2012 ~ 2011 ~ 2010 ~ 2009 ~2008 ~ 2007 ~ 2006 ~ 2005 ~ 2004 ~ 2003 ~ 2002

Read about GRACE's development, from just a “scrappy little group of volunteers” working out of the crowded attic apartment above Danalynn's home, to the organization it is today.

December 2011

Read the 2011 Newsletter!

GRACE is ranked 9th in Local Criminal Justice Charities!

GRACE is ranked in this years Philanthropedia list of Local Criminal Justice Charities. The list consists of non-profit organizations that make an impact on criminal defense on the state and federal level. To see GRACE and the rest of the non-profits Click Here.

November 2011

GRACE board member represents British women on Texas death row and is featured in documentary.

Read about the the documentary and about GRACE board member Clive Stafford Smith representing Linda Carty a British women on death row. Read Here

November 2011

Have a GRACEful Cyber Monday!!

Here's how you can save lives while saving money: Use www.GoodShop.com to access virtually any online merchant, and choose "Gulf Region Advocacy Center" (GRACE) as your charity. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to us, but it does NOT come out of your pocket! And, you still get to take advantage of the huge Cyber Monday sales at big retailers like Best Buy, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Target, J.C. Penny's, Toys R Us, Brooks Brothers, Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc., online sellers like Amazon, EBay, Expedia, etc., as well as smaller businesses and even local restaurants near you.

You know you are going to be spending money anyway, and virtually anything you could possibly be looking for can be found on this site, so please check it first before buying anywhere else!

Not quite ready for holiday shopping? Get your office supplies on www.GoodShop.comthrough Staples, Office Depot, HP or Dell and take advantage of huge sales going on right now.

Here at GRACE, we squeeze a dime of value from every nickel we get. Your holiday shopping donations (which cost you nothing) will go directly to services for poor people facing the death penalty in some of the most lethal jurisdictions in America.

There's no need to feel guilty about holiday excess when you are shopping for justice!

Remember to type in "Gulf Region Advocacy Center" (not just GRACE) atwww.GoodShop.com and save lives while saving money!!!

With gratitude,

Danalynn Recer 
Director

October 2011

Watch the GRACE director discuss the way race effects the sentencing of a death penalty case at the New Yorker Festival

 Click Here to watch full video.

July 2011

GRACE director represents victim in attempt to gain a stay of execution for the shooter

GRACE director, Danalynn Recer, represents surviving victim in 2001 homicide in suit against Governor Rick Perry for violating his rights under Texas Victim Rights Act. Rais Bhuiyan was shot in 2001 and is now fighting to save his shooters life.

• The Hated and the Hater, Both Touched by Crime [New York Times - Timothy Williams - July 18, 2011]

• If victim can forgive, why can't Texas? [ Houston Chronicle - Patricia Kilday Hart - July 17, 2011
   
• Victim of 2001 attempted murder begs clemency for his shooter [The Daily Texan - Jillian Bliss - July 14, 2011]
   
• Rais Bhuiyan: Another Irrelevant Victim? [Huffingtonpost.com - Tanya Greene - July 15, 2011]
   
• Bhuiyan: Forgiveness teaches us the value of life [statesman.com - Rais Bhuiyan - July 14, 2011]
   
• Victim Seeks to Halt Assailant’s Death Sentence [KUT.org - Axel Gerdau-July 14, 2011]

May 2011
GRACE featured in New Yorker Article

Click here to view full version of The New Yorker article "The Mitigator" featuring GRACE's work in Harris County.

http://theadvocate.com/news/2667257-123/judge-grants-temporary-stay-of

April 2011

GRACE board member Tanya Greene writes about the needs of victims families

“Listen to Murder Victims' Families – Not in Our Name!”  GRACE Board member Tanya Greene, the Advocacy and Policy Counsel for the ACLU Center for Justice and family of two murder victims, describes the ways in which capital punishment interrupts the healing process and fails to address the needs of victim’s families. 

April 2011

GRACE board member John Holdridge secures a life sentence for Adrian Estrada

GRACE board member John Holdridge secured a life-saving resolution for former death row inmate Adrian Estrada, who had been returned to Bexar County for a new trial after his death sentence was reversed.

ACLU Client Agrees To Life In Prison After Death Sentence Thrown Out Because Of False Testimony [ACLU.org - April 21, 2011]

Former death row inmate agrees to life without parole [mysanantonio.com - Craig Kapitan - April 22, 2011

April 2011

GRACE board member Dick Burr's testimony persuades Dallas Judge that death cannot be sought

GRACE Board Member Dick Burr's Testimony Demonstrated that Dallas County Cannot Seek a New Death Sentence When Prosecutorial Misconduct Caused Two Decades of Delay.  the Court found that Jonathan Reed's defense had been unfairly hampered by the loss of witnesses and documents due to the decades of delay caused by the District Attorney's insistence upon defending an indefensible conviction and sentence.

Judge rules Dallas County prosecutors can't seek death penalty in third trial for man in 1978 slaying [Crimeblog.dallasnews.com - Jennifer Emily - April 22, 2011]

April 2011

GRACE's clients featured in Dallas Morning News blog Urging Dallas County DA Craig Watkins to Take Sentencing Integrity Seriously

Scores of former death row inmates have had their sentences (and sometimes convictions) reversed due to prosecutorial misconduct and unconstitutional jury instructions.  GRACE has focused on these retrial and resentencing cases since our successful 2002 representation of Calvin Burdine.  In most of these cases, a life-saving resolution is in the best interests of all parties.  But, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins has distinguished himself by his insistence upon pushing these cases to retrial.

Review of unfair death penalty sentencing as important as innocence

[deathpenaltyblog.dallasnews.com - Lisa Graybill - April 4, 2011]

February 2011

GRACE succeeds in convincing federal prosecutors to not seek death

On February 17th 2011, US Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he will not be seeking death against Armando Sauseda.  GRACE mitigation specialist had investigated Mr. Sauseda's life history and, in November, presented the U.S. Department of Justice with reasons to choose life.

February 2011

GRACE board member victorious in stopping the UK exporting drugs used in lethal injection

Clive Stafford Smith, Reprieve Director and GRACE board member told the British all-party parliamentary group on the abolition of the death penalty that "More than 100 people will die thanks to British drugs."  Reprieve has recently been putting pressure on the British to put controls on the export of drugs that are used in the lethal injection.

See articles below:

• UK sells US enough drugs to execute 100 death row inmates, inquiry told[guardian.co.uk - By Owen Bowcott - February 15, 2011]
   
• Lethal Deal: BBC News has learned that a drug provided by a tiny pharmaceutical company in West London is to be used this week in the execution by lethal injection of a convicted murderer by the state of Georgia [BBC.co.uk – By Andrew Hosken. - January 24, 2011]

January 2011

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stops death penalty hearing that Dick Burr, GRACE board member is involved in.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has permanently halted a Houston judge's hearing on the constitutionality of the death penalty in Texas, saying accused killer John Green cannot object before he is convicted and sentenced to death.  In the judgment the Court recognized the serious risk of wrongful convictions but was unwilling to make a move to stop the serious injustices experienced by defendants facing the death penalty in Texas.

Read these media articles for more information:

• Court permanently halts death penalty hearing in Houston [Houston Chronicle – By Brian Rogers - January 12, 2011]
   
• Texas Appeals Court Stops Death Penalty Hearing [Death Penalty Focus - By James Brockway, Guest Blogger - January 12th, 2011]