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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 1977)
Portland Observer. Thursday . August 4. 1977 From behind the wall by Larry Baker »35021 Salaai |O 8F| Cmrespredroi M l Haaaa Lawyer«? In a room stacked with books, sur rw adad with paintings lining its shades of Itrht rreen walls and the atmosohere holds a state reverence that could only be found in s chapel or a mortuary, the sign reads: Oregon State Penitentiary I A . rary Inside this large roc m is a partitioned, enclosed section called. The OSP Legal I a w lib ra ry . Two large tables, a couple cd decks for clerks, and chairs scattered about, a group of men, day after day, night after night, silently spend their time sifting through large volumes of material written on criminal, civil and federal constitutions of law. while others work busily banging out words on a few. badly needed repair typewriters. Although they are only a handful of inmates out of the 1,400 population, they work as a team, many times for things that affect their fellow inmates daily, rule, regulation, abuses, unjust sentences, divorces, appeals and etc. They work as if you would see a group of struggling students in post graduate school cramming for their last exam or final paper. The only difference is that these inmates are net fighting for any grades, they are fighting for their lives. To be released from prison walls, with high gun towers and barred small cells. It would only be normal for one to ask? Why wouldn't these men and others call upon the assistance of a legal attorney to do this method of work for them? Why would a layman take on the task as skillful as a surgeons hands and tools in an operating room? For it has been stated many times “A man who tries to defend himself in a court of law, has a fool for an attorney.“ This reporter thought it might be interesting to bring those answers to the attention of the Portland Observer. “From Behind the Walls.” many readers by questioning a few of these individuals who hold the respect of the entire population for their efforts and dedica tion. When asked. Charles Richardson. 36. “Why don't you trust attornies from such professions as the Oregon American Bar Association. Legal Prisoner Project. America Civil Liberties Union and Public Defenders Offices here in the State of Oregon to do this type of work for you? Richardson: “I t is simply s matter of odds; by eliminating the attorney, it becomes necessary only to combat two prosecutors: the judge and the district attorney, especially a court appointed attorney, who is not on the sleezy side of things. He. the attorney, is the worst Fredrick W . Carroll, 36: “The sham tactics of the majority of Public Defen dors and court appointed lawyers is a desecration of the constitution of the U.S.A. They deal in selling lives for dollars Modern day slavery'. A b e asked. Alvin P. Smith, 28. who has studied pre-law at Southern Oregon College. University Law School and who is the most knowledgeable in Civil Rights in this prison: “Most of the suits I prepare are not tactically designed to collect damages, but to obtain injunctions or to force changes in policy or procedure. Though a claim for damages is often a tool to be used. I do not charge for my work because I don't believe inmates should charge other inmates for services rendered of any type. I f I take a ease it's because I believe in the issues and wish to be of help to another inmate. My concern is not for sale. but. free to whom and what I wish." P.8. Jailhouse lawyers are necessary far a multitude of reasons: They provide a means of translation from legal to lay terms is moot important to inmates. They can provide hope in hopeless situations. They can provide change where there would otherwise only be stagnation. True they are occassionaly unethical and dishonest, but so are many attorneys who are sworn to being other wise. The fact is they do what no one else does or seem willing to do and until that Now the big question with many others statements be true. Robert Cannon of the Oregon State Public Defenders Office in Salem has stated: "909S of the attor neys in the State of Oregon who practice criminal law, are not qualified to try a case in our courts. " On August 19th, 1977, Judge Robert E. Jones, will become the first Judge in Oregon's history to actually lecture to a class of inmates who are studying law. Jones, a circuit court judge of Multnomah County, is considered one of the most highly respected judges and instructors among his colleagues and attorneys, throughout the United States. Judge Jones has given lectures in Universities of Law, Conference for Judges, as well as from the bench. To many men within this f t rison, he carries the nick name “The Ice an". His lecture will be on the process of sentencing'. Jones is also an instructor at Northwestern School of Law in Port land. It is sad that many of the other judges in this state don't show the same interest in what happens to the people thev sentence. After judgement is passed, as Jones is showing, then maybe not only the faith in the legal system could be restored, but the compassion for a fellow man who has stumbled, and now labeled - Criminal - for life. All men behind these walls have been sentenced for breaking an Oregon law. but only a handful of them are actually studying those laws which were broken. So jailhouse lawyers are trying too, and a judge is volunteering his time to inter prets those laws for the first time. by Thomas E. Terrell «36943 In my years in the Navy I had occasion to learn the works of a particular breed of dedicated men called Chaplains. My information was usually second hand. But I know that the service chaplain fills a definite need and could be depended on to serve the men of the service. In O.S.P. I am once again involved with some new people who call themselves chaplains. All I can tell you is they are not the same men as the service chap lains. The two chaplains of O.S.P. seem to be nothing more than guards without uniforms. Why do I ssy this? Lets examine the religious program and I think it should be obvious. Perhaps the greatest failing of these so-called chaplains is their lack of access ibility. An area pass must be secured to go to the chapel. This effectively puts access in the hands of the administration, and the administration of this prison is not known for its compassion. They are well known for their callousness in situations that place a terrific emotional strain on inmates. I speak now of the grotesque wall of indifference met by inmates in family deaths and illness. In a specific case (my own) a dose member of my family was hospitalized in critical condition which eventually resulted in death. In the nine days she was in the hospital the officials of this institution were notified daily of her condition by the hospital. This information was never passed on to me. I was never contacted, except to be notified of her death. I cannot describe to you the sgony I experienced not knowing how operations and tests had come out. Since my sister's funeral was held in Texas I did not attend. Yes, I could have gone, all I had to do was pay transportation for “two” guards to and from Texas. T1 That would three round trip tickets of nave been b 3220 apiece, plus meals and lodging, and I would only nave been able to view the body. I would not have been allowed to attend the services. I could not have been with my orphaned nephew and nieces. Inhuman? Yes it is. and that is standard practice at this institution. How many true Christian ministers do you know who would condone such sadistic behavior? I know of two men who call themselves chaplains who do condone it, by their silence. And by their silence they become less then Christians should be and surrender any claims they may have as ministers. The chapel at O.S.P. is quite elaborate, and a regular visit for the tours that come through. This makes the inmate who has any real religious desire avoid it. Worship with others is a private thing to be i i shared ' of like i i mind. Not on display to the public for institutional propaganda. In conclusion; I do believe in a Supreme Being and I do not wish to sound as though I am attacking religion or any persons religious beliefs. But if the chaplsins of this institution arc an example of organized religion today I will have nothing further to do with it. A minister or priest of God is charged with many duties. Among them the spiritual and emotional well being of their perish. Do these chaplsins fulfill this? I think it is apparent they do notl That in fact they are instrumental in the callousness and indifference of this institution by their failure to protest the inhuman policies of this administration and might be consi dered a prime example of the failure of organized religion to meet not just the needs of those “Behind the Wall,” but of society in general. by Henry Lee Madden 38967 Religion During a brief period of my six years of incarceration, to be exact, the past three years. I ’ve somehow from somewhere become aware of a love for my people that has become so strong until I find it very hard to think in terms of my own selfish needs, wants and desires. Yet at the same time I feel a reluctance to attempt to help them, due to a fear of my jeopardizing my own chances of someday getting out of the jaws of this white man's prison. I t ’s very hard to get a message across without placing someone in jeopardy, because if we behind these walls happen to say something that brings heat down on the administration, which causes the public to take notice of the goings on within these prison walls, everyone here will suffer the consequences. Before writing anything for publication, I have to first, consider who will get hurt, provided I choose to get into elaborate, details dealing with the subject at hand. In recent articles I've attempted my hand at discussing the death penalty and how it affects Black people, my feelings concerning the treatment of Black in mates at Oregon State Prison as opposed to Soledad, where I spent the past five and a half years, and I wrote an article concerning our participation in celebrat ing the Fourth of July, (Independence Day) why I felt we shouldn't be partici pating in a Holiday that gave meaning to white people's lives and suffering to Blacks. And now once again I’ve come up with yet another subject which I believe is part responsible for the downfall of Black people in America. This subject is Religion, how I see it being used and embraced by Black people to keep them down. I would like every Black man who reads this to give it some thought and see how much truth is in what I say, and remember I ’m not trying to make you turn from your religious beliefs. For hundreds of years Black people have been exploited by the white man’s Bible, I say white man's Bible because all the pictures are of white people. To me what the white man is saying is I (meaning white people) am your God, these are my words, believe in them and have faith in me, for I promise you life after death. How can any man promise another a better life beyond this earth when he himself doesn’t understand death. I believe before one can truly appreciate death he or she has to learn first how to live, for only through understanding living does one not fear death, the unknown. I ’ve never under stock how anyone could get down on their knees and pray to a God who is more faith then anything physical. When a person claims to have the Holy Spirit if he GREYHOUND „R A O N G excr fstaMtoAW 1912 QUAUTYNY CUANMG BLASONAMI RATIS •SA*« (V / SHOT StSVICE •7 MOUS CltANING SATUSOAfS U N IX N OON •COMriETE tAUNOSV MSVICE « I f «»VICE OtV CLEANING 73Ó PM available investigates his or her feelings they'll find thst it’s not their belief in God that has brought about this change, instead it is your own mind doing that which you want to please yourself. But on the other hand that's something ebe, what I want to talk about is how religion has played a part in everything the white man has done. When he first stepped foot on American soil, there were his Bible in one hand and his gun in another. That shows me he had no more faith in his God then he wanted us to believe. Religion has been forced on every race of people the white man has encountered. And now even the Black man has begun to use the methods of white control through reli gious exploitation agaisnt Black people for his own selfish gains Everyone seems to be selling this Jesus concept, playing on those who really believe for personal profit. If there were any true believers in the God concept then why are there so many rich preachers, and why, if everyone is worshipping the same God, are there so many different relig ions?!? And if there was really love in those so-called white Christians' hearts, why does a Balck need an army order to go to a white church in Georgia? We've been blind for four hundred years due to our refusal to see and accept the truth right before our eyes. How tong will we continue to believe in a better life after death when the Black man is continuing to suffer in this hell on earth?!? I think it’s time we started thinking now in terms of reality tody, instead of having faith in an ever-fading dream of living in Heaven. 1 sin a slave. No man don't mean a Black Man kidnap from his mother land and force to pick col ton in the foreign terrifying fields of Alabama or Georgia. No baby. I'm s different kind of slave, a twentieth century slave; ¿ay master is .‘.he chemical sub stance known as HERION! Whew - we-e-e-e when under its influence I am mindless of all life around me selfishly think ing only of my own well being, But how did I a young man of Afro decent of middle class up bringing become exposed to such a fate? (when) Everyone knows that only those helpless souls of the ghetto's knows the evil and oppression of the killer; 1 • For isn't it true that they are the ones who must remain submissive, else they entertain the thoughts of freedom? The cry for rehabilitation was rise when and only when the killer H E R IO N creeped into the W H IT E M ID D L E CLASSES C H ILD R E N . Only then did its implication come to light did the white middle class call for help against this most evil of invaders. We can only suspect that the government well laid traps caught those they wish not to catch, their blunder open the door of freedom io those who need it the most ~ the poor Black, Brown and White man. T H A N K YOU M ID D L E CLASS.... Just stop and think - have you now the opportunity to free yourselves of the killer? R E A L IT Y - A Q U ESTIO N A N D A S TA T E M E N T Are you a poet? Yes. Have you written many poems? Yes. well....really no. Not since the poem “Can You Remember" the flower children with their peace signs, love-ins and protests of ending a war they knew nothing about, children getting their heads busted for something they believed in - even getting busted themselves, and can you remember Kent State, Jackson U , the bombing of the church in Birmingham. Alabama or Attica: can you remember some guy saying “Help me to bring us together” and Watergate and the Pentagon Papers arrived. E V O LU TIO N A breath of life Escaped tender lips Instilling within a moment And as an after-thought.... Serene reality - Reality capturing the Totality of our oneness. The Anticipation of the coming Recession due to the rise of prices of food, gas, all in the foreign countries (the middle east), what happened when the Zebra Death Squad was going around killing, taking lives for what? And the S .I..A., all this to prove what - people running around looking for that unity talked of but not really giving a damn rather it was or wasn't but all in agreement that it was needed, living in a dream world of don't let the Joneses get you down, Your and I along... An entity without Material importance Yet...together, a world And a word composing The “I" within the “I ” Together yet not - the Little boy in you loving the little girl in «38013 Intellect - Intelligence is the key to the elimination of oppression answering the criterion of a materialistic society - Joneses v„ Smiths, worshipping the same idioeyncracies matured from the minds of 54 idealist in 1774 - 1964 is coming! Big Brother is watching you! Or is it hern already? I am a slave, you are a slave, they are a slave living in an instant replay of yesterday today and tomorrow, and the only solution is the collection found buried in the deep, deep recesses in a dark, dark corner located 360 degrees in a bulb tube mind of a cynical society, doom to live as a willow branch caught by a strong gust of wind, for fear their eyes may be open to the blindness they have live for so, so tong. Not tong ago I was hungry and after a rapport with the man discovered that instead of being a human being, I was a nigger, and no ha had no warfc, and no he gave no hand outs; I cried, got angry within, for I found it did no good to show anger with out - Black M ilitant, Black Revolutionist, Trouble-Maker - and all I wanted was a job. • Bum, Thief, all I wanted was something to eat -. No. I no longer show anger without. Why? Who would really give a damn anyway? Not tong ago - the H U M A N RACE WAS... Super Shopping Ceaters Help Lower yoer Cost of Living . . . Do It *our»»l* And So.» $$ 219-9357 Your nearby Fred Meyer Super Shopping Center is filled with "People-Pleasing" services to make your shopping more pleasant. Wide, spacious aisles, friendly helpful clerks and undercover parcel loading are just some of the "People-Pleasing" services for you. Plus...everyday low prices on thousands of items you use and need everyday help lower your caul of living. 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