Wanted: 5000 North Carolinians to Educate the Council of State

(X-posted from Kleinschmidt2005)

Last week Judge Stephens finally pulled the brake on the runaway train that is NC's execution procedures. He pulled so hard the train jumped track and barrelled right into the living room of the members of the Council of State. Now the good folks over at the NC Coalition for a Moratorium are giving you a way to help the Honorable Council Members figure out how to solve this predicament. I learned about their efforts when this email came into my inbox a few minutes ago....

Dear Friends,

Last Thursday, when Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens imposed a temporary ban on executions, he effectively put NC back at the forefront of the national moratorium movement! The situation that has unfolded goes like this:

1. N.C. law says a physician must be present at all executions.
2. But the N.C. Medical Board prohibits physicians from participating in executions, saying doctors who do so violate the profession's ethics.
3. The Department of Correction subsequently modified its execution procedures drastically reducing the role of a doctor in the process; and the N.C. attorney general's office concurred saying doctors did not need to take part in executions but could just sign death certificates.
4. That, however, was not good enough for Wake County Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens who cited state law saying any change in the execution procedure had to be approved by the governor and the Council of State.

This leads me to the purpose of this letter. We have an opportunity to urge members of the Council of State not to endorse the current execution protocol. Approving the protocol will only result in a lengthy series of legal issues since a protocol that does not include a medical doctor is unconstitutional.

Here's what we'd like you to do NOW:

* Go to www.ncmoratorium.org

* Look to the right side of the page and click "Get Involved"
* Click "Tell the North Carolina Council of State to study the death penalty thoroughly and not to approve the current protocol for executions!"
* Read this page. You will find a listing of the members of the NC Council of State along with their mailing addresses, phone and fax numbers. Call each office and tell them not to approve the state's current method of execution.
* Scroll down a bit further and you'll see a section where you can send an email to every member of the Council of State. Follow the instructions given there. You can also forward the link to others urging them to email the Council members. (We are asking you to send email correspondence from the NCCM site so we can track how many emails are sent and forwarded to the Council members.)

If you have already responded to this charge forward the link to another individual and/or organization!

Thank you for your immediate attention to this very urgent message. With your help we will acheive our goal of 5,000 contacts to the Council of State!

Onwards,

Jeremy Collins, NC Coalition for a Moratorium