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Post by miles on Dec 17, 2005 11:06:57 GMT -5
I guess I can share my story.
Most of you here know who my friend is in Texas. I wanted to write to a DR inmate, had no clue what I'd find - I guess it was an experience I wanted to go through. I went to the Texas Dept of Corrections website and read MANY pages on the different DR inmates at Polunsky.
For some reason, Rob's file jumped out at me. I have no other way of describing it. I mean, there are 410 DR inmates at Polunsky, why Rob, why not so and so, why not that other person.
I wrote him a two page intro letter and there it began. One thing that I have learnt is that people in there truly discover who they really are when locked in a cage 23 hours a day. Rob is no different. He's a dear friend of mine now. He even states I'm the only living human being he trusts completely.
We send epic letters. My biggest was 22 pages! His was 16 pages, handwritten (of course). I'm selling my home to move south and I sent him the photo's of each room at my house. He wrote back saying he felt nearer/closer to me, because now he could actually visualise where I currently live.
He has told me about artists he admires, places he'd wished he'd visited, so I search the internet for relevent images of paintings or places, so he can 'see' what they are like.
One thing I always do is include funny pic's you find on the net. He loves those! Imagine it, being caged like an animal, 24/7 - what have you to smile about? So this way it raises his spirit and produces a smile.
I do worry about the ultimate outcome. I do fully realise I may be asked to witness an execution. Something I truly am afraid of. Like Suzanne, watching a close friend being legally murdered is something she's had to go through and I may. I think about it a lot. However, I've come to the realisation that I chose to write to Rob. And now we are close friends, so I will do whatever it takes to stand by him. I guess you could say I'm here for the stay.
True friends are hard to find nowadays. I choose my friends and try my hardest to protect them.
In Rob's case, this is an exceptional and unique friendship. I offered to create a website for him, as he needed one. But oh no! Rob will not hear of it for it to be called 'his' website, no, it's 'our' website! Rob is a highly intelligent, articulate person who endures soul-crushing oppression. He's a strong man and a fighter. He could teach many of us a lot!
Okay, over and out!
Miles
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Post by CCADP on Dec 31, 2005 21:14:03 GMT -5
All of this is going to be deleted because its inappropriate for this thread; the intention of which is for people seeking info on writing to death row prisoners from those who have done so - not to debate it. If you want to save your comments copy and paste and repost in the debate area - some good comments back and worthy conversation here but its not the right place.
Tone down your personal attacks and your opinion might be taken more seriously by the many undecided viewers here. Coming in hysterically and calling human rights activists evil and devils doesnt make the average person take your arguments seriously.
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Mo-DAWG
Settlin' In
Yes... this is the real Mo-DAWG ..
Posts: 47
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Post by Mo-DAWG on Dec 31, 2005 21:27:47 GMT -5
ok since you had your say now let me reply to your post ... i dontknow you nor did i ever know your mom and your child ... nevertheless i would like to let you know my honest condolences for their deaths ... i do understand your feelings of rage much better now since its feelings of pain you express ... but i want you to know one thing ... for me being an anti does not mean to condone any crime esp.not acts of murder and i agree that punishment is necessary ... i cant speak for every anti.. i can only tell you the reasons why i am anti and i know the verymajority of antis feels the way i do ... the reason why i am helping and supporting as well as befriending dr inmates is that i dont reduce a person to a single action he committed ... theres always much more to a person than this action ... does that mean i condone the crime committed or that i am against punishment ... NO i do not condone the crimes comitted cuz i would not be human if i was able to condone any act of murder .. and NO i am not against punishment i am against capiutal punishment ... the dr inmate had no right to murder a person and he has to be punished for the act of murder but neither do i think its right to kill a person because a "law" covers the killing this time ... the state says "we are better than them " but where are we better than those who killed when we go down to the same level of primitivity(with the only exception that we call it "law" and make it legal under this "law") ... actually you can call everything "law" to justify it ... i am a romani gypsy and there was a time when it was "law" to wipe my people out in concentration camps just because we are not white and not "aryan" ... today people say what they did with us and the jewish people was a terrible crime but way back then it was "law" ... of course you cant compare murder out of racist reasons with todays execution laws for murder (well in some cases you can) but whati want to say is that just because acts are covered by some "law" doesnt make them right ... yes dr inmates committed terrible crimes against humanity and against human life but nevertheless they are human beings as well and taking a human life is always a nauseating act no matter WHO does it and WHY ... Mo-DAWG The single act the death row inmate did that you are supporting is murder. He / she is a murderer. With that single act he/she did made them this. They cause this act. They caused a whirlwind of distruction. You are supporting evilness. That makes you evil. Mo-Dawg- There are other people that need your support in this life. Good people. Murderers need the death penalty. I support it 100% Thank you for your time. I wish you change your mind. Even if you stay an anti. There is no need in supporting and not judging them for this evilness they have singlehandedly did. Mo-Dawg I gues you never lost a loved one to murder. yes you are right .. my friends on dr committed acts of murder and caused terrible destruction for the murdered ones and their families ... there is no doubt about that myamber ... but i am not supporting evilness nor am i evil myself ... again: i do not condone their crimes nor am i against punishment for them to pay the prize for their crimes ... the ONLY thing i am against is their death cuz 1st they are still human beings and 2nd their executions just produces a new set of innocent victims (their families) ... of course their families got victimized by the dr inmate himself and his actions (justlike the victims and the victims family and beloved ones) but whoever victimized them these families dont need nor deserve the pain they have to go through either ... ... yes i know there are so many good people who need help and support as well ... but who tells you that i dont do other kinds of social work as well and just not talk about it ... you know myamber will just HAVE TO stay anti for my convictions ... with everything else i would betray my convictions and my respect for human life ... i know its hard to explain that to a mvs like you but maybe you can see how i feel about the dp issue although i would never expect you to undertand it ... ...and yes myamber my family has lost a loved one to murder ... they have lost almost 100 family members to murder during the nazi era before i was born but thats long ago and far away for me cuz it happened long before i was born ... after i was born we lost another family member to murder whom i loved very much ... actually we had both in my family .. a murder victim as well as a family member who became murderer ... and i can tell you both was a very painful experience ... Mo-DAWG
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Mo-DAWG
Settlin' In
Yes... this is the real Mo-DAWG ..
Posts: 47
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Post by Mo-DAWG on Dec 31, 2005 21:59:29 GMT -5
yes it is all painful. And as for the murderers family I am sorry for them too. But the death penalty should not be jeopardized for the sake of thier feelings. Thier loved ones took away thier feelings also with the act they did. Sorry dont buy your story. A murderer had a choice his/ her own choice/ thier free will. Maybe if the murdering scum did not have support from people like you, they would suffer more as they should and deserve. I dont like murder lovers oh no you might have gotten me wrong here myamber ... i didnt mean to say spare the inmates life just because of the feelings of their family members .... my point is spare their lifes because of reasons of humanity ... yes now you will say where was their humanity when they killed their victims .... there was none ...i know that ... but if we kill them or support their executions we are no better than the acts they committed themselves ... we go down to the same level then ... we say dont kill helpless human beings but we do it aswell when we kill/execute those who violated this law .... and lets be honest thats what they are .. human beings ... their acts of murder have been inhuman but the inmates themselves are still human beings even if there are people out there who dont seem them as such ... ...you say "maybe if they dont have people like me they would suffer more ... " these men are already sentenced to die and if they dont get executed they will spend their lifes in prison ... that means being buried alive while life in the outside world passes them by ... what more of a suffering do you expect ... they do already suffer much longer than a murder victim did while they are waiting for their deaths ... (well many if not most of them do) ... why cant we be "better" and more merciful than they were and stand by them at least until they gonna die ... its an act of humanity .... we antis are not "murderer lovers" ... we are friends and supporters on their ways to death unless we can prevent their deaths ... yes they committed the act of murder but we are not supporting their acts of murder but the human being behind that act ... do you understand what i mean? Mo-DAWG
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Post by CCADP on Dec 31, 2005 22:02:45 GMT -5
myamber....i wish you could be spending your new years in a positive way; looking ahead to the future with those that you still have with you that I am sure love you; and thinking good thoughts and good memories of times with your loved ones that you have lost; like we all are.
What purpose does it serve to get angry at people who feel the death penalty is so wrong that they need to be a part of working against it in personal and or political ways? This message board and this webpage would not exist if these 'murderers' were sentenced to life w/o parole. We wouldn't be talking about them. You don't see pages for prisoners from Canada, Australia, Europe....why? Because we have no death penalty; those killers are locked up and thats it.
When its a matter of life and death; and people do not wish to be a party to any kind of killing; they will fight against the death sentences and thus ' for' these killers who would otherwise be essentially forgotten by all but their own families. As it is they have our attention; Amnesty Internationals', the Popes, European Union, etc etc. If that is disturbing to you; write to your lawmakers to get rid of the death penalty and they will sit in cells without webpages and the eyes of the world upon them.
Happy New Year! Love tracy and dave
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Post by myamber20 on Jan 3, 2006 19:16:24 GMT -5
deleted by Suzanne
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Post by kathy on Jan 3, 2006 23:25:22 GMT -5
I recieved a letter from my Pal today and it had been opened. Does this happen very often?
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Post by CCADP on Jan 4, 2006 5:12:50 GMT -5
Very often the letters are not sealed at all.
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Post by kathy on Jan 5, 2006 2:16:58 GMT -5
This one was actually sliced open on one end. And they just left it open. I bet it was this letter that had my winning lottery ticket in it! LOL
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Post by kat2 on Jan 12, 2006 13:21:26 GMT -5
How do you guys decide who to write to? How do you start your letters? Can I have a little more info? Thanks!
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Post by bexwhite on Jan 15, 2006 5:48:44 GMT -5
yes it is all painful. And as for the murderers family I am sorry for them too. But the death penalty should not be jeopardized for the sake of thier feelings. Thier loved ones took away thier feelings also with the act they did. Sorry dont buy your story. A murderer had a choice his/ her own choice/ thier free will. Maybe if the murdering scum did not have support from people like you, they would suffer more as they should and deserve. I dont like murder lovers that is disgusting i am sorry but how can you say death penilty is justified. some ppl dont get choices SELF DEFENCE is one choice, so if someone was coming at you or you kids witha knife would you stand there and say "go ahead and kill me" no you wouldnt you would step in the way and kill the person first but you would be acting in self defence and end up on the row.. we are not murder lovers we are ppl who see another way of life other thatn death row. its wrong and cruel. i was pro d/p till i stated to write to my pen pals and now i am totally changed. everyone deserves a seconde chance in life we dont judge the inmate we take there personalitys, and the feact there loyal friends, if you dont like what you read or hear do come on the anti-D/P sites and stay were you belong in the pro-D/P sites. cos your a biggott..
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Post by Maggie on Jan 21, 2006 8:54:37 GMT -5
I guess I can share my story. Most of you here know who my friend is in Texas. I wanted to write to a DR inmate, had no clue what I'd find - I guess it was an experience I wanted to go through. I went to the Texas Dept of Corrections website and read MANY pages on the different DR inmates at Polunsky. For some reason, Rob's file jumped out at me. I have no other way of describing it. I mean, there are 410 DR inmates at Polunsky, why Rob, why not so and so, why not that other person. I wrote him a two page intro letter and there it began. One thing that I have learnt is that people in there truly discover who they really are when locked in a cage 23 hours a day. Rob is no different. He's a dear friend of mine now. He even states I'm the only living human being he trusts completely. We send epic letters. My biggest was 22 pages! His was 16 pages, handwritten (of course). I'm selling my home to move south and I sent him the photo's of each room at my house. He wrote back saying he felt nearer/closer to me, because now he could actually visualise where I currently live. He has told me about artists he admires, places he'd wished he'd visited, so I search the internet for relevent images of paintings or places, so he can 'see' what they are like. One thing I always do is include funny pic's you find on the net. He loves those! Imagine it, being caged like an animal, 24/7 - what have you to smile about? So this way it raises his spirit and produces a smile. I do worry about the ultimate outcome. I do fully realise I may be asked to witness an execution. Something I truly am afraid of. Like Suzanne, watching a close friend being legally murdered is something she's had to go through and I may. I think about it a lot. However, I've come to the realisation that I chose to write to Rob. And now we are close friends, so I will do whatever it takes to stand by him. I guess you could say I'm here for the stay. True friends are hard to find nowadays. I choose my friends and try my hardest to protect them. In Rob's case, this is an exceptional and unique friendship. I offered to create a website for him, as he needed one. But oh no! Rob will not hear of it for it to be called 'his' website, no, it's 'our' website! Rob is a highly intelligent, articulate person who endures soul-crushing oppression. He's a strong man and a fighter. He could teach many of us a lot! Okay, over and out! Miles Miles, Thanks for posting this. It warmed my heart.
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Post by mrswhenwherewhat on Oct 27, 2006 13:07:40 GMT -5
I have no stories to share but one thing that I just realize is that it's true that no one is talking about murderers from Europe, Canada or Australia (unless they were serial killers or did mega-gruesome murders like Marc Dutroux) because they are locked-up! No appeals, no media interviews, no last meal requests, no website requesting penpals, etc. When they are locked up for a looooooong time there is no "urgency" to their lives. And it must be very very boring to be in prison forever.
There must be a middle ground between a slap on the wrist (some sentences in my country ARE too lenient for some murder cases) and a death sentence.
Another thing that really bugs me are mandotory minimums for small drug possession. I saw a true story movie about a woman whose live-in boyfriend was caught selling pot; he got 7 yrs, she got 20 yrs, all because she wasn't involved in the sale of the stuff thus couldn't give the DA and the detectives names of other dealers. The only "proof" they had on her was that she once answered the phone and took a message for her boyfriend. The caller was the guy's supplier, but she didn't know that. Insane!! I'd probably like to write to a woman in prison stuck in the same predicament as the woman I spoke about; I thank my lucky stars for my freedoms.
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Post by flauding on Aug 4, 2007 21:36:09 GMT -5
Inappropriate comments in this post have been deleted.
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Post by rdbsch on Sept 27, 2007 20:32:10 GMT -5
well...the problem with the death penalty in the states is that justice isn´t care about guilt or innocent. it´s about being in the papers...on tv...
after election is before next election.
a wise swiss judge once said: "i rather let 10 guilty people walk free if there is a slight chance that one of them is may innocent"
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