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It is over… the moratorium that left the US without any state and federal murders for seven months ended with the death of 53 year old William Earl Lynd. The state of Georgia murdered this man with the, by now, controversial lethal injection method. Remember folks, that method that is outlawed in a couple of states to euthanize animals… Since the U.S. Supreme Court has spoken in favor of the lethal injection method, ruling that it is not cruel and unusual, many states have immediately set execution dates. Apparently these states couldn’t wait to still their hunger for revenge and murder, taking immediate action to fill their gurney’s as fast as possible. William Earl Lynd spent 20 years of his life in prison, on death row, which can be considered a man made hell. In many countries, with some more humane and liberal thoughts on dealing with criminals, this man would have served most of his sentence. He might even rehabilitated back into society, given a chance to proof he’s a human being. Perhaps he would have spent his entire life in prison, trying to make the best of his situation…. Well, none of that because this man is dead now, killed by the executioner’s poisons on government demand.

William Earl Lynd

Another case is Percy Walton, a.k.a. Crazy Horse, who’s physically on Virginia ’s death row and mentally somewhere only he knows. Scroll down this page to read about him and the inhumane treatment he receives. Percy is crazy, insane, and schizophrenic or whatever more applies to him. He’s to be killed in little over a month, even though he clearly doesn’t understand what is going on and what he’s doing there in the first place... Come on, what’s that good for?

I haven’t noticed any federal executions planned so far but I fear that will also change soon. Several guys at Terre Haute have exhausted their appeals and with the U.S. Supreme Court’s approval their fate is insecure…

- Federal Death Row Prisoners
- State Death Row Prisoners

Most people saw it coming, the ruling given by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the use of the lethal injection method to kill U.S. citizens. I personally hoped for better news but the judges have decided that killing human beings with the three drug-cocktail isn’t cruel and unusual, it does not cause immense pain during the prisoners’ last minutes alive. What a joke; this method is even banned for euthanizing animals in several states!!!

Sure, I’d sincerely hoped that the judges would have based their judgment on the arguments and evidence that has been available for a couple of years, arguments and evidence that is available to the public and to the judges. It’s a fact that not less then forty (40!) percent of the executed prisoners have suffered in some degree. It’s a fact that given the current procedure, the use of volunteers without proper medical training, more people will suffer.

People shouldn’t be fooled by the Court’s ruling; this didn’t have anything to do with fair judgment. We don’t know on what the ruling is based, clearly not on facts and evidence because they support the ban on the lethal injection method. No, this was nothing more then a political decision. It was clear all along the way that the decision would be in favor for the lethal injection method. This was just a showcase to get rid of the state appeals regarding the use of lethal injection made by state death row prisoners. Now that the road is clear we will most likely witness a tsunami of executions all over the country. Virginia instantly lifted the moratorium, Oklahoma and Mississippi will seek execution dates for convicted murderers. These are just three states and many will follow, the machinery of death is hungry…

The last month’s it has been really quiet on the front, this website hasn’t been updated for a while (for different reasons) and many other website didn’t have to report much of the ugly news that normally would have reached us. I’m afraid the silence is over; we have to continue fighting for our cause.

Most of our regular visitors may have wondered what has happened with the website and why hasn’t it been updated for almost two months? Well folks, the simple truth is that I just didn’t have the time and energy to do so. I have been doing this website for almost four years and the first 3 years I dedicated all (and I mean all) of my free time to the website. The last years I took it a bit easier because I had so much on my mind. There are also other reasons for my absent, some of them have to do with my social life, my health and financial status.

First of all, putting so much time into a website, writing to prisoners and visitors is time consuming. Obviously I can’t live from this website; it’s all on voluntary basis. Therefore I have a normal 9-5 job which from time to time can be very busy. I have a social life with friends and family, activities and hobbies that also need my attention. I have some friends in- and outside of prison that I like to write with. There is simply not much time left and when I do have time I’m often tired and lack the creativity to be productive, staring to my screen for a couple minutes before deciding it’s not going to work that day. For three years I haven’t seen my bed for more then 5 hours a day, putting so much time into the website and all the work on the side line, the work that visitors don’t usually see. You can only handle this for a certain period until you break down. It's a serious burden for your health. I have been in such a position a couple of times before, always fought my way back. The last two month’s however I simply didn’t seem to get over this period and slept a lot to compensate the lack of sleep of the last years. The darkness of winter (which means short, dark, cloudy and rainy days in Holland ) didn’t contribute to my mood either. I hope that now, while spring is just around the corner, my mood gets considerably better and my motivation, energy and creativity returns.

My personal situation at home has also changed. My girlfriend is studying and the first years she had to spend most of her time in schoolwork. For me it was the perfect opportunity to work on the website, we both were busy and had little time to spent on eachother. Now that she is almost done and does not have to spend so much time on her study, I like to spend some more time with her as well. I’m sure that you’ll understand that.

With my girlfriend studying and living in an expensive country like Holland, it’s always a struggle to get everything done financially. We’re literally living from pay check to pay check. I’m terribly lucky that Sharril (U.S. contact) is handling most of our mail because I would be dead broke if I had to mail all the mail from here. I’d like to thank Sharril for that because I know she has a lot on her mind as well and like myself does her work on voluntary basis. I still put out a considerable amount of mail which cost me quite some money, money that I can hardly miss. The same goes for Sharril; she spends much money on the website too. 

Another issue is my computer. I’m doing this website on an old and outdated computer that is causing a lot of concerns. Sure, we have all of our information backed-up safely. However, my computer is on the edge of dying, I’m able to keep it running for now but for how long? Besides, a desktop computer is far from ideal for this job, it means that I’m always attached to my desk at home while most of my time to do work for the website is when I’m away from my desk.

I’m grateful that Eileene is still going on, and doing an amazing job with our forum. I’d like to thank her for this!!! I haven't been there in ages but hope to participate more in the coming future...

This message is just to let our visitors know what’s going on and why the website hasn’t been updated recently. This is not to generate any support, sympathy or funds. This is to let you all know what’s going on. I’m aware that the prisoners depend on this website and I will try to get everything back on track as soon as possible. For those that are awaiting a response to an e-mail they have sent me the last time please be patience.

Thank you all for your help and understanding… We will continue!

André Kellner

Federal death row prisoners are under a lot of restrictions. Even though we might not always agree with most of them, they do make sense from a certain point of view, especially when it concerns the safety of staff and prisoners. Some restrictions, on the other hand, that the prisoners have to live by make no sense at all. A good example of this is the fact that death row prisoners on the special confinement unit at Terre Haute are restricted to have face to face interviews by the media. They are not allowed to use the video conference equipment that’s available at the unit to speak with the media. They are allowed to speak with the media by phone during their fifteen minute daily calls. But even these phone calls are alsosubjected to certain restrictions. A prisoner, for example, can not talk about other prisoners, the reporter conducting the interview is to ignore the prisoner's talk about other prisoners, and is definitely not allowed to use or publish that. Since the televised interview with Timothy McVeigh there was somewhat of a political outcry to ban condemned prisoners from the screen. The public should not be confronted with condemned prisoners while watching TV. Although we don’t understand what harm it could do to anyone if a federal death row prisoner is interviewed either face to face or by the use of video conference equipment that is available at the unit for that purpose, and is broadcast on national television. First, it does not make any difference at all; there is nothing that will stop the executioner’s needle if the federal judges have made the decision that someone has to die. There is only one plausible reason that we can think of that makes sense. They don’t want the public to find out what’s going on there. Sure, people are able to find out a great deal themselves but as Dutch saying tells us; “don’t wake sleeping dogs.” The official reason behind this media restriction, according to the former wardens, Keith Olson and Harley Lappin, of the prison at Terre Haute, is to prevent prisoners from becoming jailhouse celebrities. Yeah right!

Well, David Hammer has been fighting this restriction for a long time in court and we are pleased to say that he’s doing really well in this matter. His point is that the restrictions are in  violation of his, and the other death row prisoner's, first amendment and equal protections rights. The latest news is that his case was heard before United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Mr. Chad Bell represented David Hammer in an oral argument (Click here to download (mp3) the oral argument) back in December. Mr. Bell did an excellent job, as you can hear in the oral argument, in bringing across these issues to the Court's judges, and made clear why these restrictions are violations to David Hammer's and the other death row prisoner's rights and also why this must stop. Last week the Court released it’s opinion and according to Mr. Bell’s words; “As you can see, this is pretty much a total victory for us - David can now have his day in court to challenge the press restrictions, and will (evidently) be afforded counsel and the opportunity to conduct discovery to prove his claims.” (Click here to view the Court’s opinion) The case now returns to the district court, and David Hammer will be able to conduct discovery on his claims in order to find more evidence to support his case. We still have a long way to go but things are looking good. This is not just about David or the rights to be interviewed either face to face or by video conference. This is about basic rights for every human being, also death row prisoners, that can’t just be ignored just because a warden or the U.S. Attorney General believes it’s not appropriate and turn to lies to restrict prisoners from their first amendment right and equal protection rights. Click here to read David’s appellate brief and here to read a brief by media organizations.

Update; article found click here

Click here to read the complete column by William van Poyck

First and foremost I’d like to wish all of our visitors and supporters a happy new year! I hope that 2008 will bring a lot of joy and prosperity to all of you. Well, now that the holiday is over and we got trough New Year’s eve in one piece, it’s time to get back to work.

2008 is promising to become a very interesting year, death penalty wise, because I believe that the future of the death penalty in the U.S.A. will be depending on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling whether or not killing people by lethal injection is cruel and unusual. New Jersey has already decided to abolish the death penalty, who’s next? Certainly not Pennsylvania! Our guess is that until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on this matter no prisoner will be executed in the U.S.A. Click here, here and here to read interesting articles on the use of lethal injection as execution method and the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling. While there is a lot of controversy around the lethal injection method in America, China is going to make it the standard / preferred method of execution, telling their citizens that it’s more humane. A well aimed bullet in the heart or head is probably less painful but looks much uglier and makes more mess. If I was given the choice I know which one I would pick. When a prisoner is executed by lethal injection it looks peaceful and clean but it’s just to deceive the public and to clear their consciousness. After all, killing people is not wrong if it is done fast and painless. And with the numbers of people legally killed in China every year it’s not that strange they are using mobile execution rooms. South Korea on the other hand granted clemency to 6 death row prisoners and is working on banning the use of the death penalty completely.

Kenneth Richey, serving almost 20 years on Ohio death row, is expected to be freed soon. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend’s 2 year old daughter who died in a apartment fire in 1986. There was a lot wrong with this case (click here) and it’s a good thing that he is going to be released after all these years but what struck me most in the article was the comment of Alistair Carmichael, a Scottish Member of Parliament who had campaigned for Richey’s release. He said; “The reality of somebody who is kept locked up in a cell for 23 hours a day for 19 years is quite mind-blowing. It is a dreadful, inhumane and dehumanising system. If one man is off it, then remember there are hundreds of people in America still enduring that dreadful situation.”

Well folks, seems like we have our work cut out for us the coming year. I bet there will be plenty of news to share with you all about the coming president election in which, hopefully, the death penalty will be an issue. Besides that, we will keep posting prisoners contributions like we always did and keep you all up-to-date with the latest news in the world of legal murder. Keep visiting us in 2008!

Ps; Welcome to planet Earth Justin (my newborn nephew)!

… The website was down for a couple of days, apparently due to DNS propagation procedure (according Yahoo!, our provider) that was taking much longer then it normally does. Yahoo! told me that it was due to the changes in the DNS settings and that we did it ourselves! They didn’t use these words but instead they used a lot of technical definitions and phrases to cover up that they are to blame. My colleague, who’s a little more into this DNS propagation matter than I am, told me that they simply said that we messed it up ourselves. I didn’t change any settings nor did anyone else in the team…. Well, not that it is very interesting but if you do want to learn a little more about DNS propagations, click here. Despite the fact that our visitors couldn’t get on DRS, it was not such a big deal that the site was offline for a few days. I wasn’t able to update the website anyhow; I’ve been really busy with a lot of things. Having a full time job next to managing this website can from time to time cause that this website is not being updated for a while. It also delays a lot of inmates contributions and upcoming additions to DRS, which is sad because we have got plenty of things to share with you all. The fact is that I need to make a living next to this website, having a busy 9-5 job during the day, and a busy (social) schedule next to work, can result in having (too) little time left to get things done. I regret it but there is not much I can do about it, we all need make a living, right? I'd love to make this my full time job and turn this website into something huge but who is going to pay the bills for us? Exactly! Besides that, we’ve been dealing with some minor and bigger technical challenges with our state of the art (old crap) computer systems that we use to keep this website running. For those who tried to access DRS to find the Addresses of prisoners to mail out Christmas Cards, sorry for the inconvenience!

I will continue with a small update on the current situation in the world of legal murder. The biggest and important news right now is that the State of New Jersey has abolished the Death Penalty. The current death row prisoners (13 in total) will get the choice to accept a life sentence or choose for execution. Since the re-instatement of the death penalty in 1982, New Jersey did have not executed a single prisoner. Diann Rust-Tierney, the executive director of the NCADP (National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty) said; “We have learned a lot about the death penalty in the past 30 years. When you look closely at the facts, it just doesn't add up to sound policy. New Jersey reflects a growing national trend against the death penalty, with executions in decline and more states weighing abolition.” Joshua Rubenstein, Amnesty International USA's northeast director said;”I hope New Jersey will give encouragement to other legislators and public officials to have the courage to face this issue squarely.'' (Article 1 - Article 2)

A North Carolina Death Row Inmate is the second prisoner to be released this month. Jonathon Hoffman is the 6^th North Carolina prisoner and 126^th prisoner nationwide to be exonerated since 1973. Defense attorney Joseph Cheshire stated, "I think in the last five to six years, there's a fairly well-demonstrated pattern of wrongful convictions in North Carolina that are only now coming to light because of our new open discovery law." Doesn’t that makes you wonder? How many innocent prisoners, not just on death row, are still confined? And worse, how many innocent human beings have been killed already? This isn’t just an issue in North Carolina but nation wide. A thorough and independent investigation will probably dig up so much dirt that the US judicial system will shake on its foundations. The government will never allow it to happen; they know too damn well that the system is rotten to the core. (Article 1 - Article 2)

We have published about the mistreatment of Virginian death row prisoner Percy, which was noticed and reported by William Van Poyck in his Death Row Diary. Here you’ll find the latest update on this matter and the ridiculous measures the administration took to prevent this (that information like this will get out to the public, not the mistreatment of a prisoner with mental problems of course). “By the way, the administration here fired me from my podworker job, in retaliation for me telling the story of Percy's mistreatment. Someone in this administration is reading my blog and they don't like what I wrote! Rather than treat Percy with a little humanity, they'd rather strike at me (kill the messenger!) Percy, with his pathetic, broken mind has languished in that barren cell for ten years now, alone, bewildered, usually naked, devoid of even a scrap of property, inhabiting his own little private slice of insanity, and the only thing the Commonwealth of Virginia wants is desperately to execute him, while the only thing this prison wants is to ignore him. It speaks more about us as a society, than it does about Percy himself. Looking into Percy's cold, empty cell, seeing him naked, huddled in the corner, talking to himself and the unseen voices around him is like holding a mirror up to the commonwealth, reflecting back its soul...”

The Dallas Morning News recently pointed to the many reasons why the death penalty does not deter murder in its editorial entitled "The Myth of Deterrence." Although we, the abolishment movement, said that for years and years, just take a look at earlier postings in this blog. “The arguments that the death penalty deters murder do not hold up to scrutiny. States in the South have a higher homicide rate than all other regions of the United States, and they also have higher numbers of death sentences and executions,” according to the article, “If capital punishment were an effective deterrent to homicide, shouldn't we expect the opposite result? Recent studies claiming the death penalty deters numerous murders have also found to be “fatally flawed.” (Article 1 - Article 2)

Not a single execution the last three months of this year! With no executions further planned we can state that is has been a bad year for this Nation’s executioners and suppliers of the deadly chemicals used to kill the prisoners. Sure, it has got a lot to do with the current reviewing of the Lethal Injection procedure by the U.S. Supreme Court to rule it constitutional or not. Even without this interference of the Supreme Court we see a decline in executions the last years. With 82 executions in 2000, 65 in 2001, 70 in 2002, 64 in 2003, 68 in 2004, 59 in 2005, 52 in 2006 and “only” 41 in 2007 we can calculate that if this decline will continue with these amounts, no executions will occur in less then 10 years. Of course we hope that the death penalty will be abolished long before that. 2007 started with a lot of news surrounding the botched execution of Mr. Angel Diaz who was killed by the state of Florida on December 13 in 2006. The executioners stuck the needles through the veins which caused that the chemicals did not enter the bloodstream sufficiently and caused 12 inch chemical burns on both arms, resulting in a death struggle of more then 30 minutes. Up to ten states halted upcoming executions to have their execution laws and protocols examined only to start executing shortly afterwards. (See Execution Alert Notice for complete list of upcoming and past executions)

Although we have still 2 weeks to go before the end of this year I’d like to thank all of our volunteers, visitors and supporters that made it possible to keep this website online! 2008 will definitely become a really interesting year because the U.S. Supreme Court will decide if the use of Lethal Injection as execution method is cruel and unusual, which can have huge consequences for the use of the death penalty in America. Merry Christmas to all of you and a happy New Year! (load takes a little while, don't forget to put on your sound!)

André Kellner

Here's a little update on Percy's situation, just to better document what occurred. It was the night of October 15th, from 10:30 pm to 11:45 pm, when I cleaned up Percy's cell (cell #7). It was Lieutenant Dudley and Officer Lewis who supervised me and were right there on the spot (they were also the ones who moved Percy from cell #7 to Cell #2). All of this was recorded on video; we have four cameras on the pod and at least two of them were pointed toward cell #7. Many of the death row prisoners stood at their doors and watched all of this. It was Thomas Porter who was next to Percy, in cell #8, who kicked and banged for seven days, demanding to move because the odor from Percy's cell was gagging him. Porter filed numerous "emergency grievances" over that 7-day period, also demanding to move, in which he described Percy's feces-flooded cell (the feces and urine was running out from under Percy's door and into cells #6 and #8). These emergency grievances were all denied and returned to Porter with the notation that "this does not constitute an emergency."
My point is that this entire incident was well-witnessed and well-documented over a period of a week. Well, on Friday afternoon (Oct 19th) I phoned one of Percy's attorneys and told him what was going on with Percy and he promised to get Percy's other attorney, Jenny, to visit Percy on Monday morning. Well, on Monday morning, the guards came on the wing and sprayed the interview room down (where we meet our attorneys) with a citrus-scented disinfectant; then they laid out a clean uniform on the table, sprayed it down, and made Percy put it on. Jenny visited him minutes later, and I later heard that she commented that Percy "smelled like flowers" and thus, she didn't think anything was amiss. I also heard that the prison officials (i.e., Warden Loretta Kelly) had denied that Percy was living in a feces-flooded cell. Apparently, Jenny believed them. She did not look at Percy's cell, did not interview me or anyone else, and did not demand to look at the video, which would prove what I reported. Jenny, who is non-aggressive and non-confrontational by nature, chose to believe the administration's lies and chose not to push the issue. So, nothing has changed with Percy. He's still in a virtual strip cell, alone and bewildered, with nobody in a position of authority who gives a damn about him. The only upside is that Percy is so psychotic and insane that he does not understand how terribly he's being treated. To me, the true sad aspect of this is what it says about us as a society, that we treat people like this without any sense of shame and, in the larger picture, how the State, through its attorneys, are so desperately eager and determined to kill Percy, to put him to death despite everyones knowledge that he is absolutely insane. It is a group of attorneys, intelligent men and women, who spent long years in law school, and who now represent the Commonwealth of Virginia, who sit around polished tables and scheme and plot how to kill Percy. I wonder if any of them pause to ask themselves "Is this really what I went to Law School for?"

Visit William van Poyck's Blog here. Click here to contact Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia and here to contact (the warden of) the prison. Read more information on how to help act against this.

Percy needs help!

As you know, I'm one of the eight "pod workers" on the row and I'm called upon to clean empty cells, or scrub the showers, or sweep and mop the cellblock floors. So I wasn't particularly surprised when, late last Monday night, a lieutenant appeared at my door, told me they were moving Percy (aka "Crazy Horse") to another cell, and that they needed me to clean up his old cell. I've cleaned up Percy's old cells before and they are really rank; Percy stinks like you would not believe. He very rarely showers and his clothes are always filthy rags. Percy is oblivious to his condition but his funk is so powerful that, out on the rec yards, you can smell him twenty feet away, and if the wind is in your face you'll occasionally gag. Anyway, I thought I was mentally prepared to clean Percy's cell, but I became suspicious when the lieutenant brought me a pair of knee-length rubber galoshes, a plastic apron, a mask, and a pair of long rubber gloves. When I got downstairs I saw the big trash barrel in front of Percy's empty cell, along with several red plastic bio-hazzard bags, a mop and bucket, and the large industrial vacuum cleaner (like a big shop vac) that we use to vacuum up the water when a guy floods out his cell. I was still several cells away when the odor punched me in the face. When I looked into Percy's cell the entire floor was covered in about 2 inches of raw sewage. I don't mean mostly toilet water with a little feces, I mean pure raw sewage sludge. The sink was full of sewage, the bare steel bunk was smeared with sewage and the clogged toilet was overflowed with sewage and toilet paper. It was horrible. If you can imagine taking two full Port-O-Potties and dumping them into a cell you can picture what I was facing. The stench was overpowering and I fought not to vomit. That's when I learned that Percy had been locked in that air-tight cell like that for the last 5-6 days (i.e., his toilet was clogged and overflowing for the last 5-6 days). How a human being could survive (much less not be driven insane) in a suffocating cell like that is beyond me. Of course, Percy is already insane so those conditions could not drive him over the edge. I spent 1 1/2 hours in there; I vacuumed out 2 full shop vac containers full of shit and piss (at least 10 gallons per shop vac container, or 20 gallons total) and I sprayed disinfectant everywhere. The more I worked, the angrier I got as I realized that Percy had been in that cell for at least 5 days (maybe 7 days) and that all the guards and other prison officials had just ignored it, walking past his cell each day, like nothing was amiss. The guy next to Percy had been yelling and banging for 5+ days, demanding to move, to get away from the gagging odor, to no avail. And, when they finally moved Percy, who was covered in shit, they did not put him into the shower, or give him clean clothes, they simply put him into a different cell. He's in cell #2 now, alone and virtually naked (no property, just his shit-covered clothes), totally clueless as usual. And now they have his toilet cut off, along with his sink water, and my neighbor tells me he's begging for water to drink all day long, but nobody gives him any. For the next 5 days after his move, Percy did not go to rec (he always goes to rec) until Friday, when he finally went, and I was shocked at his appearance. Percy always looks bad, but on Friday he looked terribly gaunt, his eyes were sunken and wild, and he was uncharacteristically quiet and sluggish. When he got outside he just slumped to the concrete, laid down, and remained there for the 2-3 hours we were out there (usually he paces, or hops around, while talking to himself). To be honest, he looked like he was dying. I fear for his life, and certainly for his health. Prison officials here are absolutely and totally indifferent to his condition, and it's criminal. If you kept an animal in those conditions you'd go to jail, and deservedly so. I've seen a lot of bad stuff in my decades in prison but that was the worst I've ever seen a prisoner treated (other than outright beatings). It was, and is, a very sad situation; I can't even imagine how Percy's already broken mind processes such things, or if somewhere under the depths of his madness he grasps how cruelly he is being treated. He needs to be in a hospital where someone, somewhere, can have some mercy on him...

Visit William van Poyck's Blog here. Click here to contact Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia and here to contact (the warden of) the prison. Read more information on how to help act against this.

Percy needs help!

More and more states are holding upcoming executions to await the ruling of the United States Supreme Court whether or not executions by Lethal Injection can be considered a form of cruel and unusual punishment. The problem lies within the fact that the prisoner can awake during the execution and will endure a painful over-stimulation of the muscles (read; very painful cramps in all muscles over the entire body) followed by suffocation until the third chemical will burn through his veins and stop his heart from beating.

Although the prisoner lays completely still, is looking peaceful, perhaps grasps a bit, looks can be deceiving. Anthony Ross wrote about the Lethal Injection procedure in his writing Routines; “Four guards in black fatigues will escort me from the death cell to the chamber. A spiritual advisor, if I want one, can accompany me. Once I'm in what use to be the gas chamber the guards strap me onto a gurney. The executioner locates a vein and sticks in an IV. When he's finished he'll look at the warden for a signal at which point the warden will ask me if I have any last words. Since I'm not big on monologue I’ll shake my head no. The warden then nods to the executioner who releases 5 grams of sodium pentathol via a 60cc syringe into my bloodstream. In no more than 60 seconds this knocks me out cold. The IV is then flushed with saline and 50cc of pancuronium bromide is sent through the line. This drug will paralyze every single muscle in my body except for the heart. My breathing slows as the muscles controlling the rib cage and diaphragm began to freeze up. The IV is again flushed with saline and the final poisonous chemical, 50cc of potassium chloride, is pumped into my body. This blocks the electrical impulses to the heart, stopping it from beating. The results - my lungs are imploding, my organs are writhing, and my brain is gasping for oxygen. The outward appearance will look uneventful, but internally, all hell is breaking loose. Death comes in less than 15 minutes. There will be nothing peaceful about it. The warden will announce the time of my demise. But I tell you now, don't dare accept the claim that my murder was routine.”

My personal belief is that we shouldn’t place all our hopes on this temporary relief for those close to being executed. The Supreme Court will most likely vote in favor of the current method only resulting in more executions next year. If the Supreme Court votes against the current method the states will simply change their protocols and continue killing which will again result in more execution next year. A Tennessee panel has already proposed to switch to a one-drug execution method. Of course, I do belief that execution methods should be targeted by lawyers to prevent or delay their client’s upcoming executions but it shouldn’t be the main issue for the abolition movement. It doesn’t make any sense when we, the abolition movement, use this argument to fight the death penalty. What we are saying then is that killing people is okay as long as it is done quick and painless. Our main issues are and must always be that we don’t agree with the murder of people to serve as a deterrent, especially because research showed that the death penalty don’t decrease the murder rates. That we don’t agree that people are being killed to teach other people that killing is wrong, it just doesn’t make any sense. That we don’t agree with spreading the message that problems can be solved by murder, as is done by using the death penalty. We should always try to convince people that they are killing our family members, friends and loved ones, people that have changed over the years they are locked up, people that have dreams and hopes like every one else. They are killing people that can still make a valuable contribution to society and people that may be / are innocent of the crimes they are convicted for. That’s the message we need to bring across, the execution method is only important if every other thing failed to make those in favor for the death penalty realize what they are doing. More information can be found here...

The state of Tennessee’s 16 member panel that is investigating the current execution method discovered that a one-drug execution would most likely be more efficient and secure, in other words; more humane. And if not? It does at least solves a lot of the issues with the courts that are going on at the moment, and so the killing machine can continue. Nothing worse than a death row unit filled with prisoners but no approved execution protocol to kill them with, right? It’s like having a car without patrol, a gun without ammo or a DVD player without any DVD’s to watch. What this one-drug method is going to be, who knows? Just think about it for a brief moment. There we have a 16 member panel investigating the use of the lethal injection method as a humane and ethical procedure to kill fellow human beings. What a complete waste of time and money! Their conclusions; “… the three drug method can indeed cause pain to an inmate, but we’re not sure yet if an execution must be totally pain-free.” Well, this one man penal concludes that killing a human being can never be humane or ethical. I also conclude that any method, painful or painless, is never humane because of that. I conclude that the use of the death penalty is does not fit in a modern democracy that speaks so highly of human rights. I conclude that there are much better alternatives to deter crime, killing people will only contribute to violence. I conclude that the death penalty is a barbaric, out-of-date, expensive, non-effective and useless form of punishment. No expensive 16 penal needed for these conclusions…

Now that even Texas has its machinery of death on hold to await the Supreme Court’s ruling on the case of two Kentucky death row prisoners claiming that the lethal injection procedure is indeed a form of cruel and unusual punishment, the state of Virginia however is likely to continue with the execution of Christopher Emmett…. Why?

Update; Christopher Emmett received a last minute stay.

Today it’s the World Day against the Death Penalty! Even though I have my doubts that such a day really contributes to the abolition of the death penalty, it’s always good to let everyone know that this type of barbaric punishment still exist today and that it’s about time to stop this madness. Learn more about the World Day against the Death Penalty here and here. Please sign the petition here…

Death Row Speaks co-founder, sole financer and my good friend, David Paul Hammer, turns 50 today! Congratulations! Even thought the Government didn’t want you to reach this age, they tried to kill you a couple of times but gladly didn’t succeed. Thankfully you are still around to help children at risk, to help other prisoners with legal work (probably a pain in the butt for prosecutors, prison officials, the US Government and the Attorney General of the United States John D. Ashcroft), being the driving force behind Death Row Speaks, and to be a good and treasured friend to many of us. Happy birthday David! 

(Please mail him a birthday card and let him know that we really appreciate all the work he does! Thanks!)

Address;

David P. Hammer #24507-077
United States Penitentiary
P.O. Box 33
Terre Haute, IN 47808
USA

Jay Chapman, the man who developed the Lethal Injection procedure, said it is similar to the simple injections given every day in hospitals. People call it a humane, enlightened way to execute inmates that avoids the pain and the gruesome spectacle of firing squads, the electric chair and the noose. Even if you forget about the fact that the murder of fellow human being can never be humane there is a technical / chemical side to the use of the Lethal Injection procedure that can cause that a prisoner can die in a very gruesome and painful way. The problem is that we can’t see that the prisoner suffers because his/her body does not show this. However, there is a lot of reason to belief that the prisoners can suffer during the execution and that indeed; the Lethal Injection procedure is cruel and gruesome. (Article)

The Sodium Thiopental (first drug) will cause the patient to look like he is falling asleep. The second drug (Pancuronium bromide) will paralyze him. If the drugs are not given properly, the sleep drug can wear off, allowing the patient to be aware, but unable to move, even to breathe. He undergoes suffocation and asphyxiation in a horribly painful way, even though he looks completely calm as he is lying on the table. Then, he experiences that deep burning sensation as the Potassium Chloride (third drug) courses through his veins on the way to the heart. The estimation is that in 40% of the cases there has been misuse in one way or another and it has taken as long as 45 minutes for the person to die. Read more about this here…

Besides… William van Poyck wrote the following on his blog entry of September 12; “The other day I was reading the Florida Supreme Court's December 8, 2006 decision in Diaz v. State, a capital case. Diaz was, at the time, under an active death warrant, scheduled to die on December 13, 2006, so this was his final, last-ditch appeal. One of his primary arguments was a challenge to Florida's lethal injection process and his lawyers presented very good arguments supported by a lot of evidence. The Florida Supreme Court rejected all of his claims, essentially saying that Diaz's concerns and fears about how his execution could go horrible wrong were just speculative and unfounded. Well, Diaz was put to death the following week in the now infamous "botched execution" where all the things his lawyers predicted could go wrong came true. It was sort of Kafkaesque reading the Court's opinion, already knowing how the execution ultimately turned out, as the Justices ridiculed Diaz's predictions about how very wrong the process could become, resulting in his very slow, very painful death...”

Rogelio Reyes Cannady wrote something about the Lethal Injection procedure; “The Last Sequence” And for those who are not yet convinced… Here is a (not up-to-date) list of botched executions, and an article that states that autopsies expose botched executions.

Turning 53 today prompted me to pause and reflect upon how much I have changed and evolved as a person over the last two decades. Evolution, on a mental / philosophical / moral spiritual level is arguable our highest calling, our reason for existing, and most of us would agree with the proposition that we are not the same person we were 20 years ago. This applies equally to prisoners in general and death row inmates in particular. Having lived my last 20 years on the row, having watched hundreds of condemned prisoner arrive on the row and settle down to live out their fate, I know from first-hand knowledge that many of them, over the years, transform themselves to a remarkable degree. Read more...

By; Shannon Agofsky

Oscar Wilde once wrote a poem about prison entitled “The Ballad of Reading Goal.” In it he states:

But, at the same time, I have observed another aspect of prison which I believe Wild never did. It is a side rarely seen by outsiders and never reported upon by the media, as it does not fit with their preconceived notion of prison stereotypes. Read more...

Do you know that the citizens of Tennessee, even if they are chronically ill and likely to suffer until they die, can’t be euthanized? The law says that by assisting in suicide he or she can be charged with a criminal act or assessed a civil penalty. Yes folks, the use of euthanasia is prohibited in Tennessee under the general homicide laws. But, of course there are exceptions; death row prisoners are allowed to commit state supported suicide by waiving their appeals. The prisoner is being assisted by judges, prosecutors, prison staff and even the governor to end his own life by execution. Is there anyone that is willing to press charges against these men and women should Daryl Holton die on the electric chair tomorrow? And why are they called “Volunteers?” As if they actually volunteer to be killed. Most men just can’t stand it anymore to live like an animal and prefer death above the physical abuse of solitary confinement. You know, death row syndrome it is called. The prison staff has tested “Old Sparky” and he’s ready to go. Old Sparky and the staff are ready to go to murder the first prisoner by electric chair since 1960… The electric chair does sound cruel, but in the end it doesn’t matter because the result will be the same eventually, and a cruel death might hopefully help to make people realizing what the death penalty is all about. Plain murder!

The guys at the Federal Death Row Unit at Terre Haute mailed me a bunch of journals, the first of a complete new series. Several man have agreed to write regular journals for Death Row Speaks to give the visitors an unique inside look on life through the eyes of the condemned men housed on the “dog-unit” at the United States Penitentiary at Terre Haute, Indiana. The first of the journals will be published this week.
We were also informed that the addresses of all the men at USP Terre Haute have changed. We will change the addresses on all profiles as soon as possible. Click here to find the new address (below list of inmates).
Another new feature on Death Row Speaks will be the selling of art and books. We know, this has been done before but we would like to give other prisoners on the state death rows a change to sell their art or books through DRS. We have to mold this idea into a permanent shape but it’s already clear that we will not become part of the actual selling, and we do not wish to earn any money by it either. This will be a free service for all death row prisoners, we will not get involved with the actual deal, we just want to forward visitors that are interested towards those who sell the art or books on behalf of the prisoners. The coming time we will create this section on Death Row Speaks and we like to get in contact with people who are interested in displaying art on Death Row Speaks. (Click here to contact the webmaster)
One of the new features we hope to realize is a women profile section on Death Row Speaks. We have a stack of letters waiting to be mailed to most, if not all, women on the death row units throughout the States and hopefully we will gain a lot of positive replies from them. 
We will also continue with the “Interview with the Condemned” series. We have collected a great deal of filled out interview forms and we will start to put new interviews online the coming weeks. Our plan is to do one or two interviews every month.
It’s also our intention to finally start mailing our Death Row Speaks newsletter around again. We have developed a new newsletter but never came to the point of using it. We hope to mail out the first re-styled Death Row Speaks newsletter very soon. (Click here to subscribe)
Publicity is the best tool to get more attention to this website and our struggle to abolish the death penalty plus showing the public the humanity of those condemned to death. The last months we have sent out e-mails to several magazines and networks / T.V. Shows with a request / proposition to work with us. Up to now we haven’t received anything back. In the past we have contributed to T.V. / radio Shows, magazines, books, etc. with very good results. Please, if someone is able to arrange any sort of publicity for Death Row Speaks, please do so. We are always open for ideas and propositions; please contact the webmaster if you think you can help. 
The coming weeks we will also post new profiles, writings and much more additions that have been mailed to us by death row prisoners… keep visiting us and keep telling others about us! Thank you!

By; David Paul Hammer

It has been some times since I last wrote to provide updated information about myself and happenings here on the row. Time seems to fly by, especially when one is surrounded by those condemned to die. 
We currently have six men here whose appeals have been totally exhausted. Some currently have stays as litigation over the use of lethal injection continues in federal courts. Such challenges have failed in some courts such as the U.S. Court of appeals for The Eight Circuit. In a published opinion issued this summer The Eight Circuit overturned a U.S. District Judge injunction that had banned all executions in the State of Missouri. The Judge, Fernando Gaitan, Sr. had stated in his 2006 ruling that he wanted to be sure the three drug injection method did not cause the risk of pain and suffering. He wanted the state to involve a doctor specializing in anesthesia, but the state has been unable to find such a doctor willing to participate. Read more...

The death penalty system in the state of California is so backed up; it takes five executions each month for the next ten years to get through the current list of death row prisoners. Why they want to build a bigger death chamber is a complete riddle to me. Apparently they will also build a room for the inmates’ spiritual needs, even though I belief the executioners could use it much more then the condemned prisoner does. After all, they are the ones who go against the sixth of the Ten Commandments and live with that for a long time. Sure, the system has build in procedures to hide who’s actually responsible for the death of the prisoner, and it might clear the executioner’s conscience, I wonder if God feels the same way about that.  

In California the average wait for an appointment with the executioner is 17,2 years, twice the national figure. 30 people have been on death row for more then 25 years. Clearly, killing them does not contribute to deterring people from committing any murders. Executing them is all about following retarded procedures and laws, personal agendas or taking revenge (on behalf of), to name a few. While one jurist has called capital punishment in the state an illusion, Judge Arthur L. Alarcon wants to oil the machine by injecting a whole lot of money to smooth things up. Why not just abolish the death penalty and put your efforts and money into matters that would really contribute to society.