Abuse of the Criminal Justice System

What do you think the goal of the criminal justice system should be? Do you think that it accomplishes that goal?

Read this article by Lamont Lilly, “Panther 21 hero Afeni Shakur, presente!” about Afeni Shakur, a member of the ​ ​ Black Panther Party who was falsely charged with conspiracy along with 20 other members of the Black Panther Party in 1969, then respond to the questions below. Reflect: How was the criminal justice system used against these members of the Black Panther Party?

What reasoning does the article give for the targeting of the Black Panther Party?

Excerpt from Assata: An Autobiography, a book written by Assata Shakur (pg. 245). Shakur is a black revolutionary, ​ ​ once part of the Black Panther Party, the Black Liberation Army, and an all-around activist. Police enforcement agencies branded her as a figurehead for the Black Liberation Army, and framed her for murder and bank robbery. After escaping prison, she fled to Cuba, where she still lives today. She is currently one of the most wanted women by the FBI. “We were in dire need of experts. We needed to find a ballistics expert and a forensic chemist, among others, to refute the state's charges. We were also in desperate need of an investigator to locate some of the doctors who had treated me while i was hospitalized and other potential witnesses. We fought and harped on this point until finally the judge, Theodore Appleby, issued an order that the state pay for the experts. But once we got the order, we found that we were in the same position that we started from. Without exception, everybody that we went to for help turned us down. The types of experts we needed almost always are police or are working for police agencies. Because my case involved the murder of a police officer, none of them would touch the case. The most crucial part of the prosecutor's case was the "scientific testimony" alleging that i had huge amounts of the dead state trooper's blood on me. We wanted someone who knew what they were doing to go over every inch of those clothes, to check out what was on them and also to check out what had been done to them. But we could not find one forensic chemist to work for us, let alone testify for us. If they had, they would never again have been able to work in peace for any police agency. People never hear about this side of a trial. But there is no place a defendant in a criminal trial can go to find "experts" in sciences commonly known as "police sciences." The police can virtually write up a report saying anything they want, and there is no way of refuting it. And there have been cases where "experts" have been double agents: working for a defendant while secretly working with the prosecutor.” (245)

Reflect: In what ways was Assata Shakur prevented from having a fair trial?

What made it hard for Shakur to fight back against the criminal justice system?

Elmer G. Pratt, more commonly known as Geronimo ji-Jagam or Geronimo Pratt, was a leader of the Black Panther Party who was convicted of murder, despite a misuse and lack of real evidence. Read this article, titled “Elmer G. ​ ​ Pratt, Jailed Panther Leader, Dies at 63,” written by Douglas Martin, and respond to the question below. Reflect: How was Pratt’s imprisonment related to his role in the Black Panther Party?

Albert Woodfox was a prisoner at the Angola State Penitentiary. In 1974, he, alongside Herman Wallace, a fellow politically active inmate, were accused of murdering a prison guard. They were thrown into solitary confinement with another (again politically conscious) prisoner named Robert Hillary King. They became known as the Angola Three. Woodfox lived in solitary for nearly 44 years before his ultimate release in 2017. Watch this video on Albert Woodfox ​ ​ of the Angola Three, and answer the question below. Reflect: How was solitary confinement used as a political weapon against Woodfox?

Read this article by Elizabeth Hines, entitled “Wilmington Ten,” discussing the Wilmington Ten, a group of civil rights ​ ​ activists that rioted over school desegregation, and respond to the question below. Reflect: What do you see as a possible political motivator for false imprisonment in the case of the Wilmington Ten?

Excerpt from a speech by Assata Shakur, taken from her book, Assata: An Autobiography (pg. 167). ​ ​ “I do not think that it's just an accident that we are on trial here. This case is just another example of what has been going on in this country. Throughout amerika's history, people have been imprisoned because of their political beliefs and charged with criminal acts in order to justify that imprisonment. Those who dared to speak out against the injustices in this country, both Black and white, have paid dearly for their courage, sometimes with their lives. Marcus Garvey, Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, the Rosenbergs, and Lolita Lebron were all charged with crimes because of their political beliefs. Martin Luther King went to jail countless times for leading nonviolent demonstrations. Why, you are probably asking yourself, would this government want to put me or Ronald Myers in jail? In my mind, the answer to that is very simple: for the same reason that this government has put everyone else in jail who spoke up for freedom, who said give me liberty or give me death.” (167)

Reflect: How does Assata’s explanation for the imprisonment of these political leaders match up with what you’ve read in the above sources?

Final Reflection Questions What are some of the methods that were used in the criminal justice system to target movement leaders?

How was the criminal justice system abused to suppress movements?

Reflecting on your original answer, how do you think the criminal justice system is actually used? Does this match up with your original thoughts about the goal of the CJS?