WRITE TO FREEDOM
Thanks to Jason Baldwin and Mara Leveritt for orchestrating  what we feel to
have been a successful letter writing campaign. Here's more on what happened :
Dear WM3 Supporters-

We met on the steps of the Capitol at 10am and rolled
out the letters that we had affixed to a banner. We had an overseas banner,
an Arkansas banner, and a banner for the rest of the US. The total count we
had was 552 letters and postcards. To me, it looked like more! (And it
felt like more when Wendy and I put them together for sure!) We hung out on
the steps for an hour with the letters before taking them inside. Both KARK
and KATV covered the letter delivery. We couldn’t manage to get a VIP to
show to handle the media so we had to handle it ourselves. I found it
aggravating that the KATV coverage only referred to the “half a dozen women”
present and totally ignored the fact that there was ONE man there! (That’s
you Roy. Next time, YOU need to speak to the media) Too bad some of the
other guys we hoped would show couldn’t make it.

We were able to meet with Michael Crump as a group. He’s not the governor,
but it still felt pretty good to vocalize our support to his representative
even. Robyne Culver was there too. She was sooooo happy to see us (NOT).
Each of us had plenty of opportunity to speak. He assured us that the
letters would be given to the Governor for his review. He also assured us
that all of these letters and postcards would be retained in file for review
by the next governor of Arkansas as well. Mr. Crump admitted that he didn’t
know a great deal about the case. We asked him if he had ever read the book
or seen the films. He answered that he hadn’t. I think that now…he just
might. The feel of the meeting was diplomatic enough with just the right
touch of pissed offness. It was good.

Thanks to the team of supporters that came to represent. You’re all very
special people with lots of heart. High fives to you all.

The team:
Amanda Lamb
Mary Boley
Wendy Crow
Emily Kern
Roy Murtishaw
Kasey Hig
Amy Burnett
Shaunacie
FOLLOW UP
After a couple of follow ups, here is Michael Crump's reply regarding the
letters from Write to Freedom. And, no, I didn't expect more. I feel that
we should not relent in pressuring for comments from the Governor.

But how do we go about it people?

Amanda


From: Michael.Crump@gov.state.ar.us
To: "Amanda Lamb" <LambAmanda@msn.com>
Subject: Re: Follow Up - Letter Campaign
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 08:00:42 -0500

Ms. Lamb,

The letters you delivered were brought to the Governor for his review. I
cannot tell you whether he intends to make any comments or not, but as we
have discussed, it would be unusual for the Governor to comment on a case
that is not being considered for clemency at the time.

Michael Crump
Criminal Justice Policy Advisor
Office of the Governor of Arkansas
(501) 682-3586
michael.crump@gov.state.ar.us