AZ Prisons, Parks May Soon Be Private

Why not incarcerate less people in Arizona? Especially those with non-violent sentences. Imposing less long sentences would help cut the budget too. Oh wait, Governor Brewer is linked to private prisons company CCA...

Opponent Says Hundreds Of State Workers Could Lose Jobs
Sarah Buduson, Reporter, KPHO.com

UPDATED: November 30, 2010

PHOENIX -- A state commission studying privatization will likely recommend privatizing Arizona's parks and prisons as a way to help ease the state's budget deficit when it releases its full report in December.

"This is one way to economize in a way that will cause the least amount of pain to the public," said Glenn Hamer, a member of Arizona's Commission on Privatization and Efficiency.

Gov. Jan Brewer created the commission to help Arizona save money.

The state is currently facing a more than $1 billion budget deficit.

"This is 101 for good government to look for ways that you can save taxpayer dollars," said Hamer, who is also the president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Hamer said most of the commission's recommendations will be kept secret until the report is released, but he expects the report to recommend privatizing Arizona's state parks and privatizing more state prisons.

"Privatizing prisons is a still good deal for this state," said Hamer.

The issue of privatizing prisons is controversial in Arizona.

Three inmates, including two convicted murderers, escaped from a private prison in Kingman in July.

The convicts went on a crime spree, and they are now charged in the slaying of an Oklahoma couple in New Mexico before they were caught.

The prison came under fire for its lax security procedures.

CBS 5 News then exposed connections between Brewer's top advisers and CCA, a private prison company.

Read the rest here.

Private prison industry exploits greed and fear with SB 1070

Seems I missed posting the excellent NPR report on immigration and private prisons when it came out before the elections, so here's a synopsis and the link.

That's Arizona's favorite son, Russ Pearce again, to the left. He has a lot to do with all this. He's done our state - our nation -more damage than Brewer, I'd say. Follow the link below for part II of the NPR story for more on his role.

-----------from Imagine 2050------------------

Cross-post: Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law

October 30, 2010 by Imagine 2050 Editors

NPR broke an incredible story this week that is sure to continue unearthing the shady dealings behind the creation and passage of SB 1070 in Arizona. The following article was published on Oct. 28, 2010 by NPR reporter Laura Sullivan. To listen the podcast of this story click here.

"Last year, two men showed up in Benson, Ariz., a small desert town 60 miles from the Mexico border, offering a deal.

Glenn Nichols, the Benson city manager, remembers the pitch.

“The gentleman that’s the main thrust of this thing has a huge turquoise ring on his finger,” Nichols said. “He’s a great big huge guy and I equated him to a car salesman.”

What he was selling was a prison for women and children who were illegal immigrants.

“They talk [about] how positive this was going to be for the community,” Nichols said, “the amount of money that we would realize from each prisoner on a daily rate.”

But Nichols wasn’t buying. He asked them how would they possibly keep a prison full for years — decades even — with illegal immigrants?

“They talked like they didn’t have any doubt they could fill it,” Nichols said.

That’s because prison companies like this one had a plan — a new business model to lock up illegal immigrants. And the plan became Arizona’s immigration law..."

Continue reading the NPR article here.

Here's part II of the report:

Shaping State Laws With Little Scrutiny

Among hundreds of bills drafted by an alliance of business, lawmakers: Arizona's immigration law...

Sweet Honey in The Rock: Are We A Nation?

Check out Sweet Honey in the Rock's new video, "Are We A Nation?" - it's awesome. The organization that's sponsoring it helped drive the supported housing movement for people with mental illness when I developed my program in Ann Arbor in the 90's - they're a fantastic resource.

Beware my anarchist friends - this has a real patriotic flavor, but it's a lot better than "America the Beautiful" or "The Star Spangled Banner", it recalls the truth of our collective history, and it puts the greedy racist pigs running Arizona to shame. It's also good to dance to, so rock on.

Brewer campaign cancels KPHO ads, attempts to discredit Loew.

Here's another recent clip from the Rachel Maddow Show covering the ties between Jan Brewer, private prisons, SB 1070 and the Brewer campaign effort to retaliate against Phoenix's KPHO and Morgan Loew for their investigative reporting on the issue. Brewer's people pulled all advertising from KPHO due to Loew's investigation of her CCA ties. Sounds like an attempt at censorship to me.

I've seen an awful lot of similar stuff across the rest of Arizona's media, however - can't imagine that Brewer can afford to pull advertising from all of them, or that she might expect to find someone who won't be critical of her if that's her criteria for where to advertise - maybe a FOX news affiliate?

Anyway, if KPHO won't be indoctrinating Arizona with any more Brewer ads, maybe that's where we should all be going for news...

For those of you who prefer the print version, here's the Phoenix New Times' Feathered Bastard's coverage of all this from the night before the above airing of the Rachel Maddow Show.

From Conspire to Perryville, with love.

I did a few actions earlier in the evening, chalking up the sidewalks outside of the Goddard Brewer debate, bringing my signs by the Capitol and ADC for some postcard photos, and stopping by Conspire to get some friends to help me show some solidarity with the women at Perryville / Santa Cruz who are on lock-down and have been resisting the conditions there...




Note that this cop doesn't hassle me -
he just looks curious. (Central)

(First St./KAET)

I knew the ADC central Office would want to show the women their support, so I included them in my evening shoot. The light was awesome.












While I was there, I also pulled my Hep C
sign out - looks pretty sharp, eh?
Great postcard that'll make.

Didn't want to leave the Governor's office out, either.

And finally, the women of Conspire,
in solidarity with our sisters in Perryville Prison.
Resist!

Arizona Department of Corrections: The sound of silence

Kingman Daily Miner
8/29/2010 6:01:00 AM

Column: Her name was Jessica ... and she refused to talk

Mark Borgard

Editor

There was a pretty little girl who transferred to my school when I was a kid. Her name was Jessica, and she was gorgeous. She had cute, dangly curls that framed her sweet face, and her eyes sparkled when she smiled.

Equipped with my 5th-grade boy's confidence, I approached Jessica during recess soon after her arrival and asked her where she had moved from. She stared at me for a second, not smiling, turned and walked away. I figured she must be shy because I knew, even at that young age, that everyone completely adored me. I tried again at lunch.

This time, she didn't even wait for me to finish my question before turning and walking away. At afternoon recess, I watched her playing with some of the other kids, some of my friends, so I tried again. I thought maybe if I showed her how fun I could be that she'd want to know me.

Turned out, my friends weren't in the mood to get chummy right then, and I ended up punching one of them in the arm. She shook her head, turned and walked away. As I watched her leave, my friend recovered enough to smack me in the back of the head.

What got me to thinking about Jessica this week was Director Charles Ryan and PR Guy/Ryan Blocker Barrett Marson with the Arizona Department of Corrections, whose motto is, "Every Killer Deserves a Break." You see, Mr. Ryan refuses to talk to the Miner. Oh, we've tried and tried, but he shelters himself behind Mr. Marson while refusing to answer any questions relating to the June escape at the prison in Golden Valley.

Turns out, we're not the only ones he doesn't want to talk to. He doesn't want to talk to you, either. He cancelled a public forum scheduled for Tuesday because he said he needs more time to prepare, which means, of course, he needs more time to work on his spin.

Although, he might be a bit spooked to stand before the people he and his department have put at great risk for at least the last five years. I call it the Ron Walker Syndrome. It's when you hide in your office and refuse to answer questions ... because you're a pinhead.

However, I could be wrong. Not about the pinhead part, about Mr. Ryan's intentions. Maybe Mr. Ryan respects our community enough to want to do his homework before he stands in front of us and explains why killers were housed in a medium-security prison, which, as far as we can tell, was actually a minimum-security prison. To give Mr. Ryan the benefit of the doubt, I've prepared some questions he might want to be able to answer when he finally decides to Cowboy Up.

1. Why were murderers housed at a medium-security prison?

2. Please explain your classification system that allows murderers and other violent offenders to be housed in a medium-security prison?

3. Please explain how it is not criminal to place high-security inmates in a medium-security prison (that actually was a minimum-security prison).

4. How much do you hate the people of Kingman and Golden Valley that you would allow our safety, not to mention the safety of the guards and other inmates, to be in jeopardy for at least the last five years?

5. In your mind, can the Arizona Department of Corrections be faulted for anything relating to the escape of two killers and a soon-to-be-convicted killer from the prison in Golden Valley?

6. Would you have allowed a woman who was caught delivering drugs to the prison leave with no charges leveled against her?

7. Do you think an internal audit is ever beneficial?

8. Has the recent escape proven to you that private prisons do not work?

9. Have all the convicted murderers been shipped out of the prison in Golden Valley, and when will you sneak them back in?

10. Did Gov. Jan Brewer, knowing her party had turned against her on the sales tax hike, sign SB 1070 to get herself back in the Republican fold in a final effort to get elected in November?

All right, you can skip the last one. But you better study and have answers to the other ones whenever you decide to grace us with your presence. You see, I've dealt with your type before. Her name was Jessica.

For weeks, I tried everything I could think of to get Jessica to talk to me, but she never did. I lost interest eventually, as young boys do, and moved out of state the next summer.

To this day, though, I still wonder why she never said a word to me. Maybe it fueled my passion for journalism, to get people to talk to me.

The only difference I can see between Jessica and Mr. Ryan is that Jessica was 11.

Oh, and she didn't run a severely flawed prison system.

Old Code Lifers, Bill Macumber, and Sentencing Reform

Ever since learning about William Macumber, I've been wondering what else I can do to help. The Change.org petition seems to be going pretty well. I also made some postcards to send the Governor and the media (and to Bill) for his birthday (AUG 31 he'll be 75). Feel free to download, or get creative and make some of your own - you can still send them out after his birthday; I just thought the timing was good. Here's the photo and text I used:

State of Arizona Capitol, Executive Tower. Phoenix.
“Free William Macumber!”


August 28, 2010

Dear Governor Brewer:

William Macumber will be 75 on August 31. He is an innocent man, whose fate is in your hands. Please free him from prison and send him home to his family. It’s the right thing to do.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Margaret Jean Plews

Arizona Prison Watch


I also found the the Freedom for Bill Macumber website - you folks really need to go there and read more on his case. There are a couple of different petitions there, one being for sentencing reform for Old Code Lifers. Check it out, sign their petitions, and send your "Free Bill Macumber" postcards and letters to the Governor, Rep. Cecil Ash (Chair of the House Study Committee on Sentencing); members of the AZ House and Senate Judiciary Committees, and your own legislators in Bill's support. Changing the Old Code Lifers law seems to be Bill's only shot at getting free, unless the Governor can be convinced to change her mind. The Arizona Justice Project that helped Bill get through the clemency process seems to be behind that.

Actually, I'd like to see some new legislation that requires the state to free people from prison in prison who the Board of Executive Clemency finds to be innocent. We also need to prohibit the courts from refusing to hear new evidence where there remains a claim of innocence, as in Courtney Bisbee's case. It's incomprehensible that either Bill or Courtney are still in prison, and that there isn't a huge public uproar over it. The lives of too many wrongfully convicted people hinge on politics, not justice, when it's up to a governor or the trial judge whether or not to take a second look at a conviction.

Here's a bit on the Old Code Lifers law (from http://freedom4bill.com):

---------------------------------------

What Else Can I Do?

HELP REFORM THE OLD CODE LIFER STATUTE

As of March, 2010, Bill Macumber is still in prison in Douglas, Arizona. His son Ron and family traveled to Arizona in February to preview the documentary film and visit Bill in the Douglas Prison facility. Bill remains upbeat although he is very disappointed that the petition for clemency was vetoed by the Governor.

Bill’s life sentence is considered to be defined by the “old code” (the 1956 Criminal Code). Because of this, he is not eligible for parole. In 1973, the Arizona State Legislature rewrote Arizona’s death penalty statutes, adding a minimum sentence a period of 25 years. However, in doing so, they left a group of prisoners (now 29) ineligible for parole, with only “natural life” as their guideline for time served. Each of these 29 “old code lifers” has served over 32 years, and all are over the age of 55 (the average age is 65).

Many life-sentenced inmates since that time have served at least the minimum, then applied for and received parole. In one of his case’s many heartbreaking circumstances, Bill Macumber has never been allowed this privilege. He is effectively sentenced to life without parole, even though “life without parole” was not a sentence in Arizona at that time.

A proposition is currently being drafted for the Arizona legislature which would allow these 29 “old code lifers” to be eligible for parole. It does not guarantee parole, yet provides an opportunity for those who are trapped in the situation created by the 1973 amendment.

You can help support this bill by adding your name to the petition below and reading more at www.oldcodelifer.com. You are encouraged to email or write to your legislator and let them know that you strongly support a reform proposition which would allow Bill Macumber to apply for parole.

White Supremacy, SB 1070, and Private Prisons in AZ

Hate Groups and Prison Profiteers Wrote Arizona's Juan Crow Law

David A. Love

Philadelphia-based writer and Executive Editor, BlackCommentator.com

Posted to Huffington Post: August 18, 2010 04:09 PM

Now, I suppose it is conceivable that white supremacists and the private prison industry could join forces in support of a good piece of legislation. After all, anything is possible.

But it sure isn't likely.

This is the situation we are seeing in Arizona with the passage of S.B. 1070, the anti-immigrant law that allows police to stop and arrest suspected undocumented aliens. Essentially, this law makes it a crime under state law to be in the U.S. illegally. The law allows police to stop anyone with a "reasonable suspicion" of being undocumented, and demand proof of citizenship. Those who cannot produce the documentation face arrest, a $2,500 fine, and 6 months in jail.

One must ask, where do they find these laws? Better yet, where do they find the people to write such laws? In searching for an answer, I turn to a colleague, the late Al Lewis. Yes, Grandpa from the Munsters. I knew him as a political activist and a radio show host when I worked at Pacifica Radio station WBAI ten years ago as a producer for Democracy Now! Al defined a law as "that which is bought and paid for." It was one of the most simple, yet profound statements I had heard. And it definitely applies to Arizona's S.B. 1070.

It is now no secret that two top level staffers in Gov. Jan Brewer's administration -- Paul Senseman and Chuck Coughlin -- have financial ties to the private prison industry, and stand to benefit personally from S.B. 1070. After all, private prisons lock up the immigration detainees in that state -- and they would like to run all of the prisons in Arizona, including death row -- so the new law is good for business. Senseman, the governor's deputy chief of staff, is a former lobbyist for Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA. And his wife presently is a lobbyist for the company. Meanwhile, Chuck Coughlin is one of the governor's policy advisers and her campaign chairman. Coughlin's firm, HighGround Public Affairs Consultants, currently lobbies for CCA. CCA and rival prison company Geo Group are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council, where they ensured passage of the insidious bill.

But it gets better, or worse depending on your point of view. State Senator Russell Pearce, who introduced S.B. 1070, has extensive financial ties to the private prison industry. He also has friendships with neo-Nazis such as J.T. Ready of the National Alliance, who calls Jews parasites, and hunts and kidnaps people on the border with Mexico. Ready once said "The truth is that negroids screw monkeys and rape babies in afreaka [sic]. Then stupid white man who licks kosher jew rear lets negroids in." And he once told a neo-Nazi rally that "This is a white, European homeland. That's how it should be preserved if we want to keep it clean, safe, and pure."

Senator Pearce has built his career on the backs of the Latino immigrant communities he has so fervently scapegoated. He has supported Nuremberg-style legislation that would prohibit hospitals from issuing birth certificates to children born of undocumented immigrants, and a law that would not allow people to marry without providing proof of U.S. citizenship and social security numbers. That would make it illegal for citizens to marry non-citizens! Pearce wants to eliminate the Fourteenth Amendment. And he supported the bill that has eliminated ethnic studies in Arizona public schools and colleges and universities.

And Senator Pearce has ties to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). S.B. 1070 was written by Kris Kobach, a former Bush administration lawyer who now works for FAIR's legal arm. The organization has been designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. FAIR was founded by the nativist trailblazer John Tanton, who warned of the dangers of the "Latin onslaught" in America, and declared "for European-American society and culture to persist requires a European-American majority, and a clear one at that." And the group received $1.2 million from the Pioneer Fund, a racist eugenics foundation that funds studies linking race, genetics and intelligence.

For all of you conspiracy theorists out there, this is raw meat to be sure. But there's nothing theoretical about this conspiratorial scenario. Klannish hate groups and prison companies worked together to pass an atrocious, twisted and unconstitutional law. The former hates Latinos and thinks they are inferior, and would love nothing more than to throw them all behind bars for good. Meanwhile, the latter wants to profit from locking up as many immigrant detainees as possible. Just to top it off, both groups collaborated with their tools in the Arizona legislature and that horrid governor's office to make it all happen. This is Juan Crow in action. And sadly, it smells all too much like American history.

In fact, this reminds me of the days of Jim Crow, after slavery, when segregationist state and local governments enacted laws to maintain blacks in a state of virtual bondage. Laws targeted African-Americans specifically by going after offenses for which freedmen were presumed more likely to be charged, such as petty theft, vagrancy, burglary and bigamy. Under the convict lease system, an overwhelmingly black prison population provided free labor to the plantations, railroads and mining companies. "These companies assume charge of the convicts, work them as cheap labor and pay the states a handsome revenue for their labor.... The details of vice, cruelty and death thus fostered by the states whose treasuries are enriched thereby, equals anything from Siberia," said Frederick Douglass. "Every Negro so sentenced not only means able-bodied men to swell the state's number of slaves, but every Negro so convicted is thereby disfranchised." Of course, the ideological justification for the Jim Crow legal regime was that black people were inferior, and posed a racial, sexual, criminal, political and economic threat to whites.

And today, there is profit in prisons, with whole industries that make their bread and butter over the warehousing of warm bodies -including some of the prisons themselves. Roughly 70 percent of America's prisoners are black and brown because laws target communities of color. Yet, America's legal profession is among the nation's least diverse: Over 90 percent of the judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys are white. And law enforcement wages a racially-motivated war on drugs in poor black and Latino neighborhoods, with a financial incentive to maximize the arrests and convictions they win.

When racial scapegoats are conjured up--whether the black "crack babies" and "welfare queens" of the 1980s, or the Mexican "illegal aliens" and "anchor babies" of today--laws are created to legitimize the crimes that the state is about to commit against these groups, ostensibly in the name of the public good, but really for private profit. Sadly, in the land of the jobless and the hopeless, boogeymen are in great demand these days. And in Arizona, a group of greedy, unscrupulous folks got together with professional racists to criminalize the Latino community and make a buck at the same time.

David A. Love is the Executive Editor of BlackCommentator.com, and a contributor to The Progressive Media Project and theGrio. He is based in Philadelphia, and is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. His blog is davidalove.com.

Follow David A. Love on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidalove

Avert another tragedy. Take action against prison privatization.

-------------from the American Friends Service Committee-Tucson-------------

VICTORY!!!

The bids for 5,000 new for-profit prison beds in AZ are on hold, thanks to YOUR action. But we need to make sure that action is taken immediately to prevent another private prison disaster.

SAY “NO!” TO FOR-PROFIT INCARCERATION!

The Arizona Silver Belt newspaper reported yesterday:

“The Arizona Department of Corrections has confirmed that any decisions over bids submitted by four companies to build private prisons here in our state have been delayed because of security issues raised about a privately operated prison in Kingman last month where the breakout of three violent convicts occurred on July 30.

Barrett Marson, Director of Communications for the state agency, told the Arizona Silver Belt, efforts to add an additional 5,000 private prison beds has been stalled because of concerns which have developed on how the medium-security private prison was being operated in Kingman. He said representatives of each of the four companies that submitted proposals to build and operate private prison complexes housing ADC inmates will be called in for more questioning about their proposals.” (“One bidder owns Kingman prison where breakout occurred; Globe prison and others on hold,” Arizona Silver Belt, 8/25/10)

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who contacted the Governor and Director Ryan! Your voices made a difference!

But we cannot let up the pressure until all our demands are met. Please contact the Governor again and make sure she and the state legislature take immediate action to protect us from this irresponsible industry.

What YOU can do….

Contact Governor Brewer:

• Tell her that you are glad that the Department of Corrections has called an immediate halt to all bidding processes involving private prison operators
• Ask that she go a step further and institute a moratorium on new private prison beds until the issue has been thoroughly studied and legislative action taken
• Request that the Legislature immediately hold public hearings to address the problems with for-profit prisons in Arizona
• Suggest that the Legislature also enact other cost-cutting measures that not only save money but enhance public safety, like earned release credits, amending truth in sentencing, and restoring judicial discretion

Governor Jan Brewer

602.542.4331 or 800.253.0883 ph,

602.542.1381 fax.

Make a comment online at: http://azgovernor.gov/Contact.asp

**If you can blind copy or cc us, we will have a better idea how effective this initiative is. If you receive responses, even boiler-plate ones, please forward those to us, if possible.

Why Arizona should SAY NO to for-profit prisons:

1. For-profit prisons have histories of escapes, disturbances, prisoner abuses, financial mismanagement, and other scandals.

The Kingman escapes come on the heels of a riot at the same facility in June in which eight prisoners were injured. A prison run by Corrections Corporation of America in Eloy was recently on lockdown after prisoners from Hawaii rioted over an Xbox video game. When a staff member attempted to intervene, he was severely beaten, suffering a broken nose, broken cheekbones and damage to his eye sockets. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) found a significantly higher rate of prisoner-on-prisoner assaults in private prisons (66% more) than in public prisons. Inmate-on-staff assaults were 49% higher in the for-profits.

For specific information on these major problems, please see the attached “Rap Sheets”or go to: http://www.privateci.org/.

2. You get what you pay for.

For-profit prison corporations are primarily concerned about the bottom line and making money for their CEO’s and shareholders. The companies cut corners everywhere they can, but primarily on staff pay and training.

The result is a facility with high turnover rates, where the staff is inexperienced and the prisoners have nothing productive to do. Such a prison is unsafe for the inmates, the guards, and the surrounding community.

Finally, there’s no evidence that private prisons can do it cheaper. Maximus, an independent, reputable research firm, compared cost savings in Arizona's public and private prisons in 2006. It determined taxpayers were spending an estimated $1,526,289 MORE annually on two privately run prisons.

3. Less Transparency and Accountability.

For-profit prison companies are corporations doing the job of government without any of the checks and balances that keep government accountable to the people. In the case of the Kingman escapes, which occurred at 9:00 pm, MTC waited until 10:20 pm to notify The Mojave County’s Sheriff’s Office. Another 80 minutes elapsed before MTC notified state officials with the Arizona Department of Corrections. The media wasn’t alerted until mid-morning the next day, and thus the public was not informed about the dangerous escapees until that time.

There is an inherent threat to democracy when an institution with so much power over the lives of so many individuals is immune to any public accountability.

Caroline Isaacs

Program Director,

American Friends Service Committee

Arizona Area Program

103 N. Park Ave., Suite 111

Tucson, AZ 85719

520.623.9141 p/520.623.5901 f

www.afsc.org/az

Update: Free William Macumber

I just started a petition to Free William Macumber at Change.org. Help us out with it. Here's the New York Times article you'll find as part of the letter there to Governor Brewer, if you need a refresher. William will turn 75 on August 31. Lets try to give him and his family some encouragement. He may have been juggled around because of the escapes, but his last known address there was:

William Macumber 033867

ASPC-Douglas/Mohave
PO Box 5002
Douglas, AZ 85608

-----------------------------------------

Governor Rebuffs Clemency Board in Murder Case

By ADAM LIPTAK

New York Times

June 14, 2010

WASHINGTON — Ronald Kempfert was a young boy in 1975 when his father was sent to prison for murder, and they had no contact for 28 years.

Then, in 2003, Mr. Kempfert heard from a lawyer who had been looking into the case. “Your father is innocent,” said the lawyer, Larry A. Hammond. “And we’re pretty sure your mother framed him.”

That would seem a lot to digest, but Mr. Kempfert, 42, said he felt no hesitation. “My reaction was that it didn’t surprise me,” he said. “She’s my mother, and I love her. But I think she’s capable of anything.”

Mr. Kempfert is now certain that his father, William Macumber, is innocent. Arizona’s clemency board, citing Mr. Kempfert’s “very moving testimony” and saying there had been “a miscarriage of justice,” unanimously recommended last year that Mr. Macumber be freed.

But Mr. Macumber remains in prison, and Gov. Jan Brewer has refused to explain why.

The case against Mr. Macumber began in 1974 as his marriage was disintegrating. His wife, Carol, who worked in the local sheriff’s office, went to her superiors with a surprising story. Her husband, she said, had recently confessed to the unsolved murders of a young couple shot to death a dozen years before, in 1962, in the open desert north of Scottsdale, Ariz.

Largely on the strength of his former wife’s testimony, Mr. Macumber was convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

But the jury did not hear a significant piece of evidence.

In 1967, five years after the murders in the desert, a drifter named Ernesto Valenzuela was charged with a similar double homicide. He told his lawyer that he had also killed the couple in the desert.

“He was just making a point about bragging about the people he killed,” the lawyer, Thomas W. O’Toole, said. “He was a cold-blooded killer who relished committing the murders.”

Mr. O’Toole, who went on to serve 24 years as a state judge, said his client was dead serious about claiming responsibility for the 1962 murders. “There is no doubt in my mind that Ernesto Valenzuela committed those crimes,” Mr. O’Toole said.

For years, Mr. O’Toole kept his client’s secret, as he was required to do by the canons of legal ethics. But after Mr. Valenzuela was himself killed in prison in 1973, and with the permission of Mr. Valenzuela’s mother, Mr. O’Toole offered to testify at Mr. Macumber’s trial.

The judge refused to let the jury hear from Mr. O’Toole, saying his account was unreliable hearsay. The judge also excluded testimony from a second lawyer and a psychiatrist who had heard similar confessions from Mr. Valenzuela.

The jury did hear about two kinds of physical evidence — a partial palm print and bullet casings — that prosecutors said connected Mr. Macumber to the killings.

Mr. Kempfert said he believed that his mother had done more than lie.

“I can fully see how my mother could have set him up and framed him,” Mr. Kempfert said. “She had access to the evidence. She was doing fingerprint courses at the time.”

Last year, the five members of the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency unanimously recommended to Ms. Brewer that Mr. Macumber be released after 35 years in prison “to correct a miscarriage of justice.”

But Ms. Brewer rejected the board’s recommendation without explanation in November. It is possible that politics played a role in her decision; Ms. Brewer, a Republican who became governor last year, is running for a full term in November.

“She denied the application right after she announced that she was running for governor,” said Katherine Puzauskas, a lawyer with the Arizona Justice Project at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. The project, which was founded by Mr. Hammond and works to overturn wrongful convictions, has represented Mr. Macumber since 2000.

There is little political upside to granting clemency, but there is a substantial risk, as Mike Huckabee learned when a man whose sentence he commuted as governor of Arkansas in 2000 killed four police officers last year.

P. S. Ruckman Jr., a political science professor at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Ill., has been fuming about Ms. Brewer’s handling of the Macumber case. “I have been following state clemency for 30 years,” Mr. Ruckman said, “and this is easily, easily, the most disturbing. It’s borderline despicable.”

“Common-sense notions of justice should compel a governor to provide an explanation for imprisoning a man deemed innocent by an official board created to make such judgments,” he added. “You don’t imprison a man for no reason.”

A spokesman for the governor said Ms. Brewer had reviewed the case thoroughly, but he provided only boilerplate concerning her reasoning.

“Every executive clemency case is carefully scrutinized as the governor balances the very real and important concepts of public safety, justice and mercy,” the spokesman, Paul Senseman, said in an e-mail message.

Mr. Macumber is 74 and in failing health, with heart problems and arthritis, and the threat he poses to public safety is not obvious.

But Mr. Macumber’s former wife, now known as Carol Kempfert, said he was a dangerous sociopath who deserved to die in prison. She denied making up his confession and tampering with the evidence used to convict him.

It is her former husband, she said, who is a pathological liar. “I was in law enforcement for almost 20 years, and no one came close to being able to manipulate like Bill,” she said. “This man could sell water to a drowning person.”

Mr. Macumber, she said, would have said anything to save their marriage.

For instance, she said, he once falsely claimed to have a heart condition. “He intimates that if I hang around long enough, he’ll die and I’ll get the insurance money,” she said. “Well, I hung around, and he didn’t die.”

Then he threatened to kill himself. “If you’re going to do it, go outside” she recalled telling her husband. “I don’t want blood on the walls.”

In the course of a half-hour conversation, Ms. Kempfert accused Mr. Macumber of terrible and disturbing crimes beyond the killings in the desert. Asked if he deserved clemency, she said, “Absolutely not.”

“Actually,” she added, “I think he’s lucky. If he had been caught sooner, he would have gotten the death penalty.”

Ms. Kempfert and her son no longer speak. Ronald Kempfert, who took his stepfather’s last name when he was a child, is in the process of changing it back to Macumber.

Dear Director Ryan: Community standards for treating Hep C.

More unanswered correspondence with Director Ryan about Hep C. For all I know he's just sending me to his Spam Box now. The only way I can be relatively sure he sees this is by posting it or hand-delivering it - and I don't want them to trespass me down there if I show up too much.

Besides, this has useful info for everyone. Check out the links to the professional standards. Keep in mind when they were written, too.

-----------------------------

Arizona Prison Watch	Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 10:15 AM
To: cryan kklausner
For all my criticism of them (which still stands), at least the CDC has easily-accessible information on the basics. Robertson stopped evaluating the extent of Davon's liver disease - and possible co-morbid conditions - when he should have kept going. He still needs the genotyping done to make sure he doesn't have more than one strain of HCV, and to determine the likelihood that he'll even respond to treatment. And in light of the increased risk for disorders like diabetes (and his weight loss and fatigue), his glucose should be monitored more regularly to determine what his ranges are. Davon should also be treated like a human being, not a veterinary specimen - no one seems to really be trying to educate him on his medical condition or lab results, or even ask him about his fatigue, weight loss, headaches, etc. despite hearing concerns from Julie multiple times a week. ------------------------------- CDC HCV FAQs: Testing and Diagnosis Who should be tested for HCV infection? HCV testing is recommended for anyone at increased risk for HCV infection, including: Persons who have ever injected illegal drugs, including those who injected only once many years ago Recipients of clotting factor concentrates made before 1987 Recipients of blood transfusions or solid organ transplants before July 1992 Patients who have ever received long-term hemodialysis treatment Persons with known exposures to HCV, such as healthcare workers after needlesticks involving HCV-positive blood recipients of blood or organs from a donor who later tested HCV-positive All persons with HIV infection Patients with signs or symptoms of liver disease (e.g., abnormal liver enzyme tests) Children born to HCV-positive mothers (to avoid detecting maternal antibody, these children should not be tested before age 18 months) What blood tests are used to detect HCV infection? Several blood tests are performed to test for HCV infection, including: Screening tests for antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) enzyme immunoassay (EIA) enhanced chemiluminescence immunoassay (CIA) Recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) Qualitative tests to detect presence or absence of virus (HCV RNA polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) Quantitative tests to detect amount (titer) of virus (HCV RNA PCR) How do I interpret the different tests for HCV infection? A table on the interpretation of HCV test results is available at http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/HCV/PDFs/hcv_graph.pdf [PDF - 1 page]. Is an algorithm for HCV diagnosis available? A flow chart on HCV infection testing for diagnosis is available at http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/HCV/PDFs/hcv_flow.pdf [PDF - 1 page]. What is the next step after a confirmed positive anti-HCV test? The level of ALT (alanine aminotransferase, a liver enzyme) in the blood should be measured. An elevated ALT indicates inflammation of the liver. The patient should be checked further for chronic liver disease and possible treatment. The evaluation should be performed by a healthcare professional familiar with chronic Hepatitis C. Can a patient have a normal liver enzyme (e.g., ALT) level and still have chronic Hepatitis C? Yes. It is common for patients with chronic Hepatitis C to have liver enzyme levels that go up and down, with periodic returns to normal or near normal levels. Liver enzyme levels can remain normal for over a year despite chronic liver disease. Management and Treatment What should be done for a patient with confirmed HCV infection? HCV-positive persons should be evaluated (by referral or consultation, if appropriate) for presence of chronic liver disease, including assessment of liver function tests, evaluation for severity of liver disease and possible treatment, and determination of the need for Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B vaccination. When might a specialist be consulted in the management of HCV-infected persons? Any physician who manages a person with Hepatitis C should be knowledgeable and current on all aspects of the care of a person with Hepatitis C; this can include some internal medicine and family practice physicians as well as specialists such as infectious disease physicians, gastroenterologists, or hepatologists. What is the treatment for chronic Hepatitis C? Combination therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin is the treatment of choice, resulting in sustained virologic response (defined as undetectable HCV RNA in the patient's blood 24 weeks after the end of treatment) rates of 40%–80% (up to 50% for patients infected with genotype 1, the most common genotype found in the United States, and up to 80% for patients infected with genotypes 2 or 3). Combination therapy using interferon and ribavirin is FDA-approved for use in children ages 3–17 years. Treatment success rates are now being improved with the addition of polymerase and protease inhibitors to standard pegylated interferon/ribavirin combination therapy. How many different genotypes of HCV exist? At least six distinct HCV genotypes (genotypes 1–6) and more than 50 subtypes have been identified. Genotype 1 is the most common HCV genotype in the United States. Is it necessary to do viral genotyping when managing a person with chronic Hepatitis C? Yes. Because there are at least six known genotypes and more than 50 subtypes of HCV, genotype information is helpful in defining the epidemiology of Hepatitis C and in making recommendations regarding treatment. Knowing the genotype can help predict the likelihood of treatment response and, in many cases, determine the duration of treatment. Patients with genotypes 2 and 3 are almost three times more likely than patients with genotype 1 to respond to therapy with alpha interferon or the combination of alpha interferon and ribavirin When using combination therapy, the recommended duration of treatment depends on the genotype. For patients with genotypes 2 and 3, a 24-week course of combination treatment is adequate, whereas for patients with genotype 1, a 48-week course is recommended. Once the genotype is identified, it need not be tested again; genotypes do not change during the course of infection. Can superinfection with more than one genotype of HCV occur? Superinfection is possible if risk behaviors (e.g., injection drug use) for HCV infection continue, but it is believed to be very uncommon. Does chronic Hepatitis C affect only the liver? A small percentage of persons with chronic HCV infection develop medical conditions due to Hepatitis C that are not limited to the liver. These conditions are thought to be attributable to the body's immune response to HCV infection. Such conditions can include Diabetes mellitus, which occurs three times more frequently in HCV-infected persons Glomerulonephritis, a type of kidney disease caused by inflammation of the kidney Essential mixed cryoglobulinemia, a condition involving the presence of abnormal proteins in the blood Porphyria cutanea tarda, an abnormality in heme production that causes skin fragility and blistering Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which might occur somewhat more frequently in HCV-infected persons Where can I find more information about management and treatment of patients with chronic Hepatitis C? The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases: AASLD Practice Guideline: Diagnosis, Management, and Treatment of Hepatitis C . The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: Chronic Hepatitis C Current Disease Management. -- Arizona Prison Watch http://arizonaprisonwatch.blogspot.com A community resource for monitoring, navigating, surviving, and dismantling the prison industrial complex in Arizona. “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881)

Fight with the Truth, Director Ryan, or get out of the way.

One of my e-mails to Director Ryan and his corporate counsel last week, addressing the shoddy medical evaluation of Davon's condition, and what I think is really underlying a lot of this resistance. We are collectively, silently lending our consent to the widescale extermination of people with addictions and serious mental illness via Hep C, diverting them from hospitals and treatment programs in order to feed the prison industrial complex in the process, where many will ultimately die of neglect.

I must have hit a nerve or two with this one - it was never answered by either of them. I wasn't that surprised - just disappointed. I'd been holding out hope that Ryan just had a bunch of incompetent subordinates who were covering themselves by keeping the truth from him, and that if he knew the truth, he'd step up to the plate himself. But I think he knows full well what goes on in that place, and it's him that his people cover for. What a no-win situation that must be for them.

----------------------

This is Davon Acklin's prison doctor.

--------------------

arizonaprisonwatch@gmail.com | Web History | Settings ▼ | Sign out

Search settings Google Account settings

Google

"david robertson, DO" hepatitis

SafeSearch off ▼ › Off› Moderate (recommended)› StrictMore about SafeSearch

Advanced search

1 result (0.17 seconds)

Search Results

1. [PDF]

   ELEVENTH ANNUAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE DAY WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2007 ...

   - 3:04pm
   File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
   David Robertson, DO. Surgery. Maricopa Integrated Health System .... had no risk factors for viral hepatitis. She reported 1-2 drinks no more than 2-4 times ...
   azmec.med.arizona.edu/.../AED%20Program%20Book%202007%20Final.pdf - Similar

-------------

Or maybe this is.
(I Googled them both to see what he's doing about the epidemic of Hep C in AZ prisons.)
--------------

arizonaprisonwatch@gmail.com | Web History | Settings ▼ | Sign out

Search settings Google Account settings

Google

"david w. robertson, DO" hepatitis

SafeSearch off ▼ › Off› Moderate (recommended)› StrictMore about SafeSearch

Advanced search

Your search - "david w. robertson, DO" hepatitis - did not match any documents.

Suggestions:

• Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
• Try different keywords.
• Try more general keywords.
• Try fewer keywords.

In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 0 already displayed.
If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.

-------------

This is Julie's friend.

-----------

arizonaprisonwatch@gmail.com | Web History | Settings ▼ | Sign out

Search settings Google Account settings

Google

"william remak" hepatitis

SafeSearch off ▼ › Off› Moderate (recommended)› StrictMore about SafeSearch

Advanced search

About 61 results (0.20 seconds)

Did you mean: "bill remak" hepatitis

Search Results

1. Millions of Hepatitis C Funding Dollars Hijacked

   Apr 27, 2009 ... William Remak, Chairman of the National Association of Hepatitis Task Forces and a two-time liver transplant recipient due to HCV is also ...
   www.hcvets.com/nih/PressRelease/0904.asp - Cached

2. The Status & Recommendation for Public Health Education ...

   National Association of Hepatitis Task Forces, CA National Association of Hepatitis C Task Force, William Remak, B.Sc. MT, B. Public Health, SGNA, Chairman ...
   www.hcvets.com/publichealth/report.htm - Cached
3. [PDF]

   Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)

   File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
   The focus of this paper is on the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), ..... William Remak, Chairman, California Hepatitis C Task Force (Phone interview Nov. 2008) ...
   www.californiahcvtaskforce.org/pdf/Beth_Powell_hepatitis_paper.pdf - Similar
4. [PDF]

   CALIFORNIA HEPATITIS C TASK FORCE Little Hoover Commission Stuart ...

   File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
   Chairman, California Hepatitis C Task Force, Inc. Chairman, National Association of Hepatitis Task Forces. 2X Liver Transplant Patient, Cancer survivor. ...
   www.lhc.ca.gov/studies/198/cirm/CHCTFNov08.pdf

5. Bill Remak - Email, Address, Phone numbers, everything! 123people.com

   Bill Remak is Chairman of California Hepatitis C Task Force ... 04 Continued from Segment .... William Remak Santa Rosa, US. William Remak West Warwick, US ...
   www.123people.com/s/bill+remak

6. CDC DVH - Viral Hepatitis - Resource Center - National Viral ...

   Aug 27, 2008 ... Summary: This workshop will be provide an overview of viral Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E, including basic epidemiology, risk factors, ...
   www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/resources/mtgsconf/natvhprevconf2005.htm - Cached

------------------------

He also goes by "Bill".

----------------------------

arizonaprisonwatch@gmail.com | Web History | Settings ▼ | Sign out

Search settings Google Account settings

Google

"bill remak" hepatitis

SafeSearch off ▼ › Off› Moderate (recommended)› StrictMore about SafeSearch

Advanced search

About 304 results (0.16 seconds)

Search Results

1. California Hepatitis C Task Force

   Jan 23, 2009 ... Bill Remak is Chairman of California Hepatitis C Task Force & Chairman of National Association of Hepatitis Task Forces. ...
   www.californiahcvtaskforce.org/ - Cached - Similar

2. Mission Statement - California Hepatitis C Task Force

   CALIFORNIA HEPATITIS C TASK FORCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND ADVISORY BOARD. BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 1) Bill Remak, Petaluma -Chair. 2) Phyllis Borchardt, San Diego ...
   www.californiahcvtaskforce.org/miss.htm - Cached - Similar

   Show more results from www.californiahcvtaskforce.org

3. Bill Remak is Chairman of California Hepatitis C Task Force ...

   He is a survivor of liver cancer and two transplants and is diabetic. He was a laboratory scientist at UCSF, but after his illness he started organizations ...
   www.wsradio.com/wsradio-player.cfm/type/...with.../24727.html - Cached

4. Bill Remak (wmremak) on Twitter

   Get short, timely messages from Bill Remak. ... To watch a webcast of the Congressional hearing on Viral Hepatitis, click here... http://fb.me/AYjYIxVP 1:54 ...
   twitter.com/wmremak - Cached

5. Hard Time: Hepatitis C in Arizona's State Prisons.: Remak: The ...

   May 4, 2010 ... By Bill Remak, B.Sc. MT , B. Public Health, SGNA, AHCJ. (wmremak@pacbell.net ) Chair, National Association of Hepatitis Task Forces and ...
   hardtimehepc.blogspot.com/2010/05/remak-scandal-of-hep-c.html - Cached

---------------------------

Any questions?

----------------------

August 18, 2010

Charles L. Ryan, Director
Arizona Department of Corrections
1601 W. Jefferson St.
Phoenix, AZ 85007


Dear Director Ryan,

This is actually the closest to a white flag that you may ever see from me. I'm just showing you part of my arsenal to get your attention because you think I'm outgunned. I haven't posted that Google yet (nor, as far as I know, has Julie, but Facebook is her territory). By the time what I'm offering here expires I'll have thought of something better, though. Hopefully I'll have also figured out the software for my camera so I can upload that video of Julie, too. I don't expect it to ever enter a courtroom, but that doesn't mean it doesn't carry weight.

Davon could be getting well right now, for all the money and staff time you've invested in diverting his mom from getting him appropriate health care. That kid needs to be seen by a specialist competent in treating Hepatitis C before you claim he doesn't have a life-threatening condition with any credibility. So far, I'm not convinced that he's not in imminent danger, and I'm leaning towards thinking there's a whole class of men and women in there who are dying from your neglect.

But no one wins if Davon dies from this illness; we both know there isn't time for a class action suit. You may have fallen for your people's BS (assuming you aren't the source), but we aren't, so please stop sending people who don't know what they're talking about as if we don't get it. You may not have been made aware of this, but Davon's liver enzyme values are not only way out of range, they've multiplied since he was tested nine months ago. He should have been seen by a specialist and considered for treatment immediately. Instead, ever since his most recent labs were done, people have been trying to convince Julie - and now the governor's office - that she's just ignorant and over-reacting.

If the rapid rate at which Davon's liver functioning has deteriorated doesn't trouble you enough, then open his medical chart yourself - the first thing Julie noticed was what was missing. She has volumes of information she provided you folks on his psychiatric history and needs. He had 8 case managers and an ACT team that couldn't keep him out of prison, but you've only given him nine pages worth of care? That's shameful. You're not treating his mental illness, you just have him in chemical restraints.

It gets worse from there. Apart from Dr. Robertson's show of ignorance about his patient's medical conditions and needs, your staff have given Davon medications for illnesses he doesn't even have on more than one occasion. Are we really supposed to be convinced they know him at all? Did Jim Clenney think that giving us some guy with credentials would make us shrug our shoulders and quietly walk away? Did either of you?

Do you know what an aggressive strain of Hep C can do in ten more months? We aren't giving it one more month. I won't wait for the Clemency Board - I'm not putting all my stock in them, and a qualified assessment of Davon's status should have been done at least 3 months ago. You could have had a huge lead on this disease if he started treatment of any kind sooner - he's not even getting vitamin or protein supplements, and Julie's been screaming to your people - and everyone else in range - for months about his fatigue and malaise. There's absolutely NO reason he should be expected to be his own advocate in the face - and custody - of the state. I think he's pretty competent, myself, but he's nonetheless been designated as disabled by the severity and persistence of his mental illness for a long time; his mother even has power of attorney. That should have given someone a clue.

But even the guys who are certifiably sane give up asking medical for help, there. I have volumes of mail to that effect. That tells me a lot. I already know you wanted to save money by revamping how you do things in that arena - like increasing co-pays to discouraging requests for MD visits by people earning pennies an hour (if they're lucky enough to have paying jobs in the first place). I hope you also want to save lives, given the chance, despite the fact that those under your immediate sphere of influence are slaves and criminals. If so, you're investing resources in the wrong places. Prevent lawsuits by offering consistent, decent care.

I don't need an attorney or Julie's okay to tell you that there's nothing more we'd like to see than solid evidence that Davon's health care needs are being competently met and he has a chance to get well. An attorney will want more from you than that, so please don't waste any more time or public resources stalling us. Prove us wrong with the truth. That's what Julie's been asking for all along.

A lot of your other families are hurting too, actually, and the longer you leave me standing out here challenging you, the more there are who will find me. I make no promises to you about how I'll deal with their loved one's illnesses - I won't agree not to come after your department myself again - with an attorney, even - and I'll probably help anyone poor enough to need me. I'll grant that you're stubborn, but you've been wrong about Davon, and your resistance has only made me stronger and more creative as an advocate for prisoners with Hep C - as has time, too much of which has passed now.

It's urgent that Davon is assessed by a hep C specialist - not just have his physician rubber-stamped by a committee. If he was home we'd be calling 911 for an ambulance - a whole lot of people would be.

I can't swing Davon's medical bills - I can't even keep him stocked with peanut butter. Catch up with my credit report if you didn't know that already - I can't keep up with my own doctors. But I'll sell everything I have down to my computer, pledge a part of my monthly income for the cause, sign whatever you draw up that gets the state off the hook for it, and take responsibility for finding more people to help cover it. I'm not shy about asking for help when I find someone in trouble, and I am a witness that this family is in trouble.

I can fundraise a lot easier if this offer is made publicly than if it's just between us, but right now, if you get Davon help this week, you can pretty much write the terms. I'll even surrender my ego - just not other prisoners. I'm sure my little brother - the one who does health policy stuff for the United Way - would tell me that an attorney would never be stupid enough to say such a thing, but I'm not the one with the law degree in the family. Not yet, anyway. I'm already pretty occupied as a writer.

You will ultimately be the villain or the hero here, Director Ryan. In either case, I'll give credit where it seems to be due. I'll figure out my next move in a day or two if you block this one - we aren't playing the waiting game any more with you. Please tell Julie you're having Davon seen by a specialist, and then offer him the option of a full course of the best treatment a guy can get in there - for all any of us know, once he gets a taste of what his mom is fighting for, he'll opt out of interferon treatment until something better for people like us hits the market.

I know what the algorithims boil down to, by the way, that no one wanted to dare say out loud to Julie, because she's going to nail you for it already: treatment "isn't indicated" because he's a bad risk by way of co-morbid psychiatric diagnosis and substance abuse history. Everything else but those things and income level is actually just right for treatment to be recommended, otherwise. In fact, looking at his age and even Dr. Robertson's appraisal of his physical presentation, Davon would be seen by most experts as a really good candidate for treatment now - someone who would probably be successful staying Hep C-free, too.

That's bigger than you, though, I realize. It's the case all across the country, in the prisons and the community (though your standards - as demonstrated by your failure to even assess Davon thoroughly for the Clemency Board's recommendation - are below the community's. You don't even know if he has AIDS???). The scale of the epidemic - and the amount of bureaucratic cowardice in its face - won't stop me from doing everything I can to stop it, though.

In fact, it compels me forward every time I begin to feel too old and tired to keep the pace up. The dually-diagnosed are outright slated to die off from this thing, and I bet the CDC is paying close attention to their mortality rates, co-morbidities, and resiliency factors. If they aren't yet, they should be. But I think it's more insidious than passive observation - they're helping to starve your medical budget by way of issuing treatment guidelines that are way behind current research. A decade, at least. Check it out yourself (don't entrust it to your medical staff, anyway). They're leading the pack in their complicity with something I see as being the equivalent of murdering AIDS victims because they're gay. Only these people are also overwhelmingly poor, too. And people of color - that's why it's taking so long to catch up to HIV.

Can you imagine how many people would be freaking out if they grasped the truth about this disease? They don't have a clue unless their loved one has been to prison - that leaves most of white America in the dark. I'm planning to shine avery bright light in their eyes, too. They think they prevent cirrhosis and liver cancer by being tea-totallers, and they don't even consider the possibility that this could escape like AIDS and kill their own kids. The CDC's leadership role in Hep C wreaking havoc through so many lives may actually be your best defense - but when you have to answer for how you dealt with this epidemic to the generation that will inherit it, do you want it to be "I was just following recommendations?"

You do realize that you're on the front lines, don't you? At least, your prisoners and lowest-paid employees are, anyway. They are directly in the line of fire. They are the fodder creating the illusion of a buffer zone for something that won't be contained and isn't about to burn itself out, at this rate.

I bet mentally ill prisoners with Hep C constitute a large portion of the CDC's control group - the main population that's pretty much guaranteed to be denied treatment. Ever think of that? That's what's driving me to deal with you - it is not the pleasure of your company I seek. I'm much more interested in breaking through your denial - if you have any to begin with - about what's really going on with Hep C than I am in suing you. I need the kind of help you might give someone who was a victim of your merciless enemy - that enemy being Hep C, and hopefully not me. I assure you I will not be shutting up soon about this, whatever you do, so please don't write that into anything I might sign, or it will waste our time. What's happening with this disease in America is extermination.

And my own family has been hit, so don't expect to shake me. I have nothing better to do with my life.

You actually have less than a day, now, before I write again, cc or publish. Consider this to be my call to 911 on Hep C brutalizing someone I love behind your walls - or think of it as your last shot across the bow; that's up to you. It's hard not to post this thing while it's fresh, but like most distress and warning signals no one else has to replay it if it's answered responsibly - it just gets filed. Everyone gets to hear if I have to keep yelling for help from your doorstep, though - and I won't be waiting for you to kill anyone before I holler again.

So, if you're sincere about the public welfare and deserving of any medals for courage under fire, then please stop waiting me out. Invite me in, again, instead. You control the time, the place, and the witness - I only trust Karyn, though, to have both a conscience and a clue. She's the only one I'll talk to other than you without bringing another Copwatcher along.

I'm not asking a lot for Davon, here, but I'm expecting a lot from you. I hope you appreciate what an extraordinary leap of faith I'm taking in both of you to offer to meet you by myself, in fact. That's why this window won't be open very long. Julie doesn't even know that I'm offering to do this, or she would probably stop me - as would most of my friends. You haven't exactly given us much evidence to think that you can be trusted. But, I figured if you were in the pockets of politicians I have good reason to be wary of, I'd already be incapacitated by now.

I'm counting on both your autonomy and your honor really meaning something to you. If they do not, then at least I know that whatever your response is, I will have done what I need to in order to retain mine - and in turn, my own freedom. You may hold a bunch of keys, but that doesn't mean you aren't bound by chains and auctioned off at the market when they're done with you. I won't be; not that way.

This is your chance to stop me, help me, or get out of the way - either way, I need to know where you really stand, and I don't think you can afford to ignore me any longer. I can put this thing on the November ballot, still, by making Hep C in the prisons a pivotal issue. I may yet. Please get back to me today.

Sincerely,


Peggy Plews
480-580-6807


--
“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.”

- Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881)

Prison Abolitionist
http://prisonabolitionist.blogspot.com
Arizona Prison Watch
http://arizonaprisonwatch.blogspot.com
Arizona Juvenile Prison Watch
http://azjuvenileprisonwatch.blogspot.com
Hard Time: Hep C in AZ Jails and Prisons
http://hardtimehepc.blogspot.com
Free Marcia Powell
http://freemarciapowell.blogspot.com

¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!