Capital Punishment in America

Did you know: If you kill a white person, you're much more likely to be sentenced to death than if you kill a minority? In the last 30 years, 130 people have been cleared of wrongdoing while awaiting execution? That the United States executed more of its citizens in 2007 than every other country in the world except China, Pakistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia? These are just a few of the facts we learned tonight at an eye-opening presentation and discussion on the topic of the Death Penalty as currently practiced in America.

We'll be including Brent's awesome slides that give some more info about capital punishment in the US as soon as we get them made available, but first, here's some stuff you can do to personally get involved and make a difference:

• Troy Davis - Sentenced to death in Georgia for a crime he says he didn't commit. Convicted on very questionable evidence. 2 hours before he was to be put to death last Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued a stay of execution and is considering hearing his case. If not, he will likely be executed Monday. Hear his own words, sign Amnesty International's petition, and read more about the situation and other things you can do to help.
  
• Be a Pen Pal with a Death Row Inmate - If you'd like to learn more about what it's like to be on death row, why not write to someone who's there? The Jail Outreach organization can get you in touch with an inmate who you can write to. If you're interested, email me at biggins2 at gmail dot com with "Death Row Penpal" in the subject line and we'll get you set up.
  
• Attend the Fourth annual Symposium on Restorative Justice, Punishment, and the Death Penalty at UVU next Thursday, October 2nd. It's an all-day symposium, so you can take part in discussions and presentations throughout the day, but BYU Amnesty will be carpooling over for the keynote speaker, William Schabas, director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland. We'll be meeting at 6 oclock at BYU, stay tuned for details.
  
• Letter to the editor - write in to your local paper. Write to the Daily Universe at letters@byu.edu and let them know what you think about Troy Davis, the death penalty, and/or the American justice system.
  

It was a great discussion, thanks to everyone who came, and we hope to see even more of you next week! And, as always, we welcome your thoughts and questions via the comments box below.

Opening Social!

We had our opening social Thursday, and it was pretty awesome. Sure, the tech side of the meeting didn't come together so we ended up video-less, but that just means you can watch the introductory movie whenever you want and however many times you want here:



Carl Hoiland, our beloved club President, led us through an overview of what Amnesty International is and how we can learn more about the issues, engage in dialogue, and make a difference--all right here in Provo. Between munching on delicious fresh fruit and chips/salsa, we came up with topics that we all decided would be important to get involved with. They include, but are not limited to:

• The War on Terror/Torture


• Genocide (e.g. Darfur)


• Domestic violence


• The Death Penalty


• Human trafficking


• Child Soldiers


• LGBT Rights


• Euthanasia

And that's just what I could remember off the top of my head! The point is, there's a lot of human rights issues that need our attention and this semester is going to be an amazing opportunity to put charity into practice and make our world better.

So what do you think? What would you like to see the club doing this semester? Was the food okay? Do you know anybody who would be good to have come in and speak to the club? Leave a comment here on this post and let us know, because this is YOUR club!