Current News on MuMia

Execution Case Dropped Against Abu-Jamal

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS

Published: December 7, 2011

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Prosecutors in Philadelphia announced Wednesday that they had halted the state’s effort to execute Mumia Abu-Jamal, the death row inmate convicted of killing a police officer 30 years ago, whose subsequent legal case based on claims of innocence has received international attention.

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Chris Gardner/Associated Press

Mumia Abu-Jamal, above, after a 1995 hearing in Philadelphia. In his long time on death row, he survived at least two execution dates.

Timeline: Mumia Abu-Jamal

Unlike most other death-row inmates, Mumia Abu-Jamal has been a vocal spokesman for his own cause. He has attracted supporters around the world, who see him as a symbol of the racial inequities and other injustices of the American death-penalty system.

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Maureen Faulkner, the widow of Officer Daniel Faulkner, called the judges who overturned a death sentence “dishonest cowards.”

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Associated Press

Mr. Abu-Jamal was convicted of fatally shooting Officer Daniel Faulkner, pictured, on Dec. 9, 1981.

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Mr. Abu-Jamal will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole, said Seth Williams, the district attorney for Philadelphia.
“This has been a very, very difficult decision,” Mr. Williams said at a news conference, adding that he believed Mr. Abu-Jamal was guilty of the murder and should be executed. “The sentence was appropriate. That would have been the just sentence for this defendant.”
In April, a federal appeals court ordered a new sentencing hearing for Mr. Abu-Jamal because jurors had received potentially misleading instructions during his 1982 trial. In October, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
Mr. Williams said Wednesday that the appeals court ruling — and others that have spared Mr. Abu-Jamal’s life over the years — had led him to drop his pursuit of the death penalty, in part because witnesses are no longer available. He said he made the decision after discussing it with Maureen Faulkner, the widow of Daniel Faulkner, the slain police officer.
During his long stay on death row, Mr. Abu-Jamal, 57, a former Black Panther and radio reporter, became a vocal and — to some — convincing advocate of his own “Free Mumia” movement. That cause became particularly prominent around college campuses, where students collected donations for his legal defense fund and sold buttons and posters carrying images of his pensive face and long dreadlocks beneath that slogan. The Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine performed at a benefit concert on his behalf in 1999, and a suburb of Paris named a street after him in 2006.
The case has been played out repeatedly in court and the news media, and found a place in popular culture that has extended into the Internet age on blogs and Facebook pages. The trial was said to be either a miscarriage of justice based on racism, or a cut-and-dried murder of a law enforcement officer in which the issue of race prevented justice from being carried out. Mr. Abu-Jamal survived at least two execution dates — in August 1995 and December 1999.
On Wednesday, Ms. Faulkner, who appeared at the news conference with Mr. Williams and other city officials, said she had agreed to give up her advocacy for Mr. Abu-Jamal’s execution because the case had dragged on for too long.
At times, she employed stinging language to express her vexation at Mr. Abu-Jamal’s ability to avoid execution, calling the judges who overturned Mr. Abu-Jamal’s death sentence “dishonest cowards.”
“Rest assured I will now fight with every ounce of energy I have to see that Mumia Abu-Jamal receives absolutely no special treatment when he is removed from death row,” she said. “I will not stand by and see him coddled as he had been in the past. And I am heartened by the thought that he will finally be taken from the protected cloister he has been living in all these years and begin living among his own kind — the thugs and common criminals that infest our prisons.”
But Christina Swarns, director of the criminal justice practice at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which is representing Mr. Abu-Jamal, said that she was “delighted” by the decision — and that the Free Mumia movement had some influence.
“We’re at a time in this country when support of the death penalty is at an all-time low, and that reflects some of the concerns expressed by Mumia’s supporters in terms of the fairness of the process,” she said.
Mr. Abu-Jamal, who is black, was convicted of fatally shooting Officer Faulkner, who was white, on Dec. 9, 1981, after the officer pulled over Mr. Abu-Jamal’s brother for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. A jury found that Mr. Abu-Jamal had shot Officer Faulkner in the back and then, as the officer lay bleeding, shot him four more times. Mr. Abu-Jamal had been shot in the chest by the officer.
Mr. Abu-Jamal has said that he was at the scene but that someone else — whom he has not identified — was the killer.

Controversial AB 109 Goes Into Effect

            Saturday October 5th, 2011 marked the deadline imposed by the United States Supreme Court for California to begin to implement a reduction in its’ state prison population.  The legislation that was signed into law on April 4, 2011 by Governor Jerry Brown as a response to this ruling consisted of two bills: Assembly Bills 109 and 111. AB 109 lays out the plan of reduction implementation throughout the prison system and AB 111 establishes the appropriations of these actions.  Specifically, AB 109 will reduce state the prison population from just over 163,000 inmates to about 134,000 over the next eight months.

This move was welcomed by prison reform activists who had seen the California prison population—by far the highest in the nation—long overdue for a serious reduction.  According to Governor Brown’s official website, AB 109 realigns non-serious, non-sexual and non-violent offenders, adult parolees, and juvenile offenders to be transferred from state prison to county jails and local jurisdiction.  The legislation gives the right to local level law enforcement to be able to manage offenders in smarter and more cost effective ways.  Many inmates will not be fully released from the justice system however as many are expected to be transferred from jail to house arrest, halfway houses, and community service programs, among others.

            The major provisions to AB 109 are as follows:

            1.) No inmates in state prison will be released early.

            2.) All felons sent to state prison will continue to serve their entire sentence.

            3.) Serious or violent felons (which include sex offenders and child molesters) will go to                         state prison.

            4.) Felons who are not eligible for state prison can serve their sentence at the local level.

            While the legislation is seen as long overdue to many throughout the state there are others who are opposed to the release of these inmates.  Leading that group is the grossly powerful labor union California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) who has rallied to reject this kind of legislation for years, saying that all crime offenders should stay in prison.  For the CCPOA, it is to their advantage—and perhaps only them—to have the most amount of inmates incarcerated throughout the state.  The more inmates there are, the more correctional officers that are needed to staff the prisons.   

            CCPOA is no stranger to governmental politics.  The labor union has used their position as the largest labor union in California to have a significant effect on policy decided by the Governor dating back to the early 1990’s.  This influence can be seen through the Correctional Officers long list of compensational benefits awarded to them over the last 17 years.  According to ccpoa.org since 1994 they have been granted: raises in top level pay from $710 in 1968 to now $4,228, more vacation time than any other state employees, 3.0% accumulating rate towards their retirement (which means if they work for 30 years they can retire with 90% of their salary guaranteed throughout retirement, all coming on the backs of taxpayers), $520 uniform allowance for each officer, off duty weapon possession privilege, and successfully fought off numerous attempts at prison privatization.  In essence it is in CCPOA’s interest to maximize the prison population in California, which to most citizens is preposterous.

            CCPOA has also spear headed the movement for local public safety officials to hire hundreds of more employees in the next year. According to the organization California Forward, which attempts to make governmental policy more transparent, Riverside county alone plans to hire over 200 officials to be added to their division of public safety.  Along with CCPOA’s opposition to this legislation there are also politicians and civilians that are worried about a spike in crime in the coming months.  However, Governor Brown has included additional funding to job training programs, rehabilitation and counseling for the incarcerated individuals soon to be released.

            The main group of criminals that AB 109 hopes to address are the reoccurring parole violators.  For example, Matt Cate the head of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation told the Los Angeles times earlier this year that in 2010 the prison system received 47,000 inmates who were in violation of their parole.  These individuals were sentenced to no more than 90 days and had to go through expensive mental and physical screenings that are required in state prisons, but not at county jails.  This inefficient kind of incarceration is exactly what needed adjustment in the California prison system.

            AB 109 is a step in the right direction for the interests of not only inmates in California, but also civilians who take advantage of government programs throughout the state.  Perhaps the largest group taking advantage of these programs are students at California’s community colleges, CSU’s and UC’s.  AB 109 is significant financially to Californians because over the past four years prison spending has been higher than spending on education.  With a reduced prison population, correctional spending is expected to be reduced proportionately.  According to the Governor’s office this legislation will save the state an estimated $448 million.  Perhaps with the work of organizations like Project Rebound at San Francisco State University we can aid these newly released individuals with the right to an education.  Let Project Rebound’s reaction and aid to these individuals serve as an example to other campuses across the state.

Corporations Profit from Mass Incarceration and Privatized Prisons

  Many of the corporations of private prisons are funding and lobbying for anti-immigration laws. These prisons profit every time that an accused immigrant is arrested and detained due to the contracts that they have with various states.

Continuing to privatize prisons and detainment centers increases the lobbying to encourage stricter enforcement on crime and immigration laws in order for the prisons to turn a bigger profit. For example there was huge involvement of the private prison industry in drafting Arizona’s SB 1070 anti-illegal immigration law. Essentially every time a person is incarcerated the private prisons get paid. "Companies such as the Geo Group and CCA do not earn their money by providing goods or services to customers.  Rather, they make their money solely from the government, and solely for locking human beings in cages, mostly for non-violent offenses.  Further, these companies actively lobby for unjust laws, largely using the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a corporatist conservative political group."

The YouTube video below shows a clear explanation of how the private prisons and anti-immigrant laws are becoming a big profit to Private Prisons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuGE1VxVsYo

 

More information and current articles regarding the growth of Private prisons can be found at

http://mycuentame.org/immigrantsforsale/

-A

Anthony, Casey Murder Trial

Reguarding the Casey Anthony case, honestly, I'm not sure if Anthony is guilty or not. It's very confusing because Anthonys stories makes no sense.  The way the media shows pictures of Anthony dressed up going out to parties while her daughter is missing makes it look like she doesn't care. I'm sure if your daughter was missing out at parties having fun. I know i wouldn't, I'll be doing anything in my power to find my daughter.

MC

Don't Fall for the benefit of Private Prisons

stonemeadow wrote:

I find the whole concept of private prisons extremely creepy. When companies rake in huge profits, not only from keeping people locked up, but also from using them as low- or no-wage labor, there's too much incentive to incarcerate people for petty crimes that once had been punished with fines, or to impose outrageously long sentences. There's also no incentive for private prisons to provide programs to reduce recidivism, since the industry thrives on repeat offenders. After all, there's no profit in someone who goes straight after leaving prison. And when there's more money to be made by imprisoning non-violent drug users, why bother with substance abuse treatment or prevention programs?
Before you get all excited about investing in private prisons as a "growth industry," I suggest you read Douglas Blackmon's "Slavery by Another Name" - http://www.slaverybyanothername.com/ Blackmon exposed how slavery was perpetuated for nearly a hundred years after the Civil War by a very crude system of privatizing incarceration and punishment.
It seems that the current trend toward privatizing prisons is just a more sophisticated version of the same thing, this time driven by profit rather than racism.
Just Google "private prison industry" and you'll find dozens of disturbing articles about abuses, corruption, and the use of political influence to increase prison populations. Frankly, I would not be so gleeful about investing in an industry that thrives on the punishment of criminals rather than on crime prevention and education.

Stonemeadows

Next Level of the Mehserle's Mess

On Sunday June 12th, about 300 protesters held a peaceful gathering in downtown 

Oakland as they vented their continued frustration over the shooting  and
Mehserle's release.
"The people know it was wrong," said Jabari Shaw, 32,  a protester who had also
attended Mehserle's trial. "As much as we want  justice, we're still not getting

it."

A judge ruled Friday that Mehserle should be given credit for time served and
good conduct.

The shooting was recorded by bystanders, and video posted online showed  the Bay

Area Rapid Transit officer firing a bullet into the back of  Grant, 22, as he
lay face down after being pulled off a train, suspected  of fighting.

The videos were subsequently used as evidence during Mehserle's murder  trial
and posted online, further stoking the racial tensions brought on  by the
shooting.

Facing a second-degree murder charge and a maximum 14 years in prison,  Mehserle

tearfully testified at his trial that he meant to use his stun  gun instead of
his .40-caliber pistol.

Jurors found that while Mehserle didn't mean to kill Grant, his behavior  was so

negligent that it was criminal. He received a two-year sentence  for involuntary

manslaughter.

In L.A., Grant's uncle, Cephus "Bobby" Johnson, was among those waiting  in vain

outside county jail late Sunday to witness Mehserle's release.

"There's much rage in our community," he said. "It's a shame that our  children
still have fear from police officers that come into our  communities." Johannes
Mehserle managed to slip away from the Los Angeles County's Twin Towers jail
shortly after midnight unsee at 12:01am June 13th.

Our justice system at its finnest, and doing just what  it has intended to do
all along. kind of reminds me of Emmett Till.

Supreme Court finally listened to logic

Politics

Opinion: The Supreme Court Got it Right on Prison Overcrowding in California

By Stephen Yair Liebb, Héctor Oropeza

Published June 10, 2011

| Fox News Latino

• 

Source: Nancy Mullane

Stephen Yair Liebb, left, and Héctor Oropeza spent a combined 50 years in prison.

The United States Supreme Court’s decision affirming an order placing a population limit on California’s prisons to prevent continued mental and medical health violations does not mean that “46,000 criminals – the equivalent of three army divisions – will be released,” as Justice Alito claimed in his dissent.  

His description of the consequences of the Supreme Court’s decision is an example of the hyperbole and hysteria used by Justices who are required to exercise sound reasoning in deciding cases.

Our perspective comes from having served more than 50 years combined in California prisons, and having witnessed the conditions under which men are confined, and the provision of medical treatment to those in need. We understand, too, that in an economy where many law-abiding citizens are out of work and unable to afford health care for themselves and their families, the lack of mental and medical health treatment for prisoners does not engender much sympathy. 

However, the U.S. is still a symbol of freedom across the world. How we treat the most despised of our own citizens is important if we are to have credibility and moral authority in advocating for human rights in other countries. The Court noted that the Constitution protects the “essence of human dignity in each person.”

Much of the criticism of the Supreme Court’s decision focuses on the remedy, which will require the early release of some prisoners. The release order was a remedy of last resort and necessary after more than a decade of failed attempts to fix a system that did not meet minimal health needs. 

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The ‘criminals’ to be released under the Supreme Court’s decision would be released eventually, and many have made strenuous efforts to rehabilitate themselves so that they can return as assets to their communities. 

The conditions under which we incarcerate men directly influence what type of person is returned to the community. One of us [Héctor Oropeza] is a father of three; we, too, are concerned about who is released from prison – and this is why this order is so important to us. A former warden of San Quentin, Jeanne Woodford, testified that the conditions of prisons “make people worse” and “are not meeting public safety” by the way they treat people.

That for over a decade California has subjected prisoners to standards that amount to cruel and unusual punishment while maintaining an extraordinarily high rate of incarceration reflects an erosion of fundamental values of American society.  The closing of mental health facilities, cutting of school budgets, and conducting the “War on Drugs” are all factors inflating California’s prison population.  Many of those serving time in prison would have been better served through treatment for addiction, mental health problems, or job opportunities.

We have seen the deliberate indifference to the suffering of the mentally disabled and physically sick.  The majority decision noted that suicidal inmates were kept in “telephone booth-sized cages without toilets” and that “50 sick inmates were held in a 12x20 foot cell." 

Communicable diseases, which do not respect the barriers of prison walls, are rampant in California prisons.  Prisoners who are released with communicable conditions or debilitating illness will continue to burden the health care systems in their communities.

It was disheartening to read Justice Scalia, in his dissent, describe the case as one “whose proper outcome is so clearly indicated by tradition and common sense, that the decision ought to be shaped by the law, rather than vice versa.”  

Justice Scalia’s respect for the requirements of the law apparently stops when convicted felons are the litigants. While he calls for common sense, he ignores the expert testimony, which led to the finding that prisoner release was necessary. He implies that 46,000 prisoners will be released en masse, and indiscriminately. At the time the opinion was issued, the prison population had already undergone a reduction of 9,000 inmates. 

The reality is that the releases will not be en masse and the figure will be much lower. Relatively few prisoners serve their entire sentences due to the availability of good-time credits, which provide for reduction in the time served. The state has great discretion to select those inmates whose early release presents a minimal risk to public safety. Many of those prisoners who are serving time for technical parole violations will be diverted to community-based programs. 

Justice Scalia also claims, without proof, that “Most of them will not be prisoners with medical conditions or severe mental illness; and many will undoubtedly be fine physical specimens who have developed intimidating muscles pumping iron in the prison gym.”  

Justice Scalia ignores the reality that gyms have been used to house prisoners for many years, which is part of the problem brought on by overcrowding. Overcrowding and lockdowns compromise the immune systems of prisoners due to a lack of fresh air and exercise. The lack of sanitary conditions in these gyms exacerbates the spread of disease. Weights have not been available in California prisons for more than a decade.

While Justice Scalia’s criticism of the majority decision is trenchant and beautifully written, it is based on a false notion of the conditions in prison and blindness to the consequences of subjecting men to inhumane treatment for more than a decade. Justice Scalia ignores the sad reality that many of those who suffer from mental or physical disabilities lack the ability or means to bring complaints to federal court, especially given the difficult obstacles placed by Congress and the Court to prisoner lawsuits in recent years.  

Only a class action lawsuit and the remedy approved by the Court’s majority could provide any meaningful recourse. Restoration of felons to society in a manner that benefits the community and the offender makes sense. The dehumanizing portrayal of inmates by Justice Scalia and his criticism of a reasonable and lawful decision through hysteria and hyperbole is unseemly.

Stephen Yair Liebb is a lifer who has served 30 years.  He was found to meet the standards for parole by a federal judge in 2010.  That decision was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Hector Oropeza was released from prison on June 8, after serving 20 years.  He attributes his continued mental health in prison to his educational opportunities, and his release, to access to the courts. 

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/06/10/opinion-us-supreme-court-decision-on-prison-overcrowding-in-california-is/#ixzz1PN30tBc4

How and why is this staying out of mainstream media?

From Correntewire and Davey D’s Hip-Hop Blog

Georgia — On Thursday morning, December 9, 2010, thousands of Georgia prisoners refused to work, stopped all other activities and locked down in their cells in a peaceful protest for their human rights.
The December 9 Strike became the biggest prisoner protest in the history of the United States. Thousands of men, from Augusta, Baldwin, Hancock, Hays, Macon, Smith and Telfair State Prisons, among others, initiated this strike to press the Georgia Department of Corrections (“DOC”) to stop treating them like animals and slaves and institute programs that address their basic human rights.  They set forth the following demands:

• · A LIVING WAGE FOR WORK
• · EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
• · DECENT HEALTH CARE
• · AN END TO CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS
• · DECENT LIVING CONDITIONS
• · NUTRITIONAL MEALS
• · VOCATIONAL AND SELF-IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
• · ACCESS TO FAMILIES
• · JUST PAROLE DECISIONS

In Augusta State Prison, six or seven inmates were brutally ripped from their cells by CERT Team guards and beaten, resulting in broken ribs for several men, one man beaten beyond recognition.  This brutality continues there.  At Telfair, the Tactical Squad trashed all the property in inmate cells.  At Macon State, the Tactical Squad has menaced the men for two days, removing some to the “hole,” and the warden ordered the heat and hot water turned off.  Still, today, men at Macon, Smith, Augusta, Hays and Telfair State Prisons say they are committed to continuing the strike.  Inmate leaders, representing blacks, Hispanics, whites, Muslims, Rastafarians, Christians, have stated the men will stay down until their demands are addressed, one issuing this statement:    
This is bigger than any other prison protest in history and it is kept secret. Shows how prison oppression is deeply intertwined with the mainstream media in my opinion.

JB