Posted on 01/28/2003 6:45:31 AM PST by conservativecorner
Why do antiwar contributions go to Mumia Abu-Jamal’s defenders?
two-page advertisement against war in Iraq that appeared in Monday's New York Times directed donors to send money to a foundation that for years has been devoted to the defense of convicted murderer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
The ad, which features an antiwar statement signed by more than 100 well-known Americans, including the actors Ed Asner, Martin Sheen, and Susan Sarandon, writers Kurt Vonnegut, Alice Walker, and Barbara Kingsolver, and musicians Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, and Pete Seeger, was created by the group Not In Our Name, which has purchased similar ads in other papers around the country. A box at the bottom of the ad asks readers to send donations to an organization called the Bill of Rights Foundation. "We suggest a $200 contribution," the ad says, "but all contributions large or small help to make the goal possible." The Bill of Rights Foundation is a New York-based group that has for years devoted nearly all of its funds to the defense of Abu-Jamal, who shot and killed a Philadelphia police officer in 1981. Abu-Jamal's guilt has been upheld during decades of appeals, but his case has become a cause célèbre among some on the Left, who maintain that he was unfairly convicted.
Statements filed by the Bill of Rights Foundation with the Internal Revenue Service for the year 2001, the most recent available, show that the foundation spent a total of $102,152 that year, of which $95,737 went for legal fees (the rest went for assorted administrative expenses). The documents show that $66,874 of that amount went to Leonard Weinglass, who was at the time Abu-Jamal's lead attorney. Abu-Jamal changed lawyers that year, and the documents show the foundation also paid $21,730 to his new lawyer, Marlene Kamish.
Weinglass told National Review Online Monday that the money he received from the foundation was for work on the Abu-Jamal case. Altogether, the foundation paid Weinglass and Kamish $88,604 in 2001.
In the year 2000, the Bill of Rights Foundation listed $75,956 in total expenses, of which $57,722 was for legal fees. The entire amount went to Weinglass for the Abu-Jamal defense.
In 1999, the foundation listed $155,547 in total expenses, of which $139,126 was for legal fees. That amount, too, went to Weinglass for the Abu-Jamal defense.
The Bill of Rights Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charity, which means that all contributions to the foundation — and therefore contributions to Abu-Jamal's legal representation — are fully tax-deductible.
It is not immediately clear what the two causes, Abu-Jamal's legal defense and opposition to a war in Iraq, have to do with each other. In a brief interview, Bill of Rights Foundation president Judith Levin told NRO that "the connection was the violation of civil rights of people in this country." The message on Not In Our Name's answering machine in New York seems to support that contention, saying the group's purpose is "to build resistance to this war, to say no to the detentions and roundups of immigrants, and to stop police-state restrictions."
The Not In Our Name ads have raised a significant amount of money. An article on the group's website says, "Our biggest problem in managing the statement has been keeping up with the deluge of e-mail and checks. Well over 4,000 people have contributed for the publication of the statement, with over $300,000 received so far." A spokesman for Not In Our Name said that money sent to the Bill of Rights Foundation in response to the Times ad will be "used exclusively for the purpose" of publishing the Not In Our Name statement in other publications.
Peace, dude.
Lib'rals...my FRiends...
When will yer hatred disappear?!
Leftists...my bro's...
Help tell Dem zealots, "NEVER HERE!!"
With good intents in their souls...
IGNORANT FOOLS...EVIL Goals!!
Please explain why Clinton Lied!!
But Lib'rals...my FRiends...
'Tis fer FReedom that FReepers Fight!!
Lib'rals...are ignorant...yeah...
Minion DOLTS...put HATE aside!!
Lib'rals...we'll still love ya...
MLK ain't fer gen-o-cide!!
All Left's dreams they were so close...
But they all went up in smoke!!
Let me whisper in Slick's ear,
"Osama...bil Clinton...YOU SHALL BE DETHRONED THIS YEAR!!!"
(Haunting keyboard solo)
So...daughters, gently sleep...
Fer yer futures, Right does FReep!!
Avenge Slick Willie's shameless crimes!!
And soldiers...Our Sons, please just know that "WE ARE RIGHT!!"
'Cuz there's lovin' in our souls...
And there's Honor in our goals!!
Fer yer FReedom we shall fight!!
'Cuz Lib'rals...FReepers love ya, baby...
Everywhere Left looks, they'll fear our Might!!
We won't let DemonRATS git their claws in you...
C'mon FReepers, Join OUR Fight!!
RINOS...LOVE Life!!...Ain't it GOOD to be Alive?!
Sosh'lists...my FRiends...you can't say MUD never tried...
Revised today...MUD
15 posted on 11/16/2002 7:01 AM EST by Mudboy Slim
RATS're Dolts and FReepers Must Educate Dems...MUD
FRY MUMIA
Or......perhaps it's because they a good place to drop of if you want timely arrival? I do that if I have something critical, I go to the Main PO at 30th Street in Philly.
The Trentonian had a story that they knew where it was picked up, at an apartment complex.
Both Trenton and DC offices are just off main highways. Trenton is near I-195 and the NJ TPK. DC is off Route 50 as it leaves DC.
"The tendency for leftists [is] to adopt any and every anti-American, anti-individualism, anti-capitalism position making the rounds and wrap them all up in one huge package deal.
To further add insult to injury the Left then demands its fecal "package" be wrapped up in an American Flag.
Then make you pay for it and take the blame.
bttt
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