Pray for Justice and Compassion

Christians must pray together for justice and compassion. We are bombarded with petitions to sign for officials to render justice, but we must first petition Heaven for whatever we need. For we remember that it is God who promised to cause men to give unto our bosoms. "I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD" (Ez. 34:15). This blog is a place to meet and pray for one another regarding justice issues.

Tell as little or as much as you wish about your circumstances. God already knows. Some people may want to share their issues and include links, and others may want to enter only their first names. We will pray together and uplift each other in prayer.  Whether you pray regarding a personal justice quest or for the passage of some righteous bill, God encourages us to come to Him with our petitions. We will humble ourselves before God in public. For all who are ashamed of their faith in Jesus before men likewise make Jesus ashamed of them before His Father.

I also encourage Christians to fast along with praying. Some friends and I are giving up either food or something else we value from 6:00 p.m. every Saturday until 6:00 a.m. Sundays. Extend the fasting time as your ability to resist temptation grows. Please do not vow to join us in this fast unless you will follow through. It is better not to make a vow and break it. A vow to fast is not necessary to join us in prayer.

Like most human and civil rights activists, I have spent years speaking truth to power and admonishing our decision makers to be just and to honor the Golden Rule. Some improvements have been made in some areas, but I am reminded that the Bible says that we have not because we ask not or because we ask amiss. We must make our prayers and supplications to God. 

I have many online friends who are atheists, agnostics, and who serve other gods. We can and do fight injustice together, but we cannot pray together. Just send good vibes.

Please enter your prayer requests as comments, or simply put your name to show that you have entered the prayer closet with us. All Christians are welcome. If you experience a victory, please remember us who prayed with you. Come back to let us know that God answered our prayers so that we can rejoice with you and be encouraged. Again, you can tell the details or just write your first name and the words "Victory in Jesus."

My dear condemned brothers and sisters, this activist will soon leave online advocacy. Most of all, I hate leaving you while capital punishment is still allowed in the United States. I agonize with each of you on death row. Know that with the same fervor this activist fought for Troy Davis, Thomas Arthur, Hank Skinner, Andre Thomas, and many others for years, I will pray for you as your execution date nears. I will pray for a miracle for you. I will pray for a new trial or DNA tests for the innocent. If you are guilty, I will pray for mercy. I believe prayer is more effective than online advocacy, especially with all the censorship that happens regarding my anti-DP advocacy. If God yet allows hypocrites to stretch you out on that cold table and inject poison into your system, try not to hate them. Let your thoughts toward your executioners be pity. Our God will surely avenge you. 

I will be praying for you day and night. This promise I leave with you, and a promise from God:

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." ~2 Chronicles 7:14

Pray for justice and compassion. Both are God's will.

Texas: "Kill the heathen negress!"

A death warrant has been issued for Kimberly McCarthy, a 51-year-old woman, by the State of Texas. Her scheduled execution date is June 26, 2013.

Execution Watch reports:

http://executionwatch.org/

"Kimberly McCarthy is a former crack addict who was sentenced to death for the 1997 slaying of an elderly, Caucasian woman [her neighbor, Dorothy Booth, age 71], during a home robbery near Dallas. McCarthy is the former wife of New Black Panther Party founder Aaron Michaels, with whom she has a son. She is one of 10 women on Texas death row. She is the only woman with a scheduled execution. Three of the nearly 500 people Texas has put to death in the modern era have been women. The week before her scheduled execution of April 3, 2013, McCarthy's attorneys persuaded a judge to delay it until June 26.

State District Judge Larry Mitchell's action formalized an agreement . . . between Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins and McCarthy's attorney that McCarthy's punishment should be put off until the fate of death penalty-related bills now in the Texas Legislature are determined. Lawmakers are about halfway through their six-month session.

McCarthy's attorney, Maurie Levin, contends the jury in McCarthy's case was unfairly selected on the basis of race. [Of the 13 jurors selected in McCarthy's case, all were Caucasians except one.]"

A CBS news affiliate reports that DNA evidence linked McCarthy to Booth’s murder and the murders of two other women: Maggie Harding, 81, and Jettie Lucas, 85, who were not Caucasians. She was never tried on those other two cases. McCarthy is scheduled to become the 500th execution in Texas since the year 1976. DPIC reports that 1,089 of the 1,332 executions since 1976 were done in the South, where there is a church on nearly every corner: the Bible Belt.

McCarthy killed a trusting, elderly neighbor who she reportedly asked for a cup of sugar to gain entrance to her victim's home. While McCarthy was addicted to drugs, she preyed on helpless people. The same can be said of Kermit Gosnell, the abortionist who murdered newborn babies as they lay crying on his table after late-term abortions. Both McCarthy and Gosnell were black medical professionals who killed repeatedly. McCarthy was an occupational therapist, and Gosnell was a doctor. Gosnell did not face the death penalty, because he was a very wealthy man in Pennsylvania. She was a working class black woman in the South, whose ex-husband was connected to a radical political organization. Capital punishment sentences depend on who the defendant is in terms of his or her economic status, the region of the country the defendant lives in, the defendant's race, and the victims' race. Gosnell killed black babies, but McCarthy killed a white woman.

When health care professionals in Louisiana killed their patients during Katrina, none of them were even imprisoned. Many police officers have been filmed killing unarmed citizens, and they suffered no prosecution whatsoever. The same district attorneys who give persuasive arguments for the death penalty regarding some defendants generally withhold prosecution when police officers do violence, perhaps to help the city avoid liability for wrongful deaths the officers caused. It appears that some killers are excused from prosecution if such prosecution would expose the city to wrongful death litigation. Sincere outrage over murders would compel the same response to every murder, but that is not what happens. There exists great disparity in application of the law.

Who shares the blame that McCarthy was addicted to crack cocaine and became a desperate junkie looking for her next fix? There is reason to believe the CIA introduced crack, a highly addictive drug, into America, possibly to derail African Americans. Wikipedia reports, "The involvement of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in cocaine trafficking in Central America during the Reagan Administration    as part of the Contra war in Nicaragua has been the subject of several official and journalistic investigations since the mid-1980s."  See "CIA and Contras cocaine trafficking in the U.S."

An even more compelling reason to spare McCarthy and end capital punishment, especially in Bible Belt states like Texas, is that God forbids executions throughout the New Testament. Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person" (Matthew 5:38). Capital punishment is incongruous with Christianity, yet most executions occur in the Bible Belt and are sanctioned by so-called Christians.

People who disregard commandments from Jesus might want to destroy a drug addicted murderer, but it is impossible now to kill that person. No murderer lives in McCarthy's cell. Kimberly McCarthy has been imprisoned for 15 years. She is drug-free and devoted to God. Texas has no opportunity at this point to "kill the heathen negress." Texas can only kill a vulnerable, repentant woman who prays for mercy, and reveal itself to be a heartless, vengeful heathen that is only interested in making its 500th execution in the modern DP race.

Nearly 2,000 people have signed the following petition to spare Kimberly McCarthy:

The family, friends and supporters of Kimberly McCarthy are petitioning Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles in an effort to save Kimberly from being put to death by the State of Texas. Kimberly suffered from a severe addiction to crack cocaine in the 1990's, and her life went into a downward spiral into the underworld of drugs. Her association with the wrong people coupled with her out of control drug use became a lethal combination that led to tragedy. Prior to her drug use, Kimberly had no criminal record and was in the field of helping and healing the sick as an occupational therapist. When she was introduced to drugs, her life took a dark and destructive turn that led to tragedy - a tragedy that she lives with daily for which she is deeply remorseful. Over the years, Kimberly's faith in God has strengthened. Her spirit and personality touch each and every person she encounters. We are asking that Kimberly's sentence be commuted. We ask that the State of Texas show mercy! Killing Kimberly will not bring the victim back. It will only create more suffering and heartache and another victim. She could be such a positive influence to others. God can use her to touch the lives of other women headed down the road to destruction.  http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-kimberly-mccarthy

Texas Moratorium Network carries information about bills the Texas House of Representatives is considering that could have impact on McCarthy's sentence:

Next Tuesday, April 16, the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence will hear testimony on HB 2458 that would prohibit seeking or imposing the death penalty on the basis of a person’s race.

Next Tuesday, the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee will also hear testimony on HB 189 by Rep. Dutton that would affect what is allowable testimony in death penalty cases.

(b) Testimony of an informant or of an alleged accomplice of the defendant is not admissible if the testimony is given in exchange for a grant or promise by the attorney representing the state or by another of immunity from prosecution, reduction of sentence, or any other form of leniency or special treatment. Article 38.14 does not apply to accomplice testimony described by this subsection.

(c) A statement against interest made by the defendant to a person who at the time of the alleged statement was in custody with or imprisoned or confined with the defendant is admissible only if the statement is corroborated by an electronic recording.

The justice system is more concerned about money than it is about justice. Therefore, effective anti-DP advocates should launch lawsuits after each execution if some cause for legal action can be found. Whether or not advocates win, the lawsuits will demand public attention to the state-sponsored murder long past the condemned person's death, and such litigation will increase the cost of conducting executions, which is already considerably more than life in prison without parole. If McCarthy is executed, sue the CIA for distributing drugs in African American communities in the first place. Sue on behalf of McCarthy, who was changed from a well adjusted, working mother into a crack addict, and sue on behalf of her victim, who would not have been murdered if not for McCarthy's crack cocaine habit.

More information is at the Texas Moratorium Network 

http://www.texasmoratorium.org/archives/2343

If McCarthy is executed, she will be the first woman subjected to capital punishment in America since 2010. Death Penalty Information Center reports that 51 women have been executed in the United States since the year 1900. For more information, access "Women and the Death Penalty"
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/women-and-death-penalty

More information about racial issues regarding McCarthy's sentence is in this article by DPIC: 

UPCOMING EXECUTION: Lawyers Request Reprieve Because of Racial Bias in Dallas County

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/upcoming-execution-lawyers-request-reprieve-because-racial-bias-dallas-county

Mary Neal

Davis-MacPhail Truth Committee

http://DMTruth.blogspot.com

Dixie Lynchings Continue: Willie Manning

DP - The Unholy Race

(initially published Oct. 16, 2011)
  

As Mississippi prepares for the legalized lynching of Willie Manning on May 7, 2013, a man who was DENIED a DNA test to prove his innocence, I decided to re-publish my article that explains why the justice system does not care if it kills innocent people - in fact, it may be preferable. See the Atlantic.com report: "A Ghost of Mississippi: The Willie Manning Capital Case." On the eve of his execution, state officials say there should be no DNA or fingerprint testing for a condemned black man who maintains his innocence (link below). Please sign the "SAVE WILLIE MANNING" petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/public-help-save-willie-fly-manning

Entertainment through Capital Punishment

RULES of the GAME in TEN POINTS

1. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT has long been a favorite sport. You may be surprised to know that Texas was not among the top five in the DP race until after 1976. States may get double points for executing innocents or mentally challenged people, but the scores I found give all executions equal weight. The numbers quoted here are from July 2011, when Virginia led the nation with 1,386 executions. Before 1976, Texas' score was just 755, but killing another 475 since then brought Texas to 1,230. The Long Horn State can take the lead with another 50 or so people unless Virginia steps up her pace. Below are scores by state between 1608 and 1976 (lynchings are not included) for the top five states.
Virginia - 1277
New York - 1,130
Pennsylvania - 1040
Georgia - 950
North Carolina - 784

2. South Carolina was not in the top five, but no one can doubt its commitment to execution. That state holds the record for executing the youngest person, 14-year-old George Stinney. Of course, George was black. He was only 5'1" tall and weighed just 95 pounds. His guilt is highly doubtful. Some people advocate resumption of juvenile executions. See a picture of George Stinney and learn more about his death at this link: Juvenile Justice - Kids 4 Cash http://marylovesjustice.blogspot.com/2011/03/juvenile-justice-kids-4-cash.html - The law is tough on minority children. A 12-year-old Florida boy, Christian Fernandez, was charged with first degree murder. I wrote about him in "Human Trafficking by Government - Kids4Cash" at this link: http://marylovesjustice.blogspot.com/2011/10/human-trafficking-by-government.html - I don't think the D.A. can ask for the death penalty in his case since juvenile executions were outlawed, thankfully!

3. Execution (especially of potentially innocent people, the mentally challenged, and minors) is not something they want us discussing online, although it happens. Capital punishment is like a burp, which polite people ignore. Hackers are paid to destroy my computers to prevent my advocacy against criminalizing mental illness and capital punishment. Online activism for human rights may be seriously curtailed if/when one of the Internet censorship bills that are continually introduced finally passes.

4. Potentially innocent people may be worth double points in the DP race. Troy Davis was executed on September 21, 2011, and serious doubt remains about his guilt. He declared his innocence in his last moments and asked people who care about justice to "continue fighting this fight" to clear his name. Of course, efforts to clear Troy Davis postpartum and also end DP would spoil the game and reduce prison profits. Prisons are paid significantly more for warehousing condemned inmates than they get for inmates in maximum security prisons or those in the general prison population. Therefore, the petition I launched asking for a new investigation of Officer MacPhail's murder in November 2011 was cyberstalked.

5. Please pray for Thomas Arthur, an Alabama condemned man. His 2009 DNA test eliminated him for all items tested. More items could be tested at his attorneys' expense, but Alabama refuses. See his DNA test results http://www.thomasarthurfightforlife.com/images/Arthur_DNA_Test_Results_07-20090001.pdf - Thomas Arthur's execution scheduled for March 29, 2012 was stayed. Google "Mary Neal Thomas Arthur" for my articles about him. I have followed his case for years despite much cyberstalking to prevent my reports.

6. Pray for Hank Skinner, also. He was scheduled for execution AGAIN on November 9, 2011, but he was granted a stay of execution. Texas resisted testing evidence for his DNA for years. [Finally, a test was allowed AFTER Texas claims it lost the bloodsoaked jacket that Hank wanted tested.] If Hank is killed without irrefutable proof of his guilt, he might be worth double points, too. You can see his support page at Twitter @Justice4Hank at http://twitter.com/justice4hank . Google my article, "Hank Skinner, Human Sacrifice for the 1%."

7. Mentally Ill inmates may be worth double points in the DP race. Please pray for Jeff Wood. Jeff Wood is a mentally challenged young man on Texas death row under the law of parties. That means the State knows Wood never killed anyone, but he was induced to go to the store one day with a man who murdered the store manager while Wood obediently sat inside a truck like the retarded youth had been instructed to do by his devious friend. Wood reportedly did not even know that a robbery/murder was happening. Excerpt from my article about Wood at NowPublic.com states, "The actual shooter in this case, Daniel Reneau, was already executed by the State of Texas." Renault's brother commented at the article, saying that his brother should have cleared Wood before his own execution. Wood's family commented also. Continue reading about Wood at NowPublic.com: Scheduled for Texas Execution: Jeff Wood, a Mentally Challenged Young Man | NowPublic News Coverage http://www.nowpublic.com/world/scheduled-texas-execution-jeff-wood-mentally-challenged-young-man#ixzz1qXyDyaCf

8. Please pray for Andre Thomas. No sane person would eat his eyes, but this insane man did. Andre Thomas ate one eye while awaiting trial for killing his estranged wife and children. He cut their hearts out and took the hearts home in his pocket to keep them close to him (his words). Andre ate his second eye in 2009. Should acute mental patients be executed for their crimes? Members of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI) do not think so, and neither does the Supreme Court. But Texas, where Andre awaits the death needle, disagrees. Andre remains on death row. See this legal blog http://www.shermancriminallawyer.com/2010/09/andre-thomas-sane-enough-to-di.html "Andre Thomas - Sane Enough to Die? - Part 1." 

9. SEE HOW YOUR STATE RANKS IN THE DP RACE at Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). The pre-1976 DP scorecard for each state at this link: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions-united-states-1608-1976-state - I wonder if people take bets on whether condemned persons will receive a stay of execution. Of course, it is too late for Troy Davis, but what is your wager on four condemned inmates listed in this article: Thomas Arthur (AL), Hank Skinner, Jeff Wood, and Andre Thomas (TX)?

10. In a world with seven billion people, some decision makers think life is cheap. Ignoring potential innocence and mental illness of condemned persons is indicative of that problem. This is especially true in Bible Belt states, where lynching was a favorite sport in the 1930s and 40s. In the 21st century, human and civil rights are regularly being challenged at state and federal levels. For example, concentration camps are to be erected (some say they are already erected) under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was enacted in December 2011. NDAA allows indefinite military detention without naming a crime and without any trial. Torture in the camps has not been overruled. Extrajudicial assassinations happen to Americans, also. Concentration camps and extrajudicial assassinations are probably a natural progression for a nation where inmates are killed without irrefutable proof of guilt.

In the "post-racist" era of 21st century America

• Larry Neal, a mentally and physically disabled man was secretly arrested for 18 days (kidnapped) and killed in Memphis Shelby County Jail, and his family is denied any records or explanation. (Tennessee)
• Chavis Carter, a 21-year-old man, was shot as he sat locked in the back of an Arkansas police car where his hands were double handcuffed behind his back after having been searched twice, and his death was ruled a suicide. This is the official ruling although Carter was left-handed and was shot in his right temple. His hands were not tested for gunpowder residue (and neither were the police officers'), and the police car's camera happened to malfunction for a few minutes (officially 60 seconds) exactly at the time Carter was overcome with Houdini powers and managed to escape the handcuffs, retrieve a gun, and kill himself. (Arkansas)
• Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., a retired veteran, was murdered by police when his Life Alert went off and called for emergency responders. Chamberlain telling police it was a false alarm and police calling him "nigger" and demanding entrance were clearly heard and recorded by his Life Alert operators. Chamberlain was beaten, Tasered, and shot - on tape. All of this was ruled "justifiable" police conduct. (New York)

  
Those were all black men. Now we have another legal lynching about to happen: Willie Manning's. See the Atlantic.com report: 
"A Ghost of Mississippi: The Willie Manning Capital Case."
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/a-ghost-of-mississippi-the-willie-manning-capital-case/275442/

Mississippi has a governor who seems to be a pleasant, forward-looking man. He is making Mississippi beautiful again. Gov. Bryant recently announced $69 million in early restoration projects for the Mississippi Gulf Coast following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The projects are part of early restoration activities identified as “Phase III” of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA). He wants Mississippi residents and tourists to feel safe, and he also wants Mississippi to be a place known for its fairness to everyone, without regard to race. Please consider using the following information to contact Gov. Bryant on behalf of Willie Manning. 

601.359.3150 (phone) - 601.359.3741 (fax) - P.O. Box 139, Jackson, MS 39205

As a previous Lt. Governor, Gov. Bryant likely has a great sense justice. It is only fair that everybody facing execution should have the right to DNA tests, especially since over 306 people were already exonerated by DNA testing, including 18 who were on death row. That usually means the inmates had been through trials and appeals, and still the courts were wrong. About 70 percent of those exonerated by DNA testing are people of color, like Willie Manning and 37 percent of Mississippi's population.

In March 2013, the U.S. Justice Department announced an agreement with a Mississippi school district to address multiple violations of juvenile due process rights, a signature effort by the Civil Rights Division to address disparate treatment of minorities by local courts (a school-to-prison pipeline case). 
http://www.mainjustice.com/2013/03/22/deal-reached-in-mississippi-school-to-prison-pipeline-case/

Learn more about Mississippi's prison system at Wikipedia: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_State_Penitentiary

Sign the "SAVE WILLIE MANNING" petition: 
http://www.change.org/petitions/public-help-save-willie-fly-manning

Gov. Bryant is the 64th and current Governor of Mississippi, having defeated the Democratic Party candidate, Johnny DuPree, in the 2011 general election. His website is 
http://www.governorbryant.com/

Willie Manning

Mississippi is a beautiful state. It has lovely beaches, lush vegetation, and many friendly, Christian people. Hopefully, the state can overcome its racist history and continue its progress under Gov. Bryant. At a time when other states are ending capital punishment, surely Mississippi will not execute a black man without proving guilt by DNA tests the inmate fervently requests. Such a tragedy, especially after the school-to-prison pipeline debacle, would make it appear that Mississippi has resisted efforts to overcome its past. Please ask Gov. Bryant and the U.S. Supreme Court to spare Manning and allow his DNA to be tested against the evidence. The U.S. Supreme Court is on Twitter at @iSupremCourt, and Gov. Bryant is at 
@PhilBryantMS . Call and tweet the governor and justices, please. Time is short, and this is a matter of urgency. May God bless Willie Manning and all inmates who pray for the opportunity to prove their innocence.

Statistical information for this article was provided by: 

Death Penalty Information Center
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/
The Innocence Project
http://www.innocenceproject.org/know/

End Dixie Lynchings.