Countdown to save Gary Graham
Legal lynchings under fire
By Elijah Crane
The struggle to save the life of Shaka Sankofa, formerly
known as Gary Graham, continues to build momentum and win
popular support. Sankofa is a death-row prisoner and Black
political activist at the Terrell Unit in Livingston, Texas.
Efforts persist to stop his execution--scheduled for June
22--and present evidence of his innocence.
After a two-day trial in 1981, Sankofa was convicted of
capital murder and sentenced to death based solely on the
coaxed testimony of a single witness.
Six eyewitnesses describe Bobby Lambert's killer as being
about a foot shorter than Sankofa with significantly
different features. Four of those witnesses have taken and
passed lie detector tests confirming these facts.
Sankofa has been fighting for a new trial to present this
evidence, but has been denied every appeal.
Only 17 years old at the time of his arrest, Shaka Sankofa
is one of more than 70 people on death row who were juveniles
at the time of the alleged crimes. The U.S. has executed 16
such people, more than the rest of the world combined. Half
of the executions have occurred in Texas.
National days of action to stop the execution of Shaka
Sankofa and abolish the death penalty have been called for
June 16-19. These actions fall on the anniversary of
Juneteenth, the days slaves in Texas learned of the
Emancipation Proclamation.
Demonstrations have been planned in cities all over the
world. Some have already taken place in Texas and elsewhere,
garnering popular support.
Endorsers of this call include: International Concerned
Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Texas Death Penalty
Abolition Movement, Shaka Sankofa/Gary Graham Justice
Coalition, Millions for Mumia/International Action Center,
the Rev. Al Sharpton, the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, Rainbow
Flags for Mumia, United American Indians of New England, New
York Free Mumia Coalition, Lesbian and Gay Insurgence,
Australian Bisexual Network, Campaign to End the Death
Penalty, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, and many
others.
Texas Gov. George W. Bush's Republican presidential
campaign is the focus of protests in many cities. Both Bush
and his Democratic opponent, Vice President Al Gore, support
the death penalty.
Readers can call Millions for Mumia/IAC at (212) 633-6646
or visit the Web site www.mumia2000.org for more
information.
Media coverage grows
Media coverage of the death-penalty debate has been
erupting for several weeks. The June 1 edition of the
Amsterdam News carried three articles related to the death
penalty, including a "Call for a National Moratorium" from
the Black Press of America.
Several articles on capital punishment have recently
appeared in the New York Times. And the June 12 issue of
Newsweek featured a cover story on DNA testing and the death
penalty. Most of these articles refer to both Mumia Abu-Jamal
and Shaka Sankofa.
The Newsweek article discussed the significance of DNA
testing for prisoners accused of "rape-murder." More than 70
people have been found innocent as a result of DNA testing.
Even some who support the death penalty now say they are in
favor of instituting national DNA testing whenever a case
allows for it.
While this would be a welcome development, it must be
noted that DNA testing is only helpful to those convicted of
rape, which constitutes a small percentage of the death-row
population.
Newsweek also highlighted the exorbitant number of people
put to death in Texas, pointing out that Bush has presided
over 131 executions. The story went on to call attention to
the many injustices in the case of Shaka Sankofa.
Bush bends to pressure
One week after being forced to come out in favor of DNA
testing, Bush granted a 30-day reprieve to Ricky McGinn just
minutes before he was to be lethally injected on June 1. This
was the first time in his five years as governor that Bush
has intervened in a death sentence. McGinn is hoping that DNA
testing will prove that he is not guilty of the rape and
murder for which he was convicted in 1995.
In another first, on June 2 Gov. Jim Gilmore of
Virginia--the state with the second most executions--ordered
new DNA testing in the case of Earl Washington Jr., another
man convicted of rape and murder. Washington had already been
taken off death row.
On June 5, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the death
sentence of Victor Hugo Saldano, a prisoner in Texas. The
ruling came after lawyers for the state admitted that the
death sentence resulted from the racist testimony of
psychologist Walter Quijano.
The so-called "expert" testified that Saldano's race "was
a factor weighing in favor of future dangerousness."
Saldano is a citizen of Argentina. The Argentine
government and 10 other Latin American countries had urged
the Supreme Court to review Saldano's case after repeated
appeals to Bush were ignored.
Since 1988, nine out of every 10 federal death penalty
defendants have been Black or Latino. And while the number of
Black and white people who are murdered each year is equal,
80 percent of Black death-row prisoners are executed for
allegedly killing white people and only six white prisoners
have been put to death for killing Black people since
1977.
Despite government statistics that show violent crime is
down 30 percent, this year's state-sanctioned murders are
expected to exceed last year's total of 98--the highest
number of executions per year to date.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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