Happy
Holidays from the Kunstler Fund
December
2004
Dear Friends,
Thank you for your continued support of the William Moses Kunstler Fund
for Racial Justice. It is with great pleasure that we give you a report
on our work and accomplishments over the past year.
The Rockefeller Drug Law Project
Since May 8, 1998, the Kunstler Fund has been fostering a network of prisoners,
their families and supporters to fight against New York’s extraordinarily
punitive mandatory sentencing laws. During the past year, Martha Weatherspoon,
a 76-year-old grandmother and first-time non-violent offender was freed
five years early from a 20-year-to-life sentence as were Melba Padilla,
Kevin Muscoriel, Maritza Santos, Ron Gantt, and Cheri Gallipoli and scores
of other non-violent first-time low-level drug offenders sentenced to
life terms under the Rockefeller laws. The Kunstler Fund brought public
and media attention to all their stories.
As we sat down to write this letter, the Rockefeller Drug Laws were finally
modified after after 8 years of unrelenting grassroots organizing and
advocacy by the Kunstler Fund. Hundreds of prisoners connected to the
Fund will be rejoining their families.
What the new law provides:
| The bill passed in Albany will bring relief to thousands of people imprisoned or who will be imprisoned under New York's drug laws. The bill both reduces sentences for some drug offenders and increases the quantity thresholds required to kick in tougher sentences. Under the Rockefeller laws, Class A-1 felons faced 15-to-life; now they will face 8-to-20. Weight thresholds for heroin, cocaine, and other hard drugs have doubled from four ounces to eight ounces to trigger a Class A-1 charge and two ounces to four ounces to trigger a Class A-II charge. The bill also provides for persons currently serving the longest sentences to ask for court hearings to seek sentence reductions in line with the new sentences. |
These changes
are a victory. But real Rockefeller Reform will mean more judicial discretion,
sentencing reform, retroactivity – the ability to apply these changes
to those who have already been sentenced – and drug treatment.
Madres of Argentina Join Our Struggle
In February of this year, a delegation from the Kunstler Fund and the
Mothers of the NY Disappeared traveled to Argentina to pay tribute to
the Madres de Plaza de Mayo. It was a momentous and inspirational trip
uniting two organizations in the struggle for human rights. In April,
a delegation from the Madres visited the Kunstler Fund in New York.Their
visit reinvigorated the Rockefeller reform movement. After the Madres
met with Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, State Assembly
Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate leader Joe Bruno, the state senate passed
a unanimous resolution honoring them. Margarita
Lopez held hearings at City Hall with the Madres, the Kunstler Fund and
the Mothers of the NY Disappeared. After their 10-day trip to New York,
Senator Bruno called for a committee on the Rockefeller laws. It was the
work of that committee that resulted in last week’s reductions in
sentences.
The Tulia, Texas Project
Since September of 2000, the Kunstler Fund has worked to bring national
media attention
to the story of a racist drug bust in Tulia that imprisoned over 15% of
the African American community. In January 2005, Tom Coleman, the undercover
agent responsible for the arrests, will go on trial for perjury. He is
charged with lying on the witness stand during the trials of the drug
bust defendants. The Kunstler Fund will be there for the latest chapter
in this struggle for justice.
Ryan Matthews’ Fight for Justice
For two years, the Kunstler Fund has been working to bring public attention
to the
case of Ryan Matthews, a mentally-retarded African American teenager who
was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. Ryan was finally
exonerated this past August and has returned home to his family. Emily
Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler are at work on a documentary about his fight
for life and freedom. Emily and Sarah’s last death penalty video,
“A Pattern of Exclusion: The Trial of Thomas Miller-El.,”
was instrumental in bringing attention to a pattern of racism in jury
selection in Dallas, Texas. Mr. Miller-El has been on death row for nearly
20 years. His case was recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court for
the second time.
* * *
Please help us to continue our work. It is your support that makes our
victories possible. You can donate
by credit card on our website, http://www.kunstler.org/donate.html, or
by check. Please make checks payable to the William Moses Kunstler Fund
for Racial Justice, and mail to the Kunstler Fund at 13 Gay Street, New
York, NY 10014. Thank you for your continued interest and support.
Warmest regards,
Margaret Ratner Kunstler
President
"Contributions to the WMK Fund are tax-deductible under Section
501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revue Code. A copy of the Fund's
annual report is filed with the Attorney General and a copy is
available either from the Fund or the Attorney General's Charities
Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10272."