Copyright © 2002 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Leonard Peltier had for his interim parole hearing on the morning of Tuesday, July 9th, 2002. In attendance were his attorneys, Carl Nadler and former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, his daughter Marquetta Shields, former Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) teacher Paul Berg, and a paralegal.

The examiner began by informing those gathered that a group opposing parole for Leonard had been given an earlier hearing that day. Ramsey Clark challenged the propriety of that, and was quickly instructed by the civil servant that he, Ramsey Clark, was only being allowed in the hearing as a representative of Mr. Peltier, not as his attorney. The group was informed that they would have been welcome to sit in on that phase of the hearing. That would have been difficult, though, as the government never told Leonard's legal team that the earlier hearing was scheduled, and, in fact, told the team not to arrive before 9:30 AM (presumably after the opponents had left).

The Parole Commission examiner then began to interrogate Leonard regarding the specific events of the day of the shootout, June 26, 1975, in essence attempting to get Leonard to confess. Leonard maintained his position throughout, that he was on the Pine Ridge Reservation with AIM to support the traditionalists and defend the elders, women and children, and that he was innocent.

Attorney Carl Nadler spoke, reiterating the long history of Leonard's model conduct, his human rights record, the fact that the Parole Commission was in violation of its own guidelines, especially relating the its failure to recognize the prosecution's admission that it does not know who shot the agents. He pointed out the close to 10,000 letters in support of parole collected from around the world, which were carried into the hearing room, in addition to being sent earlier to the Parole Commission in Maryland.

Leonard's daughter, Marquetta, spoke eloquently of the loss her family has felt living without a father, and how her prayers have daily gone out to the families of Agents Coler and Williams. She described the history of violence on Pine Ridge, and how her father was there to defend the people of the Oglala Nation.

Paul Berg, the former BIA teacher, described his personal experiences witnessing out-of-control FBI agents on Pine Ridge, around the Wounded Knee occupation and afterwards, and especially relating to the murders of traditionalists Sandra Wounded Foot, his student, and Hobart Horse, his friend. Both were violently murdered, and the perpetrators were given light sentences of several years, demonstrating the double standard of justice that exists with respect to indigenous people.

Ramsey Clark spoke further of Leonard's character and the lack of justice in his case, as well as the necessity to seek healing and reconciliation with indigenous people, given the US government's role in ongoing genocide. He told the examiner that Leonard was the single-most well-known indigenous person globally, and that his release would do much to restore faith in US justice and the US governement.

The examiner was also provided a medical update provided by Doctor Monica Peek, who volunteers with the human rights group Physicians for Human Rights (http://www.phrusa.org) The report reiterated the findings in 2000, that Leonard's health continues to decline, and that he receives, overall, suboptimal care for chronic hypertension, hyperlipidemia, complications due to stroke and diabetes, and the painful bone spur in his foot and consequent inability to exercise.

While the examiner mulled over the statements, Leonard enjoyed a few moments of laughter with Ramsey Clark, discussed his case with Carl Nadler, and spoke at length with Paul Berg about their shared time on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Paul and Leonard had never met in person before the hearing.

The examiner summoned Leonard and his attorneys back to the room, where he announced that he would recommend no change in Leonard's status, indicating that an interim hearing would be scheduled for 2004 with the full hearing set for 2008. Leonard will appeal the examiner's decision. Leonard has had a habeas corpus suit filed with the District Court in Kansas since 1999, specifically challenging the US Parole Commission's failure to follow its own guidelines. Leonard's attorney's will pursue a hearing on this case very soon, as the Court appears reluctant to try it.

Peltier Forum in Lawrence, KS to be webcast Sat., July 20, 2002 The latest on the 30,000 pages of FBI documents just obtained

Listen Live Sat July 20, 7:30 PM Central Time, at WBIX.org.

While the parole hearing was disappointing but no surprise, such efforts are necessary to fully expose the inherent bias and corruption of the system. With the bad news, though, comes the good news that the FBI was forced to release close to 30,000 pages of documents relating to Leonard's case, called by the FBI "RESMURS," for Reservation Murders. The documents were released to Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), who said he was "only doing his job" by responding to constituent requests for the release of the documents. This is an excellent example of how sustained grassroots organizing, letter writing and lobbying can ultimately gain significant advances.

While the efforts to get the withheld documents has been an ongoing campaign of the LPDC, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the FBI released these, technically, under an Executive Order issued by Pres. Clinton. However, the LPDC has a growing FOIA legal team, many members of which are convening on Lawrence, Kansas to assess the level of disclosure the FBI has made, to look for prospects for new openings in the case, and to strategize on how best to analyze these. As well, plans to go after the additional documents, which the FBI's lead FOIA agent says may number close to 100,000 pages, and to sue the FBI to force removal of much of the redactions, or "blacking out" of the documents, will be discussed.

The group will speak at a public forum in Lawrence, Kansas, Saturday night, 7:30 PM Central Time, at 925 Vermont Ave, at the Plymouth Congregational Church. Thanks to dedicated community radio activists, the event will be audio webcast live at the internet radio site WBIX.org, short for WBAI Radio in Exile, WBIX.org formed in 2001 when NYC's Pacifica station WBAI 99.5 FM was taken over by hostile management. This internet radio station is hosted by long-time Peltier supporters, and gives a great opportunity for people globally to tune in and enjoy the program.

One aspect of the FOIA strategy will be to digitize the FBI documents and create a searchable database of all the documents that define the record of Leonard's case, from court transcripts, affadavits and filings to FBI teletypes and memoranda. This will be achieved with, first, the acquisition of a very high-quality scanner, and then with open source software being developed principally by a consortium of libraries globally to make digital archives available over the web. Look for sample documents on our website in the near future.

The LPDC needs immediate donations in order to move this document archiving process forward. Please see below for details, or go to Free Peltier.org. Please call or email if you have access to such a scanner that can be loaned, or if you have expertise in document digitization.