|
Letters
from David Paul Hammer
Navigate by clicking on the links below - A Letter from David Paul Hammer
It has been a struggle rife with adversity and more, but we are proud to once again be online and updated. Many of you may have visited Death Row Speaks in the past. We want to thank each of you for your continued interest in this site and, even more importantly, for your interest in abolishing capital punishment. This
site is a work in progress and will be updated regularly by our team of
volunteers who have undertaken the daunting task of rebuilding the site.
Please bear with us all as we strive to make Death Row Speaks a source
of news and information for those wanting to know more about the death
penalty and death row. At
present it is our intent to focus on the use of capital punishment by
the This
site is unique in that we provide an outlet for men and women on death
row to express themselves in writing and through their artwork. We want
to highlight the humanity of these individuals who are more than the
crimes for which they have been convicted and sentenced to death. Like
it or not, we are all human beings. Death
Row Speaks is a site which opposes the use of capital punishment. Our mission
statement
sets forth our goals. In the past we have posted the views of those in
favor of the death penalty. That practice has been discontinued. While
we respect the rights of all persons to express their opinions, we
reserve the right to disagree and to not promote a viewpoint that is
inconsistent with the goals and purposes of Death Row Speaks. As
resources allow, this site will be expanded to include writings and art
work from inmates on states' death rows. We
welcome comments and suggestions on how to make Death Row Speaks better.
Please E-mail
comments to us. Please feel free to E-mail us articles on the death
penalty, death rows, or any other issues related to the use of capital
punishment by any state or the Federal government. We will post those on
our News and Information page.
Any
persons wanting to share their views against capital punishment may E-mail us
with their writings to be posted on our Friends and Supporters page. No
E-mail addresses or names will be posted unless the sender specifically
requests it and also provides a telephone number for verification
purposes. From
all of us at Death Row Speaks, thanks for accessing this site and for
your interest. David
Paul Hammer
My
name is David Paul Hammer and I am on the Federal Death Row Unit at the
United States Penitentiary in I
received a death sentence for the murder of my cellmate while confined
at the United States Penitentiary Allenwood in White Deer, On
January 6, 2004 I will appear once again before a U.S. District Judge to
have my execution date set. I have elected to forego any further
judicial review of my conviction and sentence. I am now 45 years old and
have spent the past 26 years in prison. I am not suicidal nor am I
“volunteering” for anything! I am a realist; I’m guilty of having
taken a human life and have next to no chance of any relief from the
courts. My case does not contain issues such as actual innocence, race (all
involved were white) or selective prosecution. I had excellent,
well-trained lawyers and a top-notch defense team. They
tried desperately to save my life. I
am whole-heartedly opposed to capital punishment because it is
arbitrarily used against minorities and the poor. Capital punishment
does not as many would argue serve as a deterrent. Why then, you may be
wondering, have I elected to allow my own execution to proceed without
exhausting every available remedy? It is a personal decision made after
careful thought and consideration. I won’t beg President George Bush
to spare my life through a clemency petition. He would undoubtedly take
a perverse pleasure in denying such a plea. However, I will not exit
this world without voicing my opinion and opposition to the Federal
Government’s use of the death penalty. For
over three years I have battled in federal court to insure that federal
death row inmates have the right to speak out via the news media. In
early 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice placed a ban upon our first
amendment right to speak to members of the press. The media cannot
record face-to-face interviews or even telephone interviews. The U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed a lower courts
dismissal of my civil rights complaint in July 2002. While
the civil case was pending, my friend, Jeff Paul and I, along with
friends on the outside founded a website, www.deathrowspeaks.info, where
men and women on the death rows could post profiles, writings, artwork,
etc. The website was a place where their voices could be heard. The
website was the main source of information available to the news media
during the frenzy surrounding the execution of Timothy McVeigh in June
of 2001. Media outlets worldwide quoted writings by death row inmates
posted on the site. We have a voice in spite of government officials
attempting to silence us! On
January 2, 2003, I amended the civil suit to include an attack upon the
federal government’s execution protocol, which requires all condemned
prisoners to undergo the gruesome and barbaric practice of a “venous
cut-down procedure” in order to access a vein for the lethal injection
process. venous cut-down is an antiquated medical procedure. According to Dr.
Mark Heath, who is a licensed physician, Board Certified
Anesthesiologist and Asst. Professor at Columbia University College of
Physicians and Surgeons, the cut-down entails the following: “Making a
series of surgical incisions through the skin, through the underlying
connective tissue, through the underlying layer of fat, through the
underlying layers of muscle until the region surrounding a large vein is
reached. The procedure, which is invasive, may give rise to serious
medical complications. It involves unnecessary pain, suffering and the
mutilation of the condemned persons body.” The
Federal Execution Protocol calls for the cut-down procedure to be
conducted by someone other than a medical doctor. The exact identity of
this person remains a mystery, as the protocol is not available to the
public. Dr.
Heath has opined that, “a cut-down procedure must be performed by a
surgeon who passes the requisite skill to competently and safely perform
such a surgery.” He further states that, “special operating
equipment is required, that blood vessels may have to be closed either
by use of cautery or the use of ligatory suture. Many complications of
the cut-down procedure are well recognized by the medical community.
Those life-threatening conditions include severe hemorrhage,
pneumothorax and cardiac dyshythmia.” The
American Medical Associations’ Code of Ethics prohibits physicians
from taking part in executions. Thus, a surgeon cannot perform the
cut-down procedure. The most alarming aspect of the Federal governments’
use of this method of accessing a vein for lethal injection is their
reasoning. They claim it will prohibit a botched execution! The
U.S. Supreme Court stayed the execution of David Nelson in My
civil case is pending and I will seek an emergency injunction
prohibiting federal officials from using the cut-down during my
execution. I’ve also filed in court for the witnesses to be allowed to
watch the entire execution process from the time I enter the execution
chamber so that nothing is hidden. It
is my hope that protests against capital punishment will be loud and
vocal on the day before I am killed, not for me, but rather for the
thousands of men and women still fighting against overwhelming odds for
justice in their respective cases. There is no justice in capital
punishment; it is revenge pure and simple!
4th anniversary Letter from David
Paul Hammer Since that time DRS has had
several additional webmasters including Ali, Christina, Kim, and now
Andre and Eva. Each of these volunteers has influenced and shaped this
site. We are forever indebted to each of them for their commitment to
fight against capital punishment and for their efforts on our behalf. We encourage visitors to this
site hoping they will join our efforts. Subscribe to the free DRS
Newsletter, sign on to our forum, volunteer to help with the site. We
welcome your suggestions and participation. Remember, working together
we can make a difference. Let us hear from you today. David Paul Hammer, Co-founder
of Death Row Speaks, March 13, 2005
|