Archive for

February, 2007



Blown Out of the Water


I just got back into the office from a mid-day trip to the legislature with the above group of high school anti-death penalty activists. New members of the legislature are often the most ready and willing to hear from their constituents, and, with Republican control of the Senate, we knew that we needed to start talking to some of the new Republican legislators about the failings of the death penalty system. So a student contingent, including TCASK board reps Kathryn Lea and Lillian Siman, visited newly minted Senator Jack Johnson this afternoon to discuss the moratorium effort and the problems inherent in Tennessee’s death penalty system.

These kids are awesome! Luke Lea, all of 15 years old, quoted Sandra Day O’Connor verbatim and unprompted. Jack Lindsay laid out as eloquently as I could have the rationale for needing a moratorium. Kathryn used the Senator’s own pro-life position to passionately argue against the death penalty. The group, clearly, impressed the Senator – I mean, they impressed me and I’ve been working with them for a year!

Legislators love meeting with students. It’s a photo op, and they get to talk about how they support our children and our future, etc. They expect students to say, “I think the death penalty is mean.” But when teenagers care enough about an issue to come to the capitol and then eloquently and insightfully argue the merits of a public policy, it blows them away. I don’t know what TCASK would do without our students!

Oh, and the outcome? The Senator said he was “110% in support of a study.” Not too shabby.


(There was some celebration back in the TCASK office)

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual appeal among men is the erectile dysfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile disfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile malfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying health conditions that can be very much dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

Telling the Truth

I worshiped with the good folks at Downtown Presbyterian Church yesterday, the congregation who hosted our “Free Paul House Concert” back in December. After the service, Julie Lee, the gifted artist who organized the concert for us, wanted to talk with me about what was happening with the Paul House case. She shared that Paul and his mother, Joyce, stayed on her mind during Christmas Eve as no news came down from the Governor concerning Paul’s release, which we had hoped to achieve by Christmas.

Here we are now in February, and still no word. And yet, I remain hopeful. The Nashville Scene is writing another story on Paul’s case due out next week. We are so grateful to The Scene for keeping this story alive. And, now that the Governor has enacted the 90 day moratorium on executions, we, at TCASK, can continue to focus our efforts on Paul’s release.

Please continue to write to the Governor asking for a pardon for Paul House. We will keep you updated as we make progress, but we need you to keep his name in front of the the Governor and the public. It is easy to become discouraged as getting justice for Paul is so slow in coming, but I believe that it is coming. When the writer for The Scene asked me if there remained any reason to hope that Paul would be pardoned, I responded, “Of course, we should be hopeful because we are on the side of the truth.” Let’s keep speaking the truth and trust that the truth will finally make Paul free.

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile dysfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile malfunction can be the symptom a strong heartiness problem such as core trouble. Albeit the erectile malfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying health conditions that can be very dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

Come Fly With Us

The Memphis Flyer did a good job of covering TCASK’s response to the Governor’s decision to halt executions in Tennessee for 90 days. I’m personally proud of how quickly TCASK was able to get the news and get responses out to media contacts around the state. In this case, it’s paid off with an additional story in Memphis letting people know: the death penalty in Tennessee is broken and we need to look at way more than the execution protocols if we want to pretend that this system is constitutional.

Read the full article here.

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile disfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong soundness problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying soundness conditions that can be very dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

Moratorium in the News

Governor Bredesen’s decision yesterday to halt executions due to concerns with the execution procedures has received news coverage all over the state. You can find quotes from the TCASK staff in all the major publications, including The Tennessean, Memphis Commercial Appeal, and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. You can also see us on TV, and I’d like to give a shout out to Fox 17’s Sky Arnold for great reporting on the Governor’s decision. Check it out here.

The Governor referred to the execution procedures as “sloppy” and he’s right, they certainly are that. “Inhumane” might be another word someone could use. But more importantly, Tennessee’s entire death penalty system is “sloppy.” We can’t guarantee that we won’t sentence innocent people to death (does anyone remember Paul House?). Our system can’t administer justice fairly, instead it unjustly targets the poor, racial minorities, and the mentally ill. And it sloppily wastes millions of tax-payer dollars.

We’ve taken a great first step in Tennessee, and the Governor should be applauded for his action, but we need, now more than ever, a complete study of the death penalty system. No more executions should be carried out until we can be guaranteed that we have a system that we can trust to be completely fair and accurate!

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile dysfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong soundness problem such as core trouble. Albeit the erectile malfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying soundness conditions that can be very much dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile disfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

Governor Declares a Moratorium

This afternoon, Governor Phil Bredesen declared a 90 day moratorium on executions while the state studies its death penalty system!!! This means that the executions of E. J. Harbison, Daryl Holton, Michael Boyd, and Pervis Payne are all off!

Please call Governor Bredesen at (615) 741-2001 and thank him for making a moral and logical decision. You can also email the Governor at phil.bredesen@state.tn.us

TCASK’s press release is below:

TCASK Applauds Ethical Choice by Governor
Tennessee Joins Florida, California, and North Carolina in Studying Lethal Injection Procedures

Nashville: The Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing applauded Governor Phil Bredesen’s decision to halt executions while Tennessee’s method of lethal injection is studied today. Executions have been botched recently in California, Florida, and Ohio resulting in obvious pain to the condemned. Tennessee’s protocol, which includes no medical personnel and the use of questionable chemicals, one of which is strictly banned for use in euthanizing animals, presented many of the same risks.

“The Governor has taken a courageous and moral step today,” said Reverend Stacy Rector, Executive Director of TCASK. “If Tennessee is going to carry out executions, we owe it to ourselves to ensure that they are carried out in a humane manner. Tennessee’s lethal injection procedure was a botched execution waiting to happen.”

The lethal injection procedure utilized by Tennessee involves a three drug cocktail similar to that used in most other states. The first drug, thiopental, is meant to anesthetize the inmate. The second drug, pavulon, paralyzes the nervous system, and a dose of potassium chloride causes cardiac arrest. However, thiopental is an extremely unstable anesthetic, and potassium chloride has been described by some experts as causing the maximum amount of pain to the cardiovascular system. Because the second drug, pavulon, paralyzes the inmate, it is highly possible that a condemned person would feel all the effects of the potassium chloride, while being unable to speak or move. Pavulon has been banned for veterinary procedures.

“If a drug is not good enough for an animal, it should not be used on a person,” Reverend Rector said.

The issue centers around whether or not the inmate experiences any of the effects of the lethal drugs, but Tennessee’s execution protocol involves absolutely no medical personnel. The maintenance and application of the thiopental is handled by non-medical personnel and no one monitors the inmates to ensure complete anesthesia.

“Procedures involving human life should not be trusted to people with no medical training,” said Reverend Rector. “The people of Tennessee deserve a capital punishment system that they can trust. Whether you are talking about the accuracy of convictions, the fairness of the application, the financial cost to tax-payers, or the execution procedure itself, our current system completely fails to meet this test.”

# # #

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile malfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile malfunction can be the symptom a strong heartiness problem such as soul trouble. Albeit the erectile malfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile malfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying heartiness conditions that can be extremely dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

More Staff on the Way!

Though Alex and I thoroughly enjoy one another’s company, we are thrilled to announce that we will have some new faces in the office come August! TCASK recently received word that we have secured an intern from Vanderbilt Divinity School who will be with us for the academic year beginning in the fall. And as if that news was not great enough, yesterday, word came down that we were selected as a placement site for a Young Adult Volunteer through the Nashville Epiphany Project or NEP, a project of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) housed at Second Presbyterian, Nashville. To be selected as a site means that NEP will seek out a young person who is interested in working to abolish the death penalty, and if the program finds a match, TCASK will gain a volunteer organizer for a full year, 30 hours a week!

But, why stop there? TCASK is also applying for a Jesuit volunteer who would begin in the fall as well. Some of you may recall that we received the gift of Alex Wiesendanger through the JV program. My hope is that by the end of the summer, our office will be bustling with staff, ready to hit the streets, working toward the goal of abolition. TCASK continues to make great strides in changing public opinion about the death penalty, and the additional staff will enhance our efforts exponentially. Though we have been hit with some very bad news from the state with the two scheduled executions for this month, the news of these interns give us something to smile about.

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile disfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile malfunction can be the symptom a strong soundness problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile malfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying health conditions that can be extremely dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

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