Byron Travis

Chairman, NYS Board of Parole

97 Central Ave.

Albany, NY 12206

Dear Mr. Travis,

I'm writing to you on behalf of Lawrence Hayes (#100 98 00654) who has been reincarcerated pending a hearing on a supposed parole violation. I would like to appeal to your sense of justice in asking you to liberate this man who has devoted most of his nearly seven years of freedom to educating others and selflessly organizing to improve the lives of so many.

Lawrence and I came to know one another through our mutual activities against the death penalty. When he came to speak before the Italian Parliament in 1995, with the written approval of your office, Lawrence spoke with great passion and knowledge of why and how the death penalty must be ended internationally. We have been working to pass a resolution at the United Nations ever since.

Far from requiring reincarceration, Lawrence Hayes ought to be held up as a model of what people are capable of achieving despite great hardships. I would have expected a man who had spent more than 20 years in prison beginning on death row to be hardened and cynical. Yet Lawrence is a warm. Highly motivated, educated and caring individual who has committed his life to challenging injustice, no matter what country or race is affected by it.

Please do all that is in your power to see that Lawrence Hayes can continue his life's work as a free man.

Thank you