We Want Her Brought To Justice - NOW!

New Jersey State Senator Joe Pennacchio (R-Passaic, Morris, Essex) plans to introduce a resolution calling for Congress to pass legislation aimed at tracking fugitives living abroad — like convicted cop-killer JoAnne Chesimard — and bringing them to justice.

Joanne Chesimard is wanted for escaping from prison in Clinton, New Jersey, while serving a life sentence for murdering a New Jersey State Trooper. She relocated to Cuba in 1984, where she is thought to still be living. (FBI)

“Chesimard is just one of many fugitives who have escaped the country and avoided justice overseas,” Senator Pennacchio said. “The people of the United States deserve to know exactly how the government is working to bring these criminals back to face the punishment they deserve.”

The resolution calls for Congress to pass H.R.2189, a bill sponsored by Representative Christopher Smith from New Jersey’s 4th Congressional District. Known as the “Walter Patterson and Werner Foerster Justice and Extradition Act,” Smith’s resolution directs the President to report annual to Congress regarding fugitives whom the United States is seeking extradition or rendition.

The report would include: the number of fugitives; diplomatic and other efforts to secure their return; the average length of time these cases have been outstanding; the number of satisfactorily resolved cases; factors that have been barrier to case resolution; and information on the number of U.S. citizens whose extradition has been sought by other countries during the last five years, a list of those countries and the outcomes of the requests.

Pennacchio has long been an advocate for securing Chesimard’s return to the United States. In 1977, Chesimard was convicted for first-degree murder in the shooting death of New Jersey State Police Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973. She escaped from prison two years later, fled to Cuba in 1984 and has been living there under political asylum ever since. Pennacchio is the prime sponsor of SR-11, a New Jersey Senate resolution urging Cuba to extradite Chesimard to the United States.

“It is truly sickening that JoAnne Chesimard hasn’t had to bear any punishment for killing a New Jersey State Trooper in cold blood,” Senator Pennacchio said. “I will not rest until she, and other fugitives just like her, are brought to justice.”