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Criminal Justice

360 360 Derrick Jones

PRESS RELEASE: NAACP Calls for Federal Investigation Into Jonathan Sanders Death

2016/01/12 – The Mississippi State Conference NAACP and the Clark County NAACP are extremely
disappointed that a Clark County Grand Jury did not indict Officer Kevin Herrington in the
choking death of Jonathan Sanders. Clark County District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell convened a
grand jury last week after receiving results from a review of the case by the Mississippi Bureau
of Investigation (MBI). The Grand Jury concluded its review on Thursday and the decision was
released this morning.

Derrick Johnson, MS State Conference President says that the fight for justice in this case is not
over. “We will continue to stand by Jonathan Sanders’s family and the Stonewall community as
they continue to seek justice in this case,” says Johnson. The MS State Conference NAACP will
meet with the family and attorneys for the family to review case evidence in order to determine
the next steps.

Clark County NAACP President Rev. Lawrence Kirksey believes that an outside investigation
by the Department of Justice will be the only way to resolve this tragedy. “There are too many
unanswered questions in Jonathan Sanders’s case and Bilbo Mitchell has not answered any of
these questions for the family,” said Rev. Kirksey. One of those questions revolves around the
reason that Mr. Sanders was stopped. “The D.A. has not told the family or the community the
reason that he was stopped in the first place,” Kirksey continued. Officer Herrington was not on
duty when the incident happened.

“In this era of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, it’s a shame that local authorities continue to
demonstrate their belief that black lives don’t really matter. We have to hold these officials
accountable to administering equal justice that respects the life of every individual, regardless of
race,” Johnson continued.

For more information about the Mississippi NAACP or news stories, call 601-353-8452 or log on to www.naacpms.org.

Like us on Facebook by searching Mississippi NAACP and follow us on Twitter @MSNAACP.

Source: NAACP MS Staff

360 371 Deante Morgan

NAACP Calls for Federal Investigation Into Jonathan Sanders Death

2015/1/12 – 

The Mississippi State Conference NAACP and the Clark County NAACP are extremely disappointed that a Clark County Grand Jury did not indict Officer Kevin Herrington in the choking death of Jonathan Sanders.   Clark County District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell convened a grand jury last week after receiving results from a review of the case by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI). The Grand Jury concluded its review on Thursday and the decision was released this morning.

 

Derrick Johnson, MS State Conference President says that the fight for justice in this case is not over. “We will continue to stand by Jonathan Sanders’s family and the Stonewall community as they continue to seek justice in this case,” says Johnson. The MS State Conference NAACP will meet with the family and attorneys for the family to review case evidence in order to determine the next steps.

 

Clark County NAACP President Rev. Lawrence Kirksey believes that an outside investigation by the Department of Justice will be the only way to resolve this tragedy. “There are too many unanswered questions in Jonathan Sanders’s case and Bilbo Mitchell has not answered any of these questions for the family,” said Rev. Kirksey. One of those questions revolves around the reason that Mr. Sanders was stopped. “The D.A. has not told the family or the community the reason that he was stopped in the first place,” Kirksey continued. Officer Herrington was not on duty when the incident happened.

 

“In this era of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, it’s a shame that local authorities continue to demonstrate their belief that black lives don’t really matter. We have to hold these officials accountable to administering equal justice that respects the life of every individual, regardless of race,” Johnson continued.

 

Source: NAACP Writers

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Spirit of Stokes’ Comments: Black Life Matters, Too

2016/01/07 – The firestorm surrounding what many have deemed controversial comments by Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes have a lot of people up in arms. Although many disagree with Stokes’ suggestion to “throw rocks, bricks and bottles” at neighboring law-enforcement officers who pursue suspects beyond their municipal borders, there is no doubt that such behavior by neighboring law enforcement officers poses a danger to life and property of Jacksonians.

Stokes’ comments clearly came from a place of concern for the safety of the city’s residents. They were in the same spirit that is causing many people, young and old, to rise up and hold law enforcement accountable for countless incidents of police misconduct against black people. The spirit asserts and demands that black life matters, too, and should not be of second-tier importance.

The seriousness of the issue is being buried beneath the rubble of controversy. The fact that neighboring police departments’ actions show a blatant disregard for the safety of residents within Jackson’s city limits should be the focus of the discourse. Discussions about endangering law enforcement and what Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey described as “racism against blue” are ancillary.

Stokes’ opposition to neighboring law enforcement dangerously pursuing suspects into Jackson is well documented. He has pled with these agencies to stop this reckless practice since his time as a Hinds County supervisor. Since then, these police chases have resulted in injury and damage to property and endangered innocent bystanders.

Most suspects of interest committed misdemeanor offenses of a non-violent nature. As a criminal-defense attorney, it has been my experience that many people who commit such crimes do so to support drug habits or to seek out an economic existence in an economy devastated by decades of white flight and economic strangulation where job opportunities are slim to none. These agencies’ dangerous practices send a clear message that property takes precedent over the lives and safety of human beings. Although some neighboring law enforcement officials have adamantly asserted that their actions do not demonstrate racial disregard for a predominantly black city, their responses to Councilman Stokes reveal otherwise.

Neighboring law-enforcement responses were harsh and targeted Jackson as a city. Some police chiefs and sheriffs called for economic sanctions on the city by encouraging those in neighboring law-enforcement agencies to halt patronage of businesses in Jackson, which is already economically embattled and on the financial ropes.

Even more disturbing are Attorney General Jim Hood’s and Gov. Phil Bryant’s responses to Stokes’ remarks. Bryant condemned Stokes’ remarks and mischaracterized his comments as “criminal threats.” Hood’s statement, although less condemnatory, conveyed a similar message. It is telling that both men find it urgent to respond to the comments of a city councilman. But neither Hood nor Bryant has commented on the findings from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that the City of Ridgeland has been engaged in “unlawful discrimination based on race” against black people. No condemnation of how the entrenched school-to-prison pipeline is under-serving and mis-educating Mississippi’s children. No comments about how residents of Mississippi are forced to live in poverty a mere stone’s throw away from the governor’s mansion and Hood’s office. No comments about how Mississippi mass incarcerates and warehouses poor people in many instances for profit. Hood has made at least two trips to the United Nations in an attempt to sanitize his and the State of Mississippi’s abysmal record in the realm of human rights while making no concrete efforts to improve it.

Given the current climate in the U.S., I cannot advocate for anyone to hurl anything at police officers for the fear that they would be shot down in cold blood. I think Stokes understands this, but his comments stem from a place of frustration with an issue that he has been addressing with civility to no avail. I understand and share his frustration that black life is not being given equal value on par with the lives of others in this state.

The safety and security of Jackson’s residents should be given the same priority and respect as residents in neighboring municipalities and counties. The city’s residents’ lives and property are placed in immediate and imminent danger when officers from a neighboring county or municipality chase any suspect across jurisdictional boundaries. That point should not be lost amidst the controversy surrounding Stokes’ comments.

Adofo Minka is a husband, father and criminal defense attorney in Hinds County. He is a member of the National Conference of Black Lawyers and works with Law for Black Lives. He lives in the Cooperative Community of New West Jackson.

Source: Jackson Free Press

Adofo Minka

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Kentucky Restores Voting Rights to Ex-Convicts

2016/01/02 – Dear friends and allies,

 

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear issued an executive order this morning that will make it possible for thousands of Kentucky citizens with past criminal convictions to get back their right to vote — an incredible breakthrough in the movement to end criminal disenfranchisement policies nationwide. Over 140,000 Kentuckians with past non-violent convictions and who have fully completed their sentences (including probation and parole) can act now to reclaim their voting rights, through a simple rights restoration process.

 

Going forward, Kentuckians completing sentences for non-violent felony convictions will automatically regain their voting rights – we estimate that another 30,000 people will have their voting rights restored over time. The figures used to assess the order’s impact were estimated using data from several sources, including the 2010 U.S. Census, the Sentencing Project’s estimates of disenfranchised populations, and federal Bureau of Justice Statistics data of the proportion of individuals on parole and probation with felony convictions classified as non-violent or otherwise.

 

Those who have already completed their sentences can act today to reclaim their voting rights by signing up at a website to be announced. Please join the Brennan Center and other allies in sharing this information widely so that all eligible Kentuckians hear about the restoration process and can act quickly to seize this historic opportunity. Together, we can ensure that our fellow citizens can represent themselves, their children, and their communities at the ballot box.

 

Gov. Beshear’s announcement marks a major advancement and reflects many years of dedicated advocacy by many groups, including Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, the Catholic Conference of Kentucky, the ACLU of Kentucky, the Kentucky Council of Churches, and the Kentucky State Conference of the NAACP. Kentucky for too long been one of only a handful of states to impose lifetime disenfranchisement for all felony convictions. Today, that policy came to an end. Now, Iowa and Florida are the only remaining states to permanently disenfranchise all people with felony convictions.

 

Again, individuals who have already completed their sentences and believe they may be eligible for voting rights restoration under the new policy should act quickly and visit the state’s site for details on eligibility and how to initiate the rights restoration process. Please help us spread this message far and wide.  Folks with questions can reach out to Tomas Lopez (tomas.lopez@nyu.edu/646.292.8372) or Myrna Pérez (myrna.perez@nyu.edu/646.292.8329) for more info.

 

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Man Perfectly Responds To Police Questioning His ‘Jogging While Black’
10/20/2015-An Alabama man stands up for his rights, and wins.
While going for a jog the other night an Alabama man, Corey Dickerson, was faced with the nightmarish reality many people of color face today: being racially profiled by police. Dickerson decided to take a break to catch his breath when he was stopped by a police officer and asked to identify himself.

In Alabama, police officers are legally allowed to stop any person they suspect of committing a crime and ask the “suspect” to explain their actions. Conscious of this “stop and identify” policy, Dickerson asks if the officer suspects him of committing a crime.

While trying to backtrack, the officer explains that there have been robberies in the neighborhood, and cites a woman living nearby who has been robbed twice. Dickerson, a resident of the neighborhood, is aware of these robberies, noting that they happened years ago.

As a Hail Mary, the officer mentions gun violence in the area, but Dickerson rebuts that scenario involved teenagers, and he is an adult.

After claiming that he had been a victim of police violence before, the officers seem to run out of excuses for stopping Dickerson and the video ends. While he was fortunately spared a more serious interaction, or arrest, the cost to his time and dignity are inestimable.

 

Source: The Daily Beast

Sara Sayed