Greetings Floridians!

         Momentum is building....

         See a photo of Juan Melendez and attorney's Marty McClain and Rosa
Greenbaum just after he walked out of prison at
<http://www.msnbc.com/news/681861.asp?cp1=1>.


INDEX

24 vs 22 - Why FADP and DPIC differ
Happenings in Tallahassee
Florida won't support Melendez - a special collection....
Write your letters TODAY!
Washington Post Editorial



24 vs. 22 - WHY FADP AND DPIC DIFFER

         Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) has spent
considerable time in the past two days explaining to reporters why FADP
counts 24 exonerated prisoners, and the Death Penalty Information Center
(DPIC) in Washington, DC counts only 22.  The reason is because DPIC does
not include Sunny Jacobs and Joe Spaziano, because they were
not  ***technically***  exonerated.

DPIC posts the following statement prior to listing a number of cases of
"probable innocence" on their web page at
<http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocothers.html#Released>

"Other defendants, though not exonerated completely, were released from
death row with substantial evidence of their innocence. Generally, the
defendant's conviction was overturned and then he or she reluctantly
entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge because of the threat of possibly
receiving another death sentence. In most of these cases, no responsible
person would find them guilty. Nevertheless, unlike those enumerated above,
they are guilty of some degree of murder. This list is not necessarily
inclusive of all such cases."
END OF QUOTE

         There are those who would dispute that language, particularly the
phrase "they are guilty of some degree of murder."  The word "technically"
should be included there, because any person accused, convicted, and then
released, who was not specifically found "innocent," is still technically
"guilty."  Juan Melendez is still "technically guilty," even though his
conviction has been set aside, because no court has ruled him
"innocent."  Confused?  You should be, because it's one big mess.

         Consider then the OTHER EXPERTS who DO count Sunny Jacobs and Joe
Spaziano.

***The St. Petersburg Times included both Jacobs and Spaziano in their 1999
review of Florida's exonerated death row inmates, which you can now read on
the FADP site at <http://www.fadp.org/article1.html>.

and

***Professor Michael L. Radelet, preeminent expert on Florida's death row,
also counts Jacobs and Spaziano.  In his most recent version of his
document "Recent Developments in the Death Penalty in Florida," which you
can AND SHOULD read at <http://www.cuadp.org/florida/fldpinfo.html>, he
writes in his section on innocence:

         "Note that in addition to the 21 cases included by the Death
Penalty Information Center, I also include the Florida cases of Sunny
Jacobs and Joe Spaziano. And, if Governor Bush is sincerely interested in
testing his belief that everyone executed in Florida was unquestionably
innocent, I urge him to look into the case of Jesse Tafero, whose evidence
of innocence is even stronger than that of Medina and Demps."
END QUOTE

         Jesse Tafero was Sunny Jacobs' co-defendent.

         Enough said.  Florida has ***24*** releases of prisoners
wrongfully convicted.  We must trumpet that number repeatedly.


*******

HAPPENINGS IN TALLAHASSEE

Walter Moore, Convener of the Tallahasse Coalition for Alternatives to the
Death Penalty, sends the following:

TO: Tallahassee Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

We'll have plenty to talk about in the next few weeks. The Florida
Moratorium Walk will be January 21-31, and three (!) executions are
scheduled between now and February 7. But in this message I want to alert
you to two other matters that are even more imminent.

1. THE CITY COMMISSION AND A MORATORIUM RESOLUTION. This message comes from
Sheila O'Brien, chair of the Tallahassee Moratorium Committee, and the
other members of the TMC. Next Wednesday, January 9, the City Commission
will consider a resolution calling for a moratorium on executions in
Florida. This is a project that has been in the works for months and was
postponed twice in the fall. We don't expect another delay.

ON BEHALF OF THE TMC I URGE YOU TO COME TO THE MEETING AND BRING YOUR
(LIKE-MINDED) FRIENDS. The more supporters present, the better. You aren't
being asked to speak, just to be there. Steve Hanlon will be the
spokesperson, and he will probably be the only speaker. The meeting begins
at 4:00, and we won't have long to wait: the moratorium resolution is to be
considered within the first half-hour. The place is the City Commission
Chambers, on the second floor of City Hall.

To identify yourself as a supporter of the resolution, I suggest you pin a
short length of red ribbon on your clothing. (Red means "stop").   We'll
have extra ribbon and pins for those who need them.  We are taking a
low-key approach to this effort. We will not seek media attention until
after the meeting.  I hope you can set aside an hour of your time Wednesday
to show your support for a moratorium on executions in Florida.

2. THE RELEASE OF JUAN MELENDEZ. Some of you have already received the
welcome news that Juan Melendez was released last night after spending
nearly 18 years on Florida's Death Row. One website where you can read
about his case is <http://www.fadp.org>. His defense team brought him to
Tallahassee, and this morning he spoke eloquently at a hastily called press
conference. He will be in Tallahassee for about a week before he flies to
Puerto Rico to be reunited with his mother.

TO WELCOME HIM AND CELEBRATE HIS FREEDOM, THE COALITION WILL SPONSOR A POT
LUCK SUPPER TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 6:00 P.M., AT FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
110 N. Adams St. Enter the door at the north wing of the church, and come
to the Westminster Room. Juan and members of his defense team will be our
guests. A few words will be said, but there won't be an elaborate program.
Come with your friends and a covered dish, and share this happy occasion.

Upon leaving the prison, Juan received $100. That's it. At the supper we
will pass the hat to help pay for his plane ticket and provide a little
spending money. If you write a check, make it out to the Tallahassee
Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and designate it for Juan
Melendez. Those who want to contribute but can't be at the supper should
send checks to Terry Farley Walsh, TCADP Treasurer, 132 Ferndale Drive,
Tallahassee 32301.

I am sorry to give you such short notice, but I'm sure you understand. It
was only yesterday that Juan was told he was being released. How's that for
short notice?

--Walter Moore


*********

FLORIDA WON'T SUPPORT MELENDEZ - A SPECIAL COLLECTION...

         FADP wants to applaud the Tallahassee Coalition's initiative to
take up a collection for Juan Melendez.  Please send a check as per the
directions in the previous item, OR, if you would like to put your
contribution on a Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover Card,
please call FADP at 800-973-6548 by 11am Tuesday morning, or visit our
secure server at <https://www.compar.com/donation/donateform.html>.  If you
donate on-line, please be sure to write "Melendez" in the "comments"
section.  We'll present that check Tuesday night.  (If you want to remain
anonymous, say that in the comments section also.)


**********

WRITE YOUR LETTERS TODAY!

Yesterday, FADP sent out several ACTION items asking you to write letters
to the editor of your local newspaper, and to the Governor.  We asked that
copies be sent to FADP.  We've received ONLY the following two
letters.  PLEASE see the action request at
<http://www.fadp.org/takeact.html>, and write YOUR letters today!  (Thanks,
Amy Jo, for copying us on your letters!)

From: Amyjo1350@aol.com
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 14:03:47 EST
Subject: Letter to The Gainesville Sun
To: Voice@gvillesun.com

Florida Leads in Wrongful Convictions

Again the unthinkable has happened; the State of Florida has imprisoned an
innocent man on death row for 17 years. How can a new suit and $100 make up
for the miserable years Juan Melendez spent on death row? Florida almost
killed an innocent man!

Florida leads the nation in wrongful convictions. The Republican governor
of Illinois asked for a moratorium on executions with far fewer innocent
people released from their death row. It is now time for Governor Bush to
do the same. I urge him to declare an immediate halt to all executions in
Florida, including the three scheduled for later this month and early in
February.

On Jan. 21, I will join others in walking 143 miles from death row, outside
Raiford, to Tallahassee to personally ask the Governor for a moratorium. We
will give him petitions from tens of thousands of Floridians who agree that
Florida must take a time out on killing to look at what we are doing. Do
you agree? If so, visit www.fadp.org for information.

Amy Jo Smith
2427 NW 104 CT
Gainesville, FL 32606
(352) 332-1350

Coordinator,
Gainesville Citizens for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

****

(Hand written note mailed on 1-05-02)

January 5, 2001

Dear Governor Bush,

Juan Melendez's release highlights the fact that you need to declare a
moratorium on executions. Please do so immediately before the next three
men are executed. As you know the death penalty is not a deterrent, costs
more money, is racial biased, and sometimes kills the innocent. Gov. George
Ryan declared a moratorium and there were fewer people released from
Illinois death row. We are looking for your leadership. Do what is morally
right!

Sincerely,


Amy Jo Smith
Gainesville, Florida

*******************

WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL

Another Death Row Mistake

Washington Post editorial
Saturday, January 5, 2002

AT HIS TRIAL in Florida in 1984 for the murder of one Delbert Baker, Juan
Roberto Melendez sought to argue that another man, Vernon James, had
committed the crime. But when Mr. James was called to testify, he took the
Fifth Amendment, and Mr. Melendez was convicted and sentenced to death.

Seventeen years later, facing a mountain of new evidence that all seems to
bolster Mr. Melendez's trial defense, Florida Circuit Judge Barbara Fleischer
threw out Mr. Melendez's conviction. Exculpatory evidence had been withheld,
she wrote, and the cumulative effects of new evidence "combine to undermine
the confidence in the outcome of Defendant's original trial" and create "a
reasonable probability of a different outcome." This week, prosecutors
decided to drop the case and Mr. Melendez went free.

The evidence against Mr. Melendez was never strong. He was convicted on the
strength of two witnesses -- one of whom professed peripheral involvement in
the killing and the other of whom claimed Mr. Melendez had confessed to him.

As far back as 1986, one judge of the Florida Supreme Court objected to his
death sentence, saying "I do not . . . believe that the quality of [the]
evidence is sufficient to support imposition of the death penalty." But Mr.
Melendez remained on death row, and until 2000, his appeals were going
nowhere. He could easily have been executed.

The break in the case came only in 2000, when it came to light that Mr.
Melendez's trial attorneys had possessed a taped interview with the
now-deceased Mr. James in which, as Judge Fleischer put it, "Vernon James
said that Juan Melendez was not present when [the victim] was killed."
Numerous other witnesses have also been located, and their statements "tend
to corroborate that Vernon James was present and that Juan Melendez was not."
Meanwhile, serious questions have been raised about the two witnesses who
implicated Mr. Melendez. Their prior statements, withheld from the defense,
contradicted their testimony at trial on numerous points.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Mr. Melendez is the 99th
death row inmate to be freed since the modern era of capital punishment began
in this country. In that time, there have been around 750 executions --
meaning that an unnervingly large number of capital convictions are
ultimately shown to involve the gravest of errors. How many times, one must
wonder, have such errors gone undiscovered? Particularly now, with states
racing convicts from the courtroom to the death chamber, nobody can say with
any confidence that all of the people executed in America have been guilty.
It is long past time to do away with a punishment that serves no useful
purpose and the erroneous application of which will eventually -- if it
hasn't already -- implicate government in the killing of innocent people.

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64897-2002Jan4.html>

******

SENT BY:

Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director

         Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP)

         800-973-6548    http://www.fadp.org    <fadp@fadp.org>
         PMB 297, 177 U.S. Highway #1, Tequesta, FL  33469

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty works for restorative
justice in the form of effective alternatives to the death penalty.  It
does so by
   # supporting and coordinating the work of organizations and individuals
   # educating and energizing the general public and state legislators
   # supporting the many persons affected by capital crime and punishment
   # advocating specific legislative improvements

PS: For fiscal & legal purposes, FADP is a project of CUADP
<http://www.cuadp.org> until FADP is incorporated as it's own
entity.  We need your help to make this happen soon.  Please
call 800-973-6548 or e-mail <fadp@fadp.org> to get involved.
Checkbook activism helps too!  Make checks to CUADP and send to:

         FADP
         c/o CUADP
         PMB 297
         177 U.S. Highway #1
         Tequesta, FL  33469

CONTRIBUTIONS TO CUADP ARE NOT TAX DEDUCTIBLE

A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL
INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE [FL] DIVISION
OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL FREE 800-435-7352
(FL only) OR 850-413-0840.  REGISTRATION DOES NOT
IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION
BY THE STATE.  REGISTRATION # SC-11170. NO PROFESSIONAL
SOLICITOR IS CURRENTLY ENGAGED WITH CUADP. 100% OF
ANY CONTRIBUTION GOES TO THE ORGANIZATION.