Anti-Death Penalty Group Begins Solidarity Fast with Death Row Inmates Beginning Wednesday, April 12, members of a Gainesville, FL-based group that advocates for alternatives to the death penalty began a "chain fast" to be in solidarity with over 100 death row inmates at Union Correctional Institute who are now in the 10th day of a hunger strike. Members of Gainesville Citizens for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (GCADP) decided on the fast at their April 11th meeting. Members will fast each day through Friday, April 21st which is traditionally observed by Christians as "Good Friday," the day Jesus was executed. The idea of a "chain fast" is that each day a different member of the group would voluntarily fast, with each member being a "link" in a long-term fast. The inmates on death row in Florida began their hunger strike to draw attention to the Department of Corrections intention to institute a "no contact" visitation policy. Current policies allow for "contact visits" between visitors and inmates. Inmates assert that it is often these visits, where fathers can hug their children and spouses can hold hands, that enable them to continue to exist with some measure of sanity and dignity. Rev. Glenn Dickson, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church and spiritual advisor to Anthony Bryan who was executed in February, said, "Anthony told me that the chance to hug his kids and his sisters was what helped him to keep his sanity in a place that can really just tear you down." At the April 11th GCADP meeting, Johnny Zokovitch, a campus minister at St. Augustine Church and Catholic Student Center, explained that the idea for the fast came from a visit to death row this past weekend. "The inmates I spoke with were hoping that this hunger strike would raise people's awareness of how a 'no contact policy' would affect not only themselves, but their families and even the correctional officers who work on death row as well. This fast is an opportunity for us to be supportive of the families of men on death row as well as the inmates themselves." Members of GCADP who have visited death row also understood the value to correctional officers of keeping the current policy. "The benefit to correctional officers of keeping 'contact visits' is that the increased morale of inmates that comes out of these visits makes for a less hostile working environment," Zokovitch stated. Nine different members of GCADP signed up for the ten-day fast, which ends on Friday, April 21st. Those fasting include local clergy and religious, college students from groups like Amnesty International (University of Florida chapter) and Pax Christi-Gainesville, a student from Lincoln Middle School, and other concerned citizens. A press conference is scheduled for Friday, April 21st at a time and place still to be determined. For more information, including contact information for those who are fasting, please contact Johnny Zokovitch at (352) 372-3533 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Kelli Brew at (352) 372-3533 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html <A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
