KEN & LOIS ROBISON

 JOURNEY PARTICIPANTS
INDIANA, VIRGINIA, GEORGIA
CALIFORNIA, PHILIPPINES, TEXAS AND TENNESSEE

"We are just an average family except that our son is on Death Row. Larry was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic at the age of 21. Our family tried in vain to get him proper treatment. We were told by mental health professionals that he was not well and would get worse without treatment, but hospitals routinely discharged him after 30 - day stays because he was 'not violent' and the 'need the bed'. We were told that if he became violent, he could get the long-term treatment that everyone agreed he needed.

Our son's first and only act of violence was to kill five people. Despite his well-documented history of mental illness, he was found sane and sentenced to die. How can a modern, civilized society choose to exterminate its ill citizens rather than treat them?"

KEN & LOIS ROBISON
BURLESON, TEXAS

PROFILE:

Ken and Lois Robison believe that appropriate treatment is the only answer to preventing mentally ill persons from committing acts of violence. Nearly a third of the people on death row are either mentally ill and mentally retarded. Until preventive medical help is available, they believe that tragedies will only continue. Ken and Lois are the Co-Directors of HOPE, the Texas chapter of CURE, an organization that works against the death Penalty. Ken is a college teacher and Lois is a retired elementary teacher. They have eight children and fifteen grandchildren.

Reprinted with permission from Not In Our Name: Murder Victims Families Speak Out Against the Death Penalty, a publication of Murder Victims Families For Reconciliation, Barbara Hood & Rachel King, Editors; MVFR

 

THE JOURNEY'S FAVORITE KEN & LOIS SITES:

SPEAKING OUT: WHY OUR MENTALLY ILL SON IS ON DEATH ROW

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS AND THE DEATH PENALTY

1998. UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS. FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 97-10240. LARRY KEITH ROBISON, Appellant, versus...

MVFR - TEXAS

FAITH WORKS PROJECT DEDICATED TO KEN AND LOIS ROBISON "ABOLITIONIST OF THE YEAR 2000"