Another Black Boy is Headed to Prison: No Counsel © By Alton H. Maddox, Jr. Fortunately for Antwon Murphy, he had attended Freedom Retreat for Boys and Girls. If he had not attended this African-centered, sleep-away, summer camp in the Catskill Mountains and had not been exposed to rigorous instructions in constitutional law and legal history in addition to trial practice, he would probably be going upstream without a paddle. Even though the prosecutors office in DeKalb County, Georgia has retaliated against him for not being ignorant of the law, Murphy realizes that, under the law and under an adversarial system of justice, he owes the police zero. Since slaves refuse to learn the law but insist on staying in the United States, this has become a dilemma. Back to Africa is an undesirable choice. These survival skills were lacking in the Central Park 7 and parents and Black selected officials refuse to demand them even though the lack of them constitute a pipeline to the prison-industrial complex in a society which refuses to give Black children a second chance. This should be part of any legislative agenda. Judge Courtney Johnson, a former prosecutor, conducted a preliminary/bail hearing on April 16, 2013. While the state may have argued that Murphy had exhibited a weapon in defense of his sister, no evidence exists to prove its arguments. The judge was also wrong in excluding the testimony of an exculpatory witness and for throwing another witness out of the courtroom because his testimony was not beneficial to the state. When the judge realized that the state lacked proof of any crime, she refused to dismiss the accusatory instrument. Instead, she has become an arm of the prosecutors office. The judge has even refused to grant bail and is retaliating against Murphy for knowing the law and for exercising his constitutional rights under the Fifth Amendment. He will remain behind bars until he pleads guilty. No one will file a writ of habeas corpus for him. New York has also harmed Black children by denying to them a committed attorney. This has harmful ramifications in Georgia. Freedom Retreat for Boys and Girls was established twenty years ago because of the wrongful convictions in the Central Park 7. While other organizations knew or should have known that our children are ill-prepared for warrantless and unconstitutional police confrontations, they kept quiet. It is unusual for a Black boy in 2013 to know of his constitutional rights. Law enforcement personnel had arrested Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. in the same county on or about October 20, 1960. Blacks in law enforcement are now enforcing white supremacy laws. The only thing that has changed in DeKalb County since 1960 is the face of white supremacy. If UAM had sought private funding, it could have never carried out its mission and many UAM members would have already been arrested on trumped-up charges for misusing the funds of whites. History has shown that whites will never finance our liberation. Nonetheless, some Blacks will eat the kings tainted meat in order to do his bidding. Murphy, who had attended Morehouse College, comes from a big family. His mother sought to retain an attorney but the asking price is Twenty-thousand Dollars minimum. There is no Alton Maddox in Georgia but Blacks in New York are unwilling to recognize the personal sacrifices he made in order for a fractured people to be seen as whole. A Black judge told me that New York would be ready to reinstate me to the practice of law if I would disassociate myself from my people. He would guarantee it. White judges had already told him the condition for reinstatement. For me, this would be an exercise in futility, however. This was Oprah Winfreys problem in Europe. This is no excuse for Blacks to refuse to honor collective work and responsibility but slavery is also at work as a mental barrier. When Rev. Al Sharpton was speaking for countless, potential, UAM members in July 1988, about establishing a resistance organization, I told him that it was impossible for slave-minded Negroes to form and operate a political organization of any kind. There would never be collective work and responsibility or any empathy for the problems of others. This is beyond the ken of slaves. I correctly predicted that Rev. Sharpton would be the first person to leave UAM. He got hat on January 12, 1991. Rev. Sharpton genuinely loves white people including the white man who nearly took his life. On the other hand, he has serious doubts about Blacks. I saved his life at great personal sacrifice. He hates me with a passion. This is a problem with Blacks in a political organization. It is a problem of ethics and serving two masters. Go figure. The U.S. Constitution forbids any legislator from filing a disciplinary complaint against an attorney. White members of the New York Legislature filed a disciplinary complaint against me in 1989. In the Scottsboro Boys case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the right of representation belongs to the people and not to an attorney. This was eight decades ago. This is a complex problem for Blacks. No one will use this decision to argue for my reinstatement to the practice of law. I have never been disbarred from the practice of law. Like all other attorneys, New York requires that I pay bar fees because I am a licensed attorney. The New York Legislature insists that I must never represent a client in any courtroom in New York even though I am licensed to practice law. This is called might makes right. It is the underlying basis for the slave codes. New York has insisted that Georgia and Pennsylvania follow suit. There is a difference between a right and a license which is personal. Despite all of my pro bono work for my people, I have been unable to find one Black person who will stand up for his or her own right of representation and will practice reciprocity. Slaves refuse to respect collective work and responsibility. They will even turn a political organization into a plantation. It means that all Blacks in New York obviously support Dred Scott. When I was practicing law, I would demand that whites respect even our most “minute rights. This was my strong suit. Many Blacks saw this first-hand especially in Dutchess County and in Kings County. Obviously, this has meant nothing to slaves. Ethically, reciprocity does not exist in the Black community. This is fatal. No one can help us if we refuse to enforce our own personal rights. President Barack Obama is giving us the finger while he and the First Lady are enjoying the good life. He knows that Black men want other men to defend their rights. It will never happen. He will never enforce them either. Rights are personal to a people. They must defend them. Ask Bob Marley. This is the true meaning of civil (silver) rights. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed one hundred fifty years ago. We were never socialized to respect each other or to have each others back after we vacated slave quarters. The master-servant relationship remains intact. There is no other relationship. This is the cause of our continued enslavement. The white man has a monopoly on this relationship. We are disrespected because we refuse to defend our rights. If a man has nothing to die for, he has no reason to live. Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. was a philosopher. Malcolm X was a philosopher. When it comes to dying, philosophers will not give an inch. Philosophers framed the U.S. Constitution. It is here for the long haul.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 20:54:46 +0000
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