Post by CCADP on Aug 2, 2005 4:56:15 GMT -5
www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/comment/letters_story.html?id=ddc9b4e0-7d97-41bb-be8d-2c2a3b6ef019
Scott peterson's virtual voice
Canadians host web site
National Post
August 2, 2005
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CREDIT: Peter Redman, National Post
Dave Parkinson and Tracy Lamourie of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty will set up a Web site for anyone on death row.
A Canadian couple has posted a Web site for convicted killer Scott Peterson, featuring a death-row letter to his supporters and old family photographs of him hugging his wife, Laci.
Tracy Lamourie and Dave Parkinson of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty, which hosts Web sites for inmates on death row, received a letter from a Peterson supporter this year asking them to host a site for the California inmate.
''That's our mandate and we'll do it for anybody, but the request has to come directly from the prisoner,'' Ms. Lamourie said yesterday. ''[Peterson] then wrote us directly by mail asking us to create one.''
The Web site, www. ccadp.org/scottpeterson.htm, was posted last Wednesday and features smiling photos of Peterson and his murdered wife, Laci, whose body was found off the California coast in April, 2003.
Peterson was convicted of her murder last November, and was also found guilty of killing the couple's unborn child.
He was sentenced to death this year; the letter posted on the CCADP Web site is his first public statement.
''The amount of support we have received is just incredible,'' Peterson writes from San Quentin State Prison in California in a letter dated July 21, 2005. ''Those who have decided to reach out to our family have made such a difference.''
Peterson thanks those who have sent him letters in jail and expresses disappointment that he can no longer write directly to his supporters, explaining that people have ''sold my notes, and sometimes fabricating content.''
''It is an irritating, unfortunate situation,'' he writes. ''I am tremendously appreciative of your kindness, it has such a wonderful positive effect upon our family.''
Ms. Lamourie, an anti-death penalty activist who founded the CCADP with Mr. Parkinson eight years ago, said her organization hosts the personal Web pages of about 500 death-row inmates, and receives nearly 20,000 visits a day.
She vets content sent by inmates for racist or sexually explicit content, as well as anything that ''glorifies the nature of the crime.''
Since first being contacted by Peterson, Ms. Lamourie said she has been in regular correspondence with the convict, who plans to update his site quarterly.
She is ''absolutely sure'' the letters are from Peterson.
''We've been doing this for eight years, so we're quite familiar with what a letter from San Quentin looks like,'' she said. ''His mom has e-mailed us since and we've had several exchanges with him.''
Ms. Lamourie and Mr. Parkinson believe people on death row deserve a voice and that most convicted killers languish in silence until their execution.
''It's part of making people realize that these are real human beings who are being killed,'' she said of the Web sites.
Most inmates who use the couple's site post court documents and legal briefs, she said, as well as letters and artwork they have produced in jail.
Peterson provided a letter to the public as well as a 60-page defence brief and links to several Web sites promoting his innocence.
Ms. Lamourie said she does not have an opinion on Peterson's guilt, but said her organization has hosted sites for 13 death row inmates whose convictions were later overturned.
''They had way better issues convicting them than Peterson does,'' she said. ''I'm not saying he's innocent, but based on what we've seen in the trial I'd say that nobody can be absolutely sure that he's guilty.''
Mr. Parkinson said he has received some angry e-mails since Peterson's site was posted, and that the U.S. media has pounced on the story.
News of the site first broke last Thursday in Dose magazine, a CanWest publication, and has since been picked up by the Associated Press, Fox News and the New York Post, which ran the headline ''Dead Man Whining.''
Ms. Lamourie describes Peterson as ''very polite and very nice.''
''As much as you can tell from a letter, anyway,'' she said. ''He doesn't want to ask very much and he's very appreciative of anything people can do for him, as you can see in the note that he wrote to the public.''
Several messages of support have been posted on the CCADP site, and Ms. Lamourie said they are written by people opposed to the death penalty and not those who have a lurid interest in Peterson or other convicted felons.
''Those aren't the people we generally hear from, but it does happen,'' she said. ''I'm not hearing from women who supposedly think he's cute.''
Ms. Lamourie describes much of the interest in the Peterson case as ''unseemly,'' especially people who sell his letters and other personal possessions on eBay and other online auction sites.
But isn't it unseemly to allow a man to post family photographs of the woman he is convicted of murdering?
''Not at all,'' says Ms. Lamourie. ''At what point can we say, that's it, they're done -- they don't deserve to speak in their own defence? Not until the justice system is a whole lot better.''
PETERSON'S LETTER
Full text of the letter to supporters that Scott Peterson posted on the Canadian Coalition Against the Dealth Penalty Web site
Thank You
For me, the amount of support we have received is just incredible. Those who have decided to reach out to our family have made such a difference. The thoughtfulness and benevolence shown is a source of strength and spirit, an affirmation of considerate community. In every conversation among our family there is always the mention of your thoughts and letters.
At mail call I am encouraged by, and enjoy hearing from people.
I wish I could respond to express my gratitude, and continue to correspond. However, people having sold my notes, and sometimes fabricating content, preclude me from doing so. It is an irritating, unfortunate situation.
I am tremendously appreciative of your kindness, it has such a wonderful positive effect upon our family.
Scott Peterson;
July 21/05,
San Quentin State Prison, California
© National Post 2005
Scott peterson's virtual voice
Canadians host web site
National Post
August 2, 2005
1 | 2 | NEXT >>
CREDIT: Peter Redman, National Post
Dave Parkinson and Tracy Lamourie of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty will set up a Web site for anyone on death row.
A Canadian couple has posted a Web site for convicted killer Scott Peterson, featuring a death-row letter to his supporters and old family photographs of him hugging his wife, Laci.
Tracy Lamourie and Dave Parkinson of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty, which hosts Web sites for inmates on death row, received a letter from a Peterson supporter this year asking them to host a site for the California inmate.
''That's our mandate and we'll do it for anybody, but the request has to come directly from the prisoner,'' Ms. Lamourie said yesterday. ''[Peterson] then wrote us directly by mail asking us to create one.''
The Web site, www. ccadp.org/scottpeterson.htm, was posted last Wednesday and features smiling photos of Peterson and his murdered wife, Laci, whose body was found off the California coast in April, 2003.
Peterson was convicted of her murder last November, and was also found guilty of killing the couple's unborn child.
He was sentenced to death this year; the letter posted on the CCADP Web site is his first public statement.
''The amount of support we have received is just incredible,'' Peterson writes from San Quentin State Prison in California in a letter dated July 21, 2005. ''Those who have decided to reach out to our family have made such a difference.''
Peterson thanks those who have sent him letters in jail and expresses disappointment that he can no longer write directly to his supporters, explaining that people have ''sold my notes, and sometimes fabricating content.''
''It is an irritating, unfortunate situation,'' he writes. ''I am tremendously appreciative of your kindness, it has such a wonderful positive effect upon our family.''
Ms. Lamourie, an anti-death penalty activist who founded the CCADP with Mr. Parkinson eight years ago, said her organization hosts the personal Web pages of about 500 death-row inmates, and receives nearly 20,000 visits a day.
She vets content sent by inmates for racist or sexually explicit content, as well as anything that ''glorifies the nature of the crime.''
Since first being contacted by Peterson, Ms. Lamourie said she has been in regular correspondence with the convict, who plans to update his site quarterly.
She is ''absolutely sure'' the letters are from Peterson.
''We've been doing this for eight years, so we're quite familiar with what a letter from San Quentin looks like,'' she said. ''His mom has e-mailed us since and we've had several exchanges with him.''
Ms. Lamourie and Mr. Parkinson believe people on death row deserve a voice and that most convicted killers languish in silence until their execution.
''It's part of making people realize that these are real human beings who are being killed,'' she said of the Web sites.
Most inmates who use the couple's site post court documents and legal briefs, she said, as well as letters and artwork they have produced in jail.
Peterson provided a letter to the public as well as a 60-page defence brief and links to several Web sites promoting his innocence.
Ms. Lamourie said she does not have an opinion on Peterson's guilt, but said her organization has hosted sites for 13 death row inmates whose convictions were later overturned.
''They had way better issues convicting them than Peterson does,'' she said. ''I'm not saying he's innocent, but based on what we've seen in the trial I'd say that nobody can be absolutely sure that he's guilty.''
Mr. Parkinson said he has received some angry e-mails since Peterson's site was posted, and that the U.S. media has pounced on the story.
News of the site first broke last Thursday in Dose magazine, a CanWest publication, and has since been picked up by the Associated Press, Fox News and the New York Post, which ran the headline ''Dead Man Whining.''
Ms. Lamourie describes Peterson as ''very polite and very nice.''
''As much as you can tell from a letter, anyway,'' she said. ''He doesn't want to ask very much and he's very appreciative of anything people can do for him, as you can see in the note that he wrote to the public.''
Several messages of support have been posted on the CCADP site, and Ms. Lamourie said they are written by people opposed to the death penalty and not those who have a lurid interest in Peterson or other convicted felons.
''Those aren't the people we generally hear from, but it does happen,'' she said. ''I'm not hearing from women who supposedly think he's cute.''
Ms. Lamourie describes much of the interest in the Peterson case as ''unseemly,'' especially people who sell his letters and other personal possessions on eBay and other online auction sites.
But isn't it unseemly to allow a man to post family photographs of the woman he is convicted of murdering?
''Not at all,'' says Ms. Lamourie. ''At what point can we say, that's it, they're done -- they don't deserve to speak in their own defence? Not until the justice system is a whole lot better.''
PETERSON'S LETTER
Full text of the letter to supporters that Scott Peterson posted on the Canadian Coalition Against the Dealth Penalty Web site
Thank You
For me, the amount of support we have received is just incredible. Those who have decided to reach out to our family have made such a difference. The thoughtfulness and benevolence shown is a source of strength and spirit, an affirmation of considerate community. In every conversation among our family there is always the mention of your thoughts and letters.
At mail call I am encouraged by, and enjoy hearing from people.
I wish I could respond to express my gratitude, and continue to correspond. However, people having sold my notes, and sometimes fabricating content, preclude me from doing so. It is an irritating, unfortunate situation.
I am tremendously appreciative of your kindness, it has such a wonderful positive effect upon our family.
Scott Peterson;
July 21/05,
San Quentin State Prison, California
© National Post 2005