• Marietta Jaeger's 7-year-old daughter was a kidnap-rape-murder victim. Marietta struggled with God in her rage and came to see the killer as also a child of God.
• Sam Reese Sheppard's mother was murdered and his father, Dr. Sam Sheppard, was wrongly convicted in the 1954 "trial of the century", later deemed a "Mockery of Justice."
• Bill Pelke's grandmother was killed by four high school girls. He didn't object to the sentence of death. Now Bill says, "The answer is love and compassion for all humanity."
• George White was himself left for dead when his wife was killed. George was filled with hate. Now he can say,"Charlene White loved life. That should be her legacy."
• Carol Duncanson joined a victim's support group after her mother was killed, and saw how the death penalty further injured victim's families.
• Ron Callen asked the prosecutor not to seek a death sentence for his mother's killer.
• Catherine Emerson, whose niece was murdered, asked for no death penalty.
• Barbara Lewis had three relatives murdered and has a son on Delaware's death row.
• David Guard visits his dad's killer in prison.
• Sally Peck honors and follows her murdered mother's example of forgiveness.

Sponsors: American Friends Service Committee, Amnesty International U-M Chapter, Cranbrook Peace Foundation, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice, St. Francis Catholic Church. Others sponsors are welcome, and other venues for presentations are sought: Sally Peck 248-477-8232 speck@peck.cncfamily.com

Michigan was the first government in the English- speaking world to abolish the death penalty, way back in 1846. Now certain members of the Michigan House and Senate want to introduce legislation to reestablish the death penalty in our state. Most likely, they will use emotions rather than fact to win votes. The facts are: a.) Innocent people have been and continue to be convicted of murder; b.) People who are poor and/or minorities are disproportionately sentenced to death; c.) Public safety is effectively addressed by Michigan's law for life without parole for 1st degree murder; d.) Life in prison is actually cheaper than executions, keeping in mind all legal channels for appeals; e.) Violent crime is at its lowest point in a decade; f.) The number of murders has actually increased where the death penalty has been enacted (i.e., Florida). Please write your State Senator/ Rep., State Capitol, Lansing MI 48909, and join the Mich. Coalition Against the Death Penalty, 487-9058, <BobMich@compuserve.com>.