Last minute efforts to try to save Frances Newton
By
Gloria Rubac
Houston
Published Sep 15, 2005 1:47 AM
Sept. 14-The State of Texas has carried out the horrific execution of Frances
Newton, totally ignoring the national and international campaign to save her
life. Responsibility for this modern-day lynching also rests with the Supreme
Court, which turned down her appeal for a new
trial.
Sept. 13—A state founded on land
stolen from the people of Mexico, and one that condoned the enslavement of
African people, is hours from committing another racist crime: the legal
lynching of Frances Newton.
Despite having an infamously incompetent
attorney appointed to “defend” her, and despite having the
discredited Houston Police Crime Lab analyze the evidence in the case, and
despite an admission on camera by Harris County Assistant District Attorney Roe
Wilson that another gun had been found at the crime scene—something denied
by the DA and the cops for 18 years—Frances Elaine Newton may become the
first Black woman legally executed in Texas since an enslaved African woman
named Lucy was hung in Galveston in 1853.
Ever since Newton found her
husband and two children murdered in their home on April 7, 1987, she has ada
mantly proclaimed her innocence.
Newton’s attorney was Ron Mock,
who became notorious for not putting up any defense at all. When Mock was Shaka
Sankofa’s attorney, he actually slept during part of the trial, making it
easier for the state to execute this young African American on June 22,
2000.
Today, U.S. Congressperson Shelia Jackson Lee (D-Texas) held a media
conference here asking Texas Gov. Rick Perry to stop Newton’s
execution.
Even the Austin American Statesman, the daily paper in the
Texas capital, today editorialized, “We’ve said it before, but
it’s worth repeating: Race, ethnicity, income and geography are all
factors in the imposition of death sentences. As long as Texas has a death
penalty, capital defendants should have access to competent legal counsel.
Newton didn’t get that. For that reason, she should be
spared.”
In the week leading up to Newton’s scheduled
execution, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark joined Michael Greco,
president of the American Bar Associ ation; entertainer and activist Dick
Gregory; and Amnesty International in asking that Newton be given a stay and a
review of new evidence.
On Sept. 12, the Committee to Free Frances Newton
joined with anti-war activists outside the Houston Astro dome to participate in
the National Day of Outrage about the Katrina tragedy.
Hundreds of people
from New Orleans passed by. Many stopped to read fliers and some joined in the
protest.
Two young people who had lost everything in the hurricane, Thea
Elder and Nicholas Miller, leaf leted and spoke on the microphone for three
hours.
The Committee to Free Frances Newton, along with the National
Black United Front, Houston Chap ter; the New Black Panther Party for Self
Defense; the Uni versity of Houston NAACP; KPFT-Pacifica Radio in Houston; and
many other organizations and individuals have worked around the clock for months
to stop this execution.
Many new activists have been drawn into supporting
Newton.
In the final hours, there are plans for civil disobedience at the
governor’s office in Austin and a protest in Huntsville outside of the
death house. There will be protests in every major Texas city if the execution
is carried out.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
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