Group holds rally to support justice for prisoners cause
Published 7:50 pm Monday, September 7, 2015
By Justin Fedich | The Selma Times-Journal
The members of Justice for Alabama Prisoners all had various personal reasons to come out and support their cause Monday afternoon.
There were roughly 25 Alabama citizens who showed their support as the Alabama Commitment to Change Coalition hosted Justice for Alabama Prisoners for a rally in Selma. Some citizens rallied for family members who they felt were wrongly convicted of a crime, while others rallied because they felt the prison sentences of their loved ones were too long.
Tamera Mayo brought supporters who wore shirts that read “Justice for Janice Greene.” Mayo has been fighting for her sister Greene ever since Greene’s arrest in April 16, 2013.
Greene was arrested for attempted murder, but Mayo said her sister never did anything wrong. Mayo said Greene was set up by a cousin and unfairly prosecuted by two others.
Mayo has gained plenty of supporters through informing others of the Greene’s case, but she hopes to continue to gain more supporters.
“We’ve got a lot of people supporting us, and we don’t want the word to just be here,” Mayo said.
“We want it to go nationwide. When people come here, they need to come here knowing the truth.”
While there are others like Mayo who believe their family members were wrongly convicted, not all who were present Monday were fighting wrong convictions.
Priscilla Davis’ husband and son are both in jail. Her husband is in jail for attempted manslaughter and her son was arrested when he was 15 for murder and is now 25.
While Davis isn’t arguing whether her husband and son broke the law, she thinks they should be serving less time in prison than they were sentenced to.
“I feel like the time they give some people for the crimes they commit is unjust,” Davis said.
Mayo hopes that more people will attend these rallies and that issues like hers and Davis’ can receive more attention.
Both Mayo and Davis plan to keep fighting until they feel like justice has been served.
“If they’ve done this to my sister, just imagine how many people are in prison today with my sister that they’ve already done this to,” Mayo said. “She’s not alone.”