On January 31st, the New Jersey Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the state’s leading parole case, that of 85-year-old Sundiata Acoli. The oral arguments were recorded and will be released at a later date. Click the link below to view our live-tweeting. The Court will decide if the parole board violated the law by denying Sundiata Acoli’s petition for release. Read the live tweets. Sundiata has been imprisoned since 1973. Despite being eligible for parole since 1993, the parole board has denied Sundiata’s petition for release eight times; each time claiming that he was a substantial risk to public safety. The New Jersey Attorney General argued on behalf of the parole board. In addition to the compelling oral argument given by lead counsel, Bruce Afran, persuasive oral arguments were made by counsel representing three of the seven legal teams that filed amicus briefs last fall to support Sundiata’s release. Four of the seven briefs focus on parole board bias, decision irregularities and judicial oversight. It is believed that Sundiata has received the most supporting amicus briefs in the history of New Jersey. This could be Sundiata’s last chance for freedom after serving nearly 50 years: his health is declining and deteriorating due to early stage dementia, glaucoma and post-COVID-19 complications. We are calling for community members nationwide, allied organizations, and institutions to support the release of Sundiata Acoli by signing and sharing the petition demanding New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy release him immediately. Our new goal is 25,000! Sign the petition at https://campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/bring-sundiata-home Send a Postcard Bring Sundiata Acoli Home! Send a physical postcard to NJ Governor Phil Murphy. It takes less than 2 minutes to fill out the form and WE will send the postcard in the mail. Click the buttons below and share! #BringSundiataHome SEND A POSTCARD

In 2 weeks, on the 36th anniversary of his capture, join the #FreeMutuluNow Campaign for our Black Love in Action for Dr. Mutulu Shakur weekend! We are calling on all those who believe in love, justice & human rights to demand his immediate release.

Kick-off the Black Love in Action for Dr. Mutulu Shakur weekend with our virtual rally on Feb. 11th at 7PM EST. We’re inviting our people to educate, agitate & organize to #FreeMutuluNOW!

Register for all events at https://linktr.ee/FreeMutuluNow or directly at http://bit.ly/BLAWEEKEND

Elder Native activist Leonard Peltier’s continued unjust imprisonment while positive for COVID-19 is a death sentence. Demand his immediate release NOW!

On Tuesday, Feb. 8, call the White House hotline: 202-456-1111 to demand Leonard Peltier’s immediate transfer to an outside hospital and immediate release!
11-3 Tues-Thurs (EST)
Message: www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Tweet at Biden: https://twitter.com/POTUS • https://twitter.com/joebiden

Sign the national petition calling for Leonard Peltier’s hospitalization and freedom

White House Press Secretary Jennifer Psaki was unable to answer Huffington Post reporter Jennifer Bendery’s question on the White House response to demands that Leonard Peltier be immediately released. Obviously, President Biden is not communicating with her about what action he will take. This is an urgent situation, so we must take action now!

Be sure to contact Jennifer Psaki on Monday, February 7, 2022 to demand Leonard’s immediate release: Email: [email protected]; Twitter = @PressSec

Peltier was convicted of aiding and abetting the killing of two FBI agents during a shootout on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975 while a member of the American Indian Movement. He was captured in Canada on Feb. 6, 1976 and illegally extradited to the U.S. based on false affidavits. Leonard has always maintained his innocence and is the longest-held Native American political prisoner in the United States. His lawyer, former federal judge Kevin Sharp, says Peltier’s case was riddled with misconduct, including witness coercion and withholding of exculpatory evidence. Peltier’s health, age and unfair trial make him the perfect candidate for executive clemency. “The legal remedies are no longer available,” says Sharp on Peltier’s case. “Now it’s time for the [Bureau of Prisons] and the president of the United States to fix this and send him home.”

“The big misconception about this is that Leonard Peltier was convicted of shooting two agents. He was not. They had to drop that, because the evidence they had presented that he had shot two agents was false. It was perjury. It was manufactured. So they had to drop that case and come up with a new theory, and that theory was aiding and abetting. And when Leonard talked about not being able to put on his defense, one of the things that Judge Benson said  — when he excluded the evidence related to the misconduct in the reign of terror, was that the FBI is not on trial here. But once he did that, you have to put all of this in context. That’s why Judge Heaney, who was on the 8th Circuit, who heard Leonard’s appeal — and although he upheld the conviction, later came out himself in favor of commuting this sentence — said the federal government has to take responsibility for what happened here. And absolutely, they do. Context matters. But the lack of evidence that this man killed someone also matters. And so it’s time. We’re now 46 years later. We’ve got a 77-year-old man with multiple health issues, and his tribe, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, saying, ‘We will embrace him. Please send him home to us.’ And that’s what I’m asking the president to do: Send him home.”

Organized by (list in formation): NYC Free Peltier • Jericho Movement • ProLibertad Freedom Campaign