ROBERT LARK INNOCENCE PROJECT

WELCOME! YOU'VE REACHED THE LARK AND BARKSDALE JUSTICE FIGHT WEBSITE

The Robert ("Sugar Bear") Lark Advisory Council Under The VSP Foundation Non-profit Phila.

The Robert ("Sugar Bear") Lark Advisory Council Under The VSP Foundation Non-profit Phila.
THE INNOCENCE PROJECT PHILLY... FOR ADULTS AND SCHOOL STUDENTS. JOIN US TODAY!

Van Stone Phila: Know Your Rights With Robert ("Sugar Bear") Lark Advisory Council Website/Exhibit

THE THIN BLUE LIE MOVIE

Robert "Sugar Bear" Lark was on death row for 38 years and remains in jail in the state of Pennsylvania. The events of an accused murder, trial, and conviction that put a man behind bars is not the story that is in the 'Thin Blue Lie' movie - a 2000 television film directed by Roger Young and starring Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jonathan Neumann (Rob Morrow), who, along with his partner Phil Chadway (Randy Quaid), for exposing Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo (Paul Sorvino) and the Philadelphia Police Department for corruption (observing the years 1976-1978) is in the movie. It was released on August 13, 2000 on Showtime.
According to the articles, suspects were beaten and tortured in interrogation rooms, as well as in many cases murdered, in an effort to meet the high quota of criminal cases solved by Philadelphia detectives. Neumann and Chadway met extreme opposition from the police department, working amidst phone tappings, apartment ransackings, and threats of death and bodily harm.
However, the above-mentioned reference about the methods used by mayor Rizzo and the Philadelphia Police Department for corruption success is in the story (allegedly) that has been told in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Appellee, v. Robert LARK, Appellant case, 1985.
Throughout the movie, Neumann faced a number of ethical dilemmas. First, most of his colleagues did not think that he should pursue claims of torture and death from suspects and a few police even; the city's crime level was at an all-time low, and some people felt that to question Rizzo's police policies would put the city's safety in jeopardy. Second, when interviewing victims of police brutality, Neumann had to assure the frightened victims that they would not be harmed by talking to him, when in fact, they had been threatened by police and warned against talking to and/or cooperating with reporters - may result in repeated jail lockup or even their death. Third, Neumann had to find one or more detectives willing to essentially betray a fellow officers in order to substantiate his claims.
In the case of Robert Lark, aka Sugar Bear, from West Philly and North Philly Street-life upbringing, people felt that to question police polices, City of Philadelphia, district attorney policies, City of Philadelphia and court of common pleas judges polices, City of Philadelphia practices would put the city's safety in jeopardy.
And the cops, the DA and the judges have no remorse over (allegedly) framing an innocent man and almost getting him executed - ongoing, once again.

PHILLY LIVE PRESENTS:TALKSHOW-PODCAST DOING IN JAIL - YOUR HOST JANIS BARKSDALE/J. WILSON/V. STONE.

Van Stone Presents: The Super Heroes of The Last Q Show Be A Hero

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Penn Suspends Amy Wax, Law Professor Accused of Making Racist Statements Reported By Van Stone, Phila. Front Page News/Westside Weekly frontpagenews1@yahoo.com

Penn Suspends Amy Wax, Law Professor Accused of Making Racist Statements Reported By Van Stone, Phila. Front Page News/Westside Weekly frontpagenews1@yahoo.com

Above: Amy Wax, Law Professor U. Penn The accusations against the professor,  who had invited a white nationalist to her class and said that Black people and women were less intelligent, led students and others to call for her to be fired.

 

The University of Pennsylvania is suspending Amy Wax, a tenured law professor accused of making racist, sexist and homophobic remarks, for a year with half pay. It is a significant sanction but one that falls short of the firing that some students wanted.

 

The university issued a “public letter of reprimand” to Dr. Wax describing the terms of her suspension, which will begin in the fall of 2025 and which also includes the loss of her named chair and the loss of summer pay in perpetuity.

 

Disciplinary proceedings against Dr. Wax tested the tenure protections of professors and whether such protections allow them to voice opinions that might be seen as inappropriate or downright insulting. Many students said that they could not trust Dr. Wax to grade students without bias. But many professors — even those who found her comments profoundly racist — objected to disciplining her, on the grounds of academic freedom.

 

Among allegations against her were that she had described some non-Western countries as “shitholes” and had said that “women, on average, are less knowledgeable than men.” She has said that Black people from the United States and people from non-Western countries feel shame for the “outsized achievements and contributions” of Western people, and has derided as unrealistic television ads depicting “Black men married to white women in an upper-class picket-fence house.”

 

Dr. Wax denied making some of the comments and said that others were taken out of context.

 

She has also invited a white nationalist, Jared Taylor, to class.

 

In a 12-page complaint filed in 2023, Theodore Ruger, the law school dean at the time, wrote that Dr. Wax had demonstrated “callous and flagrant disregard” for students, faculty and staff, subjecting them to “intentional and incessant racist, sexist, xenophobic and homophobic actions and statements.”

 

Her statements, the complaint added, “have led students and faculty to reasonably believe they will be subjected to discriminatory animus if they come into contact with her.” Mr. Ruger declined to comment on Monday.

 

Dr. Wax declined to comment on the decision. She has previously warned that she will sue the university if she is disciplined. A lawyer for Dr. Wax, David J. Shapiro, also declined to comment. 

 

For several free speech groups, the case represented a threat to one of the key tenets of academic tenure — the right of faculty members to speak freely, without fear of punishment, whether in public or in the classroom.

 

Reacting to the suspension, Alex Morey, an official with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech group, said that Penn’s decision “should send a chill down the spine of every faculty member, not just at Penn but at every private institution around the country.”

 

Ms. Morey, the group’s director of campus rights advocacy, argued that Penn had altered its customary disciplinary procedure to prosecute Dr. Wax. She added that she was gratified that Penn had not revoked Dr. Wax’s tenure — an indication, she said, of how flimsy the accusations were.

 

Peter Wood, president of the conservative-leaning National Association of Scholars, where Dr. Wax serves on the board, accused the university of a “serious error of judgment.”

 

“Professor Wax’s various statements on race, gender, ethnicity, immigration, inculturation and other matters were entirely within the zone of academic freedom,” he said, predicting that Dr. Wax would not “back down.”

 

A former assistant to the U.S. solicitor general, Dr. Wax argued 15 cases before the Supreme Court. Though Dr. Wax’s outspoken viewpoints have been a subject of debate for years, student demands for sanctions began in earnest in 2017, after she co-wrote an opinion article arguing that “all cultures are not equal.”

 

The long-running disciplinary case had gone before a faculty hearing committee. The university’s hearing board has said it does not dispute that academic freedom protects Dr. Wax’s speech, but said that she had violated “behavioral professional norms” in the way she presented her views.

 

The reprimand letter to Dr. Wax, dated Sept. 24 and signed by the university’s provost, John L. Jackson Jr., said that while academic freedom should be “very broad,” professors must conduct themselves “in a manner that conveys a willingness to assess all students fairly.”

 

It said Dr. Wax’s conduct had included making “sweeping generalizations about groups by race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and immigration status. It also said that she had breached “the requirement that student grades be kept private by publicly speaking about the grades of law students by race, and continuing to do so even after being cautioned by the dean that it was a violation of university policy.”

 

The letter said that the university’s interim president, J. Larry Jameson, had confirmed the decision to suspend Dr. Wax. Because the academic year has already started, the suspension, which was first disclosed by The Philadelphia Inquirer, will not begin until next fall.

 

The letter also said that, in future public appearances, Dr. Wax must say that she was speaking for herself and not on behalf of the university.

 

No comments: