The Open Letter campaign to Attorney General Jerry Brown, the person who has the power to stop the prosecution of the SF 8, is on.

The Open Letter references the International Call, initiated by Desmond Tutu. Organizers are asking:

1. Please ask influential or leaders you may have access to or other progressive people that you know to sign on to the letter.
2. Please do NOT send the letter to Jerry Brown.
3. Please DO send the names of the people who wish to sign to me to compile for the committee. (jsiff@sbcglobal.net)
4. Please include the name and title or descriptive phrase by which the person wishes to be identified.

July and August are the critical months for this project. Organizers want to be prepared to deliver and publicize the results of this support for the onset of the Preliminary Hearing in the beginning of September.

Open Letter to Attorney General Jerry Brown: Drop the Charges Against the SF 8!

I am writing to join with the Nobel Peace Laureates Desmond Tutu and Mairead Corrigan Maguire, as well as Cynthia McKinney, Danny Glover, Cindy Sheehan and others in an international call to drop the charges against the SF 8.

The eight are elders and activists formerly associated with the Black Panther Party who have devoted their lives to serving their communities. Four are local to California. Richard Brown and Richard O’Neal are from San Francisco and have been known and deeply respected in social service circles for over 20 years. Hank Jones and Ray Boudreaux are well known and loved community activists in the Los Angeles area.

Prosecution of the case against these men is now over 37 years old. Although this is a California state and not a county prosecution, the cost of the case, which is in the millions, is being borne by the City of San Francisco at the precise moment when vital services are in jeopardy due to lack of funds.

Previous attempts to prosecute these men in the 1970’s were dismissed when it was revealed that so-called “confessions” were the product of torture by the New Orleans police department.

The SF Board of Supervisors has already gone on record as opposing torture. I call on all officials to do so as well, to reject prosecution based on the results of torture, and to do everything in your power to re-establish the priority of serving the needs of the communities of San Francisco and the State of California.

People in the Bay Area have a proud history of defending human rights and social justice. I urge Attorney General Jerry Brown to drop the case against the SF 8 now.

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