Anniversary of Kent State

Today is the anniversary of Kent State massacre, what other events have changed the way we view lawful violence?

Letter From Chris Moltz (Free Chris Moltz)

Hello everyone. My name is Christopher James Moltz. In 1998 I was tried and convicted of a murder I did not commit, anyone that wants to know more? Can contact independence Rock Coalition. The court said I discussed a robbery, even if I did that, should I really have to spend the rest of my life in prison? Should I DIE in here? I have been gone from the world since 1998! My son will be 19 in October, and I’ve missed his whole life!! 

I saw on the news people getting convicted of murder and getting 15 or 20 years!!! And they actually did kill someone? I did absolutely nothing and I was sentenced to LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE.  In other words I'm going to die in here if somebody does not help me!!!!! 

Lela, and Independence Rock Coalition is doing all she can, but she's going to need serious help??? So I am asking that anyone reading this please help if you can.

My name is Christopher James Moltz # 1159242 I’m at N.C.C. P.O. box 488 Burkeville, Va. 23922 You can email me at Jpay.com Christopher James Moltz #1159242 all emails and questions are welcomed and all will get responses. Thank you so much for your time. For more info on my case Lela Graham at Independence Rock Coalition, knows it all! And she can and will answer all questions. Until next time, talk later. 

CHRISTOPHER JAMES MOLTZ

Help Us Raise $500.00

 Dear Friend,
 

This year has started out with mixed blessings for our cause. With more states either canceling or at least postponing the execution of death row inmates in their states, we can all feel good about the success we and others have had. However, there is a long way to go, and now is no time to sit back to celebrate. Life is precious, and we all have only one to live. Even if that life has been involved in criminal convictions, one should still be allowed to live it till they naturally die, not till the state decides it's time to die.

We at Independence Rock Coalition are very excited for our new focus which includes new ideas planned for this year. We have added a couple new board members who will ensure IRC reaches out to all segments of our society so as to ensure we become more than just another fringe group drowning in a pool of failure.

Like all ventures that focus on changing the way our society approaches things we need to count on the continuing support through donations from our supporters. So in order to accomplish our mission we would like to take this time to ask for your tax-deductible donations that will help us expand that foundation that we have already been blessed to have developed. The donation will go to the publication of our first newsletter and to advance our mission of advocating for changes in our criminal justice system in the aspect of sentencing reform and the unjustly and wrongly convicted.

Bryan Stevenson: We need to talk about an injustice

January's Executions Underscore Core Death Penalty Problems

Even as executions have declined in the U.S., those being carried out often illustrate serious problems that have plagued the death penalty for many years. Of the six executions January, two (in Florida and Oklahoma) involved a lethal injection protocol that is now under review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Georgia executed Andrew Brannan, a decorated Vietnam War veteran with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Warren Hill, an inmate who was found intellectually disabled by state doctors, but who failed to meet the state's highly unusual standard of proving his disability "beyond a reasonable doubt." Texas executed Robert Ladd, an inmate with an IQ of 67. Texas courts have devised their own largely unscientific criteria for determining intellectual disabilty. That leaves Arnold Prieto, also executed in Texas. He was offered a plea bargain and probably would have been spared if he had testified against his co-defendants. Of those involved in the brutal crime, only Prieto received the death penalty.

Montana bill allows death row inmates to live out sentence

By Aja Goare - Q2 News
Two convicted murderers on Montana death row could live out their sentence in prison rather than facing the death penalty.
House Bill 370, sponsored by Rep. David Moore (R - Missoula), is a proposed bill to abolish the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The law would be retroactive, meaning anyone currently on death row would be re-sentenced.
In the state's history, 74 people have been executed after being sentenced to death.
All but three of the executions occurred before 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington D.C. based non-profit research organization.
William Jay Gollehon and Ronald Allen Smith are the only two inmates currently on death row in Montana.

Ohio reschedules executions for 7 death row inmates meaning no inmate put to death in 2015

Published January 30, 2015

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio –  The state has rescheduled executions for seven death row inmates as it tries to find new lethal drugs, meaning no inmate will be put to death in Ohio in 2015.
The announcement Friday affects six executions this year, including one set for Feb. 11, and one previously scheduled for 2016 that was pushed farther back.