Celebrating Black History Month...Kamala misses an Interview

Celebrating Black History Month

Guam will Capsize and Tip Over into the ocean according to Congressman Hank Johnson,

Celebrating Black History Month

 

Willie James Bosket, born on December 9, 1962, is a convicted murderer, whose crimes, committed while he was still a minor, led to a change in New York state law, so that juveniles as young as thirteen could be tried in adult court for murder and would face the same penalties.

On Sunday, March 19, 1978, Willie Bosket, then fifteen years old, shot dead Noel Perez on the New York subway, during an attempted robbery. Eight days later, Bosket shot another man, Moises Perez (no relation to his first victim) in another attempted robbery.

Bosket was tried and convicted of the murders in the New York City Family court, where he was sentenced to five years imprisonment, the maximum sentence for someone of his age. The short length of Bosket's sentence caused a huge public outcry, and led the New York State Legislature to pass the Juvenile Offender Act of 1978.

Under this act, children as young as thirteen years old could be tried in an adult court for crimes such as murder, and receive the same penalties as adults. New York was the first state to enact a law of this nature; many other legislatures have since followed suit.

He was sent to state prison for four years after trying to break out of the youth facility, and was released in 1983. After 100 days he was arrested when a man living in his apartment complex claimed Bosket had robbed and assaulted him. While awaiting trial, he assaulted several court officers. He was found guilty of attempted assault for the dispute in the apartment and sentenced to seven years in prison. Not long after that, he was convicted of assault and arson. Under New York's habitual-offender law, he was sentenced to 25 years to life. He has since drawn two additional life sentences for offenses committed while in the maximum-security Shawangunk Correctional Facility, including assaulting a guard with a chain and stabbing another.

As of March 2011, Bosket (NYSDOCS inmate number 84A6391) was housed in a special cell at Woodbourne Correctional Facility. He will not be eligible for parole until 2062.

Celebrating Black History Month

 

Larry Davis (May 28, 1966 - February 20, 2008), who changed his name to Adam Abdul-Hakeem in 1989, was a New Yorker who shot six New York City police officers on November 19, 1986 when they raided his sister's Bronx apartment. The police said that the raid was executed in order to question Davis about the killing of four suspected drug dealers. At trial, Davis's defense attorneys claimed that the raid was staged to murder him because of his knowledge of the involvement of corrupt police in the drug business. With the help of family contacts and street friends, he eluded capture for the next 17 days despite a massive manhunt. Once the search was narrowed to a single building, he took a family hostage but surrendered to police under the belief that the presence of reporters provided assurance that he would not be harmed. Davis was acquitted of attempted murder charges in the police shootout case, and was acquitted of murder charges in the case involving the slain drug dealers. He was found guilty of weapons possession in the shootout case, acquitted in another murder case, and was found guilty in a later murder case and was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison. In 2008, Davis was stabbed to death by another inmate. The Larry Davis case generated controversy. Many were outraged by his actions and acquittal, but others regarded him as a folk hero for his ability to elude capture in the massive manhunt, or as the embodiment of a community's frustration with the police, or as "a symbol of resistance" because "he fought back at a time when African-Americans were being killed by white police officers."