Well... Until a few minutes ago, I was feeling exhausted. But with the
Associated Press article out, and the very friendly Florida Public Radio
interview I just did, my energy is ramped up pretty high!
Yesterday at about 4pm, from the motel room in Mayo, FL, I sent the press
release you can see at
http://www.fadp.org/pressrel.html before heading to
the Courthouse.
Our headline was "Activists to Thank Governor for Not Killing During the
Holiday Season." Unfortunately, that idea was quashed when I called the
Associated Press to follow up on the press release, and the reporter asked
me, "Did you know that Governor Bush signed a death warrant
today?" Grrrrr.... Johnny Robinson, 51, is scheduled to be exterminated
by the people of Florida at 6 p.m. on Feb. 4 in revenge for his murder of
Beverly St. George in August 1985.
Well, at least we were in place to deal directly with the Governor on this
matter. I pulled out my "Time-Out on Executions" sign and a chair, and sat
down on the sidewalk in front of the Lafayette County Courthouse. I
received many different reactions from the people passing by, and one
actually pulled over to disagree, but he ended up conceding my
points.... About 7:30 pm, SueZann Bosler and Steve Jens Rochow arrived and
we went for a bite to eat. By 9pm, Andrew Mason had arrived. We all hung
out in a room in the one motel in town. Around 11pm, Father Mark and his
fiance arrived (Polish National Catholic Priests are allowed to
marry). Around 1am, Andrew took off for Starke to pick up Hannah Floyd and
her daughters, Stephanie and Emily, and at about 3am, Bishop Masters and
his associates arrived. SueZann and I were #1 and #2 in line at the
courthouse by 4:45am, soon to be followed by the others. George and Anne
Marie Diller arrived from Gainesville. In all, our group numbered 14
abolitionists. Thanks to all who were able to come brave the cold. (Hey,
I know, it was only in the 30's, but this is Florida!)
At 7am, the doors were opened and registration started. As I was first in
line, I was guaranteed the first meeting - with the Governor. We
negotiated with the aides so that I could bring in SueZann and Hannah and
her girls with me, and the others went in groups or as individuals
afterwards. I opened the meeting by telling him that we had planned to
thank him for not killing during the holiday season, but instead we now had
to complain that he gave Johnny Robinson and his family a nasty
Christmas....
We'll have a transcript of the meeting available soon. Below is Hannah's
brief report, and below that is one of two versions of the Associated Press
article. (See both versions, and the anticipated Gainesville Sun article
when it comes out on Saturday, at
http://www.fadp.org/news/newsindex.html )
Unfortunately, our main theme of educating Jeb about the collateral damage
of the death penalty (in terms of how it affects death row family members)
did not make the AP story, but the transcript will reveal that we gave him
plenty to think about. Neither Hannah nor SueZann are mentioned, but they
and others were there. We'll see how the Gainesville Sun reports
it. Among other things, we managed to accomplish the following:
* Bishop Thomas Masters (
http://www.UNDEROURWINGS.org ) of West Palm Beach
implored the Governor to support legislation banning the execution of
juvenile offenders in the state of Florida. He also raised the issue of
Lionel Tate and the transference of juveniles to the adult system.
* Murder victim family member SueZann Bosler (
http://www.fadp.org/flm_bios.html#sue ), whose Brethren Minister father was
murdered 17 years ago this coming Monday, presented the Governor with a
copy of the report "Dignity Denied," a report which details the
mistreatment encountered by murder victim family members who oppose the
execution of the person who murdered their loved one. (See
http://www.mvfr.org/ ) Governor Bush accepted the report and empathized
with SueZann.
* We presented a very brief (13 minutes) video documentary featuring former
warden Don Cabana, in which he discusses the brutalization effect of
executions on the prison workers who carry out the extermination of
prisoners, and the trepidation he feels at the possibility that he executed
an innocent man. Governor Bush accepted it and promised to view it.
* We presented yet another batch of petitions from thousands of Florida
citizens calling for a "Time-Out" on executions.
* We presented copies of documents demonstrating the outright lies of the
Department of Corrections regarding recent episodes of spoiled food being
served to Florida death row prisoners. (See
http://www.fdrag.org/news20031118.html )
* We presented a copy of the letter from Florida death row prisoner John
Blackwelder, bragging about how he was a prisoner who was serving a life
sentence, but who murdered a fellow prisoner in order to get the death
penalty, and a state-assisted suicide at the hand of Governor Bush. (See
http://www.fadp.org/killfordeath.html )
* We presented a copy of the prison ID badge worn by exonerated death row
prisoner Juan Melendez (released Jan 3, 2002), demonstrating how the
Department of Corrections presents a deceptive picture of the racial and
ethnic makeup of Florida's death row and prison population. (See
http://www.fadp.org/hispanicdoc.html )
* We presented a copy of the report of Dr. Xavier Amador, testifying to the
mental illness of Linroy Bottoson, who was exterminated during the holiday
season last year. At this point Jeb was ready for us to leave, so at least
we are on record in putting the report in his hands.
* And more. AND, we've got it all on tape!
