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August 9, 2004

Death Row News

stop executions now!I am a member of the FADP (Floridians for Alternative to the Death Penalty) email list and I recieved the following email this morning:

Greetings all,

This is sent to several lists. If you have not been following the situation with the heat on Florida's death row, the nutshell is that there has never been air conditioning on Florida's death row, and as you can imagine, summers in North-Central Florida can be brutal.

For several years prisoners and their advocates have been awaiting relief via a lawsuit that was initially lost at the trial court level and on Friday last also lost at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (Read that asinine decision at Chandler v. Crosby). Despite the loss, the hard work of the Florida Justice Institute in representing the prisoners in this case should not be forgotten - THANK YOU Randy Berg and all at FJI.

Responding to requests from prisoners that we do something, Floridians or Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) and the Florida Death Row Advocacy Group (FDRAG) found a "security fan" in use by prisoners in other states, put it on the desk of the Lt. Governor and then the Secretary of the Department of Corrections (DOC), and upon approval borrowed $6,000 to buy 400 fans and donate one to each current Florida death row prisoner, with a supply left over to be distributed to future arrivals.

The fans were delivered to the DOC distribution center last Tuesday (8/3/04), and by late afternoon Wednesday, every prisoner had his or her own personal fan. I received a personal phone call from DOC regional director Bradley Carter informing me of the completed distribution. By all accounts, the DOC and prison employees moved with extraordinary speed to carry out Secretary Crosby's orders that the fans be delivered ASAP.

Saturday's mail was the first mail received since the fans were delivered. FADP had nine letters, and FDRAG had 33. Saturday and Sunday were the first visiting days since the fans were delivered.

BELOW ARE SOME REPORTS from visitors and samplings from some of the letters received.

I noted above that we borrowed $6,000 to pay for these fans. Thus far, about $3,500 has been received or is known to be on the way. FDRAG is preparing a special edition of the newsletter in which all donors will be listed alphabetically, except, of course, for those who request anonymity. If you have already sent a donation and wish to remain anonymous, please send an e-mail to Hannah at .

We still need $2,500. $15 buys one fan. One person sent $400. Pax Christi USA took up a collection ($465) at their national convention last week. Most of the other 40 or so donors have sent $15 or $30, with some less and a few more. Three people have given $100 each. Even $1 helps. Please give what you are able.

Here is how to help:

On-line contributions can be made using PAYPAL, Amex, Discover, Visa or Mastercard at Support FDRAG

Or better (avoid the fees charged by the credit card companies!), send a check to:

FDRAG
137 N Walnut St.
Starke, FL 32091

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE YOUR CONTRIBUTION TAX DEDUCTIBLE, please make your check payable to FCPJ (Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice) and mail it to:

FDRAG
137 N Walnut St.
Starke, FL 32091


Thank You. Yours in the Struggle,

--abe & Hannah

Anybody that saw Bill Maher this past week heard his monologue about the callous way we treat prisoners in this country, and then just forget about them. To paraphrase one part of it: Our prisons are filled with men and women who are in there because of drugs or because they made a big mistake while they were young and stupid, but what we get back are hardened criminals and Americans just prefer to turn the other way.

Now that I can't turn the other way, I'm much more appreciative of his point.

View website atFADP: Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Posted by Bastique at August 9, 2004 10:13 AM

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