 Last night the State of Florida conducted its 107th execution; its first execution of this year. Even though the execution was carried out, I remain so proud of the FADP team, and all of you, who worked tirelessly to try to stop this state sanctioned murder from happening. More than 70 people joined us in the pouring rain across from the death chamber at Florida State Prison to ring the bell and say “Not in My Name.” After 19 agonizing minutes, James was pronounced dead, and we released this statement: Tonight, we the people of the State of Florida, killed 64 year old James Ford. We killed a man who had the emotional and intellectual capacity of a teenager. We killed the father of three daughters, whom he loved and who loved him back. We killed a man who was no longer a danger to anyone, who could have and should have lived out his remaining days in prison. When the Governor signed James’ warrant last month and the guards came to pull him from his cell to take him to death watch, James was doing his weekly bible study with his death row neighbors. With tears in his eyes as he was hauled away, he thanked one of his neighbors for teaching him so much of the Lord’s word over the years. The State wants you to believe that everyone on death row is a monster. That they are subhuman, or less than, or somehow “other.” It’s simply not true. We ripped a man away from his bible study and led him to his death. These are the people we are killing. James is more than the worst thing he has ever done. We grieve for James’ victims, and we acknowledge and grieve that his crimes left another child parentless. We grieve for his daughters, who are now also without their father. But this case could have ended 30 years ago with a life sentence, and the healing for the victims could have started then. There is so much misinformation and fear-mongering in the State of Florida right now. Today, as the State prepared to kill James, our legislature hurriedly passed, and the Governor signed, sweeping anti-immigrant legislation. This legislation included an “automatic” and “mandatory” death penalty for immigrants who are convicted of capital crimes. No jury, no individualized sentence, just automatic death. This is of course blatantly unconstitutional, a fact which our lawmakers knew and boasted about. When the respect for the rule of law is lost, we are all in grave danger. The death penalty debases us all. The hatred debases us all. We have to do better. Onward, P.S. Your contributions are necessary for us to continue this important work. Please consider making a donation today.
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Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Copyright © 2024 Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP)  | |||||||||||||||||
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