Listen: 20 Years Of Defending Death Row Inmates (NPR’s Fresh Air)

Taken from npr.org (listen here):

Attorney David Dow has made a career out of defending death row inmates in Texas — a state that boasts the highest number of death row executions nation-wide since 1976. Many of his clients have died — most of them were guilty.

But Dow says they should have been sentenced to life in prison instead of death at the hands of the state.

“The person that we’re executing is simply not the same person who committed the crime that landed that person on death row in the first place,” Dow says.

Dow’s new book, The Autobiography of an Execution, is in part an exploration of the politics behind the death penalty and an argument for its abolition. It’s also a memoir; Dow delves into how this line of work has affected his family life.

David Dow is the litigation director at the Texas Defender Service and teaches law at the University of Houston Law Center. He joins Terry Gross for a conversation about his new book and why we need to put an end to the capital punishment.

ANYBODY CAN SERVE 30-60-90 CHALLENGE

The winter chill may become a bit more bearable with the news of the sophomore Anybody Can Serve, So Let’s Conserve energy efficiency campaign, which will pay three months’ worth of energy bills for a winning family.

A collaborative effort of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, AARP and the Council of State Governments, among other groups, Anybody Can Serve was introduced last year as a way to commemorate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by making it a day of service.

This second year of the campaign features the “30-60-90 Day Challenge” in which each state will choose one low- to middle-income family (with a household income no greater than $50,000) to participate in a conservation challenge. Each of the selected families will receive an Energy Efficiency Toolkit containing energy-efficient light bulbs, a water-heater insulation blanket, weather stripping and caulk to use on their home. They will also receive a webcam to aid them in documenting their conservation efforts through video blogs, which will be posted on the Anybody Can Serve website.

Participating families will be asked to submit their utility bills from April, May and June of 2009 to establish a baseline cost for their utility services. After weatherizing their homes and installing the efficiency devices, they will report their utility bills for April, May and June 2010. The family that shows the greatest gain in efficiency will have their utility bills paid for three months.

Please enter, or encourage qualifying families you know to enter, the Anybody Can Serve 30-60-90 Day Challenge. They can reach the online registration site from a link on the Alabama Public Service Commission’s home on the web: www.psc.alabama.gov.

NY Times: Law Has Little Effect on Early Release for Inmates

“In Alabama, where prisons are at double their capacity, four sick inmates were let out on compassionate release in fiscal 2009; 35 other prisoners in Alabama died while their applications were being reviewed.”–NY Times

Read the full article here.

Southern Education Foundation Internship

The Southern Education Foundation has been an invaluable partner in spreading awareness of the many factors that contribute to imprisonment in Alabama.  This summer, SEF is offering an incredible opportunity.  Read below.

ANNOUNCEMENT

SEF Social Justice and Education Internships

2010 Southern Education Leadership Initiative

June 9, 2010 – August 4, 2010

The Southern Education Foundation (SEF), www.southerneducation.org, is reaching out to tomorrow’s leaders, through the 2010 Southern Education Leadership Initiative.  We are seeking outstanding upperclassmen, graduate and law school students to apply for this wonderful opportunity.  SEF is now accepting applications through March 19, 2010.

The aims of the Southern Education Leadership Initiative are to: 

• expose the South’s best and brightest college students to contemporary strategies being mounted by the policy, non-profit, foundation and business sectors to improve education opportunity and quality;
• provide such students with inspiration, information, and a top quality work experience at leading organizations involved in cutting edge policy and practice efforts to address education problems;
• develop students’ research and leadership skills by providing a forum for independent research and study and for the sharing of knowledge gathered and lessons learned with peers on campus, in the community or the workplace; and

Students will be placed in leading policy institutes, non-profit organizations, foundations, and corporations, helping to build awareness of the interdependence of groups and communities, and the need to improve public education for low-income students as a means to enhance the quality of civic life, democratic participation, and economic growth.  Since 2004, 103 students have been placed at various sites including CARE USA, Georgia Pacific Foundation, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, Foundation for the Mid South, Center for Women Policy Studies, Academy for Educational Development, Southern Regional Education Board, Assisi Foundation, and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. Through this effort, SEF is exposing the next generation of leaders to opportunities to use their talents in service to the public interest.

To learn more about the Initiative, please see our report, Growing Our Own: Education Leadership for a New Era.

To download an application please click here.

Online Petition for a Permanent Commission on Girls and Women in the Criminal Justice System

Hi Everyone! 

Jump to Change.org to send Alabama legislators and Alabama’s Governor a letter calling for the permanency of the Commission on Girls and Women in the Criminal Justice System. AWRN serves as an advocate voice on the Commission, and the women we serve have seen and experienced real changes because of the Commission.   

Don’t let the progress stop!  Sign the petition and send your letters today!

Permanency of Commission on Girls and Women in the Criminal Justice System Depends on YOU

Under existing law, the Commission on Girls and Women in the Criminal Justice System was created by joint resolution and will dissolve in 2010. 

Your assistance is needed in making the Commission on Girls and Women in the Criminal Justice System a permanent commission. 

Please write a letter (sample below) and submit it to your state legislators, asking that they support this year’s bill that will provide for the Commission on Girls and Women in the Criminal Justice System to be a permanent commission.

You can easily locate the names of your legislators by visiting the following links and searching by your zip code:

Alabama State House: Type your zip code into the field on the left side of the page marked “Find Your Legislator”

Alabama State Senate: Type your zip code into the field on the left side of the page marked “Find Your Legislator”

Read the Commission’s 2008 report and recommendations for making Alabama’s criminal justice system gender-responsive here.

Sample Letter:

Under existing law, the Commission on Girls and Women in the Criminal Justice System was created by joint resolution and will dissolve in 2010. 

Your assistance is needed in making the Commission on Girls and Women in the Criminal Justice System a permanent commission.  Complete this postcard to be delivered to your state legislators, asking that they support this year’s bill that will provide for the Commission on Girls and Women in the Criminal Justice System to become a permanent commission.

Name of state legislator recipient:

Your name and address:

Listen TODAY: NPR’s All Things Considered on Bail

3pm TODAY: All Things Considered reports on ever-increasing bail amounts that keep persons charged with crimes (not convicted) in jails for months and months pre-trial.

Senate Committee Passes National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009

The bi-partisan National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 (S. 714) was passed out of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary today by voice vote. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) would create a commission to conduct a thorough evaluation of the nation’s justice system and offer recommendations for reform at every stage of the criminal justice system.

The establishment of such a commission could not come at a more critical time. With 2.3 million people in prisons and jails, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Federal and state governments spend more than $50 billion each year on corrections, and the population behind bars continues to grow.

A new approach to crime prevention is necessary and the time for reform is upon us.

The commission created by this legislation would establish an organized and proactive approach to studying and advancing programs and policies that promote public safety, while overhauling those practices that are found to be fundamentally flawed.

Events highlight issues facing imprisoned women

Please click here to read coverage of last week’s WOmen in Prison Awareness Week at the University of Alabama.  AWRN thanks the event partners, the Tuscaloosa community, and the women we serve for the week’s success!  Please visit our Be the Link in Your Community page to find out how YOU can become involved.

Listen Now: This American Life Episode 398 “Long Shots”

Listen here to the story of a man serving a life sentence who was granted parole by California’s parole board.  Hear as he explains how being granted parole led to a series of emotions, because in California, the governor must also approve the parole board’s decision.