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ISR Issue 52, March–April 2007
R E P O R T S
Free Gary Tyler
Restarting a campaign to free an innocent man convicted by a Jim Crow jury 32 years ago
By JOE ALLEN
SINCE THE publication in the ISR last fall of the article “Three decades of injustice” Gary Tyler still sits in Angola prison,” (ISR issue 49, September–October 2006, www.isreview.org) there have important developments in the case that our readers should be aware of. Soon after its publication and its posting on various Web sites, most notably Counterpunch, a small group of people—including many members of Gary’s family—came together to renew a campaign for his freedom. In the last six months, a case that had fallen into total obscurity for nearly a dozen years, has been radically transformed. Today, there is the beginning of a national campaign to win his freedom. This effort was greatly aided by three columns written by Bob Herbert, one of the leading columnists for the New York Times, published in that paper February 1–8. Herbert’s columns are the first national (and sympathetic) coverage that Gary’s case has received in decades and has shined a bright spotlight on one of the great, but least known, miscarriages of justice in the recent history of the United States.
For those not familiar with his case, it is summarized in the previous ISR article:
In 1975, Gary Tyler, an African-American teenager, was wrongly convicted by an all-white jury for the murder of Timothy Weber, a thirteen-year-old white youth. Weber had been killed the previous year during an attack by a racist white mob on a school bus filled with African-American high school students in Destrehan, Louisiana. Tyler’s trial was characterized by coerced testimony, planted evidence, judicial misconduct, and an incompetent defense. He was sentenced to death by electrocution at the age of seventeen. On the first appeal of his conviction in1981, a federal appeals court said that Tyler was “denied a fundamentally fair trial,” but refused to order a new one for him. During this same period, the Louisiana death penalty was ruled unconstitutional. Gary Tyler’s death sentence was lifted and he was resentenced to life in prison. He is currently incarcerated in Louisiana’s infamous Angola prison.
Gary’s powerful story—highlighting resistance to school integration, Klan violence, coerced testimony, racist prosecutors, judges, and juries, as well as political persecution—have angered people as much today as when it all came to light three decades ago. This came through loud and clear in the readers’ responses to Herbert’s columns that were posted on the New York Times Web site. “Why is this man still in prison? These stories should be required reading in civics classes throughout the U.S. Every minority has had to fight tooth and nail for rights in this country. Nothing can bring Andrew Schwerner or Matthew Shepard back to life, but at least we can restore some segment of life back to this man who has lost his youth and a normal life already,” wrote one of Herbert’s readers from Portland, Oregon. Another from Maryland wrote, “I am a 76-year-old white male, and while I know your article is true, I still have a problem believing this kind of thing could happen here in the U.S. Maybe someday all these kind of stories will just be memories.” A former resident of Destrehan, Louisiana, now living in Texas, declared, “I can’t help but want to cry for Mr. Tyler though. What can we do this far out? It seems that something like this should be screaming for attention from Louisiana authorities. It seems that somebody down there should want to make it right.”
There are now many things that people can do to help Gary win his freedom. A Web site devoted to Gary’s case (www.freegarytyler.com) contains all the information necessary to familiarize yourself with the details of Gary’s case. Spread the information around. A national petition attached to the Web site—addressed to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and the Board of Pardons—calls for a complete pardon for Gary. Please sign the petition. Organize a meeting in your school, community, church, or union. Contact the Web site if need you help organizing a meeting. A February 12 statement by Amnesty International renewing their call for a pardon should immensely help in our organizing efforts to finally win justice for Gary Tyler.
Joe Allen is a frequent contributor to the ISR. Those interested in helping with the campaign to free Gary Tylor can e-mail him at [email protected].
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