{ title: 'Courier-Journal. (Rochester, N.Y.) 1968-current, August 11, 1988, Page 1, Image 1', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/np00020004/1988-08-11/ed-1/seq-1/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/np00020004/1988-08-11/ed-1/seq-1.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/np00020004/1988-08-11/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/np00020004/1988-08-11/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
Image provided by: Rochester Regional Library Council
w> f '.\-*•.--*•* *•-***-*.*- »***-*-W,*.*.\*'.». *•.».•-»-*.-. .*.'»**»-vy»*.*-* .-.*-» £&•£*££££«» Kenyan cadre 1l»feort^c#ftte<idsWp 11^ leader of &wt AJtieofs feagftKiing the members of stmotii Lifelong learning plemem beolwmo after tag* 4 IOIIC Diocese of Rocheste Thursday. August 11. 1988 28 Pages 2 Section- Lanterns for hope Paper lanterns floating on an Ithaca waterway in Cass Park last Saturday evening, August 6, symbolically called to mind those who died in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, 43 years ago, and whose charred bodies choked a nearby river. Ithaca residents, including John and Miriam Kennedy of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (below left) and several dozen \parishioners from Immaculate Conception Church, were ampng«. more than 200 people who constructed paper lanterns and attendejl their launch. Martha Hamblin (right) paused to admire the elaborate drawing? and simple poems with which the lanterns were decorated. ••-^^W^v' -.-,.••-'•\\ Similar lantern Punches were organized in more than 300 cities world-wide as a^temin|^fcOf the destructive potential of nuclear weapons. JudySanchaz By Lee Strong A.citizehs' commission examining the May 24 shotting death of Calvin Green has con- cluded thatthe black man was \murdered by (police) Officer Gary Smith!' The commission — which included representatives of the Dio- cese of Rochester — also urged a petition cam- paign to remove District Attorney Howard K. Relin from office, accusing him of racism. In a three-page report issued Tuesday, Au- fe -~ ±$*>*.t \ r . - Around the Diocese... Page 2 Calendar Page 5 Classifieds., ,. Page 5 Columnists Pages 8-9 Editorial & Opinion... Page 10 Features Pages 6-7 Sports. Pages 10A-I1A World & Nation Pages 3-4 gust 2, thecommission further asked that a community control council be established to oversee police operations, that a special prose- cutor be appointed and the grand jury recon- vened to investigate the shooting of Green. The commission also holds Rochester Mayor Tho- mas P. Ryan and the City Council responsible for Green's death. The Independent Citizens Commission on Police Violence was formed in early June to study the circumstances surrounding the death of Green, who was shot five times by Officer Smith. Green, who was unarmed, was hiding in an attic crawl space when he was shot by the officer. Smith, who is white, was cleared of crimi- nal wrongdoing by a Monroe County grand jury on June 6. The black community was en- raged by the grand jury's findings, believing that Smith would have been charged with mur- der or negligent homicide had he not been a police officer. In studying the shooting and releasing a re- port, the commission was less concerned with objective facts than with giving voice to the pain and anger, felt in the black community over the case, according to commission mem- ber Father Larry= Tracy of the Office of the Spanish Apostolate. \This report is giving voice to an aggrieved community;' Father Tracy said. \It is much more of a consciousness raising document. It's kind of a prophet call from the community!' Despite the controversial nature of the re- port, Father Tracy said it was important that the Catholic Church be represented on the commission. He noted that \the Church has a choice of not saying anything, or standing with the black community;' which he said felt excluded from the judicial process. \That's a role the Church has traditionally assumed: a voice for voiceless people!' Father Tracy said. \It's not a question of that voice being right or wrong; it's a question that that voice, that anger, that pain needs to be heard!' Following the release of the grand jury's findings, leaders of the black community demanded that the testimony heard by the pan- el be made public. They also requested that Rochester Police Department release the files produced in its internal investigation of the in- cident. The police investigation had found that Smith was not justified in shooting Green. The same conclusion was reached by a four- member Complaint Investigation Commission composed of citizens and police officers who reviewed the case. Smith resigned from the po- lice force June 30. • Fallowing the grand jury decision, Relin said on several occasions that he wished the grand jury's report could be made public, but that this is legally possible only in exceptional cir- cumstances. On July 29, however, Relin an- nounced that he would seek to have the grand jury testimony made public. He also said that this fall he would request a change in state laws to make releasing grand jury testimony easier in the future. Earlier that same day, City Corporation Counsel Louis N. Kash filed a petition in State Supreme Court, requesting that the fiie of the Rochester Po- lice Departments Physical Crimes Unit be released. According to the Rev. John Walker, chair- man of the citizen's commission, members decided to release their report on schedule in- stead of waiting to see the police and grand jury files because they did not know if or when those files would be made public In addition, Walker noted, the commission had already announced when it would release its findings, and \we felt we had a commitment to the community?' He also asserted that \it was pressure generated by the community that forced (Rclin> to try to get the grand jury tes- timony released. If Mr. Relin had been sincere from the very beginning, he would have pressed to have them released earlier!' Nevertheless, since its report was released, the commission has faced Sharp criticism from public officials for releasing the report before having all the facts. Relin specifically pointed out that the. report contained some inaccura- cies. For example, the report noted that two CoatiMK+Mnvett
