[GPSCC-chat] Rev. Pinkney Imprisoned in Michigan Despite Lack of Evidence

[perrysandy at aol.com]

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/28050-whirlpool-corporation-sentences-edward-pinkney-to-prison-with-no-evidence
Rev. EdwardPinkney Imprisoned for Fighting the Whirlpool Corporation 
Tuesday,16 December 2014 13:50            ByBen Ptashnikand Victoria Collier,Truthout | News Analysis 
 
"Here,Whirlpool controls not only Benton Harbor and the residents, but also the courtsystem itself. They will do anything to crush you if you stand up to them.That's why it's so important to fight this. I'm going to fight them until theend. This is not just an attack on Rev. Pinkney. It's an attack on every singleperson that lives in Benton Harbor, in the state and around the country." - Rev. EdwardPinkney
 
On December 15, Rev. Edward Pinkney, a leaderin the struggle for social and economic justice for the residents of BentonHarbor, Michigan, was sentenced to serve up to 10 years in prison, on the basisof thin circumstantial evidence that a few dates had been altered on a recallpetition against the city's mayor, James Hightower. The recall was prompted bythe mayor's continued support for tax evasion by the Whirlpool Corporation, theFortune 500 company and $19 billion global appliance manufacturer,headquartered in Benton Harbor.
As we wrote last week in depth, the politicallymotivated prosecution against Pinkney killed the petition to recall Hightower,who many believe would have been ousted due to his ongoing protection ofWhirlpool's interests at the expense of impoverished Benton Harbor, which isover 90 percent African-American.
There was absolutely no evidence to convictPinkney, and, legally, the altering of a petition document should have been a misdemeanor offense. Instead, theycharged him with felony forgery - though no signatures were forged and allsignatories testified that they signed willingly on the correct day. Aforensics expert for the prosecution testified that there was no way todetermine who changed the handful of dates. Incredibly, the all-white jury wasurged by the prosecutor to believe that direct evidence was not required; theyonly had to "believe" that Pinkney was motivated to cheat and that he"could" have changed the dates while circulating the petitions.
Mary Alice Adams, a Benton Harborcommissioner stated, "Rev.Pinkney was accused of writing and changing my date on a petition when, infact, I wrote my own date and changed it after realizing I had put the wrongdate down." The jury at Pinkney's trial rejected Adams' testimony.
Witness after witness stood up to theprosecutor who put not only Pinkney on trial, but also his communityorganization, BANCO. The prosecutor hounded the witnesses to"confess" that somehow the dates were altered, and questioned if theywere card-holding members of the BANCO organization. The scene held shadows ofa McCarthy-era House Un-American Activities Committee witch-hunt.
Pinkney had helpedorganize the petition to unseat Benton Harbor Mayor James Hightower, whoresidents consider a "yes-man" for Whirlpool. Instead of supporting atax that would make Whirlpool pay its fair share for city services andemployees, the mayor signed a $3.2 million loan that the residents of BentonHarbor, one of the poorest cities per capita in the United States, would nowhave to pay. Meanwhile, Whirlpool pays absolutely no income taxes to thefederal government or to Michigan.
 
Pinkney was also a leader in the fightagainst what he called an "illegal" ceding of a Benton Harbor publicpark to Whirlpool and a development firm which privatized the park andgentrified that prime real estate into a golf course and wealthy gatedcommunity on Lake Michigan - excluding the people that the property was deededto serve. Pinkney led a protest against the PGA Senior golf tournament at theprivate new golf course, sponsored by Kitchen-Aid, a division of Whirlpool.
And so, with the complicity of a white,"highly political" right-wing prosecutor, Whirlpool reached into thecourt system and publicly "lynched" the town's most prominent andoutspoken black community activist who dared to stand up to the powerfulcompany and the state's elite. Pinkney's sentencing is as blatant a kangaroocourt as seen since Hurricane Carter, a black power advocate, was framed by NewJersey prosecutors decades ago - a typical case of the white power structureicing an "uppity Negro" with trumped up charges. In Carter's case,the witnesses were two men facing charges for burglary, who were enticed toprovide false testimony with reduced charges.
Pinkney says he was similarly set up to takea fall for a paltry smattering of election fraud charges in 2006 during anattempt to recall a city commissioner. He was finally convicted of possessingfour absentee ballots, but pointed out that the women who fingered him - allmembers of a family - mysteriously avoided jail time for the multiple criminalcharges they were facing, including a drive-by shooting and kidnapping.
"I'm not angry with them for doingthat," Pinkney said. "It's a deal that's hard to pass up."
Pinkney was put on probation at the time,until he had the audacity to quote a particularly scathing section ofDeuteronomy to the judge, who then sentenced him to three to 10 years inprison. During his seven months in the county jail and four months in prison,Pinkney ran for a seat in the US House and received nearly 5,000 votes. TheAmerican Civil Liberties Union finally got him released on an appeal bond, andhe was allowed to return home under house arrest.
But if Pinkney is a man who's hard to keep down,his enemies are just as determined to put him away for good.
"It's a modern day lynching," saidAdams, the Benton Harbor commissioner, of Pinkney's latest conviction."After hearing the 'evidence' it would seem that the decision was madebefore the trial began. They are looking at Michigan as a glove fordictatorship. And the predominantly black communities are the test tubes. Whenyou stand up against the largest manufacturer of appliances in the world, ofcourse there will be a backlash."
Pinkney was straightforward in hisdescription of his conviction:
Here,Whirlpool controls not only Benton Harbor and the residents, but also the courtsystem itself. They will do anything to crush you if you stand up to them.That's why it's so important to fight this. I'm going to fight them until theend. This is not just an attack on Rev. Pinkney. It's an attack on every singleperson that lives in Benton Harbor, in the state and around the country. We gotto fix this jury system. There was not one person from Benton Harbor, not oneperson from Benton Township on the jury. Anytime a Black man is sitting insidethat courtroom and the jury is all white, that is a major problem.
Michigan is a state where virulent racismfollowed the Great Migration of southern blacks into northern industrial statesin the 20th century. With more than two dozen racist hate groups still activein the state, Michigan has essentially turned into the Mississippi of theNorth. In fact, Pinkney organized his community against the KKK when they beganto hold rallies in Benton Harbor in the 1990s.
Pinkney points out how class intersects withrace, when it comes to the oppression of the people of Benton Harbor."It's a class war," he said. "It's us against them. Rich againstpoor. That's what it adds up to. The point is we have to take a stand. It'sabout you, your children, and your grandchildren. I never thought for a minutethat the system could be this broken and would go to this extreme. They couldcare less about you, me or anybody else. They only have one thing in mind. Thatis to make sure they protect the rich."
Judge Schrock denied Pinkney's lawyer'srequest for release pending his appeal. Pinkney was handcuffed and hauled offto jail from the county courthouse as his wife, Dorothy, and supporters stoodaghast, having witnessed US justice for an African-American minister at itsracist best.
Concerned activists and clergy associatedwith People Demanding Action, a national social justice organization, arecirculating a petition to ministers and various organizations. The petition isto be forwarded to the US Justice Department and Attorney General Eric Holder,asking for an investigation into the circumstances of Pinkney's trial andsentencing.
Support for Rev. Edward Pinkney'sappeal should be sent to his organization: BANCO, 1940 Union Street BentonHarbor MI 49022
Copyright,Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission. 
 
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