On June 28, 2013, twenty-five people, many of them wearing their Enough is Enough t-shirts, gathered at the Liberty Pole in downtown Rochester on the gray and drizzly day. The rally was called for by Enough is Enough and was supporting Benny Warr who had a court hearing before Judge Stephen T. Miller at 2 p.m. Mr. Warr is charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Last weekend I visited the Attica Correctional Facility for a special summer picnic, a rare opportunity to visit with incarcerated friends and family in a somewhat relaxed outdoor atmosphere. I arrived at the prison at 8:30 in the morning and waited with other visitors for more than three hours in a small room-- with no books, music, or phone allowed to pass the time--until my number was called, then climbed into a van and passed through the enormous walls of the prison. A few minutes before noon my friend emerged; we enjoyed the sunshine and the food (for which each prisoner had pre-paid), and a scant two and a half hours later we were called back to be processed out. Luckily, I enjoyed some conversation while standing in line with another visitor, however the long wait time compared with the short visit time was still frustrating. Add the two hour drive time and you're looking at a pretty discouraging ratio of effort to reward.
On Wednesday, June 12, 2013, sometime around 5:30pm, the Martin family and their lawyers held a press conference in the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center in Sanford, FL. Benjamin Crump and Tracy Martin spoke about their faith in the jury selection process and the fact that Trayvon was not on trial, but George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed the 17-year-old in February of 2012.
On June 11, 2013, R-IMC interviewed Julia McKnight-Cius and Joseph Cius about the George Zimmerman trial happening currently in Sanford, FL. at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center. George Zimmerman is on trial for second degree murder in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Cephus "Uncle Bobby" Johnson, the uncle of murdered Oscar Grant was in Sanford, FL. for the first day of the George Zimmerman trial. He compared his nephew's case with Trayvon Martin's.
On the first day of the George Zimmerman trial (June 10, 2013) in Sanford, FL., George's brother Robert gave a press conference in the afternoon in the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center.
Gregory Lipper, attorney for Americans United for Separation of Church and State speaks in Rochester, NY, on 6/5/13. Mr. Lipper spoke on the case Town of Greece vs Galloway and Stephens, which will be argued in the U.S. Supreme Court later in 2013.
