Hi. Ritter and Cohen are here next week, not tonight. Aplogies for this morning's mis-information. The dates are straight around the LA 8. Demo this evening and film on Saturday. Ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/opinion/14wed3.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin A Shameful Prosecution The Editors, NY Times: February 14, 2007 An immigration court judge's dismissal of 20-year-old deportation proceedings against two Palestinian men - and his criticism of the government's abusive conduct in the case - ought to prick the conscience of the homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff. Rather than reflexively pursuing an appeal, Mr. Chertoff, a former federal judge, should see the wisdom of finally declaring an end to this sorry legal tale, which has become a big source of distrust in the Arab and Muslim community. The two legal American residents at the center of the controversy, Khader Musa Hamide and Michel Ibrahim Shehadeh, are the sole remaining defendants in a Reagan-era cause célèbre known as the L.A. 8 case. They were arrested in Los Angeles and marked for deportation along with six others because of allegations that they supported the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is classified as a terrorist group. The charges against the two have shifted repeatedly. Originally, they were charged under the 1952 McCarran-Walter Act, a cold war relic that allowed the deportation of noncitizens linked to any group advocating "world communism." A federal court declared those provisions unconstitutional and Congress repealed them, but the government's obsession only seemed to grow. At least twice, government lawyers pressed Congress for statutory changes, then tried to apply them retroactively. What makes this pursuit so bizarre is that the government long ago conceded it had no evidence that the two men had ever been involved in any terrorist act, or any criminal act. Had they been United States citizens, they could not have been arrested. The key allegation - that two decades ago the men distributed a magazine published by the Popular Front and raised money for lawful charitable institutions somehow connected to the group - suggests that the government's real motive all along has been to punish the exercise of free speech. In dismissing the case, an immigration judge, Bruce Einhorn, cited the government's "gross failure" to comply with his instructions to produce potentially exculpatory and other relevant information. He fittingly denounced the 20-year pursuit as "an embarrassment to the rule of law." Mr. Chertoff has until Feb. 28 to file an appeal. The only decent thing to do is to drop the case. *** What: "LEGACY OF TORTURE: The War Against the Black Liberation Movement" Los Angeles Premiere Showing! When: Saturday, February 17, 2007 4:00 - 7:00 PM Where: Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research 6120 South Vermont, Los Angeles, CA The FBI and CA police recently arrested eight aging former Black Panthers, some of whom were victims of torture, charging them with an alleged conspiracy to kill cops and the murder of a San Francisco officer 35 years ago. Denouncing the arrests as an attack on activists, the legacy of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, and a violation of human rights, many have rallied to their defense. Their defenders say that there was a real conspiracy at the time by the police and the FBI to kill Black Panthers! Known as COINTELPRO, this clandestine 'dirty war' was carried out inside the US through assassinations, frame-ups, mass arrests and military-style assault against the Panthers, and through torture, such as was carried out against defendants and alleged witnesses in this case. According to a member of the Jericho Amnesty Coalition in Los Angeles, "as the Black liberation movement is pushing the new Democratic majority in Congress to reopen hearings into COINTELPRO, prosecutors have trotted out a totally discredited case to try to derail those efforts and intimidate Congress." Stuart Hanlon, one of the attorneys in the case has pointed out that this case was already thrown out of court once because it's based on the documented torture of the Panthers carried out by the New Orleans police under the supervision of the San Francisco police and federal authorities." This new video documentary, which was released just before the indictments, was made after some of the defendants in this case, including Altadena residents Hank Jones and Ray Boudreaux, were released after serving jail time for refusing to testify to a grand jury. It.is being shown as a benefit to support their defense. The program, sponsored by the Jericho Amnesty Coalition - L.A. will also feature family members of the accused and supporters from the Black, Puerto Rican, Mexicano, indigenous and other liberation movements speaking about the importance of the Black Panthers and of this current case. The first court hearing for the four defendants who live in California -- Richard Brown, Hank Jones, Richard O'Neal, and Ray Boudreaux-was held in San Francisco Superior Court on January 29, 2007. The defendants are presently being held on bail of $3 million to $5 million each! Their arraignment and a bail reduction hearing was carried over until February 14 at 9:00 am in San Francisco. A support rally may be held here in Los Angeles. Another defendant, Harold Taylor, is fighting extradition from Florida. Three others are in NY -- Francisco Torres, and political prisoners Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaquin of the New York Three (whose conviction many years ago was based on testimony from the same torture victim who is the state's witness in this case). For more information call 310-495-0299 or check www.geocities.com/jerichoamnestycoalitionla The national website for up-to-the-minute information and to sign up for the supporters' list serve is www.cdhrsupport.org. Donations should be made out to CDHR/AGAPE and sent to the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, P.O. Box 90221, Pasadena, CA 91109. *** Emergency demonstration for Black Panther 8 Wednesday 2-14, 5 PM For immediate release -- Please forward widely What: Rally and Press Conference to SupportFreedom for the Black Panther Eight Where: Downtown Los Angeles Federal Building, 300 N. Los Angeles Street at Temple Who: Panther Eight Unity Mission, including Black Riders Liberation Party, Jericho Amnesty Coalition Los Angeles On the occasion of a bail reduction hearing set in San Francisco for four of the eight former Black Panthers recently indicted on 36-year-old charges based on police torture of some of the defendants and of the key witness for the prosecution, there will be an emergency support demonstration and press conference to demand freedom for the BP8 and all political prisoners. It will take place on Wednesday, February 14 at 5:00 PM outside the downtown Federal Building on Los Angeles Street at Temple Street. Although the eight former Blank Panther Party members, including local Altadena residents Ray Boudreaux and Hank Jones, are facing trial in San Francisco, there has been clear federal involvement from the very beginning, in 1971, as part of the COINTELPRO attack on the Black liberation movement. Therefore, members of the Panther Eight Unity Mission are taking their public action at the Los Angeles Federal Building. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
