Leonard Peltier Updates

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For Immediate Release:

February 27, 2007

Contact:

Leonard Peltier Defense Committee

(915) 533-6655

info@leonardpeltier.net



Michael Kuzma, Esq.

(716) 822-7645-office

(716) 474-3824-cell

Kuzma_Michael@hotmail.com



COURTS DENY LEONARD PELTIER ACCESS TO THOUSANDS
OF PAGES OF LONG-HIDDEN FBI
DOCUMENTS.



In two separate decisions rendered this month,
United States District Judge
Donovan W. Frank and a threejudge panel for the
United States Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit refused to order
the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) to release thousands of pages
of documents relating to
Leonard Peltier.

Both Judge Frank and the Appeals Court
upheld claims by the FBI
that release of the sought-after information
would, among other things,
cause serious damage to the national security of
the United States and the
war on transnational terrorism.

In 2003, the United States Court of
Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
declared that, "Much of the government's behavior
at the Pine Ridge
Reservation and in its prosecution of Mr. Peltier
is to be condemned. The
government withheld evidence. It intimidated
witnesses. These facts are
undisputed." Nevertheless, Judge Frank found
that any evidence of prior FBI
misconduct was "irrelevant."

Michael Kuzma, attorney for Leonard Peltier in
both cases brought under the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) said that, "The
Courts are unwilling to
dispense justice when it comes to Leonard
Peltier."

Kuzma went on to state, "How can anyone claim
that Leonard Peltier received
a fair trial in 1977 when the government withheld
and continues to withhold
thousands and thousands of pages of FBI
documents?"

Barry A. Bachrach, who served as co-counsel with
Kuzma, indicated that he
was, "disappointed, but not surprised that the
Courts elected to summarily
uphold the decision by the FBI to keep the
documents hidden on dubious
national security grounds." Bachrach went on to
ask, "How can FBI documents
generated over three decades ago possibly pose a
threat to the national
security of the United States?"

Judge Frank's decision will be appealed to the
United States Court of
Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Peltier
attorneys have 30 days to file a
Notice of Appeal.

Leonard Peltier, a member of the
American Indian Movement (AIM),
was convicted in Fargo, North Dakota, on April
18, 1977 for the shooting
deaths of FBI Special Agents Jack Coler and
Ronald Williams at the Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota on June
26, 1975.



Leonard Peltier Defense Committee @
www.leonardpeltier.net
<http://www.leonardpeltier.net/>

Phone: 915 - 533-6655 Email:
info@leonardpeltier.net
 
Bumping via news updates. :peace:

Aug. 2, 2017 story from The Seattle Times

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/coldblooded-killer-or-political-prisoner-the-leonard-peltier-dispute-continues/


&#8216;Coldblooded killer&#8217; or political prisoner? The Leonard Peltier dispute continues

<snip>

Peltier&#8217;s art drew some complaints, including letters to Gov. Jay Inslee and L & I Director Joel Sacks by a pair of former FBI agents. L & I officials then pulled down Peltier&#8217;s artwork two weeks early.

<snip>

Now, the lawsuit &#8212; and the long-running fight over Peltier&#8217;s convictions for the murders &#8212; continues.

&#8220;From Mr. Peltier&#8217;s point of view, and his supporters, he is innocent and what he was doing was being active and supporting Indian rights and trying to advance tribal sovereignty,&#8221; said Frank Pommersheim, a law professor at University of South Dakota and tribal appellate judge.

But, &#8220;in the law enforcement community,&#8221; Pommersheim added, &#8220;he&#8217;s regarded as a coldblooded killer.&#8221;

<snip>

Woods, Langberg and others have moved to block every effort by Peltier to seek parole or clemency, which was denied by former President Barack Obama as one of his final acts in office.

<snip>

According to a brief filed by Larry Hildes, the Peltiers&#8217; lawyer, the allegations in those letters were defamatory, since the circumstances of his client&#8217;s conviction in 1977 remains &#8220;highly questionable.&#8221;

Two others were acquitted and a third had charges dismissed in connection with the deaths of Williams and Coler. In a conviction that has been questioned by some, including Amnesty International, Peltier was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

&#8220;His case has been the subject of great dispute and controversy,&#8221; Hildes wrote in the lawsuit, filed in March. &#8220;He is also an extremely accomplished artist.&#8221;
 
Jan. 13, 2017, Chicago Tribune editorial board piece about plea to President Barack Obama to grant Leonard Peltier clemency. A decent background summary.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...-obama-clemency-edit-0116-20170113-story.html

Clemency for Leonard Peltier? Never

<snip>

Peltier has consistently maintained his innocence.

He and his backers argue that prosecutors never produced anyone who could identify him as the man who fired the fatal shots.

But an appeals court found that it didn't matter whether he was the shooter; it was sufficient that he was proven to be an "aider or abettor" in the murders.

Peltier's lawyers have also claimed that the FBI fabricated and withheld evidence. Appellate courts have agreed that there were flaws in how the FBI &#8212; and prosecutors &#8212; handled the case. But those flaws, the courts ruled, weren't significant enough to warrant a new trial. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his appeals, and requests for parole have also been rejected.

Peltier's supporters have always framed the plea for his release against the backdrop of long-standing mistreatment of Native Americans by the U.S. government. Pine Ridge is home to Wounded Knee, the site of a massacre of 200 Sioux men, women and children by the Army's 7th Cavalry in 1890.

<snip>
 
Jan. 18 story from Indian Country Today.

https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/native-news/leonard-peltier-denied-clemency-obamas-last-days/

Leonard Peltier Denied Clemency in Obama&#8217;s Last Days

<snip>

Upon hearing the news, Leonard Peltier shared a message with his family, friends and supporters: &#8220;If I should not [receive clemency] then after we are locked in for the day I will have a good cry and then pick myself up and get myself ready for another round of battles until I cannot fight [any]more. So, don&#8217;t worry. I can handle anything after over 40 years.&#8221;

<snip>
 
Since the original contact website link in the 2007 post is dead and gone, here is a newer one, run by Leonard Peltier's son.

Peltier Justice for All: http://www.peltierjustice.com/
 
Aug. 14, 2017 story from The Oklahoman.

(Wow, the lineup! It includes Arlo Guthrie, Jamey Johnson, Shooter Jennings and others.)

http://newsok.com/article/5560079

Kris Kristofferson to headline Oklahoma benefit concert for Leonard Peltier's defense fund

<snip>

The event, dubbed "The Spirit Of Crazy Horse: A Benefit for Leonard Peltier," will take place on Nov. 6 at Tulsa's BOK Center, 200 S. Denver Ave. Along with Kristofferson, Arlo Guthrie (son of famed Oklahoma folk singer Woody Guthrie), Jamey Johnson, Jessi Colter, Shooter Jennings, Rita Coolidge and Joe Ely are all confirmed to appear, with artists still being added, according to a news release.

All proceeds from the show will benefit the Leonard Peltier International Defense Committee and go toward Peltier&#8217;s legal defense.

<snip>
 
Jan. 4, 2017 story from The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/04/free-leonard-peltier-obama-open-letter-james-reynolds

Top prosecutor in Leonard Peltier case urges clemency in 'extraordinary' move

A senior US attorney who was involved in the prosecution of Native American activist Leonard Peltier has requested that Barack Obama grant clemency, with a rare plea that has energized the campaign to free the high-profile indigenous prisoner.

<snip>

Cynthia K Dunne, a former assistant US attorney who is representing Peltier, said she has never heard of a case of a federal prosecutor requesting clemency.

<snip>
 
Aug. 14, 2017 story from The Oklahoman.

(Wow, the lineup! It includes Arlo Guthrie, Jamey Johnson, Shooter Jennings and others.)

http://newsok.com/article/5560079

Kris Kristofferson to headline Oklahoma benefit concert for Leonard Peltier's defense fund

<snip>

The event, dubbed "The Spirit Of Crazy Horse: A Benefit for Leonard Peltier," will take place on Nov. 6 at Tulsa's BOK Center, 200 S. Denver Ave. Along with Kristofferson, Arlo Guthrie (son of famed Oklahoma folk singer Woody Guthrie), Jamey Johnson, Jessi Colter, Shooter Jennings, Rita Coolidge and Joe Ely are all confirmed to appear, with artists still being added, according to a news release.

All proceeds from the show will benefit the Leonard Peltier International Defense Committee and go toward Peltier&#8217;s legal defense.

<snip>

Hi Okie, Thankyou for posting this up. Wow, i didn't even know there was a thread on WS for Leonard, awesome, :)
 
Thanks for posting this OkieChance. I happened to see this in the recent post by chance.
I will never understand how LP is still where he is today. Another injustice on a native americn in a very long line of them. So wrong. If this was some gangsta etc. they would have been out walking the streets years ago. Even with justification for their crime which there really was no proof LP shot anyone at all.
So wrong and it will be a miracle if he ever does get out.
 
"Thirty-three members of Congress are asking President Joe Biden to grant clemency to a Native American leader convicted of shooting and killing two FBI agents.

Rep. Raúl Grijalva and 32 other members of Congress sent Biden a letter asking him to grant executive clemency to incarcerated Native American leader Leonard Peltier, citing what they said were the "prosecutorial misconduct" and "constitutional violations" that took place during Peltier's trial."

 

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