Attorneys for American Indian Movement activist and Ojibwe tribal member Leonard Peltier returned to federal court this past week to seek a reduction in Peltier's prison sentence. A three-judge panel will consider the motion to reduce the two consecutive life terms he is serving for involvement in the killings of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge reservation in 1977. The 57 year-old Peltier has been imprisoned for the past 25 years. He has been repeatedly denied parole, and is not up for review again until 2008. His attorneys are arguing that the judge who sent Peltier to jail relied on flawed evidence. Peltier has filed a separate lawsuit against the FBI, alleging violations of civil rights for the Bureau's attempts to oppose his bid for clemency. His attorneys hope his charge will be altered from murder to aiding and abetting, with an appropriate reduction of sentence. Peltier's many advocates continue to insist, relying on government documents that have come to light, that there is no conclusive evidence as to who shot the agents. The court has not yet announced when it will rule on the motion. More than 100 supporters and family showed support for Peltier in St. Paul, Minnesota, while a drum group rallied near the Circuit Court of Appeals.
