22 November 2007
Governor Bob Riley
Dear Governor Riley,
This is my ninth letter to you. I again invite you to answer me by email, if you should wish to do so. My offer remains open for you to either answer via email to justicefortommy@gmail.com or to post your answer as a comment on my blog at www.justicefortommy.blogspot.com.
Today is Thanksgiving Day in your country. Unfortunately we do not celebrate Thanksgiving in our country (only God and our “powers that be” knows why!!!). In fact, God’s Name has even been removed from our new Constitution, since its inception, following our country becoming a democracy in 1994. No wonder we have virtually the highest crime rate in the world!
Nevertheless, today I want to join you in celebrating Thanksgiving Day, as I have not only studied in your country, but also visit it on occasion and made quite a number of friends there. You are truly blessed to live in such a beautiful country.
Today I want to be thankful for a few things stemming from your neck of the woods.
These are:
1. The fact that your office made contact with the Innocence Project, requesting details on how to approach post-conviction DNA testing requests. I saw the letter Peter Neufeld wrote to your Bryan Taylor and my heart leapt within me! I am thankful that this request was done, Governor. It is a step in the right direction to ensure that condemned persons have ALL the opportunities possible, to prevent an innocent person from being executed. I look forward to seeing the next step being taken by your in this regard and I pray that it would be in the right direction…mandatory post-conviction DNA testing. You would certainly be the “man of the hour” if you did this in Alabama!!!
2. I am thankful that the majority of the United Nations members are endorsing a worldwide call for a moratorium on the death penalty. The death penalty has never fixed anything, Governor. In my view, “margin of error” might play a role in other facets of life, as one is given an opportunity then of revisiting the situation and do corrective actions but, when it comes to an execution, it can never play a role, as one cannot “right the wrong” once an innocent person is dead. In addition, the fact that one has to stoop to the level of a murderer and kill, in the name of justice, goes against my grain. In my view, incarcerating a murderer for the rest of his/her natural life is more than enough of a solution.
3. I am thankful that, as a result of the Justices’ decision in Baze vs Rees, all the persons on deathrow, especially Thomas Arthur, on whose behalf I am fighting for DNA testing, could also see the sun come up on Thanksgiving Day. I do not endorse what they MIGHT have done, Governor. It is deplorable in its entirety. I just do not see how one can hang all one’s clothes on one peg, by making the Biblical principle that “whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed” (Gen. 9:6) the only reason for executions by a country. God is a God of mercy, forgiveness and compassion and would not punish a potentially innocent person. Pity that man seeks its own righteousness and power in this practise, instead of establishing absolute guilt, before executing anyone.
4. I am thankful for the Justices’ decision to review the lethal injection method of execution in Baze vs Rees. For too long now have your countrymen executed people against their own standards in the 8th Amendment. In my view, if one makes a rule, you must be prepared to follow it, without any “margin of error”, otherwise abolish any practices associated with it. Although the Justices’ ultimate decision might not abolish the death penalty, I pray that at least it would ensure that hypocrisy in the application of the provisions of the 8th Amendment might be removed. I pray that in their decision the Justices would force each and every State to reveal the contents of their execution protocol and be transparent. In my view, by cloaking such protocol in secrecy, is tantamount to dishonesty and deceit. It is my view that, by revealing any method that could affect the lives of others, granting them an opportunity to comment and suggest changes, is the essence of unity, transparency and true democracy.
5. I am thankful for the Innocence Protection Act of 2004, regarding DNA testing and for Senator Patrick Leahy for his input in this. It is my view that this would ensure that potentially innocent person might not be incarcerated or executed. I pray that all States adopt its provisions as a matter of course.
6. In reference to the State of Alabama, I am thankful for your drive in the education field. You are so right that our children are our future and that education plays a major role in reform and the raising of our children in a godly way. I am also thankful that children might be wearing seatbelts on school busses in Alabama soon! Way to go, Governor!
7. Finally, I am thankful that Attorney General Troy King is doggedly pursuing sexual predators. I might not agree with many of the things he does or says and I might think that he is grandstanding and “feathering his own nest” more than anything else, but I certainly laud his efforts in his pursuit of sexual predators. Please convey my heartfelt thanks to him in this.
I wish you a blessed Thanksgiving. Enjoy the turkey and the trimmings!!! May Dixie have peace in its borders today.
As always and in keeping with my quest, I again end my letter by asking you, for the sake of decency, humanity, mercy and justice, to allow DNA testing to be done in Thomas Arthur’s case and to reveal to the citizens of Alabama the contents of the lethal injection protocol being used to execute condemned persons. Your Creator, who entrenches the right to life in Section 1 of your Constitution, demands it of you.
Yours Faithfully,
Dr. Thinus Coetzee PhD, D.C.Ed
justicefortommy@gmail.com
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