It’s been a while since I’ve written to you, and I have to be honest about the reasons for my silence. We had 6 executions last year. We have not had an execution in Florida since October 3, 2023. We have no idea why, and no way of knowing why. And so I’ve been afraid to talk about the elephant in the room. Afraid to write to you for fear of jinxing something, and having the Governor set an execution date.
And yet, I know we cannot live in fear. We must make the most of these lulls.
I understand that we’re most driven when faced with imminent execution dates and specific cases; I know that makes it easier to mobilize. But the reality is that we have a long-range plan to abolish Florida’s death penalty, and we need to be organized and ready when the political timing is right for the legislative push.
What can you do today to support the two main things we need to win?
First – we need more supporters in the State of Florida. Our number of subscribers is at an all-time high, and we are proud to say that FADP has supporters all over the globe committed to ending Florida’s death penalty. While that is impressive, we need to show Florida’s lawmakers that this is a critical issue for Floridians.
So, my first task is for my Florida friends: This month, will you ask 10 of your Florida friends, family or colleagues to join us at FADP? If all of our Florida supporters did that, we would have over 20,000 Floridians committed to ending Florida’s death penalty. For my National and International friends – do you know someone who lives in Florida? Call them, text them, send them a link to our social media, and ask them to join us now.
Second – we cannot do this work without donations, large and small. Last month you met Armando, our new Director of Organizing. He is hard at work understanding Florida’s broken death penalty system, and is poised to travel all around the state to meet with you all and gather supporters in our key legislative districts. Florida is a large state, and while I pride myself on keeping a tight rein on our expenses, the cost of doing the organizing work is real.
So, my next task is for ALL of you: can you spare a $10 donation today? If even half of you did that, we would hit $5,000, which would help cover Armando’s travel expenses and start to enable him and our team to reach every corner of the State of Florida.
Also, and I have to write this, if there’s an execution date set in the next few days, I am vowing now not to blame the fact that I sent this email. We cannot live in fear. We will take advantage of this breathing room so that our army of supporters will be ready to end this death penalty war once and for all.
Onward,
Maria DeLiberato
FADP Executive Director
P.S. FADP is now able to receive donations via PayPal, ApplePay, and Venmo as well as by debit and credit cards, cash, and checks. Thank you for your support!