Tennessee lawmakers began a new session of the General Assembly yesterday facing the challenge of balancing a state budget with what may be a nearly billion dollar shortfall.

The current year’s budget includes a 10 percent reduction in the state budget, though many of those cuts were softened by the $2.2 billion in stimulus money that Tennessee received. And though the State Funding Board has projected that state revenues will modestly increase during the upcoming budget year, this growth will not be nearly enough to make up for the loss of the stimulus funds.

The Governor is asking state agencies for proposals cutting between 6 percent and 9 percent from their spending plans for this budget year. Of particular concern are cuts to vital mental health care programs that are already underfunded.

Given that Tennessee is not alone in its current financial straits, the Death Penalty Information Center recently released a report called Smart on Crime: Reconsidering the Death Penalty in a Time of Economic Crisis. This report not only reiterates the fact that the death penalty system is enormously expensive and wasteful for state budgets with no clear benefits but also includes a newly released poll of 500 randomly selected police chiefs nationwide. In this poll, police chiefs were asked to name one area most important for reducing violent crime. The greater use of the death penalty ranked last among their priorities. Instead, increasing the number of police officers, reducing drug abuse, and neighborhood watch programs, all ranked much higher than the death penalty.

Regardless of one’s position on the death penalty, it is time for us to work together and get smart about preventing violence in our communities by investing our limited resources in those initiatives that law enforcement have already told us reduce violent crime.

It is time to repeal the death penalty and use the savings to invest in law enforcement, create more treatment programs, more access to mental health care, and to give murder victims’ families the resources that they need in the aftermath of a violent crime.

Read the full report here.

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On Monday, TADP supporters in Nashville gathered with thousands of others on Jefferson Street for the annual MLK Day March and rally at Tennessee State University. The day was warm and spirits were high as we made our way down Jefferson Street together. TADP supporters carried banners that included a quote from Dr. King stating, “I do not think God approves the death penalty.”

MLK Day is not only a day to remember and celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. but also to heed his prophetic call to nonviolence and justice for each member of our society, including those often forgotten or ignored. Too often we celebrate Dr. King without reaffirming our commitment to living out the vision he shared with us–a vision that includes this powerful excerpt from a sermon he gave at the Eutaw Alabama Church during the 1966 Alabama tour and Get-Out-the-Vote campaign:

“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Dr. King realized, as others before him, that the only way to end the cycle of violence is to break that cycle, responding in a different way. Too often those of us who work to end the death penalty are depicted as naive about the realities of violence in our world. But, I would argue that many of us are all too familiar with the destructive effects of violence as among our numbers are murder victims’ families, the wrongfully convicted, members of law enforcement, and family members of those on death row or those who have been executed.

All of us, no matter where we are on the issue of the death penalty, want accountability for those who commit violent crime. All of us want to feel safe. All of us want to support murder victims’ families and to ensure that their needs are met. All of us who are committed to fairness, justice, equality, and accountability want these things…we are on the same team. And I don’t believe any of us want a failed policy that perpetuates violence, may convict the innocent, costs millions more than the alternatives, and makes false promises to victims’ families. But I would argue that with the death penalty system, that is just what we’ve got.

Dr. King knew very well he might not live a long life, and he paid the ultimate price for standing up for what he believed. He was not naive about violence. But, he also knew that there was another way to live together, a way that allows us to respond to killing without becoming killers ourselves.

It is not us against them. It is only us, and working together, we can create a better society and system of justice for everyone. So, no matter how we feel about the death penalty, each one of us has the opportunity to listen to those with whom we disagree, find common ground where we can, and work as a team on those things we all care about. This is a lesson we all can keep learning.

Thank you Dr. King for your courage and your calling.

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Fifteen TADP supporters, including staff, board members, and other activists returned on Sunday from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Conference in Louisville, KY. As usual, the conference was packed with workshops and lectures from experts all over the country as well as from exonerees and murder victims family members, all who are working to abolish the death penalty in our country.

This year’s conference also included other presenters who, at first, might not seem likely candidates to speak at such a gathering: members of law enforcement as well as conservative ministers and politicians. However, the truth is that this issue of abolition is not a liberal issue, and conservatives and other unusual allies across the country are speaking out and saying so.

Members of law enforcement who presented at the conference confirmed again and again that the death penalty does nothing to deter crime, and in fact, drains resources away from effective crime fighting measures. A detective from New York City said that he became more aware of the ineffectiveness of the death penalty in fighting crime when New York judicially abolished it a few years ago. He said that though most New York law enforcement members were initially concerned about the decision, the death penalty’s abolition had absolutely no impact on crime. Furthermore, we were also reminded that New Jersey’s murder rate has decreased each year since the abolition of its death penalty in 2007.

Perhaps most striking was the presentation of Senator Roy Brown of Montana, a very conservative politician from that state. He led the fight against the death penalty in Montana in its last legislative session and successfully moved a repeal bill through a Republican-controlled Senate. His opposition to the death penalty comes from his strong, conservative beliefs in a pro-life orientation from conception to natural death, less government involvement in the lives of citizens, fiscal responsibility, and dismantling those government programs that have proven to be inefficient. All of these very conservative ideals apply to the issue of the death penalty.

I came away from the conference encouraged that we can reach across party lines and political ideologies to find common ground on this issue. Regardless of whether a person is opposed to the death penalty on moral grounds, the reality is that when you examine the system beyond the emotion and outrage surrounding a murder, you discover a system that is completely and irrevocably broken. It is unfairly applied, more costly than alternatives, extremely arbitrary, not a deterrent, puts victims’ families through years of unnecessary suffering, and risks executing innocent people.

I was so excited to see that the AP did a story on Senator Brown at the conference that was picked up nationwide, including in Nashville. There is still a great deal of work to do, but as Dr. King reminds us, “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.”

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 dysfunction. 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 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 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.

In Sunday’s Tennessean, John Seigenthaler–chairman emeritus of the Tennessean and founder of the First Amendment Center in Nashville–had another opinion piece, following up on his piece of a few weeks ago, concerning the case of Gaile Owens, an inmate on Tennessee’s death row. In Sunday’s article, he had more details about nine similar cases in Tennessee, only one of which resulted in a death sentence: the case of Gaile Owens.

The article not only demonstrates the unfairness of Gaile’s sentence (particularly given that she was willing to plead guilty from the beginning) but of the continued arbitrariness of the death penalty in general.

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 complaint among men is the erectile disfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction 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 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.

An article just posted on the USA Today website discusses the court hearing tomorrow that will determine whether or not the state of Tennessee can conduct an autopsy on the body of Cecil Johnson, who was executed in Tennessee on December 2, despite his religious objections to an autopsy. Though many states do not perform autopsies on inmates who are executed, Tennessee routinely does.

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 malfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying heartiness 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.

As we reported in an earlier blog post, in October 2009, the American Law Institute, which created the intellectual framework for the modern capital punishment system, abandoned the effort “in light of the current intractable institutional and structural obstacles to ensuring a minimally adequate system for administering capital punishment.” In other words, the death penalty system in this country is irrevocably broken, and the Institute knows it.

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

Today the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that death row inmate, Perry Cribbs, is entitled to a new sentencing hearing, reversing his death sentence and remanding the case back to the trial court for a new sentencing hearing. Perry Cribbs has been on Tennessee’s death row for 15 years.

In November 1994, Perry Anthony Cribbs was convicted of killing Linda Harris in Memphis, Tennessee, with no physical evidence linking him to the crime. Cribbs’ conviction was based on the questionable eyewitness identification of Harris’ husband and the unreliable testimony of Cribbs’ then mentally ill, drug addicted girlfriend. Because Cribbs’ attorneys failed to investigate his case, the jury never heard testimony from an alibi witness or a witness who had information that others, including Mrs. Harris’ husband committed the crime. The jury never heard from Linda Harris’ family and friends who knew that Harris’ husband had motives to have her killed.

On February 12, 1994, two days before Cribbs’ arrest, a Shelby County jail inmate named James Parker contacted Memphis homicide detectives and told them that he was present when a man he identified as Sidney Harris asked a drug dealer to find someone to kill his wife. According to Mr. Parker’s statement, Sidney Harris owed the dealer money.

Mr. Parker said he was also present days later when three men, who he identified by nicknames, talked about killing Linda Harris. They said they should have killed the husband too instead of only wounding him. The detectives assigned to the case did not follow up on the lead nor did Cribbs’ trial attorneys ever attempt to contact Parker or anyone named in his statement. At the post conviction hearing, Mr. Parker stated that he served his time for the petty crime for which he was in custody and did not expect to receive a deal for providing information to the police. Other witnesses testified at the post-conviction hearing that Sidney Harris was involved in the sale of drugs.

Neither the state nor Cribbs’ attorneys talked to the family and friends of Linda Harris, several of whom, at the post-conviction hearing, testified to the problems in the Harris marriage and about Sidney Harris’ behavior before and after his wife’s death. In the weeks before her death, Linda Harris wrote a letter to her sister expressing concern about what would happen to her daughter if something happened to her. Family members were aware that Linda Harris’ life insurance was changed before her death and that there was a gun in the home. Sidney Harris did not attend his wife’s funeral even though he had his doctor’s permission to do so, and even Mr. Harris’ own brother called police and told them that he did not think his brother was telling everything he knew about the murder.The police still never pursued Harris as a suspect, and again, Cribbs’ trial attorneys never investigated Harris or talked to his brother, even though they were aware of his brother’s statement.

One week before trial and with an incomplete investigation, Cribbs’ lead attorney withdrew from the case due to illness, and second counsel took over. New counsel did not ask for a continuance in order to complete the investigation. Another attorney was appointed as co-counsel but did not have time to prepare before trial.

Perry Cribbs maintains that he is innocent of this crime and has no knowledge of Linda Harris’ murder. This case is yet another demonstration of the problems that currently plague the death penalty system, including grossly inadequate representation at trial and faulty eyewitness testimony.

With no physical evidence connecting him to the crime, Cribbs received a death sentence. Thankfully, the Tennessee Supreme Court recognized the total ineffectiveness of his attorneys and granted him this new sentencing hearing. However, given the facts in this case, Perry Cribbs should be allowed to challenge his conviction with a new trial as well. This time Cribbs should have competent attorneys presenting all the evidence, evidence never considered by the jury. Without a new trial, too many questions remain.

Read more about this case 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 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 disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction 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.

John Seigenthaler, chairman emeritus of The Tennessean and founder of the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, had a wonderful article in Sunday’s Tennessean entitled “The Uneven Hand of Justice” about the Gaile Owens case in Tennessee.

Seigenthaler highlights the disparity in Gaile’s sentence compared with similar crimes in Tennessee, particularly the case of Mary Winkler who served 67 days in a mental health facility after murdering her abusive husband in 2006. Of all the cases mentioned in the article, Owens’ was the only defendant who was willing to plead guilty and take responsibility for her decision. Yet, she is the only one who faces execution.

In this case, the judicial process broke down over and over again with the jury never hearing about the abuse Gaile suffered, with her trial attorneys spending only 2 hours preparing for her trial, and with the prosecutor withholding crucial evidence substantiating Gaile’s claims of her husband’s infidelity.

Regardless of whether one supports or opposes the death penalty, and given the facts in this case, Gaile Owens should not be executed. She has already served 23 years on death row and has taken responsibility for her tragic decision. How can Tennessee execute Gaile Owens when others in similar situations have received lesser sentences? The outcome of this case is no longer about Gaile Owens’ bad decision but about our decision as a state. What will we choose? Let us choose accountability without the death penalty.

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 complaint 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 heart trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction 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 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.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has given death row inmate, Gaile Owens, additional time to argue against the state setting her execution date. Her attorneys argued that a court never fully examined evidence that she was abused by her husband which might have resulted in a sentence less than death.

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 complaint among men is the erectile disfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying heartiness 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.

An article in today’s New York Times explains that, “the dozen states that have chosen not to enact the death penalty since the Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that it was constitutionally permissible have not had higher homicide rates than states with the death penalty.” In fact, the 12 states without the death penalty have homicide rates lower than the national average.

The article also reports that “in a state-by- state analysis, The Times found that during the last 20 years, the homicide rate in states with the death penalty has been 48 percent to 101 percent higher than in states without the death penalty.”

This article focuses on states without the death penalty and includes commentary from insiders working within those state systems.

This article is a great read for anyone who wants to understand the failures of this system in preventing violent crime.

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 claim 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 dysfunction 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.