innocent
anthony
porter

was condemned
now free
thanks to
journalism students
"outside the system"

illinois
the death penalty
remains at large

in texas
it's the victim
of "an attack"
say clemency board
members
their fax machines
humming nearby

'from hanging
to electric chair,
to lethal injection
how much prettier
can you make it?

yet the prettier
it becomes,
the uglier
it is.'

-- scott blystone,
a pennsylvania
death row inmate,
1997