By Pepe Lozano
People's Weekly World
Nov. 21, 2008
CHICAGO – Dozens of labor and community activists rallied here in front of the Federal Building Nov. 21 urging Congress to put a freeze on home foreclosures and to bail out Main Street, not Wall Street, with a stimulus package that includes a national jobs plan.
“We need Congress to take care of the needs of working people and not the rich,” said Carl Rosen, western region president of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. “What we need are policies that are going to keep people in their homes and that includes an immediate moratorium on foreclosures now,” added Rosen. “We need policies that are going to put people back to work. Working people need to earn livable wages so they can have real purchasing power again,” said Rosen.
Katie Jordan is the Chicago president of the Coalition of Labor Union Women and said, “We’re here today in coalition with our partners to raise our voices concerning what is going on with the $700 billion dollar bailout plan for Wall Street,” said Jordan. “Big bankers are expected to benefit from this bailout but more and more working people are losing their jobs and their homes,” she added.
“Home foreclosures are a serious matter and our communities are devastated,” said Jordan. “People’s families are having to split up just to find shelter.” African American and Latino communities are the first and worst ones hit by the foreclosure crisis including the rising unemployment rates, said Jordan.
“Working people’s allies including the labor movement is urging Congress to fix this problem right away including making it a priority to pass the Employee Free Choice Act once Obama becomes president, so that workers at their jobs can organize a union and fight for better working conditions for all,” said Jordan.
Kristen Cox, a consultant with the Institute for Policy Studies, a non-profit think tank noted that homeownership is the number one source of wealth for many Americans. But because of historical advantages enjoyed by whites through the GI Bill and other government programs, the sub-prime mortgage crisis has disproportionately affected African Americans, noted Cox.
“The African American middle class is in danger of losing between $71 billion and $92 billion of wealth due to bad sub-prime loans,” said Cox. “This is an unprecedented transfer of wealth from one community that will have serious consequences for the economic mobility of African Americans.”
Chicago Jobs With Justice organized the rally in coalition with a number of local labor and community groups. The event was organized to call on Congress to issue a freeze on all home foreclosures and support Illinois Senator Dick Durbin in his efforts to allow judicial intervention in restructuring mortgage rates for affected families. Speakers at the rally are also calling for a job-creating economic stimulus package with massive investment in infrastructure rebuilding and mass transit expansion.
“We need a bailout for Main Street that creates jobs,” said Elce Redmond, an organizer with the South Austin Coalition Community Council. “This situation can be an opportunity to create good jobs and deal with global warming at the same time,” added Redmond.
The labor movement along with environmental activists and grass roots community organizations has come together to echo a growing demand that congress seize this moment to create a “green economy” by expanding and pushing conservation policies, noted Redmond. “Congress can simultaneously address climate change and create millions of green jobs. It’s a win-win situation,” said Redmond.
The rally concluded with a small delegation led by James Thindwa, executive director of Chicago Jobs With Justice that delivered a written statement to Durbin’s office.
Thindwa said millions of working families nationwide are becoming victims in a vicious predatory lending system and losing their homes.
“We will go up and deliver a letter to Senator Durbin urging him to continue championing the cause of workers and families,” said Thindwa.
“We want to offer him our support and urge other members of Congress to fight hard for a moratorium on foreclosures and a strong economic stimulus package,” he said.
plozano@pww.org.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Dawn of a new era
A seismic shift, a watershed moment, an electoral landslide or the dawn of a new era. No matter what the turn of phrase, Nov. 4, 2008, will go down in the history books as the beginning of the end of the 30-year political reign of the ultra-right and its vicious pro-corporate agenda, and the end of a beginning of new politics in the United States of America.
Convinced by the power of one man’s arguments for hope, unity and change, his program and example, a 52 percent majority of voters rejected the old politics of fear, racism and red-baiting and elected Barack Obama the 44th president of the United States.
Perhaps it was historically inevitable that this country elected its first African American president. The dynamics of slavery, race and racism, together with the historic role of the African American freedom movement in helping propel the expansion of democracy for all people, have always been a central narrative to the making of America.
An accident of history, maybe, is the fact that in 2009 the country will celebrate the bicentennial birthday of another tall, lanky, transformative figure from Illinois: Abraham Lincoln.
In this age of 24-hour news cycles and instant information, when a seismic victory happens it’s important to take a breath and reflect even while celebrating. There will be analysis in the coming weeks in our pages and web site. We’ll be taking closer looks at the many different actors, issues and developments.
But here is an initial take, a basic framework to ponder and analyze such a momentous moment. This was a victory for the whole U.S. working class. And workers of all job titles, professions, shapes, colors, sizes, hairstyles and languages put their indelible stamp on this victory.
This is an important point to ponder, not only for people here in the U.S., but also for our sisters and brothers around the world. The U.S. working class is pushing for a new day — in which our country can be a good global citizen and not the “rogue state” the Bush administration has projected.
The most organized section of the working class — the labor movement — played a stellar role in this election, organizing more than 250,000 labor activists in critical battleground states. But it was its role in challenging and educating union members on racial bias, coupled with a program for economic recovery, that labor proved its invaluable mettle.
A powerful coalition of forces, inspired towards a new kind of politics, bubbled up from the ground of discontent sown by the authoritarian, reckless and greed-driven policies of the Bush administration. Union members and retirees of all races and the African American people as a whole joined with the emerging political might of Latinos — Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans and others — and with women and young people en masse to successfully challenge the power of the ultra-right. And the seeds of a renewed and strengthened Jewish-Black unity — historically so key to civil rights progress — are taking root.
Such unity — as President-elect Obama said — of “young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled” is an idea that has been grasped by millions of people and made into a material force shattering the Republicans’ “Southern strategy” and forcing this party of the reactionary right into a meltdown.
The election outcome represents a clear mandate for pro-people change on taxes, health care, the war in Iraq, job creation and economic relief, union organizing and the Employee Free Choice Act. Reform and relief are in the air. Their scope and depth will be the arena of struggle. The best thing the coalition that won this victory can do is to stick together and help the new administration carry through on its promises. We suspect an Obama administration will have to govern from the center with progressive and left voices included in the dialogue along with conservatives. The ultra-right and corporate interests will do everything in their power to limit, and even steal, the people’s victory.
Jubilation and celebration, yes, along with realization that the hard work is just beginning.
People's Weekly World
Editorial, November 8, 2008
Convinced by the power of one man’s arguments for hope, unity and change, his program and example, a 52 percent majority of voters rejected the old politics of fear, racism and red-baiting and elected Barack Obama the 44th president of the United States.
Perhaps it was historically inevitable that this country elected its first African American president. The dynamics of slavery, race and racism, together with the historic role of the African American freedom movement in helping propel the expansion of democracy for all people, have always been a central narrative to the making of America.
An accident of history, maybe, is the fact that in 2009 the country will celebrate the bicentennial birthday of another tall, lanky, transformative figure from Illinois: Abraham Lincoln.
In this age of 24-hour news cycles and instant information, when a seismic victory happens it’s important to take a breath and reflect even while celebrating. There will be analysis in the coming weeks in our pages and web site. We’ll be taking closer looks at the many different actors, issues and developments.
But here is an initial take, a basic framework to ponder and analyze such a momentous moment. This was a victory for the whole U.S. working class. And workers of all job titles, professions, shapes, colors, sizes, hairstyles and languages put their indelible stamp on this victory.
This is an important point to ponder, not only for people here in the U.S., but also for our sisters and brothers around the world. The U.S. working class is pushing for a new day — in which our country can be a good global citizen and not the “rogue state” the Bush administration has projected.
The most organized section of the working class — the labor movement — played a stellar role in this election, organizing more than 250,000 labor activists in critical battleground states. But it was its role in challenging and educating union members on racial bias, coupled with a program for economic recovery, that labor proved its invaluable mettle.
A powerful coalition of forces, inspired towards a new kind of politics, bubbled up from the ground of discontent sown by the authoritarian, reckless and greed-driven policies of the Bush administration. Union members and retirees of all races and the African American people as a whole joined with the emerging political might of Latinos — Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans and others — and with women and young people en masse to successfully challenge the power of the ultra-right. And the seeds of a renewed and strengthened Jewish-Black unity — historically so key to civil rights progress — are taking root.
Such unity — as President-elect Obama said — of “young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled” is an idea that has been grasped by millions of people and made into a material force shattering the Republicans’ “Southern strategy” and forcing this party of the reactionary right into a meltdown.
The election outcome represents a clear mandate for pro-people change on taxes, health care, the war in Iraq, job creation and economic relief, union organizing and the Employee Free Choice Act. Reform and relief are in the air. Their scope and depth will be the arena of struggle. The best thing the coalition that won this victory can do is to stick together and help the new administration carry through on its promises. We suspect an Obama administration will have to govern from the center with progressive and left voices included in the dialogue along with conservatives. The ultra-right and corporate interests will do everything in their power to limit, and even steal, the people’s victory.
Jubilation and celebration, yes, along with realization that the hard work is just beginning.
People's Weekly World
Editorial, November 8, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Torture victim fights for freedom
(We reprint the following article with the news of the arrest and indictment in Florida of John Burge, commander of Area Three Chicago Police Station where most of the torture took place for violation of civil rights.)
By Pepe Lozano
CHICAGO – Every day Mark Clements prays to God in his prison cell that one day he will be a free man. He has been incarcerated since 1981–27 years–for a crime he says he did not commit. A crime that Clements was brutally forced to admit to after Chicago police detectives beat and tortured a confession out of him. He was 16 at the time.
On June 17, 1981, at 2:00 a.m. a fire broke out in a south side building. Four people died as a result. Fire investigators determined it was arson. On June 25 police arrested Clements who was taken to a Violent Crimes Unit in what was then an Area Three Police Station where Clements says he was periodically chained to a wall and interrogated over 10 hours by four Chicago detectives who never contacted his parents.
Legally any minor under age 18 being interviewed by police must have a youth officer present. During his interrogation Clements says none were present until after he signed a confession. The law also requires that the parent or legal guardian of a juvenile be notified buy police when a youth is held. According to Clements the police never called his parents.
Clements affirms he was verbally abused with racial insults and suffered numerous beatings including to the genitals after which he made a false “confession” stating he set the fire.
During his trial Clements pleaded with the judge and said he was beaten and coerced into confessing and proclaimed his innocence. He told the judge that he signed the confession in order to stop the torture. At age 16, Clements was functionally illiterate.
At his trial Clements was assigned two public defendants who argued that Clements IQ was very low and that he did not understand his rights by signing a confession statement. Clements himself testified that he was tortured and although his lawyers tried to use his statements Clements and his supporters feel his lawyers at the time lacked the resources to press for a fair trial. His attorneys felt they could not corroborate his testimony on torture and the police would deny it.
There were no witnesses and no material evidence presented linking Clements to the fire throughout his trial. He was tried as an adult and sentenced to four life sentences plus 30 years.
The Burge connection
According to supporters of Clements and others like him the Chicago police under Commander Jon Burge from 1973-1991 brutalized most of at least 135 torture victims.
All the victims are African American males and their stories tell a consistent pattern of racial discrimination by the city’s police force. Electric shock to the ears and/or genitals, burning, suffocation, and mock executions were some of the most brutal forms of torture on these men who were beaten to sign confessions for crimes they say they did not commit.
Current Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley served as Cook County States Attorney from 1980-1989 during the years Burge is being accused of leading such abuses as well as when Clements was tortured.
The Office of Professional Standards and the Police Federation issued reports recommending a thorough investigation on Burge and those under him in the early 1990’s. Burge was eventually fired in 1993 and till this day neither he nor any of the officers working under him accused of torture have faced criminal charges. Burge continues to receive a pension from the Chicago Police Department.
Edward Egan, a special prosecutor was appointed in 2002 to investigate the Burge accusations but after four years and seven million public dollars later he finally released a 292-page report confirming torture was evident. Two of the detectives who interrogated Clements have been named as people involved in torture under Burge in Egan’s report. Yet Egan refused to bring charges against Burge and others. Some feel Egan was biased because it was later revealed his nephew was a police officer under Burge.
Last year, the Cook County Board of Commissioners called for hearings of all the Burge victims including a federal prosecution of Burge and the determination that torture is a federal crime without a statue of limitations. The Illinois House of Representatives recently passed legislation to set up an innocence commission to review torture claims. The measure is currently in the Senate.
Meanwhile federal prosecutors led by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald are calling ten retired police officers before a grand jury to testify as to whether Burge and those under him obstructed justice by stating under oath that the Chicago Police did not use torture. If it is confirmed that such practices occurred, they and Burge could still be prosecuted on the federal level.
Before leaving office in 2003, former Governor George Ryan pardoned four of the Death Row 10, who said they were tortured under Burge, on the basis of innocence. Ryan commuted the sentences of the others to Life without Parole. All originally received death sentences and said confessions were beaten out of them, crimes they say they did not do.
In 2002 Attorney General Lisa Madigan was appointed as the lead prosecutor in the Burge torture cases. According to the Campaign To End The Death Penalty in Chicago at least 30 victims of torture remain behind bars based on false confessions. Madigan, they say, has the power to grant evidentiary hearings so that victims can present evidence of torture but she has not budged.
Clements side of the story
With the help of the prison library staff that noticed Clements was eager to be taught he learned how to read and write in prison. Very few prisoners have such opportunities today according to Clements supporters who say staff and collections at prison libraries have been slashed.
Today Clements continues to work tirelessly in seeking religious, community and legal support for a new trial in order to prove his innocence. Although Clements case has no direct relation to the Burge beatings, his case is currently on appeal in the Cook County Criminal Court and a legal team led by Timothy A. Nelsen is in his corner.
“I did not commit this crime,” said Clements in a written letter to this reporter. “I was not allowed to see a youth officer nor call my parents. I was beaten and tortured in my genitals twice inside a closet sized interrogation room. During the beatings I was called racist names,” said Clements.
“During the second beating and torture,” one detective said ‘since you like telling, tell this,’ as he beat me in my chest and stomach with his fist. He beat me in the thighs and shoulders and smacked me. He grabbed my private area and I cried and he squeezed really hard until I agreed to say what he wanted me to say to the states attorney.”
Clements said he told the states attorney what the detective told him to say because he was “scared he would return and beat and torture me.” Clements told the states attorney that he was abused but the states attorney “came in the room, took the confession and acted like I never told him what occurred to me.”
In his letter Clements adds, “It is very important to share this story and my fight for freedom. Why? I am one of the first Chicago police torture victims, but I had poor legal representation on the trial level and my lawyers did not interview one witness connected with this crime nor did they investigate the confession.”
“I was also found guilty because I was poor and did not understand the seriousness of the charges against me whatsoever. I believe had this been a teenager whose family had money he would not be in prison. I did no crime and I shake my head each day at how easy I was railroaded by a judge who is supposed to be honorable and fair. Where is the justice for the poor?” he asked.
“I do believe the criminal justice system discriminates when it comes to applying equal justice to the poor, African American and Latino men and women all over this country. I feel racism plays a role in over 60 percent of all cases in wrongful convictions and torture involving criminal suspects.”
Ted Pearson from National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression holds Mark Clements photo at July 18 rally in downtown Chicago. Pepe Lozano/PWW. Ted Pearson with the Chicago National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is a friend and supporter of Clements and has been following his case closely.
Pearson said Clements legal appeal is moving forward and that his lawyers are making gains including doing a new and improved finger print analysis on the crime evidence. Recent court orders were also granted to Clements legal team in getting access to all documents of the case including information on the whereabouts of alleged witnesses who spoke with detectives at the time.
Clements story “indicates that these torture methods and beatings shows it was an on-going practice in the police department at the time and some argue it still happens today,” said Pearson.
“If police can beat a confession out of you then you don’t have any rights at all and nobody is safe when they can do this,” added Pearson. “It’s really a violation of our rights and they continue to get away with it.”
Meanwhile victims of police torture are behind bars, most of them innocent and African American, while police officers receive pensions collecting retirement, said Pearson.
In low-income communities where financial resources are poor and recreational programs for youth are limited including the lack of jobs, many residents throughout the city see the police as another form of oppression at times. Stories of torture and police brutality cases make many communities fear their presence and unfortunately taints the entire police department as community-wide suspicion grows. In the end as more and more police abuse cases emerge it makes it even harder for the police to work with and gain the trust of communities in order to confront crime.
“Our position is if a person was convicted based on a confession obtained through violence, torture or the threat of violence, they should have a new trial,” said Pearson. “Such confessions should never be allowed into evidence. In many of these cases there is no other evidence, and the victims of such abuse will be exonerated. The state would not try them again,” added Pearson.
Pearson hopes Congress will continue to issue federal restrictions on local police torture and hold such actions in legal contempt. Police accountability is extremely important and we need to restore confidence in the police who work in our communities, said Pearson.
The toll on all
Dozens of activists, community leaders and family members of prisoners who say they were tortured into making false confessions rallied in front of Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s downtown office, July 18, urging her to issue new trials for the wrongfully convicted including Mark Clements.
Exonerated Illinois death row inmate and leader with the Campaign to End the Death Penalty Darby Tillis addressed the crowd. “I know what it is to linger in a cell,” he said. “I spent 19 years on death roll and it’s a living hell.” Tillis added, “I’ve been beaten by police, kicked, knocked down and hit with a 357 magnum. These victims are human beings and like anyone else it’s time we get some justice.”
It is hard to say how many families in all throughout Chicago suffer the realities of police abuse especially with new cases everyday. But it is certain that dozens of families are fighting for their loved ones freedom including Clements’ mother. She is known as his biggest supporter and a long time activist who continues to fight for his innocence. Even despite her personal and bitter struggle against cancer she hopes to see the day where her son will be released. And in the end over time the physical and mental fight for freedom takes a heavy toll on the entire family of torture victims.
Mary L. Johnson was also at the rally representing her son Michael Johnson who has been in prison for 10 years “I’m doing time right along with my son, and I don’t want to see another mother go through what I have been going through,” said Johnson to the crowd. “As long as there is injustice we will be struggling and we will continue to fight,” she said.
In the meantime behind bars is Mark Clements who enjoys reading and says he stays busy working on civil rights and community issues and attends wrongful conviction meetings. He also leads a 30-minute segment on a Christian AM radio program hosted by his church.
“Change is coming,” says Clements. “I have suffered and I have paid my dues.”
Clements says he wants troubled kids in low-income urban neighborhoods to know about his story and his struggle.
“I want them to know the system will lock them up innocent or guilty, they don’t care,” said Clements.
Clements, who has spent his whole adult life in prison, hopes one day he will be a free man and get his life back.
Pearson and his group are encouraging supporters of Clements to write or call the office of Richard A. Devine who is the Cook County States Attorney at 2650 S. California, Chicago IL, 60608 (11th floor) or (773) 869-6209 and demand that he stop opposing the possibility for a new trial for Clements and other torture victims.
plozano @pww.org
August 18, 2008
By Pepe Lozano
CHICAGO – Every day Mark Clements prays to God in his prison cell that one day he will be a free man. He has been incarcerated since 1981–27 years–for a crime he says he did not commit. A crime that Clements was brutally forced to admit to after Chicago police detectives beat and tortured a confession out of him. He was 16 at the time.
On June 17, 1981, at 2:00 a.m. a fire broke out in a south side building. Four people died as a result. Fire investigators determined it was arson. On June 25 police arrested Clements who was taken to a Violent Crimes Unit in what was then an Area Three Police Station where Clements says he was periodically chained to a wall and interrogated over 10 hours by four Chicago detectives who never contacted his parents.
Legally any minor under age 18 being interviewed by police must have a youth officer present. During his interrogation Clements says none were present until after he signed a confession. The law also requires that the parent or legal guardian of a juvenile be notified buy police when a youth is held. According to Clements the police never called his parents.
Clements affirms he was verbally abused with racial insults and suffered numerous beatings including to the genitals after which he made a false “confession” stating he set the fire.
During his trial Clements pleaded with the judge and said he was beaten and coerced into confessing and proclaimed his innocence. He told the judge that he signed the confession in order to stop the torture. At age 16, Clements was functionally illiterate.
At his trial Clements was assigned two public defendants who argued that Clements IQ was very low and that he did not understand his rights by signing a confession statement. Clements himself testified that he was tortured and although his lawyers tried to use his statements Clements and his supporters feel his lawyers at the time lacked the resources to press for a fair trial. His attorneys felt they could not corroborate his testimony on torture and the police would deny it.
There were no witnesses and no material evidence presented linking Clements to the fire throughout his trial. He was tried as an adult and sentenced to four life sentences plus 30 years.
The Burge connection
According to supporters of Clements and others like him the Chicago police under Commander Jon Burge from 1973-1991 brutalized most of at least 135 torture victims.
All the victims are African American males and their stories tell a consistent pattern of racial discrimination by the city’s police force. Electric shock to the ears and/or genitals, burning, suffocation, and mock executions were some of the most brutal forms of torture on these men who were beaten to sign confessions for crimes they say they did not commit.
Current Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley served as Cook County States Attorney from 1980-1989 during the years Burge is being accused of leading such abuses as well as when Clements was tortured.
The Office of Professional Standards and the Police Federation issued reports recommending a thorough investigation on Burge and those under him in the early 1990’s. Burge was eventually fired in 1993 and till this day neither he nor any of the officers working under him accused of torture have faced criminal charges. Burge continues to receive a pension from the Chicago Police Department.
Edward Egan, a special prosecutor was appointed in 2002 to investigate the Burge accusations but after four years and seven million public dollars later he finally released a 292-page report confirming torture was evident. Two of the detectives who interrogated Clements have been named as people involved in torture under Burge in Egan’s report. Yet Egan refused to bring charges against Burge and others. Some feel Egan was biased because it was later revealed his nephew was a police officer under Burge.
Last year, the Cook County Board of Commissioners called for hearings of all the Burge victims including a federal prosecution of Burge and the determination that torture is a federal crime without a statue of limitations. The Illinois House of Representatives recently passed legislation to set up an innocence commission to review torture claims. The measure is currently in the Senate.
Meanwhile federal prosecutors led by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald are calling ten retired police officers before a grand jury to testify as to whether Burge and those under him obstructed justice by stating under oath that the Chicago Police did not use torture. If it is confirmed that such practices occurred, they and Burge could still be prosecuted on the federal level.
Before leaving office in 2003, former Governor George Ryan pardoned four of the Death Row 10, who said they were tortured under Burge, on the basis of innocence. Ryan commuted the sentences of the others to Life without Parole. All originally received death sentences and said confessions were beaten out of them, crimes they say they did not do.
In 2002 Attorney General Lisa Madigan was appointed as the lead prosecutor in the Burge torture cases. According to the Campaign To End The Death Penalty in Chicago at least 30 victims of torture remain behind bars based on false confessions. Madigan, they say, has the power to grant evidentiary hearings so that victims can present evidence of torture but she has not budged.
Clements side of the story
With the help of the prison library staff that noticed Clements was eager to be taught he learned how to read and write in prison. Very few prisoners have such opportunities today according to Clements supporters who say staff and collections at prison libraries have been slashed.
Today Clements continues to work tirelessly in seeking religious, community and legal support for a new trial in order to prove his innocence. Although Clements case has no direct relation to the Burge beatings, his case is currently on appeal in the Cook County Criminal Court and a legal team led by Timothy A. Nelsen is in his corner.
“I did not commit this crime,” said Clements in a written letter to this reporter. “I was not allowed to see a youth officer nor call my parents. I was beaten and tortured in my genitals twice inside a closet sized interrogation room. During the beatings I was called racist names,” said Clements.
“During the second beating and torture,” one detective said ‘since you like telling, tell this,’ as he beat me in my chest and stomach with his fist. He beat me in the thighs and shoulders and smacked me. He grabbed my private area and I cried and he squeezed really hard until I agreed to say what he wanted me to say to the states attorney.”
Clements said he told the states attorney what the detective told him to say because he was “scared he would return and beat and torture me.” Clements told the states attorney that he was abused but the states attorney “came in the room, took the confession and acted like I never told him what occurred to me.”
In his letter Clements adds, “It is very important to share this story and my fight for freedom. Why? I am one of the first Chicago police torture victims, but I had poor legal representation on the trial level and my lawyers did not interview one witness connected with this crime nor did they investigate the confession.”
“I was also found guilty because I was poor and did not understand the seriousness of the charges against me whatsoever. I believe had this been a teenager whose family had money he would not be in prison. I did no crime and I shake my head each day at how easy I was railroaded by a judge who is supposed to be honorable and fair. Where is the justice for the poor?” he asked.
“I do believe the criminal justice system discriminates when it comes to applying equal justice to the poor, African American and Latino men and women all over this country. I feel racism plays a role in over 60 percent of all cases in wrongful convictions and torture involving criminal suspects.”
Ted Pearson from National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression holds Mark Clements photo at July 18 rally in downtown Chicago. Pepe Lozano/PWW. Ted Pearson with the Chicago National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is a friend and supporter of Clements and has been following his case closely.
Pearson said Clements legal appeal is moving forward and that his lawyers are making gains including doing a new and improved finger print analysis on the crime evidence. Recent court orders were also granted to Clements legal team in getting access to all documents of the case including information on the whereabouts of alleged witnesses who spoke with detectives at the time.
Clements story “indicates that these torture methods and beatings shows it was an on-going practice in the police department at the time and some argue it still happens today,” said Pearson.
“If police can beat a confession out of you then you don’t have any rights at all and nobody is safe when they can do this,” added Pearson. “It’s really a violation of our rights and they continue to get away with it.”
Meanwhile victims of police torture are behind bars, most of them innocent and African American, while police officers receive pensions collecting retirement, said Pearson.
In low-income communities where financial resources are poor and recreational programs for youth are limited including the lack of jobs, many residents throughout the city see the police as another form of oppression at times. Stories of torture and police brutality cases make many communities fear their presence and unfortunately taints the entire police department as community-wide suspicion grows. In the end as more and more police abuse cases emerge it makes it even harder for the police to work with and gain the trust of communities in order to confront crime.
“Our position is if a person was convicted based on a confession obtained through violence, torture or the threat of violence, they should have a new trial,” said Pearson. “Such confessions should never be allowed into evidence. In many of these cases there is no other evidence, and the victims of such abuse will be exonerated. The state would not try them again,” added Pearson.
Pearson hopes Congress will continue to issue federal restrictions on local police torture and hold such actions in legal contempt. Police accountability is extremely important and we need to restore confidence in the police who work in our communities, said Pearson.
The toll on all
Dozens of activists, community leaders and family members of prisoners who say they were tortured into making false confessions rallied in front of Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s downtown office, July 18, urging her to issue new trials for the wrongfully convicted including Mark Clements.
Exonerated Illinois death row inmate and leader with the Campaign to End the Death Penalty Darby Tillis addressed the crowd. “I know what it is to linger in a cell,” he said. “I spent 19 years on death roll and it’s a living hell.” Tillis added, “I’ve been beaten by police, kicked, knocked down and hit with a 357 magnum. These victims are human beings and like anyone else it’s time we get some justice.”
It is hard to say how many families in all throughout Chicago suffer the realities of police abuse especially with new cases everyday. But it is certain that dozens of families are fighting for their loved ones freedom including Clements’ mother. She is known as his biggest supporter and a long time activist who continues to fight for his innocence. Even despite her personal and bitter struggle against cancer she hopes to see the day where her son will be released. And in the end over time the physical and mental fight for freedom takes a heavy toll on the entire family of torture victims.
Mary L. Johnson was also at the rally representing her son Michael Johnson who has been in prison for 10 years “I’m doing time right along with my son, and I don’t want to see another mother go through what I have been going through,” said Johnson to the crowd. “As long as there is injustice we will be struggling and we will continue to fight,” she said.
In the meantime behind bars is Mark Clements who enjoys reading and says he stays busy working on civil rights and community issues and attends wrongful conviction meetings. He also leads a 30-minute segment on a Christian AM radio program hosted by his church.
“Change is coming,” says Clements. “I have suffered and I have paid my dues.”
Clements says he wants troubled kids in low-income urban neighborhoods to know about his story and his struggle.
“I want them to know the system will lock them up innocent or guilty, they don’t care,” said Clements.
Clements, who has spent his whole adult life in prison, hopes one day he will be a free man and get his life back.
Pearson and his group are encouraging supporters of Clements to write or call the office of Richard A. Devine who is the Cook County States Attorney at 2650 S. California, Chicago IL, 60608 (11th floor) or (773) 869-6209 and demand that he stop opposing the possibility for a new trial for Clements and other torture victims.
plozano @pww.org
August 18, 2008
Vote NO on Constitutional Convention!
The Communist Party of Illinois joins with the entire state labor movement and many education and advocacy organizations (http://protectillinoisconstitution.org/why.html) to recommend a NO vote on the Constitutional Convention.
Certainly there is a temptation to act because of frustration with the current legislative gridlock and the many things in the state constitution that are unfair and unjust. But opening the state constitution to a rewrite at this time opens the labor led people's movement to big dangers.
1. The same forces guiding the political process today in Springfield will likely dominate the crafting of a new constitution, resulting in the same infighting and potential domination by corporate interests and machine interests. The process will be opened for big business, corporate and other anti-labor forces and single issue organizations to sow confusion and change things they have been wanting to for some time.
For example state pension system, right to work legislation, etc.
2. Changes can be made to the constitution through an amendment procedure. In fact some groups already are discussing submitting an amendment to change the state tax system so education funding can be more equitable. This requires continuing to build the labor led movement to elect more progressive elected officials to the state legislature and governorship to make the necessary changes.
3. The process will be quite time consuming and costly - estimated at $80 million and stretching over a couple of years.
Certainly there is a temptation to act because of frustration with the current legislative gridlock and the many things in the state constitution that are unfair and unjust. But opening the state constitution to a rewrite at this time opens the labor led people's movement to big dangers.
1. The same forces guiding the political process today in Springfield will likely dominate the crafting of a new constitution, resulting in the same infighting and potential domination by corporate interests and machine interests. The process will be opened for big business, corporate and other anti-labor forces and single issue organizations to sow confusion and change things they have been wanting to for some time.
For example state pension system, right to work legislation, etc.
2. Changes can be made to the constitution through an amendment procedure. In fact some groups already are discussing submitting an amendment to change the state tax system so education funding can be more equitable. This requires continuing to build the labor led movement to elect more progressive elected officials to the state legislature and governorship to make the necessary changes.
3. The process will be quite time consuming and costly - estimated at $80 million and stretching over a couple of years.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Chicago budget crisis - take it from the rich!
By John Bachtell
Here's a few random thoughts about Mayor Daley’s proposals to deal with the $469 million Chicago city budget deficit, the worst budget crisis in 20 years.
First, I think the budget crisis is real and will get worse given the deepening economic crisis, including the record jobless figures announced Oct. 1. I agree with his estimate that this crisis will last for several years.
Mayor Daley acts as though Chicago is in a bubble. But Chicago is not alone in this crisis, and cities, counties and states across the country are in the same dire straits. But this is a crisis that could be solved were economic and spending priorities at every level different.
Secondly, every single funding or program cut and tax or fee increase Daley proposes impacts working families. The 1,080 layoffs and decision to not fill another 1,346 vacant city jobs will severely impact city services, especially streets and sanitation.
I’m not one who believes you can provide the same level of services when you fire nearly 2,500 workers. No amount of “efficiencies” can overcome that hurdle, unless of course you mean doing away with privatization and the skimming inherent with it. The well-timed Daley tirade against some sanitation workers who were found goofing off is a cover to convince the public the cuts won’t make a difference. Then there are the padded payrolls with friends and contractor cronies of Daley.
The cuts in services come at a time when we should be demanding an expansion of services to residents and we need far more money for that.
Every proposed fee increase – downtown parking tax, sporting event tickets, overdue library books, ambulance fee increases, residential guest parking permits, more cameras to catch drivers who run red lights, slapping the Denver boot on cars with two tickets – will impact working families more heavily.
In addition we will be paying more for a ride on the CTA. And basic costs are skyrocketing for education, health care, housing and food.
Our schools are severely under funded (we parents are expected to spend a lot of time fund raising from each other and pay school fees in a growing instances); our roads, bridges and public transit systems are in dire need of repair and will cost billions to fix.
What I was waiting to hear from the Mayor was an announcement he was abandoning the neo-liberal policies of privatization, forced gentrification and tourism as the economic engine that he’s been foisting on the city as a model of economic growth. It’s a loser and has gotten working class neighborhoods into a fine mess, but it’s made a few people very rich.
I was waiting for one word about sacrifice by the immensely wealthy of our city – the huge corporations, including the Board of Trade and the Mercantile Exchange. I’m still waiting and since the powerful corporate forces have Daley in their hip pocket, I suspect I’ll be waiting a long time.
Thirdly, nickling and diming working class residents who are already drowning in bills will, not solve this budget crisis and the one faced by the state. The costs to run the city are too steep, and rising. It will just force working families to cut back on something else.
There are some ideas to take some money from the Midway or Skyway privatization schemes and the TIFF accounts. I'm all for that. But I don’t think it will be enough.
The budget crisis will be overcome by reordering national spending priorities so our cities and states get an infusion of badly need funds. And we can only do that by ending the Iraq war, cutting wasteful military spending and taxing the wealthy and big corporations.
Mayor Daley and every elected official ought to be leading a movement to join with states and municipalities across the country to demand emergency aid for our cities from the Washington DC.
In addition, Daley should lead the fight for a new national economic recovery act to radically expand the purchasing power of working people, a recovery act whose centerpiece would be a jobs program to create millions of new jobs rebuilding our infrastructure and opening our closed factories by manufacturing wind turbines and solar panels, etc. That would bring in a lot more tax revenues.
Daley ought to be leading the charge for raising the minimum wage and a living wage. That would be good penance for vetoing the Big Box Living Wage Ordinance, which would have lifted the wages of all big box workers. Instead the Mayor sided with Wal-Mart to drive down wages. This would have provided millions more in annual spending in the city.
Daley ought to be getting on the buses like thousands of other trade unionists and Chicago residents and go to the swing states to turn ‘em blue! That will be the first step in getting a new national economic recovery act passed and ending the Iraq War.
Daley out to be demanding the rich and corporations pay more in taxes. But Daley won’t.
Daley ought to, but Daley won’t since his policies are driven by big business. It’s up to the rest of us to fight for a way out of this crisis that puts the onus on them.
Here's a few random thoughts about Mayor Daley’s proposals to deal with the $469 million Chicago city budget deficit, the worst budget crisis in 20 years.
First, I think the budget crisis is real and will get worse given the deepening economic crisis, including the record jobless figures announced Oct. 1. I agree with his estimate that this crisis will last for several years.
Mayor Daley acts as though Chicago is in a bubble. But Chicago is not alone in this crisis, and cities, counties and states across the country are in the same dire straits. But this is a crisis that could be solved were economic and spending priorities at every level different.
Secondly, every single funding or program cut and tax or fee increase Daley proposes impacts working families. The 1,080 layoffs and decision to not fill another 1,346 vacant city jobs will severely impact city services, especially streets and sanitation.
I’m not one who believes you can provide the same level of services when you fire nearly 2,500 workers. No amount of “efficiencies” can overcome that hurdle, unless of course you mean doing away with privatization and the skimming inherent with it. The well-timed Daley tirade against some sanitation workers who were found goofing off is a cover to convince the public the cuts won’t make a difference. Then there are the padded payrolls with friends and contractor cronies of Daley.
The cuts in services come at a time when we should be demanding an expansion of services to residents and we need far more money for that.
Every proposed fee increase – downtown parking tax, sporting event tickets, overdue library books, ambulance fee increases, residential guest parking permits, more cameras to catch drivers who run red lights, slapping the Denver boot on cars with two tickets – will impact working families more heavily.
In addition we will be paying more for a ride on the CTA. And basic costs are skyrocketing for education, health care, housing and food.
Our schools are severely under funded (we parents are expected to spend a lot of time fund raising from each other and pay school fees in a growing instances); our roads, bridges and public transit systems are in dire need of repair and will cost billions to fix.
What I was waiting to hear from the Mayor was an announcement he was abandoning the neo-liberal policies of privatization, forced gentrification and tourism as the economic engine that he’s been foisting on the city as a model of economic growth. It’s a loser and has gotten working class neighborhoods into a fine mess, but it’s made a few people very rich.
I was waiting for one word about sacrifice by the immensely wealthy of our city – the huge corporations, including the Board of Trade and the Mercantile Exchange. I’m still waiting and since the powerful corporate forces have Daley in their hip pocket, I suspect I’ll be waiting a long time.
Thirdly, nickling and diming working class residents who are already drowning in bills will, not solve this budget crisis and the one faced by the state. The costs to run the city are too steep, and rising. It will just force working families to cut back on something else.
There are some ideas to take some money from the Midway or Skyway privatization schemes and the TIFF accounts. I'm all for that. But I don’t think it will be enough.
The budget crisis will be overcome by reordering national spending priorities so our cities and states get an infusion of badly need funds. And we can only do that by ending the Iraq war, cutting wasteful military spending and taxing the wealthy and big corporations.
Mayor Daley and every elected official ought to be leading a movement to join with states and municipalities across the country to demand emergency aid for our cities from the Washington DC.
In addition, Daley should lead the fight for a new national economic recovery act to radically expand the purchasing power of working people, a recovery act whose centerpiece would be a jobs program to create millions of new jobs rebuilding our infrastructure and opening our closed factories by manufacturing wind turbines and solar panels, etc. That would bring in a lot more tax revenues.
Daley ought to be leading the charge for raising the minimum wage and a living wage. That would be good penance for vetoing the Big Box Living Wage Ordinance, which would have lifted the wages of all big box workers. Instead the Mayor sided with Wal-Mart to drive down wages. This would have provided millions more in annual spending in the city.
Daley ought to be getting on the buses like thousands of other trade unionists and Chicago residents and go to the swing states to turn ‘em blue! That will be the first step in getting a new national economic recovery act passed and ending the Iraq War.
Daley out to be demanding the rich and corporations pay more in taxes. But Daley won’t.
Daley ought to, but Daley won’t since his policies are driven by big business. It’s up to the rest of us to fight for a way out of this crisis that puts the onus on them.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Bravo, Sheriff Tom Dart!
Chicago - Bravo Sheriff Tom Dart! The Cook County sheriff stood up for justice and morality by announcing he would no longer enforce evictions on behalf of global banks and the mortgage industry. “That’s not part of our job,” he says.
It’s the sheriff’s office and courts that do the dirty work of the finance corporations when they make business decisions to clear out families from an apartment or house from some faraway corporate headquarters so they can put the property on the market again.
These are the same corporations that committed massive fraud and criminality by duping many of the same homeowners into mortgages they knew buyers couldn’t pay. They made off like bandits and ought to go to prison for it.
Recently Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced a settlement with Bank of America and Countrywide Financial that would allow tens of thousands of residents to stay in their homes. The suit had been brought on behalf of Illinois and California and 9 other states.
The settlement allows for a cap on mortgage payments at 34% of income and reducing interest rates and adjusting principal so borrowers don’t lose equity under their payment plans. Interest on some of the riskiest loans could be reduced to 22.5% a year.
Dart’s action comes as foreclosures in Chicago hit a record. The October 9 Chicago Tribune reported, “In Cook County, foreclosures are expected to reach a record high of 43,000 this year, compared with 18,916 in 2006. The sheriff's office is on pace to conduct 4,500 foreclosure-related evictions, compared with less than half that number in 2006. About one-third of those are rent-paying individuals.”
One of the problems, as Dart explained it, is one-third of evictions are being carried out against families who are renting in buildings that have been foreclosed on. The families have been paying their rent on time, but never receive notices of the impending eviction. Dart says the global banks don’t care if they are throwing families with children, disabled or senior citizens out on the street.
We need more of our elected officials to stand up to corporate corruption, criminality and greed, including the judges who issue the evictions in the first place. A moratorium on all home foreclosures would be a good start.
It’s the sheriff’s office and courts that do the dirty work of the finance corporations when they make business decisions to clear out families from an apartment or house from some faraway corporate headquarters so they can put the property on the market again.
These are the same corporations that committed massive fraud and criminality by duping many of the same homeowners into mortgages they knew buyers couldn’t pay. They made off like bandits and ought to go to prison for it.
Recently Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced a settlement with Bank of America and Countrywide Financial that would allow tens of thousands of residents to stay in their homes. The suit had been brought on behalf of Illinois and California and 9 other states.
The settlement allows for a cap on mortgage payments at 34% of income and reducing interest rates and adjusting principal so borrowers don’t lose equity under their payment plans. Interest on some of the riskiest loans could be reduced to 22.5% a year.
Dart’s action comes as foreclosures in Chicago hit a record. The October 9 Chicago Tribune reported, “In Cook County, foreclosures are expected to reach a record high of 43,000 this year, compared with 18,916 in 2006. The sheriff's office is on pace to conduct 4,500 foreclosure-related evictions, compared with less than half that number in 2006. About one-third of those are rent-paying individuals.”
One of the problems, as Dart explained it, is one-third of evictions are being carried out against families who are renting in buildings that have been foreclosed on. The families have been paying their rent on time, but never receive notices of the impending eviction. Dart says the global banks don’t care if they are throwing families with children, disabled or senior citizens out on the street.
We need more of our elected officials to stand up to corporate corruption, criminality and greed, including the judges who issue the evictions in the first place. A moratorium on all home foreclosures would be a good start.
Cook County Sheriff: I won't enforce evictions
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced that his office would no longer evict tenants who have paid their rent to landlords under foreclosure. The action made national news. His statement is below:
As Cook County sheriff, I am responsible for running a 10,000-inmate jail, providing patrols to unincorporated areas and securing the courts.
But perhaps no part of our job is as difficult as the work done by our eviction units. On any given day, our deputies could be asked to throw a family out of their home, with all of their possessions left on a curb -- sometimes pilfered through by those living nearby.
Where mortgage firms see pieces of paper, my deputies see people.
Yet no matter how difficult they are, evictions are part of our job.
What isn't part of our job, however, is to carry out work on behalf of the multi-billion-dollar banks and mortgage industries.
Too many times, our deputies arrive at a home to carry out a mortgage foreclosure eviction, only to find a tenant -- dutifully paying their rent each month -- who is unaware their landlord stopped using that rent money to pay the mortgage. They had no fair warning that they were about to be thrown out of their home.
That's because, in many cases, the banks have done nothing to determine, in advance, who's living in the building -- even though it's required by state law. Instead, those banks expect taxpayers to pay for that investigative work for them.
That stops today.
We won't be doing the banks' work for them anymore.
We won't surprise tenants with an eviction order intended for their landlord.
I may be held in contempt of court over this. If that's the case, I'm willing to accept it though I believe most judges in Cook County share my desire to find a solution for this mess.
We're asking either the state courts or Legislature to order the banks to simply conduct very basic work before requesting an eviction.
I've come to this point after spending the last year trying to work with the banking industry, even asking the Legislature to pass a bill requiring them to -- at a minimum -- let us know if any children, disabled or senior citizens live at the home, so we can connect them with social services. That effort was killed by banking industry lobbyists.
Until the banking industry steps up and does the right thing, I won't continue to risk violating the law and open taxpayers to further liability.
As Cook County sheriff, I am responsible for running a 10,000-inmate jail, providing patrols to unincorporated areas and securing the courts.
But perhaps no part of our job is as difficult as the work done by our eviction units. On any given day, our deputies could be asked to throw a family out of their home, with all of their possessions left on a curb -- sometimes pilfered through by those living nearby.
Where mortgage firms see pieces of paper, my deputies see people.
Yet no matter how difficult they are, evictions are part of our job.
What isn't part of our job, however, is to carry out work on behalf of the multi-billion-dollar banks and mortgage industries.
Too many times, our deputies arrive at a home to carry out a mortgage foreclosure eviction, only to find a tenant -- dutifully paying their rent each month -- who is unaware their landlord stopped using that rent money to pay the mortgage. They had no fair warning that they were about to be thrown out of their home.
That's because, in many cases, the banks have done nothing to determine, in advance, who's living in the building -- even though it's required by state law. Instead, those banks expect taxpayers to pay for that investigative work for them.
That stops today.
We won't be doing the banks' work for them anymore.
We won't surprise tenants with an eviction order intended for their landlord.
I may be held in contempt of court over this. If that's the case, I'm willing to accept it though I believe most judges in Cook County share my desire to find a solution for this mess.
We're asking either the state courts or Legislature to order the banks to simply conduct very basic work before requesting an eviction.
I've come to this point after spending the last year trying to work with the banking industry, even asking the Legislature to pass a bill requiring them to -- at a minimum -- let us know if any children, disabled or senior citizens live at the home, so we can connect them with social services. That effort was killed by banking industry lobbyists.
Until the banking industry steps up and does the right thing, I won't continue to risk violating the law and open taxpayers to further liability.
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