Joy Powell

Joy Powell (born March 5, 1962) is a former community activist and Pentecostal pastor from Rochester, New York, whose career consisted of fighting against gang violence and police misconduct.[1]

After being raped by a correctional officer in 1995 and having the authorities refuse to investigate her complaint she began coordinating local protests and calls for police accountability which she routinely organized until her arrest in 2006.[2]

During her career Reverend Powell ran local charitable events in the area and operated a youth homeless shelter out of a salon she owned. She also started organizing candlelight vigils for victims of neighborhood violence after her son was killed as a bystander in a gang shooting in 2000. After the shooting of a mentally ill man her activism led to the creation of an, "Emergency Response Team" to deal with mental health situations and forced officers in the Rochester Police Department to get additional training in dealing with the mentally ill.[3]

In 2006, Reverend Powell was arrested[4] and charged with felony assault and burglary after a pawn shop broker gave police a description for one of the people who had sold him stolen property which matched Powell.[5] Powell maintains the charges were not only false but politically motivated due to her attempting to have criminal charges filed with the Attorney General of New York against several deputies of the Rochester Police Department whom assaulted and then threatened her when she tried to file a complaint with internal affairs on behalf of a member of her congregation who was the victim of racially motivated harassment from the police.[6]

Several members of Reverend Powell's congregations testified at trial that during the alleged burglary and assault Powell was leading a Bible study class at her church.[7]

Despite the apparent lack of evidence presented by the prosecution Powell was found guilty by an all-white jury in 2006 and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

In 2009, while serving her sentence for assault and burglary, Powell was arrested for the June 6, 1992, shooting death of James Rutledge after a Jailhouse informant who claimed to have witnessed the decades old homicide identified Powell as being involved in the killing.[8] Coincidentally this identification occurred as support was mounting in the community to appeal Powell's burglary conviction. In 2011, she was convicted of second degree murder based on the informants testimony and received a sentence of 25 years to life, to begin upon the completion of her 16 year sentence for assault and burglary.[9] Powell is currently being held at The Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women and will be eligible for parole in the year 2045 when she is 84 years old.[10]

Her case has been highlighted as a clear example of injustice by many social activists[11] and black power groups.[12] Even being mentioned by the likes of author Jamala Rogers (wife of Percy Green)[13] among others.