A new social collaboration website called Amazee is holding a membership contest and giving away $5,000. The contest ends next week on Jan 22. I created an anti-death penalty project on Amazee and we are in a close race for one of the top three places. We are only 89 members behind the group currently in first place and fewer than 30 behind the third place group.
www.amazee.com/abolish-death-penalty
Please go to the project and help us bring some anti-death penalty funds to Texas. I am sure everyone is aware that Texas leads the nation in executions. In 2008, Texas carried out nearly 50 percent of all executions in the country, but we won't be number one forever if we fight the death penalty system.
Join the "Abolish the Death Penalty Project" on Amazee.com and help Texas anti-death penalty activists win the Amazee Bucket membership contest. We could win up to $5,000 to use against the death penalty in Texas. The project with the most members by Jan 22 wins $5,000; second place is $3,000 and third place is $2,000.
If we win, we plan to use one-half of any prize money we win to help needy families of people on death row travel to visit their loved ones on death row. We will use the other half of the prize money to advocate against the death penalty, including during the legislative session.
First go to the project page, then you have to click on "join project" on the right hand side, then click on "register". Then they will send you an email. Then log back in and join the project. Keep in mind though, that to qualify as one of the members who count towards the contest, you have to upload a picture or avatar of yourself.
We were all moved by the many family members who spoke at the 9th Annual March to Stop Executions in Houston on Oct 25, so we were thinking of how we could help them. We all know that the death penalty is reserved for the poor. There are no rich people on death row. We will use one half of any money we win through this contest to help family members visit their loved ones on death row.
Many families have a hard time making ends meet and the extra cost of traveling long distances to visit their loved ones on death row is a great financial burden. Some of the people on death row have young children who rarely get to visit them. The other half would be used for activities during the upcoming Texas legislative session from Jan to May 2009, such as an anti-death penalty rally at the capitol.
In 2007 Kenneth Foster's death sentence was commuted to life hours before his scheduled execution. He had been sentenced to death under the Law of Parties even though he had not killed anyone. Now, a bill has been filed that would prohibit the death penalty under the Law of Parties. We are going to push that bill in the Texas Legislature.
We will also be supporting other bills, like an Innocence Commission, a moratorium on executions and a death penalty study commission.