Take Action Here!
Dear Friends and Fellow Abolitionists,
As you surely know, Friday morning, Idaho is facing what could be its first execution in 17 years. Paul E. Rhoades is scheduled to be executed in Idaho on November 18, 2011 for the murder of Susan Michelbacher and Stacy Baldwin in 1987. He is also serving a sentence of life imprisonment for the murder of Nolan Haddon. More background information is here. A ruling is expected Monday on a challenge to the constitutionality of Idaho's lethal injection protocol.
Take Action!
On November 4th, the Idaho Commission on Paroles and Pardon declined to grant a clemency hearing in the case, thus precluding Governor Otter from even considering Rhoades' request for clemency. NCADP's allies in Idaho have called for the public to ask the Commission on Paroles and Pardon to reconsider its decision and to grant a full and proper clemency hearing for Mr. Rhoades. Please click here to send a letter to the Idaho Commission on Paroles and Pardon.
Please also call the Commission on Paroles and Pardon, and the office of the Governor, every day starting Monday morning, and ask ot hers to join you in doing so.
The message is simple: "I oppose the death penalty - we can be safe without it. Please stop the execution."
Get Active!
NCADP is supporting our allies in Idaho. Idahoans Against the Death Penalty has been holding weekly vigils for years, and in the past weeks has really stepped up its activities. Currently you can find them via their Facebook page, here. On Saturday there was a rally at the statehouse - here are photos, and here is some of the news coverage.
For those who wish to join the protest at the prison Friday morning, here is the info: "The execution is 8am and we're protesting starting at 7am. Directions: From I-84 at Boise, take the Orchard Street exit (Exit 52) and head south for 0.2 miles. Orchard becomes West Gowen Road. After 0.5 miles, take a right on Pleasant Valley Road. Travel six miles till you see an arch on the left with the words, "Idaho State Penitentiary." Park on the road and enter through the north gate." If you are going, the prison would like you to know this.
The execution in Idaho is only one of four scheduled this week in the United States, but if it goes forward, Idaho will be in the national spotlight. Whatever happens, it's clear that it is time to change the law. NCADP is bringing a representative of Idahoans Against the Death Penalty to our Annual Death Penalty Abolitionist Leadership Training Institute in Washington, DC next weekend, and we're committed to supporting ongoing strategic efforts to abolish the death penalty in Idaho.
Please join us here. Together we will make the difference.
Thank you.
Yours in the Struggle,
--abe
Abraham J. Bonowitz, Director of Affiliate Support
The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
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