A Missisippi Mess

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour pardoned four convicted murderers before leaving office

Good Ole boy Haley Barbour really stepped in it during his last days in office as governor. Barbour issued 215 pardons and the uproar was deafening. Barbour, a former RNC Chair and lobbyist, long popular with right-wing Republicans came under immediate attack for releasing murderers and other violent criminals. The state attorney general filed a complaint alleging that 156 of the pardons were unconstitutional because state law requires a 30 day public notice in the communities where the crimes occurred. A judge refused to send those pardoned back to prison, but ordered those convicted of murder to check in with parole officers. A hearing has been scheduled for February 3. More about the legal challenges here.
 

The uproar got so bad, Barbour wrote a commentary in the elitist liberal Washington Post, pointing out that the Parole Board had recommended 90 % of those pardoned receive some sort of clemency and that previous governors had a long history of pardoning trustees who work in the governor’s mansion. Here’s Barbour’s attempt to set the record straight.

 

Missing from most of the heated verbal and online confrontations—is that just like most things in Mississippi, the pardons have an ugly racial tinge. Fully two out of three prisoners pardoned by Barbour were white--- even though the state’s prison population is two-thirds African-American. Barbour’s staff insist that race played no role in the decisions, as did the Parole Board. Statisticians who have looked at Mississippi’s pardon process overall say white prisoners are four times likelier to be paroled than African-Americans. Reuters initially broke the story about the racial discrepancy and it was picked up by the Huffington Post.

 

The fallout continues as Barbour’s successor, Republican Phil Bryant, has not only vowed to refrain from pardoning convicted prisoners—he has vowed to bar them from working in the governor’s mansion or grounds. While the rhetorical fallout continues—one place Barbour won’t be hurting is his wallet. He’s already given the first speech in a lucrative speaking contract with Leading Authorities in the $30,000-$50,000 range. This is only one of the former governor’s new jobs. Barbour has also rejoined his old law firm Butler Snow and the lobbying powerhouse BRG according to today's New York Times.

 

In case you’re wondering about the two  Scott sisters who Barbour granted an early release after a decade of appeals from state human rights groups—they’re still under court supervision. Jamie and Gladys Scott were paroled after serving 16 years of a life sentence, on the condition that Gladys donate a kidney to Jamie. The two African-American sisters still have to report to a parole officer and with a felony conviction have found it impossible to find work. Maybe Barbour can turn some of his speaking gigs over to them.

By: Llenda Jackson-Leslie

Criminal Justice: A Sin and A Shame

A Sin and A Shame

By: Llenda Jackson-Leslie

Someone or some people ought to be losing their jobs over the wrongful deportation and incarceration of Houston teenager, Jakadrien Turner. Turner ran away from home to Atlanta, GA last year at the age of 14 and was picked up for shoplifting. After she gave the name of a Colombian native to police—they turned her over to ICE even though her fingerprints weren’t a match—and she spoke no Spanish—not one word. ICE then deported her to Colombia. Her grandmother who had been searching for Jakadrien—finally tracked her whereabouts through Facebook.

If you think the incompetence and callous treatment of the African American teen is pretty shocking up to this point—it gets worse. ICE officials told the grandmother that if she wanted her granddaughter returned to the US—she would have to buy a plane ticket for her. Finally as news accounts of the story spread, the government was shamed into returning her. And fortunately she was reunited with her family two days ago.

No one charged with enforcing the law or immigration policy looks good in this story—not ICE, the Colombian government or Atlanta police. Even sadder, immigration advocates and lawyers say Jakadrien’s story isn’t that unusual or even that tragic. The case against ICE is replete with stories of people dying in custody, being denied medical treatment or medication and nursing infants being separated from their mothers.

Yet so far there have been no reports of ICE officials being fired or investigated—no calls from Congress for eliminating the agency. Is it because this error and a host of others—humiliating, outrageous and even fatal—disproportionately impact Black, Brown and poor people?

You can read a pretty full account of Jakadrien’s ordeal at Madame Noire and Juliane Hing offers more details at Colorlines.

Criminal Justice: Finally- A New Sheriff in Town

Associated Press

Finally- A New Sheriff in Town

By: Llenda Jackson-Leslie

Civil rights supporters heard welcome news on a couple of fronts last week. First Attorney General Eric Holder made it clear in a speech at the LBJ Center at the University of Texas that the Department of Justice was prepared, able and ready to enforce the Voting Rights Act, and to seek legal sanctions against states refusing to comply. Welcome news for voting rights supporters busy tallying up the new restrictive voting measures passed in 25 states.

Then in an even more satisfying move, DOJ civil rights chief Tom Perez released a devastating report detailing how Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio, also known as America’s meanest sheriff, had engaged in racial profiling and other civil rights abuses against Latinos. Rinku Sen wrote a brilliant piece in Colorlines titled “Because the Arc is Bending Toward Justice.” You can check out her analysis here.

Poor Joe really had a bad week, after the report was released, the Department of Homeland Security run by none other than former Arizona governor Janet Napolitano announced that it was ending an agreement with the Maricopa department that allowed deputies to enforce immigration laws and use the Secure Communities programs which uses fingerprints collected in local jails.  DHS sanctions Arpaio.

The Supreme Court will review Arizona’s restrictive immigration law, SB 1070 in 2012. Arizona voters spoke last month when they recalled the bill’s author, Senate President Russell Pearce. He is the first state senate president to ever be recalled. More about Arizona law here. Meanwhile Pearce’s followers in Alabama are scrambling to undo the damage their state’s copycat anti-immigrant law has caused the state’s bottom line and reputation. Apparently several traffic cops have been enforcing the strict laws against the wrong immigrants. When executives with Honda and Mercedes were stopped for not having proof of citizenship—Chamber of Commerce types thought they had gone just too far. Despite the fact that the Chamber backed most of the miscreants behind the bill. The Republican attorney general is suggesting several fixes as is the Republican governor who signed the bill. The arrests of the two auto execs prompted Missouri to run an ad encouraging foreign investment saying, “We’re the show me state—not the show me your papers state.”

Mayor Sheldon Day in Thomasville Alabama is worried about recruiting industries. According to Day, "Up until a few months ago, nobody raised the immigration issue," he said. But in the last few months, it's been brought up regularly. Day suspects competing states are portraying Alabama as hostile to foreigners even though he says that is not the truth. Based on the questions he gets from industrial prospects, he also believes competing states are recounting stories from Alabama's civil rights past. "It's bringing back old images from 40 or 50 year ago," he said.

The governor says he's declined many national TV interviews about the law because he doesn't want to fuel comparisons with what he sees as Alabama's long gone past. "It's going to take us a long time to outlive those stereotypes that are out there among people that Alabama is living in the '50s and '60s," Bentley said.  You can read more here.

Criminal Justice: A Tale of Two Prosecutors

A Tale of Two Prosecutors

By: Llenda Jackson-Leslie

Two recent events showcase the difference a prosecutor can make. The first is the decision to reduce the death sentence against Mumia Abu-Jamal to life imprisonment, and the second is the exoneration of Thomas Haynesworth after serving twenty-seven years for rapes he did not commit.

In both cases, Abu- Jamal and Haynesworth had family, friends and advocates who fought to prove their innocence, and legal teams who donated their services. Mumia has become an international cause célèbre, known for his radio broadcasts from prison, stinging political commentary and media interviews. Both men struggled for years to be heard and in both cases, a prosecutor played a critical role in the final outcome. In Mumia’s case the prosecutor chose not to seek the death penalty again. For those of us who believe in Mumia’s innocence—this is a bittersweet ending but a victory nonetheless.

In Haynesworth’s case, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli known for his tough-on-crime stance, decided that Haynesworth’s case deserved a second look, two state prosecutors agreed and supported exoneration. Cuccinelli became so convinced of Haynesworth’s innocence that he gave him a job after his March parole. Read about Haynesworth’s exoneration here.

Troy Davis was not so fortunate.  In that case Larry Chisholm the current district attorney refused to even consider withdrawing the death warrant, despite the flimsy evidence and flawed prosecution meticulously documented by Troy’s legal team. The former prosecutor Spencer Lawton refuses to acknowledge even now that the case was flawed and Troy was put to death on September 21, 2011. Apparently for some prosecutors, preserving the façade of infallibility matters more than a man’s life.

Criminal Justice: Never Ending Crime and Punishment

Never Ending Crime and Punishment

By Llenda Jackson-Leslie

One of the harshest realities of our criminal justice system is that punishment can be never ending. Walking through the prison gates doesn’t guarantee a fresh start. The lingering stigma of a previous conviction continues to haunt many former prisoners and often fuels their return to prison. Finding a job with a prison record is next to impossible, regulations bar them from public housing and many states have enacted punitive restrictions which make it next to impossible for former prisoners to regain their right to vote.

 
The Washington Post posted a recent blog on the high rate of unemployment among the formerly incarcerated in the DC area 46% , you can read the article here the article is based on a report by the Court Excellence Project, you can access the report here.

Harold Hill is luckier than most, he’s found a job and re-connected with family. His struggle to turn his life around was published in the Washington Post, you can read the article here

Strong Laws and Lax Enforcement

The DC police are being called out once again for failing to enforce laws that intended to protect gay, lesbian and transgender District residents from violence and intimidation based on their sexual identity. Activists have taken to the streets to put DC cops on blast. Read Police Chief Kathy Lanier’s response here.

Criminal Justice: Georgia's Rough Justice

Georgia's Rough Justice

By: Llenda Jackson-Leslie

In nine days Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed. The State of Georgia is planning to kill Davis despite the fact that seven of the nine witnesses against him have recanted, saying their earlier testimony was coerced. The NAACP, National Coalition Against the Death Penalty and Amnesty International are mounting an international campaign to save Troy Davis. Amnesty International’s Laura Moye calls the case “emblematic of a broken and unjust death penalty system.”   Davis is an African American charged with the murder of a white police officer.

The evidence against Davis is incredibly weak, it is unlikely that without the twin engines of race and the sensational nature of the crime, that Davis would have been charged at all. There is no physical evidence linking him to the crime. Several of the witnesses in the original trial were minors at the time and were questioned without their parents being present; another was illiterate and several had criminal records. One of the seven witnesses who has recanted has said another witness, is the real killer.

Troy Davis’ best hope is a public outcry to save his life. It only takes a few minutes to add your voice.

There are active online petition campaigns from Color of Change  www.justicefortroy.org, and Twitter and Facebook campaigns from the NAACP http://www.naacp.org/blog/entry/breaking-news-judge-sets-troy-davis-execution-date-for-sep.-21 and the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty http://www.ncadp.org/#Troy_Front_Page  

Read more of the Amnesty International Laura Moye interview here: http://blog.amnestyusa.org/deathpenalty/troy-davis-appeal-denied-execution-date-could-loom/

Citizen Camera

The nine minutes of grainy video footage George Holliday captured of Los Angeles police beating Rodney King 20 years ago helped to spur dramatic reforms in a department that many felt operated with impunity.

(George Holliday)

Citizen Camera

Twenty years ago today a citizen with a conscience and a camera videotaped a handful of LA Police Department officers battering Rodney King with their clubs while King lay prostrate on the ground, helpless, unarmed and nonthreatening. The next day, the footage aired on a local news broadcast and then spread with alacrity to national TV.  At once, millions of Americans saw what many African American males and their families already knew: Black males were targets of police brutality. 

It would be useful to see if conditions have improved, gotten worse or reached an untenable plateau, but the Department of Justice website does not report current and historic data on police brutality.  So, we’re left with the memory of King’s beat down.

 

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-king-video-20110301,0,2855868.story