Shine Your Light On This Darkness…

When our nation’s highest elected official can only offer more violence — the retribution of an expedited execution — as an appropriate response, we must stand up to say no.​

We who are active in stopping executions often hesitate at these moments of mass violence. We want to be respectful to the victims and their survivors, and not raise the ire of those focused on the shooter of the day. But when our nation’s highest elected official can only offer more violence — the retribution of an expedited execution — as an appropriate response, we must stand up to say no.​

Thoughts and prayers are good, but they are not enough. Death Penalty Action is lifting up many voices saying NO to executions this week:

• This weekend, we’ll be in Tennessee providing logistics support for Christian prison ministry folk who are staging a March4Mercy​ to urge TN Governor Bill Lee to respond to an invitation from prisoners that he visit and pray with them in advance of the execution set for August 15. Click to take action​ and to order postcards you and your community can send to Governor Lee.
• Petitions to stop several upcoming executions are here​.
• Death Penalty Action is deep in planning the upcoming Ohio Journey of Hope …From Violence to Healing​ (link content soon-to-be-updated!). Led by murder victim family members opposed to the death penalty, we’ll be creating awareness statewide that murder victim families are not helped, and in fact are actually harmed, by the presence of a death sentence in the case of their murdered loved one. This will be an especially important message in the wake of the murderous rampage in Dayton just a few days ago.
• Death Penalty Action will once again be in leadership of public opposition to federal executions​. (Scott and I helped lead the protests when the Oklahoma City Bomber was executed nearly 20 years ago.) We’ll be in Terre Haute later this month resurrecting the local team that will help us create massive opposition to those executions outside the prison, should the lawyers not be successful in stopping the executions from going forward. Please sign and share this petition​ urging congress to remove the power of executions from the federal government.

There is more that we will share with you soon. Now is the time to be a light in the darkness by helping Death Penalty Action save lives and create a world where violence is never the answer.

Yours in the Struggle,

— Abe & Scott

Co-Directors, Death Penalty Action.

PS: Please make the most of every opportunity to work for justice this week and every week!