The Palmetto Journey of Hope is a collaboration between SCADP and Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing. It is a speaking series empowering the voices of murder victim family members towards the abolition of the death penalty. Together with other anti-death penalty voices (former death row residents, death row family members, department of corrections employees, capital defense lawyers, and law enforcement), the Journey of Hope has sparked legislative change across the country.

About the Speakers:

SueZann Bosler is a sought-after speaker and Board member of Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing. In 1987, she lost her father, Rev. Billy Bosler, to an intruder in her home and was herself stabbed and left for dead. She worked for more than ten years to fulfill the promise she had made to her father, that if he were ever murdered, the killer should not be executed. After two death sentences were overturned on appeal, SueZann hired a victim’s rights attorney to help her make her wishes known: James Bernard Campbell was sentenced to life without parole. Abolishing the death penalty has since become her life’s work. Her story has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Jerry Springer Show, 48 Hours, and many written publications.

Yvonne Patterson Johnson is a retired nurse in Columbia, SC. She is the younger sister of Raymond Patterson and a murder victim family member. Yvonne is a gifted speaker who has spoken across the country about her experiences with loss and recovery.