photo: debbie nathan
Here are some things you can do right now to help them find justice.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Act Now to Help Exonerate the San Antonio Four
April 20th, 2016Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
A Different Kind of Horror Film
April 16th, 2016
“What makes Southwest of Salem even more extraordinary is that it is Esquenazi’s first feature film. The Austin resident uses a sure hand to guide the viewer through a complicated narrative, laying out the facts while still deftly conveying the intense emotion behind a story in which many lives were damaged. It’s a tale that at times feels all too familiar to people who follow the twists of the Texas justice system—just how easily a case can spiral out of control when people get crazy ideas in their heads and the law plays along.”
Read the article by Michael Hall in Texas Monthly.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Are Sex Offenders White?
April 12th, 2016“Yes, this group is more racially proportionate to the general population than, say, drug offenders. But like every other criminal population, people convicted and punished for sex crimes are disproportionately African-American.”
Read the article by Judith Levine and Erica Meiners in Counterpunch.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Anderson’s ‘dying wish’ revisits controversial case
April 12th, 2016
(AP Photo/Barry Chin-Pool)
According to Amirault, Baker spoke to him in 2014 while he was campaigning for governor in the North End in Boston. “He made a commitment to me in front of my whole family that once he was elected one of the first things on his list would be to take care of my situation,” Amirault said.
Read the article by Paul Leighton in the Salem News.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Convicted of a Crime That Never Happened
April 9th, 2016
Photo: Jana Birchum
“Today, there are few true believers left who vocally insist upon this history. To many in the criminal justice system, it is now a source of embarrassment that there was ever a time when police and prosecutors were convinced that bands of Satanists had infiltrated the nation’s day care centers in order to abuse young children. Yet in the Kellers’ case, which I investigated for the Austin Chronicle back in 2009, I was startled to hear both a veteran cop and prosecutor say they still believed in even the most absurd of the children’s allegations against the Kellers.
Read the article by Jordan Smith in The Intercept.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Don’t Just Get Kids Off the Sex Offender Registry. Abolish It
April 8th, 2016Exclusive focus on the young offender—rather than a rejection of the entire sex offender regime—avoids the larger, less politically popular truth. “Sex offender registries are harmful to kids and to adults,” says Emily Horowitz, associate professor of sociology and criminal justice at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, and a board member of the National Center for Reason & Justice, which works for sensible child-protective policies and against unjust sex laws. “No evidence exists that they prevent sex crimes either by juvenile offenders or adult offenders.”
Read the Counterpunch article by Judith Levine (NCRJ Board Member) and Erica Meiners.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Dr. Emily Horowitz Will Discuss her Book in Boston on April 11
March 31st, 2016
Click here to see the event flyer.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Eric Tennen Discusses the Baran Case
March 31st, 2016
photo: jim d’entremont
This Sunday at 2:00 p.m. EDT Eric Tennen, one of Bernard Baran’s attorneys, will be discussing the case on Worcester radio stations WCRN.
You can listen to the program by following this link.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
When facts aren’t facts: A look at the effectiveness of sexual offender registries
March 27th, 2016
Jason Malmont, The Sentinel
“However, overwhelming research has shown that sexual offenders, as a whole, are some of the least likely groups to commit new crimes, Rydberg said.
“Rydberg said one major study found that only about 5 percent of sexual offenders committed a new sexual crime within five years. The U.S. Department of Justice places the re-offense rate for sexual offenders as low as 3 to 10 percent, and a study conducted by Karl Hanson found that out of 8,000 offenders that were tracked, none who remained offense-free for 15 years were likely to reoffend after.”
Read the article by Joshua Vaughan in The Sentinel.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
A Special Evening With the San Antonio Four
March 23rd, 2016The National Center for Reason and Justice (NCRJ)
Invites you to a special evening with the “SAN ANTONIO 4”
Wednesday, April 13, 2016 7:30 PM
Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen St., NYC
photo: debbie nathan
The “San Antonio 4” are four Latina lesbians who collectively spent more than 50 years in Texas prisons after being falsely accused and wrongfully convicted of child sex abuse in an infamous case rife with hysteria, homophobia and panic about child molestation. Anna Vasquez, Elizabeth Ramirez, Kristie Mayhugh and Cassandra Rivera are coming to NYC for the first time, to speak about their prosecution and imprisonment at this special April 13th event and to appear at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of a documentary about their case, Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio 4, directed by Deborah S. Esquenazi.
Join us to hear the women talk about being wrongfully accused of the worst crime imaginable to the public–and about how their conviction for this bizarre, imagined crime was assured after prosecutors learned that they lived openly as lesbians in San Antonio, a stronghold of homophobia in the early 1990s. Recently released and now fighting a legal battle to clear their names, three of the women (Anna, Elizabeth and Cassandra) will appear with journalist Debbie Nathan, the NCRJ board member, who first reviewed their case and brought it to the attention of concerned activists and lawyers, ultimately securing support from the Innocence Project of Texas and attorney Mike Ware who won their release and is waging the legal fight for their innocence.
Also appearing will be Kelly Michaels, a New Jersey woman who was falsely accused of “ritual” daycare sex abuse in the 1980s after police discovered she was living in a lesbian relationship. She was sentenced to 47 years and spent five years in prison before being freed due to the efforts of lawyers and feminists.
The San Antonio 4 are now fighting for exoneration and compensation for the decades they lost in prison. They and Kelly Michaels will discuss what it was like to have the world view them as monsters. Debbie Nathan will tell how she learned of the plight of all the women, first in the 1980s and again twenty years later. San Antonio 4 attorney Mike Ware will talk about the next steps in the Texas women’s legal fight.
The event will also be an opportunity to learn more about the work of the NCRJ, including another ongoing case involving the “Yankton 4”, Native Americans falsely accused and wrongfully convicted in similar circumstances, as well as an update about Jesse Friedman (subject of Capturing the Friedmans), and his ongoing appeal.
NCRJ supporters and donors are welcome to attend this event; the first 10 people who donate $150 or more will receive 2 complimentary tickets to a screening on April 15 or April 17 of Southwest of Salem at the Tribeca film festival — please email NCRJ board member Emily Horowitz ebhorowitz@gmail.com if you plan to attend the event or if you would like tickets to the film with your $150+ donation. Donate online: http://ncrj.org/donate.
