Write for Justice - Letters to the Judge in Support of the Uhuru 3

Write for Justice: Letters to the Judge in Support of the Uhuru 3

Our goal is to gather at least 500 letters for each of the Uhuru 3 by the October 15th deadline.

Your letters are critical in helping the court understand the positive impact of their decades-long fight for justice and self-determination.

Guidelines and Instructions

These guidelines were prepared by Attorney Leonard Goodman and may be helpful to you when you are preparing your letters to the Court on behalf of Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel.

An individual letter should be written for each person and emailed to their attorney.

These letters to each person should be sent to their specific attorneys and will be used to argue for a lenient sentence at their sentencing hearing. There is no mandatory sentence on this charge and it is generally best not to argue for a specific sentence in your letter. Just ask the Judge for a lenient sentence.

Sample letters are available. These will help you see how to put the guidelines into practice, but do not copy them word for word. Use your own wording and style.

Guidelines for Composing Your Letter

  1.  Start your letter by telling the Judge who you are and describe your relation to the defendant. You can refer to the defendant by their first or last name or any other name used by you.
  1.  Include details about how you know each person, for how long, how often you speak with him/her or see him/her.
  1. Do not discuss your opinion about their guilt or innocence.
  1. Explain why you believe they are a good person and why she/he should be allowed to have leniency in sentencing to continue to do their work freely in the community.  Discuss what makes her/him a good friend or relative.
  1. Personal stories that highlight the person’s positive character are most helpful.  Please share any specific examples you have of his/her good qualities.
  1. If you are aware of any charitable or community work that the person has been involved in, you may include examples.
  1. You may write about anything that you think the Judge would like to know about the person that would help the Judge find a reason to be lenient in deciding the sentence.

  2. The letter you write should be your own work, and you do not have to follow these guidelines exactly.  It is more important that you tell the Judge, in your own words, as much as possible about what you know about each person’s positive character. Tell your own stories and give examples. If you don’t have a personal story, share what you know about the Chairman, Penny, and Jesse’s work.
  1. Address your letter at the top to:

    Judge William F. Jung
    United States District Court
    Middle District of Florida

    Begin your letter:         

    To: Honorable Judge William F. Jung

Need help? See these sample character letters to the judge.

Use These Online Forms to Submit Your Letters

Copy and paste the text of your letter into these online forms. The forms are configured to email the attorneys who are gathering all the letters to send to the Judge.

If You Have a Handwritten Letter

DO NOT mail your letter directly to the Court.

Take a clear photo of your letter and email it to the attorneys’ email addresses below:

  • For Chairman Omali Yeshitela: Email your letter to Attorney Ade Griffin: ade@agtilaw.com 
  • For Penny Hess: Email your letters to the office of Attorney Leonard Goodman:  lcgoodman@rcn.com and angelajreaney@gmail.com
  • For Jesse Nevel: Email your letter to Attorney Mutaqee Akbar:  m.akbar@akbarthomas.com
  • CC all letters to:  letters@handsoffuhuru.org

About the Uhuru 3 and some of the work of the Uhuru Movement

Join the International Day of Letter Writing on Saturday, October 5

Gather at 11am CT on Zoom for an overview and then start writing!

Register to join this day of action!



Events Listing

U.S. Western Region:
Eugene, OR ★ Los Angeles, CA ★ Oakland, CA ★ San Diego, CA ★ Santa Rosa, CA ★ Tacoma, WA

U.S. Midwest Region:
Battle Creek, MI ★ Chicago, IL ★ Minneapolis, MN ★ St. Louis, MO

U.S. Northern Region:
Boston, MA ★ Brooklyn, NY ★ Newark, NJ ★ New York, NY (web event) ★ Philadelphia, PA ★ Washington, DC

U.S. Southern Region:
Asheville, NC ★ St. Petersburg, FL (May 27)  ★ St. Petersburg, FL (May 28) 

The Caribbean:
Kingston, Jamaica

Europe:
London, England

Africa:
Fochville – Gauteng West, South Africa

Organize an event in your city!

Submit your event

Eugene, OR

Location of Action:
Lane County Farmers Market
Corner of 8th Ave and Oak St.
Eugene, Oregon  97401

Date and Time of Action:  Saturday, May 27, 2023, 9:00am

Sponsoring Organization:  Uhuru Solidarity Movement

Details of Actions:
Tabling: We will distribute information, collect donations to the Hands Off Uhuru! Legal Defense Fund and sign-up new members and volunteers. Meet us at the Farmers Market and get involved!

Contact:
Sandra Forrest
eugene@uhurusolidarity.org
541-326-1908

Resources for letter writing

Use these online forms to submit your letters

International Letter Writing Day

A day of action to write character letters for the Uhuru 3 was held on Saturday, October 5. In case you missed it, watch the recording of the overview and training.

StopRegions-CommunityGarden

Stop Sanctions on Community Programs - Social Media Graphics
• Black Power Blueprint • Community Garden
• Basketball Court
• Housing
• Doula Project

Half sheet to promote your local action, 2-up
• Download PDF
• Google Docs users: Access an editable copy

When you are out there take photos and/or short videos and send them to info@handsoffuhuru.org or tag @handsoffuhuru on social media.

Be part of the worldwide movement denouncing the indictments of African People’s Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela and Uhuru solidarity leaders Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel, falsely charged as “Russian agents!” 

Stop the U.S. government’s attempts to silence Chairman Omali Yeshitela and the Uhuru Movement that has struggled for Black Liberation and against U.S. colonial wars for more than 50 years!

Take action with demonstrations, protests, teach-ins, tabling, banner drops. Let them know we will not be silenced! 

May 27th marks African Liberation Day and the founding of the African People’s Socialist Party, as well as the three-year anniversary of the police murder of George Floyd.

Submit your action

Let the world know when and where you’re speaking out. 

Fill out this form with information about your May 27th action.

Your event will then be listed here on the Hands Off Uhuru website.