Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 4, 2006 12:00:33 GMT -5
Forum on death penalty slated
New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NJADP) will
host a forum at Sacred Heart High School on Friday, Sept. 15.
Guest speakers will include Vicki Schieber, whose daughter was murdered in
1998, and Juan Melendez, who was exonerated from Florida's death row after
evidence of his innocence was discovered.
Schieber's daughter, Shannon Schieber, captured the eye of the media 8
years ago when a serial rapist in Center City Philadelphia broke into her
apartment, raped and strangled her.
The 23-year-old was attending the Wharton School at the University of
Pennsylvania to get her Ph.D.
Her killer, Troy Graves, was captured four years later in Colorado and is
currently serving several life sentences for her murder.
That is partly to thank for her parents fight to keep the death penalty from
being imposed against him.
Vicki Schieber and her husband have testified in multiple states to have
moratoriums on the death penalty -- like the one in New Jersey -- extended
and to abolish the practice altogether.
She has also taught high school and college level classes on alternatives to
the death penalty.
Part of her opposition to the death penalty is her religion, while another
part is statistics of innocent inmates on death row.
Melendez spent 17 years on death row for a 1983 murder.
He was released in 2002, years after another man confessed to the crime.
He's now an activist with NJADP.
The forum, "Journeys through Violence and Injustice: A Death Penalty Forum,"
will start at 7 p.m. at Sacred Heart High School on North East Avenue.
(source: Bridgeton News)
New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NJADP) will
host a forum at Sacred Heart High School on Friday, Sept. 15.
Guest speakers will include Vicki Schieber, whose daughter was murdered in
1998, and Juan Melendez, who was exonerated from Florida's death row after
evidence of his innocence was discovered.
Schieber's daughter, Shannon Schieber, captured the eye of the media 8
years ago when a serial rapist in Center City Philadelphia broke into her
apartment, raped and strangled her.
The 23-year-old was attending the Wharton School at the University of
Pennsylvania to get her Ph.D.
Her killer, Troy Graves, was captured four years later in Colorado and is
currently serving several life sentences for her murder.
That is partly to thank for her parents fight to keep the death penalty from
being imposed against him.
Vicki Schieber and her husband have testified in multiple states to have
moratoriums on the death penalty -- like the one in New Jersey -- extended
and to abolish the practice altogether.
She has also taught high school and college level classes on alternatives to
the death penalty.
Part of her opposition to the death penalty is her religion, while another
part is statistics of innocent inmates on death row.
Melendez spent 17 years on death row for a 1983 murder.
He was released in 2002, years after another man confessed to the crime.
He's now an activist with NJADP.
The forum, "Journeys through Violence and Injustice: A Death Penalty Forum,"
will start at 7 p.m. at Sacred Heart High School on North East Avenue.
(source: Bridgeton News)