NEW JERSEY CRIME LINE - NJ-SPEAKOUT PUBLICATION
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snail: PO Box 1214, Belle Mead, NJ 08502
Vol. 1 No. 5 September 16, 1995
============================================================= XXXX

Vol. 1, No. 5, is
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The following are the contents of this post:

>>01. RIGHT TO ATTORNEY? NOT FOR POOR!
>>02. NJ COPS UPDATE
>>>>A. W. ORANGE CHIEF RESUMES HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
>>>>B. SUBMACHINE GUNS FOR TRENTON COPS?
>>>>C. CHARGES DOWNGRADED FOR 2 TIME KILLER COP IN JERSEY CITY
>>03. DEATH PENALTY
>>>>A. POLITICIANS SET TO CUT FUNDING FOR DEATH ROW DEFENDERS:
>>>>B. WBAI INTERVIEW WITH PETE EARLY, AUTHOR OF CIRCUMSTANTIAL
     EVIDENCE, ON THE DEATH PENALTY: THE MC MILLAN CASE
>>>>C. MIDDLESEX COUNTY SEEKS DEATH IN 2 CASES
>>>>D. PUBLIC DEFENDER PETITIONS FOR POST CONVICTION RELIEF FOR
     DEATH ROW INMATE
>>>>E. ARIZONA MAN EXECUTED
>>>>F. X-POLICEWOMAN SENTENCED TO DIE
>>04. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL COMMENT ON US PRISONS
>>05. COURTROOM WHERE MUMIA'S HEARING TOOK PLACE, AS DESCRIBED BY
      ALTON MADDOX (PARAPHRASED)
>>06. NJ JUVENILE CRIME SUPER AGENCY APPROVED
>>07. NJ CRIME RECORDS "FOR SALE" SIGN - NOT UP YET
>>08. NEW YORK PANELS ON CRIME / PRISONS / MUMIA / POLITICAL
 PRISONERS
>>09. GENETICS & VIOLENCE CONFERENCE: SCIENTIFIC RACISM
>>10. RACIAL DISPARITY IN COCAINE SENTENCING UPHELD BY HOUSE
      JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
>>11. MINI-SECURITY PRISON IN SUUSEX COUNTY TO CLOSE?
>>12. NEW YORK TIMES SOFTENS SIGNIFICANCE OF FUHRMAN TAPES -
      READERS RESPOND
>>13. GROUNDBREAKING GOES FORWARD FOR NEW STATE PRISON IN BRIDGETON
      -- DIALOGUE AROUND SAME
>>14. MURDER OF HOMELESS MAN BY CHI-TOWN COP =
      NO INDICTMENT, NOT EVEN FOR MANSLAUGHTER!
>>15. FBI ALSO FABRICATING EVIDENCE?
===============================================================
>>01. RIGHT TO ATTORNEY? NOT FOR POOR!
Posted by Bob Witanek  9/05/95

"The only thing less popular than a poor person these days, is a
poor person with a lawyer.  .. Poor people have certain legal
rights.  Rather than take away those rights by statute, it is
easier for Congress to take away for lawyers and thus take away the
ability for poor people to enforce their rights." - Jonathan D.
Asher, Exec. Dir., Legal Aid Society of Metro Denver

The demand for legal services for poor people is multiplying due
to changes in welfare, Medicaid, housing and immigration laws, as
agencies set up to provide legal assistance to the poor are making
massive staff cuts due to federal cutbacks.  Congress has cut
support for 16 national support centers that provide legal advise
to attorneys aiding the poor this year, as most of the centers
expect no aid next year.  $15 million has been cut from legal aid
this year and 1/3 of such funding is slated to be cut next year to
an annual $278 million.  Congress is also restricting lawyers
receiving such funds from filing class action suits against local,
state or federal governments.  Nor could they try to influence  or
lobby for or against any local, state or federal law.  The
restrictions apply not only to the fed money, but even if the
actual activities are financed from other sources.

"Almost everything I've done in this job over 5 years would be
outlawed by one provision or another of the House bill." - Bridget
Arimond, Dir. of the women's law project of the Legal Assistance
Foundation of Chicago

"These restrictions would be very harmful to our ability to
represent our clients effectively.  We would not have the full
panoply of weapons at our disposal." - John O'Toole, Dir. of Center
for Youth Law in San Francisco

Federal aid to legal aid societies are distributed to 323 legal
service organizations with a total of 1200 offices.  A person is
eligible for such funded legal aid if he or she earns under $9338
per year, of if his/her family of 4 earns less than $18,938.

Due to the shifting from guaranteed welfare entitlement to state
run block grants, many families will be cut from assistance roles
by state operated programs: "With such new discretion in the
states, many poor families will face termination of denial of
desperately needed aid because of policies or practices that raise
important constitutional questions.  If equal justice under the law
means anything, these families should be provided elgal
representation," - Henry A. Freedman, Exec. Dir., Social Welfare
Policy and Law

Legal service lawyers handled 1.7 million cases last year.   Of
them, 33% involved family matters, 22% involved housing, 16%
involved welfare and 11% involved consumer issues.  The remainder
dealt with education, employmentm health care and individual
rights.

"The budget cuts couldn't come at a worse time.  There are major
bills pending in the area of welfare and health care that will have
a tremendous impact on low income people who are not citizens.  It
also comes at a time when Congress is about to pass major
immigration laws that will have a substantial impact on our
clients." - Charles Wheeler, Dir., National Immigration Law Center,
which lost 1/3 of its $850,000 annual budget (New York Times,
9/5/95)
===============================================================
>>02. NJ COPS UPDATE

>>>>A. TROUBLED W. ORANGE COP CHIEF/MAYOR'S SON IGNORES COUNCIL
     APPEAL TO EXTEND ABSENCE WITH PAY

Posted by Bob Witanek  09/06/95

Robert Spina, son of W. Orange Mayor Samuel Spina, has returned to
work after a 6 week leave with pay, in spite of a council
resolution urging him to extend the leave.  The council is
threatening a lawsuit to force Spina to extend his leave.  One
member called for his firing as several members called upon the
chief's father to step aside from disciplining the chief.  The
chief's has the following problems:

* recent conviction in civil court for physical abuse of his wife;
* admitted cocaine use in mid 80's
* subject of lawsuit by officer charging he tipped off the subject
of a drug and child abuse investigation * charged with harassment
of a prisoner
* subject of lawsuit by a township woman charging that he neglected
to enforce a protection order; * charged with improper discharge
of weapon.
(Star Ledger, 9/6/95)

I guess the people of W. Orange can feel protected and served now
that Spina is back on the job.
===============================================================
>>>>B. TRENTON POLICE INVESTIGATING WHY COPS WANTED THOMPSON
       SUBMACHINE GUNS
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/08/95

The Trenton Police Chief, Ernest A. Williams has announced that 2
Trenton cops, Ernest A. Osvai and James Garruba have applied for
the purchase of Thompson submachine guns.  Such applications should
have been approved by the chief.  He also wants to know why the 2
cops said the guns would be used in training and stored at police
headquarters.  The applications were signed by Public Safety
Director James Waldron.  The chief said "We don't train to use
those kinds of weapons and they sure as hell won't be stored here.
And I'm not signing for those guns." (Trenton Times, 9/8/95)
==============================================================
>>>>C. CHARGES DOWNGRADED FOR 2 TIME KILLER COP IN JERSEY CITY
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/09/95

"My son was killed in cold blood and I have suffered a tremendous
loss. ... In the end, what I really want is justice." - Francesca
Tarquino, mother of Julio Tarquino, who was killed, allegedly, by
Jersey City cop John Chiusulo, speaking through a translator.

A grand jury has indicted Officer John Chiusulo of manslaughter,
official misconduct and weapons possession in connection with the
beating death of Julio Tarquino.  Initially, murder charges had
been sought.  Julio Tarquino's mother expressed disappointment over
the failure to obtain a murder indictment.  The Bolivian national
and Florida resident Julio Tarquino was struck on the head by a
blunt instrument and died 4 days later.  He was to be wed 3 weeks
after the attack.  Ms. Tarquino said her son was a "good child" who
"did nothing wrong."  In 1991, Chiusulo shot and killed Maximino
Cintron who was 23.  (Star Ledger, 9/9/95)

==============================================================
>>03. DEATH PENALTY

>>>>A. POLITICIANS SET TO CUT FUNDING FOR DEATH ROW DEFENDERS: YOU
HAVE A RIGHT TO BE KILLED - IF YOU CAN NOT AFFORD AN ATTORNEY -
THE STATE WILL HIRE A MERCENARY TO STRAP YOU INTO THE GURNEY Posted
by Bob Witanek  09/12/95

"(Prosecutors) don't want there to be a competent attorney on the
other side.  They want to win all there cases and they don't want
a fair trial," David Bruck, the attorny who thwarted the death
penalty for Susan Smith

The HR has voted to cut the entire $20 million allocated for groups
repping death row inmates or assisting appointed lawyers with
appeals.  Appeals will probably actually take longer and cost more
without these groups, according to judges, civil rights groups and
the American Bar Association.  Weaker attorneys will also be easy
prey for prosecutors who like to push death sentences.  Since death
penalties were reinstated by the Supreme Court, 50 MEN WAITING TO
BE EXECUTED WERE FOUND INNOCENT on appeal, many with help from
these organizations.  The groups were created by Congress in 1988
to create a better system for repping death row inmates, as lawyers
with capital case appeals experience are extremely rare. (Star
Ledger, 9/10/95)

Death penalty supporters are often heard to mouth the platitude
that they support the death penalty "ONLY IF THERE IS CERTAINTY
THAT THE CONDEMNED COMMITTED THE CRIME."  These death penalty
supporters need to stop living that lie and admit that the
politicians they support who are implementing more and more looser
use of the death penalty are doing everything they can to assure
that such certainty is NOT POSSIBLE, through elimination of funding
for groups dedicated to the defense of death row inmates, weakening
habeas corpus and other aspects of the appeals process and giving
judges rights to overrule jury decisions against death.  If you're
going to support the death penalty, at least admit that what you
are supporting is a system that will end up executing innocent
victims, much as the murderers themselves do.
================================================================
>>>>B. WBAI INTERVIEW WITH PETE EARLY, AUTHOR OF CIRCUMSTANTIAL
EVIDENCE, ON THE DEATH PENALTY: THE MC MILLAN CASE
Posted: Bob Witanek  9/13/95

The following is an interview conducted (9/13/95) by Pacifica radio
journalist Laura Iyama (?) and broadcast on WBAI 99.5FM (NYC):

PETE EARLY: The Walter McMillan case was odd and strange in this
way, in that he actually came up with enough money to hire 2 people
who had an excellent reputation.  Unfortunately, for reasons only
they can defend, they didn't pay much attention to this case.  They
walked in at the last minute and thought they could handle it with
the defense witnesses that McMillan's own family had produced.
They didn't win, and I don't think they defended him very
adequately.

Brian Stevenson, a Harvard trained African American attorney who
is working to stop the death penalty got involved in the case.  he
found out that the prosecution had hidden evidence, the prosecutor
had sat in the courtroom, knowing that his star witness was telling
a story that couldn't possibly be true, and had not told the jurors
that.  Ralph Myers, the main witness against McMillan testified
that he and McMillan had gone in the cleaners and committed this
crime and murdered this little girl.  He said he had done that in
a 45 minute period.  The prosecutors knew that 15 minutes before
the body was discovered, the owner of the cleaners had come in and
seen the girl alive.  He knew that someone had been in there 15
minutes before the body was found.  He let the jury believe this
crime had taken place during this 45 minute period when no one had
come in.  I think that's outrageous, yet nothing's ever been done
to that prosecutor, no one's ever been called to task.

Fascinating to me about what Brian Stevenson did is this: Stevenson
found example after example after example of where people had lied,
where evidence was missing, where McMillan's story could be
verified.  He took all these through the lower courts of Alabama.
It did him absolutely no good.  Out of frustration he calls in 60
Minutes.  Ed Bradley comes down there, he does this marvelous
piece, raises questions about McMillan, shows that he's innocent.
But there was absolutely nothing new in that 60 Minutes story.
Everyone of the legal issues had been covered by Brian Stevenson
and had been presented in court.  It wasn't until this outside
influence came in and shed publicity on this and held the people
up to embarassment, that they finally decided to do the right
thing.  That's very interesting because it shows you have to have
an outside force sometimes to force the local officials to do
what's right.  In today's climate, where we're trying to limit the
amount of outside force or federal government involvement and leave
it in local hands, you're running a real risk because of
prejudices, politics and other things that can really mire justice.

LAURA: We talk about Brian Stevenson and his group, the fate of
that group is very much in question.

PETE EARLY: I'm glad you brought that up.  before the House
recessed, they voted to eliminate all federal funds for the Alabama
Resource Center and other centers like that that do nothing but
represent death row inmates.  It's very popular right now to be
anti- any such groups.  For the first time polls in this country
show that whites and Afriacn Americans support the death penalty.
People are tired of crime.  They want to just fry these people.
But what happens is, you have to remember that there are Walter
McMillan's out there.  And these people will not get the kind of
justice that all of us deserve.

LAURA: Pete Early, author of CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE, talking with
Pacifica's Laura Iyama(?).
================================================================
>>>>C. MIDDLESEX COUNTY PROSECUTOR (OR SHOULD I SAY EXECUTOR) TO
ASK FOR DEATH PENALTY IN 2 CASES
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/07/95

Robert Gluck, Middlesex County Prosecutor plans to call for the
death penalty for Steven Fortin, 31, of Maine, indicted for rape,
robbery and murder, and Scott Behn, 28, Piscataway, indicted for
robbery and a fatal shooting.  Gluck says he is seeking the death
penalty due to the fact that the slayings allegedly occurred in the
course of other crimes to avoid arrest and prosecution.  In an
apparent attempt to divorce himself from responsibility for the
possible executions of the 2 accused, Gluck says he is "obligated"
to charge the two with capital offenses due to the presence of
legal reasons to seek death.  The last death penalty sought in
Middlesex was in 1993, for John Chew, 44, convicted of killing his
girlfriend in a parking lot.  Chew has been so sentenced.  Nobody
has been executed in NJ since the resumption of the death penalty
in NJ.

Steven Fortin was charged for the gruesome murder of Melissa
Padilla, 25, of Perth Amboy.  She had left to purchase groceries
for her children and was raped, beaten and strangled as she
returned.  (Star Ledger, 9/7/95)  Padilla was placed in the Gem
motel in Avenel by a welfare agency.  Given these circumstances,
it would seem that the lack of adequate housing for NJ mother's
living in poverty is at least partially responsible for the death
of Melissa Padilla.
================================================================
>>>>D. PUBLIC DEFENDER PETITIONS FOR POST CONVICTION RELIEF FOR
DEATH ROW INMATE
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/13/95

An post conviction relief appeal has been filed on behalf of death
row inmate Marko Bey, whose death row sentence for the rape,
robbery and murder of Carol Penniston has been upheld by the NJ
Supreme Court.  The petition will be held in Freehold's Superior
Court of John Arnone on November 3.

At an earlier date, a death sentence for Bey had been overturned
by the NJ Supreme Court.  He was resentenced to death for the
Penniston murder in September of 1990 and the sentence was upheld
by the NJ Supreme Court in 1993.  His lead defense attorney in the
resentencing was R. Diane Aifier, who recently resigned from the
Monmouth County Public Defenders Office.  The appeals petition,
filed by James K. Smith, Jr., Assistant Deputy Public Defender
charges that Aifer and co-cousel Donald McCauley "failed to prepare
their case in mitigation in a timely and effective manner, and
their resulting failure to uncover extensive evidence to support
unraised mitigating factors, to argue mitigating factors clearly
present in the record, or to present readily available evidence in
support of mitigating factors they did raise, violated the
defendants right to effective assistance or counsel."  The petition
charges that Superior Court Judge Arnone made a series of legal
errors.  It charges:  "NJ courts continue to impose the death
penalty in a discriminatory manner, based on race, violating
defendant Bey's right to equal protection of the laws and
subjecting him to cruel and unusual punishment."

In NJ, a post conviction relief petition can only be filed after
the defendant has exhausted direct appeals:  "It is an opportunity
for the defendant to bring out facts that are not part of the
record that show he is entitled to a new trial.  On appeal, we must
stay with what's on the record.  For example, you can't raise
ineffective assistance of counsel on appeal because the record does
not reflect what the attorneys left out, only what is put in.  In
NJ, you are not allowed to petition for post-conviction relief
while the case is on direct appeal."  - Attorney John K. Smith Jr.
(Star Ledger, 9/13/95)
=================================================================
>>>>E. ARIZONA MAN EXECUTED
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/14/95

Jimmie Wayne Jeffers, 49, was executed yesterday for his conviction
in the heroin overdose death of his girlfriend, after his execution
was delayed 17 hours by last minute appeals arguing that he
inadequately represented at his original trial.  He reportedly
squirmed and spoke a string of obscenities at the corrections
director Sam Lewis, before injected with deadly poisons.  A small
group of demonstrators held a vigil outside of the prison death
chambers.  Mr. Jeffers was the 34th. to be executed in the US this
year, the 292nd. executed since the comeback of hte death penalty
in '76 and the 4th. to be killed in Arizona this year.  (New York
Times, 9/14/95)
=================================================================
>>>>F. X-POLICEWOMAN SENTENCED TO DIE
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/14/95

Antoinette Frank, 24, has been sentenced to die after being
convicted for the shooting death of her former partner and 2 others
in a restaurant holdup.  The jury took 22 minutes to convict her
and 35 minutes to sentence her to die.  Her convicted accomplice,
Rogers Lacaze, has also been sentenced to death for his role in the
slayings.  If allowed to stand, Ms. Frank will be the first woman
killed in Lousiana by the death penalty since 1942. (New York
Times, 9/14/95)
================================================================
================================================================
>>04. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL COMMENT ON US PRISONS

EXEC. DIR. WILLIAM SHULTZ OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ON AMERICAN
PRISONS AS INTERVIEWED BY WBAI CORRESPONDENT
Posted: Bob Witanek  9/8/95

>From WBAI, 9/8/95 report:

"We are living during an era in which there is a great call for
retribution in which politicians such as the governor of Alabama
believe they can make political hey out of punishing prisoners in
these particular ways.  This is thought to be a politically popular
approach.  That in and of itself is dangerous"
================================================================
>>05. COURTROOM WHERE MUMIA'S HEARING TOOK PLACE, AS DESCRIBED BY
ALTON MADDOX (PARAPHRASED):
Posted: Bob Witanek  9/11/95

The courtroom is divided into 2 rooms, with a glass separator.  The
glass is probably bullet proof.  The lawyers, prosecutors, the
defendant, the judge and other court workers are on other side of
the glass, separated from the audience.  The only way the audience
can hear what is going on is if the participants in the proceedings
speak into the microphones.  The sound is piped into the room with
the audience through speakers.  According to Alton Maddox, this was
the first courtoom he has seen that did not have the "In God We
Trust" slogan mounted.

Alton Maddox stated that separation of the public from the
defendant is a denial of the defendant's right to a public trial.
He believes that there might be constitutional problems with the
courtoom design, and that there ought to be a challenge to this
sort of courtroom.  He referred to the design as ARCHITECTURAL
WARFARE and said that he hopes there will be a wake up call to
architectural issues.

Alton Maddox stated that trying someone under these circumstances,
sepecially if it is a jury trial, will prejudice the jury and give
the impression that the defendant is dangerous.
=================================================================
>>06. NJ JUVENILE CRIME SUPER AGENCY APPROVED
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/12/95

The so-called Senate Law and Public Safety Committee approved a
repub package of 5 bills to create a Juvenile Justice Commission,
build a boot camp prison, 'get tougher', and provide funding to
combat delinquency.  AG Poritz says she expects the plan to be
fast-tracked.  The Senate could vote on it as early as 10/19.
There has been a marked increase in juvenile crime in NJ, as 90,000
were arrested in NJ in 1994, up 5000 from '93.  5821 juveniles were
arrested for violent crimes in 1994, and over the past 8 years, the
number arrested for violent crimes per year has incresed by 46%.
(Star Ledger, 9/12/95)  As has been posted here, NJ juvenile
correctional facilities are already grossly overcrowded, as 90% of
youths in the system are minorities.

WHO WILL ADVOCATE FOR THE YOUTHFUL ACCUSED as the state of NJ
marches full steam ahead to lock more children behind walls?

=================================================================
>>07. CRIME RECORDS "FOR SALE" SIGN - NOT UP YET
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/12/95

Due to an outcry by the ACLU, the NAACP and other groups and
individuals, the plan by the NJ Attorney General to issue a decree
allowing the state police to sell unverified police records has ben
placed on hold.  Instead, a hearing will be held at 10 am, 9/22 at
the Dept. of Personnel Training Center in Princeton's Forrestal
Center.  Those who want to testify need to call Capt. Daniel Hughes
at State Police HQ in W. Trenton.  Written comments on the proposed
decree can be sent to Col. Carl A Williams, c/o State Bureau of
Identification, NJSP, State Police, PO Box 7068, Trenton, NJ
08628-0068.  The ill designed plan has been criticized because the
records that will be sold are mostfully meaningless because they
do not indicate if a conviction was achieved, meaning that those
who were arrested but not convicted will be discriminated against.
Another criticism has been that selling the records will increase
racial discrimination due to the great disparity between arrest
records of minorities and whites in NJ. (Star Ledger, 9/12/95)

Maybe I'll go make a speech at this hearing.

=================================================================
>>08. NEW YORK PANELS ON CRIME / PRISONS / MUMIA / POLITICAL
PRISONERS
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/12/95

The Puffin Foundation presents:

JUSTICE/INJUSTICE
A Project to Benefit the Mumia Abu-Jamal Legal Defense Fund

Panels moderated by Safiya Bukhari, WBAI Radio, Chair NY Free Mumia
Abu-Jamal Coalition

Sally O'Brien, WBAI radio journalist

Donation $5, Reservations recommended for panels 212-343-2881

All activities to take place as indicated at puffin room or
Nuyorican Poets Cafe, located as follows:

Puffin Room, 435 Broome St (Broadway) NYC 10013 212-343-2881

Nuyorican POets Cafe, 236 E. 3rd St., (B & C), NYC 10009
212-505-8183

Featuring

Art Against Death: Art & Writings Against the Death Penalty

In conjunction with Nuyorican Poets Cafe
10/6 thru 11/2, 1995

Friday, 10/6, 6-9pm  puffin room - ART OPENING
Art Against Death: The Art and Writing of Political Prisoners with
"freeworld" ... Speakers: Leonard Weinglass, Mary Taylor (poli-pris
activist), Poets: Hon. Bruce Wright, CVGSHeba, Bob Holman
Artists Leon Golub, Nancy Spero, Howardena Pidell, Marina
Gutierrez, Mel Edwards, Jerry Kearns, Kiki Smith, Lloyd Oxendine,
Aekan Huang, Juan Sanchez, Kamran, Ashtary, Irving Epstein, Juane
Quick-To-See-Smith

Thurs, 10/12, 8:30-10:30pm, puffin room - POLITICAL PRISONERS IN
US Panelists CVGSheba (Black Panther newspaper cmte, former
prisoner of war), Alan Berkman (MD, former poli pris), Herman &
Betty Liveright coordinator of THIS JUST IN ..., Poli Pris/Pris of
War Bulletin, Richie Perez, x-Young Lord, Natl. Coord, Natl Cong
for Puerto Rican Rights

Sunday, 10/15. 3-6pm, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Art Opening
Art Against Death: The Art and Writing of Political Prisoners with
"freeworld" ... Speakers: Ramona Africa, Mary Taylor; Music by
Joseph Jamarn; PoetsL Hettie Hones, Fielding Sawson, CVGSheba,
Sandra Maria Estevez (Visual Arts funded in memory of Alicia
Wilkes)

Thurs, 10/19, 8:30-10:30pm. Puffin room - Confronting the Death
Penalty - Panelists: Lawrence Hayes, MPS, former death row
prisoner, anti-death penalty activist, Chuck Culhans, former death
row prisoner, poet, teacher, Leonard Weinglass, Linda Thurston,
Amnesty Internationa, Demi McGuire, Exec. Dir. NYers Against the
Death Penalty, Robert Meeropol, Exec Dir. Rosenberg Fund for
Children, Ronald Tabak, Pres. NY Lawyers Against the Death Penalty

Thurs, 10/26, 8:30-10:30pm. Puffin Room - Women in Prison:
Panelists: Rev. Connie M Baugh, Natl organizer of Mothers in
Prison, Children in Crisis, Vivian, former incarcerated mother,
Nieves Ayress, former poli pris, Chile, Natalie Bimel, Dir., Health
Link, Hunter College Center on AIDS, Drugs & Community Health

Thurs, 11/2, 8:30-10:30pm. Puffin Room - War on Crime: The politics
of incarceration - Panelists: Hon. Bruce Wright, Richard Stratton,
former prisoner, Editor-in-Chief of Prison Life mag, Eddie Ellis,
former Black Panther Party member and poli pris, Neighborhood
Defender Service of Harlem, Bonnie Kerness, MSW, Coord, Nayl
Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons, Assoc Dir. AFSC of NJ

=================================================================
>>09. GENETICS & VIOLENCE CONFERENCE: SCIENTIFIC RACISM
Posted Bob Witanek  9/12/95

Have received this post and have not checked out the details.
Forwarding as FYI.  If true, concern should be had (IMHO).
Bob Witanek

Originally by: kowan@ai.mit.edu
In: can-ar@pencil.cs.missouri.edu

PROTEST Genetics & Crime mtg Sept. 22-24 Maryland

They're at it again...

   According to the following message, a hush-hush "academic"
conference is planned in 10 days to discuss linkages between
genetics and crime.  When a conference on this topic was scheduled
to be held in the open last year, there was an outcry over the
racist way organizers were framing the issues.  It may not be
possible to stop the meeting this time, but it would be a great
opportunity for people on campuses in the DC/maryland/southern PA
area to demonstrate and call attention to this scary resurgence of
biological determinism.

PLEASE SPREAD THIS AROUND -- especially to people on campuses near
the location of the conference!

-rich
 center for campus organizing

From: johann_megenberg@babylon.montreal.qc.ca (johann megenberg)
Subject: Fwd: PROTEST Genetics & Crime mtg Sept. 22-24 Maryland
Date: 12 Sep 1995 16:27:54 GMT
>
Dear people concerned with human rights and psychiatry,
>
As many of you know, the rise in urban youth violence has brought
with it a focus on "genetic" and "biochemical" causes of crime,
among some researchers. (Much of this is explained in the book by
Breggin & Ross-Breggin, WAR AGAINST CHILDREN.)
>
The controversy about the "Bell Curve" and intelligence,
is simlar to this issue of the "Violence Initiative" (as it's been
called) and urban youth crime. African American activists
especially have been organizing to fight it.
>
An upsurge in organizing cancelled a conference by the University
of Maryland which was emphasizing the link between violence and
genes.
>
BUT THAT CONFERENCE WAS RE-ESTABLISHED by the U.S. government. >
It's date was shifted around. Attendance is by invite-only (though
we hear those identifying themselves as researchers may get
inside).
 >
However, outside there will hopefully at least be an emergency
vigil, if not a full grown protest. Every person who can get there
would be helpful.
>
Here's the scoop: It's Sept. 22 to 24, at Aspen Institue Wye
Center, in a rural area of Maryland. (How far from larger cities?
Balto-60 miles, DC-60 miles, Richmond 180 miles)
>
At bottom is material from the conference pamphlet, along with
directions on how to get there.
>
Support Coalition has fought the Violence Initiative for more than
three years, and plans to have folks at the "Genetics and Crime
Vonference" to protest and vigil, and support any other protesters
and vigilers.
>
Serious inquiries about details on that protest, please e-mail to
us directly at the main office: 
>
Please circulate this in *appropriate* places on Internet. > The
below information would be enough for you to know about it, and get
there, from the conference brochure:
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
"Research on Genetics and Criminal Behavior:
Scientific Issues, Social and Political Implications."
>
"The purpose of this conference is to discuss the scientific
validity and the social, legal, and ethical implications of current
research on genetics and criminal behavior.  The research to be
examined includes statistical studies of the heritability of
violent, impulsive, antisocial, and criminal behavior, studies
designed to find genetic markers, and ultimately genes, associated
with criminal behavior, and research into the neurobiology of
aggressive and impulsive behavior.
>
"The conference will focus on two sets of issues.  One
concerns the scientific and philosophical questions raised by
claims of a causal relationship between genes and crime. Conference
participants will explore the ways in which genes interact with the
physical and social environment, the prospects for explaining
voluntary actions i terms of neurobiological processes, and the
possibility of finding genetic predispositions to behavior that is
socially defined..
>
"The other set of issues concerns thesocial and ethical
implications of research on genetics and crime.  Critics and
proponents of this research set it against the backdrop of two very
different legacies.  On one hand, humanity has a long, dark [sic]
history of 'discovering' sources of inferiority in certain
individuals or groups, then using this 'discovery' to justify gross
inequalities and coercive social programs. On the other hand, it
has been a hallmark of enlightenment to recognize that undesirable
traits and behaviors often arise from biological or psychiatric
problems, rather than moral defects, and to offer humane treatments
rather than impose harsh punishments.
>
"Proponents of research on genetics and crime argue that  credible
research in this area focuses exclusively on individual, not group,
differences and will provide no support for racial or ethnic
generalizations.  They believe that the discovery of genetic
sources for criminal behavior will lead to more effective and less
punitive interventions.  Critics contend that even if this research
is focused entirely on individuals, it will be publicly perceived
as supporting racial stereotypes and used to justify repressive
social policies...."
>
Of the 30 or so particpants listed as of July 22:
Gregory Carey, Inst for Behavioral Genetics, U Colo Boulder Diana
Fishbein, Dept of Justice (presumed baddie)
Eliot Gershon, NIMH
David Goldman, NIAAA
Irving Gottesman, Psychology, UVa
Dean Hamer, Natl Cancer Inst
Adrian Raine, Psychology, USC
Franklin Zimring, U of Ca School of Law
>
Others:
>
James Cheverud, Dept Anat & Neurobiology, Wash U Med Sch
David Comings, Dept Med Genetics, City of Hope Med Center ?Martin
Daly, Psychology, McMaster?
?Ray Jeffery, Criminology & Crim Justice, Fla State U
??Eric Lander, Whitehead Inst, MIT Center for Genome Research??
?Michael T. McGuire, Neuropsychiatric INst & Hosp, UCLA
Michael Tonry, UMinn Law School
>
Also:  Directions to Aspen Institue Wye Center:
>
>From NY (180 miles), Phila (106 miles):  At the west end of the
Delaware Memorial bridge (near Wilmington DEL) follow US Route 301
south about 65 miles to the traffic light at the intersection of
Maryland Rte 213 (In Queen Anne County).
Turn left on Rte 213 and proceed to the traffic light at US Rte
50.  Turn right on US Rte 50.  Turn left 1/2 mile after milepost
50, at Carmichael Road and sign marked "ASPEN/
WYE INSTITUTES"  Proceed about 3 miles on Carmichael Rd. to the
intersection with Cheston Lane.  Turn right onto Cheston Lane to
Wye Center.
>
>From DC:  US 50 east to Annapolis, MD and cross Chesapeake Bay
Bridge and stay on Rte 50 about 12 miles.  Turn right 1/2 mile
after milepost 49, at Carmichael Road and sign marked ASPEN/ WYE.
Proceed about 3 miles, etc.
>
>From Balto:  Md Rte 3/I97 south to US 50, cross Chesapeake Bay
Bridge, etc.
>
>From Norfolk & Tidewater, VA:  Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel,
follow US Rte 13 N. to Salisbury, MD.  In Salisbury, take US 50
west (left_ about 64 miles, thru Cambridge and Easton. Watch for
milepost 50, turn left 1/2 mile after milepost 50, at Carmichael
Rd and sign, etc.
>
Balto-60 miles, DC-60 miles, Richmond 180 miles.
>
Phone number of conference center is 410-827-7400.
===================================
SHUT IT DOWN!

Posted: patrick b fahy hum fac/staff 
In: can-ar@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Fri Sep 15 10:16:57 1995

SHUT DOWN FASCIST "RESEARCH" CONFERENCE

This Conference should be stopped a group of people working with
the Chicago Coalition Against The Violence Int. are planning to
disrupt the conference. .Vigils won't stop fascism.

=================================================================
>>10. RACIAL DISPARITY IN COCAINE SENTENCING UPHELD BY HOUSE
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/13/95

NJ-SPEAKOUT has often posted about the racial disparities of the
prison population.  One obvious cause of such disparities is in
sentencing guidelines that are clearly racist.  The conviction rate
for possession of crack cocaine for Blacks is much higher than the
rate for whites.  The conviction rate for possession of powdered
cocaine is much higher for whites than for Blacks.  These
differences could explain why there is such a great disparity
between sentencing for conviction of possession of the two forms
of cocaine.  Federal guidelines subjects anyone caught with 5 grams
or more of crack cocaine to a minimum prison sentence of  5 years.
But when it comes to blow for the nose, powdered cocaine, one must
be caught with 500 GRAMS before one will be subject to the same
mandatory sentence of  5 years of prison.  Recently, the Federal
Sentencing Commission recommended that these guidelines be changed
to equalize the penalties for possession of both drugs.  Yesterday,
the politicians on the House Judiciary Committee voted to reject
the recommendations.  (New York Times, 9/13/95)

What do you think the drug of choice for those politicians and
their families is?
=================================================================
>>11. MINI-SECURITY PRISON IN SUSSEX COUNTY TO CLOSE?
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/13/95

The High Point Unit of the Mountainview Youth Correctional
Facility, on Rt 23 in High Point State Park could soon close due
to enviromnental reasons.  The minimum security facility has been
plagued by a malfunctioning septic system that resulted in raw
sewerage often being pumped into lagoons at the site.  That system
has been ordered shut, and now the untreated sewerage is trucked
away by the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority at a cost
of $300,000 per year.  The corrections department has been ordered
to have a new treatment facility in place by 10/96.  Due to the
high cost of putting such a system in place, corrections is leaning
toward closing the facility all together.  The facility can not be
closed immediately due to gross overcrowding within NJ prison
system.  Another prison with a similar problem is the 90 bed Stokes
Unit of the Mountainview Youth Correctional Facility.  The DEP has
entered into discussions with corrections about that facility also.
(Star Ledger, 9/13/95)
=================================================================
>>12. NEW YORK TIMES SOFTENS SIGNIFICANCE OF FUHRMAN TAPES -
READERS RESPOND
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/12/95

TIMES CARES ONLY ABOUT IMPACT ON WHITES

Letter from Susu Erca, NY, in NYT (9/12/95):

Re: "Race, Lies and Audiotape: (Week in Review, 9/3):

After listening in horror to the Fuhrman tapes in the OJ trial last
week, I was disheartened to discover that you chose to write about
the events from a white perspective.  Does it not trivialize the
true victims of racist attitudes to write about white angst over
the "R word" (racism)?  Does it not insult all African Americans
who must contend with discrimination to suggest that Fuhrman's
racist remarks were more stressful to whites than to Black People?
Racist attitudes like those expressed by Fuhrman are not simply an
"uncomfortable" subject for Black People.  Over the years, racism
among police officers has often meant the difference between life
and death, justice and injustice or freedom or jail for Black
citizens.  As a white person, I am embarassed by your article's
ocntention that my psyche was somehow more negatively impacted by
the Fuhrman tapes than a Black person's

ROGUE NOT!

Letter from Clay Shirky, Brooklyn, in NYT (9/12/95):

I must take issue with your headline "Racism of a Rogue Officer
Casts Suspicion on Police Nationwide" (9/4).  For Fuhrman to be
fairly characterized as a rogue officer, you would need evidence
he operated alone, without cooperation or complicity by his peers
or superiors.  Not only do Fuhrman's taped remarks not support this
interpretation, but also you offer evidence to the contrary in
"Many Black Officers Say Bias is Rampant in LAPD" the same day.
You do readers a disservice by treating Fuhrman's racist attitudes
as an exception while there is contrary evidence.
(New York Times, 9/12/95)
===============================================================
>>13. GROUNDBREAKING GOES FORWARD FOR NEW STATE PRISON IN BRIDGETON
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/14/95

Legislation authorizing the $250 million, 3250 bed South Woods
State Prison in Bridgeton was signed into law by NJ x-Gov. Florio
3 years ago.  Yesterday, Gov. Whitman was on hand at the
groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the facility.  The
first phase, which will house 1000 prisoners, is scheduled for
completion in May, 1997, and 6 months later, room for another 1000
is scheduled to be ready.  The final phase of construction is
slated to be completed in March, 1998.  500 beds will reportedly
be set aside for drug abuse treatment and a 225,000 square foot
area will provide for industrial work space where prisoners are to
produce goods, presumably for private industry, and provide
services to run the facility.  (Star Ledger, 9/14/95)

Fellow New Jerseyans, do we sit idly by while this, what Whitman
calls a weapon against crime, and we must view as a weapon for
sure, is constructed under our noses?  When do we step in to begin
demanding a new set of priorities and an end to the policies that
are leading to a larger percentage of NJ's workers, especially
African Americans and to a lesser degree Latinos, behind walls?
I think this project could provide a focal point for us to seize
the floor and begin to respond to the crime warhawks whose plans
for war on the marginalized working class of NJ have gone unchecked
for so long.  Are we ready to rise to the ocassion?

DIALOGUE ON BRIDGETON PRISON: PRISONS AS A JOBS ISSUE

===========================
From: Chet 

RESPONSE TO BOB WITANEK'S OPPOSITION TO BRIDGETON PRISON FACILITY
IN NJ:

Bob,
        I have a different spin on this.  I remember when I was
growing up in Pennsylvania having county officials offer a
landfill, a county corrections facility, and a police radio tower
system to several communities which turned them down ("Not in my
neighborhood....").  Our town which wasn't too wealthy and which
had a fair-sized Black population took in the landfill, the
correction facility, the police radio towers, and an alcohol and
drug facility--all the things others didn't want.  The net result
was full employment.  Not only did everyone wind up with a job,
but some residents wound up with two.  Our local strip-mall got a
discount department store and turned into a regional shopping
center.  Taking in the stuff that no one wanted actually helped our
town.

        I know Bridgeton, New Jersey well (my mother, who wanted to
be buried beside her maiden sister, is interred there).  There are
many stranded former migrant workers, and unemployment in this
farming community has always been high.  There are already both a
federal corrections facility (Fairfield) and a state corrections
facility (Leesburg) in the same county.  Jobs will be created by
both construction of this new facility and by its actual operation.

Blacks will be incarcerated and more Blacks will be economically
benefited.  In other words, it's not all bad news.

                                                --  Chet Pryor  --
=============================
Posted: Bob Witanek  9/15/95

Chet Pryor:

Thanks for your response to my opposition to the new prison in
Bridgeton, NJ.  (see below)  You raise an important question.  I
am not opposed to the facility based on a 'not in my backyard'
attitude, as I am sure some will be, but as part of general
opposition to the overall direction this state and nation is
heading in.  (I don't live near the site.)

I don't want to review all the stats with you, but suffice it to
say that the US prison population has tripled since 1980 and its
growth rate continues to accelerate.  In NJ, 81% of the adult
prison population is Black or Latino, and 88% of the youth
detention population is minority.

A majority of those being sent to prison are going up on nonviolent
drug charges.  The economic planners have built a natural rate of
unemployment which as I am sure you are well aware, translates into
an even higher unemployment rate among minorities and higher still
among minority youth, especially when factoring in the so-called
discouraged workers.  In addition to economic pressures on people
who are unemployed to participate in illegal acts for purposes of
subsistence, Amos Wilson argues in Black on Black Violence, that
there are powerful and SINISTER psychological forces, not by
accident but by design, that promote crime among African Americans.

Yes there are some jobs that will benefit the local community,
although there might actually be some jobs eliminated as smaller
delis and grocery stores, etc., are driven out by chains that are
better positioned to take advantage of the increase in traffic
associated with running the prison.  This has actually been the
case in many rural areas where prisons have been built.

Then there is no guarantee that jobs will be reserved for the local
communities.  I am not sure whether union labor will be used or
what the criteria for the contractors and subbers is, as far as
local jobs.  (Perhaps I will research this.)  No doubt some jobs
will be made available, but many of the jobs will likely be filled
by out-of-towners, as is often the case.  It would be prudent for
us to learn who is getting the hundreds of million dollar
contracts, what are the political connections of these firms, how
the projects are bonded, the connections of the bonders and law
firms, down the line.  I have an idea what we will find once we
take a look.  It will be more difficult for us to learn exactly
what kind of deals were struck, but who knows, we might get lucky.

The jobs issue you raise is an important one that must be addressed
by those of us who have decided to confront the drive to build more
prisons and incarcerate more of the nation's marginalized
population.  I advocate the demand that NO NEW PRISONS be built,
and that goals be set to bring the prison population down to a rate
that can be comfortably housed in existing facilities without
overcrowding.  The only way to accomplish as much is for us to
confront the major racial, social, political and economic crises
that are gripping our states and this nation, including the JOBS
CRISIS.  As long as we accept the plan of social designers to shift
greater percentages of the population into prisons, we allow the
politicians and their corporate backers to irresponsibly ignore
these crises.

As far as jobs go, there must be a job with a livable wage, and
benefits, for everybody who is willing to work.  This is not my
original idea but is a demand that is being widely discussed among
labor sectors.  It is a reasonable demand that I am ready to fight
for.  Prison construction does not address this demand.  With the
current trend toward privatization, the emphasis will be on profit
and bottom line, not on job creation.  (NJ has a commission
studying privatization that has met with operators of privately run
prisons.)

To be clear, there are some bad dudes out there who need to be
punished for committing terrible acts.  Some of them are in
Washington DC, Langley VA, in board offices of banks and
corporations and on Wall Street.  Others are terrorizing poor
neighborhoods or serving time behind walls.

I know I don't have the whole pie here, and I appreciate your
raising of this issue.  If I am going to raise the NO NEW PRISONS
flag, I need to give more thought to the issue you raised as well
as many others, I am absolutely sure.  That is why dialogue is so
important.

Bob Witanek
===========================================
Posted: sintari@FAST.NET 9/15
In: CRITICAL ISSUES IN AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE AND CULTURE

Bridgeton NJ Prison Construction

Chet, I know you were not "talking" to me, but may I respond also?

I believe what Bob is trying to show us is that we must be careful
who and WHAT we "thank".  Last evening Bianca forwarded several
posts one of which indicated our government is considering reducing
monies to education.  While they are doing this "cut back",
construction for prisons continues to get the stamp of approval.

Yes, prison's do bring money into a community.  However, they also
indicate that something else is occuring in that community as well.

Struggle Forward,
Sintari Shakur

From: Chet  9/16
===========================================
Bob,
        Perhaps there can be a compromise where some of the
notorious 'hellhole' prisons (like Maryland State Prison at
Baltimore and Holmesburg and Moyememsing(sp) prisons in
Pennsylvania) that are already in existence might be replaced with
more humane facilities. With no additional beds, the size of the
prison population would have to be capped.  Yet those already
inside corrections facilities might have education, job training,
even fair wages for the work they do.

        The Bridgeton prison facility might replace the dilapidated
Leesburg Prison Farm (also in Cumberland County) without actually
adding new beds.  This would give men already under the supervision
of the corrections department more humane living conditions.

                                                  --  Chet Pryor
===========================================
Witanek responds, 9/16/95

Chet,

Improving conditions and rehab inside prisons is probably a good
idea. However the Bridgeton facility is for additional prisoners,
not for a replacement.  It will add over 3000 new slots.  Likely,
it will be overcrowded like the rest of them.  If they adopt the
NY model, which is moving toward double bunking (YIKES!), it could
end up with 6 or 7 thousand more prisoners.  According to NJ's
prison racial breakdown, your talking 2 to 4 thousand more African
American NJ men behind walls.  As far as improved conditions, the
politicians in NJ are pushing the 'no frills' garbage, saying that
they want the emphasis to be on punishment and not on rehab.  The
laws for such have not passed yet, and I am hoping that I can work
with other NJ-ers to stop them, but the momentum is going in that
direction.  Thanks much for your response though.

Bob

=================================================================
>>14. MURDER OF HOMELESS MAN BY CHI-TOWN COP =
NO INDICTMENT, NOT EVEN FOR MANSLAUGHTER!
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/15/95

"It hard to argue with those folks who suspect a miscarriage of
justice is taking place." - Chicago Tribune editorial

Those of us who have been putting in dozens of hours to stave off
the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal might be frustrated, though not
surprised by the justice double standard made evident in the
handling of a killing by a Chicago cop.  According to the NY Times
report, Gregory Becker, a Chi-Town cop was off duty and cheating
on his wife with a female 'companion' when a Black homeless man,
Joseph Gould asked him for a donation.  They argued.  The officer,
not in uniform, was initially unarmed, but then reportedly MADE THE
PRE-MEDITATED DECISION TO GO INTO THE TRUNK OF HIS CAR TO RETRIEVE
A GUN!  Mr. Gould ended up dead on the ground in a puddle of blood.

Becker, the killer cop, got into his car with his 'companion' and
drove off.  HE DID NOT REPORT THE SHOOTING and was tracked down
only after witnesses reported his license plate.  Judge Robert
Bastone dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against the cop.

His companion, who is Black and amazingly was unnamed in the NYT
article, told the judge that Mr. Gould started the incident by his
aggressive panhandling and by allegedly calling the woman a name.
However, another witness, a passerby not involved with either
party, testified that the killer cop grabbed Mr. Gould by the neck
and as the homeless man did nothing, a shot rang out.

A group of 30 politicians, civil rights leaders, homeless advocates
and a former judge held a press conference charging that Cook
County State Attorney General Jack O'Malley did not pursue the case
adequately and did not present the evidence required to avoid
dismissal of the case.  O'Malley is the same AG who prosecuted Mel
Reynolds.  Meanwhile, killer cop Becker faces charges by the police
department, which aims to remove him. (New York Times, 9/10/95)

The facts in this case, as far as I can tell, are not murky.  There
is no issue about a cop, in the line of duty who thinks there a
weapon or anticipates danger.  Mr. Gould was murdered in cold
blood.  And Becker's biggest penalty is that he MIGHT be dismissed.

================================================================
>>15. FBI ALSO FABRICATING EVIDENCE?
Posted by Bob Witanek  09/15/95

OJ's surprise defense witness, FBI Special Agent Frederic
Whitehust, a chemist has alleged that the FBI has rigged and
slanted crime lab evidence to influence the outcome of cases.  The
allegations have caused an inquiry into cases ranging from the OJ
case, the World Trade Center bombing and the OK Fed Bldg bombing.
Whitehurst alleges that FBI analyst Roger Martz has slanted lab
findings in court cases.  Martz is a key witness for the
prosecution in the OJ trial.  Whitehurst might testify in that
infamous trial.  According to his affidavit, "Agent Martz is
knowingly and intentionally carrying out FBI policy to suppress
information which might be helpful to the defense and to produce
results that will only help the prosecution."  A 1994 Justice Dept
inspector general audit of the FBI forensic service lab found
sloppy tracking of evidence records, unclear documentation
requirements and not enough proficiency training or supervision of
reports.  (Star Ledger, 9/15/95)

In light of revelations about police and prosecutorial misconduct
from Philly to LA, and now the possibility that the misconduct
extends to the FBI, it is beginning to become clear that criminals
are administering injustice in the US.  How many of the 1.5 million
prisoners in the US are there in part, due to some sort of
misconduct by cops and prosecutors?  Arbitrary imprisonment is a
characteristic of ruthless dictatorships.  Dare the rulers of this
nation lecure the rest of the world about justice and democracy!