Kids Against the Death Penalty

Monthly Meetings

KADP members meet regularly on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of every month.  Meetings are held at the Boys and Girls Club in Lampasas or @ the Been Family Home @ 4 pm.  Meetings normally last approximately 2 hours. 

Special meetings are called by the president of KADP if the need arises!

2009 Scheduled Activities

January Events

January 14th we will rally for Curtis Moore in front of the Capitol in Austin Texas @ 5:30

January 15th we will Jose Briseno in front of the Capitol in Austin Texas @ 5:30 (and James Callahan -Alabama)

January 21st we will rally for Frank Moore in front of the Capitol in Austin Texas @ 5:30

January 22nd we will rally for Reginald Perkins in front of the Capitol in Austin Texas @ 5:30

January 24th we will Rally and March for Michael Scott and Rob Springsteen in Austin @ City Hall. 3:00pm

January 27nd we will rally for Larry Swearingen in front of the Capitol in Austin Texas @ 5:30

January 28nd we will rally for Virgil Martinez in front of the Capitol in Austin Texas @ 5:30

January 29nd we will rally for Ricardo Ortiz in front of the Capitol in Austin Texas @ 5:30

April 1st we will rally for Richard Boxley in front of the Capitol in Austin Texas @ 5:30

April 7th we will rally for Jose Briseno in front of the Capitol in Austin Texas @ 5:30

April 15th 

KADP will be speaking live from this event and so will Terri Been, and Rodney Reed's family!

April 16th we will rally for Jimmy Lee Dill in front of the Capitol in Austin Texas @ 5:30

April 28 William Mark Mize - GA*

April 30th we will rally for Derrick Johnson in front of the capitol in Austin Texas @ 5:30

 May Events

2nd

5th Donald Gilson - Okla* (reprieve to consider clemency until at least May 14th)
8th Thomas Ivey - SC*

10th   DEAD MAN WALKING OPERA in Fort Worth Texas 2 pm!!!
13th  John Richard Marek - FL*
14th Willie McNair  and Donald Gilson   Ok                                                                                                                                                                                               19th   we will rally for Michael Lynn Riley in front of the Capitol in Austin Texas @ 5:30
20th  Dennis Skillcorn - Mo*
27th David Eugene Johnston - FL* 

SPEAKERS

·        Lily Hughes -- http://www.nodeathpenalty.org/content/index.php

·        Terri Been & the Kids Against the Death Penalty - http://www.freewebs.com/kadp/

MARCHERS

·        Meet at 5^th & Guadalupe at 9am.  We’ll march from there – on sidewalks, obeying traffic laws – to the Capitol.

·        It will be HOT.  Wear hats, sunscreen, hydrate.

·        If you need to skip the march & meet us at the Capitol – do.  Don’t do more than you can.

·        We’ll be at the Capitol until 11AM and then disburse.

Directions & Parking Info for the Farmer’s Market at Republic Square (they’re at 4^th & Guadalupe, we’ll meet at 5^th & Guadalupe):

PLEASE PARK IN THE GARAGE RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the Farmer’s Market –it’s FREE! There are a limited number of customer parking spaces in the NORTHERN half of the LAZ parking lot (just north of the port-a-potties), but just about 15-20.

From I-35 traveling to the west to get to the market: Go to MLK exit, take MLK to go westbound. Go all the way to (almost) Guadalupe, but turn in the slight branch-off of the street to your left to access Guadalupe. Continue down Guadalupe to 4th and 3rd Streets to get into your favorite parking spaces (including the free 700-space State Parking Garage at 3rd and San Antonio).

From from Mopac (Hwy 1) traveling to the east: Take Cesar Chavez/5th Street exit. Take 5th Street just several blocks to San Antonio, and turn right. Find one of your favorite parking spaces (including the free 700-space State Parking Garage at 3rd and San Antonio).

 Capitol Steps Program

Four months ago, a handful of Oklahomans came up with the idea for a Freedom March.   Like all of us who have a loved one wrongly convicted, the members of Raye of Hope were frustrated.    We who know the truth of someone’s innocence tell our stories of justice gone horribly wrong – and we see disbelief & doubt, or worse – indifference or hate.   And you know what?  We can understand those feelings. 

Barry Scheck talked about The Innocence Project on Larry King about 16 years ago.  I remember -- because I changed the channel.  I didn’t want to think that our criminal justice system could ever be that wrong.  My grandfather was a judge who taught me to revere the law.  Certainly wrongful convictions don’t happen often, I told myself.  Surely anyone exonerated must have done something.

But that was before I watched my niece Hannah Overton be railroaded in a capital murder case.  Before I learned that there are very few real checks and balances in our criminal justice system.  Before I began to search the Internet for help.

Online -- that’s where I met the gutsy group from Oklahoma.  They reached out beyond the miscarriage of justice that opened their eyes.  They connected with like-minded people all over the country.  There are a lot of us. 

And they said, let’s do a march.  On every state capitol where we can make it happen.  Let’s make others aware of what’s going on.

So Welcome to Freedom March 2009  -- here at the capitol of the great state of Texas.  Marches like this are going on right now in 17 other states.

The people involved are left wing, right wing and independent.  Some of us are people of strong faith and some practice no particular faith at all.  What we have in common is that our faith in the criminal justice system is swiftly eroding. 

We are citizens of our beloved United States of America, who know that our criminal justice system needs major reform.  Most of us became aware of the issues through a case of someone close to our hearts, but we have learned that the problems are widespread and deeply serious.  

 Here’s what we want you to know:

·        The United States has become Incarceration Nation.  1 out of every 100 American adults is in prison or jail.  1 out of 31 is in prison, jail, on probation or parole.

·        For people of color it’s even worse.  1 in 15 Black men.  1 in 36 Hispanic men incarcerated.  And while I don’t have proof, I know that the rate of wrongful convictions in those populations is as high or higher than it is for the nation at large.

·        There are many reasons for the high rate of incarcerations, including wrongful convictions and what we call “Illogical Sentences” – for crimes such as the Law of Parties that don’t always pass the common sense test.

·        There have been over 200 DNA exonerations in the United States – with over 130 of them from death row.

·        Those cases are just the tip of the iceberg.  No one knows exactly how many wrongful convictions have occurred, but experts estimate that 3 to 12% of those convicted are factually innocent.  That’s flat out innocent – not someone getting off on a “legal technicality.”  With 2.3 million in prison, even 5% would be 115,000 wrongful convictions in the USA.  

·        No wonder we who have an innocent loved one in prison find it so hard to get help.  No wonder the Innocence organizations are overwhelmed with cries for assistance.   And by the way, it is a myth that ALL criminals say they are innocent.  Spend time around the prison system and you’ll quickly learn that’s not true.  

·        Once you become aware of the number of wrongful convictions – once you realize how easily that can happen in a system created and run by fallible human beings, with so many opportunities for error – then you come to the logical conclusion that we must no longer employ the death penalty, lest we commit a completely irrevocable error.   

·        For there are cases of people executed who were later found to be very likely innocent.  If our friend Sam Millsap, former DA of Bexar County were here, he’d tell you about one that happened on his watch. 

In short, in the words of Virginia Senator Jim Webb:  “America's criminal justice system has deteriorated to the point that it is a national disgrace.”

Fellow citizens, our democracy cannot survive without real justice.   

Today, I ask you to do one thing if you share my concern: Write Governor Perry, demanding that criminal justice and innocence bills be included in the upcoming special session.  

29th Starvin for Justice 

8/7/2009 Kenneth Baumruk Missouri

8/08/09 FREE the Yogurt Shop Defendants rally in Austin Texas
8/13/2009 Tracy Beatty (stay likely) Texas
8/18/2009 Jason Getsy Ohio
8/20/2009 David Wood Texas 

8/21/09 John Richard Marek (Fl)

-Attention Texas Death Row Inmates-

We need your help!!! 

The 10^th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty is coming up, and we would like your help designing the flyer!  The contest is hosted by The Kids Against the Death Penalty and will run from August 1^st – August 15^th and is open to any Texas Death Row Inmate willing to participate!  There will be cash prizes for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place entries, but all artists will be recognized!       

(1^st place $100.00, 2^nd place $60.00, and 3^rd place $40.00)

For those of you who do not know about the March, it is an annual event that unites activists and murder victim’s families with inmates and their families in an effort to bring about an awareness to the Injustice of the archaic and barbaric practice of putting our nation’s offenders to death. 

Each October since 2000, people from all walks of life, all parts of Texas, the U.S., and even several people from other countries have taken a day out of their year to gather, in solidarity, to raise their voices together, to LOUDLY express their OPPOSITION to the death penalty.

This Year the March will be held on October 24^th, in Austin Texas and we encourage you to invite your friends and families to participate in the March!!!  Why??? It is only when we come together with a loud, solid, voice that positive change can be made!!!  Further, there will be several anti-death penalty organizations on hand that your families can go to for help or guidance if you need it. 

For more information about the March please visit:  http://www.freewebs.com/kadp

We are looking for artwork with a related logo!!!  Past flyer logos included:

“The Death Penalty – Guilty on All Accounts – Shut It Down!”

(with a picture of a gavel) 

“This System is Broken!”

(with a picture of a broken syringe) 

“Not One More Lynching!”

(with protest pictures) 

Please submit all entries to the following address: 

Attention: KADP

906 Old Georgetown Road Lampasas,

Texas 76550

 GOOD LUCK!!! 

September Events

3 William Wright (Pa)

15 Romell Broom (Oh)

16 Stephen Moody (Tx)

22 Noel Matos Montalvo (Pa)

22 Christopher Coleman (Tx)

24 Donald Mitchell Tedford (Pa)

24 Kenneth Mosely (Tx)

30 John Balentine (Tx)