Widget: New 'Miranda Rights' Against Taser Abuse

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals
Restricts Police "Taser" Use

January 3, 2010

Contact: Atty. Francis L. Holland
Afrosphere Blogger
http://Electrocuted-While-Black.blogspot.com
http://Police-Brutality-Blog.blogspot.com
Rua dos Cajueiros, 165, Apt. 14
Centro - Porto Seguro
Bahia, Brazil 45810-000
Mobile Phone: 55 (73) 9123-4538
Skype: fazinformatica2005


Dear Afrosphere Opponents of Police
"Taser" Pre-trial, Extra-Judicial Shock,
Electrocution and Execution:

"These are new 'Miranda Rights' against 'taser' abuse,"
said Atty. Francis L. Holland."

There's been a ground-breaking decision by the 9th Circuit US Federal Court of Appeals against taser abuse, entitled Bryan v. McPherson. This decision was announced on December 29th, between Christmas and New Years holidays but it deserves our immediate attention and dissemination via our EasyWidgets:

The decision writes into federal caselaw many of the arguments and advocacy that we afrosphere bloggers have been making at our Days (months and years) of Blogging for Justice Against Police Pre-Trial, Extra-Judicial "Taser" Shock, Electrocution and Execution devices. The Easy-Widget HTML code below enables us to educate the public of their newly announced rights.


The 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals agreed with us that:

". . . we must “balance the amount of force applied against the need for that force.” Bryan v. McPherson, 9th Cir. Fd. Ct. App., December 29, 2009.

This decision has direct legal effect throughout the 9th Circuit, consisting of populous California, Alaska, Washington, Montana, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, Hawaii and Guam, and influential in other parts of the country. Nearly 20% of America's population is within the jurisdiction of the 9th Circuit.

The Court announced what we have long insisted:

"A reasonable police officer . . . would have foreseen these physical injuries when confronting a shirtless individual standing on asphalt. We have held that force can be unreasonable even without physical blows or injuries." Bryan v. McPherson

We have widgets up at 123 afrosphere blogs telling the public that when "Tasers" are used, "The price is too high". Now, one of the most influential federal circuit courts of appeal in the country agrees with us that members of the public are seriously injured by Tasers unconstitutionally:

"The presence of non-minor physical injuries like those suffered by Bryan, however, is certainly relevant in evaluating the degree of the Fourth Amendment intrusion." Bryan v. McPherson

Let's celebrate! Here's a new EasyWidget that takes readers to our anti-electrocution blogs. This Easy-Widget HTML (immediately below) links to Electrocuted While Black, but there are visibly identical widgets below that lead to Tasered While Black and the Police Brutality Blog.

The result is better than that for which many of us had hoped. Instead of arguing locally for changes to voluntarily enforced police taser policy, Bryan's lawyers in this case, and bloggers making similar arguments, convinced the 9th Circuit Federal Appeals Court to write these requirements and limitations into Federal caselaw, which is faster, better and politically more acceptable than having these judicial restrictions enacted into law in a summary fashion by the US Congress. This decision requires that the facts of each case be weighed carefully, with Constitutional protections of the public in mind.

Afrosphere bloggers and the Ninth Circuit encourage other circuits to follow this example, observing that:

"We, along with our sister circuits, have held that tasers and stun guns fall into the category of non-lethal force. Non-lethal, however, is not synonymous with non-excessive; all force—lethal and non-lethal—must be justified by the need for the specific level of force employed." Bryan v. McPherson

Not everyone -- blogger or reader -- has had a chance to read the whole Bryan v. McPherson case. So, the Easy-Widget quotes the most powerful language of the decision and links to our afrosphere blogs for more information.

In Bryan v. McPherson, the 9th Circuit Federal Appeals Court basically wrote into federal caselaw many of the arguments that we taser opponents have been arguing. But this is better than what many of us had sought, because instead of it being a change in local optionally enforced "guidelines," it's a change in obligatorily obeyed federal case law for the states in the 9th Circuit, and also, as the decision alludes, the 9th Circuit has enormous influence on other "sister" circuits courts.

Please join Electrocuted While Black in celebrating this decision by posting a widget that tells readers their rights and takes them to a blog where they can learn more, be it Electrocuted While Black or the Police Brutality Blog. Installation of the Easy-Widget below is a quick and easy way to quote some of the best parts of the case for your readers.

References:

http://stoptasertorture.blogspot.com/2009/12/landmark-taser-torture-court-ruling-in.html

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/81381.html

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2009/12/28/08-55622.pdf

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Day+of+Blogging+for+Justice%22+taser&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Tasered+While+Black%22&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/content/view.php?pk_id=0000000135

http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/stop-the-electrocutions-and-executions-175px

http://police-brutality-blog.blogspot.com/2009/12/important-taser-case-is-must-read-for.html

http://francislholland.blogspot.com/2009/12/important-taser-case-is-must-read-for.html

Dec. 4 is Blogging Against "Taser" Electrocution Day

On December 4, 2009, hundreds of bloggers from the USA, Brazil and Europe will be blogging simultaneously about the increase in electrocution deaths at the hands of US police departments armed with "Taser" brand name massive shock devices.

The Electronic Village blog has composed and posted a list of the names, ages and skin color/national origins of 45 electrocution victims from across the United States, and these names are being republished at blogs from across America, like the Vietnam Wall in Washington, DC graphically recalls the cost of the war in human lives.

AfroSpear and afrosphere participants are also circulating an online petition calling for Congressional hearings into the increasing number of "Taser" electrocution deaths, and into video evidence that "Tasers" are being used as torture devices and devices of summary extra-judicial executions.

What has not been clarified is whether the blogging community will call upon its readers to engage in additional action whose purpose is to end "Taser torture". For example, the favorable outcome in the Jena Six case came not merely from blogging and reading about the Jena Six, but also from a march that mobilized as many as 30,000 people and captured media attention worldwide, focused on an inexplicably anachronistic "white tree" and nooses at a public Louisiana high school.

The Bloggers Against "Taser" Electrocution action effectively poses the question, "What will be the functional equivalent of the Jena Six march in protest of the 45 electrocution deaths in the United States since the beginning of the year?" Bloggers know as a matter of historical fact that they were effective in the Jena Six action, in conjunction with Color of Change and the Chicago Tribune, by informing the public and calling the public to action, while the action of a much broader outraged and disgusted public, including Black students from universities throughout America, really brought justice for the Jena Six, in conjunction with Color of Change's very effective legal resources fundraising.

So the December 4 Bloggers Against Taser Electrocution action of writing and informing about Taser torture is not and end in itself, but a catalyst for the type of national mobilization needed to exercise political pressure.

Below are the names of those electrocuted (killed by electric force) by police this year without the benefit of trial or judicial process:

Electronic Village

"has documented 45 taser-related deaths in the United States since the beginning of the year:

1. Jan 9, 2009: Derrick Jones, 17, Black, Martinsville, Virginia


2. Jan 11, 2009: Rodolfo Lepe, 31, Hispanic, Bakersfield, California


3. Jan 22, 2009: Roger Redden, 52, Caucasian, Soddy Daisy, Tennessee


4. Feb 2, 2009: Garrett Jones, 45, Caucasian, Stockton, California


5. Feb 11, 2009: Richard Lua, 28, Hispanic, San Jose, California


6. Feb 13, 2009: Rudolph Byrd, 37, Black, Thomasville, Georgia


7. Feb 13, 2009: Michael Jones, 43, Black, Iberia, Louisiana


8. Feb 14, 2009: Chenard Kierre Winfield, 32, Black, Los Angeles, California


9. Feb 28, 2009: Robert Lee Welch, 40, Caucasian, Conroe, Texas


10. Mar 22, 2009: Brett Elder, 15, Caucasian, Bay City, Michigan


11. Mar 26, 2009: Marcus D. Moore, 40, Black, Freeport, Illinois


12. Apr 1, 2009: John J. Meier Jr., 48, Caucasian, Tamarac, Florida


13. Apr 6, 2009: Ricardo Varela, 41, Hispanic, Fresno, California


14. Apr 10, 2009: Robert Mitchell, 16, Black, Detroit, Michigan


15. Apr 13, 2009: Craig Prescott, 38, Black, Modesto, California


16. Apr 16, 2009: Gary A. Decker, 50, Black, Tuscon, Arizona


17. Apr 18, 2009: Michael Jacobs Jr., 24, Black, Fort Worth, Texas


18. Apr 30, 2009: Kevin LaDay, 35, Black, Lumberton, Texas


19. May 4, 2009: Gilbert Tafoya, 53, Caucasian, Holbrook, Arizona


20. May 17, 2009: Jamaal Valentine, 27, Black, La Marque, Texas


21. May 23, 2009: Gregory Rold, 37, Black, Salem, Oregon


22. Jun 9, 2009: Brian Cardall, 32, Caucasian, Hurricane, Utah


23. Jun 13, 2009: Dwight Madison, 48, Black, Bel Air, Maryland


24. Jun 20, 2009 Derrek Kairney, 36, [skin color, natl. origin]: Unknown, South Windsor, Connecticut


25. Jun 30, 2009, Shawn Iinuma, 37, [skin color, natl. origin]: Unknown, Fontana, California


26. Jul 2, 2009, Rory McKenzie, 25, Black, Bakersfield, California


27. Jul 20, 2009, Charles Anthony Torrence, 35, Caucasion, Simi Valley, California


28. Jul 30, 2009, Johnathan Michael Nelson, 27, Caucasion, Riverside County, California


29. Aug 9, 2009, Terrace Clifton Smith, 52, Race: Unknown, Moreno Valley, California


30. Aug 12, 2009, Ernest Ridlehuber, 53, [skin color, natl. origin]: Unknown, Greenville, South Carolina


31. Aug 14, 2009, Hakim Jackson, 31, Black, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


32. Aug 18, 2009, Ronald Eugene Cobbs, 38, Black, Greensboro, North Carolina


33. Aug 20, 2009, Francisco Sesate, 36, Hispanic, Mesa, Arizona


34. Aug 22, 2009, T.J. Nance, 37, Race: Unknown, Arizona City, Arizona


35. Aug 26, 2009, Miguel Molina, 27, Hispanic, Los Angeles, California


36. Aug 27, 2009, Manuel Dante Dent, 27, Hispanic, Modesto, California


37. Sep 3, 2009, Shane Ledbetter, 38, Caucasian, Aurora, Colorado


38. Sep 16, 2009, Alton Warren Ham, 45, Caucasian, Modesto, California


39. Sep 19, 2009, Yuceff W. Young II, 21, Black, Brooklyn, Ohio


40. Sep 21, 2009, Richard Battistata, 44, Hispanic, Laredo, Texas


41. Sep 28, 2009, Derrick Humbert, 38, Black, Bradenton, Florida


42. Oct 2, 2009, Rickey Massey, 38, Black, Panama City, Florida


43. Oct 12, 2009, Christopher John Belknap, 36, Race: Unknown, Ukiah, California


44. Oct 16, 2009, Frank Cleo Sutphin, 19, [skin color, natl. origin]: Unknown, San Bernadino, California


45. Oct 27, 2009, Jeffrey Woodward, 33, [skin color, natl. origin]: Unknown, Gallatin, Tennessee

I think it is worth noting that 42% of these taser-torture killings occurred against African American men. We make up about 6% of the total population, yet 42% of the taser-related deaths in America this year are Black men.

However, nothing seems to be able to stop the continued taser-related killings. I remain convinced that the 'Use of Force Continuum' needs to show tasers as 'near-lethal' ... definitely an error to claim that they are 'non-lethal'.

Something is wrong. Join us in asking for congressional hearings on taser torture."

I personally do not understand why Electronic Village prepares a list of 45 electrocution deaths and then says that "Tasers" should be classified as "near lethal". The Merriam Webster online dictionary defines lethal as "capable of producing death." If Tasers were not "capable of producing death", they would not have produced the 45 deaths documented by Electronic Village. I also question whether attacking the semantics of police guidelines that police obviously are not following anyway will be a successful strategy for attacking pre-trial, extra-judicial electrocutions and executions.

Torture devices do not need to be reclassified; they need to be banned and eradicated.

Since tasers have produced the death of 45 people in ten months, the devices are not merely "near-lethal", which would mean "almost" capable of producing death. They are in fact, and without meaningful dispute, "capable of producing death," and therefore they are "lethal" by definition, and not merely "near lethal".

Electrocution Deaths Increasing as "Taser" Use Becomes Widespread

I have copied the article below virtually verbatim from Pandagon, except I oppose the use of the term "race" unknown and have replaced it with "[skin color, natl. origin]" It has been proved as a matter of scientific fact that "race" does not exist, and so I'm not going to perpetuate the use of this divisive and confusing concept when other clearer and scientifically valid concepts are available, such as "skin color" "skin color group" and "national origin."

• Crime • Personal Security

I point you over to Electronic Village, where Villager is keeping track of some sobering stats—the number of deaths due to the misuse or abuse of the Taser. We're up to 36 deaths this year, with 39% of the pre-trial, extra-judicial electrocutions and executions were perpetrated against black men, who represent only 6% of the population in the U.S.

1. Jan 9, 2009: Derrick Jones, 17, Black, Martinsville, Virginia
2. Jan 11, 2009: Rodolfo Lepe, 31, Hispanic, Bakersfield, California
3. Jan 22, 2009: Roger Redden, 52, Caucasian, Soddy Daisy, Tennessee
4. Feb 2, 2009: Garrett Jones, 45, Caucasian, Stockton, California
5. Feb 11, 2009: Richard Lua, 28, Hispanic, San Jose, California
6. Feb 13, 2009: Rudolph Byrd, Age ?, [skin color, natl. origin] Unknown, Quincy, Florida
7. Feb 13, 2009: Michael Jones, 43, Black, Iberia, Louisiana
8. Feb 14, 2009: Chenard Kierre Winfield, 32, Black, Los Angeles, California
9. Feb 28, 2009: Robert Lee Welch, 40, Caucasian, Conroe, Texas
10. Mar 22, 2009: Brett Elder, 15, Caucasian, Bay City, Michigan
11. Mar 26, 2009: Marcus D. Moore, 40, Black, Freeport, Illinois
12. Apr 1, 2009: John J. Meier Jr., 48, Caucasian, Tamarac, Florida
13. Apr 6, 2009: Ricardo Varela, 41, Hispanic, Fresno, California
14. Apr 10, 2009: Robert Mitchell, 16, Black, Detroit, Michigan
15. Apr 16, 2009: Gary A. Decker, 50, Black, Tuscon, Arizona
16. Apr 18, 2009: Michael Jacobs Jr., 24, Black, Fort Worth, Texas
17. Apr 30, 2009: Kevin LaDay, 35, Black, Lumberton, Texas
18. May 4, 2009: Gilbert Tafoya, 53, Caucasian, Holbrook, Arizona
19. May 17, 2009: Jamaal Valentine, 27, Black, La Marque, Texas
20. May 23, 2009: Gregory Rold, 37, Black, Salem, Oregon
21. Jun 9, 2009: Brian Cardall, 32, Caucasian, Hurricane, Utah
22. Jun 13, 2009: Dwight Madison, 48, Black, Bel Air, Maryland
23. Jun 20, 2009 Derrek Kairney, 36, Race: Unknown, South Windsor, Connecticut
24. Jun 30, 2009, Shawn Iinuma, 37, Race: Unknown, Fontana, California
25. Jul 2, 2009, Rory McKenzie, 25, Black, Bakersfield, California
26. Jul 20, 2009, Charles Anthony Torrence, 35, Caucasian, Simi Valley, California
27. Jul 30, 2009, Johnathan Michael Nelson, 27, Caucasian, Riverside County, California
28. Aug 9, 2009, Terrace Clifton Smith, 52, [skin color, natl. origin] Unknown, Moreno Valley, California
29. Aug 12, 2009, Ernest Ridlehuber, 53, Race: Unknown, Greenville, South Carolina
30. Aug 14, 2009, Hakim Jackson, 31, Black, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
31. Aug 18, 2009, Ronald Eugene Cobbs, 38, Black, Greensboro, North Carolina
32. Aug 20, 2009, Francisco Sesate, 36, Hispanic, Mesa, Arizona
33. Aug 22, 2009, T.J. Nance, 37, Race: [skin color, natl. origin], Arizona City, Arizona
34. Aug 26, 2009, Unidentified Man, Age: TBD, Race: [skin color, natl. origin], Los Angeles, California
35. Sep 3, 2009, Shane Ledbetter, Age: 38, Caucasian, Aurora, Colorado
36. Sep 21, 2009, Richard Battistata, Age: 44, Race: [skin color, natl. origin], Laredo, Texas

***

In the above video, Stanley Harlen was pulled over for allegedly speeding; he stopped in front of his house. As his mother came out in her robe, she watched as officers wrestled with him. One officer fired the Taser three times for 31 seconds. For 14 minutes he received no medical attention; when paramedics arrived it was too late. He was dead. The Moberly city manager’s response is hardly reassuring. Andy Morris: Harlen’s death is ”unanticipated and unintentional. Police officers must often make split-second decisions in tense, rapidly-evolving situations.”

Ken Burton, the Police Chief of nearby Columbia, MO’s PD also has officers who use Tasers but he strictly limits their use—no fleeing subjects are allowed to be tased, and when deployed, only for 5 seconds at at time.

This CBS report showed a graph of statistics, compiled by Taser International itself, and the growth in the use of these “non-lethal” devices has skyrocketed from 500 law enforcement agencies in 2000 to 14,201 in 2009. And there are no mandatory standards or training for Taser usage. Taser International has actually put out a disingenuous statement that defies reality, considering the rising body count.

The electrical output of a taser device is incapable of causing death.

Sure, the voltage alone in one blast itself may not kill, but what about the medical condition of the tasing victim? What about shocking someone for 31 seconds? What about repeated blasts to an elderly or disabled individual? This is a situation out of control.

CoC Says Call US Senators, Demand Public Option

Dear friends:

In the states of the US South, like Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, the Black infant mortality rate is over seventeen percent, while the national infant mortality rate is around 6.7%. In fact, with Cuba's infant mortality at 6%, a Black child in Cuba has a three-times better chance of living until his first birthday than does a Black child in parts of the US South.

States with large Black populations must not be permitted to "opt out" of national health care just so they can punish Black people, as they opted out of Obama's stimulus package. That's why I'm forwarding this letter to you from Color of Change, asking you to share the letter below with others and to contact your US Senators (especially from Southern states with large Black populations), e.g. Landrieu in Louisiana.

It's time for fundamental change. Please read CoC's letter:

Color of Change Mass Circulation Letter:

Dear friends,

The Senate is closing in on a health care bill with a public health
insurance option, a key ingredient of meaningful health care reform.

But conservatives and insurance companies are fighting hard against
the public option, so Senate leadership has compromised by including
an "opt-out" clause, which would allow individual states to choose not
to participate in the program.[1]

There's a real danger here. In the stimulus fight, we saw Republican
governors and legislators refuse federal dollars for political gain.
The same thing could happen with health care reform, with everday people
in states like Lousiana, Alabama, and South Carolina -- states with
large Black, poor, and working-class populations -- left out.[2]

That's why I've joined ColorOfChange.org's campaign calling on
Congress and the White House to make the public option available
everywhere. Please join me:

http://www.colorofchange.org/optout/?id=1990-898983

I understand the need for compromise and negotiation, but I also want
to make sure that no community gets negotiated away in the process.

Including "opt-out" may be the best way to get a bill through the
Senate with a public option--but that won't be the end of the process,
and it doesn't mean "opt-out" will be in the final bill. The House
still needs to decide exactly what will be in its health care bill.
And once both the House and the Senate have passed legislation,
they'll have to negotiate with each other, and the White House, to
reconcile the differences between the two bills.

That's why we need to make it clear that we're watching and that we
will demand a public option that's available in every state. Please
join me in sending this message to Congress and the White House, and
ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/optout/?id=1990-898983

Thank you.

References:

1. "So what is the 'opt-out' compromise?" Talking Points Memo,
10-26-2009
http://tinyurl.com/yjffquq

2. "Public option opt out denies help to those who need it most," Fire
Dog Lake, 10-8-2009
http://tinyurl.com/yks5sxz

Daughter of Black City Councilman Tased In Back - While on Her Knees

Copied verbatim from Tasered While Black.

Another American Post-Racial Moment

This one out of Cincinnati.

Cincinnati police say the preliminary investigations says Officer Anthony Plummer's actions were not in compliance with Cincinnati Police Departments policies and procedures. Also, the tasing investigation has been recommended to be conducted by the internal investigation section.

Cincinnati police arrested and used a Taser on Celeste Thomas, the daughter of Cincinnati city councilman Cecil Thomas, early Sunday morning.

Her arrest report indicates that Thomas had marks on her upper back from the Taser's barbs.

"It is my understanding that she was on her knees when she was Tased in the back," said Cecil Thomas.

See news video and additional information at Tasered While Black.

Color of Change Wages Campaign Against Glenn Beck's Anti-Obama Color Arousal

President Obama has "hatred for white people"? Glenn Beck is using his platform to stoke race-based hate and fear. Help us fight back, by hitting Beck where it hurts, NOW:

Contact the shows sponsors here.

Color of change says:

More and more, right-wing talk show hosts are bringing race-based fear mongering into the mainstream, but FOX's Glenn Beck just took it to another level. On Tuesday, Beck said:

This president has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people... this guy is, I believe, a racist.¹

It's part of a larger argument Beck has been making:² that President Obama is using the White House to serve the needs of Black communities at White people's expense. This kind of talk stirs up fear, hate, and it can lead to violence.^3,4

Together we can stop Glenn Beck.⁵ Starting today we're calling Beck's advertisers, asking them if they want to be associated with this kind of racist hate and fear-mongering. When they see tens of thousands of people signing on behind that question, we believe they'll move their advertising dollars elsewhere, damaging the viability of his show and possibly putting him out of business.

All it requires is you, standing up and being counted. Please take a moment to join the effort, and invite your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/?id=1780-175369

Glenn Beck is appealing to the worst in America. Of course, some people refuse to accept the fact that our president is Black or the idea that he could truly serve all Americans. We know that. The only way these views will fade away is if they're not reinforced by mainstream society. Instead, folks like Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs,⁶ and Rush Limbaugh⁷ are exploiting racism and race-based fear to bump their ratings, stirring up racial discord in the process.

The dangers of these tactics are real. We saw the same dynamic during the presidential race: by the end, the McCain/Palin campaign was unable to control the violent energy whipped up by their race-baiting. The result was an unprecedented number of threats on Obama's life, a rise in the number of hate groups, and an increase in the number of threats and crimes against immigrants and Black people.^8,9,10

FOX has had a long history of race-baiting and racism on its shows, and we've run campaigns calling them out.^11,12 But Glenn Beck appears to be taking the network to an even lower standard. He's trying to divide and distract America when we should be coming together and talking about issues that really matter--like health care and the economy.

The good news is that we have the power to stop this. All major media is funded by advertising. And advertisers, more than anything, care what consumers think. If we want to change what's happening and put an end to folks like Glenn Beck having a platform, we can do it.

It's up to us, and it can start now. Please join us:

http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/?id=1780-175369

Thanks and Peace,

-- James, Gabriel, William, Dani and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
July 30th, 2009

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU -- your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don't share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:

https://secure.colorofchange.org/contribute/?id=1780-175369

References

1. "Beck: Obama has 'exposed himself as a guy' with 'a deep seated hatred for white people'" Media Matters, 7-28-09
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907280008

2. "Glenn Beck: Obama agenda driven by 'reparations' and desire to 'settle old racial scores'," Media Matters, 7-23-09
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907230040

3. "Palin linked to death threats against Obama," Economic Times, 11-9-2008
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3691429.cms

4. "Obama win prompts wave of hate crimes," Times Online, 11-17-2008
http://tinyurl.com/5rhf29

5. "MSNBC's Deutsch encourages viewers to demand advertisers on Beck's show spend money elsewhere," Media Matters, 7-29-09
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907290037

6. "On Television and Radio, Talk of Obama's Citizenship," The New York Times, 7-24-09
http://tinyurl.com/mb467j

7. "Rush and reparations," The Nation, 5-12-2009
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/435392/rush_and_reparations

8. See reference 2.

9. See reference 3.

10. "Homeland Security report warns of rising right-wing extremism, Huffington Post, 4-14-2009
http://tinyurl.com/cpgx6q

11. ColorOfChange.org email on Fox's attacks on the Obamas
http://www.colorofchange.org/foxobama/message.html

12. "An overview: Fox News and its problem with African-Americans," ColorOfChange.org
http://colorofchange.org/fox/summary.html

Francis L. Holland Circulates Online Petition Supporting Confirmation of Judge Sotomayor

Afrosphere blogger Atty. Francis L. Holland has prepared and is circulating an online petition supporting President Barack Obama's nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be a justice of the US Supreme Court. Atty. Holland has prepared a widget that blogs can adopt to show solidarity with the President and his US Supreme Court pick. Holland has started a group called "Americans for a Pluralistic US Supreme Court" to circulate the petition and build support for Judge Sotomayor's nomination.

Holland says,

It's obvious what the Republicans are doing. They want to repeat Judge Sotomayor's "wise Latina woman" quote over and over again, in the hopes of convincing the public that owning one's own ethnic heritage is the equivalent of "racism". Therefore the only people who should be on the Court are those who purportedly "are not part of any ethnic or gender group": white men!

This petition "owns" and exults in the fact that Sotomayor is a "wise Latina woman" and explains that historically only white men were allowed on the Court -- a white male quota system -- which is precisely why the US Senate must confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor, in addition to Sotomayor's obviously excellent credentials.

The online petition says:

View Current Signatures - Sign the Petition

---

To: Members of the US Senate

I strongly support and urge immediate Senate confirmation of President Barack Obama’s nominee for the US Supreme Court: “wise Latina woman”, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who now sits on U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

At present, the US Supreme Court has nine members, of whom seven are white men. This is unfair and unbalanced. According to the US Census, the nation is less than 33% white male, while it is approximately 51% female, 15% Latino and 13% Black. Although white males are the minority of America, they remain the vast majority of the US Supreme Court, just as was the case before women and minorities gained the right to vote.

It is impossible in a pluralistic society for a Court comprised of 78% white men to make wise, reasoned and sound decisions affecting the lives of a nation which is less than 33% white male. A wise and just Supreme Court requires a diversity of experiences, with the participation of representatives of the majority of Americans.

For far too long, there has been a quota system at the United States Supreme Court. The de facto quota system required that all or the vast majority of the nine members of the Court be white males. In the history of the nation, there have never been more than three members of the court who were not white males at any one time. The anachronistic white male quota system is no longer tenable as the nation strives to treat all Americans equally and to have a government all of whose branches have the consent and participation of the nation’s diverse populace.

The US Supreme Court cannot function wisely, justly, and fairly without the full participation of wise women and wise members of the nation’s minority groups, including the nation’s largest minority – Latinos. Therefore, we urge our elected representatives in the US Senate to immediately confirm the “wise Latina woman” who has earned our respect and support: soon-to-be US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

View Current Signatures

This petition is not formally or informally a project of the Afrosphere Action Coalition per se, but it's worth announcing it to the afrosphere so that participants can support it or not, as they wish.