Rep. Bobby Scott and Norfolk Attorney Elaine Jones Depicted in Movie Detailing the Story of Former Hampton U. Student Kemba Smith
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Rep. Bobby Scott, Norfolk Attorney Elaine Jones Depicted in BET Film on Kemba Smith, Justice Reform
WASHINGTON, DC — The improbable story of Kemba Smith reveals how a middle class Hampton University student with an accountant father and a teacher mom ended up being sentenced to 24.5 years in federal prison in the wake of the hyper-punitive war on drugs.
Members of Congress, justice reform advocates and community leaders attended a sold out film screening at the visitors center in the U.S. Capitol complex last night for the BET film Kemba. The movie screening was followed by a panel discussion on justice reform and a reception with advocates. The events were hosted by The 400 Years of African American History Commission.
In 1994, Kemba Smith, who was born in Richmond, was sentenced to 24 years in prison after prosecutors piled on a number of charges mandated by mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines. The film also depicts a deceptive plea deal offer that was changed to a more punitive and lengthier sentence. Smith’s 24.5 year prison sentence was significantly higher than others involved in the same case and she refused to lie during plea bargaining that may have led to a shorter sentence. Though prosecutors confirmed she never sold, used or distributed drugs, Smith was sentenced to 24.5 years in prison with no possibility of parole. Smith’s long sentence was used nationwide as an example by many justice reform advocates as needless over prosecution.
The U.S. continues to lead the world in the rate of incarceration with over 2 million people incarcerated at a cost of over $80 billion.
Authorities focused on Smith because she was the girlfriend of a man she met in 1989 while a sophomore at Hampton University. She would gradually learn her boyfriend was the leader of a $4 million crack cocaine operation and was being pursued by the FBI. After the boyfriend (Peter Michael Hall) was found shot dead in Oct. 1994 in Seattle, authorities focused their prosecutorial attention onto Smith and held her criminally accountable for the total amount of drugs in Peter Michael Hall’s drug cartel and conspiracy ring. Smith was convicted and sentenced to 24.5 years in prison and sent to federal prison in Danbury, Conn.
Congressman Bobby Scott, is portrayed in the movie Kemba by actor Joey Auzenne and is seen advocating for Smith in several scenes. Rep. Scott was the ranking member of the Crime Subcommittee on the House Judiciary Committee in the late 1990s and later became Chair. He currently is the senior Democrat on the House Education & Workforce Committee after serving as Chair when the Democrats held control of the U.S. House. Rep. Scott has been a leading voice on justice reform policy starting in the Virginia House and Senate and played a decisive role in Kemba Smith’s clemency.
Though Rep. Scott loudly voted against the notorious Clinton Crime Bill of 1994, he forged a solid relationship with President Clinton during the GOP’s partisan impeachment effort against President Clinton in 1998. President Clinton attended Congressman Scott’s annual Labor Day Cookout in Newport News on Sept. 7, 1999, the year before Clinton granted Kemba Smith clemency.
Rep. Scott spoke to President Clinton regarding Kemba Smith’s 24 year sentence and pushed the President to grant clemency. The Congressman set up a meeting with President Clinton and Kemba Smith’s parents, Gus and Odessa, on the night of the Congressional Black Caucus Gala in 2000, an encounter that is depicted in the film. President Clinton pardoned Kemba Smith two months later on Dec. 22, 2000.
Norfolk Attorney Elaine Jones, who is portrayed by actress June Carryl (who is also MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid’s sister) was Smith’s attorney and head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1990s. Jones is a noted civil rights attorney who became the first black woman to graduate from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1970.
Smith served close to seven years in jail when the clemency was granted. She was 29 years old when released. She had a son who was born in jail as she entered prison.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), former Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Delta Sigma Theta were also involved in pushing for clemency for Smith and are represented in the film. Other actors in the film are Sean Patrick Thomas and Michelle Hurd as Kemba’s parents Gus and Odessa, and Nesta Cooper as Kemba Smith.
The film highlights Smith’s story and justice reform issues. The director, Howard University graduate Kelley Kali, was present for the U.S. Capitol screening.
Kemba Smith’s story became what is at times referred to as the “girlfriend loophole” in mandatory minimum sentencing that allowed prosecutors to pile on big sentences to low level associates of drug dealers and declare them part of a RICO level “conspiracy” — even though the associates weren’t dealing, using or distributing drugs. The Kemba Smith prosecution also highlighted the role of race and long drug sentences. Smith’s boyfriend Peter Michael Hall distributed crack cocaine. Now that fentanyl and meth are widely sold and used by white defendants, long draconian sentences are not as popular with prosecutors and drug use is often viewed as a medicinal issue rather than a criminal one.
Kemba Smith’s story was boosted nationally by a 1996 front page story in Emerge Magazine. Under the late editor-in-chief George Curry and detailed by journalist Reginald Stuart, the feature story focused on how punitive legislation passed during the “war on drugs” was impacting individuals who were not sellers or dealers. Smith emphasized the power of the Emerge article as a big factor in the public learning her story and her release.
“The things that I did do didn't warrant me to receive a 24-and-a-half-year sentence as a first-time nonviolent drug offender. And luckily, organizations such as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Congressman Bobby Scott, the ACLU, FAMM, the Sentencing Project, several people rallied behind my parents…”
— Kemba Smith-Pradia said in an 2008 interview with NPR
Kemba Smith-Pradia is currently an author, justice reform advocate and speaker. She graduated from Virginia Union University and is a lawyer. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority and their advocacy for Smith alongside Congressman Scott and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund is depicted in the film.
Also attending the screening were members of Rep. Scott’s former senior staff, including chief Crime Committee counsels Bobby Vassar and Brian Woolfolk and Chief of Staff Joni Ivey. Also seen last night was Roanoke’s own Sherman Lea, Jr. who is the President of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice. The aforementioned attorney Elaine Jones was also in attendance.
The film Kemba will air on BET on February 22, 2024 and be premiered at Hampton University during their annual film festival. The trailer can be seen above.
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