Save Living Trayvons

TRAYVON MARTIN WAS a youth who lost his life to violence. Unfortunately, there are many Trayvons who are killed or injured or imprisoned every day - young men who are minorities or of the working class. This blog will tell their stories. Together, we will give their victimization the attention deserved. We will work for justice on behalf of more Trayvon Martins who lost their lives or suffered catastrophic injuries wrongly and attempt to save some Trayvon Martins who face wrongful incarceration. This blog will tell their stories, carry petitions, and remind us all of a handsome teen who probably died because he wore a hoodie and liked Skittles.

Please don't let Trayvon Martin's death be in vain. Give attention to the young people you read about in this JUVENILE JUSTICE blog and other news sources. Help them, please, or assist their families' justice quests. Let no murder, abuse, or wrongful prosecution go without your help to expose and oppose the injustice. By consistently demanding accountability for our children, we can reduce or even eliminate abuses of power altogether. Let us henceforth be so vigilant that the Zimmermans of the world will count the costs before harming any child.

AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT, a living Trayvon Martin already needs your help. His name is Matthew Moore. Please read the summary below and email Attorney General Eric Holder in support of Matthew Moore using this link AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

Matthew Moore was falsely accused of indecent exposure by a senior female educator while he worked at his school when he was 17 years old in 2009. Working at the school had been Moore's summer job for two years when the 51-year-old educator accused Matthew of walking in the hall behind her with his private parts showing. Matthew was suspended on the basis of the woman's unsubstantiated allegations despite inconsistencies in her story. Matthew's mother, Katherine Conner, asked to see film from cameras in the school's hall that could possibly show what happened, but her request was denied. Conner questioned Matthew's accuser about inconsistencies in the educator's story and actions that Conner found suspicious. The woman became angry and pressed charges against Matthew.

The District Attorney in their Louisiana parish also served as Legal Counsel to the School Board. He already had a vendetta against Conner because she had filed complaints against him and a judge over a year before Matthew was suspended. Katherine Conner had a dispute with an unlicensed contractor from Mississippi who repaired  her home after Katrina. The contract between Conner and the contractor required her to pay $7,000 up front and $7,000 upon completion of the work. The contractor asked for and received monies for material purchases several times from Conner during the project. However, when the job was done, Conner's contractor did not subtract those pre-payments from her balance due. Katherine Conner had so much going on when the sub-contractor presented her with a final bill and she wrote him a check for the full $7,000. Immediately after the contractor left her home with her check, Conner remembered the money she had already paid. She called the contractor and asked for him to return the check so she could deduct the amount she already paid. The contractor refused to return Conner's check and accept payment in the correct amount, so Conner canceled the check.

Katherine Conner's contractor accused her of theft of services. She was arrested, prosecuted and convicted regarding a matter that seemed more appropriate for civil court. Conner wrote a complaint against the judge and prosecutor. It appears that the court retaliated against Conner through her son.

Matthew is a young man of fine character. He is a respectful, hard working young man who had a lovely girlfriend his own age. Until recently, Matthew and Katherine thought they had a witness - another student. But some boys started a fight with Matthew's witness, and the youth was put on probation as a result. At this point, the witness's mother will not let him testify for Matthew out of fear that her own child would be further penalized if he helps Matthew. A major civil rights organization to which  Katherine Conner was a member also declined to help Matthew and recommended that she go to another human/civil rights organization. Minorities in Katherine's parish feel intimidated by the power and ruthlessness of the court. Conner said Matthew's attorney is also a disappointment to them as he seems afraid to present all the evidence and subpoena the video from the school's camera.

Matthew is so concerned about COURT ON APRIL 23, 2012, that he went from 130 pounds to around 100 pounds within months. PLEASE PRAY FOR MATTHEW MOORE AND CONTACT THE USDOJ FOR HIM. DO YOUR BEST TO SOLICIT HELP FOR MATTHEW FROM PEOPLE WHO WOULD CARE ABOUT A PROMISING YOUTH BEING RAILROADED INTO PRISON AS RETALIATION FOR HAVING AN OUTSPOKEN BLACK MOTHER WHO THOUGHT SHE HAD RIGHTS LIKE I ONCE DID. Neither Katherine Conner nor her son had ever experienced any trouble with the law prior to the debacle with the contractor. Please agree it is unacceptable that a fine young man may lose years of his life behind bars as punishment for having an outspoken mom.

Please help to save Matthew Moore, a living Trayvon Martin. He is guilty of nothing and should not lose his freedom or even his life in prison because his mother stood up for herself in their Louisiana parish.

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Trayvon Martin's shooting death gets exceptional attention, and  his outrageous murder helped raise awareness about tragedies that are all too common among our youths. Insist on the same accountability for every murder, abuse, and wrongful prosecution that minority and working class youths suffer.  Whenever we expose and oppose injustice against a young person, we make the world safer for living Trayvons. Help show the Zimmermans of America that we won't take it any longer. We are all Trayvon Martin! We are all Matthew Moore!

Blessings,

Mary Neal

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill

http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/aimi