Lobby Day Was a Success!
March 28, 2009
Yesterday, March 12, the Capital Punishment Subcommittee of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee held a public hearing on House Bill (HB) 682. The hearing featured powerful and compelling testimony from numerous witnesses:
Rich Woodward, an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A & M University, and Adam Gershowitz, an Associate Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law, served as resource witnesses and spoke about the costs of capital punishment. Professor Gershowitz explained why the death penalty is so expensive and addressed its particular impact on county governments. Professor Woodward described the death penalty as poor public policy in terms of its high costs and questionable deterrent effect.
· Rob Owen, a Professor from the University of Texas-School of Law, also served as a resource witness. He spoke to the subcommittee about his experience with the case of Ernest Willis, who was exonerated after 17 years on death row in Texas after new forensic evidence revealed that the arson for which he had been convicted had not actually occurred.
Martha Cotera and Ron Carlson spoke movingly against the death penalty from their perspectives as family members who have lost loved ones to murder.
Andrew Rivas, the Executive Director of the Texas Catholic Conference, and Sister Elizabeth Riebschlaeger, CCVI, with the Sisters of Charity of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, presented the Church’s teaching on the value of all human life and spoke to the fact that the death penalty is no longer necessary as a form of punishment.
Ralph Ward spoke to the members about issues related to inadequate legal representation, while Tom Egan presented them with the “Declaration of Life,” which states that should you be the victim of a homicide, you would not want your killer to receive the death penalty.
In addition, two dozen TCADP members and allies signed in and indicated their support for the bill. We thank all those who came to the Capitol yesterday -- your attendance at the hearing sent a strong message to the subcommittee that public opinion indeed is shifting on this issue.
The members of the subcommittee now will decide whether or not to refer HB 682 to the full House Criminal Jurisprudence committee for further action. We need your help to move this bill forward! Please take the following two actions as soon as possible:
1. Continue to call and fax your representative. Ask him/her to support HB 682 and to urge the full House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee to consider this bill.
2. Contact the 11 members of the Committee, listed below, and ask them to give full consideration to HB 682.
Thank you again for your support and participation in this legislative campaign. Onwards to abolition!
Sincerely,
Bob Van Steenburg
President, TCADP
p.s. We want to hear from you! If you receive a response to your visit/fax/call or learn anything about your representative’s position on the death penalty, please let us know. You can contact the TCADP Office at 512-441-1808 or send an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
**
Members of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee
Pete Gallego (Chair), District 74 (Uvalde, Edwards, Val Verde, Terrell, Pecos, Brewster, Presidio, Jeff Davis, Ward, Reeves, Loving, Culberson, Hudspeth Counties) (also a member of the Subcommittee on Capital Punishment)
Phone: 512-463-0566; FAX: 512-263-9408
Wayne Christian (Vice Chair), District 09 (Shelby, Nacogdoches, San Augustine, Sabine, Jasper Counties) (also a member of the Subcommittee on Capital Punishment)
Phone: 512-463-0556; FAX: 512-463-5896
Robert Miklos, District 101 (Dallas County-part) (also Chair of the Subcommittee on Capital Punishment)
Phone: 512-463-0464; FAX: 512-463-9295
Joseph Moody, District 78 (El Paso County-part) (also a member of the Subcommittee on Capital Punishment)
Phone: 512-463-0728; FAX: 512-463-0397
Paula Pierson, District 93 (Tarrant County-part)
Phone: 512-463-0562; FAX: 512-463-2053
Allen Fletcher, District 130 (Harris County-part)
Phone: 512-463-0661; no FAX number available
Terri Hodge, District 100 (Dallas County-part) (also a member of the Subcommittee on Capital Punishment)
Phone: 512-463-0586; FAX: 512-463-8147
Carol Kent, District 102 (Dallas County-part)
Phone: 512-463-0454; FAX: 512-463-1121
Debbie Riddle, District 150 (Harris County-part)
Phone: 512-463-0572; FAX: 512-463-1908
Allen Vaught, District 107 (Dallas County-part)
Phone: 512-463-0244; FAX: 512-463-9967
Hubert Vo, District 149 (Harris County-part)
Phone: 512-463-0568; FAX: 512-463-0548
Contact information for your representative is available at https://tcadp.ejusadb.org/sites/tcadp.ejusadb.org/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=118&qid=6825.
posted by Sara Hickman at 02:18 pm
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There goes my music…!
March 26, 2009
Canada, Finland, France, German, Ireland, Israel (!!), Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Spain,
UK, Greece, and it was played on Jetblue, ExpressJet, Frontier and Airtran. And
BOWL FULL OF STARS is on Muzak! It has joined PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS and I COULDN'T
HELP MYSELF!Woo-hoo! I don't know why that thrills me so much, but there is something
really cool about knowing my music has been gentrified for the elevator riding masses!
I do have questions, though.
For example, it says here on the statement, one of my songs (which one, I wonder?)
was played in:
ARGENTINA SADAIC: American Idol The Search for A Superstar
Unreported Work (as a FILM)
and I was paid .01.
Hmm.
Then, my song, "Shadowboxing", always shows up as part of the film "Happy, Texas"
but from what I understand, I didn't make the final cut. So, is it in the trailer?
Is it in the credits? Is it on the soundtrack? It must be in the film somehow
because it gets a lot of play in Europe, and that's where the money is being
reported from. Hmm, again.
Lastly, how come on Pandora when they play "My Mama's Hands", which I
wrote 100% of, if it is played 70 times, I make .02 cents, but when it is
also played an additional 155 times (in the byline right underneath!),
I only get paid .01 cents? And I own the master as well
as the song's publishing?
Because when I look further for Pandora payouts, "Coolness by Mistake", which I am
a co-writer on at 50%, for 52 plays, I still get paid .01 cents.
Isn't that wierd?
I'm thinking internet pay out is sucky, because if we go over here to television,
I see in Italy I got paid $103.62 for play of "In the Fields", which I wrote 100%
but share the publishing with Universal.
Digital audio services pay alright...Look at this:
For 50 plays of RADIATION MAN, I received $61.54 on XM Satellite.
Hmm. Again and again, when I get these BMI statements, I am always
excited to see the envelope because I know there will be a check inside.
And I NEVER know how much it will be. Sometimes it is HUGE and sometimes
it is teen-niney. But they come in twos four times a year, for me as the songwriter
and me as the publisher (for the songs I own publishing on.) So, receiving this one,
I know there will be another one in the box tomorrow or the next few days.
This was the 3rd quarter of 2008, 123rd accounting I have received.
Aren't you just wishing you were in the wacky world of music?
I am thankful I've followed up and put all these songs of mine in my BMI catalogue
(a lot to keep up with goes on around here in the little empire)...And it is ALWAYS
interesting to find out where your songs end up in this vast universe.
I'm still high that "Don't Give Up" was on David Letterman.
That was the best BMI check EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by Sara Hickman at 01:53 pm
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Filming: Yesterday a@ Fulmore Magnet/New Mexico abandons the death penalty!/Isaac Mizrahi
to create with Mike Henry. The students were insightful, interested in the topic, and had amazing feedback,
ideas and commentary. I'm very excited about how they will be bringing the viewpoints of youth to the film.
It was an exhilirating, and exhausting, two hours. I also showed the video, "THE ONE", to the students,
and, once again, I couldn't help getting weepy. That song really affects my psyche. Mr. Sombathy wanted
to keep the footage, so I gladly gave him the copy I brought. I only wish more people could hear the song
and watch the video...how do I reach the world?
And now...an update!
NEWS FROM TCADP!!!
Great news! Last week, New Mexico became the 15th U.S. state to abandon the death penalty! On March 18, 2009 New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson signed into law legislation that repeals the death penalty in his state. Explaining his decision to sign the bill, Richardson said that he does “not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime” and that “the potential for wrongful conviction and, God forbid, execution of an innocent person stands as anathema to our very sensibilities as human beings.”
Please take a few minutes to thank Governor Richardson by mailing him a handwritten note:
Governor Bill Richardson
Office of the Governor
490 Old Santa Fe Trail, Room 400
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Both TCADP and I congratulate our colleagues in New Mexico, particularly the dedicated staff and volunteers of the New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty, on their hard-fought victory!
FASHION UPDATE
The girls and I will be going to a fashion show on Friday!!! It will be a BLAST!
My youngest has decided she wants to be a stylist,
so I have been doing all I can as a good mother to introduce her to the world of texture, style, idealogy,
sewing, color, fabric, and designers.
Last week, during spring break, we studied Isaac Mizrahi at Book People. We read an entire book of his
makeovers, which was humorous and chock full of great concepts/couture. Then, last night, we went
online and watched footage of fashion shows (summer and fall 2009) of: Bestey Johnson, Marc Jacobs,
Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana and Isaac. Our brains were FULL!
posted by Sara Hickman at 06:13 am
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More filming
March 25, 2009
Today I will be talking with junior high kids about their viewpoints on the death penalty.
Which, I have no doubt, will be verrrrrrrry interesting.
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:06 am
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My song, THE ONE, is being entered in a Dutch radio contest!!!
March 15, 2009
I enter your song for this week contest
trhe winnen of last week was also a sing of mine Jimmy LaFave Cafe in the rain
http://americanconnection.kro.nl/cliffhanger.aspx
Look at this site in the next couple of day maybe your song is one of the choosen 7 and you van vote for yourself LOL
Looking at the video I had the seem feeling last year at the Woody Guthrie Festival specialy what happen last week in Germany
Looking forward to see you again somewhere in the near future
Addy
http://www.addynijenboer.com
This is a piece from the story I wrote about the W G F in Okemah:
Als eerste trad Sarah Hickman op. Ze vertelde over waarom ze een bepaald liedje had geschreven(heb helaas geen titel) Het liedje gaat over de moeder van de schutter op Viginia Tech High School waar meerdere scholieren zijn doodgeschoten. Ze was zo gemotioneerd dat er tranen in haar ogen stonden. De moraal van het liedje was: wat zal jij doen/voelen als jij de moeder van de schutter was geweest. Het mooie van dit soort festivals is dat je hier een andere mening hoort dan van de gemiddelde Amerikaan of wat je op de tv hoort.
Quick translation:
When I last saw Sara Hickman, she talked about why she had written a song (I unfortunately don't know the title) about the mother of the shooter at Virginia Tech, where several students were shot dead. She was so emotional that there were tears in her eyes. The moral of the song was: what will you do / feel like you're the mother of the shooter. The beauty of such music festivals is that you hear a different opinion than the average American or what you hear on TV.
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:37 am
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