6/13 Rally for Reggie Clemons + More

[nattyreb]

via: justice for reggie clemons
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RALLY: SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2009
2:00 PM -- LANE TABERNACLE CHURCH (ISOM CENTER)
910 NEWSTEAD (AT ENRIGHT)
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
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ALERT!! EXECUTION DATE SET FOR JUNE 17, 2009!!!

How You Can Help - Write a Clemency Letter on Reggie’s Behalf

Posted on May 26, 2009

Basic Tips for Writing a Clemency Letter

• Read the fact sheet on the case before writing the letter to get familiar with the case and the specific list of concerns.

• Be brief! One page is usually enough to convey your message.

• Start off by introducing yourself. If you know Reggie personally, please say so. Speak about Reggie’s positive traits and how he has affected your life or the lives of your family members.

• Be factual. Do not discuss ideology or politics. State any issues about the case that you find troubling (race discrimination, ineffective lawyers, bad prosecutor, etc.).

• Be polite and respectful. Using offensive language is not helpful and may actually have a negative effect on the person reading the letter.

• Write clearly. It should be easy for someone to read your letter. If you don’t type the letter, please make sure your writing is plain and legible.

• If you represent an organization, please write your letter on professional letterhead.

• Letters should be addressed to Governor Jay Nixon. His address is below:

o Governor Jay Nixon
201 W. Capitol Avenue
Jefferson City, MO 65101-1556
Fax: (573) 751-1588

• It would also help if you send a copy of your letter to Steve Long, Chair of the Board of Probation and Parole. His address is below:

oSteve Long, Chairman
Board of Probation and Parole
1511 Christy
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Fax: (573) 751-8501

SAMPLE CLEMENCY LETTERS FOR REGGIE CLEMONS and more info on the case is at: justice for reggie clemons

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Danny Glover -- Executing Reggie Would Be a Grave Miscarriage of Justice - Posted on March 21, 2006

I’m a child of the Civil Rights Movement. I was seven years old when the U.S. Supreme Court made the decision in Brown v. Board of Education to end segregation in public schools. From that point on, I followed the movement, initially through my parents, who were active members of the NAACP. They were postal employees who were very involved in restructuring their union after it was desegregated in 1948. It was a kind of empowerment that my parents embraced; the Civil Rights Movement was tangential to their own struggle. I was always privy to the discussions going on. Those were the things that shaped me. From an early age, I became active in social justice issues.

It is no surprise then, that I have always been opposed to the death penalty, both in principle and in practice. As a matter of policy, I do not support the use of homicide as an official tool of the state, particularly since the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent to crime. In practice, we have seen how unfairly the death penalty has been applied in this country. It is a punishment that has been almost exclusively reserved for the poor and people of color. “Justice” does not come easily to those who are the least empowered, and we have seen the chilling results: over one hundred and twenty people have been exonerated and released from death row in modern times, some of them only hours before they were to be executed. One shudders to think how many innocent people have gone to their deaths.

There are some cases that stand out because they are so egregious. Reggie Clemons is an example of such a case.

Reggie’s case is marked by the familiar litany of abuses found in so many capital cases: police brutality, prosecutorial misconduct, racial bias and ineffective assistance of trial counsel. It is also a textbook case of reasonable doubt, a fundamental element of our criminal justice system that requires especially intense consideration in death penalty cases.

And yet these are not the only reasons to believe that executing Reggie would be a grave miscarriage of justice. Executing Reggie would continue the legacy of state sponsored homicide as a solution to acts of violence. It would create additional victims, continuing the cycle of violence. Carrying out this execution would not bring back the victims; nor would it ensure that future crimes are not committed. Instead, Reggie’s mother and father would lose a son. His brothers and sisters would lose a sibling. His daughter would lose her father.

Like my parents before me, I believe that we have a responsibility to act whenever we see grave injustices. We must act and believe that we can change things for the better. Collectively, we can stop this execution from going forward. Please join me in urging Governor Blunt to grant clemency to Reggie Clemons.