Oakland - Santiago de Cuba Sister City
Update on Legal Threat to IFCO and Rev. Lucius Walker
Thank you for the tremendous support in the courtroom on Tuesday,
September 23rd.. The presence of almost 50 people made an impression
on the Special Commissioner and the court. Rev. Walker was
represented by IFCO attorney Linda Backiel and Palyn Hung of the
NYCLU, who appeared before Acting Supreme Court Justice Judith
Gische.
This is an update on the effort by the Special Commission of
Investigation for the New York School District (SCI) to punish Rev.
Lucius Walker while SCI alleges that they are investigating
misconduct by school personnel in relation to travel to Cuba, they
have only issued subpoenas to Rev. Walker and IFCO.
Following the subpoena, Rev. Walker was interrogated by SCI
attorneys. However, SCI refuses to give a copy of the transcript of
the interrogation to either the judge in this case or to IFCO
attorneys. They have a motion pending to hold Rev. Walker in
contempt. They are also attempting to "seal" the transcript or at
the least to redact names from the transcript.
The September 23rd court appearance was for the lawyers on both
sides to argue the issue of redaction. No conclusion was reached.
The SCI is firm in its refusal to provide a copy of the transcript
to IFCO and the judge.
The mandate of SCI is to investigate misconduct by school personnel.
How going on a private trip during spring break qualifies as"misconduct" escapes our understanding.
Why is SCI trying to railroad this case forward? What exactly are
they so determined to keep secret?
We see these actions as an attack on the whole movement. We saw
evidence of this in the courtroom on September 23rd. We were
heartened by the number and diversity of supporters in the courtroom
on. Your presence sends a strong signal to the other side that we
are watching.
At the hearing, the Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI) for
the New York City Department of Education (DOE) continued to
squander extraordinary time and expense to harass IFCO and Rev.
Walker. This is a clear indication that the U.S. government is
desperately trying stop travel to Cuba, and is taking aim at our
constitutional right to travel.
For the past 20 years, IFCO has asserted that the U.S. blockade of
Cuba is immoral and has consistently defended the right to travel to
Cuba for all U.S. citizens. The purpose of this entire court
proceeding according to SCI is "to punish Lucius Walker for contempt
of court; such punishment may consist of a fine or imprisonment or
both."
We applaud the curiosity and enthusiasm of students who want to
travel to Cuba. Rather than going to Cancun for spring break and
engaging in risky behaviors, more young people should visit Cuba.
They would have an amazing opportunity to discover the Cuban people
and their culture, without all of the bellicose mis-information
emanating from the Bush administration.
Your continued support is keeping the pressure on SCI. Together, we
have to let SCI know that there is broad public opposition to this
attempt at legal lynching.
At the end of the September 23rd proceeding the judge left the next
court date open ended. She even suggested that the SCI might
consider dropping the contempt charges against Lucius Walker before
any more decisions are made. If the SCI continues to harass IFCO and
Rev. Walker we can be certain your support will be needed once again.
IFCO/PASTORS FOR PEACE
418 W 145th Street, New York, NY 10031
tel: 212.926.5757 - fax: 212.926.5842 - email: ifco@igc.org
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