Jacksonville, FL – There is no U.S. state attorney that has caused more injustice, tried more juveniles as adults, and spat in the face of more Black people than Florida State Attorney Angela Corey.

Since being elected to the position in 2008, State Attorney Angela Corey’s record has been one of scandal and high-profile political trials. This means the people of Jacksonville have a special responsibility to make sure she loses her upcoming primary on Aug. 30, which is closed to all but Republican voters because of a dirty move by her office. Why is it so important to get rid of Angela Corey, and what’s the best way to get rid of her?

A look at Angela Corey’s work over the past few years demonstrates why she’s the worst State Attorney in the U.S. Studying community efforts will answer how Jacksonville can finally get rid of Corey and strike a blow against racist discrimination and national oppression in Florida.

Disappointing high-profile cases

Florida tries more juveniles as adults than any other state in the country and Jacksonville’s Angela Corey tries more juveniles as adults than any other city in the state.

In 2011, Angela Corey oversaw the case of Christian Fernandez, a 12-year-old Latino boy who accidentally killed his younger brother. Corey’s grand jury indicted Christian Fernandez as an adult on charges of first degree murder and aggravated child abuse. Christian did time in solitary confinement at an adult facility before his trial, where he eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

In 2012, Republican Governor of Florida Rick Scott appointed Angela Corey to the trial of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. Miraculously, unlike her case against 12-year-old Christian Fernandez, Corey famously failed to get a conviction of the killer and Zimmerman walked free. This injustice contributed to the creation of the Black Lives Matter slogan, organization and movement. Zimmerman has resurfaced in the media several times since he murdered Trayvon for additional misconduct.

In 2012, Corey also prosecuted a 31-year-old Black woman, Marissa Alexander, for firing a warning shot against her abusive husband. Although no one was harmed in the incident and the husband, Rico Gray, admitted to prosecutors that the abused Alexander tried to leave the home before things escalated, Corey had no problem convicting the innocent woman. After three years, Alexander eventually entered a plea deal and was released from prison.

In 2014, Corey was involved in the trial of Michael Dunn for the murder of Jordan Davis. Michael Dunn was a white killer who pulled a gun and fired ten shots into a car full of Black teenagers parked at a Jacksonville gas station after they refused Dunn’s demand that they turn off their loud music. None of the Black teenagers were armed, but thanks to Angela Corey, Dunn’s first trial resulted in a mistrial verdict. A mass movement brought the case national attention, and Dunn was eventually convicted of Jordan’s murder after a re-trial.

These are only a small handful of Corey’s worst cases, but they prove a point. If you are white and murder a Black youth, Angela Corey is going to protect you. If you are a young Black or Latino person, Angela Corey is probably going to try you as an adult and go for the harshest sentence possible. Chattel slavery and old Jim Crow laws have given way to a new system of Jim Crow discrimination in Jacksonville, with Angela Corey as a primary figurehead.

Rampant corruption and dirty politics

There have been several alleged scandals in Angela Corey’s office over the past few years.

According to some sources who worked for Corey in the past, her office may have hidden important information about Duval County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Margarita Arruza, who developed severe memory loss while on the job. Allegedly, this was kept secret from attorneys working with Arruza. If true, this means that hundreds of cases may be in question since the autopsy data Arruza collected may have been inaccurate.

In addition to that alleged corruption, Angela Corey’s current re-election campaign has also proven questionable. Angela Corey is running as a Republican against Melissa Nelson and Wes White, also Republicans, and a write-in Democratic party candidate.

Angela Corey’s campaign manager was exposed after personally filing paperwork for the Democratic party write-in candidate, who has no real chance of winning the office. Now that a Democrat has entered the State Attorney’s race, the primary has become closed and only those registered as Republicans can vote against Angela Corey on Aug. 30. Over 58% of Duval County citizens are not Republicans, and won’t get any say on Aug. 30. Effectively, whoever wins the Republican primary is almost sure to win against the underfunded and unorganized write-in candidate later this year. It’s worth noting that the write-in candidate is a long-time Angela Corey supporter and even donated money to her campaign in the past.

The story is as ridiculous as it sounds. Alexander Pantinakis resigned as Angela Corey’s campaign manager after local and national media broke the story.

Angela Corey clearly needs to go – it’s time to take a look at how the people of Jacksonville can get her out of office.

Mass political struggle needed in August

There are three main aspects to the fight against Angela Corey from now through the primary. These three aspects are grassroots struggle, using the media and voting.

The most important factor that can help bring Angela Corey’s reign to an end is the mass political struggle growing in Jacksonville. The city of Chicago has proven that a mass movement to remove a state attorney can be victorious. Across Jacksonville, rallies, meetings and teach-ins have been held about the need to get Corey out of office. Readers are welcome to follow the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) on Facebook for more information about upcoming events demanding Angela Corey out. By building a popular mass movement against the system of racial and national oppression Angela Corey represents, the people can defeat the rich and powerful supporters of a broken system.

There are three types of media coverage that will help get Angela Corey out of office – mainstream media coverage, independent media coverage, and social media coverage. Several local papers like the Folio and the Florida Times Union have been running articles that expose Angela Corey’s bad track record and corruption. Other sources like The Left Turn News Network and Fight Back! have been covering the fight against Corey from an independent perspective. Across Jacksonville and the entire nation, people are blogging and posting on social media about the terrible things Angela Corey has done and the corruption that is rampant in her office. Spreading the truth about Angela Corey makes it more likely she will lose power this year.

Several groups in town have banded together to form an alliance dedicated to getting everyone to temporarily change their party affiliation to Republican so they can vote Angela Corey out of office in the closed primary on Aug. 30. July 29 was the last day to change party affiliation and still vote in the primary, and reports indicate that efforts resulted in a few thousand citizens changing their party affiliation for the primary. This is good work that will help to strike a blow against the enemy, and will supplement other efforts to build a mass movement against Angela Corey.

Corey is running against Melissa Nelson and Wes White in the Republican primary. While neither Nelson nor White are the candidates Jacksonville deserves, Nelson defended 12-year-old Christian Fernandez back in 2012 and has the most support according to several polls. Wes White describes himself as a constitutional conservative and openly supports Donald Trump for president. Everyone should study the platforms of both candidates and ultimately vote against Angela Corey.

The road forward

People who can vote, should vote against Angela Corey on Aug. 30, and they should do even more to strike blows against her and the system she represents.

Getting Angela Corey out of office is not going to solve every problem Black and working-class people face in Jacksonville, but it will be a start. Across the nation, organizations are looking to the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and their Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) initiative – which essentially boils down to a strong, democratically elected police review board with serious teeth that can withstand intimidation and co-option by the system.

History has shown us that the masses are the makers of history, and when the right political line is applied to a mass struggle, the people can win real victories and strike blows against oppression. Jacksonville will be a center of struggle over the next few weeks, and by relying on the people and organizing in the community, justice is sure to prevail.

#JacksonvilleFl #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #TrayvonMartin #Florida #Antiracism #AngelaCorey #AngelaCoreyOutNow #PoliceBruatality

Organizers from the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) called the event as part of its ongoing Angela Corey Out Now campaign. Several community groups like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) came out to the protest. Student activists from the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapters in Tampa and Tallahassee also attended in support.

Corey leads the state in direct commitments (plea deals) of juvenile offenders, most of whom are African American. From 2009 to 2013, Corey's 4th Judicial Circuit incarcerated 1475 juveniles, compared to just 32 in Miami. While the criminal injustice system in the U.S. disproportionately incarcerates Blacks and Latinos, the situation in Jacksonville under Corey is even more disastrous. From 2006 to 2011, Black males comprised 70% of all juvenile offenders tried as adults by Corey, versus 52% statewide.

Corey's botched prosecution of Trayvon Martin's killer, George Zimmerman, and her vicious persecution of African American mother Marissa Alexander for firing a defensive warning shot sparked the campaign in 2014. Recently, the JPC has targeted many of Corey's corporate and financial backers, including W.W. Gay, Firehouse Subs, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and BBVA/Compass bank. Corey is up for re-election this year.

The event kicked off to high enthusiasm in Riverside, a historic neighborhood in Jacksonville. Loud chants of “One, two, three, four – Angela Corey out the door,” and “Hey hey, ho ho, the New Jim Crow has got to go,” caught the attention of passing drivers, many of whom honked or shouted in support. Protesters carried signs reading, “No justice, no peace!” and “Stop supporting Angela Corey” and passed out leaflets about Corey to people out walking.

Later the crowd took over a lane of traffic on Stockton Street and marched to the front gates of W.W. Gay. Chants of “Kids deserve an education, not mass incarceration,” and “Whose streets? Our streets!” grew louder as the protesters marched under Interstate 10.

After arriving at W.W. Gay, Wells Todd from the JPC spoke before the crowd on Corey's attacks on Jacksonville's Black community. He blasted W.W. Gay and the Corey's other financial backers for directly supporting mass incarceration. Todd ended his speech by encouraging the crowd to keep marching and continue building a mass movement against racism.

W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor Inc. is a Jacksonville-based plumbing and industrial contractor giant that spans across Florida and the U.S. South. Along with its associated companies, W.W. Gay has invested thousands of dollars into Corey as state attorney since her first election in 2008. More than a year before the 2016 election, they had already given Corey $2000.

These companies directly benefit from the expansion of the criminal injustice system in Jacksonville, which Corey helps facilitate. In 2009, the city council awarded the $25 million Duval County Courthouse construction contract to W.W. Gay. More recently W.W. Gay and its associated companies landed major roles in the construction of the new state attorney's office building – a renovation project valued at almost $26 million.

The JPC will continue organizing to remove Corey from office and build a mass movement against racism in Jacksonville.

#JacksonvilleFL #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #AngelaCorey #AngelaCoreyOutNow

Jacksonville, FL – On June 2, State Attorney Angela Corey kicked off her campaign for a third term in the 2016 elections. In 2008, Corey became the state attorney for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit Court, which encompasses Duval, Nassau and Clay counties. She was reelected in 2012 after running unopposed.

The announcement drew harsh criticism and renewed calls by local activists for Corey's removal from office.

“Angela Corey has no backbone when it comes to charging police officers,” said Opio Sokoni, a community activist and scholar in Jacksonville. He continued, “This is true even when they have proven to have broken policy in their actions that have hurt and killed citizens. This is a defining issue of our time. We need a prosecutor that will hold officers accountable when they do wrong. We should not wish for a prosecutor like the one they have in Baltimore. We must seek out and elect one.”

Tefa Galvis, a lead organizer with the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and a co-founder of group's Angela Corey Out NOW campaign, said, “Corey running for a third term means that we have to keep on fighting and organizing. We will continue to stand against the policies and methods that she uses on our community, especially on Black and Latino youth.”

Since taking office, Corey led the state of Florida in the direct commitment and incarceration of juvenile offenders, most of whom are African American.

Angela Corey's war on Black youth

Corey's election as State Attorney in 2008 signaled a nightmarish new chapter in the state's war on Jacksonville's Black community. Far and away, Corey's 4th Judicial Circuit leads the state of Florida in direct commitment of juvenile offenders, most of whom are African American. From 2009 to 2013, Corey's office incarcerated 1475 juveniles in the Jacksonville area alone, compared to just 32 in Miami during the same period [see note 1]. In nearly four out of five of those cases, Corey threatened the juvenile defendant with being charged as an adult in order to coerce a plea deal, since adult charges carry harsher penalties [see note 2].

While the criminal injustice system in Florida and the U.S. disproportionately incarcerates Black and Latino people, the situation in Jacksonville is even more disastrous. In the entire state of Florida from 2006 to 2011, 52% of the male juvenile offenders tried as adults were Black, while white male juveniles comprised only 25% of those tried as adults. These inequalities alone are staggering, but in Corey's 4th Judicial District during the same period, Black males comprised 70% of all juvenile offenders tried as adults, while white males comprised just 18% [see note 2].

The Zimmerman verdict and Marissa Alexander

In 2013, Corey gained national attention for her mishandling of the trial of George Zimmerman, the racist vigilante who killed 16-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman was found not guilty by a mostly white jury, which many activists around the country attribute to Corey's botched prosecution.

A year later, Corey nearly botched another prosecution of a racist white vigilante, Michael Dunn, for murdering 17-year old Jordan Davis. After state prosecutors failed to win a guilty verdict for the first-degree murder charge of killing Jordan, Dunn was retried and eventually convicted in 2014, receiving a sentence of 90-plus years in prison.

Corey's failure to get Zimmerman convicted on first-degree murder contrasted sharply with her record of over-prosecuting Black women in north Florida. Most well known was Corey's relentless prosecution of Marissa Alexander for firing a warning shot in the air to defend herself from domestic abuse. Alexander was denied protection under Florida's Stand Your Ground law and was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in May 2012.

Corey personally prosecuted Alexander and obtained a 20-year prison sentence for the African American mother under Florida's mandatory minimum laws. That sentence was overturned, and a large national movement to free Marissa Alexander pressured Corey into offering a plea deal that included no prison time in late 2014.

Ten years earlier, Corey similarly prosecuted Shana Barnes, a Black woman who shot her abusive husband after trying to retreat. With Corey prosecuting her, Barnes was convicted of murder in 2002 and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Like Alexander, Barnes' conviction was overturned, once by a District Court of Appeals judge and again by the Florida Supreme Court. While Barnes eventually accepted a plea deal that included significantly reduced prison time, the case showed Corey's willingness to obsessively prosecute African American women under spurious charges.

Angela Corey Out Now!

Activist organizations locally and around the country have called on Angela Corey's removal from office. In the spring of 2014, the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition launched a citywide campaign united around the demand, “Angela Corey Out NOW.”

Similarly, the National Organization for Women released a statement in March 2014 calling for Corey's resignation. The statement pointed out, “Instead of using her prosecutorial discretion in a responsible manner, Corey is misusing her office in a way that endangers the lives of domestic violence survivors. That she would try to mislead the public about her role in the criminal justice system of Florida only adds to the outrageousness of her conduct.”

So far, Corey's only challenger is former assistant state attorney Wesley White, who used to work directly under Corey. White filed to run for the Republican nomination for State Attorney before Corey announced her bid for a third term. White's campaign has not yet criticized Corey's racist attacks on African American youth.

Notes: 1. Topher Sanders, The Florida Times Union, “Angela Corey's office threatens Jacksonville area juveniles with adult charges, Matt Shirk and private attorneys say,” February 1, 2014, http://bit.ly/MMZcfZ 2. Ibid.3. Human Rights Watch, “Branded for Life: Florida's Persecution of Children as Adults under its 'Direct File' Statute,” April 2014, http://bit.ly/1hDLLqT

#JacksonvilleFL #AngelaCoreyOutNow

The announcement drew harsh criticism and renewed calls by local activists for Corey's removal from office.

“Angela Corey has no backbone when it comes to charging police officers,” said Opio Sokoni, a community activist and scholar in Jacksonville. He continued, “This is true even when they have proven to have broken policy in their actions that have hurt and killed citizens. This is a defining issue of our time. We need a prosecutor that will hold officers accountable when they do wrong. We should not wish for a prosecutor like the one they have in Baltimore. We must seek out and elect one.”

Tefa Galvis, a lead organizer with the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and a co-founder of group's Angela Corey Out NOW campaign, said, “Corey running for a third term means that we have to keep on fighting and organizing. We will continue to stand against the policies and methods that she uses on our community, especially on Black and Latino youth.”

Since taking office, Corey led the state of Florida in the direct commitment and incarceration of juvenile offenders, most of whom are African American.

Angela Corey's war on Black youth

Corey's election as State Attorney in 2008 signaled a nightmarish new chapter in the state's war on Jacksonville's Black community. Far and away, Corey's 4th Judicial Circuit leads the state of Florida in direct commitment of juvenile offenders, most of whom are African American. From 2009 to 2013, Corey's office incarcerated 1475 juveniles in the Jacksonville area alone, compared to just 32 in Miami during the same period [see note 1]. In nearly four out of five of those cases, Corey threatened the juvenile defendant with being charged as an adult in order to coerce a plea deal, since adult charges carry harsher penalties [see note 2].

While the criminal injustice system in Florida and the U.S. disproportionately incarcerates Black and Latino people, the situation in Jacksonville is even more disastrous. In the entire state of Florida from 2006 to 2011, 52% of the male juvenile offenders tried as adults were Black, while white male juveniles comprised only 25% of those tried as adults. These inequalities alone are staggering, but in Corey's 4th Judicial District during the same period, Black males comprised 70% of all juvenile offenders tried as adults, while white males comprised just 18% [see note 2].

The Zimmerman verdict and Marissa Alexander

In 2013, Corey gained national attention for her mishandling of the trial of George Zimmerman, the racist vigilante who killed 16-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman was found not guilty by a mostly white jury, which many activists around the country attribute to Corey's botched prosecution.

A year later, Corey nearly botched another prosecution of a racist white vigilante, Michael Dunn, for murdering 17-year old Jordan Davis. After state prosecutors failed to win a guilty verdict for the first-degree murder charge of killing Jordan, Dunn was retried and eventually convicted in 2014, receiving a sentence of 90-plus years in prison.

Corey's failure to get Zimmerman convicted on first-degree murder contrasted sharply with her record of over-prosecuting Black women in north Florida. Most well known was Corey's relentless prosecution of Marissa Alexander for firing a warning shot in the air to defend herself from domestic abuse. Alexander was denied protection under Florida's Stand Your Ground law and was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in May 2012.

Corey personally prosecuted Alexander and obtained a 20-year prison sentence for the African American mother under Florida's mandatory minimum laws. That sentence was overturned, and a large national movement to free Marissa Alexander pressured Corey into offering a plea deal that included no prison time in late 2014.

Ten years earlier, Corey similarly prosecuted Shana Barnes, a Black woman who shot her abusive husband after trying to retreat. With Corey prosecuting her, Barnes was convicted of murder in 2002 and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Like Alexander, Barnes' conviction was overturned, once by a District Court of Appeals judge and again by the Florida Supreme Court. While Barnes eventually accepted a plea deal that included significantly reduced prison time, the case showed Corey's willingness to obsessively prosecute African American women under spurious charges.

Angela Corey Out Now!

Activist organizations locally and around the country have called on Angela Corey's removal from office. In the spring of 2014, the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition launched a citywide campaign united around the demand, “Angela Corey Out NOW.”

Similarly, the National Organization for Women released a statement in March 2014 calling for Corey's resignation. The statement pointed out, “Instead of using her prosecutorial discretion in a responsible manner, Corey is misusing her office in a way that endangers the lives of domestic violence survivors. That she would try to mislead the public about her role in the criminal justice system of Florida only adds to the outrageousness of her conduct.”

So far, Corey's only challenger is former assistant state attorney Wesley White, who used to work directly under Corey. White filed to run for the Republican nomination for State Attorney before Corey announced her bid for a third term. White's campaign has not yet criticized Corey's racist attacks on African American youth.

Notes:

1. Topher Sanders, The Florida Times Union, “Angela Corey's office threatens Jacksonville area juveniles with adult charges, Matt Shirk and private attorneys say,” February 1, 2014, http://bit.ly/MMZcfZ 2. Ibid. 3. Human Rights Watch, “Branded for Life: Florida's Persecution of Children as Adults under its 'Direct File' Statute,” April 2014, http://bit.ly/1hDLLqT

#JacksonvilleFL #AngelaCoreyOutNow

Jacksonville, FL – More than 20 people gathered at Chamblin's Uptown, a bookstore and coffee shop, July 27, to attend a Jacksonville Progressive Coalition's (JPC) educational event where a panel discussed Angela Corey's war on Black women.

Angela Corey is the State Attorney in Florida responsible for letting George Zimmerman walk after murdering Trayvon Martin and for failing to get a conviction for Michael Dunn after he murdered Jordan Davis at a Jacksonville gas station. Angela Corey is also responsible for locking up Marissa Alexander for firing a warning shot to defend herself from an abusive man. Corey is trying to put Alexander away for 60 years.

The panel discussed how Marissa Alexander was being abused for being Black and a woman. One of the speakers said that this was not the first time Angela Corey had attacked a Black woman for defending herself. Organizers in the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition have recently uncovered another case, the case of Carolyn Barnes, which has striking similarities to Alexander's case. The common thread was that both women were targets of Angela Corey's war on Black women.

Action News Jax sent a camera and a reporter to cover the event. The reporter interviewed JPC organizer Wells Todd about the Coalition's ongoing “Angela Corey Out Now!” campaign.

Chrisley Carpio, an organizer with Gainesville Students for a Democratic Society and a speaker on the panel, recounted her experiences organizing rallies and marches for Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, including two acts of civil disobedience undertaken with the Dream Defenders in Florida. “Only by organizing militant actions in the streets can we hope to get justice for Trayvon, Jordan, and now Marissa,” Carpio told the audience.

The discussion ended with a question and answer session for the panel. Activists vowed to keep fighting until Anglea Corey was out of office and justice was won for all her victims.

#JacksonvilleFl #JacksonvilleFL #PeoplesStruggles #AntiRacism #TrayvonMartin #MarissaAlexander #Florida #JordanDavis #AngelaCorey #ChrisleyCarpio #JacksonvilleProgressCoalition #JPC #AngelaCoreyOutNow #Campaign