Media Advisory: December 4, 2007
Contact: Bob Van Steenburg, 512-569-8928, austin@tcadp.org
The Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP) will hold a press conference on Friday, December 7, 2007, at 11:00 AM in the Speaker’s Committee Room, Room 2W.6 of the Texas State Capitol, to release a new report on the state of the death penalty in Texas in 2007.
This date marks the 25th anniversary of the resumption of executions in Texas – and the nation’s first execution by lethal injection – and comes at a time of unprecedented scrutiny of the death penalty on numerous fronts. TCADP’s report presents information on the death penalty in Texas in 2007, including executions, stays, and new death sentences; judicial and legislative activity; and other developments affecting the criminal justice system in the nation’s most active death penalty state.
The press conference also will include remarks by Bishop Gregory M. Aymond of the Catholic Diocese of Austin; State Representative Dora Olivo (D-Fort Bend); Martha Cotera (who lost a son to murder); and Frances “Sissy” Farenthold (former legislator and long-time death penalty opponent).