Death Row Diary

Jan 22, 2012

2012-01-26T18:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~

We had a bad stabbing last week over on one of the other (non-death row) wings. A young white guy named Milkshake, who is rather slow and weighs barely 130 pounds, stabbed another guy who was trapped in the high-security, single-man phone booth sized shower, stabbing him repeatedly through the bars with a foot-long shank. This was the third or fourth time Milkshake has stuck someone; it doesn't take a lot to get him motivated. This entire 1,300 man maximum security prison is a locked down joint. Everyone is in their cells 24/7 (except the runarounds who are out of their cells a little more than others). There is no open population here, so theoretically there should be very few acts of violence. This place is a lot better than it was in the 70's and 80's when it was a serious killing grounds. Still, we had a recent murder here, and this stabbing was only the most recent in a string of them. But, there will be no repercussions to any staff, nobody will lose their jobs or be disciplined in any manner even though these stabbings and murders cannot occur without serious breaches of security. Like most prisons and prison systems, the staff at the top (warden, assistant warden, etc.) views their top priority as protecting themselves and their staff. There is no real accountability, no serious oversight ('cuz nobody really cares what goes on in prisons). Prisons are uniformly inept, corrupt, incompetent and hidebound. If there was any accountability the warden here would have been fired long ago. He's the worse warden I've ever encountered in my 40+ years in the prison system. But he's very safe here, ensconced in this parallel universe, this bastion of incompetence, and in fact will surely be promoted in due time. That's the way it happens in the Florida Dept of Corrections; the bad apples get promoted while the good ones are forced out...

Well, the Miami Dolphins finally hired a new Head Couch, a guy named Joe Philbin, who was the well-respected offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers. In his first statement Philbin promised that the Dolphins will now be implementing a fast-paced, uptempo aggressive offense, which is exactly what I've been hoping for. Ever since Dan Marion retired the Dolphins have been saddled with mediocre quarterbacks and conservative coaches who employed safe, plodding run-oriented offenses, coaches who play not to lose rather than playing to win. Maybe now we've it a home run by hiring Philbin...

That's it for now, Sis. I'll write you again later in the week. Meanwhile, keep your chin up and your thoughts positive!

Love, Bill

To the Readers

2012-01-22T20:10:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers:
Bill's books, Quietus and The Third Pillar of Wisdom are e-books on Amazon and have been reduced in price to 99 cents each! Bill thanks all his readers for their support throughout the years and hopes you enjoy his books as well. Thanks!

2012-01-22T20:09:00.001-08:00

January 4, 2012 The New Year

2012-01-09T19:56:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~

Well, another year is upon us. I feel like I ought to have something profound to say but all I can think of is the too many - over 40 - years I've spent sitting in a cell or prison dormitory watching another new year slide into my life. New Year's is supposed to represent hope and potential but it's hard to convince yourself that hope and potential abounds when you're doing hard time! Anyway, 2012 is the supposed end of the world according to the Mayan calendar (or at least the last year of that calendar; perhaps the poor soul writing out that calendar so many years in advance just got tired and quit when he reached 2012). I don't put too much stock in apocalyptic predictions; humans have been making them since the dawn of time, after all, without any success, and I'm an optimist by nature. But I confess that as I survey the world around me and what we humans are doing to planet earth it is increasingly difficult to envision a good ending. There are many good, wise and caring people dedicated to doing right by our planet but they are vastly outnumbered by those who are greedy, desperate and/or just ignorant who are determined to exploit all resources until the last fish, mammal and mineral becomes a mere memory. Maybe the Mayans were on to something after all...
The search team came and tore up my cell last week; it was a surgical strike (they came for me alone) and I was later told that "someone" wrote a snitch kite on me claiming (falsely) I had a weapon in my cell. I'm fairly certain it was someone trying to get a DR (disciplinary report) dismissed by dropping a dime on me on the hope they'd shake me down and find something, any kind of contraband, and the rat would then get credit for it. But I had no contraband so the snitch struck out. If the administration had any integrity they'd write the rat a DR for "lying to staff." I spent several hours putting my cell back in order; it looked like a hurricane came through, all my property scattered everywhere. This is the kind of bullshit you have to put up with in prison; it's the nature of the beast. Hell, it happens on the streets, too, though. Informants are master manipulators and the police routinely play their game even though they know the rats often fabricate stories and evidence to their own ends...
I just learned that Governor Scott has signed another death warrant and someone is on death watch on the bottom floor of Q-wing. Scott didn't waste any time after the holidays; he seems determined to execute a record number of people at the pace he is setting. I don't know whose warrant got signed, so I don't know if it's someone I know. All I know is that he came from UCI, across the river, where most of the 390 death row prisoners are housed (only 60 of us are kept here at FSP). This is a depressing turn of events, a lousy way to begin the new year, at least from my perspective. The execution, when it occurs, will undoubtedly please some people, so it's all a matter of perspective...
With that morbid news I'll close this up and mail it off. Keep your chin up, Sis, and keep smiling!
Light & Love,
Bill

Note: The prisoner on death watch is Robert Waterhouse and his execution is set for Feb 15th...

December 7, 2011 - Pearl Harbor Memorial

2011-12-12T20:11:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~

It's Pearl Harbor Day; there are very few World War II veterans left alive, and only a handful who experienced the attack on Pearl Harbor. How the world has changed in the last 70 years! And yet, from a war and violence perspective, humanity has not changed at all...

About three days ago a guy on the row named Willie Davis hung himself over at the main death row unit at UCI, across the river. Suicide is a common last resort to the despondent and/or mentally ill on death row. Then today, on E wing (housing close management prisoners, not D/R) a guy dove head first over the second floor rail, handcuffed behind his back, landing on his head and splitting open his skull. He was life-lighted out of here in critical condition. This guy was known to be mentally unstable. This prison is a warehouse, they just stick guys in these solitary confinement cells, locked down 24/7 for years and years, virtually devoid of any property, with no help or programs available, so their mental deterioration is inevitable...

I'm watching all these Republican wannabees fighting for the Republican nomination and all I can think about is how Dad, a lifelong Republican, must be spinning in his grave as these clowns purport to represent the party of Lincoln. The eventual nomination will be Mitt or Newt and I suspect that many Republicans will sit on their hands at election time, a pox on both of them. It's sad that these two buffoons are the best the GOP can come up with, but certainly a Godsend for Obama, who must be thanking his lucky stars!

Love & Peace,

Bill

Nov 22, 2011 - President Kennedy remembered

2011-11-28T20:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~

Writing today's date reminded me this is the anniversary of President Kennedy's 1963 assassination. Like almost every American alive back then I still vividly recall where I was when I learned the sad news. Even at age 9 I understood (at least to the extent a nine-year-old could) the dimension of the tragedy, which caused me to run home from elementary school with tears streaming down my face...

As you know we had an execution a week ago, the second one in 2 months. In the week leading up to it, and in the week since, I was more than a little morose. I long ago lost count of the number of guys I've watched get marched off to the death chamber but it has in recent years become harder to shrug it off, to just accept it as routine, as the way it is, that a civilized society finds it reasonable, even highly desirable to coldly and premeditatedly kill human beings. Here I am surrounded by the prospect of death, right at the doorstep, which permeates the atmosphere here like a foul odor...

Well, Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner, not that we'll be seeing any decent food. Back in the day we used to get a real feast on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas; it was a tradition in prisons around the country, lots of real turkey, stuffing and gravy, hot dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, pumpkin (or sweet potato) pie, salad, eggnog, etc. Those were the two days when we were relieved of the tedium of bland prison food, and before the prison system became so overly hateful and hostile towards prisoners. Nowadays it's all about being mean-spirited, begrudging us any hint of compassion lest someone be accused of being "soft on crime." An apt example of this mindset is what recently happened in Texas following an execution where the condemned ordered his traditional last meal and then had the audacity not to eat any of it, leaving it untouched until he was executed. Some Texas legislator heard about this "waste of money" and got himself into a self-righteous lather, asserting that a person facing execution does not deserve any type of special last meal, that it was a moral outrage to provide one. So, immediately the head of their Dept of Corrections announced that he agreed with those sentiments and that henceforth all condemned prisoners will only receive a standard prison meal prior to execution. Even in the final moments before death there can be no hint of kindness or compassion. When did we become such a hateful people? (As for myself I would not even ask for a last meal anyway; I'm not interested in participating in their rituals of death, of being a footnote in someones anecdote)...
Despite my seemingly dismal situation, in the spirit of Thanksgiving Day I acknowledge that I have much to be thankful for, starting with the fundamentals: I'm alive, in sound health and great spirits. Most importantly I'm blessed to have so many good people who love and care about me, making mine an easier path to tread. I don't know what the future holds for me but for now it's all good...

Ok, Sis, enough blathering from me. Give the doggies a belly rub for me, and enjoy the holidays!

Love and Peace,

Bill

October 27, 2011

2011-10-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

No sooner had I written and sent in my my last blog bemoaning the mainstream media's failure to adequately cover the Occupy Wall Street movement when suddenly it was on every TV channel and front page news in the written media. These folks have very legitimate grievances; they see (and live) the handwriting on the wall re the direction democracy, and unconstrained capitalism, is headed in this country, but they are easily dismissed by the status quo due to their muddled messages, their lack of a single voice and their inability to translate their anger into a unifying political platform. The gaggle of clowns vying for the Republican presidential nomination tow the Wall Street party line and disparage these protestors as "a dangerous mob" or as "jealous malcontents" but these people are the warp and woof of our society: teachers, firefighters, construction workers, students, the great middle class who have been squeezed until it hurts, while the wealthiest few have been growing ever richer. There's no shortage of telling statistics re the economic inequality that now defines our society, but here's one you can chew on: the wealthiest 400 people/families in America are worth more than the bottom 150 million citizens...
I can't recall if, in my last entry, I told you that Governor Scott signed his second death warrant (just 12 days after Manny's execution), scheduling a Nov 15th execution date for Oba Chandler. I don't know Chandler personally but I know his case and it's an ugly one, involving the brutal murder of a woman and her two daughters down in the Tampa/St Petersburg area. It was a very high profile case at the time, and our current attorney general, Pam Bondi, was a law prosecutor down there back then. I'm sure she has very vivid memories of that horrible case and so it did not surprise me that Chandler's name got pulled out of the hat considering that Pam Bondi is now the person responsible for providing Gov Scott with the name(s) of D/R guys who are ready (in her opinion) to be executed. Chandler's is the type of viscerally emotional case that gives even the most ardent abolitionist pause. Anyway, what concerns me is that Gov Scott signed his second death warrant less than 2 weeks after the previous execution. What I'm wondering is whether Scott plans to emulate Texas' assembly line approach to capital punishment. We will soon find out, huh?

Love & Peace,

Bill

October 10, 2011

2011-10-15T03:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
The mainstream media (from what I can see from my admittedly abbreviated view here in a death row cell) is not paying much attention to the protesters "occupying Wall Street" nor bothering to investigate and explicate for the general public the very genuine concerns and issues which have these folks (and most Americans) so frustrated and angry. People from across America, finally fed up with the status quo, are converging upon Wall Street to do the only thing they can, use their physical presence and voices to vent their rage with America's slow transformation into a stark two-class society, with the ultra rich in control and the rest a nation of burger-flippers. It's finally dawning on many that our political system (not to mention our economic model) has been totally hijacked by the financial elite (even more so than in normal times, for the rich have always had inordinate political influence). The average person may not have a degree in economics, may not be particularly financially sophisticated, but they can look around and see what time it is, they grasp the reality - and the adverse trend lines - and what it means to the "American Dream." The gap between the haves and have nots has never been greater in modern times and is inexorably widening, with no end in sight. I believed then, and I still believe now, that Obama's biggest mistake - and one which still haunts him today, weighing down on him like an anchor - was bailing out all the banks and Wall Street firms rather than letting them fail (or more accurately taking them over). Obama was surrounded by and advised by (by his choice) the very scoundrels (i.e. Wall Street alumni) who brought the world-wide economic meltdown to us, and he drank the Kool-Aid they offered him, he spouted their rhetoric about banks being "too big to fail", and accepted their claim that the "only" solution was an unprecedented, astronomically huge transfer of taxpayers' monies from the (future) public coffers into the banks' pockets. This was the largest heist in world history, done in broad daylight and totally legal. It would be a joke if the results were not so tragic for the average person, and America in general. Now, three years later, Joe Citizen, broke and unemployed, scans the landscape and sees the obvious, that the only ones doing well (very, very well) are the very ones who drove us into the ditch, while everyone else is suffering. The anger, conscious or subconscious, resides in just about everyone's breast, and the one thing they are sure about is that Obama was the conductor of this train when the decisions were made to bail out the rich and ignore the masses. This is a fact; they can pretty it up and obfuscate it with rhetoric, but they can't change the facts. Obama had a chance to fundamentally alter the balance of power but he shirked his duty (to the masses) in favor of kowtowing to the elite. In the end Obama was just like any typical mainstream politician, Democrat or Republican; he went with the big money. Now he is reaping what he sowed: the deep, visceral residual anger and discontent in the hearts of the average American. This is part of the anger animating the Tea Party, although many of them have been brain-washed by the right-wing Republicans (and their Wall Street puppet masters) into carrying their water, into believing that teachers, firemen, cops and union workers are the ones bankrupting America, rather than the bankers, the multi-national corporations and the Wall Street movers and shakers who use our national treasury as their own private piggy bank. If these Tea Party activists ever started thinking for themselves they'd wake up and see how they're being manipulated by the status quo power brokers (who laugh at them behind their backs) and they'd join those protesters on Wall Street. Now that would be something the media would cover!
Love & Peace,
Bill

Sept 28, 2011 -Manny's last day

2011-10-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
Manny was executed a few minutes ago, about 150 feet from where I'm sitting. He was initially scheduled to die at 4:00pm, which means he was strapped to the gurney and had IV lines inserted around 3:30, and the curtain was parted around 3:50pm to reveal him to all the gawking spectators, there to see "justice" done. But, just minutes before they could push the plungers, the US Supreme Court (a/k/a Supremes) granted him a temporary delay, stating that they'd have a decision within an hour. Manny remained strapped to the gurney for the next 3 hours and fifteen minutes, alone with his thoughts. Can you imagine what is going through your mind at that point? At 7:15 the Supremes announced that they were denying his last-minute bid and the State immediately killed him (the old white hearse, which I've watched pick up bodies here for the last 36 years, had left after the temporary stay was announced and they had to rush it back to the prison). And we claim to be civilized...
In yet another indication that America is on track to decend into third-world status, we now rank number 46 in the world in infant mortality (down from our consistent top five rankings in decades past). In education our students rank just as dismally. These trends should surpise nobody given our perpetual political gridlock, lack of vision, and the far right's anti-science philosophy (exemplified by Gov Rick Perry who prefers to hold prayer meetings to obtain drought relief rather then accept the scientific facts regarding cimate science).
I'm bummed out right now (I've known Manny for over 30 years, since before I came to the row) so I'm gonna cut this short. Perhaps I'll be more optimistic the next time I write.
Love, Bill

Sept 18, 2011

2011-09-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
   I just confirmed that a friend of mine, Russell Hudson out of Ft. Lauderdale, died last week at the UCI death row unit across the river. He was found in his cell at breakfast time - after his neighbors heard him gasping for air earlier during the night - dead of a heart attack at age 42. Before transferring to UCI Russ spent several years here on my floor where I got to know him well - personable, smart and a man of his word - and came to like him. From all outward appearances Russ was healthy; he was slim and active, seemingly in good shape and not a likely candidate for sudden heart failure. Another reminder of how fragile and fleeting life is. An extraordinary number of D/R guys have died of "natural causes" here on Florida's row over the last 15-20 years, well over 30, and the far majority of them have been by cancer. About 5 have died in just the past year or so, including 2 by heart attack (the others were cancer). So many of us die by cancer that I've come to suspect that there's something carcinogenic in the water supply here. Today's my birthday, but considering I've been drinking Florida State Prison water since 1974 (with a few years of breaks here and there) I've gotta be thankful for every B-day I get to celebrate!...
   Here's a few interesting statistics about Prison Nation (a/k/a America): the median incarceration rate among all nations worldwide is 125 prisoners for every 100,000 people. In England it's 153; Germany is 89; Japan is just 63. The United States, meanwhile, incarcerates 743 per 100,000, by far the highest rate in the world. If you include all US residents currently on probation or parole, our correctional population is 7.2 million, about one in every 31 Americans. America incarcerates nearly 25% of the world's prisoners, even though we have only 5% of the world's population. Just pause and consider those numbers, Sis, and ask yourself why this is...
   After several stays of executions Manny is scheduled to die on Wednesday, Sept 28th, at 4pm. He's exhausted all of his legal issues (that I'm aware of), having been turned down all the way up the judicial ladder, including most recently the US Supreme Court. It does not look good for Manny. I have to bite my tongue when talking about Manny - a guy with 33 years on the row and a man who, at 61 years old, has completly turned his life around - because his execution will be as senseless and uncivilized as any I can imagine. But the system, the death machine, is totally indifferent...
That's it for now, Sis. I love you, never forget that!
Bill

Manny Valle Stay

2011-09-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers:

Manny Valle has gotten a 3rd stay of execution to Sept 28th...

August 27,2011

2011-09-02T04:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
Two days ago a unanimous Florida Supreme Court rejected Manny Valle's challenge to the new lethal injection drug (pentobarbitol) and affirmed his Sept 1st execution date. So, that's going to happen...
Well, last week you endured the earthquake centered just 40 miles from your house and now you're being pounded by hurricane Irene. Hopefully, this is your quota of natural disasters for the year...
I just enjoyed a fine PBS program, part of their American Masters series, which is an apt title considering the subject, the great folk singer Pete Seeger (the episode is titled Pete Seeger: The Power of Song). Pete is a beautiful, old soul and the epitomy of an American Master. The program, despite the meanness of the treatment often accorded Pete, greatly uplifted my spirit and reminded me of the best things of this nation, which is the spirit of the people and not its material wealth or greatness of power. Hearing again all of those wonderful, powerful ballads washed me in a flood of childhood memories, even though back then in the early 1960's I was too emotionally immature and spiritually ignorant to fathom the true, deeper messages of those songs - peace, love, brotherhood, justice, equality. Watching this moving, poignant program I felt (again) so disappointed in myself, in my failure as a youngster to be awake to the values expressed by the songs (by the times), my failure to find my better half and follow the path espoused by those songs that I mindlessly sang around the campfire. While Pete was singing his anti-war songs in the early sixties I was fully indoctrinated by the system, foolishly and eagerly anticipating the day I'd be old enough to join the army, march off to war in Vietnam, kill those godless Commies and return home a John Wayne hero. What a damn fool I was, shallow and superficial, unable to think for myself. I was sure drinking the Kool-Aid back then! Meanwhile, Pete gave his all to the values he believed in. He spent decades being vilified and blacklisted (unable to work) by the mindless mob, the right-wing elements of the power structure - from the FBI to Congress to the Republican Party - simply because he dared to challenge the pro-war agenda then dominating our culture, because he had the temerity to suggest that peace, love, brotherhood and justice were worthy aspirations for us and our children. Throughout it all, Pete never stopped loving our country, never doubted the essential goodness of the people. Pete Seeger has come full circle in the autumn of his life; he's an icon, and deservedly so, exemplifying the true spirit of this nation, everything that is good and right about America. What a beautiful spirit he is!
Love, Bill

August 31, 2011

2011-08-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
     Manny Valle, who was scheduled to die on August 2nd, received a 30-day stay of execution from the Florida Supreme Court; his new execution date, I am told, is Sept 2nd. My understanding, and it's admittedly second-hand, is that he's challenging Florida's new execution drug, pentobarbitol (the pink, Pepto-Bismol looking stuff used to euthanize animals at shelters) and the new execution protocols that were secretly adopted in conjunction with the change to the new drug. Whether this temporary stay morphs into a full stay will depend upon what facts are developed at Mannys' evidentiary hearing in Miami. Manny is a quiet, soft-spoken, easy-going guy, always ready to help someone out. I first met him around 1981 when he was on the row and I was in open population, working in the law library. In that capacity, I came back to death row almost every day to help guys out with their legal issues. Manny, who was celling next to Ted Bundy at the time, came to the row for shooting a Coral Gables cop during a traffic stop. Little did I know back then, as I went from cell to cell, that one day I'd join those guys on the row...
     The motor on my little electric fan burned out recently - couldn't have happened at a worse time - and I've been sweating like a dog in this sweltering heat ever since. If I'm lucky, I'll get the new fan I bought from the canteen within the next 30 days. They don't keep them in stock, so they've gotta be ordered. Hell, I can't even get confirmation from the canteen that my order was received and is being processed...
     I was saddened to learn of Amy Winehouse's death although it was easily predictable, given her self-destructive history. Another artistic talent gone far too soon. I've gotta wonder if there was anyone close to her who really cared about her, or if she was just surrounded with enablers. Experience teaches us that some people just can't be helped; they are resolutely determined to go down their chosen path and no amount of pleading can steer them off that road. Still, these last few months, Amy seemed so sad and directionless and her actions and behavior cried out for help...
     I watched the first Harry Potter movie on TV last week. When I was in Virginia they came on all the time. (unlike here, we he had basic cable there), but I never bothered to catch any of them. But, with some rare free time on my hands, and because the series is such a cultural phenomenon, I convinced myself to check it out. I confess to being underwhelmed; I just didn't get what all the hoopla was about. But, I also had to remind myself that this is for kids and I do understand how children can be transfixed by well-spun tales of magic and wonder. Upon reflection I recalled how, as a child, I could be transported to other mysterious and wondrous realms by the magic of an exceptional movie, or book, in ways adults are unable to appreciate and quick to pooh-pooh. So, I won't be a judgmental stick in the mud. I'm glad kids can still find some magic. Soon enough, as they "mature", the demands of this world will suck it out of their spirits until it will just fade into foggy, dim memories...
     That's the news from the boondocks of North Florida!
Love,
Bill.

July 10, 2011

2011-07-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
   I received the latest Florida Law Weekly last week and read that the Florida Supreme Court just reduced old Roy's death sentence to life imprisonment. This was not unexpected; in fact I've been assuring him for the last 18 months that, at a minimum, he would end up with a life sentence. But we were both hoping he'd get a new trial. He had good, solid issues which, had he prevailed, would have gotten him a new trial (and then possibly an acquittal by his jury), but the Supreme Court gave him a thumbs down on that one. Roy is now 70 years old, in failing health, on many medications and afflicted with onsetting dimentia, and is now doomed to dodder around in some distant, uncaring prison compound for what remains of his life...
   Well, on Thursday, a guy upstairs got careless and got busted with an ounce of reefer during a routine, single-cell shakedown. He got caught slipping and as soon as I heard that I knew there would be repercussions. Sure enough, the next day the whole shakedown team arrived on the wing, bright and early (the tip off is always when your sink and toilet water is shut off just before they hit) and stormed through the wing, tearing up all our cells. I spent 30 minutes cuffed and shackled, locked in the shower while they rampaged through my cell. As usual, it looked like a tornado hit my cell when I got back, all my property thrown across the floor scattered in the wind. So, I spent the rest of that day putting all my stuff away, then scrubbing my floor. I didn't lose much stuff, just the miscellaneous things that go toward making life more bearable, from extra salt to scotch tape to Tupperware bowls to extra towels and sheets. Nothing to get in trouble over. The guards in my cell did steal two packs of sunflower seeds (it's common for them to eat your canteen snacks while they tear up your cell and you're locked in the shower) but that's just par for the course; it comes with the territory. At least they were not overly destructive; some guards will deliberately smash your glasses, or radio, or even your TV, or flush your family photos down the toilet, if they have reason to dislike you, or if they're just malicious by nature...
   Here are a few interesting facts about America's growing plutocracy and the ever-widening gulf between the super-rich and everyone else (many more statistics, even more impressive and forceful are easily available online but with no Internet access I'm stuck with the scraps I pick up in newspapers and magazines): Between 2002 and 2007, 65% of all income growth in the US went to the richest 1% of the population. Today, half of all the national income goes to the richest 10%. In 2007, the top 1% controlled just 26.9%. And, if you go back 80 years and look at the statistics you see that the curve - the gap between the very wealthiest and everyone else - is growing inexorably. The problem is getting worse, not better. The income inequality is intuitively known by most Americans (if not the details of the magnitude) and eventually, I believe, the people will wake up (politically) and do something about it. But it may take a total meltdown in the financial industry (like what almost happened 2 1/2 years ago) to bring it about. We are on a very precarious footing in America right now and we can easily see a repeat of the most recent meltdown, except worse. The systemic problems have not been fixed, not even close, and in fact are worse than ever. This income inequality is just a symptom of the disease...
That's it for now from the big house!
Love,
Bill

June 26, 2011

2011-06-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
They moved six Death Row guys to the main D/R unit at the Rock last week, including old Roy (now 70 yrs old), my neighbor for the last 2-1/2 years. He's got nobody on the streets and I was the only one looking out for him, so he's gonna be lost over there. But, he will either have a new trial, or be off Death Row (with a life sentence) as soon as the Florida Supreme Court hands down his direct appeal decision, which should be soon. You may recall that in Roy's case they never found the body of the alleged murder victim and there were no witnesses to the alleged murder. The primary evidence against him was a jailhouse snitch who claimed Roy "confessed" to him. The use of jailhouse snitch testimony is the most egregious practice in the criminal justice system and puts more innocent people in prison than any other single thing. Professional, lying jailhouse snitches play the system like a banjo, making up "confessions" and then getting out of jail in return for their fabricated testimony. Prosecutors use this false testimony often knowing (or at least suspecting) it is fabricated because they care more about obtaining convictions than learning the truth...
Anyway, four of the six guys transferred arrived here after me which tells me I am still on the "do not transfer to the Rock" list (either because of the nature of my case, or because I escaped from the Rock in 1978). That's fine with me as I have zero interest in going over there where the visiting situation is all screwed up. Plus, they have a really stupid policy of randomly moving 10% of everyone every week, so you are constantly being uprooted...
Just read a lengthy article/expose (maybe not the right word) in my New Yorker, titled A Dirty Business, about the insider trading trial and conviction of billionaire hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, who ran the Galleon Fund. The wider story is about the endemic corruption on Wall Street, the pervasive insider trading at the highest levels which makes a mockery of the idea that there's any kind of level playing field. Any thinking person already knew this, but it's interesting to see it confirmed by unequivocal evidence. As the author of the story, George Packer, correctly observed, "The market has become more of an exclusive gambling club for the very rich than a level playing field open to the ordinary investor"...
Alright, Sis, I'll let you go for now. Keep your chin up and a smile on your face.
Love, Bill

May 18, 2011

2011-05-24T04:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
     Yesterday the warden and a posse of big wigs from Tallahassee, including representatives of the Attorney General's office, and possibly including Secretary Buss (I'm getting conflicting reports on whether he attended), spent the morning on Q-Wing conducting a mock execution, employing the new, refined execution protocol. I caught a glimpse of them all as I left the wing on my way to the clinic for a medical call out (my "annual physical" which consited of a nurse weighing me, taking my blood pressure (118/72) and asking me 3 or 4 questions e.g., "do you have trouble sleeping at night or have night sweats?") Not exactly the Mayo Clinic...
     Then last night there was a killing on K-Wing (not death row). Two guys, Tazz and Crawfish (yes, that's their true nicknames; I don't know their real names) allegedly murdered another prisoner named Xavier Rodriquez (just 21 years old). All 3 guys were runarounds; Tazz and Crawfish tied the guy up, stabbed him to death, then approached the Wing Officer and said "put the handcuffs on us; we just killed one." I didn't know the victim, but I know both Tazz and Crawfish 'cuz they were runarounds here on the row a few months ago (they rotate runners every 6-8 weeks). Both of these guys are morons; they give stupid a bad name. Crawfish killed 5 people in Jacksonville (and no, he did not get any death sentences. So much for death row being reserved for the "worst of the worst") and has stabbed other prisoners in other joints (that's why he is here as FSP) I don't know what the beef was, but knowing these two clowns, I'm sure it was something really foolish. Both guys told me more than once that they "want to go to death row." They'll probably get their wish now (here's a guy who has killed 6 people and is trying to get to death row - unsuccessfully so far - while I have not killed anyone and I'm fighting tooth and nail to get out from under this death sentence, yet I cannot get any relief whatsoever. You see why I tell you that the imposition of capital punishment in America is as arbitrary and capricious as you can imagine?) Murders here at FSP have become rare. Back in the day, in the 70's and 80's, when I was in open population, this joint was red in tooth and claw, known as one of the most violent in America, where beatings, stabbings, rapes and shootings (the joint was awash in zip guns) were daily occurrences and murders were common. But, since they locked the entire joint down (and actually began reducing the amount of weapons in circulation) the violence has significantly diminished. Mostly it's real hard for someone to get a hold of someone else; everyone is bedind the doors. The execption are the runarounds (4 per wing) and you how that just worked out...
     I'm reading a really good book, The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Fowlett ( well-known writer of action thrillers). He switched genres to pen this historical novel (1076 pages in paperback) set in Medieval times. It revolves around the building of a cathedral, which sounds boringly mundane, but it's a real page-turner. Great book! It's my recommendation of the month.
     Ok, Sis...give the doggies a tummy rub for me!
Love, Bill

Post from a follower...

2011-05-23T05:12:00.000-07:00

Hi William,

My name is Tina and I write for Criminaljusticedegreesguide.com. After publishing our most recent post,“10 Incredibly Inspiring Prison Programs” I thought of you and your readers because it tackles the same kind of issues you often discuss on your blog. If you’d like to share it on your site, we’d love to keep the discussion going.

(http://www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com/features/10-incredibly-inspiring-prison-programs.html/)

Bill's books are now e-books!

2011-05-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers:

Bill's books (Quietus, The Third Pillar of Widsom and A Checkered Past) are now e-books on Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook and Smashwords. If you don't have an e-book reader like Kindle or Nook, you can still download the e-books to your computer or laptop and read them there, like I have.

Bill and I thank all his readers and followers for their support and help in so many ways over the years.

Thank you all :}

April 30, 2011

2011-05-06T04:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis,

   Connecticut may be on the verge of abolishing the death penalty. The bill has been forwarded to the whole senate by a major committee; if the senate approves it, it will become law as the new governor has stated that he will sign it. The Connecticut legislature approved a similar bill two years ago but the then-Republican governor vetoed it. As you know, Illinois abolished capital punishment some months ago, and a number of other states have abolition bills working through their respective legislatures. Ever so slowly there is a shift against the death penalty manifesting across the country. It will take many more years for it to come to fruition, especially in the south where killing people is deeply ingrained in the psyche of the citizens, but one day it will come about and a new generation will abandon this barbaric custom...
Well, Florida has just joined several other states (Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio) in changing its drug of choice for executions from sodium thiopental (the first of the 3 drugs administered in the "three-drug-cocktail") which is no longer manufactured in America, to pentobarbital, the pink "Pepto-Bismol"-like drug that is commonly used in anumal shelters to euthanize unlucky dogs and cats. So, killing us "like dogs" has gone from the metaphorical to literal. Both Oklahoma and Ohio have already executed prisoners with the new drug which has never been vetted for human use. There will be court challenges around the country over this change, some successful (at least in the short term) and others unsuccessful (like in Ohio and Oklahoma). Whenever someone changes some significant aspect of death penalty procedures, it opens up a whole new round of legal challenges to the methods of execution (i.e., to the drugs & execution protocols) since they are temporary solutions and besides the fact. All they do is delay the inevitable; they don't attack the underlying conviction or sentence which is the only way to get off the row. So, I never got into that trip, leaving it to others to pursue those legal remedies. And, it almost came to a halt 3 years ago when the US Supreme Court handed down the Baze decision where a bare majority ruled that the 3-drug protocol did not violate the 8th Amendment...
   Here it seems to have gone directly from winter to summer. It was 92 degrees when I went to rec the other day, a blazing sun in a clear blue sky. It was hot! But I love the sunshine and I bear the heat. I spent my 3 hours, as usual, working out and walking the yard, enjoying a handful of singing birds (mostly Mocking Birds), and a few chirping babies in nests up in the razor wire atop our yard fences, which kept me company. And I admired the (incongruous) beautiful yellow flowers lining the road to the execution chamber. I always whistle to the birds and they whistle and sing back, seeming to enjoy the banter. But, I miss my clever crows that I had in Virginia; they were like old friends. I knew them for years, and they knew me...
   Farewell, Sis, I'll see you soon!

Love and Peace
Bill

April 8, 2011

2011-04-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

     This past Tuesday we awoke to the stomping of boots and rattling of chains, the telltale melody of the goon squad, which rolled in on us without warning (which is the point, after all) to tear up our cells. This was the annual Spring shakedown, the ostensible purpose of which is to pick up any extra blankets, sheets and towels, plus our winter coats (I'm being very generous calling these thin, raggedy, torn-up garments "coats"). But, as with any shakedown, there are no limits; once in your house (cell) the shakedown crew can take whatever they want (or not) and tear up your house (or not) as much as they want. It's the luck of the draw; if you get a couple of decent guards, they'll go relatively easy on you. If you get a nasty crew, well, they dump all your property on the floor and walk all over it, maybe smash your eyeglasses, dump your instant coffee on the floor, break open all your bars of soap, squeeze out all your toothpaste, dump your photographs in the toilet, etc...I've had all that happen to me one time or another over the years. This time they were not too bad, and in paticular, I lucked out. After being strip searched, chained and shackled and placed in the shower, the crew only spent about 5 minutes in my house and they did not gratuitously destroy anything. I lost my extra towels and sheets, lost my only good blanket (I'm left with a thin, stringy cotton "blanket" which is missing a third of its length, that I used to fold up for a pillow) but overall I did OK and I'm not complaining. This is just one of the prices you pay for being in the joint. Like rotten food and crazy neighbors, it comes with the territory...
     The Florida legislation is still in session and I get to watch the daily shenanigans on a local PBS channel. With a Republican governor and Republican super majority in the house and senate, they can legislate with impunity. The Democrats are mere observers. One piece of mischief that is particularly blatant is their just-passed bill to amend the Florida constitution to resctructure the Florida Supreme Court. There is absolutely no legitimate reason to do this; it's purely political. Their bill calls for the current 7-member court to be divided into two separate 5-member Supreme Courts - one for criminal cases and one for civil cases. The five most senior current justices will go to the new criminal Supreme Court, meaning three new justices must be appointed by the governor for the new civil Supreme Court. The importance of this is: the Republican legislature will soon re-draw all of Florida's congressional districts (as is done every 10 years). These Gerrymandered districts can be challenged by the Democrats, but the case must be resolved by the new civil Supreme Court, dominated by Republican-appointed justices (all of our current justices were appointed by Republican governors, in fact). This is a blatant Republican power play, modeled after what the Republicans pulled off in Texas, and designed to guarantee that Republicans control the Florida legislature in perputuity. However, this bill only places the new amendment on the next ballot; the voters still have to approve it before the constitution can be amended (the makeup of the Supreme Court is set forth in the constitution). Maybe, just maybe, the normally sheep-like Florida voters will pull their heads out of the sand long enough enough to see how they're about to get screwed. But, I won't bet any money on it...
     That's it for now, Sis. Give the doggies a tummy rub for me.
Love & Peace
Bill

March 22, 2011

2011-03-28T04:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
It's sobering to watch the terrible tragedies unfolding in Japan in the wake of that triple whammy - earthquake, tsunami and nuclear contamination. But the Japanese are demonstrating their renowned resilience; their reputation for poise and equanimity in the face of such epic misfortune is well-earned. When I see the scope of death and destruction on my little TV, a well-known quote by Nabokov comes to mind, "The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness". While I don't subscribe to the metaphysical implications of that statement, it nonetheless conveys the smallness of mankind against the backdrop of nature's eons. We are a meaningless speck on this physical, three-dimensional plane and whatever siginificance we have in the cosmos lies elsewhere...
I can't recall if I wrote about this already, but for the last several months there has bee a brouhaha going on in the death penalty states over a severe lack of sodium thiopental, one of the three drugs used in the 3-drug cocktail used in executions. The sole US manufacturer has quit making it and European maufacturers are being forbidden by their governments from exporting it to America for use in executions. So, those states very eager to keep killing have been in a panic mode at the thought of not being able to kill people on schdeule. Oklahoma simply went to another (untested-in-humans) drug, pentobarbital, the drug commonly used to euthanize unwanted dogs and cats. They've killed three men so far with this new drug, with the blessing of the courts. Texas just announced that, they too, will switch. Other states clandestinely obtained supplies of sodium thiopental from questionable sources. (The states have been begging the federal government to "loan" them some of their stock of sodium thiopental so they can keep killing without delay). The latest shoe to drop in this unseemly drama occurred six days ago when the DEA seized the Georgia Dept of Correction's entire supply of sodium thiopental because they had "circumvented the law in obtaining its supply" which it apparently purchased "from a British supplier operating from the back of a London driving school." I my view, it's macabre to see our goverments so desperate to kill people. It's a sad commentary on our society. But, I'm sure this will prove to be a small speedbump; America is proud of its killing heritage - especially in the South where it's entangled in notions of mahood - and the states will quickly figure out other ways to kill. That's one thing this country is very good at; killing folks.
Love & Peace,
Bill

March 6, 2011

2011-03-12T07:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~

I just learned that another Death Row prisoner, Lloyd Duest, died of cancer recently. He's been on the row since 1983, almost 28 years, so I guess you could say he had a pretty good run (he was 59 years old). I've lost count of all the guys on the row who have died of cancer over the last decade; it's like an epidemic. Statistically speaking, the number are way out of whack; it's way beyond just an anomaly - the deviation from the norm is way off the chart. My suspicion is that there's something in the water or the food is morphing into a near certainty. Speaking of food, I may have told you that about 6 months ago the DOC (Dept of Corrections) stopped serving any kind of real meat to prisoners. A DOC official went on TV and claimed they would save several million dollars a year by serving this new (and terrible tasting and looking) fake "meat" made from soy and vegetable matter. Well, I did some investigating and learned the source of this stuff. It's made by Archer Daneils Midland Company (ADM), a huge food/agricultural conglomerate (it dominates the American market) and it is called Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP), also known as Textured Soy Protein (TSP), "soy emat" or "soya meat". It is made from soy beans, cotton seeds, wheat and oats, and is extruded into various shapes (chunks, nuggets, grains, flakes and strips). Here's ADM's description: "The defatted, thermoplastic proteins are heated to 150-200 degrees Centigrade, which denatures them into a fibrous, insoluble, porous network that can soak up as much as three times its weight in liquids. As the pressurized molten protein mixture exits the extruder, the sudden drop in pressure causes rapid expansion into a puffy solid that is then dried." Yum, yum, Gooood! It is supposed to be mixed with real meat in a 1:3 ratio (one part TVP to 3 parts meat) but we get pure TVP, often served as "nuggets" in some kind of fake gravy. All I can tell you is that it tastes really bad and is like chewing on a flip-flop. And we get this every day...The real story here, though, when it comes to our food, is that back in the early 1970's, when I first entered the system, the entire DOC was self-sufficient in food. We grew and raised all our own food, and we ate good, at a minimum cost to taxpayers. Every prison (and there are about 80 in Florida) has hundreds, sometimes thousand of acres of good farmland. With free inmate labor and free land, you can grasp how cheap our food was. We had huge chicken farms, dairies, orange groves, vegetable fields, lots of beef cattle and hogs, which we butchered in our own slaughter houses. But, in the 1980's, in one of the most scandalous moves in DOC history (and the DOC is a notoriously corrupt and incompetent agency) the big wigs chose to close down all our farms and start buying all our food from freeworld vendors. And they had the temerity to claim this was to save money!! The true purpose was to steal money. With millions of dollars now going to vendors, and DOC officials deciding who would get these contracts, kickbacks became the name of the game, as they still are. The food we get from vendors is often unfit for human consumption. All of our potatoes arrive here rotten. We buy rotten food which the vendors cannot unlaod anywhere else, yet on paper, we are paying for "choice" food at high prices. The difference is going into officials' pockets, and that's a fact...If any independent investigation was ever conducted into this, people would go to jail. But nobody cares what prison officials do; they know they are safe from prying eyes. It's always been that way (although James Crosby, a previous Secretary of our DOC went to federal prison for a massive bribery and kickback scheme involving our canteen vendor, Keefe Commissary Company). It was sheer luck and happenstance that it ever came to light. But nothing has changed. Keefe is back in business here again (after being banned for a few years) and the price gouging and kickbacks remain. If Governort Rick Scott, and the new Secretary Edwin Buss, are truly serious about saving money, they can begin by reinstituting our prison farm system. That would save taxpayers millions of dollar annually (and improve the health and diet of its 100,000 plus prisoners).
Love & Peace,
Bill

February 12, 2011

2011-02-18T05:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~
I was saddened to read of Jack LaLanne's death (although at 96, he had a full and rich life). It was as if one more small slice of my own past, my personal history, has slipped away, too. As a youngster in the early 1960's I often stood in our living room watching and emulating Jack's exercise routines flickering across our black and white TV, amazed at his ability to demonstrate an endless range of exercises and stretches, utilizing only a chair and a stick. I relished his boundless energy and enthusiasm, his zest for life, and I attribute to him my own lifelong interest in physical fitness and working out, as well as my own self-confidence. Jack was an amazing individual, and I don't use that term lightly; he set a fine example for others. I remember how he celebrated all his birthdays with incredible stunts. I think it was his 70th birthday when he swam from Alcatraz Island to the mainland, about 2 or 3 miles away. Handcuffed. And towing a rowboat! Jack was a good mentor and a good man. Godspeed to Mr LaLanne!
I'm sure you've been watching the big drama playing out in Cairo, Egypt (all across the middle east, actually). Wasn't it moving and inspiring to watch the common people rise up and throw off the shackles of oppression? It was an essentially bloodless revolution, done peacefully, without resort to arms, stunning in its directness. It was interesting to watch America's shifting public statements as we struggled to decide which horse to bank. For 30 years we have loyally supported Hosni Mubarak, a brutal dictator, whose feared secret police tortured and murdered their own citizens with impunity, even as we played lip service to the principles of democracy. America has a rich and lengthy history of supporting right-wing dictators across the globe. As long as they do our bidding and tow the line, they are our dictators and we support them. We publicly express rhetorical support for democracy and democratic movements, but it's mostly in the abstract and has always yielded to the imperatives of realpolitiks. Most Americans forget (or never knew) that Saaddam Hassein was once our ally; we supported him mightily, as long as he was at war with or nemesis, Iran. Likewise with Osama bin Laden whom we armed, trained and supported as long as he fought the Soviet army in Afghanistan. Just a few of the brutal dictators we supported to the hilt for decades were Ferdinand Marcos in the Phillipines; Augusto Pinochet in Chili; Suharto in Indonesia; the Shah of Iran; Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua, and countless others. We love to talk the talk on democracy but we seldom walk the walk. That hypocrisy is not lost on the rest of the world who see our claims to support "democracy" worldwide for what it is: a matter of convenience and a lot of hot air. Anyway, it remains to be seen how things play out in Egypt, whether the "democracy" we now claim to endorse there turns out to bite Amerca in the ass. Democracy is a funny thing...the people can elect a government whose policies run counter to our own self interests. As an aside, isn't it interesting that George W Bush ostensibly invaded Iraq in an attempt to bring democracy to the region, and yet the people of Egypt did it themselves, without a brutal war, in a peaceful maner?
Love & Peace,
Bill

January 23, 2011

2011-02-01T01:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~

Hopefully you've dug out of the snow by now. For the last several weeks it's dipped down into the twenties here, too, and our water faucet out in the rec yard froze up and split open (it's made of PVC pipe, though)...
I've been very busy the last two weeks with my nose in the law books as I've tried to anticipate what the State is going to say in their response to my Rule 3.851 motion. The judge ordered them to respond by Jan 24th and I'll probably get my copy around the 26th or 27th. I'll only have a short period of time to write my reply to their response, then get it to my attorney in time for him to review it, type it up and then mail it to the court. This motion is a big deal for me; it's probably my last court proceeding (barring some unforseen turn of events down the line) and my issue is unique, there's no Florida case law precedent for what I'm doing, particularly in the context of a capital case. Everything I've done up until now is designed to convince the trial court to grant me an evidentiary so I can prove my case. I'll be even busier in the next 10 days...
Do you recall when you and I went to the movie theatre and watched the movie Born Free? It must have been around 1964 or '65 because I was 10 or so and you were 11. The movie was about the Adamsons, a husband and wife team in Africa who had raised Elsa, a lioness, from a cub to an adult and then tried to reintroduce Elsa to the wild. The movie, and the book it was based upon, and the theme song from the movie, all became huge hits. The movie was great and made a big impression on me, reinforcing my love for animals, nature and the environment in general. The reason I mentioned this is because PBS just aired a one-hour program, an update on the whole story, which I enjoyed greatly. Lot of old film footage, which brought back lots of memories for me. I can still close my eyes and remember myself with you in that movie theatre, 45 years ago, full of wonder as I watched fully grown Elsa, 400+ pounds, playing like a pet with the Adamsons in their tents and around the campgrounds. Sadly, both the Adamsons were murdered by poachers in separate incidents years later. They gave their lives protecting the animals they loved. The future of lions in the African wild does not look good; they used to be very numerous across the continent but now they are almost an endangered species, and sadly, the trend is very negative. Seems like there is not enough room on this planet for both humans and lions...
That's it for now, Sis, I've gotta keep hitting the books. Give the doggies a pat on the head for me!
Love, Bill

Christmas 2010

2011-01-03T19:48:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~

Christmas is here, a reminder of how quickly another year has fled. As is my Christmas Day habit, I devote a few hours to meditation, reflecting on life's deeper meaning, pondering those enigmatic questions posed by the universe. In the potent silence of a death row cell you have a lot more opportunity - not to mention incentive - than the average bear to indulge in such contemplation...
Yesterday I once again watched It's a Wonderful Life, with Jimmy Stewart (do you remember how we used to watch this on TV as kids, a half century ago?) It has a reputation for being hokey, a trite, corn pone film designed to shamelessly tug the heartstrings (which it does) ,but it's really a great story, firmly rooted in sound metaphysical principles, with a message grounded in universal truths. It's withstood the decades well and if you suspend any cynicism, it's just plain good entertainment. Although it's now considered a holiday classic, this film was initially a commercial flop, the subject of much ridicule...
Our new governor, Rick Scott, gets sworn in next week. His position on the death penalty is unknown to me, despite my efforts to uncover it. During the entire campaign, I never heard any of the candidates even mention capital punishment. The death penalty has lost some luster as the public has become increasingly aware of the substantial number of exonerations - innocent men walking off death row - mostly due to postconvition DNA testing. So, politicians just don't get the mileage from this issue that they used to be able to dependably rely upon. Although Scott is a conservative Republican, he's never been a politician before; he's a career businessman who brings his own perspective to the table. And, having spent $73 million of his own money to get elected, he is not beholden to anyone. The optimist in me hopes he'll surprise me and be open to dismantling the machinery of death. Just wishing!
Love & Peace,
Bill

Nov 20, 2010

2010-12-05T13:37:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~
Perhaps you've seen or read about the destitute homeless Arizona man who found an abandoned backpack containing $3,300 in cash. It wasn't a lot of money, unless you're broke and living on the streets (or in a shelter) but this guy took the high road; he went out of his way to learn who the backpack belonged to (an Arizona State University student) and returned it to him. A story like this makes each reader ask themselves what they would (honestly) do in that situation, keeping in mind that this guy was dead broke, a recovering alcoholic, had lost his driver's license due to multiple DUI arrests and was homeless. It also makes you reconsider the stereotypes we carry in our minds. How much would you wager that the ex-alcoholic, ex-convict homeless man would return the money?
Last night I watched an interesting documentary on NBC titled Harmony, produced and narrated by Prince Charles (yes, that Prince Charles of England, Prince of Wales). I knew Charles was an environmentalist, but I didn't know how deeply and passionately he feels about it (and acts upon it). The film was, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, about saving the planet through creative and substantial changes in our thoughts (about our place in the universe) and our behavior (toward the earth). He is totally committed to this, it isn't some Royal hobby, and I was impressed by his passion, and more importantly, by his actions. This has become his life, and he is acquitting himself well.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we'll be getting our yearly "Thanksgiving Day Supper." Back in the day, it used to be a real, substantial meal that was special: a tray full of real turkey meat, fresh warm dinner rolls with butter, good stuffing, pumpkin pies, fresh vegetables, hard boiled eggs, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, salad, and sweet eggnog to drink. All of this was cooked by us in our prison kitchen, and the food was grown and raised on prison farms. It was all entirely in-house, at minimal cost to taxpayers. But, many years ago, the Dept of Corrections (DOC) sold off all our farms and foolishly began buying all our food from free-world vendors, at much greater costs to taxpayers. So, our food has gotten worse and worse, and the portions have become progressively smaller. Why, you ask, would the DOC do away with our prison farms when they were so cost effective (free inmate labor working on free state land)? It was, and always is, all about graft anmd corruption. All our prisons spend millions and millions of dollars buying food from vendors. These are serious contracts and allow prison officials to receive big kickbacks, while buying rotten food. The corruption and graft with the DOC is deep and wide. They do it with umpunity because they know nobody cares about what goes on in the DOC; it's a backwater that nobody ever investigates, an old-boy network that is like a parrallel universe. If any serious (and independent) investigators or inspector generals ever swooped in here and really investigated, the corruption uncovered would be staggering. So, our Thanksgiving meal will be no different from any other meal; rotten (and I meean that literally, we get rotten potatoes every single day) potatoes, cabbage, a single, thin slice of "turkey ham" (like a slice of bologna or salami), two slices of stale bread, and maybe a cookie or piece of sweet potato pie. It's pitiful.
Our new governor, Rick Scott, claims to be all about saving money, cutting expenses, and privatizing everything. Well, here's a tip for him that will save millions of taxpayer dollars: First, appoint a real, serious professional Secretary of the Dept of Corrections, instead of the typical political hack that gets the job as a "favor" for political services rendered. The DOC's annual budget is north of 3 Billion dollars, and taxpayers deserve someone in charge who can grasp that. Second, every prison in Florida should be (and can be) made totally self sufficient in food production within three years. We used to have our own farms, dairies, poultry farms, butcher sops, cattle ranches and hog farms. This can be done but will be resisted by those who are invested in the current kickback/contract system. Third, every prison in Florida should be energy self sufficient. Solar panels on the roofs, wind turbines on every prison ground, geothermal systems, etc.... This requires up-front investments, but the feds will help pay for it in the form of Energy Grants and the pay outs will be quick and substantial. These things can be done, but only if you hire an aggressive, intelligent Secretary of the DOC who has vision and determination. With 100,000+ prisoners and a huge, bloated staff bureaucracy, an innovative DOC Secretary could save hundreds of millions of dollars that are currently wasted through incompetence, graft and outright theft. That's my two-cents worth, anyway.
Love, Bill

Nov 6, 2010 - Election Day Aftermath

2010-11-14T11:24:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~

Election day has come and gone and in the tightest Florida gubernatorial race in 18 years, the millionair businessman won the day (with the help of the $73 Million of his own personal fortune he threw into the kitty). Statistically, self-financed candidates i.e, millionaires and billionaires seeking to buy an office, usually lose (witness Meg Whitman and the $140 Million she just spent unsuccessfully seeking to become a senator from California) but here in Florida, the voter bought Rick Scott's spiel (cut taxes, balance the budget). Scott's timing was excellent: a Republican, running in a heavily Republican state in an election cycle where Democrats were being blamed for all the world's ills. Rick Scott's mantra was "it's time to change the course of Tallahassee" which is odd, considering we've had a Republican governor and a Republican-dominated legislature for the past 12 years. He has not explained how he's going to cut taxes (Florida has no state income tax) and balance the budget, but those details are apparently unimportant. He vows to eliminate, entirely, the corporation tax which makes you wonder how the government will provide any services at all. Americans love their government-provided services but hate to pay any taxes for them (hence, our inevitable deficit spending and consequent ginormous budget deficits and national debt).
Anyway, we've got our new Governor. Who knows ... myabe he'll turn out to be a good one: He can hardly be worse than the professional politicians who normally run everything into the ground. Of course, my interest is a lot more narrowly focused than the average citrizen; my interest begins and ends with a single salient question: How many death warrants will Rick Scott sign? Stay Tuned!
Love. Bill

Sept 20, 2010

2010-10-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

A prisoner in the cell above me, David Johnston, died of a heart attack today. He was 50 years old with a history of heart problems. Needless to say, he was not getting any real medical treatment here. As I've told you many times, if a prisoner gets really ill here, he'll just die. I've seen many guys die in this prison from medical conditions which the so-called doctors have refused to treat, or treated incompletely. Johnston was on the row since June 1984, over 26 years. Actually, he had an "active death warrant". Gov. Crist signed his death warrant about 8 or 9 months ago, but he got a last-minute stay of execution. Ever since then, he's technically had an "active warrant", lacking only a date. At any rate, that's one death row prisoner the executioner won't be getting a hold of. I guess that counts for some sort of victory, from Johnston's perspective, at least not on this 3-dimensional plane...

We have an interesting gubernatorial election coming up next month. Alex Sink, the current chief financial officer (a cabinet-level post in Florida) is the (female) Democratic nominee; Rick Scott, the multimillionaire businessman, whom nobody ever heard of until 6 months ago, is the far-right Republican nominee. Scott was (still is) the CEO if a huge corporation which owns a chain of hospitals. That corporation was found guilty of a $1.3 Billion Medicare fraud here in Florida. Scott challenged Bill McCollum, the current Attorney General of Florida and the putative Republican choice, in the Republican primary, and surprisingly defeated him. It was a very nasty campaign, lots of mud slinging by both sides. McCollum has zero charisma or presence, he's very bland and unimaginative, and a classic career politician (he spent years in the US House of Representatives where he led the impeachment effort against President Clinton). He thought the governorship was his by divine right simply because he was a Republican. He was the choice of the party big wigs (they knew he's be an easily manipulated puppet, doing the bidding of big-money corporate interests). Rick Scott effectively labeled him as the career politician he is and Scott promised to be "more conservative" than McCollum, which is saying a lot. Usually in Florida, all you need to do in order to win state-wide election is to portray yourself as more conservative than your opponent. Anyway, I'm rooting for Alex Sink, who is very qualified and competent and will, I believe, make an excellent governor. Florida has never had a female governor, and it's past time we had one. I'm very pro-female when it comes to political leaders; they bring a much more common sense perspective to the arena, they are more about finding solutions to problems than most male politicians. America is far behind the rest of the industrial west when it comes to the percentage of female political leaders, and it's our loss...

Well, Sis, that's about it from here. I'm enjoying some rare leisure time, no legal work to do for a change, just catching up on some long-postponed reading. Give the dogs a tummy rub for me (how I miss the company of dogs!) and give yourself a big hug!

Love,
Bill

Sept 14, 2010

2010-09-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

Yeah, I know it's been a long time since I've written an entry. You know I'm always occupied, always busy doing something, mostly legal work, and mostly for others, but the last month has been particularly hectic as I hammered out the draft, then the final, edited version of my soon-to-be filed postconviction motion. This will almost certainly be my last legal effort, unless something substantial unexpectedly falls into my lap, so I've put a lot of effort into this. It should be filed by the end of this month or very soon thereafter...

The staying-busy thing - reading, writing, working out, studying, etc...- has been a constant in the decades I've spent in these cages. Keeping the mind occupied is a form of therapy, and a way to maintain a grip on my sanity; some guys go insane in these cells, and many simply begin to slip, short of insanity, but no longer grounded in reality, after many years alone in a cell. I'm blessed with a strong mind and spirit, so losing my mind is not a concern. But I do guard against the almost inevitable social deterioration, and the tendency to begin indulging in illusions and fantasy. Locked in a cell 24/7, alone with your thoughts, it becomes easy to start slipping into a fantasy world, and in fact, I've done it, sometimes for weeks or months at a stretch, when I was locked down on Q-wing, in total isolation for years, or when I was in the hole, back when I was n population here, before death row. Laying in my bunk in darkness, day afer day, month after month, I'd mentally design and build a dream house, for instance, brick by brick, room by room. Or I'd design and build a small airplane, or perhaps mentally disassemble an engine. Anything to occupy or control my thoughts, to pass the time. Sometimes the thoughts became really irrational or fantastical, you imagine yourself in some position of power (president, senator, or hell...why not king or emporer of some fantasy nation?) and think of how well you'd govern, the laws you'd pass to create a just and fair utopia. Who hasn't thought they could solve the world's problems if they could just be king for a day? But being in isolation for months or years gives you the time to indulge such useless fantasies (unlike people in the free world who actually have a life to live). Well, perhaps they're not totally useless because if you're a keen observer of yuor own thoughts, such day dreaming can teach you a lot about yourself (what would you really do if you possessed full and unlimited power? Would your better angels dominate? We'd like to think so, right?) Nowadays I work hard to avoid indulging in these long-term reveries as they're a waste of time, and time is the one thing I have too little of...

We have an interesting governor's race going on here, with the election less than 2 months away. Florida (like most of the south) has never elected a femal governor and a female, Alex Sink, is now running - and running well - as the Democratic nominee. I'll write more about it next time. Death row prisoners in Florida have a unique and compelling interest in who the governor is since the govrnor is the one who signs, or does not sign, death warrants. If I'm executed, it will be because some governor has picked my name off the list and decided to kill me...

Gotta get back to work. Give the doggies a hug for me!

Love & Peace, Bill

Aug 15, 2010

2010-08-20T04:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

I read that Kenya's highest court of appeals unanimously held that mandatory death sentences are unconstitutional, meaning hundreds of prisoners must now receive a new sentencing hearing, this time where they can present mitigating evidence. The old law required a mandatory death sentence as the only punishment for a person convicted of murder. (Our US Supreme Court outlawed mandatory death sentences 34 years ago). Kenya has not executed anyone in 23 years, by the way. The same court of appeals spoke strongly about extended incarceration on death row, stating that holding a person on death row for more than 3 years would be unconstitutional...
Closer to home, The Economist, a really interesting magazine, reported that mass incarceration in America continues at record high levels despite the incredibly high costs (financial and other). At 748 persons per 100,000 citizens America, by far, has the highest oncarceration rate in the world, locking up five times more people per capita than Britain, nine times more than Germany and 12 times more than Japan. We have almost 2.5 million prisoners here, and many, many more on parole or probation. The trend isa ever upwards. In 1970, one in 400 Americans were incarcerated, compared with today's rate of one in 100. Including those on parole or probation, one adult American in 31 is under correctional supervision. The far majority of these are in for noviolent crimes. The number of drug offenders in federal and state prisons has oncreased 13-fold since 1980. This is a direct result of concrete policies to incarcerate as many Americans as possible (i.e., a deliberate choice to use incarceration as the primary tool, as poopsed to other solutions). In America, we are all about locking folks up and throwing away the key. It is completely accurate to describe America as a prison nation. The annual costs of incarceration continue to skyrocket (but prisons provide jobs!); in California, the cost is around $50,000 per prisoner per year, which is seven times what California spends per student on education. That speaks volumes about our priorities, and that statistic demonstrates our problems in a nutshell. I see a direct correlation between our penchant for spending scarce public resources on increasing rates of incarceration and our school kids' ever-increasing decline in academic achievement. America now ranks far below even some third-world nations when it comes to our childrens' scholastic knowledge and abikities. We'd rather spend our money on prisons and teachers...
All other civilized nations, from the Netherlands to Sweden to Japan to Denmark, have long ago turned away from mass incarceration and now use innovative solutions which have markedly reduced crime rates. Even New York has demonstrated this approach can work in the US; it reduced the violent crime rate by 40% between 1997 and 2007 while cutting its incarceration rate by 15%. But the vast majority of politicians believe in one thing: building more prisons and filling them up as fast as possible. It's all part of our oddly persistent puritanical heritage which is obsessed with guilt and punishment. Nations, like people, reap what they sow, and in that sense, we deserve what we've got...
Give the doggies a tummy rub for me, Sis, and give yourself a big hug.
Love, Bill

Aug 3, 2010

2010-08-10T04:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

The dog days of summer are upon us here in this sweltering, stifling cellblock. Last night, like many nights before, I awoke around 3:00 am, drenched in sweat and feeling on fire. The lack of any meaningful ventilation renders the tiny fans sold in the canteen ineffectual; all they do is push the hot, humid air around.

Last week, out on the rec yard, I watched a crew of prisoners enter and scrub down the execution chamber and witness room on the bottom floor of Q-Wing. Later that day our wing sargeant told us that they had conducted a "mock execution" drill. I'm guessing that Governor Crist is on the verge of signing one or more death warrants. With an election around the corner, an execution is a time-tested method of gaining favorable publicity, shoring up the "tough on crime" cred of any southern politician. It's a cheap. feel-good solution for whatever ails a politician's shaky poll numbers, as exemplified by President Clinton's infamous 1992 pre-election move when he flew back to Arkansas from the campaign trail to execute a profoundly retarded and brain-damaged convict, despite the personal pleas from the Pope (and many other world leaders) to spare his life. Clinton, who was being labeled by Republicans as "soft on crime" knew it was good politics to kill that guy. Arguably, that move helped propel Clinton into the White House (and it was a tip off, to those paying attention, to slick Willie's true character and moral ambiguities)...

Just read a very insightful and informative aritcle in the Aug 2nd New Yorker magazine titled Letting Go by Atul Gawande, a physician. The article deals with that very sensitive subject - death - and, in particular, when and under what circumstances does a terminally ill person (or his loved ones) decide to forgo furher, futile medical procedures and allow events to take their natural course. There have been many articles and studies on the subject and I won't attempt to describe this particular one, other than to say it's well worth reading by anyone and everyone, even if they don't currently know anyone who is terminally ill. The time to begin weighing these issues is before you have to... The article can be found on http://www.newyorker.com/

It's increasingly depressing and disappointing to read about the epidemic of obesity in this country (and which is inexorably spreading around the rest of the world). I didn't pay much attention to it for years, thinking it was mostly hyperbole, but the statistics are now overwhelming and alarming. The health of our kids and future generations is absolutely at risk; we're becoming a nation of diabetics, right before our eyes. Mostly, this has to do with our processed foods, much of which isn't even true food, just artificial vehicles for delivering fat and calories. Because I'm blessed with an excellent metabolism and am, more or less, naturally trim, I failed to appreciate the scope of this problem, but it cannopt be ignored any longer. I'll offer up my own humble solution: besides eating right, avoiding most processed junk foods, as you know, 10 years ago I began fasting every other day. Initially, it was just to quickly lose 6 or 7 pounds, but after 2 weeks, I felt so good I never stopped. I intuitively felt it was good for me and the last decade has proven me correct. I still work out as hard as ever (on my eating days) and my weight has been constant the entire time. I figure this must be my "natural weight", the point where I neither gain or lose weight. The fasting is not hard; you quickly acclimate and it becomes normal to you (and you really appreciate those meals on your eating days!) Anyone can do this and they'll feel great and healthy, too. (My blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol, etc, is excellent). Anyway, it works for me...

That's it from the state pen, Sis. Keep your chin up and a smile on your face!
Love, Bill

June 27, 2010

2010-07-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

I'm finishing up a compelling historical military account written by a young Winston Churchill, first published in 1899, titledThe River War, accurately subtitled An Account of the Conquest of the Sudan. Over the last 35 years (mostly in the 70's) I've read all of Churchill's major publications (he was a prolific writer) including his famous five or six volume history of World War II (sort of a combination autobiography and history text). I'd forgotten what a fine writer Churchill was (notwithstanding the somewhat archaic linguistic nuances typical of that time period) and I'm even more impressed by how well he wrote at such an early age. This book picks up after the disasterous military campaign of General Charles Gordon in the Sudan (then a land violently annexed and cruelly administered by Egypt) and details the English Empire's "reconquest" of the Sudan by Lord Kitchener. This occurred from 1896 to 1899, and was of course during the zenith of the European imperialism and colonialism era. Churchill was an ardent believer in colonialism, he was a product of his time, and the book was written from that perspective. There was a time when I was young and naive, that I would have read this book with a high degree of admiration for Chruchill (who participated in the final battles) and the English Empire's aspirations. That was before I began to think for myself and learned to view history through a different lens, from the perspective of the oppressed nations. Anyway, what's interesting about this book is how it chronicles the history of the Sudan, including the Darfur region, tracing the contrasts and conflicts between Arabs and Africans, Muslims and Christians, north and south, rich and poor. This region was dominated by slave trading (Arab slave traders from the north capturing indigenous black Africans from the south) and characterized by terrible suffering and cruelty. The British stuck their noses into this desolate, stone-age land thinking (or at least proclaiming) they could better the natives' living conditions by violently removing the Egyptian and Arab yokes. Sort of like how America is always invading some hapless country "for it's own good". It's interesting to read about all the cultural/racial/religious/financial aspects of 1890's Sudan and see how these same things are in play right now in today's headlines about the Sudan and the Darfur region. If you want to understand what's going on in the Sudan today, reading this book would be a good place to start...
That's it for now, Sis!
Love. Bill

June 18, 2010

2010-06-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

Last night Utah executed Ronnie Lee Gardner by firing squad (his choice over the lethal injection alternative). Five volunteer executioners using Winchester .30-30 rifles stood behind a cinder block wall some 20 feet away from the prisoner, strapped to an oversized chair, surrounded by sandbags (this is done indoors), and fired through slits in the wall, aiming at a picture of a heart pinned to the guy's chest. Only four executioners fired live rounds; the fifth executioner, selected at random, fires a blank shell, which is supposed to assuage any latent guilt over killing someone since, theoretically, nobody really "knows" if they fird a blank or a live round. In reality, it's easy to distinguish the recoil from a live round compared to a blank. More relevant, all of these executioners volunteered, so they obviously wanted to kill the guy, thus no guilt to free them from. The old blank-cartridge days came from the day when firing squads were drafted from the ranks and a soldier had no opt-out provision. Anyway, you can imagine what four .30-30 rounds (designed to kill deer, hogs and black bears) does to a man's chest; they probably blew a gaping hole right out through his back. All this is done before a room of witnesses; it's ll a macabre, riutalistic spectacle, appropriate for a country which claims to be the most advanced and civilized nation on earth, with the moral authority to preach to other countries about "human rights". Most of our citizens are too indoctrinated (and unreflective) to see the irony in this position. And, oh, by the way, the State of Utah bestows upon each executioner a "commemorative coin" to celebrate each shooter's actions. Isn't that a neat token to pass down to your children? To demonstrate what a faithful piece of the mcahine their Daddy was? I'm sure it will make them proud of their pops!
Love, Bill

June 1, 2010

2010-06-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

Summer is only 3 weeks away, although I can't tell from these sweltering cells. By July it will feel like a sauna in this massive cellblock, which absorbs the fierce heat all day, then radiates it all night. Our only saving grace is these little electric fans we can buy from the canteen. We had to file a fderal lawsuit some years ago to win the right to purchase fans. Prior to that it was not uncommon, on many a hot day, for prisoners here (including me) to throw about an inch of water on the cell floor, then lay naked in the puddle, staring up at the ceiling, making "snow angels", panting like a dog. Now, it's only marginally better, providing you have a fan (not everyone can afford one)...

I'm finally beginning to read War and Peace, one of those classics I've been intending to read for decades, but somehow never got around to. Actually, I'm working on my own case, my Rule 3.850 motion, but during my breaks I'm relaxing by reading. I've got a stack of classics I'm slowly working my way throuigh, enjoying the beauty of great literature. Maybe I'll get motivated agan to resume my own writing journey...

For the last few weeks, each time I've gone out to the rec yard, I've engaged an animated mockingbird. I'll whistle for him and he'll soon fly over and perch on a fence post where we trade whistles and chirps and various calls. As I pace around the rectangular yard, he follows me, flitting from pole to pole, exchanging calls and whistles. That's my only encounter with nature in this otherwise sterile and desolate dump...

I was going to write about the big oil spill but, damn, it's just too depressing. There's nothing I can do to add to that sad, tragic tale which is a commentary on our own foolishness...

Keep your chin up and keep smiling!

Light & Love,
Bill

May 15, 2010

2010-05-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

I forgot to mention that last month I reeived an unsolicited, rather large envelope from an Eastern Orthodox Church Fellowship in St Augustine containing three hand-drawn Easter cards (crayons on colored construction paper) made by little children, each of whom signed their card with a looping, childish signature. The cards had pictures of angels, of Christ, and other Biblical references and expressed love for mankind in general and me in particular. It was easy to picture these kids at a table, their little faces screwed up in concentration as they earnestly drew and clored in each card. These cards were very sweet and really touched my heart; the evident sincerity and genuine affection typical of a young kid's heart inexplicably filled me with joy. I guess it's a function of being in a cell for so many years with no exposure to the gentler things in life (like the innocence of the little ones), to suddenly experience some unexpected kindness takes on an oversized importance. Anyway, it was very sweet and I'm very grateful for what turned out to be a true gift. I wrote the fellowship a warm thank you note letting them know how much it meant to me...
From what I'm learning about Elena Kagan I think she'll make a fine Supreme Court Justice. Nobody can replace Stevens; he's a lion and a giant among the small-minded, pinched-perspective ultra conservative Republicans dominating the court (Scalia, alito, Roberts, and the Uncle Tom yes-man, lap dog Thomas) but, as the saying goes, nobody n the world is irreplaceable. Stevens' time has come and gone, unfortunately, and someone must now fill his shoes. Kagan is cut from excellent cloth and my expectations are high. At 50, Kagan is relatively young and should be making her mark on the court for the next 25 years...
I've finally finished my last big legal project - about 8 weeks of hard work, followed by great relief in completing the task - and now I'm taking a well-deserved break. Lots of recreational reading and relaxing ahead, at least until the next job.
Light & Love,
Bill

April 22, 2010 Earth Day

2010-04-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

Just watched a thought-provoking (and depressing) documentary on PBS titled Worse than War; the subject matter was genocide - why and how it happens - and the film investigated a number of well-known instances, from the Holocaust to Rwanda, to Cambodia, to the Balkans, etc... It was a vivid reminder of what a brutal species we can be, and how thin the veneer of civilization really is. When the right mix of politics, religion, ethnic hatreds and economic factors converge, the gloves come off and man's darkest impulses rise to the top like curdled cream...

A different PBS program, which put a smile on my face was Through a Dog's Eyes, a heart-warming tale of how service dogs are raised and trained to help those with special needs. A number of excellent small companies or organizations, invariably non-profits, are dedicated to breeding and raising these special dogs, then matching them up with their new owners, many of who are kids, usually suffering from multiple sclerosis or some other form of paralysis, or seizures (some of these dogs are capable of detecting the onset of seizures, 10 - 20 minutes before they occur, and alerting the person about what's about to happen. Nobody knows how the dogs can do this; it's an inate capability that comes naturally). It was neat to watch the kids meet and bond with the big, friendly dogs (mostly labs) over the 4 or 5 days set aside for the process. Most of these kis are terribly lonely, with no friends, and the dogs, besides being helpers, fill a big void. The kids' faces light up with excitement when they get their dogs!

Well, I've got a baldie again... The wing sergeant decided my hair was "too long" (it must have been a whole 2 inches long) and he ordered me to get it cut off. As you know, there's only one style offered here: a mandatory buzz cut with a numer one or number two blade. That's why everyone here looks like a prototypical convict. This is something of a fetish with the guards here at FSP...they want us to look like that. It's a violation of tyhe DOC standrds, which allows us to have hair considerably longer ( as long s it does not cover the ears or collar). In the old days prisoners could be written up for cutting their hair off; the administration felt it was a gang symbol of some sort. Now, it;'s the guards forcing us to look like the 1930's convicts. This seems to amuse them. Anyway, I could care less; I have a lot more substantial things to concern myself with than my hair ...

Alright, Sis, I've gotta get back to work on this legal project. Give the dogs a tummy rub for me!

Love & Peace

Bill

Death Row Diary: Capital Defense Weekly link

2010-04-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

Death Row Diary: Capital Defense Weekly link

Capital Defense Weekly link

2010-04-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

This group provides information on cases and litigation of death penalty cases and current news of executions, stays, ect. Bill has begun using their servies and he's found a lot of useful information for his case.

March 28, 2010

2010-04-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

California voters gathered sufficient signatures to place an initiative on the November ballot to legalize marijuana; if it passes, you'll be able to possess up to one ounce and grow a "small number" of plants in your home (I later heard the number of plants is 20, not very small at one to two pounds per plant). My guess is that the inititative will pass.The folks who organized the ballot measure were smart enough to title it "Tax on Cannabis Act", thereby emphasizing the revenue gathering aspect, which will help Californians dig their way out of the enormous deficit crater they've driven their state into. There will be real tension between the new state law and the federal statutes making weed illegal, but as long as the feds (read: DEA) decline to pursue and prosecute it will all be good. Repubicans, and law enforcement are naturally opposed to the measure. Republicans claim to be all about "states rights" and "the voice of the people", until the state or the people decide they want something the Republicans are against (e.g., assisted suicid, decriminalization of drugs), then all the states' rights talk goes out the window. And, law enforcement is simply a cog of the great prison industrial complex, which has a vested interest in keeping jails and prisons full (that translates into a lot of jobs for prosecutors, cops, prison guards and all jobs related thereto). If it passes, the initiative will dissolve all marijuana smuggling overnight (at least as far as California goes; nation-wide legalization would, of course, eliminate all marijuana smuggling nation-wide) and put them all out of business. That would be a good thing by social standards, right? But of course the law enforcement cabal is dead set against it. If it passes, this will be the vanguard of eventual legalization across the land. It will take time, but it will happen. And it's long past due. The idea of keeping hundreds of thousands of citizens in prisons for yearsand years, ruining their lives forever after (try getting a job as an ex-convict if you don't think your life gets ruined) for the "crime" of smoking weed is immoral, outrageous and counterproductive, as anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows. It's way past time for America to grow up, get a life, and leave people alone (why aren't the Republican/Tea Party folks behind this? They claim to be all about "personal freedoms" and "getting the government out of our lives"). And don't even get me started about the Biblical injunction, the book of Genesis which declares that God put all plants, seeds and herbs on the earth for mankind to cultivate and use for man's benefit. Where are all those fundamental preachers when you need them?!!!...

Saw a good movie on TV today, Life as a House; sad, uplifting, poignant, a tear-jerker, well worth watching...

Tomorrow is canteen day; in the joint canteen day is the centerpiece of the week, the day everyone looks forward to (this is for maximum security, lockdown joints. Guys in open population go to the canteen window every day). Tomorrow we get our little goodies, from cookies to honey buns, from potato chips to coffee, from pens and paper and flip flops to slim jims, tuna fish and the old standby, instant soup in a cup. Of course, that's only for guys with money. Most guys on the row have very little money, or none at all. Some guys never get canteen at all, ever. Guys in a bare cell, with no TV, no radio, no visits and no letters at mail call - a very lonely existence for 15 or 20 years, until they drag them to Q wing and kill them...

That's it for now, Sis

Love, Bill

March 11, 2010

2010-03-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
This prison has just completed a three-day inspection (an "audit", technically) by the A.C.A. (American Correctional Institute). For the week leading up to the audit the prison staff was in a near panic as they had prisoners racing around, attempting to spruce the joint up, repairing plumbing here, painting there, etc... This prison is decrepit and their attempts to make it look presentable are not very successful, other than on a superficial basis. They sent a paint squad onto our wing to paint the walls and bars, which are encrusted with decades of filth and grime, and a good bit of black mold which doggedly persists no matter how much you try to scrub it away. (I can only use toothpaste or shampoo along with a toothbrush to scrub the black mold, since the DOC long ago quit issuing any kind of liquid soaps or disinfectant for cleaning purposes, as a money-saving tactic). As soon as the humidity reaches a hgh level for 2-3 days, you wake up to find the supposedly dead black mold spreading along the cell bars and walls, fuzzy as a chia pet. Anyway, the paint squad simply painted over the filth and black mold, no attempt to clean anything first. As Jesus observed, like whitewashing a sepulcher. They even painted the entire insides of the showers, bright-white, slapping a cheap water-based paint over the moldy ceramic tiles. It's already peeling off and clogging up the shower drains. The only good thing about an ACA audit is that our food improves a little for 3 days. It's all a charade, anyway. The ACA mused to actually be a useful organization about 25 years ago. It was a non-profit organization of independent professionals who inspected and objectively graded and evaluated each prison, using a point system/grade scale to determine if the joint would pass or fail. They judged each prison in various areas, such as health care (regular, mental & dental), classification, safety, food, recreation, programs, etc. If a prison got a high enough total of points, they were "accredited" by the ACA, and that used to mean something. Prisons and prison systems wanted to be accredited so they actually tried to improve their prisons. The ACA's standards were good ones, well thought out, and invariably improved the quality of life inside. However, about 20 years ago, the ACA was "taken over" by a raft of ex-Dept of Corrections employees from around the country (ex-wardens, ex-directors of various state Departments of Correction) and it morphed into a money-making organization which was made up of the same crew who were being audited. It became a good-ole-boy club - they lowered their standards and made it easier and easier to get accredited. It was a classic case of the inmates running the asylum. Sort of how the FDA get s staffed by ex-drug company executives who then go on to "oversee" the drug companies, or how the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department get staffed by ex-Goldman Sachs executives who then purport to "regulate" their buddies in the banking industry and on Wall Street. So, nowadays, every prison gets accredited, no matter how lousy they are. It's a joke now, a lame whitewash, just as "Wall Street regulatory reforms" are a joke. Nobody really cares, anyway. The public cares nothing about how corrupt and dysfunctional their prison systems are, they are not even on their radar. The public only pays attention to prisoners when one of them gets out and commits some sensational crime, and then, all you see is a knee-jerk reaction, demanding that prisons be made more harsh and punitive (as if they aren't already ahrsh and punitive, with a total lack of any pretense of rehabilitation). Anyway, the ACA is gone now and our "food" has reverted back to its normal garbage status...
David Johnston, who was scheduled for execution in 2 weeks, got a surprising stay of execution 2 days ago. I say surprising becasue 90 days ago he was close to execution when the Florida Supreme Court has just given him another stay (I don't know what his legal issue was, though). This is one lucky guy, I know that. (He's been on death row about 20 years so he's already exhausted all his legal issues, already picked the low-hanging fruit). Whether he's still alive in 6 months remains to be seen.
Love, Bill

February 16, 2010

2010-03-03T11:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~

The execution of Martin "Eddie" Grossman (known by his friends as Eddie Spaghetti) occurred two hours ago. I habitually meditateduring the hour straddling the appointed time of death (6pm in Florida; 9pm when I resided in Virginia) and did so again tonight. Some of these meditations are less successful than others. Tonight I was distracted by the low hum of surrounding conversations, the typical talk and banter of men caged together, talking about this and that - the latest soap opera episode on TV, how their favorite sports teams are doing - anything and everything but the salient fact that just 150 feet away a fellow prisoner was being killed. It was disconcerting, though not atypical, that these guys were ignoring what was transpiring in their midst. Anyway, the deed is done and now my thoughts have turned, as they always do, to whose death warrant might be signed next. There are about 40 guys (my rough estimate - I could be off by 10 or more guys) eligible to have their death warrants signed, with me being squarely in that group (at least for now), and the governor's selection process is totally arbitrary and capricious. Gov. Crist can pick and choose whoever he wants, at any time, for any reason, or, he can pick nobody at all. Right now, Crist is in a precarious political position. He voluntarily chose, a year ago, not to run for a second term, although at the time, he was fairly popular and seemed a shoo-in for reelection. Instead, he announced his intention to run for US Senate, to fill the vacant seat of a retiring Republican Senator, Mel Martinez (a mediocre, dull politician even by today's low standards). At the time, it probably seemed like a brilliant move, part of Crist's imagined inevitable climb to the Presidency, a post he very much aspires to. But in the past eyar, the political winds have turned, with the far-right Republicans and their fellow travellers, the "Tea Baggers", becoming ascendant. Now, Crist faces a vigorous fight in the Republican primary from a young-and upcoming Miami politician named Mario Rubio, a guy short on experience and brainpower, but arriving in a very slick GQ-type package, and a Cuban-American to boot, which in Miami, where he's from, is 80% of the battle. With the rise of the extreme right of the party of NO, guys like Rubio (echoing Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh) have taken control. Whether this is a long-term phenomena or a temporary flash in the pan remains unknown. But right now, it looks like Rubio (who claims Crist is "too liberal") is going to get the nod in the primary, which will leave Crist out in the cold, a civilian again, stripped of any office. What does this all have to do with me, you ask? Well, as Crist tries to belatedly tack to the right in an attempt to recapture some of the disaffected masses, I suspect he'll indulge in the time-honored practice of executing more men. Killing people is a great way to reaffirm your conservative cred! Election years are traditionally bad for guys on the row as politicians pander to their perceived audience and prove how tough they are by signing more death warrants. Crist could surprise me by deciding the battle is lost and so choose not to participate in the killing experience any longer, to exit the scene with no more blood on his hands. But I won't be holding my breath. Like everyone else here, all I can do is wake up each morning wondering if today is the day the governor picks my name out of the hat and makes me a reservation for a date on the gurney. Welcome to another American election year!
Love & Peace,
Bill

Feb 2, 2010

2010-02-10T07:39:00.000-08:00

February 2, 2010
Dear Sis~

We have an execution scheduled for February 16th, just two weeks away, so the state can carve another notch in its collective pistol grip (in the best traditonof our macho, authoritatrian self-righteous ethos). Meanwhile, a couple of weeks ago I'm watching Pat Robertson on TV (he's a blowhard TV preacher who purports to speak for God) as he pontificates on the tragedy of the Haitian earthquake. With a straight face, Robertson claims that God brought the earthquake upon Haiti because, he claims, Haitians supposedly made a "pact with Satan" 200 years ago to free their nation from the French. Apparently, this is Robertson's idea of a just and loving God! Robertson conveniently overlooks that it was the "Christian" Europeans who brought the slaves to Haiti to begin with. Slaves were not faring so well under the so-called civilized societies of the Christian European nations! I guess in Robertson's world view, the slaves should have stuck it out with their masters rather than seek their freedom. The Haitian slaves overthrew their masters through a series of revolts and battles; they did not need any help from "Satan". Perhaps Robertson cannot bring himself to believe that "savage, ignorant slaves" could defeat a modern European nation on the battlefield, ergo they must have had supernatural assistance from Satan. Robertson is the same clown who publicly claimed that both the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina were punishments wrought by God upon Americans due to our wickedness. It would be laughable were it not for the fact that millions of Americans are devoted to Robertson and view him as God's mouthpiece, notwithstanding his lame pronouncements. I once watched him on his TV program, "The 700 Club", just before the last presidential election as he claimed God "told him in a vision" that Obama would suffer an overwhelming defeat at the polls and McCain would be elected "in a landslide". Robertson is always begging for money on TV, yet several years ago Forbes estimated his personal fortune at over $700 million. This is the kind of idiot millions of Americans view as a leader and a "man of God" worthy of patterning their lives after. No wonder America appears to be in eclipse...
Gotta get back to more legal work so I'll close this up and post it. I hope you're dug out from under all the snow!
Love, Bill

November 26, 2009 - Thanksgiving

2009-12-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~

This is my 39th Thanksgiving behind bars, including Youth Hall, Kendall's Children's Home, Okeechobee Boy's School and the Halfway House, since 1966, a sad commentory on a squandered life. I still hug tightly those distant memories of the handful of Thanksgiving meals we enjoyed together as children -before it all went bad - with Uncle Bill and Aunt Ann there at the table, and Dad in his wheelchair supervising the big turkey basting in the oven, Uncle Bill, a beer in his hand, making his special gravy. Life, for me, was still full of promise, potential and hope; of those, only hope remains ...

I took a break from my current legal project (gotta rest the writing hand) and watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, an animated revisionist history of the Pilgrims' encounters with the Native Americans. It was all warm and fuzzy, ending with Indians and Pilgrims happy and smiling, living in harmony. Now, I like ol' Charlie Brown as much as anyone, but that propaganda was too much to stomach. Left unsaid were the nonstop betrayals, thefts, rapes, murders, enslavements and genocide of every tribe, one by one, by waves of Europeans as they stole the continent away. That kind of fake "hisotry" is why so many Americans are so abysmally ignorant of the true (and blood-drenched) underpinnings of our nation. I'm as patriotic as the next guy, but I believe in reality, not in glossing over facts or living in a fantasy world. We (Americans) are what we are. A perfect example is the fact that a large majority of Americans will tell you, with a straight face, that we are "a peace-loving nation", and they actually beleve it. In reality we ar the most war-like and warring country in the last 160 years, by far. We are always at war with someone, somewhere (but we've always got a "good reason".) Few Americans even know (or will believe) that from 1895 or so, to say, 1960, we invaded and/or occupied about 40 countries (some of them numerous times), mostly right in our back yard (Haiti, Panama, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Nicaraqua, the Dominican Repiblic, The Phillipines, Guatemala, China, El Salvador, ad nauseum), overthrowing duly-elected governments and installing our own chosen right-wing dictators at rifle point. Just think back to say, 1960, and count each year, right up to today. We were at war almost every single year with someone, right up to today (Iraq and Afghanistan). And that's not even counting the covert governmental overthrows we engineered with the CIA (Argentina, Chile, Iran, etc...) But these "Inconvenient facts" are simply not taught to our kids in school. You have to learn this stuff on your own, assuming you care enough to do so...

They moved seven guys from here to the "main" death row across the river at Union Correctional Institute last week. There are 320 guys over there, about 65 here. As guys over there die (we have an inordinately high cancer death rate on death row for some reason) or are executed or have their sentences reduced to life, they move guys from here to there. Meanwhile, we got two new guys on my floor here in the last 2 weeks. So, as some guys depart, others appear to fill the void. Isn't that the way of the world?

Love & Peace,
Bill

November 19, 2009-Johnson's stay

2009-11-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~
Well, as I predicted, the execution of Paul Johnson did not take place last Wednesday; The Florida Supreme Court granted him an indefinite stay of execution just hours after his lawyer, Marty McClain, gave his oral arguments before the court. In granting Johnson a stay, the court chastised Gov. Crist for signing the death warrant in the first place. You may recall that Crist signed this warrant simply because the sheriff of Polk County initiated an online petition to Crist to sign Johnson's warrant. Crist admitted publicly that the petition was a factor in his decision to sign the warrant. The problem, as the court pointed out, was that Johnson already had an appeal pending before the Florida Supreme Court, and he's never even been in the federal courts yet - that's a 3-5 year detour right there. There was really no chance Johnson would be executed, so signing his warrant was a waste of time; worse, it was simply pandering. Now, as I predicted in one of my earlier posts, the copy cats (encouraged by Crist's action in responding to the sheriff's petition) are jumping on board. I understand there is now a new petition circulating, urging Crist to sign a death warrant for a guy named Daniel Burns (I don't know him). If Crist caves in on this one, it will open the flood gates to "petitions" for everyone (execution by popular demand). FYI for all the fiscal conservatives out there, a lot of taxpayer's money was wasted by this last fiasco in signing Johnson's death warrant; it was a complete waste of money & scarce government resources)...
For the last several weeks I've been working an a guy's case (he's not on death row), hammering out a post conviction motion for him. This is a sad, tragic case, and it's more than a little depressing for me as I work on it; I had to read the entire record on appeal, including the trial transcripts, and check out some horrific crime scene photos. In a nutshell, the case looks like this: the prisoner was a 19-year old kid with a long history of mental illness aggravated by poly substance abuse. He had an 18-year old wife, who also had a history of mental illness and drug abuse. She was totally devoted to him, despite his manifest problems, and by all reports he loved her, too. They had a one-year old daughter. Both parents lived on the margins of society, living in trailer parks, motels, etc. In the weeks before the crime, the kid began acting weird and strange - he was in the midst o a psychotic breakdown - and he'd become homeless, living on the streets and in the woods. He was not welcome to stay at friends' houses due to his increasingly bizarre actions; his wife was living with various friends, bouncing from house to house, begging people to help her husband. It culminates when he takes his wife into the woods, near the bay side, and inexplicably kills her. He strangled her, cut her head off, cut her torso from sternum to pubic bone and removed all her reproductive organs. He placed the head and organs into a cloth bag and swam out into the bay, for one mile, where he let the bag sink. Back on shore, he half buried the body. It took a week before the body was found; he was an immediate suspect and he gave a rambling bizarre "confession" where he said he was Satan, that his wife agreed to die, as a mutual sacrifice to Satan. He was fulfilling Chapters 11 and 12 of the Biblical book of Revelations, he asserted. He was clearly psychotic. That night in jail he cut open his scrotum with a razor blade and tried to remove a testicle (voices told him to "cast out the demon seed"). Three doctors declared him incompetent and psychotic and he spent a year in a mental institution, heavily medicated, until the doctors declared him competent to stand trial. His lawyer (who never filed a single substantive motion) waived his jury trial & pled him not guilty by reason of insanity. He had a 2-day bench trial (before a judge, not a jury); the judge declared he was sane at the time of the crime (or, more accurately, that he was not legally insane) and immediately sentenced him to life without parole. That was 2 years ago. His direct appeal was unsuccessful (he had only one issue on appeal, regarding a jury instruction). My job is to try to salvage this case, and it's a hard row to hoe. On a personal level it's tough - I keep thinking about the poor girl, his devoted wife who, until the end, was desperately trying to help her unstable husband, doing everything possible to stick with him, to the point where she voluntarily moved into the woods with him. It's just very sad, all the way around (she had a big family, a mom and many sisters, and their grief is palpable in the record). The state sought the death penalty right up up until the end, when the victim's family prevailed upon the prosecutor not to seek the death penalty. Even in their grief, they did not want to see the boy put to death. This is one of those cases - when I read so much tragic documentation, where the pain and grief infests my mind - when I wish I wasn't into legal work.
Love,
Bill

October 28, 2009

2009-11-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~

I've been hard at work since 6:00am on this monster legal project which was unexpectedly dropped into my lap yesterday morning. I've got about 2,500 pages of trial transcripts and various appellate records to digest, then I have to produce a post conviction motion based on whatever I find, and all within the next 15 days. Someone (a friend on the streets) "volunteered" me for this project, without even asking me ahead of time, but the most irritating part is the deadline. This guy had 2 years, by rule, to file this motion, but he waited until he had less than a month left to get it to me. (I shouldn't be too hard on the guy - whom I don't even know - as he apparently has severe mental problems; it's his mother who is desperately seeking help for her son, who is doing life somewhere in the system). Anyway, I'm taking a break to drop you a few lines and also to catch a little of Game 1 of the World Series (Yankees vs Phillies). I'm not a big baseball fan - I prefer football - but I enjoy the World Series...

I recently told you about Gov Crist signing Paul Johnson's death warrant (execution scheduled for Nov 4th) because the Polk County sheriff started an online petition to Crist to sign his death warrant. Within 8 or 9 days Crist did, in fact, sign the warrant. What I didn't know at the time was that Johnson had never even been in the federal courts yet; he had an appeal pending before the Florida Supreme Court at the time his death warrant was signed. This morning on TV I watched his lawyer, Marty McClain, orally argue that appeal before the Florida Supreme Court. As usual, Marty did an excellent job. My guess is that Johnson will get a stay of execution. For the last 20 years there's been an understanding by Florida's governors that they won't sign a death warrant until the prisoner has exhausted his legal remedies in the state and federal courts (otherwise the courts just grant a stay of execution). So, Crist chose to sign a warrant for a guy, based on an online petition, even though the guy has not exhausted his legal remedies, which makes it likely he'll get a stay. This was mostly a charade, intended to placate the folks behind the petition (there are 20 guys here whose warrants he could have signed who definitely would be executed, including 3 or 4 "volunteers" who want to die and who have long ago waived or exhausted all appeals). So, that's just a little insight into how the system works (or not).
Game is coming on ... gotta go!
Love, Bill

P.S. I'm rooting for the Phillies!

October 12, 2009

2009-10-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

Governor Crist signed another death warrant last week, scheduling a November 4th execution date for Paul Johnson, convicted of three (3) murders, including that of a deputy sheriff, during a crime spree. Johnson was originally convicted and sentenced to death in 1981, but won a new trial in appeal and was re sentenced to death in 1988. What's unusual about this death warrant is the way it came about. Two weeks ago, the Sheriff of Polk County created an online petition demanding Governor Crist sign Johnson's death warrant. Within 4 days, the petition had 600 signatures. Three days later, Crist signed the death warrant. Crist did the same thing 2 years ago when he signed Mark Schwab's death warrant after the victim's family initiated an online letter writing campaign urging Crist to sign Schwab's warrant. No matter what a person's view on capital punishment might be, they should be concerned that the governor decides who to kill based on such blatantly political motivations; if you generate publicity against a particular death row prisoner, you can get him killed. If you can't or don't, then he lives. This Sheriff's successful petition (which has been in the media and is now well known) will, I predict, start a trend here in Florida as other special interest groups race to see if they, too, can get someone killed by Governor Crist. Stay tuned.
Love, Bill

Sept 22, 2009

2009-10-02T08:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

I've you've ever wondered how an innocent man can be sent to death row and, yes, be executed, you must read an article titled Trial by Fire, by David Grann, in the Sept 7th issue of The New Yorker magazine. I'm guessing it's available on their web site: www.newyorker.com It should be mandatory reading for anyone with a serious interest in the criminal justice system in general and capital punishment in general. When you read it and wonder why his trial lawyers sat on their hands, keep in mind that one of them was an ex-state trooper (who's side do you think we was really on?) Without digressing to a lengthy harangue on this subject, I'll clue you in on one of the criminal justice system's dirty little secrets (although it's no secret to those of us within the system, everyone - judges, defendants, prosecutors, even the bailiffs - knows what's going on. Unless the defendant is a novice, it's only the jury and the public who remain ignorant. You'll never see this on an episode of Law and Order or any other TV police procedural because those programs are designed to keep the public believing the fantasy that the system is "fair and balanced" (which live FOX News loves to sanctimoniously proclaim). The public desperately wants to believe in their system and they willingly suspend disbelief, just as you do when you watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Anyway, here's how the game really works: every town, county and city in America has its share of defense lawyers who make their living by court-ordered appointment. They are often drunks, or just stupid, or lazy and/or incompetent, and the only way they can get work is to be appointed to a case by a judge. They know (and the judge and prosecutor knows) that such lawyers are totally beholden to the judge for their pay check. There's a well-understood quid per quo here: The lawyer must "play ball" in order to keep getting appointments by the judge. Quick fact: about 90% of all judges in America are ex-prosecutors. By "play ball" I mean that the lawyer's real job is to ensure his client's conviction. The lawyer does this by not investigating, not calling crucial witnesses, not filing crucial motions, or not objecting to the prosecutor's misdeeds (which automatically waives the issue on appeal). Whenever a town has a high-profile case (particularly a capital case) one of those "sell-out" lawyers, as I call them, is appointed. Everyone (but the defendant) knows that the defendant is as good as convicted from that point forward. This is simply the way it works. I'll give you just one example.
Jacksonville, for many years, had an infamous sell-out lawyer named Nichols. The last time I actually counted, he had eight (8) clients on death row. Nichols was magically appointed in every Jacksonville capital case where the state really needed a conviction (e.g., cases with marginal evidence, and which were high-profile). Over the years I had an opportunity to read the entire trial transcripts of tow of Nichols' clients so I saw, first hand, how he stood mute throughout the trial, engaging in actions designed to help the prosecution, refusing to object, failing to challenge evidence, doing everything in his power to ensure a conviction and death sentence. It was disgusting to see it up close. A good friend of mine who happens to be a Jacksonville attorney confided in me that Nichols was an alcoholic of the first magnitude. Well, every town has its Nichols. The thing is, unless you know and understand law, you won't see how a Nichols does his job. You won't understand that a competent lawyer would be objecting here, or calling a certain witness. A Nichols does his dirty deeds in broad daylight, in open court, and only a legally astute observer will be silently shaking his head...
I had exactly such a sell-out lawyer, Cary Klein, who was appointed for the sole purpose of escorting me to death row. Klein was a civil attorney with no criminal practice who had never tried a capital case. He worked against me, and behind my back at every stage, betraying me constantly. Three of the seven Florida Supreme Court Justices described Klein as "blatantly incompetent," but the other 4 Justices decided I could not establish the requisite "prejudice", that is, I could not show that I would not have been convicted and sent to death row anyway, despite Klein's incompetence... Anyway, keep this in mind when you read Trial by Fire, or when you see any high-profile capital case winding its way through the system. And don't believe the phony propaganda you see on Law and Order shows...
Just got over the flu, I suspect it was pig fever; now everyone on the floor is sick, the hacking coughs are emanating from cells to my left and right. After about 6 nasty days, I now feel great.
Love, Bill

Sept 1, 2009

2009-09-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

The first thing you need to understand about our yard (outdoor recreation) situation is this: Prisoners in any long term confinement status (which most courts have construed as anything longer than 30 days) have a constitutional right, under the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution to a minimum of one (1) hour per day of outdoor recreation. This is a health issue (physical and mental health). This one-hour minimum has been established by the Federal courts around the country, including the federal prison system, over the last 40 years, as a result of many federal lawsuits brought by prisoners. Every state in the nation, except Florida' Death Row, recognizes this standard. In Florida, for the last 25 years, we on death row have only received four (4) hours per week, in two 2-hour sessions. Often, we'd get less than 4 hours as our yard was often cancelled (inclement weather, holiday, or any imagined reason) and never made up. I recall, in the 1990's, going 3-4 weeks in a row without any rec, followed by one or two rec sessions, then another 2,3,4 weeks without any rec. On Death Row, rec is really all we have; it's our one chance to get out of our cage, feel some sunshine, get some exercise and feel human. Many of us have been in tiny cages for 10, 20, 30 years now. Even the terrorists suspects held at Guantanamo Bay get at least one hour per day. Many, many medical studies have been conducted by the most prestigious medical experts in the field which have universally concluded that the one hour per day is the minimum to maintain good physical and mental health...
Ok, up until 1981, the FSP administration gave Death Row hardly any rec, and the rec was held on a tiny, fenced-in muddy area, about 20' x 20'. Then a Death Row prisoner, named Bob Sullivan, filed a federal lawsuit in 1981 (Bob was later executed). Judge Scott appointed an attorney, William Sheppard, to represent Bob, and Sheppard moved for class-action certification, which was granted. The litigation dragged on for the next 18 years, going to the Federal Court of Appeals twice, and during this time Sheppard collected well over $500,000 in attorneys fees and costs. Around 1983, Sheppard got the state to sign a consent decree, ostensibly settling the case. Under the consent decree, Sheppard sold us out, agreeing to a sub-constitutional four hours of rec per week. The consent decree also guaranteed us rec in a larger yard, which was built for us (it's only 80' x 90'), with a basketball goal and a volleyball net. That's the yard I've been walking around in for the last 20 years. I tried, unsuccessfully, to challenge the 4-hour provision in the consent decree (remember the consent decree was already in effect when I arrived on Death Row, and I was bound by its terms, even though I never had any input into its formulation). By then, the case was styled Dougan v Singletary (i.e., the Dougan case). I was mad as Hell about the sub-constitutional 4 hours per week provision, but all my years of efforts to re-open and modify the consent decree failed (Sheppard fought me on this; this case was his cash cow and he cared nothing about our rights or recreation).
Ok, then in 1996 the Republican-led US Senate passed the PLRA (Prison Litigation Reform Act) whose sole purpose was to greatly reduce and discourage any type of prison-related lawsuits. Among other things, the PLRA allows the state to dissolve any consent decree two tears after it was issued, and it basically requires all federal judges to grant such a motion. So, overnight, around the country, all the states filed motions to dissolve all prison consent decrees (even though many of them were exhaustively crafted after years and decades of litigation). Florida moved to dissolve the Dougan consent decree, and this was granted in 1999. In 2001, the Dougan case was officially closed. So, after 20 years, we were right back to square one. For the next 8 years, FSP continued to abide by the terms of the consent decree (4 hours per week in the "Big" yard, with cancelled sessions made up) even though the decree was dead. Then, just 2 months ago, the FSP administration suddenly decided to start messing with our rec. I guess it took them 9 years to realize the consent decree was dead. Now, they making us rec in tiny, one-man cages (but only for one of our two weekly sessions) and they announced they will no longer make up any cancelled yard sessions. So, now that I know the consent decree is dead (I didn't know this, being in Virginia for the last 9 years), I'm going to file suit to get our one-hour-per-day minimum. The prison has now opened a can of worms and I intend to get what we should have gotten back in 1983 when Sheppard sold us out. My goal is to get an attorney (I'm working on that), then get my case certified as a class action suit for all Death Row prisoners. An attorney will make some good money (just as Sheppard did) because we will win, and as the prevailing party, the attorney will be entitled to all costs and attorney fees. The state should have left us alone, (and I would never have done the research and learned that the Dougan case was closed) but now I intend to get us adequate and meaningful recreation. Right now, I'm exhausting my administrative remedies (the grievance process) which is mandatory prior to filing suit. Them I'll file suit (I have to hustle up the $350 filing fee), then I'll get an attorney, either on my own or appointed. ASo, now you know the short version of my next legal project!
Love, Bill

August 23, 2009

2009-09-02T04:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
Over the weekend of Aug 15-16th a group of guards beat a prisoner half to death across the river at Union Correctional Institution. Last I heard, the guy was in critical condition. I learned about it on one of my PBS channels, which carries Florida governmental issues, when Walter McNeil, the Secretary of the Department of Corrections, gave a live press conference to announce the beating on August 21. The guards initially tried to cover it up (no surprise), and succeeded until someone - a guard or someone in medical- came forward and belatedly reported it. Now, 4 or 5 guards (including 2 sergeants) are "on leave" and 4 nurses have been fired. The fired nurses is your tipoff that the nurses participated in the cover up. This is routine when prisoners are beaten. Some medical staff cover up beatings enthusiastically while others are intimidated, even threatened bodily, by the guards. The cover up consists of altering or fabricating the medical reports (since the injured guy invariably ends up in the medical department, if only briefly) to show either no injuries, or very minor injuries (even if the guy has broken bones or is dying) or to claim the injuries are self inflicted. The medical department here did the same thing when those 9 guards beat Frank to death in 1999. All prison medical departments do it. Anyway, McNeil announced he had called in the F.D.L.E. (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) as well as the FBI. That tells me the injuries are very serious, the guy may be dead already; it also tells me that McNeil is putting distance between himself and this beating. In response to a reporter's question, McNeil admitted this was the third mass beating incident in the last 3 or 4 months (2 at UCI, one here at FSP). Then in the next breath, he denied that there is a systemic problem, and claimed that these were just isolated incidents. That bullshit; these beating are systemic (and UCI is notorious for them) and for every one like this which gets publicity, there are hundreds which never see the light of day. That's a fact. The only rare thing about this is that McNeil chose to announce it publicly. In the old days, it would have remained a dark secret; certainly nobody in the DOC would be announcing it. The prison system is like a black hole; things happen in here that the public never hears about. It's like being on another planet. At least now we have a little transparency and a little accountability ...

In my next entry I'll tell you what's going on with our recreation situation and why I'll have to be going back to federal court (after 15 years when we last fought and won this battle) to rectify the situation. This administration appears to be anxious to provoke the death row population here. They're suddenly going out of their way to harass us. This started as soon as our new warden (Warden Singer) arrived, so you can draw your own conclusions.
Love, Bill

August 18, 2009

2009-09-02T03:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
For the past week this prison has been immersed in its typical pre-execution ritual of spiffing up the joint for proper presentation prior to tomorrow's state-sanctioned murder. The guards have been busily supervising various work crews who have been stripping, waxing and buffing the long hallway corridors, painting the endless rows of barred gates dividing the main corridor, polishing all the brass handles and knobs, cutting the grass (yesterday) and carefully trimming along the rear driveway, where the execution witnesses will arrive tomorrow, followed by the old, white Cadillac hearse (the same hearse I've watched carry bodies out of this prison for over 35 years now). Such are the mundane preparations for a "tidy" death. There's something morbidly sick in being so concerned that the prison itself looks clean and good while the activity going on in its bowels is so foul. It reminds me of how Jesus Christ rebuked the high priests and Pharisees, saying their hearts were like sepulchers (tombs carved into the rocks), all clean and white-washed on the outside, yet full of filth and putrefaction inside. This capital punishment is an abomination that scars and rots the heart of our society, wounding the spirits of even those who carry it out, whether they recognize it or not. It's a foul deed, pure and simple, and is beneath the dignity of a great nation. I must believe that one day we will awake and this too shall pass.
Love, Bill

August 10, 2009

2009-08-17T03:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
I'm depressed and discouraged to learn that the Commonwealth of Virginia has set a September execution date for my good friend, Larry Bill Elliott, who was my neighbor for five plus years. Bill is not only an extraordinary person, he was also a great asset to his community, including the nation's national security with about 30 years in the US Army Military Intelligence. Bill was a specialist in electronic counterintelligence and was the instructor of electronic counterintelligence at the US Army's premier electronics school at Ft. Meade. In that capacity, he instructed Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine technical officers, as well as come CIA, NSA and other "alphabet soup" agencies. More importantly, I believe Bill to be innocent of the double-homicides he was convicted of (a reputed "lover's triangle" type of thing, according to the prosecutors forced theory). The ins and outs of Bill's case are complex and many, and space precludes me from adequately describing the nuances here, but someone needs to write a book, or make a movie about it all, and defy the reader or viewer to solve the riddle. I have not given up hope yet, although Virginia is particularly fatal when it comes to capital punishment, because he still has a cert petition before the US Supreme Court, and if that fails, he still has the slim possibility of clemency from Gov. Tim Kaine. Bill's lsawyers will need to make a powerful and compelling case for Bill's innocence for Kaine to even consider clemency. Fortunately, Bill has top-shelf attorneys, the Seattle law firm of K&L Gates (that's Bill Gates' father's law firm). Unfortunately, they were not his trial lawyers (the trial lawyers botched the trial horribly, while cleaning Bill out of his life's savings). The Gates lawyers came in pro bono after Bill's direct appeal and, at that stage, most of the damage, from incompetent trial lawyers, is already done; it's extremely difficult to correct this type of damage in the postconviction stage. The Gates people have made an heroic effort, but the law regarding the postconviction process (both state and federal) is against them, especially in Virginia. These are the same near-impossibly high legal hurdles that keep innocent people in prison and ensure their execution. While you read about guys getting exonerated every day, often after 10, 20 years in prison , these are just the lucky ones. Like an iceberg, for every one of them you hear about, there are many others below the surface who cannot hurdle the arcane procedural barriers. Bill is one of those guys...

This week is the 40th anniversary of Woodstock (40 years!!!) What a time that was! How innocent and naive it seems in retrospect, yet pregnant with hope and possibility. Those of us who lived through those times have many and varied recollections and impressions, now blurred by the passing decades (and seen through the prism of 20/20 hindsight) but my overriding memory is one of hope, potential and limitless possibility, when great things still seemed possible, even inevitable. Love was in the air and on the minds, but too many of us just weren't ready for it snd it wasn't to be.

Ok, Sis, give the doggies a big hug from me.

Love, Bill

August 2, 2009

2009-08-07T14:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
I just finished watching a great PBS program celebrating Pete Seeger's 90th birthday; the number of folk musicians who sang and performed seemed endless, from Bruce Springstein to John Mellencamp to Arlo Guthrie to Joan Baez, and many more. Pete Seeger has always been a hero to me; he speaks truth to power and, in my mind, Pete represents everything that is good and beautiful about America. What a great spirit he is! Are you familiar with Pete's River Rescue Project that he's been running for many years? He was determined to clean up the filthy Hudson River many years ago, so he hit upon what proved to be an extremely successful idea. He built an exact replica of an old wooden river schooner, a good-sized one, with all the sails and rigging. Then he began sailing it up and down the Hudson, stopping in all the small towns and large cities. At each stop, he'd go to the schools, especially the urban schools, and arrange field trips out on the ship. There, he'd teach the kids about all the aquatic life, from turtles to birds to fish to salamanders, teaching them to love the river and the environment. Many of these kids have never been to the river and never held a wild creature. Pete uses an all-volunteer crew on the ship, and the kids themselves sail on the ship. Pete's been doing this on his own dime for many years, quietly doing his part to help save the earth he loves. And it worked: he's gotten lots of publicity, brought about many changes, and today, much of the Hudson is clean again. Most importantly, he's helped to educate a new generation of future environmentally sensitive citizens, the generation that will save our planet, if it is to be saved.
Love,
Bill

July 16, 2009

2009-07-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
Last week a guy here on the row, Herman Lindsey, was totally acquitted by the Florida Supreme Court on his direct appeal, based upon insufficiency of the evidence. I read his briefs about 4 or 5 months ago and I told him then I believed he'd go home - the state simply didn't have any real evidence (and yet the jury convicted him). Not surprisingly, the main bit of "evidence" was a jailhouse snitch, a guy who claimed Herman "confessed" to him. In return, the snitch got a deal to get out of jail. About 40% of all prisoners who are exonerated had a jailhouse snitch involved in their case, and many of these rats completely fabricate the alleged "confessions". The prosecutors and the judges know these rats lie like Hell and yet they continue to use them and vouch for their integrity to the jury. Anyway, I'm always conservative when a guy asks me about his chances of winning on appeal (after I've read the appellate briefs) and total acquittals are very rare (perhaps once every 4 or 5 years from the Florida Supreme Court in capital cases), but after I read Herman's briefs (and the state's brief) I felt confident he'd win. It's been 8 days and Herman is still here; they've told him they would release him on the 16th day - they have to allow the state their allotted 15 days to file a motion for rehearing (the Attorney General's office has apparently already announced they won't be filing for rehearing). So, Herman will be one of those rare and lucky souls who walks off death row, directly home. (Although he would have been even luckier had he not been convicted!) Can you imagine that transition? From death row to total freedom ...
I think old Roy might be the next one to be acquitted, although it will be another 2 years or more before his direct appeal is heard. Roy also has a jailhouse snitch (a guy with over 40 felony convictions). There was no body in Roy's case, the state couldn't even prove the alleged victim even died. Roy is 69 years old and frail, with serious health issues, so he may not even live to see freedom...
I just read The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran, again. I read it maybe 25 years ago but wasn't wise or mature enough to appreciate it. It's a beautiful book, deep and thought provoking. What a writer he was!
Love & Peace, Bill

June 24, 2009

2009-07-21T03:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers~

I misplaced this blog entry so it's late, but at least I found it :} Lisa

Dear Sis~

I don't need my calendar to know that the summer solstice just passed. It's unbearably hot in this hulking, oven-like building which absorbs the heat all day long and radiates it back all night long. We have extremely poor ventilation so we bake, day and night, constantly covered in a sheen of sweat. It's common to awake at 2:00 am with wet sheets, panting like a dog.

Anyway, I was just watching another news program where the talking heads were pontificating on Obama's proposed closure of the military prison in Guantanamo. The Republicans have turned this into a political football with their energetic campaign to enlist as many politicians as possible to denounce the possible move of 200 or so of the alleged terrorists/prisoners to prisons in America. They've whipped up a wave of hysteria, abetted by the mainstream media which, sheep-like, has yet to question the basis for the resistance to the move. The self-righteous politicians have been quick to go on TV to announce that there is no way they'll stand for these detainees to be place in American prisons because, they claim with a straight face, they might escape! The absurdity of this stance, which is patently laughable, is never questioned by any moderators or reporters. What makes this so ridiculous (not to mention hypocritical) is that America is PRISON NATION. With almost 3 million of our fellow citizens imprisoned, we have the highest incarceration rate in the world (it isn't even close). We love our prisons and love to fill them! The United States has 5% of the world's population, yet we house nearly 25% of the world's prisoners. We incarcerate 756 inmates per 100,000 residents, about 5 times the world average (the ratio is much higher in the southern states, a relic of the plantation mentality). One in every 31 American adults is in prison, jail or some form of supervised release. Total spending on corrections (federal, state and local) exceeds $70 Billion per year and has increased over 40% over the last 20 years (even as our crime rates have steadily decreased). Moreover, America incarcerates more people for drug crimes alone than the European Union does for all crimes, even thought the EU has 200 million more citizens than the US. Few Americans understand (or care) how the prison industrial complex has, with its strong profit motive, come to dominate in this country, especially with the privatization of our jails and prisons. Incarceration long ago ceased being about public policy and morphed into an economic imperative. Building prisons (and filling them up) is all about creating jobs (and pleasing voters who will presumably vote for the politicians who brought the prison into their town). Many, many prisons (both private and public) are built on speculation, with the certainty that they will be filled (Build it and they will come!) The huge and highly profitable private prison corporations (Wachenhut, GEO, etc...) are very politically connected and those politicians ensure the passage of laws guaranteed to keep prisons filled. A tiny, but representative insight of the profit motive can be gleaned by a recent Newsweek article wherein a municipal employee of Hardin, Montana was crying about how their 5-year old, $27 Million dollar prison, built on spec, has remained empty. The town wants the Feds to fill it with the Guantanamo detainees. "We had hoped Two Rivers Detention Center would create jobs," he wrote. "Filling our prison would create desperately needed jobs for 200 or 300 people", he lamented. "Hardin spent $27 Million to build the prison, and now our town's bonds are in default...The town's business community is committed to exploring every last opportunity to get the prison up and running." Note how it's all about business, money and jobs, not whether it's good social policy to fill up another prison with our fellow citizens. Now, the same economic reality that hit the condo speculators is hitting communities who chose to build prisons on spec in anticipation of big profits and permanent jobs. (In reality, that prison would already be filled if it wasn't built in a tiny, remote town in Montana. The government(s) always ensure their prisons remain full).
Anyway, getting back to the Guantanamo detainees, we have over 3,000 death row prisoners here, and the nation is chock full of super max prisons that nobody is escaping from. America has perfected the art of super maximum security confinement on a massive scale. It's laughable that a politician (especially a Republican...they love our prisons!) could, with a straight face, claim that these 200 detainees cannot be safely confined anywhere in America. But, I've yet to see one single reporter on TV question this premise; instead, they just help whip up the frenzy, happy to have a "story" to report (which is really a non-story). Here's a real story: the shame of a nation which locks up almost 3 million of its citizens without a clue or care as to the ramifications. This would be a scandal in any other country, but here, it's called business as usual (with the emphasis on business).

Love, Bill

June 18, 2009

2009-06-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

Just got called down to the clinic for a "physical exam" which consisted of my having my weight, temperature and blood pressure taken and recorded, the same "comprehensive" physical I've been getting for the last 37 years. My blood pressure was 113/77, which is par for the course for me, almost too low, especially considering my circumstances. But, besides being blessed with a sound, healthy body and working out a lot, I long ago learned to accept things with equanimity, rather than let stress, tension and/or anger manifest itself in my physical aspects. Meditation, and lots of inner reflection, helps a lot...

Anyway, I just finished reading a good essay in Vanity Fair magazine by Joseph E Stiglitz, the well-known and highly regarded economist (he's in fact a Nobel laureate), titled Wall Street's Toxic Message, which analyzes the economic and social fallout of the current financial crisis. Of course, there are thousands of articles and essays floating around on the subject of the crisis - how it happened, who's to blame, how to fix it - covering the political and economic spectrum, etc... no small number of which are attempts to cover their own asses. Sadly, most Americans (Hell, most people worldwide) have little or no knowledge or understanding of basic economic theory, and are at the mercy of the talking heads, and have no real clue as to what happened, much less what to do about it (that feeling of utter helplessness, being at the mercy of forces beyond our control which was the hallmark of the national psyche over the last 8 months - and which helped propel Obama into the White House). What's interesting about this article by Stiglitz is how he frames it in the historical context, how the Western capitalistic nations, over the last 200+ years, exploited the rest of the world and imposed our "free market" system upon undeveloped countries, convincing them it was the world's best economic system (convincing them through force of arms). We Americans grew up, blindly believing (because we were taught this in our schools) that the capitalistic system , especially in the extreme (i.e., Market Fundamentalism) was the best, and anything else was a threat to freedom and democracy (that alleged link between capitalism and freedom was always crucial, it made it your patriotic duty to accept capitalism and view any other system as not just foreign, but an enemy to be defeated). What we are rarely taught is how we (America, Britain, France and other western industrial powers of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries) raped and exploited the undeveloped world, brutally and by force, to enrich ourselves, and impose our version of market fundamentalism on the world (always, of course, so it worked to our advantage). Anyway, it was refreshing to read an economist of Stiglitz's stature acknowledge the history. The point he was making in his essay was how this recent crisis is teaching the rest of the world to really question the basic premise of our version of capitalism, the now quaint notion that unfettered markets, left to themselves (free of regulation and government "interference") will ensure economic growth and prosperity, the idea that markets are automatically "self-correcting" and that we can rely on the self-interested behavior of market participants to guarantee that everything works honestly and properly. The world now sees that "the emperor has no clothes" and that we've succeeded, like the Pied Piper, into leading the world over the cliff. I'm certainly no Marxist, but I'm not blind to history and I know human nature well enough to question the whole premise of market fundamentalism (Yeah, let's just let the Donald Trumps of the world order the universe, right? What could possibly go wrong?). I wish more Americans truly understood the history of our country (and the Western Industrial powers in general) over the last two centuries so they can understand why we (and our systems which we insist on foisting upon the world) are viewed as we are by the rest of the world, why countries don;t believe us when we claim we are invading them for their own good, to impose "democracy" and "freedom" upon them, why they don;t believe it is not all about the oil (hint: it's always about the oil). We'd be a lot more intellectually honest if we'd just be open and above-board about it, "Yes, we're doing this because it's in our economic and strategic self-interest, and because we are stronger than you are". It's the lies and hypocrisy, wrapping all the bullshit up in the American flag, that pisses me off (and does not fool anyone except our own deluded citizens who drink that Kool-Aid).

I didn't mean to go off on a tangent, or get my blood pressure up! Give the doggies a tummy rub for me (and some Milk-Bone biscuits if you've got some!)

Love, Bill

June 6, 2009 - 65th Anniversary of D-Day

2009-06-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

Today is the 65th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion, which always makes me reminisce about Dad and the years he spent fighting across North Africa, Italy and Europe. Whenever I see the fields of white marble crosses stretching across the neatly trimmed green fields of the military cemeteries of Europe I get choked up, thinking of the countless young men represented by each stone, struck down in the prime of life, many of them buddies of Dad who fell at his side. Coincidentally, I just finished reading The First Men In, by Ed Ruggero, which vividly portrays the role of the 82nd Airborne as they jumped into Normandy just before the actual seaborne invasion. In keeping with the role of the airborne troopers, they fought savage street-to-street and house-to-house battles, suffering terrific casualties, dying anonymously in unnamed fields, ditches and tangles of woods. The book tells the story matter-of-factly, without hubris or glorification of war, simply witnessing the great bravery of young men fighting, most of all, for the sake of their brothers in arms. I closed the book, as I do all military histories, mourning the loss of so many young men, and countless civilians - women, children and old men - caught and killed in the middle, and reaffirming how much I hate war...
On a gentler subject, I just saw the movie Moulin Rouge, a sort of campy musical starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. Despite being an over the top production (as it was intended to be) the acting is terrific and the story timeless. I can't imagine the time and energy it took to put something like this together, not to mention the creative talent. I enjoyed it immensely, not least because it reinforced my admiration for true creative geniuses (if you see the movie, you'll understand that my reference is to not just those who made the movie but also to the theatre types who are the subject of the movie's plot).
That's it for now, Sis!
Love, Bill

Memorial Day 2009

2009-06-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

Today is Memorial Day and, as is traditional, the TV has been flush with war-related programs. Some of them are historically interesting and informative, while others veer off into glorifying war. As a child, like most kids (boys, anyway) I was all gung-ho about war, thinking it was romantic, cool, macho, whatever. As I grew older, I became immersed in military history and maintained that interest well into adulthood. Even now, I maintain an academic interest, but I long ago quit thinking that there was anything romantic about war. History and experience teaches us that war is ingrained in our makeup - we humans are, without a doubt, a war-loving race, even though we pay lip service to the general concept of peace. I say "we", meaning our governments; the general citizenry in most countries surely prefer peace, yet we elect governments which consistently lead us into war. I don't know how to reconcile that dichotomy. Sadly, America is the premier war-maker among nations...

I was very pleased to read in my USA Today that the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond surprisingly gave some relief to Justin Wolfe, a friend of mine on Virginia's Death Row. I say "surprisingly" because the Fourth Circuit is the most conservative Federal appellate court in the nation. Justin is one of a handful of guys I know on the Row who may be genuinely innocent, and his cries out for relief. The admitted trigger man (who was only sentenced to 30 or 40 years) has repeatedly recanted his self-serving trial testimony that Justin "told him" to kill the victim. There is additional evidence that the trigger man simply made up his story in order to cut a deal with the prosecution (which he succeeded in doing) but the lower Federal court rejected it all. Just as a basic, straight-forward proposition - putting aside whether the trigger man (Owen Barber) lied at trial - you'd think hat society would ques ton a system which allows the undisputed trigger man to receive a 30-year sentence, while the guy who didn't kill anyone (even under the state's theory) goes to death row. This is the result of an out-of-control prosecutor who wanted to make headlines above all else (which he did with this case). This particular prosecutor, who is well-known in Virginia, has put a lot of guys on Virginia's death row, several that are very questionable...

I don't know if you were able to catch a compelling PBS series on TV called Africa Trek ? It's a great series, about a married French couple, Sonia and Alexander, who walked the entire length of Africa from Cape Town, South Africa, northward up the east coast, all the way to Egypt, then across the Sinai to Jerusalem. they walked for over three years, covered about 7,000 miles, battling drought, floods, lions, malaria (which they both caught) suffering much deprivation, all without any support team, filming it all themselves with a little hand-held camcorder. Check it out if you can...

Alright, Sis, that's it for now. Keep your chin up and you heart light.

Love, Bill

May 14, 2009

2009-05-23T16:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
There was an execution scheduled for last night which apparently did not occur; my understanding is that the prisoner (Marek) got a temporary stay several days ago, although I have no details. Even though we're at ground zero here, with the death chamber just 100 feet away, rumors are often our only source of information. The local media gives virtually no coverage of these matters (they barely mention when the actual executions occur). If the stay is dissolved, another execution could quickly be scheduled. The other execution is still on for 2 weeks from now, as far as I know... [note from Lisa: just get back from visiting Bill and the second execution was also stayed!!]
Two days ago Governor Crist announced that he will not be seeking another term as governor, but instead, will run for the US Senate next year (Republican Mel Martinez is retiring). Crist, orignally a conservative, has positioned himself as a moderate/populist since becomeing governor and he's fairly popular here. He faces a strong challenge in the primaries from his own fellow Republicans, specifically the conservative wing, who feels is is not sufficiently right-wing. If he survives that, he'll face whoever the Democrats nominate. The Florida Democratic party is rather lame and incompetent; in the fourth most populous state in America, they never seem to be able to mount any credible candidates, which allows Republicans to remain in power, even with their historically even less competent candidates. Still, this year they have an interesting candidate for governor, a woman named Alex Sink, who is currently the State's Chief Financial Officer. She is very intelligent and is politically adept, and she may emerge as a new rising star. Obama carried Florida, so the possibilty exists that we may go for a democratic governor, and I'm all for a woman taking over - the old, rich white men have screwed up this state (and country) enough already. Women are more pragmatic and solutions-oriented which we need more of and less stale ideology. Moreover, as a rule, they are just not into killing people like men are, which is good for someone in my position. That assumes, of course, that I survive long enought to see a new governor sworn in. Still, this political development provides me with a sliver of hope, and on death row, hope is a precious commodity. Without hope, there is nothing.
Love, Bill

April 30,2009

2009-05-09T06:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
I see the pig fever is back after a 33-year hiatus. Today the news announced that swine flu is now here in Florida; in just one week, it's gone from a localized event in Mexico to damn near a pandemic. I've never seen a disease spread so rapidly ( I hear it only has a 2-day incubation period) and we can be very thankful that this is not a more deadly strain or disease...
Earlier this evening they came to a guy's cell and told him to "go see the chaplain." As any seasoned convict knows, when you get the dreaded "chaplain call out" it means someone in your immediate family has died. This kid (he's about 25 but looks about 17) was too green to understand the ramifications of a night time visit with the chaplain (in reality, at this time of night, it probably just consists of an incoming phone call from a family member and it's overseen by a shift lieutenant) and he was not alarmed or apprehensive. He came back 20 minutes later, crying. I remember well, going through the same thing, at age 18, at Sumter Correctional Institute in 1972, when I was unexpectedly called to the chaplain's office and informed of Dad's death. It happened so fast, and was so unexpected, that I was too stunned to react until I stepped outside where I broke down and cried like a baby. I've seen a lot of guys get that chaplain call out over the years, and it always makes my heart ache...
I can't recall if I already told you that Govenor Crist signed two more death warrants; one guy is scheduled to die in mid-May (the 14th I believe) and the other is set to be executed two weeks later, on the 28th I think. I don;t know either of them although I've been on the row since 1984. I consulted my master list of everyone on the row here and counted 18 guys who have been here for 30 or more years, with Gary Alvord the longest, at 35 years. Four others are at the 34-year mark. The Governor does not go in chronological order though, but follows his own drummer. In Florida, the process is totally arbitrary; the governor can sign (or not sign) anybodies death warrant that he wants to, and assuming they've exhausted all their legal avenues, they'll be executed. He can pick and choose - he can sign one warrant, or ten. It's totally up to his unfettered discretion. I'm not complaining though, not at all, because the process could be much worse, like in Virginia or Texas, where it's an automated system, like a conveyor belt. Here, assuming you don't have a blood-thirsty governor, having the executive office in the middle provides a break to the death machine. Most governors, once they actually assume office (notwithstanding any election rhetoric) don't relish making that actual, definitive decision to kill someone by signing an actual death warrant...
Ok, that's enough of a depressing subject. Give the doggies a tummy rub for me!
Love, Bill

April 20, 2009

2009-04-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
Today Governor Crist signed two death warrants; I don't know the two guys' names (I heard one is named Johnson) but I was told their execution dates are May 15th and June 1st. This is the first time Crist has signed two in one day; he's picking up his pace. Both of these guys were housed at U.C.I., across the river, where 80% of the death row guys are housed (there's only about 60 of us here at F.S.P.)...
Tonight I watched a second installment of a 5-part series on PBS titled We Shall Remain, an excellent mini-series/documentary on the Native Americans, from the days of the Mayflower up to the early 1970's (the second Wounded Knee). This is very well thought out and produced, telling the story from the Native Americans' point of view, for a change. A different history was taught to us in our schools. History, of course, is written by the victors.
A big storm came through a week ago and damaged our TV antenna on the roof, so we can only get 3 TV stations now, 2 of which are PBS, which is fine with me, as that's my favorite channel anyway. All our TV stuff - antennas, cable system and TV's - are paid for by us prisoners and/or privately donated; there's no state money used at all...
I forgot to mention in my last entry that 11 guards here at F.S.P. were fired and/or suspended over a beating incident here. Some guards jumped on one or more prisoners and it was caught on camera. Apparently they thought the cameras were not on because the prison's electricity had failed due to a transformer explosion the night before. One newspaper article said it was 15 guards, with the other 4 guards being at U.C.I., implying there were two separate incidents. It's less than clear just what occurred, but I can tell you that the beatings here have been greatly reduced since I left 9 years ago. The culture and atmosphere has changed greatly, for the better. So, this was somewhat of an aberration. The cameras alone have made a big difference...
OK, Sis, that's it from here. Give the doggies a hug for me!
Love, Bill

Easter Sunday April 12, 2009

2009-04-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
It's Easter Sunday, a day of reflection for me, as well as pleasant childhood memories...

I just read an interesting article in Parade Magazine, authored by Senator Jim Webb, from Virginia, on overhauling our entire prison system. I've always liked Webb-he's big on common sense, and a real pragmatist. In this article, he seeks to provoke a national debate on why America imprisons such a large percentage of its citizens, as he lays out the statistics to make his case. These are well known statistics to anyone who has made a point of examining this issue, but let me share a few of them with you: The United States has, by far, the world's highest incarceration rate. With 5% of the world's population, we have nearly 25% of the world's prisoners. We currently incarcerate 756 prisoners per 100,000 residents, a rate nearly five times the worldwide average of 158 per 100,000. In addition, more that 5 million people who recently left jail remain under "correctional supervision", which includes parole, probation and other community sanctions. All told, one in every 31 adults in America is in prison, jail, or on supervised release. We spend $68 billion a year on local, state and federal corrections. A large percentage of all inmates are in prison for non-violent offenses, including a substantial number of drug offenders. And these are not the drug lords or big-time dealers; our prisons aer clogged with people who possessed small amounts of drugs. 47.5% of all drug arrests in America in 2007 were for marijuana. Nearly 60% of those in state prisons serving time for a drug offense had no history of violence or any significant selling activity. Four out of five (80%) of drug arrests were for possession, while only one out of five was for sales...

I know from my own 35+ years of prison experience that we could release at least one third of all prisoners without any danger to the safety of society, and I'm being conservative. For reasons I don't fully understand myself, our nation has a love affair with prisons, with locking up our citizens for years and years. We do it casually, almost with glee, with no real thought to the consequences. In America, prison is often the first resort, not the last, and we think nothing of sentencing someone to 20 or 30 years for a property crime or for drugs. Much of this culture is politically motivated and, even more so, economically motivated - the prison industrial complex is a huge and politically powerful lobby whose sole goal is to build more prisons and jails, staff them, and fill them with prisoners. Few citizens know (or care) just how powerful this lobby is, and how it influences lawmakers to pass punitive statutes (like the three-strike laws, or abolishment of parole) to ensure their prisons remain full and more are built every year. We spend more on our prisons than we do on education, which should be a shock to all Americans, but sadly, isn't...

Alright, enough of that...I've got to get back to my legal project (it should be done by the time you read this).
Love, Bill

March 26, 2009

2009-03-31T05:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
Just finished reading Moby Dick. What a great read it is! Anyone who loves language, who loves the skillful use of language, has to love this book. Written in 1850, the writing is definitely dense with colloquial syntax (it reminds me of James Fennimore Cooper or Joseph Conrad) but it's worth the effort for sure. Not only is it a grand adventure story, but the depth of the writing is superb. I'm sure modern-day literary critics would disparage Melville's style and call the book bloated, but a discerning reader can see the quality. I can't really say this is a book for young people (i.e., students) for, while they'll catch the main theme and grasp the underlying adventure story, it takes (in my opinion) a mature and well-read mind to appreciate the many subtle nuances of the writing, to plumb the depth of the author's intentions. There are multiple levels to Melville's writing in this book, many of which will escape the superficial reader. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Melville's vivid descriptions of the rolling oceans and the abundance of life they contain reminds me of how much I have always loved the sea, how the ocean always had an elemental attraction for me as far back as my memory reaches. Anytime I was on a boat or ship upon the deeper sea - whether it was the time you and me took that small cruise ship from Miami to Bimini with Dad, around 1961, or the times, later in life, when I took cruises to the Bahamas - being on the deck of a ship, with the sun on my back and a salty breeze in my face, and the dolphins racing along the bow waves, I felt incredibly alive, like an ancient explorer crossing uncharted waters. I think the oceans call to all humans; there's something in our DNA that harks back to the sea, or perhaps it's some more distant soul memory from a dimly perceived era of star ship captains and far-flung galaxies. Who knows?
Love, Bill

March 19, 2009

2009-03-24T05:27:00.001-07:00

Dear Sis~
Just as I sat down to scribe this note several guys on my floor, watching the evening news, started yelling that New Mexico just abolished the death penalty. I don't know if the reports are correct, but it's a good sign if it's true. Still, until a state in the deep south follows suit, it will just be an occasional national aberration. Texas, for example, is so enamored with capital punishment that they view it as an integral aspect of their very nature. It will take another generation, I think, for the south to begin to lose its grip on the hangman's noose. Still, as I said, this is a good sign to the extent it denotes a trend, a shift in citizens' consciousness. New Jersey abolished capital punishment last year, and 5 or 6 states are seriously considering the same. Kansas abolished it about 30 years ago, then reinstated it perhaps 10, 12 years ago, and now they are on the verge of throwing it out again...
The seasons have turned quickly and winter has fled the coop, at least here in northern Florida. Out in the rec yard, I stripped to my gym shorts and bare feet, enjoying the blazing, cloudless sky, at least until the concrete began sizzling, forcing me to re shod my burning feet...
A friend of mine in Italy sent me some interesting genealogical information about our family back in Germany. As you know, the famous sculptor Gabriel Grupello lived out his later years in our family castle, the Castle (Kasteel) Erenstein until his death in 1730. You also know that Grupello created a beautiful bronze statue which still stands on the castle grounds today. What I did not know, until I read these particular papers, is that Grupello's daughter, Aldegundo Jacobina Grupello, married one of our direct ancestors, Peter Caspar Poyck, in 1725. So, we have a little Italian blood in our veins. (Perhaps that accounts for my deep love for Italy when I visited it in 1971). Moreover, Grupello himself was the son of an Italian cavalry officer and an Irish mother, so we also have some Celtic blood! By the way, while the castle was built around 1363, it came into our family in 1707 when Hendrick Poyck, schout (sheriff) of Merkstein somehow came into possession of it (I'm guessing he purchased it). Didn't know we had a sheriff in the family! Hendrick totally rebuilt the castle expanding it greatly, adding two round turrets and a chapel, along with a higher ring-wall. I'll send you these papers so you can make yourself a copy and return the originals to me. Since 1980, the castle has been part of the group of Camille Oostwegel Chateau Hotels & Restaurants.
Love, Bill

March 7, 2009

2009-03-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
Two guards from F.S.P. were killed yesterday and two other guards critically injured in a domestic imbroglio turned violent. Between the scetchy news reports and the scuttlebutt among the guards here (it's all they're talking about) it appears that a male and female guard were romantically involved, but the guy believed she was cheating on the side. He attacked her, stabbing her repeatedly, then fled in a car, whereupon he slammed into a state vehicle carrying two other guards. The assailant was killed, as was a guard in the second vehicle. His companion and the female are in critial condition. A guard on my floor told me "I know the guy who did it; he was a really nice guy, you never would have guessed he'd do that." Love is like that, it can make some people lose their minds just long enough to own a lifetime of regrets ...
I'm reading Moby Dick which, I'm embarrassed to say, I've never read. There are a lot of literary classics which I've never managed to read, but I knock them out as I'm able to track them down from time to time. I also have a new copy of David Copperfield, which I've been anticipating, but now it's sort of been spoiled because I recently watched an excellent 3-hour version on PBS's Masterpiece Classics. The acting was terrific, as were the characters; Dickens was a great story teller ...
Right now, I'm listening to Prairie Home Companion on my little radio, as I do every Saturday evening. What a talented guy Garrison Keillor is! I've been listening to him for at least 25 years and he never empties that deep well of talent. His shows, with their skits, songs, poems and comedy, are the epitome of American culture; if someone wans to see what real America is all about, just listen to one of his shows. Tonight he had a band playing big band swing music and every time I hear a wailing clarinet I think about Dad and how he played his way across Europe in the years before the war, before Hitler made him trade in his clarinet for a rifle. Those were the days of wine and roses.
Love, Bill

February 24, 2009

2009-03-04T05:09:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~
Just finished reading a book titled Black's Law by the eminent Miami attorney Roy Black. The book profiles four of his bigger trials (one was a capital appeal, not a trial) and provides excellent insight into the workings of the judicial system. Along with a lot of other books I can think of, this one should be mandatory reading for all law students as well as those majoring in criminal justice. You may know that Roy Black is one of the nation's finest criminal defense attorneys. In 1971 I had my own encounter with Roy. I was 17 and had just been arrested for a robbery in South Miami, my first adult arrest. Initially Roy Black, then a new, young Public Defender, was appointed to represent me, along with his fellow new Public Defender, Jack Denaro (Jack also later went on to become a highly regarded criminal defense lawyer, once ranked in the top ten in America by High Times Magazine). I vividly recall both Roy and Jack meeting with me in an interview room at the Dade County Jail. Of course, I had no way of knowing that I was being represented by two guys who would go on to become famous and supremely successful attorneys, two of the best you could ever hope for. But Jeff convinced Dad to hire his old attorney, Lou Vernell (who later went to prison) who, unknown to us, was already falling from grace, descending from successful attorney to a drunken bum. So, Dad kicked out a lot of money to Lou Vernell, I lost Roy and Jack, and Vernell turned my case over to his incompetent assistant, Dennis Holober (later disbarred) and I ended up with a life sentence. I'm certain my life would have turned out differently had Roy Black defended me, but fate dictated otherwise.
We can always look back on the course of our lives and identify those "what if" moments, when things would have gone differently, had another road been taken. But, my worldview is that we must meet our karma, and so I must conclude that it was meant to be just as it was played out. Roy Black becomes just a minor footnote in my personal history, barely worth mentioning. Having said that, his book is good (and educational) and I recommend it to anyone interested in the criminal justice system.
Light & Love,
Bill

February 11, 2009

2009-02-18T05:11:00.001-08:00

Dear Sis~
There's an open window out on the catwalk and the roof-top exhaust fan pulls the air in so that as I sit here on my bunk, pondering today's execution, a brisk breeze washes over my face allowing me, as I close my eyes, to imagine I'm far away and free. I always meditate during the hour stradling an execution, but I can't say I've had any profound revelations or particular insights; mostly my thoughts round back to how ephemeral life is, especially measured against a society which has such a passion for killing. We really are a murderous nation, possessing a single-minded muscular stupidity, which gives us the strength to keep doing what we are doing (an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth!) without regrets. So now, Wayne Tompkins is dead by the hand of the government, and, what? What is different or better? Those possessed with their own moral certitude, those with an atavistic love of blood, death and violence are temporarily satiated - until they demand the next sacrifice to their God - but we, as a people, are collectively diminished each time we use our authority to kill another human being. Those who favor capital punishment focus on the innocence of the victim or the brutality of the murder, but in my mind , the yardstick should be what is says about us as a people - what do we allow ourselves to do and where do we, as supposedly enlightened souls, draw the line? Do we give in to our darkest impulses or do we rise above them? As of today, most Americans are still in favor of taking the easy route (war, death destruction, execution) over the high road. Perhaps, given we are a nation born in blood and violence, we shall always remain so. I want to believe we'll find our better half one day, but that's a story yet to be written.
Love, Bill

January 27, 2009

2009-02-02T15:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~
This will be short as I'm sick with some type of flu; I seldom get sick-the flu hits me about once every 15 years or so. This started 2 days ago and now it's full blown - I have that metallic taste in my mouth and I've lost my sense of taste - all food is tasteless. I never take that annual flu shot. The last time I fell for that trick was 1976, at Desoto Correctional Institute, during the big "swine flu" epidemic (I call it pig fever) which swept the nation. You may recall that millions and millions of flu vaccines were prepared to give to all the elderly people, and it turned out that the flu shot itself killed a lot of old folks. I lined up in the rec yard, like everyone else, and dutifully got my shot. That was a mistake! For the next 4 or 5 days I was sicker than I'd ever been in my life. I could barely walk and spent my days wrapped up in blankets (even a raincoat), trying to sweat it out. Since then, I've declined all flu shots. Which reminds me of the Old Grand Lady who spent 75 years in the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee (at one time the largest mental hospital complex in America with about 5,000 patients). Her husband was in love with another woman, so he signed an affidavit and had her committed, and she just stayed there, lost and forgotten. That was in 1918, during the big flu epidemic which killed a half-million people in this country. One of the side effects of that flu strain was temporary mental problems and lots of survivors ended up in nut houses. This woman became the Forgotten Woman of Chattahoochee until she was discovered by some young girls who brought her plight to the media's attention and eventually got her out. She went on to become the oldest woman in the USA; after she got out, she went to a nursing home in Palatka, Florida, on the St John's River, where she remained in good health until she passed on.
Love,
Bill

January 13, 2009

2009-01-19T05:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~
Well, old Roy may get some relief yet. You may recall that prison officials wrote my elderly neighbor a DR (Disciplinary Report) for his inability to urinate on command. I wrote up an administrative appeal for him, which went to the warden, and we received a rubber-stamped denial (by the "acting warden", since the real warden was on vacation). I then appealed to Tallahassee, pointing out the salient facts, most crucial of which is that Roy takes prescribed medication twice a day to help him urinate. He's got severe prostate problems and, even with the medication, he strains to pee. Anyway, Tallahassee kicked the DR back to the warden, stating that the warden's response and denial was unsatisfactory, and gave him 15 days to either dismiss the DR or come up with a better reason for denying the appeal. If the warden is smart (or just fair), he'll dismiss the Dr and leave old Roy alone, but I'm not overly optimistic. It's exceedingly rare to beat a DR on appeal; but I utilized a factually strong argument combined with a lot of legal vernacular (I mentioned due process more than once) and, maybe someone up in their legal department smelled a potential lawsuit. Anyway, I'll keep you posted...
Everything here is good. I'm still hard at work on this certiorari petition I'm putting together (it's for a non- death row prisoner, not me). The US Supreme Court grants about 70-80 cert petitions each year (i.e., they agree to hear those cases) out of 15,000 or more filed annually, so you can do the math. No matter how good your lawyers are and how much merit your issues may have, it's next to impossible to get the Supremes to consider your case. Still, you gotta try - that's how law is made...
Just learned that Eddie Bell (aka Dreads) has a February execution date in Virginia; the Supremes just denied his cert petition, so he's through dealing. Virginia wastes no time in killing its death row prisoners; they've perfected the express track to the death house (Bell has been on the row for about 5 1/2 years - the average for Virginia and quickest in America). Something to be proud about, huh?
Love, Bill

January 1, 2009

2009-01-08T18:20:00.001-08:00

Dear Sis~
Here it i s, the first day of the new year, a time of hope an renewal. On Death Row, it's easy to be thankful for another year, another shot at life, another chance to believe that Fate will intervene and allow us to deflect the full brunt of Destiny's arrows (or Karma's impassive reproach). On this matter, I can only speak for myself, but once the years have stretched into decades and the past has become just a blur, a smudge of snapshot memories of an endless series of cells, fences, bars and solitary nights, you tend to equivocate, sometimes wishing it would simply end so you can move on to the next plane, the next incarnation, where you can apply the hard-learned lessons burned into your spirit from this earthly journey. Other times, though, you value each day as an opportunity for growth, another chance to burn off Karma and assure yourself that the next time around you won't have to learn those lessons again, that next time, you will fulfill your potential and become the person you wish you had - a positive, uplifting, caring person who will make a difference in other peoples' lives. That's how I deal with the inevitable malaise that hits you when you live for years in a cage; I remind myself that life is not supposed to be soft or easy, life is supposed to be hard, for it's in adversity that we learn, grow and evolve. Every day I live in adverse conditions and overcome, is another day of growth, and each lesson I learn here is a lesson I won't have to learn the next time around. When you view life int hat context, when you truly believe that in your heart, it makes life not just bearable, but actually enjoyable, even in a death row cell. So, I welcome another new year and whatever it may bring, from life to death and all the various degrees and permutations in between...
Meanwhile, I'm sitting here on my bunk, listening to NPR (National Public Radio) on my little pocket radio. They're playing some old classic riffs and, in particular, some Grateful Dead tunes from 1969, which really conjure up pleasant memories, carrying me back to a time when I still had a pocketful of dreams and I had not yet irreversibly turned down the left hand path. Probably the most common fantasy indulged in by humans is to wish we could go back in time to whenever we perceive to be that golden moment of youth, yet to retain the knowledge and wisdom we now possess. Which reminds me of an old adage..."Youth is wasted on the Young."
Alright, Sis, I'll let you go for now. Give the doggies a New Year's hug for me!
Leave & Peace!
Bill

The night before Christmas...

2008-12-24T03:48:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~

Christmas is within sight and, while this is commonly a depressing time in jails and prisons across the land (it reminds you of what you don't have and perhaps never will), I'm focusing on the many things I'm thankful for, from a sound mind and healthy body to all those who love and care for me. It may sound syrupy but I can truly say that, even on death row, I am blessed. All I have to do is consider the many around me who are so much worse off (many here have nothing and nobody), not to mention those in even more wretched places (how about an Iranian prison?!) It's easy (and human) to feel blue and despondent, but since we all have the power to choose how we feel, I choose to feel good!
Well, Old Roy, my neighbor, went to DR court on his charge of "refusing to provide a urine sample" and predictably, he was found guilty and sentenced to the maximum 60 days in disciplinary confinement. This was in spite of the fact that the medical department verified, in writing, his medical condition. Right after he got his charge, I wrote a request for him to the medical doctor, asking them to verify, in writing, his inability to urinate normally. The response came form a nurse, not a doctor, and it stated: "I referred to your request to P.A. Matthews. Your medical records reflect that you are on medication to help you urinate. However, there is no reason that you should not have been able to provide the required urine sample." Besides being inherently contradictory (it confirms that he has a medical condition making it difficult for him to urinate, then turns around and says that he should have been able to urinate), a doctor was not consulted; it was a doctor who prescribed the medication. The P.A. Matthews is a notorious quack here. He's a "Physician's Assistant" who has worked here for at least 30 years that I know of, and he should not be allowed to practice medicine at all. I know him well, and he's as inept incompetent as you imagine, not to mention being a dangerous megalomaniac. About 25 years ago I sat in his office while he regaled me with his outlandish stories. He spent considerable time trying to convince me that he spent years performing heart transplants, working side by side with Dr. Michael DeBakey in Houston (DeBakey was the world's most renowned heart surgeon back then). Matthews performed the lethal injection executions here until he badly botched the Diaz execution 2 years ago, causing an 18-month moratorium on executions in Florida. Anyway, the disciplinary committee had a copy of this reply, but in finding Roy guilty anyway, they told him (according to Roy) "There's one rule and it applies equally to everyone." This is incorrect, since the rule, and case law, acknowledges medical exceptions. I wrote up an appeal for Roy, but I'm not optimistic...
I hope you and the doggies enjoy the holidays. I know my gift will be our visit on Christmas Day! Tell old C.P. that I wish him a Merry Christmas (his 91st!) and an interesting New Year.
Here's a good maxim to reflect on for the new year:

The greatest Joy in life is Service
The greatest Power in life is Love
And the greatest battle in life is the battle against oneself.

Love & Peace,
Bill

December 6, 2008

2008-12-17T05:41:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~
Well, they got old Roy. You may recall that Roy is the elderly, sickly guy next door to me, suffering from diabetes, seizures and bad kidneys, half-dead and with a few teeth. Closing in on 70, Roy is as quiet as a church mouse and just as threatening. The other day, the "piss squad" threw down on him, appearing at his cell door and demanding a urine sample. Roy tried and tried, almost coming to tears at his inability to pee on demand, but, in the end, he was simply unable to urinate in the allotted one (1) hour and the guard informed Roy he would be receiving a disciplinary report (DR) for "refusing to provide a urine sample" (this is the standard charge, even if you are not outright "refusing" to urinate). Roy, in a quivering voice, explained that he suffers from prostate and kidney problems and that he is, in fact, on daily medication (hytrin, I believe it's called) which is designed to help him urinate. All that fell on deaf ears and 24 hours later, he got his DR. He's now waiting to go to DR (Kangaroo) court. The charge carries 60 days in disciplinary confinement (no canteen, no visits, restricted diet, no books, magazines or any recreation). I've helped him prepare a defense by getting the medical department to confirm that he's on the medication, but I don't think it will help. The DR court here (as in most prisons) is notoriously biased and unfair; they just rubber stamp the DR. Perhaps, with the medical documentation, Roy may be able to prevail on the DR appeal to Tallahassee. What a colossal waste of time, money and energy this is, to persecute this old man, throw him in the hole, simply because his feeble bladder was unable to produce urine on command. This whole random drug testing in prison is a colossal waste of money (noteworthy in the middle of an economic crisis, where school budgets and health care budgets are being slashed). The DOC conducts random urine tests on everyone, about 10,000 per month (against about 90,000 prisoners). At about $40 or $50 per test, you can do the math. All that just to determine that "some prisoners smoke reefer." Hell, I could tell them that for free! Think of all the college scholarships that could be awarded for that much money, or all the needy kids who could get medical insurance, or all the school teachers that could be hired. This is typical of America, aka Prison Nation, where citizens gladly spend more on jails and prisons than on education...
Speaking of drug policy, I just finished an excellent book, one which should be mandatory reading in all law schools and all college-level criminal justice courses: Smoke and Mirrors (The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure), by Dan Baum. It didn't tell me a lot that I didn't already know (although it provided great detail and insight) but for the average citizen, it should be eye-opening. It's a tour de force education on the real powers and motives behind our nation's foolishly shortsighted (not to mention racist and cruel) "War on Drugs", perpetuated by law enforcement prosecutors, right-wing politicians with their own power-hungry agendas, the media, and the huge prison-industrial complex which demands a constant flow of convicted felons to fill its ever-growing empire of prisons. It's a depressing read, too, as you realize how many of our citizens (not to mention our constitutional rights) have been destroyed fighting this self-inflicted "war", and how we have essentially criminalized poverty in America...
Alright, Sis, I'm getting off my soap box. Keep your chin up and your heart light.
Love & Peace, Bill

November 13, 2008

2008-11-19T04:13:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~

With the help of our Ace private investigator, Jan, we now know that my transfer back to Florida was instigated by the Virginia DOC in general, and by Loretta Kelly (aka the Dragon Lady), the warden at Sussex I State Prison. As you know, Loretta has had it in for me ever since she was embarrassed by the newspaper over her abysmal treatment of Percy Walton a year ago. She was called to task by Gov. Kaine and the head of the DOC, and she made it clear back then, that she was going to retaliate. Even then, I'd heard rumors that she was openly stating her intention to have me shipped back to Florida, but after 3 or 4 months went by, I figured she's failed in her efforts. Not so! Anyway, it's a relief knowing that the move was unrelated to any imminent signing of my death warrant.
Speaking of warrants, a guy behind me, Wayne Tompkins, is scheduled for execution next week. He was originally set to die 2 weeks ago, but obtained a temporary stay. He's on his third death warrant. If the execution takes place, and if Gov. Crist follows his past practice, he'll sign another warrant within 2-3 weeks. By the way, we have five known "volunteers" here, guys who have legally and officially waived all appeals and are demanding to be executed. One guy, whom I know well (on the row for 15 years) has been agitating for his execution for years, to no avail. He writes letters to the governor, the Attorney General, anyone he can think of, vocally demanding to be executed, but Gov. Crist just ignores him (and the other volunteers)...
I went to the rec yard the other day, my first time in a "big" rec yard in nine years. (Big is a relative term...the yard is about 90 feet x 75 feet, with about 20-25 guys out there at any given time. But it sure beats the dog run cages in Virginia). On the yard, I met a few old timers I knew before I left. I learned that 2 guys I know died earlier this year. Bill Elledge (on the row 31 years), who had a history of asthma, developed lung cancer and died a lingering, painful death in his cell. A guy who was on his floor said that in his final weeks you could hear him all night long gasping for breath and moaning in pain until he finally gave up the ghost. This is a typical prison death from any type of terminal disease, virtually no treatment, you die alone in your cell usually in agony - I've seen it happen to countless men. The other guy, on the row since 1985, just gave up. He used a razor blade to open both wrists, and (for good measure) his femoral arteries in both legs, then crawled under his blanket and bled out. They only discovered it when he didn't answer at count time the next day. Twenty-three years in a single man cell, devoid of hope, can do that to you. One day, the weight just becomes too much, the balance shifts, and you decide it's time to go. I'm not going to go out that way, though. If they want me dead (and they do!), they're going to have to take my life, and the onus will be on them. On that note, I'll close and go to bed.
Love & Peace,
Bill

BILL BACK IN FLORIDA Nov 2, 2008

2008-11-10T05:21:00.000-08:00

Dear Sis~
Well, I'm back here in the belly of the beast. On Friday, I was grabbed up and loaded into a prison transport van (driven by guards from a private prison transport company which contracts with the states) and driven back down here to Florida State Prison without explanation. For the 12 hour trip I was cuffed and shackled with the "black box", a device which painfully locks and covers the handcuffs into a rigid position which becomes very painful in short order, and placed in a small steel mesh "dog box" inside the van. From that vantage point I watched the various free-world people in their cars as we barrelled down I-95. This was my first time in the free world in 9 years (since my trip up to Virginia) and despite my lousy circumstances, I craned my neck to check out all the new cars and busy people going about their business. For me, that passes for entertainment...
When I was told to pack my property for transfer, my initial hunch was that my death warrant had been signed, or was about to be (which may still prove to be the case). Since I arrived, I've been treated like any other D/R prisoner. I'm back on the same wing and same floor I was on when I left in 1999. This place is even more dark, dank and decrepit than ever, the infrastructure is falling apart (leaking pipes and toilets, rusted-closed valves, roach and rat infested plumbing pipe alleys, paint peeling from the filthy cell walls) and the food is terrible. I was bummed out at first, but now my spirits are strong. I'm focusing on what I've got rather than what I don't. I'll write more when I get some more stamps, paper, envelopes and a pen!
Love, Bill

GOOD NEWS!!! Friday Nov 7th

2008-11-07T04:05:00.001-08:00

Dear Readers~
I just found out through a good friend of ours that Bill was moved upon the request of the Virginia Dept of Corrections...they simply do not want to house him any longer. I suspect this is because of the publicity he caused about Percy Walton's abuse in prison and other "problems" he has caused them. I just received a letter from Bill that says he was fully expecting to have his death warrant read to him upon his arrival at Florida State Prison last Friday, but that didn't happen; he is being treated like a regular Death Row inmate. At FSP, though, even DR inmates get a six-hour contact visit! A dear friend of his is visiting him tomorrow and I'm sending him money today that will be available to him tomorrow, so I'll just have to take a longer road trip to visit him, but at least I can! Thank you all for your prayers and kind words...I am forwarding them to Bill today via letter. His new mailing address is William Van Poyck #034071-Florida State Prison-7819 NW 228th St-Raiford FL 32026-1160.
Light & Love, Lisa

BILL HAS BEEN MOVED TO FLORIDA

2008-11-03T05:37:00.000-08:00

Bill has been moved from Virginia back down to Florida State Prison. Nobody knows why...neither Bill nor his attorney were notified beforehand. They just came and got him Friday (Halloween) and took him down to Raiford. As soon as we find out why, we'll keep you posted. His new writing address is: William Van Poyck #034071-7819 NW 228th St-Raiford FL 32026. I'm praying for the positive...

October 11, 2008 - Published late...

2008-10-28T05:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

Well, at least the markets are closed for the weekend so they can't fall any further, until Monday, anyway. What a week this has been; every time you think the markets have hit bottom and couldn't possibly fall any further, they drop like a broken elevator. Putting aside the underlying causes of the current crisis, what we're seeing provides great insight into the psychology of the market and a vivid reminder of how much our modern financial structure, across the globe, depends on that ephemeral quality called confidence. When real confidence in the basic fundamentals of the markets and financial institutions evaporates, everything can grind to a halt with frightening swiftness. No matter what the financial pundits are saying, nobody knows how bad this may get nor hoe long it will last. Hell, nobody really knows how to fix it! One thing I do know is that the bad debt outstanding (all those arcane, bizarre debt structures , like credit default swaps) is much. much greater than most people know of or understand. We're talking about many, many trillions of dollars. Here's something that's not even being talked about: All those mortgage-based debts which were packaged together, diced up and sold down the line (to the next sucker), all those instruments, whose failures started this panic... well, the same thing still exists with the hundreds of billions of dollars worth of credit card debts. Banks took millions of peoples' credit card debts, packaged them together and sold them down the line, exactly as they did with mortgage-based debt. Hundreds of billions of dollars of this debt is sitting on the books of many, many banks, investment houses and insurance companies, another ticking time bomb ready to implode as suddenly as the mortgaged-based credit default swaps collapsed. I'm really not into being Chicken Little, running around saying the sky is falling, but the fact is that things can get a lot worse. The whole nature of our capitalistic system may become questioned if this crisis remains out of control. Behind all of this, essentially, was greed. That isn't just a cliche', it's really true... an outstanding degree of greed and readiness to ignore the possibility of things going south. Combined with zero oversight and toothless regulators (foxes guarding the hen house) this was predictable, or at least, foreseeable. Many supposedly very smart people chose to drink the Kool-Aid, buy into the hype and ignore the risks. In other words, human nature prevailed ...
On a more pleasant note...we, here on the row, are filling out our annual Christmas Fund Package order forms. Once a year, we get to purchase up to $100 of "good" food (good, compared to prison chow!) like meats, fish (all in sealed pouches) cheeses, condiments, cookies and candy. We spend the whole year looking forward to this event; it doesn't take much to get us excited! And with the sever budget cuts we're seeing here across all state agencies (but especially within the DOC) our food is getting nastier and the portions smaller every week. so, everyone is anticipating our little bit of Christmas cheer!
With Love,
Bill

September 25, 2008

2008-09-29T04:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
If I'm irritated sitting on death row, then the average American out in the free world should be really outraged over this $700 Billion bailout for Wall Street. You're looking at the largest transference of wealth (from the public sector to the private) in the shortest amount of time in the history of the world. That's taxpayers' dollars (future obligations on the next generation) going into private banks and financial institutions. Keep in mind that this $700 Billion is only a guess, and a conservative one; the actual cost may exceed one trillion dollars. Also keep in mind that Bush and his Republican cronies in the SEC and Treasury Dept and the Federal Reserve have already, over the last month, committed $480 billion in taxpayers' money (another conservative estimate) to bail out Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns. That's well over a trillion bucks already, at a minimum. This entire "financial crisis", which was entirely predictable, given the pigs-feeding-at-the-trough mentality prevading Wall Street for the last decade, rests on the shoulders of the Republicans. We've had a Republican president for 8 years, a Republican Congress for 12 of the last 14 years, and the heads of the agencies (SEC, Treasury, Commerce, Federal Reserve) are all rich Republicans, appointed by our Republican president and confirmed by our Republican Congress. These agency heads invariably came from Wall Street (Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury, for example, was chairman of Goldman Sachs, where he earned over $20 million per year) they are wealthy Republicans, and they are implementing Republican policies, intended to protect and enrich their fellow Wall Street brethren. These policies can be simply described as "hands off" or "minimal regulation". This lack of agency oversight is directly responsible for the current alleged crisis, and now you have these same folks trying to stampede the Congress (hurry! hurry! rush! rush!) into coughing up this $700 billion to rescue their Wall Street buddies who caused the problem in the first place. I, for one, do not believe their doomsday predictions ("If we don't get the money immediately the financial markets will collapse and the world will fall into a horrendous depression!"). This is the same crew (Bush and company) who stampeded the nation into the Iraq invasion with lies and fabricated evidence; and now we're supposed to just accept their statements at face value? Obama should be able to easily hang all of this on the Republicans, including John McCain who was, for many years, the Chairman of the Senate Committee where he diligently campaigned deregulation of the financial markets. But, Obama is not making his case very well; he's failing to capitalize, failing to make Republicans own this crisis. What kills me is that a bedrock principle of Republican politics is a staunch commitment to "free markets", an insistence that government should never interfere in the markets and that the market will "self-govern" or "self-correct". They love to proclaim their belief in "free markets" as an excuse to not help common folk. But as soon as Wall Street needed a bailout, Bush and his buddies abandoned their alleged belief in free markets! Suddenly, government is no longer the enemy (as Republicans love to assert); suddenly government money (taxpayers' money) must be used to save the Wall Street fat cats from their own stupidity and greed). A moron could hang this whole thing right on the Republicans' doorstep, right where it belongs, but Obama is doing a very poor job of connecting the dots so that Joe Citizen can understand. I'd love to debate McCain on this issue, to make him wear it like an old coat. (McCain has already publically admitted that he "does not really know much about economics". He just takes his clues from the wealthy Wall Street fat cats who constitute his "economic advisors"). This is an issue (the economy in general) which can win the election for Obama if he plays it right (in the end, all Americans really care about is their money. As Clinton was famously instructed 16 years ago, "It's the economy, stupid"). We'll see if Obama figures out how to exploit it to his advantage (so far I'm unimpressed)...
Ok, Sis, I've vented enough. It's past my bedtime (Nightline just went off) so I'm gonna hit the hay. I'll see you soon!
Light & Love,
Bill

September 16, 2008

2008-09-19T14:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
Two more days until my birthday (I've read that, statistically, more people are born in September than any other month) and at the top of my list of things I'm thankful for must be the fact that I'm alive. Being a glass-half-full type of guy, I'm in accord with the old maxim that every day above ground is a good day. Having said that, things continue to deteriorate here in a general sense. Our already terrible food has gotten even worse under the current budget crisis here in Virginia (the governor has told all state agencies to cut their budgets by up to 15%). The portions are tiny and the quality abysmal, mostly cold and starchy. The vegetables and potatoes are consistently rotten and full of sand, the "meat" is all fake ( a soy-based mystery meat which makes you gag) and all the food is served cold 90% of the time. We get these rotten potatoes with every meal, including every breakfast. You already know we get a "bag lunch" (a single bread bun with rotten lunch meat and 2 slices of fake American cheese) and on weekends we only get 2 meals a day (no lunch at all). Now, the latest budget move is that we are no longer issued a bar of state soap each week; we have to pay for our soap now. Traditionally, in all jails and prisons, the state provides soap and toilet paper each week (in some prisons, this extends to toothpaste, paper and envelopes). This is because most prisoners are dirt poor, with little or no money on their books. Now soap is no longer issued (as with most prisons, the soap we were issued were bars of crude, lye-based soap made by prisoners themselves). From now on, unless you have no money on the books you cannot get a bar of state soap, you must buy your soap from the canteen. Those who qualify for a bar of state soap will have a lien placed on their account, so when ever do receive any money, the cost of the state soap will be deducted from their funds. Rumor is that toilet paper will be next, but fortunately so far, that is just a rumor (first they'll have to start selling it in the canteen, something not presently done). I'm not a chronic complainer (I know things could be a lot worse) but things are really bad here now and destined to get worse. And yet, I'm still alive for another B-day, so in the end, it's all good!
Give the doggies a hug for me and give my regards to C.P. (at 90 years old, he's in better shape than many guys 25 years younger).
Love, Bill
P.S. We will be going on quarterly lockdown at the end of the week.

Sept 1, 2008

2008-09-05T04:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
I watched the nightly one-hour installments covering the Democratic convention in Denver over the last four nights and it was a well-produced and excellently organized production. From the Democrats' perspective I don't see how it could have gone any better (I still vividly recall sitting in our living room in August 1968 and watching the utter chaos of the Democratic convention in Chicago with the riots and police beatings both inside and out, and how that led to Nixon's election that November). I was impressed with Hillary's speech and performance which only reinforced my view that Obama missed the beat when he didn't select her as his VP. Obama will probably win in November, but with Hillary on his ticket it would be damn near a slum dunk. Having said that, Joe Biden will prove to be a formidable campaigner and an excellent vice president. I've followed Biden's career for decades because he's always sat on the Senate Judiciary Committee (along with Senator Patrick Leahy, a great protector of the constitution) and, given my own legal interests as a long time paralegal, I pay attention to the legal forces and personalities who select and confirm our federal judges and who write our federal statutes. Biden and Obama, once elected, will ensure that real federal judges are appointed to fill the many current vacancies, and begin correcting the tremendous imbalance in the federal judiciary which is currently dominated by extreme right-wing conservative Republicans. More than any other single thing, the rectification of this imbalance is what I look forward to from a Democratic presidency. Of course, given my situation, my interest are more narrow and focused than any other citizens' concerns, though I too welcome the coming of universal healthcare (or some version of it), energy independence and a more ecologically oriented administration (as opposed to the standard Republican policies which evince a near hatred for our planet and the creatures inhabiting it and seemingly relish the plundering of all natural resources). I fully expect an Obama victory in November and with it, a great breath of fresh air.
Love & Peace,
Bill

Answer to Jesse's Comment

2008-09-04T04:24:00.001-07:00

Jesse:
I just received your comment on one of my posts in August. Being born and raised in Miami, I'm a life-long Dolphins fan. As for Brett, I'm all for him continuing to play; I just wish he was playing for someone other than the Jets, our AFC East nemisis. The Packers organization was put in a tough position. If they had kept Brett they probably would have lost Aaron Rodgers forever and they were thinking long term, not short term. As it is, everyone is now more or less happy, except diehard Packers fans unable to imagine life after Brett. Life goes on though, and you have to adjust to change; change is the only constant in life. Maybe Rodgers will become the next Brett Favre! -Bill

Aug 26, 2008

2008-08-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
I'm reading Howard Fast's historical novel, Spartacus, which is excellent. Like most people, I suppose, my familiarity with this inspiring story came from the movie of the same name, starring Kirk Douglas, which I vividly recall enjoying as a child some 40 years ago. What I did not know, until I read Fast's forward in this new edition, was the remarkable story behind the book and how Fast was forced to self-publish it after J. Edgar Hoover cowed all the mainstream publishing houses into blackballing the manuscript. This was due to Fast's previous support of some left-leaning political causes (specifically for his support of Spain's democratically elected Republican government which had been routed by Facist forces in the 1930's with the support of Hitler & Mussolini) which had already led to Fast's imprisonment in America when he refused to rat out his friends and supporters to the US House Committee on Un-American Activities. This was a dark period of our nation (the late 1940's and early 1950's) which most current Americans are sadly unaware of, when Facism was raising its ugly head throughout our government, and anyone who questioned the establishment's smear tactics was labeled as "unpatriotic" or "Un-American" or as "Socialist" or, worse yet, a "Communist".
A young Richard Nixon played his part in all of this, and J. Edgar Hoover was the muscle. It reminds me of Bush-Cheney in post-9/11 America, using fear and labels of "unpatriotic" to silence any critics of their political policies. It's an old playbook, but tried and true, and sadly it works with so many sheepish Americans who don't dare to question what the Wizard is doing behind the curtain. Anyway, to the chagrin of Hoover, Spartacus became a best-seller and then was turned onto the 1960 movie starring Kirk Douglas and Lawrence Olivier. Howard Fast noted in his forward that it was his time in Federal prison which allowed him to write Spartacus, and that he had no regrets for anything. Fast was a prolific author (more than 50 books) and playwright, and a remarkable person, a man of principle whom I would have enjoyed knowing...
It's past my bedtime, Sis, so I'm going to close this up and hit the hay.
Love, Bill

August 13, 2008

2008-08-19T12:24:00.001-07:00

Dear Sis~
I was looking out my little horizontal slit of a window today, gauging the weather in anticipation of going to rec, and I began observing a gaggle of sparrows sporting around in the long, overgrown grass. A mother sparrow was hopping around followed closely (more like chased, actually) by two big, plump babies almost as large as her. That they were her children was evident by their open beaks as they begged Mom for food. She would pick up a seed from the grass, hold it up, then pop it into a baby's beak. Then, she'd hop or fly a few feet away, the kids almost knocking her down as they crowded behind her, and she'd repeat the process. The more I watched, the more evident it became that she was trying to teach them to peck and hunt the abundant grass seeds for themselves. She'd point at the seeds with her beak, then look at the chicks expectantly. Finally, one baby bird figured it out and began eating seeds on its own. The other was was a little slower; it just kept sitting there, beak agape, demanding to be fed. Anyway, watching this play out, it dawned on me why I have not had the normal flocks of sparrows mobbing my bread crumbs that I throw out everyday at rec. Usually, the sparrows flock in as soon as I call them, or they are already waiting for me. But, for the last several weeks, only a few stragglers have shown up to eat. I figured it was just too hot for them, but now I've concluded that the momma birds (maybe the dads, too) are teaching their babies to forage for their natural foods, which are abundant this time of year. It would be counter-productive to simply let them eat bread crumbs, as they'd never learn to forage for themselves. In fact, I may be doing a disservice by feeding them now if the "free food" it is making them less self-sufficient. For that reason, I'm going to stop feeding them for awhile, at least until the fall. When it gets cold and the seeds are gone, perhaps they'll need some help. But for now, I'll let Mother Nature do what She does best...
I was mildly annoyed last week with the typical media coverage. Russia was invading Georgia, which counts as a substantial news event, and I was flipping through the channels, trying to find some coverage. All of our media outlets, however, were obsessed with breathlessly covering ex-senator John Edwards' 2-year old extra-marital affair. From local news to national news on every channel, that's all that was on, not a peep about the battling in Georgia. So, I waited for Nightline...I just knew they'd be covering this event. But no, the entire program was devoted to parsing and re-parsing every single aspect of this scandal, as if the fate of the free world hung in the balance. To me, this is a very personal matter, between Edwards and his wife, which they will personally work out (or not) and isn't worthy of much more than a mention. This is so typical of the American mindset, the puritanical obsession with anything involving sex, the rush to sacrifice and destroy and devour anyone who dares to "sin with sex." This is the mindset that believes sex is "dirty", the human body is sinful, and a sexual indiscretion is the highest crime. We'll impeach a president for a sexual matter, but a president who takes a nation to war based on a pack of lies and deception gets a free pass. This is the same crowd that's OK with blood-drenched slasher movies (killing, mayhem, guns and war are good!) but recoils if an actor dares to show a breast or if sex is implied (sex is bad!) What's wrong with this picture?
OK, they're pulling us for rec...I'm going to go out and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.
Love, Bill

August 5, 2008

2008-08-08T03:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
Less than 90 days until the election and I can hardly wait to witness the changing of the guard. I'm confident Obama will be our next president and, while there are many reasons I'll be pleased to see that occur, at the top of my list is the long overdue opportunity to re balance the federal judiciary. The far majority of all federal judges were appointed by Republican presidents and most are knee-jerk, right-wing, conservative rubber stampers, exceedingly pro-state, pro-prosecution, pro-police and anti-prisoner, anti civil-rights, anti-libertarian judges who've never seen a death sentence they don't love, judges who are proud of the fact that they've never granted a habeas corpus petition in their career. Most citizens are unaware that most judges, by far, are ex-prosecutors, and this trend has only accelerated in the last decade under the prevalent "tough on crime" atmosphere permeating the political arena. The cliche of the "liberal activist judge" is a conservative fantasy for the most part. All I want to see are fair, intellectually honest judges who respect the constitution and are unafraid to stand up to the power structure when it has perpetuated injustices - that isn't much to expect, but it's a lot more than Americans are getting with the current crop of partisan political hacks turned judicial appointees...
I had a touching experience following one of our visits recently. You'd already left and I was stuck in the visiting booth awaiting an escort back to the cell block, just sitting there, casually watching the incoming visitors waiting to enter the general population visiting park. An exceptionally attractive woman was seated in one of those plastic chairs and she had two cute kids with her, a little boy and little girl, perhaps 4 or 5 years old. The kids were reaching up to the sill of that 4 foot tall dividing wall separating me from them, jumping up and down, trying to peek through the glass. All I could see was their little hands and the top of their heads. The woman and I locked eyes and we both smiled at each other - what a beautiful smile she had! - and then she spontaneously stood up, grabbed each child in her arms and lifted them up so they could see me. I waved at the kids, grinning like a fool (you know how much I love kids) and they happily waved back, all excited, as if I was a long-lost uncle. The mother and I locked eyes again and she beamed with pride. There was an almost electric connection between us. It was a very poignant experience for me, and a very sweet and kind gesture. Somehow, she intuitively knew that that simple gesture would bring me a measure of joy and she was willing to do it for a stranger. It's impossible to describe how much that affected me in that moment, and for the rest of the day I felt great joy. I guess that's a demonstration of how emotionally stunted I get from being confined in a cell 24/7, how hungry I am for human connection...
Alright, sis, I'll let you go for now. Give the doggies a pat on the head for me!
Love, Bill

July 24, 2008

2008-07-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
Emmett was executed an hour ago. The TV News Reporter apparently didn't think that was very newsworthy as it was about the 7th story reported, after the traffic, weather report, and story about feral cats, etc...
Anyway, Sis, I'm bummed out right now and not really in a letter-writing mood. This is the fourth execution here in 8 weeks and I'm just tired of being a part of so much death. I have not added it up, but off the top of my head I estimate that I've seen then take away and execute about 40 guys since I've been here in Viorgina. I do remember they killed 14 guys in my first 12 months here, when they were really on a tear. I promise my next letter will be more upbeat!
Light & Love.
Bill

July 16, 2008

2008-07-18T15:17:00.001-07:00

Dear Sis~

Today I spoke on the phone with my attorney (as you know, he's in Milwaukee) who patched me in for a 3-way conversation with a well-known Florida attorney who has been very successful over the decades in getting guys off the Row. This lawyer has agreed to come on board as local counsel in my latest litigation. This is the same attorney who advised my attorney last week that my name had just appeared on he "death list" put out by the Commission on Capital Cases (this latest iteration of the list has 19 names on it, including mine. The version before that had 28 names; don't ask me how it went from 28 to 19; I can only speculate that the missing names represent guys who somehow got back into court). Anyway, as I told you before, this isn't the "official" list; that is created by and kept by the Attorney General. To emphasize this, today I was told that Governor Crist signed another death warrant last week (I believe it was for Richard Henyard) and this git was not on the list. The Florida lawyer told me that the signing of Henyard's warrant surprised everyone because he was not on the list and he's only been on the Row since 1994. There are many death-warrant eligible guys who have been on the Row a lot longer, like Gary Alvord (34 years, the longest in Florida) or Douglas Meeks, or others who have been there for 20-30 years. On the other hand, Henyard was convicted of multiple murders of a most heinous nature, which is in keeping with Governor Crist's announced criteria for signing warrants (the most heinous crimes, guys who have been on the Row the longest). The execution date is set for sometime in September. Anyway, this highlights the arbitrary nature of these signings; there's just no way to figure out whose warrant will be signed. All I can hope is that since I didn't kill anyone, I'm not high on the governor's list, and that my just-filed litigation gets me off the list, or at least until that litigation is terminated one way or another...
Sometimes I wonder how (or if) signing death warrants affects a governor; obviously everyone is different, some probably relish it, or others just bear it as a constitutional duty. And while it's easy for a governor to deflect personal responsibility, telling himself or herself that the person was convicted by a jury and sentenced to death by a judge, and therefore the governor isn't really killing the person, that's just really a matter of semantics. You are alive until the governor make a conscious and deliberate decision to have you put to death and that's a simple, unalterable fact. In his/her heart the governor knows he's putting a person to death. That can take an emotional toll on a person, depending upon the governor's mental/emotional/spiritual makeup. You'd like to think your governor would take his role seriously. I recall how, years ago, the long-time warden of the state prison in Mississippi quit his job because he just couldn't take participating in the gas chamber executions anymore. (Contrary to what most people think, the gas chamber was a violent, agonizing form of execution, nothing clinical or easy about it). He went on to become a vocal opponent of capital punishment. So, you never know).
Alright, Sis, that's it for now.
Love, Bill

July 9, 2008

2008-07-12T06:15:00.001-07:00

Dear Sis~
Last week the guards came in, chained up Kent Jackson (aka Memphis) and transported him to Greensville for his July 10th execution. For the past 8 weeks, Virginia has scheduled an execution every two weeks; Emmett is scheduled to die two weeks from tomorrow's execution. I confess to being more than a little despondent over being in the middle of so much killing. The State (and society) can employ all the legal euphemisms they want, but it's killing, pure and simple, and exceedingly premeditated...
I spoke to my lawyer today and learned that my name is now on the "death list" put out by Florida's Commission on Capitol Cases. This is a list of "death warrant eligible" prisoners, which are prisoners who have exhausted all their legal remedies and have no pending litigations in any court(s), thus making them eligible to have their death warrant signed by the governor. In Florida, the governor has full and unbridled discretion over whose death warrant to sign, and when to sign it. There are about 25 names on that death list (last time I checked) and a lot of them have been on the Row for a lot longer than me, and there are a lot of guys whose crimes were heinous by any definition. The fact that I did not kill the victim in my case (which the State now belatedly concedes) nor intended for him to die may or may not be significant to Governor Crist when he goes about deciding whose warrant to sign. Again, the governor can do what he wants. Recently, Governor Crist made public statements to the effect that in signing death warrants he will focus on those who have been on the Row for the longest and those convicted of the most heinous crimes. Left unanswered is the rate at which Governor Crist intends to sign warrants. He can sign 2-4 per year (like Jeb Bush used to) or he can sign 20 or more. It's totally up to him and what's in his heart. Now, by the time you read this, my lawyers will have filed, in Federal court, my final litigation (it's complicated, so I won't try to explain it here), which we've been planning for several months. I don't know if that will affect my status on "the list" (I suspect not) but we'll see. At any rate, I've been preparing for this for a long time and I'm taking it in stride...
Give the doggies a big hug for me!
Light & Love, Bill

June 25, 2008

2008-06-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
Tonight the Commonwealth of Virginia conducted its 100th execution since 1974, when capitol punishment was reinstated by the US Supreme Court, putting to death Robert (Chad) Yarbrough, whom I knew as a quiet, unassuming guy. When I watched the Fox 10:00 news to see if the 9:00 pm execution had in fact occurred, the lead story was about three feral cats which were trapped and euthanized by a hired contractor. The news spent 5 minutes on that story, talking to protestors from around the country who were outraged that three wild cats had been put to death. After three more other stories, they finally spent 60 seconds covering the execution of a real, live human being (Chad). Just shows you the moral priorities of that TV station; executing feral cats = bad! executing people = good! At least the other two TV stations (CBS and ABC) covered the people protesting the execution, including Terri (Wolfe's mom), God bless her. It takes much optimism and faith to believe that this blood-thirsty state will ever curb its enthusiasm for executing its fellow citizens. But Terri, and her fellow protesters are willing to fight the good fight, against all odds and in the face of extreme apathy, indifference and downright hostility. Meanwhile, Virginia has 2 more executions scheduled for the month of July in its never-ending quest to sate its appetite for blood.
Love & Light, Bill

Herald.com - Your Miami Everything Guide

2008-06-25T15:42:00.000-07:00

Herald.com - Your Miami Everything Guide

June 9, 2008

2008-06-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~

The Sword of Damocles no longer hangs over Percy as Governor Kaine today commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment on the eve of his execution. Percy, as always, is oblivious to how his fate was so arbitrarily decided by men he has never met, and he'll certainly be at a loss as to how and why he's been suddenly transferred to a new prison. For me, at least, this whole debate was not so much about Percy, per se, (who arguably might be better off dead than enduring the next 40 years all alone in a maximum security solitary confinement cell surrounded by staff and prisoners who will abuse him) but instead was a referendum on what our society is and should be. Today, civility won out, but I'm acutely aware of how easily it could have gone the other way. Another governor, or this one with less compassion and wisdom, would have allowed the state to kill Percy. Percy survived by executive grace, not because any courts intervened, not because society deemed it morally reprehensible to kill a crazy man. In the end, it all came down to the moral compass of one man and, at least on this day, the right thing was done. I'm more than a little conflicted about Percy's fate for I know what a miserable existence lays ahead for him (profoundly insane people in prison are caged like beasts, seldom receiving any kind of treatment whatsoever. Imagine a cowering dog in a tiny kennel for the next 40 years and you can visualize Percy's future). From a spiritual/metaphysical perspective I don't pretend to understand what Percy's soul might gain by incarnating as a totally insane person. What purpose is served by enduring such a miserable life on this earth? And again, you can't help but wonder if the more merciful thing might be for Percy to pass on and come back around the next time with a whole mind. But, that's not my judgment to make, and it shouldn't be our society's, either.
It has occurred to me that perhaps the "purpose" of the Percy's in this world is not to teach Percy's soul anything, but instead is to teach all of us how to view the Percy's with love, compassion and understanding, to teach us the meaning of mercy (Shakespeare wrote that "mercy is nobility's true badge"). At any rate, tonight I am happy that Percy will live and that Virginia's better side has won out, even if it's just a fleeting victory. We have another execution in two weeks and two more in July, including my friend Christopher Emmett. Bad times lay ahead, but for now, I will sleep well tonight.
Love, Bill

June 9, 2008 Percy Lives!

2008-06-09T20:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers~
Percy Lives! Tonight, just before he was to be executed, Gov. Kaine stepped in and commuted Percy Walton's death sentence to life without parole. Percy will leave death row and begin serving his life sentence. From what Bill has told me, a life sentence would give Percy a chance to actually be treated for his insanity, not killed because of it. Thankfully, Gov. Kaine had the heart to do the human(e) thing concerning Percy. One prayer answered tonight...
Bill's sister, Lisa

June 5, 2008 - Percy walks again

2008-06-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
Today they chained Percy up and carted him off to Greensville for his June 10th appointment with the executioner. Percy was totally oblivious as to where he was going, and why, but he became agitated when the lieutenant confiscated his beloved, ever-present orange knit cap. I bought the cap for him some time ago and he's worn it, 24/7, ever since, until it's become a filthy and raggedy tangle of knitting, but one he clings to like a security blanket. This is the fourth time Percy has made the journey to Greensville, a trip 99% of people do not return from alive, so he's already living on borrowed time. Your guess is as good as mine whether Percy will survive this time; it is totally up to the discretion of Gov. Kaine, who has his own political considerations since he's on Obama's short list for the vice presidential slot. I don't want to believe he will allow this profoundly insane man to be put down like a dog, but my experience with the system makes it difficult to be optimistic...
On a more sanguine note, a couple of days ago they suddenly transferred Daryl Atkins to population in another prison, releasing him from death row. Daryl is the Atkins the US Supreme Court's 2002 decision in Atkins v Virginia, where the Court held it unconstitutional to execute mentally retarded defendants. In the six years since then, Virginia has re-sentenced Daryl to death two more times, and both times the courts have vacated the new death sentence. About 6 months ago, at a hearing which uncovered a lot of corrupt actions by the original detectives and prosecutor, including the suborning of perjury at the original trial, a trial judge threw out the death sentence and imposed a life sentence, but the state immediately appealed that action. So, either the state lost its appeal, or they withdrew it, fearing that further litigation would only uncover more dirt by the original prosecutors. At any rate, after 10 years on the row, Daryl is now gone, serving life at Wallens Ridge, a maximum security joint up in the mountains. It is exceptionally rare in Virginia for a condemned prisoner to get his death sentence reduced and Daryl was very lucky. Daryl is a very low-key, mild mannered, unassuming and happy-go-lucky sort of guy who will blend into prison life without incident, and society will never hear from him again...
I've got legal work to do, Sis, so I'm signing off.
Love, Bill

May 22, 2008

2008-05-28T04:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
The execution schedule here has been in a flux. The Commonwealth has issued death warrants for four guys, 1) Eddie Bell; 2) Percy Walton (aka Crazy Horse); 3) Kevin Green; and, 4) Robert Yarbrough. However, two weeks ago the US Supreme Court granted certiorari in Bell's case, and granted him a stay of execution, in order to review his ineffective assistance of counsel claim. This bought Bell at least another 10-12 months of life, at a minimum, but probably a lot more because I believe the US Supreme Court is going to ultimately rule in his favor and vacate his death sentence (ironically, 4 years ago, I had the exact same issue that Bell was just granted certiorari on. The Supreme Court declined to grant me cert when we presented the case to them. Now, belatedly, the Court will review and rectify this issue, although it will be too late to help me). Anyway, almost as soon as Bell got his stay of execution the Commonwealth petitioned for a death warrant for Christopher Emmett, asking for the same date as Bell had, July 24. As it stands now, Kevin Green is scheduled to die this Tuesday, May 27; Percy is scheduled for June 10; Yarbrough's date is June 25, and, as I said, Emmett will be scheduled for July 24. That's 20% of our death row population set to die in the next 60 days. All of these are serious dates (as opposed to "fake dates", which are issued in order to force the prisoner into Federal Court before he's required to file). By "serious dates" I mean that each guy has been through all the courts, state and federal, and has exhausted all of his legal remedies. Thus, unless something unexpected occurs, these executions will probably occur as scheduled. The one most likely to get reprieve is Percy. The Governor already gave him two stays (first, a 6-month stay, then an 18-month stay) based upon his clear and unequivocal insanity. And, it was "understood" that at the end of that 18-month period (i.e. June 10, 2008) Governor Kaine was going to commute Percy's death sentence to life so he could go to a mental hospital and receive the treatment he's not getting here. But, Kaine is reportedly on Barack Obama's "short list" for the Vice Presidential slot, and I'm very skeptical that Kaine will commute a death sentence just months before he might be running for vice-president. (God forbid he might be accused of having a heart and displaying some mercy and compassion for a profoundly insane person). So, Percy might still be in trouble. I still recall how then-governor Clinton left the Presidential campaign trail in 1992 and raced back to Arkansas to oversee the execution of a retarded prisoner whom the Pope had implored Clinton to grant clemency to. Clinton was, at the time, being accused of being "soft on crime" and he was determined to execute that guy to prove to the right-wing, pro-death penalty crowd that he was a "tough guy". I hope history does not repeat itself or else Percy will be sacrificed on the altar of political ambitions.
Love, Bill

NOTE: By the time I received this Blog entry and posted it, Kevin Green had already been executed the day before (Tuesday, May 27th) ~ Lisa Van Poyck

May 12, 2008

2008-05-20T05:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
I recently read a news story out of Germany speculating that treasure hunters may have finally located the fabled, long-missing Amber Room, buried near the German-Czech border. As you know, the Amber Room played a central role in my novel, Quietus. Many adventurers and treasure hunters have searched in vain for the Amber Room ever since the Nazi's looted it from the old Imperial Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, in the closing years of WWII. As mysteries go, it's a top flight one, and with an estimated present-day worth in excess of a billion dollars, there's been no shortage of seekers. A part of me would like to see it found, simply because of the incredible beauty of the objects, and their historical value. But another part of me prefers that its location remain secret, an inscrutable enigma worthy of its magnificence. Some mysteries should remain so, if for no other reason than to give would-be fortune hunters something to aspire to...
We had a tornado steam roll right past the prison yesterday afternoon. The sky became black, the rain flew in sideways and the fences shook like a hanging carpet being beaten with a broom. The two big, heavy trash bins out front of the cellblock were picked up and flung violently against the wall about fifty feet away. The tornado itself missed the prison by about 1,000 feet but it was close enough to get my attention...
We had a bunch of big wigs come by today, touring death row. I heard we'll have officials here every day of the week, inspecting and touring. I'm not sure who they are, but its the same pro forma inspections I've witnessed all my life, people just going through the motions, patting themselves on the back, not really interested in seeing anything or rocking the boat. In the end, they'll just sign off on some form and report that everything is great...
Hillary's schtick has become very tiresome. I wish she'd just pull out and let the real campaign begin, pitting Obama against McCain. Hillary is in denial, apparently unable to grasp the obvious; it's almost like she inhabits some other alternate reality...
Just saw the news flash of a terrible earthquake in Southwestern China, an estimated 7.9 magnitude (that's a big one) which, they are reporting, has killed some 80,000 people (that number will certainly change dramatically, up or down, over the next week). The pictures on TV are heartbreaking. Most victims appear to be dirt-poor villagers, lots of towns obliterated. A reminder that nature is a cruel teacher...
Nightline is over which means it's my bed time. Give yourself a hug for me!
Love, Bill

May 1, 2008

2008-05-06T04:28:00.001-07:00

Dear Sis~
You gotta forgive me if I'm repeating myself 'cuz I don't recall whether I've already written you re this. At any rate, we now have four guys here with execution dates: Larry "Bill" Elliott on May 13th; Kevin Green on May 23rd (I think); Percy on June 10th and Edward Bell on July 29th (approximately). Now, Elliott's is a "fake date" inasmuch as there's no danger of him actually being executed on May 13. The State signed his death warrant in order to force him into Federal court, forcing him to file his Federal habeas corpus petition. As for Percy, his "18 month stay of execution" given by Gov. Kaine is up on June 8, and unless Kaine takes action and commutes his sentence based on his unequivocal insanity, Percy will be executed. I believe Kaine will commute his sentence, as he should, but nothing is a given. There is a high probability that Kevin will be executed in 3 weeks, and the same goes for Bell in July (although Bell still has a certiorari petition pending before the US Supreme Court, which provides him some hope, however ephemeral that might be). It still remains to be seen how the recent Baze decision by the US Supreme Court will actually play out in Virginia and other states. Having read the 92-page decision re lethal injection I can tell you that it wasn't as cut and dried as the media implied. The court left a lot of room for the different courts in different states to reach different conclusions, although, as a practical matter (especially in Virginia which dearly loves its death penalty) I don't see too many states holding up their executions much longer. In Texas, Virginia and especially the other southern states, including Florida, the gears of the machinery of death are grinding onward without much of a hiccup. If Virginia kills Kevin in 3 weeks, well, then it's clear sailing for everyone else here on the road to the execution chamber...
Four days ago they moved me to a different cell (they moved 7 or 8 of us) so they could paint the filthy, burned-out cells we vacated. The ones we moved into had just been painted so at least now I'm in a clean cell. Looking out my cell window last night, around 1:30 am, I spotted a mother possum, with 4 babies trailing behind her, out front, digging through the big plastic trash bins, snacking on the scraps of food. That's what passes for excitement here! Still, I watched the critters for 20 minutes, until they waddled away, glad to be able to see wild and free creatures at close range (not exactly the plains of Serengeti, but I take what I can get)...
That's it for now, Sis. Give yourself a hug for me!
Love, Bill

May 1, 2008

2008-05-06T04:28:00.000-07:00

April 20, 2008

2008-04-24T05:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
As you've surely heard, the US Supreme Court recently handed down its decision in the Baze case, re the constitutionality of the lethal injection procedures and protocols utilized by the various states. The decision was actually more nuanced than the media reports implied, and it was a plurality opinion, not a majority, which has certain legal implications. Still, it definitely allows the states to resume executions which most will likely do, especially Texas and Virginia (here in Virginia we have 3 guys lined up ready to go). Mildly interesting is that Justice Stevens, in the Baze decision, stated that capital punishment in its entirety should be junked. Historically, every 7-10 years one of the Justices will throw in the towel and declare that he no longer believes in the death penalty, but he invariably takes this position just after retirement, or as he's going out the door. At his age, Stevens has one foot out the door already. Just once, I'd like one of these Justices take a strong anti-death penalty stance at a time when it counts. Anyway, reading this Baze decision is disconcerting and depressing when you realize that what are supposed to be the nation's finest legal minds are arguing over the best way to kill people ...
I don't recall if I told you that one of my short stories (an older one which I submitted on a whim) won third place in the 2008 PEN American Prison Writing Contest. I have not written any new fiction in several years, having gotten burned out and discouraged, combined with being especially busy with legal work. But I intend to get back to writing again this year; I've still got some good work left inside of me...
Well, the news is coming on so I'll sign off for now. Give the doggies a hug for me!
Love, Bill

April 9, 2008

2008-04-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
I just finished reading a very moving true story in my May issue of Esquire magazine. The story, The Things That Carried Him, by Chris Jones, details the death and burial of Army Staff Sergeant Joe Montgomery, killed in Iraq last year. It's a powerfully written piece, sad and poignant, impossible to read without crying, and a graphic reminder of why I hate war (and the Iraqi war in particular) and the spineless, deceitful politicians who so blithely and cynically throw away the lives of our soldiers. Here are two laws which, if passed, would put an end to unnecessary wars in this country: (1) a requirement that any war must be accompanied by an immediate $1.00 per gallon gasoline tax increase in order to pay the costs of war (to better make the average citizen share in the sacrifice) and (2) that the adult children of every politician voting for war must serve on the battlefield. I know that's a fantasy, but in an ideal world that's how it would be...
I'm in the middle of a bunch of legal work, a particular project for which it's difficult for me to generate much enthusiasm, but I must give it the old college try so I'm going to close this up and get back to work. I'll see ya soon in the visiting park!
Love, Bill

March 30, 2008

2008-04-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Sis~
I read an interesting essay in the March 31st issue of The New Yorker regarding the general decline and demise of the newspaper industry, whose old-school business model cannot compete with the Internet, combined with CraigsList (which offers free classified advertising, while paid classified advertising is the bread-and-butter economic foundation of the conventional newspaper business model). It's a little more complicated than simple economics, but the severe decline is indisputable and possibly irreversible. It's sad to see the old-fashioned ink-and-paper newspapers go the way of the dinosaur, but it's a lesson in economic evolution: those who cannot change and adapt will perish. Mostly the essay is focused on the Internet, and the rise of blogging. But getting back to physical newspapers like say, The Miami Herald, it occurs to me that one way to keep such a newspaper alive (with fully staffed editorial and investigative departments, unlike the skeleton staffs the papers are now resorting to, like cannibalizing their young) would be to transform it into a non-profit public trust. Once the pure profit motive disappears the paper would be free to concentrate on delivering the best quality news possible. I believe there is a Florida newspaper that already does something like that, maybe it's The St. Petersburg Times, if memory serves me correct. That may be the wave of the future. But, only those cities blessed with some wealthy patron(s) will then have newspapers. It would take a serious knot of cash to buy the paper, then place enough money into an investment trust which would then generate enough income to pay the considerable annual overhead of running the paper. That kind of money could come from a single wealthy person, or maybe a small consortium, which then begs the question of bias by the donor, whether the newspaper will be reasonably objective or just be a tool to promote his particular views. Can you imagine the only newspaper in a major city, say The Chicago Tribune, owned and operated by Rush Limbaugh? Another possibility would be to appeal to the general public, sell millions of "shares" to civic-minded citizens, much the same way the Green Bay Packers team is owned not by your typical wealthy NFL owner, but instead is owned by the citizens of Green Bay, Wisconsin (a business model unique in the NFL). Of course, I cannot simply go online...I instead relish my evening ritual of receiving my daily USA Today at mail call and devouring every article and story. It will be a very sad day when the last major city paper-and-ink newspaper is published...
Ok, enough rambling from me!
Light and Love, Bill

March 19, 2008

2008-03-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the spring equinox, a time of renewal, with Easter Sunday right behind it. It's hard to believe that this year is about to enter the second quarter. The older I get the faster the years fly by, a commonly shared observation I know, but curious nonetheless...
About 10 days ago when I was out in the rec cages, we saw a dozen deer just outside the fences, along the edge of the woods; they were totally unafraid, just grazing on the long grass, unconcerned with us prisoners in our cages as we watched them mosey along. They were young deer (certainly small ones, as whitetails go) and rather frisky, occasionally kicking up their heels and skipping around, happy to be alive under a gloriously blue sky and radiant sun. Two young bucks squared off with each other, rearing up on their hind feet and briefly battering each other with their front hoofs. All of us stood silently, raptly watching this rare & unexpected display of nature, until the deer finally trotted off, leaping one by one over a low wire fence behind a guard tower disappearing back into the woods. These deer were smart enough to know that they were in no danger, even with humans just 100 feet away, that this was safe territory (being state property they are not at risk of being hunted here). Now each November, when deer season opens, I hear the dogs baying and the guns booming not far off, just over the tree lines, every day for weeks on end, yet the deer somehow know that they are safe if they stay right up against the prison grounds. Our deer never appear skittish even when the guns are banging a few hundred yards away...
Today, all the news programs marked the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq and President Bush gave a speech where he confidently declared that the war had been a great success and that he'd do it all over again if he was given a chance. He specifically said that "the sacrifices have been worth it," said by man who does not know the meaning of sacrifice. (you can bet none of his friends or family are dying in Iraq). This is the same president who announced that America is not in a recession. ("It's just a rough patch") and that the government has "a strong dollar policy". It's sad how clueless our fearless leader is.
Tonight I received notice that one of my short stories, The Man From Far Away won third place (short fiction category) in the 2008 PEN Prison Writing Contest. I usually enter a story in this contest (I've won before, a couple of times in past years). The PEN American Center is a prestigious association of well-known writers and poets and one of the neat benefits of winning is that they allow you to participate in a mentoring program where an established writer/author will critique some of your work. Some of these writers/playwrights/poets are very famous and it's a unique opportunity to have one of them give you advice & critique your writing...well, time to go, Sis. Give the doggies a hug for me!
Love, Bill

March 10, 2008

2008-03-12T16:43:00.001-07:00

Dear Sis~
I guess I was guilty of excessiuve hubris when I assumed that Obama would win either the Texas or Ohio primary and would thus effectively sew up the Democratic nomination. Clearly I underestimated Hillary's ability to successfully fight and claw her way back from the brink of defeat. Now it looks inevitable that this battle will go all the way to the August convention, with Hillary & Obama attacking each other all the way, while John McCain sits on the sidelines smiling like the Cheshire Cat, looking presidential. This internecine warfare will be mutually destructive and may implode the Democrats' chance to win the White House if their eventual nominee comes out of a brokered convention with all the hallmarks of a back-room deal (especially if Hillary gets the nod over Obama if Obama enters the convention with the lead in delegates, which is a virtual certainty). This general election shopuld be the Democrats to win, but they may well snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. At least McCain is a decent and honorable man, with common sense and integrity, so if he prevails, it won't be a total disaster...
Gold closed at $980 an ounce last week, up 17% since January 1st. Platinum closed at $2,240 (up 48% since Jan 1st), while silver closed at $21 (up 38%) Virtually all commodities are up double digits (petroleum, copper, wheat aluminum, coffee, etc...) which will only continue the rest of the year. I think gold has the most upside, though, as an investment vehicle. I expect it to hit $1,000 an ounce very soon, and to be at $1,500 to $2,000 by years end. Gold has different dynamics than silver and platinum (i.e., it responds to different market forces) and an investor can buy into it easily by purchasing a gold ETF (Exchange Traded Fund), which trades like a stock on the stock market. I know there are also silver ETF's and probably a platinum-based ETF. Anyway, normally I'd never recommend investing in gold (it is terribly volatile) but the economy is in a very unique situation now (recession, inflation, stagflation) which makes gold a good bet for substantial gains. If I had a big chunk of money to invest, I'd put it all into gold. Another big reason for the rise in gold is because of the falling dollar. Gold, like petroleum, is priced in US dollars, so as the dollar falls, gold must rise (as must petroleum, which closed at a record $107.20 a barrel today). A bet on gold is a bet against the dollar, and unfortunately, a bet against the dollar is a safe bet. The dollar has been sinking like a rock for over a year and will continue to do so for some time to come due to the fundamental weaknesses in our economy and our fiscal/economic policies. Our economy is going to get a lot worse before it improves, believe that. (Preisdent Bush is about the only American who still believes we are not in a recession. Hell, we were in a recession back in December). So, if you hit the lottery or fall into an inheritance, my recommendation is to put it into gold!
Love, Bill