Juan Melendez to speak at ND on Wednesday, 10/3

Juan Melendez, an innocent man who spent 18 years on death row in Florida, will speak this Wednesday, October 3 at 5 pm in DeBartolo 102. His lecture is open to the public; his trip to ND is sponsored by the Hispanic Law Student Association and the American Constitution Society of the ND Law School.
Juan Melendez became the 24th person exonerated and released from Florida's death row when he was freed on January 3, 2002 after spending almost 18 years facing execution for a crime he did not commit. The photo above was taken upon his release from prison.
Melendez was convicted in 1984 at the age of 33 with no physical evidence linking him to the crime and testimony from questionable witnesses. In fact, prosecutors concealed evidence from the court in order to protect the guilty man, a police informant. Melendez's conviction fell apart when the police informant's confession came to light in 1999 - a confession that prosecutors knew about before they took Melendez to trial.
Upon his release, the state of Florida gave Melendez what they give to every inmate that leaves prison - $100.
Contact us for more information on Melendez and his lecture, at notredameask@gmail.com.

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Letter from Inmates to Indiana Parole Board

This post is long overdue but is certainly still relevant as tonight, David Woods will be executed. The following is a letter written and signed by twenty death row inmates at Michigan City. Bear in mind that they are talking about a man who was 19 at the time of the crime and clearly poses no threat to society from within prison and hasn't given any evidence in his 23 years on death row that he is a danger to the guards or other inmates.

This is who Indiana is executing tonight.

Dear Parole Board Members:

This letter is in support of clemency for our friend and brother David (Dave) L. Woods, who has been a part of the Indiana State Prison Death Row Unit for twenty-two years now. Dave's presence on the Death Row Unit has had a stabilizing effect on us all because of his peaceful and accommodating nature. Dave has never refused to assist any of us in a time of distress or need, and has gone out of his way to be a friend to all. Dave has been a Range Porter several times over the years, a job that requires patience, kindness, and an attitude of caring for others. This is a position of trust amongst staff and prisoners alike. Dave is a man whose conduct conforms to a high standard of propriety and correct behavior. Dave has never, in his 22 years on the Death Row Unit, demonstrated any violent side to his decent character. We, the men that have been touched by Dave's friendship on a daily basis during these past 22 years, beseech and implore you to set a precedent in logic and mercy based on the objectives of the Indiana Department of Corrections, and spare Dave this sentence of death by execution, which diminishes us all.

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Seats still left for Vigil!

At approximately midnight tonight, after 23 years on death row, David Woods will be executed at the Michigan City Prison. We fully intend to demonstrate to the Governor that this is not done in our name.

For those of you in the South Bend area, there are still several seats available on our bus to Michigan City tonight. The bus will be leaving at 9:45pm from McKenna Circle on campus which is located on Notre Dame Ave. Please register ahead of time so we know to expect you!

Due to the time change between South Bend and Michigan City, the bus will be returning back to campus around 2:30am. The bus is free of charge and we encourage anyone who is interested to please join us for this important event.

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U.S. Supreme Court overturns 3 Texas death sentences

From the NY Times:

"WASHINGTON, April 25 — The Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned death sentences in three cases from Texas, all by votes of 5 to 4 and all with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy providing the margin of victory to his four more liberal colleagues.

...The three decisions on Wednesday provided the latest chapter in the Supreme Court’s dialogue with the two lower courts, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which handle appeals from the Texas death row, the country’s most active. As an exasperated Supreme Court majority has seen it, these courts have found repeated and unpersuasive reasons to evade the Supreme Court’s evolving death penalty jurisprudence.

It was that jurisprudence that was the underlying focus of the dispute among the justices. A 1996 federal law, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, raised the bar against federal court review of state prisoners’ petitions for writs of habeas corpus.

...In the years since the 1996 law took effect, the court has been extremely reluctant to find error on the part of state courts of the type that would permit inmates to gain access to federal court. It remains to be seen whether the rulings on Wednesday will extend beyond the court’s sustained annoyance with the Fifth Circuit to signify a more expansive view toward habeas corpus, a prospect that perhaps explains the vigor of the chief justice’s dissent."

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Reporting from the David Woods Clemency Hearing

I will be attending David Woods' clemency hearing in Indianapolis which begins at 9am today (4/23) and will do my best to update this post as soon as possible after the testimony phase of the hearing and then again after the board reads their recommendation. Check this post regularly throughout the day for updates and quotes from the hearing.

I will provide an objective report in this space as well as a separate follow-up post with my analysis of the proceedings for those interested in my take on how it went.

Stay tuned!

-Will McAuliffe
Co-director of ND ASK

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Clemency Petition for David Woods

Please sign our petition calling for Governor Mitch Daniels to grant David Woods clemency! It only takes a few moments and, with enough signatures, may help sway the Governor towards clemency.

Additionally, please notify all interested family and friends of this important petition. Together we just may be able to stop the execution!

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ND ASK to Hold Execution Vigil at Michigan City Prison

Notre Dame's Campus Ministry has been generous enough to sponsor a bus load of protesters for a vigil at Michigan City Prison on the night of David Woods' execution (May 3rd-May 4th, the execution occurs at midnight). ND ASK is now taking seat reservations for the bus. The transportation is free of charge and is open to anyone who is interested, including anyone outside the Notre Dame community.

We hope to fill the bus and show our support for a moratorium against the death penalty while bearing witness to the tragedy of capital punishment. Details and updates on the vigil will follow. Please fill out the form below to reserve a seat. Vigil updates and details to follow via e-mail and on the blog.

Additionally, plans for a vigil in remembrance of the victim, Juan Placencia, and his family are in the works and details will be posted soon.

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Help Stop David Woods' Execution!

The details of David Woods' tortured life paint a picture of a child and young man deprived of care, guidance, and love. The failure of his parents and of appropriate state intervention culminated in the tragic killing of Juan Placencia on April 7, 1984. The following are some of the details that we know about Woods' life before his crime:

• Woods' father left within the first few years of his life and his mother was an abusive alcoholic.
• His mother would often return home from bars with strangers and engage in sexual activity in full view of her children, at one point even 'offering' two of his sisters to motorcycle gang members who had taken to regularly partying and engaging in sexual activity at the home.
• His mother would chain the refrigerator shut and only give the children food as a reward for stealing.
• David Woods is borderline retarded, having tested in the low 70s to mid 80s on various IQ tests.
• Woods was at one point removed from the environment by the state and placed in a juvenile facility where he was sexually assaulted.

David Woods was 18 years old at the time of his crime and has now spent 20 years -- over half of his life -- on death row.

This information is provided thanks to the tireless diligence and efforts of Amnesty International's Urgent Action Network and the IICACP. More information on David Woods' life and legal proceedings can be found at both of these sites. Details on taking action can be found below by expanding the post.


To take action against Woods' execution, write the clemency board before April 23rd at:

Indiana Parole Board
Indiana Government Center - South, Room E321
302 W. Washington Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2278

Fax them at 317.232.5738

Additionally, appeals can be sent to Governor Mitch Daniels up until the execution at:

Governor Mitch Daniels
Office of the Governor, Statehouse
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2797

Fax Governor Daniels at 317.232.3443

Additionally, he can be emailed through a form on his website here.

Please contact us at notredameask@gmail.com for any additional information or assistance in this urgent matter.

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Death Row Inmate Akeem Aki-Khuam Takes Plea for Life

Akeem Aki-Khuam, formerly Edward Earl Williams, plead guilty to three counts of murder in exchange for life in prison. Khuam was convicted in 1993 for the murder of Michael Richardson, Debra Ann Rice, and Robert Hollins, with three accomplices, all of whom have plead guilty and are serving life sentences.

Khuam's death sentence was overturned in 2002 U.S. District Court Ruling, but prosecutors have been in the process of retrying the case. Khuam now awaits his sentencing which is scheduled for May 7-9, initially the starting date set for his now terminated retrial.

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Execution Date Set for Indiana Inmate David Woods

This past week, the Indiana Supreme Court set an execution date of May 4 for David Leon Woods. Woods was sentenced in March of 1985 for the lethal stabbing of Juan Placenia, his 77 year old neighbor in Garrett, Indiana. Woods was 19 years old at the time of the murder and has now been on death row for 22 years. Woods has filed a motion to join a suit begun by Norman Timberlake which challenges the legitimacy and legality of lethal injection. Woods' attorney, William Van Der Pol, Jr. "...contends the Supreme Court erred..." regarding Wood's eligibility for death, citing mental retardation as a reason for Woods' exemption.

ND ASK will be organizing a vigil to be held at Michigan City the night of the execution as well as demonstration in South Bend and petitions to suspend the use of the death penalty in Indiana, citing fundamental errors in the process.

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X-Row: Where Common Sense Goes to Die

Conversations with death row inmates are never really as casual or pedestrian as they would appear to be on a simple written transcript. In fact, it's when the topic is the most common or mundane that it always hits me that the person I'm talking to has committed a horrible crime; a crime horrible enough that the state has sent them to death row to await execution.

My latest visit left me --as these visits usually do-- with so many more questions than answers: What does it feel like to wake up in a prison cell? What is it like to wake up missing a part of your family because they've been murdered? How can these two different sides of the equation be reconciled? What is this system of capital punishment supposed to achieve in all this?

For some clarity, I turn to these simple facts:

My friend on death row killed people.

He is sorry for this every day; at times agonizing over his crimes.

He wants to learn and ultimately to educate others about his mistakes and the dangers of drug use. He wants to give back to society somehow in an effort to try and repay his debt to society.

The state, on the other hand, is going to spend more taxpayer money and judicial resources to fight his every appeal until they've killed him.

Does this make any sense? Does it make any sense whatsoever that this guy who has done something terrible and wants to attempt to make up for it is being obstructed from doing so? Does it make any sense that the state is pouring tons of money into trying to kill this guy that they have safely locked up and that gives me a handshake and hug each time I visit?

He has a debt to pay. Killing him would be the easy way out. Let's make him write an autobiography about how drugs destroyed his life and pitched him into prison. Let's make him tell his story about how he wakes up each day with the guilt and pain that only a repentant murderer can know. Let's force him to invent a constructive means of reducing recidivism; a program built from the perspective of a repeat offender.

Make him pay with his life, not with his death.

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