News from LifeLines

The 2011 Autumn Conference

LifeLines Autumn Conference 2011 The autumn conference was held on October 15th at the Amnesty Human Rights Action Centre, London, where we welcomed two guest speakers, Wilbert Rideau and Caroline Koivisto.

Our morning speaker was Wilbert Rideau, who had been sentenced to death in 1961 by an all-white, all-male jury, and spent 44 years in prison, twelve of them on death row, before he was finally re-sentenced to manslaughter and released immediately.

Wilbert began his talk by saying how it was a real pleasure to be with us, as after 44 years in prison it was good to be anywhere else!! He said LifeLines are volunteers bringing sunshine and hope to death row prisoners, where friendship and support is sorely needed. Wilbert was tried four times on the same charge after a robbery went wrong; his victim was a white bank teller. Reaction to the crime was swift and intense and he barely missed being lynched by angry mobs. At that time sadly black people were always assumed to be guilty. He could not afford to hire his own attorney and he was assigned two lawyers who had just ten days to file a defence. This was during the time of the Jim Crow laws, before the Civil Rights Movement. Twelve white men sentenced Wilbert to death after no witnesses were called in his defence. No transcript was made of the trial and it was nearly a year before he was able to appeal, but again he received the death sentence from an all-white jury. This happened three times and the third jury took only eight minutes to return the verdict. He was sent to Angola State Penitentiary, and he lived for twelve years on death row. Restlessness was a constant factor of living in a tiny cell, always indoors with no sunshine and little exercise. The toll on bodies and minds meant a struggle to control sanity and the need to justify oneself for simply living.

Wilbert eventually immersed himself in books, which gave him something to fasten on to, and reading connected him to the world in a positive way. As he sat on death row the books became his parents, his friends and his lifeline. Wilbert read the conference an abridged extract from his book, In the Place of Justice: ‘The first book I read was Fairoaks, an historical novel by Frank Yerby that Thomas Goins recommended and said, “It’ll give you an idea of how white folks been messing over our people as long as this country has been here”, handing me the paperback through the bars. The enslavement of Africans in the American South had never received more than a passing mention in the history classes I attended, but this book brought it to life and ignited something in me. I wanted to know more about slavery, about history and everything. It helped me to survive the maddening monotony and boredom of the cell. The more I learned, the more I sought. Reading allowed me to feel empathy, to emerge from my cocoon of self-centeredness and appreciate the humanness of others. I came to understand that the problems that overwhelmed my teenage mind could have been sorted out but instead led to a spur of the moment decision that had devastating, permanent consequences.’*

People like Malcolm X and Mahatma Gandhi began to inspire Wilbert to think that maybe he could do something and contribute to the world. He decided to become a writer and wrote a column for a newsletter and freelanced for a white free press. The Louisiana State Penitentiary was the toughest prison in the States but the Director, C. Paul Phelps, a man ahead of his time, thought that a newsletter might make a difference and people would support change. He also understood that relations between inmates and personnel might replace the prison grapevine and help dispel misconceptions. Wilbert was made editor of The Angolite magazine and practised uncensored journalism for the next twenty years from his cell. He and his team were given unprecedented information about the staff and their jobs, and were allowed phones to enable them to contact outside organisations. They had a camera and were given freedom to publish any story as long as it could be substantiated. They met with resistance at first from officials and prisoners, who didn’t like answering questions, but as they established themselves as fair to both sides, they began to gain co-operation from inmates, prison personnel and lawyers. They became widely respected in their world. Wilbert and his team also received many journalism awards. They started to help other prisoners and managed to get sick and elderly inmates released, and also helped to clean up neglect and enslavement behind bars. Wilbert found the toughest aspect of his 25 years as editor to have to return to death row to cover executions as his team were often the last people prisoners spoke to before dying.

Once he got off death row Wilbert started applying for clemency but was repeatedly turned down. This was devastating and heartbreaking to him and he was forced to find inner reserves of strength to cope. Twenty years after his third trial a fellow prisoner told him that the exclusion of blacks from juries had been outlawed by the Supreme Court, and that perhaps he did have a reason to appeal. As a high profile prisoner two top-rated lawyers came to his aid and they were able to investigate the old records and the crime.

For almost twenty years Wilbert became Louisiana’s most prominent prisoner, and he was allowed to travel throughout the state, with Billy Stevens, a New York reporter, lecturing about journalism and criminal justice at universities, yet still remaining a prisoner. There are of course also other inmates who create a decent life for themselves in prison, and some run groups in the prisons or become paralegals, writers, artists and tutors, so contributing something positive to their world. They become unrecognisable as the men they were when they entered death row, but success stories from inside prison don’t make news. The friendship and support we give to prisoners is a helping hand and something we should always remember.

In 1986 Wilbert was contacted by Linda LaBranche, who had started researching his case. Linda worked tirelessly for Wilbert and they became close friends. Finally Wilbert was tried for the fourth time, and the jury - comprising both white and black jurors - decided that he was guilty of manslaughter, a charge that carries a sentence of 21 years. Wilbert had served 44 years in total and therefore he was freed that same day. There is also a happy ending in that Linda and Wilbert got married and now live in Baton Rouge, Mississippi. Wilbert continues to travel but freely now, and spends his time flying around the world, giving talks and lectures to lawyers and interested groups – a free man at last.

*Abridged from In the Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Deliverance by Wilbert Rideau. Published by Profile Books, 2011

Caroline Koivisto, an author and journalist from Finland, spoke in the afternoon and said that it was a great honour to be with an organisation like LifeLines that she looked up to and respected. She had been honoured to hear Wilbert speak, and said it was a joy to see how dedicated everyone present was in supporting people on death row. Being among like-minded people had given her the strength to battle with what she calls ‘The Killing Machine’. She explained that she had worked with people on death row for over twenty years in her role as an author, film and documentary maker, and that her experience is limited to the work that she has done on capital punishment.

Caroline spoke about the question of guilt or innocence, and said that she was tired of people asking her ‘Did he do it?’ People are curious but it is a dangerous and tricky question. Caroline said that that we should look beyond the question of guilt and innocence or good or bad people and see the person beyond.

For some years she had written to a man in San Quentin. She told him that he was going to be in her book and that she was going to be objective. However, this proved difficult as he was very manipulative and she started to feel that he wasn’t innocent. She came to the conclusion that he had a borderline personality disorder and she could no longer be objective. She is not proud of the fact that she rejected him by writing and telling him their friendship was over, without looking beyond his illness, and this still bothers her. Now she doesn’t want to know all the details when looking at new cases and doesn’t judge anyone. It is so much easier to say that she is making a film about someone believed innocent but as an abolitionist it does not and should not matter.

Caroline asked if we try to present our friends on death row by saying how wonderful and kind they are, and maybe saying how much they suffered in their childhood. If the answer is yes, she asked why we do it. Is it because we want to protect him or because people cannot accept the real reason for his imprisonment? There are nice and kind people on death row but also there are those that are guilty beyond doubt and we must therefore simply focus on the unethical nature of the death penalty.

A few years ago she met with Donald Cabana in Mississippi, when he was the Director of Parchment Penitentiary. He told her that when he paints a picture of a convicted killer as a warm human being who would not harm a fly, it does not make sense to supporters of the death penalty, who judge him as a do-gooder. The people on death row are stripped of their identity and become just numbers in the system, but it is important that we see them as individuals. People, and especially Americans, know surprisingly little about what is going on, and this is due to the media.

It is important to remember that a man can live on death row and still be free in his mind. If you ask what a man can do with his freedom behind walls, Wilbert is a wonderful example. Caroline believes that the change must come from the prisoner himself, and when a man blames others he gives up the power to change. It is said that every man has three characters: that which he shows, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has. Caroline added a fourth character, ‘that which he dreams to have’. Supporters can do a lot to help with rehabilitation by writing and supporting the prisoners on death row, but she asked us to keep the balance in the other direction too and not to accept bad behaviour from our friends.

She said that she also brought good wishes to LifeLines from Texas Attorney, Mary Phelps. Mary is fighting to improve conditions in Polunsky and has also funded a non-profit organisation in memory of some executed prisoners on the row in Texas, called ‘Descending Eagles’.

Caroline said that someone once asked her why she continued to fight for murderers when there are so many other people in the world needing help. Her response was that it is not about saving one man’s life, as the names and the cases change, but about equality between rich and poor, weak and strong, black and white. There must exist no authority that is allowed to take human life and she believes that the strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.

Linda Colbourn

Speaker in the News

Erwin James, writer for The Guardian Newspaper, has interviewed Wilbert Rideau about his new book, nominated for the Crime Writers' Golden Dagger Award for non-fiction. Erwin's article can be Read by clicking here.

Wilbert Rideau was also a speaker at the LifeLines Autumn 2011 conference.

The 2010 Autumn Conference

The Autumn Conference was held once again at the Human Rights Action Centre in London, where we welcomed two speakers from very different backgrounds, who each brought their own perspective to issues that affect us all as members of LifeLines.

Tom Dunn began his talk with these words: ‘This is not about death, it is about Life’. He believes that the death penalty is a tragedy and a stain on human rights, but he is optimistic that it will end, and wants LifeLiners to share his optimism. Sister Helen Prejean has summed up the situation by saying support for the death penalty in the U.S. is ‘a mile wide and an inch deep’.

Tom spent 23 years working as a capital defence attorney. During his first eighteen months he personally litigated 68 death warrants in Florida, during the era of Governor Martinez. After these first eighteen months, during which he would sometimes not leave the office for two or three days at a time, Tom went to war, defending prisoners in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. As hard as it was, Tom describes that time as a vacation.

During his time as an attorney, Tom saw over 30 of his clients executed, and spent their final days with them, which was very hard because they were not only his clients; they were his friends. Despite this, he has been able to save more than three times as many people.

Tom’s children have been profoundly affected by his work. His wife is also a lawyer, and of their six daughters, none of them want to follow in their parents’ footsteps! One of his daughters was learning Arabic over the phone from Leo Jones when he was executed, following a 4-3 vote by the Florida Supreme Court (three of the judges voted against execution on the grounds that they thought Leo was innocent).

A case that Tom finds very difficult to talk about is that of William Henry Hance, who was executed in 1994. Tom took William’s case eighteen years after his conviction. William had never been examined by a defence mental health expert, and when this finally happened he was found to have an IQ of 69. Tom and his team also spoke to a juror who had been racially bullied and intimidated by other members of the jury, who then claimed their verdict was unanimous. The defence team were hopeful that William would not be executed as the new evidence unfolded. Tom’s parents and children heard on the news that the Supreme Court had issued a stay, so it was very difficult - not only for Tom, but for the whole family - the next day when they discovered William had been executed at midnight.

In 1995, Tom went to work at New York’s Capital Defender Office, in a small town near Buffalo. During his time there, none of Tom’s clients faced the death penalty as a result of his team’s work and what he describes as ‘incredible funding’. Of the five clients who went to trial, four were acquitted. The fifth was Doug Warney, who was arrested and confessed to a murder in Rochester, New York. Although his confession didn’t match the crime and he was suffering from AIDS dementia, Doug still only avoided the death penalty because Tom contacted the editor of The New York Times, who wrote two damning editorials. Despite this, Doug was convicted and spent ten years in prison before the real killer was found. The fact that he was suffering from AIDS dementia was never mentioned at his trial. There are so many factors that can affect whether or not someone is sentenced to death, including race (of the defendant, victim, judge, prosecutor or anyone else involved), where the crime was committed, bad police work (intentional or not) or a multitude of others. The system is so random that even the most qualified legal professional cannot predict who will or won’t end up on death row.

Tom reminded us that we should not judge anyone based on the minutes, or even seconds, during which their crime occurred. He briefly told the story of Willie and his LifeLines pen friend, Jan Hall. Tom believes that Jan, through her support and letters, helped to save Willie’s life, along with Tom’s wife, who was his co-counsel. At Willie’s clemency hearing, Jan gave amazing testimony about who her friend really was. Tom also believes that the fact his wife was suffering from cancer at the time of the hearing was an important factor. Today, Willie is alive, happy and working in prison, and his story shows how important it is that LifeLiners don’t give up and keep writing to our friends.

Freddie Miller spent four years in prison for his role in a murder-robbery while under the influence of drugs. If he had been in Georgia, Tom believes he would be on death row now. Instead Freddie is free, clean and working as the assistant manager of a soup kitchen. He is one of the kindest people Tom has ever met, and is part of the family.

Tom concluded his talk by telling us about the work he does now. In 2006, after ignoring a sore throat for three months and continuing to work all hours, he suffered from toxic shock as a result of strep throat. He nearly died, and was forced to reconsider his future. Although he has certainly not turned his back on his legal work, Tom decided it was time to start shaping some futures instead of waiting to fix them later. He now works at the Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Atlanta, which serves some of the poorest neighbourhoods. The vast majority of his students are African American.

Tom’s main target is the ‘school to prison pipeline’. The Department of Justice admits that it uses third and fourth grade reading levels to project future prison populations. Tom hopes to take a leadership role in the future to stop schools preparing children for prison.

In the afternoon we heard from Tim Newell, a former governor of Grendon Prison here in the UK. His role involved helping people who wanted to change and to understand what had happened in their lives to lead them to commit a serious crime, and to take responsibility for what they had done.

The therapy also looked at how the family of the perpetrator had been affected, as they are often traumatised by the experience – not only the crime, but the way it is dealt with by the justice system, and how they are treated by neighbours and the press. Tim became aware that there was very little support offered to these families

When Tim left the prison service he continued his work in restorative justice. At Grendon many prisoners had met with those affected by their crime in a restorative conference, giving both sides a chance to understand what had happened and move on from it. Thousands of people affected by crime never have this chance to talk about their loss or deal with it, particularly if the person responsible pleads guilty and there is no trial.

Tim told us briefly about the city of Hull (in the north of England), which now uses restorative practices in all its schools. The staff members meet in a circle to discuss policy decisions, and pupils have been trained as peer mediators. Truanting is now virtually nil and very few students are excluded from school. The police and probation service also use these practices in family group conferencing, giving families the chance to work out the source of their problems and then decide how to deal with them.

Now, Tim works with people affected by crime, through Escaping Victimhood. This organisation runs residential workshops to help those suffering trauma as a result of violent crime. Trauma is a life-threatening experience, or one that challenges our identity and the way we see ourselves. Symptoms include very upsetting images and thoughts, avoiding reminders such as the location of the crime, being on edge and jumpy, isolation, feelings of shame or guilt, and anger. These symptoms can cause post-traumatic stress disorder, although this is often misdiagnosed as depression, leading to a prolonged dependency on medication. Sometimes these feelings can last for years, but if the person has a chance to work through them it is never too late for them to get their lives back. One participant began painting again after 23 years as a result of the workshop.

All the workshops are held in peaceful, beautiful locations, so that everyone feels safe and comfortable. The participants at each workshop have had the same experience. People bereaved by homicide often feel that only others who have been through the same thing can understand and help them, and are often suspicious of those in professional roles. A lot of time during the four days is therefore devoted to letting people help each other. Although they will never forget their experience, they can learn to live with it and use it creatively.

The workshop begins with trauma education, which is extremely useful for participants, as many often feel they have been going mad. They have lost friends, are lonely and isolated and they learn in the session that this is normal and does not have to continue. One lady had lived for years with an image of her teenage son in the morgue. After attending the trauma session she had her first good night’s sleep since her son died. She now celebrates his birthday every year with her family and has an image in her mind of him as a happy eighteen-year-old.

On the second day participants are taken through the Hero’s Journey, which is a model of change, culminating in ‘hearing the call’, moving participants to activity. It may not be easy and they may not succeed but if they can hear the call this is a positive step. This is followed by a session on personality types, which helps explain why some people are able to deal with the trauma and move on, while others can’t.

Besides these sessions the workshop consists of lots of activity and fun time. Each participant is given a disposable camera and invited to take photos of the location. The idea of this is to change their perspective on life, and on the final day an exhibition is organised, where everyone is invited to explain their photos and what they were feeling when they took them. Other activities include art and massage.

Research into the impact of Escaping Victimhood’s work has shown no negative results, and Tim and the team are currently evaluating the true benefits, not only to individual lives but to other services, particularly the health service, as victims of crime are often heavy users of these facilities.

Tim finished by relating his work to offenders. Bereavement is not handled well in prison. Many prisoners have killed a loved one, but because of this there is a feeling that they are not entitled to grieve and their pain is unacknowledged. Many are treated for depression and suffer the same symptoms as others affected by the crime. Lots of our friends on death row are traumatised and by offering them friendship we can help them to deal with their unresolved issues, although this is difficult to do at a distance.

After Tim’s talk, Karen chaired the AGM, before we had some time to meet in state groups. The day ended with a chance for questions and discussion in the open forum.

Liz Dyer

The 2010 Spring Conference

The conference this year was held at the Priory Street Centre in York on a lovely sunny day. Karen Collett, our Chair, was unable to attend, but sent her very best wishes to everyone. In her absence Carole Butcher, the Membership Secretary, took the Chair for the day and welcomed everyone to the meeting. Due to the unforeseen eruption of the Icelandic volcano, our speaker Tom Dunn was sadly unable to be with us, so Jan Arriens, the founder of LifeLines, and Jan Hall, Vice Chair, spoke during the morning session. In the afternoon several members talked about their LifeLines experiences. .

Jan Arriens began by saying that in Tom’s absence we should make the day ‘our day’ and although the speakers over the years had brought great inspiration, he suggested that we should make our own inspiration. He felt that each person in the room would have their own story. Over the years, Jan said, he had often reflected on what motivated him to start LifeLines and the day would be a further exploration of his reasons. He hadn’t planned to watch the documentary Fourteen Days in May when it was broadcast in 1987, but found himself so involved that at times he couldn’t bear to watch. It was clear that no one in the Parchman Penitentiary, Mississippi, wanted Edward Earl Johnson executed - guards, chaplain or the men - and Jan’s heart was pounding as he watched; he wanted the Supreme Court to issue a stay, and he felt shame at what was happening.

At 10.10 pm Sam Johnson spoke the following words, knowing that his friend’s execution was almost certainly going ahead. ‘Everyone here is dying tonight – a part of them. I can never be the same after this. We’re supposed to be vicious and cruel, but this goes beyond anything that anyone could ever do.’ The impact of these words made Jan feel that he simply had to write and thank Sam for what he had said. He felt there was a deep connection, quite unexplained. He wrote to the BBC and got the names of the three prisoners who had been interviewed - Leo Edwards, John Irving and Sam Johnson - and sent letters to all three.

Sam’s letters back to Jan were eloquent and warm. In one he explained that in the seven years he had been in prison, he had had no visits from family because of the distance and expense. Jan sent some money so that his father and sister could visit him. The journey was difficult for his father as he had never flown before and was a double amputee. Sam said the visit was beautiful; they were able to talk about everything, and to ‘touch’ by putting their fingers up to the glass.

Because of the intensity of the exchange and the letters also from John Irving and Leo Edwards, a little seed of an idea was sown in Jan’s mind. Soon Jan’s friend Elisabeth also began writing, and, with the help of Jan’s Quaker meeting, they raised £170 and a donation of a Siamese kitten, worth about £100. This came to the attention of the local paper and a rather bemused Merrilyn Thomas wrote a first rate article which brought more people offering to write. Jan likes to say that LifeLines began because of a kitten! Clive Stafford Smith’s mother introduced them to him and the Quaker weekly The Friend published a series of excerpts from Sam’s letters and more people responded. Around this time, LifeLines’ first secretary established The Wing of Friendship. .

The first conference was held in 1990 and Paul Hamann, director of Fourteen Days in May, was the first speaker. One of the 42 members who attended wrote an article published in the Observer entitled ‘Sentences that Free the Soul’. 219 people responded to this article offering to write.

Jan decided to put together a book with excerpts from the prisoners’ letters, which became Welcome to Hell: Letters & Writings from Death Row. The BBC heard about the book and a programme was made for Everyman based on one of the chapters in the book, ‘The Pee Pee Dance’. Jan was astounded when 6,400 letters arrived, and 800 people eventually joined.

From the very beginning it was agreed that LifeLines would be a non-campaigning and non-political organisation, so there could be a clear focus on letter writing and friendship. The organisation was set up with co-ordinators for each state, and Clive helped by sending lists of prisoners who might be interested in writing. At the same time Jane Officer, a member who was writing to Andrew Lee Jones in Louisiana, decided to set up the Andrew Lee Jones Fund to support people who wanted to spend some time in the U.S. helping law firms. The organisation exists to this day, but is now known as Amicus. Partly due to Amicus two of our members decided to study law in the U.S.: Rachel Day, our former treasurer, and Hilary Sheard.

Two incidents were of particular significance to Jan. The first was in 1995 when he attended a clemency hearing for Antonio James. Sister Helen Prejean introduced Jan to Antonio, who told him that the two English women he had been writing to through LifeLines had been the biggest gift in his life. Sadly he was eventually executed.

The second incident was in 1992 when a re-sentencing trial for Sam Johnson was held in Pittsburgh. Clive was outstanding but, despite a witness effectively confessing to the crime, Sam was still sentenced to life without parole. He went into general prison population and died in 2001 of stomach cancer without ever being able to clear his name.

Over the years Jan said that there have been a wonderful set of speakers at conferences. One was Don Cabana, former Warden of Parchman Penitentiary. Don was a staunch Roman Catholic who never expected to preside over an execution and hated having to do it. He instructed his staff to treat the condemned man and his family with decency, but said that afterwards he went home and showered, scrubbing and scrubbing in an effort to become clean. Don also spoke about the next execution, that of Connie Ray Evans, who he grew close to before his death. As Connie Ray and Don walked down the corridor to the death cell, a prisoner right at the top of the row began humming ‘Amazing Grace’ and gradually everyone joined in singing. Many ‘big, burly guards’ were in tears.

To conclude, Jan talked about Bryan Stevenson, and about the work he is doing defending juveniles sentenced to life without parole in the U.S. When he spoke at a LifeLines conference, Bryan told the story of Walter McMillian, who was sentenced to death despite exculpatory evidence. Bryan eventually forced a new trial, and the entire black community, outraged at what had happened, packed the courtroom. In particular, Bryan remembered one little old lady, Miss Williams, who stood up in front of the judge and said ‘I’m here!’ What she was really saying was that she might be old, poor and black, but she was there because she had a vision of justice that compelled her to stand up. Two years later Walter McMillian was freed. This is what LifeLiners are able to say to their pen friends; I am here!

Jan Hall talked about the BBC Radio 4 programme that she was interviewed for last year, following the success of the article about her LifeLines experience in The Guardian a few months earlier. The radio programme, in which Jan shared her story and spoke about her pen friend Willie, was played to the conference and then Jan went on to explain a little about the experience. She said that fifteen people had joined after hearing the radio programme, and offered a few words of advice for any members invited to promote LifeLines in the media. To listen to Jan’s interview, visit: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p016d.

Terri Horton has been running the money order shop for several years. She looks forward to receiving members’ letters requesting money orders and reading their stories. Christmas is a very busy time, but this year through a series of contacts Terri has managed to obtain a reasonable number of money orders, so at the present time the waiting list is quite short. We are an organisation that supports through letter writing, however, and Terri made it clear that there is no obligation to send any money at all. If you are travelling to the States, and think you could bring back some money orders, please contact Terri. Her contact details are on p.32.

Jean Peake has been co-ordinator for Arizona for almost twenty years, and gave a brief talk about the practicalities of being a co-ordinator. However she stressed that each state was different with regard to rules and regulations. Jean had only been a member for about eighteen months when she was asked to become a co-ordinator and at that time you were plunged in at the deep end! Jean talked about her own pen friend, as well as other men on the row, who were able to keep her informed as to what was happening in the prison. Through a contact she was able to access a complete list of prisoners along with their details, which was a great help. The internet has made an enormous difference to the role of a co-ordinator today. Jean finished by saying that being a co-ordinator is a team effort, with help coming from other co-ordinators, committee members, writers and the prisoners themselves, and it is a very worthwhile and fulfilling role.

Beth McOwat talked about the need for co-ordinators, and said although there are no vacancies at present LifeLines likes to have a pool of people who are willing to take on the role when needed. Beth explained the process of becoming a co-ordinator and asked people to contact either herself or Jan Hall for a job description and to find out more.

Several members also gave a brief talk about their experiences:

Elisabeth Calvert told us that many years ago she had received a letter from a prisoner in Zambia called William. He had been a young soldier and ended up on death row due to a failed coup. Many of his friends had died. Elisabeth managed to send him some money so he could survive. After six years the new President of Zambia released William. Over the years, all sorts of dramas and difficulties have happened but Elisabeth and William have remained friends. William and his second wife now have twins named Annie (like Elisabeth’s own daughter) and Elisabeth.

Louise Harris is a mental health nurse and gave a very brief but interesting Powerpoint presentation on medication and the different forms of mental health problems that our friends on the row may experience. There followed a short question and answer time.

Rosemary Harrison started writing around 1991, when she read an article in The Times Educational Supplement by Jane Officer. She kept the article and kept looking at it, until one day she picked up the phone and joined LifeLines. Her first pen friend Michael didn’t want to continue his appeals and although not at all alike they struck up a good friendship. After his death, Michael’s lawyer gave Rosemary the name of another person, to whom she wrote for fifteen years until he too was executed last year. When she visited him, he said she was his first visitor in 21 years. It seems that things have now come full circle as her most recent pen friend has also declared he doesn't want to take up his appeals. However there is a glimmer of hope that he may change his mind on this matter.

Sue Thomason said it was her first conference, and that she knows her personal views do not represent those of LifeLines as an organisation. Sue started writing in 1989 and wanted to do so although she does not unconditionally oppose the death penalty. She said that her friendship with one pen friend was not easy and was quite guarded at times, but her friend saw her as his window on the world. Sue has had two other pen friends and feels it is important that people keep on writing as that is what LifeLines was set up to do.

Carole Butcher’s friend was a man called Norman. Carole brought his photograph to the conference, as well as some jewellery and a beautiful cross that he had made. Their friendship began in August 2000 after Carole’s first pen friend William was executed. After some time, Carole was asked if she would like to write to Norman. There followed over three years of a wonderful friendship, not only with Norman but also with his American pen friend Susie. Six months into the friendship he asked Carole to visit him. They had a four-hour visit and Carole found that the person behind the plate glass was a jolly man who laughed all the time. He said that he knew he had been a horrible person when first incarcerated, but he had now become a Christian. Shortly before Christmas 2003 Carole heard that Norman was facing execution on February 17th 2004 and she arranged to visit him during the last few days of his life.

Norman was buried at a place west of Tulsa called Tahlequah, where members of Susie’s family are also buried. A memorial service was planned and Carole described it as an uplifting experience with beautiful music. At the service they also played a DVD of Norman cheerfully thanking people for being there. Carole and Susie have visited the grave twice since and each time there has been a golden eagle flying overhead, which Carole feels may be symbolic. Carole’s friendship with Susie and her family continues.

Another member talked about her visit to one of her friends, who used to be on death row and whom she had visited there. He has now been moved to a medium security prison and their most recent visit was more relaxed as they were able to sit opposite each other face to face, rather than through glass. She also had the opportunity to meet his family. During the visit one of his brothers was celebrating his birthday and she was invited to attend the party. Despite everything that has happened most of the family still stand alongside her friend and support him. Relationships are being rebuilt and he has seen his children again after many years.

The day finished with an open forum and question time. Carole thanked everyone for coming to the conference, and reminded us all that the Autumn Conference will be at the Amnesty International Human Rights Action Centre, London, on October 16th 2010.

Linda Colbourn

17/10/2009 The 2009 Autumn Conference

The LifeLines Autumn conference was held on Saturday 17th October, once again using the fantastic Amnesty International centre as its venue. This year we were very lucky to hear four fantastic speakers. Two of these were from the States and this was largely thanks to the generosity of Reprieve in helping LifeLines to meet the costs.

The day was opened by the LifeLines Founder Jan Arriens, who announced that LifeLines has now been running for 21 years. This is a bit of a 'double-edged sword' in the respect that although we are still here, still offering support we are still necessary - the death penalty still exists in the United States.

The first speaker of the day was Sally Rowen, Director of the Death Penalty team at Reprieve. She outlined the work of Reprieve for us all and stated that although they had started out with just 2 members of staff their team now consists of 10 people. The world, in Reprieve terms, is divided into three - Asia, the United States and 'Rest of the World'. They offer help to British Nationals and more recently European Citizens that are incarcerated on Death Row in many different countries. There are, for example, 27 cases currently on Reprieve's books of British Nationals in 11 different countries.
Sally outlined the difficulties faced in their work and their hopes for the future. She stated that one supporter of Reprieve had been fortunate enough to win a place on the 'Fourth Plinth' in Trafalgar Square and used the opportunity to highlight the plight of Linda Carty, who has been on Texas Death Row since 2002.

To support Reprieve, or for more information about their work, please visit their website: www.reprieve.org.uk.

Erwin James has been writing for the Guardian newspaper since 2002. He began his talk by outlining his own experiences of prison life and then spoke about his experiences in terms of his own redemption; his own reflection of himself as a person, his rehabilitation which, he said, the prison system is not really sure how to cope with - he stated that one failing of the British prison system is that although it wants rehabilitation, it is not sure how rehabilitated it wants one to be! Finding himself reflecting on the direction his life had taken, which ultimately led to his imprisonment, he went on to study English (which he had always enjoyed even as a child) and later journalism. He taught himself the skills he would need in order to become a writer for a newspaper, including how to touch-type.

Erwin made the somewhat unusual but very logical comment that he wished the Death Penalty would be reinstated so that we (Britain) could see how uncivilised we are becoming by calling for it to be brought back - when, in his opinion (and undoubtedly the opinion of everyone in the room) nobody has the right to take another person's life. He concluded by saying that a system that offers hope is better than one that does not.

Erwin James' column about John Thompson and LifeLines can be read here: www.guardian.co.uk/world/joepublic/2009/oct/21/death-row-survivor-support-group

The AGM was held before lunch. During this, it was announced that there are now 1403 members of LifeLines.

After lunch, we heard from Emily Maw. Emily is the Director of the Innocence Project in New Orleans, founded by Emily Bolton in 2001. Her talk opened with a brief video showing those that have been helped by the project against the poignant strains of 'Songs of Freedom' by Bob Marley.

The Innocence Project, New Orleans (IPNO) has been instrumental in bringing about changes to the justice sysetm - including the way DNA evidence is handled and used in many cases. For example, since 1990 there have been 240 post-conviction DNA exonerations. Hundreds more have been exonerated in cases not involving DNA.

The IPNO have helped to quash 244 wrongful convictions. Amongst the reasons for wrongful conviction are: false or mistaken eyewitness testimony; perjured testimony (which can happen for a variety of reasons - including the actual guilt of the person giving evidence) and faulty or false forensic science. Blood and DNA testing are the only scientifically proven methods that are used in forensic science. The rest are far less accurate.

The work of the IPNO largely focuses on prisoners sentenced to Life Without Parole, as they are only entitled to a lawyer for their first appeal. Since changes in the DNA laws brought about by IPNO, support for the Death Penalty has dropped - especially in the wake of so many resulting exonerations.
Emily concluded her talk by outlining the work of the newly created Resurrection After Exoneration Project, led by John Thompson - created because lawyers, social workers and other agencies cannot relate to the newly-released and exonerated prisoner, or understand the difficulties that they face regardless of the length of time they have been in prison.

The IPNO website can be visited here: www.ip-no.org.

Our final speaker was John Thompson. John, as already stated, runs the Resurrection After Exoneration Project, helping those that have been exonerated adjust to life after prison. He began his talk by emphasising how much the letters of LifeLines members means to the prisoners on Death Row - he himself was one of the first prisoners to receive a penfriend through LifeLines during his incarceration on Death Row in Louisiana, during which time he had been given numerous execution dates - one of which (and indeed the last) was the day before his son's High School graduation. He related that day - how his son had found out about his impending execution when the teacher read a newspaper article to the class; how his innocence had been proven just before the execution had been carried out. His exoneration was largely due to an investigator that had managed to access details of the blood samples taken from the crime scene; they did not match John's blood-type.

By the time John was released from prison in 2004, he had lost 18 years of his life and found that he had to find away to piece it all back together again. There are moments even now when he is affected by his time in prison. He stated that he was lucky to have such a good network of family support - many prisoners find that once they are convicted and sent to death row their families abandon them even if they feel their loved one is innocent - simply because of the way society views Death Row prisoners. It was in the time following his exoneration that John realised that the Resurrection After Exoneration Project was needed; ex-prisoners working to help those newly exonerated to adjust so that they would be given exactly the help and support they needed instead of 'outsiders' judging what they think exonerees need.

Resurrection After Exoneration can be visited here: www.r-a-e.org.

12/09/2009 Sister Helen to Speak at Houghton-le-Spring

Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, and Bud Welch, whose daughter was killed in the Oklahoma bombings, will be speaking at:
RAINTON MEADOWS ARENA, HOUGHTON LE SPRING on November 14th and 15th 2009.

LifeLines expect to have a stall at this event.

Further details about this event can be found on Sister Helen's website: www.sisterhelen.co.uk

04/07/2009 Latest from Rick Halperin

Across America today, on Independence Day, there will be traditional fireworks, parades, summer fun for children in swimming pools and at ballgames, and a pervasive national outpouring of patriotism, reflected in both flag displays and the singing of the national anthem at countless events.

There are also almost 3,300 individuals who will not be any part of these festivities; they are mostly forgotten, despised and reviled.... they are America's condemned.

They sit on death rows in 34 states, as well as in a military prison in Kansas and a fedeal facility in Indiana. Most are overwhelmingly guilty of vile, heinous, outrageous and terrible crimes. Many are mentally ill, even profoundly mentally ill, and a good number are innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. Collectively, they are, in part, responsible for a great deal of anger, hurt, pain and rage in our society.

They face death by firing squad, hanging, electrocution, cyanide gas, and lethal injection (there are more methods of legitimate state-sanctioned execution in the the USA than in any other country in the world).

As this nation is trying to emerge from the worst global financial crisis in 70 years, it remains in desperate need of trying to find, uphold and defend its moral soul. We are a long way from accomplishing this important national task.

Most of America's political and judicial leaders, both male and female, in both major parties, remain committed to upholding the ideology and practice of human extermination. As long as any nation in the world, inclduing the USA, retain and practice the barbarism of killing people in the name of the law, they can never be free. If people support, or are indifferent to the liquidataion of condemned individuals, how can we be surprised that other horrors, such as torture, hate crimes, and crimes against women, continue at such an alarming pace.

To be sure, some advances in the abolition of the US death penalty have been achieved in the last decade: America has stopped executing its juvenile and mentally retarded offenders; New Jersey and New Mexico have legislatively ended the death penalty, and other states have, in recent years, come close to doing the same. Over 130 innocent people have been released from America's death rows to date, and more will emerge to the free world in the years ahead.

But this "progress" has come at a frustratingly, agonizinly slow pace. Of the 1168 individuals put to death in America since executions resumed in 1977, 736 have occurred since 1998, including 200 just in Texas alone since Rick Perry became governor in 2001. There is no immediate end in sight to this horror.

There will undoubtedly be the traditional praise and self-congratulatory editorials and op-eds in our newspapers today, from coast to coast, from our major cities to our small communities, reminding us of how lucky we are to live in such a great nation. And in many ways, that sentiment is correct.

But it is a fallacy to believe that assessment when considering what is happening in this country regarding the issue of the death penalty. It is time to face the truth, admit national pain, and come to grips with the fact that on this issue, 233 years after the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed (and 402 years after the British first settled here), we are a national disgrace and failure. We remain wedded to the love of violence, and to the preposterous idea that some people in our society (and even around the world), can be classified as "lesser" or "other" humans, 'deserving' to be stripped of their human dignity, caged like animals for years, physically and psychologically tortured and terrorized, and then ultimately liquidated in the name of the law.

On this day, when so much celebrating in America will occur, I hope and trust that people will take a hard look at the sobering realities of this nationa and its nightmare of the death penalty. Now is the time for all people of conscience, everywhere, to re-dedicate themselves with renewed fervor to end this terrible scourge, so that America may join the ranks of most nations in the world that have long since recognized the links between advancing human progress with ending the death penalty.

When the US does abolish the death penalty, it will then, and only then, have reasons to be proud and celebrate itself.

Rick Halperin

Patron: Clive Stafford-Smith O.B.E.
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