25 October 2007
Governor Bob Riley
Dear Governor Riley,
This is my fifth letter to you. I would be dishonest if I said that I wasn’t elated, close to midnight last night, when the news came through that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals used Baze vs Rees as the basis on which to order a stay in the Daniel Lee Siebert matter.
Not that I condone what Siebert did and confessed to and should be punished for. I am just plain and downright against any form of punishment that involves dubious measures, like your lethal injection method, which can be questioned as to its effectiveness and application. Isn’t this what Baze vs Rees is about and which the 11th Circuit has now joined? Let’s face it; the trend seems to continue to have a moratorium in place until the US Supreme Court rules in this instance.
Are they right in doing this? Oh Yes, they are. Why? Because there is so much controversy between the various States, regarding the lethal injection method of execution. It is just a shame that grown people cannot find a method of agreement, other than the highest court in the US and that politics, power plays and grandstanding are paramount in many government circles.
Referring to the above, I can agree with you in a quote you gave a while back:
“God looked down on this country because this country was founded on the rock and that rock was our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And when the storms came and the rains came, the rock, it did not move. But over the last 15 or 20 years, something began to erode.”
I think the erosion you are talking about is man’s selfishness, self-centeredness and lust for power. Every day the tabloids shout it out, so much so that we even hear it here in South Africa!!!
You gave a perfect solution in one of your quotes:
“I ask you: turn a deaf ear to the special interests. Let politics stand down for a while. Don't waste anytime thinking about future elections until we've done our jobs here.”
I think this is also the solution regarding the ever-present debate concerning the death penalty and the application of execution methods. Let politics and self-interest stand down and work together until a common solution applicable to ALL States, are found. Would you agree, Governor?
As you said:
“It's time to take action - to put into practice a new approach that focuses on results and measurable improvements.”
Today I ask you to heed and be true to your own words:
“One person can make a difference. In fact, it's not only possible for one person to make a difference, it's essential that one person makes a difference. And believe it or not, that person is you.”
I’m asking you to “make a difference”, Governor; a difference in the sense that you will move past the power plays in Alabama and finally ensure transparency, justice and honesty. I ask you to declare a moratorium until a workable solution to the death penalty is found in Alabama.
I am aware that the majority of your citizens support the death penalty but they also support a moratorium, based on various issues such as facts that innocent people might be executed, that post-conviction DNA testing should be mandatory and that the whole issue of the death penalty is broken and needs to be revised.
Are you going to “make the difference”, as you say, Governor? Will that person be you?
Attached please also find a letter addressed to the judges who made the ruling in the Siebert matter. They deserve to be thanked.
In ending and as in all my letters, I AGAIN thus ask you, for the sake of decency, humanity, mercy and justice, to allow DNA testing to be done in Thomas Arthur’s case and to open up your death penalty lethal injection protocol for your citizens to inspect, in order to avail themselves of the opportunity to either join or refute your standing that it complies with the 8th Amendment. Your Creator, who entrenches the right to life in Section 1 of your Constitution, demands it of you.
Yours Faithfully,
Dr. Thinus Coetzee
justicefortommy@gmail.com
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