Friday, August 27, 2010
What's going on Saturday To-Do: 'Voices for Justice'
Posted by Lindsey Millar on Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 10:36 AM
'VOICES FOR JUSTICE'
7:30 p.m., Robinson Center Music Hall. $25.
It's inching close to two decades. For more than 17 years, Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley have been imprisoned for a crime a growing number believe they didn't commit. Soon, the so-called West Memphis 3 will face their best opportunity yet to prove they were wrongly convicted. To raise awareness, the WM3 advocacy nonprofit Arkansas Take Action has organized "Voices for Justice," a star-studded rally to be held beginning at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 28, at Robinson Center Music Hall.
On Sept. 30, the Arkansas Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Damien Echols' appeal for a new trial. According to the arguments filed with the court by national legal organizations, new DNA testing and forensic evidence — along with evidence that the original jury foreman engaged in blatant misconduct — prove that Echols, who currently sits on Arkansas's death row, was wrongly convicted of murder.
"In late April, we learned oral arguments were going to be Sept. 30," Echols' wife, Lorri Davis, said earlier this week. "And of course that was real hard to take because that's five months away. So I started thinking, 'Why not use the time in a really positive way that would bring people together?' For longtime supporters. To try to educate people. But most importantly, to send a message to the state of Arkansas: We've done our work, we've proved our case and [the Arkansas Supreme Court] needs to do the right thing and end this injustice."
Davis, who's also a co-founder of Arkansas Take Action, made the event national news when she got two of the cause's fiercest — and most famous — champions on board: Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and The Dixie Chick's Natalie Maines.
One of the WM3's longest supporters, Vedder appeared on the 2000 "Free the West Memphis Three" compilation and co-wrote the song "Army Reserve" on Pearl Jam's 2006 self-titled album with Echols. Last year in Memphis, Vedder told the crowd that he'd decided to include the city on his small tour because of the WM3 and implored it to learn about the case. "You owe it to your country," he said according to the Memphis Flyer. "It could happen to any of us. Three men are in prison, and they shouldn't be."
Maines appeared, with Davis and other members of Arkansas Take Action, at a rally at the state Capitol in 2007. She delivered letters of concern about the case to the governor's office.
Originally, Davis said, she and other ATA organizers wanted to hold the event somewhere more quiet and respectful, like a church. As the Times reported, the rally was initially slated for the Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church.
"I don't know anything about coordinating a big event like this, and it turned out that, logistically, the church didn't make sense," Davis said.
But then Robinson Center stepped in and, with prodding from Vedder, ATA decided to steer the event away from a high-ticket-priced benefit and into a rally with an affordable $25 ticket. As a consequence, Davis said, Vedder and Pearl Jam are likely to go into the red for the event.
In addition to the musicians, who will play acoustically and almost certainly sing some songs together, Quapaw Quarter United Methodist preacher Rev. Thompson Murray, Davis and other members of Arkansas Take Action will speak. Local actress Lisa Blount will sing, and new video messages from the WM3 and from long-time supporter Henry Rollins will screen.
The event bills Vedder and Maines along with "special guests." Davis was tight-lipped about who those special guests are, but promised that they were well known and had been confirmed. I've heard from other sources close to the event that the rumors are true: Johnny Depp, Patti Smith and Fistful of Mercy (Joseph Arthur, Ben Harper, Dhani Harrison) are the special guests.
Speaking of...
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Depp options Echols' forthcoming prison memoir
February 7, 2012Johnny Depp, one of the most vocal celebrity supporters of the West Memphis Three, has optioned Damien Echols' forthcoming prison memoir for possible development into a feature film. /more/
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Damien Echols on life in and out of jail
February 6, 2012Damien Echols — on tour promoting with wife Lorri Davis and "West of Memphis" director Amy Berg while promoting the new doc — gives Democracy Now! /more/
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"West of Memphis" a powerhouse
January 30, 2012I went to the third public screening of "West of Memphis" today, held at Little Rock's Trio's restaurant before a crowd of news media and WM3 supporters. /more/
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Mother of West Memphis 3 victim asks for reopening of case
January 23, 2012Pam Hobbs, mother of Steve Branch, one of three eight-year-olds killed in the 1993 West Memphis slayings that became the West Memphis 3 case, says new information unearthed in a new documentary, "West of Memphis," has persuaded her to call for the state of Arkansas to reopen the case. /more/
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'West of Memphis' explodes at Sundance
January 23, 2012"West of Memphis," the new doc on the WM3 case produced by Damien Echols, Lorri Davis, "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh, has caused an astounding level of buzz with its debut at Sundance this weekend, where it played to sold-out crowds. /more/
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'West of Memphis' debuts at Sundance today
January 20, 2012"West of Memphis," the new documentary about the West Memphis Three case produced by Damien Echols, Lorri Davis, "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh and directed by Amy Berg, will undoubtedly make another big film-festival-circuit splash when it debuts at the Sundance Film Festival today in Park City, Utah. /more/
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West Memphis 3 defense claims new evidence of killer
January 20, 2012The West Memphis 3 defense team continues it work on behalf of the three defendants to point authorities to the person responsible for killing three West Memphis children in 1993. /more/
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Jessie Misskelley forced from temporary home
December 7, 2011Mara Leveritt reports on her website today about the travails of Jessie Misskelley, the West Memphis Three defendant. /more/
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New documentary on West Memphis 3
December 5, 2011A public relations firm last night began distribution of a news release about a new documentary film, "West of Memphis," on the West Memphis Three case, this one a combined effort of the formerly condemned Damien Echols, his wife Lorri Davis and filmmakers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh. /more/
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The Ford Tri-Motor 1929 airliner that Johnny Depp was seen aboard in his 2009 film "Public Enemies" will be coming in to the NLR airport next week. For confirmation check it out on www.flytheford.org
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