Hello, my name is Omar Askia Ali AKA Edward Sistrunk. Uh, my topic is the Philadelphia new DA.
It is understood that a prosecutor has a higher calling than just to win. He or she has a duty to do justice. Therein the new DA in Philadelphia is living up to the highest standard of what a DA is supposed to be.
As soon as the new progressive DA Larry Krasner took office, he appointed Patricia Conley as chief of the new Conviction Integrity Unit, which is just one of his pledges for sweeping reforms to the criminal justice system.
He removed thus far 32 former assistant DAs from his office and made the court of public opinion aware of a list of tainted police officers who are part of the reason Philadelphia locks up more people per capita than any other big city in the nation and Philadelphia has been sued repeatedly for prison overcrowding. See Philadelphia magazine series April 2017 at phillymag.com.
Subsequent evidence showed that the DA office has manipulated the jury selection process as to get an all-white jury, which is an old draconian premeditated [inaudible] scheme that is synonymous to a hi-tech lynching.
Recognizing the nature of this tactic, the United States Supreme Court in several rulings over the last 40 years have outlawed the practice in the succession of cases. However, instead of adhering to these precedents, prosecutors nationwide, that repackaged the tactic in order to circumvent the high court’s precedence and render it impotent.
What the court of public opinion has to understand is overcrowded prisons is a businessman’s dream, because crowded prisons mean a stationary clientele to sell all sorts of goods. Prison stock is traded on Wall Street. Prison-based gerrymandering is another illegal scheme.
See www.prisonersofthecensus.org or contact Peter Wagner at www.prisonpolicy.org. Thank you very much.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
![Prison Radio is sharing an abbreviated version of a press release covering recent racist incidents at SCI Rockview in PA and the organizing to demand accountability. We are reaching out to people incarcerated at Rockview as well as recently transferred folks, inviting them to call, in hopes of hearing commentaries from them.
Benner Township, PA.-
On November 24th, 2023, imprisoned people at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for many prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hung, they were told it was a joke.
By December 4th, prisoners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates" and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Captain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance.
The sergeant and COs are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions...
As of March 10th, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending 100 copies of the grievance. Copies of the letter also were mailed to Governor Shapiro, Senator Fetterman, Senator Street, and various advocacy groups. The demands for relief in the original grievance have now become the platform of demands for this campaign. About 20 of the 100 letters were withheld by the prison.
Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, flooding the phone lines of DOC offices, assisting with outreach to media, and circulating the stories of prisoners who have found unity in opposition to the facility's virulent institutional racism.
In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, Nicki Paul, the superintendent's assistant and "grievance coordinator" informed the public that they self-investigated their staff and found they did nothing wrong.
Read the full article at i
https://conta.cc/4ayDxlB](https://www.prisonradio.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)