Am I back?

I’m thinking about blogging again.  I’m feeling a need to get back in the CJ game.  I’m not sure about the title of the blog, though.  Abolitionist has so many myriad meanings.  This blog was always about only the death penalty - not about any other topics that have heightened use of the term (e.g. abolition of police). I’m trying to be thoughtful about the intersection. That said, abolition of the death penalty is adjacent (or smack inside) many of the other concerns that are often associated with the term abolition (not the least of which is white supremacy - which I intend to discuss).

So… I marinate on the best way to reconnect… maybe Twitter.  Maybe here. Maybe both. #lonelyabolitionist

Connecticut Abolishes Death Penalty

Wahooo!  17 down, 33 to go. 

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/25/justice/connecticut-death-penalty-law-repealed/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Troy Davis

Troy Davis has been denied what is likely his last chance at clemency by the Georgia Board of Pardons & Paroles. I'm guessing that President Obama is his last hope, and the chances of that happening in this particular year are next to nothing.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/20/report-death-row-inmate-davis-denied-clemency/

Twitter

I find that I don't blog very much anymore (you noticed?). I thought I'd give Twitter a try. We'll see if that is easier with my schedule. It won't be quite the same (hard to give a proper obituary in 140 characters), but it'll be a good way to get messaging out since I can easily retweet or send out a quick blurb on stories of interest (like Troy Davis). Look for me @ "lonelyabolition".

Deleted for good?

The page seems to have gone away - Blogger is not hosting it any longer. I'm posting this short quip to see if it helps bring the information back up to the hosted site.

Gaile Owens

I learned about the story of Gaile Owens today from an old college friend on Facebook. Please take a moment to go read her story and sign the petition to commute her death sentence. Gaile is a battered woman serving on death row in Tennessee - convicted of hiring a man to kill her highly abusive husband. The State has requested an execution date for her after she's exhausted all apparent appeals. Visit the site and read her story - you will be moved.

Friends of Gaile Owens

Texas Statistics

Since my last post on October 24, six men have been executed in Texas. There were three others executed in October and there are eleven more executions scheduled in Texas before the end of March. In total, Texas has executed seventeen since resuming executions in May. If they execute all eleven of those with execution dates set before the end of March, they will have executed twenty eight men in less than a year. For perspective, since the Supreme Court decision in May, all other states combined have executed eighteen individuals. That means Texas is a single execution behind the entire rest of the country COMBINED.