JOAN BETZ

Joan Betz (left) with Joan Brett

JOURNEY OF HOPE...
from violence to healing™ 
BOARD MEMBER
1998-2002

Joan Betz is a nurse and mother of three beautiful freckled young children.  Joan was one of the organizers for the Virginia Journey in 1996. When the weary Journeyers reached Manassa, Joan was there to greet us and immediately we all felt at ease. It was easy to tell she had done a lot of work in preparing for our arrival. Her compassion, wisdom and great personality endeared her to each of us. It has been a real joy to watch Joan grow and become a leader in the movement.

Joan is a member of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VASK), travels to national conferences, and for the last several years has helped  organize the annual Fast and Vigil at the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC. Joan also traveled with her children to Pennsylvania in 1997 to be part of the Bruderhof Communities "Children’s Crusade". 

Joan’s reputation has caused people to call her Joan Best instead of Joan Betz.

On November 14-16, I attended an incredible conference at Northwestern University Law School. The purpose of the conference was to gather together many of the 76 people who have been wrongfully convicted and given the death penalty in the last 22 years and to educate the participants about the frequency of wrongful convictions. Statistically, one of seven death sentences is a wrongful conviction. 

Over 1,200 people were in attendance throughout the weekend. One of the unique aspects of the gathering is that it pulled together attorneys, activists, academics along with those released from death row and scores of members of the press. 

A mix of small seminars and larger lectures took place throughout the 3 days along with a few huge plenaries, which attracted so many people that the overflow had to move to other rooms to watch the speakers on TV's. 

This conference was like no other I have attended. I was in the presence of so many of the great people who have worked so hard to end capital punishment: Michael Radelet , Hugo Adam Bedau, Anthony Amsterdam, and Bryan Stephenson are a few of the people who spoke during the plenaries. Hearing these incredible people speak, I felt humbled and inspired. 

I chose to attend several of the law related lectures, feeling that the more "activist" related seminars would be similar to things I attended in the past. It was striking, and embarrassing, for me to hear Virginia mentioned repeatedly as one of the worst states in terms of the death penalty. This was brought up in both large and small group situations. Virginia is known as one of the most efficient death penalty machines and everyone is appalled by our 21 day rule. It was not a proud time to be a Virginian. 

One of the highlights of the weekend was when the 35 wrongfully convicted joined together on the stage, each introducing themselves and stating, "If the state had it's way, I would be dead today".  Some told their tragic personal stories and each expressed gratitude to the people who were responsible for getting them off death row. And it was absolutely clear that those who released were NOT released because the "system" works. Each of these people had a person or a group of people who rallied behind and worked long and hard to see that justice was realized.