Legacy of Torture: The War Against the Black Liberation Movement
Film Screening and Discussion with Soffiyah Elijah and King Downing

When:    Thursday, April 26, 2007
              7 p.m.
Where:  Centennial Room
             Louisville Free Public Library
             Main Branch – 4th & York
             Louisville

In 1973, at the height of repression against black liberation struggles, 13 alleged "Black militants" were arrested in New Orleans in connection with a San Francisco event in which a police officer was killed. Some of these men were tortured for several days by law enforcement authorities, in striking similarity to the horrors visited upon detainees in Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. In 1975, a federal court in San Francisco threw out all of the evidence obtained in New Orleans, acknowledging the role of torture in obtaining confessions.

Thirty years later, the two lead San Francisco Police Department investigators, along with FBI agents, re-opened the case. In 2005, a Grand Jury investigation was called. Rather than submit to proceedings they felt were abusive of the law and the Constitution, five of the men previously arrested in 1973, chose to stand in contempt of court and were sent to jail. They were released when the Grand Jury term expired, but were told by prosecutors that "It isn't over yet." On January 23, 2007, just days before Legacy of Torture was set to make its world premiere in San Francisco, these ex-Black Panthers were arrested with bail set at several million dollars. They remain in prison today.  This 28-minute documentary is the story of these men and their resistance. Directed, produced and edited by Andres Alegria, Claude Marks, and the Freedom Archives.

J. Soffiyah Elijah is the Deputy Director of the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School. With more than 20 years in the legal profession, Prof. Elijah has authored several articles and publications based on her research of the U.S. criminal justice and prison systems.   She has represented numerous political prisoners and social activists over the past 18 years. Her current research and scholarship focuses on criminal justice issues and the prison industrial complex.

King Downing is the National Coordinator of the Campaign Against Racial Profiling for the American Civil Liberties Union.  He monitors and coordinates efforts around the country to identify and end racial, ethnic, and religious profiling.  He is a graduate of Rutgers Law School and received a Bachelor’s degree in Government from Harvard University.

Sponsored by the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the ACLU of Kentucky.  Reservations requested.  For more information, email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it