On May 13^th, the pharmaceutical company Pfizer officially announced its decision to stop supplying drugs for use in lethal injections. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, “every major pharmaceutical company that produces drugs that have been used in lethal injections has voiced opposition in executions,” meaning Pfizer’s new position effectively closes the final open market source of lethal injection drugs, inevitably impacting correctional agencies nationwide.

Pfizer’s merger with drug company Hospira in September led to this restriction as the company gained control over several products that had previously been used in executions. While this move limits the available supply of drugs, it does not stop the controversial scramble for alternative drug sources.

Ever since the only federally approved factory for sodium thiopental (one of the three approved drugs used in lethal injection) closed in 2009, correctional facilities have gone to great lengths to obtain the drugs. Several states have changed their lethal injection protocols to include other drugs while also resorting to the use of  compounding pharmacies, which are free from FDA oversight, to obtain these drugs. Georgia, Missouri, and Texas have likely relied on compounding pharmacies to acquire the drugs now used in executions.

The “confidentiality” laws enacted by many states, including Tennessee, also allow the states to keep their sources hidden from the public. The New York Times reports that a majority of states with the death penalty impose secrecy around their drug sources in order to protect those sources from “violence from death penalty opponents.” However, Robert Durham of the Death Penalty Information Center contends that this reason is nothing be a smokescreen, saying: “The secrecy is not designed to protect the manufacturers, it is designed to keep the manufacturers in the dark about misuse of their products.”

Read more:

Pfizer’s New Position

History of Botched Executions,

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 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.

On Monday morning, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction and sentence of Georgia death row inmate, Timothy Foster, in a 7-1 decision based on racial bias in the jury selection process for his trial.  Timothy Foster was a poor black youth tried for the murder of a white woman in Georgia in 1987. In the jury selection process, the prosecution struck all of the potential African American jurors from the jury, a practice which is unconstitutional but hard to prove as other reasons are often given for the strikes. After seating an all-white jury in the case, the prosecution urged them to sentence Foster to death to “deter other people out there in the projects,” referring to the the housing projects in Rome, GA, were Timothy Foster grew up, which were 90% black at the time. The jury obliged and gave Foster the death sentence.

A 2010 review of the jury selection process in eight Southern states (including Tennessee) by Equal Justice Initiative found evidence of racial discrimination in jury selection in every one of those states; a 2012 North Carolina study found eligible black jurors struck at twice the rate of whites; and a 2003 Louisiana study found it was three times the rate.

In 2006, through an open records request, the Southern Center for Human Rights obtained the prosecution’s notes from jury selection in Foster’s 1987 trial. The notes eliminated any doubt that the strikes were based on race.

According to an op-ed by Stephen Bright, senior counsel and president at the Southern Center for Human Rights, “in the notes, the prosecutors demarcated the black jurors’ names at least six different ways, including marking the names of black prospective jurors with a “B,” highlighting them in green, and circling the word “black” next to the “race” question on the juror questionnaires of black prospective jurors. The notes revealed that the prosecutors ranked the black potential jurors against one another and included all of them as the first names on their list of “Definite NOs” — potential jurors who would definitely be struck.”

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the racial discrimination at play in this case, though Georgia’s state courts had refused to do so. Chief Justice Roberts weighed in on the decision:

This discrimination became apparent only because we obtained the prosecution’s notes, which revealed their intent to discriminate.  Usually that does not happen.  The practice of discriminating in striking juries continues in courtrooms across the country. Usually courts ignore patterns of race discrimination and accept false reasons for the strikes. Even after the undeniable evidence of discrimination was presented in this case, the Georgia courts ignored it and upheld Foster’s conviction and death sentence.

But what about all the other Timothy Fosters out there? The discovery of prosecutors’ notes rarely happens. Still there is little doubt that such bias in jury selection is pervasive, as shown by the numerous studies referenced. Such bias and exclusion delegitimize the process and serve as a way to stack the deck in favor of the prosecution since prosecutors believe that all-white juries are more likely to convict and sentence defendants to death than racially diverse juries.

Monday’s decision won’t end racial bias and discrimination in jury selection. But, it is an acknowledgement of what many of us have known for a long time. The process continues to be unfair and racially biased. Under such circumstances, how can we possibly continue to utilize the death penalty?

Read More

Racial Discrimination in Tennessee’s Jury Selection Process 

Additional Study: Illegal race discrimination in jury selection

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 malfunction can be the symptom a strong health 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 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 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.

Another possibly innocent man has died on death row.

On April 24^th, Max Soffar, age 60, passed away from liver cancer after 35 years on Texas’s death row. Soffar confessed after an illegal three-day interrogation and was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of three people in a Houston bowling alley. Soffar suffered from brain damage from fetal alcohol syndrome, had a mental illness, and a drug addiction. Furthermore, there was neither DNA evidence nor witnesses tying Soffar to the crime scene.

In fact, there was convincing evidence that an alternative suspect committed the murders, TN death row inmate Paul Reid, who himself died of natural causes on Tennessee’s death row a few years ago. Several nights before the murders, there were reports of a man threatening to kill everyone in the bowling alley after being thrown out of it. A witness later identified him as Paul Reid. Further evidence implicating Reid included his past residency in Texas, another ID by a witness at the scene of the crime, and the fact that the murders Reid was convicted of committing in Tennessee fit a similar pattern to the Texas murders.

Soffar was granted a retrial in 2004 because of ineffective assistance of counsel in his 1981 trial. He filed to dismiss the charges because of the outdated evidence, but the courts placed the blame for the delay on his appeals, though prosecutors had participated in delaying the proceedings for over two decades.

His final appeal date was scheduled for April 27^th.

The case of Max Soffar is a heart-breaking example of a system where process often trumps justice. Brian Still, one of Soffar’s attorneys, commented on the death penalty saying:

“It distorts the process, destroys the promise of a jury of peers (because only those willing to hand down a death sentence can serve), diverts resources badly needed to separate the guilty from the innocent, and needlessly risks the only thing worse than the nightmare my friend endured for 35 years.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Sam Turpen, Intern TADP

Read the full story

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 soul 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 so 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.

On Saturday, a Memphis jury found Michael Rimmer guilty again and sentenced him to death for the third time. He was originally sentenced to death in 1998 for the murder of Ricci Ellsworth, who disappeared from her job as a night clerk in a Memphis hotel in 1997. He was resentenced to death in 2004.

USA Today wrote an in depth piece on Rimmer’s case in 2011, reporting that Shelby County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Henderson withheld critical evidence from the defense of a very credible witness who saw two different men at the bloody crime scene on the night of Ellsworth’s disappearance —not Michael Rimmer.

In 2012, Judge James Beasley overturned Rimmer’s conviction and sentence, granting him a new trial. The Judge wrote in his order that “Henderson’s assertions in the 1998 and 2004 cases that ‘he knew of no evidence exonerating or exculpating (Rimmer)’ were blatantly false, inappropriate, and ethically questionable.”

Still, even with the evidence of these alternative suspects at the crime scene, the jury determined that the evidence against Rimmer was enough to find him guilty again. Because Rimmer did not provide any mitigating evidence during sentencing, the jury sentenced him to death again as well.

On May 6, the Commercial Appeal reported that Ricci Ellsworth’s family members, though “completely for the death penalty,” were hoping that with this retrial the case “would be over for good.” The family conceded that life without parole would suffice as they wanted to avoid the opportunity for further appeals.

Sadly, the family did not get what they wanted.  Instead, Michael Rimmer will now begin the appeals process all over again because he received another death sentence. If the death penalty had not been an option, the Ellsworth family might have been able to get some legal finality after nearly 20 years of waiting, but with the death sentence handed down again, they won’t.

This case demonstrates just how dysfunctional the death penalty system has become. Because the prosecution withheld critical evidence for years–evidence which obviously wasn’t enough to keep a jury from finding Rimmer guilty–a new trial was needed to be sure a jury got all the facts. And, if the state had not pursued death again, the Ellsworth family would likely have gotten what they hoped for–life without parole and legal finality. The state would have saved millions, given that capital trials are at least twice as expensive as noncapital trials (Tennessee Comptrollers Report, 2004), never mind the savings on the appeals.

Instead, taxpayers are on the hook for the cost of three capital trials in just this one case, and the process starts all over again.

Who does the death penalty system serve here? Who benefits from yet another death sentence in this case? Not the Ellsworth family. Not Tennessee taxpayers. No one.

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 dysfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile disfunction can be the symptom a strong health 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 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.

Support TADP through The Big Payback today!

Last year TADP raised $4,000 through The Big Payback, and we hope to top that number this year!

The Big Payback is a 24-hour, on-line giving event to increase philanthropy in the 40 counties served by The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. The goal is to inspire Tennesseans to come together and contribute to the life-changing work of local non-profits like TADP.

You can make a donation by filling by clicking the Big Payback logo at the top of the screen. The event ends at midnight so time is short!

We hope you will consider making a spring gift to TADP.

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 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 so 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.

Today in Shelby County, jury selection begins for the new trial of Tennessee death row inmate Michael Rimmer. He will be re-tried for the murder of Ricci Ellsworth, who disappeared from her workplace, the Memphis Inn, in 1997.

In 1989, Rimmer was sentenced to seven years in prison for the rape of Ricci Ellsworth, after the two had dated years before. A few months after Rimmer’s release, Ellsworth went missing. Upon investigation, traces of Ellsworth’s blood were found in Rimmer’s car, and he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. In 2004, he was granted a new sentencing hearing and received a second death sentence.

In the following years, evidence of misconduct by Shelby County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Henderson began to surface. USA Today wrote an in depth piece on Rimmer’s case in 2011, reporting that Henderson withheld critical evidence from the defense of a very credible witness who saw two different men at the bloody crime scene on the night of Ellsworth’s disappearance —not Michael Rimmer.

The witness told police that he saw two white men with blood on their hands in the motel around the time Ellsworth went missing. The witness assumed that one of the men was the motel clerk because he was behind the office window and was handing what he thought was change to the other man. Both men had bloody knuckles so he thought they had been fighting. Then, in the parking lot, one of the men put something wrapped in a hotel comforter in the trunk of his car, something heavy enough to make the car drop from the weight of it. Jurors in Rimmer’s 1998 trial never knew an eyewitness claimed to have seen other suspects at the Memphis motel that evening.

In 2012, Judge James Beasley overturned Rimmer’s conviction and sentence, granting him a new trial. The Judge wrote in his order that “Henderson’s assertions in the 1998 and 2004 cases that ‘he knew of no evidence exonerating or exculpating (Rimmer)’ were blatantly false, inappropriate, and ethically questionable.”

The District Attorney’s office in Shelby County has a history of such tactics. When those sworn to uphold the law play fast and loose with it, how are we supposed to trust the results? And when the death penalty is on the table, the stakes are simply too high to cross our fingers and hope that folks are playing by the rules.

And regardless of the outcome of Rimmer’s second trial, Ricci Ellsworth’s family has been victimized again by a system in which those sworn to uphold the law seemed more interested in winning than in fairness and due process. When the rules aren’t followed, victims’ families suffer as they are dragged through their worst nightmare all over again. This is unacceptable.

Though ending the death penalty won’t fix all these problems, it will ensure that our system, as flawed as it is, does not have the power to decide who lives and dies and will allow for victims’ families to receive a measure of legal finality that the current death penalty system can’t give them.

Learn more about Rimmer’s trial.

Learn more about prosecutorial misconduct and the death penalty.

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 heart 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 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.

Tennessee Alliance for the Severe Mental Illness Exclusion (TASMIE) publicly launched last week with an op-ed in the Knoxville News Sentinel by TASMIE Coordinator Hannah Cox. TASMIE is a coalition of mental health advocacy organizations and other groups educating Tennesseans about their concerns with sentencing those with severe mental illness to death.

The coalition currently includes Mental Health America of Middle Tennessee; NAMI Tennessee; Tennessee Disability Coalition; Tennessee Mental Health Consumers’ Association; National Association of Social Workers, Tennessee Chapter; Tennessee Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty; Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty; and the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee.

TASMIE is educating citizens about what this exclusion will do if enacted, including:

• Save taxpayers millions
• Provide swifter legal finality to victims’ families
• Apply only to sentencing–individuals could still be found guilty and would be eligible for life or life without parole
• Extend something we already do in Tennessee as the current law excludes minors and those with intellectual disability from the death penalty
• Would be narrowly applied to only those individuals who fit very specific guidelines for severe mental illness
• Would affect a small percentage of cases as only 5-10% of death row inmates have the most severe mental illnesses

TASMIE Coordinator Hannah Cox is available to make presentations, submit articles, provide TASMIE fact sheets, etc. for any of you who would like more information or who are members of organizations, churches, or other groups who might be interested in getting involved.

To learn more, visit tasmie.org and follow TASMIE on Twitter /TASMIEOrg and Facebook /TASMIEOrg.

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 soundness 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 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.

Only one year ago, the Utah legislature reinstated the firing squad as a backup method of execution. This year, the conservative led legislature of Utah nearly passed a bill to repeal the death penalty completely. The bill passed the full Senate on March 2^nd with a 15-12 vote and then got through a key house committee on March 9th.  Late last night just before the session closed for the year,  the bill was held up in the Rules committee, keeping it from a vote on the House floor. Getting this close to repeal in Utah is a huge achievement, and we congratulate our colleagues in Utah for their amazing work.

Both Utah’s firing squad and repeal bills were largely the result of efforts of Republican Senator Steve Urquhart. Urquhart, who has long been a death penalty supporter, shifted his view in recent years because of the decades of delay and the exorbitant cost of the system, noting it is an “ineffective punishment.” ¹“

Senator Urquhart’s shift might seem out of the blue, but it is not. He, like other conservatives, are engaging in a changing conversation about the death penalty that is taking place nationwide. The historic repeal of the death penalty in Nebraska last year and Utah’s near success this year are evidence that conservative legislatures are catching on.

Likewise, in Tennessee, where the electric chair was reinstated as a back-up method for execution just a few years ago and whose legislature was recently deemed the “most conservative legislature in the nation“, the conversation is also shifting. As a TADP intern and participant in my very first TADP Justice Day on the Hill this week,  I had the opportunity to  hear directly from several members of the Tennessee legislature. Although many express no moral qualms with executions, there is growing concern about the costs, the toll the protracted process takes on victims’ family members, and the possibility of executing the innocent. Not despite their conservative values but because of them, many Tennessee lawmakers are increasingly concerned about the death penalty system. If the deep red states of Utah and Nebraska are any example, repeal in Tennessee might be closer than we think.

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 dysfunction 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.

The 2016 TADP Student Conference on the Death Penalty once again managed to combine powerful personal testimony, overwhelming evidence, and tools to make repeal a reality, all in a single day.

You could have heard a pin drop on Saturday morning, when Nebraska native Miriam Thimm Kelle shared her story about the horrific death of her brother James Kelle. James was tortured for three days and murdered in notorious cult killing when he was only 25 years old. Kelle talked about the excruciating thirty-year process of appeals her family endured as the state sought the death penalty for James’ killer, Michael Ryan. Kelle movingly shared about how her experience with the death penalty drove her work with the Nebraska legislature to enact death penalty repeal in 2015. Her work continues, as the issue will be voted on in a referendum this year.

Following Kelle’s presentation, the panel “The Changing Conversation on the Death Penalty” dissected the system, highlighting the flaws and the growing call for repeal from increasingly varied constituencies. Journalists Radley Balko and Liliana Segura, public defender Alexis Soler, and Tennessee Conservatives Concern Coordinator Amy Lawrence detailed points from their unique perspectives on the continuing momentum against the death penalty, including insights on legal procedure, forensic evidence, and dialogue among conservatives.

The Tennessee cases of Ndume Olatushani and Paul House were the focus of the next panel concerning how wrongful convictions happen. Public defenders Anne-Marie Moyes and Steve Kissinger, attorneys who worked on these specific cases, delivered accounts of what went wrong, bringing to light many of the systemic issues that still plague the death penalty system today, including prosecutorial misconduct and the precedence of process over getting to the truth. Joyce House, Paul’s mother and full-time caretaker, was on the panel. Paul was present, though unable to actively participate given his advanced multiple sclerosis. Paul was wrongfully convicted and spent nearly 22 years on Tennessee’s death row before his release. As Joyce recalled, “My son walked into prison but had to be rolled out in a wheelchair. He is still in it.”

A call to action concluded the conference, asking all the participants to attend Justice Day 2016 on March 9th, to speak with lawmakers about their concerns. A big thanks goes to everyone who participated in our conference this year. We hope to see you as we continue our work for death penalty repeal!

Samuel Turpen

Intern, TADP

Photo Credit: Rev. Dr. Jason Curry, Dean of Fisk Memorial Chapel

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 health problem such as soul trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction 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 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.

On January 26, Nebraska Republican Senator Colby Coash, a conservative who led Nebraska’s successful effort to repeal the death penalty last year, will be in Tennessee to speak at a community event at MTSU. Coash is traveling to the Volunteer State to engage in conversation with Tennesseans as he reflects on why he believes that the current death penalty system is inconsistent with conservative values.

Senator Coash was not always a supporter of death penalty repeal. However, after a college experience at the 1994 execution of William Otey in Nebraska, where people gathered at the prison to celebrate in a party-like atmosphere as Otey was executed, Coash was troubled. He reflects, “My position is the result of my experience. I made a decision during my shame that I would no longer be a part of someone’s death.”

More recently, Coash’s support for repeal was strengthened through conversations murder victims’ family members, particularly with Merriam Thimm Kelle, whose brother’s killer received the death sentence in Nebraska only to die of natural causes on death row thirty years later. (Ms. Kelle is the featured speaker for TADP’s 2016 Student Conference on the Death Penalty at Belmont University on Feb. 6). With the voices of murder victim’s families like Kelle’s, as well as those of death row exonerees who also shared their experiences with lawmakers in Nebraska, Senator Coash was able to lead the conservative legislature to repeal Nebraska’s death penalty.

Coash represents a growing number of conservatives who are raising such concerns. Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, a national network of conservatives calling for a re-examination of our nation’s capital punishment system, identifies systemic problems with the death penalty system that are particularly troubling to conservatives, such as the risk of executing the innocent, the high cost to taxpayers compared with life without parole, the protracted process that is difficult for victims’ families, and giving such power to the government. Tennessee Conservatives Concern about the Death Penalty is also raising these concerns locally to give Tennessee conservatives a voice in the ongoing dialogue and is sponsoring Coash’s visit to Tennessee.

Whether you identify as a conservative or not, we encourage you to attend this event at MTSU in the Paul W. Martin Honors Building (Room 106) at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 26, to learn more about the senator’s own journey on this issue and how such a conservative state legislature like Nebraska finally championed death penalty repeal.

Sam Turpen

Intern, TADP

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 heartiness 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 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.