LETTER TO THE ANN ARBOR NEWS FROM
THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF BLACK LAWYERS (NCBL)

 
June 28, 1999

Reply to:

National Conference of Black Lawyers
Michigan Chapter
c/o Jeffrey Edison, Esq.
2100 Cadillac Tower
Detroit, Michigan 48226
313-964-0400

Letters, The Ann Arbor News
P.O. Box 1147
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106
 

To the Editor:

The Michigan chapter of the National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) is appalled by the decision of the Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney to pursue prosecutions of anti-racist protesters who demonstrated against the Ku Klux Klan in Ann Arbor.

Since its founding in 1968, NCBL has gone to war on behalf of victims of police violence, racist violence, profile stops, employment discrimination, politically-motivated criminal convictions, and countless other offensive acts that bring misery into the lives of Black and other oppressed people in America. because crimes against the oppressed are frequently ignored by law enforcement officials and prosecutors nationwide, we are particularly alarmed that officials in Ann Arbor have chose to use time and resources to pursue citizens who apparently have done little more than exercise their First Amendment Rights.

The state has tremendous power that must be used wisely. A jury in the first trial of an anti-racist protester understood that such power should not be used to bully a 16-year-old child. Likewise, it should not be used to punish others who demonstrated the courage to publicly object to a racist organization. Members of NCBL, the National Lawyers Guild and other progressive lawyers have their hands full with the many genuine problems that plague our society. It is shameful that our time and resources must be used to speak out in defense of conscientious Ann Arbor citizens who should not have been charged with criminal offenses in the first place. We join the chorus of voices that calls on Prosecuting Attorney Brian Mackie to drop these charges.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey L. Edison
Mark P. Fancher
Desiree Ferguson
Lorray Brown
Regina Jemison
Dr. Jerome Reide

 

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Ann Arbor Antiracist Defense Campaign
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