NYC Resolution on Oscar Lopez Rivera

Staff: Carlos Eduardo Beato, Counsel

Israel Martinez, Policy Analyst

THE COUNCIL

REPORT OF THE GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS DIVISION

Matthew Gewolb, Legislative Director

Rachel Cordero, Deputy Director

COMMITTEE ON STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATION

Council Member Karen Koslowitz, Chair

June 10, 2015

Introduction

On June 10, 2015, the Committee on State and Federal legislation chaired by council Member Karen Koslowitz will conduct a hearing and vote on a Preconsidered Resolution calling on President Obama to grant clemency to Oscar Lopez Rivera so that he is immediately released from prison, as his continued incarceration is unjust and serves no legitimate purpose.

Background

On January 6, 1943 Oscar Lopez Rivera was born in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico. At age 14, Lopez Rivera moved to Chicago, Illinois. He served with distinction in the Vietnam War, earning a Bronze Star for bravery. After his United States military service Lopez Rivera moved back to Chicago where he worked to establish Illinois’ first Latino cultural center and organized a drive to improve housing for Puerto Ricans in Chicago among other community service.

On May 29, 1981 Oscar Lopez Rivera was convicted along with 13 other co-defendants of seditious conspiracy against the United States government due to his involvement in the Puerto Rico independence movement. The United States never charged Lopez Rivera for participating in any action that caused violence. Despite not participating in any violent activities, he along with the 13 other Puerto Rican nationalists received harsh prison sentences. Lopez Rivera was   sentenced to 55 years in prison. In 1988, Lopez Rivera was convicted of conspiracy to escape from prison and was sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison, to be served consecutively with his original sentence.

Recognizing the harsh sentencing of most of the co-defendants involved in the Puerto Rico independence   movement, in 1999 President Bill Clinton offered Lopez Rivera and 12 other Puerto Rican nationalists’ clemency. All but Lopez Rivera accepted President Clinton’s clemency offer. He refused to abandon Carlos Alberto Torres, the lone co-defendant that President Clinton declined to offer clemency to. Torres was granted parole in 2010; Lopez-Rivera remains the only one of his co-defendants that remains incarcerated.

As of today, Lopez Rivera is 72 years old and has served over 33 years in federal prison. He has served 12 years of his sentence in isolation with little to no human contact in a small cell for 23 hours per day. All of his co-defendants that have been released from prison have been able to live productive lives. Among the many dignitaries to call for Lopez Rivera’s freedom are: former President Jimmy Carter, Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Puerto Rico’s Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The United Nation   has passed a resolution every year since 2001 calling for Lopez Rivera’s release.

Preconsidered Resolution No.

The Resolution calls attention to the plight of Oscar Lopez Rivera, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and community activist. Lopez Rivera has served over 33 years of incarceration in federal prison for the conviction of seditious conspiracy based upon his work to advance the movement for the independence of Puerto Rico.

The Resolution discusses Lopez Rivera service to the United States military, community service in the underserved areas of Chicago, Illinois. The Resolution points out the disproportionate punishment or 55 years in prison he received for his alleged offenses in 1981 and his subsequent sentence in 1988 of an additional 15 years in prison for conspiracy to escape from prison.

The Resolution discusses Lopez Rivera’s refusal to accept clemency from President Bill Clinton because he refused to leave any member of his community behind and that he is the only one of the original 14 co-defendants to remain incarcerated. The Resolution describes the harsh conditions of his confinement which includes serving 12 years with little to no human interaction in a closet-sized cell for 23 hours per day. The Resolution also discusses the humanitarian movement to release Lopez Rivera which includes the support of Coretta Scott King, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former President Jimmy Carter and many others.

Finally, this Resolution calls upon President Obama to grant clemency to Lopez Rivera so that he is immediately released from prison, considering that his continued incarceration is unjust and serves no legitimate purpose.

Preconsidered Res. No.

Resolution calling on President Obama to grant clemency to Oscar Lopez Rivera so that he is immediately released from prison, as his continued incarceration is unjust and serves no legitimate purpose.

By Council Members Mendez, The Speaker (Council Member Mark-Viverito) and Rodriguez

Whereas, Oscar Lopez Rivera was born in Puerto Rico in 1943; and

Whereas, Oscar Lopez Rivera moved with his family to Chicago as an adolescent; and

Whereas, Oscar Lopez Rivera is a decorated Vietnam War veteran; and

Whereas, During his tour of service in Vietnam, Lopez Rivera’s unit was securing the perimeter of a town to ensure its safety during an election when the unit unwittingly entered a mine field where many of his fellow soldiers began to sustain serious injuries; and

Whereas, Instead of running for cover, Lopez Rivera tended to the wounded and cleared a space for helicopters to land to evacuate them; and

Whereas, On that day, Lopez Rivera refused to leave his friends behind, and for this act of valor he was awarded the Bronze Star; and

Whereas, It is this dedication to community, friends and family that would become a hallmark of Lopez Rivera’s life;

Whereas, When Lopez Rivera returned home from the war he found his community wracked by drugs, poverty, substandard housing and blight; and

Whereas, Once again, Lopez Rivera refused to run and instead became an activist, fighting to improve conditions for his family, his Puerto Rican community, and the Latino community of Chicago; and

Whereas, As a community activist, Lopez Rivera helped found La Escuelita Puertorriquena, now known as the Dr. Pedro Albizu Campo  High School and the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center. He   became a community organizer for the Northwest Community Organization, ASPIRA, ASSPA, and the 1st Congregational Church of Chicago. He helped to found FREE, a half-way house for convicted Drug addicts, and ALAS, an educational program for Latino prisoners at Statesville Prison in Illinois. Lopez Rivera also worked to establish bilingual education in public schools and pressured universities to recruit Latino students and faculty. Perhaps most significantly, Lopez Rivera struggled to end discrimination against minority communities; and

Whereas, Lopez Rivera also fervently believed in Puerto Rican independence, and was critical of the U.S. government’s role in the governance of Puerto Rico; and

Whereas, Between 1981 and 1983 Lopez Rivera and 13 other men and women involved in the movement for Puerto Rican independence were convicted of seditious conspiracy; and

Whereas, In 1981, Lopez Rivera was sentenced to 55 years in prison; and

Whereas, Lopez Rivera has consistently maintained that he was not involved in any acts that harmed anyone or took a life; and

Whereas, Lopez Rivera’s sentence was greatly disproportionate to the offense for which he was convicted; and

Whereas, In 1988, Lopez Rivera was convicted of conspiracy to escape prison and sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison to be served consecutively to his original sentence; and

Whereas, This sentence was also greatly disproportionate to the offense for which Lopez Rivera was convicted; and

Whereas, In addition, Lopez Rivera was made to serve over I 2 years of this sentence in solitary confinement, meaning he was confined to a closet-sized cell for 23 hours a day with no human contact; and

Whereas, In 1999, President Bill Clinton, offered to commute Lopez Rivera’s sentence as well as the sentences of all but two of his co-defendants; and

Whereas, In explaining his decision to offer clemency. President Clinton noted that Lopez Rivera was never convicted of specific crimes that resulted in deaths or injuries nor was he ever convicted of any act of violence: and

Whereas. President Clinton also noted that “our society believes that a punishment should

fit the crime;” and

Whereas, President Clinton concluded that the sentences received by Lopez Rivera and his co-defendants were “out of proportion to their crimes”; and

Whereas, Once again, Lopez Rivera refused to leave any member of his community behind and therefore declined the President’s offer of clemency; and

Whereas, Had Lopez Rivera accepted President Clinton’s clemency offer, he would have been released from prison in 2009; and

Whereas, Oscar Lopez Rivera has now served over 33 years in prison; and

Whereas, Lopez Rivera has served more time in prison than Nelson Mandela; and

Whereas, Many prominent politicians and world leaders including Coretta Scott King. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former President Jimmy Carter, many Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and others have called for Lopez Rivera to be released from prison; and

Whereas, The movement to release Lopez Rivera has become a unifying force, bringing together people of widely diverse backgrounds and political and social beliefs; and

Whereas, In 2013, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said of Lopez Rivera’s continued imprisonment, “In any case or interpretation, justice cannot be served by keeping Oscar Lopez Rivera in prison. Now is the time for his immediate and unconditional release;” and

Whereas, The United Nations Decolonization Committee has passed a resolution every year since 2001 calling for Lopez Rivera’s release; and

Whereas, The Congressional Hispanic Caucus recently sent a letter to President Obama urging him to commute Lopez Rivera’s sentence and “grant his immediate release from prison”; and

Whereas, In 2013, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, Governor of Puerto Rico, called on President Obama to commute Lopez Rivera’s prison sentence saying, “We see Mr. Lopez Rivera’s release as an issue that must rise above partisan affiliations and status preferences. It is an issue that touches basic issues of humanity, justice and compassion.

It is an issue that relates to principles that you certainly share with us. Thirty-two years in prison for Mr. Lopez Rivera is just enough. I ask- Mr. President- that you exercise your constitutional power of pardon to commute his sentence and grant his release;” and

Whereas, Religious leaders including Metropolitan Archbishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Roberto Gonzalez Nieves, and Reverend Geoffrey A. Black, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ have called for Lopez Rivera’s release; and

Whereas, National labor organizations including the AFL-CIO, AFSCME and SEIU have called for Lopez Rivera to be released; and

Whereas, Supporters have sent tens of thousands of letters to the President calling for Lopez Rivera’s immediate release from prison; and

Whereas, New York City is the home of the largest Puerto Rican community outside of Puerto Rico; and

Whereas. There is overwhelming support in New York City’s Puerto Rican community for Lopez Rivera’s immediate release; and

Whereas, In January of this year, Lopez Rivera celebrated his 72nd birthday; and

Whereas Lopez Rivera’s official release date is in 2023, when he will be 80 years old; and

Whereas, All of the other men and women sent to prison along with Lopez Rivera have since been released and are leading productive and responsible lives; and

Whereas, Lopez Rivera is a dedicated father, grandfather, friend, decorated war veteran and community activist; and

Whereas, Despite the length of time he has spent in prison and the over 12 years he spent in isolation, Lopez Rivera has not lost his spirit or his profound humanity; and

Whereas, It is time for Lopez Rivera to be set free; now therefore, be it

Resolved That the Council calls upon President Obama to grant clemency to Oscar

Lopez Rivera so that he is immediately released from prison, as his continued incarceration is unjust and serves no legitimate purpose.