From: PA Prison Report
Feb 14 2012
Victory for one of the Dallas Six: On December 30, 2011, a Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas judge granted the habeas corpus petition in the case of one of prisoners known as the Dallas Six, Derrick Stanley. The judge dismissed the riot charge against Stanley, declaring that to bring such a charge would lead to "absurd" charges of riot in the future.
Derrick Stanley's victory comes almost two years after the men who would become known as the Dallas Six staged a peaceful protest against the ongoing racism, brutality, and injustice faced by prisoners at State Correctional Institute Dallas only to be violently cell extracted and beaten in retaliation. The April 2010 attack was the culmination of a series of retaliatory acts by SCI Dallas prison guards against prisoners speaking out against the ongoing abuses within the prison.
Soon after the attack in April of 2010, a criminal complaint was sent to the District Attorney for Luzerne County, Jackie Musto Carroll, about the guards actions in extracting the prisoners. Carroll's office rejected the complaint, claiming a state police investigation yielded no evidence of prosecutorial merit when there were, and still are, no indications a state police investigation was ever launched. In June of 2010, one of the Dallas Six, Carrington Keys, filed a lawsuit against SCI Dallas officials and guards, along with Carroll for her inaction, and in August 2010 the Human Rights Coalition published a report on the incident. It was only after these actions that Carroll's office charged the Dallas Six with rioting, despite the fact the DOC never issued riot misconducts to any of them after the April 2010 cell extractions. Stanley is the first of the group to have his charges dismissed.
The State has appealed from the order dismissing the charges against Stanley, and as of the writing of this report has not yet filed their official response. The response will be heard before Judge Lesa Gelb, a newly elected judge who ran on a platform decrying the corruption and cronyism long present in Luzerne County. Despite the prospect of a reinstatement of charges or new charges being brought against him, Derrick Stanley is currently enjoying his recent release from the custody of the PA DOC last week.
