Reading Group 08.26.02 -- Prison Series -- Mark Dow + Ronald Tabak discuss "Machinery of Death"

Contents:
1. About this Monday
2. Readings for this week
3. About the Prison Series

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1. About this Monday

When: 7pm
Where: 16 Beaver Street, 5th Floor
Who: Open to all

This week we will be discussing the recently published book "Machinery of Death" with its editor, Mark Dow, and the Civil Rights lawyer Ronald Tabak. Mark, a poet, freelance writer, and prison activist, has put together along with the anti-death penalty lawyer David R. Dow a collection of essays and interviews concerning the racist and error-prone legacy of the United States death penalty. The book covers a broad range of issues, including the activism of Bud Welch, father of a victim of the Oklahoma City bombing who campaigned against McVeigh's execution; a history of the penalty and its relation to lynching; and an interview conducted with tie-down officer Fred Allen. Vanity Fair and Nation columnist Christopher Hitchens provides the introduction to the book.

For a decade, Ronald Tabak has been chair of the Civil Rights Committee of the American Bar Association of New York, and he's also a member of the policy-making council of that section. He's been President of New
York Lawyers Against the Death Penalty since its formation in the late 1980's and is on the board of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty. He's written many articles on the subject and has spoken on the subject in many places, including Columbia Law School, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Cornell Law School, and Stanford Law School.

More information on the book is included below. Please join us for what promises to be an engaging discussion.

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2. Readings for this week

a. Press release for "Machinery of Death"

http://www.16beavergroup.org/Machinery_of_Death_PR.doc

b. Mark Dow, "The Line Between Us and Them": Interview with Warden Donald Cabana

http://www.16beavergroup.org/cabana.doc

c. Stacy Abramson and David Isay, "The Stopping Point": Interview with a Tie-Down Officer

http://www.16beavergroup.org/allen_interview.doc

d. Christopher Hitchens, "Tinkering With The Death Machine"

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020722&s=hitchens

e. useful links:

New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty
http://www.nyadp.org/

Death Penalty Information Center
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/

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3. About the Prison Series

The Prison Series is a loosely based set of evenings that will focus on different aspects of prisons, incarceration and "security." We will be inviting a variety of cultural workers and activists to discuss their ideas and efforts. Past speakers have included Tommy Trantino, former death row inmate. See: http://www.16beavergroup.org/monday080502.htm