If you’ve followed me over the past decade (said in the least self-aggrandizing way possible), you know that the fight to abolish the death penalty is near & dear to my heart.
I began my struggle on this front at Howard. In the fall of 2011, a number of students on campus protested the execution of Troy Davis in Georgia. Although he was ultimately put to death, I continued my advocacy during the rest of my college years. Of note, I contributed to & participated in a successful fight to end capital punishment in Maryland.
Eight years later, the issue remains as pressing as it’s ever been. More attention is growing to the case of Rodney Reed here in Texas. However, more attention is needed, as his execution is currently scheduled for November 20.
As such, I’m getting plugged back into the anti-capital punishment fight in earnest. I participated in a rally at UT-Austin today, and I wrote a letter to the Clemency Section of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. You can find it here.
I remain in solidarity with all who are fighting against the racist system of American capital punishment, advancing the work of prison-industrial complex abolition, and struggling for a more just future for humanity.
– Andrew Hairston
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About andrewrhairston
Andrew Reginald Hairston is a civil rights attorney and writer based in Austin, TX. He is presently the School-to-Prison Pipeline Project Director of Texas Appleseed. Mr. Hairston is also the secretary of the board of Learn Together, Live Together - a school integration non-profit based in Washington, DC.
He earned his law degree from Louisiana State University in May 2016, where he was a Faculty Scholar. During his time at LSU, he served as the President of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) from 2014 to 2015, as well as the 1L Representative of the organization from 2013 to 2014. While he was the president of LSU BLSA, he served as a member of the Law Center's Diversity Task Force.
Mr. Hairston refined his commitment to racial justice work as a law student. He worked as a law clerk for the LSU Parole and Reentry Clinic, and he subsequently served as a student attorney for the LSU Juvenile Defense Clinic. As a third-year student, he was appointed to the Trial Advocacy Board, and he won the Dean's Cup Senior Appellate Challenge during his final semester at the LSU Law Center.
Mr. Hairston received his bachelor's degree, cum laude, from Howard University. At Howard, he was actively involved in the Alternative Spring Break program. He worked as a site coordinator to develop and execute the initiative's first trip to Baltimore in the spring of 2013.
From 2017 to 2019, Mr. Hairston served as a staff attorney at Advancement Project, a multi-racial civil rights organization in Washington, D.C. He began his legal career as the George N. Lindsay Fellow and Associate Counsel at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law from 2016 to 2017. He is licensed to practice law in Louisiana.
