Monthly Archives: November 2011
Report from New Orleans
By Alan Bean Friends of Justice is on the road again. Thus far we’ve held sit-down meetings with folks in Waco and Houston, Texas, and the Louisiana towns of Crowley, Lafayette and New Orleans. The agenda is broad. Over the next year … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Oregon Governor halts death penalty
By Mark Osler Some found it shocking when Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber granted convicted double-murderer Gary Haugen a reprieve Tuesday, setting aside Haugen’s scheduled December 6 execution. Haugen, who killed another prisoner while serving a life sentence for a previous … Continue reading
Filed under death penalty
Mass incarceration and the criminalization of homelessness
By Melanie Wilmoth Exacerbated by the economic recession and increased home foreclosures, the homelessness crisis in the U.S. continues to grow at an alarming rate. According to a new report published by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty … Continue reading
Filed under economics, homelessness, mass incarceration, mental illness, poverty, punitive consensus, Texas
Jesus Christ, Capital Defendant
Would Jesus Christ support the death penalty? Would a modern-day jury sentence Jesus to death? Those exact questions were the inspiration for Director Joshua Rofe’s documentary, ”JESUS CHRIST: Capital Defendant.” Through his interactions with Professor Mark Osler and Attorney Jeanne Bishop, … Continue reading
Filed under death penalty, Jesus
Moyers’ final word: “Plutocracy and democracy don’t mix”
By Alan Bean Bill Moyers is the Edward R. Murrow of our day. When his PBS program, Bill Moyers’ Journal, went off the air last year, a gaping hole appeared in American journalism that has yet to be filled. Fortunately, in the … Continue reading
Filed under democracy, plutocracy
Are undocumented immigrants ‘persons’?
By Chris Kromm This column originally appeared in Facing South When the U.S. Census counts the population of the country every 10 years, who qualifies as a person? This week, the state of Louisiana filed a lawsuit which challenges the … Continue reading
Arlington ISD turns thumbs down on Cesar Chavez holiday (yet again)
By Alan Bean To the surprise of no one, the students of Arlington were once again denied a May holiday honoring civil rights legend Cesar Chavez. Last night’s meeting of the Arlington ISD school board reminded me of the climactic … Continue reading
Wisdom and the public prosecutor
By Mark Osler Many of the problems dealt with by Friends of Justice are created by prosecutors behaving badly. Part of my own vocation is to train prosecutors to act from principle in a public way, to avoid some of … Continue reading
Why is Jeremiah Paul Disnard still locked up?
By Melanie Wilmoth and Alan Bean Jeremiah Paul Disnard was arrested on April 2, 2008. He claims he was framed. According to a letter Friends of Justice recently received from Disnard, shortly after he was arrested drugs were planted on his … Continue reading
Filed under Friends of Justice, innocence, police corruption, war on drugs
Will Harrell marries Simone Levine (and vice versa)
Will Harrell and Simone Levine By Alan Bean If you have read Taking out the Trash (and shame on you if you haven’t) you are already familiar with Will Harrell–he figures prominently in the story. The civil rights activist had just … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
