Long past time in Ohio to end the death penalty and in the other states and the Federal government - why? Think about all the headlines over the past few years about the mess in Illinois over people on death row or in for life who were proved innocent. This has been repeated in a number of other states due to the effort, in part, of the Innocent Project. But they cannot be everywhere nor investigate all cases.
Here’s the point: If you sentence someone to life and find later on a mistake was made, the solution is to release the person and look for the real offender. If you execute an innocent, there is no way out. Across the country, people who have been accused of nearly the same kind or type of murder get death penalty specifications in once jurisdiction and not in another. We are not just talking about one state versus another state - the variation exists within states, county to county. That means no equal justice for the accused or the relatives and friends of the victims.
With no death penalty, we’d have a better chance for equal justice, making op for the few errors, and, in reality, getting a lot more convictions. Three men on death row in the State of Ohio are due to be executed by lethal injection by early December. The state continues to defend its execution process, and the death penalty more generally, despite the recent “botched” lethal injection of Romell Broom. Call on Ohio Governor Ted Strickland to halt executions in his state. |
If you are running a community-based program trying to resolve problems between or within racial communities, this $400,000 grant might be for you - especially if you are working with children.
Might be great to work on not passing on existing tensions between African-American and Hispanic communities, or First Nation/Native Americans and Euro-Americans. W.K. Kellogg Foundation - Online Grant Application
Community-Based Racial Healing Request for Proposals |
This grant opportunity seeks to strengthen and bolster community-based approaches for racial healing and racial equity efforts targeting vulnerable and marginalized children. The Kellogg Foundation anticipates awarding grants up to $400,000. You are invited to submit a proposal for our Community-Based Racial Healing work as outlined in the Request for Proposals (RFP). To review the RFP, click here. |
| To be considered for this grant, please submit your proposal online no later than September 30, 2009. The review and decision-making process will be ongoing throughout the RFP period from July 1, 2009 to September 30, 2009.Read more at wrm.wkkf.org |
You go Bill! Looks as though North Korea got a wee bit of sense and listened to Bill Clinton’s advice. |
North Korea Said to Pardon Two American Journalists
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SEOUL, South Korea — The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, pardoned two jailed American journalists, the official KCNA news agency has reported, according to Reuters. The report came after former President Bill Clinton met with the reclusive and ailing Mr. Kim in Pyongyang on Tuesday. |
Mr. Kim granted “a special pardon,” KCNA said in a statement. It was not clear how rapidly the two journalists, Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, might be allowed to leave the country. They were being held near Pyongyang after having been sentenced to 12 years at hard labor for entering North Korea illegally. Read more at www.nytimes.com |
This program from the Vera Institute is one of many organizations that helps and they have a super program - that you might want to know about and/or support. Unaccompanied Children Program |
The Unaccompanied Children Program coordinates a nationwide effort to increase volunteer, or pro bono, legal representation for immigrant children with no parents or adult guardians to assist them as they undergo removal (deportation) proceedings. These children may be fleeing poverty, war, or other dangerous circumstances on their own, or they may have lost contact with an adult along the way. They are held in shelters or detention centers across the United States which are run by the Division of Unaccompanied Children’s Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). |
Currently, Vera staff oversee 14 nonprofit agencies that provide legal assistance to children in Chicago, New York City, Miami, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Oregon, and at four sites in Texas—Harlingen, San Antonio/Corpus Christi, Houston, and El Paso. At each site, children receive: |
This woman had immunity because of her job and is shedding it to challenge the law in Sudan that makes it illegal for women to wear pants in public. Women all over the world have fought for their rights and still do. Would you be willing to undergo the lash to stand for your rights.
Shades of Amelia Bloomer (http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=22) Sudanese journalist faces flogging for “indecent” clothing |
| Lubna Hussein, a Sudanese journalist and UN employee in Khartoum, had her trial moved to Tuesday, after being accused of wearing “indecent” clothes. Hussein was arrested along with a group of other women in a Khartoum restaurant in early July for wearing pants. If convicted she will face 40 lashes and a fine of 100 US dollars. |
Hussein is resigning from a U.N. job that grants her immunity so she can challenge this law. If convicted of the offense, Hussein says she will be lashed 40 times and fined 250 Sudanese pounds ($100). But Judge Mudathir Rashid adjourned the hearing until Aug. 4 to give Hussein time to quit her job, which she said she would do immediately. Read more at www.menassat.com |
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You Can’t Take Back Executing an Innocent
