Buffalo Criterion, 1984-04-04

              wny's necessary minority newspaper - featuring paid legitimate circulation teh buffalo criterion niagara region rochester vol no 59 - 15 wednesday april i 10 l!isi out >,( i mn 2.v beginning next week complete facts of the judge sims charges starting with the jones case community calls for investigation of supreme court apellate division fourth dept & court of appeals community enraged at sims ouster eye on history the recent removal of city court judge barbara m sims from the bench has sent shock waves throughout the black community in the city of buffalo immediate reaction was one of dissen chantment and disappointment in a system that has had a long history of miua 18v5f rafts ffi foil society recent events surrounding judge sims reflect a culmination of attacks and accusations that became dart of a media blitz against the character and career of buffalo's first and only black woman judge the community is concerned and wants immediate answers to such questions as why did those who do not live in this community carry out a campaign against the credibility of judge sims right from the very beginning of her tenure as judge has the community been totally disenfranchised when it comes to the election of judges who sit on the court of appeals with approximately 2.500 judges in new york state all with relatives what percentage of cases are affected or in some way related to family situations in the case of barbara sims her accusers constantly brought up the relationship of her husband's law practice with her responsibilities as a judge judge sims has reviewed thousands of cases and the cases in question represent a very small number the community has heard only part of the story and would like to have the record set straight this entire episode has been a tremendous blow to the community as a whole with the dismissal of judge sims there remains only ten blacks left in city court and two of these only have offices there and in fact work somewhere else the outrage of some of our community leaders was heard loud and clear but we need to add more voices to that protest judge sims has been a good judge barbara sims has been fair in the review of all of her cases her removal is a slap in the face to all the members of the black community now is the time for us all to act and to take some action on her behalf the action of the court of appeals was harsh and should not go without total community protest we knew barbara sims as a friend and a person who was involved in her community she was a judge but she never set herself above the people she had the responsibility to review hundreds of cases and for black men and women who faced her she represented hope judge sims has been a staunch supporter of justice and to see justice deal her such an in just blow is hard to hejjd barbara^i-t represents 4 one thebestin our * fine •«* by eva m.doyle city court judge barbara sims a victim of harassment & racial attacks - community she has indeed been a history maker a review of the historical records in our city will show that she has established many firsts as a black woman she has always carried herself as a professional with a determination to do the very best in her position we cannot afford to lose her expertise and her wisdom the community feels that the decision to remove judge sims from office was extremely unfair and represented another attempt by the establishment to discredit blacks in high positions in submitting her appeal judge sims did so in the firm belief that justice would prevail she did so in the belief that her case would get a fair appraisal the decision to remove her from office was totally unwarranted it is also a sad commentary on the fact that the black community has no ties or knowledge of the court of appeals the actions of the court of appeals will ultimately affect every black man woman and child in our city this is not to be taken lightly judge sims has been a victim of negative harsh attacks she has received threatening letters and the wall of her courtroom has been burned she has received obscene phone calls . and has been the object of constant intimidation throughout her ordeal she has remained strong and deter mined she has carried out the duties of her office under great stress and harrassment black women have experienced the pressures of job-related problems that stem from being a woman and being black the case of barbara sims points openly to this situation _ often blacks become targets and are forced at times to endure unnecessary pressures judge sims recalled this attitude of a hostile work environment when she stated that ever since i became the first black to beat a white in a head-to-head election and filled the entire city with consternation i have been told...constantly...they were going to get me barbara sims has many friends in this city a person is innocent until proven guilty the news media haa arrested tried and convicted judge sims in a kangaroo court only one side of the story has been heard and that side has been sensationalized to sell newspapers but the community demands some concrete answers and a chance to exonerate their own judge regardless of the pressures that she has had to face barbara sims continued to function and to carry out her duties as a public servant the day to day constant badgering by the media has been overwhelming a recent article in . essence magazine april 1984 points to this real concern and states the following that as women we are jugglers who have many commitments — to work husband children home and community besides juggling commit ments we are confronted with the realities of racism sexism and injustice in our society the question that stands out is what has barbara sims done to warrant removal from the bench this is a very real question that needs to be answered right away the justice in this country is totally backwards and unfair if we can allow murderers to walk the street and close our eyes to drug traffic and mob violence where is the justice in removing a judge for accusations that are so unclear that newspaper accounts refer to them as actions that appeared to demonstrate favoritism to her attorney husband and his clients appeared to be and proven beyond a shadow of a doubt are two entirely different things when we condemn and punish people for what appears to be then the entire system of the democratic process falls into question ad judge barbara sims will not give up she will continue to practice law and the community is urged to support her in her efforts we need to give her our business as well as our moral support we need to adopt a special slogan now we are all aware of the chant that follows the rev jesse jackson as he travels around the country we have heard it time and again run jesse run now it is time for us to come to the aid of our own in this city we support you barbara sims judge barbara sims as far as i am concerned the lady is still a judge and we urge you to appeal barbara appeal barbara m sims eva m doyle death of prominent minister mourned of p£t sen g of c % rev-e-j-echob ' «•■■*« fl«e sl"l b-pttet church friday march 30 bandlt jr l *" pre«dent of the empire ptiat sute convention inc mm w l ■ m v zz meat organizations this photo was taken at one of the convention held recently in buffalo shown are rev richardson who is secretary of the national baptist convention rev and mrs echols and mother shm „> , r?esid«nt of the baptist ministers wives and widows organization _ criterion photo a tribute to rev e j echols rev henry hall pays tribute to his late adopted son rev elijah j echols i met rev echols in 1918 when he came to buffalo with his father rev e j echols sr he was just a baby boy i had a chance to see him grow up because i was a member of shiloh baptist church under the leadership of his father my sons arthur and walter and rev echols were members of the ymca together but there was something about him that was different from the other boys you never heard of him being with gangs he was a church lover he worked faithfully even as a boy in the church and in 1932 when 1 was called to preach he was the church clerk his name is on my preaching license that has been 52 years ago rev echols was blessed to meet my adopted daughter kenvel a girl who loved god and also loved her husband and his family she proved that she loved his family when rev echols sr was dying i saw her at his bedside just the two of us were there at that time kenvel just loves people and she has the holy spirit in her life i am praying that god will keep her here for many more years when she talks there is power in her words may god bless his family the echols this tribute is written by a 91 year old man the dad of all preachers and missionaries under 72 years of age - rev henry hall rev andrew whitted to be feted rev andrew whitted will be honored for his 30th year as a clergyman and for his 12th year as pastor of st luke ame zion church at a banquet tee to elect dr whitted bishop the banquet will be held saturday april 14 at 6 p.m at st luke church 314 e ferry st the donation is 10.00 for adults and 6.00 for youth general chairperson is leonard hayes and assis tant mary hudgins ban quet ticket chairperson audrey miller hospitality committee mary how ard publicity chairper son madeline o easiey and debra johnson pro gram chairperson mary hudgins decoration com mittee chairperson ber nice hayes and debra johnson assistant and the finance committee james johnson haywood milliard and mary how ard reservations must be made in advance farewell marvin los angeles — singer marvin gaye whose vocal renditions made him one of today's top rated artists was shot to death sunday april 1 1984 in the home of his parents by his father marvin gaye sr 69 during a quarrel which started the night before his father is a retired apostolic minister gaye lived with his parents marvin who would have been 45 years old the following monday was shot twice in the chest by his father with a 38 caliber five shot hand gun according to police marvin's mother alberta 71 was an eye witness gaye was a talented musician and began hit career as a drummer in the late 50s and in 1962 started on his vocal journey recording more than two dozen top 40 songs the grammy-winning entertainer was a native of washington d c and recorded for tamla-motown co rites will be held for him thursday april sth his remains will be cremated and his ashes snread over the pacific ocean x"1 marvin gave city court to take over pre-warrant program erie county district attorney richard j ar cara announced that on monday april 2 the district attorney's off ice's pre-warrant di version program will start operating in buffalo city court mr arcara said the pre-warrant diversion i program is designed to significantly increase the p««d ■ n**a quality of justice afforded complain ants and defendants the funding initiative for the program was taken by mr arcara with two local private foundations the margaret l wendt foun dation and the western new york foundation after presenting the pro ,- wrn yl r%tmtns tic mh - dations agreed to fund the pilot project for a two year period because buffalo city court handled approxi mately 20,000 criminal cases in 1983 district pre-warrant program continued on page 2 see story on rev echols on page 31 sen iny working leading in wny inner cities since 23 j r price only 20 c pcrcop