Talk about "I CAN'T BREATHE"....The following report makes me breathless to think of this man's life spent behind bars for failing to steal hedge clippers. While I am saddened to hear that he has made mistakes and served for other offenses, that the Louisiana Supreme Court did not grant Fair Wayne Bryant's request to have his sentence overturned, puts us back 100 years. You can read the story widely reported (August 6, 2020) by CNN and Fox here:

"A Black Louisiana man will spend the rest of his life in prison for stealing hedge clippers, after the Louisiana Supreme Court denied his request to have his sentence overturned last week.
Fair Wayne Bryant, 62, was convicted in 1997 on one count of attempted simple burglary. In his appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Louisiana in 2018, his attorney, Peggy Sullivan, wrote that Bryant "contends that his life sentence is unconstitutionally harsh and excessive."

The panel -- composed of five White men and a Black woman, Chief Justice Bernette Johnson -- upheld the punishment, 5-1.
Johnson was the lone dissenter. In her dissent, Johnson called Bryant's sentence "excessive and disproportionate to the offense" while noting the high cost of keeping Bryant imprisoned. Johnson called Bryant's sentence a "modern manifestation" of "pig laws," which were created following Reconstruction to severely criminalize African-Americans for petty theft."

The George Floyd protests, that have shown us how much still needs to be done for all those suffering from unequal treatment at the hands of our justice system have compelled me to start this petition.   
Please sign this petition to have Fair Wayne Bryant's sentence overturned. While we are not marching in the streets, the Louisiana Supreme Court and the Governor of Louisiana will receive this notice that we care. Justice for Fair Wayne Bryant is the hope. He deserves it! 

To Contact the Governor's Office go here:

https://gov.louisiana.gov/page/contact

To Email the Governor's Office go here:

https://gov.louisiana.gov/index.cfm/form/home/4

To Email members of the Louisiana Legislature go here:

https://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/H_Reps_ByName 

http://senate.la.gov/Senators/default.asp

To read Chief Justice Bernette Johnson's decent go here:

https://www.lasc.org/Opinions/2020/20-0077.KO.bjj.dis.pdf