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Amendment to the Constitution
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Letter from Carla Blaschka August, 2000
Who demands justice when a law enforcement agency violates the law,
when the President of the United States and his Justice Department allow a
reign of terror to go unchecked?
I propose that we amend the Constitution of the United States to
give power to Congress to vote on and issue, subject to presidential veto,
and majority override, like any other bill, a Congressional Order of
Pardon, a Congressional Order of Clemency and a Congressional Order for
New Trial. Both the Executive Branch and Judicial Branch have these
powers, and I believe that the Congress, as representatives of the will of
the people, should have these powers as well.
24 years later, Leonard Peltier, an innocent man, is still in jail,
"because somebody had to pay" for the deaths of the two FBI agents, Jack
Coler and Ronald Williams on June 26, 1975. Between 1973 and 1975, Pine
Ridge Reservation in South Dakota had the highest murder rate per capita
in the United States. Tribal Council GOON squads with U.S. Law
Enforcement Agency guns in their hands terrorized and killed over 60
'traditional' Indians. No arrests were ever made, even though the FBI had
over 50 agents swarming over the reservation by March 1975. Strangely
enough, the day before the incident at Jumping Bulls ranch on which the
deaths occurred, the Head of the Tribal Council signed a secret agreement,
not revealed for nearly a year, transferring one-eighth of the Pine Ridge
Reservation to the federal government, now known as the Sheep Mountain
Bombing Range, lands reputedly rich in uranium deposits, an agreement
opposed by the 'traditional' Indians. |
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In 1831, President Andrew Jackson, ignoring a Supreme Court ruling
in the case of the Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia, and the ruling opinion
written by Justice John Marshall that the Cherokee Nation had a right to
stay on their lands east of the Mississippi; allowed the State of Georgia
to intimidate, harass and confiscate their land, and then sent in federal
troops to remove the Cherokees from their homes at gunpoint. President
Jackson is reputed to have scoffed at the elderly Justice, "If that's his
opinion, let Mr. Marshall enforce it." President Jackson got away with violating the law because of the will of the white male voters was on his side. But Leonard Peltier's continued imprisonment is not our will, it is a farce. Millions of people have signed petitions for his release, The European Parliament has called for his release, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have all supported Mr. Peltier, and the Canadian government, given fabricated affidavits by the FBI in order to illegally extradite Leonard Peltier, has stated they would like him back. But there has been no justice. In 1993, President Clinton was given an application for executive clemency for Leonard Peltier; it was then given to the Department of Justice for a formal recommendation. We are still waiting for an answer. When we cannot rely upon the courts for justice, it's usually because one of their own has been injured or killed. Yet the only avenue for justice is through these same people who have lived, worked and played with the parties who have suffered loss. Having a family member murdered is about the worst thing that can happen, I know, it's happened to me, but ruining an innocent life will never make that better. This amendment will put in place another check and balance, badly needed when the accusers, and the people who make the case for the state, are also the victims. Sincerely, Carla Blaschka |
