July 23, 2009

Study Finds Record Number of Inmates Serving Life Terms

By SOLOMON MOORE

CORONA, Calif. — Mary Thompson, an inmate at the California Institution for Women here, was convicted of two felonies for a robbery spree in which she threatened victims with a knife. Her third felony under California’s three-strikes law was the theft of three tracksuits to pay for her crack cocaine habit in 1982.

Today, June 29, 2009, Herman Bell, one of the SF8, will plead (pled) guilty in Department 22 of the San Francisco Superior Court to the reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter for his role in the killing of San Francisco police officer John Young in 1971. Mr. Bell is charged along with six others with this crime. The other six are still scheduled to go forward with the preliminary hearing beginning on July 6, 2009.

On June 27th, CR's first legal clinic is opening its doors in New Orleans. The clinic will begin with a focus on helping former prisoners expunge their records, and file police complaint forms.

As CR gets going, we're also planning Community Legal Institutes to further discuss and share strategies for navigating the legal system in a way that helps keep ourselves and our neighbors safe, that prevents harm from happening in the first place, and moves us all towards abolition.

 
Leonard Peltier's first full parole hearing was held in 1993, atwhich time his case was continued for a 15-year reconsideration. On Wednesday, it was announced (in Portland, OR) that Mr. Peltier hasrecently applied for and been granted a parole hearing. The hearingis scheduled for July 27, 2009. All supporters are encouraged tostep up their efforts in support of parole for Leonard Peltier.

Letters in Support of Parole