Death Penalty Focus
Death Penalty Focus is a group I’ve been following for a while on their email list and I really admire their work. Mostly (completely?) based in California, they work to end the death penalty. They sponsor lectures, protests, letter writing campaigns and more. I highly encourage you to join the group and support their work to end the death penalty in California.
Tags: activism, California, death penalty, Politics, Society
October 17th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Their website is sloooow…
I found this on their page, though: “Research has shown that nearly all Death Row inmates suffer from brain damage due to illness or trauma.” This is interesting if true. I would find this highly implausible if the claim were about incarcerated violent criminals in general, but it is interesting if the subpopulation of death row inmates are largely brain-damaged.
I recently made a modest donation to the Damien Echols defense fund (www.wm3.org), speaking of death row innocence projects. Gotta defend the unfairly persecuted black-clad metalheads.
October 17th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Hmm, it doesn’t take long to load for me.
As for the brain damage claim, that is interesting. It seems almost like a phrenological claim, that murders have damaged brains.
October 18th, 2007 at 3:50 am
Although the Death Penalty Focus web site may be elegant, the organisation is as a whole jumps from strategic focus to strategic focus and is politically ineffective. It has traditionally placed a high premium on acknowledging and on rewarding professional pedigree and has done little statewide to help mobilise opposition to capital punishment. I recommend supporting organisations like Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, like Murder Victims Families for Human Rights, like Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation and like the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
October 18th, 2007 at 3:52 am
…correction: line two above should delete “is”….apologies….
October 18th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Hello Aspiration, thank you for your comment and I will check out the groups mentioned. For everyone else, here are the groups’ websites:
Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Murder Victims Families for Human Rights
Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty