### Quotes for Outreach

1. "We wanted to model the kind of community building and solidarity that the death penalty is meant to interrupt and so we did that through collaboration working together we also do it by collaborating with churches like y'all's and working with volunteers to set up and break it down it's always a powerful community building experience just having the exhibit and the conversations that it creates." [31:01] (22 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "We want the exhibit to really inspire two things number one perspective taking and so you'll notice a lot of the pieces invite you to adopt the perspective of the people who are on death row especially the art that's been created by them... inviting people to take the perspective of folks who are currently awaiting execution was one of our objectives and then the second was creating a springboard for critical thinking in discussion." [31:58] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "We want this exhibit to focus on humanizing people, and so if you'll notice, we don't replicate the dehumanizing labels of the system. We don't use terms like inmate, convict, felon. We use people's names. We try to name them when possible... We really also wanted to emphasize the dehumanization of the system and how the death penalty dehumanizes and debases us all." [43:52] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "The incompatibility of the death penalty with human dignity, mercy, and transformation, which is why we are inviting churches in particular to host this exhibit and have these conversations about whether or not the death penalty is really commensurate with our values in the system. And so we really wanted to highlight some discrepancies between the system and this region's religiosity." [45:44] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




### Quotes for Members

1. "Innocence is a starting point but not an end point. Innocence cases are important, terrifying, undercut the system in obvious ways and are often the thing that pulls people over to say, you know, in some cases, a death penalty is wrong. But I really want us to think about how it is that somebody who did not commit a crime winds up on death row to begin with." [36:22] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "Focusing on systemic issues and not the facts of the crime is challenging, but when you talk to people who are advocating for the death penalty, that will try to remind you of why somebody was sentenced to death and why they deserve it... Does executing somebody really contribute to repair or does it continue to retraumatize and perpetuate harm?" [37:32] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "Redirecting people's attention also to policy the policy that contributes to the perpetuation of the death penalty especially in states like Alabama also encourages people to become more civically engaged... Supporting legislation that corrects some of these injustices is one way to get that get folks involved." [39:36] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "We also wanted to highlight the resistance and advocacy of the people who are on death row who are already fighting for their own lives and so the way we organize the existence of the death penalty in the exhibit was we broke it up into three components or pieces of the exhibit three ways in which people resist the death penalty one is clemency... the second way in which people advocate for themselves is by appealing their cases... and then finally abolition." [33:06] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "Alternatives to the death penalty. A lot of times you will hear folks talk about life in prison or long sentences. Those are still extreme sentences. And so I also want to urge and empower you to move away from extreme punishment as a replacement for the death penalty. Transformational and restorative justice systems that look at what we can do." [45:44] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

Thank you so much for having me. I'm honored to be here and share the space with you. I want to thank alsoReverend Julie Comrade for reaching out and wanting to host the exhibit, which I'll tell you all about in a couple of minutes.I also want to thank Kim for the behind-the-scenes planning and our team of intrepid, incredible volunteers who helped set all this up at 7 o'clock this morning.Lee Hedgepeth. Lee, can you put up your hand? Lee is also an amazing journalist who reports on the death penalty in Alabama, and a very, very good friend.Lee and his wife, Trisha, helped to set this up today, as did Kara. Kara, please put your hand up. Amazing volunteer, Kara.And Kate, thank you all for helping us to make this possible. And thank you all for being here to share in our exhibit and talk about what we can do within our spheres of influence to stopthe death penalty. Oh, also thank you to Kat for being here to cover this exhibit in The Regional News. Lord knows we need better media coverage than what we currently get.So appreciate all the journalists who are contributing to this effort as well.How the exhibit came together, it was a collaborative effort that really began with Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, which is the group that Terry mentioned earlier.I know some of you are already familiar with them. Some of you already participate in their vigils and protests.They are the only one here in the state that can do it. So we're really proud of you all. I want to thank all the Sangre and the folks in the program for being here to talk in this event and tell us about the death penalty.501c3 nonprofit in the nation founded and run by people on death row andthey're advocating for the abolition of the death penalty from home andcorrectional facility where death row is is located their entire board ofdirectors is on death row I serve on their advisory board and try to help tolift up their work however I can and they had donated some materials to ouruniversity archive materials related to their own abolition efforts letters tothe governor letters to the medical board of examiners protesting executionmethods photographs and then of course they have a quarterly newsletter and ifyou are not on their email list subscribing to that newsletter I highlyrecommend that you you get on there and we started archiving them but then youknow a digital repository only goes so far nobody really wants to sit in frontof a computer and flip through images so I reached out to some artists friends ofmine and asked if there was a way we could bring thesedocumentto life. You know, many of them are illuminating. For example, you will see death certificates overhere, pieces of them on the wall with the hand. Judicial homicide is emphasized there becausethat is actually the manner of death is homicide because the state is killing people. Things likethis really illuminate elements of the death penalty that are not immediately obvious topeople, but we wanted a way to really bring it to life to people. So I reached out to a good friendof mine named Kerrigan Casey, who is a really talented community based artist and she led thecharge and collaborated with a few other outside artists, Kiana Brewster, whose paintings are hereand here kind of scattered throughout. And then Kerrigan's are also behind me scattered throughout.They are all labeled. And then Alec Key, whose pieces are the hands, the plaster cast hands withdeath certificates. They all collaborated together on this exhibit. And we also collaborated withpeople currently on the wall. And then we also collaborated with people currently on the wall.death row so you'll see artwork set up here and kind of throughout that werecontributed directly also from from people on death row also some sculpturepieces behind you there so please do please do check those out and read thelabels and the QR codes that link to further content we wanted to model thekind of community building and solidarity that the death penalty ismeant to interrupt and so we did that through collaboration working togetherwe also do it by collaborating with churches like y'all's and working withvolunteers to set up and break it down it's always a powerful communitybuilding experience just having the exhibit and the conversations that itcreates I've been told that I'm mostly preaching to the choir today which is arelief because that doesn't happen a lot in Alabama but I do want to also usethis exhibit to empower you with talking points for when you do talk with familyfriends acquaintances who don't already believe in death penalty abolition somethings that you can take away from this exhibit and share with other people soit's really great to see people who are engaged in this took this time to speakwith you when they try to steer the conversation maybe in differentdirections so I am hoping that today's talk will also be useful we want theexhibit to really inspire two things number one perspective taking and soyou'll notice a lot of the pieces invite you to adopt the perspective of thepeople who are on death row especially the art that's been created by themthere's a piece over to my left here that was made by Kenny Smith who wasexecuted in January earlier this yearand it was literally his view for the length of time that he was on death rowthere's also a model death row replica behind you that was made by somebodycurrently on Alabama's death row and it was built to scale scaled down but wehave taped out the dimensions of a cell which is five by eight feet so that youcan also experience what the actual dimensions of a cellar like for thepeople who live there so inviting people to take the perspective of folks who arecurrently awaiting execution was one of our objectives and then the second wascreating a springboard for critical thinking in discussion we really wantedthese pieces to generate discussion maybe illuminate aspects of the deathpenalty that were unfamiliar to you and empower you to then take those with youto your family and friends and your spheres of influence we also wanted tohighlight the resistance and advocacy of the people who are on death row who arealready fighting for their own lives and so the way we organize the existenceof the death penalty in the exhibit was we broke it up into three hearingfeedback or is that just me okay three components or pieces of the exhibit threeways in which people resist the death penalty one is clemency and so that isthe exhibit out in the front near where the refreshments are set up all theletters that are set up out there those were all clemency letters written onbehalf of Gary Brown who was executed in 2003 we worked with his son to put thatexhibit together he donated those letters and also allowed me to share myinterview him and so if you have a cell phone you can link to the QR code andhear more from Chris about what the experience was like for him undergoing aclemency hearing for his dad when when Chris was in college there is a secondpiece called reversal and so if clemency is unsuccessful which it often isthere's only been one clemency granted in the history of the state of Alabamaand it was a white woman named Judith Neely and it was you know one of thelast days of Bob James's tenure as governor he commuted her sentence on hisway out and so clemency is a rarity to say the least the second way in whichpeople advocate for themselves is by appealing their cases and so thereversal part of the exhibit highlights all the people in Alabama who've hadtheir death penalty convictions reversed and about two-thirds of people who areoriginally sentenced to death wind up having their convictions reversed whichis kind of a staggering number it's about a hundred and ninety-threeby my current count but that is changing all the time and so we profiled oneperson named Frederick Lynn who I met photographed and interviewed who had hisdeath penalty conviction reversed and is now operating a successful landscapingbusiness and so you can hear his story by keying into the QR code in thatexhibit and then finally abolition which is the thing that reverses theseconvictions for everybody and that's the space that we're currently inunderstanding theclemency and reversal may reverse individual cases but the only thing thatreally liberates everybody is abolition and so that's where we wanted to put ourfocus and that is the largest part of the exhibit both in terms of the numberof pieces but also as you can tell physically the scale these are some verylarge canvases that the artists we're working with especially the outsideartists because they weren't limited in terms of their canvas or materials andthey really wanted to take up a lot of space for the abolition component andfeel free to both look at andand touch these parts of the exhibit.They were meant to be touched and explored.The piece that's directly in front of meby Kerrigan Casey is actually in braille.It has K. Abbey's famous quotethat every life is precious written in braille.And so do feel free to touchand experience the artwork that way.Kiana Brewster is a collage artistand so you'll notice a lot of little piecesof archival material in her work, pieces of newsletters.So again, look for the archival materialsand don't be afraid to touchand experience the artwork that way.I wanted to provide some talking points for you allfor guidance when you do have these conversationswith people who are not in this room.And Teri already did a beautiful jobof kind of overviewing the systemic issueswith the death penalty.And so I wanted to just emphasize some of the pointsthat she has made.One is that innocence is a starting pointbut not an end point.Innocence cases are important,terrifying,undercut the system in obvious waysand are often the thing that pulls people over to say,you know, in some cases, a death penalty is wrong.But I really want us to think about how it isthat somebody who did not commit a crimewinds up on death row to begin with.And the way that somebody winds up on death rowfor a crime they did not commit,a racism, poverty, classism,lack of access to legal counsel,all the things that also, you know,impact the people who are on death row,not through false conviction.And so if you really want to see the continuum,you know, that causes some people to wind up on death row,others in prison,others serving finite sentences in prison,we really have to look at the way inequality impactseverybody, not just those innocence cases,although that is a great starting point for talking aboutwhy particularly black, poor, and disabled peopledisproportionately wind up on death row.One of the innocence cases we are trying to draw attention to,which is the death penalty, is the death penalty, which is the death penalty, which is the death penalty, which is the death penalty, which is the death penalty, which is the death penalty, which is the death penalty,is the death penalty, which is the death penalty, which is the death penalty,and of course you can choose Rocky Myers,and you will see his photo with the QR code on the slideshowthat is out front.Also, Taforis Johnson, and I know that this church has hostedthe banner for the Taforis Johnson Banner tour,so those are two cases we are trying to actively lift up,but again starting point, not an endpoint.Focusing on systemic issues and not the facts of the crimeis challenging, but when you talk to peoplewho are advocating for the death penalty,that will try to remind you of whysomebody was sentenced to death and why they deserve it and that is what ourcurrent criminal legal system asks us to focus on who did it what law was brokenwhat punishment do they deserve but to Terry's point about restorative justiceif you can steer them into different kinds of questions what happened whatare the needs of the person who's been harmed or their co-victims and who isobligated to make that repair does executing somebody really contribute torepair or does it continue to retraumatize and perpetuate harm youknow that that phrase that hurt people hurt people does that just continue thehurt and the harm rather than actually repairing the harm that's already beenbeen done so redirecting people to think about why and how the death penalty iscarried out a lot of folks don't know about procedural law and how the deathpenalty actually works for example that most death convictions are actuallyoverturned which suggests prosecute prosecutorial misconduct policemisconduct overzealous prosecution and especially in cases like Frederick Lynn'sracism racial bias so pointing people's attention to how convictions actuallywork as well as how they get overturned is one way of redirecting people'senergy toward the system and not just individual people or cases again we wantto avoid creating this deserving undeserving dichotomy where some peopledeserve it and others don't and so if you can erase that or deflect by talkingabout the system as a whole you get to see how this is really part of the samecontinuum redirecting people's attention also topolicy the policy that contributes to the perpetuation of the death penaltyespecially in states like Alabama also encourages people to become morecivically engaged and so a few examples that are currently sitting in front offront of legislature there was a bill proposed this year by Chris England tomake judicial override retroactive judicial override is when a jury votesfor life in prison or a lesser sentence but the judge overrides it to convictsomebody to death anyway and there area number of people sitting on Alabama's death row who were convicted that waybecause a judge overrode the jury's decision 2018 judicial override was madeillegal but it was not made retroactive and so you still have people sittingthere Kenny Smith was one of those people who was executed in 2024 whowhose jury decisions were overridden by a judge and so supporting legislationthat corrects some of these injustices is one way to get that getfolks involved there are also changes in procedure that make appealsincreasingly difficult so of all the reversals that are documented in thatroom that's becoming increasingly difficult because of legislation such asthe quote-unquote Fair Justice Act of 2017 and these titles are like trulyOrwellian but the Fair Justice Act consolidates the appeals process so thatfolks have much less time in order to file appeals which makes people who areactually facing false conviction makes it a lot harder for them to to file theirappeals in a timely way the Alabama Supreme Court also eliminated in 2023automatic plain error review and so these cases are not automaticallyreceiving the scrutiny that they had been receiving which again makes themmore difficult to challenge and plain error review was responsible for about40% of reversals which is a huge number and so every year the legislature isfinding ways to extend expand the death penalty and make these reversals harderand harder and then finally changes inexecution method Kenny was attempted he underwent two executions lethalinjection which failed in nitrogen gas which was successful and so you see thelegislature creating new new ways of killing people as a way of extending thedeath penalties timeline because lethal injection and other practices are beingchallenged this again is why we try to draw attention to the homicide pieceregardless of method the state is going to continue totry to stop the death penalty and make these reversals harder and harder andwe tried to be creative with methods the point is that the state is killingpeople regardless of methods so you'll see a lot of media attention on methodsand these methods are shocking and you know many people would argue cruel andunusual but keeping your eye on the ball in terms of that the executions arehappening at all is an important way of staying grounded in that abolitionistframework as well there is a sculpture behind you that is a pair of lungs andif you scan the Q-tipQR code it takes you to a medical practitioner who describes what happensto the lungs during a lethal injection they fill up with fluid the personexperiences pulmonary edema and the lungs are twice as heavy as they ought tobe so again even things that we think of as more humane or an improvement uponprevious execution methods generally aren't and then finally drawing people'sattention back to the unchecked power of the state that the state is able andauthorized to execute people in this way even when like toForest Johnson they have very credible claims that they did not receive a fairtrial and that they did not receive all the information that they needed to knowto defend themselves there is a quote on the opening panel by Michael Thompson itwas executed 2003 and I quote you should fear the system that did this to me andso to return to Terry's point about fascist governments using the deathpenalty and executions as a tool of control absolutely and so if you'retalking to somebody who, at the very least, claims to favor small government, I wouldredirect them back to that quote, you should fear the system that did this to me.We want this exhibit to focus on humanizing people, and so if you'll notice, we don'treplicate the dehumanizing labels of the system.We don't use terms like inmate, convict, felon.We use people's names.We try to name them when possible.So in the reversal exhibit, the slide show will show you every name of every person inevery county in Alabama who has had their death conviction overturned.Other times, we remove the names because we really want you to sit with the art.So the people who are currently on death row, you will see that their work is labeled justwith their initials.It is tempting sometimes to look people up and find out why they are there.We wanted to take away that temptation and to really leave you with their artwork sothat they could project the image that they want you to see about their experience.For those who have been executed.We do.We do provide their full names and memorialize them and how they've died so that they havethat kind of memorial in this exhibit.And over and against the humanization that we're trying to enact, we really also wantedto emphasize the dehumanization of the system and how the death penalty dehumanizes anddebases us all.Every time the state government executes, they do it in our name.They do it in our name.And so calling, voicing your dissent, writing in.Protesting, participating in the vigils, these are all really important ways of letting thestate government know that citizens here in Alabama do not support what they are doing.But again, as the death penalty keeps expanding and the state becomes more and more creativewith its methods, it involves more and more people.And so medical professionals, you know, there is some suspicion that medical professionalsare being involved in some of these processes to develop safety protocols for the nitrogengas chamber, for example.That was just built.And also for lethal injection in order for the states to be able to find lines for lethalinjection.And so it's involving more and more paraprofessionals in the process as well.And then finally, the incompatibility of the death penalty with human dignity, mercy, andtransformation, which is why we are inviting churches in particular to host this exhibitand have these conversations about whether or not the death penalty is really commensuratewith our values in the system.And so we really wanted to highlight some discrepancies between the system and thisregion's religiosity.Alternatives to the death penalty.A lot of times you will hear folks talk about life in prison or long sentences.Those are still extreme sentences.And so I also want to urge and empower you to move away from extreme punishment as areplacement for the death penalty.Transformational and restorative justice systems that look at what we can do.Instead of having death penalty services andjust collecting the life penalty, I want to encourage you to do that.I know that at the federal level, you know, I have a little bit of experience in that.And a lot of times when I talk to medical workers, we talk to them about the death penalty andsteeped in anger and trauma and misery for the decades where somebody has beenon death row and often that execution does not provide the closure that theywere seeking how can we provide healing and transformation for those who'veexperienced harm and crime as well I think that's all I have for you I'mhappy to stay and curate and answer any questions that y'all have about theexhibit but I do want to give you time to explore it on your own I don't wantto over curate so I'm gonna leave you with that and thank you so so much forhaving me it's an honor to be here with you