Discussion Guide

Whether you are already active in an organization that opposes the death penalty, or you wish to form a new study group, the questions and resources in this discussion guide are designed to enhance your endeavors.

Case Documents

The statements dated October 17, 1992, were made by Dominique Green, Mark Porter, and Michael Neal after they were arrested on suspicion of armed robbery. Among the items in the car when they were arrested was a Tech-9 handgun apparently used in the robberies. The gun is mentioned in each statement but there are different stories as to who brought the gun that night and who used it.

The statements dated October 21, 1992, were given by Dominique Green and Mark Porter after ballistics testing on the Tech-9 handgun linked it to an unsolved homicide on October 14, 1992.

The statements dated October 22, 1992, were made by Paul Lyman and Patrick Haddix after they were listed as being present that night in the statements by Dominique Green and Mark Porter.

Resources

Here are a few books, articles, and Web sites you may wish to consult.

"Citing Cost, States Consider End to Death Penalty," by Ian Urbina (New York Times, February 25, 2009). Lawmakers in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Maryland, and New Hampshire are arguing that the death penalty should be repealed in their states because capital murder cases are extremely expensive to argue and their states can no longer afford the cost of these cases.  According to the article "experts say such bills have a good chance of passing in Maryland, Montana and New Mexico." This article can be found at www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/us/25death.html

No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System, by David Cole (New Press, 2000). An examination of all aspects of our judicial system, including police behavior, jury selection, and sentencing; a convincing case that there is a double standard that allows those with money to enjoy constitutional protections not extended to those without money. A 2003 article with some updates can be found at www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/GideonAnniversary/news04?opendocument/

Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, by Douglas A. Blackmon (Doubleday, 2008). An exposé of the little-known but widespread American practice of convict leasing. "Under laws enacted specifically to intimidate blacks, tens of thousands of African Americans were arbitrarily arrested, hit with outrageous fines, and charged for the costs of their own arrests. With no means to pay these ostensible ‘debts,’ prisoners were sold as forced laborers to coal mines, lumber camps, brickyards, railroads, quarries and farm plantations." The author's Web site is at slaverybyanothername.com

The Trouble with Black Boys...And Other Reflections on Race, Equity, and the Future of Public Education, by Pedro A. Noguera (Jossey-Bass, 2008). In this series of essays, Noguera illustrates the societal assumptions and pressures black boys face as they grow up and shows how these assumptions often lead to poor choices by the boys, choices that ultimately fulfill the low expectations society and the educational system set for them. A scholarly but very readable book that offers recommendations on how our educational system could better deal with this syndrome.

Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment?, edited by Hugo Adam Bedau and Paul G. Cassell (Oxford University Press, 2004). A collection of essays by federal judges, lawyers, and philosophers consisting of four essays supporting the death penalty and four arguing against. The essays take into account race and economics, retribution and morality, the risks of wrongful convictions, the deterrence value of capital punishment, and closure for victims' families.

"A Deadly Distinction: Harris County Is a Pipeline to Death Row," by Mike Tolson (Houston Chronicle, February 5, 2001). A multi-part series from the Houston Chronicle that looks at how the death penalty is carried out in Harris County (the county Dominique was convicted in) This article can be found at www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/penalty/813783.html

The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town, by John Grisham (Dell, 2007). A true story of routine injustice in our criminal justice system (this time in Oklahoma), by the famous author of legal thrillers.

Dallas Morning News. Its investigative series on sexual abuse in Texas's juvenile institutions can be viewed at: www.dallasnews.com/investigativereports/tyc/

Bill Moyers Journal. Part of an interview with Dominique Green can be found at www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2007/12/dominique_green_in_his_own_wor.html
Tom Cahill's appearance on Bill Moyers Journal: www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/12282007/profile.html

DPIC: Death Penalty Information Center. www.deathpenaltyinfo.org

"His Life With the Deaths That the State Carried Out" by Felicia R. Lee - Rev. Carroll Pickett, a prison chaplain in Texas for 15 years who witnessed 95 executions, eventually reached the conclusion that the death penalty serves neither justice nor morality — from the NYT May 27, 2008. Read the complete article here.

"A sleeping lawyer and a ticket to Death Row" by Henry Weinstein - This case is an example of how often the poor quality of a defense attorney leads to conviction and the death penalty; the judge in this trial, Doug Shaver, was also Dominique's judge and the lawyer who assisted in this case, Sandy Melamed, was Dominique's lead attorney — from the LA Times July 15, 2000. Read the complete article here.

"In Texas, Defense Lapses Fail to Halt Executions" by Paul Duggan - Another case where the lead defense attorney slept through portions of the case; everyone agrees the attorney did a poor job, yet Texas authorities argued that Calvin Jerold Burdine should be still be executed — from the Washington Post, May 12, 2000. Read the complete article here.

State by State Database from the Death Penalty Information Center
deathpenaltyinfo.org/state_by_state

Click on a state for information about the status of the death penalty in that state including whether the state has the death penalty, the population of death row (if any), whether life without parole is an option in the state, the number of innocent persons freed from death row, and more.

Innocence & the death Penalty from the Death Penalty Information Center
deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-and-death-penalty

A list of people on Death Row who have been exonerated; includes descriptions the cases as well as statistics on exonerations by state, year, and race.

Would You Like to Do More?

Here are some organizations you may wish to join and/or support, or from which you may wish to seek assistance for your own community.


Childhelp
www.childhelp.org

Founded in 1959, Childhelp works to meet the needs of abused, neglected, and at-risk children. Services include residential centers and/or counseling programs in seven states, as well as national programs such as Good-Touch/Bad-Touch, Children’s Advocacy Centers, and the National Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453), which provides free crisis intervention and child abuse counseling from professional counselors twenty-four hours a day. The hotline counselors also provide referrals to local agencies and adult survivor groups throughout the United States and Canada.

Pro-Vision Ministries, Inc.
www.provision-inc.org/index.htm

Founded in 1989 by Roynell Young, a former defensive back for the Philadelphia Eagles, Pro-Vision is based in Houston with the mission, according to Young, to“interrupt the pipeline that is causing young men to go from the cradle to prison.” The organization runs three programs: Manhood Development, which provides life management and other skills; the Pro-Vision School, an all-male charter middle school with teachers trained in motivating at-risk kids to learn; and the Enterprise Academy, which teaches members financial and job skills with on-the-job training. Within each of these programs the families of members can also receive benefits, such as mental health counseling and job training.

Perspectives
www.perspectives-family.org

An award-winning, multiprogram human service agency based in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and providing comprehensive services to hundreds of homeless and at-risk families in the Minneapolis area. Its purpose is total family recovery through the breaking of cycles of social and psychological destructiveness. At present, its programs are unique in their comprehensiveness, but Perspectives could serve as a national model.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation
www.aecf.org

Founded in 1948 to meet the needs of vulnerable children and families and in the belief that all children need and deserve a family for life, the Annie E. Casey Foundation makes grants to states, cities, and neighborhoods so they may better meet these needs. The foundation works with youth who end up in the juvenile justice system from impoverished single-parent homes and have high rates of learning disabilities, mental health, or substance abuse problems.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
National: www.nationalcasa.org
Texas: www.texascasa.org

Trains community volunteers to speak for the best interests of abused and neglected children in court.

Southern Center for Human Rights
www.schr.org

Founded in 1976, the Southern Center for Human Rights’s legal work includes representing prisoners in challenges to unconstitutional conditions and practices in prisons and jails, challenging systemic failures in the legal representation of poor people in the criminal courts, and representing people facing the death penalty who otherwise would have no representation. The center also opposes the privatization of prisons and correctional functions.

The Innocence Project
www.innocenceproject.org

Founded in 1992, the Innocence Project assists prisoners who could be proven innocent through DNA testing. As of July 2008, it has assisted in the exoneration of 218 people in the United States, each of whom served an average of twelve years in prison, including 16 who served time on Death Row.

NCADP: National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
www.ncadp.org

Founded in 1976 in response to the Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia, which permitted executions to resume in the United States, it supports efforts to abolish the death penalty in this country and throughout the world.

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
www.tcadp.org

An inclusive organization, founded by Dave Atwood, composed of human rights activists, crime victims and their families, Death Row prisoners and their families, persons working within the criminal justice system, persons opposed to capital punishment on religious and moral grounds, and other concerned citizens opposed to capital punishment.

 

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