I chose this strong title to emphasize how very real the threat of execution still is. Recently, the renowned Law journal, The Legal Intelligencer wrote a two part series looking at the Spisak case, which the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments for on October 13. Apparently the US Supreme Court is waiting for a decision on this case before ruling on the Philadelphia DA's request to re-impose the death penalty on Mumia Abu-Jamal, without giving Mumia a new penalty hearing. Here are the links to the two Legal Intelligencer articles:

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202434453364&Ohio_Death_Penalty_C...

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202434533155&Mumia_AbuJamals_Life...

Below here is a new article written by Jeff Mackler, a longtime Mumia supporter, who looks at this serious threat of execution that is currently pending.

For those of you who appreciate efforts by churches to practice what they preach a bit more, Broad Street Ministry (the congregation I participate in) is having an anti-death penalty event on Good Friday.

Here's the official description:

"EXECUTE ART, NOT PEOPLE" is a unique way to remember the death of Jesus on the cross at the hands of his government. BSM will gather Philadelphia to hear from two former death row inmates, Shujaa Graham and Darby Tillis who were exonerated by DNA evidence, will be speaking about their personal stories and reflections on the penal system/death penalty. There will be music, art, conversation, and ways to get involved in this issue that makes our society more brutal and less just.

315 South Broad Street b/t Spruce and Pine
6:00pm -8:00pm

The event is a collaboration of Pennsylvanians Against the Death Penalty (PADP), Broadstreet Ministry (BSM), and Witness to Innocence (WTI).

We want different artists to showcase their vision for a different society, a different world, beginning in Philadelphia.

Reading the news these days gets me excited about what seems like some significant wins for criminal justice reform.

As most of you probably already read, NJ abolished the death penalty today and earlier this month there have been several changes to federal drug sentencing laws .

It will be interesting to see if NJ's decision will give more momentum to the PA anti-death penalty work and can be leveraged to force a more timely response to the demand for a moratorium. It will also be interesting to see how other criminal justice related work specific to PA laws, like changing the terms of life sentences, can benefit from the public attention to these other changes.