MVFR responds to requests for speakers, talks to the media, and offers support to ongoing anti-death penalty education efforts.
In addition, MVFR is actively working with death penalty abolition groups across the country to add our stories to the public debate about the death penalty.
MVFR NAMES LORRY POST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
November 21, 2007
(Washington, DC) Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation (MVFR) today announced the hiring of Lorry Post as Executive Director.
Post is a founder of New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NJADP), the organization leading the current effort to replace the death penalty in New Jersey with life without parole. He was NJADP’s first director and currently serves as a field organizer and a member of the organization’s Executive Committee. Post spent a number of years as a defense attorney, Legal Aid lawyer and legal advisor for non-profit organizations. Post also lost his daughter to homicide.
“When local murder victim family members talk about their experiences with homicide and the death penalty, people listen,” Post said. “I am proud to be part of an organization committed to making those voices heard.”
MVFR is the nation’s oldest national organization of families of murder victims and families of the executed who oppose the death penalty. The organization focuses on supporting local public education efforts on the effects of the death penalty on murder victim family members and families of the executed. Members believe that one cannot change the past, but that one can choose how to live in the future.
“We are extremely fortunate to have Lorry” said Pat Clark, the Chair of MVFR’s Board of Directors. “His experience as an attorney and an organizer, and of course his tremendous success in New Jersey, make him an ideal person to lead an organization like ours.”
“Murder victim family members and families of the executed are involved at every step and every level of our work in New Jersey, they are critical to our success so far,” said Post. “That is success that we can help replicate elsewhere.”
California recently became the second state to hire a full time staff member to work with families of murder victims and families of the executed. MVFR helped draft the grant proposal to create the position, assisted with interviewing potential candidates, and is helping support the position both financially and with the production of educational materials as well as technical assistance. MVFR is partners in this effort with Death Penalty Focus and the ACLU of Northern California.
In late January Death Penalty Focus hired Maria Chavez, as the Coordinator of California Crime Victims for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, CCV. Before joining Death Penalty Focus she was the West Coast Regional Director for the Harm Reduction Coalition. She has worked on local, regional and nationals level changing policies and programming to improve the heath and well being of current and former drug users. Maria is a native San Franciscan who has witnessed the impact and growth of violence in her community; she is committed to developing community-based solutions that will not cause more harm. She has over 16 years of experience working on a broad range of community issues including but not limited to domestic violence and sexual assault, homelessness, HIV & AIDS, sex work and substance abuse.
To get more involved in MVFR's work in California contact Board member and Wine Country Chapter coordinator Janis Gay at 707-963-7316 or jgay@napanet.net
New Jersey was the first state in the nation to pass a law suspending the death penalty and mandating an independent study of capital punishment. By statute, a member of MVFR served on the study commission, a role filled by Eddie Hicks, a retired fire fighter and marine, who lost his daughter to murder.
In January the Commission, which included a bi-partisan mix of prosecutors, defense attorneys, legal experts, a police chief, five victim family members, faith leaders and others, recommended that New Jersey replace the death penalty with life without parole. Only one of the Commission’s 13 members dissented - a former state senator who sponsored the bill that brought the death penalty back to New Jersey in 1982.
Murder victim family members were present in the audience at every hearing. We made it clear that we may differ about our reasons but we all agreed that New Jersey would be better off without capital punishment. Some family members who spoke out in favor of death penalty abolition even expressed support capital punishment as a concept – they just didn’t think it could ever be made to work in New Jersey and the state should therefore be rid of the practice. We have told our stories to the press, to legislators, to community groups and in churches and town meetings across the state. To learn more about the efforts in New Jersey visit the web site for New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Death penalty abolition in New Jersey is far from assured, but we are very close. We have gotten this far in large part because of the consistent voice of family members at every stage.
We still have a ways to go, and we still need help. If you are in New Jersey, or know someone who is, and you would like to get involved in our campaign please send me an email at lpost@njadp.org or give me a call at (856) 273-7749. And if you are already involved, thank you. Together we can make our state among the first to abolish the death penalty.
Saturday April 28th MVFR is hosting a day-long workshop for murder victim family members and leaders in North Carolina’s anti-death penalty community who work with victims’ families. The workshop and reception are cosponsored by MVFR, People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, NC Coalition for a Moratorium, Capital Restorative Justice Project and the Center for Death Penalty Litigation.
The workshop will share ideas about finding and activating new members, effectively telling your story, dealing with the press, and working with policy makers. The workshop is only for those who have lost a loved one to murder or execution, and abolitionists who work with victim family members. The reception is open to all supporters.
The workshop and reception will both be at:
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
3313 Wade Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27607
919-781-7635
The workshop runs from 10:00 – 5:00pm, with lunch and snacks provided. The reception will go from 5:00 – 7:30pm
For more information or to participate please contact Peter Loge at MVFR: 877-896-4702 or info@mvfr.org.
North Carolina has brought together litigators, faith leaders, community activists, and legislators to create a deeply grounded and wide-spread anti-death penalty campaign. Over the years North Carolina has come close to being the first state in the South to pass a moratorium. Like so many states it is facing a crisis with the rules around lethal injections, and like so many states it has wrongfully sentenced people to death.
The voices of families of victims and families of the executed have always been a part of the abolitionist efforts or efforts to fix the broken system, but frequently in a late and uncoordinated manner. As is often the case, family members are brought in at the last minute to tell their stories and are then sent away until the next event. This is not out of malice, and is not the fault of organizers – there just hasn’t been a group of family members with the support and infrastructure to play an ongoing and strategic role. Now, with the support of MVFR, local family members are finally able to change this.
In part through the generous support of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, MVFR Board members Cathy Ansheles and Lorry Post traveled to Chapel Hill, North Carolina on January 27th to meet with local family members and leading advocates. About half a dozen family members from around the state spent the morning introducing themselves to each other, sharing their stories and discussing the roles they wanted to play in the anti-death penalty movement in the State. The group ranged from experienced advocates like former MVFR Board Member Pat McCoy, to Megan and Linell Smith who are new to the issue and activism. Also joining us were Jean Parks, Tina Walker and Tom Fewel who hosted us at the church that he attends. In the afternoon we were joined by leaders from People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, the North Carolina Coalition for a Moratorium, the ACLU Capital Punishment Project, the Center for Death Penalty Litigation and The Capital Restorative Justice Project.
We immediately set up a North Carolina family member listserve so that family members could share information, resources and ideas. All of the family members were also added to the listserve of the North Carolina Coalition for a Moratorium. At the suggestion of people in the meeting we began to construct a “Not In Our Name – North Carolina,” highlighting stories of local families who oppose the death penalty. This publication would be able to used in numerous ways, even sending to local leaders. . Only 10 days after our meeting the first version was already being used by family members who attended a state study commission hearing on the death penalty. Local family members are setting up regional meetings across the state to identify and engage more family members. Based on the day’s success, MVFR decided to hold its national spring Board meeting in North Carolina, during which we will host a workshop for family members and a reception for all of our supporters in the area.
If you would like to get more involved in the North Carolina campaign, or if you know someone who would, please let us know by email info@mvfr.org or call 877-896-4702. To learn more about the death penalty in North Carolina you can visit People of Faith Against the Death Penalty or North Carolina Coalition for a Moratorium
