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<font face="arial" size=2>As I'm sure you are aware, this may 13th marks
20 years since the bombing and murder of me and my MOVE family. We,
as a people, can never afford to let officials get the impression that we
take such a heinous act lightly. It is urgently necessary that
people continue to send the message that people will never accept or
forget what government showed us that day in 1985. Put a priority
on being in Philadelphia for our commemoration activities on Sat. May
14th, or at least do something in your area. It is in everybody's
interest to make our voices heard on this issue. See the flyer for
more info on our May 14th action on our web site
<a href="http://www.onamove.com">www.onamove.com</a> .---Ramona<br><br>
</font><font size=3>Needless to say the MOVE 9 remain in prison with
horrendous sentences, convicted of ridiculous charges as they were the
targets of police repression and assault.<br>
claude<br><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=3>NU AFRIKAN LIBERATION<br>
14 APRIL 2005<br><br>
4/12/2005<br>
<br>
<b>ABOUT TIME: MOVE BLOCK RESIDENTS AWARDED $12.83 MILLION
<br><br>
</b>MOVE block residents awarded $12.83 million<br>
By Jennifer Lin<br>
4:47 pm <br><br>
Inquirer Staff Writer <br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4><i>
<a href="http://playahata.com/hatablog/wp-trackback.php/404">
http://playahata.com/hatablog/wp-trackback.php/404</a><br><br>
</i></font><font face="Verdana" size=3>Twenty years after the MOVE
bombing, the price tag for the debacle keeps rising, with a federal jury
yesterday awarding the last 24 residents of the West Philadelphia block
about $530,000 each and handing a stinging rebuke to Mayor Street.
<br><br>
Of total damages of $12.83 million, the jury awarded the homeowners $1.68
million for harm caused by Street’s “arbitrary” behavior for canceling
repairs to the rebuilt houses on the 6200 block of Osage Avenue.
<br><br>
The award to each homeowner amounts to more than three times the $150,000
per house that Street wanted to pay residents in 2000 to move out <br>
of their homes permanently. When the suit was filed in 2000, the city had
spent more than $16 million to build and repair the houses, and officials
estimated that further repairs would cost an additional $13 million.
<br><br>
The lawsuit is a lingering conflict from the May 13, 1985, bombing, when
city officials allowed an entire block of West Philadelphia to burn to
the ground, killing 11 members of the radical group MOVE and displacing
more than 60 homeowners. <br><br>
Residents sued the city on grounds that Street broke the promises of his
predecessors to repair their shoddy replacement homes. Mayor W. Wilson
Goode rebuilt the block, but the new homes had structural problems.
<br><br>
It remains unclear what will happen to residents now. <br><br>
A jury of five women and two men took harsh aim at Street, who testified
at the trial. The jury found that the mayor acted with “malicious or
reckless disregard” and levied punitive damages of $1.25 million.
<br><br>
Street testified he decided in his first months as mayor to raze the
block instead of spending more money on repairs. He said he personally
determined what the city would offer, arguing that it was significantly
more than the selling prices for homes in the neighborhood. <br><br>
After the verdict, Street said in a statement that the city’s offer to
buy out homeowners was “an honest attempt to resolve this matter fairly
after we determined we could not repair the houses to a livable level.”
<br><br>
He added, “In light of our efforts, we are deeply disappointed with the
jury’s verdict today.” <br><br>
About two-thirds of the residents took the offer, but the others said the
city had a contractual obligation to fix the homes - not remove the
homeowners with an offer of money. Many of the holdouts were elderly
residents who did not want to be displaced again. <br><br>
<br>
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<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
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