Feature Archives

5/5/2004: During a noontime rally on the steps of the San Francisco City Hall today, a wide range of speakers and groups came out in support of San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris' decision not to seek the death penalty in the case of David Hill. Hill is the alleged killer of San Francisco police Officer Isaac Espinoza. The speakers included San Francisco Supervisors Tom Ammiano, Chris Daly, and Sophia Maxwell, and actor and anti-death penalty activist Mike Ferrell; as well as representatives of Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, Amnesty International, and multiple religious groups opposed to the death penalty. All of the speakers strongly supported Kamala Harris who as a candidate for District Attorney promised she would never, in any circumstance, ask for the death penalty. The speakers also condemned the various politicians who have called for the application of the death penalty in this case, including California's two Senators, Dianne Fienstein and Barbara Boxer.
Photos Of Rally | SF Bay View: SFPD wants to kill again

5/8/04: The Bayview/Hunters Point Neighborhood in the southeast corner of San Francisco has been under siege this week. Beginning on Monday, the occupying army of the SFPD was joined by the California Highway Patrol. People were stopped for any reason, or no reason at all- cars were impounded for not having current registration, arrests were made, and over 190 citations were given out on Monday alone. As of Friday the 7th, there were still checkpoints near key intersections in the area. The increased police presence is seen by many to be in response to the recent killing of police officer Isaac Espinoza in the Bayview.

On Thursday, August 26, at 12:30 p.m., there was a rally in front of City Hall to "address Mayor Newsom on what he is going to do about disciplining the officers involved in Cammerin’s shooting, and the countless other unresolved cases of the SFPD recklessly shooting people down." Report On September 5th, the 4-month anniversary of his death, the film "Every Mother's Son" will be screened at Cell Space. Justice for Cammerin Boyd Campaign Website
The story of Cammerin's death: During the first meeting of the newly expanded SF Police Commission on May 7th, Cammerin Boyd, a 29 year-old African-American man, was shot and killed by the SFPD after a car chase that ended in the Western Addition. A woman has alleged that Boyd had attempted to kidnap her and her child. Boyd, whose legs had been amputated below the knee following a previous car chase by the CHP, had allegedly pointed a gun at police during that day's pursuit by the SFPD. However, witnesses to the killing have said that Boyd had his hands in the air in an attempt to surrender. The media has reported that, following a similar car chase on May 2nd, Boyd had asked police in Oakland to kill him.
Community reponses to the killing: Neighbors have pointed out that several children had been playing very close to the place where the shooting took place. Mayor Gavin Newsom has told Boyd's mother that he intends to "make sure justice is done." Many activists in the African-American community in San Francisco wonder if the killing of Boyd was payback for the April 10th killing of police officer Isaac Espinoza by a black man in the Bayview. Disability rights activists are asking questions about relations between disabled people and the police. A high school friend of Boyd's who is now a police officer told a community meeting about his memories of a happy young man who had been a star athlete in school. He also said, "The whole department is hurt, obviously. Nobody takes pleasure in this, it's a tragedy."
police accountability press conference was held at the Green House on May 14th.

On Wednesday, May 12th, there was a demonstration in Sacramento to protest State Attorney General Bill Lockyer's decision to not prosecute the prison guards who viciously beat two young CYA wards.
On Wednesday April 28th, a statewide vigil took place to honor the lives of Durell Feaster, 18, and Deon Whitfield, 17. The vigil was held one hundred days after two youths were found hanged in the cell that they shared at the California Youth Authority’s Stockton facility. The vigil took place in 9 different cities, including Fresno, Sacramento, Whittier and Oakland.
The Oakland vigil, which took place downtown in Frank Ogawa Plaza, was attended by over 200 people. The vigil was also part of the “Alternatives for Youth” campaign currently being spearheaded by Book Not Bars. One of the main goals of the campaign is to shut down all 10 of the California youth prisons, and to create funding for community-based programs that actually work.
Upcoming Action:
Thursday, May 20th - Mass mobilization Sacramento Day of Action
How To Get Involved | For more info see previous Indybay coverage of Human Rights Violations in the CYA

6/30/04: The US Supreme Court today ordered the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its earlier ruling that a Guantanamo detainee could contest his detention in federal court in California. It is unclear which court or courts should have jurisdiction to rule on cases emanating from US-occupied Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
6/28/04: The US Supreme Court ruled today that the president can order suspects detained without charges or trials, regardless of whether they are US citizens or where they are held. Such persons seized as potential terrorists must, however, be allowed to challenge their imprisonment in American courts, according the Court. The ruling is perhaps more a victory for the power of judicial review than individual rights, but does allow the lawsuits to be filed. It remains to be seen whether the required court hearings will happen in a military tribunal or civilian court. Separately, the justices dismissed on a technicality the "enemy combatant" case involving Jose Padilla and sent it back. Reports: 1 | 2 | Previous coverage

A vigil was held Saturday April 24th 2004 in front of the Metreon in San Francisco to remember Idriss Stelley. On June 12, 2001, Idriss Stelley was shot and killed by 8 San Francisco police officers. Idriss was not carrying a gun and the police had been notified that he was having a mental crisis. Stelley's mother Mesha Monge-Irizarry requested permission from the Metreon to build a memorial altar for her son inside as part of the the Metreon's Earth Day exhibition. Dozens of community groups, racial-justice activists, and environmentalists signed a petition in her support, but she never received a response.
Many groups, including the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the Reclaim the Commons Mobilization, and the Greenwood Earth Alliance, called for a uniting of the racial justice and ecology movements. "We cannot have one without the other-so why not work together for both?" said Mary Bull, co-director of the Greenwood Earth Alliance, and an organizer of the Reclaim the Commons Mobilization, which co-sponsored the event. Plans for the demonstration included a memorial for Stelley, construction of an altar, a seed give-away, and preparation of a bioremediation brew that will be taken back to Bayview Hunters Point, Stelley's home community, to aid in reclamation of land polluted by the naval shipyard. The shipyard has been declared a superfund site. Another aim of the demonstration was to point out the environmental racism suffered by that community, which has high rates of asthma and other acute respiratory diseases linked to PG&E's power plant, and of breast cancer, Hotchkins Lymphoma, and other cancers linked to toxins and radioactivity from the shipyard, and other pollutants.
"Care for the earth means also caring for our communities," Monge-Irizarry said. "The racism behind the shooting of my son is also responsible for the environmental assaults on our health and well being in Bayview Hunters Point. Earth healing must begin with justice." Pictures of Memorial | Press Release | Justice for Idriss | Idriss Stelley Foundation Opened 3/27/04 | Background Articles About Idriss's Death: The Tragedy of Idriss Stelley | Ode to Idriss Stelley | SFPD: Go Back to School | Some Progress on the Police Front
Video of Rally A Year After Idriss was killed - 6/12/02: 1 | 2

Saturday, April 24th, 2004 was Mumia Abu-Jamal's 50th birthday. Mumia was a member of the Black Panther Party as a teenager, and was a radical radio journalist in Philadelphia after he left the party. Mumia was convicted of the murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner after he was wounded in a December 9, 1981 shooting that left Faulkner dead. Faulkner's widow, the Fraternal Order of Police, and Justice for Police Officer Daniel Faulkner maintain that Mumia is guilty, while a man named Arnold Beverly has come forward to state that he is the man who shot Officer Faulkner. On December 18, 2001, Judge William Yohn ruled on Mumia's habeas corpus petition and overturned the death sentence in his case. However, Mumia is still being held on death row. “The deficiencies that Amnesty International has identified in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal mirror broader concerns over the application of the death penalty nationwide.” Mumia, who is an honorary citizen of Paris, France, continues to write articles and books from Death Row, and his writings are recorded by the Prison Radio Project.

The movement to free Mumia seemed to reach its peak in 1999, when tens of thousands marched in Millions for Mumia demonstrations in San Francisco and Philadelphia. Since then, in spite of legal victories on paper, a scandal in which Mumia fired his former lawyers led to fragmentation of the movement. The new legal team brought to light the confession of Arnold Beverly. The legal team continues to push for a new trial to air the new evidence about Mumia's innocence. The movement to free Mumia continues to face and deal with challenges such as how former Mumia supporter Michael Moore, in his most recent book, expressed his doubt of Mumia’s innocence.

Events in San Francisco to observe Mumia's birthday: The Mumia Abu-Jamal First Internationalist Film Festival was held on Friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco. The Festival films were about global resistance movements, including Haiti and South Africa, and one of the films shown was about Mumia himself. After Saturday's noon film, there was a March and Rally for Mumia's freedom. About 150 people gathered at 2pm at 16th St BART, and then marched to 24th St for a rally that grew to 250 people and lasted until 5pm. Speakers included labor activists, representatives of communist organizations, and former Black Panthers such as Kiilu Nyasha. People also highlighted the struggles of other political prisoners, such as Hugo Pinell.
Photos:1 | 2 Video: 1
More info about Mumia:
The Bay Area Mobilization to Free Mumia | International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia | Refuse and Resist's Mumia Site | The Struggle to Free Mumia Must Intensify | One Story of the shootout