Events

STARVIN' FOR JUSTICE 2011

Once again, the MSJC Anti-Death Penalty Issue Team is a supporter of Starvin’ for Justice. The 18th annual four-day Fast & Vigil takes place on the sidewalk in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, considered by many to be the heart of the legalized killing machines in this country, from June 28th - July 2nd, 2011. Team member Lauren Olson, a student at Southern Methodist University Law School, will join dozens of other anti-death penalty activists who come regularly from across the U.S. and Canada - from Florida to Alaska and everywhere in between - to join together for public education and outreach at the steps of the Supreme Court.

The annual event is a great experience and training ground for people who want to practice, or become very adept, at talking about the death penalty. Tens of thousands of tourists, from all over the U.S. and throughout the world, pass by the vigil and table, so the opportunity for dialogue and discussion at a real grass-roots level is invaluable to the movement. If you will be – or can be – in Washington at any time during the Vigil, consider participating. In addition to the strong public witness, this is an excellent opportunity to meet other abolitionists and to "recharge your batteries" while engaging in public outreach and maintaining a physical presence at the Court.

World Day of “Cities for Life / Cities Against the Death Penalty”

November 30th is the anniversary of the first abolition of the death penalty by one European state, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, in the year 1786. In 2002 the Community of Sant'Egidio began the World Day of Cities for Life/Cities Against the Death Penalty initiative to commemorate this event and to mobilize the worldwide abolition of the death penalty. Participants are asked to light a candle – or to illuminate a significant public monument – in a show of support. As of Nov. 12, 2010 1,231 cities in 83 countries had signed up – 178 more cities and 2 more countries than a year ago. The list of cities includes 25 in the United States – sadly, the same number as last year. (Of those 25, 22 are in states targeted by the Issue Team!)

 

 

STARVIN' FOR JUSTICE 2010

 

Once again the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative will be a sponsor of the Annual Fast & Vigil in Washington, DC.  This year’s Vigil is the 17th and will be held (as in years past) from June 28th to July 2nd, 2010 on the sidewalk in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.  Every year, dozens of anti-death penalty activists come from across the U.S. and Canada - from Florida to Alaska and everywhere in-between - to join together for public education and outreach. As the organizers say, “Tens of thousands of tourists, from all over the U.S. and throughout the world, pass by our vigil and table, so the opportunity for dialogue and discussion at a real grass-roots level is invaluable to the movement. In addition to the strong public witness, this is an excellent opportunity to meet other abolitionists and to ‘recharge your batteries’ while engaging in public outreach and maintaining a physical presence at the Court.”  

 

Light a Candle for Abolition

 

November 30th is the the anniversary of the first abolition of the death penalty by one European state, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, in the year 1786.  In 2002 the Community of Sant'Egidio began the World Day of Cities for Life/Cities Against the Death Penalty initiative to commemorate this event and to mobilize the worldwide abolition of the death penalty.  Participants are asked to light a candle – or to illuminate a significant public monument – in a show of support.  As of Nov. 12, 2009 1,053 cities in 81 countries had signed up – including 25 in the United States.  (Of those 25, 22 are in states targeted by the Issue Team!)  

 

  

 

STARVIN' FOR JUSTICE 2009

The 16th Annual Fast & Vigil in Washington, DC
June 28th - July 2nd, 2009

Once again the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative was a sponsor of the four-day Fast & Vigil which took place on the sidewalk in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.  The Annual Event was a great experience and training ground for people who want to practice, or become very adept, at talking about the death penalty. Tens of thousands of tourists, from all over the U.S. and throughout the world, pass by the vigil and table, so the opportunity for dialogue and discussion at a real grass-roots level is invaluable to the movement.  To find out more, please click here or contact the Abolitionist Action Committee at 800-973-6548 or aac@abolition.org. 

 

Ohio Day of Action

STAND UP for an END TO EXECUTIONS!

 

Over 200 Ohioans gathered in Columbus on September 26, 2007 for a prayer vigil, teach-in, rally, and lobbying visits with legislators.  The MSJC was a sponsor of this event, held on the lawn between the legislative branch (the Statehouse) and the executive branch (the high-rise building with the Governor’s Office).  Highlights included repeated, LOUD chants to the elected officials to stop executions, and testimony from an Ohio death row exoneree and from a co-author of the ABA Report.  

 

 

Journey of Hope Comes to San Antonio – Oct. 22

 

The Journey of Hope will be in San Antonio Texas at St Mary’s University on Monday Oct 22, 2007.  MSJC is a co-sponsor for the Texas Journey.  Charlie King, a member of the journey will be singing at a Java City coffee shop at 10 AM on St Mary’s campus.  A lunch time presentation will be held at the Law Alumni Room Sarita Kennedy East Law Library.  Lunch will be provided and it is open to the public.  The Journey of Hope provides stories from the exonerated, murder victim families and those whose loved ones are one death row.  They offer their personal insights from stories of pain and hurt to stories of healing and forgiveness seeking alternatives for those committing the crimes other than death at the hands of the state.  For more information contact Sr. Grace Walle FMI.  To learn more about the Journey click here

 

I Dream A World …

 

Throughout this year, in honor of Dr. King’s legacy, the American Friends Service Committee is coordinating youth art projects around the country featuring the art and writing of young people expressing their reactions and thoughts on justice, non-violence and capital punishment. In January 2007 local exhibits will display this art and there will be special events around the King Holiday celebrating youth, art and Dr. King.  To learn more and to get involved, visit    http://www.afsc.org/idream/

 

MSJC Co-sponsors the Annual Fast and Vigil

The Annual Fast and Vigil to abolish the death penalty was recently conducted at the US Supreme Court. Once again, the MSJC was joined by dozens of other organizations and individuals as co-sponsors. This is the fourteenth year in a row that the Abolitionist Action Committee held this event, spanning the dates between two landmark Supreme Court decisions: Furman v. Georgia (June 29, 1972) in which the Court struck down all laws allowing executions in the U.S.; and Gregg v. Georgia (July 2, 1976) in which the Court upheld laws written in various states to reinstate the death penalty in the wake of the Furman decision four years earlier. Read more about the Fast and Vigil at http://www.abolition.org/starvin14/

 

 

 

Thirty Years After Gregg

 

July 2, 2006 will mark the 30th anniversary of the landmark Gregg v. Georgia ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld newly revised death penalty statutes after having called this punishment "arbitrary, capricious and discriminatory" just four years earlier. Executions resumed in 1977, and since then more than 1,000 condemned prisoners have been executed, while about 3,400 sit on death rows throughout the United States . More information, including links (in the right hand column) to a resource packet and a study guide, can be found at http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/gregg/

 

 

 

 

National Weekend of Faith in Action
on the Death Penalty
October 20-22, 2006

  

Every year, Amnesty International organizes the National Weekend of Faith in Action (NWFA) – an opportunity for faith communities, interfaith groups, human rights activists, and others to examine the death penalty from a faith-based or values-based perspective. Set aside some time during the weekend of October 20-22 for an activity or event that focuses on the death penalty issue, using the ideas and resources provided by Amnesty International USA as your guide.   For more information visit http://www.amnestyusa.org/faithinaction/

 

 

 

Nov. 30 -- Annual "Cities for Life"

 

“Cities for Life – Cities Against the Death Penalty” is an annual event organized by the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome and other members of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty.  The event was first celebrated on November 30, 2002 on the anniversary of the first abolition of the death penalty in a modern European state, the Great Duchy of Tuscany in 1786.  The Death Penalty Issue Team encourages all Marianists and Marianist communities to join the world wide “Cities for Life – Cities Against the Death Penalty” by lighting a candle every year on Nov. 30 and joining in prayer for the abolition of the death penalty. 

 

 

 

Texas Hosts "Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing" 

The Journey of Hope traveled to Texas for two weeks October 14-30, 2005 at a critical time with the increase of Texas executions. They began in Huntsville at the infamous Walls Unit where state-sponsored executions take place.

 

They then traveled through Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Corpus Christi, Austin and surrounding towns and spoke at colleges, high schools, churches and other public forums.

 

The Journey of Hope was founded by Bill Pelke whose grandmother was murdered. All journey members reject a policy of vengeance and work to bring about an end to the death penalty.

 

Sister Grace Walle, F.M.I., as chair of the Anti Death Penalty Issue Team of the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative and as law minister at St. Mary’s University School of Law, coordinated the Journey of Hope visit and lunch reception to St. Mary’s in San Antonio on Monday, Oct. 24, 2005. The program, also co-sponsored by the Service Learning Center and University Ministry, was open to the entire University.

 

With their positive message of the necessity of forgivingness, the speakers from all walks of life and experiences shared their stories of why they work to end the death penalty.

 

 

 

Renny and Vera told of the pain of losing a family member through random killings. Juan, who was falsely accused of murder, was released after 17 years on Florida’s death row. David told about turning in his brother, Ted Kaczynski, to the authorities in the Unabomber case.

 

Each person spoke of their experiences and why they believe that seeking the death penalty does not honor the memory of their family member. Some in the audience were moved to tears as they listened to the stories of real people’s pain.

 

Brain Halderman, S.M., was instrumental in linking the Marianist Family with the Journey of Hope when they were in Ohio. His initial contacts were influential in continuing that dialogue in Texas. Their storytelling is one of the most important messages that can influence people to see that the death penalty is immoral.

 

Many in the audience wished more people would be exposed to the speakers’ messages, either through media exposure or more appearances in Texas , so they might influence the legislature to end the death penalty in Texas . These speakers lead people to re-evaluate their stand on the death penalty.

 

We were also privileged to provide a forum for a speech by Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., at St. Mary’s University Alumni Athletics & Convocation Center. Sister Helen, the most noted speaker against the injustices of the death penalty, spoke on the evening of October 24, 2005. Charles L. Cottrell, Ph.D., president of St. Mary’s University, welcomed Sister Prejean and the Journey of Hope members to the University at a reception hosted in her honor. She had previously spoken at St. Mary’s during a conference on the Anti Death Penalty movement for the legal community.

 

In addition to hosting the Journey of Hope, the Anti Death Penalty Issue Team was also fortunate to provide an internship for St. Mary’s law student, James Young, who assisted at the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty in Austin, Texas. His work over the summer was to assist with the arrangements for the Journey of Hope. The Peace Center in San Antonio provided local arrangements, which were well coordinated. Several articles about the Journey of Hope and Sister Helen’s talk appeared in various Texas papers. There is more information on the web from various Texas newspapers.

 

For more information go to www.journeyofhope.org.

 

 

 

1,000th Execution Alert!!!

 

On Nov. 29 John Hicks was executed by the State of Ohio, making him the 999th person executed since capital punishment was re-instated in 1976. On the same day, Virginia Governor Mark Warner commuted the death sentence of Robin Lovitt to life in prison without parole. Lovitt had been scheduled for execution on Nov. 30th and would have been the 1,000th. The dubious distinction of performing the 1,000th execution now belongs (probably) to North Carolina where Kenneth Boyd is scheduled to be executed at 2 AM on December 2. At 6 PM the same day Shawn Humphries is scheduled to be executed in South Carolina. Activists across the country have banded together to call attention to this (sad) event and to use the occasion to issue renewed calls for a moratorium or for abolition.  More information, including ways to get involved, can be found at www.1000executions.org.

 

Also available there is an "Open Letter from Faith Leaders Regarding the 1,000th Execution in the United States Since the Reinstatement of Capital Punishment." As of Nov. 29, 1,062 people had signed, including the following members of the Marianist family (our apologies to anyone we missed in the search process):

26. Brother Brian Halderman, S.M., Society of Mary, Marianist Province of the United States

417. Jim Vogt, Director, Marianist Social Justice Collaborative, Covington, Kentucky

531. Stephen Glodek, SM, Provincial, Marianist Province of the United States, St. Louis, Missouri

532. James Fitz, SM, Assistant Provincial, Marianist Province of the United States, St. Louis, Missouri

533. Michael O’Grady, SM, Assistant for Religious Life, Marianist Province of the United States, St. Louis, Missouri

534. Timothy Kenney, SM, Assistant for Education, Marianist Province of the United States, St. Louis, Missouri

535. Richard Dix, SM, Assistant for Temporalities, Marianist Province of the United States, St. Louis, Missouri

536. Joseph Lackner, SM, Assistant for Developing Regions, Marianist Province of the United States, St. Louis, Missouri

735. Selena Hilemon, Coordinator of Community Outreach, Center for Social Concern, University of Dayton Campus Ministry, Dayton, Ohio

737. Mary Niebler, M. A. Theological Studies, Center for Social Concern, University of Dayton Campus Ministry, Dayton, Ohio

738. Rev. James H. Schimelpfening, SM, Campus Ministry, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio

946. Sister Grace Walle FMI, Chair, Marianist Social Justice Collaborative Death Penalty Issue Team, San Antonio, Texas

 

 

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