Murphy's Response

On Friday, March 28th, I received my response from Superintendent Murphy. You can read it by clicking on the image of the letter at the left.

Basically, Murphy says he has no idea why the books were contrabanded. He does not, you will notice, concede that any mistakes were made, that anyone might have violated procedures or done anything at all wrong.

And, as I expected, no apology was offered.





"Kevin," however, has talked to the Chief Property Officer, who seems to agree that the books should not have been declared contraband. If the books have not yet been destroyed, he may still receive them. If they have been destroyed, it's possible that his canteen account will be credited. So we are still awaiting final resolution. If necessary, I will reorder the books, one by one.

I am still hoping to find people willing to correspond with "Kevin." If you are interested, let me know and I will give you his name and address.

On another note, believe it or not, I now have my Icelandic herbs. They were held by U.S. customs for a long time and then sent back to Iceland. The Icelandic company contacted me and told me that such a thing had never happened to them before. They had sent them originally by Icelandic post. So they resent them by FedEx and gave me the tracking number. This time they were held in customs for about 12 hours and then released.

-Bob Chatelle

Contrabanded Books Development

I just received a phone call from "Kevin." Superintendent Murphy is investigating what happened with the contrabanded books and "Kevin" is optimistic that there will be a fair resolution.

I will post more when the matter is finally resolved.

-Bob

The Rule of Law

Dear Friend of Justice,

Last Sunday I received a phone call from my friend "Kevin." (See my posts of March 14th and 17th.) He was finally given one of the three books I had sent him -- Painless Reading Comprehension. The two books destroyed by the prison were thus Painless Writing and Painless Poetry. The numeral 2 had been written on the contraband slip. But I hadn't given this too much thought. I hadn't assumed that all employees of the Massachusetts Correctional system could pass a math proficiency test.

As expected, I have heard nothing back from Superintendent Murphy. If I don't hear something by the end of the week, I will write again to the Commissioner, with a cc to Representative Rushing and Senator Jehlen. Rushing is my state rep. And Senator Patricia Jehlen is the one member of the Massachusetts legislature who has shown past concern about Massachusetts injustices.

"Kevin" told me that he had heard that the officer who had destroyed the books had contrabanded property belonging to a total of 115 prisoners during the same week. It was his last week as a property officer before being promoted to IPS (Internal Perimeter Security). I have no way of verifying this information, of course.

I will wait a week or so and try to send him one of the books again. As I mentioned before, the Painless series was designed for use in high schools.

This morning I discovered another way in which I had been the victim of arbitrary government power.

In the fall of 2006, my partner, Jim D'Entremont, took me to Sweden. The main objective of the trip was a visit to the mountain village that my grandmother had left as a little girl late in the 19th century. It was a wonderful trip, and we were treated like visiting royalty by distant cousins I met for the first time.

On the way back, we spend a few days in Iceland where for the first time we experienced wonderful Icelandic lamb soup. After coming home, we went looking for recipes on the internet. We discovered that a key ingredient was an herb mixture containing herbs native to Iceland -- such as Arctic thyme and bog bilberry. You don't find such things on the shelves at Star Market, Whole Foods, or Trader Joes.

After a lot of googling, I found a source within Iceland. Ordering it was expensive, partly because you pay for the postage by the kilo. But I ordered a small jar of the herbs over a year ago with no problem.

Recently we ran out and I decided to order two small jars. I waited and waited for them to arrive. I contacted the company, who supplied me with the tracking number. I discovered that "Your item is being processed by United States Customs." This processing has been going on since March 12th.

U.S. Custom Agents can seize anything they want. They don't have to give reasons. They can hold your property indefinitely. And there is no appeal. They have the same kind of absolute authority given to correctional officers.

The law is what they say it is. It's for national security. And to protect the children.

While I was fuming about all of this, I received a phone call from a friend, telling me that the Boston Globe had published an obituary for John O'Brien. (See posts of March 6th and March 9th.) Here is the link:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2008/03/25/john_obrien_playwright_with_sharp_wit_and_keen_conscience/?p1=email_to_a_friend


John was a teacher with a terrific love of learning. And he had enormous compassion for prisoners and ex-prisoners. He would have been horrified by what was done to "Kevin." And he would have made a real pest of himself trying to right that wrong. I wish I had his kind of spirit.

John would also have been amused by the idea of U.S. Custom officials trying to get stoned by smoking a mixture of Arctic thyme and bog bilberry.

-Bob

A Letter to Superintendent Murhpy

March 17, 2008

Robert F. Murphy, Jr., Superintendent
Massachusetts Treatment Center
Bridgewater MA 02324

Dear Superintendent Murphy:

From June of 1999 through June of 2006, when Judge Francis Fecteau threw out his conviction, I was a regular visitor of Bernard Baran. During those seven years, his supporters and I often sent him books using Amazon.com.

During that time I also began corresponding with some of Baran’s friends, including XXXXX XXXXXXXX. I still correspond with XXXXX and accept his phone calls. About a month ago, I sent XXXXX three books via Amazon.

One he particularly appreciated was Painless Grammar, by Dr. Rebecca Elliot. (The Painless series was developed for use in high schools.) This book came with a brochure that described some of the other books in the series. I asked XXXXX to let me know which interested him.

On March 2^nd, I ordered three more books from Amazon for XXXXX: Painless Poetry, Painless Reading Comprehension, and Painless Writing.

Last Friday, XXXXX called me to tell me that the Treatment Center had declared these books contraband. XXXXX was given the choice of having the books destroyed or paying 12 to 15 dollars to have then shipped out. Since XXXXX couldn’t afford the postage, the books were destroyed.

I asked XXXXX to send me the contraband slip so that I could try to figure out what had gone wrong. I enclose a copy. It is unsigned and undated. The only explanation given was “Book (2) not authr. DOC.” So I have no idea what rule I might have violated.

Since I have little income besides my social security, I can offer XXXXX no financial help. I am, however, happy to help him improve and educate himself. But I can’t afford to buy books for him that the Treatment Center is going to destroy. The destroyed books cost me $32.86. I don’t expect to be compensated. But I would like to send XXXXX books in the future and not have to worry about their being destroyed.

I certainly don’t want to violate your rules. I just want to know what they are. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Chatelle

CC: Commissioner Harold W. Clarke, Senator Patricia Jehlen, Representative Byron Rushing

The Bizarre Idiocy of the Correctional System

On February 25th, I posted a notice about my friend Kevin, a prison inmate. (http://bobchatelle.blogspot.com/2008/02/befriend-sex-offender.html)

Kevin is very interested in trying to better himself. A while back, I sent him a few books, including a dictionary and a grammar book, from Amazon.com. (I've been sending prisoners books via Amazon for years.) I couldn't find the grammar book I use (it's out of print), so I took a chance on one called Painless Grammar. He loved it! They also sent Kevin one of their brochures, which listed some of the other books in the Painless series. There were three that especially interested him: Painless Writing, Painless Reading Comprehension, and Painless Poetry.

I got a call from Kevin tonight. He told me that the prison authorities had declared the books contraband. They refused to give him any reason why they considered these books so dangerous and subversive. The contraband slip (which I have requested) only said, "Not Approved by DOC."

Kevin was given two choices: authorize them to destroy the books or send them back to Amazon. But if they were sent back, he would be charged $15 for the postage. Kevin had to authorize them to destroy the books because he couldn't afford the postage. (I suspect that some people who work for DOC get a certain pleasure out of destroying books.)

I can't find the words to comment upon this act of stupidity and vandalism.

-Bob

Memorial Giving for John O'Brien

I just received a phone call from John O'Brien's widow, Gwen. She was concerned that the death notice for John had only suggested memorial gifts to the Malden Public Library. She felt that giving to other organizations might more appropriately reflect John's later values and concerns.

I think everyone who knew John could think of deserving causes to support in his memory. Since John was a generous supporter of the National Center for Reason and Justice (http://www.ncrj.org/), I hope some will consider a gift to the NCRJ in his memory.

Gwen said a full obituary for John will appear in the Boston Globe this week. I shall share it when it appears.

-Bob Chatelle

Rest in Peace, John O'Brien

John A. O'Brien
Of Roxbury, formerly of Malden, of pancreatic cancer, at age 78, March 5. Beloved husband of Gwen (Moore) O'Brien. Former husband of Elizabeth (Prince) O'Brien of Melrose & beloved father of their children, the late James of Malden, the late Daniel of Malden, Thomas of Oneonta, NY, David of Amherst, MA & Ellen of Roslindale, MA. Devoted grandfather to Christopher, Timothy, Daniel & Haley & father-in-law of Theresa, all of Oneonta, NY. Also former husband of Olive Silva of Swampscott, MA. There will be two memorial gatherings: At the Community Church of Boston, Copley Square (565 Boylston Street) on Saturday, March 15 at 10AM, and at the Malden Public Library Fri., March 28 at 2pm. Donations in John's memory may be made to the James & Daniel O'Brien Fund at the Malden Public Library, 36 Salem St., Malden, MA 02148.
Published in the Boston Globe on 3/6/2008.

One of the great rewards I have had since beginning my criminal-justice work a dozen years or so ago has been the truly wonderful people I have come to know.

Many of these people were in their 70s and 80s when I first met them and unfortunately many are now gone: Herbert Aptheker, Fred Lubet, Dan Finneran, Stewart Washburn, and others.

My friend John O'Brien has now joined them.

For a great many years, John taught English at Malden public high school. Among his pupils were both Gerald and Cheryl Amirault. (http://mysite.verizon.net/vzex11z4/amirault.html)

Because John knew the Amiraults, he knew from the start how ridiculous were the charges against them.

I got to know John on visits to Gerald Amirault in prison. When he learned about the tragic case of Bernard Baran, he became an avid supporter (and frequent visitor) of Bee as well.

While far from a wealthy man, John also contributed generously to the efforts to free the falsely accused and wrongfully imprisoned.

John was amazingly good company. He had a wonderful sense of humor and was an incomparable story teller. He was also a talented actor and playwright. Many of his stories were drawn from his decades of experience in the classroom and in the theater.

I remember the night that Jim and I took Cheryl Amirault to see John in a production of Glengarry Glenross. She got to see her old English teacher spout language I'm sure he never used in the classroom.

The last time I saw John was but a few months ago when I attended what turned out to be the last reading of one of his plays. John was frail but in his usual great spirits. He held his own during the question-and-answer session that followed the reading.

And he told a story that I hadn't heard him tell before. Since it is the last story I heard John tell, I will attempt to repeat it. I won't try telling it in the first person, however, because I could never capture John's voice.

When John taught English in Malden, one play he taught every year was Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. John loved that play and his lifelong dream was to someday play Willy Loman.

After he retired, he began auditioning for local small-theater groups. Eventually, he found one casting Death of a Salesman. He auditioned and became ecstatic when he was given the lead.

John worked hard through weeks of rehearsals and, when opening night finally came, he felt he had mastered the role.

John was to make his entrance down the center aisle from the back of the auditorium. As he was concentrating his attention, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw a woman he'd never seen before in his life who said to him:

"That will be five dollars please."

-Bob Chatelle

Another Berkshire County Atrocity?

A blog reader sent me this link this morning: http://www.berkshirehorror.com/A_Berkshire_Horror_Story.html

-Bob Chatelle

Daycare Cases From the 80s

I am often asked about how many people are still in prison as a result of the 80s daycare panic. This is an impossible question to answer, since many of the cases were only locally publicized. The Bernard Baran case, for example, was a case that Debbie Nathan just happened to stumble upon when she was researching Satan's Silence. Had she not come upon a minor reference to the case in the New York Times archive, few would have ever heard of the case to this day.

Recently I received an email about a Florida case that I had known about but had forgotten about: the James Toward case in Florida. Toward now has a committed advocate in a young woman named Kristin Erickson. What makes this especially interesting is that Kristin was one of the children in Toward's care twenty years ago.

Erickson has set up a web site: http://www.freetoward.org/

There are also some long-forgotten daycare cases at my Dubious Accusations and Conviction page.

If you know of other web sites for these cases, please let me know.

It is so sad to realize that most of these innocent men and women will die in prison because our government is so committed to covering up its mistakes.

-Bob Chatelle