7/31/2019 Wednesday Watch on Injustice, Edition 63 (08!08!2012)

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WednesdayWatchOn InjustIceBill BastukPresident ICH/Y

Dannielle HilleCommunications Coordinator

Jeffrey DeskovicEditor

YOUYOUITCOULD HAPPENTOYOU!

Federal Legislation Proposed to Protect Witnesses

Past Wednesday Watch articles have discussed how faulty witness identification practices and the

inability to produce credible witnesses may result in an innocent individual being falsely charged and

convicted of a crime. Furthermore the true perpetrator often remains free and may commit other serious

crimes including murder. One reason why a witness may be unwilling to come forward after a crime is the

fear of retaliation.

It Could Happen to You acknowledges the recent effort by US Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) with a

recently proposed law. The State Witness Protection Act, co-sponsored by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA),

aims for the first time to make witness intimidation a federal crime and strengthens penalties for those

who attempt to prevent a witness from testifying in a court of law. The proposed legislation would

increase the maximum penalty to 30 years in prison in cases of attempted murder or physical violence

against a witness, and increase the maximum sentence to 20 years in jail for other types of witness

intimidation, like obstruction of justice. (Schumer, 2012)

In many cities there is a strong no-snitch culture in which fear of retaliation inhibits cooperation and

leaves serious crimes unsolved.

For example in Rochester, New York onthe evening of June 8th, a 20-year-old male was shot and killed ina well traveled street in his neighborhood. The police have been stymied by the lack of cooperation of

the people they believe saw the incident but have refused to come forward out of fear of the entrenched

criminal element that operates in the neighborhood. This element routinely intimidates residents from

cooperating with the police. (Schumer, 2012)

Protection for witnesses is crucial to the prosecution of the true perpetrator of a crime and the defense of

the falsely accused.

ClickHEREto read the entire press release by Senator Schumer for the State Witness Protection Act.

Share our Wednesday Watch on Injustice with your family and friends.

Officers- Bill Bastuk- FounderRoseanne Corrigan- Vice President

Steering Committee- Paul LaBarber- Art Directions, Etc. Alice Green- Center for Law and Justice Melanie Trimble- NYCLU

GabrielSayegh- Drug Policy Alliance NYLisa Schreibersdorf- Brooklyn Defender Services Don Thompson- ETKS Defense Pam Booker- Prison Families ofNY

Jeffrey Deskovic- The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation For Justice David Kaczynski- New Yorkers for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Please visit our website at: www.itcouldhappen2you.org and link us to your organization or

personal website.Also dont forget to like us on Facebook(Click Here) to view our page.

08 August 2012vol. 2/No 63

http://www.schumer.senate.gov/Newsroom/record.cfm?id=337427http://www.schumer.senate.gov/Newsroom/record.cfm?id=337427http://www.itcouldhappen2you.org/http://www.itcouldhappen2you.org/http://www.facebook.com/pages/It-Could-Happen-2-You/194726417233051http://www.facebook.com/pages/It-Could-Happen-2-You/194726417233051http://www.facebook.com/pages/It-Could-Happen-2-You/194726417233051http://www.facebook.com/pages/It-Could-Happen-2-You/194726417233051http://www.itcouldhappen2you.org/http://www.schumer.senate.gov/Newsroom/record.cfm?id=337427