[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 21 (Wednesday, March 1, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H580]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE IN NEW YORK CITY

  (Mr. OWENS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, the polls are showing in New York State that 
the overwhelming majority of the citizens of New York think that there 
was a miscarriage of justice in the verdict on the Amadou Diallo 
killing trial.
  Black and white together are demonstrating in the streets of New York 
against this outrage. Criminally negligent homicide was obvious. Forty-
one bullets were fired; 19 in the body after the body was on the 
ground. This problem of miscarriage of justice in the criminal justice 
system, unfortunately, is a nationwide problem. It is not only a New 
York problem.
  In Los Angeles, the police are continuing to confess to 20 years of 
planting evidence on suspects and convicting people wrongly. In New 
Jersey, they have admitted to systemic racial profiling. Illinois has 
just stopped the death penalty from moving forward because 13 of 25 
inmates on Death Row were found to be innocent.
  Two million people are in prison in this Nation. Most of them are 
minorities. Justice for minorities is a national issue. Justice for 
minorities is also an international human rights issue.
  We are violating human rights on a massive scale. This situation 
deserves the attention of the Congress of the United States.

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