New website: clemency for Joe R. Hopkins
- Category: Imprisonment
- Published on 23 August 2019
- Written by Stephen
- Hits: 2539
My friend Joe R. Hopkins has been in prison in Florida for 28 years. He is in for life. He is a socialist and a member of the World Socialist Party of the US. Several of his articles have appeared in The Libertarian Communist, which is archived on this website.
It is my conviction that Joe's sentence was disproportionate to the gravity of the crime that he committed and failed to take proper account of several mitigating circumstances. He should now be released as an act of clemency.
By drawing public attention to Joe's case I hope to improve his chances of release. A new website has just been launched for this purpose at http://www.joerhopkins.net. Currently the website features the following items:
a plea for clemency, written by myself
Joe's account of two years spent in mental hospital as a young child
some of Joe's writings about prison life
a dozen or so of Joe's poems
some photos of samples of Joe's leatherwork
Any assistance in promoting the new website will be greatly appreciated. We hope that the website will spark a public campaign in Florida for Joe's release. (A campaign needs to be conducted in Florida because the decision will have to be made by Florida officials, who are bound to be more responsive to citizens of that state.)
The photo shows Joe holding his granddaughter Alura, whom he was meeting for the first time, against the backdrop of a mural that he helped paint.
