Huey P. Newton

In October 1966, along with Bobby Seale, Huey Newton co-founded the Black Panthers for the African American community's defense. Establishing a community where blacks could bear arms against the corrupt police of their times, the Black Panthers was more than a militant group designed to defend the black community. They wanted equal rights, equal opportunity to employment (in all parts of the country), amongst several other wrongs to be righted. Precisely one year later, however, in 1967, Newton was accused of killing a police officer in cold blood. After being convicted of voluntary manslaughter with a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, the trial was overturned and eventually dropped, mainly on account of a lack of substantial evidence that would otherwise hold Newton guilty of his alleged crime. Being imprisoned for over a year had it's consequences, however. The FBI had tarnished the reputation of the Black Panthers through the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover, and Newton sought to change that image through several new directions for the Black Panthers (mainly focused on public education and feeding the needy). However, his leadership qualities seemed to falter after numerous instances of criminal activity. In 1974, he was accused for murdering a 17-year-old prostitute, to which he fled the country from said accusations. Returning to American to slide away form a different murder charge, Newton was once against accused of criminal activity in 1985 when he was arrested for embezzling federal and state money that was intended to go into the Black Panther's education and nutrition funds. Again caught for embezzlement in 1989, Newton was shot dead in a drug deal gone wrong shortly thereafter.

The courts play an interesting role in this case; or, rather, these several cases. What the courts have done here involve many more political factors than with most other criminals. The issue here is that Huey Newton leads a community of individuals who have been repressed for far too long, and the courts had to exercise a level of restraint on him in order to try and preserve the good nature of the Black Panthers themselves, even if Newton wasn't entirely as pure as his intentions were. If the courts were to jail Newton for his crimes, the black community would be outraged, and (perhaps rightfully so) give justification to their shared belief that the system was entirely against them.

For more information on this complex case, visit the link below:

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/huey_newton.htm