Author: Glenn (Freedom of Movement) Robinson

by

Ferguson Protests Erupt Near Grave of Ex-Slave Dred Scott, Whose Case Helped Fuel U.S. Civil War

 

AMY GOODMAN: Just miles down the road from the scene of protests in Ferguson, we’re hearing a lot about Florissant. Just down Florissant is the grave of Dred Scott, who’s buried in the Calvary Cemetery on West Florissant Avenue. Born a slave in Virginia, Dred Scott sued in a St. Louis court for his freedom. The case went to the Supreme Court, resulting in a landmark Supreme Court decision that’s called the worst ever. In 1857, the court ruled African Americans were not citizens of the United States, and therefore had no rights to sue in federal courts. The court described blacks as, quote, “beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect,” unquote. Again, the Dred Scott decision, considered the worst decision in the history of the Supreme Court, in the slave state of Missouri, the seven-to-two decision. The chief justice was a slave owner himself. In fact, a number of the Supreme Court justices were slave owners themselves.

To talk more about the significance of this case today, we’re joined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, professor of law at UCLA and Columbia University, founder of the African American Policy Forum.

Kimberlé, thank you for joining us. Professor Crenshaw, talk about the significance of Dred Scott’s body just lying down the road on Florissant, the road we’ve heard so much about, as these protests continue and escalate.


KIMBERLÉ CRENSHAW: Well, really couldn’t be more symbolic. As you point out, Dred Scott is widely regarded as being one of the worst cases ever. And there are two ways in which we might see its relevance in this particular moment. One, when the Supreme Court was trying to decide whether African Americans could be citizens, what they considered was the way African Americans were treated. They weren’t necessarily looking at formal law. In a lot of ways, free blacks had more rights than white women did. But the overall idea was that they could be enslavable. The overall idea is that they weren’t seen as having the same social worth as white Americans and could be enslaved for their own good. So the very possibility of their enslavability meant that, at least as far as the founders were concerned, they were going to be forever and permanently a stateless people. And that would have likely been the case had the case not led to a civil war.

 

Source: www.democracynow.org

by

“A Human Rights Crisis”: In Unprecedented Move, Amnesty International Sends Monitors to Ferguson

 

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org,The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. As we continue to look at the situation in Ferguson, Missouri, we’re joined by the executive director of Amnesty International USA, which has taken an unprecedented step in sending a 13-person delegation to monitor the developments in Ferguson. Amnesty has never before deployed observers inside the United States.

We’re joined here in our New York studio by Steven Hawkins, who has also worked as an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, where he represented African-American men facing the death penalty throughout the Deep South in the United States.

Welcome to Democracy Now!, Steven.


STEVEN HAWKINS: Pleasure to be here.


AMY GOODMAN: Talk about this decision.


STEVEN HAWKINS: Well, Amnesty saw a human rights crisis in Ferguson, and it’s a human rights crisis that is escalating. We sent observers down because there was a need for human rights observers. Clearly there are violations of international human rights law and standards, in terms of how the policing is being done on protests. So, for example, we’ve issued reports on, for example, Israel and the Occupied Territories, how tear gas is supposed to be administered—never in an indiscriminate way where children and the elderly could be subject to very harmful effects, even death, from tear gas. So, we sent down observers to be on the ground. We have been thwarted in our efforts to be able to go out on curfew with the police, which would be a clear standard in these circumstances, as well as the opportunity for the press to be able to be in the space. So, we also went down to make sure that the citizens in Ferguson understood that the eyes of the world were watching, that Amnesty is deeply supportive, and we will be continuing to monitor the situation.

 

Source: www.democracynow.org

by

Kroger Under Fire From Gun-Control Moms

  The fight over whether shoppers should be allowed to tote guns openly in American businesses is about to spill into the aisles of Kroger, the nation’s largest supermarket chain. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a national gun control organization backed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will kick off a campaign on Monday that seeks to pressure the grocery giant to ban the open carry of firearms in all of its nearly 2,500 stores. The moms’ group decided to take action in response to recent demonstrations by open carry activists in Kroger stores in Ohio and Texas, and after conducting research that identified more than a dozen shootings on Kroger property since 2012, said Erika Soto Lamb, a spokeswoman. “Kroger employees shouldn’t have to determine whether the person holding a gun in the frozen aisle is someone dangerous or someone making a political statement,” Lamb said.   Source: www.huffingtonpost.com   Remember when 13 year old Andy Lopez was shot DEAD for carrying the same looking TOY.   Remember when John Crawford was shot DEAD for carrying the same looking TOY in Walmart?

by

Autopsy results enough to charge officer, Brown family attorney says

  An autopsy of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, provides “ample” evidence for the arrest of the police officer who shot him, a family attorney says.   Bullet shot in top of head came out of his right eye #MikeBrown #Ferguson http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/18/us/missouri-teen-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_t1   – Click through for [VIDEO] –   Source: www.cnn.com

by

#LastWords: A Tribute to Men Killed by Police –

  Shirin-Banou Barghi created this series of graphics dedicated to those killed by police officers.   – Click through for more –   Source: goodmenproject.com

by

Erick Gelhaus, deputy who shot 13 year old Andy Lopez, returning to patrol

 

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Erick Gelhaus will return to patrolling the streets next week, nearly 10 months after he shot and killed 13-year-old Andy Lopez, sparking protests that revealed deep distrust of law enforcement among some residents, especially those in the Latino community.

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office in July cleared Gelhaus of any criminal wrongdoing for his actions in the fatal Oct. 22 shooting, which ignited an emotional debate about officers’ use of deadly force and the dangers of toy guns made to look like real firearms.

Lopez was shot while walking down a residential street on Santa Rosa’s southwest outskirts carrying an airsoft BB gun made to resemble an AK-47 assault rifle. Gelhaus told investigators he ordered the boy to drop the gun, then opened fire when Lopez turned toward the deputy, partially raising the barrel of the gun.

Gelhaus did not return a call seeking comment about his return to patrol duties. His attorney Terry Leoni said in an email that the veteran deputy welcomed “this assignment, and knows his nearly 25-years in law enforcement will continue to benefit the community.”

“He will continue to proudly serve the people of Sonoma County, as he has always done,” Leoni said.

Gelhaus, a firearms instructor in the Sheriff’s Office, has been back at work since December, largely in administrative assignments within the department. His return to patrol, including a wide range of duties interacting with the public, marks another potent moment in what has been a painful and tumultuous chapter in Sonoma County history.

For those who have continued to protest the deputy’s actions, news of Gelhaus’ return to patrol was met with surprise and a sense that their concerns had gone unheard.


– Click through for more –

Source: www.pressdemocrat.com