Crime

Activists Push for Death Penalty Reform

NEW ORLEANS DATA NEWS WEEKLY — Community members, organization leaders, and former Angola inmates gathered to discuss issues.

Published

7 years ago

February 14, 2019

Oakland Post

By Morgan Jackson

Community members, organization leaders, and former Angola inmates gathered to discuss issues regarding the death penalty in New Orleans at Café Istanbul in the Healing Center on Jan. 28, 2019. There are currently 67 people on Louisiana’s Death Row; 73 percent of which are African-American or Hispanic.

“If there was ever an example of why you shouldn’t have the death penalty, Willy Frances the famous Louisiana Case, would be the perfect example,” said Michael Cahoon, the organizer for the Promise of Justice Initiative. “A 16-year-old boy was convicted, had to be executed twice because he was so small, he could not fit in the electric chair. That should be enough right there, but it still persists.”

Cahoon joined Laverne Thompson, the wife of former inmate, John Thompson, and Jerome Morgan, who was placed in solitary confinement in the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola to advocate for repealing the death penalty.

Justice & Beyond, a New Orleans-based association of community leaders and organizations that come together to discuss challenging problems hosted this event to educate the public on injustices facing the incarcerated and prisoners facing the death penalty. Racial disparities also exist when examining who received the death penalty, the advocates said.

“Conditions in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison produce a death rate of 300 percent higher than the national average, mostly due to inadequate Mental Health Care and inhumane treatment of the prisoners that are held there,” Cahoon said.

It is also an expensive burden on the state. “The death penalty takes an immense amount of resources for such a small number of people. Since 2000, we have spent $155 million on our death penalty, which has yielded two executions,” Cahoon added.

Executions cost millions of dollars to perform, experts said. Studies show that executions also do not result in a drop in the crime rate.

“The first study done in Louisiana on whether or not the death penalty prevents violent crime was done in 1833,” Cahoon said. “States that have gotten rid of the death penalty; crime has actually gone down,” Cahoon added. This shows that there is no relation between the death penalty and crime.

“John Thompson was the sixth Louisiana Death Row exoneree in 2003,” said Laverne Thompson, his wife. On May 8, 1985, John Thompson was sentenced to death row on two separate crimes: murder and carjacking. An investigator found evidence that had never been disclosed 30 days before his execution – the bloodstain of one of the carjacking victims. The blood was found not to be Thompson’s. A prosecutor admitted to intentionally suppressing evidence. In 2002, he had a retrial based on deliberate government misconduct and was sent home in 2003. Unfortunately, in October 2017 he died of a heart attack.

Most of the people on death row are wrongfully convicted and serve time based on a crime they never committed, activists said. Since Thompson’s exoneration in 2003, five other men have had their innocence discovered.

“I was incarcerated during the time John was released and I remember hearing the news and being encouraged and motivated; I felt like John was a hero,” Morgan said. Not many people are released from death row and hearing the news of someone being released brought a sense of hope to Morgan. Morgan was wrongfully arrested at the age of 17 and sentenced to die in Angola for the rest of his natural life for the second-degree murder of Clarence Landry III.

After Morgan’s release he wrote a book with two other inmates titled, “Unbreakable Resolve,” and he is now working on another book, “Go to Jail: Confronting the System of Oppression,” which discusses his experiences in solitary confinement.

Residents who attended the public forum shared personal experiences fighting for loved ones caught up in the Criminal Justice System.

“Numerous members of my family have been slaughtered in the City of New Orleans; my spirit is broken. Our justice system is a big racist killer,” said Eloise Williams, a member of Mark Louis Williams and Victims of Homicide. “I haven’t been behind any bars, but I am incarcerated,” Williams added.

This article originally appeared in the New Orleans Data News Weekly.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 6 – 12, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of may 6 – 12, 2026

Published

4 days ago

May 10, 2026

Oakland Post

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Activism

Up to the Job: How San Francisco’s PRC Is Providing Work Opportunities That Turn Into Lasting Stability

Each year, PRC serves more than 5,000 clients through a wide range of programs. These include housing navigation, legal advocacy to ensure access to health and public benefits, supportive housing, job and life-skills training, and residential treatment programs.

Published

3 weeks ago

April 26, 2026

Oakland Post

Black Leadership Council (BLC) Advocacy Day in Sacramento. BLC works to advance meaningful change through policy engagement to unlock the full potential of Black and low-income communities. Photo courtesy of PRC.

By Joe Kocurek, California Black Media

Seville Christian arrived in San Francisco in the 1990s from Kansas City, Mo., a transgender woman coming from a time and place still hostile to who she was.

San Francisco offered a deeper LGBTQ+ history and a more visible community of people like her, but even in a city known for acceptance, building a stable life from scratch was no small task.

After arriving in the city, she turned to Positive Resource Center (PRC) looking for work — and for a foothold — in a new place.

“PRC gave me my first job,” Christian said. “A simple gig — passing out magazines at the San Francisco Pride Parade.”

That first opportunity marked the beginning of a decades-long relationship with PRC, one that has seen Christian grow from client to valued employee, and eventually to policy fellow.

“Today, I’ve been with PRC for 27 years, going on 28,” she said.

Seville Christian’s decades-long relationship with PRC includes as a client, fellow and beloved employee. Photo courtesy of PRC.

Helping people access employment and build sustainable careers has been a cornerstone of PRC’s mission since its inception nearly four decades ago. In its most recent annual impact report, PRC served 443 clients through workforce development services, including career counseling, educational programs, hands-on training, and job search assistance. The average wage earned by PRC clients is $26.48 per hour — approximately 38% above San Francisco’s minimum wage.

To advance this work, organizations like PRC have benefited from funding through California’s Stop the Hate Program, which provides direct support to community-based organizations leading anti-hate initiatives.

Christian’s path was not without challenges. During some rocky years, she experienced periods of housing instability and struggled with addiction. Through PRC, she enrolled in a life-skills program that emphasized using her own lived experience as a means of helping others. The program helped set her on a path toward completing an associate’s degree and ultimately launching a career in case management.

“Today, whether someone is new to the city or has lived here their whole life, I know how to help them navigate to where they need to be,” Christian said.

Members of PRC’s Black Leadership Council meet with a lawmaker in Sacramento. Photo courtesy of PRC.

While PRC was founded to serve people living with HIV, its mission has expanded over the decades to meet the needs of people with disabilities, individuals experiencing homelessness, and those facing mental health and substance use challenges.

According to PRC’s Chief of Public Policy and Public Affairs, Tasha Henneman, some of the organization’s earliest programs remain as vital today as they were at the start.

“Our emergency financial assistance program helped more than 1,200 people this year pay rent, cover medical bills, and keep the lights on,” Henneman said. “And over 1,400 people reached out for legal advocacy, resulting in more than $2.5 million in retroactive benefits unlocked.”

Beyond direct services, PRC is deeply committed to community empowerment and policy change. Programs such as the Black Leadership Council support community leaders in advocating for systemic reform, while the Black Trans Initiative focuses on addressing the unique challenges faced by Black transgender individuals.

A recent study from the Williams Institute highlighted findings that 71% of transgender homicide victims in the U.S. between 2010 and 2021 were Black and that nearly a third of the transgender homicides during that period were confirmed or suspected hate crimes.

PRC’s direct and indirect services can be a lifeline for people experiencing hate and are an example of the resources people can get connected with through the state’s CA vs Hate hotline.

PRC is now also producing a film project that centers the lived experiences of Black trans clients, including individuals like Christian.

PRC welcomed guests to their annual Open House in April, an evening dedicated to connection, reflection, and learning more about the programs and people working every day to support San Franciscans experiencing housing instability, unemployment, and behavioral health challenges. Photo courtesy of PRC.

“Our film highlights the health journeys and lived experiences of some of PRC’s Black trans clients,” Henneman said. “Our goal is to give voice, visibility, and agency to the participants — and to bring their stories, both harrowing and inspirational, to policymakers and the broader public.”

The film, expected to be released later this year, is directed by Yule Caise, with assistant director Zarina Codes, a Black transgender San Francisco resident.

Today, Christian continues her relationship with PRC as an ambassador, reflecting on a journey that began with a single job opportunity and grew into a lifelong commitment to service.

“Sometimes I’ll be riding the bus or standing in a grocery store, and someone will come up to me from a women’s shelter,” she said. “They’ll say, ‘Oh, Miss Seville, I just want to thank you. You really helped me with what I was dealing with.’”

She paused, smiling.

“And in those moments,” Christian said, “I think to myself, “Well!.”

A single word that sums up pride in a journey to find the best in herself.

Get Support After Hate:

California vs Hate is a non-emergency, multilingual hotline and online portal offering confidential support for hate crimes and incidents. Victims and witnesses can get help anonymously by calling 833-8-NO-HATE (833-866-4283), Monday to Friday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. PT, or online at any time. Anonymous. Confidential. No Police. No ICE.

This story was produced in partnership with CA vs Hate. Join them for the first-ever CA Civil Rights Summit on May 11, 2026. More information at www.cavshate.org/summit.