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Response to latest death row exoneration
Below are the latest action requests from FADP.
If you have any questions, please e-mail fadp@fadp.org
John Ballard finally walked out of Union Correctional Institution just before midnight on February 24, 2006, more than 24 hours after the state Supreme Court set him free.
FADP asks you to take ACTION TODAY:
- #1 – Call the State News Editor of your local newspaper
#2 – Write a letter to the editor
#3 – Write a brief, hand written letter to the Governor
ACTION #1
Please call the news room of your local newspaper. Ask to speak with the editor who covers STATE news. Ask that person if they are aware that the 26th innocent prisoner was released from death row yesterday, and then ask them to please cover the story.
ACTION #1 – part two
Similar to Action #1 – call the assignment desk of your local television stations with news programs.
ACTION #2
Write a brief letter to the editor, making one to three of the following points:
On February 23rd, The Florida Supreme Court ordered the release of John Ballard from Florida’s death row, where he served almost three years for a crime he did not commit, making him the 26th prisoner to be exonerated and released from a death sentence in Florida since 1972. Florida leads the nation in wrongful convictions.
Urge an immediate halt to all executions in Florida, and the creation of an independent commission to examine the fairness and accuracy of Florida’s legal system.
Urge Floridians to educate themselves about this issue by visiting the Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty web page at www.FADP.org or by calling 800-973-6548.
Urge the creation of a fund to compensate the wrongly convicted in Florida. Currently no such fund exists in Florida. Encourage Floridians to provide to Joahn Ballard what the State of Florida will not by contributing to FADP’s Exonerated Prisoner Relief Fund via FADP.org or by calling 800-973-6548.
Urge accountability and responsibility on the part of public officials. In the Melendez case (exoneration #24), the prosecutor lied to the jury, misleading them about the credibility of his witnesses in order to secure a conviction and death sentence. Such behavior should never be tolerated. When prosecutors knowingly send the wrong person to prison, they leave the real murderer free to hurt more innocent people. This is criminal!
Please e-mail a copy of your letter to fadp@fadp.org. If/when your letter is printed, please send an original news clipping to FADP.
ACTION #3 Write a simple, hand written note to Governor Jeb Bush expressing concern about the number of death row exonerations in Florida, and urging an immediate moratorium on executions. The address is:
- Governor Jeb Bush
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
Telephone: (850) 488-4441 or
FAX (850) 487-0801
E-mail: fl_governor@eog.state.fl.us
Alternate e-mail: Jebbush@jeb.org
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
800-973-6548
https://www.fadp.org
PMB 335
2603 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hwy
Gainesville, FL 32609
(800) 973-6548
fadp@fadp.org