September 2000 Issue 16

As The New Abolitionist went to press, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in favor of new trials, hearings or sentencings in the cases of six death row prisoners.

Aaron Patterson and Derrick King, two members of the Death Row Ten - men tortured by the Chicago cops and sent to death row on the basis of false confessions - will get evidentiary hearings into their claims.

President Clinton's recent decision to delay the first federal execution in nearly 40 years is another indicator of the new mood surrounding the death penalty.

Juan Raul Garza, who was convicted seven years ago of three drug-related murders, was scheduled to die on August 5. But within weeks after Shaka Sankofa's execution, Clinton postponed Garza's execution date so that the Justice Department could update clemency procedures.

Larry Marshall is the legal director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions in Chicago and a well-known death penalty lawyer. He and the Center took up Shaka's case. Marshall talked to the New Abolitionist.

You said you thought Gary's case was one of the most compelling cases of innocence in the U.S. Could you explain why?

In 1996, the Emmy Award-winning documentary Paradise Lost exposed the many injustices in the 1993 "Satanic ritual" murder trial that convicted the West Memphis Three - Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin. The documentary revealed the gross misconduct of police, prosecutors and judges in the case of three teenage boys who were wrongfully accused of a grisly triple murder of three 8-year-old boys.

"It's Not Over"

The Death Row Ten are prisoners on Illinois' death row who were beaten and tortured by former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and his detectives. In 1993, Burge was forced into taking early retirement and now spends his time fishing on his boat in Florida. But Burge and his cronies were never criminally charged.

In the summer of 1998, the Death Row Ten decided to form themselves into a group and asked the Campaign to End the Death Penalty to help them organize.

How We Won Back Contact Visiting

Five months ago, the warden at San Quentin State Prison near San Francisco cut off contact visits for prisoners on death row after a minor incident between two inmates. The suspension of the 23-year-old program forced all 560 inmates to share eight phone booths, speaking to their loved ones through glass with no physical contact allowed.

In response, the Bay Area chapter of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty organized with inmates' family members to win back the visits.

Tens of thousands of people are expected for the Redeem the Dream civil rights march on August 26 in Washington, D.C.

The rally against racism was called by Martin Luther King III and Rev. Al Sharpton to protest police brutality and racial profiling. Campaign members have been organizing all out to bring the issue of the death penalty front and center at the demonstration.

Campaign Keeps Up The Pressure As Election Nears

From coast to coast, the Campaign continues to dog the politicians as they hit the campaign trail. Here are a few highlights:

• On June 18, 100 protesters greeted George W. Bush's motorcade before a Palo Alto, Calif., fundraiser. Two demonstrators got inside and disrupted Bush's speech.
• On June 23, Campaign members went into an Al Gore fundraiser in San Francisco and chanted to draw attention to his silence on the Gary Graham case.
• On July 14, 100 protesters picketed a Bush fundraiser in New York City.

I would like to open this letter to you honestly. I strongly feel that the best way to get to know someone is by telling them the truth about yourself and your life experiences.

I am on Texas death row and have been fighting this system for over 12 years on appeal and continue to do so. I was born and raised in the Windy City and completed my grammar school and high school years up there. My father moved to Dallas to get a better job. I have never really been fond of this state after learning about its history - which was that it was the last state to abolish slavery.