Report of TDCJ Gassings at the Polunsky Unit
!
Letter from John Paul Penry to his mom and sister
John Paul Penry
|
Report of TDCJ Gassings at the Polunsky Unit
!
Letter from John Paul Penry to his mom and sister |
| Another letter from John Paul Penry about the gassings |
| News About His Execution Status |
| Amnesty International Execution Alert |
A Message from John Paul Penry's Lawyer:
Dear Friends:
I wanted to write to everyone of you and say thanks for all the support
you have given me over the past two months. Unfortunately , I just got
word that the Texas Board of Parole and Pardons has denied Johnny Clemency.
As everyone knows I have been working probono on this case for three years.
This will be my first client to be executed. Johnny is a person with mental
retardation who spends his days coloring with crayons and looking at comic
books he cannot read. His IQ has been tested at 56. He still believes in
Santa Clause and recently told the press that he hopes to go to heaven.
He said that "he is saving a place in heaven for all his
attorneys." There are 6 of us
all working in last minute appeals to the US Supreme Court and have had
major international support. At least 21 countries have united in outrage
at the impending Texas execution. Appeals have come as far a field as New
Zealand. Unfortunately because of the elections we have not got great media
coverage. I was recently interviewed by a journalist from Italy who told
me may be we can get it to the printer next week By then poor Johnny will
be number 38. We have executed 38 people with mental retardation since
1976 making us the leading country in executions of people with mental
retardation.
One thing that I learned from Johnny is that we can never laugh to much in life. And if we take time for others that is more important than always thinking about ourselves. Johnny told me that it was okay if I played with his crayons. Our last day together will be spend drawing pictures for his family. I will be leaving on Wed to fly to Texas to say good bye to Johnny. I will then be in DC for several days. I hope everyone has a really great Thanksgiving with lots of great wine, laughs, friends and family.
Peace,
Billy
Gov. Bush, stop the execution of
Johnny Paul Penry--By BIANCA JAGGER
Dear Gov. George W. Bush: I write to you as a long-standing human rights advocate for Amnesty International. I urge you to carefully review the case of death row inmate Johnny Paul Penry, who is scheduled to be executed today.
Penry has been mentally retarded since childhood, possibly as the result of organic brain damage. Chronologically, he is 44 years old, yet he has the mental ability of a 6-year-old child. State authorities have tested his IQ at 56. I write on behalf of all of those who believe that the execution of a person with mental disorders "degrades the dignity and worth of the human person."
Johnny is not only mentally
retarded; he bears the scars of a violent childhood during which his mother
routinely subjected him to vicious physical and emotional abuse. Believing
him to be illegitimate, she would address him as "the little bastard."
As an infant, she would hit him in the mouth while he sat in his highchair.
Also as an infant, she caused him permanent scarring when she dipped him
in scalding water. As well, she used to lock him up in his room for long
periods without food or water. She used to force him to eat his own feces
and drink his own
urine. Neighbors would
later tell of the toddler's daily "terrible, terrible screams that would
just go on and on."
I acknowledge the seriousness of Johnny Paul Penry's crime, and feel the deepest sympathy for the victim's family. However, I fully appreciate the terrible circumstances of his life and realize that we as a society are partly responsible. No one stepped in to save him from the nightmare he endured during his childhood. No one ever intervened to prevent the daily torture he suffered at the hands of his mother. No teacher, relative or social service agency ever attempted to have him removed from his mother's "care."
Today, he sits alone in a cell on death row to await being strapped to a gurney and injected with a deadly poison. To kill Johnny Paul Penry will "not measurably further the penal goal of either retribution or deterrence ... The execution of mentally retarded individuals is nothing more than needless imposition of pain and suffering." Justice William J. Brennan wrote this in his dissent in Penry vs. Lynaugh. Johnny Paul Penry cannot understand why what he did was wrong and does not even understand the meaning of the word "execution."
The killing of one mentally retarded person will not deter other mentally retarded persons from killing. This is why there is a growing recognition nationwide of the cruelty and senselessness of executing someone with the mental capacity of a 6-year-old child. The vast majority of Americans, including those who support the death penalty, are opposed to the execution of the mentally retarded. Repeated polls have indicated that a large majority of Texans -- 73 % in recent polls -- are opposed to the execution of the mentally retarded.
Thirteen death penalty states and the federal government prohibit the execution of persons with mental retardation. Killing one of the weakest members of our society, who never had a chance for a normal life, violates the fundamental concepts of decency and morality that govern our society.
The United States is the only democracy in the world that allows the execution of mentally impaired offenders. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has "urged countries that continue to enforce death penalties to take immediate steps to bring their domestic legislation and legal practice into line with international standards prohibiting the imposition of death sentences in regard to minors and the mentally retarded." The European Union is of the opinion that "the execution of Mr. Penry would be in contradiction with the minimum standards set forth in several International Instruments." Furthermore, executing the mentally retarded is in contravention of international standards and in violation of the international Covenant on Civil and Political rights, which the United States has ratified.
Gov. Bush you have the opportunity to demonstrate that you are a compassionate leader. I urge you to:
- Order a 30-day reprieve for Johnny Paul Penry;
- Use your influence with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to encourage it to weigh all the mitigating considerations in his case; And grant clemency to Johnny Paul Penry.
- Commuting his death sentence to life imprisonment would permit justice to be served. It also would prevent a further injustice from being added to the lamentably tragic chronology of this man's life.
I urge you not to allow
Johnny Paul Penry to be executed.
Respectfully, Bianca
Jagger.
(source: Letter,
Houston Chronicle)
Texas Resumes Brisk Death
Penalty Schedule Including Execution of Mentally Retarded Man
Statement
of Diann Rust-Tierney Director, ACLU Capital Punishment Project
and
Will Harrell, Executive Director of the Texas ACLU
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, November 14, 2000 CONTACT: (512) 695-7519
AUSTIN--Following a welcome hiatus during his presidential campaign, tonight Texas Gov. George W. Bush is resuming his brisk execution schedule with the lethal injection of Texas inmate Stacey Lawton, followed by two executions on expected to take place on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
On Wednesday, inmate Tony Chambers is scheduled to die and on Thursday, John Paul Penry -- a mentally retarded man who said he believes in Santa Claus -- is scheduled for execution.
These men will be the 148th, 149th, and 150th people executed since Bush became Governor of Texas in 1985, and would bring to 237 the number of individuals put to death in the state since the Supreme Court lifted a ban on the death penalty in 1976.
The increasingly frequent use of the death penalty in Texas has garnered international attention in the last six months and has brought a renewed focus on the death penalty debate in the United States.
Recent reports and investigations have shown that the Texas death penalty system is rife with problems like prosecutorial misconduct, racial bias, phony experts, and inadequate lawyers for poor defendants. Just two weeks ago, a Texas appeals court ruled that a sleeping defense attorney does not necessarily preclude a death row defendant from adequate representation. As a result, in Texas and elsewhere, even those who support the death penalty are questioning the fairness and accuracy of this irreversibly severe form of punishment.
“One would hope that, at a certain point, even the toughest law-and-order adherents would say, enough is enough.
If the execution of a man with an I.Q. of 56 who believes in Santa Claus doesn't bring us to that point, it is hard to imagine what will.” Rust-Tierny said.
“Any
person who wishes to become the President of the US should demonstrate
some knowledge of international standards. The execution of a retarded
man, John Paul Penry, shows a blatant disrespect for the common law of
nations. Governor Bush should halt the execution now, lest set a bad tone
for his desired Presidency” Will Harrell said.
JOHN PAUL PENRY EXECUTION DATE ! ! !
As most of you know by now Johnny has
a date for November 16th. I know he will be terrified. The last
time he had a date he counted the days. Would all that can please send
him a card to encourage him and let him know you are praying for him. The
last time we spoke he wants me there as a witness. It will be hard on me
as well since we have gotten very close. Johnny calls me dad. Thanks for
all your help. - Edwin Smith
(See Johnny's address below)
Information provided by Sant'Egidio
Thanks to Fabian Gastellier for the links and the French info
| Click Here For the "Save Penry" Homepage |
CHILDHOOD
Born on 5/5/1956 in Commanche (Oklahoma), Johnny Paul Penry has suffered from a cerebral damage at birth. Did he have a family? No. His mother abandoned him when he was a child and nobody has ever heard of his father. His mental retardation, due to his difficult birth, has been worsened by the dramatic conditions in which he grew up. All alone, Johnny Paul has been sexually abused by adults, several times, in the homes for Abandoned children where he had to live.
PENRY'S CASE
In 1979, at the age of 23, he has been
charged for rape and murder of 22 years old Pamela Moseley Carpenter of
Livingston. Johnny was in love with Pamela and went to her home just to
tell her what he felt about her. But the girl did reject his advances and,
Johnny Paul Penry raped her. In the struggle, he opened a pocket knife
and she took a pair of scissors, stabbing Penry in self-defense. Penry,
then, took the scissors and stabbed her: "I told her that I loved her and
hated to kill her, said Penry, but I had to do so she wouldn't squeal on
me".
That is the so-called "confession"
Johnny Paul never wrote, being illiterate,
but did signed (?) after 11 hours of
interrogation.
In 1981, Penry has been sentenced to death and sent to Death Row in Huntsville. In 1988, he obtained a temporary stay from the Supreme Court, on the grounds that executing mentally retarded people could constitute "cruel and unusual punishment", as prohibited by the 8 Amendment of the US's Constitution. The Court said that Texas should re-examine Penry's case, considering the man was suffering from mental retardation.
At this time, the Court and the Government of Texas were carrying out many executions, so the judges did consider Penry's case unworthy of clemency.
In 1990, Johnny Paul had a retrial at
the end of which he was again
sentenced to death, despite the recommendations
of the Supreme Court.
Now, Johnny Paul Penry has lived on death row for more than 19 years. He has learned how to sign his name and even how to read as a 6 years old child may read. He is alone. He has no family, no visitors, he never had a proper home and death row has become his home. Sometimes he says that he feels affection toward his cell...
Johnny Paul is begging that his death penalty could be commuted to LWOP (life imprisonment), so that he can remain where he is used to living. Sometimes, he meets someone : read Bianca Cerri's testimony: "I was there".
And he is so happy, then! Happy to meet new friends. Penry says he is blessed by the Lord for this. He speaks about many of his prison companions who were "put to sleep" and he is afraid the same thing could happen to him, even if he doesn't understand what death means. He doesn't understand why he should go away, "to sleep". He doesn't understand that he killed someone.
Every week he attends religious services in the prison-chapel, and says he hopes that when the angels of Paradise come with their trumpets, the doors of the prison will open for him. He also expressed the wish to write to the Pope to thank him for pleading for his life with the Governor, George W. Bush Jr.
Johnny's execution, scheduled on May 13th, had been stayed, following the personal intervention of Pope Jean Paul II. Johnny, then, dictated a letter to a cellmate and, through the help of the Sant'Egidio Community, could send it to the Pope on June, 24, 1998 with some of his drawings. In August 1999, the Criminal Court of Texas turned down his latest appeal, sending him to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and scheduling a new date of execution for January, 13, 2000.
But Johnny doesn't want "to sleep" and
prays to be left in his cell.
He implores people to write to the
Governor.
That is our work, our duty towards a human being who is helpless.
Texas Governor George W. Bush
State Capital
P O Box 12428
Austin, Texas
78711 USA
. . . And don 't forget to show Johnny your support - He needs you now more than ever !
Write Johnny Directly at:
JOHNNY PAUL PENRY #000654
Polunsky Unit D.R.
12002 FM 350 South
Livingston, Texas
77351 USA
| Click here for Overview EN FRANCAIS |
| Click Here for Testimony By Bianca EN FRANCAIS |
