[Pnews] It is Time for Leonard Peltier to be Freed

[Prisoner News]

http://blog.amnestyusa.org/us/it-is-time-for-leonard-peltier-to-be-freed/#more-71581 



  It is Time for Leonard Peltier to be Freed

Amnesty has serious concerns about the fairness of Leonard Peltier's 
(above) trial (Photo Credit: Taro Yamasaki).

/“Only one thing’s sadder than remembering you were once free, and 
that’s forgetting you were once free.”/ –Leonard Peltier

By Jasmine Heiss <http://blog.amnestyusa.org/author/jasmine-heiss/>
May 10, 2016

This weekend I made the 850 mile trip from the Nation’s Capitol to the 
sprawling Coleman Federal Correction Complex in Wildwood Florida to 
visit*a man who has been in Federal custody for more than half of his 
life – Leonard Peltier.* As I wound my way past barbed wire and 
concrete, the words above weighed heavy on my mind.

Peltier’s case brings together many disparate themes that wind their way 
through the larger criminal justice system: the role of human rights 
principles in addressing the crisis of mass incarceration, the 
responsibility of the the Judicial and Executive branches to 
addressdecades-old cases, questions of mercy and compassion for an aging 
population of incarcerated people, and finally deep contradictions in 
the perceived nature and purpose of the U.S. prison system itself – 
whether it is meant to correct and rehabilitate or simply to punish.

One central truth remains, however – at the center of such lofty 
questions, a 71 year–old man spends his days in a Maximum Security 
prison facing the real prospect of dying behind bars, struggling until 
the end to prove his innocence. Tweets can never capture the impact of 
sitting with another person who has spent four decades refusing to 
forget freedom, but that can serve as an urgent reminder: justice so 
long delayed has a human cost. *It is time for Leonard Peltier to come 
home.*

    Tomorrow I'm visiting U.S. Prisoner #LeonardPeltier
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/LeonardPeltier?src=hash>; Today, I'm
    thinking abt how a person survives 4 decades of injustice
    #FreePeltier2016 <https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreePeltier2016?src=hash>

    — Jasmine M Heiss (@JasminitaMH) May 6, 2016
    <https://twitter.com/JasminitaMH/status/728693871358693380>

    President Obama committed 2 leaving legacy of #criminaljustice
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/criminaljustice?src=hash> reform. He
    shouldn't overlook decades old cases like Peltier #FreePeltier2016
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreePeltier2016?src=hash>

    — Jasmine M Heiss (@JasminitaMH) May 6, 2016
    <https://twitter.com/JasminitaMH/status/728698329354383360>

    Had the incredible privilege of dinner w Lenny Foster who's been
    visiting #LeonardPeltier
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/LeonardPeltier?src=hash> for longer
    than I've been alive. #FreePeltier2016
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreePeltier2016?src=hash>

    — Jasmine M Heiss (@JasminitaMH) May 7, 2016
    <https://twitter.com/JasminitaMH/status/728759074041548801>

    Lenny is ready to retire from a lifetime of activism. It's time to
    bring his friend #LeonardPeltier
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/LeonardPeltier?src=hash> home.
    #FreePeltier2016 <https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreePeltier2016?src=hash>

    — Jasmine M Heiss (@JasminitaMH) May 7, 2016
    <https://twitter.com/JasminitaMH/status/728759821235793920>

    USP Coleman, where #LeonardPeltier
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/LeonardPeltier?src=hash> is
    incarcerated, nearly 2k miles from his home at Pine Ridge
    pic.twitter.com/A4Js1ABis7 <https://t.co/A4Js1ABis7>

    — Jasmine M Heiss (@JasminitaMH) May 7, 2016
    <https://twitter.com/JasminitaMH/status/728921985313591296>

    Leonard is 71. He has an abdominal aortic aneurysm & told me that he
    is in pain *all of the time.* Will Obama let him die b/h barbed wire?

    — Jasmine M Heiss (@JasminitaMH) May 7, 2016
    <https://twitter.com/JasminitaMH/status/729013709461463040>

    Leaving w/ #LeonardPeltier
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/LeonardPeltier?src=hash>'s words on my
    mind: "If I don't get clemency, I'm going to die here – & not of old
    age" pic.twitter.com/3tu7Rw5ky3 <https://t.co/3tu7Rw5ky3>

    — Jasmine M Heiss (@JasminitaMH) May 7, 2016
    <https://twitter.com/JasminitaMH/status/729013740931301376>

    Parting photo before I head out of Wildwood (until next time) –
    #FreeLeonardPeltier
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreeLeonardPeltier?src=hash>
    #FreePeltier2016
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreePeltier2016?src=hash> #ClemencyNow
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClemencyNow?src=hash>
    pic.twitter.com/1ZPRLtunVG <https://t.co/1ZPRLtunVG>

    — Jasmine M Heiss (@JasminitaMH) May 7, 2016
    <https://twitter.com/JasminitaMH/status/729025641945894912>

Time is of the essence, and we need your voice. Take Action and call on 
President Obama to grant 
<http://act.amnestyusa.org/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1839&ea.campaign.id=27118> Leonard 
Peltier clemency on humanitarian grounds and in the interests of 
justice. 
<http://act.amnestyusa.org/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1839&ea.campaign.id=27118>

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