Has it really been that long?

As I sit here writing this, today marks the day exactly 25 years ago when the state of Florida did all they could to kill me. It was on this day that I awoke in that solitary cell only a few steps away from that cold gray solid steel door that led into the execution chamber where Florida’s infamous electric chair awaited. Has it really been that long ago? It doesn’t seem that so many years have already passed. As I’ve always heard it, time passes quickly when you’re having fun, but I damned sure haven’t had a lot of fun over these many years.

When I look around me, not much has really changed. I still awake each day in a solitary cell not all that different from the one in which I waited to die, and I’m still awaiting the uncertainty of my faith, knowing only too well that on any day now the governor could get a wild hair up his spineless ass and sign a new death warrant on me and so many others, especially since our names are on the recently submitted “death warrant eligible” list.

But perhaps the one thing that has changed is that I don’t really care whether they do or not. Somewhere along this never ending journey that I’ve been on, any “fear” of them coming to kill me has long ago faded away. As the years passed, I’ve even awoken more than too many days all but praying to whatever God it was that long ago abandoned me and the countless other lost souls warehoused around me, and “prayed” that the nightmare would end, even if that meant ending it by my death.

You have to love that paradox – them that so zealously imposed death upon me, all but foaming at their mouths like rabid dogs, truly believed that I was supposed to be somehow afraid to die, maybe even drop down to my knees and beg for mercy knowing all too well that them, consumed by vengeance  are incapable of mercy. But in all thee years, not even once have I ever begged, and f they came to take me away tomorrow, I know I still wouldn’t beg and that the joke would be on them as I have long ago came to accept that if I cannot win my physical freedom through the politically corrupted courts (see www.southerninjustice.net ), then spiritual freedom from this hell that only man could create through physical death, would still be freedom.

Today I take a few minutes to look back on that long day and endless night when at 28 years old, I confronted my fate (you can read about my brush with death in my essays “The Day God Died” and also "Facing my own Execution" ) and thought was lucky to survive, only to learn that there truly are fates far worse than physical death – and that the quarter of a century that would follow that date with death would teach me only too well that had I known what I know today – that I would slowly rot away one day at a time and grow old and gray in a cold crypt of steel and stone, separated from and inevitably abandoned by all who once cared for me, I know without any doubt or a momentarily reservation that I would had made those cold blooded bastards kill me that day and spared myself the next 25 years.

But then again, even if I say those words, there’s that bigger part of me that, despite the circumstances, remains forever hopeful that the day will come when the corrupt courts will finally do the right thing and rule in my favor and after the long 30 years, I will find myself back out there in the real world, and allowed to live what’s left of my life as a free man.

Who knows what tomorrow might bring? But it’s the hope and dreams that keep all of us going. Sure, objectively speaking, anyone would agree that my life sucks. But no matter how bad it might get, there are countless others that are far worse. Although the negativity of my situation does drag me down at times, especially when I’m foolish enough to contemplate the circumstances. I also must remind myself that I am far more blessed than most of them I live among. Too many here in my world truly have been completely abandoned by all and as the years pass they retreat further and further into that dark shadow of their own minds, until one day all that remains is the flesh, as the mind and soul have slowly eroded away.

So, as I “celebrate” my 25^th anniversary of a continued life despite their never-ending attempts to end it, I realize that I do have a measure of freedom far greater than that many in the real world out there don’t have – I am free to choose how I want to deal with my fate. No matter what evil the cold blooded society might inflict on me, I alone am the gatekeeper, deciding for myself whether I will allow this solitary journey to eat away at who I am until all that remains is anger and hopelessness – or I can choose to laugh in the face of death and embrace this unique growth experience as it comes. And today, in this moment I do laugh and if they come to kill me tomorrow, I will laugh again. And as long as I can still laugh in the face of death, I know that I alone remain the master of my own life and nothing they can do will break me, as if the past 25 years has taught me anything, it is the measure of strength within myself, and I am stronger than they can ever hope to be, knowing that what does not kill me can only make me stronger and that at the end of the day the only absolute reality is death and nobody gets out alive.

Michael Lambrix

UPDATE ON IMMINENT FLORIDA HOLOCAUST

Before I address the latest developments regarding the recently passed “Timely Justice Act” which (if implemented) will directly lead to the signing of up to 200 death warrants in a matter of months, with each scheduled for execution within 180 days, I want to first take a moment to express my gratitude to all those who so generously reached out after the Florida Supreme Court denied my latest new evidence/innocence appeal in a particularly hostile ruling on June 27, 2013.

I cannot even begin to tell all of you how much it means to me that I have those of you who do care enough to send words of support and encouragement when the storm clouds gather above. Each day, just as every other condemned man and woman, I struggle to sustain my faith and hope that truth and justice will prevail. It’s not easy, and each time the politically corrupt courts deliberately turn a blind eye to my consistently pled evidence, supported by a virtual wealth of evidence, it becomes all that much more difficult.

But I truly am blessed by those who have so faithfully stood by me through the too many years. And I know that if not for the strength and support I receive from this small group of loyal friends, I would have given up long ago. So, thank you for all your cards and letters, and know that they are truly appreciated.

Now, I want to update all of you on the now imminent Florida Holocaust, which I wrote about in an earlier blog (“The Untimely Injustice Act”). On Monday July 15, 2013 I personally met with one of the lawyers representing death-sentenced prisoners on a comprehensive challenge to the constitutionality of this new Florida law that intends to severely limit capital post-conviction appeals and significantly speed up executions by obstructing any opportunity to develop and present new evidence supporting innocence.

This comprehensive legal challenge was formally filed in the Florida Supreme Court on June 26, 2013 and is docketed as Dane P. Abdool, et al. vs. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General and the State of Florida, and the Florida Supreme Court Case number is “SC13-9999.” This was filed as a class action, with 166 Florida death-sentenced prisoners specifically named as the Petitioners (including myself). In actuality, this action represents all Florida death-sentenced prisoners, including many who would not be immediately affected by this new law as they have not yet completed their “first round” of both state and federal appeals or been provided the pathetically useless “clemency” review (no Florida death row prisoner has been actually granted clemency in well over 25 years).

This legal action is titled “Emergency Petition To Invoke This Court’s All Writs Jurisdiction, To Declare Unconstitutional Provisions Of The Timely Justice Act Of 2013, And For Immediate Temporary Injunctive Relief.” In addition to be represented by the politically appointed directors of the state-funded law offices responsible for providing post-conviction representation to hundreds of death-sentenced prisoners, private practitioners Martin J. McClain, Linda McDermott, and Terri Backhus, who also represent numerous death-sentenced prisoners, have signed on. For those unfamiliar with the Florida system, these are some of the most experienced and competent lawyers in capital post-conviction law. So it goes without saying that this legal challenge is well represented by a group of lawyers who have unquestionably proven their commitment to the cause over many years. ‘Marty’ McClain and Linda McDermott are considered by many as the best capital post-conviction lawyers practicing in Florida today.

What is at issue is whether the Florida legislature has the constitutional authority to implement statutory provisions effectively mandating that the Florida Governor “shall” sign death warrants within 30 days of capital cases certified by the Florida Supreme Court as having completed the first round of state and federal appeals. And upon signing such death warrants, each execution shall be scheduled within 180 days.

Under both the Florida and the Federal Constitution, known as the “Separation of Powers” clause, one branch of government cannot encroach upon another branch of government by ordering how to perform its duties. At both the state and federal levels there are 3 branches of government; (1) Legislative, (2) Executive, and (3) Judicial. The legislative branch passes new laws, which the Executive branch (the state governor or president) must then either sign into law or veto. Then as a means of safeguarding against political tyranny that might otherwise threaten the integrity of our constitutional democracy, if the newly created laws conflict with a fundamental constitutional right or provision, then interested parties are entitled to challenge the constitutional validity of these new laws in the Judicial branch by filing a “petition” such as what has now been filed.

To illustrate how this system of balances and checks is designed to work, shortly after Jeb Bush (younger brother of then President George W. Bush) won election as governor of Florida, he pushed through new laws in a joint effort with the Florida legislature that would have adopted the Texas death penalty appeal process to Florida. Its intent (like this recently passed “Timely Justice Act”) was to significantly limit the appeals death-sentenced prisoners could pursue, so that they could be executed that much quicker, even if they were innocent.

But this “Death Penalty Reform Act of 2000” was challenged before it could be implemented under the argument that under the Florida constitution, only the Florida Supreme Court (judicial branch) could create rules governing appellate procedures. So the Florida legislature’s (and Governor Jeb Bush’s) attempt to pass laws limiting post-conviction appellate review was unconstitutional because it violated the ‘separation of powers’ clause of the Florida Constitution. In the subsequent ruling in Allen v. Butterworth, 756 So. 2d. 52 (Fla. 2000) the Florida Supreme Court agreed and declared the “Death Penalty Reform Act of 2000” to be an unconstitutional attempt to encroach upon the judicial branch powers.

But just like their counterparts in Texas, Florida’s pro-death penalty Republicans do not give up so easily and they will zealously seek more and more executions despite empirical evidence that innocent people are being wrongfully convicted, condemned, and even put to death.

So, when the Florida Supreme Court declared the “Death Penalty Reform Act of 2000” to be unconstitutional, the Florida Republicans decided it was time to impose a political coup on the Florida Supreme Court by stacking the Court with their own hand-picked pro-death penalty justices. It came as no surprise when Florida Governor (then a Republican, but since ostracized by the Florida Republican party) Charlie Crist politically appointed none other than Charles Canady and Andrews Polston to the Florida Supreme Court. Both Canady and Polston were Jeb Bush insiders, who were personally involved in attempting to push through the “Death Penalty Reform Act of 2000.” The deliberate appointment of both Canady and Polston served only one purpose – to take political control of the Florida Supreme Court so these rabid republicans can force their new laws through and turn Florida into a killing machine.

Additionally, the Republican party gained complete control of both the Florida House of Representatives and Florida Senate, which controls the budget, and made it very clear to the Florida Supreme Court that if they continued to stand in their way, the Florida Supreme Court’s budget would be substantially reduced, effectively holding the Florida Supreme Court hostage to their own political will.

It then came as no surprise when, during this past legislative session, Florida republicans pushed through the “Timely Justice Act” to once again attempt to adopt the Texas post-conviction appeal process as a means in which to speed up executions.

This latest attempt to exert legislative control over the rule-making function of the Florida Supreme Court is clearly unconstitutional for the same reasons as the “Death Penalty Reform Act of 2000”, as recognized in Allen v. Butterworth, 756 So. 2d 52 (Fla. 2000). But this time, the politically stacked Florida Supreme Court is reluctant to intervene for fear of political retribution.

In a recent administrative order (not published), the Florida Supreme Court ordered the State of Florida to respond to the comprehensive legal challenge to these new laws. But upon careful reading of that order, one will notice that the Florida Supreme Court specifically instructed the State of Florida to address the question of whether the court even had jurisdiction to review the legality of this new law. The state’s response must be filed by July 18, 2013 and our reply is to be filed by July 29, 2013. After the reply is filed, the court should schedule oral arguments within the following month, which can be viewed in their entirely on the internet, both ‘live’ and recorded, at www.gavel2gavel.com (Case No. SC13-9999, Abdool v. PamBondi).

The reason the wording of this order is so troubling is that by questioning whether the Florida Supreme Court has ‘jurisdiction’ to review the legality of the “Timely Justice Act”, it’s become clear that some of the 7 justices are already attempting to obstruct review by asserting the court does not have jurisdiction. There’s absolutely NO doubt that both Chief Justice Andrew Polston and his pro-death penalty colleague, Justice Charles Canady are aggressively playing back door politics, questioning the court’s jurisdiction as a means of attempting to prevent the other 5 justices on the Florida Supreme Court from using majority vote to declare this new Timely Justice Act unconstitutional as they previously did in Allen v. Butterworth.

Bottom line, the lawyers representing Florida’s death-sentenced prisoners did file a comprehensive and competent petition challenging this newly created “Timely Justice Act” that should win. But because of the political corruption of the Florida Supreme Court, the court may not even accept review by disingenuously finding they don’t have jurisdiction. If this new law is not declared invalid, then Florida will soon proceed to sign death warrants within 180 days. Not even Texas has attempted to kill as many so quickly. But Florida is determined to turn the state into the leader of state-sanctioned executions. All we can do is wait and see.

Michael Lambrix

Please check out my website
http://www.southerninjustice.net

The Untimely Injustice Act (Florida's Intent to Compete with Texas)

Once again the insidious "politics of death" has cast a dark and ominous cloud over the entire death row community. And by that, I do not only mean the more than 400 men and women currently on Florida's death row, but also the many more truly innocent victims of the this politically motivated holocaust perpetuated for political gain by those elected to public office upon the exploitation of the misery of victims of crime.

In recent months the usual group of republican politicians in the Florida legislative pushed through new laws they dared to title "the Timely Justice Act" which are designed to "speed up executions". Under these new laws, the Florida governor will now be statutorily mandated to sign a death warrant on any and all death sentenced prisoner within 30 days of the Florida Supreme Court certifying that the prisoner has completed his or her initial round of both state and federal appeals and been provided the cursory "clemency review"

For those unfamiliar with how the process works this might not seem so unreasonable. But then, that's exactly where these merchants of death rely upon, the blissful ignorance of the obedient sheep who will blindly follow as they are led right over the cliff.. These politicians master the the art of manipulating the masses into their very own contemporary lynch mob, feeding them false information as they fan the frenzy of their blood lust. And make no mistake about it - today's death penalty, even for all it's pretense of civilized civility, truly is cut of the same cloth as those images of the blood lust intoxicated lynch mobs of the wild , wild west where the crowds would gather cheering on as the condemned soul would be strung up in the old town square. Although contemporary political correctness now makes it unappealing to so blatantly advocate the execution of another, that same inherent evil does continue to thrive within too many who today will rally around the politics of death as an excuse to kill another.

There can be no doubt that it was, and is, politics that brought
us to where we are. But why would these Florida politicians so aggressively push to pass new laws, intended to undermine the fairness of our process even more, than it already has been by demanding those sentenced to death those sentenced to death be expeditiously executed even if they may be innocent - and then dare call it the "Timely Justice Act"?

To answer that question, we must first recognize that here in Florida we are on the eye of yet another election year and when it comes down to it, the south will always be the south - just like in Texas Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and the entire southeast (which without exception zealously embraces the death penalty), nothing wins more votes than a good old fashioned lynching. This new law is not really intended to speed up executions - in fact it may even slow the whole process down as lawyers file the anticipated legal challenges to this new law.

Obviously, those politicians know without doubt that by pushing through these substantial changes in Florida's laws intended to 9at least on paper) turn Florida in another Texas by "forcing" the executions of hundreds of Florida death row prisoners there would be equally substantial legal challenges which they knew would actually slow the process down while these legal challenges make their ways through the courts. But they don't care as they know Florida voters have a long established history of mass stupidity and will be easily manipulated into casting their vote for these rabid republicans simply upon the perception of a promise to put hundreds of condemned prisoners to a quick death.

As for now, this new law has now re-energized the debate about the death penalty and resulted in renewed campaigns to abolish the death penalty in Florida, again, these politicians know that by provoking these renewed debates, the brain dead sheep that blindly follow them will now also be as equally energized to pump countless amounts of money into the campaign coffers of these politicians, who portray themselves as the great guardian of the victims on the promise of fighting to keep Florida's death penalty.

Since Florida is part of the "Deep South" and will always be one with that "good ole boy" redneck mentality that that brought us such institutions as slavery, the Ku-Klux-Klan, the lynching of civil rights advocates and assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, these politicians know that the vast majority of voters will always blindly support the death penalty - and do so truly believing in their own embraced ignorance that it has been indoctrinated by the hand of their God ("an eye for an eye" as preachers in the South twist out of context to their flock ) and therefore it's morally justified to kill in the name of their God.

For that reason, these good-ole-boy politicians know that there will always be that group of voters who simply don't care if innocent people may be put to death by these state sanctioned executions. It really has nothing to do with truth or justice, but in reality it is about the need to feed their own sickness and feel morally justified while doing it. Like their fathers and grandfathers before them were morally justified in lynching the "Negroes" who stepped out of line, or put on their white robes and planted bombs at southern churches to terrorize and kill black congregations into obedient submission by brutally killing their women and children. yeah, when it comes down to it "southern tradition" is far more important than those values of the bleeding heart liberals who want to dare tell them killing is wrong.

Lets take a look at the indisputable facts - as it now stands, Florida has over 400 people on death row, second only to California ...but California also has twice as many citizens and relatively speaking, California doesn't push to execute too many. In the past 40 years, Florida has succeeded in killing less than 70 death sentenced prisoners, while during the same period of time a lot more death row prisoners have died of natural causes such as cancer. More importantly, of the approximately 800 men and women condemned to death in Florida since they rushed to reinstate the death penalty in 1974, the majority have had their sentences of death (or convictions) vacated by the courts due to legal errors or prosecutional misconduct. Some were subsequently re sentenced to death, but about 400 were permanently granted relief by sentence reduction, recognizing that they never should have been sentenced to death in the first place.

In the past 40 years, Florida has also accomplished another troubling record - there have been more men and women exonerated and released from Florida's death row than any other state in the country. Although other states such as Illinois and North Carolina, and even Texas, have empaneled commissions to investigate why innocent people were wrongly convicted and sentenced to death, the great state of Florida has adamantly refused to address this epidemic of injustice, instead pushing even harder to kill those wrongfully convicted all that much quicker before they can prove their innocence.

Let there be no mistake - as numerous high level judicial officers (such as former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerald Kogan and United states Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor - and many others!) have now recognized there can be NO DOUBT that innocent people have been, and will continue to be , put to death by State sanctioned executions.

Perhaps that is by far the most troubling aspect of this new law designed to expedite Florida's executions - these pro death penalty politicians DO know these indisputable facts, although the general public remains blissfully ignorant. There can be absolutely no doubt whatsoever that each of these Florida politicians who cast their vote in support of this new law did so knowingly full well that as a result of their action innocent people will now die.

Think about this - why is it that the United States now remains the only country in the western world that continues to embrace the death penalty? Simple answer - because American politicians
know that killing wins elections. Whether it comes from feeding the frenzy of the lynch mob by advocating nothing less than death when someone is murdered, or throwing billions of dollars into morally justified wars where under the pretense of "avenging" 9/11 countless women and children are killed - it's all part of the same sick mentality that has now come to define what America has become in the eyes of the world.

These politicians do know that as the direct and undeniable consequences of their action innocent people will die - but they simply lack the mental character and integrity to car. Why should they care as it is not like it will be their children who are wrongfully convicted and condemned to death, or sent off to fight a war in a foreign land and coming home in a flag covered coffin. It's only too easy to condemn another to death when you believe you are so far removed from the consequences of your morally corrupt actions.

But I have learned nothing else in the now almost 30 years on Florida's death row, convicted and condemned to death for a crime I did not commit (see www.southerninjustice.net ). It seems for the most part America today has sold the very soul upon the alter of arrogance and ignorance - and like a cancer consuming all that was once good and moral in our society - apathy now prevails and even the most inconceivable injustice - the deliberate execution of innocent men and women - are now tolerated by the vast majority of Americans. Where once upon a time we prided ourselves as a beacon of hope, liberty and freedom for all the world to see, the Lady Liberty that is America today is nothing but a heartless whore who has abandoned her soul to the greater good of the politics of death. Florida's new rush to execute more people reflects the true nature of Florid today - scratch just a bit beneath that smiling face of Mickey Mouse and you will see the cold soul of the grim reaper as Florida moves towards a modern day holocaust and innocence be damned.

Florida Pushes For Expediting Executions - Again

The dark clouds are again on the distant horizon and promising a storm is on the way, as Florida's politicians push to pass new laws intended to adapt the Texas capital post conviction appeal process to Florida.

We have seen this before. Back in the year 2000 when Jeb Bush
was elected governor here in Florida. (Jeb Bush is the younger brother of former president George W Bush) His first order of business was to collaborate with conservative republican politicians in the Florida legislation to pass what was then called the "Death Penalty Reform Act of 2000". Within months of being elected to office Governor Bush signed this law into effect. Under this law Florida intended to transform the existing multi-level post comviction review process into a single consolidated streamlined process that would require all death sentenced prisoners to file their appeal within a matter of months after being sentenced to death. Further, it would limit any chance of pursuing any succesive appeals, such as those based upon newly discovered evidence, including evidence supporting innocence. Quite simply, the clearly stated intent of this law was to expedite executions by eliminating meaningful appelate review even if it meant that innocent prisoners would be put to death without any chance of proving their innocence.

However, this law never actually went into effect as before it could be implemented the Florida Supreme Court declared it to be unconstitutional. But even so, they informally reached a compromise to appease those bloodthirsty politicians by adapting its own amendments to the rules governing capital post conviction appeals, which placed substantial limitations upon succesive appeals.

But of course, that was not enoughto satisfy these politicians, whose only agenda was the bottom line of turning the Florida death penalty into a Texas-style killing machine. In the past 12 years since the Florida Supreme Court spanked these over-reacting politicians, this same group of fanatical conservative politicians set out to methodically take control of the Florida Supreme Court itself.. "By God, if the State constitution says that only the Supreme Court can change the rules governing capital appeals and these damned bleeding hearts liberals on the Court were standing in their way then they would simply find a way to take control of the Court itself"...and they did.

In recent years these Florida republicans have methodically taken over the all important Judicial Committees responsible for nominating the judges to the courts, and forced a change of law that now prohibits the governor from choosing anyone who is not specifically nominated by these Republican controlled committees.

As a result, when a vacancy is created on the Florida Supreme Court the Governor must now appoint only one of their own pro-death penalty justices. In the past 5 years this has proven incredibly effective, as when the most recent vacancies were created by the forced retirement of several judges, these republican-controled committees forced the appointment of Charles Canady and Andrew Polston to the Florida Supreme Court.

Before being appointed to the Florida Supreme Court and quickly elevated to Chief Justice, Charles Canady was General Council for Governer Jeb Bush, and the one who personally pushed for the Death Penalty Reform Act of 2000, and Canady was then substantially assisted by then Florida Supreme Court Justice Polston. This is how incidious politics of death corrupts over judicial process - these conservative pro-death politicians are deliberately stacking the the deck to accomplish their own agenda. And incredibly, nobody in the main stream media seems to care, and of course, the brain dead sheep (i.e. Florida citizens) are blissfully ignorant of these political manipulations...nobody cares.

So now the pro-death politicians have taken control of the Florida Supreme Court they are now pushing new proposed laws through the Florida legislation, again adopting the Texas-style appeals process to Florida, and threatening the Florida Supreme Court with a proposed Constitutional Amendment that would allow the Florida Legislature to have the power to promulgate rules governing death penaly appeals.

The difference between the previous attempt and what is now proposed is that this time these politicians have their own hand-picked justices controlling the Florida Supreme Court. Not surprisongly, Chief Justice Polston and his cohert Canady have now chosen a 5 members "task force" empowered to study ways that the capital appeal process can be speeded up so that these sentenced to death will actually be put to death within 6-10 years of being sentenced.

This task-force studying the Florida post conviction appeal process is to issue its conclusions and recommendations by this September, but whatever their conclusions may be, it certainly will not be an objective and impartial study as each of these 5 commission members were hand-picked because they possess the same agenda as the poiticians who appointed them. The final report will undoubtedly paralell the political agenda of expediting executions by any means necessary.

Of course, this task force will not look into - or even address - the systematic prosecutional misconduct that causes substantial delays in appelate review, and that Florida indesputably convicts and condemns more innocent people to death than any other state.

What really troubles me most is that I do believe that the majority of Americans are guided by a sense of moral conscience and believe in the concept of fundamental fairnes and whn it comes to the death penalty, moral conscience and the integrity
of our judicial process are quickly abandoned and inevitably too many themselves become blindly intoxicated by the insatiable zeal to kill, as if they were part of the old west lynch mob and cannot see that by eroding the process available to protect against executing innocent people, each of those who go along with this new drive to "streamline" the death row appeals are themselves complicit in the inevitable execution of innocent men and women. But make no mistake about this truth - our process as it currently exists is already fundamentally flawed and there is no doubt innocent people have been put to death. But if and when these anticipated "reforms" do pass - and they most likely now will - Florida will go from already convicting and condemning more innocent men and women to leading the nation in actually executing more innocent prisoners.

It is truly a sad commentary that this is what America today has become - a nation that was once a beacon of protecting basic human rights for all the world to see, but now has become so consumed by its need to hate that we now not only lead the world for the rate of incarceration, but also openly compete with China, Iran, North Korea and other nations defined by their indifference to human rights, to put more and more people to death. Those who say that America has abandoned its moral concience are right and as we continue down the slippery slope of apathic indifference to basic human rights and even continued advocacy for an obviously flawed death penalty will evode that foundation upon which we as a country stand upon and it is this country itself that will inevitably fall once that moral foundation crumbles.


Michael Lambrix #482053
Union Correctional Institution
7819 NW 228th Street (P3226)
Raiford, FL 32026-4400
USA

Read here an article from the Miami Herald about the Timely Justice Act


Sign here to urge Governor Scott to Veto Florida House’s shameful bill to "speed up" death penalty

Please check out my website

http://www.southerninjustice.net

When Evil Tyrants Reign Supreme Court

Recently a friend sent me an article entitled “What’s killing inmates on Florida’s Death Row?” Apparently the political group PolitiFact Florida wanted to do a “fact” check on comments that Florida’s House of Representative Speaker Dean Cannon made to a group of reporters last month, in which he stated that “Florida judicial system has the authority to take away not only a person’s liberty, but also a person’s life. Understanding the severity and irreversibility of that penalty, we have a responsibility to ensure that justice is administered not only fairly, but also efficiently”

Speaker Cannon went on to complain “ The number of inmates since 2000 on death row dying of natural causes has now surpassed the number of inmates executed. Significant and unreasonable delays plague the current process of conducting state post conviction review in these cases and it appears that there is little that the Supreme Court can do to improve or streamline the process”

For those unfamiliar with Speaker Cannon, he is an uber-conservative pro-death penalty career politician who worked with the current Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady back when Florida elected Jeb Bush as governor. Together they wrote up what became known as the “Death Penalty Reform Act of 2000”, which the Florida legislature passed into law attempting to adopt the Texas death penalty appeal process limiting capital appeals as a means of expediting more executions.

What was especially troubling about this legislative action was that it took the deliberate position that Florida would accept the inevitable execution of the innocent as a necessary consequence of expediting the executions of the presumably guilty. This “Death Penalty Reform Act” would have prohibited any post conviction appeals based upon newly developed evidence of innocence, even when it is found that the state deliberately concealed this evidence, as has happened too many times.

In one of the very rare exhibitions of moral courage by the Florida Supreme Court, they declared the adoption of this “Death Penalty Reform Act” as unconstitutional. They explained that only the Florida Supreme Court is authorized to adopt rules governing the
Capital post conviction review process responsible for the appellate review of death row cases. But the Florida Supreme Court itself simultaneously adopted new rules that actually did substantially limit capital post conviction appeals.

But the insidious politics of death are never that simple. The ultra conservative pro-death politicians like speaker Dean Connor were not happy when the Florida Supreme Court dared to tell them they must abide by the constitution, so they abused their political power to change the Florida Supreme Court by putting their own hand picked justices on the court that would do what they told them to do.

It took a few years, but bruised political egos don’t heal quickly. They took their time to stock the deck. Now the stage is set as in the recent 2010 elections the conservative Republicans succeeded in winning a “super-majority” in both the Florida house of representative and the Florida Senate. Additionally, they put “Tea Party” Republican conservative Rick Scott in as Florida Governor. But that’s not all, in the past few years they stocked the deck in their favor on the Florida Supreme Court. Those of us who remember the “Death Penalty Reform Act” remember that it was Charles Canady who acted as then Governor Jeb Bush’s General Counsel in defending this draconian action before the FSC, its defeat was a personal defeat for Charles Canady, but in politics nothing ends that easily.

Where is Charles Canady now? As of June 2010, he is now the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, after being politically appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Republican governor Charlie Crist. This is yet another example of how the politics of death deliberately corrupt the entire judicial process. But you won’t see Florida’s mainstream media talking about this. They sold their souls long ago and no longer have the balls to take on government corruption. Besides, more executions mean more controversy and controversy sells newspapers. Killing the possibly innocent is really good business for America’s mainstream media.

A few generations ago politicians like Dean Cannon would have stood in the town square wearing a white sheet, while advocating the lynching of blacks. But that’s no longer politically correct so the white sheet becomes a 3-piece suit – but the mentality is the same. This is the Deep South and some things never change.

Funny thing is that while they scream about the need to expedite executions, they never once recognize that Florida leads the nation in the number of wrongful convictions in capital cases – and that the leading cause of innocent people being condemned to death is prosecutional misconduct. But do we ever hear politicians talking about going after prosecutors who deliberately conceal or fabricate evidence, knowing they are sending an innocent man to death row? No, of course not.

Americans today have become consumed by hate and vengeance, even to the point where a large number of Americans believe that executing a few innocent people is perfectly acceptable as long as it means executing more guilty ones. That’s an easy position to tale when you’re on the outside looking in and not the one who is about to be executed for a crime you didn’t commit. I’m sure they’d feel completely different if it was them.

In the upcoming months we will again see Speaker Dean Cannon rally his pro death politicians to pass new laws attempting to adopt the draconian rules limiting death row appeals in Florida. They will attempt to do this with as little attention as possible and only once adopted will they jump up on their political soap boxes and tell the public what a wonderful job they have done.

This time it will almost certainly pass as now Speaker Cannon knows that they’ve stocked the Florida Supreme Court with their own politically appointed “brethren”. And chief Justice Charles Canady is already slobbering at the mouth in anticipation for finally winning the political fight he lost in 2000 – now he controls the court and they will do what he demands of them.

As these political manipulations unfold the one thing they will not talk about is how the evidence is growing that in Texas’ own rush to execute as many people as possible, numerous innocent people have been put to death for crimes they did not commit. Nobody – especially the mainstream media – will talk about how expediting executions by eliminating death row appeals will substantially increase the inevitable certainty that innocent people will be executed.

How many people must die before America grows a conscience and says enough is enough? Funny thing about evil tyrants is we don’t see them for who they really are until its too late. History will have to judge Speaker Dean Cannon

The Paradox of Hope.

Have you ever thought about the concept of hope? Recently, I have. Funny thing about hope is that it can sustain you through the most difficult of trials and tribulations, but at the same time its absence can cast you down into the depths of despair, even to the point of making death seem favorable.

Here on death row I’ve often said that I will hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. That sort of became my mantra of choice and for many years I found some strength in it. For those of us condemned to death our existence is like being trapped on a runaway rollercoaster on a perverted path through the bowels of hell. With each twist and turn our guts are ripped apart as with each appeal our hope is escalated - then free falls to the lowest of the depths when the courts deny relief. Yet again and again we go through it, each time desperately grasping the imaginary rails that hold us in for fear that the sudden drop at the end of the ride will irreparably crush our mental state of mind.

My own case is but a single sample of what we all go through. After over 27 years convicted and condemned to death for a crime I did not commit (see www.southerninjustice.net ) I had good reason to believe that I would finally be exonerated and released – that I would be “home” for Christmas, and my nightmare finally be brought to an end.

My hope had a seemingly strong foundation as a virtual wealth of evidence supporting my claim of innocence had been developed in recent years and I couldn’t imagine any scenario under which the courts could deny relief. But I really should have known better. After all these years, if I’ve learned nothing else, it is that the courts are far more interested in “the politics of death” than they are in the novel concept of truth and justice, and few people today can argue in good faith that our courts are only too willing to ignore evidence of innocence and execute the innocent (see previously posted blog “Screw the truth”)

So, why was I so surprised when first the Florida Supreme Court, and then, a few months later, the Federal appeals court, denied my appeal? Why is it that this time my tried and true mantra of ‘hope for the best but prepare for the worst” failed me?

Now, once again I am forced to confront the probability that I will be executed and that nobody really cares whether I’m innocent or not. I’m sure that my dear friends will be upset – but nobody in the “justice” system cares. Only too often the courts deliberately turn a blind eye to evidence of innocence as they side with the State sanctioned serial killers to trust twist the truth around to meet their own agenda of carrying out an execution by any means necessary. And regardless of the fact that we see this again, our society chooses to ignore the inconvenient truth of how immoral, unethical and corrupt the American justice system has become.

I am angry at all of this. It is fundamentally unfair and as traumatic as being the victim of a violent rape – they raped me of justice. My dictionary tells me that “hope” is “a feeling that what is wanted will happen”, desire accompanied by expectation, and that “hopeless” is defined as “having no expectations of, or showing a sign of, a favorable outcome”. In a word I recognize that I have become ‘despondent”, which my dictionary defines as “utter loss of hope…implies such despair as makes one resort to extreme measure” (i.e. suicide) Hmm..That’s a familiar word – “suicide”, and not at all uncommon in my world where our hopes are often so deliberately crushed and the condemned do resort to that “extreme measure” of suicide.

I have actually contemplated suicide before. Once when my marriage was over and again when I was first convicted of this fabricated crime of alleged “premeditated” murder. Both times I could not follow trough and now I know that suicide is not something I could do so that simply is not an available option for me.

But at the same time I now struggle with the reality that I cannot win – that no matter how compelling the evidence of my innocence may be, truth and justice can never prevail before a judicial system that itself is completely corrupt to its own core. The cowards on the courts have neither the moral character nor the political courage to do the right thing and throw out a conviction that is now over a quarter century old.

Lately I find myself thinking about philosophical arguments I read years ago, such as Plato’s account of the Athenian philosopher Socrates being condemned to death by a politically corrupt tribunal. Plato tells of how Socrates faithful friend Crito stood by Socrates side, imploring Socrates to allow them to delay his execution in the hopes that after the emotional circumstances that led to his condemnation died down, they could appeal for a pardon. But Socrates accepted his fate and told Crito that although his heart was in the right place and he understood that his friends meant well in wanting to delay his execution, but, Socrates said “I am right in not doing this, for I do not think that I should gain anything by drinking the poison a little later; I should be sparing and saving a life which is already gone; I would only laugh at myself for this”

The words Socrates spoke so long ago still ring true today. I know that many of those who oppose the death penalty - and many of us here on death row - find it offensive and even a betrayal when someone “voluntarily” waives his appeals and seeks to expedite his won execution, which for all purposes amounts to a state sanctioned form of suicide.

But what of those of us who have already been through the appeals process again and again? And have been denied relief to the point where there is no hope left of getting relief? If we were to decide that enough is enough, and accept the inevitability of our own fate and simply choose not to pursue any further appellate review, then is it really fair to judge us as cowards and traitors to the cause, such as those are labeled when they decide to forego appeals altogether and “volunteer” to be executed?

Would I really be so wrong to accept the inevitability of my own fate and invite an expedited end to this nightmare by simply refusing to forego any further appeals, knowing that with the recent denial of my innocence appeal, my fate has now been sealed and all that really remains is delaying the inevitable at the expense of prolonging my own suffering?

I do not have a “death wish”. But neither do I have any desire to prolong my misery and suffering when I now know that my execution has become inevitable. As Socrates told his friend Crito: “What do I have to gain by delaying the inevitable but to make a fool of myself?” Like Socrates, I am blessed with a small group of dear friends who would be deeply hurt by my death, and their heartfelt desire to prolong my fate is genuine – but they are not the ones who must sit in this cage while the blanket of hopelessness and despair slowly suffocates the essence of life from me.

Such is the paradox of hope. For many years hope has sustained me as I had faith in our legal system to ultimately do the right thing. My hope and fate were my strength, generously sustained by my small circle of dear friends. But now I simply cannot find even a thread of hope left to cling on to and I find myself overwhelmed by the vacuum left behind – hopelessness.

But I find myself now struggling with the thought that increasingly haunt me. Even assuming that my fate is now inevitable, if I were to accept and embrace that finality would I be betraying the friends who stood by me and suffered through all of this? My death would bring an end to my nightmare but it would also bring pain to those who care about me. Would I be betraying their own loyalty and perseverance if I were to decide to forego any further appeals and allow the state to put me to death?

There are no easy answers. Perhaps I could believe in a merciful God, I would be blessed to simply die in my sleep and never again have to wake up to tomorrow and all these problems would be so easily solved as who could blame me of I died of natural causes tonight? But the God I believe in is not a merciful God – if he was, then he would not allow those who stand in judgment in our courts to pervert justice as they do.

So, I now struggle with this and pray that my nightmare will soon end. I no longer have the strength to hope for the best, but can only accept the worst. Soon I will have to make a tough decision and even now I don’t know what it will be. But I know that I have fought a good fight against the evil tyrant that is our legal system, and I know that I am now exhausted and even broken. Hopeless is now all that remains, with the only hope now left being the hope that my nightmare will soon come to an end.

Florida Adopts in your Face Executions

I have been on Florida’s death row now well over a quarter of a century and in these many years I’ve been an indirect and involuntary witness to more executions than I can count. Most of those who were methodically murdered by the state were men that I came to know well through years of living in close proximity of each other and became close to as of we were all part of a large extended family.

In the past I have written many stories about executions from my own perspective, mostly talking about the man who was put to death, to remind those who might read my words that the man was a unique person with value as a fellow human being. It’s often just too easy to see only what we want to see and in the case of those we condemn to death, perhaps it is too convenient to believe that this person was nothing more than a monster and we deny any redeeming quality.

But each of those individuals did possess that measure of humanity that gives their life meaning. Each had family and friends that cared for them and will now grieve at their death. No matter what the nature of the alleged crime was that they were led them to the execution chamber, they still each laughed and cried like all of us do and if only we could miraculously remove that momentary transgression that resulted in another death, than most of those would be no different than those we live among in our communities.

Yesterday the state of Florida put Martin Grossman to death. Those of us who knew him called him “Eddie” He had been on Florida’s death row almost as long as I have and through the years I came to know him as a generous and giving individual, who did not hesitate to share what little he had with others around him.

Eddie was a good natured guy with a quick sense of humor. He had a way of making others around him laugh and if only for a few moments forget about the hellhole we live in. His character possessed a quiet and respectful sense of integrity that those who knew him came to respect. Although kind of a big guy, he was never a bully and he stood up for the little guy on many occasions.

It bothers me that the world judges him only by the alleged crime that led him to death row. Even assuming that he did what the state claimed, the objective facts establish that he was a troubled teenager who, while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, spontaneously responded to an event that led to the death of the law enforcement officer (a game warden). But did he go out and commit a deliberate act of murder? I just don’t think so.

Now Eddie is gone and he will be missed. But there’s something about the execution of Eddie that really bothers me, and I think would bother anyone of moral conscience. This execution was unlike any other that I’ve seen carried out and reflects what can only be described as a sickness that has no place in any so-called civilized society.

I spent many hours. Long into the night last night trying to find a way to put into words why I found the ritual of Eddie’s execution so offensive. In the many, many years that I’ve been on death row, when the state did carry out executions, it has always been the policy of the prison administrators to maintain as much of a “normal” routine inside the prison as possible. Wardens painstakingly made a point of minimizing any reminders that an execution was being carried out. Of course we all knew that on the next wing over they were methodically putting a man to death, a man that each of us personally knew. But by maintaining a daily routine, it was something we could detach from in a way and not be forced to deal with. But now for the first time ever Florida has adopted in-your-face executions where all the prisoners of Florida State Prison are now effectively forced to involuntarily participate in these ritualistic executions.

I’m certainly not the only one who found this new policy offensive and inhumane – a number of prison staff even attempted to take the day off just so they would not have to participate, but were told they could not.

What made yesterday’s execution completely different from any other that I’ve seen carried out in all the years I have been here is how the new warden of Florida State Prison went out of his way to make this an all day event. Up until now those who ran he prison had enough sense and humanity to know that forcing other prisoners to be reminded of what was going on, and making them unwilling participants, could only cause a lot of tension and anxiety among the prison population and could contribute to possible escalations and even violence.

But unlike before, when any change of routine was minimized, yesterday all the staff was ordered to dress up in their dress uniforms, typically only worn when a visiting dignitary was inspecting the troops. That meant wearing neckties and spotless uniforms and polished boots. Although to those unfamiliar with the daily grind of prison life that might not seem like such a big deal, it actually is the only time in almost 30 years of being a prisoner in the Florida State system that I’ve ever seen the rank and file staff ordered to wear their dress uniforms all day while working the cellblock areas. Then they brought breakfast about two hours early, and then lunch was later that morning and dinner by early afternoon. By late afternoon the circus became even more obvious when we were told that the whole institution was on lockdown and they would not do the showers until they were told restricted movement had been lifted, also mail would not be delivered until after the execution. All this served to force every one of us to stand by and become an involuntary participant to this execution.

From early in the morning, throughout the day and into the early evening each of us was forced to confront the imminent execution they intended to carry out. That caused a substantial, even tangible tension on the wing. But as I said, it wasn’t just us in the cellblocks that found this execution process troubling as many of the officers working here also wanted no part of it. And yet we were all forced to go along with it just because one man at the top found it necessary to make a circus out of an execution, even finally announcing on the radio (closed circuit radio system allowing communication within the prison) that the execution had been carried out and it was alright to resume “normal activity”.

Michael Lambrix
Death row Florida

Vengeance is Mine, Saith the Law

Last week Florida's Governor Charlie Crist signed a "death warrant" on Paul Beasley Johnson, scheduling his execution for Wednesday November 4, 2009 at 6:00 PM. In Florida, all executions are carried out at Florida State Prison near Starke, Florida. Immediately upon signing this death warrant Paul was transferred from the main death row unit at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford to the maximum security Florida State Prison in the adjacent county of Bradford. In actuality these two prisons are practically side by side in the rural area outside of Starke, along Highway 16, separated only by a creek they call "new River", which coincidentally is also the county line separating Union County from Bradford County. From the window of the death row unit at Union Correctional i can look in the distance and actually see the imposing structure of Florida State Prison. But it's a sight I don't particularly care to see and don't make a habit of looking out to.

In 1981 Paul had killed a cop in Polk County, Florida (between Tampa and Orlando) as well as two others while wasted on the drug "crystal meth". At the time I lived in the area and am familiar with how the relatively small and rural farming communities there in Polk County had responded with outrage. It wasn't long before that incident that this same rural area was virtually terrorized by what was known as the "ski-mask" gang - one of the ringleaders of that, Daniel Thomas, was already put to death in Florida's electric chair in April, 1986. But the community didn't forget and in these farming towns the support for the death penalty is extremely high.

Anyone who wants to see how "justice" was served in Polk County back during that time need only read Barden v.Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168 (1986) in which the Supreme Court addressed the facts of extreme prosecutional misconduct and judicial bias when Willie Barden was accused of a brutal crime in the same area. Barden, known to us as "Shargo", was executed in March, 1988 despite substantial evidence of actual innocence and what numerous Supreme Court Justices characterized as extremely prejudicial prosecural misconduct comparable to that fictionally depicted in "To kill a mocking bird".

In Paul's case, he never pled innocence. But the factual circumstances still warrant questioning the conviction and imposition of the ultimate punishment. There's no question that at the time of these murders Paul was wasted on a powerful drug commonly called "crystal meth", which if and when used to the extreme, such as in Paul's case, is known to cause psychotic and even violent paranoia and render the person's actions involuntary. So, the real question comes down to whether Paul actually intended to commit any act of violence resulting in these tragic deaths.

At trial, Paul's specific defense was insanity and the question came down to whether Paul could tell the difference between right and wrong at the time of the crime, and possessed the mental capacity to form intent to commit the crime. The evidence, including numerous expert witnesses, testified that given the drugs that Paul was under and what many others witnessed in his behaviour, Paul was by definition "insane" and not responsible for his actions at the time.

Do we deliberately convict and condemn those who are insane? Under applicable law, we do not. Numerous Supreme Court cases consistently prohibit the execution of any person who is mentally incompetent or insane. In Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986) the Supreme Court defined this as a person "whose mental illness prevents him from comprehending the reasons for the penalty of death"

But when a defendant attempts to argue "insanity" as a defense then the burden of proving that he was actually "insane" at the time of the crime is on the defendant, and ultimately it is up to the jury to decide whether or not to ind him "not guilty" by reason of insanity. See Leland v. Oregon, 343 U,S. 790 (1952). With 3 victims - including a police officer, the jury was hardly sympathetic to Paul's argument and evidence that he had 'voluntarily" ingested massive amounts of crystal meth to the point of having an involuntary psychotic episode rendering him legally insane and thus not responsible for his actions. The jury rejected this insanity defense and sent him to death row.

That same year that Paul suffered his own drug induced psychotic breakdown resulting in the deaths of three people, the entire country was already outraged at the concept of an insanity defense as just a few months earlier the now infamous John Hinkley deliberately stalked, then shot, President Ronald Reagan on a sidewalk in Washington DC. At the same time Hinkley shot also several others, including a police officer, a secret service agent providing security for the President, and press secretary James Brady, who has since remained paralyzed.

But unlike Paul Johnson, John Hinkley came from a wealthy family and they quickly spent millions of dollars to hire the best lawyers and expert witnesses. Hinkley stood trial despite the fact that his crime was actually caught on camera with quite literally millions of people watching him gunning down the president and at least three others.

Money makes all the difference despite the overwhelming evidence against John Winkley, the jury in his case found him "not guilty" by reason of insanity. But Hinkley's insanity was not caused by toxic levels of alcohol or drugs - rather, Hinkley claimed that he was "intoxicated" to the point of psychosis by an even stronger influence - love. Hinkley convinced the jury that because of his "unrequited love" for actress Jodie Foster after seeing her portrait as a child prostitute in the movie "Taxi driver". Hinkley argued that to prove his love for Jodie Foster, he had to shoot the President and anyone else who got in his way.

But when Paul went to trial he was just another poor man defended by an overworked and underpaid court appointed lawyer. And thanks to Hinkley's widely ridiculed insanity defense, any jury at the time would be extremely skeptical of any "insanity" defense. So, it was no surprise that unlike John Hinkley, Paul Johnson was convicted and quickly condemned to death.

The irony of all this is that I've known Paul Johnson personally for over 20 years and I can tell you that Paul would be the first one to tell you that he should be held accountable for these deaths. In the 26 years that I've been on death row among the "cold blooded killers" and what society calls the worst of the worst psychopaths, there's probably not more than 5 guys who I would welcome into my house without reservation and sleep soundly through the night...Paul Johnson is without any question at the top of the list.

Since coming to Florida's death row Paul has now become a completely different man. No longer living his life with toxic levels of hard drugs, Paul has become a genuine Christian, who lives a life of moral values. In all the years that I have known Paul I never even once hears a single person say anything negative about him, nor have I ever seen or heard Paul engage in the games that are only too common around here. Quite simply, you just couldn't find a better man to live around and be blessed to call him your friend.

But now they want to kill him for an isolated act of violence brought about when he was under the influence of drugs almost 30 years ago. The state of Florida wants to put him to death for who he was a lifetime ago, deliberately taking the life of the man he is today.

I realize that there are many who would argue that Paul must be held accountable for the lives that he took. Anyone who actually knows Paul would know that he possesses genuine remorse for what he did and has often argued that he should be held accountable. But can anyone truly say that Paul falls into that category of the "worst of the worst" and that society would have anything to gain by now taking his life?

It is at times like this that I struggle with this concept of "justice" so commonly practiced by what we dare call a "civilized" society. What is "justice" anyway? When I look into my dictionary it says that justice is "the upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor" and "the principle of moral rightfullness and equity"

I do understand that as a civilized society we must hold those who commit a crime accountable, or our society would quickly descend into chaos. But I also understand that there is a substantial difference between administering justice and inflicting vengeance and that's what this is really all about - vengeance. This is about that dark and destructive need to exact vindictive revenge, not administering justice.

My dictionary defines "revenge" as "something done in vengeance, a retaliatory measure; a desire for revenge and vindictiveness" Then, when I turn a few pages over to the word "vindictiveness", I find that it is defined as "disposed to seek revenge, marked by or resulting from a desire to hurt, spiteful"

Under these objective definitions of the English language, Paul's now imminent execution is not about administering justice, but inflicting vengeance. And by doing so, our so-called "civilized" society becomes the very monster we say we seek to slay.

I can only ask you to pray for Paul and let him know that he is not alone. I can tell you this - even as Paul faces his own death at the hands of those consumed by hate and vengeance, I know without doubt that Paul will be on his own knees praying for them and accepting his own fate even if I cannot, like so many others. If Paul is executed by the state of Florida on Wednesday November 4 then his death will forever take a part of all of us and without the man he is today among us, as a society through his death we will all become something less.

Michael Lambrix

NOTE: on October 28, 2009 Paul Johnson received a stay of execution in order to
consider significant issues raised in Claim 1 of this appeal concerning
prosecutodal misconduct.

Is Compassion and Mercy Too Much To Ask?

A few months ago the Orlando Sentinel newspaper in Florida published an article entitled “Justice Denied? On Florida’s death row many lives end – but not by execution” (February 20, 2009 by Sarah Lundi and Vicki McClure) in which the general premise was that when those condemned to death await the finality of that sentence for decades only to end up dying of “natural” causes. Before their date with the executioner comes, they are somehow cheating justice as, by God – we want to see these condemned killers die at our hands, not let them slowly rot away and die of cancer or a heart attack.

What kind of sick twisted mind actually thinks that slowly rotting away in solitary confinement while awaiting the uncertainty of the fate of being condemned to death is somehow too humane a way to die? I’ve heard it said that our humanity is defined by our capacity for compassion. As a self proclaimed “Christian” nation, the Bible - the very words of Jesus – teach that if we don’t forgive others, we will not be forgiven ourselves, and that mercy will be shown to those that have shown mercy to others. And yet, as a society, is this what we really practice?

Lets be honest – the death penalty is not about administering justice but appeasing that primal need for vengeance. In the Orlando Sentinel article the journalists quoted several members of the victim’s families, both of whom expressed their need and desire to actually watch the prisoner, condemned for killing their loved one, actually die. They want a first row seat and watch that bastard take his last breath.

But is this about victim’s right – or is it about vengeance? These families suffered a tragedy beyond comprehension and lost someone they loved to a senseless murder. I do understand their anger and sense of loss – and I pray for them, that by the grace of God they will find the strength to overcome that pain.

The problem is that it is only too easy to hate and want to seek revenge upon those that have caused us so much pain. Maybe that’s why our Christian faith teaches us that we must forgive. When Jesus was subjected to the infliction of a horrific death by crucifixion, he prayed for forgiveness for those that put him to death. In that moment of his own mortality, how much easier it would have been for Jesus to call upon his Father and bring down the very wrath of God upon them?

A few years ago we watched the news unfold as a “crazed gunman” went into an Amish schoolhouse and senselessly slaughtered numerous children for no reason but that he apparently didn’t like Amish people, a sect of Christians long defined by their simplicity and Christian charity.

Few of us could even begin to comprehend the immeasurable depth of pain and loss these people – loving Christians must have felt. Like so many others, I watched this horror unfold on my TV, and then I could not suppress the tears that filled my eyes as these Amish people pulled together, and public ally prayed for the forgiveness of the man who had just killed their children.

Even now, just thinking about it I get a lump in my throat, never before, and never since, have I seen such a remarkable example of true Christian compassion. I remain in awe and wonder of these people whose spiritual faith was so pure and strong that even in that moment of anguish they found the strength within them to pray for the forgiveness of this killer. At that moment I’m sure that angels wept, and the Lord looked down upon this pitiful world and took pride in this creation of humanity that has proven such a disappointment.

When I read about the victim’s family’s need to find closure only by personally watching the man who murdered their loved one die I feel sorry for them as they must be consumed by hate and anger and when it comes down to it hate and anger truly are the cancer of the soul.

Although I certainly do not negate the tragic loss of their own loved one, I can’t help but wonder if the greater loss is their own sense of spiritual peace as one cannot find true spiritual peace while still consumed by the destructive forces of anger and vengeance.

But I also wonder what it says about us as a society when the mainstream media so deliberately provokes this need for vengeance, exploring the victim’s families for no purpose but to sensationalize the facts and sell a few more newspapers. I believe it was famed journalist Edward R. Murrows who said that journalistic integrity is defined by the objectivity of the report.

When I read these all too common newspaper articles that so deliberately exploit the pain of the victim’s families as a means of provoking societies unquenchable thirst for revenge, do they reflect a fair and objective account?

The Orlando Sentinel would have its readers believe that those who dare to die of “natural causes” on death row before the state can kill them somehow cheat justice. But what I found remarkably absent from report is any mention of the pain and suffering that the condemned prisoner’s own family feels as their loved one slowly succumbs to death by cancer, or whatever, dying under horrible and inhumane circumstances.

Consider the case of Frank Lee Smith – conveniently not mentioned by the Orlando Sentinel. Frank Lee Smith was convicted and condemned to death in Broward County, Florida for the brutal rape and murder of an 8 year old girl. Smith swore before God and all who would listen that he was innocent. As year after year slowly passed Smith received few visitors and like so many others, became alienated from the outside world. As the years passed, his own psychological degradation too its toll and he retreated into his own world, isolated and alienated from even those around him.

I last spoke with Frank Lee Smith in 1999, a few months before he finally died a slow and painful death from cancer. Not long after that someone sent me a newspaper article from the Ft Lauderdale Sun Sentinel (owned by the same company that owns the Orlando Sentinel) that told of how after 9 years of fighting the state to test forensic evidence, the test results came back and conclusively showed that Frank Lee Smith was innocent of the crime he was condemned to death for all along. He spent 16 years on death row, and even though his innocence was proven by indisputable evidence, Smith still died on death row.

Just as it is only too easy as individuals to give in to that primal need to hate and demand revenge, so too it is only too easy for journalists to exploit these destructive forces for the purpose of selling newspapers.

Whether we personally support the death penalty or not, capital punishment is a complex issue that reaches far beyond the simplicity of superficial, primal passions of our individual need for vengeance. It is too much to hope that perhaps all of us that call ourselves Christians can learn a lesson from the Amish and find the spiritual strength within each of us to overcome the destructive passions of revenge and instead show mercy and compassion towards these that have caused such tragedy and pain?

As a death sentenced prisoner myself (please see, www.southerninjustice.com ) I have my own prejudices and I apologize to those that might find my opinion offensive. But after a spending over a quarter of a century in solitary confinement awaiting the executioner myself, and watching so many of those around me slowly grow old, waste away and die of “natural causes” I can tell you that they are not “cheating justice” as it would be hard to imagine a more inhumane and horrific way to die then to slowly rot away in a cage. (Please check out www.doinglifeondeathrow.blogspot.com )

Cranking up the Killing Machine

Here we go again; Florida is cranking up its killing machine. A few weeks ago Florida’s governor “chaingang” Charlie Crist signed two more death warrants; scheduling both David Johnston and John Marek for execution in May. As I write this John Marek has just been granted a stay of execution – but David Johnston remains under the gun and on death watch. (by the time this article was received and typed up David Johnston has also received a stay of execution)

Since governor Crist took office in January 2007 he has shown unexpected restraint in signing the death warrants of Florida’s condemned. As a long time conservative Republican politician who has often voiced his strong support for the death penalty most of us had expected governor Crist to aggressively pursue executions- to be own version of George W Bush, another conservative Republican who paved his way to the white house of ordering the execution of 157 men and women while serving as the governor of Texas. Of course we all know how well that worked out when George W Bush then went on to become the President of the United States.

Few familiar with the death penalty could deny that capital punishment is really about is the politics of death. The true nature of our so called “democracy” is that nothing can win an election in the south quicker than jumping up on a soapbox and start foaming at the mouth while promising the good citizens of these redneck states that you will kill more people.

It’s difficult to really understand the mentality of people in the south. If you were to meet most of them on the street they’d appear to be good, God-fearing Christians who place great value in the concept of compassion towards their fellow men. Most will proudly call themselves Christians and will pack themselves into their chosen church every Sunday.

There is a lot to be admired about most southern folks – but then there’s that dark side of the southern states, only a generation or two removed from the undeniable racism and even slavery that was not so long ago all too common. As sweet and pleasant as these southern might be, there is still a lot of deep-rooted hate and bigotry in the hearts of those that gather for their Sunday socials on the lawn of their local southern Baptist Church.

It doesn’t take much to bring this hate and bigotry out. In today’s world it’s now politically unpopular to use specific racially derogatory names and characterizations, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not still in their hearts. This insidiously inbred hate is passing along from generation to generation and manifests itself in the most subtle of ways that most of those who actually participate perpetuating this hate don’t even see it for what it is.

The death penalty is one of those catalysts that will quickly expose this hate in the hearts of those southern belles and their gentlemen. And politicians down here in the Deep South feed off of the barely concealed bigotry – and I’m afraid that Governor Crist is no exception.

It wasn’t so long ago that Gov. Crist was an ambitious and up and coming politician. For many years he shamelessly exploited the politics of death by proudly campaigning in support of the death penalty. Over the years he earned the name “Chaingang Charlie” as a state legislator as he campaigned for the elimination of early releases and expedited executions. He built his political career on the blood and misery of those imprisoned and condemned. He became the pretty boy poster child of the quintessential southern politician, with his puppy dog eyes and his cold-blooded heart.

After serving first as a State Representative then as a State Senator, Charlie Crist went on to become Florida’s Attorney General – the “top cop” responsible for among other things fighting appeals filed by death row prisoners and seeking to carry out their executions. It seemed that “Chaingang Charlie” was made for that job.

In 2006 Florida needed a new Governor as Republican Jeb Bush (younger brother of George W Bush) had served the legal maximum of 8 years. It came as no surprise when Charlie Crist tossed his hat into the running with the blessing and backing of the Bush family and their political money machine. Sure enough, Chaingang Charlie became the new Governor of the state of Florida.

Those of us on death row saw this as a dark cloud on the horizon, certain that Charlie Crist would come gunning for us and Florida would son become another Texas, where executions are so common that they don’t even warrant a byline on the evening news. One particularly talented artist on Florida’s death row even drew a blank ink drawing of the Grim Reaper – with Charlie Crist’s face clearly showing beneath the black hooded robe.

But then Chaingang Charlie surprised us. Just before he was sworn in as the elected
Governor in January 2007 Florida executed Angel Diaz in a “botched” execution that witnesses testified left Diaz writhing in pain and conscious of his physical torment for over 30 minutes. Lawyers quickly filed petitions arguing that Florida’s lethal injection protocol constituted cruel and unusual punishment thus making the death penalty unconstitutional. The US Supreme Court got involved and all executions came to a quick halt.

To our surprise, Governor Crist public ally supported a moratorium of all execution in Florida until a commission could determine what went wrong when Angel Diaz was executed and how it could be prevented from happening again.

As Crist got comfortable in his new office, he surprised us even further by public ally supporting a proposed law allowing for monetary compensation to those who had been wrongfully convicted and signing an executive order making it easier for previously convicted felons to have their civil rights – including the right to vote – restored.

As the months, then first few years, passed Governor Crist showed surprising and completely unexpected restraint in signing any death warrants, and even seemed to focus only upon a few cases in which the condemned prisoner had committed an act of rape and murder on a child and guilt was not a question.

Then an unprecedented 4 vacancies on the Florida Supreme Court opened up and for the first time in Florida’s history a single governor had the opportunity to virtually handpick the majority (4 of the 7) justices. Governor Crist’s conservative Republicans could almost be seen foaming at the mouth over this opportunity to stock the court with hardcore conservative judicial activists who would have the majority power to steamroll their ideological causes – outlaw abortion, expedite executions, and privatize government.

The dark clouds on the horizon seemed even more ominous and we just knew that the conservative killing machine would crank up and slaughter our ranks without mercy.

But again governor Crist proved to be unpredictable. His first two appointments to the Florida Supreme Court (Canady and Polston) were straight out of the rank and file extreme pro-death penalty conservative Republican insiders, both long time Bush family supporters. The conservatives who put Chaingang Charlie were proud of their good ole boy and just knew that in coming months they would have control over the Florida Supreme Court.

I only wish I could have been a fly on the wall in the Good Ole Boy’s clubhouse when much to their surprise and dismay Governor Crist rejected the next two handpicked conservative judicial nominees and instead selected a moderate Cuban – American from South Florida, and (gasp!) a “liberal» black man from Central Florida.

Suddenly the very conservatives puppet masters who put Chaingang Charlie in the Governor’s office were screaming “traitor”, openly accusing good ole Charlie of being a closet “liberal” (in conservative politics there is nothing lower than being called a “liberal”) and vowing to end Governor Crist’s career.

Not long after this political backlash Crist suddenly began to act like a conservative politician again, first ordering the execution of Wayne (“Grey Cloud”) Tompkins, who may have been innocent, but was never the less an easy execution. And just a few months later, for the first time since taking office, he signed two death warrants the same day.

All of this brings us back to the one question – after several years in office, why has Governor Crist suddenly become more aggressive in signing death warrants and attempting to expedite more executions?

I believe that the answer to that question is simple enough – southern politics. See, in Florida the Governor’s race is run each 4 years, and next year (2010) Gov. Crist must run again for re-election. Political campaigns require huge amounts of cash and next year’s governor’s race has already begun. If Crist wants to run and win re-election, he must suck up to his supporters now. This is how the politics of death are played. Here in the south all politicians know with absolute certainty that the only way to win and elected office is to suck up to these God – fearing southern Baptists and promise to kill the condemned. That beast within them, that inbred need for hate and bigotry must be fed and with racism and other forms of bigotry now outlawed the only way to manifest this hate in a politically and socially acceptable way is to call upon the killing machine and carry out more executions.

David Johnston now awaits in a solitary cell only steps away from the death chamber – in a cell I myself had once occupied when I too faced the Grim Reaper, but make no mistake about it – David Johnston is not facing imminent execution for any crime he may (or may not!) have committed. Rather, David Johnston is merely the latest led to the slaughter to appease the blood thirst of these pro-death penalty conservatives so that Governor Crist can win their support in his own upcoming political campaign for re-election. That’s what it is really all about - the politics of death and those of us who are condemned are merely the helpless pawns.