Clarence Allen is currently 75 years old and will turn 76 one day before his scheduled execution. He is very infirm, has suffered from a heart attack and diabetes and uses a wheelchair. He will be forced to walk the final few feet to the death chamber at San Quentin.

The prosecution's case rests primarily on the testimony of some of the accomplices involved in the second crime. They have all since stated at one time or another that they lied at Mr. Allen's 2nd trial. That, plus the fact that Mr. Allen is an American Indian has some very concerned that his execution is unjust. Others simply say that while there is no excuse for how the victims died, the death penalty is wrong and Mr. Allen should be given Clemency. Governor Schwarzenegger has refused to hold any kind of Clemency hearing for Mr. Allen. [ Who is Clarence Ray Allen? (.pdf) ]

There is a rally planned in San Francisco for Thursday, January 12. There is also going to be a rally at San Quentin on Monday, January 16, night of the execution. [ Fyler (.pdf) ] It is also quite likely that there will be a Death Penalty Focus vigil at the town clock in downtown Santa Cruz on the night of the execution.

Audio: Rockin' the Boat: CA Revs Up Death Chamber as Support for Capital Punishment Declines || FSRN: California Considering Death Penalty Moratorium

Indybay Coverage: Governor Says No Clemency Hearing for Clarence Ray Allen

On Saturday, December 31, 2005, thousands of people celebrated the new year with a Do-It-Yourself Last Night Santa Cruz parade. Hundreds of ordinary folks, freaks, clowns, fire dancers, samba drummers, punks, pirates, artists, zombies, marching bands, moms, dads, kids, trash musicians, art cars, bikers and boaters began to gather at the Saturn Cafe parking lot at 5pm. After a bunch of drumming, juggling and poi dancing in the parking lot, the parade went up Pacific Ave and ended at the intersection of Pacific Ave, Front St and Mission St.

Police barricades were in place to discourage people from crossing Mission St. The Town Clock and the Veterans War Memorial eagle statue were completely fenced off. A large drum circle backed by the Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra provided music in the street and then on the corner by the Post Office.

The parade was very high in energy. You could almost taste playa dust in the air. For a few hours, Pacific Ave had a bit of the look and feel of an evening in Black Rock City. [Read more with photos]

Photos: PIX: "Last Night" DIY Parade on Pacific Ave

see also: A Letter to the Community About Last Night

see related: Police Infiltrate Peaceful Parade Organizers || An open letter to the Santa Cruz City Council in protest of police infiltration: || Police Infiltration of Parade Politically Motivated

Santa Cruz, CA, December 31st, 2005: As the nation reels from fresh revelations about domestic spying, local law enforcement agencies are caught infiltrating local groups. Undercover officers from the Santa Cruz Police Department have been spying on peaceful parade organizers since September of this year. Two plainclothes officers attended small organizing meetings held in private homes, giving false names, phone numbers, and email addresses to hide their identity while they monitored meetings and profiled organizers.

The officers participated in meetings, asked questions and even made suggestions. "In no way did they indicate that they were police. They came off as just a couple of local surfer dudes," said Rico Thunder, one of the people who came together to help plan the parade.

The infiltrated group was organizing the Last Night Santa Cruz Parade and Celebration, a people’s parade, a do-it-yourself celebration that goes beyond the city-sponsored First Night event, canceled this year due to money problems. The Last Night website (lastnightdiy.org) states: “Last Night is a completely organic event, organized and put on at a grassroots-level. No city-sponsorship. No corporate donors. It’s a do-it-yourself parade and celebration. We make it happen together.”

"Since 9/11, we've created a culture in which security is more important than liberty." said Thunder. "The NSA is tapping your phone calls and email. The Pentagon is infiltrating your peace march. Actions at the federal level have a trickle down effect that has emboldened local law enforcement. When the president says 'Safety at any cost,' local cops take that to heart." [Read more]

see also: An open letter to the Santa Cruz City Council in protest of police infiltration: || Police Infiltration of Parade Politically Motivated

LastNight comments: Our sources within the department say City Manager Richard Wilson and Deputy Chief of Police Kevin Vogel are the persons most responsible. The city council has little say in day to day operations of this kind. Make your demands to the city council that the city manager and the police chief be held accountable.

We need to go to law school. Seriously. As activists, we are absolutely dependent on an industry of law that we know very little about and have very little influence in. Prison is serious stuff and to have so little available help within our own ranks is not acceptable or safe. Our friends and lovers are shuffled around in a system that leaves them wondering what they were actually charged with and/or convicted of and what exactly the evidence against them was. Our family are left in utter darkness about procedures and are reduced to begging for legal information from attorneys paid $200 an hour. I seriously believe we need more activist attorneys. NOW. [read more]

see also: The Environmentalist Witch Hunt 2005 || Support for Political Prisoners

No one is free when others are oppressed...
A movement that doesn't support it's political internees is a movement destined to fail.

older stories > >

Read about Santa Cruz IMC's Regional Integration with Indybay.org || Lee sobre CMI Santa Cruz que se esta Integrando con Indybay.org

Dear Good Times,

Your article on UCSC’s College Republicans was more like a 7-page Republican press release than it was decent journalism. You create the illusion that the College Republicans are on the up-and-up, while failing to see through their ridiculous hype. The Republicans claim that they have “315 students signed up,” while the organization itself can only get a handful of students out to a meeting – the most pictured in the article was 13. This is in stark contrast to other organizations on campus, such as the Student and Worker Coalition for Justice (SWCJ) or Students Against War (SAW), both of which regularly get over 50 students every week. The Republicans have been completely ineffective at actual organizing. They claim to support military recruiters, yet were nowhere to be seen as SAW organized the 300 students that kicked recruiters off campus on April 5. Little more than a week later, the Republicans opposed a strike by low-wage AFSCME workers, while the unions and the SWCJ got over 1,000 students out in the streets, physically shutting down the campus, helping AFSCME win a better contract. This fall, Republicans worked hard to organize a protest against striking metro drivers, only to find that more than two-dozen students from the SWCJ and MEChA marched circles around less than 10 Republicans. These Republicans are not thriving – they’re failing. Yet, the Good Times and the corporate media irresponsibly focus on them. In your article, 7 Republicans are quoted in depth, while the only “alternate” opinion is from the UCSC Democrats’ president – an organization that frequently has more in common with the Republicans than they do with mass organizations like SAW and SWCJ. It’s time for the media to stop encouraging these ineffective racist Republicans who say things such as “we need more black people on the front lines” and “they can shoot all the terrorists, easily spotted by their non-white skin,” – an organization founded by Matthew Cox - one of two frat kids charged by the D.A. for brutalizing a decade old fish. Stop encouraging them and start doing honest journalism.

On Tuesday, Dec. 6th, the United States Supreme Court began to decide if schools that ban recruiters from their campuses can lose federal funds. There were protests and actions at military recruitment stations all across the nation. The Santa Cruz Chapter of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship has created a scroll with 28,000 names in Arabic of Iraqi civilians who have died in the war. This is one of the most conservative of the reported numbers of Iraqi civilian deaths.

As part of the nationwide day of action, the scroll was displayed at the military recruitment center on 41st Avenue in Capitola along with other signs and banners opposing the continued war in Iraq and the daily loss of Iraqi and American lives. The scroll is three feet high and over one hundred feet long.

The Army, Marines and Navy recruitment offices in Capitola were voluntarily closed, though the Air Force office remained open for business.

Photos: Counter-Recruiters Return to Capitola Recruitment Center as Supreme Court Rules on Solomon Amendment

Audio: Rockin' the Boat: Peace Action at Capitola Military Recruitment Center

Indybay coverage: December 6th Nationwide Protests to Say College, Not Combat

Previous SC-IMC coverage: National Stand Down Day in Santa Cruz || Rally, Queer Kiss-in Greet Military Recruiters at UCSC || All Around the U$, Recuiters are Feeling the Heat || Police and Watsonville High Administrators Fail to Silence Community Voices || UCSC Students Kick Military Recruiters Off Campus || Santa Cruz Recruiters Closed for Peace Until Further Notice