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Volume 122 No. 18
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DECEMBER 7, 2013 - DECEMBER 13, 2013
Court Rules Crack Sentencing Reforms Don’t Apply to Those Already Imprisoned
Braveboy, Black Caucus Meet with Baltimore Clergy By Sean Yoes AFRO Contributing Writer
Prince George’s County Del. Aisha Braveboy (DPr. George’s), chair of the state’s Legislative Black Caucus, met with the Baptist Ministers Conference of
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Del. Aisha Braveboy Baltimore & Vicinity at New Shiloh Baptist Church in West Baltimore Dec. 2 During the breakfast meeting Braveboy and
several members of the Black Caucus in attendance laid out the group’s agenda for the 2014 legislative session in Annapolis. Issues the Caucus wants to bring forward include: economic justice concerns, including fair housing and a raise in the minimum wage; the treatment of ex-offenders; and the plight of the state’s HBCUs. “Our focus is on social and economic justice,” Braveboy said. “We’re focusing on number one, our HBCUs and providing parody and resources an also increasing their independence from the university system so that they can better achieve their Continued on A3
Crack cocaine The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund A sharply divided Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Dec. 3 that the Fair Sentencing Act, which reduced the unfair, unjustified, and racially discriminatory crack cocaine/ powder cocaine sentencing ratio from 100to-1 to 18-to-1, does not apply to thousands of individuals who are currently incarcerated pursuant to sentences imposed under the
discredited 100-to-1 regime. Seven judges concluded that the FSA should apply to those serving sentences under the 100-to-1 federal sentencing structure, but ten judges declared that it should not. “We are deeply disappointed in the outcome of this case. Thousands of people, the majority of whom are African-American, are still serving time under an unfair drug sentencing regime that has destroyed Continued on A3
Negro Leaguer Hubert ‘Bert’ Simmons Placed in Baltimore County Hall of Fame By AFRO Staff Four years after his death and 72 years after he began playing baseball in the Negro Baseball League, Hubert “Bert” Simmons reached home plate at last, but not alone. For Simmons’ widow, Audrey, the search for a dignified, permanent home to commemorate the life and legacy of her husband and many other unsung Negro Baseball Leaguers has been well worth the effort. Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz announced on Nov. 20 that he would provide just that - a permanent home for the “Bert Simmons” exhibition of memorabilia and artifacts in the newly built combined Owings Mills Library and Community College of
Baltimore County. In addition to Audrey Simmons, a great deal of the credit for creating a museum site for Simmons goes to Ray Banks, a longtime friend of Hubert Simmons known as the “Ambassador” for his constant effort to keep the memorabilia on exhibit at shows and fairs.
college and American Legion baseball coach. Far fewer individuals knew that the tall, distinguished, and humble Simmons spent his young adult years playing baseball with some of the best players in the Negro Baseball League. After graduating from high school in 1941, Bert Simmons joined the Civilian
a pitcher and outfielder for the Raleigh Tigers from 19411942. Throughout the years that followed, Bert Simmons continued playing baseball even while serving in the U.S. Army and later while attending college at North Carolina A&T. In addition to the Raleigh Tigers, Simmons
“…Simmons spent his young adult years playing baseball with some of the best players in the Negro Baseball League.” Born in 1924, Hubert “Bert” Simmons was known to many throughout the Baltimore area as a teacher of business and technology for 30 years. Others knew him as a Little League, high school,
Conservation Corps, a jobs creation program started by President Roosevelt. That same year he relocated to Raleigh, N.C. with the CCC, and began playing semi-pro baseball as
played for the U.S. Army (1943-1945); the Greensboro Red Wings (1946-1948); the Ashville Blues (1949); and finally the Baltimore Elite Giants (1950). Simmons could play all 9 positions in
Hubert “Bert” Simmons baseball; however, it was as a pitcher that he established a reputation for his knuckleball. In 2008 when each Major League Baseball team drafted one former Negro Baseball League player to represent the many thousands of others who never played in the Major League, the Baltimore Orioles selected 84-year-old Simmons. Over his years spent Continued on A3
Blaze Burns Out West Balto. Family By Blair Adams AFRO Staff Writer A family of six remains homeless three weeks after flames raced through their West Baltimore row house, a blaze that fire officials said started in a neighboring city-owned vacant house. The fire began early Nov. 13 in the rear of 2812 Boarman Ave., the city-owned property. The flames quickly swept through the walls of the unoccupied house, burning their way through the foundation into the house next door and consuming the home and possessions of Marvin and Ann-Marie Jones and their four children. “We lost everything. We have nothing. Everything is gone,” Jones said. Ann-Marie Jones told the AFRO she had just sent her children to school when she noticed the fire. Her husband was across the street working. Jones said she summoned her husband, shouting “Marvin, Marvin, there is a fire outside!” but flames were already leaping from the rear of their house. There were Continued on A5
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The fire left the Jones’ with nothing.