Monday, October 22, 2007

Leonard Peltier Holiday Gift Drive


Leonard Peltier Holiday Gift Drive
The Lakota People have four values to live by: bravery, wisdom, generosity, and fortitude. Generosity (Wacantognaka) is essential to a Lakota. It is better to give a lot than to have a lot. The best way to honor people is through giveaways (otuhan) where the givers share much of what they have with others, sometimes giving away everything in their possession. Leonard Peltier offers all his supporters an opportunity to give something back and honor the Lakota people. He respectfully requests your help making these holidays a little brighter and this winter a little warmer for the children at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Please send new toys, coats, socks, shoes, clothing, to:
Leonard Peltier Holiday Gift Drive
C/O LPDC
3800 N. Mesa
#A2
El Paso, Texas 79902
Note: The Leonard Peltier Support Group of New Mexico ( LPSG) and the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee will be delivering the gifts to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation by December 24, 2007.

Please click here for Leonard Peltier Holiday Gift Drive Flyer:
Respectfully,
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
Leonard Peltier New Mexico Support Group ( LPSG)
Contact info:
Phone: 570-524-0749

posted by Leonard @ 9:51 AM  

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Leonard Peltier Legal Update- October 2007- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit

On October 9, 2007, the Leonard Peltier legal team, Ron Kuby and David Pressman filed a reply brief with the United States Courts of Appeals for the Eight Circuit.

Defendant-Appellee (“ the Government”) continues to categorically insist that there is no degree of governmental misconduct toward a FOIA litigant that could cause a court to "question the good faith of the agency,” Cox v Department of Justice, 576 F2d 1302, 1312( 8 Cir.1978) unless the litigant can prove misconduct in the FOIA proceedings themselves. The Government’s assertion that it can wave away its sordid history of proven FBI and prosecutorial misconduct toward Peltier with a “ what have we done to you lately” nonchalance rests entirely on the Government’s own insistence.
More significantly, the Government conflates Peltier’s lengthy, documented, proven history of the most serious governmental misconduct with some fanciful, gauzy grievance made by some hypothetical litigant. The Government again demonstrates that it does not now, nor has it ever, taken seriously any of the courts that have admonished it about the treatment of Leonard Peltier. It has been proven that the FBI withheld exculpatory evidence, manufactured inculpatory evidence that it knew to be false, coerced witnesses and engaged in an over reaction to Wounded Knee sufficiently grave to cause a Senior Judge of this Court to opine that the Government shares responsibility for the firefight that led to the death of the two FBI agents. The Government has shown no solicitude for the enormous" burden on the judiciary” that its own malfeasance has caused.

Please click here for copy of reply brief for the United States Courts of Appeals for the Eight Circuit. ( filed Oct 9, 2007) :

posted by Leonard @ 9:45 PM  

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Condolences for Vernon Bellecourt's Family

Leonard Peltier and the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee extend our condolences to the Bellecourt Family. Vernon died Saturday, October 13, 2007 at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, Minnesota, surrounded by his friends and family.

Vernon Bellecourt, whose Objibwe name (WaBun-Inini) means Man of Dawn was a member of Minnesota’s White Earth Band and was an international spokesman for the AIM Grand Governing Council based in Minneapolis. He was 75. In recent years, Bellecourt had been active in the fight against American Indian nicknames for sports teams as president of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media. He was arrested in Cleveland during the 1997 World Series and again in 1998 during protests against the Cleveland Indian’s Mascot, Chief Wahoo. Charges were dropped for the first time and he was never charged on the second case.

A Celebration of Vernon’s Life to be held on Monday, October 15, 2007 at All Nations Indian Church,1515 E 23rd Street, Minneapolis, MN 55404.

Wake to be held on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at the Circle of Life School, White Earth Reservation, MN.

Burial will be Wednesday Morning, October 17, 2007 at White Earth Reservation, MN

Respectfully,
Leonard Peltier
Toni Zeidan, Co-director- Leonard Peltier Defense Committee

posted by Leonard @ 4:53 PM