Last August Governor Rick Perry commuted death sentence of Kenneth Foster, after thousands of Texans (including Texaskaos community) contacted him.
I just wanted to send out a Universal Greeting to all of you and let you know that I'm thinking of you all and wishing you all a VERY Blessed Holiday Season. I'm as well as can be and am thankful to have this day to share with all of you and keep on pushing in the struggle. Regardless of what I lack here, keep in mind that your Joy is my Joy and I thrive off of that Universal connection. Keep the important things in mind around this time and focus on how to make the next year better. I know I am!
Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday commuted death row inmate Kenneth Foster's sentence to life, following a 6-1 recommendation by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
"After carefully considering the facts of this case, along with the recommendations from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, I believe the right and just decision is to commute Foster's sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment," Gov. Perry said. "I am concerned about Texas law that allows capital murder defendants to be tried simultaneously, and it is an issue I think the legislature should examine."
I confess, I'm shocked. I never expected to have this result. We had to fight it, but I didn't expect to prevail.
Congratulations, and tremendous gratitude to all those activists and ordinary citizens who rallied to Kenneth's cuase.
Aov. Rick Perry accepted a recommendation from the state parole board and said today he would spare condemned prisoner Kenneth Foster from execution and commute his sentence to life.
Foster had been scheduled to die tonight.
"After carefully considering the facts of this case, along with the recommendation from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, I believe the right and just decision is to commute Foster's sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment," Perry said in a statement.
"I am concerned about Texas law that allowed capital murder defendants to be tried simultaneously and it is an issue I think the legislature should examine."
The seven-member parole board had voted 6-1 to recommend the commutation.
Contact the Governor by Telephone and Thank him for this decision!
As you all know we are not going to have an answer until tomorrow from the BPP. What we need to do is contact any journalists or media contacts you have and ask them to call the Board members and ask them what is going on? Why is there even a decision to contemplate? As Keith Hampton mentioned earlier tonight at the Press conference in Austin - If clemency is denied to those who kill and also to those who do not - then who is it for? If they deny it to
Kenneth then they will be making a strong statement that clemency in Texas is truly non existent and the process is strictly a formality. We need journalists to call each member and get on their ass and state this to them and put the heat up a notch - make them know that if they dont do what is right the media will hold them accountable - each individual member (we
will know how each member votes). Below are the phone numbers to each of the board members. They must know they are being watched closely by the media and there
names will be all over the papers if they deliver an
injustice.
(Odds are long, but we have to do what we can. - promoted by boadicea)
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles is expected to announce its decision on Kenneth Foster by 1 PM today, Wednesday, August 29. The Governor of Texas can either accept or reject the board's decision.
The Campaign to Save Kenneth Foster will hold a rally and press conference to respond to the board's decision at 5:00 PM at the Texas Governor's Mansion (Lavaca at 11th).
There will also be a vigil/protest from 5:30 - 6:30 today against the execution of John Amador, which is scheduled for today. Amador's is the second of three executions scheduled in Texas this week.
Today, I delivered the clemency letter written by Rep. Dutton and signed by other state representatives to Governor Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The letter was signed by Dutton, Mike Villareal, Eddie Rodriguez, Donna Howard, Alma Allen, Terri Hodge and Ruth Jones McClendon.
Also, Sylvester Turner, Helen Giddings and Dora Olivo are sending their own letter tomorrow.
Also, we know that Elliot Naishtat, Lon Burnam and Jessica Farrar wrote their own letters earlier and sent them to the Governor and the BPP
So, we have 13 confirmed Texas state representatives who have signed letters in support of clemency for Kenneth Foster.
A couple of other state legislators have told me that they may write their own letters tomorrow to the Governor, but they are not confirmed, so I won't mention their names.
I have just heard that the Board of Pardons and Paroles has delayed their decision on Foster until 1 PM on Wednesday. They had planned to announce it by the 28th, but now they are taking one extra day.
That means there is still time for other legislators to write the Board of Pardons and Paroles and ask them to vote in favor of clemency for Kenneth Foster. Clemency could take the form of commuting the sentence from death to life in prison or some other term of imprisonment, or the BPP could recommend a stay of execution, so that Foster can try to find a court to hear the new evidence that supports his factual innocence, which is what three members of the Court of Criminal Appeals would like to see. They would like him to be able to pursue his factual innocence claims.
Please take a moment and call your own elected state representative or senator now and leave a voice mail for them asking them to write their own letter to the Board of Pardons and Paroles and send it to the BPP tomorrow, August 28.
SURROUND THE MANSION WITH CLEMENCY LETTERS SATURDAY!
Saturday, August 25 at 3:00 PM
Governor's Mansion, 11th and Lavaca.
Join family and supporters of Kenneth as we make a chain of clemency letters around the Governor's mansion. Bring your own personal letter to Governor Perry to read and add to the chain!
FAMILY MEMBER'S FORUM IN HOUSTON ON SATURDAY!
You are invited to meet Kenneth's father, grandfather, and wife on Saturday, August 25, from 2-4 PM at St. Saviour Baptist Church at 5202 Tronewood in Northeast Houston. Hear how someone who shot no one, who killed no one, can be executed in Texas.
(It is a grave responsibility for the state to exercise the power of life and death. Those who wield it in our name should be reminded to do so carefully. - promoted by boadicea)
If you would like to help us stop the execution of Kenneth Foster, here is something you can do from home on Friday Aug 24. The execution is scheduled for Aug 30 and the Board of Pardons and Paroles is expected to announce their clemency decision by Aug 28.
Call your state representative Friday (or just call any and all state representatives) and urge them to sign on to the clemency letter that has been drafted by Rep Dutton. The letter asks Governor Perry and the Board of Pardons and Paroles to commute Foster's sentence to life in prison. Tell members to contact Dutton's Houston office, if they would like to co-sign the letter.
I will be in the Capitol building Friday Aug 24 visiting legislative offices and asking members to co-sign the letter. Anyone can call me (Scott Cobb) at 512-689-1544, if they have questions or if they find a state representative who would like to co-sign the letter. Also, call me if you talk to a member who does not have a copy of the letter and would like one taken to their office. All House members should have received a faxed copy of the letter, but some might not have received it.
7:00 PM Hundreds of protesters have arrived at the Governor's Mansion demanding Governor Rick Perry to stop execution of Kenneth Foster.
7:10 PM Half of the Lavaca street is filled with protesters.
7:15 PM People have blocked Lava street. If you are in Austin area you should come and check it out. Its an amazing scene!
7:20 PM About 10 APD and DPS police cars have arrived. No arrests yet.
7:30 PM APD cars have blocked the street from both sides with people inside.
7:45 PM About 10 people are sitting in front of the entrance gate to the governor's mansion, probably planning a civil disobedience. However it seems that the governor and DPS have decided to don't arrest anybody in order to avoid media attention.
(One of the gravest responsibilities of a government is its power of life and death under law. Whatever you believe about the death penalty in general, in the Foster case, it is applied in an appallingly cavalier manner. - promoted by boadicea)
On August 30, 2007, Texas, the state that executes more people than any in the country, plans to deliver a lethal injection to Kenneth Foster, Jr. While this may seem like nothing out of the ordinary for a state that will perform its 400th execution this summer, Kenneth's case is unique. He killed no one. The state of Texas will be the first to admit this. It seems unthinkable that a man who did not even touch the gun that ended the life of Michael LaHood, Jr. on August 14, 1996 in San Antonio, Texas would be sent to his death for such a crime. What makes this possible is gross misuse the Law of Parties. As the Austin Chronicle has put it, he was in "the wrong place at the wrong time." A number of states have laws that enable prosecutors to hold those merely present at the scene of a crime legally responsible. Texas is the only state that applies this statute in capital cases, making it the only place in the United States where a person can be factually innocent of murder and still face the death penalty.
