A brief history of how the Fast and Vigil came to be:
June 29 is the anniversary of the 1972 Furman v. Georgia decision in
which
the U.S. Supreme Court found the death penalty to be applied in an
arbitrary and capricious manner. At that time, more then 600
condemned
inmates had their death sentences reduced to terms of life
imprisonment,
and all states were forced to rewrite their death penalty laws. July
2 is
the anniversary of the 1976 Gregg v. Georgia decision, which allowed
executions to resume in the United States. The four days between
these two
historic anniversaries provide a natural opportunity for a
demonstration of
conscience on the issue of judicially-sanctioned state-sponsored
killing.
The Abolitionist Action Committee (AAC) is an ad-hoc group of
individuals
committed to highly visible and effective public education for
alternatives
to the death penalty through nonviolent direct action. The Annual
Fast and
Vigil was started by the AAC in 1994 and was attended by a handful of
abolitionists from across the United States. This annual event has
grown
steadily, and by 1998 more than 150 people attended part or all of
the
event, including at least 30 individuals who fasted at the Court or
in
solidarity with those at the Court.
In 2001, more than 300 people attended the
Steve Earle concert
despite
incredibly inhospitable weather and close to 40 people broke fast at
the
court at the end of the vigil.
The Fast & Vigil takes place on the sidewalk in front of the U.S.
Supreme
Court, considered by many to be the heart of the legalized killing
machines
in this country. In addition to the strong public witness, this is an
excellent opportunity to meet other abolitionists and to "recharge
your
batteries" while engaging in public outreach and maintaining a
physical
presence at the Court. ***FASTING IS OPTIONAL***
Prisoners, activists from other countries, and abolitionists who
are
unable to come to Washington, D.C. have fasted or held events in
solidarity
with the action at the Court. This tradition continues to grow as
well.
We invite you to view our photo and video
archive to find out more about
our history an presence at the Supreme Court.
More about the two historical Court rulings:
June 29th is the anniversary of the Furman v. Georgia decision in
which the
U.S. Supreme Court found the death penalty to be arbitrary and
capricious. More than 600 condemned inmates had their death
sentences
reduced to life. All states were required to re-write their death
penalty
laws. July 2nd is the anniversary of the Gregg v. Georgia decision,
which
allowed the resumption of executions in the U.S.
People have called this period of time a "moratorium" on executions,
but
that is not accurate. No body ever said "we're putting a halt to
executions." In fact, no judicial executions had taken place in the
United States since 1966. It could be said that there was a "de
facto"
moratorium, because it just happened to be that no executions were
taking
place. But the Furman decision changed all of that.
On June 29, 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia
that
the death penalty as it was then practiced was unconstitutional
because it
was random in its application. It was "arbitrary and capricious."
The
Court did not say that the death penalty was "cruel and unusual," and
therefore a violation of the 8th amendment. So states were free to
write
new death penalty laws, and many states did so as quickly as
possible. Florida was the first to write a new law, calling a
special
session of the legislature in November, 1972. Within a year Florida
had
its first death row prisoner. Other states wrote new laws, and by
1976,
those new laws were being tested at the U.S. Supreme Court. On July
2,
1976, the Court upheld the new laws with its decision in Gregg v.
Georgia.
On January 17, 1977, Gary Gilmore voluntarily waived his appeals and
became
the first person executed in the current death penalty era. He was
killed
by firing squad by the State of Utah in revenge for his murders of
Ben
Bushnell and Max Jensen. On May 25, 1979, John Spenkelink became the
first
unwilling prisoner to be executed in the current death penalty era,
when he
was burned to death in Florida's electric chair in revenge for his
murder
of Joseph Szymankiewicz.
