Dear Senator Barack Obama:
Preface:
I’d like the opportunity to pose some of the questions/issues that are close to my soul and offer up some quotes from Senator Barack Obama in what is my favorite speech he has done to date at Howard University on September 28, 2007. I’m doing this in a sort of call-and-response that they do in many churches. I do not offer up his words as the best solution…I use his words to show at least one of our political leaders has thought seriously about the problems of America’s justice system and perhaps…just perhaps…the chains of racism will begin to break in America’s most stubborn institution.
-Megan Francis
Dear Senator Barack Obama,
I’m still unsettled…and when I’m unsettled…I write…
I haven’t forgot about your courageous speech at Howard University’s convocation in September 2007. I’ve gone back to it many times…hoping to find inspiration and answers to some very important issues on my heart.
I am writing to you today because I’m still outraged about the Sean Bell tragedy (the initial 51 bullet shooting by three of NYPD’s finest, the court trial, the acquittal, and Americans quiet acquiescence of the end result) but on a larger scale, I am deeply troubled by the current state of the American criminal justice system and the violent clash that happens around Blackness/race.
I am greatly disturbed about the way Black masculinity has been criminalized over the course of American history and Americans refusal to acknowledge its impact. From slavery, to convict leasing and chain gangs during Reconstruction, to the double standard of justice that existed during Jim Crow, and the new laws in contemporary times that have lowered the allowable basis for stopping and searching individuals (read: Black) in their cars and on the street and the draconian drug laws that have locked up a generation of young Black men.
A friend of mine, made the interesting comparison that Michael Vick gets three years for involvement in killing dogs, but 51 bullets in an unarmed Black man and you still have your freedom. The conclusion that Black life is not valued is not very hard to draw.
If this was an isolated incident maybe I could reason away the blatant injustice of this case. But too many incidents have occurred that demonstrate racism continues to pervade the administration of justice in very violent ways: Michael Stewart (1983), Eleanor Bumpers (1984), Rodney King (1991), Amadou Diallo (1999), Jena 6 (2007).
Senator Obama, this is where I need your help, some hopeful words and powerful insight to address my greatest concerns and push me to continue to fight because right now I feel beat down, weary, and ready to throw up the white flag of surrender.
My anxiety is about the younger generation. I am at a loss at what we tell to our own children, nieces, nephews, and godchildren. It pains me that conversations with little Black boys and girls are necessary about the role of the police and that they will likely face a different reality than their White playmates. How do we explain to them that by virtue of being Black and especially being male, means you will likely be criminalized in the eyes of law enforcement? How do we simultaneously explain that its not their fault and try to instill self-confidence?
Obama: And it’s true that we have to do more as parents to instill in our children that violence is always wrong. It’s wrong when it happens on the streets of Chicago and it’s wrong when it happens at a schoolyard in Louisiana. Violence is not the answer. Non-violence was the soul of the Civil Rights Movement, and we have to do a better job of teaching our children that virtue.
Like Katrina did with poverty, Jena exposed glaring inequities in our justice system that were around long before that schoolyard fight broke out. It reminds us of the fact that we have a system that locks away too many young, first-time, non-violent offenders for the better part of their lives – a decision that’s made not by a judge in a courtroom, but by politicians in Washington. It reminds us that we have certain sentences that are based less on the kind of crime you commit than on what you look like and where you come from. It reminds us that we have a Justice Department whose idea of prosecuting civil rights violations is trying to rollback affirmative action programs at our college and universities; a Justice Department whose idea of prosecuting voting rights violations is to look for voting fraud in black and Latino communities where it doesn’t exist.
We know these inequities are there. We know they’re wrong. And yet they go largely unnoticed until people find the courage to stand up and say they’re wrong. Until someone finally says, “It’s wrong that Scooter Libby gets no jail time for compromising our national security, but a 21-year-old honor student is still sitting in a Georgia prison for something that wasn’t even a felony. That’s wrong.”
How do we inform children of the tragic truth and tell them to maintain hope that things will eventually change and progress will happen? How will it happen? How do we remain optimistic amidst the continuance of injustice?
Obama: But the truth is, one man cannot make a movement. No single law can erase the prejudice in the heart of a child who hangs a noose on a tree; or the callousness of a prosecutor who bypasses justice in the pursuit of vengeance. No one leader, no matter how shrewd or experienced, can prevent teenagers from killing other teenagers on the streets of our cities; or free our neighborhoods from the grip of hopelessness; or make real the promise of opportunity and equality for every citizen.
Only a country can do these things.
It takes a movement to lift a nation. It will take a movement to go into our cities and say that it’s not enough to just fix our criminal justice system; what we really need is to make sure that our kids don’t end up there in the first place.
How can we address the racism in the criminal justice system? What does change look like?
Obama: When I was a state Senator in Illinois, we had a death penalty system that had sent thirteen innocent people to death row. Thirteen innocent men – that we know of. I wanted to reform the system. And I was told by almost everyone that it wasn’t possible. That I wouldn’t be able to get police officers and civil rights advocates; Democrats and Republicans to all agree that we should videotape confessions to make sure they weren’t coerced. Folks told me that there was too much political risk involved.
But I believed that it was too risky not to act. And after awhile people with opposing views came together and started listening. And we ended up reforming that death penalty system. And we did the same thing when I passed a law to expose racial profiling. So don’t ever let anyone tell you that change isn’t possible. Don’t let them tell you that speaking out and standing up against injustice is too risky. What’s too risky is keeping quiet. What’s too risky is looking the other way.
I don’t want to be standing here and talking about another Jena four years from now because we didn’t have the courage to act today. I don’t want this to be another issue that ends up being ignored once the cameras are turned off and the headlines disappear. It’s time to seek a new dawn of justice in America.
When I’m President, we will no longer accept the false choice between being tough on crime and vigilant in our pursuit of justice. Dr. King said it’s not either-or, it’s both-and. We can have a crime policy that’s both tough and smart.
How do we remain hopeful and not become complacent?
Obama: Thurgood Marshall did not argue Brown so that we would accept a country where too many African-American men end up in prison because we’d rather spend more to jail a 25-year-old than to educate a five-year-old.
The resistance to civil rights reform was fierce. And we know that those who marched for freedom did so at great risk to themselves and their families.
But they did it because they understood that sometimes there are moments when what’s truly risky is not to act. What’s truly risky is to let the same injustice remain year after year. What’s truly risky is to walk away and pretend it never happened. What’s truly risky is to accept things as they are instead of working for what could be.
But the leaders of the civil rights movement of the 1960s marched and advocated for a criminal justice system that would treat everyone equally. If it could not be realized over the last 50 years, why do you think we should continue to work for change….that perhaps can never be? I’ve become almost numb. Will the fight ever end?
Obama: It’s not enough just to look back in wonder of how far we’ve come – I want us to look ahead with a fierce urgency at how far we have left to go. I believe it’s time for this generation to make its own mark – to write our own chapter in the American story. After all, those who came before us did not strike a blow against injustice only so that we would allow injustice to fester in our time.
Those are the words I will leave you with today. Be strong and have courage. Be strong and have courage in the face of injustice. Be strong and have courage in the face of prejudice and hatred. Be strong and have courage in the face of joblessness and helplessness and hopelessness. Be strong and have courage, in the face of our doubts and fears, in the face of skepticism, in the face of cynicism, in the face of a mighty river. Be strong and have courage and let us cross over to that Promised Land together.
Thank you Senator for your time and your heartfelt words. I will continue to fight and still believe this nation can create a movement for change.
Sincerely.
Megan Francis
Megan Francis is a Phd candidate in Political Science at Princeton University. She currently lives in Philadelphia, PA.
Acknowledgements: Vasco Bridges, Jodina Hicks, Bing Howell, Philip Rigueur.
And of course Barack Obama.
View Obama’s speech: video clip or transcript
May 1, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Thank you Megan for this encouraging piece.
I too am disheartened; especially as a result of these past two weeks (the Sean Bell verdict, the Rev. Wright debacle, and even Wesley Snipes (seriously!)). And further disheartened last night after watching Harlem residents on the evening news as they cried, cursed, screamed and shouted in response to the much debated and protested Harlem re-zoning plan (that will ultimately displace businesses and current residents) and that was passed despite the outcry!
Can we PLEASE get a break!? As a coworker of mine put it; “I’m all marched out!”
Yes, we must ‘continue to fight;’ and ’still believe.’ But this is the hardest part; a test of will.
All my hope is in God and my prayers are with Obama; praying that he is granted the opportunity to activate his words. Sighhhhhh……
May 1, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Megan – great article!
Please note that the Black community does not own any of the following:
A Gun company
A Transportation company
A Cocaine plants and we can just stop here because we would then have to begin to name “accessory” companies that are involved with the drug trade but their names are traded on the stock exchanges.
Think about it this way…40 Acres and a mule. That is what many freed slaves received when “released” off of Massa John’s plantation.
The freed slave had no feed, no gardening tools, no seed and no working capital. So this freed slave had to go to back to one of the local Massa Johns’ and get a credit line to start his planting on his own 40 acres. [He was NOT a sharecropper and did not even know it!] – and what did he put up for collateral to get his supplies – his 40 acres and mule! The freed slave started TWO times in the red.
First slavery in itself with no wages and second when he received the 40 acres and a mule with no supplies or working capital.
What does this have to do with today – you ask everything! Because this is our history and it remains so!
If you look back at all of the traces of institualization you will find that the 40 acres and a mule exists today with a car lease, wide screen tv, dvd and suv living!
You expect a President to solve a local street problem of poverty, lack of education and desire. Yet even when the street hustler gets some coins the first thing he does is be out hustled by Nike inc!
This is a mental war going on between the poor and the rich – and it has been going on all the way back since Moses went to see Pharaoh – you just think it is different!
It sounds a lot like slavery – just that the new plantation kills your soul and you meet a lot of other prisoners.
May 1, 2008 at 2:42 pm
That was a ‘hopeful’ article Megan.
But after last weeks acquital of the 3 cops who murdered Sean Bell and Obama’s weak response to it:
Obama Takes Questions on Sean Bell, Clyburn and WrightPortrait of Majority Whip Jim Clyburn in his office during a 2007 interview. (The Washington Post)
By Alec MacGillis
INDIANAPOLIS — Sen. Barack Obama weighed in today on the acquittals of New York City police detectives charged in fatally shooting an unarmed black Queens man, Sean Bell, saying he believed that the verdict needed to be respected and urging those who disagreed with it not to resort to violence. That would be “completely unacceptable and counterproductive,” Obama said.
“Well, look, obviously there was a tragedy in New York. I said at the time, without benefit of all the facts before me, that it looked like a possible case of excessive force. The judge has made his ruling, and we’re a nation of laws, so we respect the verdict that came down,” he said in response to a question at a gas station in Indianapolis, where he was holding a news conference.
“The most important thing for people who are concerned about that shooting is to figure out how do we come together and assure those kinds of tragedies don’t happen again,” he continued. … “Resorting to violence to express displeasure over a verdict is something that is completely unacceptable and counterproductive.”
“We’re a nation of laws?” c’mon Obama. Who made these laws? The same people who are still beating, oppressing, and mentally enslving us NOW. What upsets me more than anything was that Sean Bell could have been Obama. He could have been leaving a club after his bachelor party or campaign meeting or whatever and been gunned down by cops as well. That could have been Vasco, my brother, my uncle, my father (god forbid). Now I agree that violence is not always the answer, I dont promote war, but how much as a people are we suppose to take? When I heard about the verdict I called my parents (my dad is 75, my mom is 60). We all expressed our outrage and disappointment. My mom said “Black people have had enough, the people of NY are going to riot”. A part of me wanted that to happen so bad, I wanted to see my people angry and acting. Instead, we gathered, we talked, it fizzled. And Obama (our soon to be new great leader and first black president) didnt stand tall for us and give us hope then. I question how ‘down’ for us he really is.
I understand the politics behind his response, but as a black woman in America, I felt cheated by it. Where is the hope now Obama?
In solidarity,
Brianna
May 1, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Our hope needs to be bigger than Barack Obama.
Whether he wins or loses the nomination, the work has to be done.
The reality is that “hope”, “inspiration” and “guilt” are only temporary drivers for most individuals. Eventually the daily incentives of society drive behaviors.
So how do we most effectively push change?
Change the equation.
If we take advantage of historical opportunities to change the incentive structures that govern day to day activities and responses, then we will have institutionalized change.
If the the “War on Drugs” has caused a disproportionate number of young minor offender to be incarcerated, what incentives drive the system?
Complex systems have emergent properties. If we want to change those properties, the best way to do so is to address the underlying structures that cause them to emerge.
If we begin thinking in this way, complex social problems become much easier to manage and address.
We don’t need another Civil Rights Movement, we need smarter incentive structures and feedback loops to address social problems for all people.
August 30, 2008 at 10:31 am
SENATOR OBAMA,PLEASE LET AMERICA KNOW YOUR FEELINGS ON THIS US JUDICIAL INJUSTICE ???
***LETS ALL HOPE OUR INTERNATIONAL MEDIA FRIENDS ALSO SHOW AN INTEREST IN REPORTING ON THIS AMERICAN HORROR FACING THESE (TENS OF THOUSANDS) FORGOTTEN AND TRAPPED POORER AMERICANS, AND HOW THIS POSSIBLE FUTURE PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDER HANDLES THIS VERY SERIOUS ISSUE FACING AMERICA’S LATINO AND BLACK AMERICAN COMMUNITIES ????
**WITH 80% OF THE BLACK AMERICAN VOTERS SAYING THEY SUPPORT SENATOR OBAMA IN THIS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, IT IS ONLY FAIR FOR EVERYONE TO KNOW PRIOR BEING ELECTED OUR NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HOW THIS DEMOCRATIC SENATOR TRULY FEELS ABOUT THIS AMERICAN JUDICIAL HORROR CONTINUING TO INFLICT GRAVE HARM ON THE BLACK AMERICAN FAMILIES AND THEIR COMMUNITIES NATIONWIDE ??????
*** WHEN GODS FACE BECAME VERY RED ***
THE US SUPREME COURT GAVE ENEMY COMBATANTS FEDERAL APPEAL HC RIGHTS LAWYERS AND PROPER ACCESS TO US FEDERAL COURTS,AND POORER AMERICANS (MANY EVEN ON DEATH ROW) ARE DENIED PROPER FEDERAL APPEAL LEGAL REPRESENTATION TO OUR US FEDERAL COURTS OF APPEAL, AND ROTTING IN AMERICAN PRISONS NATIONWIDE ?????????
**** INNOCENT AMERICANS ARE DENIED REAL HC RIGHTS WITH THEIR FEDERAL APPEALS !
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE $LOWLY FINDING OUT HOW EA$Y IT I$ FOR MIDDLE CLA$$ AND WORKING POOR AMERICAN$ TO FALL VICTIM TO OUR U$ MONETARY JUDICIAL $Y$TEM.
****WHEN THE US INNOCENT WERE ABANDONED BY THE GUILTY ****
The prison experts have reported that there are 100,000 innocent Americans currently being falsely imprisoned along with the 2,300,000 total US prison population nationwide.
Since our US Congress has never afforded poor prison inmates federal appeal legal counsel for their federal retrials,they have effectively closed the doors on these tens of thousands of innocent citizens ever being capable of possibly exonerating themselves to regain their freedom through being granted new retrials.
This same exact unjust situation was happening in our Southern States when poor and mostly uneducated Black Americans were being falsely imprisoned for endless decades without the needed educational skills to properly submit their own written federal trial appeals.
This devious and deceptive judicial process of making our poor and innocent prison inmates formulate and write their own federal appeal legal cases for possible retrials on their state criminal cases,is still in effect today even though everyone in our US judicial system knows that without proper legal representation, these tens of thousands of innocent prison inmates will be denied their rightful opportunities of ever being granted new trials from our federal appeal judges!!
Sadly, the true US *legal* Federal Appeal situation that occurs when any of our uneducated American prison inmates are forced to attempt to submit their own written Federal Appeals (from our prisons nationwide) without the assistance of proper legal counsel, is that they all are in reality being denied their legitimate rights for Habeas Corpus and will win any future Supreme Court Case concerning this injustice!
For our judicial system and our US Congressional Leaders Of The Free World to continue to pretend that this is a real and fair opportunity for our American Middle Class and Working Poor Citizens, only delays the very needed future change of Federal Financing of all these Federal appeals becoming a normal formula of Our American judicial system.
It was not so very long ago that Public Defenders became a Reality in this country.Prior that legal reality taking place, their were also some who thought giving anyone charged with a crime a free lawyer was a waste of taxpayers $$.
This FACADE and HORROR of our Federal Appeal proce$$ is not worthy of the Greatest Country In The World!
***GREAT SOCIETIES THAT DO NOT PROTECT EVEN THEIR INNOCENT, BECOME THE GUILTY!
A MUST READ ABOUT AMERICAN INJUSTICE:
1) YAHOO AND 2) GOOGLE
MANNY GONZALES THE KID THAT EVERYONE FORGOT IN THE CA PRISON SYSTEM.
** A JUDICIAL RIDE OF ONES LIFE !
lawyersforpooramericans@yahoo.com (424-247-2013)
October 10, 2008 at 8:12 pm
McCain asks crowd to be ‘respectful’ of Obama
Working to dampen the angry crowd meme, McCain tells his Minnesota rally to take it easy, Amie Parnes reports:
At a town hall in Minnesota, McCain tried to tone down a week of raucus, angry crowds after one man stood up and said: “We want you to fight.”
“The people here in Minnesota want to see a real fight. We want a strong president to lead us through the next four years.”
“I think I got my marching orders,” McCain said. But then he shifted tones.
“I am enthusiastic and encouraged by the enthusiasm and I think it’s really good,” McCain said. “We have to fight and i will fight but we will be respectful. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments and I want to be respectful.
“I dont mean that you have to lose your ferocity. I just mean you have to be respectful.”
A moment later, another woman stood up and urged McCain to speak up so voters “really have an understanding of who the candidates are.”
“There’s a difference between rhetoric and record,” McCain said, adding that Obama voted to raise taxes 94 times. “He has the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate, even more liberal than Bernie Sanders.”
Once again, McCain repeated, “I want all of you to tell your neighbors about the difference between rhetoric and record, but let’s do it respectfully.”
Later in the event, man in the audience stood up and told McCain he’s “scared” of an Obama presidency and who he’d select for the Supreme Court.
“I have to tell you. Sen. Obama is a decent person and a person you don’t have to be scared of as president of the United States,” McCain said as the crowd booed and shouted “Come on, John!”
“If I didn’t think I’d be a heck of a lot better, I wouldn’t be running for President of the United States.”
If it’s not the Times editorial board jeering him, it’s his own crowd.
BY BEN SMITH VIA POLITICO.COM
October 25, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Dear Ms. Francis: You make an eloquent and insightful post. How does one overlook the obvious happening in Chicago and the death of Donald Young and then ask the perpetrator to acknowledge a need for less violence? How does one explain the advocacy of Raila Odinga to perpetrate the largest carnage in the name of political success on the continent of Africa in modern times, also aided in part by the same Chicago machine that denounces pro-life standards?
I knew you back at P/PV and, although you state some interesting ponderances, you might consider reserving your comment until your outlooks mature.
Are you a benefactor of affirmative action?
October 28, 2008 at 5:48 pm
TROY DAVIS, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT AMERICA IS NOT THE OLD SOUTH ~ AFRICA !!!!
A $TATE ECONOMIC BOYCOTT OF GEORGIA INTERNATIONALLY WILL OBVIOU$LY BE THE END RE$ULT OF GEORGIA DECIDING TO MURDER A PO$$IBLE INNOCENT TROY DAVI$ WITHOUT A NEW AND FAIR TRIAL ?
****US CONGRESSIONAL MEMBERS WHO ARE ALSO LAWYERS BY TRADE, CONTINUE TO DENY poorer AMERICAN’S PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION !!!
****THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY NEEDS TO BEGIN A FORMAL INVESTIGATION INTO THESE US CONGRESSIONAL CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BEING INFLICTED ON poorer AMERICAN’S LIKE MR.TROY DAVIS OF GEORGIA !!!
****HAVING BEEN DENIED APPEAL LAWYERS FOR THREE YEARS ON DEATH ROW IN GEORGIA MR. TROY DAVIS IS NOW BEING EXECUTED FOR A CRIME HE MIGHT NOT HAVE EVEN BEEN INVOLVED WITH !!!
****SENATOR OBAMA PLEASE LET THIS COUNTRIES VOTERS KNOW YOUR FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS ABOUT A NEEDED FUTURE REPAIR AND RENOVATION OF OUR BROKEN JUDICIAL SYSTEM THAT CONTINUES TO ALLOW THE EXECUTION’S OF EVEN POSSIBLE INNOCENT AMERICANS LIKE TROY DAVIS OF GEORGIA ?????
****BEING THE WEALTHIEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD SENATOR OBAMA, DON’T WE NEED AS THE LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD TO BEGIN ONCE AGAIN TO RE-INVEST THE PROPER MONIE$ IN OUR OWN US JUDICIAL SYSTEM, ASSURING ALL OF OUR CITIZENS THEIR RIGHTS TO FAIR TRIALS WITH PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION ???
****DOES GOD NEED TO LOBBY OUR US CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD ON BEHALF OF OUR poorer americans SENATOR OBAMA,OR ARE YOU WATCHING OUT FOR THEM ??
****OUR US CONGRESS CONTINUES TO DENY MIDDLE CLASS AND WORKING POOR AMERICANS PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION EVEN THOUGH WRONGFUL EXECUTIONS & FALSE INCARCERATIONS CONTINUE ALL ACROSS AMERICA ???
**** 700 BILLION $$$ AVAILABLE FOR US BAILOUT, & NO $$$ FOR ALL POORER AMERICANS PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION ? SENATOR OBAMA, THIS JUDICIAL INJUSTICE HAS BECOME AN AMERICAN ART FORM, AND NO LONGER CAN BE KEPT HIDDEN OR SECRET FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE EVEN IF CERTAIN (501c3) U$ RELIGIOU$ LEADER$ HAVE BEEN $ILENCED ??
****LETS ALL HOPE OUR MEDIA FRIENDS CONTINUE TO SHOW AN INTEREST IN REPORTING ON THIS AMERICAN HORROR FACING THESE (TENS OF THOUSANDS) FORGOTTEN AND TRAPPED POORER AMERICANS, AND HOW THIS PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDER HANDLES THIS VERY SERIOUS ISSUE FACING AMERICAS LATINO AND BLACK AMERICAN COMMUNITIES ????
****WITH 80% OF THE BLACK AMERICAN VOTERS SAYING THEY SUPPORT SENATOR OBAMA IN THIS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, IT IS ONLY FAIR FOR EVERYONE TO KNOW PRIOR BEING ELECTED OUR NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HOW THIS DEMOCRATIC SENATOR TRULY FEELS ABOUT THIS AMERICAN JUDICIAL INJUSTICE CONTINUING TO INFLICT GRAVE HARM ON THE BLACK & LATINO AMERICAN FAMILIES AND THEIR COMMUNITIES NATIONWIDE ??????
**** WHEN GODS FACE BECAME VERY RED *** THE US SUPREME COURT GAVE ENEMY COMBATANTS FEDERAL APPEAL HC RIGHTS LAWYERS AND PROPER ACCESS TO US FEDERAL COURTS,AND POORER AMERICANS (MANY EVEN ON DEATH ROW) ARE DENIED PROPER FEDERAL APPEAL LEGAL REPRESENTATION TO OUR US FEDERAL COURTS OF APPEAL, AND ROTTING IN AMERICAN PRISONS NATIONWIDE ?????????
**** INNOCENT AMERICANS ARE DENIED REAL HC RIGHTS WITH THEIR FEDERAL APPEALS ! THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE $LOWLY FINDING OUT HOW EA$Y IT I$ FOR MIDDLE CLA$$ AND WORKING POOR AMERICAN$ TO FALL VICTIM TO OUR U$ MONETARY JUDICIAL $Y$TEM.
****WHEN THE US INNOCENT WERE ABANDONED BY THE GUILTY **** The prison experts have reported that there are 100,000 innocent Americans currently being falsely imprisoned along with the 2,300,000 total US prison population nationwide.
****WHERE ARE AMERICA’S RELIGIOUS LEADERS ??????? Since our US Congress has never afforded poor prison inmates federal appeal legal counsel for their federal retrials,they have effectively closed the doors on these tens of thousands of innocent citizens ever being capable of possibly exonerating themselves to regain their freedom through being granted new retrials.
****This same exact unjust situation was happening in our Southern States when poor and mostly uneducated Black Americans were being falsely imprisoned for endless decades without the needed educational skills to properly submit their own written federal trial appeals.
****This devious and deceptive judicial process of making our poor and innocent prison inmates formulate and write their own federal appeal legal cases for possible retrials on their state criminal cases,is still in effect today even though everyone in our US judicial system knows that without proper legal representation, these tens of thousands of innocent prison inmates will be denied their rightful opportunities of ever being granted new trials from our federal appeal judges!!
****Sadly, the true US *legal* Federal Appeal situation that occurs when any of our uneducated American prison inmates are forced to attempt to submit their own written Federal Appeals (from our prisons nationwide) without the assistance of proper legal counsel, is that they all are in reality being denied their legitimate rights for Habeas Corpus with our US FEDERAL COURTS and will win any future Supreme Court Case concerning this injustice!
****For our judicial system and our US Congressional Leaders Of The Free World to continue to pretend that this is a real and fair opportunity for our American Middle Class and Working Poor Citizens, only delays the very needed future change of Federal Financing of all these Federal appeals becoming a normal formula of Our American judicial system.
****It was not so very long ago that Public Defenders became a Reality in this country.Prior that legal reality taking place, their were also some who thought giving anyone charged with a crime a free lawyer was a waste of taxpayers $$.
****This FACADE and HORROR of our Federal Appeal proce$$ is not worthy of the Greatest Country In The World! ***GREAT SOCIETIES THAT DO NOT PROTECT EVEN THEIR INNOCENT, BECOME THE GUILTY !
****A MUST READ ABOUT AMERICAN INJUSTICE:
1) YAHOO 2) GOOGLE
(MANNY GONZALES THE KID THAT EVERYONE FORGOT IN THE CA PRISON SYSTEM.)**** A JUDICIAL RIDE OF ONES LIFE !
****Someone please tell our US Congress that the GED degree that Manny Gonzales acquired in prison is not a LAW DEGREE !!!!!!
****lawyersforpooramericans@yahoo.com (424-247-2013)