[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, IND., VA.

[Rick Halperin]

June 5



TEXAS:

A Nonviolent Movement at Texas Death Row


 The D.R.I.V.E. Movement:
Resources for Education and Action
Prepared by the Austin Campaign to End the Death Penalty

Introduction

What follows is a discussion of facts and strategy associated with the
horrific conditions on Texas death row at the Polunksy Unit in Livingston.
The men warehoused at this unit, aside from being sentenced to death by an
unjust system, are living in conditions that, by any decent standards of
human rights, constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Several of these
inmates have heroically launched a non-violent protest against these
conditions and have been met with a disproportionately violent response
from the Polunsky administration and staff. It befalls all abolitionists
and others committed to justice to stand in solidarity with these brave
men. What follows, we hope, will serve as tools toward that end.



Background

>From 1965 to 1999, Texas death row was housed in the Ellis Unit. Inmates
were allowed group exercise time and had access to the same resources as
other prisoners. However, in 1999, the Texas Board of Criminal Justice
(TBCJ) voted to move all condemned male inmates to Livingston. The
official rationale for this decision was overcrowding at the Ellis Unit,
as several death row inmates were sharing single occupancy cells. However,
there was also considerable political motivation. In 1998, seven men
attempted to escape the Ellis Unit and one, Martin Gurule, succeeded
(though he was found drowned shortly thereafter). This was the first
successful escape on death row in 64 years. While a prison board
investigation blamed negligent correctional officers, they also commented
that group recreation and work time provided opportunities to plan such
escapes. The TBCJ subsequently voted to make the move to Livingston.

Life on the Polunsky Unit

After being moved to Polunsky, the men on Texas death row lost virtually
all the privileges they enjoyed at the Ellis Unit. The new facility keeps
the inmates in 23-hour administrative segregation inside 60 square foot
cells with sealed steel doors. They have lost all group recreation, work
programs, television access (some inmates are allowed radios), and
religious services. There are no contact visits allowed at Polunsky,
meaning that the men on death row will never make physical contact with
anyone other than prison staff as they move toward their execution date.
Inmates are only allowed one five minute phone call every six months,
their mail is often censored, the quality of food is particularly low, and
they are given inadequate health and dental services.

The fact that such conditions can have profoundly negative psychological
impacts on inmates is well-documented. Many of these men are losing their
minds, attempting suicide, and abandoning appeals. Such conditions also
set a bad precedent for conditions across the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice (TDCJ).

The D.R.I.V.E. Movement

The Death Row Inner-Communalist Vanguard Engagement (D.R.I.V.E.) consists
of several (approximately seven) men housed on death row at the Polunsky
Unit. Through a variety of non-violent strategies, they have begun
launching protests against the conditions at Polunsky, in particular, and
capital punishment, in general. The following is taken from the D.R.I.V.E.
website (http://www.drivemovement.org) and summarizes the strategy the
inmates have been using:

* Actively seek to consistently voice complaints to the administration
* Actively seek to organize grievance filing to address problems
* Occupy feeding slots when feeding procedures are improperly done (Lack
of sanitation by officers) and when food is improperly prepared (meager,
malnourished portions: under cooked, spoiled) until changed
* Occupy day rooms when there is an act of abuse of authority by guards
(verbal abuse; physical abuse; meals/recreations or showers being wrongly
denied; unsanitary day rooms and showers being allowed to persist; medical
being denied; paper work being denied; refusing to contact higher rank to
address the problems and complaints) and when retaliation (thefts,
denials, destruction of property; food restrictions; wrongful denials of
visits; abuse of inmates) is carried out in response to our grievances,
outside support and collective protest:
*Initiate sit-ins in visiting rooms, hallways, pod runs and recreation
yards (when the above takes place)
*Deploy the use of Polunsky Unit video cameras so that protest may be
documented (which can be accessed by the public)
*Non-violently refuse to evacuate cells when the above mentioned problems
occur. Occupation will persist until change is implemented
*Seek to organize supporters on the outside to write petitions, letters,
make phone calls, e-mail and send faxes to address problems and abuses at
hand (and protests in front of the prison when possible)
*Educate prisoners to intelligently handle cases of abuse, attacks and
oppression

Barriers to Victory

The D.R.I.V.E. movement constitutes a bold challenge to the powers-that-be
in the TDCJ and the Texas state government as a whole. However, these men
face significant repression and other barriers, making it absolutely
crucial that activists on the outside mobilize around this important
cause.

Officials at the Polunsky Unit have reacted harshly to these protests.
When the D.R.I.V.E. activists occupy a space in protest of a fixable
problem, they are often met by a SWAT team and tear gas. Often, when
gassed, the men are not allowed to shower until a number of days after the
incident, allowing the gas to corrode their skin. Other forms of
repression include seizing of clothes, bedding, and other possessions from
cells. A particularly disgusting punitive measure practiced in
administrative segregation units throughout Texas is the food loaf. Rather
than a standard meal, the inmate is given a baked lump of the days
cafeteria leftovers. By all accounts, it is inedible.

Beyond these direct acts of repression, the TDCJ continues to turn a deaf
ear to these protests. Officials are quick to claim that the D.R.I.V.E.
protest has little to do with the conditions on the Polunsky Unit and
essentially amount to nothing more than an anti-death penalty protest.
TDCJ employees are also stubbornly committed to their job descriptions,
drawing a very clear line between the issues they are qualified to address
and those they are not. Throughout the Texas state government, one finds a
number of convenient escape routes for officials, elected and otherwise,
who would rather not address such uncomfortable issues. Diffusion of
responsibility is common practice throughout the power structure in the
state of Texas.

Furthermore, the TDCJ is accountable only to itself. Prisons in the United
States are under no legal mandate to submit to independent oversight,
though most seek some form of accreditation. Texas, however, monitors
itself, meaning that they create their own standards and determine whether
or not they are following them. Ultimately, it is clear that the TDCJ and
the state of Texas as a whole have constructed a system in which they need
only answer to themselves.

Toward Solidarity

So, what is to be done? The anti-death penalty movement has a significant
interest in challenging the horrendous conditions at Polunsky and the
violent repression taking place there. The period leading to execution is
a part of the death sentence and, thus, demands our attention.
Furthermore, any demand for the rights of the condemned affirms what the
state of Texas wishes to deny, the humanity of the people they have chosen
to kill. Solidarity with D.R.I.V.E., thus, becomes an important
intervention in the prevailing discourse surrounding the death penalty.
Moreover, the conditions on death row are symptomatic of a broader prison
industrial complex that is rotten to its very core, both in Texas and
nationally.

The first step we can all take is to build a coalition around living
conditions on death row. The Austin chapter of Campaign to End the Death
Penalty (CEDP) invites all Texas anti-death penalty groups, as well as
other organizations interested in human rights, criminal justice reform,
racial equality, and other struggles for justice to join us in voicing our
outrage at what the condemned are forced to withstand on a daily basis. It
is crucial that we begin organizing and communicating in the interest of
challenging this grotesque expression of state power. If you are
interested, please contact the CEDP at cedpaustin at gmail.com.

Both as a coalition and as individual groups, we must put the TDCJ and
Texas state government on notice. Nothing will change at Polunsky as long
as those in power are convinced they can continue in this fashion with
impunity. Individuals worth contacting include TDCJ Executive Director
Brad Livingston, Texas Board of Criminal Justice Chair Christina Melton
Crain, Correctional Institutions Division Director Doug Dretke, the
Correctional Institutions Division Ombudsman, Polunsky Senior Warden,
Lloyd Massey, and elected officials. While most of these people will deny
it, they are all in positions to influence Texas policies and are,
therefore, all viable targets for protest. We have provided specific
contact information in an attached appendix.

Exploiting media resources is also important. Write letters to the editor
to your local newspaper and encourage the editors to cover the horrors at
Polunsky. As our coalition will ideally organize a number of events in
solidarity with the D.R.I.V.E. movement, we should begin building good
relationships with the media now.

Finally, we must work with the men inside Polunsky. Establishing pen-pal
relationships with and visiting the men of D.R.I.V.E. is not only a
welcome reminder to these brave activists that they are not alone in their
struggle, but also allows us to join minds and strategies toward forming a
broad movement that challenges injustice within the TDCJ. If you are
interested in getting a pen-pal and/or visiting a D.R.I.V.E. inmate,
please contact CEDP member Randi Jones at RandiJ42 at satx.rr.com.

Conclusion

The conditions on the Polunsky Unit are unacceptable and should concern
all activists committed to human rights. The anti-death penalty movement,
in particular, is well-positioned to challenge an apathetic TDCJ and state
government, joining in solidarity with the man of D.R.I.V.E. and letting
the powers-that-be know that we will not sit idly by as they mock the very
notion of justice.

Appendix: Contact Information

Brad Livingston, Executive Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
P.O. Box 99
Huntsville, Texas 77342-0099
936-437-2101
936-437-2123 (Fax)

Christina Melton Crain, Chair
Texas Board of Criminal Justice
P. O. Box 13084
Austin, Texas 78711
512-475-3250
512-305-9398 (Fax)

Doug Dretke, Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Correctional Institutions Division
P.O. Box 99
Huntsville, Texas 77342
936-437-2169
936-437-6325 (Fax)

Correctional Institutions Division Ombudsman Office
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
P.O. Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099
936-437-6791
936-437-6668 (Fax)

Lloyd Massey, Senior Warden
Polunsky Unit
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston, Texas 77351
936-967-8082 Ext. 054

Campaign to End the Death Penalty  Austin
C/O Bryan McCann
924 E. 40th St. #204
Austin, TX 78751
309-310-5223
cedpaustin at gmail.com
http://cedpaustin.blogspot.net

(source:  Campaign to End the Death Penalty)




INDIANA:

Death Penalty To Be Sought Against Suspect In 7 Slayings----Decision Yet
To Be Made On Other Arrestee


Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said Sunday he will seek the death
penalty against a man police said is the main suspect in the shooting
deaths of seven members of an Indianapolis family.

Brizzi plans to seek the death penalty for 28-year-old prison parolee
Desmond Turner, who surrendered to police at a fast-food restaurant
Saturday evening.

The crime -- in which three boys and four adults were fatally shot inside
an east-side Indianapolis home on Thursday night -- "really does scream
out for the death penalty," Brizzi said.

"This is something that is a terrorist, cowardly act, taking the lives of
these family members, especially these children, in the way that it was
done," said Brizzi, who spoke with the victims' relatives at a vigil
outside the victims' home on Sunday.

Brizzi has yet to announce whether he will seek capital punishment for a
second suspect, 30-year-old James Stewart, who was arrested during a
traffic stop Friday and is being held on preliminary murder charges.

Turner is being held on 7 counts of murder, 7 counts of felony murder and
one charge of robbery.

Brizzi said he plans to ask a judge on Monday to order Turner held for 72
hours. Formal charges likely would be filed Tuesday.

Indianapolis Deputy Police Chief Tim Foley said Saturday that police
believe Turner and Stewart were the only ones involved in Thursday night's
shootings at 560 N. Hamilton Ave. Authorities said they believe robbery
was the motive -- an acquaintance had told Turner that he would find
valuables there, police said. Information on whether anything was taken
wasn't available.

Investigators had said information from at least one witness led them to
believe Turner was involved. Police said they believe Turner, armed with a
rifle, killed most, if not all, of the 7.

Among those slain Thursday night were Alberto Covarrubias, 56; Emma
Valdez, 46; and their sons Alberto Covarrubias, 11, and David Covarrubias,
who was 8 or 9.

Also killed were Valdez's two adult children, Flora Albarran, 22, and
Magno Albarran, 29; and Flora Albarran's son, Luis Albarran, 5.

Police said that through Stewart's arrest on Friday, investigators found
what they believe could be substantial forensic evidence in the slayings
case. Authorities said tips led them to suspect Stewart in the case.

With Suspects In Custody, Community Mourns 7

On Sunday, friends, relatives and other people mourned the 7 victims at
the family's church and in a gathering outside their home.

Part of Hamilton Avenue was closed to traffic Sunday evening as about 400
people -- including Mayor Bart Peterson and other community leaders --
attended a bilingual memorial service outside the house. Some stood on
sidewalks and porches; others sat in chairs set up in the street in front
of the home.

Earlier, during Sunday Mass at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, a pew was
kept empty, save for seven roses that were put there to symbolize the
victims. The 7 had attended the church.

"They would sit across from me," Margeurite Herrera, a family friend, told
6News' Tanya Spencer. "To look over there and see it empty, it hurts. It
really does. It hurts."

The younger Alberto Covarrubias and his brother, David, had recently
received their First Communion at the church. Herrera and other
parishioners were struggling to understand that the family wouldn't be
back.

"We can't get over it," Herrera said. "I've cried where I can't cry
anymore. And my solution is prayer."

Funeral Services Set

A funeral Mass for the older Alberto Covarrubias will be held at noon
Tuesday at St. Mary Catholic Church, 317 N. New Jersey St. Burial will
follow at Washington Park Cemetery East. Viewing will be held at Crown
Hill Funeral Home on Monday from 4 to 8 p.m.

A funeral Mass for the rest of the slain relatives is scheduled for
Wednesday at 11 a.m. in Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral, 1347 N. Meridian
St. Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Centers are handling arrangements.

(source: Associated Press)






VIRGINIA----impending execution

Sanity of Condemned Va. Inmate Debated


Percy Walton's attorneys describe their client as a man who has lost all
touch with reality: He keeps no personal effects in his death row cell,
save for a mountain of salt and pepper packets.

He rarely speaks, although occasionally bursts into random bouts of
laughter. And when asked what he believes will happen to him if he is
executed, Walton responds that he'd go to Burger King, the attorneys say.

Whether Walton - who is scheduled to die by injection Thursday - is indeed
insane and mentally retarded has been debated for nearly a decade. Some
believe he is faking his behavior to get off death row. Others argue he
simply doesn't meet the legal definition of insanity or mental
retardation.M

The question of his sanity is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has
just days to decide whether to take the case and determine if Walton
should be executed for the 1996 slayings of three neighbors in Danville.

Walton, 27, pleaded guilty in 1997 to the murders of Jessie and Elizabeth
Kendrick, a couple in their 80s, and 33-year-old Archie Moore. The victims
were robbed and shot in the head; Moore's body was found stuffed in a
closet, his corpse doused in cologne. It was a crime Walton's own
attorneys describe as bizarre and senseless.

"The police told me later that Daddy was face down on the carpet in the
living room with his hands above his head, as if in prayer," the
Kendricks' daughter, Barbara Case, 68, said softly. "Mother was in the
dining area. ... He said she had begged for her life - she had begged him
not to kill her."

The Supreme Court has ruled it unconstitutional to execute the insane and
mentally retarded, but left definitions up to the states. In the petition
to the high court, Walton's attorneys argue that Walton has schizophrenia
and is incapable of understanding the concept of death, therefore making
him ineligible for execution.

The petition argues that the court didn't give sufficient guidance in its
Ford v. Wainwright decision in 1986, which found that executions of the
insane are unconstitutional. As a result, lower courts read the decision
narrowly and allow executions of mentally ill inmates whom the court
intended to protect, the petition says.

A clemency request with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine further argues that Walton
is mentally retarded. The Virginia attorney general's office has argued
that intelligence scores taken when Walton was 17 and 18 place him above
the accepted range for mental retardation, though other evaluations were
conflicting.

Walton was three days from execution in 2003 when U.S. District Judge
Samuel Wilson granted a temporary stay so experts could explore his mental
state.

In the hearings that followed, prison guard Cecilia Turner testified that
Walton wouldn't leave his cell to take a shower, complaining about a man
in a white suit sitting on a gray box in his cell. Turner said she would
have to convince him the imaginary man was gone before he would come out.

Prison counselors and mental health specialists told the judge they
thought Walton was psychotic and delusional. While the lawyers debated in
court, Walton laughed and picked his nose.

But Wilson ultimately ruled that despite Walton's problems, he understands
his death sentence is punishment for his murder conviction and is
therefore competent. The judge noted the testimony of a prison
psychiatrist who considered Walton a "mentally limited, street-wise
predator" who misled people into thinking he was crazy.

In March, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 7-6 to affirm
Wilson's decision.

"His guilt and competence have been determined by 15 judges and we agree
with their findings," said Tucker Martin, a spokesman for Attorney General
Bob McDonnell.

But Walton's mental state has deteriorated so much that he would probably
be unaware he was dying if he was executed, his attorney Nash Bilisoly
said.

"He does not comprehend any of the significance of what's going on,"
Bilisoly said. "He's so ill now that he just has no affect. He doesn't
have understanding, comprehension nor emotion."

Virginia's death row inmates are required to decide between lethal
injection and electrocution. If they refuse to choose, the default method
is injection. In 2003, Walton opted to die by electrocution, later telling
The Associated Press in a phone interview he had no idea why he had chosen
the chair.

"I don't even know," he told the AP shortly before his scheduled 2003
execution. "I think my man with the blue shirt, he circled one of the
words. He may have been my counselor. He asked me, 'Electrocution or
lethal injection.' I told him I wanted electrocution. I don't know (why).
I don't even know. I don't even know."

Walton's decision to die by electrocution unnerved Case, the Kendrick's
daughter, who does not believe Walton was insane or mentally retarded when
he murdered her parents.

"Maybe he's just gone stark raving mad being on death row," said Case.
"But who knows? Only God knows."

On the Net: -- U.S. Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourtus.gov

(source: Associated Press)