NO to the Death Penalty The "Moratorium 2000" - International Campaign

PRESENTATION OF SOME GROUPS FOR ABOLISHING THE DEATH PENALTY

 "Not in our name"

We frequently hear the death penalty called for after a murder. For centuries killing people as punishment for having murdered has been part of our culture. But during recent years, those justifications which have long sustained the death penalty in public opinion have lost a great deal of their strength. For example, recent studies show that the death penalty is not a deterrent for violent crime, and on the contrary, it could be, and that executions cost much more than life imprisonment.

To sustain the argument for the death penalty we often hear people say : "But what if someone in your family was murdered ? Wouldn’t you want the murderer to die ?"

This is said to try to disarm those against the death penalty. The person asking the question wants us to answer "Of course I want him to be put to death !" For years, all of our culture has upheld the necessity of killing those who have killed." But we, as persons who have had the experience of the tragedy of having a family member fall victim to homicide, can respond, we can say : "NO, NOT IN OUR NAME"

We are members of Association of the Families of Victims (of homicides) for Reconciliation, a national organisation which is made up of families who have lost relatives to homicide or execution.

We do not approve of the death penalty in any case, and work instead for alternatives to it. We promote politics that prevent violent crime and programs that help the victims to heal, to reconstruct their lives. We know all too well the terrible effects of homicide, and for this reason we know how important it is for the spiral of homicides to be interrupted. We cannot stop all violence, but we can work to stop the violence carried out by a State that kills in our name.

Our association was founded in 1976 by Marie Deans, after the assassination of her mother-in-law in Virginia. From that time on, the MVFFR has always been first in line in the struggle for the abolition of the death penalty, and in 1993, it organised the "Journey of Hope, from Violence to Healing" along with traveling demonstrations to all the cities of the United States which help to spread the message that executions are a terrible way to remember the persons whom we love.

 We here report a few stories from members of the association.

 RON CARLSON, Houston, Texas

(The husband of Deborah, a murdered woman, upon leaving the death chamber after the execution of Karla Tucker said: "Today the world is a better place."

Ron C: The world today is not better because they have executed Karla Tucker. Even though Karla Tucker murdered my only sister, Deborah, who raised me after my mother died, when they killed Karla I was with her, among the witnesses for her. I was there to testify to the Lord and the strength of His love. We, along with Karl, have done much evil in our lives. We took refuge in drugs to heal our pain. We did evil to many persons. But the love of Jesus transformed us. We can pardon one another. I love you very much, Ronnie, were the last words that Karla said to me. I still carry those words of love with me.

Deborah Thornton, sister of Ron Carlson, and her companion were murdered by hatchet blows by Karla Faye Tucker and Daniel Garrett in 1983.

Both were condemned to death. In the beginning ,even Ron Carlson asked that she be executed, in fact, he said :"I believe they got what they deserved."

After Deborah’s death, Ron lost first his father then his stepfather. For many years Ron gave vent to his suffering through the abuse of alcohol and drugs. In 1990, he became a Christian and his life changed radically. From that moment on, Ron pardoned Dan and Karla and then set to act so that the sentence would be changed. Dan died in prison in 1993. Notwithstanding the appeals coming from all parts of the world, Karla Tucker was executed on February 3, 1998 at Huntsville, Texas.

Ron’s decision to be present at the execution as one of Karla’s witnesses created a split within his family, especially with Deborah’s husband and her son, who were in favour of the execution. It is a wound that has still not healed. Ron knows that he made the right decision: "God gave me the strength and I knew that He was there is God stretched His hand from heaven to take us into his hands and to welcome us into His love and compassion. Karla died with a smile on her face. They took her body, but they could not kill her spirit."

BILL PELKE, Portage, Indiana

Bill P: "The answer is love and compassion for all humanity. The answer is loving those who hate you, loving those who persecute you, loving those who do all to do you evil. I am a Christian and Jesus has said: Who of you is without sin, let him cast the first stone." According to these words, no one of us can cast a stone to kill."

Bill’s grandmother, Ruth, was 78 years old and loved to teach the Bible to the neighbourhood children of Gary, Indiana. One day in May of 1985, four young girls (who had probably sniffed acid) knocked at Ruth’s door, asking if they could listen to a lesson from the Bible. She invited them to come in. While she had her back turned, one of the girls took a vase and hit her on the head. Another grabbed a knife and stabbed her 33 times. While this was going on, another sacked the house. At the end, they got $10 and a 10 year old machine.

One year later, Paula Cooper, one of the girls, was condemned to death for the crime. She was 15 years old when she committed the crime and 16 when she was condemned. She was the youngest person condemned to death in the history of the United States. If at the beginning Bill, also was among those who wanted her executed, he soon pardoned her and began to correspond with her, visit her and fight to save her life.

(The case raised much interest also in Europe, especially in Italy, where a million signatures were collected to ask for the commutation of the death penalty)

Paula’s sentence was commuted to 60 years in prison.

Bill recently retired and plans to travel through the United States by trailer to spread the message of pardon and hope on a "Journey of Hope."

GEORGE W. WHITE, Arkansas City, Kansas

George W. : "Charlene loved life. This is her heredity. That which began with a horrible violent act must not be celebrated or remembered by an act of revenge. Hatred is a continuation, not a conclusion. Tom, Christi and I say : "Do not kill in our name-our hearts have bled enough ."

In February of 1985, George White found himself faced with the horror of a murder. He and his wife Christine were shot repeatedly by a pistol fired by a thief in their store in Enterprise, Alabama. Their children were 12 and 5 years of age. The nightmare was just beginning ! Sixteen months later, George was accused of having murdered his wife. After a trial which was a farce, he was condemned to life imprisonment ( not to the death penalty simply because he was white and rich, as he himself stated). In 1989, George was pronounced innocent and was released, but he remained in "legal limbo" until proof of his innocence was discovered and he would be completely exonerated. That nightmare which had involved his whole family lasted seven long years.

Understanding well how easy it was to become an "advocate for revenge", the White family rejected the death penalty as a way to healing the wound of their loss.

George dedicates all of his activity to the spread of a culture against the death penalty.

Ken and Lois Robison, Burleson, Texas

We are an ordinary family, except for the fact that our son is on death row. At 21 years of age, Larry had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. We sought in vain to find an appropriate cure. Specialists told us that he would have worsened without adequate care, but then they took him into a psychiatric hospital for 20-30 days only to forget about him because he was considered to be ônon-violentö and they needed bedspace. They told us that only if he became violent would he be able to be admitted to long term care, which , in effect, he needed.

One day, Larry killed five persons. Notwithstanding the extensive documentation regarding his psychological illness, he was judged to be sane and condemned to death. How can a modern and civil state choose to exterminate the sick, instead of curing them ?

Ken and Lois Robison believed that care for psychological illness is the only efficacious response to keep them from committing violent acts. Almost one third of those condemned to death row are mentally retarded or psychologically ill.

Darin Routier, Plano, Texas

I lost my two children, Devon and Damon. It was not even possible to cry for their death, because my wife Darlie is on death row, accused of this crime. Today I must face this sorrow alone and also, my other child, Drake, must face the loss of his mother. We are the victims, but they make us suffer even more. My wife is innocent. We cannot have Damon and Devon back, but now we can try to repair the evil that is still being done to our family. The truth shall set us free.

Darin Routier’s two children were beaten and killed in their home during the night when they were sleeping beside their mother, Darlie. Darlie, too, was gravely wounded in the throat on that night. No proof linked Darlie to the death of the two children. Yet, she was condemned, notwithstanding the fact that there was proof of strangers being in the house. Darlie’s greatest fear is that of dying thinking that people believed she was the one who killed her children. If they can do this to Darlie, they can do it to anyone.