Carrol
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [prisonersolidarity] Referendum to End the Death Penalty in Ohio Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2007 11:25:25 -0700 From: Sturmstories <sturm at sturmstories.com> Reply-To: prisonersolidarity at yahoogroups.com To: prisonersolidarity at yahoogroups.com
Dear all:
CURE-Ohio board members Kunta Kenyatta and Laurie Hoover have sent the following letter to all 195 prisoners currently on Ohio’s death row, calling for a referendum to end the death penalty.
We’ve posted the original letter followed by two responses of men on death row in Youngstown, Ohio.
In related news: Kunta is currently touring Ohio as an actor portraying death-row inmate Keith LaMar, who is one of the five men sentenced to death for his alleged leadership role in the Lucasville prison rebellion. More information about Staughton Lynd’s and Gary Anderson’s play, “Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising,†can be found on our website at: <http://www.prisonersolidarity.org/lucasville.htm> -Daniel
--- Kunta Kenyatta & Laurie Hoover CURE-Ohio P.O. Box 14222 Columbus, Ohio 43214
Greetings, once again, to those of you who the state of Ohio has condemned to death! The anti-death penalty forces on the outside are locked in debate as to what is the best way for us to move forward in our fight to put an end to the death penalty in this state, the governor Ted Strickland has already stated publicly that he is not considering a moratorium on the death penalty or clemency for the upcoming executions, which leaves the conservative factions of the anti-death penalty struggle with only more candlelight vigils as an option, being that begging the politicians has not been successful.
However, the more progressive anti-death penalty forces would very much like to push a state wide referendum that would allow the Ohio voters themselves to outlaw state-sponsored murder in Ohio, without depending on the politicians. Referendums are not easy but this is the same method that Ohio voters just recently used to ban smoking in public places in Ohio, as well as, raise the minimum wage in this state, and unlike any of our previous activities, a referendum, if successful would effectively eliminate the death penalty in Ohio.
If we were to move forward with the referendum we would still continue with our usual anti-death penalty activities like conferences, speaking tours, rallies and even vigils, but these activities will be used to build support for the referendum. Just to get a referendum on the ballot, we are going to need 1/3 of the voters in 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties to sign one of our petitions, which is a monumental task, then it will be an uphill battle from there. But, with close to two hundred people on death row from allover the state, with their supporters and a host of anti-death penalty organizations, this is something that can be done!
In Struggle and Solidarity!
Kunta Kenyatta & Laurie Hoover
#1 Response James Conway, # 457-203 Ohio State Penitentiary 878 Coitsville-Hubbard Road Youngstown, OH 44505-4635.
April 2, 2007
Kunta and Laurie,
I received the flyer you sent me concerning the proposed referendum to end the death penalty in Ohio. I’m sure I speak for everyone on death row when I say we appreciate everything that everyone does for us in all the anti-death penalty activist groups. The thought that all these different people who have never met me are out there pulling for me is very comforting. I agree, though, that it would probably be more productive if everyone pulled in the same direction. The referendum you suggested sounds like a step in the right direction to me, and I am writing you to make a suggestion that I believe would improve the chances of the referendum passing. I’m sure you would agree that failure of such a referendum would deal an almost fatal blow to the struggle to end the death penalty in Ohio, at least for the immediate future. In my imagination I can see the headline, “The People of Ohio have Spoken.â€
The idea I have is somewhat based on a referendum I saw advertised during the last election. The referendum was set up to try and dedicate a larger percentage of the lottery money to the public schools by removing some of the power of the legislature to do other things with the money. My suggestion involves reallocating the tax dollars spent on the death penalty directly to fund a scholarship program for low income Ohioans, which would do more to reduce the crime rate than the death penalty has ever done. Ending the death penalty would instantly free up a significant amount of public funds. The Ohio public defenders office has a death penalty section as does the attorney general’s office. The individual counties get money also.
I know it will be impossible to find all the resources the death penalty consumes each year, but I bet a diligent person (or group of people) could show that a few million in government funds would be freed up every year if the death penalty were ended. This money could be taken directly from its purpose in carrying out the death penalty and used to create a scholarship program for low income Ohioans. I’ve read that estimates are in the range of $1 million to $2 million total to execute a single inmate over the course of the entire appellate process, and that figure was above and beyond what it costs to house the inmate for the 20 years the process takes. That was also said to be a very conservative estimate. Those figures may be way off, but for argument’s sake, let’s just say that the state spends $5 million a year directly on the death penalty that would be freed up if the death penalty were ended. The average degree program being under $50,000, that means every year 100 low
Admittedly, I know little about origin: referendums or about the breakdown of how tax dollars are dedicated to the death penalty. But I do know that a death penalty case is inordinately expensive. Death penalty defendants receive two lawyers who get $25,000 each: and an aggravated murder defendant receives a single lawyer who gets about $10,000. On direct appeal, death sentenced inmates receive two lawyers again, while all others receive one. Two lawyers are also assigned to do post-conviction appeals at the same time, and no lawyers are required to be assigned to persons not sentenced to death. That 540,000 at trial and the three extra lawyers employed for about 3 years (just on state appeals) translates into a lot of moneys, and that is only a small fraction of what is actually spent. Death penalty trials are twice as long as normal trials, and for every lawyer representing the defendant/prisoner there is an adversary representing the state on the other side.
This is also the perfect time to present such a referendum. News story after news story talks about how the United States is fallen behind in education, we now have less engineers, scientists and generally less college graduates than many developing countries. Besides that, one of the main purposes of Governor Strickland’s proposed budget was to try and keep college tuition from increases at all this year and only 3% next year to try and increase the number of people who can afford to go to college.
In short, I think there will be strong opposition to a referendum to end the death penalty in Ohio. But if the choice is between the death penalty and 50 or 100 college scholarships every year I think there will be significantly less opposition even from those like Governor Strickland who purport to be for the death penalty. Let’s face facts, there are quite a few people that will support the death penalty on moral grounds regardless of how immoral we believe it is. With a referendum such as the one I propose they will lose whatever moral footing they have. As Governor Strickland himself said in the State of the State address, Ohioans have to make some tough choices and some sacrifices so that Ohio can be at the economic forefront of the country, as it has been for the last 100 years. Let’s make the death penalty one of those sacrifices.
I hope this idea is of some use to you. I wish I could do more to try and implement something like this because I think it could really make the difference, but I could not even begin to know where to start. I hope that you do you.
Sincerely,
James Conway
#2 Response Alva E. Campbell, #354-963 Ohio State Penitentiary 878 Coitsville-Hubbard Road Youngstown, OH 44505-4635
April 02, 2007
Dear Laurie & Kunta:
I am in receipt of your newsletter and I hope that you and all concerned will go forward with the referendum, because I think that this will be the only outcome, now that we see which direction Governor Strickland is going to take; and most of us on Death Row thought that he would take another direction, at least to move toward a moratorium, which he has no plans in doing.
I, for one, appreciate all that you and others are doing to try to stop the Death Penalty in Ohio, and I know that you are up against strong forces in the political arena, but this, too, can be defeated with stronger forces fighting the Death Penalty. Hopefully, more people will become involved with this strongly.
Please keep me informed as to what is going on, and I will continue to keep all of you in my prayers. I remain,
Alva (cursive signature)
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