[News] Federal prisoners sue for illegal imprisonment

[News at freedomarchives.org]

From: info at leonardpeltier.org


Federal inmates sue government for illegal
imprisonment

In a major law suit filed this week in Washington, DC,
two federal prisoners claim that United States
Department of Justice officials knowingly violated the
Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (& its amendments) &
illegally extended the inmates' prison terms for over a
decade.

The defendants named in the law suit include the U.S.
Parole Commission & individuals who have served on
the Commission during the past two decades; Attorney
General John Ashcroft & former Attorneys General
Edwin Meese, Richard Thornburgh, William Barr, &
Janet Reno; & the current Director of the Bureau of
Prisons, Harley Lappin, as well as former directors J.
Michael Quinlan & Kathleen Hawk Sawyer.

The law suit was brought by Leonard Peltier, now
serving consecutive life sentences for the alleged killing
of two FBI agents on June 26, 1975; & Yorie Von Kahl,
serving life plus 15 years for the alleged killing of two
U.S. Marshals on February 13, 1983.  After trial,
undisputed evidence of government misconduct was
uncovered in each of these controversial cases.

The Sentencing Reform Act (SRA) was passed to address
what Congress thought were inconsistent sentences
imposed by different judges on different individuals
convicted of the same crimes, as well as arbitrary parole
decisions.  A new system - one of determinate sentences
- was born & the Parole Commission was abolished.

At the heart of the suit is the refusal of the government to
enforce Title II, Chapter II, Section 235(b)(3) of the
Sentencing Reform Act.  Effective on October 12, 1984,
this part of the law ordered that parole dates "consistent
with the applicable parole guideline" be issued to all "old
system" prisoners within the following five-year period,
at the end of which time (on October 11, 1989) the
commission would cease to exist.

On December 7, 1987, Congress enacted Public Law
100-182 which amended the SRA; repealed, in Section 2,
the release criteria established by the original section
235(b)(3); & restored the release criteria under 18 U.S.C.
4206.  This amendment did not restore the Parole
Commission or remove its obligation to establish
mandatory release dates, with sufficient time for appeal,
by October 11, 1989.  These changes to the law also
applied only to crimes committed after the law was
amended on December 7, 1987.  The amendment simply
did not apply to the plaintiffs or to the some 6,000 other
"old system" prisoners still held by the U.S. Bureau of
Prisons today.

After it had technically ceased to exist, the Parole
Commission claimed it needed more time to complete its
work.  Congress inexplicably granted a number of after-
the-fact extensions, the first in 1990 & the latest in 2002.
The suit claims these extensions were legally invalid &
therefore inapplicable because, at the time they were
made, the Parole Commission had already been
abolished.

The plaintiffs should have been given their release dates
by October 11, 1989, minus sufficient time to exhaust
appeals.  Had the Parole Commission followed the
congressional mandate, Peltier would have been released
over 12 years ago.  Lacking in any statutory authority, the
U.S. Parole Commission in fact illegally extended the
terms of imprisonment of both men.  The failure of the
Parole Commission to give release dates to Peltier & Von
Kahl violated the ex post facto, Bill of Attainder, & Due
Process clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

The plaintiffs have demanded a permanent injunction
preventing further misapplication of the SRA & its
amendments by the government; enforcement of the
rights created by the original section 235(b)(3); and, due
to irreparable injuries suffered by Peltier & Von Kahl,
compensatory & punitive damages as determined by a
jury.

Contact:  Barry Bachrach, Esquire; Bowditch & Dewey,
311 Main Street, Worcester, MA  01615; (508) 926-3403
or bbachrach at bowditch.com


Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS  66044-0583
Web:   <http://www.leonardpeltier.org/> http://www.leonardpeltier.org
E-mail:  info at leonardpeltier.org

The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
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