Why Was Webster Smith court-martialed?
An American Tragedy, The Webster Smith Story Is An American Tragedy.
The Webster Smith Story is an American tragedy. It is not just the story of a Black Coast Guard Academy cadet; it is the story of an American family. It is the story of his mother, Belinda; and his father, Cleon; his wife, Lindsey and their daughter; and of his sister and brothers. It is the story of the friends of Webster Smith. They have all been harmed by the violence directed at their son, brother, husband, father and friend.
At the Coast Guard Academy, Webster Smith was a member of the Eclipse, Track Team, Football team, Regimental Staff, and a Swab summer Staff. He represented the Coast Guard in Washington DC concerning fitness and nutrition programs. He received numerous silver stars and never received a demerit prior the incident and investigation in 2005 that led to his court-martial.
To his classmates, teachers, and coaches Webster Smith appeared to be a magnetic, charming and gifted man, who had risen above his circumstances. Yet, in a moment, as if in the twinkling of an eye, a swift series of events diminished his popularity, vilified his name, and assailed his honor. His image was converted by senior Coast Guard officers from a popular athlete and nice guy to that of a sexual predator and public enemy number one at the Coast Guard Academy.
Webster Smith had dared to dream some big dreams. Like Alex Haley he had dared to believe that he could rise in the USCG to the highest level to which his talents and initiative could take him.
His parents were middle class African Americans. His father, Cleon Smith, was a graduate of the Coast Guard Academy in the Class of 1978 along with Vice Admiral Manson K. Brown.
His mother, Belinda Ingram Smith, believed in God and a good education. After attending college at WSSU for four years she went on to become the first Black female Crime Scene Investigator in the history of the Winston-Salem police Department.
This unbelievable turn about in what had been a Black success story is a singularly American tragedy.
That a cadet so deeply respected and loved by his coaches and classmates could evoke such an outpouring of hate and anger from the senior officers at the Coast Guard Academy is a Coast Guard tragedy and an American tragedy.
All of the female cadets involved with and associated with Webster Smith escaped clean without any consequences for their actions or their behavior. Mother Nature was the only one who exacted a penalty. Natural Law resulted in a pregnancy for his girlfriend. An abortion followed.
If women are equal, they should be treated as equal. Not a single woman was disciplined under the UCMJ or the cadet regulations. All of the female cadets involved in the Webster Smith case graduated and were commissioned as Coast Guard officers. Their testimony at the court-martial painted a picture of female cadets who were untrustworthy, arrogant, and certainly not ladies. Their conduct was unbecoming an officer and a lady. (Read more at www.judgelondonsteverson.com)
These women were witnesses at a public trial yet they were accorded the equivalent of rape shield protection. This was not a rape case. Not one of the women had been raped. There was testimony of consensual sex acts. Some of the consensual sex acts were unlawful because, among other things, they occurred in Chase Hall, or at Academy functions. How could unlawful consensual sex acts result in charges against only one of the participants? It takes two to tango.
Is it wrong for Black people to ask if there is a double standard? Would that amount to paranoia on the part of Black people? Or would that be considered playing the race card simply to inquire? Is it absurd to believe that anything more than pure chance resulted in the court-martial of Webster Smith? The fact that he was court-martialed speaks to a social reality that African-Americans are acutely aware of in America. Race is not a card to be dealt, but it determines whom the dealer is and who gets dealt a losing hand.
According to a 2008 General Accounting Office Report, from 2003 to 2006 there were NO sexual-harassment complaints at the Coast Guard Academy, but there were 12 incidents of sexual assault reported to the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS), with one incident in 2003, one in 2004, “NONE” in 2005 and 10 in 2006. It is hard to conceive of the facts relied upon by, Captain Douglas Wisniewski, the Commandant Of Cadets when he asserted in 2005 that there was a climate of fear of sexual assault in Chase Hall.
The 10 incidents reported in 2006 would appear to have occurred after the Webster Smith court-martial. Webster Smith was removed from Chase Hall in 2005. Who was doing all of the sexual assaulting in 2006? Why were none of these people brought to justice? They could have been tried along with Webster Smith.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of Webster Smith. The justices declined to hear the case without comment. The decision of the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) became the final decision in the case.
Thirteen female cadets and 11 males at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (CGA) reported anonymously in an April 2008 survey that they experienced “unwanted sexual contact,” ranging from touching to forced sexual acts, during the 2007-08 school year.
More than three-quarters said that alcohol or drugs were involved and that the offender was a fellow cadet.
None of the women sought professional help and only 7 percent discussed the incident with authorities.
When Alexander Hamilton organized the Revenue Cutter Service in 1790 it was established in the Department of the Treasury. Later it became known as the Coast Guard. In 1966 it was placed in the Department of Transportation. Today it is the nucleus of the Department of Homeland Security. Webster Smith's case is currently being reviewed for clemency by the Secretary of the Department of Home Land Security, Janet Napolitano.
Webster Smith would have made an excellent military officer. It is Webster Smith and people like him that I want on the wall as our last line of defense for our American way of life protecting us from the great unwashed horde that is coming. Secretary Napolitano who do you want on that wall?
(Read more at www.judgelondonsteverson.com)
CONDUCT UNBECOMING an Officer and a Lady: A Case That Will Live In Infamy. The Conviction of Webster Smith. by Judge London SteversonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Webster Smith Story is an American tragedy. It is not just the story of a Black Coast Guard Academy cadet; it is the story of an American family. To his classmates, teachers, and coaches at the Coast Guard Academy Webster Smith appeared to be a magnetic, charming and gifted man, who had risen above his circumstances. Yet, in a moment, as if in the twinkling of an eye, a swift series of events diminished his popularity, vilified his name, and assailed his honor. His image was converted by senior Coast Guard officers from a popular athlete and nice guy to that of a sexual predator and public enemy number one at the Coast Guard Academy.The Webster Smith case was a litmus test for justice in America. Every once in a while a case comes along that puts our humanity as a people on trial. Everything that we profess to stand for as Americans was on trial. I am ashamed of our justice system. This was a tragedy and a travesty.
I wanted to know why Webster Smith was court-martialed? Now I know. This book is the full story.
http://cgreport.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/conduct-unbecoming-an-officer-and-a-lady-the-webster-smith-trial/#comment-27379
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Webster's parents were middle class African Americans. His father, Cleon Smith, was a graduate of the CGA, Class of 1978. There were 28 Black cadets in that class. One of the most distinguished members of that class was Vice Admiral Manson K. Brown, the first African American three star admiral in Coast Guard history.
ReplyDeleteThe Classes of 1977 and 1978 contained the largest numbers of Black freshmen cadets ever to enter CGA in a single class. The newly created Minority Recruiting Section (G-PMR-3) at CG HQ had travel the dusty roads of America off the beaten path in search of qualified Black high school graduates who could make good Coast Guard officers. A few extremely gifted Black teenagers were given the chance to demonstrate their gifts. Webster Smith would not be permitted to further that legacy.
The Coast Guard appears to be trying to put as much distance between it and the Webster Smith Case as possible. There appears to be a desire to forget everything and everybody associated with the case. It is absolutely amazing how the new administration is trying to return to business as usual BWS, Before Webster Smith. The Smith family was deemed expendable. The case is now history, both American and Coast Guard. But Coast Guard and American history will keep bumping up against the Webster Smith case for a thousand years, just like America's history keeps bumping up against Civil War history. Here it is 150 years later and we are still trying to sort it out. We still have trouble confronting our uniquely American disease. MLK said it is a disease unto death. The healing must begin some time and some where. In the Webster Smith Case, healing could begin with an apology to the Smith Family from the Coast Guard, and a grant of clemency from Secretary Janet Napolitano.
ReplyDeleteThe rich and the powerful share Webster's pain.
ReplyDeleteWebster Smith and Dominick Strauss-Kahn were both subjected to the "perp walk".
An accused has some legal protection afforded through the PROCESS. They are, among others, the presumption of innocence, the right to remain silent, and the right to confront and to challenge the witnesses against him.
If the PROCESS had worked as it should have, Webster Smith would never have been convicted. Even a kangaroo court-martial would not have convicted Webster Smith based on the evidence available. If the Defense Team had had the desire, the time, and the money to investigate every witness on the prosecution’s list of witnesses, they would have found enough evidence to destroy the prosecution’s two star witnesses, KN and SR. They would have found enough character against SR to impeach her credibility.
For the record, Mr. Strauss-Kahn's humiliation was no worse than that experienced by Webster Smith and many American and British men and boys. Is there anything more humiliating than being arrested for a rape charge at work surrounded by your colleagues, or at school with your classmates looking on, or in plain view of your children and neighbors? Presumptively innocent men accused of rape often lose their wives, their girlfriends, their friends, their businesses, their jobs, and their money defending the false claim. . .
The presumptively innocent should not be treated as criminals based on the allegation of lone accuser before an investigation is concluded. And when the power to cry rape is abused, the abuser needs to be punished severely to deter others from doing the same.
As Prof. Alan Dershowitz once said: “Rape is such a serious crime that deliberately bringing a false accusation of rape should be an equally serious crime and women are not being punished for those crimes. I believe that being falsely accused of rape is as traumatic as being raped.”
http://falserapesociety.blogspot.com/2011/05/have-we-handed-too-much-power-to.html
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