From the early 1980's to the present time, a similar witch hunt has taken place: people have been accused, charged, tried and convicted of ritual and/or sexual abuse of children, based on unreliable evidence derived from:

	unreliable, suggestive recovered memory therapy
	unreliable, suggestive child interview techniques

Hundreds of innocent people were thrown in jail for crimes that they did not commit. It would appear that, in most cases, none of the events for which they were charged actually happened. Gradually, their cases are being reviewed, and many are being released from prison. Sometimes they have spent 12 or more years in jail.

A new "Day of Contrition" was organized in Salem MA on the 300th anniversary of the original day, 1996-JAN-14. The press release of the organizers, The Justice Committee, follows:

Videotaped commentaries by playwright Arthur Miller and author William Styron - prepared especially for the convocation, will set the stage for presentations by such figures as:

	John Putnam Demos, Yale University history professor and descendent of Salem accuser Ann Putnam.
	Alan Rubenstein. District Attorney Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and author of the 1990 report. "Investigation into Breezy Point Day School"
	Elizabeth Loftus, University of Washington memory researcher and co-author of The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations Sexual Abuse.
	Debbie Nathan, journalist, co-author of Satan's Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt.
	Paul Noel Chretien, Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice.
	Frederick Crews, University of California, Berkeley, Professor of English, historian of psychoanalysis; principal author of The Memory Wars.
	Pamela Freyd, University of Pennsylvania researcher, founder of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation.
	Donald Connery, former Time-Life correspondent; author of Guilty Until Proven Innocent and editor of Convicting the Innocent.
	Moira Johnston, author of soon to be published Spectral Evidence on California's landmark Gary Ramona case.
	Robert Perske, advocate for persons with mental disabilities, author of Unequal Justice and Deadly Innocence.
	Richard Leo, University of Colorado sociology professor; creator of the nation's first false confession data bank.
	Tom Grant, KREM-TV reporter, winner of the 1996 George Polk Award, and finalist for this year's Columbia Dupont Award for his coverage of the Wenatchee, Washington witch hunts.

Among the falsely accused former defendants who will attend the convocation (and be available for interviews) will be:

	Kelly Michaels: a teacher's aide imprisoned for five years in New Jersey's Wee Care ritual abuse case before her 47-year sentence was overturned on appeal.
	Peggy Ann Buckey and Ray Buckey: teachers accused and jailed in Ca1ifornia's landmark McMartin Preschool case (1984-1990) --the longest, costliest trial in U.S. history at the time.
	Cheryl and Violet Amirault, mother and daughter convicted in the Massachusetts' Fells Acres Case. Their convictions were overturned after 14 years imprisonment.
	Bobby Finje: a youth, aged 14 at the time, who was tried for ritual abuse by Dade County, Florida . The prosecutor, Janet Reno, later became the U.S. Attorney General, He was held without bail for over a year before his acquittal.
	Pastor and Mrs. Roby Roberson, who were separated for years from their child, then tried and acquitted in the Wenatchee Washington "sex ring" scandal of false accusations.
	Brenda and Scott Kniffen, sentenced to 240 years each in the Kern County, CA sex ring cases; Their convictions were later overturned.

"The analogy to Salem is by no means overstated." says Carol Hopkins principal convocation organizer and executive director of The Justice Committee in San Diego [CA]. "The witchcraft mentality is still with us" in the forced accusations and confessions and as we see hundreds of men and women languishing behind bars for such imagined crimes as torturing and sacrificing babies during Satanic rituals. Our message is "Enough".

"These prosecutions must end and, just as importantly, we must release the falsely convicted and make reparations to them. The convocation will again echo the Justice Committee's demand for Congressional hearings into these cases."

The January 14 conference, not open to the public, will be held at the Essex-Peabody Museum, beginning at 8:30 a.m. On the previous day starting at 1 p.m., two forums of experts will discuss social science issues and legal and legislative remedies. On the night of the 13th, at 6 p.m., attendees will walk by candlelight to Salem's memorial to the witch trials victims and hold a vigil for today's prisoners of hysteria and reckless prosecution. The public is welcome to join in the vigil.

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