On Saturday, January 1, 2005, at 09:58 PM, Jennifer L. Rubenzer wrote:
Is Omar is trying to make himself some sort of victim? It seems the justice system is working perfectly well.
I have witnessed the "justice" system in Memphis, and for people of color it doesn't work very well at all. I was walking a picket line with my union brothers and sisters in Memphis a couple years ago when a "good 'ol boy" scab ran his tractor trailer rig right through a red light and hit an elder african american striker. This happened in front of several witnesses and the largely black street cops of the Memphis PD promptly responded, making a thorough investigation and insuring that my assualted union brother received prompt medical care. The largely black population of Memphis was outraged and there was talk at city hall of prompt and proper prosecution of the scab that assualted this peaceful picketer. Then, the "good old boy" southern "justice system" went to work... the higher levels of white controlled government refused to prosecute the scab who perpetrated this felony level assualt and that "good 'ol boy" was never even arrested.
I witnessed that malfunctioning Memphis "justice system" in this century, not the last one. I thusly am deeply concerned for my fellow Minneapolitan Omar Jamal's safety in Memphis, and have real doubts that he can receive a fair trial there.
There has been sufficient evidence that he lied when entering the US and entered with false documents, and so he was arrested and charged.
It looks like Omar is charged with violating the boilerplate small print on many federal forms that threatens a penalty of 5 years inprisonment or $10,000 fine for lying on said form. You'll find that fine print on applications for federal employment and promotion, I have no doubt that more than a few federal employees over the years have overstated their qualifications a bit, and surely more than a few well off taxpayers have fibbed a bit on their federal tax forms. Few of any of these folks are ever prosecuted, but when a black immigrant attorney is doing a good job of defending his community a thousand mile away federal prosecutor decides to "throw the book" at Omar Jamal and prosecute him for not one but six aledged violations of this largely unenforced law. Meanwhile, we see no investigation, never mind prosecution, of say, "good 'ol boy" Postal supervisors who got promoted and maybe hired too by perhaps listing bogus qualifications on their applications...
He posted bail and now will go to trial where a jury that is allowed to hear all the facts will decide his guilt or innocence. As American as apple pie and a system of which to be proud.
A system we could be proud of if it actually worked- even if Omar Jamal did commit the alleged offenses he has been a model citizen since then and the charges should be dropped. Meanwhile, the executives of the now bankrupt baking company that fleeced Minneapolis years ago enjoy their lucrative "golden parachute" severance payments and pensions with no prosecution for their questionable SEC filings in sight.
Omar's posts struck me as odd, I hope that his trial is fair and his sentence appropriate...but are updates necessary?
Yes, because when an attorney and advocate for a minority community is singled out for this sort of harassment we are all threatened.
hanging on in Hawthorne,
Dyna Sluyter
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