2021's schedule includes a mix of in-person vigils and daily on-line teach ins. We will also be remembering and honoring event co-founder, Bill Pelke, throughout the four days at the various events. Find all the info below.
| June 28 |
Monday |
9:00 pm to 11:30 pm - Our "Last Supper" together before fasting starts. Location is at The Dubliner, 4 F St NW, Washington, DC 20001. Participants are responsible for paying for their own food and drink. While everyone is welcome (including event participants, fasters, non-fasters, supporters, and any guests and friends that you want to invite), we need to know who is attending in advance in order to reserve the correct number of tables. Email scott@abolition.org to let us know.
11:55 pm - Meet after dinner at the Supreme Court for a 12:00 am midnight opening gathering to start the fast together.
|
| June 29 |
Tuesday |
Marks the 49th 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.
12:01 am - Fasting officially starts, with a 30 minute opening gathering at the court to kick off the fast.
9:00 am - Participants are invited to join another group, the Social Justice Workers, at the White House Black Lives Matter plaza for a death penalty protest calling on President Biden to commute all federal death sentences, followed by a march to the Supreme Court, arriving at 11:00 for the regular vigil. A federal death row prisoner will be calling in.
11:00 am to 1:00 pm - Vigil outside the court, gathering petition signatures, holding signs, and handing out pamphlets. Cold drinks and sunscreen are provided, bathroom access is a 7 minute walk away.
3:00 pm to 4:30 pm - Abolition Teach-In, held virtually online via Facebook (no Facebook account needed). Speakers include (but are subject to change): Rob Dunham - Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center; Leah Merriam - Death Penalty Action; Kathy Harris - Alaskans Against the Death Penalty; and others who loved Bill Pelke, cofounder of the Fast and Vigil.
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm - Vigil outside the court, gathering petition signatures, holding signs, and handing out pamphlets. Cold drinks and sunscreen are provided, bathroom access is a 7 minute walk away.
7:00 pm to 8:30 pm - Abolition Teach-In, held virtually online via Facebook (no Facebook account needed). Speakers include (but are subject to change): Mark Bettencourt - Director, Nevada Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty; Kwame Ajamu - Exonerated Ohio Death Row Survivor and Chairman, Witness to Innocence; LaShawn Ajamu - Board Member, Ohioans to Stop Executions; Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan Jr. - Board of Directors, Journey of Hope ...From Violence to Healing, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, and, Restorative Justice International; Sapna Mirchandani - Federal Public Defender
|
| June 30 |
Wednesday |
11:00 am to 1:00 pm - Vigil outside the court, gathering petition signatures, holding signs, and handing out pamphlets. Cold drinks and sunscreen are provided, bathroom access is a 7 minute walk away. A federal death row prisoner will be joining us by phone.
11:00 am to 12:30 pm - Abolition Teach-In, held virtually online via Facebook (no Facebook account needed). Speakers include (but are subject to change): Bob Gross - Executive Director, Journey of Hope - From Violence to Healing; Terri Steinberg - Board Member, Journey of Hope - From Violence to Healing; George White- Founding Board Member - Journey of Hope - From Violence to Healing
1:00 pm to 2:30 pm - Abolition Teach-In, held virtually online via Facebook (no Facebook account needed). Speakers include (but are subject to change):
Dale Baich - Federal Public Defender;
Scott Langley - Documentarian, Amnesty International SDPAC, & co-founder, Death Penalty Action;
Carl Williams - Clinical Professor of Law at Cornell;
Michael Stone - Executive Director, Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty;
Ashley Kincaid - Attorney, Social Justice Workers (moderator)
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm - Vigil outside the court, gathering petition signatures, holding signs, and handing out pamphlets. Cold drinks and sunscreen are provided, bathroom access is a 7 minute walk away.
6:30 pm to 7:30 pm - Observing and protesting the 7:00 pm execution of John Hummel in Texas. Join us at the Supreme Court for a vigil, and sign the petition online.
Also tune in at 6:00 pm via Facebook (no Facebook account needed) for an online vigil and panel discussion with:
Rick Halperin - AAC Co-Founder, Professor of Human Rights, Southern Methodist University;
Delia Perez Meyer - Sister of Louis Castro Perez, innocent on Texas Death Row;
Rodrick Reed - Brother of Rodney Reed, innocent on Texas Death Row;
Krissy Roth - Criminal Justice Program Director, Amnesty International USA ;
Michael J Zoosman - L'Chaim: Jews Against the Death Penalty
|
| July 1 |
Thursday |
11:00 am to 1:00 pm - Vigil outside the court, gathering petition signatures, holding signs, and handing out pamphlets. Cold drinks and sunscreen are provided, bathroom access is a 7 minute walk away.
1:00 pm - Participants are invited to join another group, the Social Justice Workers, in a short march to Congress at the conclusion of the regular Supreme Court vigil to call for abolition of the federal death penalty.
1:00 pm to 2:30 pm - Abolition Teach-In, held virtually online via Facebook (no Facebook account needed). Speakers include (but are subject to change):
Akin Adepoju - Federal Public Defender, Board Member, Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty;
Shujaa Graham - Exonerated California Death Row Survivor & Member, Witness to Innocence; Charlie King – Musician, Activist & Official troubadour, Journey of Hope - From Violence to Healing
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm - Vigil outside the court, gathering petition signatures, holding signs, and handing out pamphlets. Cold drinks and sunscreen are provided, bathroom access is a 7 minute walk away.
7:00 pm to 8:30 pm - Abolition Teach-In, held virtually online via Facebook (no Facebook account needed). Speakers include (but are subject to change):
SueZann Bosler - Founding Board Member, Journey of Hope… From Violence to Healing;
Charles Keith - Brother of former Ohio death row prisoner Kevin Keith & Impacted Communities Liaison, Death Penalty Action;
Art Laffin - Brother of Paul Laffin;
Brandi Slaughter - Deputy Director, Death Penalty Action
|
| July 2 |
Friday |
Marks the 45th anniversary of
the Supreme Court's 1976 decision in Gregg V. Georgia, in which new death penalty
laws were upheld and state-sponsored prisoner killings were allowed to resume.
11:00 am to 1:00 pm - Vigil outside the court, gathering petition signatures, holding signs, and handing out pamphlets. Cold drinks and sunscreen are provided, bathroom access is a 7 minute walk away.
11:00 am to 12:30 pm - Abolition Teach-In, held virtually online via Facebook (no Facebook account needed). Speakers include (but are subject to change):
Beth Burke – Congressional Liaison, Death Penalty Action;
Senator Richard Durbin (invited);
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (invited);
Rev. Sharon Risher - Daughter of Mrs. Ethel Lee Lance;
Brandi Slaughter - Deputy Director, Death Penalty Action;
Alli Sullivan - Strategic Partnerships Intern, Death Penalty Action
1:00 pm to 2:30 pm - Abolition Teach-In, held virtually online via Facebook (no Facebook account needed). Speakers include (but are subject to change):
Gretchen Engel - Center for Death Penalty Litigation;
Hayden Laye - Democrats for Life of South Carolina;
Rev. Dominique Grate - Senior Pastor, Historic Trinity AME Church, Manning, SC;
Tiffany James - President, National Action Network of Columbia, SC
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm - Vigil outside the court, gathering petition signatures, holding signs, and handing out pamphlets. Cold drinks and sunscreen are provided, bathroom access is a 7 minute walk away.
7:00 pm to 8:30 pm - Abolition Teach-In, held virtually online via Facebook (no Facebook account needed). Speakers include (but are subject to change):
Abraham Bonowitz - Executive Director, Death Penalty Action;
Lisa Brown - Mother of Christopher Vialva, Executed by the Federal Government;
Shane Claiborne - Co-Founder, Red Letter Christians;
Rob Schenck - President, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute (invited).
12:00 Midnight - Break the fast together with a free meal outside the court. A closing circle will begin at 11:15 pm so people can share about their experiences with the group.
Participants are welcome to head out after the midnight meal (some buses and trains depart at this hour) or stay one more night in DC.
|
| July 3 |
Saturday |
The fast and vigil has ended,
and participants may head back home. Unless arrangments have been made in advance, no housing is available after 12:00 pm Noon.
|
 |
|
