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Vol. 82/No. 16 April 23, 2018
Judge stays parole for Herman Bell as NY cops campaign to halt release
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
Twelve days before the scheduled release of former Black Panther Herman
Bell from prison April 17, a state court judge has put Bell’s parole on
hold. The decision comes in response to a lawsuit filed by the
Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association on behalf of Diane Piagentini, widow
of one of the officers killed in 1971.
Bell, 70, along with Albert Washington and Jalil Muntaqim (Anthony
Bottom) were convicted in the 1971 killing of two New York City cops.
Each got a sentence of 25 years to life.
Washington died in prison in 2000. Bell has been incarcerated for over
44 years and was assaulted by prison guards last September.
In early March the parole board on its eighth hearing on Bell’s case
granted him parole. Impacting their decision was a letter to the board
from Waverly Jones Jr., the son of one of the officers killed, urging
Bell’s release. “It would bring joy and peace as we have already
forgiven Herman Bell publicly,” he wrote.
The parole board’s decision was blasted by the cops and editors of the
New York Daily News and New York Post. New York’s liberal Mayor Bill de
Blasio wrote a letter backing the cops, urging the state parole board to
reverse its decision.
The PBA’s lawsuit contends parole board members failed to consider
remarks made by the sentencing judge and prosecutors 43 years ago that
they didn’t think Bell should ever be released from prison. The PBA has
campaigned against Bell’s release at every one of his parole hearings.
Bell’s attorney, Robert Boyle, called the suit frivolous. “The parole
board considered everything they were required under the law to
consider,” Boyle told The Associated Press.
A hearing on the suit is set for April 13 to decide whether to dismiss
the case or allow it to continue. If it’s dismissed, Bell’s stay in
prison will be prolonged for a few more weeks.
Meanwhile, Muntaqim is scheduled for his next parole hearing in June.
The release of Bell and Muntaqim would be an important advance for
prisoners’ rights and political rights.
Related articles:
Florida prison officials back off new moves to censor ‘Militant’
Bail bondsmen use power to jail workers to extort them
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