Sister Helen on Social Media
#GiveNOLADay is coming up — I only ask for donations to our ministry two times per year and this is one of them. You can make a contribution between now and May 3rd at the link in my bio. Thank you for your generous support!
Last Tuesday, April 5th, we launched the Louisiana Repeal campaign to end the death penalty at the Capitol in Baton Rouge. I was thinking about Pat Sonnier all day. He was executed in Louisiana's electric chair on April 5, 1984. I was there. I saw it with my own eyes. And what I saw set my soul on fire.
Ray Finch spent 43 years on death row in N. Carolina, all for a crime he did not commit. He received a full innocence pardon last year. Ray died on Monday after less than three years of freedom. This tragedy was a result of prosecutorial misconduct and long-term judicial indifference.
“Although I have suffered the loss of two family members by assassination, I remain firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty … Justice is never advanced in the taking of a human life. Morality is never upheld by legalized murder.” —Coretta Scott King #MLKDay
“I do not think that God approves the death penalty for any crime, rape and murder included. Capital punishment is against the better judgment of modern criminology, and, above all, against the highest expression of love in the nature of God.” #mlkday
I'm being auctioned off alongside some notables! Well, not quite, but you could score a double whammy: win a private Zoom with me *and* support the dedicated work of @aclu_socal defending and preserving civil rights and liberties. It's the ACLU of Southern California's annual charity auction. Bid now on me - I'm lot 2277442. 🙂 @charitybuzz
On a day of sorrow as Mississippi recommenced executions after a long hiatus; on a day of mingled hope and apprehension as we wait - still wait - for Gov. Stitt to decide whether he'll abide by his pardon board's recommendation and commute Julius Jones' death sentence; on this hard day, there is cause for celebration as Henry Montgomery walks free from Angola Prison after 57 years, 9 months, 2 weeks and 2 days of incarceration.
Oklahomans:
On this #WorldDayAgainstTheDeathPenalty, we are focused on the invisible reality of women sentenced to death. I’m thinking about Lisa Montgomery. Lisa’s entire life was a tragedy from before she left her mother’s womb until the federal government killed her this past January.
Ernest Johnson should not have been executed tonight. He was intellectually disabled and categorically ineligible for the death penalty. Ernest was a human being. He committed a terrible crime and was deeply remorseful. This was not justice.
This is a scan of Ernest Johnson’s brain. There is a hole in his skull and more than 20% of his brain tissue has been removed. The Missouri Supreme Court thinks it is acceptable to execute this man. I don’t.
Henry was imprisoned as a juvenile, just 17 years old, and now, thanks to committed work by the Louisiana Parole Project and others, Henry is free once more.
If you can make it, please attend the ALL HANDS ON DECK rally for Julius Jones tomorrow, 4 pm at the Oklahoma History Center in OKC. @govkevinstitt needs to see that there is a critical mass demanding clemency and justice.