"Death is not justice" - posterfortomorrow launches competition for anti-death penalty posters

Very exciting news!

An organization in France called posterfortomorrow is holding a poster-design contest around the theme that "the death penalty is not justice. I don’t want it done in my name, my country, or our world".

Which is what we've been saying all along. So this sounds like a fabulous opportunity to show the world we mean business!

10/10/10 is the World and European Day against the death penalty. The organization will be holding 100 exhibitions of winning designs in a 100 cities on this day.

Pretty cool, huh?

I'm not gonna write any more info about this because you can find all the details here:

http://www.posterfortomorrow.org/pages/view/10-10-10

At the website you can download the entry requirements and find out everything else you need to know :)


Both myself and ScofieldBurrows are planning to enter, and we thought you guys might be interested! It's an amazing opportunity to make a real difference in this world, and to have your work viewed by hundreds of other like-minded people. Furthermore, école intuit/lab in Paris will award three students, as chosen by the jury, with a free workshop on graphic design. The 10 most outstanding designs, as chosen by the jury, will be made part of the permanent collection of the prestigious design museums. More design museums are expected to join in the next months. How cool is that?


Thanks to the Texas Moratorium Network for the information.
Be sure to tell us what you think and whether you plan to enter!

New Video by member suntanlotion!

This great video was sent to us by member suntanlotion. We put it on YouTube but unfortunately they removed the audio and so it just isn't the same. Thanks YouTube. We did an audio swap with a song from their approved library which wasn't so bad, but it's still not as good as this version.

But here it is! Suntanlotion had this to say about her video:

"Just wanted to create a parallel between the loss of a loved one experienced by both the family of a victim and the family of an executed criminal. Neither deserves to lose a loved one but we seem to forget about the family of the condemned criminal. This video was inspired by the words of the daughter of a man executed in Texas a few years ago: 'They're killing him for killing someone else... So who do we get to kill?' It features some clips from the TV series Prisonbreak, music by Queen, and clips filmed by me and a friend"

We think this video is brilliant! Well done suntanlotion :)

Happy Easter :)

Hey everyone! This is ScofieldBurrows and I know I speak for ..Dark_Angel.. too in wishing you all a very happy Easter! Easter is a time for hope and love, so even if you don't believe in Easter and what it stands for, remember to spread the message of peace, love and hope over the Easter weekend. That's a tune we can all dance to. See you when we get back from our hols! love Scofieldx

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!