Message from Efrén Supporting Call to Action to Abolish Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP) Sentences

"We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly,
affects all indirectly." —Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dear Friends,

I am writing asking you to support a call to action urging people to contact your state legislators and asking them to support the passage of Senate Bills 173-176 which seek to abolish juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) sentences in Michigan.

I am currently constructing a letter to President Obama's transition team and administration encouraging them to ratify the Convention On the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC expressly prohibits the imposition of JLWOP sentences, however, the U.S. has not ratified the treaty.

The CRC was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989 and instituted as international law in 1990. The U.S. signed the treaty with reservations, but is the only remaining country in the world that has not ratified it besides Somalia. Somalia, however, does not have a functioning government.

A couple months ago when asked about the CRC on the campaign trail, President Obama stated, "It is embarrassing to find ourselves in the company of Somalia, a lawless land." He continued, "I will review this and other treaties and ensure that the United States resumes its global leadership in human rights." You can view his response at http://tinyurl.com/auerqp.

I believe President Obama's recent vow to reclaim our "moral high ground" in the world, his commitment to ensure that "transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones" of his administration, and his signing of the Executive Order banning torture to protect the human rights of foreigners abroad, signal that he will also ensure the protection of children's rights at home.

President Obama signed the Executive Order to ensure that the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is adhered to. This same treaty contains provisions which offer protections of juveniles as well. JLWOP sentences constitute a violation of this treaty along with several others, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention On the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination.

If President Obama ratifies the CRC it would become a very strong instrument for citizens to utilize to encourage legislators across the nation to abolish JLWOP sentences.

I will also be urging the Obama administration to ask members of Congress to pass H.R. 4300, a bill introduced by U.S. Representative Robert Scott (D-VA) and co-sponsored by U.S. Representative John Conyers (D-MI) that seeks to abolish JLWOP sentences nationwide. H.R. 4300 is currently pending in the U.S. House of Representatives and can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/aeubfk.

We continue to make progress each day. While it has certainly been a challenging time waiting to hear the Parole Board's recommendation the past 55 days since my public hearing, it has also been a time of prayer, deep reflection, and strengthening of my faith.

I continue to remain strong and focused, working each day to reach out to people who can help us make a difference in the world. Not a day expires that I do not do something to advance our campaign to restore my freedom and abolish the imposition of JLWOP sentences. Thank you for your continued support, and thank you for helping me never lose sight of our enduring spirit to seek justice.

In Solidarity,

Efrén

Click on the following link to view a TIME Committee blog post that contains additional information about pending Senate Bills 173-176, including links to download the bills: http://tinyurl.com/d957sm.

Click on the following link to view information about how to contact your legislators to urge them to support passage of Senate Bills 173-176: http://tinyurl.com/anccbw.

Reviving the Goal of an Integrated Society: A 21st Century Challenge

The newest report in a series of Civil Rights Project (CRP) annual reports on desegregation trends, Reviving the Goal of an Integrated Society: A 21st Century Challenge, points out that it would be wrong to assume that our nation has realized Dr. King's dream and created a society where race no longer matters. In fact, the report concludes the opposite. The U.S. continues to move backward toward increasing minority segregation in highly unequal schools.

The mission of the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at University of California, Los Angeles, is to help renew the civil rights movement by bridging the worlds of ideas and action, to be a preeminent source of intellectual capital within that movement, and to deepen the understanding of the issues that must be resolved to achieve racial and ethnic equity as society moves through the great transformation of the 21st century.

They believe that either the country will learn to deal effectively with the richness of its astonishing diversity or it will lose pace in a globalizing world and decline and divide. Focused research and the best ideas of scholars and leaders from all parts of the country can make a decisive contribution to a renewal of the promise of the civil rights movement.

Please review this report and circulate it widely with others who are concerned about this very important issue.
Reviving the Goal of an Integrated Society

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Only in America: Children Without Parole

"We must use time creatively and forever realize
that the time is always ripe to do what is right."
—Martin Luther King, Jr.—
Monday, January 19, 2009, the University of Michigan Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP) held a workshop at the University of Michigan 23rd Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium to discuss the issue of life without parole (LWOP) sentences for juveniles.

There are currently over 330 people in Michigan prisons serving LWOP sentences for crimes they were accused of committing as children. Nationally that number has exceeded 2,500 people. Shamefully the U.S. stands along as the only country in the world that sentences children to die in prison in violation of several international treaties.

The event drew over 200 people who attended to hear several powerful and moving messages by the panel members which included State Representative Alma Wheeler Smith, Anita Colón, Warden Millie Warren, Monica Jahner, Jerry Moore (reading the testimony of Jerry Lashuay), as well as Efrén's wife and mother.

There was discussion about how juvenile LWOP impacts children in the U.S. nationally, information about how young prisoners are being housed in the Michigan Department of Corrections and programs available to them, what people can do to promote the campaign to abolish juvenile LWOP sentences, and the personal stories of men and women serving LWOP sentences for crimes they were accused of committing as juveniles.

Efrén's wife and and mother spoke about his case and the issue of juvenile LWOP sentences. They were there representing Efrén's family and The Injustice Must End (TIME) Committee to Free Efrén Paredes, Jr.

During her message, Efrén's wife stated, "Life without parole sentences have been characterized as a 'living tomb.' Modern courts have characterized JLWOP as a 'slow death sentence' that is 'equally severe' to a death sentence. Others have described it as a 'virtually hopeless lifetime incarceration' that is '... a denial of hope' that renders "good behavior and character improvement' immaterial and worse, is cancerous to human development.

Efrén's mother added, "Sentences for juvenile offenders should not conclude today what kind of adults these youths will be many years from now. As any parent knows, predicting what teenagers will become by next week, let alone when they are adults, is nearly impossible. That decision should wait until they have reached adulthood and can be assessed more accurately."

After the panelists spoke they fielded several questions from the audience. Information was available for distribution at the end of the workshop regarding juvenile LWOP sentences along with sign-up sheets for writing letters to legislators. Information about Efrén's case and how to support our campaign to free him was also available.

Later that evening one of the panel members, Anita Colón from Pennsylvania, and Efrén, appeared on the Ebling and You radio show on 1320 WILS-AM to discuss the event and juvenile life without parole sentences. Click the play button on the left side of the flash player below to listen to the interview.



A special thanks to the PCAP event organizers, to everyone who attended, and to our friend Jack Ebling for continuing to generate awareness and support for our campaign to free Efrén.

"Three Wise Men" by Arthur Fidel Argomaniz

College essay titled "Three Wise Men" by Arthur Fidel Argomaniz about the imposition of life without parole sentences (LWOP) for juveniles. Included in this must-read article are several references to Efren's writings. It is a powerful example of how Efren continues to help shape the social consciousness of people across the nation through his writings.

Arthur is a McNair Scholar, senior attending the University of Southern California (USC) majoring in sociology. He is also president of MEChA de USC, a member of CCU (Campus and
Community United) and a SAJE (Strategic Action for a Just Economy)
intern.
Three Wise Men by Arthur Argomaniz

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Holiday Message Calling for Healing and Reconciliation from Efren Paredes, Jr.

I want to wish each of you a Happy Holiday Season. I hope you are able to spend time with family and friends and reflect on the gifts you have been blessed to receive and enjoy in your lives throughout the year.

We each have much to be grateful for. Despite the struggles we endure in the vicissitudes of life we continue to persevere and make the best of each moment. We do not allow life to consume us with the weight of its difficulties.

This is a time to think about the birth of Jesus and the lessons he shared with the world. It is a time for healing and growth, and an opportunity to foster understanding and find common ground within the community. In so doing we can eradicate the energies that can erode the human spirit.

The question, "What would Jesus do?" is one question we should frequently ask ourselves as we make decisions in life. If we profess to be followers of Jesus we have a responsibility to pattern our lives after righteous principles.

Adhering to the wisdom of Jesus is not a matter of convenience or personal preference; it is an obligation we must fulfill if we have chosen to be faithful to God.

We are reminded throughout the scripture that withholding forgiveness and promoting divisiveness contravenes the will of God and the lessons taught by Jesus. We only hurt ourselves and deprive ourselves of blessings when we choose to rival the laws designed to keep us perpetually evolving.

We cannot succumb to destructive thoughts or immerse ourselves in a cesspool of negativity. There is no place in our lives for hatred and evil. They are the antithesis of life and can only serve to accelerate the demise of humanity.

It is my belief that healing can occur in the community I departed from 20 years ago and in the lives of those who have been deeply affected by the tragic death and loss of one of the community's finest members, Rick Tetzlaff.

I ask that everyone keep Rick's family and my family in your prayers. Ask God to bless us all with healing and ask Him to help our families seek reconciliation. Our families have suffered far too long and I am calling on rational minds to help us all begin the healing process.

As long as we remain polarized others will continue to inject their personal agendas into our lives and seek to keep us divided. Prosecutors and police involved in my case seeking to promote and protect their careers and reputations have no role in how our families move forward with our lives.

They have not suffered the anguish we have and they espouse callous views, reject the notion of redemption, and condemn forgiveness. These are not principles that any civilized and God-fearing society should celebrate.

My continued imprisonment will not erase anyone's pain, nor will it allow our families to heal. It will only exacerbate the pain and serve as a constant reminder that I am imprisoned while people all over the globe are working vigorously to restore my freedom. I no more wish for my family and supporters to endure this process as I do for Rick's family to be constantly reminded about our efforts.

At my public hearing Rick's widow, Tina, expressed anger that she had to be at the hearing. I was saddened she and other members of their family had to be there as well. I was disappointed their family had to endure nine hours of reliving the painful experience of 20 years all over again because the Asst. Attorney General sought to drag the process out.

It is my hope we do not have to endure another such experience. If I am not blessed with my release, however, the campaign to restore my freedom will only intensify exponentially and compel us all to continue subjecting ourselves to this ongoing process.

I may never convince Rick's family about all the actual facts in my case, but I will never admit to doing something I did not do. I have paid dearly with my life for my refusal to admit guilt to the crime I was falsely accused of. I have spent year after year in prison since the age of 15. I am now 35-years-old and will soon become age 36 in just a few months.

If I were guilty I would have sought to negotiate a guilty plea or reduced sentence long ago like the guilty parties did. I would have also never protected the criminals who have admitted their roles in the crime.

Michael Sepic, the Berrien County Chief Asst. Prosecutor, attempted to diminish their guilt and characterize their actions as "minimal roles." He also continues to offer them cover. Sepic's views on this insult our sensibilities.

If the stories of the youths who pleaded guilty to charges related to this crime were true my silence about their involvement would have shielded them from life imprisonment. Any 15-year-old who is arrested and facing their entire life in prison would have implicated everyone involved.

This would have certainly occurred if the other individuals were placing all the blame on a 15-year-old so they could go free or receive reduced sentences. I had absolutely no reason to protect my criminal accusers from blame then, and I have no reason to protect them now.

My family and I want the healing to begin and for representatives of the religious community to help us facilitate the process. I extend this invitation on behalf of my family and self and pray that this overture is received in the spirit it is offered.

I ask everyone, "What would Jesus do?" Would he want our families to go on enduring a painful life year or after, or would he want healing and reconciliation? I do not believe he would want our families to continue enduring the pain or divisiveness that abounds. He would want better.

And, together, we can do better by ushering in a new year and the dawn of a new era of healing.

Blessings,

Efrén

Commutation Hearing for Efren Paredes, Jr.

by Terry Kelly
The Michigan Citizen

Justice has seldom found a welcome in Berrien County. No more so than with the case of Efren Paredes.

Arrested at age 15, sentenced to three life sentences at 16 and still in prison at 35, Paredes has declared his innocence from the beginning, struggled to clear his name in a case with no direct evidence and no eyewitnesses.

With the help of countless supporters he is seeking clemency from the governor, a process that began before the parole board at a hearing Dec. 4 in Jackson. It was an historic hearing, drawing the largest number of supporters ever, over 200, and ran an unprecedented nine hours.

“This case screams wrongful conviction,” Paul Ciolino said in his testimony before the parole board. “The system is broken when it comes to this case.”

Ciolino, a private investigator hired by the Paredes family and supporters, is a co-founder of the Northwestern Innocence Project in Chicago and part of a legal and investigative team that has helped release over 200 innocent prisoners across the country, with direct involvement in five cases of proving wrongful conviction.

In Paredes’ case, Richard Tetzlaff, manager of Roger’s Vineland Grocery, was found shot to death execution-style in the store’s back room in 1989. On the night he was murdered and the store was robbed, Tetzlaff had earlier driven employee Paredes home from work.

Police and prosecutors who showed up in force for last week’s hearing had accused Paredes almost immediately of the crime despite the youth’s stellar record in school and out.

While three other Lakeshore High School youth admitted involvement in the store robbery, ranging from owning the gun used, to the car that was driven, only Paredes maintained innocence and denied participation. The others testified against him in exchange for reduced sentences.

Ciolino said that as in most cases of wrongful conviction the police and prosecutor focused on a single suspect early on and ignored other evidence and leads.

Paredes was the main suspect eight hours after the thing happened, Ciolino told the parole board, when there were five or six suspects.

Ciolino listed for the board the contradictory evidence, tainted evidence, missing evidence and bungling by the police.

At the hearing, police and prosecutors, attempting to rekindle much of the sensationalism of the 1989 trial, testified why in their mind Paredes was guilty and should not be returned to society.

Berrien County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mike Sepic, who tried Paredes’ case, told the parole board that lyrics from the NWA rap song “Eight Ball Posse,” served as motivation for the police focus. Finding every word of the rap written out in Paredes’ high school locker led law enforcement to believe they knew Paredes “state of mind”— for the police, Paredes was a gang leader.

Prosecuting Attorney Arthur J. Cotter read into the record every word of the song, expletives and “n”-words.

Ciolino reminded the board that Paredes had never been involved with a gang, as a student, or even as a young prisoner. He also took issue with the police effort to say the rap song was a “window into his mind.”

A person’s conduct and personal history is the best indicator of behavior, Ciolino told the board.

Scott Elliott, a longtime prison reform activist, who has spent over a decade trying to clear Paredes and who testified at the historic hearing, told the Michigan Citizen later that the show of force by county law enforcement was an indication of the weakness of their case.

“If reciting that rap lyric was the best that Cotter could come up with, it seems pretty pathetic. From the beginning they fabricated their case against Efren almost totally out of whole cloth. That was apparent at the hearing.”

Parole Board members questioned Paredes about his trial and prison record. His answers were straightforward and persuasive.

Assistant Attorney General Charles Schettler was openly belligerent with Paredes, who kept his composure throughout the grilling as he detailed the flaws in the case against him.

Chair of the Parole Board, Barbara Sampson, warned Paredes at the beginning that in the view of the board he “was legally guilty” that he had been found so by a jury and a number of appeals had sustained the jury verdict.

Supporter after supporter testified to Paredes accomplishments. He has become a Braille translator and if released will establish his own business doing that work. Both the president of the Michigan Braille Association and his immediate supervisor testified to his superior work record, vision, knowledge and contributions.

Paredes would live in Battle Creek and not return to Berrien County, if released.

The members of the parole board who heard testimony Thursday will make a recommendation to the entire board which will then make a recommendation to Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who has the ultimate decision.

Sampson repeatedly emphasized that the parole board would make its recommendation on Paredes commutation to the governor based solely on his preparedness for release.

Juveniles Incarcerated for Natural Life Within Adult Prisons: Public Opinion in Michigan

Michigan is one of 19 states that allow children of any age to be tried and punished as adults. Trying youth as adults opened the door to imposing sentences of life without the possibility of parole, particularly in Michigan and 26 other states that have mandatory sentencing.

More than 300 youths have been sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) in Michigan and are serving these sentences in adult facilities. Michigan ranks third in the number of youth sentenced to LWOP and is second only to Louisiana in the rate of juveniles age 14-18 serving sentences of LWOP.

To determine public opinion on the issue, questions related to the topic were included in an annual statewide survey of those 18 years or older. The survey, administered by a public university, was conducted during the spring and summer of 2005.

We found that only 5 percent of residents supported Michigan’s current law regarding juveniles serving life without parole in adult facilities. The majority believed “blended” sentences that included both juvenile and adult sanctions were more acceptable. Moreover, Michigan citizens were strongly opposed to juveniles 16 and younger being housed with adults in correctional facilities and believed that juveniles were strong candidates for rehabilitation.

Michigan residents are unequivocal in their belief that youths should be held accountable for their violent crimes, but that it should be in a manner that recognizes the physiologic, psychological and emotional capabilities of the youths, understanding that these capabilities differ from that of adults. These findings support alternative sentencing arrangements and changes to Michigan’s current policies and legislation.

The above abstract is from the study conducted by Wayne State University School of Social Work. Click here to view the entire study and press release.

Awaking the Xicano/Latino Leader Within — A Conversation with Efrén Paredes, Jr.

Chicanos y Latinos Unidos (CLU) is convening a workshop at Michigan State University on Sunday, November 23, 2008 from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm, to discuss the importance and need to awaken the Xicano/Latino leader within. Efrén Paredes, Jr. will be calling in to lead the discussion and invite attendees to be actively involved in this critical discussion.

The subjects covered will include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Control of thought and behavior;
• Taking ownership for our actions;
• Overcoming insecurities and fears:
• Changing our perceptions;
• Creating mutual respect between the sexes;
• Empowering ourselves;
• Value of expression and communication;
• Developing positive self-image;
• Perils of reactionary behavior;
• Anatomy of conflict resolution;
• Forging alliances and collaborative efforts;
• Emphasizing culture, history and identity; and
• Need to pursue higher education.

Efrén will share two decades of intimate personal experience and research about these subjects. He has mentored hundreds of people and worked closely with them to equip them with the knowledge and necessary skills to thrive in a rapidly changing society.

An honest, articulate and motivational speaker, Efrén will teach people how to gain control over their lives and discuss the perils of refusing to do so. He will also provide a critical in-depth cost-benefit analysis of the group's dialogue every step of the way.

The work Efrén has done to combat social injustice and empower Xicano/Latino youth has been endorsed by Dr. Elizabeth "Betita" Martinez, Dr. Carlos Muñoz, Jr., and other highly respected members of the Xicano/Latino community.

We endeavor to generate widespread interest in the workshop and use this blueprint for personal growth and development to reach students at the college level and later at the high school and middle school level.

Ultimately we not only want to correct distorted thinking patterns, we want to prevent them from being engendered to begin with.

To learn more information about the workshop you can contact the event lead organizer, Xavier Gonzalaz via e-mail at gonza365@msu.edu or via phone at 956-739-5264.

_________________________

* The term "Xicano/Latino" is in no any way intended to exclude Xicanas or Latinas. We want it to be clear that Xicanas and Latinas are included in our usage of the term.