And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >Priority: Normal >To: "ishgooda" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "NACF News" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "KOLA International Campaign Office" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Fw: Randy Reeves update >Date: Wed, 06 Jan 99 19:46:04 PST > >---------- >Date: Tuesday 5 January 1999 13:46:30 >From: Charlotte Durie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: KOLA International Campaign Office >Subject: death penalty news--NEBRASKA > > ------- Forwarded message follows ------- >Jan. 5, 1999--- > > >NEBRASKA: > >In Lincoln, while Nebraska religious leaders, Omaha Indians and an attorney >called Monday for clemency, a prosecutor who helped convict Randolph Reeves >of killing 2 Lincoln women in 1980 said that Reeves' scheduled Jan. 14 >execution should proceed. > >"There comes a time when the law must say enough is enough and there will >be no more appeals by creative lawyers," Lancaster County Attorney Gary >Lacey said at a court hearing. > >During the same proceeding, Reeves' attorney, Paula Hutchinson of Lincoln, >argued that the execution should be stayed because Nebraska's death-penalty >system discriminates against nonwhites. That, she said, violates the >equal-protection clause of the Nebraska Constitution. The clause >guaranteeing that every person be treated equally under the law was >adopted by voters Nov. 3. > >Reeves is a member of the Omaha Tribe. Hutchinson said that Indians and >blacks have made up about 30 % (6 of 20) of those sentenced to >death since 1980. Currently, 2 of Hutchinson the 11 inmates, or 18 >percent, of those on Nebraska's death row are nonwhite. > >"If you're nonwhite, you're much more likely to get the death penalty," >she said. "There's no escaping that." > >After a 30-minute hearing, Lancaster County District Judge Earl Witthoff >took the arguments under advisement. He is expected to rule in the next >couple of days on Reeves' motion to set aside his death penalty. > >Regardless of the ruling, an appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court is >assured. > >Reeves, 42, was convicted in 1981 in the deaths of Janet Mesner and >Victoria Lamm at a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) Meeting House >in Lincoln. > >The case has drawn attention because several members of the Mesner and >Lamm families have asked the state to commute Reeves' sentence to life in >prison. > >That attention continued Monday as religious leaders representing more than >600,000 Nebraskans called for clemency for Reeves during separate press >conferences in Omaha and Lincoln. The clergymen also called for abolition >of the state's death penalty. > >"Even if the death penalty were not so clearly racist, even if the death >penalty were a deterrent to criminal behavior, which it is not, still it >would cheapen human life," said Nebraska Episcopal Bishop James Krotz. "The >execution of a murderer does not begin to balance the scales of justice on >behalf of the murdered, nor their survivors. > >"Another death simply adds another debit to human degradation." > >Krotz was joined in Omaha by Evangelical Lutheran Bishop Richard N. Jessen >and the Rev. Michael Gutgsell, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Omaha. > >Speaking in Lincoln were United Methodist Bishop Joel Martinez; the Rev. >Roger Harp, executive presbyter of the Homestead Presbytery; and Cantor >Michael Weisser, the spiritual leader of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun. > >Following Monday's court hearing, about 30 members of the Omaha Tribe >demonstrated outside the courthouse, singing native songs and holding >anti-death-penalty placards. > >Jerre Moreland, legal council for the Omaha Tribal Council's Randy Reeves >Project, said there was no written record of any execution of a tribal >member. The traditional Omaha punishment for murder was shunning, said Ed >Wolf, a tribal elder. > >"Our people have been praying," Wolf said at a press conference after the >court hearing. "We can't understand this at all." > >Signs carried by protesters included those reading "Is Randy Reeves Going >to Die Because He's an Indian?" and "Do the Right Thing, Mike, Save Randy." > >The latter was a reference to Gov.-elect Mike Johanns who takes office >Thursday. Among his duties is acting as chairman of the Nebraska Board of >Pardons, which will be asked Thursday to call a public hearing to consider >clemency for Reeves. > >Only one member of the board, Secretary of State Scott Moore, has indicated >that he would support holding a clemency hearing for Reeves. Both Johanns >and Attorney General Don Stenberg, the other board member, have said they >see no reason for holding the hearing. None of the 3 has indicated >support for granting clemency. > >During Monday's court hearing, Lacey said that the equal-protection clause >was not intended to be applied retroactively to criminal sentences. To do >so, Lacey said, would prompt hundreds of appeals and wreak "chaos" in the >Nebraska judicial system. > >Hutchinson also argued that using Nebraska's electric chair constituted >"cruel and unusual punishment." Only four states - Nebraska, Alabama, >Georgia and Florida - use the electric chair exclusively to carry out >the death penalty, she said. > >Lacey said that both the U.S. and Nebraska Supreme Courts have rejected >arguments that the electric chair is cruel and unusual punishment. > >------ > >6 Nebraska religious leaders called for the abolition of the death >penalty Monday. They also asked the Pardons Board to schedule a clemency >hearing for Randolph Reeves, who is scheduled for execution Jan. 14 in >Nebraska's electric chair. > >The religious leaders said the death penalty not only violates the >teachings of their respective denominations but also is unfairly applied >and ineffective. > >"Even if the death penalty were not so clearly racist, even if the death >penalty were a deterrent to criminal behavior, which it is not, still it >would cheapen human life," said Nebraska Episcopal Bishop James Krotz. > >"The execution of a murderer does not begin to balance the scales of >justice on behalf of the murdered, nor their survivors," he said. "Another >death simply adds another debit to human degradation." > >The leaders spoke at press conferences in Omaha and Lincoln. > >Krotz was joined in Omaha by Evangelical Lutheran Bishop Richard N. Jessen >and the Rev. Michael Gutgsell, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Omaha. >They spoke at the archdiocesan offices. > >Speaking in Lincoln were United Methodist Bishop Joel Martinez; the Rev. >Roger Harp, executive presbyter of the Homestead Presbytery; and Cantor >Michael Weisser, the spiritual leader of Congregation B'Nai Jeshurun. >They issued their statements at the United Methodist conference offices. > >The religious leaders represent about 610,000 members in Nebraska. > >Gutgsell, speaking on behalf of Omaha Archbishop Elden Curtiss, who >was out of town, noted that all 3 of Nebraska's Catholic bishops >opposed the death penalty. > >In a Dec. 28 letter to Gov.-elect Mike Johanns, the bishops quoted Pope >John Paul II, who said in a 1995 encyclical that because of advances in the >modern penal system, situations when execution might be necessary to defend >society are "very rare if not practically nonexistent." > >The bishops also said in the letter: "Incarceration for life satisfies the >need and justification for punishment which is corrective to the guilty >party and protective of the good order of society, in a manner which more >greatly conforms to the inherent dignity of each human being." > >Jessen pointed to Jesus. > >"Jesus taught alternatives to revenge and violence, alternatives like >forgiveness, redirection and restoration," he said. "We hold that >executions do not restore broken society and can actually work counter >to restoration." > >Martinez agreed. > >"The impending execution of Randolph Reeves is a tragic extension of >violence which the Christian gospel calls us to resist," he said in a > >statement. > >Krotz, Jessen and Gutgsell acknowledged that their pleas have fallen >largely on deaf ears. They said they will, however, continue their >efforts to persuade their parishioners that the death penalty is wrong. > >"We will continue to expose and expound the teaching," Gutgsell said. >"It must be said and said and said." > >(source:Omaha World-Herald) > >Nebraska Board of Pardons > >Gov. Elect Mike Johanns >PO Box 94877 >Nebraska State Capitol, Suite 1023 >Lincoln, NE 68509-4877 >Telephone: (402) 471-0815 >Fax: (402) 471-6898 > >Secretary of State Scott Moore >Nebraska State Capitol, Suite 2300 >Lincoln, NE 68509 >Telephone: (402) 471-2554 >Fax: (402) 471-3237 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Attorney General Don Stenberg >PO Box 98920 >Nebraska State Capitol >Lincoln, NE 68509-8920 >Telephone: (402) 471-2682 >Fax: (402) 471-3297 > >(source: Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty) > >Charlotte Durie > >----end forwarded message---- > > ><+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+> >In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this >material is distributed without profit or payment to those >who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this >information for non-profit research and educational >purposes only. ><+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+> >"Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere" >FREE LEONARD PELTIER!!! >FREE WOLVERINE!!! >NO SCOPES ON MT. 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