Documentary spotlights Berrien inmates, kids

DePaul University film team hopes to capture how severely children are affected when a parent is serving time
By Scott Aiken - H-P Thursday, September 9, 2010

ST. JOSEPH - When a mother is convicted of a crime and goes to jail, the punishment may not fall on her alone.
Children, unable to understand why their parent is gone, often suffer lasting harm.
"The effect of a woman leaving for a few months is devastating, it's heart-wrenching," said Kim Clark, part of a documentary film team that has been working in the Berrien County jail since July....

Policy matters wrote on Sep 9, 2010 4:46 PM:
"...There is nothing at all contradictory about the notion that very bad social outcomes - in this case, the prospect of children growing up with one or both parents incarcerated and the myriad associated problems - can be a result of both irresponsible personal behavior and bad policy. Certainly, parents ought to consider the well-being of their children when they engage in risky, illegal,and unethical behavior. Acknowledging this fact, however, it is still the case that incarceration policies in this country are badly out of whack. The rate at which we imprison people is the highest in the world, there is little evidence of any safety benefits accruing to this rate, and there is a great deal of harm that comes from placing almost two and a half million people behind bars at any given time. One of the harms being the incidence of broken families. "

outsideinthecold wrote on Sep 9, 2010 5:16 PM:
" America, land of the free, has the largest prison population in the world. Since 1980, the US prison population has risen 400% and the trend continues upward.

The cost to our society is simply unsustainable. One-third of all black males are either in jail, or on parole/probation. Half of all black males have criminal records...We continue to enforce a 'War on Drugs' that costs over $100,000,000,000 a year and has only made the black market more lucrative for both the suppliers and dealers as well as members of the arrest and punishment industry while creating an unemployable underclass that is a cause, in large measure, of the results reported in the HP story. "

Gotta Wonder wrote on Sep 9, 2010 5:18 PM:
" I understand that we should have zero tolerance for crime. But this documentary is addressing a particular aspect of crime and its effect on children.

I think the point is, who will teach these children? Their parents may not be the best role models, but who really gets punished when they are incarcerated and not even able to care for their children in the most basic sense? So, who gets the job? Grandparents, the State, and perhaps a little attention from a social worker at school.

Particularly with women, I think there is a lot of incentive to go straight and sober up, so to speak, if it means rebuilding the family. I think the Fresh Start program has had some success.

It isn't necessarily in the best interest of children of offenders or society to issue lengthy sentences to mothers. Once the bond of mother and child is removed, mothers lose incentive to improve their lives and the kids start to drift toward crime. We are talking about people who have been raised in a cycle, a culture, a heritage of crime. "

Policy matters wrote on Sep 10, 2010 10:21 AM:
" To Logician: There is nothing in my first post to suggest that I think incarceration is never appropriate for parents. What I am claiming is that our country locks up far more people than is optimal, with no appreciable safety benefit, an enormous burden on state budgets, and a host of very serious social harms. One of these social harms, as depicted by the documentary in question, is borne by the children of the incarcerated.

Prison time is no doubt warranted for parents who pose a genuine threat to society. Likewise, all parents ought to be compelled by the state to abide by the law. There is quite a lot of careful thought, however, to suggest that this compulsion as currently applied is grossly inefficient in many ways. What we need, and what is clearly possible, is a criminal justice system that better provides the desirable outcomes of a safe and orderly society without the massive externalities of the current system. Such a system will almost certainly entail locking up many fewer people, parents included. "

rukahs wrote on Sep 10, 2010 1:37 PM:
" These jails are owned by private corporations they rely on incarcerations....more people in jail=$ "

http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2010/09/09/local_news/1848670.txt

Letter to the Editor and comments. Topics: Whirlpool stolen land development and Berrien county prosecutor Cotter.

Excerpt from a 9/16 Letter to the Editor (HPalladium)

Editor,

I have enjoyed Jean Klock Park all my life...
...the illustrious leaders of Benton Harbor and Whirlpool were keeping up the hype that "no one goes to Jean Klock Park."
...What next? Probably luxury condos on all public waterfront property, or casinos, strip joints, hotels and motels. Then it probably will mean some more bars. Oh, and we can all have corporate "campuses" that won't employ any of our residents.

What is important to [our "leaders"] is that they carry out the orders of the entities who want to develop every square inch of lake front property, make a profit, get filthy rich and move on.

That's it, take away all the residents' personal freedoms and let the developers and corporations have their way. Is that the way you want it? If you don't wake up, that's exactly what will happen.

Too many people still have their heads in the sand.

Lea'Anna Locey, Benton Harbor

****************************************

Letter to Editor comments

The Federal Farmer wrote on Sep 17, 2010:
"Let's hope that visitors to the area take their dogs to the Whirlpool Golf Course to poop."

Another windbag supporter wrote on Sep 16, 2010:
"I bet Mr. Cotter don't advocate should felons have work, some of them may not turn to street crimes in the community, and I bet Mr. Cotter when putting his foot in his mouth never takes this foot out to advocate for a better juvenile justice system in this state. Mr. Cotter knows full well how to gain followers and support by egging on those that whine about tax dollars spent on criminals. Mr. Cotter is a foot inserting in thy own mouth windbag, who needs to do a better job in application of the laws and stautes of this state. Maybe someone should do some research to find out how many of his cases are questionable?"

http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2010/09/16/opinion/letters/1916267.txt

It's time for voters to derail Upton dynasty

Editor,

For far too long the Upton dynasty has helped its corporate cronies to exploit the resources of Southwest Michigan for their own gain.

Over the years, they have turned our green pastures into brownfields, and are now in the final stages of choking us off from access to our great lake. Six years ago, Fred Upton installed a staff member and acolyte, John Proos, in the Michigan House of Representatives. Now that Proos has been term-limited, Upton is grooming his heir apparent for the state Senate as the next easy step along the red carpet to Washington. And to complete the choke hold, the Uptonites are now trotting out yet another staffer, Al Pscholka, to take Proos' place in the state House.

A child of privilege, Upon has held onto his seat in Congress for nearly half his lifetime. He is one of the longest-serving, yet most invisible and inconsequential congressmen in modern history. The formula is simple: stay under the radar and make no waves. He is the quintessential career politician, and has had virtually no experience in the real world. The same is true for his political clone, John Proos.

Proos has learned his lessons well. His smile has been likened to that of a TV game show host. Upton has run ad nauseam on his "nice guy" image. Meanwhile, Proos grins while we bear it.

Enough is enough! It is time we sent someone to Lansing who will honestly and fairly address the real problems and challenges faced by middle-class [and poor] Michiganders. Republicans, Democrats and independents [and Greens] must unite in throwing off this archaic oligarchy. Remember the words of our forefathers: "United we stand. Divided we fall."

Scott Elliott, Democratic Candidate, State Senate, 21st District

"Economic Struggles Need Community Change"
By Lenette Evans

We don't have to look far to realize there is desperate need and injustice in the world. Nearly half the world lives on two dollars a day. Over 850 billion people go hungry and starve everyday, millions of children are dying of malnutrition, and over 20 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS.

People have desensitized themselves to our economic meltdown and towards the poor and homeless. People today are living way beyond their means and spending money as if they won the lottery. Our congress, president, and media have torn our nation to shreds and packed our minds with false promises, doing nothing to help the people. But we can help ourselves too.

Our economy is having neighbors starting to talk to one another who have never talked before and asking each other for food... At local grocery stores people go in to shop and are having hard decisions to make when buying food, toilet paper, bread, shampoo, and laundry detergent and end up putting items back because they don't have the money - choosing what their priorities are like having food before needing laundry detergent.

Stores across the USA and here in Berrien County, Michigan are arresting people for shoplifting at least one every half hour. People are poor, homeless, hungry, and have lost their jobs. Michigan has the highest unemployment and many cannot even find a job at all. So when people have no job and no money they are shoplifting even if its just for a sandwich or a loaf of bread.

In Berrien County we have several hundred homeless people. The soup kitchen, local food banks, and church food pantries are doing what they can, but community donations from the public are low and shelves are empty.

Here in Berrien County we have young children and infant babies who are going days and weeks without food, clothing and proper nutrition and some of our homeless have died on the streets. There is NO EXCUSE for people in our own community to starve and die from lack of food when we have people and businesses which could and should open up their hearts and feed and clothe the poor and desperate.

There are people in this community who live extremely wealthy lives. It would not be a financial burden for them to write a check and donate food, clothing, sleeping bags and school supplies to help the poor in our community. Jesus took two loaves of bread and five fish and fed 5,000 poor people. If you want blessings upon your lives, your finances, your homes, and health, give abundantly the way Jesus wants us all to do. We are to be extravagant givers to help the poor.....WE ARE "ALL" ONE PAYCHECK AWAY FROM BEING HOMELESS.... but none of us ever knows when or who will be next.

My neighbor is days away from having her electricity, water, and gas shut off because she is late paying her bills and cannot afford to pay right now. She has had threatening letters about having her home taken away if she does not pay her mortgage payment. She tries to keep her lawn mowed but cannot afford gas in her lawn mower and often her yard does not get mowed. She needs home repairs but again NO MONEY TO HAVE IT DONE.

Many times I have gone over to my neighbor to give her bags of food because she has no money and lives on welfare. She has an old car that does not run, she has severe MS and I have often seen her crying because she has no food and no money to pay bills. I have tried to help her and I have prayed with my neighbor many times and I have gone to her house to plant flowers in her garden and to rake her leaves many times. These are small acts of kindness to show my neighbor I care, and I do.

I only wish there were many good samaritans out there to help as well, and to get involved with other neighbors' lives to see THE DIFFERENCE WE ALL CAN MAKE. Recognize the needs of neighbors right here in our community. Our world, our communities, and neighbors need JESUS - so what are you doing to make a difference in someone's life today and thereafter?

Don't just be a pew sitter on Sunday and live like the devil through the week. Our community needs to Stand Up...Rise up...and Get involved - and pray for global and community change.

Lenette Evans, Saving Souls Ministries, 269-876-1848, Savingsouls1@yahoo.com

Please contact if you would like to donate money, food, clothing to help the poor, homeless & children in our community.

Rep.Fred Upton Swaps Public Lakefront and Dune Property for Contaminated & Industrial Waste Parcels

[much of the land proposed to be traded for the parts of Jean Klock Park to be privatized into part of the Harbor Shores golf course was polluted -- and DNR, DEQ, and the City of BH knew it but didn't disclose it to the public. Protect Jean Klock Park asks US Army Corps of Engineers to rescind its approval for the land swap.]

Bush to speak to developers in Benton Harbor
By Eartha Jane Melzer 3/30/09 Michigan Messenger

http://michiganmessenger.com/15181/bush-to-speak-to-developers-in-benton-harbor

Former president George W. Bush will make what is being billed as his first domestic post-presidency speech to the Economic Development Club of Southwestern Michigan in Benton Harbor on May 28.

The economic development club was founded in 1943 by Lewis Upton who also founded the Whirlpool Corp.

Benton Harbor is home to a long-simmering controversy over plans to build a private golf course in the city’s lakefront park. Last year, after heavy lobbying from local Republican congressman Fred Upton, the National Park Service approved a plan to swap public lakefront and dune property for a series of inland parcels that are contaminated with industrial waste. In an ongoing federal suit locals are suing to reverse federal and state approval of the project.

Is this possible in Berrien County, Michigan?

Thank You, Michael Phelps!
Ten Reasons to Get High About Pot in 2009

By Norm Kent, 2/6 http://www.counterpunch.org/kent02062009.html

Okay, it is only the first week of February and more people this year have already died from peanut butter than pot...Building jails and keeping people in prisons costs more money than communities can afford...The necessities of twenty first century law enforcement have reduced pot to secondary priorities. More and more cities are encouraging cops to treat simple pot possession as a civil traffic infraction and just write a ticket. As those progressive initiatives take hold, pot prosecutions will diminish and pot users will be treated more fairly.

THE APARTHEID IN BENTON HARBOR, MI

By Mrs. Dorothy Pinkney

The apartheid conditions in Benton Harbor still continue as my husband, the Rev. Edward Pinkney, continues to fight for justice for the people. The power brokers of Whirlpool, Cornerstone Alliance, Harbor Shores and the Benton Harbor city commissioners have attempted to silence his voice and shackle his legs with their 24/7 house arrest.

My husband is not allowed to speak at any church or even attended a church meeting. My husband expressed his political opinion in a newspaper article stating that GOD and only GOD would curse Judge Butzbaugh unless he hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy GOD to do all that is right. It is obvious that this Judge Butzbaugh is doing a lot of wrong in his life. If he were doing the right things he would not be afraid of GOD. It must be because of this fear of GOD that Judge Butzbaugh and his partner decided unconstitutionally to give my husband 3 to 10 years in prison for quoting the Bible. My husband is the first preacher in the history of mankind to be sent to prison for quoting the Bible.

History and those who write it often leave out important facts. Therefore, I have a problem when I hear the term the first black president or first preacher. It makes me nervous because of what distorted picture the powerful may be painting. On January 20, 2009 at 12:05 in Washington D.C. Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President. According to the media, Obama is the first black President of the United States of America. I am here to tell you he is not the first black president. Obama is the second black president. John Hanson was the first (1781-1782). John Hanson was one of the greatest men who got lost in history. President Hanson was elected by Congress not only as the first black President but as the first President under the Articles of Confederation. He established the great seal of the United States, which all presidents since have been required to use on all official documents. He also established the first treasury department, the first secretary of war and the first foreign affairs department. President Barack H. Obama was definitely not the first black President of the United States. He is the first black President of the United States under the Constitution we follow today. By not recognizing John Hanson, the powerful slave owners and traders could continue their unjust ways.

Another first that isn’t listened to by many preachers today is Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. What would Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the first black minister to win the Nobel Peace Prize, say to the ministers today? He would say we need all of you. Who is it that is supposed to articulate the longing and aspirations of the people more than a preacher? Somehow, the preacher must have a kind of fire burning within his bones and whenever injustice is around he proclaims it to the world. Somehow, the preacher must be an Amos and proclaim that when GOD speaks who can but prophesy? A preacher must proclaim the word as Amos, to let justice roll down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream. Somehow, the preacher must say that the spirit of Jesus is upon me because he has anointed me to deal with the problem of injustice. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. would say I want to thank all of them and I want you to thank all of them because so often preachers are not concerned about anything but themselves most of are just too selfish. I am always happy to see a relevant ministry. We need all of you to take a stand for the poor and for injustice.

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. would say that Whirlpool is imposing a manifest brutal siege against the people of Benton Harbor similar to the Israeli siege of Gaza. The modalities and circumstances may be somewhat different but the mentality of hatefulness and vindictiveness are undoubtedly the same. Then he would say in the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our pastor.

Harbor Shores Would Destroy This

US Post Office understands the fragility and beauty of Great Lakes dunes which we must work to preserve.
These stamps are now available:

Preacher appeals conviction for criticizing Benton Harbor officials

Rev. Edward Pinkney, the 60-year-old a Baptist preacher from Benton Harbor who has been in jail for nearly a year for criticizing Berrien County officials in an article that ran in a Chicago newspaper, is appealing his three- to 10-year sentence with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.

Pinkney is a well known political figure in Benton Harbor, one of Michigan’s poorest and most racially segregated towns. He has been a prominent critic of the county’s criminal justice system and of efforts by the locally based Whirlpool corporation to build a golf course on the town’s lakefront park.

In May 2007 Pinkney was sentenced to a term of probation by Berrien County Chief Judge Alfred Butzbaugh following his conviction of election law violations in connection with a campaign to recall one of Benton Harbor’s most prominent politicians. Continue reading:
http://michiganmessenger.com/8567/preacher-appeals-conviction-for-criticizing-benton-harbor-officials-2

Land Conservation Information

Bumper Sticker sited:

Saving Land Lowers Taxes

From www.savejeanklockpark.org -

There are 27 golf courses within a 30 mile radius of Benton Harbor, some are exclusive, some are not. Some have closed to become residential properties and some are struggling to keep the courses open. Jack Nicklaus Signature golf courses also fail and that is a huge concern. There is no guarantee that this course will succeed and it’s the opinion of many that it will not. Not in this area. To use Jean Klock Park on speculation that the course will survive is not only risky but highly irresponsible. Jean Klock Park should not be sacrificed for other’s lack of vision. Instead it should serve as its own centerpiece as an historical and natural resource.

Friends of Jean Klock Park are joined by the Alliance for the Great Lakes and local citizens and organizations in their effort to preserve the natural heritage of the park.

We are also part of the Defense of Place Michigan coalition of park advocacy groups. For more information about why parks are for future generations please visit www.defenseofplace.org.

Thanks to the sponsorship and support of the Michigan Environmental Council the Friends of Jean Klock Park were awarded a grant from the Great Lakes Aquatic Network Fund (now Freshwater Future) for various expenses.

The efforts of others in the cause to "Save Jean Klock Park" are expanding!
Please visit www.protectjkp.com.

Wall Street Journal excerpt on golf courses:
www.protectjkp.com/golf.htm

Typical Fare for Whirlpool Company Paper Front Page

"Sixth sense - H-P staff /9/27/08
Berrien County Sheriff’s Deputy John Hopkins has chalked up an eye-popping number of drug arrests in his 25-year career – 1,056 arrests on 2,037 charges, according to sheriff’s depart­ment records."


Hopkins may recognize himself in the personage of a sheriff from the southwest who is profiled in the remarkable 2007 docu, American Drug War: The Last White Hope.

This well-made, well researched docu might be available to watch at video.google.com. Some points of interest:

50% of all current US prison inmates are non-violent drug offenders.

Our government has made it a business to lock up drug offenders instead of getting them treatment. Addiction is a disease - the goal should be a cure, not punishment.

The CIA is right in the middle of the crack epidemic in the US - facts will leave no doubt that
the gov. used drugs to finance illegal wars and continue to use them to suppress people of color.

The purpose of the ban on medical uses of marijuana is to benefit the pharmaceutical industry.

700,000 people die every year from alcohol (not counting traffic deaths), tobacco, and legal pharmaceuticals, while only 10,000 die from drug use, and no death has ever been reported from marijuana.

You will be surprized to find out where 85% heroin distributed worldwide comes from...

There are billions of dollars being spent on the war on drugs each year and what is the outcome of all that funding? The American Prison system. There are hundreds of thousands of mostly non-violent pot smokers being locked up for harming no one. This documentary shows how companies like the Partnership for a Drug Free America show commercials on television that are used as scare tactics to make us think that if someone buys a dimebag of grass to unwind that they are now a "terrorist" because they are supporting drugs. How are they supporting the war on drugs when the majority of marijuana used in the country is grown in the United States? It also shows how the CIA sells tons of cocaine to be distributed within the United States.

The docu provides solutions to these extremely serious problems.

Park Protestors Arrested

For Immediate Release

Contacts:
LuAnne Kozma, 248-473-5761
Michigan Director, Defense of Place
defenseofplacemichigan@gmail.com

Cindy Arch, 707-395-0438
Executive Director, Defense of Place
arch@rri.org

Julie Weiss
Protect Jean Klock Park
info@protectjkp.com


GOLF COURSE DEVELOPER BEGINS DESTRUCTION
OF BENTON HARBOR'S JEAN KLOCK PARK


Park Protestors Arrested in Standoff with Police
Injunction Filed in Federal Court

(Novi, Michigan) - September 22, 2008 Under the pretense of "improvements" to the Jean Klock Park bath house, the Whirlpool Corporation-backed Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment Inc. started destroying the natural resources of Jean Klock Park in Benton Harbor today, removing 90-year old trees from the Lake Michigan shore and destroying some of the park's dunes to create an asphalt parking lot.

Residents of Benton Harbor and Benton Township, Michigan who filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C. in August to stop the construction of an exclusive private golf course in Benton Harbor's only beachfront park, rushed to Jean Klock Park with other community activists today as soon as they saw the bulldozers.

Three activists, Benton Harbor resident Nicole Moon, and Benton Township residents Scott Elliott and Bette Pierman sat on downed, historic cottonwood trees destroyed by the bulldozers and were arrested for civil disobedience.

After the arrests, the developers continued the destruction of the park by cutting away some of the southern dunes.

"All of this destruction is part of the illegal conversion of Jean Klock Park. The details were never disclosed to the public in any way," said Nicole Moon, one of seven residents who filed the federal lawsuit.

The lawsuit is pending. Monday afternoon, the plaintiffs filed a motion for a restraining order to halt the destruction.

"They are the real trespassers, and we get arrested," said Elliott, another of the plaintiffs.

"To watch the construction company employees enter and in moments destroy 90 year old trees along the boardwalk was heartbreaking", said Bette Pierman. "These trees have been homes to hundreds of different kinds of birds for years and were part of the original drive and landscaping work. And, while they began uprooting the trees, they also were destroying the southern foredune and all of the beach grass in that area. This is a travesty! The spin has been that they would not touch the beach, they would not detroy anything on the west side of the dunes. All the spin issues were lies. All for the benefit of a greedy few who have no regard for the beauty of the natural environment."

The federal lawsuit, filed by Toledo, Ohio, attorney Terry J. Lodge alleges extensive violations of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) by the National Park Service and failure to properly apply regulations mandated under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act. The State of Michigan and the city of Benton Harbor are named as codefendants.


Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment Incorporated, the Whirlpool-financed developer, recently filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit, hiring Bracewell and Guiliani of Washington D. C., and claiming to need the golf course in order to provide community benefits. The community benefits plan only guarantees five thousand dollars a year.

Donations in support of the citizen lawsuits can be made through the local advocacy groups, as well as through Defense of Place. Protect Jean Klock Park is accepting contributions for the federal lawsuit.


Defense of Place www.defenseofplace.org
Protect Jean Klock Park www.protectjkp.com
Friends of Jean Klock Park www.savejeanklockpark.org

Every Little Thing Berrien County Does is Anti-Pinkney

Have They Ever Been This Frightened By Anyone?

Here's the Latest:

Pinkney's fateful trial where Judge Wiley displayed in the clear light
of day how Berrien County Court normally operates was on June 26,
nearly three months ago. Wiley called Pinkney "a con" and "a threat" with
"too much influence." The court reporter, Carlene Battista, ID#6764,
has refused to state a date or time by which the trial transcript will be
completed. Will it take more than three months to record two
hours, Carlene?

Berrien County Court could be the clone of any court in
the deep south circa almost anytime. The people going through the
system had one advocate: Rev. Pinkney. Now they have none.
CERTAINLY NOT US REP. FRED

"Whirlpool heir"

"I want a big golf course near my big house"

"we need more nukes"

UPTON.

Here's a reminder of Atty. Buck Davis's recent chilling speech (excerpt):

“The thrust [of the Berrien County courthouse] is to physically remove and destroy families through the use of the criminal justice system. Every person they can put in jail; every person whose voting rights they can revoke with a felony conviction; every person they can cause to lose their job by putting them on probation; every person they can cause to lose the ability to pay for basic necessities through imposing ruinous court costs and probation is all part of the process. In the 1960s, it was called Negro removal. In Bosnia, it was called ethnic cleansing. It could be called genocide, the removal of the minority population for the purpose of redevelopment of the land. That’s what’s happening in Benton Harbor and the foremost leader of the resistance is Rev. Edward Pinkney.”

This is the county that Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm supports, and where she refuses to intervene to bring humanitarian help, aid, or any form of justice. Gov. G., this is your JOB. Promising golf courses for votes is not.

Whirlpool: Public Opinion Be Damned

Don Campbell / H-P staff
A crew from Gelock Heavy Movers of Grand Rapids works to put a 190-plank bridge in place connecting Benton Harbor and St. Joseph over the Paw Paw River north of Whitwam Drive. The bridge will serve as the cart path between holes 2 and 3 of the Harbor Shores golf course and serve as a link to parts of the expanded Jean Klock Park trail system.

Green Party Nominee Rev. Pinkney's Campaign Speech

Green Party Nominee Rev. Pinkney to Challenge
Congressman Fred Upton, Heir to Whirlpool


Rev. Edward Pinkney of Benton Harbor, Michigan has joined the field of Green Party candidates challenging 13 of 16 Congressional Seats.

Rev. Pinkney is the latest entry in the 6th District Congressional race where the incumbent is Fred Upton (R St Joseph), the heir to whirlpool Corporation. Rev. Pinkney, a minister and activist, is serving a three to ten year prison term for quoting Biblical scripture to the corrupt Judge Alfred Butzbaugh. The judge who stands to make millions of dollars from land stolen from the residents of Benton Harbor for the Harbor Shores Project.

Rev. Pinkney’s Campaign Speech:

It is our constitutional duty as American citizens to hold our elected officials accountable for their words, action and inaction of wrong doing.

The Herald Palladium featured an article on Congressman Fred Upton’s position on energy, whereby he declared, “I think it’s the only issue in the upcoming election”. Congressman Fred Upton is so out of touch with the realities of what is happening in America that he believes that resolving this one issue will resolve everything for all Americans. Congressman Upton, there are other important issues currently affecting Americans. There are the issues such as the significant loss of jobs to Mexico and other cheap labor locations, the rapid expansion of the federal deficit, (This deficit will be devastating to all Americans if it is not reversed quickly.) billions of dollars wasted in Iraq, 50 million Americans without any health insurance, pension plans in jeopardy throughout both public and private sectors. Evidently Congressman Upton does not consider these issues important to American citizens of southwest Michigan. It is a shame he represents the citizens in Michigan with such an attitude and has a congressional record that ignores any resolution of these issues. Congressman Fred Upton has failed to face the reality about our problems for years.

I strongly suggest that the justice system in Berrien County needs to be investigated. The case against me, violating my First Amendment rights, should have everyone around the county, state and country saying No More to the Whirlpool Corporation, the Upton family and to 6th District U.S. Representative Fred Upton. A man that is out of touch with the citizens he represents.

The news release said I am paying a heavy price for my beliefs and I will get a chance to express them by running for office. I am the perfect candidate, who has sacrificed myself for the people.
The news release said I have opposed Whirlpool Corporation’s influence on local government and the plans to take Jean Klock Park away from the people of Benton Harbor for a Jack Nicklous Signature Golf Course priced for the wealthy. I have opposed the Harbor Shores Redevelopment Corporation, of which the Whirlpool Foundation is a part, who wants to take or steal 22 acres of the Jean Klock Park land for three holes of the Jack Nicklous Signature Golf Course.

The Green Party’s news release compared me, Rev. Pinkney, favorably with progressive era labor leader Eugene V. Debs, who was jailed by federal authorities for violating the 1917 Espionage Act by advocating WWI draft resistance. As Socialist Party nominee, Debs collected nearly a million votes for President in 1920 while sitting in federal prison. The winner Warren G. Harding pardoned Debs after assuming office.

The Ten Key Values in my platform are: decentralization, sustainability, social justice for all, non-violence, feminism, economics, ecological wisdom, respect for diversity, community and statewide jobs, no more war, solve the energy problem.

Lets get out and spread the word. Help me Rev. Pinkney unseat Congressman Upton who is out of touch with the people. I challenge Congressman Fred Upton to a debate, anytime. Let Us Change Michigan Together.

Pinkney on video & prison visit report

Hear Rev. Pinkney speak in two videos (1-2 min. each) at this link:

http://terryhowcott.com/closeup.asp?cid=9&pid=1018&offset=50 (scroll down about halfway)

* A report from Pastor Wylie-Kellermann who visited Rev. Pinkney recently -

Friends:
I was camping with friends north of Alpena when I learned that Rev. Pinkney had been moved to Kincheloe in the UP, so made quick arrangements to visit him as a pastor last Saturday.
Edward's been up there now two weeks already. I was able to spend a couple hours with him. He seems in remarkably good spirits and utterly hopeful given what he's been through. He sent greetings and expressed gratitude for everything that people are doing on hs behalf and on behalf of the continuing struggle in Berrien County. Needless to say, he's eager to see the appeal move forward.
I was able to report on the meeting here in Detroit and some of the press that had been generated. Acknowledging the pall of fear that hangs over Benton Harbor, he urged organizing and media work in a larger circle around the state. We also talked some about strategies for getting the word out in the wider religious community.
He has a low security classification which would ordinarily make him eligible for movement to a camp (or even downstate I would think), but he had seen paperwork with sentencing designations from the judge which urged no special programs or privileges. He estimated that about thirty percent of the Hiawatha prison is African American, but he was the only black person in the visiting area when I was there - some indication of the geographical patterns at work. He has been able to talk regularly with his wife Dorothy.
I was really grateful for the time with him and all the providences involved.
I pass along his love and thanks and prayers.
Bill

Bill Wylie-Kellermann, Pastor, St. Peter's Episcopal Church - Detroit, 313-841-7554, 313-433-1967
http://stpeterscorktown.edomi.org/
http://www.thewitness.org/author.php?id=40
http://www.scupe.com

* *

Lawlessness - Hallmark of Whirlpool and Berrien County
Rev. Pinkney, political prisoner and whistleblower, worked 24/7 raising awareness about Whirlpool's takeover of Benton Harbor. The corporation needed to silence him, and their gratuitous cruelty is obvious in the report above (plus the fact that they felt the need to imprison him AND send him to the UP where friends and family would have the most difficult time visiting and his voice would be as distant as possible.) One man stirred up a lot of trouble for a multi-national corporation, and they felt the pressure, so he was banished under illegal and unconstitutional circumstances. This lawlessness is what Berrien County and Whirlpool will go down in history for. For the latest news on the takeover go to http://www.protectjkp.com/
and http://www.savejeanklockpark.org/NewsReports.html

* *

Please send letters or postcards supporting Rev. Pinkney's application to the Parole Board.
Text can be as simple as: "I support Rev. Pinkney's application for pardon."
Michigan Department of Corrections
Office of the Parole Board
Pardons and Commutations Coordinator
Post Office Box 30003
Lansing, Michigan 48909

Gov. Granholm, PO Box 30013, Lansing, MI 48909 517-373-3400

Checks to BANCO for Pinkney's legal fees (tax-deductible):
BANCO
1940 Union St.
Benton Harbor, MI 49022

BOYCOTT WHIRLPOOL & SUBSIDIARIES (Amana, Estate, Gladiator Garage Works, Insperience, Jenn-Air, KitchenAid, Magic Chef, Maytag, Roper, Acros, Inglis, Bauknecht, Brastemp, Admiral, IKEA appliances, some Kenmore)

Hiawatha Correctional Facility
Rev. Edward Pinkney #294671
4533 Industrial Park Dr.
Kincheloe, MI 49786-0001

A "True Threat:" Rev. Pinkney and the Book of Deuteronomy

http://www.the-record.org/versiclearchives.html and in many other publications

Pastor Bill Wylie-Kellermann

Rev. Edward Pinkney, a Missionary Baptist assistant pastor in Benton Harbor, was sentenced June 26 in a Berrien County court to 3-10 years on a probation violation for quoting, in King James, several curses from the Book of Deuteronomy in an opinion piece for The People's Tribune. Judge Dennis Wiley ruled that it was a "true threat." Until then I had thought the bizarre event of the day was that I was at the hearing as an "expert witness" in Scripture.

Here's the background of the case: Benton Harbor these days is a black city (94% with 70% unemployment) while across the river, St Joseph, world headquarters to the Whirlpool Corp, is virtually all white. (See Alex Kotlowitz, The Other Side of the River for one account of the racial apartheid represented here). Several years ago a former CEO of Whirlpool began advocating for a major development ($500 million worth) of condominiums and golf course on the Benton Harbor side which would take the river and lake front, including the city's only public beach park. It was planned that the project would be separated from Benton Harbor and become part of an adjoining, largely white, township. Certain City Commissioners were facilitating the project.

Rev. Pinkney and his wife Dorothy had previously joined BANCO (Black Autonomy Network of Community Organizations) and been involved in Berrien County courtwatching, exposing publicly what they saw as racist and corrupt practices of the court - including measurable concerns about the racial composition of juries. Now they became lead activists and community voices against the project. Predicated on a police incident, they initiated a recall campaign against Glen Yarbrough, perhaps the most powerful politico in Benton Harbor. Using a strategy of grassroots organizing which employed substantial absentee balloting, the Pinkneys prevailed. Yarbrough was recalled by a margin of 54 votes.

Whereupon the county prosecutor's office launched an investigation into the absentee balloting and brought suit against the Clerk to invalidate the election. The City refused to provide her legal defense. Without physical evidence and largely on the testimony a young woman (a drug user and sex worker regularly in trouble) who was given immunity, a small number of absentee ballots were declared invalid. Although the number was far less that the 54 differential, the judge ordered a new election.

Meanwhile, based on the election case, warrants were brought against Pinkney not for tampering, but for "handling" absentee ballots and for buying votes (he had admittedly paid people $5 to pass out fliers, not uncommon). A racially mixed jury was hung on all charges. Mistrial. While he was under indictment and with substantial funding coming in under Yarborough, the election was reversed, though by only 40 votes, and he was reinstated.

Not content, the prosecutor brought the charges again, and this time Rev. Pinkney was convicted by an all-white jury. Judge Alfred Butzbaugh sentenced him to a year in jail and initially placed him on house arrest pending appeal. Conditions of his probation included being electronically tethered with strictures against participating in electoral politics or publishing material that demeans or defames public officials.

Which bring us to the People's Tribune article. Something of a rant, the article includes the following paragraph:

Judge Butzbaugh, it shall come to pass; if thou continue not to hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all that is right; which I command thee this day, that all these Curses shall come upon you and your family, curses shalt be in the City of St. Joseph and Cursed shalt thou be in the field, cursed shall come upon you and your family and over take thee; cursed shall be the fruit of thy body. The Lord shall smite thee with consumption and with a fever and with an inflammation and with extreme burning. They the demons shall Pursue thee until thou persist.

On that basis Judge Butbaugh violated him on his probation and Pinkney had been in jail for more than six months awaiting this June 26 hearing.

The text in question is edited and adapted from Deuteronomy 28:15-22 (KJV). Which also brings us to my debut as an expert witness in Scripture - and a little bit here about the book of Deuteronomy on which I was asked under oath to comment. The book itself is cast as a long discourse by Moses delivered just before the people crossed over the Jordon into Canaan. The bulk of it is legislative material coming from the tribes of the northern kingdom. It is actually an interesting choice for curse citation, because in addition to a version of the Ten Commandments, and covering such matters as marriage and divorce and tithing and instruction for Passover celebration, it includes a number economic and political provisions worth noting. It is a body of law which defends and advocates for the poor.

Perhaps best known these days are the provisions of the Sabbatical Year in chapter15 which mandate every seven years, the release of debts so there be "no poor among you," and for setting free all slaves (since most were "indentured" debt-slaves, these were much the same thing), and with a stake of livestock and crops - not unlike the idea of "forty acres and a mule." Also included is the first "constitutional" limitation on royal power in history: chapter 17. Kings are not to multiply their horses (the military) nor wives, nor silver and gold. The king is to write out a copy of the law for himself to read it all the days of his life. This includes the provisions for gleaning - a remainder of wheat and olives and grapes left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. "You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing."

The whole of the book is framed as a covenantal document which is how the blessings and curses of chapters 27 and 28 come into play. They are the binding element, the curses that those who say Amen to the covenant call down upon themselves as the power of enforcement. Perhaps the most interesting thing in this regard is that the list of actions cursed, most of which are from the Ten Commandments, include one reserved for anyone who "moves a neighbor's boundary marker" (!) and another for the one who "deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow, of justice." (27:17, 19)

Moreover, these chapters (from which Rev Pinkney has drawn) actually function as a convent renewal ceremony, in which the book is read aloud and the people voice their affirmation on perhaps an annual basis, so it is full of present tense urgency in which the people hear themselves named: I call upon you; this day; now; today.

Perhaps the most famous choice-putting comes from chapter 30:15-20:

"See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity;
in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in God's ways and to keep these commandments and statutes and judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD, by obeying God's voice, and by holding fast to God."

Of course the big question for the expert witness was: Are these to be carried out by human agency or divine? My response was twofold. One, Moses, who speaks, is dead and buried four chapters later and does not follow them into the Promised Land. He seems an unlikely enforcer. When the book of Deuteronomy is "rediscovered" during a rehabilitation of the temple in 622 BCE, the book is taken to the prophetess Hulda for authentification (2Kings 22: 15-20). She specifically speaks in the voice of the Lord:

'Tell the one who sent you to me, thus says the LORD, "Behold, I bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read.. ."But to the king of Judah who sent you... "Regarding the words which you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you," declares the LORD.

My biblical scholarship did not, however, carry the day. For sentencing the room filled up with three kinds of cops. Rev. Pinkney had been in handcuffs the entire hearing. (That I suppose was the visible presumption of "threat.") After weighing through the legal arguments and case law citations which will come into play on the appeals, His Honor began what seemed to me the real demeaning and defaming of the day, calling Edward Pinkney a fraud who had denied people their right to vote, for whatever interest of his own - the right, Judge Wiley averred, for which so many in the civil rights movement had spent their lives. Indeed. On the biblical question, the Judge seemed to determine that Pinkney was using his reverendness to call on God for the enforcement, but in any event determined for the record that this was a "true threat."

I'm not aware of any past behavior on his part which would be the basis imagining a physical threat from Rev Pinkney. But it must truly be that he is threatening to their plans and project. A voice which has not yet been silenced. But 3 to 10 years for quoting Deuteronomy?

And I thought being an expert witness in Scripture at a probation hearing was bizarre.


Bill Wylie-Kellermann is a United Methodist pastor serving St Peter's Episcopal Church in Detroit. He is faculty for the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education in Chicago and adjunct at Ecumenical Theological Seminary of Detroit. Contributions may be sent to the Rev. Edward Pinkney Defense Fund, 1940 Union Street, Benton Harbor, MI 49022; visit the BANCO website at www.bhbanco.blogspot.com ;an online petition may be found at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/624471377

Bill Wylie-Kellermann
Pastor, St. Peter's Episcopal Church - Detroit
313-841-7554
313-433-1967
http://stpeterscorktown.edomi.org/
http://www.thewitness.org/author.php?id=40
http://www.scupe.com
http://www.wordandworld.org

PINKNEY IMPRISONED FOR QUOTING THE BIBLE

By Hugh “Buck” Davis

The campaign of the power structure in St. Joseph/Berrien County, Michigan against the poorest city in the state, Benton Harbor (94% black, 70% unemployed) and the leader of the resistance, the Reverend Edward Pinkney, took a dangerous and destructive turn on July 26, 2008, when Pinkney was found to be in violation of the terms of his probation for “threatening” the trial judge by paraphrasing Chapter 30 of Deuteronomy to the effect that God will punish those who persist in the path of injustice.

To recap, Reverend Pinkney proved in 2005 that you have a right to free speech until you start to make a difference. He successfully engineered the recall campaign of the corrupt political boss of Benton Harbor who was collaborating with the power structure (Whirlpool Corporation and the Cornerstone Alliance) to take some of the most valuable property owned by Benton Harbor and turn it into a luxury residential/resort/condominium/marina/Jack Nicklaus golf course, depriving the once proud industrial city of its “in perpetuity” park on Lake Michigan and other valuable riverfront property.

Immediately thereafter, the recalled supervisor and the county sheriff swept through the community, threatening absentee voters and their families in order to obtain evidence that the recall election was tainted by fraud and that Pinkney, the leader of the recall, bought votes. By threats and bribery, the authorities ultimately came up with a few vulnerable citizens (e.g.- drug addicts, prisoners, probationers, prostitutes, those with loved ones in jeopardy) to claim that Pinkney either paid a few people from a soup kitchen $5.00 to vote absentee ballots or that Pinkney improperly handled otherwise valid absentee ballots by delivering them from the voter to the city clerk. Interestingly, buying votes is a misdemeanor. But having possession of an absentee ballot without any criminal intent is a felony.

The prosecutor sued the Benton Harbor City Clerk to set aside the election and the City refused to defend its own clerk. The local judge, who sat on the election commission and had opposed the recall petition, ruled that the election was invalid because it seemed bad, even though the prosecutor could not show enough “fraudulent” ballots to change the results. That judge, the Honorable Paul Maloney, has since been appointed by Bush to the federal bench in the Western District of Michigan.

After the election was set aside, the prosecutor brought criminal charges against Pinkney, intimidating his supporters while the establishment put money into the new election and the recall was reversed.

In his first trial, Pinkney had two black jurors and got a mistrial. In his second trial, despite a jury challenge, Pinkney had an all white jury, which convicted him on all counts.

Prior to sentencing, Pinkney took a polygraph test which exonerated him on every single element of every charge against him, but the prosecutor refused to run an official polygraph, presumably because they already knew that they had framed an innocent man. The trial judge, Alfred Butzbaugh, former President of the Michigan State Bar and the most progressive judge on the bench, refused the prosecutor and probation department’s request to put Pinkney in prison, giving him a year in jail and leaving him out on tether during the post-trial proceedings.

That was May 2007. In December 2007, the probation department, which had been monitoring Pinkney minutely on his probation and tether, apparently expanded its interest in Pinkney’s political activities to reading a story that Pinkney wrote in the November 2007 issue of The People’s Tribune, a leftist paper published by the League of Revolutionaries for a New America, published in Chicago. In it, Pinkney, as he has for years, called the criminal justice system in Berrien County racist, corrupt and ignorant.

Without consulting Judge Butzbaugh, the probation department went to the allegedly worst racist on the Berrien County Bench (Dennis Wiley). He signed a probation violation warrant against Pinkney based on the premise that Pinkney was forbidden to defame or harass anyone as a condition of his probation. At the original violation hearing before Butzbaugh, he agreed that it was protected speech and refused to find a violation.

Judge Butzbaugh then sua sponte pointed to another portion of the same article in which Pinkney, naming Butzbaugh specifically, as well as the court and the power structure of St. Joseph/Berrien County generaly, warned them if they continued in the ways of injustice, then they, their families and the community would suffer consequences at the hand of God. Judge Butzbaugh adjourned the hearing to consider whether this constituted a “threat” against him in violation of Pinkney’s probation. He later entered an order finding it to be a probable violation, but disqualifying himself from the hearing, which he transferred to Judge Wiley.

Pinkney challenged Judge Wiley as biased, since Pinkney had for years directly accused Wiley of being among “Benton Harbor’s most wanted for crimes against humanity” wearing t-shirts to that effect at rallies, demonstrations, in the courthouse and in Wiley’s courtroom. Wiley had Pinkney removed from his courtroom because of the t-shirt at least twice and had forced Pinkney to take off the t-shirt when he was brought in for the arraignment on the probation violation. Judge Wiley held a hearing and determined that he was not biased. Pinkney appealed to the Chief Judge, Butzbaugh, to disqualify Wiley and the entire Berrien County bench. Butzbaugh denied the motion and sent the hearing back to Wiley.

During this entire time, the prosecutor, being confident, never filed a substantive memorandum or paper, put on any witnesses or otherwise attempted to justify their position. The ACLU filed an amicus brief clearly indicating that making a statement in a publication paraphrasing the biblical prophecies and calling on divine intervention in the iniquitous affairs of society has been found not to be a “true threat” outside the First Amendment. At the hearing, the prosecution did nothing more than present the newspaper article.

Pinkney testified that it was not intended as a threat to any person in particular, but reflected his belief that injustice would bring about divine retribution. A prominent pastor, educated at Union Theological Seminary in New York, testified to the history and nature of those portions of the book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament and that they did not contemplate any human action, either directly or indirectly, against the objects of the prophecy.

Judge Wiley summoned up a full load of righteous indignation that anyone should make such statements and found them to be true threats, rejecting the ACLU amicus. He then proceeded to revoke Pinkney’s probation and sentenced him to 3 to 10 years in prison, twice what had been asked by the Probation Department and the Prosecutor.

The appeal of this horrendous decision, making Pinkney the only known preacher in the history of America to be imprisoned for quoting the Bible, is a joint ACLU-NLG project in which the ACLU will handle the First Amendment substantive claim and Guild attorneys will handle the disqualification/sentencing issues.

In addition, Pinkney’s direct appeal is pending and a petition for clemency has been submitted to Michigan Governor Granholm and the Parole Board.

Those wishing to keep up with developments or lend support can:

1. Monitor the BANCO (Black Autonomous Network of Community Organizations) blogspot (bhbanco.blogspot.com);
2. Send money to the Reverend Edward Pinkney Defense Fund, 1940 Union Street, Benton Harbor, Michigan, 49022; and/or
3. Send letters to the Honorable Jennifer Granholm in support of clemency at the Michigan Department of Corrections, Office of the Parole Board, Pardons and Commutations Coordinator, P.O. Box 30003, Lansing, Michigan, 48909

Report from Rev. Pinkney's Attorney

Editors Note: The following are excerpts from Attorney Hugh M. Davis’ talk at a Pinkney Defense Fund meeting in Detroit, Michigan:

This case arises out of the poorest city in Michigan. Its most valuable land is sought by corporate interests. By virtue of their control of the county, they control the courts. The parade of people going before the criminal courts are almost all poor, and disproportionately Black; although we cannot ignore what they do to the Hispanic and poor white community. The thrust is to physically remove and destroy families through the use of the criminal justice system. Every person they can put in jail; every person whose voting rights they can revoke with a felony conviction; every person they can cause to lose their job by putting them on probation; every person that they can cause to lose the ability to pay for basic necessities through imposing ruinous court costs and probation is all part of the process. In the 1960s, it was called Negro removal. In Bosnia, it was called ethnic cleansing. It could be called genocide the removal of the minority population for the purpose of the redevelopment of the land. That’s what’s happening in Benton Harbor and the foremost leader of the resistance is Rev. Edward Pinkney.

The probation officers in the county tried to find out everywhere Pinkney has gone and everything he has said or written. With his life under such extraordinary scrutiny and having him on tether, if they could get him on anything, they would have. They didn’t and they can’t. So, what did they do? They took his writings about the Bible in the People’s Tribune and decided it was a violation of his probation. The first claim was that he called the courts in the county racist, corrupt and ignorant. He had been doing that for a long time. Nothing new. And even the judge could not bring himself to claim this was not protected speech under the First Amendment. The judge then read a paragraph where the judge himself was personally mentioned and where Pinkney quoted Deuteronomy about what God shall visit upon the iniquitous. The judge determined that this was a potential threat. Then he disqualified himself and the case was assigned to the reputedly most notorious racist on the bench (no small honor), the Honorable Dennis Wiley.

So we undertook a campaign. Pinkney spent seven months in the most horrendous conditions inside the Berrien County jail. We knew that if this case ever came before a judge of that bench, they would not only revoke his probation, but they could put him in prison. Pinkney bore it heroically. Pinkney, under continuous attack inside the jail, never stopped fighting, never lost hope. We went before Judge Wiley. The prosecution took the November copy of the People’s Tribune, entered it into evidence and never called a witness. We produced an eminent theologian who explained that biblical prophesy of the wrath of God upon the iniquitous was not a personal threat, an invitation of violence or a true threat under the Constitution of the U.S. Rev. Pinkney testified that he believes that sin will receive retribution. It is protected activity under the First Amendment. But he was found guilty of violating his probation. Then Wiley gave him every minute he could, doubling the recommendation of the prosecutor, doubling the recommendation of the probation department, 3-10 years in prison.

This judge actually said on the record that ‘I believe that Pinkney did not intend to threaten the judge, but he has a direct connection to God.’ He might. But, if it is true, Pinkney will still have that divine connection in prison and the wicked are no safer. So what’s the point? To remove the leader of the resistance from the community as long as possible, regardless of the shame that it will certainly bring down on Berrien County? It is ridiculous and we believe that it will become a national issue. But all the people that hear about it nationally are not necessarily going to organize, write letters and fundraise. That’s our job.

The ACLU has agreed to take the case as Rev. Pinkney’s direct representatives. On the original conviction, the National Lawyer’s Guild has filed in the Michigan Court of Appeals a 115 page brief (that’s 65 pages more than the limit) raising 13 arguments about how Pinkney’s conviction was unlawful. The Court of Appeals accepted the entire brief. The prosecution will reply in September. Second, we filed with the Governor’s office a Petition for Clemency, which is an area where political action, letters of support, etc. can make a difference. The more strength we build, the more possible it will be to persuade Jennifer Granholm to grant clemency or vacate the conviction. We will also file a motion for bond pending appeal.

DOROTHY PINKNEY SPEAKS:

It’s a kangaroo court. It’s a Ku Klux Klan county. They are just an organized criminal ring. The judge said my husband had too much influence over people. They look at him as a threat to interfere with their plans for Harbor Shores. As long as he’s confined in prison, they feel secure to go ahead and do what they need to do illegally. My husband’s in a good mood. He’s a warrior, a fighter and has refused to let anything defuse him. The county never went up against a man like him. Others have been bought and sold but he can’t be.

BELINDA BROWN, HEAD OF PINKNEY DEFENSE COMMITTEE SPEAKS:

I am the person that heads the Rev. Pinkney Defense Fund. My husband and I were there to support Rev. Pinkney. Shortly after that my husband was fired. His boss was one of the members who sat on Cornerstone (Whirlpool.) Even though there is outrage over the corruption in the court system, people are afraid because so many have suffered under these people. They make up the laws as they go. We successfully recalled the corrupt city commissioner and the judge threw out the vote. Whirlpool needed his vote to sell the lakefront property. We were fixing to sweep through and get them all out of those seats. This is prime property. Pastor Pinkney was getting people excited about taking our city back from Whirlpool and people were following him and they had hope. Now we know why he is prison. The world should be outraged. We need to raise funds for Pastor Pinkney’s defense.

http://www.peoplestribune.org/PT.2008.08/PT.2008.08.12.html

Pinkney nominated

Michigan Greens Nominate Rev. Pinkney at State Convention
============================================
Benton Harbor Activist, Jailed for Quoting Bible at Judge,
Among 10 Congressional Candidates Picked in Marshall July 26-27

First Office for McKinney-Clemente Campaign to Be in Detroit

The Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) evoked the memory of
Eugene V. Debs by nominating jailed Benton Harbor community
activist Rev. Edward Pinkney for Congress at the party's
2008 Nominating Convention last weekend in Marshall.

Pinkney is one of ten GPMI candidates so far who will run
for Congress, and seventeen in total nominated at the
convention. They will all join the Green Presidential
ticket of former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Rosa
Clemente, founder of the National Hip-Hop Convention, on
the November 4 general-election ballot. And more Green
candidates will be nominated at local caucuses this weekend.

McKinney has met with Pinkney and the Black Autonomy Network
Community Organization (BANCO) in Benton Harbor in the past.
And she mentioned Pinkney and Benton Harbor in her Chicago
acceptance speech July 12.

Pinkney Paying a Heavy Price for His Beliefs;
Will Now Get to Express Them by Running for Office
--------------------------------------------------
Pinkney will run for the 6th District seat now held by Fred
Upton, scion of the family that founded Whirlpool. Pinkney
has opposed the corporation's influence on local government
and the plans of Whirlpool-led institutions to take Jean Klock
Park away from the people of Benton Harbor for a golf course
priced for the wealthy.

He is now sitting in state prison in Jackson awaiting appeal
on a 3- to 10-year sentence for alleged mishandling of four
absent-voter ballots in a 2005 recall election of a city
commissioner who supported Whirlpool's plans. That verdict
came after one mistrial with a deadlocked jury, and despite
an affidavit by one former prosecution witness saying the
recalled commissioner had offered him $10 to say Pinkney had
paid $5 for his vote.

The Berrien County courts also overturned the recall, even
though it had passed by over 50 votes.

Pinkney's sentence was imposed last month, and a pre-sentence
probation order which came with an elaborate set of prohibitions
(including bans on any kind of political involvement -- and
making him pay the rental on his own electronic tether) was
revoked last month, because of an article he wrote last fall.

In the article, he used a slightly paraphrased quote from
Deuteronomy that a Berrien County judge ruled was not
protected by the First Amendment because it constituted a
believable threat of the wrath of God against a fellow
judge and the judge's family.

The article appeared last November in _The People's Tribune_,
a political newspaper published in Chicago.

For the latest information on Green Party of Michigan candidates,
issues, and values, please visit the GPMI Web site:

http://www.MIGreens.org