Racism in the Philadelphia Justice System

over recent months we have heard alot about Mumia Abu-Jamal and how he was framed by the police in Philadelphia for the Murder of Daniel Faulkner, a young black man that became a target because he was outspoken about the system. I recently heard of yet another case that occurred in 1989 involving 10 young Hispanic men and the tragic death of a white police officers son Sean Daily.

In 1989 in Philadelphia a young Hispanic boy named Raphael Droz was in love with a young white girl who lived in the Port Richmond area, after a break up Raphael went over to see the young girl to collect a necklace, whilst in that part of town Raphael was set upon by a mob of White youth who proceeded to attack and Beat young Raphael. he managed to escape the violent attack and ran as fast as he could. Whilst running away Raphael happened upon a Police Officer so he proceeded to explain that he had just been assaulted, beaten by a mob of young people and asked for assistance instead the Police Officer told Raphael that he was in the "Wrong place at the wrong time" and refused to assist him and sent him on his way.

The inaction of the Police Officer in this case Led to Raphael feeling helpless and him making a decision that would see one teenager Dead and the lives of 10 others destroyed. Raphael took matters into his own hands to exact "payback" against those that had assaulted him and on the 20th of May 1989 Raphael and the others went looking for the mob of youth that had assaulted him. They found them.

The youth that had attacked Raphael Ran leaving Sean Daily unaware of what had happened, Unknown to the young Hispanic boys that Sean was not involved in the original attack on Raphael he was beaten to the ground and a shot rang out the bullet striking Sean Daily in the back who later died from his injuries. the young Hispanic boys then left.

The police began rounding up Young Hispanic boys taking them in, some were beaten and had no representation present during "questioning" they were interrogated for hours on end and abused by the police until they were either cleared or they confessed. an African American boy by the name of James Saunders admitted to firing the shot that killed Sean Daily and he along with 4 Hispanic boys were charged with first degree murder, Raphael Droz, Juan Gonzalez, Alexis Rodriguez and James Martinez.

Nobody denies that what happened to Sean Daily is a tragedy, a young life lost to violence, but what happened next leaves me speechless, a judge that held lawyers "hostage" and an entire community shaken to its core.

10 young boys were charged with the death of Sean Daily 5 of them with the lesser charge of third degree murder, the other 5 with first degree murder, Prior to any real investigation it was decided to charge the 5 as a capital crime forcing the decision that the boys all be tried as adults and facing the death penalty, this is significant because two of them were juveniles at the time James Martinez and Juan Gonzalez were both 17 years of age when they were arrested and charged. and those of you who know me will recall I strongly believe that anyone under the age of 18 should NEVER be charged as an adult.

when the Philly 5 went to trial the judge that presided over the case was none other then Lynn Abrahams the now DA of Philadelphia, at the time she was also running for election when she was on the bench in the Sean Daily Murder case, to make an example of these young men would improve her chances of election, and she was right.

During jury selection for the trial the prosecutor began striking potential jurors that were minorities (African American) without raising question from the judge, when defense attorney's called the Batsons challenge (in order to have the prosecutor explain why he was striking the potential jury members) Lynn Abrahams attacked the defense attorneys stating that she "She would no longer tolerate this nonsense, and told them if Batsons was raised once more then she would move the trial to a jurisdiction where there are no Blacks".

One trial attorney after leaving the judges chambers stated that he was intending to report Lynne Abrahams for her tactics however for an unknown reason this never happened.

Members of the Latino community wore green ribbons in support of the boys (the color green is a symbol of hope within the Latino community) Lynn Abrahams ordered the removal of the ribbons as she would not tolerate voodoo in her courtroom. with her blatant disregard for the traditions of the Hispanic culture and her disregard for the law how was it that these boys received a fair trial. at no time did the Hispanic people call for the release of the boys all they asked for was Justice be served and still 5 young men sit behind a concrete wall for 19 years they have sat there asking to be heard.

Each appeal that these five young men file is blocked Lynn Abrahams has made sure of that, no one seems to have the courage to take her on, well miss Abrahams I do.

I say to you that when you use racist tactics in order to further your political career, you sentence young men including 2 children to life without the possibility of parole in order to gain an advantage in an election. and you insult an entire culture just to feel superior. and then you have the audacity to call it justice.

I ask you Miss Abrahams if these boys were not Hispanic or African American would they still be behind that wall, if the victim was Hispanic and the boys white would they still be behind that wall, I doubt it. in other trials similar to the case of the Philly Five where the victim was a minority either Hispanic or African American the sentencing was very different. this is shown in the case of Stephen Crespo.

Stephen Crespo was beaten to death in 1989 with a tire iron by Francis "Buzz" Scullin in the Mantura Township, Scullin stated "YEAH I KILLED THAT SPIC" his sentence for that was 5 years probation for the bashing murder of a Hispanic boy. vastly different then the sentences of LWOP given to the 5 Philly boys.

in 1989 Yusef Hawkings (an African American boy) Beaten to death by a mob of white youth, in 1991 Freddie Adams was beaten to death by a mob of white youth and in 1994 the beating death of Eddie Polac on the steps of St Celia Church in the fox chase section of Philly made national headlines. in all of these cases the perpetrators did not receive Life sentences.

The young men in prison for the murder of Sean Daily pose no threat to society, they have families and people that love them. 19 years is long enough its time to let them be heard.