Two Harlan County, Kentucky, Men Indicted for Federal Hate Crime Against Individual Because of Sexual Orientation; Update on DOJ and Trayvon Martin -- Zimmerman

Released by the

U.S. Dept. of Justice

Civil Rights Division

Thurs., April 12, 2012

Indictment Marks the First Case Charged Under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act Involving Sexual Orientation

Two Harlan County, Ky., men were indicted today for their roles in kidnapping and assaulting a gay man because of his sexual orientation, the Justice Department announced today.

A federal grand jury in London, Ky., returned a three-count indictment charging David Jason Jenkins, 37, and Anthony Ray Jenkins, 20, for kidnapping and assaulting Kevin Pennington, and for conspiring with each other and with other unnamed individuals to commit the kidnapping.

Matthew Shepard, left 

The indictment charges the men with committing a hate crime in violation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded federal jurisdiction to include certain assaults motivated by someone’s sexual orientation.  This case marks the first federal hate crime charging a violation of the sexual orientation provision of the statute.

The indictment alleges that on April 4, 2011, the two defendants kidnapped and assaulted Kevin Pennington because of Pennington’s sexual orientation. According to the indictment, the defendants enlisted two women to trick Pennington into getting into a truck with the defendants, so that the defendants could drive Pennington to a state park and assault him. According to the indictment, the defendants then drove Pennington a secluded area of the Kingdom Come State Park in Kentucky and assaulted him. To read more,click here.

Meanwhile...

Holder: Justice Dept. will act on Trayvon Martin case if evidence of civil rights crime

Attorney General tells Rev. Al Sharpton group fighting youth violence is a top priority 

Reported by the New York Daily News:

Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that the Justice Department will take appropriate action in the killing of Trayvon Martin if it finds evidence that a federal criminal civil rights crime has been committed.

The attorney general made the comment in an appearance before a civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Holder says the department will conduct a thorough and independent review of the evidence in the Martin matter.

The attorney general says one of the department's top priorities is preventing and combating youth violence and victimization.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/holder-justice-dept-act-trayvon-martin-case-evidence-civil-rights-crime-article-1.1059685#ixzz1rrBMbro9

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/holder-justice-dept-act-trayvon-martin-case-evidence-civil-rights-crime-article-1.1059685#ixzz1rrBFfp2v

Feds Go After Arizona For Violating Civil Rights of Non Native English Speakers

By JONATHAN J. COOPER (AP)

Two federal investigations have found that Arizona is violating the civil rights of some students who are not native English speakers by denying them access to special programs for English learners.

In one case, the U.S. Education and Justice departments concluded that Arizona is inappropriately classifying students as fluent in English when tests show they are not.

In the other case, investigators found that the state is not identifying thousands of students who might struggle with English because it replaced a three-question survey with a single vague question.

Arizona could lose millions in federal funding if officials don't fix the system to address investigators' concerns.

AP story continued --
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5guaW6MceICLQneyjjq3mSr5mmMygD9I5CLN83

Civil Rights Activist Dick Gregory Urges Mass Support for the Gray-Haired Witnesses Fast for Justice

Contact: Nancy Lockhart
June 4, 2010 at 8:28am
Subject: DICK GREGORY Urges Mass Support for the Gray-Haired Witnesses Fast for Justice ~ By Sis. Marpessa

P r e s s R e l e a s e

Contacts: B.J. Janice Peak-Graham / Marpessa Kupendua 1- 866-968-1188, Ext. 2 ghwitnesses@gmail.com http://www.facebook.com/l/787a2;www.grayhairedwitnesses.blogspot.com/

WASHINGTON, June 3/Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice News -- Fiery human rights activist, Dick Gregory, urged everyone to support the June 21, 2010 Gray-Haired Witnesses Fast for Justice in DC in an interview yesterday. The upcoming day-long event is to call attention to the shocking case of the Mississippi Scott Sisters, two women who each received double-life sentences for an alleged robbery of $11.00 almost 16 years ago. The public fast, press conference and rally also calls attention to the entire system of justice which increasingly incarcerates and oversentences non-violent Black female first time offenders, such as Jamie and Gladys Scott, punishing and many times actually destroying entire families.

"This is one of the worst cases I have ever heard of in my life," exclaimed Gregory, "My jaw dropped when I read that these women have been in prison for almost 16 years and aren't even charged with laying a hand on anyone! This country should be embarrassed to have such a blatant travesty of justice exist while wagging our finger at people abroad for human rights abuses. What we have going on here is the epitome of cruel and unusual punishment and is outrageous, even for Mississippi!".

The Gray-Haired Witnesses Fast for Justice was prompted by the very serious illness of now 38-yr. old Jamie Scott who entered prison in 1994 a healthy young woman yet suffered kidney failure this past January and was deprived adequate medical treatment for an extended period of time. Jamie has quickly declined to stage 5 (end stage) kidney disease and has suffered many life-threatening medical emergencies in an unclean environment.

Mr. Gregory was dumbfounded as to why MS Governor Haley Barbour has ignored all calls to pardon the women. "They went in at the ages of 19 and 22 with no prior criminal record, have consistently maintained their innocence, and even the testimony against them is documented as having been coerced! Even if they were guilty, we are talking about double-life sentences each, how does that make any kind of sense, don't their lives mean anything at all? If Gov. Barbour won't do the right thing then we need Eric Holder and President Obama to immediately step in! Washington, DC should be packed with people on June 21, demanding the immediate release of the Scott Sisters!".

On June 21, 2010, the Gray-Haired Witnesses will commence a Fast at the Department of Justice in a 10:00 a.m formal appeal to Eric Holder, rejoin at the White House at Noon with a press conference and formal appeal to President Obama, and then continue at Lafayette Square Park from 1PM until 9PM for the duration of the fast with speakers, live performances and artists. The Gray-Haired Witnesses are calling on all people of good will to join them on that day and demand justice for the Scott Sisters and an end to the oversentencing, degradation and dehumanization of Black women in this system and nation as a whole.

Hunger Strike Set For June 21; Increased Women's Prison Population; Support For Scott Sisters, Mississippi

News Release
Nancy Lockhart May 14 at 2:53pm Reply
Contacts: Ruby Sales / B.J. Janice Peak-Graham
1-706-323-0246 /0247 - spirithousedc@gmail.com

The Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice are conducting a Hunger Strike at the Department of Justice Headquarters in Washington, DC on June 21, 2010.

We, who are three strikes removed from the center of the power structure of this country, want to raise the political consciousness of the nation while standing as the moral soul of the nation. We are Gray-Haired Witnesses who have struggled from time immemorial within the Black community. We are building towards a movement in history and we need all people of good will to be a part!

When Ida B. Wells stood up, she set in motion a resistance movement where many Americans broke their silence against lynching and said NO. She stood for a race of people bereft of political power or resources. More than 100 years later Gray-Haired Witnesses, Black women with a new Freedom Movement calling on this nation, stand in the spirit of those proud men and women who won hard-fought for victories in struggle and blood. We speak to the totality of the struggle of the Black woman who is debased regularly as uneducated, immoral, subhuman, whore, bad mother, and welfare queen. We also recognize the systemic racism that leads the police to even arrest the Black woman in the first place, the racism during sentencing, during incarceration, in dealing with social services, education, health discrimination, and beyond.

Over the last 20 years, the women’s population in US prisons has more than tripled. Most women are in prison as a result of drug selling, addiction, domestic violence and criminal acts mostly related to men. Too many are victimized by biased and negligent lawyers and judges. The evidence of oppression against Black and poor women significantly increased and continues to mount. Our Sisters are victimized, and subsequently our families, by enormous health care disparities, and emotional degradation through corporate media demonization of our image and place in our community. We now see a coalition of corporate, cultural and political wars fully embracing a White supremacist culture of domination and terrorism.

Our primary focus is the case of the Mississippi Scott Sisters, Jamie and Gladys, whose almost 16 yrs of unjust incarceration is a shocking revelation of the pure nothingness with which our lives are deemed in the eyes of this society and world, where such egregious travesties of justice are heaped upon our women with hate-filled arrogance and in plain view! In 1994, the State of Mississippi sentenced Jamie and Gladys Scott to consecutive double-life terms each for two counts of armed robbery they did not commit. They did not have prior criminal records, vigorously maintained their innocence, approximately $11 was said to have been netted, no one was harmed or injured and no weapon was ever recovered.

In January, 2010, Jamie Scott suffered failure of both kidneys. The combination of absymal health care under deplorable conditions has culminated in her steep decline to stage 5 (end stage) kidney disease. Jamie Scott has now effectively been sentenced to death. We must address this specific issue with urgency and demand that an Inspection and Observation Team be allowed into the Pearl, MS prison where Jamie Scott is being held for independent evaluation, as well as call on this government to free Jamie and Gladys Scott, wrongfully convicted and with no business being incarcerated in the first place! The case of the Scott Sisters is a horrific representation of the cases of countless other Black and poor women who have been denied the benefits of true justice and been incarcerated wrongly and in the process punishing, injuring and destroying Black families and children across the nation.

The Gray-Haired Witness are calling on all people of good will to fast and strike and resist with us across the nation on this day. The greatest asset we have is our body, mind and spirit and our willingness to step out of the daily flow of life and stand tall for what is right and just. In the tradition of race women throughout history and our survival, we declare our presence and we will not be silent and we are not afraid. Our lives have prepared us to come to this place, at this time.

STAND WITH US IN WASHINGTON, DC AND HELP TO BUILD THIS EVENT.

WE ASK THAT YOU STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH US:

1. Organize attendees to come to the event on June 21.
2. Sign your organization/ club/church/ mosque/temple, etc. on in solidarity with the event.
3. Put a statement in support on your website and link to our blogspot. Send a mailing to your email list and memberships.
4. Assist in distributing literature for this event to build it to the maximum level.
5. Assist in garnering press now and at the event.
6. Organize a local fast where you are and send a press release to local news outlets about the hunger strike and your local support efforts.
7. Dress and wear buttons in solidarity with us on that day.
8. Assist with donations towards expenses earmarked "Gray-Haired Witnesses" at http://www.spiritho useproject. org/donation. cfm.

We call on our Sisters, our Brothers to join with us to demand what is right. We must speak loudly and clearly to the devaluation of Black women's bodies and lives. We want people of all colors to wage a struggle and stand with us on these issues because none of us are free until we are all free.

SHAKEERAH ABDUL AL-SABUUR, Paralegal
FATIRAH AZIZ, ICFFMAJ, African American Freedom & Reconstruction League, Quba Institute
MAE JACKSON, Art without Walls
MARPESSA KUPENDUA, M'Backe House of Hope, Inc.
DEBRA D. NAPIER, PhD.
BJ JANICE PEAK-GRAHAM, OUR COMMON GROUND Communications, Inc., Progressive Alternative Talk Radio
RUBY NELL SALES, Founder and Co-Director of SpiritHouse project - Public theologian, educator and long time runner for justice
JAMIA SHEPHERD, Founder/President of S.O.P.E. - Support Our People's Efforts

http://www.grayhairedwitnesses.blogspot.com
The SpiritHouse Project
100 6th Street
Columbus, GA 31901