself, took part in the march which was the largest rally against the death penalty in Texas since

2000. The March included the delivery of a petition to Rick Perry that was signed by over 6000 people calling for a complete investigation into Todd Willingham’s case and an overall moratorium on executions. Special guests included 3 innocent and exonerated former death row inmates, the pen-pal of Todd Willingham who first investigated his innocence, and the man’s last lawyer, Walter Reaves.

And of course I didn't forget, 2009 marked the creation of Stardoll's first (and sort of only) organization dedicated to the abolition of the death penalty. Death Watch; Stardoll currently has over 360 supporters and is growing fast. We plan to keep up the good work in the New Year!

2009 is done and dusted and now all we can do is look to the future and hope that changing attitudes surrounding the death penalty are maintained over the coming year. With more and more leaders concluding that the death penalty is a wasteful and expensive part of a broken system badly in need of reassessment, it seems clear that if an end does come to the death penalty it will be due to money. For now, all we can do is sit back and hope that such opinions don’t vanish as soon as the economic crisis is over.

Data compiled and written by ScofieldBurrows and ..Dark_Angel..

Sourced from: The Death Penalty Information Centre, Texas Monatorium Network, Death Watch International, and Death Penalty News.

YOU can help bin the death penalty!

I was recently emailed something very interesting from a friend which I thought you may or may not be interested in. Death Watch International is a fantastic organization aiming to make the death penalty history, and they are running a 'Bin it!' campaign designed to put pressure on countries which retain the death penalty to consign it to the trashcan of history.

So every month the Bin it! campaign spotlights a particular country, and this month the focus is on the UAE.

The UAE executed just one person last year (which is still one too many). Many offences are capital (punishable by death) there, including adultery, apostasy and drug trafficking.

The Bin It! campaign encourages ordinary people - not politicians and world leaders, but you and me - to email or write to the country's ambassador. If emailing, they suggest you attach a picture of some trash, like a trashcan full of junk or something, to encourage them to Bin It! along with the death penalty! If you're writing a letter, why not stick a bit of REAL trash in the letter (nothing hazardous or offensive though, that'll not do you or the cause any good!). This is not essential - the piece of trash is at your discretion. What's important is that lots and lots of people write or email the ambassador to let him know how we all feel! So why not you? Why not now?!

So, I thought that the followers of this blog might be interested in helping out! If you want more information, visit their website: www.deathwatchinternational.org/do_something.php

Here is an example of something you could write. If you're out of ideas, just copy and paste this, fill in your details and send it! Simple!

Dear Mr Ambassador,
I am of the opinion that the death penalty is an outdated and barbaric practice which belongs in the past. In retaining it, your country is in an increasingly small minority in the world. Please, make the death penalty history - bin it along with the enclosed/attached piece of trash!
Yours sincerely,
Tiffany

Keep your letter/email simple, short and - most importantly - polite. Whatever you do, DON'T BE OFFENSIVE! You'll just hurt the cause.

Here are the Ambassador's details if you want to help out:

His Excellency Mr Ahmed Al-Jarman
mbassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary
Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations
3 Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, 305 East 47th Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10017
USA


You can email him at: uae@un.int
[NOTE: If you send an email please put the Ambassador's name in the subject line so he gets it!]


So what are you waiting for? This is a really simple, easy way to help the cause and make your mark! Think about it - YOU could help end the death penalty in a country, for nothing more than the cost of a stamp! Please help out Death Watch International by supporting this campaign!

And if you're feeling particularly radical today and that wasn't enough for you, a full list of the contact details for every UN leader is available on the death watch international website. Why stop at one?!

- Tiffany

INNOCENT AND EXECUTED: EXACTLY WHY THE DEATH PENALTY CAN'T WORK

Innocent people could be executed.

Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the United States in 1976, people who protest its use have cried these immortal words in their fierce arguments. And, ultimately, their cries have been ignored. Police, prosecutors, federal judges and lawmakers all swear that the system will not allow an innocent person to be executed.

Well, we all know that’s a load of rubbish, isn’t it?

The system always has, and always will have, flaws. No system can ever be perfect. Human nature will always mean that so called ‘evidence’ is lied about, exaggerated, fabricated or just ignored completely in the hunt for justice. And where the death penalty is applied, this presents a deadly problem. What if we kill the wrong guy…?

In an earlier post, ‘The Innocence Appeal’, I have already given you indisputable proof that mistakes can and do happen. Remember, if you will, the case of Ron Williamson, who came within 5 days of execution at one point during his wrongful stint on death row in the infamous McAlester prison in Oklahoma. Outside of the US (and I apologize that most of my attention focuses on this country), think about a man called Kravchenko in Russia, who was executed in 1984 for a crime committed by another man, who by this point had killed at least 16 more times. Mistakes happen. Even the most adamant supporter can’t deny this when the facts are right in front of them. Right?

So why do we still take the chance?

Let’s step back for a second. Both of those cases are from the ‘80’s, when forensics was nowhere near the standard it is today. DNA testing was practically unheard of.
So today, in this age when TV shows like CSI make it look so very easy, it’s less likely we’ll make mistakes. You’d think, wouldn’t you? But that nasty little thing called Human Error still applies. Even if every responsible party tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth (and how often does that happen?), things can still take a wrong turn in the course of justice, and turn they do.

Thus was the case of Cameron Todd Willingham. He had been found guilty of starting the fire which killed his 3 daughters in his home in Corsicana, Texas, in 1991, and was subsequently executed on February 17th 2004. This case is very important to me because my group, along with activists all over the US, screamed from early on he was innocent, as has now been proven. Willingham was not guilty of the arson for which he was put to death for.

And, as we all know and hate, the death penalty means that this horrendous miscarriage of justice can never be put right.

The New Yorker magazine ran an in-depth article on the case on September 7th of this year, written by journalist David Grann. The article quoted 3 separate reports from fire experts. All the evidence that was used to support the arson case was flawed.

Willingham was put to death in February of 2004, but as early as January of that year a fire scientist had examined the evidence and written a report concluding that the investigation was based on the old favorite, ‘junk science’. He concluded Willingham was innocent a month before he was executed. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles didn’t even look at the report. The Governor, Rick Perry, later rejected the inmate’s application for clemency. The judge, the Board, and Governor had all been presented the report, but it did not change a damn thing. Even though everybody thought he was possibly, even probably, innocent, he was nonetheless executed.

Barry Scheck, the co-director of Innocence Project, had this to say about the matter:

“There can no longer be any doubt that an innocent person has been executed. The
question now turns to how we can stop it from happening again.”

I’d like to mention something very interesting I just realized. Aforementioned Barry Scheck also had a hand in the exonerations of innocent men Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz. It’s funny how things tie together like that sometimes. But back to the case at hand.

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty has launched a campaign called Shouting from the Rooftops, aimed to inform the public that the existence of capital punishment can and does result in innocent citizens being put to death. The NCADP are calling on the public to get informed. If you’re reading this and understanding its message, I feel I have fulfilled some of that obligation. Now it’s your turn to get involved too. Spread the word. Shout Willingham’s name from the rooftops if that’s what it takes. Because the American justice system is, in my opinion, just as dangerous as the people it puts to death.

I realize this post has been a little exhaustive. But it’s a case I’m very passionate about because it’s the thing that many of us have been prophesying about for years. So I leave you now with two things, and I want you to think hard about the both of them. The first is the name Cameron Todd Willingham. Remember that name, because that man is dead, innocent, and nothing can ever change that.

The second thing is a number. 135 to be exact. As in the 135 American death row inmates who have been exonerated and freed since 1973. 135 who could possibly have been innocent and executed.

And if Cameron Todd Willingham was innocent when the state of Texas executed him, how many more have to die before we kill the death penalty for good?

THE LETHAL INJECTION LIE

Since 1977, lethal injection has increasingly become America’s favorite method of execution. Hailed by its supporters as ‘humane’ and supposedly such a cheap methodology of legal murder, it has made all other methods practically obsolete.

But is it so humane after all?

I, of course, am prone to disagree. The very idea of execution seems inhumane to me. Some people, though, don’t think this however.

But now I have science on my side.

First, let’s look at the electric chair. The chair was brought in because it was seen as more humane than existing methods. (Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?).

Over time, it became clear that the chair wasn’t humane at all. Fair enough, it’s not quite how it’s often portrayed in the movies. The fingers splay, the body bucks forward a little and strains against the restraints, and then the body slumps back and the inmate in question is dead.

However, things often went horribly wrong. The condemned would often receive severe burns on the skin around the straps. There are cases of flames erupting from the cap and of sudden nosebleeds sending blood spilling down the condemned man’s chest. Witnesses always commented on a distinct stench of burning flesh.

And so lethal injection gradually overtook the chair in the race to execute as many people as possible. In most states, the lethal injection is comprised of three chemicals injected in sequence to prevent precipitation. The first, sodium thiopental, is considered as an ultra-short-acting bromide and is effective as an anesthesia for just a few minutes. The next, pancuronium bromide (marketed as Pavulon), works by paralyzing the skeletal muscles without affecting the nerves or brain. This makes the individual unable to move or speak. (Note: in Tennessee, it’s actually a crime for veterinarians to use this drug to euthanize pets, because it does not actually cause unconsciousness but simply gives the impression of serenity). The final drug in the sequence, potassium chloride, stops the heart. Death is caused by cardiac arrest. However, this drug would cause excruciating pain if the individual was not properly anaesthetized.

But the lethal injection is human, right? Witnesses at an execution watch an inmate become drowsy, unconscious, stop moving and then stop living. They look peaceful, tranquil, serene. The witnesses leave thinking that the lethal injection was, indeed, just too good for them.

But is it?

Let’s look back. The anesthetic, sodium thiopental, wears off after just a few minutes. On average, it takes several minutes to die from lethal injection – although in some cases it’s been known to take up to two hours, which only adds fuel to this fire. So when the sodium thiopental wears off, the inmate in question regains consciousness. However, by this point they have already been injected by pancuroniun bromide and are thus unable to move or speak at all! This means that they are PERFECTLY CONSCIOUS but UNABLE TO MOVE OR SPEAK AT ALL when they are injected by the final drug, which causes EXCRUCIATING PAIN!

According to the testimony of Dr. Mark J. S. Heath who teaches anesthesiology at Columbia, the effect of this ‘cocktail’ is “that the sodium thiopental can be inadequate or wear off…” leaving “ the prisoner conscious, paralyzed, suffocating and subject to extreme pain from the potassium chloride.”

And according to Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle “The subject gives all the appearances of a serene expiration when actually the subject is feeling and perceiving the excruciatingly painful ordeal of death by lethal injection… The Pavulon gives a false impression of serenity to viewers, making punishment by death more palatable and acceptable to society”.

To conclude, lethal injection looks a pleasant way to die for the viewers and the supporters but in reality it is a dreadfully painful experience which in no way can be perceived as ‘humane’.

Thus concludes the lethal injection lie. It looks pretty to society but is perhaps the most brutal thing that could be done to another human being.

Makes one wonder why the hell there are still men on death row right now in a country that forbids cruel and unusual punishment. Take a stand. Help stop this madness.