The Loveshade Family Blog

U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. said Troy Anthony Davis failed to prove his innocence.

Moore had been deliberating since a June hearing, the only one of its kind in 50 years that was ordered by the U. S. Supreme Court.   Seven of the nine witnesses against Troy Davis had recanted their testimony, and one of the witnesses was said to have confessed to the killing of Savannah, Georgia police officer Mark MacPhail.

Davis, who has been on death row now for 19 years, has only one final appeal left before he could be executed.

The problem in the hearing from the beginning was trying to prove Davis innocent.  The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty, but after conviction in a murder case it becomes extremely difficult to correct an error of justice.  This is largely due to a Newt Gingrich-championed law, the so-called Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) of 1996.

The defense had hoped they could at least get a new trial.  Legal experts could not determine how the law should be applied; another example of how America's laws have become so complex and confusing that not even legal experts can figure them out.

Moore did suggest in a footnote that Davis appeal directly to the U. S. Supreme Court.

LINKS

To see all our entries on Troy Anthony Davis, click on http://loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

For more details on the judge's decision, see http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/judge-rejects-troy-davis-598327.html

To see more on Troy Anthony Davis, visit http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

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We live in a time when "children" are in the news for committing horrible crimes: arson, rape, murder.  Now we have to add to the list of horrors: not scheduling an appointment with your hair dresser.

Kenneth Fails, 12, a sxith-grader at Itasca Middle School in Itasca, Texas, received an in-school suspension on the first day of school.  His offense?  Long hair.  He had previously been on in-school suspension for several weeks in fifth grade starting in April for having long locks.

Now here's the thing that might get Kenneth a lawyer and lead to a legal precedent: girls at his school can have long hair.

How long has it been since the "Beatle cut" was shocking, or since Hair was released, or since you first saw a male president of a college or CEO of a big corporation with a ponytail?  How long has it been since you first went to a job interview and the interviewer had his hair over his shoulders?

There's no law of nature that says men have short hair.  Back in the good old days of America's early history, there wasn't a human-made law that stopped Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin from letting their hair flow.  In today's America, there are state and federal laws, though, against discrimination based on gender. 

It's time Texas moved forward into the 21st century--or at least back to the 18th.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/dallascbs11-15750646/itasca-school-suspends-child-for-his-long-hair-21554562

Screen capture shows Kenneth Fails, age 12, of Itasca Middle School in Texas (screen capture from CBS 11.  No threat to its copyright is intended)

The opinions of a single poster do not necessarily reflect the views of the entire Loveshade Family.  Even though I bet this one does.

Posted by Reverend Loveshade at 06:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

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Actor-activist Danny Glover and producer-writer Saul Landau, for whom Alden Loveshade served as head writer on an English-language telenovella, wrote about their recent meeting with Gerardo Hernandez.  Hernandez, like Troy Anthony Davis, was convicted on scanty evidence and Glover has spoken out for both of them, while Landau has been very active in human rights and in U.S.-Cuba relations.

There is evidence Gerardo Hernández was actually working as an anti-terrorist.  Some of you may know some of our family and associates were investigated for various offenses including consorting with terrorists.  Nothing's more likely to get you investigated as a terrorist than secretly working against terrorism.

Ironically, Alden was injured in a traffic collision the day Glover and Landau visited Hernandez.

 You can read Danny Glover and Saul Landau's excellent article "Visiting Gerardo in prison" and post your comments at http://progreso-weekly.com/2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1822:visiting-gerardo-in-prison&catid=38:in-the-united-states&Itemid=55

Danny Glover visits Gerardo Hernández

Published Aug 11, 2010 5:31 PM

On Aug. 8, star actor Danny Glover visited Gerardo Hernández, one of the Cuban Five anti-terrorist heroes now imprisoned in the United States. Hernández had been held for 13 days in “the hole,” which sparked a broad protest. The following message from Hernández was sent out by the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five. E-mail info@cuban5.org or go to www.thecuban5.org.

Aug. 3, 2010

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

I am dictating these words via telephone, which is why I must be brief and I will not be able to say everything I would have liked. Yesterday afternoon I was removed from “the hole” with the same speed in which I was thrown in. I had been taken there supposedly because I was under investigation. These investigations can take up to three months, sometimes more, but I was there 13 days. As a known Cuban journalist would say — you can draw your own conclusions.

I want to express to all of you my deep gratitude. You know that they were particularly difficult days due to the excessive heat and the lack of air, but you all were my oxygen. I can’t find a better way to summarize the enormous importance of your solidarity efforts.

Many thanks to all the compañeras and compañeros from Cuba and around the world, who joined their voices to condemn my situation. Thanks to the institutions, organizations and individuals of goodwill that in one way or another worked to bring an end to this injustice.

To our President Raúl, that so honors us with his support. To the Cuban National Assembly and its President Ricardo Alarcón, a tireless fighter for the cause of the Five. To my four brothers, who sent me messages of encouragement, and who have also suffered and lived under constant risk of suffering similar abuses. And of course, to our dear Commander in Chief: Thank you for so much honor! (I don’t know if I should say it, but just the privilege of hearing my name in Fidel’s voice makes me feel like thanking those who put me in “the hole.”)

Thank you Comandante for the joy of hearing you and seeing you as great as ever!

Thanks to everyone for having demonstrated again the power of solidarity which, without a doubt, will one day make us free.

The struggle continues!

A big embrace,

Gerardo Hernández Nordelo

U.S. Penitentiary, Victorville, CA

Image of Gerardo Hernandez is from http://www.workers.org/2010/world/gerardo_hernandez.jpg.  No threat to its copyright is intended.

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

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U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. ruled against a motion by Troy Anthony Davis' attorneys to reconsider accepting tesimony saying someone else was the killer.

The judge had ruled that testimony identifying someone else as the killer of Savannah, Georgia officer Mark MacPhail was inadmissable hearsay.  He said that was because attorneys for Troy Davis did not call the accused to the witness stand.

Moore said this week he would not reconsider his decision.

A final ruling in the case of Davis, who had been convicted of the murder based largely on since recanted testimony, has yet to be made.

LINKS

To see all our entries on Troy Anthony Davis, click on http://loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

An article on the ruling against the motion is at http://www.ajc.com/news/judge-wont-reconsider-testimony-590597.html

To see more on Troy Anthony Davis, visit http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

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This from our most recent Ek-sen-trik Discordian Snooze Letter:

When I, Reverend Loveshade, recieved the vision to put together Ek-sen-trik-kuh Discordia: The Tales of Shamlicht on Mid Years Day, 2 July 2005, I was told it would take 5 years and 37 days, more or less. I didn't realize until very recently that 8 August 2010 was the 65th anniversary of the end of the war between Amierica and Japan in 1945....Nor did I know what would happen on that date.

Alden Loveshade tries as much as possible to stay out of our Snooze Letters, but we had to report this. On Sunday morning, 8 August, Alden was driving through Janus County, Texas (the county is real; the name isn't). Some of you may know many of our troubles happened in that very county. A truck that was at the side of the road suddenly started to make a U turn immediately in front of Alden. Our family member tried to avoid the truck, but as e said, "failed." Alden's vehicle was totalled, and e received bruises and such and a broken right finger. The deacon who was driving the other vehicle refused treatment (after a medic got the details from em).

Here's where it gets really weird and yes, this is true. Alden was driving to meet a woman who was doing art for Ek-sen-trik-kuh Discordia: The Tales of Shamlicht. This woman had a dream the night before of Alden in a traffic collision. Collecting art for Ek-sen-trik-kuh Discordia: The Tales of Shamlicht on the scheduled date for completing the book in Janus County Texas and being hit by a deacon of a conservative Christian church while meeting an artist who just had a dream Alden would be in an accident. Weird.

We wish Alden well.

Posted by Reverend Loveshade at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

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A federal judge not only struck down California's Proposition 8 (2008), which disallowed same-sex marriage.  But the ruling not only said that homosexual marriage should be allowed, it challenged the very concept of gay marriage.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker essentially said that marriage is an established institution.  The genders of each member of the couple are no longer a legal issue.

"The evidence shows that the movement of marriage away from a gendered institution and toward an institution free from state-mandated gender roles reflects an evolution in the understanding of gender rather than a change in marriage. The exclusion exists as an artifact of a time when the genders were seen as having distinct roles in society and in marriage. That time has passed."

The decision is already being challenged in court, and will not have an immediate affect on same-sex marriages in California.  Because a previous decision had allowed same-sex marriage in California, some gay and lesbian couples were married before Proposition 8 passed.

You can see more at http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2008771,00.html

To see our entries on same-sex marriage, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=same+sex+marriage

Photo of lesbian couple is from Queereaster Media Working Group (2006) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Lesbian_Couple_love_in_bed_02.jpg

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

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