This past week
stories and a
petition have circulated social and mainstream media to stop the Georgia execution of Kelly Gissendaner. She was to be put to death by lethal injection this past Monday. Thanks in part to people signing the petition and to a legal team that questioned effeteness of the drugs to be used used in the execution, Kelly Gissnedaner is still alive.
This was the second time Gissendaner's execution was postponed. Last week it was postponed due to weather. This ruling my save her life or prolong her agony.
In today's email sent to the signees of the 'Stop The Execution of Kelly Gissendaner' petition, Reverend Kimberly S. Jackson wrote a more upbeat note and urged supporters to continue the cause that might keep Kelly and other inmates on Death Row alive, to serve a life sentences without parole. Gissendaner was convicted of plotting to kill her husband. Her boyfriend carried out the murder and never spent a day on Death Row. He is eligible for parole in 7-10 years. Here is an excerpt from Reverend Jackson's email.
Dear Supporters,
HOPE IS STILL ALIVE - Kelly is still alive!
Very late last night, because of a problem with the lethal injection drug, Kelly's execution was postponed. And now, all planned executions in Georgia have been temporarily postponed. [1] This is incredibly important. Brian Terrell was scheduled to be executed in Georgia one week from today. NOW is the time to keep up the pressure. Join us in calling Governor Nathan Deal and Attorney General Sam Olens first thing tomorrow morning when their offices open at 9am.
Call Governor Nathan Deal at 404-656-1776 to say you support a halt to executions. Ask him to take a stand opposing executions.
Call Attorney General Sam Olens at 404-656-3300 and tell him to stop requesting death warrants.
You can also take action right now on social media.
If you're on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, tweet and post @GovernorDeal and @Georgia_AG using the #KellyOnMyMind hashtag. Ask them to make a statement against Kelly's execution, and all executions.
And here is the
press release from the Georgia Department of Corrections:
Court Ordered Executions Postponed - Kelly Renee Gissendaner and Brian Keith Terrell
FORSYTH, Ga. – The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) announced today that, out of an abundance of caution, the scheduled executions of Kelly Renee Gissendaner and Brian Keith Terrell, have been postponed while an analysis is conducted of the drugs planned for use in last night's scheduled execution of inmate Gissendaner.
The sentencing courts will issue new execution orders when the Department is prepared to proceed.
The GDC has one of the largest prison systems in the U.S. and is responsible for supervising nearly 55,000 state prisoners and over 160,000 probationers. It is the largest law enforcement agency in the state with approximately 12,000 employees.
If you have not yet seen the Vimeo video with more information about Kelly Gissendaner, you can watch it below or visit this website:
http://vimeopro.com/...
Here is the original
petition to stop the execution of Gissendaner which continues to rapidly garner signatures (now at 86k). It shows the growing concern by people, like myself, who believe in consequences, and just as Kelly Gissendaner did not have the right to kill/plot to kill, neither do we. For this reason I have continued this series of diaries. It's not about Gissendaner. It's about
the government deciding who should live and who should die depending on where you live. It's about mistakes made by a greatly flawed judicial system proven to be fallible with a long history of wrongful deaths, some discovered many decades later. For those and other reasons, many are against the death penalty.
"To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice." -Desmond Tutu