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April 1, 2002
Phyllis Pollack
The Making of Exile
on Main Street
Dave Marsh
DeskScan:
This Week's
Top 10 CDs
Francis Boyle
The Big Lie:
Palestine, Palestinians
and International Law
March 31, 2002
Jordan
Flaherty
Last
Night the Israeli
Military Tried to Kill Me
Kristen Schurr
Live from Bethlehem
Maha Sbitani
The
Israeli Army Took Over My House
Robert Fisk
Lies Leaders Tell When
They Want to Go to War
March 24/30, 2002
Alexander Cockburn
The Year
of the Yellow Notepad:
Plagiarism and History
Rep. Ron Paul
Slavery and the Draft
Fidel
Castro
A
Better World is Possible
Edward Said
What Price Oslo?
José
Saramago
Justice
and Democracy Denied
Azmi Bishara
Talking to Tanks
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Clearcutting
Montana
Alexander Cockburn
50 Years of James Bond
Wilhelm
Reich
Gethsemane
Claud Cockburn
The Horror of It All
Dave Marsh
What's
Playing at My Houe
David Vest
Remembering Tammy Wynette
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Waylon
Jennings:
an Honest Outlaw
March 23, 2002
Mokhiber/Weissman
A
Corporate Lawyer
Speaks Out
Saeed Vaseghi
The US and Iran's Quest
for Democracy
Brian
J. Foley
Does
Pedophilia Scandal Spell an Opportunity for Catholics?
Sheperd Bliss
American Soul and Empire
James
Packard Winkler
Occupation
and Terror:
Politics from a Gun Barrel
M. Shahid Alam
A New International Division
of Labor
T.W. Croft
Enron's
Attack on Our
Economic Security
March 22, 2002
Robert Jensen
Corporate Power is a
Threat to Democracy
Tommy
Ates
The
Future of Black Academia
Rep. Ron Paul
Why are We in Ukraine?
March 21, 2002
McQuinn,
Munson, & Wheeler
Stars
and Stripes:
Killing for the Flag?
John Chuckman
How Change is Wrought
David
Vest
Hail
to the Chaff
March 20, 2002
Kay Lee
Censorship at Angelfire
Robert
Jensen
The
Politics of Pain
and Pleasure
Sheperd Bliss
Notes from Hawai'i:
Trouble in Paradise
Rick Giambetti
Prozac
and Suicide:
an Interview with
Dr. David Healy
Philip Farruggio
Bullies
Lori Allen
Live
from Ramallah:
The Madness of Occupation
Resources:
100s of Links
About 9/11
CounterPunch:
Complete
Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath
Five
Days That
Shook The World:
Seattle and Beyond
By Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
Photos by Allan Sekula
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How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The New Crusade:
America's War on Terrorism
By Rahul Mahajan
The Memphis Blues Again:
Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs
Photos by Ernest Withers
Text by Daniel Wolff
The New Intifada:
Resisting Israel's Apartheid
Edited by Roane Carey
A Pocket Guide to
Environmental Bad Guys
by James Ridgeway
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The
Phoenix Program
by Douglas Valentine
Al Gore:
A User's Manual
by Cockburn
and St. Clair
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This Explosive
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Reviews of Gore:
a User's Manual
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April 1, 2002
Tennessee Kangaroo Court:
Death
Row Inmate Victim of Clemency
Charade; Execution Slated for April 10th
By Molly Secours
Any romantic illusions about fairness in the American
Criminal Justice System disintegrated at Riverbend Prison in
Nashville last Thursday.
What was billed as a clemency hearing
for the African-American death-row inmate, Abu-Ali Abdhur Rahman,
turned out to be a perverse draconian nightmare. Not just for
Mr. Abdhur Rahman but for anyone with anything remotely positive
to say about him.
Those not believing in the existence
of good and evil might well have been converted after observing
this charade of justice on Holy Thursday. The eight-hour proceedings
began at 8:30 am. By 8:45, the hostility of the board was palpable.
At. 9:05 I scribbled "it's over". Unfortunately it
was seven more grueling hours of mocking and jabbing before these
character assassins announced the verdict. The vote was 6-0 against
clemency. No surprises, no suspense.
The kangaroo court consisted of six seemingly
self-righteous, arrogant, mercenaries who were obviously confused
about the role they were elected to perform. Perhaps in a former
life they were employed by the Marquis de Sade? Certainly their
method of disemboweling Mr. Abdhur Rahman of any trace of dignity
was reminiscent of medieval torture and mayhem. Observing this
so-called hearing was a violent experience--even without the
blood.
A clemency hearing is meant to be just
that--a hearing. Unfortunately there was no listening on the
part of this pious and holy panel of judges. The message clearly
conveyed was that nothing said could sway the board from the
loathing and disgust they felt for a convicted killer--regardless
of evidence that suggests he did not receive a fair trial. .
The issue that should have concerned the panel was not whether
or not Abdhur Rahman was guilty but whether he should receive
mercy by a life sentence instead of death. Their charter was
to determine if the unfairness of his first trial and the person
he has become since the crime would warrant benevolence by the
State. But this didn't stop the panel from playing judge and
jury. Over and over again the defense team was forced to remind
the panel that Abdhur Rahman would continue to pay for his crime
by life in prison. And continually the board attacked, provoked
and cajoled anyone brave enough to come forward.
Not even the two attorneys who originally
represented Abu-Ali at trial; Lionel Barrett and Sumpter Camp
were spared. These established lawyers humbled themselves publicly
for the first time and confessed that indeed they had failed
to gather evidence that might have helped Abdhur Rahman's case.
They admitted not having prepared for the trial until a week
before. Mr. Barrett, the lead counsel, conceded he barely knew
anything about his former client and most everything he's learned
since was from Abdhur Rahman's current lawyers. Both asked the
panel for mercy.
Rather than ingesting the emotional testimonies
of the lawyers, some of the panel members spewed vile accusations
and chastised them for not coming forward sooner. Then in a rather
audacious declaration, Mr. Larry Hassell, a sort of grandfatherly
panelist contradicted Mr. Barrett's self-assessment by saying
he thought that Mr. Barrett had done a fine job.
The head kangaroo in this court was Mr.
Charles Traughber.. Whenever positive statements were made on
Mr. Abdhur Rahman's behalf, Mr. Traughber was quick to point
out that good intentions, mental illness and abuse were no excuse--only
his actions counted.
Sheila Holt Swearingen, the only female
panelist, scoffed at assertions made by spiritual advisor and
Vanderbilt Psychologist Linda Manning. Dr. Manning described
how Abdhur Rahman's mental illnesses caused him to dissociate
on the night of the crime explaining why he could not recall
the actual murder. Swearingen later callously taunted Abdhur
Rahman about his habit of dissociating under pressure and then
chided "so are you dissociating now"?
It was evident the panel believes we
humans are no better than our worst deed--even if we don't remember
it. And it is noteworthy that the board equated Mr. Rahman's
inability to remember with guilt--in spite of his painful and
lengthy history of mental illness.
Interestingly enough even Mr. Traughber's
personal experience with faulty memory did not inspire empathy
for Mr. Rahman's lack of recall. In the late 70's Traughber seemed
to have significant memory problems himself when questioned by
Fred Thompson during the Marie Ragghianti/Ray Blanton Parole
and Pardon scandal.
Mr. Traughber--who was portrayed by Morgan
Freeman in the movie "Marie"--had great difficulty
remembering details about any of the candidates who received
pardons in exchange for money while he was on the Board of Paroles.
Several times when Mr. Thompson queried him about various parolees
he stated that he did not recall. Are we to assume that Mr. Traughber's
faulty memory indicates guilt?
The board's own transgressions seemed
far from their minds as they excoriated Mr. Abdhur Rahman. Many
in the room--including several members of the press--were astonished
at the hostile prejudice that the board never bothered to disguise.
Abdhur Rahman is a mentally ill man already
condemned to die on April 10th. Denying clemency would have been
traumatic enough without all the humiliation and degradation
before killing him.
If Governor Sundquist denies clemency
to Abdhur Rahman, public outcry will most certainly warrant another
national scandal for Nashville. Abu Ali Abdhur Rahman will become
a household name and perhaps Morgan Freeman will come back to
Tennessee for the movie of the week.
Molly Secours
is a writer, activist and videographer in Nashville. She can
be reached at mollmaud@earthlink.net
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