Ms. Recy Taylor: Police Colluded When Black Mother was Gang Raped in 1944 by Local White Men

This is a very compelling guest post by African American Pundit.

As the story of Recy Taylor gets told through the Internet by The Root, Field Negro, and other African American and progressive bloggers, so does the need to fight for justice.  Across the nation, African Americans, infact, all Americans are reading and learning about the horror experienced by Recy Taylor.

Recy Taylor at 90, standing tall and still waiting for justice.

As Reported by The Root, Cynthia Gordy, “Sept. 3, 1944: It's a damp evening in the Alabama black belt, nearly midnight, but services at Rock Hill Holiness Church in the small town of Abbeville have just let out.

Painting of Rock Hill Holiness Church

Source: at the dark end of the street.com

Recy Taylor, a 24-year-old sharecropper, sets out along the town's fertile peanut plantations, accompanied for the walk home by two other worshippers from the African-American congregation. Moments later, a green Chevrolet rolls by -- and their routine journey takes a horrifying turn.

Wielding knives and guns, seven white men get out of the car, according to Taylor and witnesses from a state investigation of the case.

One shoves Taylor in the backseat; the rest squeeze in after her and ride off. Her panicked friends run to tell the sheriff. After parking in a deserted grove of pecan trees, the men order the young wife and mother out at gunpoint, shouting at her to undress. Six of them rape Taylor that night. Once finished, they drive her back to the road, ordering her out again before roaring off into the darkness.

Days after the brutal attack, Taylor's story traveled through word of mouth, catching the attention of a Montgomery NAACP activist named Rosa Parks. A seasoned anti-rape crusader, who focused on the sexual assaults of black women that were commonplace in the segregated South, Parks would eventually help bring the case international notice. Despite her efforts, however, in Jim Crow-era Alabama, Taylor's assailants were never punished.” More HERE

Fast forward to today, days after The Root’s report on the brutal attack, Taylor's story still travels, this time not only by word of mouth, but also through the internet, through black bloggers, and then through word of mouth, catching the attention of thousands of bloggers and readers throughout the U.S. and around the world.

Today it’s not only the Montgomery NAACP activist named Rosa Parks who would eventually help bring the case international notice, today it is the internet and blogs New Black Woman, Marians Blog, Black Femme blog, Black Buzz, New Black Man, Damn Theory in of 2010, African American News and Commentary and many other Black and progressive blogs.

Family supports Recy Taylor from a distance.

Enter Tracey, who resides in New York state with her mother (Mrs M), who at one time lived in… yes you guessed it, Abbeville, Alabama.  

Tracey, in an inclusive Interview with African American Pundit shares more information on this continuing story of Recy Taylor: A Symbol of Jim Crow's Forgotten Horror

AAP: So Tracey, What is your involvement in the Recy Taylor Story?

Tracey :  Well Pundit, I first read about the Recy Taylor story on The Root and The Field Negro.

After talking with my mom and family I decided to write the Field Negro asking how I could help make this story come to life throughout the afrosphere/afrospear and blogosphere. I guess you and he talked about it, and that’s how I’m here now talking with you.

AAP: So walk us through what happened when you read the story:

Tracey:  “As I was reading the story I thought hmm… Alabama.  Then I read Abbeville, Alabama; wait a minute, Abbeville, that were my mom is from, it’s a very small town and literally, everyone knows everybody, so I said,  let me call my mom (Mrs M) and ask her if she was familiar with Ms. Taylor and her story.”

AAP: So what happened?

Tracey: “Well Pundit, I lot of things were going through my head at the time.  First off, I knew I had to be careful with questions that I asked my mom, I have always been sensitive about that, because I know her experiences back in Alabama during that time could bring back good memories, but also horrible memories of Jim Crow...”  So, at first I asked my mom if she heard about this gang rape that took place in the forties in Abbeville, Alabama. 

My mom asked the woman's name…  Then there was silence… and after a 15 or 20 seconds she said that is my Uncle Virgil's daughter.  At that point, I thought to myself… wow that makes her my cousin… Well, to say I was stunned would be an understatement.  I then went on to ask her many questions about the incident and the more my mom talked, I just could not believe what was happening.”

AAP: So Your Mom and dad were in the movement?

Tracey: “My mom and dad grew up in Alabama and were active participants in what we now call "The Civil Rights Movement"; sometimes I believe people think of it as some glorious movement, but instead these were people who were sick and very tired of the treatment they were receiving and decided to take part in civil disobedience.  I was always reluctant to ask my mom or my dad about their experiences in Alabama, due to what bad memories my questions would dredge up.  And here I was asking about an incident that happened in her hometown and I found out about it on a national blog.  I was talking to another younger cousin of mine and we cannot believe that we both had learned about Ms. Recy's this way.”

The rapist may have been a Federal workers son and his friends 

AAP: So what more do you know, or can share at this time?

Tracey:  “My mom shared with me that when this happened she was a girl, she learned about what happened from hearing "the old folks" talk.  Allegedly one of the participants was my mom's and Ms. Recy's mailman son and his friends.  Everyone knew who did it, but the sheriff wouldn't arrest anyone.  My mom also said she was left on the side of the road like trash after they were done.  My mom's sister, my Aunt X, (she still lives in Abbeville, Alabama so I will use X for now) told her that in 1991, Ms. Recy's brother tried to get the authorities to investigate the case, but he refused saying that those involved were dead.  Not true.”

AAP: Is your mom available for an interview?

Tracey:  Yes she and my Aunt are available to assist in any way they can to bring this chapter of Ms. Recy Taylor into the open and provide closure for her as she sees fit. Since Ms. Recy only wants an apology from the state of Alabama; I support her in that request. It would be wonderful if the Governor would ensure that would happen. It's the very least he could do.

AAP: Thank You Tracey. I look forward to further discussing this situation with you, your mom, and your aunt in the upcoming days.

Sidebar:  Tracey, her mother Mrs. M, and Aunt X, all family to Recy Taylor, are eager to continue the Fight for Justice in support of Recy Taylor. These strong Black women want justice to be served in Abbeville, (Henry County) Alabama. They have all gone from disbelief, anger, shock to a place in which they want to right a wrong.

As The Root reports, “It's unclear what legal options the family has today, but because Alabama has no statute of limitations on rape, McGuire posts that Taylor's case could potentially be reopened if the assailants are still alive. "There may be a possibility that they could sue the county or sheriff's department for obstruction of justice, given the cover-up," she said. "A creative attorney could certainly find a way." Tracey agrees with her Cousin Recy Taylor who recently said in The Root, "It was a long time ago," she says finally. "But I still think something should have been done about it."

This is part 1 of a 3 part interview. Part 2, Recy Taylor A Fight for Justice on Monday… Here on this blog.

Bloggers, please repost or link to this post. Let's get the word out that Recy Taylor deserves true justice.

Cross posted on MYDD, African American Pundit's BlogtTalkRadio Blog, Francis Holland Blog,  Democratic Afrosphere, TheLoop21 and Now Public

Video Shows Houston PD Hit Teen With Car, Kick Him Repeatedly in the Head and Groin

African-American Pundit tells me that the biggest news in the United States right now is this: Houston police rammed a Black teenager with their car, causing him to fly over the car and fall on the other side. And then, with Chad Holley on the ground and his hands in a position to be cuffed, the police kicked Chad Holley in the head over and over again, while also kicking him in between his legs, in the reproductive organs.  According to Houston's local ABC affiliate , the video shows:

Houston police kicking, punching, and stomping teenage burglary suspect Chad Holley who had run, but was now clearly trying to surrender. That video obtained by 13 Undercover . . .

Watch the video and tell me if you see what I do.

This is one more incident and example of proof that police in the United States of America believe that hitting, stomping and killing Black people is part of their job description.

I am a US citizen. Sometimes people offer to pay my way back to the United States for one reason or another. Each time, over the last seven years, my answer has been, 'No', and what you see on this video is part, but only one part, of the reason why.

NYPD Kills 72 Year Old Man Over SeatBelt Violation

Hat Tip to the Intersection Between Madness and Reality Afrospear blog for the following excerpt, with the story told in full at Rippa's blog.

Police said the wife didn't have identification for her seatbelt summons, so her 72 year-old husband ran home to get it, and then died of a heart-attack.


The woman's lawyer, Bonita Zelman, said police refused to let the husband drive home to get the ID. Instead, he walked home about half a mile back and forth and returned to the pharmacy about 45 minutes later.


While the husband was away, the wife got her medicine and the cops wrote her a summons based on her name and address from the prescription.


The couple eventually got back in the car and drove off. About a block or so away, Robert Hudson collapsed behind the wheel and later died at Franklin Hospital.



"There was no reason not to let him drive home," Zelman said. "He wasn't the one getting the summons. Instead, they had him walk home. He tried to walk as fast as he could, but he's 72 years old and some of the walk is uphill."

It's cases like this that compel the existence and persistence of the Police Brutality (and Atrocity) Blog.  Making a 72 year-old man walk 45 minutes to get identification for an alleged seatbelt violation is attrocious.  Regardless of the skin color(s) of the police officers involved, a white couple would not have been treated this way. Nobody should be treated this way!

PRESS RELEASE - Jamie Scott Has Been Hospitalized

From: Nancy Lockhart <thewrongfulconviction@gmail.com>
Date: January 25, 2011 11:43:53 AM EST
To: ActionForScottSisters@groups.facebook.com
Subject: PRESS RELEASE - Jamie Scott Has Been Hospitalized

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MRS EVELYN RASCO
CONTACT:  MRS EVELYN RASCO
850-375-4336

E-Mail: thewrongfulconviction@gmail.com

JAMIE SCOTT HOSPITALIZED - BROTHER IN AFGHANISTAN NEEDS TO COME HOME

 

(Pensacola), FL – 12/25/11 – Jamie Scott has been hospitalized with an excessively high potassium level. The sisters were released from prison to serve life on parole and have had a very rough time adjusting with little funds to support themselves. Their mother is on a fixed income and unable to make necessary repairs as a result of storm damage to the house. These repairs require immediate attention to accommodate Jamie upon her release from the hospital.

Currently, their brother serving in Afghanistan owns the home and is the only person who is able to conduct business regarding the house -- the insurance company will not comply with Mrs. Rasco. Willie James Scott Jr., is in need of your assistance to get home. Please contact all media outlets and make this information public.

--
Nancy Lockhart, M.J.
http://nancylockhart.blogspot.com
843.217.4649

Evelyn Rasco and "Free the Scott Sisters Blog" Criticized NAACP

The NAACP already has a bad reputation for trying to take political credit and solicit financial contributions from the public in cases that the NAACP ignored until the national press moved in.  In the case of the Jena Six, it was discovered that most of the contributions the NAACP received when it sprang on the scene were spent not mostly on the legal defense for the Jena Six, but rather half of the money was spent on NAACP internal administration.  So, public giving to the NAACP did not help the Jena Six directly as much as it helped the NAACP.

Jack and Jill Politics said at that time, quoting Yobachi's  TheJena6Blog,

Yobachi’s got all the facts at The Jena Six Blog. The NAACP has finally released a report on their Jena 6 activities and fundraising. As a member, I’m disgusted. Color of Change raised $200,000, mostly from individual donors, and gave 90% of the funds to the lawyers representing the Jena 6 families and to the families themselves. That’s quite a contrast.
I’m an NAACP member and I’m offended by the NAACP’s inefficiency and also by their taking advantage of one of the biggest civil rights events in recent memory to fill their own coffers. That doesn’t represent my values, nor do I think that most members would be impressed by their sad performance.

Here’s a snippet from the report with Yobachi’s notes in bold and brackets.

Contributions received by the NAACP in response to the Jena Campaign include:
Internet Contributions: $ 8,782.00
Mail Contributions: $11,112.00
Total: $19,894.00 Mail contributions of $11,112.00 include a $10,000.00 donation from celebrity musician David Bowie.[So more than half their donation money came from one rich individual. Sorry, but that's not very effective fund raising by the old guard there]
Expenses related to support to the LaSalle Parrish Branch (travel, meetings and web cast) associated with the September 20, 2007 march and streaming video of the town hall meeting total:

$10,283.00 [I don't recall that site, which I viewed a few times back in the summer and fall of last year, notifying donors that there money would go towards support of branches and for meetings. The industry standard for over head is about 35% and many think that's too high.]

Excess of revenue over expense $ 9,611.00

The NAACP will provide a check in the amount of $10,000.00 in pro rata shares, to the attorneys providing legal services to the Jena defendants. [So they took in 19,894 and spent 10,283 on themselves. That's 52% overhead. Even if you give the NAACP credit for the $389 they added to the pot, that's still 50% overhead]

Knowing that many young men and women of color outside Jena face discrimination in the criminal justice system, the NAACP has declared a State Of Emergency to call attention to the problem of unequal justice nationwide. We welcome the support and assistance of all likeminded individuals and organizations seeking systematic change and broad based solutions to racial injustice.
The NAACP and its members thank you for your continuing support and dedication to justice.

So, why does the NAACP always show up on the scene at the last minute and ask the public to contribute money to the NAACP, instead of doing what others groups do:  ask the public to contribute to the defendant(s)' legal defense account?

Evelyn Rasko, who has co-published a blog about this case at least since 2009, tells us that the NAACP is at it again, profiteering for publicity and dollars off the work that others did before they arrived and making political decisions that local activists find to be incomprehensible.  On April 25, 2010, the blog was critical of the NAACP presence, saying: 

 MDOC [Mississippi Department of Corrections] Commissioner Christopher Epps, whom we've been contacting for months regarding the disastrous level of Jamie's care and who's been steadily misinforming people that she's not as sick as we've regularly documented, even after she had to be hospitalized several times for high toxicity and infections that almost took her life, is being HONORED as the KEYNOTE SPEAKER by the Jackson County, MS NAACP at their upcoming banquet on April 30, 2010!

Link: http://www.gulflive.com/sendthispage/sendthispage.ssf?http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-living/2010/04/christopher_epps_to_speak_at_freedom_fund_banquet.html

How could this branch, which is actually portrayed as an activist branch that has courageously taken on the police dept. and most recently the fire dept., completely ignore the sickeningly outrageous case of the Scott Sisters! And to add insult to injury, laud Christopher Epps, who covers up the low-budget, some-timey care that denies Jamie Scott regular medications, regular dialysis, and the specific diet she has been told repeatedly that she needs to maintain any semblance of health. The medical care is said by inmates there to be abysmal on every level, and particularly so for Jamie Scott, with end stage kidney failure!

On December 30, 2010, the Free Scott Sisters Blog announced that the Scott sisters were free and that the arrival of the national NAACP had been useful to the case.  The question is, with the sisters in jail for sixteen years, what took the NAACP so long?  The answer seems to be that national NAACP executives only engage in high profile cases, where they are able to request that checks for the victims be sent to the NAACP instead, and where the media spotlight will be present before the NAACP arrives. 

On Saturday, September 18, 2010, the The Free the Scott Sister Blog announced with amazement and jubilation, "MSNBC gave coverage to this case! Featur[ing] Mrs. Rasco and NAACP Prez,
Ben Jealous".   Back on April 25, 2010, the blog was critical of the NAACP presence, saying:

Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps

This is a smack in the face to Mrs. Rasco, to whom Epps made false promises of relief for Jamie, as well as Jamie and Gladys Scott, their supporters, and the community at large! This organization should be fighting on the front lines for justice for the Scott Sisters and not inviting Christopher Epps to some banquet! And what of the national NAACP, why are they NOT responding to the many requests that have been made of them for the past 15 years to become involved in this case!

This is the final indignity and must not go unchallenged. This bureaucrat should not pompously sit up there picking his teeth and pontificating while Jamie Scott lay suffering in one of the very prison cells that he oversees, a prison cell that she (nor her sister) should even be in!

Please contact the president of the Jackson County, Mississippi NAACP, Curly Clark, and ask him:

* Why is the NAACP distinguishing a man who would allow a woman to deteriorate in a prison on his watch until she is now at end stage of kidney failure?

* Why does the NAACP want to hear from a man that won't permit this same, very seriously ill woman to be housed in the Medical Bldg. on the grounds of that facility so that she can be cared for by her sister and instead has her housed in a mold-infested, damp, breeding ground for the infections which have repeatedly threatened her life?

Ask Jackson County NAACP President, Curly Clark, and State President, Derrick Johnson, why they are not involved in the fight for justice for the Mississippi Scott Sisters, a shocking and internationally known atrocity occurring right in their own backyard!

This entire event should be protested if Epps remains on the program and attendees given refunds for their $30 tickets!

Curly Clark, President, Jackson County NAACP
228-762-9692

Derrick Johnson, State President
Mississippi State Conference NAACP
1072 West J.R. Lynch Street
Jackson, MS 39203
Phone: 601.353.6906
Fax: 601.353.1565
Website: http://www.naacpms.org

Was inviting the MDOC (Mississippi Department of Corrections) Commissioner Christopher Epps to a banquet a cynical political gambit on the part of the NAACP, to gain Commissioner Epps' access, attention and assistance, or was this just another example of the NAACP's policy of giving ill-timed and off-color banquets as a solution for America's troubles?

NAACP Finally Follows Media Spotlight and Dollars to Mississippi Scott Sister's Case

 After 16 years, NAACP Joins the Fight and Asks Public for Cash

As soon as I saw the NAACP mentioned in the Washington Post article about the Scott sisters, I smelled that the NAACP would try to take credit for the outcome, even though I've never heard their name associated with the Scott sisters' case before.  I know with certainty that, although I read blogs and newspapers every day, the NAACP is NOT where I found out about this case.  And now, Benjamin Jealous plans to hold a joint press conference with arch-conservative Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour to celebrate this long-fought victory which then NAACP has so recently joined.

I imagine that if the case had occurred in Louisiana, Jealous would hold a press conference with David Duke.

In fact, although the Scott sisters have been in jail for sixteen years, while the NAACP's President Ben Jealous may have first mentioned the case to the media on September 15, 2010.  "NAACP backs pardon for Miss. sisters serving life", USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-09-14-scott-sisters_N.htm.   "The president of the N.A.A.C.P., is seeking a pardon from the Governor of Mississippi, announced the Red Mountain Post on October 15, 2010.  When the NAACP announces its support in a nationally-known case of injustice that has been advocated at blogs and community groups for years, and the NAACP's freshly-painted involvement becomes national news, you know that organization has lost its way.  It has gone from political leader to political opportunist, just as occurred in the Jena Six case, where "NAACP Spent More on Internal Jena Six Activities Than on Youths’ Defense Funds."
 

I think the current role of the NAACP is to show up at our victory parties and grab the microphone before anyone else has a chance to speak, so they can ask for donations that ultimately pay for NAACP overhead instead of being used to help the named victims of injustice.

Scotty Reid of BlackTalkMedia says that the NAACP ignored the Scott sisters' case until it became a media magnet, and then the NAACP jumped into the media fray as a "Johnny come lately," opening a financial donations account from which the Scott sisters allegedly have not received a dime.  "The NAACP has not contributed one dime to the legal expenses of the Scott sisters and nor has it stated that it will do so. . . " alleges Scotty Reid.

Leave it to the NAACP to announce a joint press conference with Haley Barbour, defender of the White Citizens Councils, and thereby putting the NAACP seal of Black approval on Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.  , in the eyes of white people who thing the NAACP is a respected organization with real constituents.  Here's Haley Barbour's resume, in reverse chronological order, which facts Ben Jealous apparently has not read, or has dismissed in the rush for the media spotlight:

    Governor of Mississippi (Jan-2004 to present)
    National Policy Forum Founder (1993)
    Republican National Committee Chairman (1993-97)
    American Success PAC
    Americans for a Republican Majority
    America's Foundation
    Bayou Leader PAC
    Bluegrass Committee
    Bush-Cheney '04
    Bush-Quayle '92
    Campaign America Inc.
    Cantor for Congress
    Committee for the Preservation of Capitalism
    Defend America PAC
    Elizabeth Dole Committee
    Elizabeth Dole for President
    The Freedom Project
    FreedomWorks
    Friends of Giuliani Exploratory Committee
    Friends of Katherine Harris
    Friends of Phil Gramm PAC
    Friends of Roy Blunt
    George W. Bush for President
    Keep Our Mission PAC
    JD Hayworth for Congress
    John McCain 2008
    Leadership PAC 2006
    Lindsey Graham for Senate
    McCain 2000
    McCain for Senate '98
    National Council for a New America Founding Member
    National Republican Senatorial Committee
    New Republican Majority Fund
    Northern Lights PAC
    Rely on Your Beliefs Fund
    Republicans Abroad Advisory Committee
    Restoring the American Dream Board of Directors
    Resurgent Republic Advisory Board
    Santorum 2000
    Senate Victory Fund PAC
    Spirit of America
    Washington Legal Foundation Legal Policy Advisory Board
    Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity
    Microsoft Washington lobbyist
    Barbour, Griffith & Rogers Founder, President, CEO (1991-99)
    Member of the Board of Amtrak
    Bush Pioneer 2000

The only thing missing so far is Barbour's conceivable involvement in the White Citizens Councils.  Now, I'd like to have one good reason why Ben Jealous wants to shake Haley Barbor's hand, if not for selfish fundraising goals and publicity after the fact.   See "Haley Barbour's Praise For Racist Group Gets Noticed" on NPR.  

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is getting much more national attention than he usually does this week following a Weekly Standard profile in which the Republican with presidential aspirations lauds a group that was part of the racist reaction to the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s.

Haley Barbour has tried to rehabilitate the imagine of the White Citizens Councils, but Amanda Terkel at Huffington Post says:

In a 1956 article in Commentary David Halberstam describes the White Citizens Council as an organization determined to "not just oppose integration in the public schools but to stop or at least postpone it. In most of the the Deep South, where hostility to integration is nearly universal, it is this militancy and dedication that make the Council member stand out. Despite occasional efforts by supporters to build the Councils up into a movement of broad conservatism, their only serious purpose is to fight the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Not only do they contest the NAACP's desegregation suits, but they seek to cancel much else that the Negro has gained over the last half-century by keeping him out of the voting booth."

Even Haley Barbour now recognizes that the hateful and pro-segregation work of the White Citizens Councils. His state governor website says, apologetically:

GOV. BARBOUR'S STATEMENT REGARDING WEEKLY STANDARD ARTICLE
"When asked why my hometown in Mississippi did not suffer the same racial violence when I was a young man that accompanied other towns' integration efforts, I accurately said the community leadership wouldn't tolerate it and helped prevent violence there. My point was my town rejected the Ku Klux Klan, but nobody should construe that to mean I think the town leadership were saints, either. Their vehicle, called the 'Citizens Council,' is totally indefensible, as is segregation. It was a difficult and painful era for Mississippi, the rest of the country, and especially African Americans who were persecuted in that time."

I personally believe that Haley Barbour is trying to disassociate and immunize himself against attacks on his color-aroused background, perhaps because he was a member or collaborator of the White Citizens Council himself, or because his family members were.  That's just a hunch, but it's worth looking into it, because I believe Haley Barbour is running for president in 2012.

This is why I find it incredibly idiotic that Ben Jealous of the NAACP is planning to hold a joint press conference with Barbour.  He unwittingly or intentionally is helping to inoculate Barbour against charges of color aroused politics and helping to distract attention from Barbour's roles and affiliations in the Republican presidencies of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.  Meanwhile, Ben Jealous wants to get on television, pretending that his NAACP is still relevant, even though they didn't have a meaningful website during any of the days of the George W. Bush presidential administration.

Ben Jealous is prominently meeting with one of President Obama's most likely opponents for 2012, undercutting the obvious anti-Barbour opinion that Barbour is a color-aroused man from one of America's most color-aroused states.  I don't know who's worse:  The NAACP's Ben Jealous for helping Haley Barbour or Haley Barbour for being Haley Barbour.

Haley Barbour's motive is obvious, and Ben Jealous is seems blind to the political realities, except as they affect his own publicity and opportunities for an NAACP fundraising drive.

Justice Clarence Thomas's Nephew Treated Like a Black Man with Rasta Locks by West Jefferson Hospital Security

Is it possible that in the current purportedly "color blind" and "post racial" USA, a nephew of US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas could be treated as so many other Black men have been? According to the Star Telegram, a newspaper owned by the McClatchy company, US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' nephew was known by hospital emergency room security to be epileptic, but was shocked with a "Taser" electrocution and execution device anyway.

In July, a security guard used a stun gun on the nephew of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas after he allegedly became combative when trying to leave a Louisiana hospital against doctors' orders, The Washington Post reported.

ABC 26 WGNO reports:

MARRERO - Family members of Derek Thomas, nephew of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, are alleging that the younger Thomas, was punched and tased when he was admitted to West Jefferson Hospital Thursday.The family says the use of the taser caused Thomas to have a seizure.

According to at statement from the family, Derek Thomas, who is epileptic, refused to put on a hospital gown and tried to leave his examination after a possible suicide attempt. They say security "punched him in his lip, pulled out more than a fistful of his dreadlocks and tasered him to restrain him."

Doctors knew about Thomas' epilepsy, but ordered security officers to use the taser anyway, instead of sedating him, the family says.

The family is trying to have Thomas transferred to another facility.

Justice Thomas is expected to travel to New Orleans as soon as possible to check on his nephew.

Washington Post writer Philip Rucker reported:

A nephew of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas suffered a seizure after he was beaten and shocked during a scuffle with security guards at a New Orleans area hospital, relatives alleged Friday.

Derek Thomas, 25, was immobilized with a stun gun Thursday after he tried to leave the emergency room at West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, La., his sister told WDSU, a local television station. Security responded after Thomas refused a doctor's request to put on a hospital gown and started to leave, Kimberly Thomas said. 

"One of the security guards punched him in the lip," she told WDSU. "Another one pulled out more than a fist full of his hair and, from that point, they [shocked] him," possibly with a Taser.

Derek Thomas has epilepsy, she said, and he suffered a seizure shortly after the stun gun was used.

The same Washington Post article says:

Their mother, Dora Thomas, confirmed the account in an interview with The Washington Post. She said that she picked her son up from the hospital Friday and that he is resting at home.

"He's as well as can be expected," she said.

Clarence Thomas was planning to go to New Orleans to check on his nephew, Kimberly Thomas told the television station. A Supreme Court spokesman said the justice had no comment on the matter.

Reached at her home in Georgia, Clarence Thomas's mother, Leola Williams, said she, too, was joining the family in Louisiana. "I'm just worried about my grandson," Williams told The Post.

Justice Clarence Thomas has at least de facto joined the Republican Party and joined the extreme right-wing members of the US Supreme Court in decision after decision  His wife is a white woman.  What else can and must Justice Thomas do to assure that he and his family will be treated by security guards and police just as white people would be treated under similar circumstances?  Maybe his family's trauma in this case will cause Justice Thomas to think about the problem of color-aroused injustice when Thomas votes on Supreme Court cases involving color-aroused treatment of other Blacks.