Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter dead at 76

[SidDithers]

Source: Toronto Star

Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the former American boxer imprisoned nearly 20 years for three murders before the convictions were overturned, has died at his home in Toronto.

He was 76.

Read more: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/04/20/rubin_hurricane_carter_dead_at_76.html

---

Edit to add: He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2012.

Sid

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Just got a NYT banner alert.

Wow. R.I.P.

[SidDithers]

2. Yeah. Very sad...

He was an amazing person who did a tremendous amount of good for the wrongly convicted.

Sid

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Here's a link with some more info

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/rubin-hurricane-carter-dead-at-76/article18071079/

Sometimes you just can't fight anymore but he gave it his all!

[malthaussen]

4. Paging H2O man!

I imagine he'll have a moving eulogy for Mr Carter.

-- Mal

[H2O Man]

5. Hi

Rube & I have been friends for 40+ years. It'll take me some time, but I will put something together.

He found DU to be a curious place!

[GReedDiamond]

19. "He found DU to be a curious place!"

He was right!

RIP Hurricane.

[brer cat]

27. Thoughts of you were the first thing in my mind

when I read the news. I am sorry for the loss of your good friend.

[scarletwoman]

30. Immediately thought of you when I heard this news today. My condolences on the loss of your friend.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

6. RIP Hurricane...

http://vimeo.com/53933900

[zeemike]

7. It is a sad day for a man to who a great injustice was done.

...and a song that tells the story for those who do not know it...

[Tsiyu]

9. Deleted the other

Sorry, did not see your post when I scanned.


RIP Rubin

[lastlib]

10. SHIT. Just *shit*.

Requiescat in Pace, Hurricane. As Dylan so eloquently sang, "an innocent man in a living hell." For FAR too fucking long. Verdict of history: Not.Guilty.

[LoisB]

11. RIP Hurricane.

[sheshe2]

12. RIP, Rubin.

[ellie50]

13. Be careful who you choose to be your heroes

Mr Carter may not have been so innocent:

http://members.shaw.ca/cartermyths/

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/28/movies/separating-truth-from-fiction-in-the-hurricane.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

[Springslips]

15. Plus 1

I for one believe that there is strong evidence that this guy is a sociopathic murderer who violently killed people. That's all I am going to say.

[NoGOPZone]

18. perhaps you could have turned over

your "strong evidence" to Passaic County, New Jersey authorities while Carter
Was alive, who evidently needed some.

[Springslips]

20. Incorrect

Mr Carter was never cleared of the charges. They had clear evidence to convict twice.

[NoGOPZone]

21. who said "cleared of charges"? nice strawman

The prosecutors passed on the chance to use this "clear evidence" in a third trial, due in no small part to the fact that NOTHING in this case was clear, particularly the reliability of their key witness

[Springslips]

25. Fair enough

Nevermind that "strong evidence" wasn't a legal opinion-- thus making your first post a strawman attack of my statement-- it is good you realize that Carter was never cleared. If one looks at it honestly, there is nothing that clears him at all. I feel the evidence is strong, if not reaching a legal level; I feel his actions afterwards showed just the type of personality he is: psychopath.

[NoGOPZone]

28. strong evidence was YOUR phrase

Last edited Sun Apr 20, 2014, 09:27 PM - Edit history (1)

What I realize is that the state could never secure a conviction that stood up, and passed on their final opportunity. Little wonder, their key witness changed stories, even sworn ones, over and over. Some might say that's 'psychopathic'. I'll settle for 'pathological liar'. I'm not sure what was so 'psychopathic 'about Carter's behavior afterwards, his purported assault on a supporter was another accusation that was never proven, so I'll guess I'll have to continue believing in innocent until proven guilty

[yellowcanine]

42. "Clear evidence" not clear enough to keep verdicts from getting thrown out.

Appeals courts, including the SCOTUS, said the evidence wasn't clear enough. If the trial is not fair, how can the evidence be "clear." We don't even know all of the evidence if the trial is unfair. Sometimes "clear evidence" is not so clear when other evidence is considered. Otherwise, why bother with trials at all? The evidence is clear - guilty!

[JJChambers]

22. Someone alerted on this post. Facts have no place on DU, apparently.

AUTOMATED MESSAGE: Results of your Jury Service

On Sun Apr 20, 2014, 11:34 AM an alert was sent on the following post:

Be careful who you choose to be your heroes
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=784464

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

First, as the saying goes, "too soon". Second, the NYT article linked actually contradicts this low-post count user's statement:

"Three months later, however, the two men were indicted based on statements by two petty criminals, Alfred P. Bello and Arthur D. Bradley, two white men who admitted that they had been committing a burglary near the Lafayette Grill and said that they had seen Mr. Carter and Mr. Artis emerge with guns in their hands...Missing from the film are the **recantations by Mr. Bello and Mr. Bradley, the critical disclosures that reopened a dead case and figured prominently in Mr. Carter's ultimate exoneration.**"

Furthermore, the evidence presented by prosecutors at the time was not very strong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubin_Carter#Investigation.2C_indictment_and_first_conviction

The "Be careful who you choose to be your heroes" suggests this user is a lurking right wing concern troll. DU is not an "anything goes" forum. Don't be afraid to hide this garbage.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Sun Apr 20, 2014, 11:41 AM, and the Jury voted 2-5 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: I think this post must be hidden.
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: I changed my vote to hide-- agree with alerter
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Actually, Carter beat a woman unconscious when he was released. Carter was a violent thug who may have been wrongfully convicted of murder. But he was still a violent thug and abused women.

Carolyn Kelley, a 61-year-old from Newark, who was working as a bail bondswoman in 1975, was asked to get involved in the effort to win a new trial for Mr. Carter. She devoted more than a year to raising funds for Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter's appeal was upheld. In March 1976, Mr. Carter was released on bail to await a new trial. A few weeks later, Mrs. Kelly says the boxer beat her into unconsciousness in his hotel room during a meeting she sought with him over affairs relating to her involvement with his cause. Rumors of the beating got out. Finally, Chuck Stone, a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, broke the story of the alleged beating in a front-page article. After Mr. Stone's column ran, the alleged beating became a national story. Mr. Carter's celebrity support melted away.
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I think the comments of the alerter should be posted instead of hiding the post.

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[whopis01]

31. "Facts have no place on DU, apparently." - confused by this statement

Maybe I am misinterpreting your meaning, but I find it difficult to see why you would come to such a blanket conclusion based on what happened here.

Anyone can alert on a post for any reason. So to condem all of DU because someone alerted on a post seems to be using a very wide brush based upon the actions of one individual. Particularly when the response to the alert is overwhelmingly against it (5-2) with one of the jury members providing facts about that case that support the post in question.

From my point of view the alerter might be someone who doesn't care about the facts, but the DU system and community overwhelmingly rejected the alerter's point of view.

[JJChambers]

32. Where you see blanket conclusion,

In fact only snarky condemnation of the alerter was intended.

[whopis01]

36. Ah - I understand now

I am usually better at seeing snark than that. I even argue against the use of the "sarcasm" tag because it takes all the fun out of trying to figure out if the poster is being sarcastic or not.

My apologies for my misinterpretation of your comments.

[CreekDog]

43. Funny, your words reminded me of something...

You’ll be doin’ society a favor
That sonofabitch is brave and gettin’ braver
We want to put his ass in stir
We want to pin this triple murder on him
He ain’t no Gentleman Jim”

http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/hurricane

[Starry Messenger]

46. +1

Nailed in one.

[Wilms]

26. Your first link's author seems to have a personal issue.

Very questionable. Most of the "myths" the author points out have little or nothing to do with the case. The NYTimes article, on the other hand, supports the theory that Carter was not guilty.

Lona Manning, the author of the "myths" link...also posts at http://www.americanthinker.com/ and supports Sarah Palin, here: http://conservatives4palin.com/2011/01/birth-of-a-libel.html

I urge all moved by ellie50's post to review the provided links.

[freshwest]

37. The style of the link sounded like a chat by Rush Limbaugh. There are several blogs like this,

white people discussing black people, always adding suspicions or assumptions that aren't valid, more dog whistles than factual.

Just my opinion. Thanks for the information on the Palin supporter.

[lunasun]

40. +1

[Ash_F]

33. Be careful what sites you choose to link to

The author of the first link, proudly cites their contributions tor http://www.americanthinker.com/ .

I won't get into a huge discussion about this. I will just share this lovely image from their front page.

[yellowcanine]

41. The law says he is innocent. Both convictions were overturned by judges because he did not get

fair trials. Prosecutors chose not to try him again. In our system that means he is innocent because both guilty verdicts were thrown out. It does not matter that he was never declared "not guilty" There are lots of people walking around who were accused of crimes but for one reason or another prosecutors declined to prosecute. Guess what, they are innocent under our system of justice. If we get our information on who is guilty or innocent from websites there are lots of innocent people who are guilty and lots of guilty people who are innocent.

[Ash_F]

14. A tale of injustice all Americans should know. /nt

[2naSalit]

16. RIP, sir.

[chuckstevens]

17. The Story of the Hurricane

Best Dylan song EVER! RIP Rubin.

[dsteve01]

23. Bob Dylan - Hurricane Lyrics

[mountain grammy]

24. I know he had his faults, but I admired the man for surviving unjust imprisonment.

He should rest in peace, he deserves that.

[bigwillq]

29. RIP

[Nanjing to Seoul]

34. He didn't deserve what he got. He didn't deserve to languish in prison due to racist asshole

Godspeed, Mr. Carter.

[taught_me_patience]

35. Great Dylan song, but Rubin Carter was not a good guy

And, in my mind, great doubt to whether he really was innocent or not. I actually think that he's probably guilty of the crime.

[theboss]

38. That album is insane

Hurricane is a wordy protest song about a man whose innocence is extremely questionable.

Joey is an 11 minute ode to a total scumbag murderer.

Mozambique is some kind of travel commercial for a country about to fall into a decades-long civil war.

[heckles65]

39. Yes, be careful of your heroes

I detest American Thinker but I'll join those who think that Carter's innocence of a horrible crime is questionable. Cal Deal's website is very old and full of broken links, but what there is is sufficient to show that a distinctive car left the crime scene, and a very similar if not identical one was seen en route to the stop where Carter was arrested - again in a very similar if not identical vehicle.

[CreekDog]

44. your 2nd post since 2012 here and it's to tell us that Rubin Carter really did it?

really? well thank you very much.

i imagine your second guessing of the outcome means that you were involved in the case and have some special knowledge that trumps everyone else's?

[CreekDog]

45. Sid, some of the characters in this thread remind me of the Dylan song about this

and not in a good way.