Victory! Rev. Edward Pinkney Released From Prison Pending Appeal
From
The Pinkney Defense Connuttee:
“The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan applauded a Court of Appeals decision granting its motion for bond on behalf of Rev. Edward Pinkney,” said an ACLU press release. Pinkney was serving a 3-10 year prison sentence for writing a newspaper article that harshly criticized the judge who presided over his trial. A leader in the fight against the corporate take-over of Benton Harbor, he was released from prison pending his appeal on December 24, 2008.
The ACLU’s win is the last thing Berrien County power players want. Trial Court Judge Dennis Wiley tried to persuade the Prosecutor to postpone the hearing. Wiley, visibly angry, threw two people out of the courtroom for slight chuckles, shouting to “get out!” Rev. Pinkney, appearing on closed circuit TV from Jackson prison, was represented by two ACLU attorneys. It was obvious from their astonished expressions that they may never have been subjected to this type of “legal proceeding.” Berrien County refused to bring Pinkney to the courtroom citing bad weather. “This is how they do things in Berrien County,” said Dorothy Pinkney.
Judge Wiley granted Pinkney a $10,000 cash surety bond — more than had been sought by either Pinkney or the prosecutor. “I could have set $150,000!,” threatened the Judge. The lawyers will appeal.
The lawyer’s will also appeal the Judge’s long list of conditions to Pinkney’s bond release, which includes:
No cell phone, no pager, no speaking engagements, no preaching in church, no defamatory or harassing behavior — including through the use of print or electronic media, no election activity, must wear a GPS tether and be under 24-hour curfew, may not go near the trial judge in the case, may not use a credit card. Also, Pinkney must keep away from the Berrien County Courthouse. Pinkney is known for his court observer activism. Attorneys said the restrictions are excessive and some are unconstitutional.
Get the feeling they are just a little afraid of this Reverend?
Please call the Judicial Tenure Commission, 313-875-5110, or write: Paul J. Fischer, 3034 Grand Blvd., Ste. 8-450, Detroit, MI, 48420.For Defense information call 269-925-0001.
Tracking A Champion
By Phil Bassett
I know a winner when I see one. I could sense it in Edward Pinkney the first time I saw him speak in 2005. Since then, I’ve watched him brave assaults on his dignity that would have sent lesser men to the crazy house or to their grave.
Just before Thanksgiving, I secured a TV studio equipped with a speakerphone and a fifteen-minute appointment to interview Rev. Pinkney. My friend John Mann was with me, and we waited tensely in the minutes before the appointed time, wondering if it was all going to fall through. If you know anything about the judicial system, you will know why we were concerned.
When Pinkney comes on, his no-nonsense attitude is evident, his spirit untouched by his current surroundings. He tells a story about a guard accusing him of doing others’ legal work (is that a crime?), shaking him down and breaking his radio. He then relates how another guard told him to take his radio to have it repaired only to be accused, when he got there, of being there without permission. He talks about life at Ojibway: “…you are in a place where you don’t have soap to wash your hands…” and, using toilet paper, “you roll one sheet at a time.” Although his voice always carries a hint of humor, he states matter-of-factly, “I’m very concerned about not only my health, but also my safety.”
John asked him why they arrested him the day after Cynthia McKinney came to town to support him. He says simply, “They can’t stand to see that much power in one man.”
He states emphatically, “We have to channel our energy toward justice for all, not one, two, three people… We have to think of every single person—even the ones who don’t want to fight, even the ones who don’t want to stand up. We have to stand up for them, to show them there is another way of doing things.”
He insists that this fight is not about him. If that were the case, he says, “If they get rid of me, they get rid of everybody.” Unfortunately for the powers that be in Berrien County, the opposite has happened: putting the Reverend in a cage has only opened them up for ever greater scrutiny, as the ACLU is now bringing Pinkney’s appeal. The National Lawyers Guild has teamed up with him as well. Perhaps the rampant racism that passes for justice in St. Joe (Mich.) will be dragged out in the light for a little while.
Thoughts On The Benton Harbor Struggle
From the People’s Tribune Editorial Board
The blatant attack against democracy in Benton Harbor — directed at anyone who stands up to corporate power — is a harbinger of the future for Michigan, and for all of America, if people do not act.
Benton Harbor is a town of around 11,000 in the Southwest corner of Michigan. The town is 94% Black. The major corporation in the area is Whirlpool. The working class community of Benton Harbor at one time had stable jobs, a decent standard of living and had fairly good racial relations. The town, now devastated by globalization, industrial stagnation and flight, has a 70% unemployment rate. As the jobs left, the people resisted. They fought for a decent standard of living and against Whirlpool’s effort to take the land and turn the town into a vacation resort for the rich. As a result, the governing local bodies that once controlled by buying up the people’s leaders turned to intimidation and brute force. Today, the town is almost a fascist dictatorship.
When Rev. Edward Pinkney tried to address the destruction of the Benton Harbor community by the corporations, the city’s rulers pulled out the race card to try to shut him up and to isolate the struggle from the rest of Michigan. They are well aware that the deteriorating industrial base of the entire state is creating anger among the previously well-paid white workers who also are being hurled into poverty. Racism serves to hide the reality that today, the white poor have more in common with the Black poor than they do with the corporations who have discarded them. Racism keeps the poor divided.
Lastly, the first line of attack of the rulers is to isolate the leaders from the movement they represent. The attack on Rev. Pinkney is an attempt to render the movement ineffective. A movement that does not defend its leaders cannot grow. Benton Harbor shows what lies ahead. Let’s defend ourselves by defending democracy in Benton Harbor!
“The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan applauded a Court of Appeals decision granting its motion for bond on behalf of Rev. Edward Pinkney,” said an ACLU press release. Pinkney was serving a 3-10 year prison sentence for writing a newspaper article that harshly criticized the judge who presided over his trial. A leader in the fight against the corporate take-over of Benton Harbor, he was released from prison pending his appeal on December 24, 2008.
The ACLU’s win is the last thing Berrien County power players want. Trial Court Judge Dennis Wiley tried to persuade the Prosecutor to postpone the hearing. Wiley, visibly angry, threw two people out of the courtroom for slight chuckles, shouting to “get out!” Rev. Pinkney, appearing on closed circuit TV from Jackson prison, was represented by two ACLU attorneys. It was obvious from their astonished expressions that they may never have been subjected to this type of “legal proceeding.” Berrien County refused to bring Pinkney to the courtroom citing bad weather. “This is how they do things in Berrien County,” said Dorothy Pinkney.
Judge Wiley granted Pinkney a $10,000 cash surety bond — more than had been sought by either Pinkney or the prosecutor. “I could have set $150,000!,” threatened the Judge. The lawyers will appeal.
The lawyer’s will also appeal the Judge’s long list of conditions to Pinkney’s bond release, which includes:
No cell phone, no pager, no speaking engagements, no preaching in church, no defamatory or harassing behavior — including through the use of print or electronic media, no election activity, must wear a GPS tether and be under 24-hour curfew, may not go near the trial judge in the case, may not use a credit card. Also, Pinkney must keep away from the Berrien County Courthouse. Pinkney is known for his court observer activism. Attorneys said the restrictions are excessive and some are unconstitutional.
Get the feeling they are just a little afraid of this Reverend?
Please call the Judicial Tenure Commission, 313-875-5110, or write: Paul J. Fischer, 3034 Grand Blvd., Ste. 8-450, Detroit, MI, 48420.For Defense information call 269-925-0001.
Tracking A Champion
By Phil Bassett
I know a winner when I see one. I could sense it in Edward Pinkney the first time I saw him speak in 2005. Since then, I’ve watched him brave assaults on his dignity that would have sent lesser men to the crazy house or to their grave.
Just before Thanksgiving, I secured a TV studio equipped with a speakerphone and a fifteen-minute appointment to interview Rev. Pinkney. My friend John Mann was with me, and we waited tensely in the minutes before the appointed time, wondering if it was all going to fall through. If you know anything about the judicial system, you will know why we were concerned.
When Pinkney comes on, his no-nonsense attitude is evident, his spirit untouched by his current surroundings. He tells a story about a guard accusing him of doing others’ legal work (is that a crime?), shaking him down and breaking his radio. He then relates how another guard told him to take his radio to have it repaired only to be accused, when he got there, of being there without permission. He talks about life at Ojibway: “…you are in a place where you don’t have soap to wash your hands…” and, using toilet paper, “you roll one sheet at a time.” Although his voice always carries a hint of humor, he states matter-of-factly, “I’m very concerned about not only my health, but also my safety.”
John asked him why they arrested him the day after Cynthia McKinney came to town to support him. He says simply, “They can’t stand to see that much power in one man.”
He states emphatically, “We have to channel our energy toward justice for all, not one, two, three people… We have to think of every single person—even the ones who don’t want to fight, even the ones who don’t want to stand up. We have to stand up for them, to show them there is another way of doing things.”
He insists that this fight is not about him. If that were the case, he says, “If they get rid of me, they get rid of everybody.” Unfortunately for the powers that be in Berrien County, the opposite has happened: putting the Reverend in a cage has only opened them up for ever greater scrutiny, as the ACLU is now bringing Pinkney’s appeal. The National Lawyers Guild has teamed up with him as well. Perhaps the rampant racism that passes for justice in St. Joe (Mich.) will be dragged out in the light for a little while.
Thoughts On The Benton Harbor Struggle
From the People’s Tribune Editorial Board
The blatant attack against democracy in Benton Harbor — directed at anyone who stands up to corporate power — is a harbinger of the future for Michigan, and for all of America, if people do not act.
Benton Harbor is a town of around 11,000 in the Southwest corner of Michigan. The town is 94% Black. The major corporation in the area is Whirlpool. The working class community of Benton Harbor at one time had stable jobs, a decent standard of living and had fairly good racial relations. The town, now devastated by globalization, industrial stagnation and flight, has a 70% unemployment rate. As the jobs left, the people resisted. They fought for a decent standard of living and against Whirlpool’s effort to take the land and turn the town into a vacation resort for the rich. As a result, the governing local bodies that once controlled by buying up the people’s leaders turned to intimidation and brute force. Today, the town is almost a fascist dictatorship.
When Rev. Edward Pinkney tried to address the destruction of the Benton Harbor community by the corporations, the city’s rulers pulled out the race card to try to shut him up and to isolate the struggle from the rest of Michigan. They are well aware that the deteriorating industrial base of the entire state is creating anger among the previously well-paid white workers who also are being hurled into poverty. Racism serves to hide the reality that today, the white poor have more in common with the Black poor than they do with the corporations who have discarded them. Racism keeps the poor divided.
Lastly, the first line of attack of the rulers is to isolate the leaders from the movement they represent. The attack on Rev. Pinkney is an attempt to render the movement ineffective. A movement that does not defend its leaders cannot grow. Benton Harbor shows what lies ahead. Let’s defend ourselves by defending democracy in Benton Harbor!
This article originated in the People's Tribune
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