From Death Row, San Quentin, Donald Ray Young Writes: "We had strange fruit for breakfast today...a death row prisoner committed suicide at San Quentin, in East Block. But, I can’t worry about that guy....Wait; how can I not think of the suicide in this very building - - his family...loved ones? What if he was innocent? Do I know him? How many other people on death row have contemplated killing themselves to escape this madness? I believe that when one dies - - a part of all of us all dies....

"How many innocent men will California execute because of the 1996 Anti-Terrorism & Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA)? The courts Attorney Generals misuse this law (AEDPA) in order to bar newly discovered evidence and/or evidence of actual innocence.

"Donald Ray Young I AM: I am Troy Davis.. .I am Kevin Cooper.. .I am Rodney Reed.. .I am Reginald Clemons ... I am Oscar Grant III.. .I am Stanley Williams.. .I am Emmett Till. . . I am the future – present and past. I am innocent on California’s death row – don’t rush to execute me... I must prove my innocence. When will the justice system rush to justice & fairness? How many have been exonerated from death row? How many innocent people on death mu have been put through a state sponsored, premeditated, torturous murder? State sponsored, taxpayer funded, barbaric, draconian, torturous murder equates to the lethal injection process. We all see how much the system will spend on death.. .how much will the system spend on life? Life is education. Life is shelter. Life is food. Life is clothing. Life is employment. Life is clean water. Life is freedom...." Read more

Method of execution | Poems by Donald Ray Young | Community Alliance Newspaper