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hey folks,<br><br>
This callout is based upon the parole documentation that we used two
years ago. Seth's parole hearing has got moved up a month, so we don't
have a lot of time for this. Can people please write letters and send
them to Susan immediately and also pass this out over your
networks?<br><br>
Thanks a lot,<br><br>
<br>
Tom.<br><br>
<br>
*PLEASE FORWARD*<br><br>
Support Parole for US Political Prisoner Robert 'Seth' Hayes! -
Letters<br>
needed by May 30th 2008<br><br>
Locked down for more than a lifetime: Soliciting letters of support
for<br>
a U.S. political prisoner Robert Seth<br>
Hayes’s Parole May 2008<br><br>
A letter from the Robert Seth Hayes Support Committee -<br>
<a href="http://www.sethhayes.org/" eudora="autourl">www.sethhayes.org</a>
| info (at) sethhayes.org<br><br>
Robert “Seth” Hayes is a U.S. political prisoner and former member
of<br>
the Black Panther Party who has been imprisoned in New York state
for<br>
more than three decades. When Seth was convicted in 1974, his
sentence<br>
was 25 years to life. The implicit understanding at the time of his<br>
sentencing was that Seth would serve 25 years as a minimum, after
which<br>
time he would be eligible for release based on his record and conduct
in<br>
prison.<br><br>
In June of 2008, Seth will be going before the parole board for the<br>
fourth time. At each of Seth’s previous parole hearings, he was
denied<br>
release<br>
due to the serious nature of the crime he was convicted for and
given<br>
another two years in jail. The refusal of parole for the serious
nature<br>
of the crime seems contrary to the spirit of the law, for it is<br>
something that a prisoner can never change, and the giving of parole
is<br>
based upon the prisoner's behavior while behind bars.<br><br>
Seth is not the only one being subjected to these unfair rules. This
has<br>
become common practice for the New York state parole board, who, by<br>
denying parole based on the seriousness of the conviction, are
defacto<br>
re-sentencing many prisoners to life in prison without the
possibility<br>
of parole.<br><br>
Seth’s prison record is exemplary, and if a decision about Seth’s
parole<br>
were to be based on his conduct and personal growth, he would have<br>
rejoined his family and his community years ago.<br><br>
Please write a letter to the parole board to let them know that you<br>
think Seth deserves to be released. Write your own letter, or use
the<br>
sample letter that has been included in this document.<br><br>
If you have a personal relationship with Seth, please consider
writing<br>
about this relationship in your letter. If you work with a community<br>
organization or union, have a professional job, or are a rock star,<br>
please consider mentioning this in your letter (or writing on<br>
letterhead, etc.).<br><br>
If you decide to personalize your letter, you may choose to include<br>
information drawn from the short biography also included in this<br>
package, where some of Seth’s accomplishments are highlighted.<br><br>
More information about Seth can be found on a web page that has been
put<br>
together by his supporters at
<a href="http://www.sethhayes.org/" eudora="autourl">www.sethhayes.org<br>
<br>
</a>All letters should be mailed or faxed to Seth’s lawyer, Susan
Tipograph,<br>
by no later than May 30th, 2008 as Seth's parole hearing is taking<br>
place in June of 2008. Please send all of your letters to:<br><br>
<br>
Susan Tipograph<br><br>
Attorney At Law<br>
350 Broadway<br>
New York, NY<br>
10013<br>
fax (212) 625-3939<br><br>
<br>
Sample Letter<br><br>
Re: Robert Seth Hayes<br><br>
#74A2280<br><br>
Dear Senior Parole Officer of Wende Correctional Institute,<br><br>
I am writing on behalf of Robert Hayes who is scheduled to appear
before<br>
the parole board for the fifth time in July of 2006.<br><br>
Robert Hayes' application for parole was denied when he last
appeared<br>
before the board two years ago. At the time of that appearance, his<br>
record was excellent. However, since that time his record is<br>
outstanding. Mr. Hayes has continued to work to help others and
improve<br>
himself. While at Clinton Correctional Facility, he facilitated in
the<br>
HIV Educators program to assist others as well as becoming a member
of<br>
the Lifer's and Long Termers Organization whose primary goal is to<br>
educate and instruct newly arriving inmates in adjustment to and<br>
preparation for final release from incarceration. Since his transfer
to<br>
Wende Correctional Facility, he has coached basketball and
participated<br>
in a local restorative justice project. These are but a few of his
many<br>
accomplishments over his years of incarceration. I am confident that<br>
were he to be released, he would be a great asset to the community
and<br>
to society at large.<br><br>
There is no question that the crime for which Mr. Hayes was
convicted<br>
was a serious crime. However, he has shown remorse and takes full<br>
responsibility for his acts. I am sure that you will agree that
after<br>
serving almost 33 years Mr. Hayes’ release at this time would not so<br>
deprecate the seriousness of the crime so as to undermine respect
for<br>
the law. Moreover, if you examine all of the factors that are used
to<br>
predict whether person is most likely to recidivate, those factors<br>
indicate that Mr. Hayes will not engage in any criminal activity.
His<br>
disciplinary history during his incarceration indicates that he
obeys<br>
the rules in prison; he has a supportive network of family and
friends<br>
on the outside available to assist him in his reintegration back
into<br>
society and he had an extensive work history prior to being
incarcerated<br>
in addition to obtaining marketable skills in prison that will help
him<br>
to obtain employment. Nothing is gained by his continued
incarceration,<br>
and much is lost, as he has much to offer the community upon his
release.<br><br>
By the time that Mr. Hayes appears before the parole board, he will
be<br>
58 years old more than 30 years older and considerably wiser than
the<br>
man who was charged with committing the crime. He is a
compassionate,<br>
caring individual and deserves a second chance. Please grant Mr.
Hayes<br>
parole and give him that second chance.<br><br>
Sincerely,<br><br>
_____________________<br><br>
Biography<br><br>
Robert Seth Hayes was born in Harlem, New York in October 1948. His<br>
father, John Franklin Hayes, was the child of sharecroppers and came
to<br>
New York City from South Carolina; his mother, Francine Washington<br>
Hayes, moved to New York from Pittsburgh. Both of Mr. Hayes’ parents<br>
worked for the U.S. Postal Service, trying to provide a better life
for<br>
Seth and his four brothers and sisters. They also instilled in their<br>
children the desire to work for the betterment of their community.
Seth<br>
writes, “My mother taught me to visualize family universally, not<br>
individually.” Seth’s father was a World War II veteran and a member
of<br>
the United Negro Improvement Association, the Black Nationalist<br>
organization founded by Marcus Garvey.<br><br>
Growing up in New York City, first in Harlem, later in the Bronx and<br>
Queens, Mr. Hayes saw one Black neighborhood after another suffering<br>
from neglect, despair, anger and defeat. During 1950s and 1960s with
the<br>
growing rise of the civil rights and Black power movements Seth
recalls<br>
witnessing over the years a birth of hope and determination to
overcome<br>
these conditions.<br><br>
After his schooling in New York City, Mr. Hayes worked as a
psychiatric<br>
aide at Creedmoor Hospital. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and
sent<br>
to Vietnam. He saw combat, was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart,<br>
National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the<br>
Vietnam Campaign Medal.<br><br>
In the armed forces, Seth underwent a change of consciousness. After<br>
the death of Martin Luther King Junior in 1968, Seth’s troop was
ordered<br>
to patrol the city streets with fixed bayonets to put down the<br>
rebellions resulting from Dr. King’s assassination. “It was the
saddest<br>
day of my life,” Seth remembers, “and I could never identify again
with<br>
the aims of the armed forces or the government.”<br><br>
Upon returning to the United States from Vietnam, Seth was swept up
in<br>
the Black Liberation movement and joined the Black Panther Party. He<br>
worked in the free breakfast for children program and began
dedicating<br>
his life to the betterment of Black people. His knowledge of the<br>
effects of racism on the Black community convinced him that the
Black<br>
Panthers’ program of community service ad community self-defense was<br>
what was needed. His work, like that of so many others, was
disrupted<br>
by COINTELPRO. Fearing further attacks, he went underground,
believing<br>
it to be the only way to protect the work of the Black Panther Party
and<br>
the Black movement in general.<br><br>
Robert Seth Hayes had two children prior to his arrest and
imprisonment,<br>
and he has remained closely involved their lives and upbringing,
despite<br>
the difficulties presented by his long incarceration. His son,
Chunga,<br>
lives and works in Atlanta. His daughter, Crystal, herself mother of<br>
14-year-old Myaisha, is a student at the Smith College graduate
school<br>
of social work in Western Massachusetts. Seth calls his family “the<br>
loves of my life.” He describes his relationship with Crystal this
way,<br>
“She has had the most intense impact on my life, always questioning,<br>
full of joy and insight, grasping lessons and maintaining her own<br>
dreams. She has kept me striving always to expand my knowledge and<br>
illuminate my principles, as I struggle to stay abreast of her<br>
questioning mind.”<br><br>
Seth has been diagnosed with Type II diabetes and Hepatitis C. He
has<br>
been extremely ill and had great difficulty procuring the necessary<br>
healthcare and has needed the help of his lawyers and some state<br>
political leaders in order to get adequate treatment.<br><br>
While in prison, Seth continues to work for the betterment of the<br>
community in which he lives. He has participated in programs with
the<br>
NAACP, the Jaycees and other organizations and has worked as a<br>
librarian, pre-release advisor and AIDS counselor. Whenever possible,
he<br>
has taken college courses. He is also a longtime advisor and<br>
collaborator in the annual “Certain Days” Political Prisoner
calendar<br>
project. He is dedicated to continuing to work for social justice
when<br>
he gets out of prison. At Wende correctional facility where he is<br>
currently incarcerated, Seth is working to put together a
"lifers<br>
program" to help rehabilitate prisoners and prepare them to reenter
the<br>
community. Seth also coaches basketball and works on assisting a
local<br>
restorative justice project taking place in Buffalo.<br><br>
For more information about Seth, please check out
<a href="http://www.sethhayes.org/" eudora="autourl">www.sethhayes.org</a>
or<br>
e-mail info (at) sethhayes.org.<br><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
seth_hayes_updates mailing list<br>
seth_hayes_updates@masses.tao.ca<br>
<a href="https://masses.tao.ca/lists/listinfo/seth_hayes_updates" eudora="autourl">
https://masses.tao.ca/lists/listinfo/seth_hayes_updates<br><br>
<br>
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