Introducing: The Abolition Blog Committee

Folks who pay close attention to this site may have seen some changes lately -- and believe me, more are coming.

We've established an Abolition Blog Committee that, initially at least, will consist of five of us. Please allow me to make a round of introductions:

I'm David. If you've been here before, you know me. I do communications work for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

There's Abe Bonowitz. If you're active in the movement, you probably know Abe. Abe wears many hats, serving as director of both Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Abe is also a member of the board of directors of NCADP and Journey of Hope: From Violence to Healing. In addition, last year Abe was honored with NCADP's annual Abolitionist of the Year award.

There's Karl Keys. Karl operates the most highly-trafficked blog in the abolition movement, capital defense weekly. He is a lawyer operating out of the northern New Jersey/New York City area and has handled a number of death penalty appeals. He also has the interesting perspective of having served in the first Gulf War. He spent six years in the U.S. Marines. To see Karl's whole bio, go here.

Tennessee dude doesn't like his full name to be used, so we'll just lovingly refer to him as "randy." We believe "randy" is associated with NCADP's Tennessee affiliate, the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing. Check out their web site -- it rocks!

Last -- only because we haven't technically added her name yet -- there's my talented friend Carrie Johnson, founder and author of Lonely Abolitionist. Truth be known, Carrie and I actually haven't met in person. She's a lawyer in Minnesota and I "found" her through her blog, which she started before this one. Carrie is a feminist, a passionate advocate of lesbian and gay rights and a defender of civil rights in general and we're glad to have her on the Abolition Blog Committee.

Why the ABC? At first, I decided we needed a committee just to keep this blog going in case something happened to me -- after all, I was the only person with the password to this blog! But then the more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that we need the energy that Abe, Carrie, Karl and Rand- er, Tennessee dude can bring. We need Abe's grassroots perspective and penchant for pictures. We need Karl's technological expertise and ability to embrace new ideas for outreach. We need Tennessee dude's vision and writing ability. And we need a perspective that only an outsider can bring -- someone who staunchly opposes the death penalty with every last fiber in her body but isn't connected to the movement. That's where Carrie -- our "lonely abolitionist" -- comes in!

So that's the why and the who of the Abolition Blog Committee. Stay tuned for further developments!