Friends of Justice

Bob Halsey turns 86 on February 18th. I am surprised he is still alive. He has been in bad health for years.

Bob is an innocent man who has been in prison since September of 1993. He will die in prison. And even if by some miracle he were to be released, he has nowhere to go and no one to take him in.

Bob was railroaded by many of the same characters who sent Bernard Baran to prison. Baran’s prosecutor, Dan Ford, was the trial judge. Jane Satullo was the chief interrogator of the children.

You can learn more about his case.

Here is the address for cards:

Robert C. Halsey
W-55045
POB 1218
Shirley MA 01464

Todd Heisler/The New York Times

“From the beginning, the case was deeply flawed. The only evidence that Jesse and his father, Arnold, had abused anyone consisted of statements to the police by children and one of Jesse’s friends. Many of the statements were made after repeated or hourslong visits from detectives who would not leave until they heard what they wanted. None of the children had previously complained to anyone of any abuse.

Read the full op-ed from the New York Times.

This is a “ritual abuse” case in Buffalo that never received any national publicity. There may be many more cases like this one. Even experts in the history of ritual abuse have no idea how many innocent people were accused, and how many still might be imprisoned. Read the full story in The Buffalo News.

“Lawrence Brose’s five-year battle with the United States was always about more than child pornography.

“For his fellow artists, many of them skeptical of the government’s allegations, Brose’s criminal prosecution was also about freedom of speech and expression.”

From the Buffalo News:

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/courts/5-year-battle-for-brose-ends-with-2-years-probation-over-obscenity-charge-20141217

More articles about the Brose case:

Brose admirers seek leniency in obscenity case

Obscenity plea enables filmmaker to avoid child porn conviction

Filmmaker Brose close to taking plea deal in child porn case, court records indicate

Attorney in Brose child porn case says blame rests with someone else

Brose’s child porn indictment to remain; Recommendation to dismiss is rejected

Brose’s exit from CEPA caps weeks of anguish Gallery group torn over child porn case

Child porn suspect faces risk with trial Brose case may be 1st to go before jury here

“Unfortunately, under the worthy mandate of protecting victims of sexual assault, procedures are being put in place at colleges that presume the guilt of the accused. Colleges, encouraged by federal officials, are instituting solutions to sexual violence against women that abrogate the civil rights of men. Schools that hold hearings to adjudicate claims of sexual misconduct allow the accuser and the accused to be accompanied by legal counsel. But as Judith Shulevitz noted in the New Republic in October, many schools ban lawyers from speaking to their clients (only notes can be passed). During these proceedings, the two parties are not supposed to question or cross examine each other, a prohibition recommended by the federal government in order to protect the accuser. And by federal requirement, students can be found guilty under the lowest standard of proof: preponderance of the evidence, meaning just a 51 percent certainty is all that’s needed for a finding that can permanently alter the life of the accused.

“More than two dozen Harvard Law School professors recently wrote a statement protesting the university’s new rules for handling sexual assault claims. “Harvard has adopted procedures for deciding cases of alleged sexual misconduct which lack the most basic elements of fairness and due process,” they wrote. The professors note that the new rules call for a Title IX compliance officer who will be in charge of “investigation, prosecution, fact-finding, and appellate review.” Under the new system, there will be no hearing for the accused, and thus no opportunity to question witnesses and mount a defense. Harvard University, the professors wrote, is “jettisoning balance and fairness in the rush to appease certain federal administrative officials.” But to push back against Department of Education edicts means potentially putting a school’s federal funding in jeopardy, and no college, not even Harvard, the country’s richest, is willing to do that.”

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2014/12/college_rape_campus_sexual_assault_is_a_serious_problem_but_the_efforts.html