New York
College pulls grant for talk by man convicted in cop deaths
BROCKPORT, N.Y. (AP) — A state college withdrew funding Wednesday for an upcoming talk by Jalil Muntaqim, a former Black Panther who was imprisoned for nearly 50 years for killing two New York City police officers.
But the State University of New York College at Brockport said the April 6 event will not be canceled, despite opposition to both the choice of speaker and the portrayal of him on the college’s website as a “political prisoner.”
“Academic freedom allows our faculty to invite guests of their choosing to campus to address our students,” said Chief Diversity Officer Damita Davis in a statement.
Davis said a faculty member was awarded a Promoting Excellence in Diversity Grant to bring Muntaqim, also known as Anthony Bottom, to campus. She said the grant was rescinded after the western New York college “received new information,” and the grant program itself has been suspended pending a review and revision of the application process.
Bottom, a former member of the Black Liberation Army, a violent offshoot of the Black Panther Party, was convicted in the 1971 killings of officers Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini. Both were shot multiple times after responding to a report of a domestic dispute at a Harlem public housing complex on May 21, 1971.
Prosecutors said it was a trap set by Bottom and a co-defendant.
Bottom was paroled in 2019.
The April 6 program titled: “History of Black Resistance, U.S. Political Prisoners & Genocide: A Conversation with Jalil Muntaqim,” is described on the public college’s website as “an an intellectual conversation on his time with the Black Panthers and serving nearly 50 years as a political prisoner.”
The event listing describes Bottom’s capture “during a midnight shoot-out with San Francisco Police,” but does not mention the slain New York City officers.
The description is followed by a disclaimer from the college: “Editors Note: SUNY Brockport does not endorse the characterization of this event.”
The president of New York City’s police union tweeted that it was not enough to pull funding, and called for the college to cancel the lecture.
“Removing funding from this celebration of a cop-killer is the absolute minimum @Brockport could do. They did not need ‘new information’ to come to this decision — Muntaqim’s murderous history is no secret,” said Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch.
New Hampshire
Settlement fund for youth center victims advances to Senate
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A $100 million settlement for sexual and physical abuse claims at a state-run youth detention center was approved by the New Hampshire House on Wednesday, and now heads to the state Senate.
The proposal would create a settlement fund to compensate those who were abused as children at the Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly the Youth Development Center. Victims of sexual abuse would be eligible for payments of up to $1.5 million each, while payments to victims of physical abuse would be capped at $150,000.
“For the first time in decades, the state of New Hampshire has stood up to the plate and said, ‘We are responsible, and we are going to be accountable for righting the wrongs of many, many decades,’” said Rep. Jess Edwards, R-Auburn.
The Manchester center has been the target of a criminal investigation since 2019, and 11 former workers were arrested in April. Nearly 450 former residents have sued the state, with allegations involving more than 150 staffers from 1963 to 2018.
The Republican-led House rejected amendments offered by Democrats that would have increased the cap on individual payments for sexual abuse to $4.5 million and would have allowed claims based on emotional abuse.
“If you make the scope too big, your project is going to fail,” Edwards said in arguing against expanding the settlement to include emotional abuse. “It’s messy and would open up the settlement fund beyond what we’re ready to do initially.”
Rep. Katherine Rogers, D-Concord, a former prosecutor, said multi-million dollar jury awards would be likely if victims take their cases to trial instead.
“If we want plaintiffs to come to the table, we must be realistic about the logical and likely financial risks,” said Rogers.
Rep. Patrick Long, D-Manchester, offered another argument in favor of broadening the bill’s scope, and possibly the amount awarded.
“Although the appropriation is an extremely large allocation, I’m reminded of the tax dollars that went toward the perpetration of these acts,” he said.
The state currently spends $13 million a year to operate the 144-bed facility, though the typical population now is about a dozen teens. The two-year budget signed in June included a mandate to close it by March 2023.
Kentucky
State Supreme Court to hear arguments over ballot question
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A challenge to Marsy’s law is among cases that will be heard this week by the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Justices will hear arguments in four cases on Wednesday and Thursday in their chambers at the Capitol, a statement from the Administrative Office of the Court said.
The cases include one that questions whether the ballot question for Marsy’s Law was legally sufficient. Voters approved the amendment, which called for adding a series of crime victims’ rights to Kentucky’s Constitution, in 2020.
Three other cases that deal with a variety of law issues will be heard. The court proceedings are open to the public and can be viewed virtually.
Ohio
Criminal law debate focuses on inmates early release
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Early release options for inmates would expand by increasing the maximum amount of credit prisoners may earn for taking in-prison programming from 8% to 15% of their sentence, under a debated update to Ohio’s criminal justice laws.
Providing an incentive for taking programming would positively reinforce rehabilitation and give inmates hope of leaving sooner by putting the work in, Kevin Werner, policy director at the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, told the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, according to Gongwer News Service.
Ohio prosecutors oppose the concept, saying Ohio is releasing inmates sooner and sooner without regard for public safety. The measure also doesn’t offer protection for the rights of victims and chips away at truthful sentencing, said Louis Tobin, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.
A related proposal in the 1,792-page legislation would allow Ohio prison officials to grant early release to certain short-time inmates without judges’ input.
