CLINTON'S ABUSE OF CLEMENCY PROCESS BETRAYED NATIVE PEOPLES
22 Feb 2001
Friends,
FYI, as you may know, Robbie Robertson advocated for Leonard Peltier's release last night during the Grammy Award Ceremony. He referred to Leonard Peltier as not being "Marc Rich" enough for a pardon.
The History Channel will be airing a special on the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation and Leonard Peltier tomorrow (Friday, 2/23/01) evening at 9:00pm.
Also, CNN still has a forum for comments regarding Clinton's handling of clemencies: http://community.cnn.com/cgi-bin/WebX?13@@.eeeb0ed
Lastly, now is a great time to write letters to the editor regarding Clinton's handling of last minute clemencies, including the one he did not grant and should have. [Sample letter to the editor below]
Sample letter to the editor:
You can use this one, personalize this one, or write your own and send it to your local papers. Thank you!
(Include your name, phone number, and LPDC web site: www.freepeltier.org )
CLINTON'S ABUSE OF CLEMENCY PROCESS BETRAYED NATIVE PEOPLES
Criticism of Bill Clinton's handling of pardons should also include questioning about why he did not grant clemency to those who truly deserved it. Why, for example, didn't Clinton commute the sentence of Leonard Peltier, whose case more than any other would have demonstrated the proper use of the clemency power?
Peltier has been wrongfully imprisoned for 25 years. Amnesty International considers him a "political prisoner" who should be "immediately released." He was convicted after a shoot-out on the Pine Ridge Reservation took the lives of two FBI agents and one Native man whose death was never investigated. Peltier, who had long been surveillanced by the FBI for his American Indian Movement leadership, was found guilty in a trial where witnesses were coerced, false testimony was utilized, and a ballistic test reflecting his innocence was withheld from the defense. Today the U.S. prosecutor admits, "we can't prove who shot those agents." The appellate court found that Peltier might have been acquitted absent the FBI abuses, but denied a new trial on a legal technicality. This appellate judge expressed firm support for Peltier's release through executive clemency.
Indeed, executive clemency for Peltier would have exemplified not only a proper use of the power, but an honorable decision to correct a terrible injustice and take a historical step toward healing relations between the U.S. government and Native Peoples. Instead, January 20, 2001 marked another betrayal of the first peoples of this land by a government who has yet to grant reparations for the many atrocities committed against them. Clinton's legacy will forever be tainted by his abuse of the clemency process, both in the pardons he granted, and the ones he did not. And sadly, Leonard Peltier will continue to be a glaring reminder that America's shameful treatment of Native Peoples is far from ancient history.
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
www.freepeltier.org
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: mailto:iacenter@action-mail.org
En Espanol: iac-cai@action-mail.org
Web: http://www.iacenter.org
Support Mumia Abu-Jamal: http://www.millions4mumia.org/
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
Make a donation to the IAC and its projects
The International Action Center
Home ActionAlerts Press
Share this page with a friend