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Robert givens, keir johnson, lester wilkins and Marcellus Jackson are facing sentencing. David gergen says the men have been warned to stop their drug-related activities. He says the men are Not guilty of an isolated offense. Gergen: sentencing should be based on a community impact statement.
Robert givens, keir johnson, lester wilkins and Marcellus Jackson are facing sentencing. David gergen says the men have been warned to stop their drug-related activities. He says the men are Not guilty of an isolated offense. Gergen: sentencing should be based on a community impact statement.
Robert givens, keir johnson, lester wilkins and Marcellus Jackson are facing sentencing. David gergen says the men have been warned to stop their drug-related activities. He says the men are Not guilty of an isolated offense. Gergen: sentencing should be based on a community impact statement.
On Thursday, May 29, 2014, at a regularly scheduled public meeting, the Third District Citizens Advisory Council voted to authorize the issuance of a Community Impact Statement (CIS) for the sentencing of Robert Givens, Keir Jackson, Lester Williams and Marcellus Jackson and that said CIS be submitted to the District of Columbia Superior Court and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.
One of the primary roles of government is to keep citizens safe. The street sales of illegal drugs are often accompanied by violence, threats of violence and illegal weapons as street gang members seek to protect their perceived drug sale territory. The communities served by the Third District Citizens Advisory Council have been plagued by the menace of drug-related gang violence for decades. Messrs Givens, Johnson, Williams and Jackson are before you because of their involvement in perpetuating these deadly activities in our area.
Not one of these men is guilty of an isolated offense. In previous contacts with the criminal justice system, each of these men has surely been warned on several occasions by the Court, their attorneys, law enforcement and others to discontinue such illegal activities and pursue a more civilized and productive path. They have clearly chosen to ignore such advice and warnings.
For several years, several neighborhoods in the Third District have been a part of the District of Columbias exciting revitalization, with new residents, businesses and both high paying and low skilled jobs locating locally. Many developers and business owners have demonstrated a willingness to ignore irrelevant criminal histories of potential hires and provided desperately needed jobs to those who are willing to put in an honest days work, show up regularly on time and drug free, take pride in being a part of the resurgence of our community, and provide for their families. The men before you today refused to take advantage of such local opportunities.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC), states that a staggering 80% of gun homicides are gang-related. If we can discourage and reduce gang related gun violence by and remove such violent persons from our streets, we could make our communities dramatically safer. It is truly regrettable that these men were being brought to court because of their involvement in the murders and threatening behavior toward rival gang members. But it should not be overlooked that the violence they perpetuated in the community after a funeral, on a school campus and on a popular commercial corridor of the city have a profound and devastating effect on the community. Crimes such as these make young children and their parents fearful of enjoying the public spaces that should be the safest facilities in our city. Such crimes make long time resident senior citizens fearful of walking our streets alone. The fear of gun violence also drives those who have chosen to purchase and rent homes in the city to move to other parts of the District or out of the District entirely and taking their taxable income and spending with them. Such violent activity destroys communities.
Third District Citizens Advisory Council will not tolerate gang related crime and violence in the vicinity of locations where young children should be able to learn and play safely and where our seniors and local families should be able to walk freely at all hours of the day. Page 1 of 2
It has long been widely known that drug dealers often prey upon, recruit and corrupt children into their criminal endeavors. During one of the hearings in this case, Ricardo Epps, an incarcerated member of a violent drug gang, testied that he and his associates involved children as young as 14 and 15 years old in their drug activities and routinely violently attacked innocent people for sport. The fact that these drug gangs also prey upon and exploit those with substance addiction, mental illness, women and other vulnerable persons for prot make their deadly trade one that we as a community are eager to eradicate. The behaviors of the men before you today have been a menace to the peace, tranquility and safety of our community. Our community will not stand by while they are given a sentences that amount to mere slaps on the wrist. Their sentences must send a crystal clear message to their other associates that menacing gang behavior and gun related violence deserve long-term incarceration.
Third District Citizens Advisory Council recommends that you give Messrs Givens, Johnson, Williams and Jackson the maximum sentence in their respective cases and urge you to ensure that his sentence includes meaningful and effective psychotherapy, counseling and job preparedness and skills training before they are released back into the community.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Third District Citizens Advisory Council.
Stanley J. Mayes Chairman Page 1 of 2 According the MPD Third District statistics for the past year, gun related crime and other violent crimes have been on the rise.