Conference Report 2021

Although this year’s conference was held via Zoom, we were delighted that so many members were able to participate in what was a most enjoyable day on 2nd October 2021.

Our first speaker was our old (in terms of years known, not age!) friend Pablo Stewart who delivered his live address, and subsequent questions and answers session, with his inimitable style and good humour. He provided a most interesting update on the political situation in the US, including the Republican (red) – v – Democratic (blue) states issues particularly in relation to capital and death row cases. He provided a background to the sudden increase of Federal executions which occurred (or were timetabled) prior to the presidential elections in 2020. By January 2021 thirteen Federal prisoners had been executed.

Pablo confirmed that although President Biden is on record as being against the death penalty, he had not as yet taken any steps to abolish it. However, following Mr. Garland’s appointment as Attorney General, the capital status of several Federal cases has been withdrawn. In addition, one of the consequences of the COVID pandemic is many death penalty cases being put on hold.

Having delivered his prepared talk, Pablo took several questions from HW members, ranging from his views on the likelihood of Mr Trump standing for re-election in 2024 to questions regarding his current work and involvement with those on death row. We very much appreciated Pablo giving us so much of his time, especially since he is now living in Hawaii and it was gone 1.00am by the time we allowed him to get to bed!

Our next speaker was Mark Maher, from Reprieve. Mark gave a very moving talk about the positive impact that writing and communicating can give to prisoners. He illustrated this with the situations of three of his clients, the first of these on Texas death row. Mark has been visiting her for the past three years and has been struck by the isolation, which has increased even more during the COVID pandemic. Prisoners there do not have regular access to phones or emails and regular correspondence is therefore critical for them.

Mark then spoke briefly of another client, who has been held in Guantanamo Bay for twenty years, without charge. His isolation is even more intense; they are not allowed any physical visits and communication (other than from lawyers) is very restricted. Reprieve ran a campaign to gather messages of support from all over the world, which they presented to him on his birthday. The prisoner couldn’t believe that so many people cared about him.

As his final example, Mark spoke about a prisoner on death row in San Quentin who had been a difficult client. However, one of his lawyers offered to help him with education, using home study material and giving him homework and feedback. As a result, the prisoner was so touched that someone bothered about him that he became much more positive, with renewed interest in his case.

Mark finished his talk by confirming the value of the work done by Human Writes and the difference our letters etc. can make for our friends across the water.

Following Mark's talk, attendees divided into their individual state groups to meet with their co-ordinators and fellow writers.

After the lunch break, we welcomed our final speaker, Joaquin Martinez. Joaquin gave a very moving address about how he had been convicted and sent to death row in April 1997. He was sentenced to death for the murder of two young people in Florida, one of whom was the son of a senior police officer and the head of the local Evidence Department.

Joaquin explained that, prior to his conviction, he had been a firm supporter of the death penalty, on the basis that it was the right sentence for the most heinous of crimes. Until this happened to him, he could not conceive that being sentenced to death could be the result of a miscarriage of justice.

He described his encounters with the other men when he arrived at death row and how they tried to help him. He also spoke about the profound impact the receipt of even a postcard would have on all the prisoners as it was a window to the outside world.

Joaquin then spoke about a particular prisoner who had the greatest impact on him and became the reason why he is against the death penalty. This was Frank Lee Smith who had been on death row for nineteen years. Throughout this time Frank had insisted on his innocence and asked for DNA testing to prove this. Occasionally, the strain of being on death row would become too much and he would make so much noise in his cell that he was punished. He was finally sent to the infirmary and did not return to his cell. A year later, when Joaquin was preparing to go for his retrial, he saw Frank again. He was chained to a hospital bed and dying from cancer. Sadly he was no longer able to recognize Joaquin. A year after he died, DNA testing was finally granted which proved that Frank could not have committed the crime he was sentenced for and that the perpetrator was now serving a prison sentence elsewhere.

On 6th June 2001, having served four years on death row for a crime he did not commit, Joaquin was acquitted and released from prison. He was the first Spanish citizen to be exonerated from death row in the US. He now lives in Spain and is a member of Witness To Innocence, dedicating his life to speaking against the death penalty.

There were many expressions of support and encouragement for Joaquin following the completion of his talk as well as a number of questions. As a result, Joaquin’s session finished twenty minutes later than scheduled. Everyone felt very moved by the honesty with which he spoke and the evident trauma which he still feels from all that he suffered. He was an amazing speaker and one who will continue to have an impact on those who were at the conference for some time to come.

The final session of the day was the traditional lighting of two candles followed by a minute's silence. Sue Fenwick then expressed thanks to Pablo, Mark and Joaquin for their superb talks and for sharing the day with us. She also thanked our two conference organisers, Sonya Woodsend and Caroline Hayward for arranging the event and confirmed that next year we are confident that we will at last be able to all be together in person once more. With this in mind, we have booked our normal venue, the Royal National Hotel in London, for Saturday 1st October 2022.