Tony--

You're absolutely right that Issodhos is an apologist for this appalling system we live under,
and that this list is a strange place for his apologias. But we should be glad that he's wasting
his time and energy here, where nobody will be influenced by his propaganda, rather than
someplace where people might actually be fooled by his nonsense.

Personally, in my anti-death penalty activities I called Texas' recent victim "Gary Graham"
for strictly practical reasons: that was the name under which the media reported on him and
under which the government killed him. Since his case got a lot of mainstream publicity
(largely about the likelihood that he was innocent) under that name, and since those who
knew of him as "Shaka Sankofa" almost all oppose the death penalty already, in outreach to
mainstreamers who are not already sure that execution is wrong but might now be influenced
to think so, I used "Gary Graham."

Do you have a source for your figure of over 2,000,000 imprisoned in this country? It's
very important that the facts we cite be accurate, both on general principle and to avoid
accusations that we're spreading disinformation. According to this year's Worldwatch report
(released a month or two ago) there are 1.7 million prisoners in the US, out of 8.1 million
total worldwide. In other words, the US has less than 1/20 of the world's population but
over 1/5 of the prisoners. China, with 4 times as many people as the US (and a repressively
punitive government) has fewer prisoners (1.4 million). Russia is third with 1 million--putting
it (just barely!) ahead of the US in per capita imprisonment. So the US and Russia, with 1/14
of the human population, have 1/3 of the prisoners, fully half as many as the countries with
the other 13/14 of the population! For example, Italy, with 1/5 the population of the US, has
1/30 the number of prisoners--53,000, of whom thousands may now be amnestied because
the system was built to hold 43,000.

Tomorrow, Weds. July 12, there will be a performance of the Living Theatre's anti-death
penalty street theater protest "Not in My Name" at 6:45 PM in New York City, at 46th St &
Broadway in the traffic island on the south side of 46th St. For information on future
performances, call the hotline at (212) 969-8905.