[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----NORTH CAROLINA

[Rick Halperin]

Urgent Action:
Contact NC Council of State

Background

Last week Wake County Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens halted all
three scheduled executions because of statutes requiring NC Gov. Mike
Easley and the NC Council of State to approve any changes in the state's
execution protocol. The nine-member Council of State usually deals with
finalizing the sale of state properties.

The Council of State meets next on Tuesday, Feb 6.

The NC Attorney General's Office is not appealing Judge Stephens'
decision.

This stay will likely also halt other executions that would have been
scheduled in the near future -- and possibly for some time to come.
(Vigils related to the scheduled executions are cancelled. PFADP's Catawba
Valley chapter will hold special meetings instead.)

Take Action

Please write the members of the Council of State and urge them to not
approve of the change in execution protocol and to leave this complicated
legal and medical matter to the legislature for a through review,
something which has never been done.

Even if the Council of State approves of the Department of Corrections
procedures for executions it is likely that executions would be stayed
again because courts and the statutes require physicians to participate.
The NC Medical Board recently barred doctors and nurses from actively
participating in executions other than being present.

A sample message to the NC Council of State is below, along with its
members' email addresses.

This is a chance for you let these top political leaders know how you feel
about executions carried out in your name. The more personal your letter,
the more effective it will be.

Please ask people in your congregation and your community to write the
Council of State as well.

Recent statements by NC Council of State members can be found at PFADP's
web site home page, www.pfadp.org.

Sample Letter to Members of the NC Council of State:

 Dear [Members of the NC Council of State] or
[Commissioner/Secretary/Etc.],

As a member of the NC Council of State you are faced with approving the
protocol for North Carolinas execution procedures.

The legal and medical complexities of our states execution procedures are
beyond what the Council of State can be reasonably expected to fully study
and address.

I urge you to not approve of the states execution protocol and to ask the
NC General Assembly to begin a thorough studywhich it has never doneof
lethal injection and of the multitude of problems in the administration of
the death penalty.

North Carolina death penalty system is enormously expensive, prone to
errors and racial and class bias, and irrevocable. The hundreds of
millions of taxpayer dollars that go into North Carolina's death penalty
could be better used for new programs that really help victims families in
our state.

There are good reasons the NC Medical Board has barred doctors and nurses
from participating in executions.

Executions have been halted in 10 other states because of concerns over
lethal injection procedures. (For more information see
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=1686&scid=64)

The death penalty is immoral, and the death penalty is bad public policy.

I join with the more than 50,000 North Carolina citizens who have called
for a halt to executions and for a thorough study of the death penalty by
the legisature. In addition, more than 1,000 churches, businesses, and
community groups in North Carolina have passed resolutions calling for a
suspension of executions, including 39 local governments.

Our nation is the only Western industrialized country to still practice
capital punishment.

I hope and I pray that you will take this opportunity to provide
principled leadership for the citizens of North Carolina and to call for a
thorough examination of death penalty by the legislature.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

[name, full mailing address]

NC Council of State Email Addresses:

bev.perdue at ncmail.net (NC Lt. Gov. Beverly Purdue);

richard.moore at nctreasurer.com (NC Treasurer Richard Moore);

leslie_merritt at ncauditor.net (NC State Auditor Les Merritt);

joyce.bulluck at nclabor.com (Assistant to NC Labor Secretary Berry);

ncago at ncdoj.gov (NC Attorney General Richard Moore);

emarshal at sosnc.com (NC Secretary of State Elaine Marshall);

jlong at ncdoi.net (NC Insurance Commissioner Jim Long);

jatkinson at dpi.state.nc.us (NC Superintendent of Public Instruction June
Atkinson);

mwertis at dpi.state.nc.us (Assistant to NC Superintendent of Public
Instruction June Atkinson);

steve.troxler at ncmail.net (NC Secretary of Agriculture Steve Troxler)




Join PFADP for HK on J

Saturday, February 10, 2007
Memorial Auditorium, Downtown Raleigh
Arrival at 11 a.m., Program at 12 p.m.

People of Faith Against the Death Penalty joins the North Carolina NAACP's
call for abolition of the death penalty at Historic K (Thousands) on Jones
Street. With executions stopped in North Carolina, now is the time to
speak out and be heard. Please join in this essential event - a People's
General Assembly calling for abolition!

HK on J aims to get thousands of people from all 100 counties in North
Carolina to come to Raleigh for an assembly at Memorial Auditorium and a
march to the Legislative Building on Jones Street.

Help us mobilize like it's 1955!

No matter where you are - Asheville, Fayetteville, Charlotte, Hickory,
Greensboro or elsewhere - we need you to come to Raleigh to be a part of
this statewide action.

Talk to the leaders of your congregation and ask them to help bring 55
people from your faith community to the rally, and use your congregation's
vans.

If you can attend this event, please let PFADP know that you can represent
us! Contact PFADP at (919) 933-7567 or info at pfadp.org.