Yvonne Wanrow Waiting for Decision on Appeal
Yvonne Wanrow and lawyers in her behalf are now waiting for a decision on their appeal heard by the Washington State Supreme Court on March 13, 1978. The appeal concerns the constitutionality of the felony murder charge being brought against her.
Washington is one of the few states that retains a law providing that the prosecution need not prove any intent to kill, but only that a death resulted while some other felony was being committed. In Yvonne's case, the prosecution charges that she was in the process of committing assault upon William Wesler, as a result of which he died.
Yvonne Wanrow was initially charged in 1972 with felony murder and first degree assault for killing Wesler, a white man and a known child molester. Yvonne shot him when he entered the house where she, a neighbor woman, their children and some relatives had gathered for protection from him, protection which the police had refused to provide.
Yvonne was convicted by an all-white jury that apparently believed that a tape recording of her call to the police after the shooting was not "hysterical'' enough to prove her innocence. The conviction was reversed on appeal in 1977 on two points: the illegality of the tape recording; and the judge's failure to instruct the jury to consider Yvonne's actions from the perspective of her being a woman under attack (a woman's right to self-defense).
Spokane prosecutor Donald Brockett pressed for a retrial instead of dropping the charges. He will have the option of dropping the charges or of recharging Wanrow after the Supreme Court decision has been reached. The judges may return a decision on the appeal anywhere from 6 to 18 months after the March hearing.
Support for Yvonne Wanrow and for the rights of women and native peoples continues to be needed. Benefits, articles, speaking engagements, presenta-
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tions, donations any and all such support is appreciated.
Yvonne Wanrow Defense Committee
1206 Smith Tower
Seattle, Washington 98104
TIKTHLOOMEELWH (WOMAN)
Like Mother Earth,
her will to live
is strong
against overwhelming odds, Like Mother Earth
the sacredness of her body has been violated by arrogant shows
of weakness, Like Mother Earth she is in pain remembering
past abominations, Like Mother Earth
she is victimized in present situations. Like Mother Earth,
she worries about the future,
We must stand together
beside TIKTHLOOMEELWH and obey the command of her heart that knows only love.
A
Yvonne Wanrow
Head of Household: Category Now Fits Reality
(HerSay)--After 1980, there won't be the category of "head of household', according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Chief Demographer David Kaplan reports that the Bureau came under fire in 1970 because it had a concrete rule that the husband was the "head of household". Kaplan said that even if people surveyed said differently, census computers were programmed to automatically assign the head of household category to the most appropriate male in the family.
Now, the Census Bureau is saying that due to
changing sex roles in the family, it will not ask who is head of household. Instead, it will ask the "household member" in whose name the home is rented or owned. If there is no such person, the Census Bureau will simply list adult members of households without designating who is head of household.
The Census Bureau reports that it has added a new category of "partner, roommate" for gay or heterosexual couples who are living together outside of marriage.
RESISTANCE
I was born into a defensive position;
I was imprisoned at an early age
By restrictions placed on my people By white supremacy;
As a native person,
I had a natural, built-in resistance For these alien ways
And I paid with each breath I took; The prison was suffocation through schools,
social life, marriage, parenthood, and the courts;
1 bruised some egos
by my independence and I was beaten,
I reserve the right to keep my own ideals.
CPR (continued from page 3)
public financial support and in developing the relationship with a listening audience which is implied in such support. A 1974 CPE study of sources of funds for public radio stations showed that in those 15 communities where the public radio station was owned and operated by the local public ANSWERS TO JUNE CROSSWORD PUZZLE
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school system, less than 1/2 of 1 percent of its operating budget came from the listening audience. Conversely, public radio stations owned by broadbased community organizations received 47 percent of their operating revenues from their listeners.
The most important need, however, is for a facility accessible to the general public and responsive to the radio needs of the general public, i.e., for community-oriented programming. Important local questions can be discussed in depth and controversial issues can be raised without the constant necessity of appealing to advertisers or sponsors. A publicly owned radio station fills this vital need. Such a radio station would in addition be capable of utilizing local talent at many levels, and high-quality programming produced here could be submitted for distribution on the NPR network. Public radio is also free to serve minorities of all kinds the disabled, the aged, the very young, for example -without the need to pay constant attention to mass-audience ratings.
CPR proposes that it be permitted to operate WBOE-FM for the public and that it purchase from the Board of Education the usable assets of the station on a depreciated book value basis. In this way, local tax dollars that have been put into the purchase of station hardware can be returned to the Board.
-Yvonne Wanrow
If WBOE were to be transferred to CPR, the full 50,000 watts could be utilized for full-service public radio programming 18 hours a day while at the same time all of the instructional and classroom program. ming could be accommodated by audiotape cassettes or on a live basis vía sub-channels. Every FM band has sub-channel capabilities within it and the intention would be to give the Cleveland Public Schools first choice on the utilization of these live sub-channels. Transferring WBOE to CPR would relieve the School Board's annual operating budget of something between $100,000 per year and $250,000 per year. The Cleveland Public Schools could continue to use their funds to generate instructional materials, but the School Board would not have to bear the greater costs of operating a public radio station for the Greater Cleveland community.
Individual memberships in Cleveland Public Radio cost $1 per year. Persons wanting to join CPR should send $1 to: Cleveland Public Radio, #13508 Larchmere Boulevrd, Cleveland, Ohio 44120. In addition, CPR is actively soliciting support, from groups and organizations in the Greater Cleveland Group endorsements of CPR and all other offers of additional support should be sent to Cleveland Public Radio at the above address.
area.
September, 1978/What She Wants/page 7