Rally Focuses Attention on Prosecutorial Misconduct in North Carolina
A rally in support of James Johnson was held last month in Raleigh, N.C. Johnson spent more than three years in a North Carolina jail awaiting trial in connection with the death of a white, female classmate following their graduation from a high school in Wilson. No physical evidence ties Johnson to the crime and two DNA tests cleared him in the death. He provided information to the police to help identify the killer and locate the victim, yet he was penalized. The man who implicated Johnson in the death has since recanted and is serving a life sentence for the murder.
The NAACP North Carolina State Conference worked diligently to get Johnson released on bond and the case reassigned to the Administrative Office of Courts, supervised by Chief Justice Sarah Parker of the state’s Supreme Court.
The NAACP stands firm in its belief that James Johnson, now 21, should never have been arrested, charged with murder and incarcerated. The recent appointment of a special prosecutor to review the troubling circumstances of the case is the beginning of a movement to ensure that prosecutors at all levels do not shirk the public’s trust and abuse the authority given them.
“James Johnson’s release is just the first step,” said NAACP North Carolina State Conference President Rev. William Barber II. “We are determined to stop this disparate treatment in our criminal justice system.”
An online petition is available on the Association’s website at www.naacp.org or www.ncprosecutorialmisconcduct.com to let North Carolina’s Governor and Attorney General know clearly that the public expects justice and full redemption in this case.
Local Highlights
NAACP State Conference President Calls for Investigation of Florida’s Juvenile Justice System
NAACP National Board of Directors member and Florida State Conference President Adora Obi Nweze was joined by a state assemblywoman and a college professor on Capitol Hill last month to testify before a subcommittee focused on the oversight of state-run juvenile correctional facilities, commonly known as youth boot camps. Nweze detailed some of the past abuses that occurred and cited the disparate number of black Florida youth currently in the custody of Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice.
Since 2000, seven young black men have died while in custody at youth correctional facilities in Florida. Although last year’s death of 14-year old Martin Lee Anderson led Florida to close its youth boot camp operations, privately run, state-funded juvenile detention facilities are still plagued by abuse and negelct, Nweze said.
“Black Floridians are outraged that the state continues to neglect, harm and even kill our youth and appear to get away with it,” Nweze told the committee. “I am here today to ask that you use your oversight powers to urge the United States Department of Justice to launch a thorough investigation of the State of Florida’s juvenile justice system. It is incumbent upon the federal government to ensure that the rights of Florida’s children are being protected, and from our viewpoint it does not appear that they are.”
The Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security of the Judiciary Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives conducted the hearing to examine the effectiveness of boot camp programs and probe their lack of regulation that has led to serious abuses and deaths.
Anderson died while in custody at the Bay County Boot Camp last year. An all white jury acquitted seven deputies and a nurse who participated in the videotaped violent abuse of Anderson that resulted in his death hours later. The U.S. Department of Justice has agreed to review the case for civil rights violations.
In addition to Anderson, six other youths have died since 2000.
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