The mood was both celebratory and angry among a 1000-plus overflow audience packed into the balcony space of the Constitution Center in Philadelphia on the evening of Dec. 9. The crowd, surely the largest to attend an event in support of Abu-Jamal in years, had thus come both to celebrate the end to the death threat facing the veteran journalist and world-renowned symbol of America’s obsession with state murder, and also to demand that he not instead be “left to rot” in a regular prison for the rest of his life. Read More by Dave Lindorf

Related Coverage: Dr. Johanna Fernandez of Educators for Mumia Abu Jamal Speaks on the Latest Developments in the Mumia Abu Jamal Case by ontheblockradio | From Troy Davis to Mumia: Have we turned a corner on the death penalty? by David A. Love | Why freedom for Abu-Jamal makes even more sense now by Mark Lewis Taylor | Over 1000, Cornel West, Immortal Technique and Others Pack the Philly Constitution Center by freemumia.com

 When Mayor Kasim Reed revoked his executive to allow occupants to stay in Troy Davis Park (formerly known as Woodruff Park) until November 7th on Monday, many remained skeptical that there would eviction efforts made any time soon. Their skepticism was ostensibly validated when, after a night of intense police presence alongside a small and fairly passive crowed, nothing happened.

That skepticism began to dissolve tonight around 9pm. The police presence grew enormously, the park was re-barricaded, and warnings of imminent eviction sounded through the P.A. system. When police stationed on horses came and blocked off the north side of Peachtree St., it became clear to everyone that this was more than another round of cautionary muscle-flexing: this was the night.

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The DC Day of Remembrance for Troy Davis was held today and was described as “an organic, emerging grassroots collective comprised of activists and citizens opposed to the execution of Troy Davis and opposed to the death penalty. We see the death penalty as representative of the much greater problems of the criminal injustice system, including political prisoners who have been incarcerated in an effort to quell dissent… “

Related: Casket laid at the White House to protest Obama's role in Troy Davis execution

I just got home from my first execution.  Tonight, the state of Georgia executed Troy Davis.  He was pronounced dead at 11:08 Pm EST.  Today, September 21st, is also "International Peace Day".  I usually produce  videos of events in Atlanta, and that will be forthcoming.  But what I saw happen today was a complete failure of the justice system.  I interviewed many people today, and all of them seem to feel that our system of courts, and appeals, and checks and balances, are failing to do what they are supposed to.  Instead, the justice system is now functioning to PREVENT any form of self examination, any determination of wrong decisions, any examination of new evidence or new witnesses.  In the Troy Davis case, the police coerce and intimidate witnesses, the D.A

related: Day of Outrage following Troy Davis execution | The morning after: the art of leadership & the fight for justice--outrage role? | Troy Davis Murdered, Innocence No Bar To Execution

Photo by Alex Milan Tracy

Witnesses recanted, no DNA, no proof, yet execution machine proceeds forward

From Atlanta IMC: The Georgia Board of Pardons has refused to grant Troy Davis clemency, condemning him to die this Wednesday. There is now effectively nothing standing in the way of his execution, prompting anger and frustration from his longtime advocates. Barring action by the president or widespread public disruption, Troy Davis will be killed tomorrow.

A rally has already been called for in Woodruff Park at 6pm this evening to demand a stop to the execution, and many organizations are coordinating last ditch efforts to address the situation.

Protest Reportbacks: In Altanta, GA, several thousand people marched from Woodruf Park in downtown Atlanta to Ebenezer Baptist Church... Photos & Video | San Francisco Bay Area, CA | Philadelphia, PA | Portland, OR | Boston, MA

More Coverage: When Innocence Isn't Enough: An Audio Documentary About Troy Anthony Davis by Naji Mujahid Peoples MEDIA Center and DCRadioCoop | Free Troy Davis! There’s No Justice in the Capitalist Courts! by Steven Argue | Troy Davis Denied Clemency; Nazi USA Continues to Promote Death Penalty by Abolitionist

Troy Davis has been on death row in Georgia for twenty years. He is set to executed by the state on Wednesday, September 21st, despite the fact that there was no physical evidence presented against him during his trial and since then seven out of the nine "witnesses" who testified against him have recanted, many claiming that they were pressured by police. On September 16th, supporters rallied in cities across the country. A solidarity rally was held in Oakland in front of the Federal Building. As the courts are no longer an option to establish Troy Davis' innocence, his last hope is the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles which will hold a clemency hearing in Troy's case on Monday, September 19th, in Atlanta. A "Save Troy Davis - Stop the Death Penalty" event is scheduled for Laney College on September 20th.

By Texas Death Row Prisoners to the open publishing newswire: Texas Death Row inmates are banning together and protesting in various ways as never before. This is because of new pseudo policies, which, as should be noted, the vast majority of staff members disagrees with and see as pointless and counterproductive. In fact, it seems that the only two people pushing this heightened level of oppression are major Smith and Assistant Warden Lester. In the history of Texas Death Row there has never been so very many Use of Force and staff assaults, in such a very short period of time. This is the result of one thing and one thing only: the sudden dramatic rise in extreme psychological and physical violence that is being forced upon us. We just wished to be left alone and allowed to peacefully exist without beings viciously attacked as the TX Death Row inmate population has been lately.

In accordance with TDCJ-CID policy, ACA standards, state & federal law the Texas Death Row inmate population would like to bring the following issues to the attention of the ranking staff members in change of the security operations of Death Row. The following list of problems can easily be resolved by on-site ranking staff members and we respectfully request that they do indeed be resolved in an expedient manner. The issues of relevance are as follows: [Read Full Article]

Related: May 18 Greenwatch TV presents: Torture on Death Row in Texas

Laura Moye is director of the Amnesty International USA Death Penalty Abolition Campaign. In this interview, Moye talks about 42-year-old Troy Davis, an African American who has been on death row in Georgia for over 19 years—having already faced three execution dates. The continued railroading of Davis has sparked outrage around the world, and public pressure during the last few years of Davis’ appeals has been essential to his survival today.

However, on March 28, 2011, the US Supreme Court’s rejected his appeal against a federal district court’s ruling that Davis did not prove his innocence in an evidentiary hearing held last year.read more

The 11th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty was held on Saturday October 30, 2010.  The event began with guest speakers at the Texas Capitol and continued with the march traveling south on Congress Avenue.  Six exonerated death row prisoners - Shujaa Graham, Ron Keine, Curtis McCarty, Gary Drinkard, Albert Burrell and Greg Wilhoit - were in attendance and led the procession. Audio from rally and video links available. read more

Audio excerpts from Texans United For Families on Vimeo | Video available at: http://marchforabolition.org/

On October 13th, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Skinner v. Switzer. Hank Skinner, convicted in a triple homicide and facing a death sentence in Texas, wants access to DNA evidence from the crime scene. The court will determine if Skinner's request for DNA evidence is properly filed as a civil rights suit or must be filed as a petition for habeas corpus.

LOS ANGELES, October 3, 2010 – Death penalty opponents held a rally at the Westwood Federal Building this past Tuesday. The rally was called to oppose the threat of renewed executions in the state of California.

About an hour after the rally the news came that a federal judge has blocked the scheduled execution of Albert Brown, saying he needed more time to determine if the state’s new lethal injection procedures are free of pain to the condemned. Then the following day on Wednesday the California Supreme Court also moved to block the execution over the issue of procedure.

There is still a threat of state executions resuming in the near future, as the court rulings are based solely on the procedural methods of execution and not the constitutionality of the death penalty itself. Report with photos: Death Penalty Opponents Rally to Oppose Planned Execution

In December, readers and individual board members of several of the organizations in the US abolitionist movement had signed--without their full boards’ or their memberships’ knowledge--a “confidential” memorandum, which they then sent to the French organizers of the World Congress Against the Death Penalty, stating bluntly that, “As international representatives of the US abolition movement, we cannot agree to the involvement of Abu-Jamal or his lawyers in the World Congress beyond attendance.”

ThisCantBeHappening! this past week obtained a copy of that secret memorandum.

Juan Melendez-Colon spent 17 years, 8 months and 1 day on death row for a crime he did not commit. He will be sharing his story as part of a larger discussion on the death penalty and the criminal justice system on Wednesday, April 14th at 7pm at the First Unitarian Church in downtown Portland. Please join us and bring your family and friends.

by Rachel Clarke, published to the Open Publishing Newswire:Hank Skinner was set to be executed on March 24th at 6pm. Skinner has maintained his innocence for the last 16 years. At the ninth hour, the United States Supreme Court issued a stay so that they could look further into Skinner's sub-petition regarding DNA Testing. Supporters and Abolitionists after celebrating and putting the word out, still caravaned to the Wahls Unit for a celebratory demonstration in the hopes that Hank would hear.

HIMC Coverage: Audio: Highlights from the Skinner Stay Demonstration | Will Governor Perry Execute Another Innocent Man? | KPFT Local News Coverage of the Hank Skinner Case
HIMC Feature: 2/16 Will Texas Soon Execute Another Innocent Man? The Case of Hank Skinner

Marvin Reeves (pictured on left) and Mark Clements (right) visited Champaign-Urbana on Wednesday night, Feb. 24, 2010. They spoke on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and on the topic of "Lynching Then/Lynching Now" as part of a national tour sponsored by the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. An audience of some 60 people filled a room in Gregory Hall.

Freed from prison in October 2009 after 21 years, Marvin Reeves spoke about how he was framed for murder by the testimony of an inmate in jail for burglary. His co-defendant Ronnie Kitchen made a false confession after being tortured by Sgt. Jon Burge of the Chicago Police Department. Reeves has since been awarded approximately $200,000 as compensation.

Mark Clements was sentenced to life without parole as a juvenile and was released in August 2009 after serving 28 years in prison. He spoke about the need to end the harsh penalities handed out to juveniles. He was also tortured into making a false confession by Chicago police who later worked alongside Sgt. Burge.