By Cantor Michael Zoosman My name is Cantor Michael Zoosman. I am a former prison chaplain, an advisory board member of Death Penalty Action and the co-founder of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty.,” where we are in touch with all human beings in our nation who receive an execution warrant. For the past year, […]
By Rabbi Benjamin Zober and Abraham Bonowitz The first Texas execution in 2023 is set for Tuesday, January 10th, and there remain serious questions for which there are no dependable answers. On Wednesday last week, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed an opportunity to seek answers purely on procedural grounds, without even considering the […]
Lamentations: On John Henry Ramirez In South Texas, John Henry Ramirez robbed and murdered Pablo Castro in 2004. In fact, Ramirez stabbed him 29 times. A short time later, Ramirez robbed a second victim. Then, Ramirez fled to Mexico where he was able to avoid capture for a little over three and a […]
September 13, 2022 Alabama Insanity: On the Potential Gas Chamber Execution of Alan Eugene Miller Before government officials in Alabama go ahead with an untested gas chamber execution of Alan Eugene Miller (nitrogen hypoxia), it might be wise to consider a few experiential facts… Millions upon millions of people were […]
Pull Back The Curtains on Executions!!! crossposted @ Patheos, https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jeffhood/pull-back-the-curtains-on-executions/ By Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood On July 28, 2022 at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama Department of Corrections officials strapped Joe James, Jr. to a gurney and prepared him to be executed. Normally this should take minutes. For over three hours beyond his scheduled […]
James Coddington was… Abandoned. Abused. Poor. Malnourished. Filthy. Beaten. Kicked. Thrown. Traumatized. Unsupervised. Underdeveloped. Ridiculed. Belittled. Condemned. Addicted. Mentally ill An alcoholic. …all before the age of 9 years old. If you met a child who had gone through all these things…how would you respond? Hopefully, any of us would do all that we could […]
Lamentations: On Kosoul Chantakoumanne Make no mistake…Sarah Walker was brutally murdered in McKinney Texas in 2006. Somebody should pay for such a crime. Unfortunately, it’s quite possible that the wrong man is being called to account. Here’s why. The bedrock of every murder investigation is the establishment of a motive. The McKinney Police Department (MPD) […]
Lamentations: On Joe James (Execution Date: July 28) Joe Nathan James, Jr. killed Faith Hall in 1994. There doesn’t seem to be much doubt about that. However, doubt about guilt isn’t necessary to have doubt about the punishment. The death penalty is abhorrently problematic and this case illustrates why…starkly. For several years, […]
Lamentations: On Ramiro Gonzales Lamentations is a series of short reflections derived from a reoccurring conversation that takes place before every scheduled execution in the United States between prominent abolitionists Death Penalty Action Executive Director, Abraham Bonowitz and the Convener of Clergy United Against the Death Penalty, the Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood. In 2001, Bridget […]
Lamentations is a series of short reflections derived from a reoccurring conversation that takes place before every scheduled execution in the United States between prominent abolitionists Death Penalty Action Executive Director, Abraham Bonowitz and the Convener of Clergy United Against the Death Penalty, the Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood. The 8th Amendment of the Constitution of the […]