Urban Pro Weekly, December 6, 2012

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AUGUSTA’S SIXTH DISTRICT COULD TIP POWER BALANCE

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Newspaper VOL.2 NO.13

DECEMBER 6-12, 2012

FENNOY ROUTS AITKEN

Willliam “Bill” Fennoy is congratulated by a supporter after hearing that he had won the District One runoff election. Photo by Vincent Hobbs

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District 6 looms large in 2014 Again, any “racial” advantage that would accrue to one side or the other is largely illusory.

Despite all of the chatter about Those who had in the past the restoration of the 5-5 racial relied on the racial balance playsplit on the Augusta-Richmond ing to their advantage in one Commission, the demographic vote or another were mostly frusrealities in the county suggest that trated whenever someone “broke the hypersensitive preoccupation ranks.” with racial “balance” may soon The “maverick” is a tried and true character in local politics. be a thing of the past.

I’ve said in the past that blacks Those who have been around view racial parity more in terms for a while recall the likes of of self defense while whites view Moses Todd, Freddie Handy, Andy it as preservation of their histori- Cheek, Marion Williams and in cally implied advantage in all mat- the current day Corey Johnson ters political and economic. and Wayne Guilfoyle.

By Frederick Benjamin Sr. UPW Political Analyst

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Publisher Ben Hasan 706-394-9411 Managing Editor Frederick Benjamin Sr. 706-836-2018

Racial block voting is kind of hard to do in a city commission type of setting when most of the issues to be voted on have nothing to do with race.

On the other hand, political philosophy is important and that is why I would not be surprised to see the issue of partisan city commission races being brought up time and time again.

At this stage of the city’s history, a more realistic approach is needed when dealing with community problems.

In the “golden” age of black political activism in Augusta when black leaders like Ed McIntyre, Charles Walker, the Rev. C.S. Hamilton, Henry Brigham and Henry Howard sat in seats of power, the black-white divide was more visceral, more heated. You have to recall that in those heady days of the 80’s and 90’s, you had former Klansmen sitting on the Augusta city council and you had the heinous at-large voting system which prevented blacks from electing their chosen representatives in their own districts. And all the while you had the rabid racist commentary coming from the Augusta Chronicle media assassins the likes of Phil Kent and Margaret Twiggs. And to make matters worse, police brutality was rampant.

To say that times have changed would be an understatement Look at District 6.

In the racial lingo in style here in Augusta, we would call it a majority-black district.

That makes a lot of folks — mostly non minority — very nervous, or angry or even afraid.

Here’s why that’s silly. In strictly racial terms, there’s no advantage to blacks if they are disinterested in the electoral process. And anyway, just having black faces sitting in office is no guarantee of any-

Sales & Marketing Phone: 706-394-9411 New Media Consultant Director of Photography Vincent Hobbs

thing.

Instead of the racial lingo, we’re better served with the partisan or ideological or philosophical designations such as liberal, conservative, progressive, reactionary. That is why the whole white black-dichotomy is so misleading.

So now in more partisan terms, who are the voters of District 6?

Recent election returns give us some clue.

The voters of ‘District 6 voted overwhelmingly for President Obama in the November election.

It would be foolish to overlook the reality that there exist white voters in District 6 who are Democrats (real Democrats) and also voted for Obama. That’s common ground that could be overshadowed by the black-white preoccupation.

Back to the election results.

Voters in District 6 overwhelmingly voted for Richard Roundtree for sheriff. Another Democratic candidate.

It would be much more productive to start thinking terms of alliances rather than divisions.

That being said, blacks and progressive whites cannot turn a blind eye to the blatant racist and discriminatory machinations of a frightened G.O.P. leadership that currently controls the State General Assembly.

They are the number reason why African Americans feel that they must put as many black faces into power as possible. It’s a natural self preservation reaction.

It’s a sad commentary on the state of Georgia and the Deep South states in general that there is so much fear on the part of the white electorate.

Progressive-minded whites can change things around and bring this state back to its senses. Those are the kinds of alliances that can be sought in District 6. email: Ben Hasan benhasan54@yahoo.com Frederick Benjamin Sr. editor@urbanproweekly.com Vincent Hobbs photos@urbanproweekly.com

3 UrbanProWeekly • DECEMBER 6 - 12, 2012 Willliam “Bill” Fennoy celebrates with campaign supporters after hearing the final election results for the District One commission seat. Fennoy triumphed over incumbent Matt Aitken in the run-off with 62% of the vote.

Fennoy wins big in District 1 District One’s GOP support-base withers in the face of mulitracial coalition working to “Dump Matt Aitken.”

By Frederick Benjamin UPW Political Analyst The afterglow of a meaningless Mitt Romney victory in the First District’s 101st and 107th precinct wasn’t enough to push Matt Aitken’s anemic candidacy onto paydirt in this week’s runoff election. Precinct 101 and 107 were Matt Aitken’s local base of support in the district. Both districts turned out to vote heavily for Aitken in 2009 and again in the November General election.

They also heavily supported Mitt Romney and Republican sheriff’s candidate Freddie Sanders.

About the only thing that could be said Aitken’s 39% General Election polling over the field of four vying for a place in the runoff was that over 60 percent of the voters weren’t thrilled about the prospect of the incumbent returning to office.

And while in the runoff Aitken polled slightly less than he did in the general election, Fennoy

gathered up that enough of that wayward 60 percent to piece together a lopsided victory.

Fennoy received 1699 votes to Aitken’s 1004 in Tuesday’s District 1 runoff.

In 2009, the two squared off for the first time in a runoff. Then it was Matt Aitken with 1657 to Fennoy’s 1427.

The biggest difference this time around was that Matt Aitken had to run on his record.

Fortunately, for Fennoy, there was enough of the ObamaRoundtree afterglow in the air to energize a “dump Aitken” effort in a predictably low runoff election.

In 2009, candidate Matt Aitken was just another guy running for office — another unknown entity. In 2012 he was seen as the guy who voted on the wrong side of some very important issues — including giving Billy Morris a blank check on the TEE Center heist and voting to fire city workers and then later say-

ing that he didn’t realize it.

It might not be a stretch to say that there may have been more interest in the outcome of the District 1 race outside of the district than within the district.

An Aitken victory would have ensured three more years of compliant, non questioning support for just about anything that the mayor, Fred Russell, Jerry Brigham or Joe Bowles wanted.

What contributed to Mr. Aitken’s demise was the fact that he couldn’t count on a solid block vote from the district’s white voters. While Aitken’s base of support voted along the lines of right wing Republicans, there was a more progressive white electorate that didn’t want to see Aitken’s “proxy” vote for Billy Morris continue.

District 1 activist Lori Davis commented about the Fennoy victory in The Augusta Chronicle.

“Am so happy to have been a part of this victory. New life for Harrisburg and All of Richmond County.”

Fennoy at a glance . . .

On the TEE Center:

Some commissioners are more concerned with pushing projects and agendas through without consideration of cost and the impact their decision will have on the community.

On Privatization:

Projects that have been privatized have been absolute failures.

The city hasn’t saved any money and services have been lousy. It is the commissioner’s responsibility to ensure that the departments are run efficiently and effectively.

On Partisan Elections:

Most of the voters that I have contacted want to know what political party all of their elected officials belong to. I will support legislation in favor of such action.

On Jobs for Augusta teens:

I will support employment opportunities for our most in need or at risk youths not only during the summer but year round.

Participation in such a program will require these youths to do well in school and not be a disciplinary problem.

On His Political Philosophy:

I consider myself a Democrat and a supporter of the Democratic Party and Democratic candidates.

UrbanProWeekly • DECEMBER 6 - 12, 2012

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PEOPLE & organizations making a difference

Pre-Kwanzaa celebration will be festive affair AUGUSTA This weekend, the Humanitree House & UpRising Enterprise Collective presents its annual community celebration of Kwanzaa: 2nd Annual Pre-Kwanzaa Cultural Community Celebration & Marketplace. Kwanzaa honors African traditions and history by celebrating the feast of the harvest before the dry season. Enjoy shopping local vendors, performances, storytelling, music and more on Sunday, Dec. 9th from 2:00 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Warren Road Community Center! This EVENT IS FREE to the Public.

Kwanzaa is a non-religious holiday

that derives its name from the Swahili term matunda ya kwanza, meaning “fruits of the harvest.” Kwanzaa is traditionally celebrated for seven days from December 26th-January 1st each dedicated to a guiding principle: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

Humanitree House (Baruti & Denise Tucker) along with UpRising Enterprises (Travis & La Keasha Wright) will lead the festivities beginning at 2:00-7:00 p.m. Everyone in attendance will receive a handout explaining the holiday’s origins, how

to celebrate or incorporate Kwanzaa and there will be vendors on site with all the tools in which to practice Kwanzaa for sale. Performers will sing songs, perform poetry and there will be skits telling stories of Africa using costumes and percussion. A traditional Kwanzaa table be displayed in celebration of the harvest.

Various vendors will offer crafts, products, Tupperware, clothing, handmade items and jewelry for purchase. Many community performers will be present, as well as guest performers from Columbia, SC and Atlanta, Georgia. During this ceremony Humanitree House will honor local

members of the community for their business and artistic contributions.

In conjunction with the event we will have a “Good Health in the Hood” Food Drive. Healthier food items such as low sodium can goods and no sugar canned fruit will be donated and given to the Tutt House Food Pantry for distribution to needy families. A complete list of items is listed on the companies website.

The event is FREE to the public. Donations are excepted but not required! For more information about the “Good Health in the Hood” Food Drive visit www.humanitreehouse. com (click the pre-kwanzaa link)

Visionary Awards Dinner honors Ivy Elam and Brian Mulherin

Family Support Committee to host first community meeting

AUGUSTA Augusta Partnership for Children, Inc. (APC) will honor two outstanding community visionaries at their Visionary Awards Dinner on Thursday, December 6, 2012, 7:00 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel Augusta.

The Visionary Awards Dinner began last year as a part of the APC’s 25th Anniversary Celebration. Dr. Robetta McKenzie, Executive Director of the APC, explains the occasion as, “designed to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to the Augusta community, and more especially the Augusta Partnership for Children, Inc., through their extraordinary vision and leadership to improve the lives of children, families and this community. This award seeks to spotlight individuals whose innovative efforts in addressing the myriad of issues which impact negatively on children and families with in the community. Know that they are thinkers, creators, doers, caretakers, and dreamers”.

This year’s Visionary Awards Dinner will honor Mrs. Ivy Elam, Market Manager and President of Clear Channel Media & Entertainment known for her extensive career in

The CSRA Family Support Committee has recently been formed to assist area families as they endeavor to help their children to become the best that they can be. This committee is the reality of a vision of Dr. Nathaniel Irvin, Sr., pastor of Old Storm Branch Baptist Church in Clearwater, SC. The committee coordinator is retired educator, Dr. Marsha F. Harris. Its initial community meeting will be held at 6:00 PM on Thursday, December 27, 2012 at Old Storm Branch Baptist C hurch in Clearwater, SC. The goal of the CSRA Family Support Committee is to provide a means for individuals of the Central Savannah River Area to express their family needs related to the academic achievement and character development of its youth. The guiding strategy of the committee is to listen to the expressions of parents and students related to academic achievement and character development and then to develop a plan of action responding to the needs expressed with the support of community resource volunteers who understand the Basic Needs of Individuals: Physical (food, cloth-

marketing, sales and corporate management, as well as being the first African American woman to hold her current position; and Mr. Brian J. Mulherin, Community Volunteer and Retired Human Resources Manager at Georgia Regional Hospital known for his broad volunteerism through leadership in local organizations and hands-on approach. The dinner will feature information about the APC, videos spotlighting the honorees, a silent auction and entertainment by the Brown Brothers. The co-hosts for this event are Mr. Cedric and Mrs. Vicki Johnson and Mr. Sam and Mrs. Susan Nicholson. The 2011 Honorees were the Honorable Judge J. Randal Hall and Reverend Doctor Johnny R. Hatney, as well as the founding members of the APC. The APC works to ensure a comprehensive, coordinated and collaborative approach to the health, welfare and education of our children, from infancy through high school. If children are our future, then we work together to ensure that the future is a bright one indeed. For more information, contact the APC at 706-721-1869 or chollimon@augustapartnership. org.

Paine College partners with Wells Fargo in Rehab AUGUSTA Paine College has partnered with Wells Fargo to repair a single dwelling that is inhabited and owned by a senior citizen located within walking distance of the College.

On Saturday, December 1, 2012, from 8am-12noon, the home will enter Phase 2 of the rehab project, with the assistance of Wells Fargo employees as well as Paine College alumni and staff.

The Wells Fargo Foundation awarded a $10,000 grant to the College to implement the development project. During Phase 1, Pond Maintenance of Augusta, Ga, owned

by Allen Odom, ’96, oversaw the

project by clearing the home and lawn of debris. Paine College students, faculty, and staff also assisted in this phase. The home is located on 1745 McNally Street in close proximity to the College.

Helene Carter, A ssistant Vice President of Institutional Advancement, who is spearheading this partnership said, “We hope that this will be the first of many rehab projects implemented by Paine College. We are pleased about the progress of the project, and know that the finished product will greatly enhance this family’s life”.

The CSR A Community is invited to stop by Saturday morning to assist.

ing, and shelter), Safety, Love, Self-esteem (belief in oneself; self respect, confidence, sense of worth), Information, Appreciation for art and music, and Self-actualization (full development of one’s abilities, ambitions, fulfilling potential, serving others).

The committee has the following purposes: 1) To enhance the life of boys and girls in education so that they are not given special privileges, but are not denied the privileges that they deserve.

(2) To support teachers in their efforts to understand that each student is a special student for education and to use their skills to help each of their students toward increased academic achievement and character development.

(3) To help parents, teachers and community to understand and address the special needs of students.

All interested citizens of the community are invited to Embrace, Engage, and Empower the Family.

For additional information call 803593-2960.

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Cheerleaders chant while riding on a float during the Miss Augusta Scholarship Pageant Christmas Fantasy Parade on Broad Street. Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Christmas Parade

12.1.12

Cutno Dance Studio dancers perform during the Holiday Market at the Common on Broad Street.

Photo by Vincent Hobbs

A woman on a parade float waves to spectators during the Miss Augusta Scholarship Pageant Christmas Fantasy Parade on Broad Street. Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Landyn Lucas (L) and Mattie Baldwin (R), both 6 years old, use crayons to color during the Holiday Market at the Commons on Broad Street.

Photo by Vincent Hobbs

The documentary goes inside the ‘wilding’ case that fanned racial tension.

By Peter Rainer

In the early morning hours of April 20, 1989, a 28-year-old white female jogger was found gagged and severely beaten in New York’s Central Park.

Identified for some time only as the “Central Park jogger,” she lay comatose for several weeks but survived, retaining, mercifully, no memory of the attack.

The powerful documentary The Central Park Five, directed by Ken Burns; his daughter Sarah Burns; and her husband, David McMahon, is about how the crime, which then-Mayor Ed Koch called “the crime of the century,” was compounded by a rush to judgment against her supposed attackers – the five black and Latino youths, ages 14 to 16, who were coerced by the police into confessing to the assault.

Anton McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Kharey Wise, and Yusef Salaam ended up serving their s sentences, which ranged from seven to 13 years, for the attack before they were finally exonerated in 2002 when a jailhouse confession by a serial rapist and murderer, complete with corroborating DNA evidence, resulted in their convictions being overturned. Soon after, the Central Park Five filed a lawsuit against New York, the prosecutors, and the police who abetted their conviction. The suit is still pending, as the

film reminds us in the end. None of the implicated prosecutors or members of the police agreed to be interviewed.

The city, meanwhile, in its defense, has tried to subpoena outtakes from the film. And so the ordeal drags on.

The documentary brings to the fore the racially motivated fear that gripped crime-ridden New York in the late 1980s, when the economy was slumping and crack usage and AIDS were on the rise. It wasn’t just the tabloids and the nightly news broadcasts that stirred the caldron; much of the liberal media also jumped into the fray, accepting the five boys’ guilt despite the gaping holes in the case. (It’s a flaw in the film that, besides not hearing from the prosecutors, we also don’t have contemporary interviews with the likes of liberal columnists and former believers Pete Hamill and Bob Herbert, both of whom declined to be interviewed by the filmmakers.)

What we do see, among much else that is damning, are archival NYPD videotapes of the boys being interrogated by detectives who press them to implicate one another in exchange for a leniency that never materialized.

Why would the boys fall so readily in line with these enforced confessions?

The film reiterates their own recollection that they were very scared and very naive.

When I first saw the film at the

Toronto film festival, I thought it remarkable that, almost from the start, none of the five held any animosity for any of the others who had falsely implicated them. I mentioned this to Santana, who was attending the festival with the filmmakers. He shrugged and said simply that they all understood how afraid they were at the time.

The improbable beneficence of this

attitude is made more understandable when you see what the boys were up against then: the media circus, the fear and loathing. The racial implications of the event were not lost on everyone.

If a black woman in Harlem had been found in the same condition as the white upscale jogger, there would have been little public outcry in the press and in the courts.

The 2nd Annual Augusta Literary Festival Inaugural Yerby Literary Award The ALF is proud to announce a new award for writers of excellence in the genre of Fiction.

Augusta, GA- (Release Date 11/12/12)- Frank Yerby has always been a name associated with excellence. So it's only fitting that a new award be named in his honor for writers attending the festival in his hometown of Augusta, GA. The ALF is honored to have such a prestigious author to inspire up and coming authors to achieve greatness.

Books will be judged on the following criteria: 1) Cover, 2) Title, 3) Plot, 4) Prose, 5) Character Development, 6) Conflict, 7) Resolution, and 8) Ending.

Ten finalists will be announced by Jan. 2013. Out of those ten authors, only three will be awarded prizes. Winners will be announced at the opening ceremony of the ALF on March 2nd, 2013 at 9:30 a.m.

1st Place $300 & Plaque Plaque

2nd Place $150 & Plaque

3rd Place $75 &

All media inquires, including interviews with the winners, please contact: Corey Washington- plaintalk2010@yahoo.com (706) 664-8622 or Sherryl James- jamess@ecgrl.org (706) 821-2604 The 2nd Annual Augusta Literary Festival will be held Saturday, March, 2nd, 2013 at the Main Library branch at 823 Telfair St. in downtown Augusta, GA. From 10-3:30 p.m.

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Ken Burns directs the powerful documentary ‘The Central Park Five’

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UrbanProWeekly • DECEMBER 6 - 12, 2012

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Commentary

The Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court and the life of Lawrence Guyot

By Doug Kendall If medals were awarded for bravery and injuries sustained in the war over civil rights and voting rights, then Lawrence Guyot, who died this weekend, would have been one of our most decorated veterans.

The New York Times’ obituary chronicles some of his harrowing experiences: Mr. Guyot (GHEE-ott) was repeatedly challenged, jailed and beaten as he helped lead fellow members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and student volunteers from around the nation in organizing Mississippi blacks to vote.

In many of the state’s counties, no blacks were registered.

He further pressed the campaign for greater black participation in politics by serving as chairman of the integrated Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, formed to supplant the all-white state Democratic Party. It lost its challenge to the established Mississippi party at the Democratic National Convention in 1964, but its efforts are seen as paving the way for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

A famous moment in the civil rights movement occurred after Fannie Lou Hamer and two other civil rights workers were arrested for entering an area of a bus station reserved for whites in Winona, Miss., in June 1963. Mr. Guyot went to Winona to bail them out of jail. When he asked

questions about their rough treatment, nine police officers beat him with the butts of guns, made him strip naked and threatened to burn his genitals. The abuse went on for four hours until a doctor advised the officers to stop.

Mr. Guyot’s remarkable life story yields some important lessons for the Nation and the Supreme Court as the Court begins consideration of Shelby County v. Holder, a monumentally important challenge to a key part of the Voting Rights Act, the iconic law for which for which Mr. Guyot shed blood.

Mr. Guyot’s death at the too-young age of 73 reminds us just how little time has passed since it took genuine, physical courage even to seek the right to vote in certain parts of the United States. The presence among us of civil rights heroes such as John Lewis -- and, until this week, Lawrence Guyot -- ought to serve as a living conscience as the Court considers these issues. The Civil Rights era is not just a historical abstraction.

Millions of our fellow voters went to the polls this fall with firsthand memories of violence, verbal abuse and organized intimidation in their memory. Perhaps that is why so many Americans were willing to endure ridiculously long lines at the polls, and why Mr. Guyot pushed himself to vote early a few weeks ago, in spite of his advanced illness.

Mr. Guyot’s life story is also a story of the progress, incomplete but inspiring, that’s been made on vot-

the Voting Rights Act is the nation’s first and best line of defense against efforts to disenfranchise American voters.

In 2012, conservative legislators and election officials in states throughout the country tried to change election rules to make it more difficult for Americans to vote. These voting changes -- imposing restrictive ID requirements, shortening early voting hours and making it more difficult to register to vote -- had the greatest impact on young, minority, elderly and poor voters. Fortunately, a number of important lower court rulings blocked the worst of these voting changes from ever going into effect, Lawrence Guyot, a Student Nonviolent enforcing the requirement Coordinating Committee member in Mississippi during the civil rights strug- of the Voting Rights Act that requires states with a history gles of the 1960s recalls his work in of race discrimination in votHattiesburg and the women who assisting to obtain federal “preclearing rights in the last fifty years. Many ance” for any change in voting Americans waited too long at the laws or regulations. This key part of polls and had to overcome unneces- the Act, Section 5, is the component sary voting obstacles, but no one of the law threatened in the Shelby in 2012 experienced anything like County case. the torture endured in 1963 by Mr. Voter suppression laws that were Guyot. Indeed, in Mississippi, the held back by Section 5 rulings this state of Mr. Guyot’s victory, strong year (summarized here) included a African American turnout helped strict Texas ID law, which a threePresident Obama win a surprisingly judge panel found was tantamount to strong 43 percent of the vote. reviving the poll tax, and a shortened At the same time, the voter sup- early voting calendar in Florida that a pression efforts that marred the 2012 Continued on next page election yet again confirmed that

Do ‘stand your ground’ laws put teens in greater danger?

Three shooting deaths in the past week raise questions about whether prank-prone and reckless teens are particularly vulnerable under states’ ‘castle doctrine’ and ‘stand your ground’ laws.

By Patrik Jonsson CMS Staff writer Recent events are raising questions about whether “stand your ground” and “castle doctrine” laws – which offer legal protection to people who hurt or kill someone in self-defense – could disproportionately harm teenagers.

During the past week, three teenagers in states with such laws were shot to death for doing things that, critics of the laws say, teenagers regularly get caught doing.

In Florida, unarmed 17-year-old Jordan Davis was allegedly shot and killed by 40-something Michael Dunn

Ron Davis, the father of Jordan Davis, is embraced as he arrives at the funeral home for the visitation and a memorial service for his son Jordan on Wednesday in Jacksonville, Fla. Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union/AP after an argument about a

loud car stereo outside a con-

venience store.

And in Minnesota, retired State Department employee Byron David Smith allegedly wounded and then killed two teenagers, Haile Kifer and Nicholas Brady, who broke into his house on Thanksgiving, apparently on a hunt for prescription drugs.

This week also saw three teen boys charged with murder in Alabama after their friend, Summer Moody, was shot in April. When a man caught the four breaking into fishing cottages in the MobileTensaw Delta, he allegedly fired a warning shot that killed Summer in what a district attorney called a “tragic accident.” On Wednesday, a grand jury indicted the three

boys, not the man who shot Summer.

“Alabama’s law is not quite like Florida’s stand your ground law, but it is close,” Tommy Chapman, a local district attorney, told The Mobile Press-Register.

Especially in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting in February, castle doctrine and stand your ground laws are under growing scrutiny.

Though they vary by state, the laws are founded on the idea that lawful citizens have no “duty to retreat” from danger in and around their dwelling or even in public. Dozens of states have passed such laws in the past 10 years.

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LAWRENCE GUYOT from page 9

UrbanProWeekly • DECEMBER 6 - 12, 2012

judge found would be akin to “closing polling places in disproportionately African-American precincts.” Equally important, laws that ultimately did “clear,” like South Carolina’s ID law, which was approved for use beginning in 2013, did so because Section 5 made lawmakers more careful to avoid problematic outcomes, as one conservative judge observed.

That is the backdrop for the

effort by conservative legal activists in the Shelby County case to get the Supreme Court to take the teeth out of the Voting Rights Act. Conservatives argue that this iconic law is no longer necessary because the South is a different place today than it was when the law first passed.

That argument gets things exactly backwards. The South is a different place today because of the Voting

STAND YOUR GROUND LAWS from page 9 But critics say the laws could significantly raise the stakes for teenagers engaging in stupid pranks and petty crime.

These new laws “are going to disproportionately result in more consequences to teenagers that are beyond the scope of what the kids were really doing,” says Kathleen Stilling, a former Wisconsin circuit judge and currently a lawyer in Brookfield, Wis. The worry, she adds, is that teenagers doing things “that are not capital offenses end up facing deadly consequences.”

Those dynamics were highlighted by the first test of Wisconsin’s castle doctrine law in April, when a teenager fleeing a party busted by police in Slinger, Wis., hid on an enclosed back porch. The startled homeowner shot the “intruder.” Prosecutors decided not to press charges against the homeowner.

Though there are no data on the impact of stand your ground laws on teenagers, a Texas A&M University study this summer found that homicide rates had risen by an average of 7 to 9 percent in states that enacted such laws. The causes were not clear, but the authors of the study suggested that “perhaps the most obvious form of escalation – and one most commonly cited by critics of castle doctrine law – is that conflicts or crimes that might not have otherwise turned deadly may now do so.”

In Florida, at least, support for stand your ground remains strong. A Quinnipiac poll found that 56 percent of respondents in the state said the law makes society safer. Moreover, a Florida task force convened to look at the law in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting said last week that the law may need minor tweaks but is, on the whole, sound.

Trayvon, an unarmed black teen, was shot to death by a community

watch volunteer, igniting nationwide protests. His parents are calling for stand your ground laws to be repealed or changed to better protect teenagers.

For Ms. Stilling, the main problem is expanding the scope of the these laws beyond the home.

“When you’re talking about the sidewalk immediately outside your house, it seems to me that’s going to be an area where there’s a higher potential for kids, perhaps naughty but innocent of any destructive intent, could end up,” she says. Just talking to teenagers reveals stories “about underage drinking parties, or ‘Risky Business’ parties, and how everybody ran from the cops and scattered into surrounding yards, where they could end up in a position to frighten someone.”

In an opinion article for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, she wrote: “I do think that someone needs to tell the kids that the rules have changed.”

If the recent incidents raise concerns about an increased danger to teens, however, they also show that prosecutors retain power to take action against those who, they say, misapply the law.

In Florida, Mr. Dunn has been charged with murder and attempted murder. His lawyer says he will invoke stand your ground in defense.

Dunn claims he saw a shotgun being raised in the back seat of the car.

Neither witnesses nor police report seeing or finding a gun.

In Minnesota, Mr. Smith has been charged with two counts of seconddegree murder. While the initial shootings may have been defensible under Minnesota’s new castle law, prosecutors said, Smith’s decision to shoot the injured teenagers again is likely not covered under the law, since any bodily threat to him had

Rights Act. And the South would have been a different place in 2012 if the Voting Rights Act hadn’t blocked or tempered voter suppression efforts in Florida, Texas and South Carolina.

As we mark the passing of a civil rights warrior who wore his scars proudly, Lawrence Guyot’s story should serve as a reminder of the truly heroic efforts that were necessary to win passage of iconic laws

such as the Voting Rights Act. Mr. Guyot will not be in the courtroom as the Supreme Court takes up Shelby County, but his story should loom over the Court’s deliberations and should lead the Court to affirm, rather than strike down, this iconic and still essential law.

This piece was written with CAC’s Emily Phelps and will be cross-posted on CAC’s blog Text and History.

Smith retains NAACP presidency AUGUSTA The Augusta Branch NAACP held its Bi-Annual Election on Monday, November 26th and reelected Dr. Charles J. Smith, Sr. Smith defeated former NAACP president Dennis Williams 95-31 votes. Smith has worked tirelessly to elevate the branch to the number one membership unit in Georgia. His outstanding leadership has earned them numerous awards and citations from the Georgia State Conference NAACP, Southeast Region NAACP, and national million dollar club and Club 100K awards at national conventions in New York, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Houston Texas.

Smith was recently elected National Convention Credentials Chairman in 2012. He is a two-time recipient of the Medgar Evers Leadership Award for the NAACP Southeast Region in Montgomery, Alabama in 2011 and repeated the honor in 2012 at the NAACP Raleigh-Durham, NC Southeast Region Crati.

The Georgia State Conference NAACP honored him with the 2011

Dr. Charles J. Smith and 2012 Richard Harris Political Action Leadership Award. The Augusta City Classic honored him with the 2012 Lifetime Legacy Award and he is the current Omega Psi Phi Fraternity “State Citizen of the Year.”

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