> > WW News Service Digest #129 > > 1) Supreme Court on abortion: Keep the pressure on > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 2) 300,000 in Cuba hear Mumia's son > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 3) Opposition to death penalty grows > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 4) Mumia on the lynching of Shaka Sankofa > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 5) Different name, same aggression > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 13, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >SUPREME COURT RULING ON ABORTION: >WHY WOMEN MUST KEEP THE PRESSURE ON > >By Sue Davis > >Anti-abortion forces received a setback on June 28 when >the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against a Nebraska law banning >a method of late-term abortion. > >The court struck down Nebraska's so-called (and purposely >misnamed) "partial-birth" abortion law because its >definition of the procedure was extremely vague and because >it did not provide an exception supporting women's access >to needed health care, as required by the 1973 Roe v. Wade >decision legalizing abortion. > >The court's ruling was broad, sweeping similar laws off >the books in 29 other states and halting a bill in >Congress. These laws were all so broadly and cunningly >crafted with such general language that they could be used >to ban all types of surgical abortion. And that was exactly >the right wing's intention: to use a gruesome description >of one particular procedure--used in less than 1 percent of >all abortions in this country--to whip up a hysteria so >that all abortions would soon be outlawed. > >Enacting bans on "partial-birth" abortions was the anti- >choice strategy adopted in the mid-1990s. All other >attempts to stop legal abortion had failed. These included >the murder of six doctors and clinic workers, widespread >bombing, arson and blockades of clinics. They also included >legislative curbs on poor and young women's right to choose >abortion, setting up fake pregnancy counseling centers, and >constant harassment, intimidation and terrorizing of both >health-care providers and women seeking reproductive health >care. > >Though the court's ruling has affirmed and, some say, >broadened the 1973 decision, many women's rights' activists >were upset that the vote was only 5-4, compared to a 6-3 >decision on a 1992 abortion case. Because the vote was so >close, the New York Times predicted in its lead article on >June 29 that "the court's future composition [will] be the >subject of greater than usual focus during the remainder of >this election year." > >STRATEGY FOR WOMEN'S MOVEMENT > >That statement was a roundabout way of urging women to >vote for Democrat Al Gore in the presidential election. It >implies that if the next president appoints any new >justices to the Supreme Court, he could single-handedly >control the future of legal abortion in this country. > >But a quick review of history shows that is a fallacy. >When Roe v. Wade became the law of the land in 1973, six of >the nine Supreme Court justices were Republican appointees. >Five of them--Potter Stewart, Harry Blackmun, William >Brennan, Warren Burger and Lewis Powell--voted to legalize >abortion, along with Democrat appointees Thurgood Marshall >and William O. Douglas. > >The very conservative Richard Nixon had appointed four of >the justices. Yet three of his appointees voted with the >majority for the decision that uprooted 100-year-old anti- >abortion laws. Of the two justices who voted against Roe v. >Wade--William Rehnquist and Byron White--White was a >Kennedy appointee. Rehnquist had been appointed by Nixon. > >Why did this court do it? Because of enormous pressure >from the mushrooming women's movement during a period of >widespread, intense political and social upheaval. The >ruling class was trying to pacify the progressive movement. > >Making abortion legal was supported by both the medical >and the legal professions. However, it was women >themselves, who all across the country in the hundreds and >thousands signed petitions, lobbied legislatures, rallied >and marched in the streets, who wrested this victory from >the court. The court didn't magnanimously grant it. > >Would abortion have been legalized without a rowdy women's >movement demanding control over their own bodies? Hardly. > >On the other hand, the dismantling of the welfare system, >which undermines health care for all working class and poor >women, took place under a Democratic administration in a >period of great economic growth that has benefited only the >upper layers of society. This increased polarization took >place after many of the mass movements became distracted >from their job of mobilizing the people in struggle and >instead devoted their energies to getting the Clinton-Gore >ticket elected. > >The Supreme Court is not removed from the masses. It is >highly political, and sometimes can be freer than Congress >to respond to mass struggle. Surely schools would not have >been desegregated or abortion legalized if such things had >been left up to Congress. > >Under capitalism, none of the gains won by the people are >guaranteed. It takes an independent movement, not chained >to the capitalist political parties, to keep abortion >legal. > >Women can't be full, equal members of society without >legal abortion and no forced sterilization, equal pay, >affordable housing, free, quality childcare, healthcare and >education, as well as full rights for lesbians, an end to >sexual harassment and domestic violence. Neither Al Gore >nor George W. Bush will make this happen. Continuing the >struggle will. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00ea01bfec1b$17aeb160$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] 300,000 in Cuba hear Mumia's son >Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 12:02:55 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 13, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >300,000 IN CUBA HEAR MUMIA'S SON: >IN U.S. PROTESTS PLANNED AT DEM/REP GABFESTS > >By Greg Butterfield > >The "summer of resistance" to save Black freedom fighter >Mumia Abu-Jamal is gathering strength on both sides of the >Florida Straits. > >Gary Graham/Shaka Sankofa's June 22 execution made the >death penalty a red-hot issue--one Republican presidential >candidate George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore are trying >like hell to avoid talking about. > >But activists in the United States don't plan on letting >them sweep the plight of 3,600 death-row inmates under the >rug. They plan big demonstrations at the Republican and >Democratic conventions to step up the pressure. > >The summer protests will demand a new trial for Abu-Jamal, >the revolutionary journalist on Pennsylvania's death row, >and an end to the racist death penalty. > >Meanwhile, Cuba's socialist government is pressing ahead >with its plan to bring Abu-Jamal's case to that country and >the world. > >On July 1 Mazi Jamal, Abu-Jamal's son, was the invited >guest speaker at a rally of more than 300,000 people >protesting the U.S. blockade and the Cuban Adjustment Act >in Manzanillo, Cuba. > >The protesters, many of them youths and students, >celebrated Eli n Gonz lez's homecoming. > >Jamal scoffed at the U.S. government's claim to be the >"land of freedom," noting the tremendous disparities in >death sentences and prison terms based on race. > >After thanking the Cuban people for their support, Jamal >added, "With that support I know my father will one day be >free, as your child Eli n is free." > >Earlier, on June 19, Cuba broadcast the first in a series >of national roundtable discussions on the U.S. death >penalty. > >Leading U.S. activists participated in the discussion, >including Pam Africa of International Concerned Family & >Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Monica Moorehead of Millions >for Mumia, and Abu-Jamal's attorney Leonard Weinglass. > >The transcript was rapidly published and distributed >across the island. It also went to Cuban diplomatic offices >worldwide. > >CONVENTION PROTEST CONTROVERSY > >In Philadelphia, site of the Republican National >Convention, and Los Angeles, site of the Democratic >National Convention, police and government officials are >trying to suppress the right to protest. > >The big-business politicians are scared. They worry that >the militant style of protests seen at the World Trade >Organization meeting in Seattle and the IMF/World Bank >meetings in Washington will spill over onto their carefully >choreographed shindigs. > >They are especially determined to squelch death-penalty >protests. It's the issue where Gore and Bush--both backers >of legal lynching--have the most to lose as they try to >court workers and people of color for Election Day. > >Philadelphia police have granted a few protest permits. >Millions for Mumia and other groups plan a major Free >Mumia/anti-death-penalty contingent in one of these, the >July 30 "Unity 2000" march. > >A coalition of groups, including the New York Free Mumia >Coalition, has called for a day of mass civil disobedience >at the convention's Aug. 1 opening. > >Los Angeles cops haven't given any permits. They want to >push protesters into a deserted, fenced-in lot far from the >Democratic Convention. > >The Los Angeles Coalition to Free Mumia and the >International Action Center have called for a national >demonstration for Abu-Jamal on Aug. 13. > >The groups are working with the American Civil Liberties >Union and others to secure a permit. But, Preston Wood of >the IAC told Workers World, the march will go forward with >or without a permit. > >As Abu-Jamal's supporters prepare for the showdown, they >can take heart from the words of Cuban President Fidel >Castro. In a written message to the rally where Mazi Jamal >spoke, Castro said, "Whoever may be the new president of >the United States should know that Cuba is and will be >there with its ideas, its example, and the unbendable >rebellion of its people." > >For more information on protests at the conventions, >readers can visit the Web site www.mumia2000.org or call >Millions for Mumia/IAC in New York at (212) 633-6646 or San >Francisco at (415) 821-5782. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00eb01bfec1b$17dc7820$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Opposition to death penalty grows >Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 12:03:32 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 13, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >OPPOSITION TO DEATH PENALTY GROWS: >CLINTON FORCED TO POSTPONE FEDERAL EXECUTION > >By Greg Butterfield > >Gary Graham/Shaka Sankofa's June 22 execution in Texas set >off an earthquake that rippled through the 38 U.S. states >now using the death penalty. > >Fifty-nine percent of those polled in Texas said they >believed innocent people have been killed there, according >to Scripps Howard. > >And 73 percent of Californians believe a moratorium should >be put on executions in their state, which has the most >people on death row. (San Francisco Chronicle, June 22) > >Now the aftershocks have reached Washington--thanks to a >growing movement against legal lynchings. > >On June 29, following weeks of protests by Latino groups >and others, Clinton administration spokesperson Joe >Lockhart announced a moratorium on federal executions >pending new Justice Department guidelines on presidential >clemency. > >Federal prisoner Juan Raul Garza was scheduled to die Aug. >5. His lawyers said the announcement probably meant Garza's >execution would be delayed. > >Garza, a migrant farm worker from Texas, was convicted in >1993 of killing three people and of being a "drug lord." He >maintains his innocence. > >"I didn't kill any of these people," Garza told the >Associated Press. > >A little-known Clinton addition to federal death penalty >statutes allows so-called "drug lords"--a term usually >applied to people from Latin America--to be prosecuted in >federal courts. > >Garza would be the first federal prisoner executed since >1963. > >Nationally, about 60 percent of those on death row are >Black, Latino, Asian, Arab or Native. > >On federal death row, it's worse. > >Seventeen out of 21 prisoners there are people of color-- >81 percent. Sixty-two percent are African American. > >Fourteen of them are from three Southern states--Texas, >Virginia and Missouri. > >Like Sankofa, Garza's legal appeals are exhausted. He >wants to appeal to the president for clemency. The right to >do that is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. > >But his lawyers discovered the Justice Department had >never bothered to create a clemency process for federal >death-row prisoners. > >Lockhart said "it may be weeks, it may be months" before >the new guidelines are ready. > >He also said the administration would have to hold a >period of "public comment" on the new regulations. He >didn't say what that meant. (United Press International, >June 30) > >CLINTON/GORE RECORD > >Because of the terrible pace of executions in Texas under >Gov. George W. Bush--136 since 1994--most of the attention >up to now has been focused on the Republican presidential >candidate. > >But Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, the >Democratic presidential candidate, are both death-penalty >boosters too. > >In 1992, then-Arkansas Governor Clinton--campaigning for >the White House--cut short a campaign tour to oversee an >execution. > >Clinton executed a mentally disabled man with the >comprehension of a 4-year-old child. > >He did it to show he was "tough on crime" like his >opponent--former President George Bush, father of the Texas >governor. > >Clinton showed his racism and contempt for oppressed >peoples in other ways. For example, he continued the senior >Bush's policy of bombing and sanctions against Iraq-- >costing that country more than 1.5 million lives in the >last decade. > >Gore is taking the same tack. While he doesn't hold >immediate life-and-death power over anyone on death row, >he's said many times that he supports the death penalty. > >Gore even refused to criticize Texas's abysmal execution >record or ask Bush to stay Shaka Sankofa's death so that >new evidence could be heard. > >Asked if Gore had any comment about the Chicago Tribune's >damning study of racism in Texas death sentences, >spokesperson Douglas Hattaway replied, "We haven't done any >kind of response at all." (Chicago Tribune, June 13) > >It's hard, therefore, to believe Gore's recent comment >that "I have assumed up until very recently that the >mistakes were rare and unusual." (New York Times, June 14) >In that interview, he again said he would not support a >moratorium on executions. > >Opponents of the racist death penalty will confront both >Gore and Bush this summer. Major protests are planned for >the Republican Convention in Philadelphia and the >Democratic Convention in Los Angeles. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00ec01bfec1b$17e44050$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Mumia on the lynching of Shaka Sankofa >Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 12:04:20 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 13, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >FROM DEATH ROW: MUMIA ON LYNCHING OF SHAKA SANKOFA > >By Mumia Abu-Jamal > >On the evening of June 22, 2000, at approximately 8:49 >p.m., the life of Shaka Sankofa (n�e Gary Graham) was >snuffed out by the state of Texas. With a sweaty-lipped >smirk and a nod, Texas Gov. George W. Bush cleared the way >for the state's killing of a young Black man. The legalized >lynching of Sankofa, the 135th in recent Texas history, was >but the latest in a long line of state killings. All of >these have but one objective: to propel Bush, the younger, >into the White House. > >With serious questions about his guilt, and equally serious >questions about the competency of his original, court- >appointed trial counsel, the Graham (Sankofa) case posed >serious questions about the entire Texas death machine. > >Sankofa's trial lawyer has the dubious distinction of >having a subsection of Texas death row unofficially named >for him: the "Mock Wing." The wing is so named for Harris >County defense attorney Ronald G. Mock, whose 12 clients >were shuffled to the Texas death row. With the legalized >lynching of Sankofa, seven of his clients have been killed >by the state, and five now await death. > >Sankofa's trial took two days, and the lawyer (Mock) called >no witnesses during the guilt phase of the trial. In a >recent interview Mock told reporters, in a boast, that he >flunked criminal law at Texas Southern University's >Thurgood Marshall School of Law. He never called, nor >interviewed, two eyewitnesses that would've cleared Sankofa >of the May 13, 1981, killing of a 52-year-old white man. > >One of his former colleagues, attorney Chester L. Thornton, >was quoted in a recent interview describing Ron Mock as the >kind of "lawyer who play[s] along with the rules." (New >York Times, June 11) He served the interests of the judges, >perhaps, by rushing cases through the trials, but it can >hardly be said that he served the interests of his clients, >most of whom are dead. > >The strong, rebellious spirit of Sankofa drew hundreds of >supporters to the city of death, Huntsville, Texas, to >protest in favor of life. > >The Sankofa case, which poses the spectacle of the broken >Texas death machine killing an innocent young man, is an >indictment of a system that is, in essence, one built upon >the most premeditated of murders. > >Politicians, and their corporate media mouthpieces, make >much of the kinds of crimes that rock major U.S. cities, >like rapes, robberies and murders. But, usually, poor folks >commit crimes for money. Politicians kill poor folks for >their own political advantage: for a promotion; for a job. > >Which one is worse? > >Who will condemn a criminal political system? Remember >Shaka, and like his mighty namesake (of the Zulu Empire), >let us build an army, dedicated to life, and to the >destruction of the death machine. > >On this, one of the most important issues of our time, let >us understand that there would've been no difference if >there was a Democrat at the death-switch in Huntsville. >Shaka Sankofa was killed by a deadly political system, not >a political party. > >Let the movement grow! > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00ed01bfec1b$17eeeeb0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Different name, same aggression >Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 12:05:43 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 13, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >EDITORIAL: DIFFEENT NAME, SAME AGGRESSION > >Without changing Washington's aggressive policy worldwide, the >State Department decided to at least de-escalate its >rhetoric. It will no longer refer to U.S. targets as "rogue >nations." It will call them "states of concern." > >The 40-year-long embargo against Cuba will continue. The >Pentagon's 50-year occupation of the Korean Peninsula and >its regular "war games" aimed at the north will stay on the >books. The sanctions that continue to murder 5,000 Iraqi >children each month are left in place. Warships will stay >in and near the Persian /Arabian Gulf aiming rockets at >both Iraq and Iran. > >No U.S. hand of friendship or even of polite negotiation >is stretched out to Libya's people. No apology and >restitution is offered to the people of Sudan for the >completely unjustifiable rocket bombing of that country's >pharmaceutical plant. > >U.S. troops will remain in the Kosovo and Metohija >province of Serbia. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic >is still charged by the "International Tribunal" U.S. money >bought in The Hague. And sanctions that drag down the daily >lives of ordinary Yugoslavs remain in effect. > >Still, there must be a reason Washington decided to turn >down the rhetoric. > >Maybe it was that meeting in Latin America of >overwhelmingly pro-capitalist heads of state and government >officials that gave Fidel Castro a standing ovation when he >walked to the podium. They were so pleased that the Cuban >president had stood up to and survived Yankee aggression >and they enjoyed letting the U.S. officials know it. > >Or perhaps it was Milosevic's appearance at the dedication >of the new bridges built over the Danube River at Novi Sad. >These bridges were financed in Western Europe at least >partially by those European capitalists who saw their >interests hurt by the Pentagon's decision to bomb river >traffic during the brutal 78-day onslaught against >Yugoslavia. > >Or then again it could have been the survival of the >Baghdad government after almost 10 years of blockade and >continuous bombings. And the knowledge that France, Russia >and China want to end that blockade and go back to doing >business with Iraq. > >And then there was the latest big event: The summit >meeting between the north and south Korean heads of state >in Pyongyang. Whatever the future outcome of that meeting, >it was obvious that north Korean leader Kim Jong Il was a >legitimate head of state--not some "rogue" leader. And that >he was the one who didn't depend on occupation troops from >another country to stay in power. > >Washington officials from the Clinton administration >invented the term "rogue nation" as a propaganda device. >They had to try to justify policies that were so vicious >and anti-people that something special had to distinguish >their targets. > >They also had to justify Pentagon plans for ever newer, >more destructive, more dangerous, more provocative and of >course more expensive weapons systems. Missile defense >systems against impossible attacks, for example--which few >scientists believe will work anyway. > >But at the time they decided to replace "rogue nations" >with "states of concern," the U.S. State Department had >seen that the propaganda impact of the term was bringing in >diminishing returns. > >These aggressive U.S. policies--aimed at the ordinary >people of all those countries--were failing to accomplish >Washington's goals. They were alienating allies whose >wishes were ignored. They were kept in place only by U.S. >bullying. And they were exposing the United States to the >whole world as the real rogue nation. > >So the term had to go. Now what is needed is a movement >that can fight to stop U.S. aggressive policies and have >them follow "rogue nation" into the garbage pail. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
