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November
21, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 20Oakland,
CA
Local actions planned against death penalty
Unless clemency
is granted, the U.S. will soon mark a grim milestone — the 1000th
execution since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in
1976. Executions resumed in 1977 and some are planned between Nov. 28
and Dec. 4.
Local Catholics along with several justice organizations across the Bay
Area, state and nation are increasing their efforts to abolish capital
punishment and obtain clemency for those who are awaiting execution.
Upcoming events and actions include:
Nov. 30: A day of action against scheduled executions
will take place on the front steps of San Francisco City Hall at noon.
This is part of a worldwide action organized by Sant’Egidio, a Catholic
social justice community in Rome.
Dec. 6: Capital Punishment: Who Are We Executing?, a film and
discussion about death row and the death penalty, at the Dominican Sisters
of San Rafael, 1520 Grand Ave., San Rafael, 7 p.m. Free admission.
Dec. 11: Sister Helen Prejean, acclaimed death penalty opponent,
will speak at the Bill of Rights Day Celebration 2005, San Francisco Marriott
Hotel, 55 Fourth St., San Francisco.
There is a reception at 2 p.m. with the program following at 3 p.m. Tickets:
$25 per person, $10 students and low income. http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?binid=1&bevaID=97703.
Dec. 12: St. John the Baptist Parish in El Cerrito is
hosting a 7:30 p.m. vigil to pray for Stanley Williams, who may be executed
that night, and to pray for all victims of violence and for an end to
the death penalty. Following the prayer service, those who want to go
to San Quentin to continue the vigil there will carpool from St. John’s
Church, 11150 San Pablo Ave.
If the execution takes place, St. Joseph Parish in Fremont, a participant
in For Whom the Bells Toll, will hang a banner on the church fronting
Mission Blvd., that reads: “St. Joseph’s Catholic Community
believes in the consistent ethic of all human life.” The parish
hangs this banner each time someone is executed in the U.S. The banner
lists the number of executions since 1977.
The Holy Family Sisters and the Mission San Jose Dominican Sisters, also
in Fremont, plan to ring their bells if Stanley is executed as they do
every time an execution takes place in the U.S.
Death Penalty Focus in San Francisco is urging support for the passage
of the California Moratorium on Executions Act (AB1121) that would suspend
all executions in the state until 2009 while a study by the California
Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice takes place to evaluate
the fairness of criminal justice procedures.
For more information, visit www.deathpenalty.org.
