Death Row Correspondent
Carrie Reichardt is an artist from West London who started a correspondence with a prisoner awaiting execution on Death Row in Texas.
Carrie started writing to in June 2000 after she saw an ad in the Big Issue, and this continued for nearly six years before he came up for execution. Over this time they developed a powerful relationship. Carrie felt she had to be there when he was executed, although she couldn't bear to actually be in the witness room. They met for the first time in the week prior to his execution.
Carrie subsequently spent eight months consumed with making a mosaic wall in his memory.
hello! im charlie! i just wanted to say i really enjoyed listening to your views on the matter of sadan hussain, i thought they were so interesting as everyone seems to be against him but i love the fact your so posative!
ANYYWAY...i dont really have a question for you...but DO love ur theroys!
thankyou 4 changing my mind...i am now in a posative mind set :) xxxxcharlie
Complain about this postIf anyone wants to know more about Luis's story, please go to the website ;
www.luisramirezstory.net
with thanks
CARRIE
Complain about this postI wanted to listen to Carrie Reichardt to see if I was being unreasonable in my cynicism toward those who befriend death row inmates.
Complain about this postUnfortunately, attempts to concentrate on her views were thwarted by her rising intonation which made her sound both very unsure of herself, and apologetic. I found this, and the views expressed, sufficiently irritating to make me switch off in frustration - something I haven't done since David Blunkett's diaries.
Some people talk about statistics and numbers as pointed out above. I believe it's irrelevant when an innocent man is executed. No matter his race. Killing is killing. There's no gray in between. Whether it's a criminal act or a legal form of execution. The judicial system is corrupt. If you don't have the money for a good attorney you "will" end up on death row.
Look at O.J Simpson. I'm not saying he was innocent or guilty for that matter but what I do know is that he would be sitting on deathrow had it not been for his high priced attorneys.
Not many people know of the injustices or think for a second that our judicial system could be unjust. I know because I was one of them. Of course, i've since changed my views on many things. The death penalty being one of them.
Many people correspond online and in chat rooms without ever knowing each other. I'm not understanding why Ms. Reichardt was called a groupie for writing an inmate. After his death she kept a promise to him and spent 8 months of her life creating a wonderful mosaic in his honor. I believe that was more than a "groupie" would do.
I leave you with this quote:
"We kill people,
Who kill people,
To show people
That killing is wrong."
Complain about this post~Linda
It is true to say that there are more black people living in the southern States, than in the North, but with a population in Texas of 83% white and 17% black, Hispanic and other non-white, it is still disproportionate to the 30.9% white and 69.1% black, Hispanic and other people on Death Row.
The debate over the lack of equality in the judicial system extends to more than simply issues of race. Arguments centre on poverty and mental illness also. Who gets a fair trial when paying for your legal team costs an average of $1.5million versus the $1000 given in the State as a 'welfare' legal rate? This equates to their attorney working at a rate of 10 cents an hour.
On the case in question, , a Hispanic American citizen was tried by an all white jury. Not his peers. Any potential Death Row juror has to undergo a course of 'Death Qualifying' questioning before they are deemed fit for the post. If they feel they would not give the Death Penalty for any reason, they are excused from their services. It is therefore made up of people who are far more likely to convict and have fewer women, fewer racial minorities, fewer homosexuals and fewer liberals.
A point I would like to make would be that the fact that any person feels they have the right to take another life, regardless of any crime appears to be the true horror. Regrettably, several countries on this planet have continued to use this as a deterrent and the United States is in the top five when it comes to executing their own civilians.
Complain about this postHave long given up on this programme. What puzzled me in the minutes before I switched off this morning was why the presenter made such a point of flaunting the fact that some listeners object to the content (eg excrement at breakfast, 'crap word' alert - although the surfers themselves said 'rubbish surfer'. Does it serve the interests of the programme to flagrantly delight in the complaints it receives? radio 4 is increasingly crap.
Complain about this postHow appealing that you consider those who have lost their lives, i am comforted and now Jesus and the crucifix make sense. I only wish the catholic church would make a symbol of the electric chair.
Complain about this postI am interested that my initial challenge to this piece has been removed from the site although expressed in temperate language and freely acknowledged that the issue of an over representation of black inmates may reflect the poverty and associated drug problem of the southern American black population.
For the record I am a lawyer who has represented murders and so have no lack of knowledge or insight as to those cahrged or convicted. I have probably met more than Miss Reichardt, I have defended them, and yes, I liked many of them and have not lacked compassion when I represented them.
What I do object to, however, is an assumed moral superiority over Americans who take a different view and a willingness to casually traduce the statistics, and I quoted the latest study showing that the death penalty is not sought by prosecutors on an offensively racially differentiated basis.
Whatever your view on this subject it is a fact that in the USA the death penalty is widely supported across all racial groupings.
Liberals are very keen on democracy except when it delivers the " wrong" answer.
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