Take Action on the Death Penalty Today!

It's not too late to take action for Kevin Cooper! Kevin Cooper, who has been on death row in California for 25 years, is asking outgoing governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to commute his death sentence before leaving office on January 2, 2011. Kevin Cooper has consistently maintained his innocence of the four murders for which he was sentenced to death. Since 2004, a dozen federal appellate judges have indicated their doubts about his guilt. Urge Governor Schwarzenegger to grant clemency for Kevin Cooper.  Read Nick Kristof's recent NYT column, "Framed for Murder?", for more on the case.  More information about this case at the Free Kevin Cooper website.


On the book front, listen to this interview with David Garland, author Peculiar Institution: America's Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition, who discusses why capital punishment continues in the United States despite the abolition of the death penalty elsewhere in the Western world. The book has drawn much attention based on former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens' review in the New York Review of Books.





Rights Readers author and California death row inmate Jarvis Jay Masters (Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row) has a hearing coming up early in January. Check The Campaign to Free Jarvis Jay Masters or Facebook for updates. His latest book, That Bird Has My Wings is now out in paper, so have a look there for more of his story.