NCADP - The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

James Hudson, VA

EXECUTED -- OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS GO OUT TO THOSE WHO SURVIVE HIM

The full text of the original alert follows.

August 18, 2004
9 p.m. EST

The state of Virginia is scheduled to execute James Hudson, a white man, Aug. 18 for the 2002 deaths of Walker Cole, Thomas Cole and his wife Patsy Ayers Cole, in Halifax County.

James Hudson plead guilty, presented no evidence at trial, and has declined to pursue his state and federal appeals. Apparently the murders were the result of an ongoing family feud.

Since 1976, when executions were reinstated, 919 people (primarily male) have been executed. 104 have resigned themselves to be executed, which is approximately one out of every nine executions.

“State-assisted suicide,” “suicide by governor,” and “a smart move” are how these volunteer executions have been described. There are several reasons why a person might effectively ask to be executed. The desperation of mental illness underscores many of these decisions, as does guilt, the sub-human conditions of death row, and an exhaustion with the criminal justice system.

Eleven percent of all executions are voluntary. That is not justice. How much evidence is needed before the United States of America decides to join the majority of global citizens and abolish the death penalty. We have a broken system, full of broken people. Killing them, bringing more violence into this world, can not be the answer.

Please demand justice.

James Hudson will be executed at 9 p.m. EST. Please keep him, his family, and the families of Walker, Thomas, and Patsy Cole in your thoughts.

Please take a moment and send message to Gov. Mark Warner, urging him to stop this execution.
As Gov. Warner does not have a public e-mail address, please select the fax option below.

February 09, 2010

Subject:

Dear Governor Warner,

I would like to express my sadness over the deaths of Walker, Thomas, and Patsy Cole. I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to their families and to all who loved them. However, I am adamantly opposed to the execution of James Hudson. Since 1976, when executions were reinstated, 919 people (primarily male) have been executed. 104 have resigned themselves to be executed, which is approximately one out of every nine executions. “State-assisted suicide,” “suicide by governor,” and “a smart move” are how these volunteer executions have been described. There are several reasons why a person might effectively ask to be executed. The desperation of mental illness underscores many of these decisions, as does guilt, the sub-human conditions of death row, and an exhaustion with the criminal justice system. Eleven percent of all executions are voluntary. That is not justice. How much evidence is needed before the United States of America decides to join the majority of global citizens and abolish the death penalty. We have a broken system, full of broken people. Killing them, and bringing more violence into this world, can not be the answer.
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