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Locking Up Children Without Possibility For Release Is Unconstitutional, Says ACLU

ACLU Release Nov. 17, 2010 

Henry Hill of Saginaw was 16 when sentenced to LWOP for first-degree murder for “aiding and abetting”a killing by firing his gun into the air. Now 45, he has legal research and cooking certificates, and is lead cook.

Bosie Smith-El of Ypsilanti was sentenced in 1992 for murder although he claimed self-defense due to his small stature. He has earned numerous vocational certifications.

DETROIT, MI – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Michigan today filed a lawsuit on behalf of nine Michigan citizens who were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes committed when they were minors. The lawsuit charges that a Michigan sentencing scheme that denies the now-adult plaintiffs an opportunity for parole and a fair hearing to demonstrate their growth, maturity and rehabilitation constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and violates their constitutional rights.

Bobby Hines of Detroit was 15 in 1989 when sentenced for felony murder although he was not the shooter. He had earned good grades, and has since earned his GED and vocational certificates in prison.

Jennifer Pruitt was a runaway at 16 when an older woman companion killed a man during robbery.

“These life without parole sentences ignore the very real differences between children and adults, abandoning the concepts of redemption and second chances,” said Deborah Labelle, attorney for the ACLU of Michigan’s Juvenile Life Without Parole Initiative. “As a society, we believe children do not have the capacity to handle adult responsibilities, so we don’t allow them to use alcohol, join the Army, serve on a jury or vote – yet we sentence them to the harshest punishment we have in this state – to die in adult prisons.”

Keith Maxey was 16 when he was shot four times during a drug house robbery in which a man was killed. He had no previous record.

Damion Todd of Detroit went to prison as a result of a teenage gun fight in which he and his friends were fired upon by another group. He was captain of his football team and active in his church.

Michigan law requires that children as young as 14 who are charged with certain felonies be tried as adults and, if convicted, sentenced without judicial discretion to life without parole. Judges and juries are not allowed to take into account the fact that children bear less responsibility for their actions and have a greater capacity for change, growth and rehabilitation than adults.

The U.S. is the only country in the world that sentences youth to life without parole, and Michigan incarcerates the second highest number of people serving life sentences without parole for crimes committed when they were 17 years old or younger. Currently, there are 350 individuals serving such mandatory life sentences in Michigan. This includes more than 100 individuals who were sentenced to life without parole who were present or committed a felony when a homicide was committed by someone else. Continue reading →

The night before Christmas dream

 By Dr. Publico

November 22, 2010

The American Tribune 

When I served time on a chain-gang ^[1]in the Old South (1963-65), snitching was practically unheard of.  The one snitch that I recall in general pop where I was at was punked out.  He gave handjobs to all comers for candy bars, and blowjobs for smokes. 

Today’s a different story.  Over 90% of convicts have either “accepted responsibility” and pled guilty for a deal, and/or “cooperated” by snitching out others (even when they had nothing; police and prosecutors would provide) for an even better deal.   

Certainly there are rational and responsible reasons for taking a plea—assuming you do so on yourself.  But snitching when you’re a player in the game?  You’re a punk.  

These realities don’t exist in a vacuum.  The prison system is a reflection of the people who create and run them.  From the top-down.      

Most cops, guards, wardens, prosecutors, judges, legislators—all the way up to the president (Obama excepted…maybe), are more or less self-selected shills for the dog-eat-dog, I-got-mine-fuck-you mental-midgets running this economy and its increasingly privatized prison gulag.      

We need to get back to some old-time principles, if in fact they ever existed.  I thought they did.     

Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame

An example of this reality is a new movie out, “Fair Game,” starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts.  I’m not in a position to see it myself, but I urge you to check it out.  Should be worth the story alone.  

Coming out of the headlines, it’s about the real-life role ^[3]of Valerie Plame and her ambassador husband, Joe Wilson.  Turns out they were a real thorn to conservative, institutional bureaucrats; the kind of civil service employees who actually hold some ideals about the jobs and public they serve. 

But I gather that the movie is really about the snitch mentality that pervaded George Bush and his gang of conservative crackpots.  

In a nutshell, the ex-drunk frat-boy had Ambassador Wilson sent to Niger (Who the hell named that country?  Nathan Bedford Forrest ^[5]?) to follow up on some bogus intel that Saddam was trying to obtain nuclear material.  (The Brits had already dismissed the report as fraudulent.)  

 This was all prelude to the Bush-Cheney heist of Iraq’s oil, the war, which they thought would be walkover.  They were using the 9/11 World Trade Ctr massacre as an excuse.  Continue reading →

From Diverse Blog

Cultural Currents

Dr. Pamela D. Reed navigates the often treacherous white waters of America’s ever-changing cultural landscape. Come what may, she keeps it moving-the dialogue, that is.

Mississippi Goddam: Free the Scott Sisters

by Dr. Pamela D. Reed, November 14, 2010

Nina Simone called it in 1964 with her civil rights anthem. Apparently, not much has changed since. Today, Jamie and Gladys Scott sit in a Mississippi prison, sentenced to double consecutive life sentences for a crime they have denied committing.  Neither had a previous criminal record. 

And what was the alleged crime? Robbery. Was it a violent offense? No. How much was taken?  Eleven dollars. When and where did this happen?  In 1993, outside Forest, Miss.  

On what basis were they convicted?  Two of the three teenagers who committed the robbery testified that the sisters were involved in the robbery, claiming that they lured the two men to the scene, where they were robbed, after which the women left with the robbery victims.  The two teens, who the Scotts knew beforehand, copped a plea — implicating the Scotts — and were released after two years in prison.  

The two sisters, 21 and 19 at the time of the incident, have been in the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility for 16 years.  In addition to losing her vision, 38 year-old Jamie has suffered renal failure and receives dialysis three times weekly. All requests to have her moved to a private hospital for life-sparing treatment have allegedly been denied.  Reportedly, the state’s Department of Corrections will not allow for compatibility testing for a kidney transplant, without which Jamie Scott will die.

Demonstration to free the Scott sisters Photo by Clifton Santiago

This case has attracted national attention.  Blogs and Facebook pages have sprung up lobbying for their release. New York Times columnist Bob Herbert has written two columns on the case.  

The NAACP made a formal appeal to Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour for a pardon or commutation. As well, the civil rights organization has launched a petition urging Barbour to act swiftly and judiciously. The petition also points out the sentencing judge’s history of racial impartiality.

“The presiding judge in their trial, Judge Marcus Gordon, has a history of racially biased rulings, including granting bail to the KKK murderer of the three civil rights workers: Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner,” states the petition. Continue reading →

Eyes of the world on Philly appeals court hearing Nov. 9   

By Diane Bukowski 

To hear Mumia Abu-Jamal himself speak on his case, and the plight of all prisoners, go to: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/4/16/without_struggle_there_is_nothing_mumia 

This article has also been published in the San Francisco Bay View National Black newspaper at http://sfbayview.com/2010/mumia-must-live-and-be-free-end-the-racist-death-penalty/

PHILADELPHIA – Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets outside the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals here and around the world Nov. 9, demanding that Mumia Abu-Jamal must live and be free, and that the U.S. must abolish the death penalty and end racist killings and brutality by police.

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the three-judge appeals panel hearing Abu-Jamal’s case Nov. 9 to determine whether it should re-instate his death penalty. In 2008, the panel upheld a lower court judge’s 2001 decision overturning the sentence due to flawed jury instructions. 

NYC councilman Charles Barron, of Freedom Party and Black is Back, discusses Mumia's case outside Philly courthouse Nov. 9

“We shouldn’t even be talking about whether Mumia gets the death penalty or a life sentence,” New York City Councilman Charles Barron, a member of the Freedom Party, said before the hearing. 

“People all over the world are calling for his freedom. What happened to him can happen to all of us. As Angela Davis said, ‘If they come for me in the morning, they will come for you at night.’ We all have the right to freedom, to self-determination, to be able to rebel against a racist system without being framed.” 

Abu-Jamal is an esteemed journalist, author and revolutionary activist popularly known as the “Voice of the Voiceless.” He was president of the National Association of Black Journalists when he was arrested in 1981 for allegedly killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. 

Supporters chant "Brick by brick, wall by wall, we will free Mumia Abu-Jamal"

He has been on death row for 29 years, where he has pursued his vocation relentlessly, reporting on prisons in the U.S., writing on national and international affairs, and authoring six books. Mr. Abu-Jamal began his career at the age of 14 as a reporter for the national Black Panther newspaper. 

On Nov. 9, he remained in the state prison at Waynesburg, Pennsylvania where he is housed on death row. But his words were conveyed earlier by phone from death row Oct. 23 and heard by thousands at an Oakland, California rally for justice for Oscar Grant. Grant, a young father, was shot in the back and killed by transit police officer Johannes Mehserle in 2009, as he lay prone on a train platform. 

Demonstrator protests police killings of 7-year-old Aiyana Jones in Detroit. Sean Bell in NYC, Oscar Grant in Oakland CA

“Oscar Grant could have happened in Richmond, LA, Roxbury or North Philly and the state’s response would have been the same—just doing their job,” Mr. Abu-Jamal said. “Only phone cameras made any difference at all, and of course, people who would not let it go, people like you. So fight on—to quote the late great Kwame Toure, organize, organize, organize.” 

French government, union and anti-death penalty officials joined members of the German Network to Free Mumia and noted leaders from across the U.S. to attend Abu-Jamal’s hearing in Philadelphia. 

Countries who are members of the European Union are required to repudiate the death penalty. 

The eyes of the world were on Philly

“No human being should be able to decide who has to die, especially if there was no fair trial beforehand,” Clothilde Le Coz, a French citizen from Reporters without Borders said. “In France and throughout Europe, it is the general feeling that the U.S. still has a lot of hard work on justice to do.” 

LeCoz met with Abu-Jamal for six hours Aug. 29 in prison. (See accompanying interview.) 

Busloads of supporters from New York to Virginia, along with Philadelphians, some from the MOVE organization and the New Black Panther Party, rallied outside. They chanted, “Brick by brick, wall by wall, we’re going to free Mumia Abu-Jamal,” and “Hell no, the death penalty got to go.”  Continue reading →

Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Voice of the Voiceless

Interview published on 3 September 2010

Reporters without Borders

On August 29th, 2010, Reporters Without Borders Washington DC representative, Clothilde Le Coz, visited Mumia Abu-Jamal, prisoner on death row for nearly three decades. Ms. Le Coz was accompanied by Abu-Jamal’s lead attorney, Robert R. Bryan, and his legal assistant, Nicole Bryan. The meeting took place in room 17 of the State Correctional Institution (SCI) in Waynesburg, Greene county, Pennsylvania.

Reporters Without Borders: As a journalist who continues to work in prison, what are your latest reports focused on?

Mumia Abu-Jamal: The prison population in the United States is the highest in the world. Over the past year, for the first time in 38 years, the prison population declined.

Some states, like California or Michigan, are taking fewer prisoners because of overcrowding. State budgets are restrained and some prisoners are released because of the economic situation.

Prisons in America are vast and the number of prisoners is immense. It’s impressive to see how much money is spent by the US government and how invisible we are. No one knows. Most people don’t care. Some journalists report when there is a drama in prison and think they know about it. But this is not real : it is sensationalist. You can find some good writings. But they are unrealistic. My reporting is what I have seen with my eyes and what people told me. It is real. My reporting has to do with my reality. They mostly have been focusing on death row and prison. I wish it were not so. There is a spate of suicides on death row in the last year and a half. But this is invisible. I broke stories about suicide because it happened on my block.

I need to write. There are millions of stories and some wonderful people here. Among these stories, the ones I chose to write are important, moving, fragile. I decide to write them but part of the calculation is to know whether it’s helpful or not. I have to think about that. As a reporter, you have a responsability when you publish those kind of stories. Hopefully, it will change their lives for the better. Continue reading →

36th District Court Judge Beverly Hayes-Sipes, Beverly Bantom, Judge Denise Morris Photo Hour Magazine

From: Gchatman6@aol.com 

I have been informed by her brother, Ellis Hayes, Jr., that his sister, the Honorable Beverly J. Hayes-Sipes (36th District Court in Detroit) has passed away. She was a dear friend and an outstanding jurist and will be missed by all who knew her. 

Services will be held Thursday, November 11, 2010 at Hartford Baptist Church.  Family Hour at 10:00 a.m.  Funeral at 11:00 a.m.

Please keep the family in your prayers.

George A. Chatman
Attorney at Law
gchatman6@aol.com
313 961-5007 office
313 595-6789 cell

Judge Beverly Hayes-Sipes

(Bio from 36^th District Court website)

Judge Beverly Hayes-Sipes was elected to the 36^th District Court bench on Nov. 5, 2002. She gives the glory to God and sincere thanks to her family, friends and the citizens of Detroit for this great honor. Continue reading →

AFSCME County local presidents and members celebrating filing lawsuit against Ficano Oct. 21 at AFSCME HQ

DETROIT – Shortly before Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano announced plans for a new $700 million jail complex,  union presidents representing county workers from four locals  unions announced they had filed suit against him in Wayne County Circuit Court Oct. 21.

 They said that in violation of state and county law,  Ficano has furloughed the lowest-paid county employees one day a week and eliminated their health insurance, while paying exorbitant salaries to hundreds of appointees and recently giving them hefty raises, in addition to top-of-the-line furniture for their offices.(See chart at end of story for list of appointees.)

 The county workers’ contract expired Sept. 30, 2008. Attorney Eric Frankie contends in the locals’ lawsuit that they “have sought without success to negotiate in good faith a successor agreement that is fair to the Plaintiffs and recognizes the financial situation of the County of Wayne.”

Despite repeated rulings against Ficano by state fact-finders, Frankie said, Ficano forced weekly furlough days on union members beginning in February, and has eliminated their health insurance.

“You can’t change the employees’ conditions while fact-finding is going on, “ Frankie said. “ But Ficano has disrupted our workers’ health insurance, forcing them to make medical choices regarding whether they can continue dialysis, treatment for sickle cell, and other chronic illnesses.”

County executives Robert Ficano and L. Brooks Patterson engineered Cobo Hall takeover

The lawsuit says, “The Fact Finder’s report did not adopt the Defendants’ proposal for draconian concessions, including a 10 percent wage cut not shared by Defendant’s appointees. Rather the Fact Finder recommended that an aggregate five percent wage reduction across each bargaining unit was warranted, as well as other proposals fairer to plaintiffs.”

It also says that the Fact Finder ordered negotiations to continue through November 18.

“We are asking the judge to force the county to make our employees whole for everything they have lost,” Frankie said.

Joyce Ivory, President of AFSCME Local 1659, said Ficano cut the workers’ health insurance off the day after they voted down his most recent contract demands, even though they had agreed to make some concessions.

“He backdated lay-offs to the first of the month to do this,” Ivory said. “Ficano has no regard for the citizens, workers, and taxpayers of this County. Our members are losing their homes, their cars as well as their health insurance even if they have continuing disabilities. Sixty percent of my members are single mothers who rank among the lowest-paid workers.” Continue reading →

  GO TO:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrqf_7nki8Y&feature=player_profilepage 

This summer, Johannes Mesherle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The case was moved to Los Angeles after large street demonstrations and riots followed the shooting. After more than a year and a half of legal wrangling and community unrest, Judge Robert Perry has just issued a sentence in the case of Mehserle, the former BART police officer found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in July for the Jan. 1, 2009, shooting of Oscar Grant in Oakland.

Johannes Mehserle was sentenced to two years in prison, a fraction of the maximum sentence he could have received. Judge Perry gave double credit for his time served, bringing the total to 292 days of credit. Mehserle could have faced between four and 14 years for the charge, but legal analysts widely speculated the sentence would be on the shorter end of that spectrum. Involuntary manslaughter charge carries a maximum of four years in prison, but a gun enhancement could have added an additional 10 years.

Analysts seized on the disparity between the sentence and the enhancement, arguing that involuntary manslaughter suggests an accidental killing but that the gun enhancement suggests intentional use of a deadly weapon. That discord meant that Judge Perry could draw a wide range of interpretations based on the jury’s findings.

The incident led to multiple violent protests in downtown Oakland and stirred up racial tensions and the city’s long history of unease between the police and the community. Mehersle, a white man, was videotaped from multiple angles, shooting Grant, an unarmed Black man, on the Fruitvale BART platform.

Protests are scheduled in Oakland today. City offices are closing early and many businesses are shutting down early in advance of demonstrations. Unlike the July verdict when members of the community and media widely anticipated violent outbreaks, no one is quite sure what the community’s response might be today. Some businesses had boarded up their windows in advance of today’s sentencing but only a fraction of those that shuttered this summer for the verdict.

The final chapter in the case has yet to be written. It’s widely expected Mehserle’s attorney will appeal the verdict.

Nishat Kurwa, as news director for Youth Radio ^[10], where this story ^[11] first appeared, leads a team of adult and youth staff producing across Youth Radio’s broadcast and online outlets. Before coming to Youth Radio, she was the producer of KMEL’s public affairs show, Street Knowledge with Davey D, and is currently also a news producer at KCBS Radio in San Francisco. In 2002, she was the co-creator and executive producer of KPFA’s Islam Today, the first program by and about Muslims on U.S. public radio. In 2004, Kurwa was named a Salzburg Seminar Fellow. Contact Youth Radio at 1701 Broadway Ave., Oakland, CA 94612, (510) 251-1101, youthradio@youthradio.org ^[12].

youthradio ^[13] | Nov. 5, 2010

After the peaceful rally in Frank Ogawa Plaza, a march headed to the Fruitvale BART station gets interrupted on International Boulevard as police block off the streets. Police and protesters then began a game of cat and mouse in East Oakland where police finally surround protesters on Sixth Avenue and East 17th Street. An estimated 150 protesters were then arrested.