In 2006, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that there has not been “a single case – not one – in which it is clear that a person was executed for a crime he did not commit. If such an event had occurred in recent years, we would not have to hunt for it; the innocent’s name would be shouted from the rooftops.”

Please check out the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty’s campaign to shout from the rooftops the name of Cameron Todd Willingham as well as our opposition to the continued risk of executing the innocent in our country. With alternatives like life without parole, the risk of executing an innocent person is one we do not have to take.

Please watch the video clip available on the site, featuring a number of death row exonerees, including Ray Krone, who will be speaking at Belmont University in Nashville in December.

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 dysfunction can be the symptom a strong soundness problem such as core trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction 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 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.

I am on my way out of the office today but ran across this article and wanted to post it for folks to see.

Read the story here.

Lawyers for Ohio inmate Romell Broom will file lawsuits to stop the state from a second attempt to execute Broom. On Tuesday, an Ohio execution team worked for more than 2 hours trying to find a usable vein for the lethal injection process to proceed and finally stopped when Governor Ted Strickland intervened, giving Broom a week-long reprieve.

Read more 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 appeal among men is the erectile disfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong heartiness problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction 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 malfunction 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.

I saw this story when I got to the office this morning, and I was sickened by what I read.

Yesterday, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland gave 53-year-old death row inmate, Romell Broom, a week long reprieve when Broom’s execution team could not find a vein in his arm after working on him for more than two hours.

The team began to look for a vein in Broom’s arm around 2 p.m. and finally stopped around 4:30 p.m. At one point, Broom tried to assist the team in finding a vein. After at least one attempt, he covered his face, appearing to sob.

A medical evaluation Monday determined that veins in Broom’s right arm appeared accessible, while those in his left arm were not as visible.

Problems with the execution process are not new to Ohio. Delayed executions in 2006 and 2007 led to changes in Ohio’s lethal injection process. Obviously, grave problems still exist.

I know that there are some who are not particularly concerned with the mental and physical anguish that Broom experienced yesterday and will experience again as he faces another execution attempt. Of course, the victim of his crime, Tryna Middleton, suffered immensely as well. And yet, I continue to be amazed that we, as a society, condemn his violence by inflicting violence upon him. To what end?

And yet, even for those who don’t care about Broom’s suffering, imagine the suffering of those in that room yesterday, attempting to find a vein in his arm? Imagine the mental anguish that they experienced whether they admit it or not. And now, they have to try it all over again.

The death penalty asks that those working in Corrections do our dirty work for us, and as a result, suffer the mental and emotional consequences of it. It must hard enough for members of an execution team when the process goes as planned, but this? I can’t imagine it.

Now having personally experienced an execution, I cannot fathom the trauma yesterday’s events caused to those who were participating or witnessing it and will have to go through again. There are alternatives that can protect society and spare so many people from scenes such as the one yesterday in Ohio.

Read the story here.

NPR featured this story on Sept. 16. Listen 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 malfunction. 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 dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction 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.

Long time criminal defense attorney and former director of the Tennessee Justice Project, Bill Redick, authored the cover story of the most recent edition of the Tennessee Bar Journal with his reflection on the work of the Tennessee Committee to Study the Administration of the Death Penalty. Redick served as a member of the Study Committee that was created by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2007 in order to examine Tennessee’s death penalty system for fairness and accuracy.

In the article, Redick revisits various reports through the years concerning the dire condition of Tennessee’s death penalty system and outlines a few possibilities for addressing some of the problems. At the end of the article, Redick discusses abolition and why some states have finally determined that the death penalty system is too broken to fix.

Read the 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 appeal 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 core trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying health conditions that can be highly 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.

Stacy Rector, Executive Director

Stacy Rector is a native of Dyersburg, Tennessee, a graduate of Rhodes College and Columbia Theological Seminary, and an ordained Presbyterian minister. She served as the Associate Pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Nashville for nine years. During her time as a pastor, Stacy served on the board of TCASK, the Restorative Justice Coalition of Tennessee, and was a founding member of the board for the Presbyterian Network to End Homelessness. In October 2006, Stacy became Executive Director of the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing (TCASK), an organization whose mission is to honor life by abolishing the death penalty. She also currently serves as the chairperson of the Peacemaking committee for the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee.

You can contact Stacy at stacy@tcask.org.

Isaac Kimes, Field Organizer

Isaac is a native of Seattle, WA but moved around often as the son of an Air Force Officer. Isaac graduated from Arizona State University (Go Devils!) with a B.S. in Justice Studies. Isaac joined the TCASK staff in June, 2007. His job: organize TCASK supporters across the state through chapters and educational events like the annual Student Conference on the Death Penalty.

Isaac’s career in organizing began with the Arizona Public Interest Reserach Group in the summer of 2006 where he did door-to-door canvassing on issues like water conservation, gay and lesbian civil rights, and protecting our wilderness lands. In the fall of 2006, Isaac coordinated a nonpartisan voter registration and turn out effort for young voters at Arizona State University. The campaign registered over 1500 voters and turned out 5000.

You can reach Isaac at isaac@tcask.org.

Denver Schimming, Organizer

Denver joined the TCASK staff in August, 2008. His job: reach out to members of law enforcement and their respective agencies. He will also be working to expand TCASK’s “Sharing our Stories: Murder Victims’ Families Speak” program which pairs murder victim’s family member with TCASK volunteers to provide presentations on the death penalty from victims’ perspectives.

Denver was born and raised in Indiana but has called Nashville his home since 1985. For the last 10 years Denver has been involved in many social justice issues in Nashville, especially in the area of prison reform. Denver serves on the Board of Directors of Dismas House, a transitional halfway house that works with and supports men coming out of prison. Denver has spoken at colleges and universities on the subjects of Felony Disenfranchisement and Alternative Justice. Denver also helps teach the Inside/Out class at the Charles Bass Correctional Facility.

Denver says, “I am so excited and humbled that my life’s journey has led me to TCASK and the opportunity to work with such talented, devoted and passionate people.”

You can reach Denver at denver@tcask.org.

Katie Mohr, Intern

Katie Mohr joined the TCASK state office in September 2008. She has committed herself to a year of service with the Young Adult Volunteer Program sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Katie says, “Social justice has always been a part of my life and I am excited to see, learn, and help make change happen in TN one day at a time.”

You can reach Katie at katie@tcask.org.

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 disfunction can be the symptom a strong health 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 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.

Some of us are already familiar with the tragic story of Cameron Todd Willingham. In fact, a few years ago, the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty published a resource called “Innocent and Executed” that featured the stories of four men who were most likely innocent and executed–three in Texas and one in Missouri.

A new investigative report shows that Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in Texas in 2004, was almost certainly innocent. The report comes three years after the Innocence Project released analysis from some of the nation’s leading forensic experts. These experts found that the core evidence against Willingham was not valid. The Innocence Project also obtained public records showing that Texas officials ignored this evidence in the days leading up to Willingham’s execution.

Willingham was convicted of arson murder in 1992 and was executed in February 2004. His three young children died at a fire in the family’s home. At Willingham’s trial, forensic experts testified that evidence showed the fire was intentionally set. A jailhouse informant also testified against Willingham, and other circumstantial evidence was used against him.

Read more about this troubling case here.

What more evidence do we need to demonstrate that the death penalty system cannot be trusted to always get it right. It is tragic enough that this man lost his children in a fire but then to be convicted of their murders and executed for killing them? It is beyond tragic, and in fact, was completely unnecessary.

What would have happened if Willingham had received a sentence less than death? He would be alive and perhaps, if represented by an attorney with the time and resources to commit to discovering the truth, would be getting out of prison today.

Of course, any wrongfully convicted person spending time in prison for something that he/she didn’t do is a travesty of justice, but if a person is still alive, the injustice can be remedied. There is no remedy for Cameron Todd Willingham.

Why with harsh sentences like life without parole do we continue to insist on death? Here is one result of the death penalty in this country–the execution of an innocent man by the very government which was supposed to protect him.

We can do better than this, and we must. Read the story about Willingham in The New Yorker 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 appeal among men is the erectile dysfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong heartiness problem such as core trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile malfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying soundness conditions that can be highly dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile malfunction 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.

Last night, a jury sentenced Letalvis Cobbins, the first of 4 defendants to stand trial for the carjacking, rapes, and murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, the sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Read more here.

In the sentencing hearing, the jury heard a Knoxville psychologist describe Cobbins’ history of neglect, abuse, homelessness, beatings, brain injury, substance abuse, and trauma. Cobbins had one period of his childhood until about about age 10 in which he lived with his aunt, upon whose death he lost the only stable figure in his life.

Sadly, I was not surprised by any of the testimony I heard about Cobbins. Tragically, there are many others like him living in our communities all over Tennessee. My parents are both life-long public school teachers, and they have often spoken of children throughout their careers, and sadly more so in the last 10 years, who are on a similar path.

And, my mind begins to spin as I ask myself where we were as a society for all the time Letalvis Cobbins was barely surviving physically and mentally, for all those years when he was developing into a person who could perpetuate such ghastly acts on other people. I am in no way removing responsibility from Cobbins but am saying that if we as a society refuse to acknowledge our own responsibility in this nightmare, then we are not only losing an opportunity, but are also setting ourselves up to reap more painful consequences down the road. Our lack of awareness and inaction about the circumstances of the most “at-risk” in our communities will only lead to more violence and instability if they do not receive the care, attention, and resources necessary for them to learn how to function in society.

When are we going to get serious about dealing with these troubled kids before it is too late, and people like the Christians and the Newsoms are faced with the horrible reality of burying theirs?

I understand the outrage about these crimes. I feel that outrage myself. My hope is that we can channel that outrage into finding the common will to invest our time and our resources into those measures that will help prevent such crimes from happening instead of devoting ourselves to demanding more violence and death.

Life without parole is a very difficult sentence. As a young man, Cobbins will spend the rest of his life locked up in a cage, told what to do and when to do it, with no hope of ever being free. He will die there. No one should be fooled that his is somehow a “light” sentence.

And as I stated before in an earlier posting, we could do to him what he did to Channon and Christopher over and over again, and it would do nothing to change the situation or bring those two young people back. Herein lies the illusion of revenge…that somehow an eye for an eye will even the score. It won’t. Nothing will. But instead, as Gandhi reminds us, “An eye for an eye only leaves the world blind.”

We do have a choice though. We can choose to act in ways that are in keeping with who we are as civilized human beings, as children of God, and not act toward the perpetrators as they acted toward Channon and Christopher. That is our choice.

And as the news reporter noted, the reality of the death penalty is that it would take years for the sentence to be carried out–years of agonizing waiting, of court appearances, of reliving the crime in the media, years of attention for the perpetrator. With life without parole, it is over. He is in prison, and there will be no parole, no cameras, no attention–just the rest of his life to perhaps come to some kind of realization of the pain he has caused and to seek to become a different person, even if it is behind bars.

There is no good ending to this tragedy. I simply pray that all the hurting, devastated people involved will find some measure of peace–peace which passes all our understanding. That is and will be my prayer.

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 dysfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as core 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 so 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.

By now, I imagine that most Tennesseans are aware of the trial underway in Knoxville for one of the four people charged in the carjacking, rape, and murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, a young Knoxville couple, in 2007.

Every aspect of this case is horrific. And frankly, a case such as this keeps the fervor for the death penalty strong as the details are so gruesome and ghastly that one can hardly read or hear about them.

I read the story in the Tennessean yesterday about the first defendant currently on trial, Letalvius Cobbins, who recently took the stand in his own defense. Cobbins pled guilty to rape but not to murder. Though he did apologize for his participation, it was too little too late for the victims’ families. Some of his comments, which I won’t go into here but you can read about, caused Channon Christian’s father to come out of his seat and call Cobbins “a liar.” I cannot imagine what that man is going through as he sits in that courtroom everyday and hears the details of this crime over and over again.

I am sure that my blog posting concerning this case will receive many comments–some supportive and others very angry. I get that. Besides all the problems with the death penalty system as a whole including fairness, cost, and accuracy, the core of my opposition to the death penalty actually comes from my faith.

What tends to happen in cases such as this one is that all the energy becomes focused on the perpetrators and what they deserve. The hard truth is that we as a society could do to them exactly what they did to Channon and Christopher over and over again, and it will never bring those wonderful, young people back.

However, I, for one, condemn the behavior of these four perpetrators and never want their terrible actions to dictate my own. Instead, I want to respond in the way I believe that God calls me to, a way which chooses to treat them differently than they chose to treat Channon and Christopher.

Does this mean that there should be no accountability for these four? Absolutely not. Tennessee has life without the possibility of parole and a hard life sentence of 51 years minimum before a person is even eligible for parole. These are real consequences but consequences that don’t make me into a killer like them.

TCASK recently made the decision to officially change our organization’s name. We will be sharing more about this decision in the days ahead, but the TCASK Board voted on August 15 to change our name to Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. We chose this name for many reasons, one of which is that we want the public to understand that our opposition to the death penalty does not mean that we don’t think people need to be held accountable. We believe that those who commit horrible crimes must face up to them. However, we do not think that killing perpetrators solves our problems or truly addresses how or why such things happen.

The questions that come to me over and over as I read about this trial is, “What happened in the lives of these four young people that made them capable of such vile acts? What could we have done as a society to address the warning signs much sooner?” Sadly, I fear such questions may never be addressed in the clamor to see them executed.

Regardless of the outcome of this trial, my prayer is that all the families involved in this nightmare can find some peace and that there will come a day when we no longer need or want the death penalty for anyone.

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 heart trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction 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.

Today the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a federal judge in Georgia to consider and rule on the claim of innocence in the murder case against Troy Anthony Davis. The Court told the District Court to “receive testimony and make findings of fact as to whether evidence that could have been obtained at the time of trial clearly establishes [Davis’] innocence.” Only two judges, Scalia and Thomas, dissented.

Read more here.

Congratulations to all those in Georgia and around the world who have worked tirelessly on Davis’ behalf.

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 disfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as soul trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction 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 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.