After legal battles lasting nearly fourteen years, oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has been forced to pay a $15.5 million out-of-court settlement. Plaintiffs from the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta have successfully held Shell accountable for complicity in human rights atrocities committed against the Ogoni people in the 1990s, including the execution of writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. The legal action is one of the few cases brought under the U.S. Alien Tort Statute that have been resolved in favor of the plaintiffs. The settlement includes establishment of a $5 million trust to benefit local communities in Ogoni.
Members of Amnesty International staged a march and vigil today for Troy Anthony Davis as part of a global day of action for the Georgian death row inmate. 
We did it!! After almost two years of grassroots organizing, the Texas House of Representatives Friday passed the Law of Parties Bill (HB 2267) and even adopted an amendment renaming the bill "The Kenneth Foster Jr, Act". The vote was 69-66, with 1 present not voting and several absent members. Three Republicans voted yes and only one Democrat voted no. This was a collective achievement of many legislators, staffers, activists, family members of death row inmates and other people and groups working together, but we still have to work to get the Texas senate to also pass the bill...
On the last day of April, several dozen death penalty abolitionists gathered on the steps of Harris County Criminal Courts building in downtown Houston to mark the impending milestone in Texas. But the tide is turning! Harris County, which since 1982 has sent more people to death row than the entire state of Virginia, did not condemn anyone to execution last year at all. The dozens of people held signs, chatted, listened to and applauded speakers during a period of time spanning 200 minutes, one for each of the people executed during Governor Perry's term, a number that even exceeds the previous record set by former Governor and ex-president George W Bush. There was a moment of silence at 6:00 PM to mark the execution of Derrick Johnson, the 198th under Governor Perry. [See statewide vigils]
Speakers included Sam Millsap, former Bexar County D.A.; Jared Feuer, AIUSA; Kristin Houlé, TCADP; Lee Greenwood, mother of executed inmate Joseph Nichols; Ron Carlson, brother of murder victim Deborah Ruth Carlson Davis Thornton. [full story with photos]
On Saturday April 25th, the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement hosted a birthday event and book release party for Mumia Abu Jamal and his new book Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners v. the U.S.A.. Local activists Ray Hill of KPFT's Prison Show, civil rights activist Ester King, and Black Panther veteran Sister Ayana all read excerpts of Mumia's new book and added commentary about the contributions Mumia has made to our understanding of what is going on in the world and how he has impacted and radicalized a number of folks in attendance.
Following a poet, Bilal (I think), Gloria of TDPAM read the obituary she wrote for David Ruiz a prolific writ writer from east Austin who wrote a civil rights complaint which became Ruiz vs. Estelle, where the Texas Department of Criminal Justice(sic) was forced into the 20th century, by making the federal government take over the state prison system to ensure that basic constitutional and human rights were given to prisoners in Texas. [read full article with photos]
On April 6, the US Supreme Court rejected radical journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal's appeal for a new guilt-phase trial. The Court has not yet decided whether it will consider the Philadelphia District Attorney's appeal of two lower court rulings that Abu-Jamal deserves a new sentencing hearing if the death penalty is to be re-instated. This means that if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the DA, Abu-Jamal could be executed without a new sentencing hearing.The award recognizes the hundreds of hours of activism performed by Kids Against the Death Penalty in the last year educating the public about the injustice of the death penalty. The hard work and passionate commitment of members of Kids Against the Death Penalty has greatly benefited the national movement to abolish the death penalty. Several members of KADP are relatives of Jeff Wood, who is on Texas death row convicted under the Law of Parties even though he did not kill anyone.
[read full article] Kids Against the Death Penalty Lead the 9th Annual March to End Executions that took place this October in Houston.
In response to today's rejection, Abu-Jamal's lead attorney Robert R. Bryan will be filing a "petition for re-hearing" at the US Supreme Court.
They were 2, then 4, then 20, on Howard University campus rallying, and asking all to sign on to a request for appeal and a re-trial for Troy Anthony Davis. Finally, Davis has been granted oral arguments before a 3 panel judges from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on December 9th at 1pm. Open to Public... here are some of the photos of that day. Some nearly got arrested for practicing their free speech on campus. read more & pics by Ryme Katkhouda, dcradiocoop.org | | | Related: Troy Anthony Davis Granted Oral Arguments December 9th
Troy Anthony Davis has been a political prisoner on Death Row for more than half his life. His death by lethal injection sentence, which has been scheduled and stayed (put on hold) three times in the last year and a half, has most recently been stayed by the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. And yes, he is a political prisoner… “I am Troy Davis” has become a popular mantra of Davis’ supporters. This is reminiscent of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous quote: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” That being said, I am Troy Davis, a political prisoner on Death Row. I have been locked up for the majority of my life, but I remain hopeful. I do not deserve to die for a crime I DID NOT COMMIT.
October 25th saw more than a hundred death penalty abolitionists gather in Houston's Third Ward to march and protest the use of capitol punishment in the State of Texas and everywhere. In addition to Houstonians, people came from Austin, the Rio Grande Valley and San Antonio, inluding many family members of people on death row. The march was led by Texas’s newest abolition organization, Kids Against the Death Penalty, formed by the family of Jeff Wood, an innocent man sent to death row under the Law of Parties. Other participating groups included the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, the Free Radical Samba Band, and the Coalition to End the Death Penalty.The theme of the 9th annual march was “The Death Penalty—Guilty on All Counts! Shut It Down.” Speakers focused on how the death penalty targets the poor and people of color, including how innocent people are executed through state misconduct and the Law of Parties, which allows the death penalty to be applied to accomplices in murder cases.
From the Open Publishing Newswire: Audio Highlights from the 9th Annual March to Stop Executions | Photos: abolish TX death penalty | March to end executions takes to the streets of 3rd Ward
On Thursday, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals stopped the scheduled execution of Bobby Woods because of overwhelming evidence that he is mentally retarded. The following day in Atlanta, a federal appeals court granted a stay to Troy Davis, who was set to be executed on Monday night. Davis's case, which has garnered international attention, will now return to litigation for at least another 25 days.| Page 1 >> | |
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