CLEVELAND, Ohio, March 23, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- The scheduled execution of Philip Workman in Tennessee on March 30, 2001, got a strong reaction today from two officers of the United Church of Christ (UCC). Justice and Witness Ministries (JWM) of the UCC announced today that cases like this one are the reason it must renew its efforts for a moratorium on the death-penalty. JWM calls this new emphasis ADPC2 or anti-death penalty covenant community. The UCC hopes to mobilize many of its 1.4 million members to work for a moratorium on the death penalty across the nation, to join forces with existing ecumenical, secular, and UCC Coalition Against The Death Penalty. The leaders also made an appeal to the governor for Workman's clemency.
Notwithstanding accusations of state corruption and fabricated state testimony in the Workman case, the State has given no indication that it plans to halt Workman's execution. An increasing number of people believe that Workman is innocent. Justice and Witness, Executive Minister, Ms. Bernice Powell Jackson says, "God calls us to even up the balance of power when a life like Workman's is this vulnerable before it. If the church does not raise these questions and if we do not stand with the powerless, who will?"
It is not difficult to raise questions in the Workman case:
-- The only eyewitness in the case has recanted on his testimony
-- New evidence that introduces considerable doubts that Workman
committed capital murder
-- There is evidence of fabricated testimony
-- There is concern that there may have been a corruption of the
clemency process in a number of ways
-- Email communications between the Office of the Attorney General of
the State of Tennessee and others, give an appearance that the
political process is being orchestrated to achieve the execution
of Workman regardless of evidence of his innocence in the murder
of Officer Ronald Oliver and with no regard for justice.
Leaders of the UCC from its national and Conference settings took these allegations seriously enough for two of its Officers, and two Conference Ministers, to make an urgent trip to Nashville to visit Workman and his attorneys. UCC clergy person, the Rev. Joe Ingle, arranged and hosted the Death Row visit.
The UCC delegation of leaders included the Rev. John H. Thomas, General Minister and President; Ms. Bernice Powell Jackson, Executive Minister for Justice and Witness Ministries; the Rev. Timothy Downs, Conference Minister; the Rev. Jane Fisler Hoffman, Conference Minister; The Rev. Sala Nolan, Minister for Criminal Justice and Human Rights; Mr. Ron Buford, Press Manager, and the Rev. Joe Ingle.
After the visit with Workman, Downs said, "We visited and prayed with Philip Workman and were moved by his Christian faithfulness. He has a quality of grace and trust and conviction deeper than a jailhouse conversion of convenience. We believe that the death penalty disregards the power of God's grace and sovereignty in human life."
This new ADPC2 initiative will be spearheaded by the Rev. Sala Nolan. Nolan joined the UCC national staff Sept. 1, 2000. She has worked for more than 25 years among the homeless, the mentally ill, and the incarcerated.
Since 1969, several UCC General Synods and Conference Annual Meetings have spoken out for a moratorium or the abolition of the death penalty. In the United Church of Christ, local congregations are free to make their own decisions concerning General Synod resolutions and national setting actions.
Suggested Actions: Support Workman by contacting Governor Sundquist about this case at Governor's Office, 1st Floor, State Capitol, Nashville, TN 37243-0001, (615) 741-2001, EMAIL sundquist@mail.state.tn.us. Contact your US senators and tell him or her to support Senator Feingold's Death Penalty Abolition Bill. Residents of death penalty states, should contact the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty, 1436 U Street NW, Suite 104, Washington DC 20009, (202) 387-3890, to find out about ways to support efforts to prevent upcoming executions. Contact Ron Buford or Sala Nolan to learn more about this initiative and the UCC death penalty resolutions.
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CONTACT: United Church of Christ, Cleveland
Ron Buford, PR Manager
(216)736-2180
bufordr@ucc.org