Southern University/Family of Clarence Aaron
Clarence Aaron, in the early nineties.
I wrote yesterday about the increasing momentum that seems to be swelling up about the case of triple-life prisoner Clarence Aaron, and the alarming allegations raised in last week's joint ProPublica/Washington Post report that his plea for commutation was mishandled by the current head of the U.S. Pardon Attorney's office, Ronald Rodgers. The NAACP and ACLU had just served as two of over three dozen signatories on a letter sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Whether or not that letter had anything to do with it, two Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee today put pressure directly on the White House to investigate ProPublica's claims.
Rep. John Conyers, the committee's ranking member, co-authored a letter to President Obama requesting that he take action on the Clarence Aaron case. Though Rep. Conyers and Rep. Bobby Scott, a fellow Judiciary member, didn't spell ProPublica reporter Dafna Linzer's name correctly, they got pretty much everything else right:
“...we request that you direct Attorney General (Eric) Holder to investigate these allegations. And if the allegations are proven, we believe the case warrants your immediate reconsideration of his application for clemency.”
Along with the White House, Conyers and Scott are calling upon Attorney General Eric Holder because the U.S. Pardon Attorney's office is a section of the Department of Justice that he leads. Linzer also notes that even Alberto Gonzales, the (admittedly disgraced) former Attorney General under George W. Bush, is speaking out about her report:
"Assuming the reporting in the Post to be true, the failure by the pardon attorney to inform the White House of the views of the prosecutor and judge in the case of Clarence Aaron is troubling."
Paired with Aaron's mother appearing tomorrow at the National Press Club in Washington, it will be very interesting to see if this case gets the attention it merits. It certainly grabbed ours, hence our coverage this past Sunday. It's clear that the NAACP, the ACLU, and now two influential Congressmen. We'll see if the Justice Department and the White House are next.
I encourage you to view Melissa's interview with Linzer from Sunday's show, and read the Conyers-Scott letter. Both are below the jump.
Dafna Linzer, a reporter at Pro-Publica, shares the story of Clarence Aaron, a former star linebacker at the Southern University in Louisiana who is serving three life-sentences without parole for drug crimes. Aaron is now seeking presidential commutation, but what are his chances?
ProPublica
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This comment is in regards to MHP May 26th program's conversation about American education. After listening to the experts on education, it is concluded that the guests were speaking from the"bubble." The program provided different intellectual perspectives on our failing education system from the top down. You won't find a fix for the problem unless you correctly identify the problem. and you can't diagnose the problem from a Bubble on the top of a mountain when it lies below a river's surface.
My central school system's demographic is 99.999% white, middle class which is well funded and a failure.
The problem is not teachers, teaching theories or education funding. The fact is the problem is our culture no longer values public school education and causes a fundamental disrespects for public education by the parents and then by their children.
Our failed public school education system is an outcome from an American cultural problem. Parents and their children do not value pubic education. You can't teach respect in the home, but you can begin to demand it in school.
The experts must go to their state capitals and insist their state education departments return public education to the basics in spite of parental intervention and objections. Children must be made to: sit down; be quiet; listen; be prepared for class; respect all other people and public property. Discipline and self discipline are key fundamentals to respect and self respect. and they cost nothing.
Pursuant to our decline in culture, school uniforms are necessary because parents are no longer using common sense and reason when selecting appropriate attire for young people. If your experts don't believe it, they should spend a day in a public school. It is not just the behavior of the children that is shocking, but the clothing is shockingly immodest- another aspect of the lack of self respect and respect of the institution.
Additionally, no more paid tutors provided in the home for children who have been suspended or expelled. There must be consequences for violating school rules. The suspended or expelled child is provided school books and homework assignments and is not allowed back to school unless the work is completed to satisfaction.
Someone in authority must climb out of the Bubble, down from the mountain top and wade into the water if you want to find what's at the bottom of the problem in American education. It is a shift in American culture with a lack of respect for education. There is no value placed on education and our public schools. The problem with public education in America begins in the home with the parents.
It's correction begins at State Education Departments and continues at the schools' front doors. Respect and value, demand no less and you will receive more in return. It will make the difference between children who go to school and students who attend school. School is not an alternative for day care centers, recreation centers, sport arenas and school hallways are not fashion runways.
Teachers can't make students out of children without discipline, standards and order. Teachers alone cannot invoke the criteria without parental agreement. and the parents are not agreeing. It is up to state education departments to assert the standards upon school administrations. The fix is simplistic: sit down, be quiet, be prepared for class and respect yourself, each other and public property. If uncooperative, the parents will be called to school and after the third warning the child will go home with the parents for a fixed period of time. There will be a new respect for education and an improvement in our American education system.
Now this Letter of Conyers Begs the Question, What about a letter to Obama on the behalf of your former senior aide De Wayne Boyd and his petition for Clemency to President Obama from the wrongful conviction & false imprisonment he was subjected for protecting you Mr. Conyers on the Black farmers issue in matter 2:04-cr-80391 E.D. Mich?.....
Have you forgotten he suffered 76 months loss of his Liberty and all he loved in this world as it related to his marriage and family...
See: Mi
Jackson Advocate Atricle "Conyers Aide Flees The Country" Earnest Mc Bride reporter.