News
Inmates
Willie Best, a one-time District of Colum-
bia drug dealer whose sentence was already
slashed under past crack guideline changes,
had an additional month taken off and is due
out in 2016.
Prosecutors in 2008 said Best helped run a
drug-dealing organization, shot at someone
he believed had stolen from him and, after
fleeing as warrants were served, was found
in a stolen car with an assault rifle and other
guns.
His lawyer described him as the product
of a troubled, impoverished upbringing.
And Best, in an interview from prison,
called himself a loving father who bears no
resemblance to his past self.
“It’s been a long time coming. Eight years
is a long time,” he said. “I came in one way.
I’m coming out another.”
Guidelines set by the U.S. Sentencing
Commission offer recommended minimum
and maximum terms for federal crimes.
The independent commission voted last
year to reduce ranges for drug offenses, then
applied those changes to already-impris-
oned convicts.
Since then, prisoners have sought relief
from judges, who can reject those they
consider to be public safety threats. About
three-quarters of requests had been granted
as of August.
The first wave is due around Nov. 1, and
most of those getting early release are al-
ready in halfway houses or under home con-
finement. Others will be released to immi-
gration authorities for eventual deportation.
Though the commission has repeated-
ly tinkered with the guidelines, including
narrowing the disparity between crack and
powder cocaine sentences that resulted in
disproportionately long penalties for blacks
defendants, the latest revision is its most
sweeping because it covers all drug types.
The commission delayed implementation
by a year to allow judges time to review
requests and weed out inappropriate can-
didates and to arrange for defendants to be
moved to halfway houses.
“Nothing to date comes close to what
this shift is likely to produce over the next
decade or so, starting this year,” said Marc
...a modest dialing-
back of punishments
that were too harsh to
begin with and wouldn’t
be imposed today
Mauer of the Sentencing Project, an advo-
cacy group.
The action, along with an Obama admin-
istration clemency initiative and directives
against mandatory minimum sentences, is
part of a national effort to rethink punish-
ments for a drug offender population that
comprises roughly half the federal inmate
count.
New bipartisan legislation in the Senate
aimed at reducing spending on a prison sys-
tem that sucks up nearly one-third of the
AP PHOTO/ALEX BRANDON
continued from page 1
In this Sept. 16, 2015, photo, Kenneth Evans holds a composite of photographs
of his son Tuan Evans, as he poses for a photograph at his home in Temple
Hills, Md. Drug criminals once described by prosecutors as unrepentant repeat
offenders are among those poised to benefit from new sentencing guidelines
that are shrinking punishments for thousands of federal prisoners, according to
an Associated Press review of court records. Tuan Evans is scheduled for early
release from prison, the result of new sentencing guideline ranges that trim pun-
ishment lengths for convicted drug criminals.
Justice Department budget would give judg-
es greater sentencing discretion and ease
penalties for nonviolent criminals. House
lawmakers are also expected to unveil crim-
inal justice legislation this week.
Supporters call the commission’s move,
which would on average pare two years
from sentences and in many cases just
months, a modest dialing-back of punish-
ments that were too harsh to begin with and
wouldn’t be imposed today.
Research shows “longer lengths of stay
cost taxpayers a tremendous amount but
don’t add any additional crime-control
value,” said Adam Gelb, a Pew Charitable
Trusts criminal justice expert.
But absent foolproof formulas, judges are
grappling with balancing cost against public
safety.
Though some released early will reoffend,
most will not, statistically speaking, said
Ohio State law professor Doug Berman.
After the incident, in advance of his
speech in Portland, Sanders met with ac-
tivists in Portland. Hillary Clinton also had
a well-publicized meeting with a different
chapter. The movement has yet to endorse
any presidential candidate. Cullors said
there hasn’t been a candidate willing to go
beyond courting and
lip-service.
“The reality is that
we do not have a can-
didate who is saying
‘Black Lives Matter’
and actually meaning
it,” she said. “We don’t have a candidate that
is saying they are going to develop a Black
agenda, that’s going to look at poor Black
communities. We don’t have that candidate
yet.”
The backlash is part of the growing pains
that often accompany a mass popular move-
ment. The group talked about having more
influence because of the size of the move-
ment, but noted they also dealt with more
personal attacks.
Alyssa Pagan described being harassed on
the Portland State University campus for her
work, which has included efforts to disarm
campus security officers at PSU.
Another big concern was the co-opting of
the phrase “Black Lives Matter.” Pagan said
people regularly scream at her, “All Lives
Matter.” This appropriation can be seen in
“White Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Mat-
ter” variations as well as “Christian Lives
Matter,” which was used after the Umpqua
Community College mass shooting.
During the same week of Cullors’ vis-
it, the Portland Police Association and the
labor union that represents police in Port-
land, paid for a billboard that read “Hav-
ing Enough Police Matters.” The billboard
is part of a campaign to pressure the city
to hire more police officers, and is located
across the street from a downtown church
with a “Black Lives Matter” banner.
Cullors addressed these concerns with
a calm reserve. She said left-leaning poli-
tics has long been too White, too male and
too middle class, effectively marginalizing
Black concerns. She urged activists to work
closely with their lawyers. She also made a
plea to foundations to fund groups that are
working on criminal justice reforms.
She acknowledged the Black Lives Matter
movement and slogan is always in danger
of being co-opted by outside influences. She
asked the activists to focus on doing good,
smart, engaged work that benefits all Black
lives.
“Only in my dreams would I imagine
we’d have a movement that would bring
this many Black people together,” she said.
“The fact that this is happening with all of
its contradictions is powerful and beautiful
and must be celebrated.”
protected like everyone else.”
The city called the intelligence gathering
an appropriate and legal anti-terrorism tactic
plaintiffs to see if they can prove their case.”
A senior NYPD official testified in 2012
that the demographics unit at the heart of the
program never gen-
erated any leads or
triggered a terrorism
investigation, but for-
mer Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, former
police Commissioner
Raymond Kelly and other officials have said
the surveillance helped the nation’s largest
police department identify and thwart terror
plots.
Current police Commissioner William
Bratton disbanded the unit last year and re-
assigned its detectives.
Officials said a review concluded the
same information could be better collect-
ed through direct contact with community
group.
During oral arguments in January, the ap-
pellate panel questioned whether police had
any specific leads to justify surveillance of
Muslim businesses, mosques and student
groups in New Jersey from 2002 to at least
2012.
The city argued that any injuries suffered
by Muslims were “self-imposed, based on
subjective fears” that may have led them to
avoid gathering with other Muslims after
the 9/11 attacks.
A city lawyer told the appeals court that
the plaintiffs couldn’t simply infer the intent
of the program was discriminatory.
The Muslim plaintiffs — including a
grade school principal and members of the
Muslim Student Association at Rutgers Uni-
versity — wanted the lawsuit revived in part
so they could learn more about the program.
Cullors
continued from page 1
rattles around here,” Gary-Smith said. “We
have evidence of shootings in Portland that
could rival cities with significantly more
people of color.”
The group discussed Black Lives Matter’s
disruptive tactics. Cullors said her chapters
are encouraged to sit and talk with mayors,
‘The reality is that we do not have a
candidate who is saying ‘Black Lives
Matter’ and actually meaning it’
police union leaders and chiefs of police,
but disrupting political events and holding
public protests are useful actions as well.
The movement received backlash after
activists interrupted a rally for presiden-
tial candidate Bernie Sanders. Cullors said
Black Lives Matter lost some support from
White, left-leaning progressives.
Court
continued from page 1
The appeals court said the attempt to
blame the AP was akin to saying, “What you
don’t know can’t hurt you. And, if you do
know, don’t shoot us. Shoot the messenger.”
The lawsuit revived Tuesday was among
legal actions that followed reports by the
AP that revealed how city police infiltrated
Muslim student groups, put informants in
mosques and otherwise spied on Muslims
as part of a broad effort to prevent terrorist
attacks.
The reporting was honored with a Pulitzer
Prize.
Plaintiff Farhaj Hassan said he was “ex-
tremely ecstatic” about the court’s decision.
“I’m very happy we will get our day in
court,” said Hassan, a U.S. Army sergeant
who served in Iraq. “Muslim-Americans
were the innocent community in this matter,
and lo and behold their civil rights should be
The city argued that any injuries
suffered by Muslims were ‘self-
imposed, based on subjective fears’
and said it never spied on people or busi-
nesses solely because they were Muslim.
Such a practice would be contrary to its
values, a spokesman for the city’s Law De-
partment said.
“There’s been no finding by the court that
the NYPD did anything wrong or anything
illegal,” said Lawrence Byrne, the NYPD’s
deputy commissioner for legal matters. “It’s
simply a procedural opportunity for the
October 14, 2015 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 3