Letters in support of Frances Newton from Ramsey Clark, former Attorney General of the United States, to President George W. Bush, Governor Rick Perry, and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

The Honorable George W. Bush BY FAX: 202-456-2401

President of the United States AND MAIL

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, D.C.

Dear President Bush,

Every element of law, morality, human dignity and reverence for life compel commutation of the death sentence of Frances Newton scheduled to be executed in Texas on September 14, 2005.

Evidence not presented at trial, but now known to have existed, would have caused an acquittal. Her trial attorney was not competent and can no longer appear in death cases, but too late for her. A person of financial means would never have been convicted and probably never even tried in such a case.

At 22, Frances Newton lost her husband and two children and, most cruelly, has been condemned as their murderer. Her mother and father-in-law, the parents of her dead husband and grandparents of her dead children, could have testified in her behalf at her trial, but no one called them. They pray everyday that her life be spared.

Frances Newton, a poor African-American woman unable to defend herself, who lost her family to violent death, has now spent seventeen years in prison on a conviction unsupportable in law and fact.

Surely if there was ever time, now in the wake of Katrina with its devastating exposure of the fate of poor Americans caught in calamity, American officials can find the understanding, courage and compassion to commute this damnable death sentence. I ask you to use all your authority and persuasion to see that happens.

Sincerely,

Ramsey Clark

RAMSEY CLARK LAW OFFICES

LAWRENCE W. SCHILLING 37 WEST 12TH STREET 2B

NEW YORK, N.Y. 10011

212-989-6613

212-979-1583 FAX

September 9, 2005

Governor Rick Perry

Office of the Governor

State Insurance Building

1100 San Jacinto

Austin, Texas 78701

Dear Governor Perry,

Every element of law, morality, human dignity and reverence for life compel commutation of the death sentence of Frances Newton scheduled to be executed in Texas on September 14, 2005.

Evidence not presented at trial, but now known to have existed, would have caused an acquittal. Her trial attorney was not competent and can no longer appear in death cases, but too late for her. A person of financial means would never have been convicted and probably never even tried in such a case.

At 22, Frances Newton lost her husband and two children and, most cruelly, has been condemned as their murderer. Her mother and father-in-law, the parents of her dead husband and grandparents of her dead children, could have testified in her behalf at her trial, but no one called them. They pray everyday that her life be spared.

Frances Newton, a poor African-American woman unable to defend herself, who lost her family to violent death, has now spent seventeen years in prison on a conviction unsupportable in law and fact.

Surely if there was ever time, now in the wake of Katrina with its devastating exposure of the fate of poor Americans caught in calamity, American officials can find the understanding, courage and compassion to commute this damnable death sentence. I ask you to use all your authority and persuasion to see that happens.

Sincerely,

Ramsey Clark

RAMSEY CLARK LAW OFFICES

LAWRENCE W. SCHILLING 37 WEST 12TH STREET 2B

NEW YORK, N.Y. 10011

212-989-6613

212-979-1583 FAX

September 9, 2005

Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles

8610 Shoal Creek Blvd.

Austin, Texas 78757

Dear Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles:

Every element of law, morality, human dignity and reverence for life compel commutation of the death sentence of Frances Newton scheduled to be executed in Texas on September 14, 2005.

Evidence not presented at trial, but now known to have existed, would have caused an acquittal. Her trial attorney was not competent and can no longer appear in death cases, but too late for her. A person of financial means would never have been convicted and probably never even tried in such a case.

At 22, Frances Newton lost her husband and two children and, most cruelly, has been condemned as their murderer. Her mother and father-in-law, the parents of her dead husband and grandparents of her dead children, could have testified in her behalf at her trial, but no one called them. They pray everyday that her life be spared.

Frances Newton, a poor African-American woman unable to defend herself, who lost her family to violent death, has now spent seventeen years in prison on a conviction unsupportable in law and fact.

Surely if there was ever time, now in the wake of Katrina with its devastating exposure of the fate of poor Americans caught in calamity, American officials can find the understanding, courage and compassion to commute this damnable death sentence. I ask you to use all your authority and persuasion to see that happens.

Sincerely,

Ramsey Clark

BACK HOME to FREEFRANCES.ORG