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Add an EventCecily McMillan will appeal verdict in OWS persecution
We are devastated by the Jury’s verdict today. It has been clear from
day one that Cecily has not received a fair and open trial. The job of
a judge during a jury trial isn't to guide the verdict to fit his
opinion. Judge Zweibel, who consistently suppressed evidence, has
demonstrated his clear bias by consistently siding with the
prosecution. In addition to suppressing evidence, he imposed a gag
order on Cecily’s lawyers, which is a clear violation of their 1st
Amendment Rights, and placed the burden of proof on the defense, not
the prosecution. He is rightly known as ‘a prosecutor in robes’.
Beyond Judge Zweibel, it is disgusting to see vast resources from
taxpayers wasted for over two years to prosecute Cecily. Manhattan DA
Cy Vance has refused to drop this case, pursuing maximum charges
against Cecily while ignoring police violence and misconduct. This is
unfortunately not isolated to Cecily’s case but is indicative of a
system concerned not with justice but with the unrelenting harassment
of dissenters and the powerless.
In the two years awaiting trial, Cecily was never offered anything
less than a felony charge, a charge that would stay with her for the
rest of her life. While awaiting a trial, Cecily has lived in limbo
for two years, not knowing what her future would be, forced to re-live
her trauma every one of those days. Beyond the sexual assault and
physical injuries she sustained, Cecily suffered PTSD and has had
difficulty finishing her master’s degree and continuing her work as a
union organizer and activist.
Despite the chilling precedent this verdict puts forth for activists,
we will not be deterred from seeking social and economic justice, as
evidenced in the courtroom today. Though we’ve held our tongues
throughout this trial as Cecily was personally attacked and degraded,
we could not stand silent today in the face of such a gross
miscarriage of justice. The people had to speak truth to power today
by standing up and will continue to do so as long as this justice
system continues to punish the 99% and protect the 1%.
As journalist Chris Hedges said in a recent article, “The corporate
state, which has proved utterly incapable of addressing the grievances
and injustices endured by the underclass, is extremely nervous about
the mass movements that have swept the country in recent years. And if
protests erupt again—as I think they will—the state hopes it will have
neutralized much of the potential leadership. Being an activist in
peaceful mass protest is the only real “crime” McMillan has
committed.”
We recognize that, as poorly as Cecily has been treated these past two
years, she was lucky enough to have an amazing support system
comprised of representation from the National Lawyer’s Guild and
Mutant Legal, as well as significant financial help from supporters of
Occupy Wall Street and a team of ten who tirelessly worked to bring
her case to light and support her through this trying time. It’s
harrowing to imagine how many unfortunate people encounter this system
without the resources Cecily had, though we know countless innocent
people are forced to plea to felonies and ruin their lives every day
in this building.
We will be fighting this unjust verdict in the court of appeals.
Cecily’s lawyers are optimistic, given the circumstances of the case
and the gross bias demonstrated throughout, that we can win on appeal.
Thank you all for your ongoing support throughout this trial. We know
that many share our outrage at this verdict, if you would like to get
involved in jail support, please visitjusticeforcecily.com to learn
more about how to best support Cecily.
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/06/cecily-mcmillan-juror-occupy-activists-jail-sentence
Americans need to be told that this is a STUPID, BACKWARD, GARBAGE, CRIMINAL COUNTRY. Don't you dare tell the rest of the world what to do! Don't you dare kill the people of the world so you can get a paycheck from the taxpayers while sitting in the US military, and then have the nerve to tell us that you had no idea why you were killing people in foreign countries.
This jury sat in that courtroom for an entire month, unable to access the news or do research. It is not clear if they were completely sequestered in a hotel room or just not able to access the news. Our tax dollars were wasted on a judge who was biased and by a legal system that allows exclusion of evidence. NO EVIDENCE SHOULD BE EXCLUDED. As soon as a judge is acting in concert with the prosecutors, he or she must be REMOVED FROM THE CASE IMMEDIATELY AND FOREVER BANNED FROM BEING A JUDGE!
When you sit on a jury, YOU MUST VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE! A criminal conviction must be unanimous. Do not play the insulting stupid game of going along to get along!
Here is the quote from the above site that indicts this is a backward, garbage country. Keep in mind, one of the jurors was a nurse who claimed to have treated victims of police brutality in the 1968 police riots in New York, in other words, an old person who should know better.
"Finally freed from a ban on researching the case, including potential punishments, some were shocked to learn that they had just consigned the 25-year-old to a sentence of up to seven years in prison, one told the Guardian. “They felt bad,” said the juror, who did not wish to be named. “Most just wanted her to do probation, maybe some community service. But now what I’m hearing is seven years in jail? That’s ludicrous. Even a year in jail is ridiculous.” '
"Though it came as a surprise to some of the eight women and four men who found her guilty of second-degree assault, McMillan said that the potential prison sentence had been on her mind for the two years since she was arrested for elbowing Officer Grantley Bovell in the face at a demonstration in Zuccotti Park, where protesters had gathered to mark six months of the Occupy movement."
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The promise of appeal is a slap in the face. Appeals take time and cost money, and are no guarantee, as the higher up the ladder these judges are, the more committed to the system they are. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg had lots of appeals, yet the US government murdered them to promote war and fascism. That was in the Fascist Fifties; nothing has changed. In fact, life is worse in this country than ever because Americans do not do labor organizing; they watch TV. The jurors obviously thought this was a TV show, the same TV that has contrived trials. They said it was the 52 second grainy video that convinced them to convict, after hearing an entire month of testimony!
This trial, like the Rosenberg-Sobell trial, was not held in the allegedly more backward Old Confederacy; it was held in the BIG NORTHERN CITY, New York City, as was the Rosenberg-Sobell trial. The utter stupidity of these jurors and the vicious frame-up by the City of New York demonstrates the United States is ONE, BACKWARD, STUPID, GARBAGE, CRIMINAL COUNTRY.
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