Today we reached 500 signatures on our petitions urging the Pennsylvania Attorney General to try Jordan Brown as a juvenile—our first milestone towards a goal of 25,000 signatures by August 1st.
Jordan was 11 years old at the time his stepmother Kenzie Houk was murdered after Jordan and his stepsister left for school on February 20, 2009. Jordan has been wrongfully incarcerated for more than 2 years, and he is now 13.
Today Jordan’s case is no closer to trial than the night he was arrested after a rushed, negligent, and dishonest police investigation that took less than a day.
It is long past the time that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania must get serious about fairness and honesty. The state has no evidence linking Jordan to this crime, and Jordan’s assertion of innocence has not changed at all since the day he was arrested.
If the kid were guilty, his story would have changed a long time ago.
This case has long ago shifted from prosecution to persecution, and the Commonwealth has destroyed any semblance of moral credibility. It is time for Pennsylvania to come clean and get right, but this isn’t going to happen unless we make an impression as we demand it.
In our experience, most petitions for kids generate at most a couple thousand signatures. Our goal of 25,000 signatures is aggressive, do-able, and necessary.
We can do it!
But we have only a short time between now and August 1st, our deadline (which is just days before Jordan’s re-hearing of the question of whether he is to be tried as an adult or a child). We basically will need to double the number of signatures each week in order to reach our goal.
This means you cannot leave it to others to get involved. Honest justice for Jordan, his freedom and future happiness, depend on you.
So here’s what you can do to help:
Share the link to the petition with people on your social networking sites. Change.org makes this especially easy for you to do. Here’s the link: http://www.change.org/petitions/justice-for-13-yr-old-jordan-brown-2
Ask your friends to post the petition link on their social networking sites.
Invite people in your email directory to sign the petition. You can add as many email addresses as you like on the change.org petition link.
Post the petition link online as a comment to videos, articles, discussion forums or other places that will draw people to the petition.
Log onto Care 2 and share the petition with friends or groups on those web-sites. Link to the change.org petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/379/justice-for-13-yr-old-jordan-brown/
If you have a blog, please write about the petition and post a link. The change.org petition has a widget you can embed on your blog or web-site so people can go directly to the petition to sign or share.
Print out and distribute any of the poster images on this post. Just click on the image, copy it, and print. You probably walk by two or three bulletin boards a day.
If you can think of other ways to promote the petition please post them here as comments. If you find yourself with spare time, please take a moment and help.
But here’s maybe the most effective way to help us reach the goal:
Get your kids involved. No matter how hip you may be as a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher, etc., your kids are probably much more savvy when it comes to social networking. Tap into their genius. This effort can go big if your kids will get behind it. Remind them that if the authorities can be doing this to Jordan, it could happen to anyone—maybe even them or someone they know.
It’s in your kids’ own self-interest to help. It’s their future. It’s a matter of self-defense.
Juvenile justice in America can only get worse or improve. It will not remain the same. You and your kids can and will make the difference.
۞
Groove of the Day
Listen to The Sunday Drivers performing “Do It”
If you have not yet signed onto the petition, please do it now:
http://www.change.org/petitions/justice-for-13-yr-old-jordan-brown-2
Learn the facts at:
Wandervogel Diary 
Great ideas, Dan.
In change org, you can send a message to 5 people every day that are not in your friend list. Just send them a personal message with the links to both petitions and to this diary.