My recent post about the release of the alleged "Lockerbie bomber" made me think of Leonard Peltier, and then this showed up on HuffPo today:I ask, where is the justice or the mercy in continuing to hold Peltier? I suspect that releasing Peltier -- and there is some pretty compelling evidence that he did not pull the trigger on the weapon that killed the FBI agents -- would draw attention to other prisoners being held under questionable circumstances. In fact, Amnesty International considers him a political prisoner. So holding him prisoner serves a purpose beyond a question of justice and accountability for a crime he may or may not have committed. This underscores one of the great failures of our penal system.BISMARCK, N.D. — American Indian activist Leonard Peltier, imprisoned since 1977 for the deaths of two FBI agents, has been denied parole after authorities decided that releasing him would diminish the seriousness of his crime, a federal prosecutor said Friday.
Peltier, who claims the FBI framed him, will not be eligible for parole again until July 2024, when he will be 79 years old.
