O. J. Simpson verdict I
I am herewith canceling my subscription to the Militant and do not wish any of the 36 copies left.
This is my reason: I am outraged at your support of the jury verdict in the O. J. Simpson case. That Fuhrman was and is a racist has nothing to do with the fact of Simpson's guilt as wife-beater and ultimately wife-murderer, and how you can glibly conclude there was a reasonable doubt as to his guilt is beyond me.
And what about Johnny Cochran's playing the race card to the exclusion of all the evidence? And what about Cochran's racism in accepting the support of the Fruit of Islam bodyguards who are known anti-Semites and anti-whites?
I am sickened both by the verdict and by your response to it.
Evelyn Spencer
Jackson Heights, New York
O. J. Simpson verdict II
I really agreed with the article beginning on page one about the O. J. Simpson verdict. I believe it was an error, however, for this to be run as a news article. Clearly this was an opinion piece that should have been identified as such. Was this an error?
Robbie Scherr
Houston, Texas
O. J. Simpson verdict III
I thought a very good article on Simpson was marred by an editorial misjudgment which touches on striving to make the Militant a consistently reliable source of information for workers.
The third paragraph [of the article "Simpson jury rejects word of racist, lying cop" in Oct. 16 Militant] reads, " `I think [Simpson] probably did do it,' the daughter of juror Anise Ascherback quoted her mother as saying. But `there wasn't enough evidence.' The jury voted for acquittal, Ascherback said, `because of Mark Fuhrman.' "
The quotes, despite the "Ascherback said," are from the daughter, not from the juror. According to news reports I began hearing shortly after the Tuesday afternoon verdict, the daughter said her mother had made these statements in a phone call immediately after the jury was released. Reporters had spoken to the daughter, not to Ascherback, and I have seen no indication that any tried to confirm the wording of the attributed quotes with Ascherback.
We don't know whether any element of paraphrase, summary or misunderstanding affected the quotes. Had Ascherback authorized her daughter to speak to the media in her name? Did the daughter record the statements, hand-copy them, or simply repeat them from memory? Did we attempt to check the accuracy of the attributions with the former juror?
This is third-hand quotation - hearsay - which we should use only when there is no alternative. And when we use such quotes, we should describe them accurately: "Ascherback reportedly said," not "Ascherback said."
There were alternatives, in addition to simply not using the quote, although these would have been very difficult for the Militant schedule. By the time her daughter's statement appeared in the N.Y. papers, Ascherback was speaking for herself. For example, she appeared Wednesday night on the ABC interview program 20/20. Barbara Walters asked whether Ascherback had worried that Simpson "might be guilty." Ascherback said that she had and that several other jurors had been concerned also. Of course "might be guilty" is not the same as "probably did it."
Ascherback stressed that it was her duty as a juror to avoid convicting an innocent man even at the risk of freeing someone who "might be guilty." She clearly understood that Simpson might be guilty but she also understood that, based on the same evidence, he might be innocent. Ascherback explained that her concerns about evidence were broader than the Fuhrman tapes, although his racist statements and lies had convinced her it was "very possible" that he planted the glove.
Ascherback said she was one of two jurors (and apparently the only white) who voted guilty on the first ballot. She said she did so to stimulate discussion and that she was completely convinced by the end of the trial that Simpson had to be acquitted.
Ascherback has neither confirmed or denied the wording attributed to her by her daughter, but she has not repeated it since she began speaking for herself publicly.
The statement attributed to her seems to present the jury's reasons for acquitting. But so far no juror, speaking for themselves, has said that Simpson "probably did it" or that the acquittal was solely "because of Mark Fuhrman."
Quoting jurors precisely is also important because they are under fire from the prosecution, parts of the media and rightists who portray the jury as willfully allowing an "obvious" double murderer to go free because of outrage at racist remarks by a cop. The comments that Ascherback has made when speaking for herself leave no room for misinterpretation along these lines.
Fred Feldman
Brooklyn, New York
Irish rally
One hundred people participated in a rally at the Federal Building in New York on September 30, called by the Irish Political Prisoners Amnesty Coalition.
The rally called for freeing Irish political prisoners in U.S. jails, and an end to the politically motivated deportations of Irish activists. Despite President Clinton's high profile support to the peace talks, there are now more Irish Republicans in U.S. jails or facing deportation than there were before the Irish Republican Army cease-fire started a year ago.
Three activists - Gabriel Megahey, Gerry McGeorgh, and Jimmy Smith - could face deportation very soon.
Speakers at the rally included former New York City mayor David Dinkins and Paul Hill, who was framed up and jailed for years in the United Kingdom as one of the Guildford Four.
Marc Lichtman
New York, New York
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