No DP in NJ

New Jersey halts all executions!

In January, New Jersey lawmakers passed legislation requiring an immediate moratorium on all executions in the state and the creation of a study commission to examine the state’s death penalty system. This is the first time in U.S. history that a state has enacted legislation imposing a moratorium on the death penalty.

The 13- member study commission will have until November 15, 2006 to report its findings. All executions will be suspended while the study is being conducted. There are currently 10 people on New Jersey’s death row. No executions have taken place since 1963.

New Jersey now joins Illinois as the only states with a moratorium on executions. In Illinois, a moratorium was imposed by Governor George Ryan in 2000 and has been upheld ever since.

This victory in New Jersey should give confidence to abolitionists nationwide that they can fight--and win--a moratorium on executions in their own states. On to abolition!

Women in Prison

Prison: The Link Between Incarceration and Violence

Over 90% of women in prison have experienced violence int heir lives. (Women in Prison Project, 2005)

One-third of incarcerated women report child sexual abuse and 20% to 34% report abuse by an adult intimate partner; they have multiple abuse histories and are three to four times more likely than male prisoners to have abuse histories. (Gilfus, Mary. “Women’s Experiences of Abuse as a Risk Factor for Incarceration.” VAWnet Applied Research Forum. (December 2002)

An estimated 56% of the abused women in prison said that their abuse had included a rape, and another 13% reported an attempted rape. (Trace L. Snell, Women in Prison, Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991. Bureau of Statistics: March 1994, p.6.)

The women in prison who reported abuse were more likely to be in prison for a violent offense (42% reported prior abuse) and less likely to be serving a sentence for a drug offense (25%) or a property offense (25%). (Tracy L. Snell, Women in Prison, Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991 Bureau of Justice Statistics: March 1994, p.6)

As many as 90% of the women in jail today for killing men had been battered by those men. (Allison Bass, “Women far less likely to kill than men; no one sure why,” The Boston Globe, February 24, 1992, p. 2)

Miami Beach!

I know, I sound so sophomoric and Kappa Phi right now, but at least we're not going over spring break! We'll probably come back 10 lbs. lighter after frying in the sun in mid-July, but I'm down. I don't plan on getting out of the pool/ocean long enough to care. All I need is my bikini, my sun block, a book and some liquor. Seriously, I think I'm just taking a carry-on. The wife and I just booked our trip to the resort below from July 23rd-26th.



Now all that's left to figure out is... Who is going to take care of our kitties??

Overheard in New York Quote of the Day

Little girl: Keep your legs closed and your books open. My mommy says a girl can get a boyfriend and then she has to drop out of school.
--uptown A train

Programming Language Inventor or Serial Killer?

Test your serial killer moxie with this quiz! It's harder than you'd think...
http://www.malevole.com/mv/misc/killerquiz/

Ringling Brothers leave trash behind

Woman Cited for Exposing Herself in Store
By Associated Press
June 10, 2006, 9:28 PM EDT

CEDAR CITY, Utah — A 28-year-old woman has been cited for lewdness for exposing herself inside a store. The woman was riding a motorized cart inside Lin's Market Place on Thursday with her pants around her ankles and not wearing underwear.
Customers didn't notice the woman until she would stand up from the cart and bend over to look at items on the shelf, exposing her buttocks.
The woman told police she arrived in Cedar City with a circus but was left behind.