Testimony Ends in Mumia Abu-Jamal Case
A retrial hearing for journalist and former Black Panther Mumia
Abu-Jamal recessed Tuesday until final arguments on September
11. Abu-Jamal is seeking a retrial on his 1982 conviction for killing
Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.
Defense attorney Leonard Weinglass summed up his case, saying
he thought he had been successful, but did not expect a favorable
ruling from Court of Common Pleas Judge Albert Sabo, who presided over
both the original trial and the retrial hearing. Weinglass will appeal
an unfavorable ruling from Sabo, who last week granted an indefinite
stay of Abu-Jamal's Aug. 17 execution date to allow time to complete
his appeals.
"I think we were able to show all the things we had set out to
show," Weinglass said. "We did show [that in the 1982 trial] Mumia
didn't have the resources; he didn't have the experts he needed; he
had an ineffective attorney; he had an ineffective appelate attorney."
"Then we put on evidence on what the jury should have heard in
terms of mitigating witnesses that they didn't hear, and we also put
in some evidence of treatment of witnesses, the bias in the
investigation, the supression of witnesses, and intimidation of
witnesses." (Reuter)
A Woman's Place is in the Basement
A marble statue of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and
Lucretia Mott, suffragists who helped white women win the right to
vote, have been stored in the basement of the Capitol, with their
faces against a wall. The statue was presented to Congress with great
ceremony 74 years ago, but has yet to take its place upstairs in the
Capitol rotunda as the sole images of women, along with the monuments
to American male leaders. Despite five resolutions to move them
upstairs next to the boys, the statue has remained in the
basement. The Senate recently passed yet another resolution, but
Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has refused to bring up the
resolution for a vote in the House. Reportedly, he does not want to be
associated with "a bunch of liberal women." (The Phoenix Gazette)
Stereotypes Affect Testing
Stanford University psychologists Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson
found that stereotypes play a role in determining how students perform
on standardized tests. The results of their seven-year study give
weight to the argument that bias exists in academic testing, refuting
the idea that biology is behind differences in academic achievement
found along racial and gender lines.
Steele and Aronson studied students whose scores on the SAT
were all comparably high. In one experiment, two groups of Black
students were given the same test. Those who were not asked to give
their race outperformed, on average, those who were asked to give
it. Similarly, white male students about to take a math test were told
that the test was difficult and that Asian students usually
outperformed whites. Those students performed worse than a group of
white males who received no such warning before taking the same
test. A third experiment divided women into two groups who were given
the same math test. Women performed worse than men when told the test
produced gender differences, but performed equal to men when the test
was represented as insensitive to gender differences.
Steele said the findings should offer insight about how to
design academic and affirmative action programs that do not place
women and people of color at a psychological disadvantage. "You have
to do something to break the sense of being under suspicion in order
to allow these students to be less defensive and more openly engaging
of their academic work." (San Francisco Chronicle)
Status of Mexican Immigrants Declining
A new report from Teachers College, Columbia University shows a sharp
deterioration in the socioeconomic status of Mexican immigrants in the
U.S. during the 1980s. The research report, titled "Falling Back: The
Declining Socioeconomic Status of the Mexican Immigrant Population in
the United States," is part of a series of reports on gender and
ethnicity within the 1980s economy.
Using data from the 1980 and 1990 U.S. Census, the study-by
Francisco Rivera-Batiz, associate professor of economics and education
at Teachers College-found that the per-capita income of the
Mexican-born population in the U.S. declined, when adjusted for
inflation. On average, Mexican immigrants had a household income per
person equal to $6,465 in 1979, while in 1989 the corresponding figure
was $6,415. The poverty rate among Mexican immigrants also increased
sharply, rising from 25.7 percent in 1980 to 29.1 percent in
1990. Also, annual earnings among Mexican immigrants moved downward
and unemployment increased. (Resisting and Organizing Against Prop 187
email list)
Working on the Chain
In sweltering heat, 160 inmates from the Limestone Correctional
Facility, will crush chunks of limestone with sledgehammers. With leg
irons and eight-foot chainlink, the men will be shackled together, in
groups of five, the entire time they are outside, even when using
make-shift toilets. These medium-risk prisoners will work on prison
grounds, wearing white uniforms with the words "Chain Gang" emblazoned
on them, while armed guards watch over.
Alabama's get-tough Prison Commissioner Ron Jones said chain
gangs, revived in May after being abandoned in the 1960s, were so
efficient that officials decided to use them for the strenuous task of
turning rocks into gravel for roads. "The rock breaking program is our
way of finding something meaningful for these inmates to do," said
Jones, who has taken away inmate privileges such as TV, weight rooms,
orange juice, and even coffee since his appointment in January.
Critics denounce the chain gangs as a barbaric, cruel return
to slavery, especially noteworthy in a state with a legacy of racial
discrimination. Inmates have filed lawsuits against Jones and Alabama
Governor Bob James, saying the gangs violate their civil rights. The
cases will probably be placed into a class action suit later this
year.
Florida and Arizona have started their own chain gang
programs, while Wisonsin and Michigan are trying to get similar
programs started. (Reuter)
Comfort Women Slam Japan Apology
The Philippine President and Senate leaders hailed Japan's apology for
its actions during World War Two on Tuesday, but Filipinas who were
used by Japanese soldiers as sex slaves called it an empty
gesture. Senate President Eduardo Angara and Francisco Tatad, head of
the Senate foreign relations committee, backed demands for
compensation by Filipina "comfort women" who were used by Japanese
soldiers as sex slaves in battlefield brothels.
About 20 Filipina comfort women held a protest outside the
Japanese embassy in Manila said they were not satisfied with
Murayama's apology. The group is demanding $200,000 compensation for
each victim.
"I'm angry. If he wants to ask for forgiveness but refuses to
compensate us, then that's nothing to us," said Maria Rosa Luna
Henson, spokeswoman for the comfort women.
Nelia Sancho, leader of the Lila Filipina women's group
backing the women, estimated up to 20,000 Filipinas were used by
Japanese troops as sex slaves during the war, but only 30 percent
survived the war. Sancho hopes that the Japanese government will
reconsider its position of not providing legal compensation,
particularly to the comfort women. (Reuter)
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