Free Gerald Hankerson

Dear Governor Gregoire:
Our Washington State Constitution asserts a belief in the rehabilitation of its felons as demonstrated by the very fact that it vested our State's governor with the pardoning power. Further, to assist the governor in the wise exercise of this power it created the Clemency Board; to review and commute the sentences of offenders in the most extraordinary of cases. On June 7, 2006, the Clemency Board voted unanimously in just such a case, and recommended clemency for Gerald Hankerson. In response to the Clemency Board's exceptionally favorable counsel, you "arrived at a different conclusion." This letter, on behalf of your community's leaders and the friends of Gerald Hankerson, and based upon the criteria herein, formally requests a reconsideration of your decision in order to balance the scales of justice.

Clemency empowers our State's Governor to pardon a person convicted of a crime or commute the sentence of a felon, often to time already served. Commutation reduces a criminal sentence. A pardon strikes the conviction from the books as if it never occurred, effectively wiping the slate clean. Gerald Hankerson is not asking for a clean slate per se, but fairness in sentencing. Gerald holds himself accountable for his involvement in the crime, but who, within our legal system, do we hold accountable for faulty jury instructions? By dropping the aggravating factor from his sentence, Gerald would be a candidate for the Department of Corrections Mutual Agreement Program (MAP). MAP is specifically tailored to offenders serving sentences for first-degree murder as a means to supervise an offender's transition back into the community. And the community would only benefit from Gerald's return.
Gerald has conducted himself in a manner both above and beyond what one would expect of a prisoner, and his positive demeanor is not typical among inmates. For a number of years, Gerald has had no serious infractions, has the maximum number of custody points, and is at the lowest security level possible for his sentence. Gerald has paid all his restitution and court fees, and has participated in numerous programs to benefit and better himself and others such as the Concerned Lifers Organization and Youths at Risk. Gerald has a positive and extensive support network in place as evidenced by the turnout at his clemency hearing; even the Clemency Board itself commented that they had never seen such an outpouring of support. Community leaders, councilmen, family and friends, all have invested a lot of time and effort in Gerald. He has a guaranteed four year college scholarship should he want to study, and he has a job with Korum Motors waiting for him. Most importantly he has good friends to turn to and guide him.
If our prison systems are intended to rehabilitate those incarcerated, to restore them to a useful life through therapy, education, and specialty programs to such a degree that they are able to contribute to themselves and become productive members of society, then our prison system has succeeded with Gerald Hankerson. But by denying his clemency, what message has now been sent to the rest of the prison population? What are they going to take from this decision? That positive change doesn't matter? That hard work and participation in state endorsed programs won't help their circumstances? That a unanimous decision by the Clemency Board means nothing?
Forgiveness, leniency, compassion, mercy: these words are the very definition of clemency. The reason you are reading this request today is not because of Gerald, but because of us, your constituents. Gerald would never have considered applying for clemency on his own accord; forgiveness seemed well beyond the realm of possibility. At our insistence he reached for the impossible by asking for leniency, and succeeded, unanimously so. We have seen Gerald grow over the decades, for indeed, a transformation of this magnitude is not one that happens overnight. Gerald's journey along this road of change has been a long and challenging one, and our compassion for him has never faltered. Mercy to those who have redeemed themselves is the right thing to do, and the very reason why clemency was established.
Often the most arduous task a leader must undertake, or the most difficult decision a leader has to make, is the morally correct one. We, the below signed petitioners, urge you, Governor Gregoire, to accept your Clemency Board's recommendation. Please reconsider this clemency based upon what is ethically, morally, and justifiably correct by Gerald S. Hankerson.

UW Retains Coach Willingham

The Seattle King County NAACP supports the University of Washington's decision to retain Tyrone Willingham as it's head football coach for at least one more year. During his tenure, Coach Willingham has repeatedly demonstrated that he has the qualities that will lead the University of Washington back to national prominence. Perhaps, more importantly, Coach Willingham has demonstrated that the future of his student athletes are of great importance him. Coach Willingham's incredible work ethic, discipline and character is exactly the sort of example that we all should be following.

Community Meeting 10/22/07 at 6:30 (Seattle Urban League Building)

The Seattle Martin Luther King County Jr. NAACP will be holding its monthly community meeting on Monday, October 22 at the Seattle Urban League. This meeting will address issues relating to police and community member interactions. This is intended to inform community members of their rights when it comes to interacting with law enforcement.

Martin Luther King County Rally for Public Education

October 6, 2007
10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Martin Luther King County Rally for Public Education Logistical Information
Theme: “Moving Up; Moving Forward”
Audience: Families and Students (K-20)
Date: Saturday, October 6, 2007
Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: Langston Hughes Cultural Center
Keynote Speaker: Larry Gossett (Topic: King County’s role in public education)
Sponsor: NAACP

Martin Luther King County Rally for Public Education Background Information
The Martin Luther King County Rally for Public Education is designed not only to engage King County communities, parents/guardians and students in public education issues and advocacy opportunities; it is intended to provide a wide variety of resources and information.

Featured Resources
College Preparation
o Testing Calendars (for two- and four-year colleges)
o College Applications
o Financial Aid Applications
o Scholarship Information
o Onsite High School Counselors
K-12 Informational Tables
o Education Issues
o Advanced Placement
o English Language Learners
o High School Graduation Requirements
o Low Income/Poverty
o Special Education
Post-secondary Opportunities
o Apprenticeships
o Two-year Colleges
o Four-year Universities
Citizen Empowerment
o Voter Registration
o Education Advocacy Opportunities
City, County and State Organizations
o Black Child Development Institute (BCDI)
o Casa Latina
o El Centro de la Raza
o Sea Mar
o Seattle Education Association
o Washington Education Association
o Washington State Special Education Coalition

Civil Rights
o Civil Rights Advocacy
o Process to Address Alleged Civil Rights Violations
Health Care
o Health Care Information and Resources
o Sexually Transmitted Diseases

NAACP FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST MORTGAGE LENDERS

Last week the NAACP filed a federal class action lawsuit against fourteen of the country's largest subprime mortgage lenders. This lawsuit is designed to stop these lenders from engaging in systematic institutionalized racism in making home mortgage loans. In part, the decision to file a class action was based on a 2006 study conducted by the Center for Responsible Lending. Researchers found that when creditworthiness and credit risk were equal, African-Americans were still 31 percent to 34 percent more likely to receive higher rate then their Gaussian counterparts.

Additionally, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition revealed that lenders on average made high-cost subprime loans to higher-qualified African-Americans 54 percent of the time, compared to 23 percent of the time for Caucasian, even when the Caucasian applicants were less qualified.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE NAACP

IF AT ANY TIME IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW TOOK OUT A HOME MORTGAGE LOAN OR REFINANCED A HOME, WHETHER WITH ONE OF THESE LENDERS OR ANOTHER LENDER, YOU MAY HAVE BEEN A VICTIM OF THESE DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES. PLEASE CONTACT ONE OF THE PERSONS LISTED BELOW.

WEE NEED YOU TE HELP STOP DISCRIMINATORY LENDING AND TO RECOVER THE MONEY THE NAACP ALLEGES WAS CHARGED ILLEGALLY BY THESE LENDERS. PLEASE TELL YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES.

NAACP

Angela Cicolo, Esq.

Interim Gerneral Counsel

4805 Mt. Hope Drive,

Baltimore MD 21215

(877) NAACP-98

(410) 580-5777

FEAZELL & TIGHE LLP

(877) 948-4842

info@feazell-tighe.com

KABATECK BROWN KELLNER, LLP

Brian Kabateck, Esq.

(866) 266-1800

bsk@kbklawyers.com

The Civil and Human Rights of People in Seattle must be Protected

seattletimes.nwsource.com/avantgo/2003771751_webchief02m.html

Imagine witnessing a defenseless individual in handcuffs being beaten with a club and fists by law enforcement. Imagine a police officer jumping on person who is laying on his stomach waiting for law enforcement to place him in hand cuffs (this person suffered a popped lung and cracked ribs). Imagine a law enforcement officer spanking your child. In each of these cases the Office of Professional Accountability found that the officers had committed acts of misconduct. To the shock of the people of Seattle, Police Chief Kerlikowske overturned the decision of the Office of Professional Accountability and exonerated these officers of any wrong doing.

These horrific incidents of injustice are just three of the twenty-two cases that Chief Kerlikowske has overturned in the past couple of years. We are concerned that the Chief is seeking to cover up acts of injustice that are committed by Seattle Police Officers at the expense of the public. We are concerned that the Chief is failing to put his reasons for disagreeing with the Office of Professional Accountability in writing.

The Chief has repeatedly demonstrated that he is willing to ignore the depth and reasoning of the Seattle Office of Professional Accountability in favor of officers. George T. Pattersons case is particularly disturbing. In the Patterson case, there was a 600 page investigation, a video tape, a forensic experts findings, warnings from the City Auditor and a ruling by a judge which suggested that the officers in the Patterson case had committed acts of misconduct. In spite of this evidence, the Chief chose to exonerate these officers. Even worse, he chose to misrepresent the issues to the public. He chose to slander Mr. Patterson and tried to infer that a weapon was involved in this case when everyone is well aware that there were no weapons present.

We need a chief who is willing to tell the public the truth and sanction those few officers who choose to violate civil and human rights.


Recently the Minority Executive Director's Coalition (MEDC) Joined the Seattle King County NAACP in calling for the Resignation of Chief Kerlikowske. People of color and the poor can no longer have confidence in the chiefs ability to protect their civil and human rights.