Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Prison Torture Within the U.S.A., by Mary Neal


HORROR STORY NO. 1:  Torture of Mentally Ill Inmate in Illinois

An Illinois prison psychiatrist's answer to mental illness in an inmate:  Repeatedly strap him naked to a bare metal bedframe for up to 32 hours, in isolation and without food.  Anthony Gay, age 35, is the plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against Dr. Rakesh Chandra.  Gay alleges cruel and unusual treatment while incarcerated in Tamms Correctional Center in southern Illinois in 2004.

Whereas Gay's treatment was most certainly cruel, it was nothing unusual.  Mentally ill inmates are frequently subjected to torture behind bars, and some die. 
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Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it to ONE of the least of these my brethren, you have done it also unto me. ~ Matthew 25:40
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YOUR RESPONSE?



HORROR STORY NO. 2:  Week-long Execution Torture in Ohio

Romell Broom's execution in Ohio was postponed after executioners poked him for over two hours but failed to find a suitable vein for the lethal injection IV.  Broom's lawyer,Tim Sweeney, protested, calling the execution cruel and unusual punishment.  Gov. Ted Strickland ordered a one-week break before resuming execution.

The team began working on Broom in a holding cell 17 steps from the execution chamber at about 2 p.m.  They stopped at about 4:30 p.m.  Broom attempted to help the team access his veins, and after one failed attempt, he covered his face . . .  sobbing.  (AP report, Sept. 15, 2009)

*UPDATE 10/06/09:  Ohio May Have a Solution to KILLING Broom and other inmates more efficiently.

(AP) – Columbus, Ohio - Ohio is considering injecting lethal drugs into inmates' bone marrow or muscles as an alternative to — or a backup for — the traditional intravenous execution procedure, a prisons department spokeswoman said Tuesday.
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Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power, preserve those that are appointed to die. ~ Psalm 79:11
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YOUR RESPONSE?



I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. . .  Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.  Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. To remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all.
~ Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize for Peace, 1986


SOLUTIONS:  Decriminalize Mental Illness and Repeal Capital Punishment

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Roughly 1.25 million inmates are mentally ill, comprising more than half of our nation's prisoners. This happened in large part because monies that once went to their hospitalization and treatment within their communities now goes to imprison them, at no savings to taxpayers. Rep. Eddie Johnson of Texas proposed H.R. 619 to remedy the need for more inpatient space in mental hospitals by reinstating Medicaid insurance for inpatient psychiatric care.  It was largely the removal of this insurance that led to hospital closings and the criminalizing of mental illness.
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About 2/3 of inmates were incarcerated on non-violent offenses.  Many psychiatric patients now warehoused in prisons would fare very well in their communities as outpatients with subsistence provisions.  Kendra's Law participants in New York had around 90% reduction in their rates of hospitalization, arrests, homelessness, and imprisonment compared to their experiences three years prior to becoming program participants under court-ordered treatment.  H.R. 619 for hospitalizing acute mental patients who did violent crimes (usually resulting from a lack of psychiatric treatment), and Kendra's Law for nonviolent patients would improve community safety, promote healing, and end prison abuses to our most vulnerable citizens.
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Regarding the death penalty, what part of "thy shalt not kill" do we not understand?  End capital punishment.
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*It does not deter crime   *It targets the poor   *It is racist   *It kills the innocent   *It is barbaric  
* It is expensive, costing around $90,000 more per death row inmate per year than inmates serving life without parole in maximum security prisons.
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YOUR RESPONSE?  Would you write a quick email to your elected officials in favor of H.R. 619 for inpatient care and assisted outpatient treatment for mentally ill offenders?  Would you also like to see the death penalty repealed in your state and/or give inmates every opportunity to prove their innocence with post-conviction DNA testing or new trials for inmates with substantial new evidence of innocence?  Here are handy links for your convenience:
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111th Congress:  www.house.gov/writerep/
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Your Governor: www.usa.gov/Contact/Governors.shtml
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Please use your back arrow to return to this blog if you read the articles and view the film at the links below, as I hope you will.  Please return daily for more news and views on our justice system.  Use the convenient "ADD THIS" feature on this blog to share with others, please.  Your feedback is invited.  Please comment on this or any topics in this blog, or ask questions if you so desire.  Thanks for your interest!
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Anthony Gay story:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-trappedintamms-la,0,242835.story
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A video Trapped: Mental Illness in America’s Prisons
http://www.jennackerman.com/trapped/
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Romell Broom story:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/15/national/main5313855.shtml
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Update: Ohio Considers Lethal Injections into Inmates' Bone Marrow and Muscle
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ju0_UPvEVxUhVLghH9flkDra4lEAD9B5Q3804
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Information on capital punishment from the Death Penalty Information Center
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/taxonomy/term/55?page=8
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Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com/
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Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI)
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI
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Your donations to AIMI are appreciated.  For more advocacy articles, browse through this blog - http://www.freespeakblog.blogspot.com/  and access the links in Mary Neal's Google profile:  http://www.google.com/profiles/MaryLovesJustice
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Monday, September 14, 2009

My Philosophy of Liberty vs. Cointelpro


Cointelpro is said to be a system of cyberstalking and censorship that attacks activists to discourage and/or impede their electronic communications. I have been followed around the Internet for years now and had my data deleted, changed, and received cyberterrorist threats, but I did not know what to call the illegal interference against my First Amendment rights until last night when a friend suggested that I am being attacked by Cointelpro.

Of course, cyberstalkers do not announce themselves, so I cannot say definitively that Cointelpro is the cause of my problems. I will call it that henceforth, because it seems likely. Whatever causes my electronic communication problems has broad capabilities and is able to access and manipulate my Internet usage regardless of what network I use or what anti-virus software and spyware I employ on my home computers.  Law enforcement refuses to address the illegal interference and cyberterrorism. A code used to appear beside my name when I signed my articles at NowPublic.com. I tried to send the code to some IT people, but it disappeared on the emails. I tried substituting two characters of the code, but it still would not transmit. Disappearing codes seem a little James Bondish to me. I did not publish the censorship and cyberterrorism until saving plenty of proof on video, thinking that it was so farfetched that people would not believe me. Contrarily, when I finally wrote about it, many people came forward and shared similar experiences in their comments to my articles at http://NowPublic.com/duo  *NOTE:  If you access links in this blog, use the back arrow to return. 

The Bill of Rights means nothing unless it is enforced law. But America is a country that has unequal application of legal protections and punishments. I write about human and civil rights and "love thy neighbor." It is indeed sad if that is a problem. It would be best to stop teaching children to say the Pledge of Allegiance and giving them Civics classes right now if authorities plan for Americans to abdicate our First Amendment rights to free speech and free press or lay aside any other civil liberties. Anything children repeat day after day becomes part of their belief system whether or not the rights were ever meant to apply to all socio-economic classes and races equally. Like I did, most students of American history and Civics will develop an intractable belief in the worth of the individual. Like Mary Neal, they will develop a philosophy of liberty.

VIDEO:  PHILOSOPHY OF LIBERTY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z1buym2xUM


Whatever is behind my censorship attacked again today. I sent e-cards via Care2 today to announce Texas Moratorium Network's petition to clear the name of wrongly executed Todd Willingham. Care2 sends the originator of e-cards a copy in their email box if they request it and another notice when cards were opened by addressees.

The "SENT" cards I received a copy of in my email at MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com had been STRIPPED OF ALL DATA (Cointelpro hacked them, apparently). Twice in the past two weeks, my input was stripped from inside Care2 ecards, and the cards reached my addressees devoid of the information regarding (1) Thomas Arthur, wrongly convicted Alabama death row inmate, and (2) Todd Willingham, wrongly executed Texan. Care2 reported that the network's entire ecard area had been attacked after I sent the Thomas Arthur ecard. Alabama reportedly still plans to execute Arthur despite his DNA test results proving negative as the murderer of Troy Wicker. The DNA results are held under court seal, and Arthur's attorneys are not allowed to publish the results. I suppose my ecards revealed information that was inteded to be held until after Arthur's execution, as in Todd Willingham's case.  Authorities also had proof that Willingham did not commit arson murders before his exection, but killed him anyway.  When I complained in the comments section of my Care2 Willingham article about interference regarding my ecards, some of the addressees then got the ecards with the Willingham information, while others had not.  I have found that whereas cyberstalkers know how to interrupt a person's First Amendment rights online by redirecting mail, removing certain data and links from people's mail and articles and blogs, putting fake views that can be seen only from a specific URL, etc., they completely lack common sense. That is how I catch them in the act, and you will see it in my films.


Mistakes have been made regarding executions, but to DELIBERATELY withhold a condemned prisoner's test results, forbid the condemned man's attorneys from telling the public the Arthur is innocent, cyberstalk someone like me who tries to notify people, and plans to proceed and execute an innocent man strike me as being criminal conduct. Perhaps there is nothing criminal about it according to the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It provides that slavery is illegal except for those who have had their freedom set aside by due process of law. Being found guilty of crimes in America removes the constitutional right to exist free from slavery.  It is not illegal to kill one's slaves, so apparently Alabama is ready to exercise its right to kill Arthur - innocent or not, as Supreme Court Justice Scalia opined in the Troy Davis case. See the topic discussed further at another post in this blog:  HOW MUCH DOES INNOCENCE MATTER IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE?

The media is not reporting about Arthur's DNA tests coming back negative as the murderer, just like the media is probably FORBIDDEN from reporting about my brother, Larry Neal, who was secretly arrested Guantanamo-style and killed in Memphis Shelby County Jail in 2003, but my family is DENIED any investigation or explanation - denied all records of his arrest and murder, detailed in http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com/ - Equal rights and justice in America are over, if they ever existed. Larry's death was followed by an elaborate conspiracy of cover-up, facilitated by The Johnnie Cochran Firm while under contact as his family's attorneys! Google THE COCHRAN FIRM FRAUD.

Agencies that should uphold justice seem to rally around The Cochran Firm and help contain exposure about Larry's wrongful death and The Cochran Firm Fraud. I believe that to be a duplicitous law firm that uses Johnnie Cochran's name to defraud blacks and browns after police violence. Instead of authorities helping a grieving family that was royally waterboarded, my family members are followed, cyberstalked, censored, and interrogated by the FBI (agents visited my niece after she facilitated serving our lawsuit on The Cochran Firm's Memphis office and asked the middle-aged grandmother and former civil servant, a mother of military men, what she knew about nude dancing).

Today I watched part of a disturbing film on the history of Cointelpro and African Americans.  The filmmaker presented evidence that persons with the capacity to unify people around the cause of racial equality were targeted.  I write about injustices toward prisoners and inequities in economic opportunities that target African Americans for greater incarceration rates.  My advocacy is not a black movement, but rather, it is a mission by God to unite people of all races around the concept that there is a better way to address crime than locking up millions of people, two-thirds of them for non-violent offenses, with more than half of them being mentally ill citizens who deserve our protection.  Most members of our online advocacy organization are Caucasians, and everyone is welcome and needed.  Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI) is a human/civil rights organization that works in the tradition of Dorothea Dix to decriminalize mental illness and encourage lawmakers to view mental illness as a health condition to be treated, not a crime to be punished.

America's high incarceration rate affects millions of families, whether it is because they have  imprisoned relatives or mentally ill loved ones who are in danger of future arrest due to their dysfunctions.  Too many Americans are unemployed because their jobs were outsourced to prison labor programs where the laborers are slaves with no wage laws or benefits.  Regarding capital punishment, what part of "Thy shalt not kill" did we not understand?  AIMI is an anti-capital punishment group, especially advocating for mentally ill inmates on death row and the wrongly convicted.  Since my brother's secret arrest and wrongful death in 2003 in Memphis Shelby County Jail and my family's subsequent denial of remedy under the law, I have become attuned to the wailing of other mothers like my own mom whose sick son was cruelly and secretly imrpisoned and killed for having a handicap.  These mothers are black, white, and brown.  If I am targeted because I care about people suffering and advocate that we demonstrate more love for our neighbors without regard to race, socio-economic distinctions or health status, then I am like my Lord, and He will protect me. 

If The Cochran Firm is now in the business of unethically defrauding its clients to protect police departments after disenfranchised persons are killed or abused, I question how they got so many African Americans to go along with the farce quietly. Six months after The Cochran Firm's Atlanta office had itself declared NONEXISTENT as a Cochran Firm office in Georgia, the firm contracted with 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston's family, just as though the firm had not declared itself not to exist in Georgia. Ms. Johnston's family has not been awarded a thin dime because police stormed her home and shot her like a dog.

I seriously doubt if Shawn Holley, an attorney who worked with Johnnie Cochran for 17 years, is the only one who knows about The Cochran Firm Fraud, but she is the only one besides my family that I know of who came forward and tried to warn people. Find Shawn Holley's NPR interview online wherein she exposed The Cochran Firm's agenda of deliberately delivering shabby legal services to minority clients.

What kind of authorities go along with families being tricked like ours and Ms. Johnston's survivors? What kind of African Americans sit quietly while this kind of farce is being carried out against other people of color?


Ms. Holley did not know the entire story. She likely did not know The Cochran Firm Fraud is apparently a plan authorized by the government. Otherwise, I do not believe my reports to the BBB, FBI, FTC, FCC, USDOJ, and major news affiliates would not have been ignored regarding The Cochran Firm's Atlanta office disclaiming its advertised identity in Georgia Superior Court and that the judge had agreed that the law firm did not exist while it was open every day, and using a P.C. after its alias name without being registered in the State of Georgia. No regular business, especially one that is of, by, or for minorities, would get that kind of protection from negative press. After making reports and filing a federal lawsuit against the firm, I started being followed, censored, cyberstalked, and terrorized, but denied police services.  U.S. Code 18, 242 and 245 do not mean any more than the Bill of Rights does, because these laws are not uniformly protected.

Others seem to join in the fraud - even judges - and allow me to be cyberstalked and terrorized - a Georgia grandmother! I was even notified by a friend in government that my email arrived as WHITELISTED! That means that because I ask authorities to DO THEIR JOB AND ANSWER WHAT HAPPENED TO MY MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED BROTHER, LARRY NEAL, I AM ON WATCH LISTS! Now did you know things had gotten so bad? Americans, the next sound you hear might be train whistles coming for your relatives with Autism, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's and bipolar disorder, and you had better not say one thing about it or you will be whtelisted, too. Already 1.25 million mentally ill people are in prison. How long will they spare your children, moms and dads, uncles and friends?

In any case, that is the news my cyberstalking is meant to contain - THE COCHRAN FIRM FRAUD. Everything else I report is from the Internet and is obviously already known. However, I take the news and tell what it means regarding justice, so this disturbs wrongdoers. You can read more about The Cochran Firm Fraud in this blog at "Cochran Firm Fraud Goes On and On" as well as at my NowPublic articles accessible by this link: http://NowPublic.com/duo

Sometimes cyberstalkers actually do things just to show off! Yesterday when editing my Martin Luther King blog you can access by scrolling down from here, cyberstalkers got busy changing the colors of my text. The name of the blog is "Martin Luther King's Final Speech Fraudulently Edited." I highlighted the parts of his speech that had been changed in red and green, but the cyberstalkers were turning them back to black font - why? Just showing me they have control. Juveniles! But since they did so many antics like that over the past two years, I have lots of footage to show the world that yes - Cointelpro exists. I am followed around the Internet and data is deleted, emails curtailed, etc. in Care2, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, and even my gmail email account, although less than the others. I am in good company as a human rights advocate. MLK was censored while he lived, and he is cyberstalked now - 41 years after death. See my article for the proof.

When an activist publishes data these people want to contain, cyberterrorism is the response, i.e.: http://www.care2.com/c2c/photos/view/217/513396753/Photo_that_came_right_after_the__quot_water_quot__email/Death%20warning%20flash.gif.html

People got so ruthless recently with cyberstalking and in-person stalking (with police assistance denied), that I launched this petition: JUSTICE FOR MARY NEAL - PETITION TO COMBAT TERRORISM AND CENSORSHIP http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/justice-mary-neal-petition-combat-terrorism-censorship

To show you just how sad America is, the petition was in the top 10 on Congress.org in July, and not one representative called me about the crimes I wrote about. No police officer ever asked for the license numbers of those who follow me. Perhaps they already knew. There was usually an officer or other official vehicle with those who stalked me. See my videos online - Cochran Firm Fraud 1 and 2 at Youtube and Y! Video.

Am I afraid of them? Sure, I am. But I have on the whole armor of God. I pray and carry on. God cares about how the least of these, His brethren, are treated. Matthew 25 makes it clear of whom the Lord speaks by referring to people who naked and sick in prison. That is the circumstance that ONLY applies to the incarcerated mentally ill, the main people I advocate for in obedience to Hebrew 13:3. Why civil and human rights organizations ignore the crimes against me which are meant to stop me using my First Amendment privileges, I do not know. One day the cyberstalkers flashed on my screen a large message that said, "Protected by no one." What a bald-faced lie that is! If I were protected by no one, I would not be sitting here typing. "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them." ~Psalm 34:7

Cointelpro can and does occasionally CHANGE what a person sent in emails or on blogs after their release into cyberspace. I HAVE VIDEO PROOF WHICH WILL BE PUBLISHED OF MY ILLEGAL CYBERSTALKING, as I have been filming the cyberstalking for two years. I also filed proof of cyberterror and in-person stalking in USDC in the Neals v. The Cochran Firm case, but the court ignored it. I think people ought to get out of the New World Order, wherein they stick together and mistreat the common man and devise an end to civil rights, and they should get in order with God's Word instead. Either they will learn now to do that now, or they will learn too late the hot way.

Regarding data being illegally deleted from my Care2 ecards, the data was visible on the ecards in my Care2 "sent" file, but not on most of the ecards that addressees actually received or the receipt copies that came to my gmail box.  The deleted text can be seen at this article:  http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/execution-of-cameron-todd-willingham.html .

Deleted data concerned Texas Moratorium Network's petition to exonerate a wrongly executed man, Cameron Todd Willingham.  Only the heading was left on the cards that were received by most addressees:

Help TMN Clear Todd Willingham's Name; Note My New Contact Info! 

Despite interference, Willingham's petition article made Care2 News Network's front page, and many people were grateful of the opportunity to know about his wrongful execution and support the petition for his post mortem exoneration.

Sept. 14, 2009  - CARE2 NEWS NETWORK: http://www.care2.com/news/member/513396753/1247802
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Saturday, September 12, 2009

The Wrongful Execution of Cameron Todd Willingham



Sign a petition to Governor Rick Perry and the State of Texas to acknowledge that the fire in the Cameron Todd Willingham case was not arson, therefore no crime was committed. Ask for Texas to admit that on February 17, 2004, the state executed an innocent man. Grab the link to the petition for justice and share it with others. Stop the slander against a man who was prosecuted, imprisoned, and executed for the arson murders of his children, but authorities now say there was likely no arson, so no murders. Require Texas to remove the "likely," and admit its mistake, please, so this man's memory will no longer be tarnished as one who committed infanticide.

Share a link for the petition with your friends and groups. Open the link to see pictures from the Willingham family album - Todd with his family before the tragic fire that robbed Todd first of his children, then his own life twelve years later by execution in 2004: http://camerontoddwillingham.com/?page_id=6

The petition is sponsored by Texas Moratorium Network (TMN), a grassroots, non-profit organization with the primary goal of mobilizing statewide support for a moratorium on executions in Texas. Contact information for TMN is 3616 Far West Blvd, Suite 117, Box 251 Austin, Texas 78731 Phone: Voice Mail: 512.961.6389. Visit the group at this link: http://www.blogger.com/profile/00080688585101692480

The State of Texas ranks number one in U.S. executions. Todd Willingham was not the first Texan whose execution may have been unwarranted. See a video about another likely case:
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*SAD NEWS FROM TEXAS* VIDEO - DEATH ROW
The case regards a middle-aged Latino man named Leonel Herrera. He was executed for killing an officer and wounding another in a gunfight in Los Frenos, Texas in 1981. Years later, Herrera's nephew stated that he saw his father, Raul Herrera involved in the shootout, not his Uncle Leonel. See the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maARKptAHKo




It may be hard to imagine, but some people ENJOY executions. I discovered this on the night that Edward Bell was executed in Virginia when I browsed online to see what comments were being posted about it. Edward Bell was a man who suffered from mild retardation. He maintained his innocence until his last breath. The link below is to an article I wrote in part to share news of the callous attitudes many people exhibited online the night Bell was executed. A decreasing number of Americans believe that some crimes are so heinous that executions are warranted, but it is sociopathic to actually enjoy capital punishment. If the purpose of executions is primarily entertainment like gladiator sports in ancient Rome, cable TV is much cheaper entertainment. It would save approximately $90,000 per year per condemned inmate for taxpayers who are bored Southerners (most executions are done in the South).

Please visit this article and watch the prison torture videos. Capital punishment supporters may agree after seeing the films that life in prison without parole is enough punishment for even the worst crimes. Despite what the public is made to believe, prison is no health spa:

Killing Inmates is Costly - Cheaper to Watch TV, with TORTURE VIDEOS
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/killing-inmates-costly-cheaper-watch-tv-w-torture-videos

Congratulations to Texas for allowing the fact that a mistake was likely made regarding Todd's execution to go forward in the media. Authorities in some states are so intent on hiding the truth about mistakes and human rights abuses that the news would never have reached the public. There is a complete media blackout regarding the secret arrest and wrongful death of my mentally and physically handicapped brother, Larry Neal, who was arrested in Memphis Shelby County Jail in July 2003. His remains were returned in a body bag almost three weeks later. While Larry was hidden in jail with police denying his incarceration, he suffered and died without his prescription heart drugs, if not from much worse causes.

Mine is the only American family in the 21st century to have a member secretly arrested, killed, and his family subsequently denied any excuse, arrest records, or accountability by any sources whatsoever. Lynching was fairly common in the 1940's for African American men, particularly in the South. But Larry's death and cover-up proves black people have definitely not overcome as a race, and America has not overcome as a nation that upholds equal justice. http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com/

Please complete your commendable steps toward open disclosure, Texas, and admit now that Todd was not a murderer; admit that he did not set fire to his home to kill his innocent little ones. God will bless you for your honesty and decency in this matter.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Exodus 20:16
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Friday, September 11, 2009

I Didn't Do It, Your Honor!



"BUT I'M INNOCENT, I TELL YOU! I DIDN'T DO IT!" How many movies have you seen with that line? Well, it does happen. The main causes for wrongful convictions were identified in a Buffalo News article* with the percentage of wrongful convictions that each cause effected:

(a) misidentification by eyewitnesses (75%),

(b) unvalidated forensic evidence (50%),

(c) lying government snitches (16%), and

(d) false confessions by juveniles and mentally challenged suspects (25%)

If a jury cannot trust witness testimony, lab tests, or confessions by the accused, what are jurors to believe? Hundreds of wrongful convictions have been overturned by DNA evidence or new trials for convicted persons with substantial new evidence. With all that can go wrong in a case, innocent people will undoubtedly continue to be sentenced to prison. One way to reduce those occurrences would be to allocate more money and attorneys for indigent defense. Troy Davis' appeals attorney reportedly had 70 other active cases while she was defending him on a capital murder charge. One might argue whether such a circumstance as that equals "due process of law."

Although it would cost more to improve indigent defense, states should consider how expensive it is to imprison innocent people. Each inmate costs taxpayers up to $50,000 per year, and significantly more if the inmate has a chronic illness or becomes ill in while incarcerated. Therefore, a 30-year-old wrongly convicted man serving a life sentence costs the state $2 million or more if he lives his normal life expectancy. It seems financially prudent, therefore, to give accused persons every opportunity to prove their innocence and possibly save the state the expense of punishing and rehabilitating people who need neither. The same applies to inmates who petition the court for DNA tests or new trials with substantial new evidence. Every inmate who proves his innocence and is exonerated spares the state the unnecessary financial burden of his continued internment.

Another way the innocent are indicted is through plea bargains. Some people believe that plea bargaining should be used more sparingly or eliminated altogether. Many accused persons are encouraged to give up their constitutional right to a trial by a jury of their peers and cop a plea to avoid the possibility of long prison sentences or execution. Oftentimes, this is a good deal for guilty persons. But innocent people who lack the money for attorneys' fees also accept these arrangements when presented, although a jury might have ruled in their favor upon hearing the evidence.

Since eyewitness testimony, lab tests, and even confessions cannot always be trusted, innocent people will continue to fall through the cracks occasionally and be imprisoned for crimes while the guilty go free. No measures will prevent every single wrongful conviction. But we can stop all wrongful executions very easily. Instead of costing money to do this, it would save around $90,000 per condemned inmate per year: Just end capital punishment, and no one will be wrongly executed. That is the only sure way. Say DEATH TO THE DEATH PENALTY!
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* For the Buffalo News report, see:
How just is the justice system in New York? by Ronald Fraser, Ph.D., September 11, 2009
Dr. Fraser writes on public policy issues for the DKT Liberty Project.
http://www.buffalonews.com/149/story/791803.html



WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP

1) Become an advocate! It is as simple as sending one email to your representatives requesting that more funds be allocated for indigent defense.

eMail your congresspersons at this link: www.house.gov/writerep/

If you live in a state that still practices capital punishment, tell your state legislature and governor to repeal the death penalty and use the millions of dollars each year that ending capital punishment would save to better fund public defenders offices, improve inmate rehabilitation, and invest in youth jobs and recreational programs that help deter crime.

eMail your local elected officials at this link: www.emailyourgovernor.com/


2) Become a sponsor! Help support organizations that work to improve justice, like the Innocence Project, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Amnesty International, ACLU, Treatment Advocacy Center, and local organizations in your state. At the end of this blog, we present some links from The Death Penalty Information Center. DPIC is a non-profit organization serving the media and the public with analysis and information on issues concerning capital punishment. The Center, which is widely quoted and consulted by all those concerned with the death penalty, depends on contributions and grants for its funding. Make your tax deductible donations at this link: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/donate-dpic


4) Sign a petition and pass it on!

Justice for Jeremy and Other Mentally Ill Prisoners
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/JusticeForJeremy


5) Get involved! Become a member of national and local organizations that promote justice, support prisoners, and/or advocate to end the death penalty. You can find local groups by browsing for "prison advocacy" with your city's or state's name.

There are also numerous online advocacy groups where members advocate for change, share valuable information and personal accounts, and there are no meetings to attend. Try mine:

ASSISTANCE TO THE INCARCERATED MENTALLY ILL (AIMI) a/k/a The Dorothea Dix Group, at http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI


4) Stay informed about justice issues. Please make checking this blog a part of your daily routine. I was drafted to turn America's mind toward justice by the secret arrest and wrongful death of my handicapped brother, Larry Neal, in 2003. I did not realize before then that our justice system is one in which innocent people are incarcerated and some suffer abuse and death. Believing in Lady Justice, I tried taking Larry's wrongful death to court, but was defrauded by our own attorneys. Still believing in the blindfolded lady, we took our fraudulent attorneys to court and discovered Lady Justice had a cornea transplant and could see just fine! She could see that we were black and not wealthy, and she was therefore very unfair. Since then, I've written over 600 articles and blogs regarding justice issues and sent a thousand emails to individuals and groups of thousands. I like to believe that they have helped to inspire some of the improvements that are being made.

Uncovering secrets, writing boldly about faults in the justice system, and exposing wrongs by privileged persons can be perilous. I have been censored and stalked online and in person while denied normal protection under the law to the point that I now live like Ann Frank, but in God I trust. I simply point out what God's will is regarding fairness and compassion - in other words, human rights. You may have read some of my work:

Oscar Grant: 1st Unarmed Black Man Killed by Police in 2009 - Next?
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/oscar-grant-1st-unarmed-black-man-police-killed-2009-next

Michael Jackson's Death - The Conspiracy Theory
http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/michael-jacksons-death-conspiracy-theory-updated

Enforced Treatment vs. Prison for Acute Mental Patients and Updates
http://www.nowpublic.com/health/enforced-treatment-vs-prison-acute-mental-patients-and-updates-mary-neal

Follow me on Twitter where I am "KoffieTime"- http://twitter.com/koffietime

Get most of my links from this Google profile - http://www.google.com/profiles/MaryLovesJustice

Improvements in our justice system are happening, but bad news gets more press. I always enjoyed returning to my articles at NowPublic.com and reporting when someone I helped advocate for got a stay of execution like Jeff Wood and Thomas Arthur did. I liked being able to report that Oregon built a new mental hospital after Theresa's schizophrenic brother killed her due to untreated mental illness. But I cannot update my NowPublic articles any longer. My membership was suspended after I wrote a series of articles against enforced H1N1 flu vaccines and the concept of militarized health care, despite the series' popularity.

To keep you updated regarding advancements in the justice system as I learn about them, I started a weekend blog at HubPages just to publish improvements and commend the individuals, organizations, and agencies responsible. Visit me on HubPages at the link below, and please send me any good news you come across: http://hubpages.com/profile/Mary+Neal

Your feedback is invited on this blog and any of my articles. You can also contact me directly at MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com or by writing P.O. Box 7222, Atlanta, GA 30357

Thanks for stopping by this blog, and I hope you return tomorrow. Please share the link with your friends and groups. Help to highlight matters that should concern all of us. That is important because elected officials care about what voters care about, and voters cannot care about conditions they don't know about. Send my link and help someone else to know. And do you know what?

God will bless you for your assistance to the least of these, His brethren. (Matt. 25:40)

An excellent resource for information on capital punishment is the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). Below are links to a number of interesting topics DPIC covers. The main link to that organization is http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/home

The Death Penalty in Black and White: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Who Decides
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-penalty-black-and-white-who-lives-who-dies-who-decides

U.S. Supreme Court Denies Rehearing in Kennedy v. Louisiana Opinion

Federal Judge Sharply Criticizes Texas System in Ordering Stay of Execution

U.S. to Seek Death Penalty under New Military Commissions

Crimes Punishable by the Death Penalty News and Developments - Previous Years

Crimes Punishable by the Death Penalty News and Developments: 2007

Those Executed Who Did Not Directly Kill the Victim

Supreme Court Asked to Review Unusual Death Sentence

View More



God Cares About Justice

For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth; To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death. ~ Psalm 102:19-20
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