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In Brief: October 2017

In Texas, 38-year-old Robert Pruett was executed last night, convicted of murdering a prison guard in 1999. He had been in prison since he was

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Voices: Quin Denvir

“I have represented several death row inmates who were able to avoid execution, and I lost one, Tom Thompson. He was very likely innocent of capital murder, and his case has been chronicled by Judge Reinhardt as a miscarriage of justice.”

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Voices: Nancy Vollertsen

“I’m doing the best I can through letters,” Nancy remembers. “I just kept thinking that they’re going to figure out they’ve got the wrong guy. And Mom wrote that everything was going to be fine.”

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25th Annual DPF Awards Dinner pays tribute to exonerees; honors Sir Richard Branson, Dolores Huerta and Jackson Browne

“Enough of a flawed system that disproportionately targets minorities; that cannot prevent the killing of innocents; that doesn’t have any impact on crime rates, that is a colossal waste of taxpayer money, and most of all a system that delivers neither justice nor closure,” said Sir Richard Branson, in a speech at the Death Penalty Focus 25th Annual Awards Dinner last week. DPF awarded Sir Richard its Abolition Award for

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Voices: Darryl Stallworth

“When I got called into the office and was told I was going to try this case I was fired up. I was excited to be recognized . . . It was a promotion,”

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Voices: Dale and Susan Recinella

“In Florida, there is no witness room for the family and friends of the condemned. They have to leave after they say goodbye in the morning, and never see that person again. As the spiritual advisor, I remain in the death house until it’s time to prepare [the inmate] for the gurney. I’m present in the witness room, and I sit in the front row, where he can see me. He knows he can look at me when the time comes.”

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Voices: Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman

“We chose Bill’s story because we wanted to crack open the failures of the criminal justice system, systemically. The racism, the lack of care for veterans and the mentally ill . . . . The only time the government takes control is in punishment.”

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Voices: Bethany Webb

“We know from the grand jury report that my sister pleaded for her life, saying ‘Please don’t shoot me, you don’t have to do this. Please.’ And then he fired multiple gun shots. He heard my sister take her last breaths.” Bethany Webb is describing the worst mass murder in the history of Orange County. Eight people were killed in the Seal Beach Salon Meritage, including her 46-year-old  sister, Laura

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Voices: Frank Thompson

“No one can speak personally about conducting and being personally responsible for killing people in the name of society better than I can.”

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Dr. King Opposed Capital Punishment

As we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., let’s recognize his denunciation of capital punishment. Share this picture by clicking here and show your support for an end to the death penalty.

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