Announcements #142: Martin Grossman Needs Your Help Today

Martin Grossman Needs Your Help TODAY to Save His Life

Martin Grossman is slated to be executed in Florida this coming Tuesday, Febuary 16, 2010 at 6 pm. The following Rabbinical organizations are calling upon all of their consituents as well as all other sympathetic individuals and organizations to help commute Martin's punishment from death to life (or at the very least that he be granted a public clemency hearing):

• Young Israel: link
• Orthodox Union
• Rabbnical Council of America
• Chabad: link (also see: link)
• Agudath Israel of America
• Satmar

A number of prominent Rabbis have also indicated the importance of helping Martin including the Skulener Rebbe and HaGaon HaRav Tuvia Weiss.

Here are a few reasons given why Martin Grossman's punishement should be commuted to life (or at the vary least that he should be given a public clemency hearing to determine if he really deserves the death penalty):

Click here to read more

• He is border-line mentally retarded (he has an IQ of 77)
• Martin developed an addiction to drugs as a result of taking prescription barbiturates (Phenobarbital) for seizures since early childhood (an extremely difficult upbringing also contributed). On the night in question Martin was high on a number of drugs including PCP, Cocaine, Crystal Meth and other pills that clouded his judgment.
• The murder was not premeditated but rather an act that was committed under panic and fright (brought on in part by his drug-induced state).
• Life-in-prison is sufficient punishment for a non-premeditated murder. The death-penalty is excessive for non-premeditated murder.

More reasons are spelled out in the following articles:

• link 1
• link 2
• link 3 (PDF)
• link 4

Time is ticking and Martin urgently needs the help of as many people as possible. Please take the following steps to help save Martin's life:

1) Contact the following people (all of whom are members of the Clemency Board) and respectfully relate to them your desire that Martin's sentence be commuted to life). Please note that Monday is Presidents day in the United States, so please email on Monday and call on Tuesday.

• Governor Charlie Crist
  Phone: 850-488-7146
  Fax: 850-487-0801
  Email: Charlie.Crist@eog.myflorida.com


• Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum (Republican candidate for Governor)
  Main office Switchboard: 850-414-3300
  Florida Toll Free: 1-866-966-7226
  Email: info@BillMcCollum.com


• Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink (Democratic candidate for Governor)
  Phone: 850-413-3100
  Fax: 850-413-4993
  Email: cfo@dfs.state.fl.us


• Charles Branson – Commissioner of Agriculture
  The Office of Executive Clemency
  Toll Free: 1-800-435-8286
  Phone: 850-488-2952
  Fax: 850-488-0695
  Email: ClemencyWeb@fpc.state.fl.us

2) Sign the Petition to Save Martin Grossman: link

3) Contact as many people as possible and urge them to do the same (i.e., contact the members of the clemency board, sign the petition and notify their friends, family and colleagues). Here are some suggestions as to how you can contact people:

• Your email contact list
• Your friends in your social network (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Community email lists and boards
• Forums and blogs

Collectively we can help save Martin's life. So please act today and urge your friends, family and colleagues to do the same.




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