Appendix 3 A Letter To The NAACP

July 17, 2006

Mr. Julian Bond

Chairman, NAACP

National Board of Directors

4805 Hope Drive

Baltimore, MD. 21215-3297

RE: Cadet WEBSTER SMITH- U.S. Coast Guard Academy

Dear Mr. Bond:

This is in furtherance of my letter to you of July 10, 2006 concerning Cadet Webster Smith. He continues to be held in jail. After his court-martial, Cadet Web Smith was taken to the U.S. Navy brig at the Submarine Base in Groton, Connecticut on 28 June 2006. Originally he was supposed to be transferred on 10 July to a Federal prison for military officers in South Carolina. It did not happen, nor has the Admiral signed off on the Report of the Court-martial. The delay has not been explained. The new plans are to transfer him to the South Carolina prison on 19 July. That day might not be accurate either, unless the Admiral intends to deliberately violate Commandant Instruction M5350.4B, The Civil Rights Manual, which requires the Academy Civil Rights Officer to attempt to resolve informally a civil rights complaint within 5 days of receiving it. Joann Miller, the Academy Civil Rights Officer, plans to retire on 28 July. If she lets Webster Smith get out of town before she can attempt an informal resolution, then she will have to spend the remainder of her tour of duty commuting between New London and South Carolina. A copy of the Civil Rights Complaint is attached.

Cadet Webster has not seen or talked to his mother or father since June 28, 2006. They have his power of attorney. They signed the original Complaint.

This is a case of gross injustice and rampant racial discrimination at the Coast Guard Academy. A graduating senior has been falsely accused, convicted on perjured testimony, and sentenced to six months in jail, expulsion from the Academy, and forfeiture of all pay and allowances. His name is Webster Smith and he is Black. He had been separated from the cadet student body six months before the court-martial and was forced to work on the boat docks. This amounted to essentially to a sentence of hard labor before a trial. Moreover, since he is from Houston, Texas, he will have to register as a sex offender. That mark will follow him for the rest of his life, unless we can reverse the conviction.

The Superintendent of the Coast Guard Academy has been asked to release Cadet Webster Smith from prison, reinstate him as a cadet, let him finish school, and graduate him with a commission. Our pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

Cadet Webster Smith is a victim of jealousy, racial discrimination, a violation of the 14th Amendment Equal Protection clause, and last but not the least, a victim of a double standard.

He was one of the most loved and respected cadets on campus. But he had two things going against him. One, he had dated the Regimental Commander, and the Dean of Admissions’ daughter. Both were white. Since they were white and Cadet Smith was Black, it did not sit well with the Commandant of Cadets. Racial Prejudice is still very much alive at the Academy.

Moreover, when a REAL RAPE case with REAL physical evidence surfaced during Webster Smith’s ordeal, Commandant of Cadets, Doug Wisniewski and his staff hushed the case, asked the white cadet to resign quietly and go on his way. NO CHARGES were filed. The real rapist was WHITE?

More facts and background on this case can be found at my web Blog spot at www.cgachasehall.blogspot.com.

Yours Respectfully,

Judge L. Steverson,

Silver Life Member NAACP

Labels: Cadet Webster Smith.