Prison Biz News: Compassionate Release v. Prison Hospitals

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U.N.I.O.N. FAMILIES SEEKING COMPASSIONATE RELEASE

Sick, elderly, and dying prisoners will be transferred to new prison hospitals at staggering costs,
not home for family care. Nothing personal, just business.

Photograph by Photojournalist and Columnist, Rev. Dr. B. Cayenne Bird, Director of

Unified for No Injustice Oppression or Neglect (U.N.I.O.N.) at http://www.1union1.com/

COMPASSIONATE  RELEASE is an overlooked opportunity to reduce prison costs.  Prison populations include many inmates who are elderly and chronically ill.  The number of geriatric prisoners between ages 65 to 100 is large and growing due to tough sentencing laws.  Plenty of inmates who are elderly or chronically ill have loving families who would gladly care for them such as those pictured at the protest above.  Elderly, physically sick and dying inmates pose absolutely no threat to society, but pleas for compassionate release are seldom granted.  Inmates housed in prison hospitals, on death row, or in solitary confinement cells (such as acute mental patients often are) cost taxpayers significantly more per year per inmate than prisoners in the general prison population. 

Families have little hope of being granted compassionate release based on what happened in the story at the link below. In September 2008, compassionate release was denied for Jackson Phaysaleum, who was brain dead in Stockton, a California correctional facility. San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Thomas Testa opposed the release, although it was definitely not "cheaper to keep him."

Brain Dead Inmate Denied Early Release
http://www.nowpublic.com/health/brain-dead-inmate-denied-early-release

Reasonable, cost-saving solutions to prison overcrowding that would reduce the prison budget without a negative impact on public safety include compassionate release for the aged and infirmed, plus inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care for mentally ill offenders (depending on their offenses and ability to survive outside of a controlled environment). The alternative is that the nation's prisons will soon become nursing homes and hospitals with armed guards instead of orderlies - at a significantly higher price tag to taxpayers. 

An example of where criminalizing mental illness and the "tough on crime" mandatory sentencing and three-strikes laws have led is below. Mostly indigent psychiatric patients who were denied timely mental health care and aging and dying California prisoners will soon have a new abode.  Two state prison medical centers are being planned for the area southeast of Stockton in California.

Below is an excerpt from "Give us your convicted, your sick, your jailed masses in need of health care," by Donald W. Blount. 

The first center is a 1.2 million-square-foot sub-acute medical and mental health care facility at the site of the Karl Holton Youth Correctional Facility that would open in 2011 if it continues as planned. The $1.1 billion facility would have space for 1,734 convicts, including some from maximum-security prisons and mentally ill sex offenders.

The second center, just revealed locally Friday, would house an additional 1,133 prisoners at the site of a the former DeWitt Nelson Youth Correctional Facility at a cost of $150 million.

That's a total of 2,867 prisoners who would call San Joaquin County home away from home.

J. Clark Kelso, the federal court appointed prison health care receiver tasked with improving the state prisons' health care system, selected those sites as part of a scaled-down version of an $8 billion plan to build seven hospitals throughout the state for 10,000 inmates. Of course, the state's budget woes put the kibosh on that.

[There will be approximately] 1,200 jobs and $85 million in annual salaries to doctors, nurses and correctional officers.

Overall, a report by Kelso says Stockton stands directly to gain 2,800 new jobs paying a combined $676 million annually in above-average salaries. It could support an additional 6,900 jobs, creating $1.1 billion worth of economic activity.

The entire article is accessible at the link:
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091102/A_NEWS0804/911020314/-1/NEWSMAP#STS=g1k9f9wt.hh9

Many in the new prison hospitals will include hospice patients and the mentally ill.  There is such a thing as "compassionate release."  It would appear that only wealthy people qualify for compassionate release under the standard outlined below. 

Compassionate Release Law

By Pauline Go
http://ezinearticles.com/?Compassionate-Release-Law&id=1017149

According to the compassionate release law, a prisoner can be granted early release from the prison on special grounds such as due to child-birth or due to a terminal illness, etc. Even old and disabled prisoners or those prisoners suffering from debilitating diseases like AIDS can be released early from the prison on compassionate grounds. However, the compassionate release of a prisoner is difficult to get sanctioned and requires the fulfillment of strict eligibility requirements.

The individual must be in a position to prove that he is really suffering from a debilitating disease or a terminal illness and has got only six months to live at the most. The person must also show that there is a private nursing home, hospital, or medical institute where he will receive appropriate and adequate medical care once he is released from the prison. The individual needs to confirm that his immediate family members or relatives have ample supply of funds to cater to his medical needs. The individual must also assure and convince the Department of Corrections that even if he manages to survive beyond the predicted 6 months period, he will not violate the law or will not pose any harm to the society.

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Cost-saving Relief for Prison Budget Woes

(1) Release inmates who are age 70 or above and have served at least 10 years of their sentences for violent crimes. Inmates who meet that age requirement and were convicted for non-violent crimes should be paroled with supervision with less or no restriction on time served;

(2) Compassionate release for infirmed and bedridden inmates, and others who pose no threat to society due to debilitating health and/or physical disabilities, i.e., blind inmates and amputees, etc.;

(3) Repeal the death penalty.  Each death row inmate costs the state approximately $90,000 per year over and above the cost of a prisoner in a maximum security prison.  The answer is not to kill condemned people sooner, since the majority of inmates who were found to be innocent of crimes for which they were convicted had been incarcerated for more than a decade.  Speedier executions would only result in more wrongful executions.

(4) Transfer violent mentally ill offenders to secure mental hospitals to serve their sentences, and disallow early release; and

(5) Release non-violent mentally ill offenders under assisted outpatient treatment programs (AOTs), like Kendra's Law and Laura's Law. Many mentally ill people use street drugs and alcohol to self-treat and land in prison. This often happens because of the deficit in community psychiatric treatment or due to a condition called "anosognosia," which prevents victims from realizing their own mental health problems. AOTs combine court-ordered psychiatric treatment and subsistence assistance for outpatients.

AOT participants experience up to 97% reduction in homelessness, arrests, hospitalizations, and incarceration. AOT programs promote community safety and restore mentally ill offenders to wholesome lifestyles simply because the choice of whether or not to treat their mental illness is removed from offenders exiting prisons and hospitals. This is significantly less expensive than imprisoning people for being sick. Most mentally ill offenders who are currently released from prison without mandates to continue psychiatric care and without provisions for their basic housing and nutrition wind up being re-arrested within a short time, sometimes after violent crimes. The revolving door to prisons is very expensive and dangerous for psychiatric patients, their families, and society at large.

Please see this silent video by U.N.I.O.N., called "The Purpose of Prisons is to Punish Sick People."  (Drag the slider over to 29 seconds to start the video.)


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U.N.I.O.N. does excellent advocacy work for prison reform in California and is a model for prisoner activists nationwide.  U.N.I.O.N.'s Director, Dr. Bird, states, " It's time to Get Smart on Crime and leave retribution techniques from the dark ages behind!"

The cost of imprisoning mentally ill offenders is comparable to or more expensive than the cost of hospitalization in regular inpatient facilities.  Imprisonment does not negate the necessity of psychiatric treatment, but rather, it adds certain costs associated with incarceration. There are some mentally ill offenders serving life sentences for offenses done while treatment for their psychiatric disorders was withheld due to restraints on enforced treatment. Timely psychiatric intervention is often withheld under strict guidelines necessitating that mental patients prove to be a danger to self and others. The required proof usually comes in the form of a mental patient Tasered or shot to death during a lunacy arrest, or when a member of the mental patient's family or community is injured or killed by a sick person who was denied psychiatric treatment. Tragedies also occur when sick persons are released too soon from inpatient facilities, usually with little or no provisions for their subsistence and continued psychiatric care.

Disallowing psychiatrists the right to grant early release for mentally ill offenders as stated at number (4) above is important because mental health facilities have released dangerous patients into society who would have remained hospitalized if doctors did not have the right to authorize early release after crimes.  Frequently, released psychiatric patients commit crimes ranging from simple vagrancy to murder, like 32-year-old Na Yong Pak, a woman who was released from a mental health facility in Georgia despite her family's protests and promptly murdered her mom - burned her to death. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2009/02/11/burned_woman_mental.html

Numerous other early releases by psychiatrists that resulted in tragedy.  Perhaps hospitals rush to release "nearly stable" patients because of budget restrictions.  The same money or less than is used to imprison Na Yong Pak for murder should have gone to her inpatient treatment, and her mom would still be alive.  She would not be brought back to reality with psychiatric treatment while incarcerated to get her trial-ready (as happens to some psychiatric offenders) and discover the horrible thing she was allowed to do.

The same thing happened in Florida on December 26 2008, when one mentally ill homeless man murdered another.  The victim was a homeless veteran who apparently suffered from PTSD.  Both men reportedly had substance abuse issues, as is common among acute mental patients. Sedreck Singleton murdered Todd Hill in broad daylight as Hill slept on a park bench.  Singleton was arrested for two separate batteries during 2007, and the judge rightly ordered him to a mental hospital instead of prison due to Singleton's long psychiatric history and obvious condition.  Unfortunately, the hospital did not keep him but six months.  Singleton was released, and he killed his roommate at the care home where he lived and then the sleeping veteran, Hill.  Making inpatient treatment accessible saves lives and money.  If Singleton had been sentenced to the hospital for the term he would have had to serve in prison for the two batteries, he could not have killed his roommate or the former marine.

Contact your representatives and support AOTs, repeal the death penalty, and pass H.R. 619.  Rep. Eddie Johnson (D-TX) introduced H.R. 619 to resume Medicaid insurance for inpatient hospital care.  Removal of that insurance source accounted for hospital closings that began in the 60's and continue today.  Closing mental hospitals and reducing funding for community care saved taxpayers no money.  Instead, people like Singleton, Yong Pak, and patients who were killed by officers during lunacy arrests needed treatment, but were deprived of same until proving to be dangerous to self and others. 

Email your representatives at this link:  www.house.gov/writerep/

Email your governors:  www.usa.gov/Contact/Governors.shtml  

THE PLAN

The decision to "deinstitutionalize mental patients" and close large numbers of inpatient facilities while seriously restricting non-consentual treatment was championed by many humanitarians in the 1960s and 70s because of concern for institutionalized persons.  With inadequate community care and subsistence provisions and roadblocks on non-consentual treatment for patients in crisis, it simply did not work.  Ultimately, patients were simply shifted from the health care system to the prison system, and no one benefited but prison investors.  This I call THE PLAN.

I communicated recently with a grieving mother whose bipolar son had just committed suicide. Her pleas to his mental health workers that he be admitted as an inpatient had been repeatedly denied, although he met his state's criteria for inpatient treatment. She reported that on her son's psychiatric records was a statement, "It is only a matter of time before he commits a crime worthy of going to prison." I told her that what she saw was the PLAN:  Withhold psychiatric care and preserve mentally ill people for prison in order to benefit prison investments. 

The same PLAN was applied on a smaller scale by Pennsylvania judges who interrupted funding for public juvenile facilities in their area, forcing closures.  They channeled young offenders into private juvenile facilities in exchange for $2.6 million in kickbacks. Around 6,000 children were affected.  When the PLAN was applied nationwide several decades ago to close mental hospital and reduce community care opportunities, 1.25 million mentally ill people wound up imprisoned since their "deinstitutionalization." In the 1960's and 70's, chronic mental patients were actually trans-institutionalized from hospitals to prisons - a more cruel environment that added to their distress, where their mental health needs are frequently ignored.

The restrictions against enforced treatment without proof (drastic proof) of danger to self and others sealed the deal. Mentally ill people are left largely defenseless against future imprisonment. Even when people with acute psychiatric problems do prove they are dangerous to self and others, they are rarely hospitalized, but imprisoned. If mentally ill offenders are lucky, they may get to go to expensive new prison hospitals like Californians are building to warehouse old, sick, and dying inmates.
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Limiting job and recreation programs for the youth in society also accomplishes the PLAN's purpose.  Healthy young people are useful in prison work projects, so then they have a job - but without minimum wage restrictions and benefits.  Taxpayers still pay for prison laborers' internment, and many of the products manufactured in prisons are sold in interstate trade.  Additionally, inmates make everything soldiers wear and their canteens and tents.  That is probably why early release programs to relieve prison overcrowding are more apt to release murderers and sex offenders who are over 50 than 20-year-olds who were incarcerated for nonviolent offenses.

Prison reform is needed, and it is already happening.  Progress is being made. Treatment Advocacy Center reports that New Jersey significantly reformed its mental illness treatment law on August 11th when Governor Corzine signed Senate Bill 735 into law. See more progress reports at my HubPages articles: Steps Toward Justice at this link: www.hubpages.com/profile/Mary+Neal

I am pleased to report that Jesus believes in compassionate release for the reformed among us. That is why He came. Also, He healed the sick; He did not punish them for having health conditions as is done in our names to our mentally ill family members and neighbors. More than inmates need to repent - the prison system itself needs to CHANGE. Compassionate releases for elderly, chronically ill, or handicapped inmates plus improved mental health care (on an inpatient and outpatient basis) are humane, cost-saving approaches to prison overcrowding that should not be overlooked.  Mercy is righteous.
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And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?~Luke 6:46
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For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.~Matthew 6:14-15

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My appreciation to Dr. Bird for allowing me to use his photograph of U.N.I.O.N. members requesting compassionate release for their sick, imprisoned loved ones.  Dr. Bird's email address is Rightor1@aol.com
and mailing address is:  B. Cayenne Bird, P.O. Box 340371, Sacramento, Ca. 95834.  U.N.I.O.N.'s website link is http://www.1union1.com/

Thank you for your attention to "Prison Biz News: Compassionate Release v. Prison Hospitals." Your feedback is welcome in the comment field below.  You are invited to join in giving Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill and helping to highlight other human rights issues by using the PayPal depository in the upper left margin here at http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/ and/or by sharing this article with your friends and groups.  An ADD THIS button is provided for your convenience.  The link for sharing this article is: http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/prison-biz-news-compassionate-release-v.html

Approximately 1.25 million inmates have mental illness to various degrees.  Acute mental patients do not usually vote, but their family members and friends do.  It is time for differently abled people and their families to overcome the stigma attached to mental and emotional issues and insist on participating in decision-making about mental health laws and policies that significantly impact their lives. Families and friends of the incarcerated mentally ill and others who care about this human rights issue should harness their collective strength as voters to decriminalize mental illness. America must dispense with 14th century answers to a health condition that 1 in 5 Americans has to some degree.  Please visit AIMI online at the link below.
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Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI)
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com/

Google "Mary Neal Google Profile" for additional information and links to more of my articles, most of which deal with various justice issues from this laywoman's standpoint - link: http://www.google.com/profiles/MaryLovesJustice

Jail is the last thing that mental patients need, and too often it is the very last thing they experience.  Join in our efforts to decriminalize mental illness.  No one deserves to be punished for having a disability.

Thanks for your interest!

Cameron Todd Willingham's Wrongful Execution - and Others

This blog does not open links in a new window.  Please read about all the cases before opening any links, or use your back arrow to return and complete the strong cases for innocence regarding death row inmates in several states and cases of aggrevious excessive sentencing. Thanks for visiting the justice blog at http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/

Cameron Todd Willingham

PRESSURE MOUNTS on Texas' governor regarding what appears to be the wrongful execution of a young father.  Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted for setting fire to his home with his three children inside.  The children perished in the fire, and Willingham was charged with arson and murder.  At a time when Todd's heart was breaking from the tragic loss of his children, he had to defend himself (unsuccessfully) for murder.  He was on death row for over 12 years, which was certainly long enough to determine the cause of a fire.  In fact, a determination was made prior to Willingham's execution.  An arson report wherein fire investigators determined there was likely no arson was recently made public.  Many people are calling for a moratorium on capital punishment in Texas, which holds the record for executions in America.  A lawsuit has been filed against Governor Rick Perry in connection with Willingham's 2004 execution.  The governor's office reportedly received a fax of the arson report stating that there was likely no arson before Willingham's execution.

Learn more about the Willingham case and access a petition to sign in support of his post mortem exoneration.  The petition sponsored by the Texas Moratorium Network can be accessed at this site: http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/execution-of-cameron-todd-willingham.html   - The site also has a VIDEO about another executed Texan who was also allegedly innocent.  The case regards a middle-aged Latino man named Leonel Herrera.

The fire report that caused public outrage and convinced many people that Willingham was innocent, which was instrumental in getting Ernest Ray Willis exonerated and released from Texas death row, is below:
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Analysis of the Fire Investigation Methods and Procedures Used in the Criminal Arson Cases Against Ernest Ray Willis and Cameron Todd Willingham - http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/shared-blogs/austin/investigative/upload/2009/08/execution_based_on_bad_investi/D_Beyler%20FINAL%20REPORT%20082509.pdf

Governor Perry is campaigning for re-election.  He acknowledges no wrongdoing regarding Willingham's execution.  Please see the newscast below.

Please be aware that other likely innocent people are on death row.  Consider Thomas Arthur who awaits execution in Alabama.  His DNA test results were returned in July stating that Arthur was ruled out as contributor for any of the crime scene evidence tested.  A judge sealed Arthur's test results, his lawyers were forbidden to disclose his innocence, and the Alabama D.A.'s office reported to Birmingham News in August that a death warrant would be sought for Arthur. 

Thomas Arthur

Mainstream media did not report Arthur's DNA results, although the media had closely followed his quest for post-conviction DNA testing for many years.  All was silent when the test results came back with Arthur  negative as Troy Wicker's murderer.  The only exceptions to the silence that I found on the Internet was a report about Arthur's DNA test results from another blogger and myself.  This writer had major problems publishing the news about Arthur's DNA test results.  Care2 reported a cyberattack on September 1, which was the day I tried to send the news out via ecards.  Gmail, which I use for prisoner advocacy,  suddenly had an outage.  I worked all night fighting cyberstalkers to get the article published about Arthur's DNA test results on August 31, and it finally made front page news at Care2 News Network.  So far, Arthur still breathes.  Arthur's daughter posted his DNA test results on her father's website.  www.thomasarthurfightforlife.com/

See more about that drama at this link:

Should Thomas Arthur be Executed for Telling a Fibb?
http://www.votingcentral.com/VotingCentral/displayPoll.do?pollId=1236f80e-49c4-163d-b520-0cb9ffffffd4

Troy Davis

Troy Davis is another condemned man who has substantial evidence of innocence that arrived after his conviction for the murder of Officer MacPhail, a Savannah, Georgia police officer.  Despite the fact that seven of nine witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony against Davis in his murder case that had no forensic evidence, the system repeatedly refused to grant Davis a new trial.  Millions of people over the world cheered this  summer when the Supreme Court ordered that Troy Davis' case would be reviewed again by another Georgia federal judge who will decide whether Davis will finally have his "just day in a fair court" (Davis' words).  However, the High Court determined that the judge can only consider new evidence that was not available to Davis' attorney initially.  Davis' attorney for his appeals case had 70 other active cases at the time, and it is unlikely that his first state-appointed attorney had the opportunity to adequately defend him on a capital murder charge.  The High Court further ruled that Davis' innocence must be proved by the new evidence he presents to the federal judge, despite the fact that Davis has no DNA evidence to present.  Davis must do better than prove there is a reasonable doubt of his guilt like other defendants - he has to prove actual innocence.  Otherwise, Davis could be executed like Cameron Todd Willingham was. 

Just as the media is silent regarding Thomas Arthur's DNA test results indicating innocence, Troy Davis is under a gag order and not allowed to speak with the press.

Alternet recently published the stories of four other men who may be wrongly convicted, including some on death row.  The article is at this link:
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By Liliana Segura, AlterNet
October 26, 2009

4 Prisoners Facing Executions or Serving Extreme Jail Sentences Who Very Well May Be Innocent
http://www.alternet.org/rights/143499/4_prisoners_facing_executions_or_serving_extreme_jail_sentences_who_very_well_may_be_innocent/?page=entire

Texas is gearing up to execute another prisoner tomorrow, a man named Reginald Blanton, who has a very strong innocence claim of his own. (Blaton was executed.  Read about his case at this link.)  http://www.alternet.org/rights/143417/innocent_until_proven_dead:_will_texas_execute_another_innocent_man/.)

Cruel and unusual though it might seem, for a person to be sentenced to die for a crime he or she did not commit is hardly a unique phenomenon in this country. In the past 35 years, no fewer than 138 people have been released from death row after proof of their innocence was discovered -- including eight this year alone.

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 ANOTHER CONDEMNED MAN who has a strong case of innocence is Darrell Lomax, who is on California's death row.  California has not executed anyone in many years, but made an announcement that executions will soon resume there.  Darrell's story and evidence are presented in this article.

Supreme Court Rules Inmates Have No Constitutional Right to DNA Testing Although Study by Expert Criminologists Shows Capital Punishment Is No Crime Deterrent
http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/supreme-court-dna-ruling-study-shows-dp-no-crime-deterrent

This is a link to Darrell Lomax's website:  http://www.freedarrell.com/

Darrell wrote:  My name is Darrell Lomax and I have been wrongly incarcerated on death row at San Quentin State prison for over 14 years. I was convicted even though:


I passed a gunshot residue test


I have an alibi


the eye witness said it wasn't me


the fingerprints on the gun weren't mine


and it was found in someone else's car


even though the footprint wasn't mine


My witnesses were never called


and I couldn't afford a lawyer so I had to share a public defender with the man who made a deal to testify against me.


When the situation with the public defender was discovered he was replaced by a former DA who made no effort to find the witnesses for my defense.

A second website for Darrell Lomax sponsored by the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty is at this link:   www.ccadp.org/darrelllomax.htm

                                            Jeffrey Wood, Texas Death Row (Law of Parties)

There are numerous other cases of likely innocent people on death row across America.  Part of the reason is because the mentally ill and juveniles are especially likely to sign false confessions, because they are easily intimidated.  Jeffrey Wood awaits execution in Texas, a mentally ill man who was very young when a robber induced him to drive with him to the store.  Jeff was instructed to wait in the truck for Daniel Reneau, who went into the store, robbed and shot the manager.  Jeff had no knowledge that a robbery/murder was taking place.  Nevertheless, Jeff is on Texas' death row under the Law of Parties.  He was treated for mental illness after his arrest to get him trial-ready.  Jeff's attorneys reported that their client refused to allow them to vigorously defend him.  Jeff requested to defend himself, but the judge refused.  He insisted on dictating to his attorneys, however, how the case should be handled.  Since he was declared mentally sound, his attorneys were limited.  The actual shooter in the case has already been executed by the State of Texas.

Although this writer is against all executions, cases involving condemned mental patients are of particular interest to me as director of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill.  I wrote about Jeff Wood in an article that made front page at OpEdNews on the day Jeff was scheduled for execution in 2008, and the article at the link below, which was carried in my lineup of articles at http://NowPublic.com/duo  - The NowPublic article received some interesting comments, including some from persons who represented themselves as being a relative of David Reneau, the shooter in the murder for which Jeff faces execution,  and a member of Jeff's family. See the article and comments at this link:

Scheduled for Texas Execution: Jeff Wood, a Mentally Challenged Young Man
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/scheduled-texas-execution-jeff-wood-mentally-challenged-young-man

Petition:  Save Jeff Wood from the Executioner  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/save-jeff-wood-from-the-executioner

Andre Thomas was ruled "crazy, but sane under Texas law," by a judge this year after the mentally ill man ate his left eye.  Thomas ate his right eye while awaiting trial several years ago after killing his wife and children and walking around with their hearts in his pocket.  Now poor Andre is blind, "crazy," and awaiting a Texas execution.  (The judge used the word "crazy," not this writer.)  Andre Thomas' petition is below:

Petition to Save Andre Thomas and Stop Executing Mental Patients
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/No-Executing-Mental-Patients



There are many more inmates who were excessively sentenced due to mandatory sentencing laws and three-strikes laws (that disallow judges using their own discretion).  Consider the case of Jeremy Smith.  He is a young man who was schizophrenic from childhood.  He allegedly hit another mental patient in his mental hospital, and was induced to sign a plea bargain for EIGHT YEARS imprisonment in California, a state that its governor reports is practically breaking under the weight of its prison costs.  While in prison, he allegedly made "terrorist threats" to a guard and was further charged for that, which may substantially lengthen his sentence.  California is paying at least $70,000 per year to punish the sick young man in a solitary confinement prison hole 23 hours per day.  Gov. Schwarzenegger's efforts to effect prison reform are reportedly hampered by members of the state legislature.

Jeremy Smith, Schizophrenic California Prisoner

California had to send its senior citizens IOU's rather than live checks this year, but no cost is spared to imprison mental patients like Jeremy who do not deserve to be punished for having a disability.  No one can be punished or rehabilitated into a state of good mental health.  See Jeremy's petition below:

Justice 4 Jeremy Petition - Lifelong schizophrenic in CA prison hole - http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/JusticeForJeremy

Wrongful convictions will undoubtedly continue to happen, because much can go wrong with evidence and witnesses between the time a defendant is arrested and brought to trial, sometimes years later.  However, wrongful convictions can be reduced by increasing the amount of money states spend for public defenders.  Saving innocent people from prison or execution is not only humane and just, it also saves taxpayers a good deal of money in an economy where every dollar counts.  It is more financially prudent to increase spending for indigent defense to accomplish real justice than to have to pay over $50,000 per year per innocent inmate who is sentenced to many years in prison due to inadequate representation.  Wrongful convictions are substantially more expensive than the cost for upgrading public defenders' budgets. 

The USDOJ has made several grants recently to curtail wrongful convictions and to stop prisons' revolving door for mentally dysfunctional people.  Regarding the shocking propensity courts have to ignore evidence of innocence that arrives after conviction, Attorney General Holder made it clear that real justice must take precedence over procedure.

The Scott Sisters - Life Sentences for $11 Theft Conviction

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Excessive sentencing is also unnecessarily cruel and expensive.  Yet, in Mississippi, two sisters were given life sentences for the theft of $11, and they, too, have a strong case for innocence - the Scott Sisters.  Many people believe Gladys and Jamie Scott were wrongly convicted just as they assert, but even if they are guilty, life sentences for $11 with no one physically harmed seems to be excessive sentencing.  They have already been imprisoned for around 15 years.  Mississippi taxpayers are sentenced right along with the women, because taxpayers must foot the bill.

The petition for the Scott Sisters is at the link below:

Gladys and Jamie Scott Wrongful Conviction Case Petition
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Free-Jamie-Gladys/index.html

The website for the Scott Sisters is: Free the Scott Sisters
http://search2.comcast.com/?cat=dnsr&con=ds&url=www.freethescottsisters.com

There is also a blogspot for the Scott Sisters called FREE JAMIE AND GLADYS SCOTT.

Their contact person is Nancy Lockhart at thewrongfulconviction@gmail.com

DEATH TO THE DEATH PENALTY!

Objections to the death penalty include:

~ It targets the poor

~ It is racist

~ It kills the innocent

~ It is barbaric

~ It does not deter crime

~ It is expensive (Taxpayers pay $90,000 per year per condemned inmate over and above incarceration costs for inmates in maximum security prisons, according to the Death Penalty Information Center)

Thou shalt not kill.  ~ Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17 

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
~Exodus 20:16

Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

Donations are appreciated to continue to fight the good fight of faith for justice and human rights for prisoners in obedience to Hebrews 13:3 and Matthew 25 at http://FreeSpeakBlog.blogspot.com
Thank you for your interest in justice and human rights for prisoners.
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What Happened to Mitrice Richardson?

This blog does not open links in a new window. Please read all 19 paragraphs before opening any of the 15 links, or use your back arrow to return to the blog. See the full list of articles in http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/ on the left margin regarding more matters that need your attention. Thanks!
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Nancy Lockhart launched a Change.org petition for a federal investigation into the disappearance of a gifted young woman who suffers from depression. Mitrice Richardson was arrested in Lost Hills, CA Jail on September 16 at 10 p.m., then was reportedly released due to jail overcrowding after midnight with no money, I.D., food, water, or cell phone. Join petitioners in asking for federal help resolving this mystery. WHAT HAPPENED TO MITRICE RICHARDSON?

See website: http://www.findmitrice.info/
$10,000 reward
(More photographs below)

Please support the Change.org petition for a federal investigation into Mitrice Richardson's disappearance at this link:
http://www.change.org/actions/view/federal_investigation_requested_in_mitrice_richardsons_disappearance_from_lost_hills_ca_jail

NOTE: THE PETITION LINK THAT I PLACED IN THIS DOCUMENT WHEN IT ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN SEPTEMBER 2009 WAS MISSING WHEN I RETURNED TO THE ARTICLE TO UPDATE IT ON APRIL 7, 2010. WHY DO CYBERSTALKERS NOT WANT MITRICE RICHARDSON'S DISAPPEARANCE INVESTIGATED?

Mitrice Richardson was a Psychology major at California State University of Fullerton who recently graduated with a 4.00 GPA and started the process of seeking acceptance into the Psychology Professional College, Alliant, to pursue a degree in Clinical Psychology. Mitrice is an openly gay African American. Mitrice is in crisis, and she is in danger. Help is needed to find her. Please use the link above to petition to support a federal investigation into her whereabouts to bring her home and ensure that this does not happen to more people.

Unfortunately, many families know what it is to have a missing loved one. America's Most Wanted's host lost his son, Adam. My family searched in vain for Larry Neal for nearly three weeks only to have him returned dead in 2003. Memphis Shelby County Jail had him the whole while, but repeatedly denied that Larry was incarcerated in response to inquiries by his family and social worker. Memphis Police Department did absolutely nothing to help find Larry because they knew where he was and planned to keep him. See http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com/

Luckily, Mitrice Richardson's family and supporters went straight to the media when she went missing. My family went to the Johnnie Cochran Firm. When the statute of limitations had nearly run to file a wronful death lawsuit and force records release during discovery, Larry's survivors learned that the Cochran Firm had an undisclosed conflict of interest and contracted with Larry's survivors to prevent another lawyer from getting the case. The managing partner of the Memphis office of The Cochran Firm was a Shelby County Commissioner which owns and operates Shelby County Jail. The Cochran Firm had actually done zero during the 10.5 months after signing contract with us to conduct discovery and bring suit against the jail for Larry's secret arrest and death, but the law firm pretended to do so and sent us lies about a case going forward. We sued the Cochran Firm for its fraud, serving suit to the Atlanta office where our initial contact was made with the law firm. However, the suit was dismissed with the firm's Atlanta law office and Fulton County Superior Court falsely claiming there is no Cochran Firm in Georgia. That must be a new slogan: "WHEN YOU'VE GOT NO DEFENSE, CLAIM YOU DON'T EXIST!"
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I urge everyone to go to the media first if you have a missing relative with mental or emotional problems. Call the media at the same time that you put in the missing person report, particularly if you suspect there was an arrest in connection with the disappearance. Do not give a cover-up an opportunity to be established. By the time Larry Neal's family went to the media with the injustice, the media was apparently under orders not to report Larry's secret death and The Cochran Firm Fraud to the public, so they did not. Efforts to ascertain records, accountability, and justice for Larry's death have been met with cover-up, intimidation toward Larry's relatives, and censorship of my writing, which is done in the absence of mainstream media coverage.

Hopefully, Mitrice will be found and all will be well with her. Her family needs help ascertaining information about her disappearance. Please join thousands petitioners for a federal investigation. In Larry's case, the petition for an investigation regarding his period of secret arrest and death has not been met with investigative effort like Michael Vick's dogs' deaths. However, maybe the government will help Mitrice's family. Endorsing petitions is an important way to show support for families who need and deserve government assistance to locate missing loved ones or investigate circumstances surrounding their disappearances.

Mitrice Richardson, Missing in California After Arrest in Lost Hills Jail

September 16, 2009

April 6, 2010 update - Sabrina Halmilton requested in a recent update that people who have anything to share should e-mail Mitrice's father, Michael Richardson, at http://mvrichardson@bringmitricehome.org and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MitriceFather - A search for Mitrice was conducted in multiple cities in Southern California March 28, 2010. Her family and friends appreciate the time and dedication searchers invested assisting in the search. Visit the Mitrice Richardson official website at http://www.bringmitricehome.org/ - The Twitter account is http://twitter.com/FindMitrice

Before her arrest, Mitrice was said to be acting erratically and suffering from depression. She was reportedly arrested and released shortly thereafter without a bond hearing for 1) disturbing the peace in a restaurant - talking about Martians; 2) possession of a small amount of marijuana; and 3) running an $89.00 tab at the restaurant without adequate funds to pay. She was reportedly released after 1:30am without a bond hearing, alone, defenseless, and on foot, since police had her car.

My brother Larry was a lifelong parinoid schizophrenic patient with heart trouble, so I know what the family endures looking for a lost loved one. My family and Larry's social worker searched in vain for him for weeks. Missing children and people with mental or emotional problems deserve federal investigations. Hopefully, the Justice Department will honor thousands of requests for Mitrice's disappearance to be investigated. My family's requests and petitions have been ignored. Larry's second petition: http://bit.ly/t04mn
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People who are experiencing a mental health crisis like Mitrice should not be released from jail after midnight in unfamiliar territory to fend for themselves without money or a means to call for assistance, if that is what happened. No one should, especially not a woman.

Your comments and support for advocacy for incarcerated mental patients and other justice issues are appreciated. Please be aware that Rep. Eddie Johnson introduced an important bill in January 2009 that can help decriminalize mental illness in America - H.R.619. The bill proposes resuming Medicaid funds for inpatient psychiatric services, which stopped during President Regan's administration decades ago. As a result, mental hospitals closed across the nation and continue to close today, leaving police no place to take citizens who experience mental health crises except to jail, which only escalates their anxiety. Like any medical crisis, mental health crises should be dealt with medically, not legally. Although H.R.619 affects millions of mentally challenged Americans and their families, it will require your support to pass. Most congressional bills never reach the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote. YOUR vote is needed today. Please take a moment to contact your representatives and let them know you support resuming Medicaid funding for mental hospitalization. Passing H.R.619 would help end discrimination against mentally challenged people. It is also less expensive than imprisonment and far safer for mentally ill persons and their communities to treat rather than punish mental illness. LINK TO EMAIL CONGRESS - https://writerep.house.gov/

Note: My writing for justice is censored. I think it is important to note what news is censored most. I had successfully posted Change.org's widget with the petition for Mitrice Richardson at this blog, but it was not permitted to show. I also posted her widget at Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill, and the part with her photograph was deleted by stalkers. That is why I placed multiple photos of Mitrice on this blog. Why would anyone want to prevent her picture from being widely viewed? May God bless her with a safe return.

Please see more information about Larry Neal and the online advocacy effort that was founded after his secret arrest and wrongful death: Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill at http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI - See more articles about metal illness in the criminal justice system and other prisoner issues in this blog - http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/ by using the handy index of articles in the left margin. Links to additional articles and petitions to help decriminalize mental illness and promote Human Rights for Prisoners are available in Mary Neal's Google profile at http://www.google.com/profiles/MaryLovesJustice - Please follow me on Twitter, where I am KoffieTime - http://twitter.com/koffietime

When saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto ONE of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. ~ Matthew 25

JAIL IS THE LAST THING THAT MENTAL PATIENTS NEED, AND TOO OFTEN, IT IS THE VERY LAST THING THEY EXPERIENCE. Please join our effort to decriminalize mental illness. No one deserves to be punished for having a mental health crisis or a disability.

Thanks for your interest. God bless you for your help for Mitrice Richardson. http://www.change.org/actions/view/federal_investigation_requested_in_mitrice_richardsons_disappearance_from_lost_hills_ca_jail

Help the Least of These, His Brethren

Behold the Lamb of God

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.



Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:


For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:


Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.


Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?


When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?


Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?


And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

MATTHEW 25:33-40

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI
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Doctor! Will Justice Live? Human Rights Viewed As Terrorism

Articles in this blog do not open in a new window. Please read all before opening links, or use your back arrow to return. There is an earlier draft of the article at my Google profile.  However, I was not permitted by those who monitor and control my Internet input to make changes to the profile, so I entered the data in this blog.  I was not allowed to add the two scriptures about lawyers (Luke 11:30 and 7:52).  I do not know why the Google profile document is considered more damaging to the parties the outlaw censorship staff seek to protect than this blog.  Perhaps it is because they change the taglines to blog posts at will and prevent them from being carried on the Internet.  Last week, I noted that the censorship force had attacked my Google bookmark for the Jewish Virtual Library  www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/.  That title was removed and substituted with another.  Since plans to erect camps and intern Americans were introduced in House Resolution 645 and mass quarantine was listed as a possible punishment for citizens who refuse H1N1 vaccines during a state-declared emergency in Massachusetts, I suppose the cyberstalkers do not want Americans reminded of what concentration camps were like for Jewish people.  It is encouraging that the cyberstalkers do not want people to have a vivid remembrance of that.  Maybe there is still some hope of avoiding that future. My writing is censored, and I must remain home due to stalkers assigned to do I don't know what when I leave home.  See my ignored 911 police call report in the signature block of this blog. Make a donation if you are able. 

Can Someone Please Save Justice?

Subtitles
Cyberstalking re President Obama's Health Care Plan eMail
Cyberstalking Against US Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (USPRA)
Northwestern University innocence project students investigated for questioning murder convictions
Cyberstalking
    ~to Hide Larry Neal's Wrongful Death Cover-up
    ~to Prevent Disclosure of Thomas Arthur's DNA Test Results
    ~ to Prevent Mary Neal's Subsistence and Persecute Family for Asking for Justice
Mainstream Media Blackout
Inalienable Rights Denied
Cyberstalking Against Announcements for Amnesty International Southern Regional Conference
      ~to Prevent Advocacy to Decriminalize Mental Illness
Human Rights Advocacy Treated As Terrorism

Mine is the only American family in the 21st Century to have a member secretly arrested and returned as a corpse without any police accountability, arrest records, full autopsy report, and denied any investigation whatsoever.  This was to have been done without Larry Neal's family protesting his death or even asking what happened.  Because his survivors did both, we suffer persecution in the form of stalking, cyberterriosm, and censorship.  See http://WrongfulDeathOfLarryNeal.com

Due process of law was denied regarding Larry Neal's demise in 2003. His death was swept under the rug.  After seeing how little regard is given to the civil and human rights of acute mental patients and their families, I founded and direct Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill.  It is an online organization with over 200 members who advocate removing the 1.25 million mentally dysfunctional people in prisons and jails to mental hospitals and community care, depending on their offenses and ability to survive outside a controlled environment. Other human rights organizations are also under cyberattack. 

CYBERSTALKING PRESIDENT OBAMA'S HEALTH CARE PLAN eMAIL

President Obama sent an email informing people about his proposed national health care plan.  On it he gave a link to pledge support, and he invited recipients to share the email with friends.  I posted it at my Care2 Sharebook.  I have videos to show that cyberstalkers pulled the link from the middle of the president's email to the bottom of the page (this is how they seem to delete data).  Other changes were being made to the deocument as well - paragraphs were moved toward the bottom, likely to be deleted.  I sent a copy of the doctored document to Sen. Webb, and it is still in my Sharebook.  I also recorded the cyberattack on the president's email to the comments of an article I wrote concerning him at NowPublic.com and posted the doctored document. The entire bottom half of the president's email turned into a link before I pulled the plug on my modem, which seemed to end their connection to my Sharebook.  I filmed the cyberstalking like I do in many cases, because some people prefer to think of the interference I have online as being glitches.

CYBERSTALKING ON USPRA

Treating the mentally ill instead of imprisoning them would hurt prison profiteers' profits. See an incident regarding US Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (USPRA):
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I notified USPRA that its link to an announcement for its suggested national health care insurance plan was not working on Facebook because spaces had been inserted. I found that the link had extra coding at the end when I removed the spaces and copied/pasted the link into my browser. Only after I removed the extra codes after the html. at the end of the link was I finally reached the organization's site. Then I discovered that although all the links within the site were blue and underlined, one important link for readers to support the organization's proposals was not actually a link at all - it was simply underlined, blue words. The person who published the document was apparently intended to be duped, and it worked until I reported the problem to the organization. Here is the URL. See the fake link in the final paragraph on page 2:

US Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (USPRA)
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AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE HELP FOR ALL HUMANITY Plan (or AHHH! for short).
http://www.uspra.org//files/public/Marcie's_response_to_healthcare_reform_bills.pdf

People are intended to believe that all such computer issues are "glitches," although that is far from the case. I have endured so much cyberstalking that I could give lectures on it - "Recognizing Cyberstalking 101."

When human rights groups and organizations get a response rate that is lower than anticipated for a large emailing project, it would behoove them to use a computer with a different URL to check all links. It is a good idea for human rights organizations to check their links periodically, anway. Months ago, I republished a copy of a mailing from President Obama regarding his proposed national health care plan.  He had requested that recipients share the information on the plan with their friends.  While I typed an introduction inviting my Care2 friends to read the president's letter, the link that was on his letter for people to pledge support for the health care plan was being removed from my Care2 Share.  I captured evidence of the cyberstalking on video and wrote about it.  It is one of the videos I will publish to demonstrate the attack against human rights that is underway.

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WHO QUESTION MURDER CONVICTIONS ARE UNDER INVESTIGATION

Advocacy is discouraged regarding wrongful convictions, criminalizing mental illness, the death penalty, and other justice issues.  Free speech suffers when one works for justice for convicted persons. Northwestern University is fighting an order to release information on the students who question murder convictions.

"In the previous decade, Medill students had uncovered some of the most high-profile wrongful convictions in the city. The class had worked to secure the release of 11 innocent prisoners, five of whom were scheduled to be executed . . . The students have raised questions about the murder conviction of Anthony McKinney. In response, the state attorney's office issued a subpoena for the students' grades, grading criteria, expense reports, syllabi and e-mail messages -- mine included," reports Nicole Lapin, of CNN.  See the entire article at this link:  http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/06/lapin.wrongful.conviction/index.html?eref=rss_us

CYBERSTALKING AND IN-PERSON STALKING TO HIDE LARRY NEAL'S WRONGFUL DEATH COVERUP
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Organizations and human rights ativists should take time to actually try to open some of their links that appear on the Internet to ensure they lead to the referenced work.  Occasionally, my links on the Internet do not lead to the article referenced.  A few times, the referenced artiles were actually deleted, parked with an Internet parking service, or the online links would not open. I found that on my "Naked Demonstration Planned to End Censorship," article, the URL led to another of my articles instead. "Naked Demonstration" had been covertly deleted.

Secondly, rganizations and activists should also post their contact information on the home page, because sometimes tabs are missing or not permitted to open, which happened when I accessed the Veterans Against Police Abuse website recently.

Third, copy the first page of all petitions periodically (at least once daily) to ensure that the numbers beside signatures have not slipped backwards, which indicates that some petitioners' signatures were removed.
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I regret the attack on human and civil rights that is underway.  Some of my earliest memories are of my brother, Larry, reciting great historical speeches. His favorites were the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America, the Gettysburg Address, and the Declaration of Independence. Because Larry was already sick since his case of mumps at age 8, he recited the speeches loud and repetitively.

I was six years younger than Larry. I wish you could hear how proudly he'd recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I wish I had it on tape. I heard so much about "liberty and justice for all" all my life from Larry's recitations at home, on television, and because I had to stand and recite the Pledge myself every school morning with one hand over my heart, that I was completely unprepared for the lack of justice that followed Larry's murder. I really thought it meant something. Don't laugh at my innocence.

When my grandmother took me every weekend to the bus depot for our trip to visit my aunt in Memphis, she never explained why she would clutch my arm tight and make me wait until others boarded the bus first - people who arrived long after we had. My grandmother liked to get there early and chat with the people at the counter and other passengers. By the time I was about 8, I figured out that the white people in town had better houses than the African Americans. But we did not talk about race in my house, so it was just something that I was aware about and had no ill-feelings attached.

We knew all the white families in town by name and history, and they knew all of us. They were Mr. Taylor at the grocery store, and Ms. MaryEllen, whose children my mom helped to raise. They were Ms. Ruth and Ms. Margaret, spinister sisters who always made us candy for Christmas. I was never taught to consider anyone as being better or worse. They just looked different and had more. I thought they liked me - I liked and respected them.  This is not something happening just to my family.  Apparently, there is some program against African Americans seeking justice, especially after deaths by police officers.  Listen to Shawn Holley, an attorney who worked with the Johnnie Cochran Firm for 17 years until being terminated along with other black attorneys and staff in his LA office immediately after his demise:
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Shawn Holley interview with National Public Radio
re her race discrimination lawsuit against The Cochran Firm
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12171473

People need DOG JUSTICE! http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/dog-justice-poem-and-petition-for-larry.html

I had no idea until Larry's death that black citizens were perceived as being expendable like Larry without explanation or investigation, although I was middle aged.  Of course, I knew there was prejudice, but nothing on this scale.  I don't think anyone in my family knew how bad the problem still is, and neither do people I speak with or they would not advise me to contact  the media.  They cannot seem to understand that Larry's wrongful death coverup is protected news.  You would never have known about it except for his family's efforts to inform.  Those who engineered the cover-up did not know that Larry was from a family of writers who keep journals and write short stories as a hobby, not for publication.  Unlike others in the family, I did aspire to publish children's stories after retirement.  What a morbid change it is to write about my brother's secret extermination and realization that my family members are perceived as having no worth, and certainly no inaleinable rights, in the country where we live.  This is true althouogh numerous family members serve in the military or are veterans; some work as civil servants; and all human life deserves respect. 

How was I to know when I called 911 when followed and accosted by four cars of men and a USDOT truck on September 27, 2008, that no police would respond during the hour my young grandson and I waited for a police rescue that never came?  No one would have been able to convince me prior to Larry's extermination that I could have affidavits from business owners and guards where I worked attesting to my stalking, but no one would investigate the illegal acts intended to make me stop writing about Larry's extermination in Memphis Shelby County Jail and the elaborate cover-up facilitated by The Cochran Firm while it pretended (under contract) to be Larry's wrongful death attorneys. 

For us, America the Beautiful has turned out to be like Nazi Germany.  I now live under self-imposed house arrest for safety and write about our experiences like Anne Frank did.  If we are ever attacked here, my writing serves as skin under our nails.  But likely, that would not be investigated, either.  It is back to slavery days for the Neals, or the 1940's when black men could be lynched with no questions asked or even allowed.  I recently spoke about my worst stalking event during a radio interview with Rev. Pinkney, an African American minister who was imprisoned for quoting Deuteronomy 28, and he lived under court-ordered house arrest for 90-days after prison release.  Listen to the interview below:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Rev-Pinkney/2009/10/11/MARY-NEAL-A-WARRIOR


 I was a guest on the Rev. Pinkney blogtalk radio show on October 11, 2009.  I placed the widget at this article, but cyberstalkers switched it with a Rev. Pinkney show where I was not interviewed.  The link above should begin w/ Rev. Pinkney speaking of his house arrest (which ended on 10/16) and greeting the Pinkney family.  I am brought online within a few minutes of that.  On 10/31, I discovered cyberstalkers had switched the radio interview to one on which I was not a guest.  My "sin" was asking what happened to Larry Neal and advocating for other mentally ill people behind bars.  Why don't you commit that sin with me?

If you would like to join nearly a thousand other people who asked that the USDOJ investigate the secret arrest and wrongful death of a handicapped American, my brother Larry Neal, please email them at AskDOJ@USDOJ.gov  and/or join the petitioners:
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WHAT HAPPENED TO LARRY NEAL?
Petition http://www.petitiononline.com/Neal/petition.html
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I am more censored than other human rights advocates in order to contain news of Larry's elimination and absence of just resolution, which was followed by intimidation and persecution to quiet his family. But it is certainly not limited to my advocacy to decriminalize mental illness.  I have also witnessed evidence of other human rights organizations besides the two above being censored without their knowledge.

CYBERSTALKING RE: THOMAS ARTHUR'S DNA TEST RESULTS INDICATING INNOCENCE

My brother Ed graduated from high school when the Viet Nam War was underway. He volunteered and served in the Marines. Larry tried to enlist, but of course, he could not. My uncle used to talk to my brothers about his time in France during WWII. Some of my nephews are in Iraq now. We thought we were an American family. I guess that sounds silly. I thought the Pledge meant us, too.  Frankly, I doubt if the Pledge applies to all white Americans, considering that Thomas Arthur is a white man on Alabama's death row months after his innocence was indicated by the DNA test results in July.  The test results were promptly sealed by the court while plans to execute Arthur continued. That was kept out of the media, too. See the poll I published to announce his DNA results that are kept secret, just like my handicapped brother Larry's extermination was.  After free speech and free press go, the rest of citizens' rights usually topple fast.

Should Thomas Arthur Be Executed for Telling a Fibb
http://www.votingcentral.com/VotingCentral/displayPoll.do?pollId=1236f80e-49c4-163d-b520-0cb9ffffffd4

I discovered that the title and the link to my Care2 News Network article about Arthur have been switched online (see it below).  I suppose it means Arthur might still be executed since they are still hiding the article that broadcasts his DNA test results. I suppose if they can catch me away from home one day, my justice articles would just disappear instead of cyberstalkers limiting their exposure online.  Perhaps Arthur would be executed the very next week. Who cares whether people in the slave class (people who exist on paychecks and fixed incomes rather than dividend checks) are innocent or guilty? The media still has not published Arthur's DNA test results, although his case got nearly as much publicity at one time as the Troy Davis case does now. Because Arthur's DNA test results were withheld and cyberdogs moved my story about his DNA not matching the crime scene evidence, things do not look good for Arthur.

A thousand people read the poll and the article at Care2 News Network. Please send it out to people. (The link is above.)  Let everyone know about this man's DNA test results, and maybe the likely innocent man will not be executed. Arthur's daughter printed his actual DNA test results indicating his innocence at his blog. His lawyers cannot publish them because a judge sealed Arthur's results. If the DNA test results had indicated guilt . . .

See below how they matched my Care2 article about Arthur with a link about breast cancer! I often get ads about induced cancer and have received cyberthreats about it, also. Johnnie Cochran died of cancer soon after signing with his new partners.

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POLL: Should Thomas Arthur Be Executed for Telling a Fibb? by Mary ...POLL: Should Thomas Arthur Be Executed for Telling a Fibb? by Mary Neal. A discussion in Human Rights Network, Care2 Groups (Human / Civil Rights)
endbreastcancer.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=67...
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I caught the above cyberstalking by typing "Thomas Arthur Poll" in my Google browser.  The article has zero to do with breast cancer. Cyberdogs may move it from the Internet now. They sometimes fix things the way they should be when I report interferrence, but I work with cameras ready and made many films of the wrongdoing.

I also have evidence that the "www" in my Care2 online links was replaced in some posts with the word "primate." Instead of taking people to my Care2 article that the links reference, those links led to a picture of an large ape.  I understand that is meant to be a racial slur. It only shows how prejudice and evil the cyberdogs are as well as those they serve.  African Americans and whites who are not wealthy, like Thomas Arthur, should pray that those who are doing this are never in a position to make decisions about them.  They have my 86-year-old mom and me trapped in our home, afraid to leave because of stalking and denial of police services.

CYBERSTALKING TO PREVENT MARY NEAL'S SUBSISTENCE

I put a PayPal at my blog for the public to help me continue to stay home with her and write about these matters, but they delete my taglines to keep people from finding my blog and seeing that we need help. They want to starve me out of the house to harm me, we believe. Police ignore me when I call for help. I write about Larry's murder, and it was supposed to be kept secret after The Cochran Firm Fraud. My mom and I are like gang rape victims who are inconvenient after the crime. The people who mistreated Larry and our legal case against the jail are so rich and powerful that it is preferable to dispose of us than to prosecute them or enforce the law and have The Cochran Firm pay its just damages for defrauding us after Larry's death - merely holding the case against the jail that killed Larry 10.5 months totally inactive while pretending to be working in our behalf. When we sued, The Cochran Firm said it had no office in Georgia and that our suit was therefore served wrongly.  It was served to the Atlanta office of the firm, but the court dismissed our case, saying there was no Cochran Firm office at all in Georgia. The commercials never stopped, and the law firm never stopped answering the phone, "Cochran Firm." 

There was no need to even pretend to tell the truth, because an African American family of military men, civil servants, and taxpayers is "immaterial."  The secret arrest and wrongful death of Larry Neal did not get the attention given to dog abuse in the country where he was a citizen - and it still has not.  Tell me, where do you stand here?  Have you got your "inalienable rights" on tight enough?

MAINSTREAM MEDIA BLACKOUT

Certain news is blacked out of the media. I don't know who determined that Larry's death was to be a secret, but folks follow and accost me because I chose to write about it myself when I saw the media would not. That is why it is important to check alternative news sources - independent news, group mail, and stay close to the Lord, because He leads His children through His Holy Spirit.

See the short web page at the link below, and use the DOCUMENTS tab to access court documents and other proof for the allegations I make.

MEDIA BLACKOUT RE: COCHRAN FIRM FRAUD
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com/story/story07.html

My justice quest started out to be about Larry's wrongful death lawsuit against the jail where he was secretly arrested to prevent his access to life-saving heart meds. But along the way, I learned that many other people - black and white, young and old - are also in need of DOG JUSTICE. I wrote a little poem about it:

Rabbit's Hole, by Mary Neal

Stumbled down a rabbit hole
Thought therein I would find gold
Instead, found people needing help
From cruel dungeons where they are kept
                                     (all rights reserved)

The Cochran Firm Fraud is a disappointment to me on many levels.  It was harder for me to give up my ideals about this country than to accept Larry's death. Because he died under secret arrest in Memphis Shelby County Jail, I thought something would be done about that crime, but it does not look as though that will happen. I remain amazed that pit bulls' deaths are investigated, but not a handicapped American's. Apparently, accountability is conditional on who might be found to be accountable.

INALIENABLE RIGHTS DENIED

During the last few years, I learned that our "inalienable rights" are really quite alienable. I found there are 1.25 million sick inmates like Larry who are criminalized for a handicap they did not ask for and cannot change. I discovered there are also innocent prisoners of all races who are deprived of a chance to prove their innocence through DNA tests or new trials because advanced testing methods or their evidence of innocence arrived after conviction - too late. Numerous innocent inmates and their families discovered the truth about "inalienable rights" before and since I did.

Human rights are not respected as they should be in the U.S.A. Perhaps they never were as much as I thought, but I believe it is worse now than years ago. I am not sure. Knowing the lack as I do, I am therefore concerned about H1N1 vaccines' safety and especially now that authorities in Massachusetts wrote a Marshal Law Bill to enforce vaccines at the threat of FEMA camp internment. It is disturbing to read offers by people who comment on news articles, saying they can help residents leave the country before it is "too late." I never anticipated seeing such videos or reading any such suggestions.

Over the last few years, I tried to remind people of what America is intended to be - in my own mind, anyway. I thought we could work on improving things together and move closer to justice - together, like every generation before us. I don't know if I believe that any longer. It indeed seems hopeless if handicapped people can be murdered and no one in any position of authority lifts a finger to apply due process. It seems useless if I can be stalked for asking what happened to Larry and not many people have enough nerve or concern to stand with my family. We thank all those who did and do stand. Many others who would be supportive are not permitted to receive our news because the Internet is on lockdown. Television went digital and can be turned off any time, and even Americans' phones operate off satellite. Someone could pull the plug on all communication at a whim.

If I seem paranoid, look at our court files and you will know why.  See my article on my ignored 911 call for the link to our federal lawsuit against The Cochran Firm and several more deaths and abuses to other "unacceptably different people" like Larry that occurred in Memphis after Larry's death.  It is outragious to have a handicapped realtive secretly arrested, returned naked and dead with no questions allowed. It is unimaginable to sue a famous, well advertised law firm for fraud and have it go to court and claim nonexistence - and win! It was incredible to watch that same law firm on televison undertake representing another family of African Americans who lost a family member to police violence just six months later - also in the State of Georgia, where it does not "exist." The Cochran Firm "represented" Ms. Kathryn Johnston's survivors, also. The 92-year-old police murder victim's survivors received no damages yet, either.

Perhaps most people already knew the truth about citizens' rights but only pretended to think otherwise. When the time really comes to stand and claim so-called "inalienable rights" for oneself or another American, knees get weak and strong voices whisper. Maybe it has always been that way and I was deceived. It is hard to judge. Larry's secret arrest and elimination, my family's denial of due process, stalking, and ongoing censorship to hide his death, as well as the uncensured lawyer fraud that followed, make me realize this country is very different from what I was taught and believed. It feels like the Matrix.
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CYBERSTALKING AGAINST AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL'S SOUTHERN
REGIONAL CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT

My final example of censorship regards Amnesty International. Around 3:30 a.m. on October 29, I published news at Care2 News Network that Amnesty International planned its Southern Regional Conference to be held in  Atlanta on October 30 - November 1. The Care2 News Network article is at the link below.  It has very few notes because it was not allowed to go on Care2's normal lineup of articles.  The eCards I sent to 200 individuals and groups with the link arrived in addressees' mailboxes empty.  The ecards were stripped of the link that would take them to Amnesty's conference announcement.  This also happened on September 1 when I sent eCards announcing Thomas Arthur's DNA test results.  See the excerpt on Care2 News Network below:

Care2 News Network Announcement of Amnesty International's Atlanta Conference
http://www.care2.com/news/member/513396753/1289391

The Amnesty International Group on Care2 has approximately 40,000 members, many of whom live around or in the conference area. Therefore, after publishing the news, I posted the organization's announcement at Care2's AI Group and at Town Crier Group. Because of the low number of notes my announcement received on Care2 News Network, I do not know if the postings actually published.  Sometimes when I post at Care2 and other networks, the only place the posting shows is at my own PC.  I have to use two computers to see what actually shows on the Internet.  On one, I log on as a network member, but not on the other PC.  The second computer lets me know if  my member posts actually publish.

THE LINK BELOW SHOWS THE STORIES IN CARE2'S "NEWLY SUBMITTED" lineup.  My Amnesty article should have appeared on Care2 News Network's "newly submitted" list, but it did not. Amnesty International is so popular with Care2 members that many of them would have noted the news about the Southern Regional Conference and the article might have gone to Care2 News Network's front page.  The conference might have gotten more support than the cyberstalkers wanted AI to have.

http://www.care2.com/news/submitted/?page=5&display=recent

This link is the Care2 ecard as it went out to addressees - stripped of its data about Amnesty's conference and the link for them to reach Care2 News Network.  I filmed myself preparing and sending the ecards, but the justice system is such that one probably cannot expect any justice about such censorship: http://www.care2.com/send/preview/1301-34962-25290-3854

AI's conference announcement was buried on the network that CARES. 

CYBERSTALKING TO PREVENT ADVOCACY TO DECRIMINALIZE MENTAL ILLNESS

In the Care2 ecards that were stripped of data, I also had asked people to please help Jeremy Smith.  He is another acute mental patient wrongly imprisoned for mental illness. The link to his petition is below.
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Justice 4 Jeremy Petition - Lifelong Schizophrenic Man in CA Prison Hole http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/JusticeForJeremy

Smith is a young man who faces the possibility that California may add time to his prison sentence for talking back to a prison guard - making a "terrorist threat." Who can be terrorized by a sick young man who is already bound in prison in the "hole"? Like Larry, Jeremy was also schizophrenic from childhood. Additionally, Jeremy has a low IQ indicating retardation. He has been in solitary confinement for years just for hitting another mental patient at a hospital. I hoped to help people like Jeremy be hospitalized or receive mandated treatment and subsistence in their communities. "Let the mentally ill out of prisons," I said. Instead, it appears that many more who are equally innocent might soon be joining Jeremy, instead. While some advocate for prison reform and reducing America's high incarceration rate (the largest in world history), others in positions of power plan to erect FEMA camps capable of holding many more prisoners. It is discouraging.

In the 1800's, Dorothea Dix decriminalized mental illness in a country where people did not make money from incarcerating the least among us, His brethren. Now, California taxpayers may be forced to pay for Jeremy and/or others to serve life in prison for making "terrorist threats" in a three-strikes state. Like other schizophrenics, Jeremy often acts irrationally, so I don't doubt that he said something during a period of lunacy that he should not have said. All it takes to lengthen sentences for America's acute mental patients is to deprive them of meds or change their dosage or prescriptions. Many chronic mental patients eventually do something that is worthy of arrest, or if already incarcerated, they act contrary to prison rules and are banished to the "hole" - out of the way.
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HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY TREATED AS TERRORISM

My RSS feed was also stopped on Care2, and my appeals to the HelpDesk are ignored. I have no "reply all" button for my email box there, which limits my ability to communicate with more than one person at a time, but the network will not respond to my requests about it. Many of the Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI) members report interference trying to post news and comments about criminalizing mental illness at AIMI. One woman reported that after she joined AIMI, her URL was on a "watch list," and her police friends could not open emails she sent to them. They told her the notice on her emails said the message came from someone who might be a member of a "terrorist group." After that, I received daemon mail messages with the words "Whitelisted" as the reason for their return.  This may be done in part to discourage AIMI members from being as active in the advocacy for decriminalizing mental illness as they would.  Very active AIMI members have as much trouble posting to the group discussions as I do, and several had repeated computer issues immediately after joining and posting news about our subject matter.  I have replaced six computers or had wipe-cleans done within the past year.

As the director of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill, I admonish people to do only two things to decriminalize mental illness in America:  1) pray that God will move the hearts of our legislators to care about people more; and 2) write to representatives to support decriminalizing mental illness.  Praying and lobbying elected officials are solutions that worked for Dorothea Dix, the Sunday school teacher who reduced the number of mentally ill inmates to .07% before her retirement in the 1800's.  But praying and asking for CHANGE in the 21st century are classified as terrorism.  I am the one who lives in terror just knowing that America has become a country where contacting leaders and praying are viewed as threats and a place where a citizen can be secretly arrested and returned dead with no explanation given.

TRUTH AND JUSTICE TERRORIZE SOME PEOPLE.  WE ADVOCATE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND COMPASSION FOR SICK PEOPLE IN PRISON.  WHY WOULD THAT TERRORIZE ANYONE?  EVERYTHING ON OUR SITE IS OPEN TO PUBLIC VIEW.  EVEN MY PERSONAL EMAIL BOX IS MONITORED AND OPEN TO SOME PEOPLE'S VIEW.  WHERE IS THE TERRORISM? I AM A CHRISTIAN DOING THE WILL OF GOD ACCORDING TO HEBREWS 13:3 AND MATTHEW 25:40.  PLEASE DON'T KEEP MENTAL PATIENTS IN DARK 6'x9' CELLS,  NAKED AND CHAINED.  PLEASE SEND THEM TO HOSPITALS FOR TREATMENT OR CARE FOR THEM IN THEIR COMMUNITIES.  THAT IS OUR ONLY MESSAGE.  WHERE IS THE TERROR?  THAT ONLY TERRORIZES PRISON PROFITEERS WHO SHOULD RE-INVEST IN SOMETHING HUMANE LIKE HOSPITALS AND CLINICS.

If people are not alarmed at the continuing loss of rights for the sake of security first from terrorists and now from H1N1 virus, they should be.  People may feel far superior to a sick African American man like my brother, but a nation's moral fabric can be determined not by how the highest and richest are treated, but by how the people perceived to be least are treated.  In case any of you did not know it, you live where a sick man was killed for being a nuisance who sang too loud, and no one will address it except to persecute and threaten his elderly mom and sister for asking WHAT HAPPENED TO LARRY NEAL.  An injustice anywhere is an affront to justice everywhere - Martin Luther King, Jr.

In a country where secret arrest and extermination of private citizens was unheard of, first, they came for Larry Neal . . .

The state of justice is critical.
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But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. ~Luke 7:30

Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. ~Luke 11:52

There was a time when my writing about the censorship at Google or to online friends made a difference. The censorship force would often remedy whatever problems they had caused. They are much bolder now. That may be significant, and not in a good way. Nevertheless, in God we trust.

The Bible says: "She hath done what she could." Mark 14:8

I have reported to authorities and to We the People how things are now. It may be a long time before I am this active online again. I may watch my work and review emails. My computers have their mics open within a short time after I bring another computer home. No one in the household opened it or can close it.  I change the language feature to something obscure, and it gets changed back to English.  I prefer privacy, although that, too, may be an illusion that is fast fading.  At least if I am offline in my home, cyberstalkers will not be able to use the mic feature to know when I am leaving home.  The last time this happened was two months ago when three cars followed my sister and me to my daughter's house a few blocks away.  I grow weary of cyberstalkers and in-person terrorists who are sent to persecute my family for making inquiries about the secret arrest and wrongful death of Larry Neal.  We are denied any official effort to curb same. It only grows bolder.  I made videos of real-time cyberstalking to notify the public where we really are regarding human and civil rights, especially the Bill of Rights. I pray that you don't oversleep. It's KoffieTime!

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27

Blessings!

Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com/

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

More Justice Articles Posted and Donations Appreciated at
http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/

Mary Neal Finally Heard From Police Re 911 Emergency Call When Waylaid
http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/mary-neal-finally-heard-from-police-re.html

JAIL IS THE LAST THING THAT MENTAL PATIENTS NEED, AND TOO OFTEN, IT IS THE VERY LAST THING THEY EXPERIENCE. Please join our effort to decriminalize mental illness. No one deserves to be punished for having a disability.
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