ENGLAND – I’m sipping Earl Grey tea and reading the news, the same as any other morning.
Only, today is different, because I’m reading about how Alabama has just resumed its use of the death penalty.
After a run of botched lethal injections resulting in a temporary suspension of the process last year, executions began again on Friday, 21st July 2023.
“I couldn’t be going at a more relevant time!” I say, trying not to sound too morbidly fascinated as I marvel at the coincidence.
This summer I’m going to join a group of Cambridge University law students and graduates in Alabama, to write about their pro-bono work on human rights, the death penalty, prison conditions, and suspected cases of injustice within the state’s legal system.
A lot of this has been planned in advance through the Post Mortem Project and 3DC, a charity founded by human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith OBE, who I happened to meet at my own university (Oxford) last year…
But the freshness of this news about resumption of the death penalty makes the reality of what I’m about to do hit home.
“Maybe I shouldn’t be so excited about this…” I mutter, reining it in and picking at my cereal as I scroll back through the gritty articles I’ve been reading about Alabama’s prison conditions for general research.
I’m flying tomorrow (27th July) and I’ll return at the beginning of September.
So far, there’s been a mixed range of responses when I tell people about my plans.
Some of them have been horrified: “Won’t it be terribly dangerous / upsetting?” one of my more sensitive friends asked, paling at the very thought of setting foot near an Alabama prison.
“It sounds fascinating,” another exclaimed, certain I’d have an amazing time. One acquaintance told me the project sounded “in character” – I’m not exactly sure what to think of that…
At any rate, though, I’m expecting an adventure.
This is also the first time any of my close family has been to the United States, and my first long-haul flight. Again, the notion of so much travelling has been met with a number of different responses.
For some, even the idea of a camping trip in the Yorkshire Dales seems too intrepid to contemplate. The beseeching, “Why can’t you just spend a week in Ibiza and then find yourself a nice internship?” also sticks in my memory. Meanwhile, my international friends who fly around the world on a termly basis have acted like it’s no major deal.
By the time I’ve contemplated all this, I’ve finished breakfast and it’s time to carry on packing. Something’s for certain though – America won’t get any easier if I don’t do it now, and if I don’t chase topical issues, what’s the point in being a journalist?
Still, I do wonder what I’ve signed up for.
Stay tuned – I’ll let you know!
Freya Jones 