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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:07:35 GMT -5
Dec 9 /1999 El Observador newspaper - Montevideo, Uruguay Acceso a la Red para los condenados a muerte Internet antes de morir Unos 200 presos norteamericanos que esperan una cita con el verdugo pueden contar sus historias, despedirse de sus seres queridos, pedir perdón y enfrentarse a la muerte a través de Internet Un grupo de activistas canadienses en contra de la pena de muerte ha ofrecido a los condenados a muerte una ventana al mundo entero en la página Web www.ccadp.org. Allí pueden presentar su caso, demostrar sus habilidades con el pincel, con la pluma o simplemente comunicarse con el exterior. El corredor de la muerte donde esperan su ejecución los aísla del mundo exterior: no tienen acceso a computadoras ni máquinas de escribir y sus historias han sido enviadas en pedazos de papel, escritas con dificultad. Allí incluyen poesías, dibujos y sus deseos de poder intercambiar unas letras de esperanza. La Coalición Canadiense en Contra de la Pena de Muerte ha decidido ofrecer a estos presos una oportunidad para contar sus historias y abrió la página Web para que cuenten sus vidas. Defensa de su inocencia Son relatos de vidas sacudidas desde muy temprano por el abuso sexual, la violencia doméstica que presenciaron o las malas compañías con las que se rodearon. Unos defienden su inocencia, otros lanzan críticas contra el sistema penal, dicen que fueron vendidos por abogados sin escrúpulos, y algunos piden perdón.<br> Michael Rivera, un hombre que espera la cita con la cámara de gas en Florida por matar en 1986 a una niña de 11 años, ha publicado la carta que su madre envió a las autoridades del estado para que revisaran su caso. La mayoría de los presos no pierde demasiado tiempo en explicar por qué se encuentra en la cárcel a la espera de la última cita con el verdugo. En las notas que acompañan sus fotografías hablan de los planes de futuro, de que van a escribir un libro o que piensan salir alguna vez a la calle. Casi todos sueñan con espacios naturales y añoran mezclarse con la gente. La iniciativa ha tenido un éxito enorme, debido en parte a la revulsión social por la publicación de las fotos de un condenado a muerte tras ser ejecutado en la silla eléctrica. Las imágenes, que dieron la vuelta al mundo gracias a la Red, lograron que el gobernador de Florida suspendiera temporalmente las ejecuciones, a la espera de determinar si el sufrimiento que padecen antes de morir las personas que se ejecutan de esa manera puede ser considerado inconstitucional. December 9, 1999: Seattle Times Canadians give voice to condemned in U.S. by Lesley Clark - Seattle Times MIAMI - Guillermo Arbelaez likes to draw. And he's learning English. Sentenced to die in Florida's electric chair for drowning an ex-lover's 5-year-old son, he has plenty of time to hone those skills - and now, a personal Web page to show them off. Arbelaez and nearly 200 fellow death-row inmates across the United States have worldwide exposure at www.ccadp.org - courtesy of Canadian human-rights activists who believe more people would oppose the death penalty if they knew the denizens of the nation's death rows. The online inmates also include some who are nationally known such as Richard Allen Davis, convicted of the 1993 slaying of California schoolgirl Polly Klaas, and Mumia Abu-Jamal, the convicted killer of a Philadelphia police officer who has become an international cause celebre by supporters who contend he was railroaded. "Our only question is: Is the government trying to kill them?" said Tracy Lamourie, a co-founder of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty. "If the government is trying to kill them, we're against that. We don't get into questions of guilt or innocence." The pages resemble electronic scrapbooks, with pictures, poetry, artwork, essays on life behind bars, tales of justice gone wrong, trial transcripts and, in the case of Broward County child-killer Michael Rivera, a plea from Mom. Rivera, who prefers the name Michayl, posted his mother's letter to the parole board proclaiming her son's innocence in the 1986 murder of 11-year-old Staci Lynn Jazvac of Lauderdale Lakes. Like the Web pages of many fellow inmates, Rivera's is skimpy when it comes to details about his crime. Instead, the page says he plans to write a book, recently became engaged and is looking for donations to hire a lawyer to spring him from death row. To that end, he notes that he's a whiz with a crochet needle - afghans, baby booties and bonnets made to order. "We could possibly raffle off some crocheted items at fund-raising dinners, cookouts, etc.," he wrote. "Let's make it fun." Arbelaez, a Colombian national who is learning English and who is billed on the page as an artist, includes samples of his work: clapsed hands holding a rose and a dove. He also makes a plea for a pen pal, noting he's "searching for friendship." Florida prison officials were un familiar with the Web pages but found them disturbing. "We think it's disgusting and repulsive and offensive to the memory of the victims," Department of Corrections spokesman C.J. Drake said. "But, unfortunately, we can't do anything about it. If a private organization chooses to glorify killers, that's their business, as unsavory as it is. Such is the Internet." Pleas for pen pals are the constant of the pages, from men who have nothing but time to write, Lamourie said. Because inmates at most prisons aren't allowed access to computers or even typewriters, the group painstakingly rewrites handwritten missives onto the Web pages. "This is what we do all weekend," said Lamourie, who works for a Toronto publishing company. "We don't have much of a social life. If someone sends 500 pages of a transcript, we're happy to do that." Prisoners have heard about the site - billed as America's Death Row Inmates Pages - from family and prison activists. Lamourie said she fields five to 10 requests a week for personal pages. Lamourie said she receives barely legible letters from men who ask her not to use "big words" when she writes back. Some haven't had a visitor in years. But not everyone is moved. The coalition has fielded angry phone calls and mail from grieving victims and people who can't understand why they give those behind bars worldwide exposure. Lamourie tells them it's because the condemned are living under the threat of death. She noted that the coalition doesn't give free Web pages to lifers or Canadian murderers - because the country has no death penalty. "If the death penalty ended tomorrow, we'd take the pages down," she said. "That's what's disturbing to us, that's raising the stakes," she said. "That you're going to kill this individual makes what we do necessary. This is a human being we're talking about." Lamourie said she knows the odds are against the activists. "This is not an easy issue to stand up and support," she said. "It's too easy to say they're monsters." Copyright © 1999 The Seattle Times Company The week of Dec 8, an article appeared in The Florida Catholic, North America's largest Catholic newspaper. We have not seen this article.
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:07:54 GMT -5
Dec 8 edition - Veja - Brazil's largest newsweekly, ran an article about the CCADP webpages. above: article from Veja - Brazil's largest newsweekly, ran an article about the CCADP webpages. December 7, 1999 The Toronto Star - By Lesley Clark Special to the Star On December 2, 1999 Tracy Lamourie spoke to ABC News in Atlanta Georgia We have not seen this coverage. On December 2, 1999 this article appeared in iBrujula from Madrid Spain Click here to use Altavista's translation service to read this article in English Un grupo de activistas canadienses lleva Internet al corredor de la muerte La Coalición Canadiense en Contra de la Pena de Muerte ha decidido ofrecer a estos presos la oportunidad de contar sus vidas Jueves, 2 de diciembre. MARTA FERNÁNDEZ. Un grupo de activistas canadienses que luchan contra la pena de muerte ha ofrecido a aproximadamente 200 presos americanos la posibilidad de tener acceso a Internet. Mediante la página web www.ccadp.org, los presos podrán expresar sus ideas, pedir perdón o comunicarse con el exterior. En el corredor de la muerte donde muchos de ellos llevan años, no se les permite tener máquinas de escribir ni ordenadores, ni siquiera pueden hablar con sus compañeros, con lo que sólo cuentan con el papel para comunicarse con sus familiares o personas más cercanas. La Coalición Canadiense en Contra de la Pena de Muerte ha decidido ofrecer a estos presos la oportunidad de contar sus vidas, sus experiencias o mostrar al mundo sus dibujos y escritos. Las autoridades penitenciarias de Florida desconocían la existencia de este portal hasta que fueron informados por el diario The Miami Herald . El Portavoz del Servicio de Prisiones, C.J.Drake, aseguraba a este mismo medio, según informó el diario El Mundo, que "Es asqueroso y repulsivo, una ofensa contra la memoria de las víctimas". La iniciativa , sin embargo, ha sido acogida muy bien por el público, que ya había reaccionado en torno a este tema después de la publicación de fotografías del ajusticiamiento de un condenado a muerte en la silla eléctrica. Los contenidos de esta página son muy variados. La mayoría cuentan sus planes de futuro, sus expectativas o sus sueños de volver a pasear por la calle. Manuel Rivera, un hombre que espera la muerte en la cámara de gas por matar en 1986 a una niña de 11 años, ha publicado la carta que su madre envió a las autoridades del estado para que revisaran su caso. Este es sólo un ejemplo de las publicaciones que diariamente se pueden encontrar en el portal: quejas contra el sistema penal norteamericano o contra los abogados que defendieron sus casos, algunos piden perdón o defienden su inocencia. No es frecuente encontrar entre estas líneas menciones a su próxima muerte ni la explicación de las causas que les llevaron a la cárcel.
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:08:11 GMT -5
On Dec 2, 1999 Tracy Lamourie spoke with the KTXL, the FOX TV affiliate in Sacramento, California. The report is mostly concerned with the webpage for San Quentin death row prisoner Richard Allen Davis. We have not seen this coverage. Following is the article that appeared on their website the following day Dec 3, 1999.
Controversial Death Row Web Page December 2, 1999 10:00 PM PST It's called the Canadian Coalition Against The Death Penalty and it's giving death row inmate Richard Allen Davis his own webite... and a voice. Davis has never shown remorse for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Polly Klaas in 1993. In fact, quite the opposite. Yet, the Canadians against the death penalty think the world should know the human side of Davis and other death row inmates. Tracy Lamourie, Canadian Coalition Against The Death Penalty: "We're simply providing a forum where in most cases they can put up court information, there's poetry, there's artwork. It's simply presenting that these are human beings and we are killing them." The Department of Corrections say its hands are tied because Davis is not doing anything illegal. He mails letters and pictures to the Canadian group and they post them on the web. We've got links set up both to that page and to the Polly Klaas Foundation, a group set up to help find missing children. By Kristi Paulus
On Dec 2, 1999 Tracy Lamourie spoke with Network Indiana, statewide radio regarding the CCADP prisoner webpages. We have not heard this coverage. Dec 2, 1999 - Published in Vieiros, an electronic newspaper in Galicia. This is written in the language of Galicia, Galego.
Web contra a pena de morte Un grupo de internautas canadianos formaron a Coalición Canadiana contra a Pena de Morte, unha organización na rede na que os presos condenados a morte poden contar as súas historias e expoñer os seus puntos de vista, ou mesmo debuxos e pinturas a través de Internet. É un xeito de que estes cidadáns sen futuro expresen as súas inquedanzas, aínda que eles non teñan acceso a computadores e as súas historias fosen enviadas en papel. Algúns piden perdón, outros reivindican a súa inocencia... Esta iniciativa está a ter un grande éxito pola publicación das fotos dun condenado a morte logo de ser executado na cadeira eléctrica, cousa que fixo que o gobernador de Florida suspendera temporalmente as execucións.
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:08:29 GMT -5
Published Wednesday Dec 1, 1999, in El Mundo, from Madrid, Spain. El "corredor de la muerte" conectado Click here to use Altavista's translation service to read this article in English Una asociación contra la pena de capital lleva la Red a los condenados FELIPE CUNA Especial para EL MUNDO NUEVA YORK.- Unos 200 presos norteamericanos que esperan una cita con el verdugo pueden contar sus historias, despedirse de sus seres queridos, pedir perdón y enfrentarse a la muerte a través de Internet. Un grupo de activistas canadienses en contra de la pena de muerte les ha ofrecido una ventana al mundo entero en la página web www.ccadp.org en la que pueden presentar su caso, demostrar sus habilidades con el pincel, con la pluma o simplemente comunicarse con el exterior. El corredor de la muerte donde esperan su suerte los aísla del mundo exterior y les apaga poco a poco su mente, su cuerpo y su espíritu. Los presos que están en el pabellón no tienen acceso a ordenadores ni máquinas de escribir y sus historias han sido enviadas en trozos de papel, escritas con dificultad y en los que incluyen sus poesías, sus dibujos y sus deseos de poder tener compañeros con los que se intercambien unas letras de esperanza. La Coalición Canadiense en Contra de la Pena de Muerte ha decidido ofrecer a estos presos una oportunidad para contar sus historias y ha abierto la página web para que cuenten sus vidas. Defensa de su inocencia Relatos de renglones torcidos desde muy pronto por el abuso sexual, la violencia doméstica que presenciaron o las malas compañías con las que se rodearon. Unos defienden su inocencia, otros lanzan diatribas contra el sistema penal, dicen que fueron vendidos por abogados sin escrúpulos, y algunos piden perdón.<br> Michael Rivera, un hombre que espera la cita con la cámara de gas en Florida por matar en 1986 a una niña de 11 años, ha publicado la carta que su madre envió a las autoridades del estado para que revisaran su caso. La mayoría de los presos no pierde demasiado tiempo en explicar por qué se encuentran en la cárcel a la espera de la última cita con el verdugo y casi todos parecen no darse por enterados de que su muerte les ronda. En las notas que acompañan sus fotografías hablan de los planes de futuro,de que van a escribir un libro o que piensan salir alguna vez a la calle. Casi todos sueñan con espacios naturales y con mezclarse con la gente. Las autoridades penitenciarias de Florida desconocían la existencia de este portal hasta que no fueron informados por el diario The Miami Herald. «Es asqueroso y repulsivo, una ofensa contra la memoria de las víctimas», aseguró a este medio C.J. Drake, el portavoz del Servicio de Prisiones. Pero sin embargo la iniciativa ha tenido un éxito enorme, debido en parte al revulsivo social por la publicación de las fotos de un condenado a muerte tras ser ejecutado en la silla eléctrica. Las imágenes, que dieron la vuelta al mundo gracias a la Red, lograron que el gobernador de Florida suspendiera temporalmente las ejecuciones, a la espera de determinar si el sufrimiento que padecen antes de morir las personas que se ejecutan de esta manera puede ser considerado inconstitucional. On November 30th, 1999 Dave Parkison spoke with Newschannel 50 in Santa Rosa, California concerning the CCADP webpages. This reporter was concerned mainly with the webpage of San Quentin prisoner Richard Allen Davis - whose case - the murder of Polly Klaas, occured in the Santa Rosa area. We have not seen this coverage.
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:08:43 GMT -5
Article from the front page of the Miami Herald ! pages A1 & A10 Full article from online version : www.herald.com/content/today/docs/027941.htm- Published Tuesday, November 30, 1999, in the Miami Herald ELECTRONIC SCRAPBOOKS The webpages display pictures, poetry, artwork, essays on life behind bars, trial transcripts, pleas. * CCADP web site Activists put Death Row prisoners on the Web BY LESLEY CLARK lclarkherald.com Guillermo Arbelaez likes to draw. And he's learning English. Sentenced to die in Florida's electric chair for tossing an ex-lover's 5-year-old son into Biscayne Bay, he's got plenty of time to hone those skills -- and now, a personal Web page to show them off. Arbelaez and nearly 200 fellow Death Row inmates across the United States have worldwide exposure at www.ccadp.org -- courtesy of Canadian human rights activists who believe more people would oppose the death penalty if they got to know the denizens of the nation's Death Rows. The on-line inmates also include some who are nationally infamous, such as Richard Allen Davis, convicted of the 1993 slaying of California schoolgirl Polly Klaas, and Mumia Abu-Jamal, the convicted killer of a Philadelphia police officer who has become an international cause celebre by supporters who contend he was railroaded. Nearly two dozen Florida Death Row inmates have personal pages, including such South Florida notables as Lancelot Armstrong, who shot a Broward County sheriff's deputy to death during an attempted armed robbery, and William Elledge, who arrived on Death Row in 1975 for the strangulation, rape and murder of 20-year-old Anne Strack in a Hollywood hotel room. ''Our only question is: Is the government trying to kill them?'' said Tracy Lamourie, a co-founder of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty. ''If the government is trying to kill them, we're against that. We don't get into questions of guilt or innocence.'' The pages resemble electronic scrapbooks, with pictures, poetry, artwork, essays on life behind bars, tales of justice gone wrong, trial transcripts and, in the case of Broward County child killer Michael Rivera, a plea from Mom. Rivera, who prefers the name Michayl, posted his mother's letter to the parole board proclaiming her son's innocence in the 1986 murder of 11-year-old Staci Lynn Jazvac of Lauderdale Lakes. Like the Web pages of many of his fellow inmates, Rivera's is skimpy when it comes to details about his crime. Instead, the page says he plans to write a book, just got engaged and is looking for donations to hire a lawyer to spring him from Death Row. To that end, he notes that he's a whiz with a crochet needle -- afghans, baby booties and bonnets made to order. ''We could possibly raffle off some crocheted items at fund-raising dinners, cookouts, etc.,'' he wrote. ''Let's make it fun.'' WORK SAMPLES Arbelaez, a Colombian national who is learning English and is billed on the page as an artist, includes samples of his work: clapsed hands holding a rose and a dove. He also makes a plea for a pen pal, noting he's ''searching for friendship.'' Florida prison officials were unfamiliar with the Web pages, but found them disturbing. ''We think it's disgusting and repulsive and offensive to the memory of the victims,'' Department of Corrections spokesman C.J. Drake said. ''But, unfortunately, we can't do anything about it. If a private organization chooses to glorify killers, that's their business, as unsavory as it is. Such is the Internet.'' Elledge is one of the few on-line inmates to admit to his crimes -- a 36-hour, three-victim killing spree that began with Strack's murder. But the 24-year Death Row resident said it happened during his impetuous, drunken youth. Now the father of three sounds simply lonely. ''I love the out-of-doors and nature,'' said Elledge, whose grizzled photograph on the page shows the chalky pallor of a Death Row inmate who spends little time outdoors. ''I enjoy catchy, one-liner sayings like 'I feel like a one-legged dog in a million-dollar race.' '' PEN PALS Pleas for pen pals are the constant of the pages, from men who have nothing but time to write, Lamourie said. Even Davis -- whose site includes an eerie link to the Polly Klaas Foundation, which assists in searches for missing children -- is looking for ''some decent pen pals in this world . . . before my time comes to make that last walk.'' Because inmates at most prisons, including Florida's, aren't allowed access to computers or even typewriters, the activists painstakingly rewrite handwritten missives onto the Web pages. ''This is what we do all weekend,'' said Lamourie, who works for a Toronto publishing company. ''We don't have much of a social life. If someone sends 500 pages of a transcript, we're happy to do that.'' The prisoners have heard about the site -- billed as America's Death Row Inmates Pages -- from family and prison activists. Lamourie said she fields 5 to 10 requests a week for personal pages. Although Lamourie said she feared prisoners would want to post gore and ''pages with blood dripping from them,'' she said she hasn't had to censor. Instead, Lamourie said she gets barely legible letters from men who ask her not to use ''big words'' when she writes back. Some haven't had a visitor in years. ANGRY REACTIONS But not everyone is moved. The coalition has fielded angry phone calls and mail from grieving victims and people who can't understand why they give those behind bars worldwide exposure. Lamourie tells them it's because the condemned are living under the threat of death. She notes that the coalition doesn't give free Web pages to any lifers or Canadian murderers -- because the country has no death penalty. ''If the death penalty ended tomorrow, we'd take the pages down,'' she said. ''That's what's disturbing to us, that's raising the stakes,'' she said. ''That you're going to kill this individual makes what we do necessary. This is a human being we're talking about . . . '' But the pages are likely to have little effect in Florida, where polls show strong support for the death penalty and where impatient lawmakers and Gov. Jeb Bush are considering reforms to shorten the time between sentencing and execution -- now an average of 10 years. Lamourie said she knows the odds are against the activists. ''This is not an easy issue to stand up and support,'' she said. ''It's too easy to say they're monsters.''
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:09:00 GMT -5
Friday, October 29, 1999 The National Post INTERNET SITE BRINGS TOGETHER MURDERERS, DEATH PENALTY OPPONENTS It reads like your everyday personal ad: " I am 40 years old, 5'9"tall,160 lbs. I am a caring and sensitive, honest person who is naturally funny. My hobbies are reading, writing, music, natural sceneries and the outdoors." Leroy White sounds like a nice guy to begin a correspondence with, if you overlook the fact that he is on death row. One group willing to give him a chance is the Canadaian Coalition Against The Death Penalty. Their web site, www.ccadp.org, points out that sitting in a cell, alone, 23 hours a day can make for a lonely prisoner. So, why not drop one a line ? The Coalition has set up web pages and a pen-pal system whereby these inmates can communicate with the outside world. Murderers can post their own web pages for a death row inmate special. " If you're on death row-there is NO cost to you ever" the site proclaims, adding the pages will remain on the internet forever. They also add some prisoners would appreciate a few dollars if you can afford it, though friendship is what is most valuable to them. "Don't prejudge. You may be suprised and make a good friend." The fact that Canada does not have the death penalty does not deter these Canadians from going after countries (mainly the U.S.) that do. They have particular ill feeling for Texas and George W. Bush, its governor and presidential candidate. They refer to Mr.Bush as an International Lawbreaker and the Texecutioner. The group was in the news recently, when it asked Canadian tourists to boycott Texas afater the execution of Stanley Faulder. (the press releases are all on the Web site) The organization lists all the anti-death penalty arguments in its mandate to eradicate the punishment. (According to the site, homicides actually increase immediately after an execution.) Common ground must be found where understanding, compassion, forgiveness (and) reconciliation will rule instead of anger, rage, revenge and the further destruction of life." The coalition, although it is mostly a partnership consisting of two Torontonians, Tracy Lamourie and Dave Parkinson, also includes writings and artwork from inmates, plus a list of their execution dates. "The best to you all, just remember, the eyes of the world are watching now, and you haven't been forgotten, any of you," the site says. Mark Gollom, National Post Monday, March 29 The Globe and Mail - National News - Tourist Boycott of Texas urged -- A group opposed to the death penalty has asked Canadians to boycott Texas to protest the scheduled execution of former Albertan Stanley Faulder. Members of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty hope they can put enough pressure on state officials to make them commute Faulder's sentence. The former Jasper, Alta., resident is to die by lethal injection June 17. Mr. Faulder is on death row for the 1975 slaying of a Texas woman. He has another appeal pending before the 5th U.S.Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. AP Monday, March 29 USA TODAY Longview - Members of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty has called upon Canadians to boycott Texas as a protest to the pending execution of a countryman and convicted killer Joseph Stanley Faulder 61. He would become the first Canadian executed in the United States since1952 . Monday, March 29 Ottawa Citizen Group Calls for Boycott of Texas A group opposed to the death penalty has called on Canadian tourists to protest the execution of a coutryman, convicted killer Stanley Faulder. Members of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty hope they can put enough pressure on state officials to force them to commute Mr. Faulder's sentence. The former Jasper, Alta. resident is to die by lethal injection June 17. So far, the Longview News-Journal reported yesterday, the groups founders have received little response.
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:09:20 GMT -5
Monday, March 29 Montreal Gazette Texas boycott called for A group opposed to the death penalty has called on Canadian tourists to boycott Texas to protest against the pending execution of a countryman, convicted killer Stanley Faulder. Members of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty hope they can put enough pressure on state officials to force them to commute Mr. Faulder's sentence. The former Jasper, Alta. resident is to die by lethal injection June 17. So far, the Longview News-Journal reported yesterday, the groups founders have received little response. His petition argues that the Texas board of opardons and paroles should allow death row convicts a public hearing before the full board when they request clemency. The board usually votes by phone or fax.
CBC NEWS ONLINE Faulder supporters call for Texas boycott WebPosted Sun Mar 28 21:48:38 1999 LONGVIEW, TEXAS - A group opposed to capital punishment is calling on Canadians to stay away from Texas to protest the execution of Canadian Stanley Faulder. LINKS: Websites related to this story "If you get arrested in Texas you may not be allowed to contact your government or family for assistance," the group said on their website. "Canadian Stan Faulder was on Death Row facing execution for 15 years in a Huntsville prison before his family and the Canadian government were able to find him." Despite the boycott call, however, Texas officials say Canadians are visiting the state in ever-increasing numbers. Faulder is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on June 17. The state's governor, George Bush, Jr., is considered a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. Monday, March 29, 1999 CALGARY SUN Texas boycott urged Tourists 'must help' Canadian on death row By AP LONGVIEW, Tex. -- A group opposed to the death penalty has asked Canadians to boycott Texas to protest the pending execution of former Albertan Stanley Faulder. Members of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty hope they can put enough pressure on state officials to force them to commute Faulder's sentence. The former Jasper resident is scheduled to die by lethal injection June 17. So far, the Longview News-Journal reported yesterday, the group has got little response. "Most of the responses we got were fairly negative ... we are bleeding heart liberals, or accusing Canada of becoming overly involved in politics there in Texas," said Dave Parkinson. Tracye McDaniel of the Texas Department of Economic Development, said Canadians are touring Texas in ever-increasing numbers despite the Faulder case. McDaniel said her department was not aware of the boycott, which is promoted on a web site, and has no plans to address the anti-death penalty group. Faulder, 61, almost was executed Dec. 10, but a stay was issued while the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear his case. He is on death row for the 1975 slaying of an elderly Texas woman, Inez Phillips, of Gladewater, about 20 km east of Longview.
EDMONTON SUN Monday, March 29, 1999 Group pushes Texas boycott By AP LONGVIEW, Texas -- A group opposed to the death penalty has called on Canadian tourists to boycott Texas to protest to the pending execution of a countryman, convicted killer Stanley Faulder. Members of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty hope they can put enough pressure on state officials to force them to commute Faulder's sentence. The former Jasper resident is to die by lethal injection June 17. So far, the Longview News-Journal reported yesterday, the group's founders have gotten little response. "Most of the responses we got were fairly negative, that we are bleeding heart liberals, or accusing Canada of becoming overly involved in politics there in Texas," said Dave Parkinson, a co-founder of the group. Tracye McDaniel of the Texas Department of Economic Development, said visitors from north of the border are touring Texas in ever-increasing numbers despite the Faulder situation. McDaniel said her department was not aware of the boycott, which is promoted on a Web site, and has no plans to address the anti-death penalty group. "We are not approaching them at all," she said. "What we do take seriously are our Canadian visitors, because they are loyal customers. We are going to continue to encourage them to come to our state." Faulder, 61, was almost executed Dec. 10 but a stay was issued while the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether to hear his case. The court later declined to hear the case and lifted the stay. He is on death row for the 1975 slaying of an elderly Texas woman, Inez Phillips, of Gladewater, about 20 km east of Longview. Faulder, who would become the first Canadian executed in the U.S. since 1952, has an appeal pending before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:09:34 GMT -5
OTTAWA SUN Monday, March 29, 1999 Group urges Texas boycott By AP LONGVIEW, TEX. -- A group opposed to the death penalty has called on Canadian tourists to boycott Texas to protest the pending execution of convicted killer Stanley Faulder. Members of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty hope they can put enough pressure on state officials to force themto commute Faulder's sentence. The former Jasper, Alta., resident is to die by lethal injection June 17. So far, the group's founders have got little response. "Most of the responses we got were fairly negative, that we are bleeding heart liberals, or accusing Canada of becoming overly involved in politics there in Texas," said Dave Parkinson, a co-founder of the group. Tracye McDaniel of the Texas Department of Economic Development, said Canadian visitors are touring Texas in ever-increasing numbers. McDaniel said her department was not aware of the boycott, which is promoted on a web site, and has no plans to address the anti-death penalty group. "We are not approaching them at all," she said. "What we do take seriously are our Canadian visitors, because they are loyal customers. We are going to continue to encourage them to come to our state." Faulder, 61, almost was executed Dec. 10 but a stay was issued while the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether to hear his case. The court later declined to hear the case and lifted the stay. Faulder, who would become the first Canadian executed in the U.S. since 1952, is on death row for the 1975 slaying of an elderly Texas woman, Inez Phillips. He still has another appeal pending before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, arguing the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles should allow death-row convicts a public hearing before the full board when they request clemency. The board usually votes by phone or fax. A U.S. federal judge in the Texas state capital, Austin, has criticized the clemency process but ruled it is constitutional. In his Supreme Court appeal, Faulder's lawyers claimed prosecutors didn't properly notify Canadian authorities after his arrest, as prescribed by international law. The state countered Faulder didn't say he was Canadian until several years later.
Front Page Headlines ! - March 29, 1999 - DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Canadians urged to skip Texas - Boycott aims to get citizen off death row 03/29/99 Associated Press LONGVIEW, Texas - A group opposed to the death penalty has called upon Canadians to boycott visiting Texas as a protest against the pending execution of a countryman, convicted killer Joseph Stanley Faulder. Members of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty hope they can pressure state officials into commuting Mr. Faulder's pending June 17 execution by triggering an international boycott of Texas tourism. So far, the Longview News-Journal reported Sunday, the group's founders have gotten little response. "Most of the responses we got were fairly negative, that we are bleeding-heart liberals. Or accusing Canada of becoming overly involved in politics there in Texas," said Dave Parkinson, a co-founder of the group along with Tracy Lamourie. Canada does not have capital punishment. Tracye McDaniel, deputy executive director for tourism with the Texas Department of Economic Development, said visitors from north of the border are touring Texas in ever-increasing numbers, despite the Faulder case. Ms. McDaniel said her department was not aware of the boycott, which is promoted on a Web site, and has no plans to address the anti-death-penalty group. "We are not approaching them at all," she said. "What we do take seriously are our Canadian visitors, because they are loyal customers." Mr. Faulder, 61, almost was executed Dec. 10 before the U.S. Supreme Court spared his life earlier that day. The court later declined to hear his case and lifted the stay. He is on death row for the slaying of 75-year-old Inez Phillips of Gladewater, about 12 miles east of Longview.
C NEWS, CANOE March 28, 1999 Anti-death penalty group calls for boycott of Texas
LONGVIEW, Tex. (AP) -- A group opposed to the death penalty has called on Canadian tourists to boycott Texas to protest to the pendingexecution of a countryman, convicted killer Stanley Faulder. Members of the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty hope they can put enough pressure on state officials to force them to commute Faulder's sentence. The former Jasper, Alta., resident is to die by lethal injection June 17. So far, the Longview News-Journal reported Sunday, the group's founders have got little response. "Most of the responses we got were fairly negative, that we are bleeding heart liberals, or accusing Canada of becoming overly involved in politics there in Texas," said Dave Parkinson, a co-founder of the group. Tracye McDaniel of the Texas Department of Economic Development, said visitors from north of the border are touring Texas in ever-increasing numbers despite the Faulder situation. McDaniel said her department was not aware of the boycott, which is promoted on a Web site, and has no plans to address the anti-death penalty group. "We are not approaching them at all," she said. "What we do take seriously are our Canadian visitors, because they are loyal customers. We are going to continue to encourage them to come to our state." Faulder, 61, almost was executed Dec. 10 but a stay was issued while the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether to hear his case. The court later declined to hear the case and lifted the stay. He is on death row for the 1975 slaying of an elderly Texas woman, Inez Phillips, of Gladewater, about 20 kilometres east of Longview. Faulder, who would become the first Canadian executed in the United States since 1952, still has another appeal pending before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. His petition argues the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles should allow death-row convicts a public hearing before the full board when they request clemency. The board usually votes by phone or fax. A U.S. federal judge in the Texas state capital, Austin, has criticized the clemency process but ruled it is constitutional. In his Supreme Court appeal, Faulder's lawyers claimed prosecutors didn't properly notify Canadian authorities after his arrest, as prescribed by international law. The state countered that Faulder didn't say he was Canadian until several years after he was condemned. His appeals have generated support from Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:11:03 GMT -5
Sunday, March 28, 1999 LONGVIEW TEXAS NEWS JOURNAL Canadians threaten tourism boycott if Faulder executed By Jerry Graham Staff Writer
A group of Canadians hopes to bring economic ruination to the Texas tourism industry if death row inmate Joseph Stanley Faulder is executed. They acknowledge that Texas officials are not paying much attention to their call for an international tourism boycott in protest of the death penalty. Canadians are not paying much attention either, and are touring Texas in ever-increasing numbers, said Tracye McDaniel, deputy executive director for tourism with the Texas Department of Economic Development. Tracy Lamourie and Dave Parkinson of Toronto in May co-founded the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty, which has about 200 members. Partly, it was to protest the execution of Faulder, a Canadian native, Parkinson said. But mainly it was to draw the world's attention to the number of executions carried out in Texas, he said. Texas has executed 172 death row inmates since the state resumed its use of the death penalty in December 1982. That is more than any other state. The coalition set up a Website on the Internet championing the cause of Faulder and other death row inmates. The site encourages people to contact Texas officials and tell them they are participating in a tourism boycott of the state. "It was surprising. Other than some media response, we didn't get any response from Texas at all,'' Lamourie said. "I think they sort of deleted,'' she said of electronic mail sent to Texas officials. "The few e-mails that we got back were just the standard 'It is none of your business. This is a Texas problem.' That kind of thing,'' Lamourie said. "Most of the responses we got were fairly negative, that we are bleeding heart liberals. Or accusing Canada of becoming overly involved in politics there in Texas,'' Parkinson said. Asked whether the state tourism officials are approaching the coalition seriously, McDaniel said, "We are not approaching them at all. What we do take seriously are our Canadian visitors, because they are loyal customers. We are going to continue to encourage them to come to our state.'' "We are aware of the group and we are aware of the Website. As far it having an effect on tourism, in 1997, approximately 278,000 Canadian tourists came into our state. And the first- through third-quarter numbers for 1998 were up by 12 percent,'' McDaniel said. Among foreign visitors to Texas, Mexicans rank first and Canadians are second, but the economic development department has not taken any action toward the coalition, McDaniel said. "And at this point in time, we probably won't,'' she said. She said during the last year the state launched a Buckaroo Bucks program, which provided discounted prices at hotels and attractions for Canadian visitors. "We are going to continue to do those kinds of promotions. We feel like we are getting a very positive response from Canadians who are traveling to Texas,'' McDaniel said. Faulder was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the 1975 slaying of Inez Phillips, 75, of Gladewater. She was beaten and stabbed to death during a robbery in her home. Faulder is scheduled to die June 17. Lamourie said Faulder is the only Canadian on death row in Texas. Parkinson quickly qualified her statement and said, "That we actually know of.'' He pointed out that Faulder was on death row for 15 years before Canadian officials knew he had been arrested, even though an international treaty requires Texas officials to notify the Canadian consul anytime they arrest a Canadian citizen. Prosecution officials said Faulder rejected his first attorney's offer to contact his family in Canada. "There is the possibility that there may be other Canadians there that we haven't been advised of yet. But as far as we currently know, Mr. Faulder is the only Canadian that is residing on death row in Texas,'' Parkinson said. "But our issue is not just Mr. Faulder or other Canadians. Our focus is on the death penalty in general. We work on the cases of a lot of Texas citizens that are on death row,'' Lamourie said. "A lot of people are not aware of the extent to which Texas commits executions,'' Lamourie said. For those who would criticize foreigners for interfering in Texas matters, Lamourie referred to a previous campaign against South Africa. "South Africa would have wanted us to stay out of the apartheid issue, also,'' she said of those pursuing human rights campaigns. Lamourie said they have had positive response from international human rights organizations to their call for a tourism boycott. "They are not doing it because of Stanley Faulder. They are doing it for human rights issues,'' Lamourie said. But Faulder still has a date with the executioner, he has exhausted the usual appellate procedures and Lamourie said she has little hope his death sentence will be overturned. "We all know the mood of politicians in Texas on the death penalty issue. I don't think they are going to go to bat for him,'' she said. "But we can only hope they would look at the way the international community views this,'' she said.
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:11:23 GMT -5
SpinTech: March 12, 1999 An Inquiry About the Death Penalty by Vin Suprynowicz Tracy Lamourie and Dave Parkinson, who sign themselves "directors, Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty," recently wrote in: "Dear Sir, How is that you can call yourself a libertarian and yet allow the government the right to kill its own citizens? Please reconsider this particularly American view. See our page at www.ccadp.org. I'm sure you won't like it either. We were curious about the Libertarian party. Not anymore." After a little head-scratching, I replied: Greetings -- My understanding of the rationale that leads many libertarians to endorse the death penalty (though I don't believe the Libertarian Party in the U.S. formally takes any position on the issue) is that any responsible philosophy of personal liberty must also hold individuals accountable for their own actions, up to and including the ultimate penalty for ultimate crimes - the crimes of those who organize death camps, for instance. Also, if an individual has a natural and moral right to kill in self-defense (which he most certainly does), then the individual also has the right to DELEGATE that power. For instance, if I have the right to defend my home against assailants (as I certainly do), and I call the police to inform them that my house is under attack, the arriving police have a right to kill those assailants if necessary to protect my life (even though it's not the individual police officer's home or family that are under attack.) This mirrors the moral justification for members of the armed forces killing attacking enemies. (I don't believe any of this is "particularly American," by the way. It seems to me a lot of brave Canadians hit the beaches in Normandy in June of 1944. Did they believe that - otherwise - Hitler would soon invade Newfoundland? I highly doubt it. Also, many other nations impose the death penalty with far more profligacy than the United States. Singapore, Iraq, Iran, and China come quickly to mind.) Now, I see two areas where the above rationale for the death penalty may fall down: 1) the executioner is not acting in "self-defense"; he may in fact be exercising a form of vengeance, no matter how sanctified by statute. While I have a natural right to kill you WHILE you are attacking my home or family, it does not necessarily follow that (having repelled your attack and survived my encounter), I have a right to seek you out and kill you "in cold blood" some months later, at my leisure. This point is worth some further debate. I and my neighbors may indeed have some right to sortie forth and "clean out" a nest of bandits if they have demonstrated a pattern of aggression against my community. The problem here is how to avoid the mere assertion that anyone with sufficient power or stealth has "the right" to kill anyone he thinks "might eventually be a danger to him." 2) The government just does such a damnably bad job of enforcing any current death penalty justly or equitably. Its purported effect as a warning is reduced almost to nil by the fact that modern execution is not quick; neither is it public; nor is it certain. And statistically, your chance of actually being executed is enormously higher (for similar crimes) if you are poor, and/or black, Indian, or Hispanic. It is this last reason - as well as the undeniable fact that our justice system is so imperfect as to demonstrably condemn at least several innocent men to death each year - which has led me to question and finally reject (sufficient that I earnestly seek and propose alternatives, like lifetime exile after tattooing) the death penalty, PERSONALLY. Therefore, I am usually careful to note that the Libertarian Party holds the death penalty to be proper IN PRINCIPLE, and that I agree in principle, but that real-life experience IN PRACTICE is simply so inequitable that I myself now reject the death penalty as currently imposed by the state. I have written this many times; if I failed to express this clearly on some occasion I apologize. You might want to review more of my columns, available at www.infomagic.com/liberty/vinyard.htm, and www.nguworld.com/vindex. This is not to say that I reject the right of the individual to maim or kill anyone who attacks his home, family or person, so long as the person being attacked is not doing harm to anyone else such as to justify the initiation of force against him. The individual does have the right to thus use deadly force in self-defense, even if the assailant happens to be wearing some kind of badge or uniform. Please note this is NOT the same thing as saying it's OK to harm or resist a duly sworn officer who politely knocks at your door and serves you with an arrest or search warrant in the lawful conduct of his or her duty, giving you a reasonable amount of time to read that warrant and then pull on some clothes. It does, however, justify shooting and killing every member of any "SWAT team" that breaks down your door without warning. No one who thus defends his home, person, or family should be charged with any crime. If so charged, their jurors should acquit without hesitation. Judges who sign "no-knock warrants" should be indicted and put on trial. If the excuse is that the evidence of the victimless crime (drug dealing, prostitution, arms manufacturing) will otherwise be lost, this is a sure sign that this activity is protected by the Ninth Amendment, and should never have been outlawed in the first place. Therefore your question, "How is that you can call yourself a libertarian and yet allow the government the right to kill its own citizens" seems somewhat inappropriate. Given that I expressly DIFFER from many Libertarians in this regard (while the LP national platform appears to take no formal position on the issue at all), it might be more appropriate to ask, "How is that you can call yourself a Libertarian and yet NOT allow the government the right to kill its own citizens" ... except, of course, that the states and their courts rarely seek my personal permission before throwing the switch. Men die. Men sometimes have a right to kill. There are higher values than life. Given the choice between consigning my child to a life of slavery, or giving up my own life, I devoutly hope I would always choose the latter. And I know I would kill to avoid slavery for me or mine. Wouldn't you? Vin Suprynowicz is the assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. His syndicated column is The Libertarian, and his book
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:11:59 GMT -5
Sunday, January 31, 1999 ABILENE REPORTER NEWS (Texas) Death row inmates seek freedom through Web sites By ANTHONY WILSON Staff Writer
Though Wayne East has lived in a steel and cement cage for 17 years, his imprisonment has not kept the convicted killer from piping claims of innocence and injustice to a worldwide audience. East has maintained a presence on the Internet since 1996 despite his residency on Texas' death row, where he had no access to a computer --and likely no understanding of the World Wide Web. Despite the findings of an Abilene jury, his British-produced home page argues that the 43-year-old convict was an innocent dupe in the 1981 murder of artist Mary Eula Sears. It chalks up East's conviction to the "overt racism and wilful (sic) ignorance" of Texas lawmen. "Now Wayne must face up to the nightmare of life on death row and the possibility that he may be executed for a crime that he simply did not commit," the page says, directing readers to a link labeled "How to Help." Two weeks ago, East was shuttled back to the Taylor County Jail to await a new sentencing hearing granted by the appellate courts -- a development that, oddly, is barely mentioned on his Web site. During his stay on death row, he was the only one of Taylor County's five condemned murderers to have his own Web page. However, many of East's former cellblockmates have scattered their stories and claims throughout cyberspace after latching onto the Internet as a potential savior. The postings, some of them in the inmates' own words, include overwrought poetry, rambling commentaries, lonesome pleas for pen pals, solicitations for money and steadfast insistence a man will be killed for something he couldn't, wouldn't and didn't do.
The Web pages are designed and updated from across the globe by death penalty opponents who say they feel called to protest government-sanctioned killing and to humanize those who await the ultimate punishment.
"It is important for the prisoners to be heard so that people have the opportunity to know them as individuals," said Karen Sebung, executive director of the Lamp of Hope Project. "It is a lot harder to kill someone you know than to kill a faceless stranger. We want to open up what is cordoned off by the world and make it visible for all to see -- the negatives and the positives. "I really believe in this work." A new medium The Lamp of Hope Project is a nonprofit organization founded in 1991 for the "pursuit of truth, justice and mercy." Its literature says the group strives to nourish the dignity of death-row inmates, to educate the public about capital punishment and the prisoners, and to promote moral values. A 49-year-old youth counselor in League City, Sebung became involved with the project through a letter-writing ministry with prisoners. In April 1997, Sebung took the Lamp of Hope online, providing an Internet link to the "Death Row Journal," a prisoner-produced newsletter that, until then, had been the group's most effective herald.
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:12:12 GMT -5
Hits on the page skyrocketed seven months later when Odessa killer and project co-founder Michael Sharp posted his last words on the site -- a long religious essay titled "The Jericho Road" that concluded with the eerily sunny farewell, "I'M OUTTA HERE!!! See Ya!" Prison spokesman Larry Fitzgerald, who coordinates media access to executions, remembered thinking, "Gosh, that's novel." "People, for whatever reason, want to get convicts and their message out on the Web," Fitzgerald said. "There is a curiosity about death row inmates in Texas for certain. But to the public, my warning is caveat emptor -- let the buyer beware. You can't lose sight of the fact these people are convicts." Sebung said her group battles the "monster" stigma inmates are saddled with. "I would not say that I would want all of them back on the street again," she said. "But they are people just like everyone else. They laugh; they cry; they are happy; they have pain. But by the grace of God, any of us could be them." The inmates rely upon capital punishment abolitionists such as Sebung to create and maintain their parking places on the information superhighway. Some of the offerings are penned by prisoners, mailed to their Web masters and reproduced online by sympathetic volunteers. Sometimes the Web masters -- those who control the Web page -- write the articles themselves, relying on a mix of inmate and family testimony, news articles, legal documents and Amnesty International reports for background. Aside from some multi-colored text, including the proclamation, "All Life is Precious!!" the Lamp of Hope page consists of a vanilla-white backdrop with a dozen links. One link alerts readers to upcoming executions. Another advertises inmates' matchstick figurines and commemorative cross-stitching for sale. Inmate number 999012's poetry -- including "If You Live the Life of a Bad Man" -- can be accessed in the archives. By comparison, the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty posts a splashy page complete with a rippling maple leaf flag, barbed wire borders, flashing headlines and photos of grinning, waving inmates. The page urges a tourist boycott of the Lone Star State, making use of the slogan "Texas, It's Like a Whole Other Country" and adding the words "Like Iraq ... Like China ... Like The Sudan." Images of the execution gurney litter the background. A pair of 29-year-old Toronto activists formed CCADP in June after discovering that no Canadian organization was working against capital punishment. Group founders Tracy Lamourie and Dave Parkinson said their Web page, which features 10 Texas inmates, has sparked extraordinary response from death penalty opponents who have joined the cause, established literary relationships with prisoners and donated cash to defense funds. The page's counter has logged nearly 16,000 hits in seven months. A large slice of the sympathizers are from foreign countries that, like Canada, don't execute criminals. "Someday we will look on the death penalty the way we look on slavery now," Lamourie and Parkinson wrote in an Internet interview. "Outside of the U.S., the death penalty really is seen as a cruel, barbaric practice which in itself elicits a certain sympathy for those in that situation."
No sympathy Tim Eyssen said the duo's sympathy is wasted on men like Wayne East. A retired prosecutor, Eyssen is the closest surviving relative to his murdered aunt, Mary Eula Sears. He said the attention given to death row inmates is an affront to the victims' families and to the justice system. "A Web page for these murderers is disgusting," Eyssen said. "They've twisted things the way they want to. Not all the facts are there that supported a conviction. "It will certainly find a following with groups opposed to the death penalty, no matter what the facts are," he added. "Frankly, I don't concern myself with those people." Taylor County Assistant District Attorney Kollin Shadle dismissed East's page as "about what I expected: 'People in white hats cheat.' " But the prosecutor who has worked hardest against East's appeals said he doesn't begrudge prisoners for flexing their First Amendment rights. "I'm not offended," Shadle said. "If someone is not guilty and has done all he can, I don't blame them for getting on the Internet for attention. "That's not to say the greater bulk of inmates are not guilty. A lot of people don't want to own up to what they've done and are trying to save their lives at all costs." East's attorneys, who continue fighting for him in the appellate courts, advised him to decline comment. The creator of his Web page did not respond to an interview request. Though inmates plead for pen pals on their Internet sites, only one of the eight approached by the *Abilene Reporter-News responded to written questions. Less than two weeks away from his scheduled execution date, George Cordova wrote that he didn't know what the Internet was, saying he initially believed it was a high-tech gadget "used by the guys on Wall Street." On his Web page, Cordova asserts his innocence, asks for letters -- even from those who "wish to throw stones my way" -- and begs for money for a "decent funeral" and a cemetery plot. He blames the mainstream media for the lukewarm response to his page. The inmate said reporters have inflamed the "incendiary, volatile nature" of the death penalty issue and Texans' desire for vengeance. "It's an uphill battle, trying to reach minds and hearts of a population that is daily fed a diet of misinformation and propaganda," wrote Cordova, who is scheduled to die Feb. 10 for a 1979 murder. "If I can reach the heart of one man or woman, my efforts have been successful." He also said the Internet has become a last-gasp venue for inmates to sow some hope. "We have nothing, and subsist on our hopes and our faith in a better tomorrow," the convicted murderer wrote. "We welcome whatever entity there is out there that is willing to provide any support, however small, to the men in here." Lamourie and Parkinson, who update the CCADP page daily, said because journalists too often accept prosecutors' story as the indisputable version, the Internet has become an invaluable tool for offering an alternative perspective. But, they added, the prospect probably raises inmates' expectations too high, sparking unfounded hopes the attention will win them a reprieve and freedom. Sebung agreed.
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:12:26 GMT -5
prospect probably raises inmates' expectations too high, sparking unfounded hopes the attention will win them a reprieve and freedom. Sebung agreed. "It has been an effective tool in drawing attention to the death penalty, but I cannot say that it has particularly helped any individual prisoner," she said. "It is simply a venue for them to be heard." But Eyssen, the former district attorney, warned that convicts learn to become expert flimflam men behind bars. "The Internet is a great medium but a dangerous medium," Eyssen said. "You never know who you're dealing with." CCADP responded that opposing state-sanctioned murder does not devalue the lives of victims. Sebung said she simply opposes all murder, including death by lethal injection. Death penalty abolitionists urge even vengeful victims to reach out and recognize the murderers' humanity. "From the dozens of inmates nationwide who have written to us, we would have to say they are all nothing but respectful," Lamourie and Parkinson said. "And if anything, they are overly thankful for the barest bit of human kindness." Sebung agreed. "We are definitely providing a service," she said. Following is a sample of the Internet sites that feature Texas death row inmates: The Lamp of Hope Project -- www.c-com.net/~ksebungThis page is dedicated solely to Texas' condemned killers. Its most interesting offerings are in its archives, where the last words of Odessa murderer Michael Sharp are printed, along with writings by Darlie Routier, the Rowlett housewife convicted of killing her two sons, prison poet Alvin Kelly and Robert Fratta, the home page's most prolific writer. Past issues of the prisoner-produced "Death Row Journal" are also online here. Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty -- ccadp.org/One of the Web's more accomplished death--row pages, CCADP's site features prisoner home pages, audio and video clips, a link to Amazon.com's capital punishment titles, a boycott Texas homepage and a place to buy banners and buttons. Friends for Life -- www.friends-for-life.demon.co.ukThough the organization is defunct, the Web site continues. Of particular interest to Abilenians would be the home page dedicated to Wayne East, who was sentenced to death for the 1981 torture murder and burglary of prominent artist Mary Eula Sears. East's supporters are urged to employ diplomacy and tact when lobbying on behalf of the 43-year-old convict. Hollywood, Murder and Texas -- www2.jfa.net/jfa/graham.htmlThis site revolves around the case of Gary Graham, convicted in a 1981Houston murder. Graham at one time was a cause celebre for actor Danny Glover. This page sets about proving the militant Graham is indeed guilty and should be executed for his crime. The Death Penalty Perspective -- www.flash.net/~rwcarlso/indexf.htmThough designed by the brother of one of Karla Faye Tucker's victims, this page argues against the death penalty with lots of personal testimonials. In words and images, the pickax murderer and born-again Christian who was only the second woman to be executed in Texas, is shrouded in a soft, fuzzy light. The site includes an essay concerning prison reform by Tucker.
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:12:44 GMT -5
From The Longview News Journal, Longview Texas
DA shrugs off threatened Canadian boycott over Faulder By Jerry Graham, Staff Writer
JAN. 27 -- A visiting judge on Friday or Monday will likely sign a death warrant scheduling a new execution date for Canadian Joseph Stanley Faulder in the slaying of a Gladewater victim, District Attorney Bill Jennings said Tuesday. And the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty is promoting a tourism boycott of Texas if Faulder is executed. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday lifted a stay of execution which halted Faulder's scheduled execution on Dec. 10, and Jennings wasted no time contacting Visiting Judge Gary Stephens of Dallas to get a new execution date set. The date of the execution would have to be at least 30 days after the date the judge signs the death warrant, he said. Faulder was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the 1975 slaying of Inez Phillips, 75, of Gladewater. Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976. If put to death, Faulder would be the first Canadian executed in the United States since 1952. His case has attracted a lot of media attention in Canada, and a coalition of death penalty opponents there have tried to halt his execution by appealing for mercy from Texas officials, especially Gov. George W. Bush. The coalition prepared an Internet website for Faulder, and have posted warnings that if Bush does not intervene to halt the execution, the coalition will organize a tourist boycott of Texas. Jennings was not swayed by the threat that Canadians would no longer make Texas their tourist destination. "Everybody has got an agenda. I know what mine is, and I intend to carry it through,'' Jennings said. Ann Friedenberg Swanson, a press spokesman for Bush, said the governors' office would not respond to questions about the tourism boycott by death penalty opponents. "We are not going to comment on a hypothetical question. This boycott is something we can't comment on because we don't know if it will happen or whether people will respond to it if it did,'' Swanson said. "The governor's duty is to uphold all the laws in Texas. He asks two questions in each death penalty case. Is the person guilty? Has that person had full access to the court system?'' she said. "These questions have been answered in the Faulder case, and the governor feels he has a responsibility to uphold Texas law,'' Swanson said.
From The Toronto Star, Tuesday January 26
Court turns down Faulder appeal bid Decision could put Canadian back on Texas execution list BY KATHLEEN KENNA WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON - Canadian Stan Faulder could find himself back on Texas' execution list after losing a bid to have the United States Supreme Court hear his case. The court yesterday declined to hear an appeal by the former Jasper, Alta., resident. The 61-year-old, who has been on Texas' death row for a third of his life, would be the first Canadian executed in the U.S. since 1952. Faulder, sentenced to death for the 1975 murder of a wealthy Texas widow, had asked the court to review his case over a troubling violation of international rights. It was his contention that Texas ignored the Vienna Convention, which guarantees the right of those arrested or detained in other countries to contact their native governments for help. Texas admitted the treaty was broken, but blamed it on an almost 20-year-old clerical error and said Faulder's execution was legitimate because a jury found him guilty of the brutal murder of Inez Phillips, an oil dynasty matriarch. The court's refusal is a blow to the Canadian government, which had filed a 'friend of court" brief supporting Faulder's request. Texas also ignored a request by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Aibright to review Faulder's case, based on the Vienna Convention violations, even though it's rare for her to inteivene in such cases. South Africa Archbishop Desmond Tutu had also asked the state to show clemency. Barb Allen, Faulder's niece, said yesterday her uncle doesn't have many chances left. "There was a lot of hope hanging on this," she said from her home in Jasper. "It looks like his avenues of appeal are running out. . . But there's always hope." Faulder was set to die Dec. 10 when the supreme court issued a last-minute execution stay,'pending this latest appeal request. The court offered no reason for rejecting Faulder's bid. Written statements are usually released weeks after a court decision. Texas prison officials said they expect a new execution date will be set soon. It will be Faulder's 10th, but can't be set until his lawyer and the state argue the issue in a rural court near the murder scene. Faulder's lawyer vowed to stall his execution. "While I am very disappointed by the supreme court decision. this battle is not over," Sandra Babcock said in a state- ment. "Although the court's action means that Mr. Faulder's stay of execution will be lifted, I am hopeful that Texas will not set another execution date in the immediate future." Another appeal is pending in a senior southern U.S. court, based on a constitutional argument against Texas' clemency system. However, officials can schedule Faulder's execution without walting for that. "I am fully prepared to take this issue to the supreme court as well," Babcock said. Yesterday's court ruling sparked outrage in Canada among those asking Texas to spare Faulder's life. "This is a deeply disappointing ruling by the court," said Amnesty International official Mark Warren, from Ottawa. "It raises profoundly serious legal questions." Americans arrested or imprisoned abroad risk deprivation of their rights by such a precedent, Warren said. "This may have profound repercussions, not only for Stanley Faulder but for human rights in general and the credibility of the United States in the eyes of the world community." But Calgary Reform MP Art Hanger. heading a Canadian delegation on a visit to Texas. said Ottawa should stop interfering, Canadian Press reports. "We feel he has, indeed, received due process More than due process, actually. Now the time has come ... that he jusi be executed." The Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty is organizing an international boycott of Texas over the court decision, a spokesperson said.
International Tourist Boycott Of Texas !
From KETK TV 56 (an NBC affiliate in Tyler- Longview, Texas) -homepage "local news"
UNDATED – They have enough time on their hands. They might as well jot down their thoughts and put them on the Internet. At least a half-dozen Texas death row inmates have Web sites, which are filled with everything from poetry to pleas for clemency and professions of innocence. Some sites feature writings by the inmates themselves. Most, however, rely on copy written by those on the outside who create the site. Correction officials say they’re not worried about inmates getting their thoughts out on the Web, just as long as they don’t have access to the Internet and can’t communicate with other inmates. Canadian Joseph Stanley Faulder, who was granted a last-minute reprieve last month, has a Web site. On it are newspapers clippings about his case as well as poems. His site was created by the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty.
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Post by CCADP on May 7, 2005 13:13:02 GMT -5
January 3, 1999 By David Snyder / The Dallas Morning News, DALLAS TEXAS Inmates' tales told on Web Sites often kept up by outside supporters
In the free-for-all world of the World Wide Web, death-row Websites abound. There's poetry from San Quentin, pleas for clemency from Florida, and professions of innocence from Pennsylvania. Dozens of condemned men from all walks of crime post their thoughts on the Net. Many of the sites are updated daily by organizations such as the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty, an Ontario group that puts handwritten work from inmates on the Internet and forwards e-mail messages from Web surfers to inmates. To work, the system needs a middle man - inmates aren't allowed to have or use computers. Some sites feature writings by the inmates themselves. Most, however, rely heavily on copy written by those who create the Websites. Corrections officials say they're not particularly concerned about death-row inmates getting their words out on the Web. As long as it doesn't become more than just a venue to express their thoughts. "If inmates had access to it [the Internet] and they could communicate with each other, we'd be a little bit more concerned," said Jerry Massie, spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. "Any form of communication has some potential for abuse on the part of the inmate." At least a half-dozen Texas death row inmates have Web sites. Canadian Joseph Stanley Faulder, whose case stirred international controversy in December, is one of many death-row inmates whose verse graces the Internet. Mr. Faulder, who was granted a last-minute reprieve on Dec. 10, lives in the Ellis I Unit in Huntsville - Texas' death row. The Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty puts his words into cyberspace. Part of one of Mr. Faulder's poems, titled Dreamers and Fools, reads:
I would like to start all over again With the word of God as my guide In a world of good and true, and full of love And a heart with nothing to hide
Mr. Faulder was convicted of murdering a wealthy Texas widow in 1975. His case galvanized an upwelling of international protest as his execution date neared. He was granted a stay of execution by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks in December. Mr. Faulder's site includes a sampling of newspaper articles about his case, and a lengthy tract describing what the site's writers call the "injustices" in Mr. Faulder's case. Some death-row Web sites contain diaries, such as Oklahoma death-row inmate Sean Sellers', and some are simple requests for correspondence. "I am 72 years old and seek correspondence with anyone who will write," reads one Webpage made for Ohio death-row inmate William Bradley. "My hobbies include gardening, travel and reading. Good day and may the peace of Jesus Christ be with you all," Mr. Bradley is quoted as saying.
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