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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1980)
Page 8 Portland Observer M ay 1. 1980 Behind the Walls F or judges to answer In te rs fro m prisoners is common. F o r judges to visit prisoners in prisons is rare. But f o r a judge to have a group o f prisoners inside a state prison, he actually goes regularly to lecture Io about the law, well, that's ju s t com pletely unheard o f The name D on ald L . K alberer may not be fa m ila r to a lo t o f citizens th ro u g h -o u t the state of O reg on , but if you m e n tio n the name to residents living in C olum bia, Clatsop and Tillam ook Coun ties, it q u ic k ly becomes the H o n o ra b le Judge D o n a ld L. Kalbcre o f the C ircuit C ourt. Another surprising tact about this same Donald L Kalberer is that i t ’ s n ot unusual to see h im w a lk in g th ro u g h p riso n ga.es a h un dred miles from his county courthouse on a re g u 'a r basis to be greeted by ncople convicted o f murder, rape, burglary, robbery and other serious crimes. M any o f those who greet h im were sentenced by Judge Kalberer. A n othe r m ind-blow er is th a t these greetings come in the fo llo w in g m anner: "H e y , D o n ...W h a t’ s going o n , o ld m a n ? ’ ’ . . . " W h a t ’ s h a p p e n in g , K ai?” Strange? Not really, i f one listens to Judge D on ald K a lb e re r’ s per sonal reasoning. " I believe my civil d u ty as a judge and as a hum an being w ho believes in m a n kin d tra ve ls beyond the benches o f a courthouse.” Kalberer’s philosophy has become, " I f I can send a man to prison fo r years fo r breaking the laws, then there is nothing wrong A PE R S O N A L M O M E N T FOR T H O S E W H O C A R E When we attend a function with strangers and our mode of dress does not fit In. it is dif ficult to be comfortable. At this point most any one of us will change our true personality. We will become too quiet or over compensate by becoming too loud. Love will widen our range of elements where we find comfort. To find approval and to know constructive criticism brings assurance as only one in love can find. 1979 IVm A Kum m rr 111111111141«I .........■•■■•(■■■•(■■I PRESENTED BY AMERICAN STATE BANK Cell Talk D avid W right » 39816 Assistant E d ito r by L a rry Baker 1135021 O. .S'. P. Correspondent JUDGE Donald Kalberer (left) meets w ith OSP Legal Process Class with my going down to that prison and teaching him something about the laws he has broken.” How do the prisoners feel about Judge K a lb e re r’ s re g u la r a p pearances? " I t ’ s unbelievable, what Don is d o in g ,” stated one o f the prisoners attending his class. "H e has shown by his actions that he really cares what happens to people who many in society have given up o n .” The law sessions K a lb e re r in stru c ts in the OSP E d u c a tio n D e p a rtm e n t have become very p o p u la r. There is a m axim um o f th irty prisoners who can attend, but there are over a hundred on the waiting list. When Governor Vic Atiyeh was elected governor and discussed in his inaugural address the need o f citizens o f Oregon to volunteer their professional service in many o f our state in s titu tio n s D onald Kalberer was one step and one year ahead o f the G overnor’s wishes. Judge K a lb e re r became so dedicated to his volunteer efforts in instructing convicted inmates about the la w , th a t he was asked to become the class’ s western Oregon State C oordinator. Kalberer's duties consist o f b rin g in g in d iv id u a ls whose interests or professions are in the fields o f law, politics or law en forcem ent to have group sessions and discussions w ith the class o f prisoners. Judge Kablerer wasted no time getting the follow ing group o f people in v o lv e d fro m th is area: M a rtin A . Sell, C olum bia C ounty District A ttorney; Stepehn Atchison and B e rkely A . S m ith , D ep tu y D .A.s; Thelma W. Hounshell, Lucy M iller, Ileeta Shipman, D .A . O ffice secretaries; M ik e Jo h n so n , E a rl M yers, Scappose P o lice D e p a rt m ent, and W yn e tte C ate, c o u rt reporter. Judge Kalbere encourages other judges who have been on the bench fo r years, but have never been inside o f a prison to use the class. He even played a big part in getting N ixon’ s counselor Chuck Colson, to come to the Oregon State Penitentiary and to speak to the class. This type o f relationship would be feared by may prison o ffic ia ls in o the r states, but H o y t C. C up p, p rison su p e rin te n d e n t saw th is communication as very healthy. The prisoners in the class even adopted Naomi Bond, the Judge’ s private secretary as their " little sister” for her assistance in m aking arrange ments for people who would be at the class. Recently Judge Kalberer and his prison students have agreed to work on a ju v e n ile p ro je c t to g e th e r. "W h o would know more abou why and how the youths are introduced to our crim inal justice system than those who have p a rticip a te d in it d u rin g most o f th e ir liv e s ” says Judge Kalberer. A few months ago Kalberer help create another first at the Oregon State P e nite n tiary. He shared his class w ith Oregon State Supreme Court Judge Thomas Tongue, who had come to teach prisoners about the duties o f the s ta te ’ s highest court. Jo k in g , an inm ate assured the judge and some o f the guests that he had brought w ith h im , that they need never tear being taken hostage "Because we have lots o f respect for what Don is doing. You folks are safer rig ht here w ith us than you would be in the Judge’ s own court ro o m .” The inm ate continued by stating, "a n y w a y , w ith the o ve r crowding in this " jo in t , ” we would have a hard tim e try in g to fin d a place to put yo u.” When questioned why the Judge enjoys doing what he’ s doing among people society claims are out cast: "W e ll, I guess at heart I am just an old country boy and love people, even those who have gotten their lives messed u p.” What can you say about Judge Donald L. Kalberer, C ircuit Court o f Columbia County? A ctio n speak much louder than words. EXO DUS '■XzzXzvi.Jzzz ^zXrzzzziz'ZZ<z/ a m / ^stsa/rnen/ tyen /rt 1518 N E KILLINGSWORTH PORTLAND. OREGÒN 9721 1 284 7997 FROM THE FRONT DOOR From the front door, I saw that all communication decisions were rooted and based upon: 1. One s p osition in life, related to others. 2. One s te m p e ra m e n t, behavorial and attitude in acceptance and rejection of domestic-social-economic policies and practices; related to others. 3. One’s personality, how one looks as related to another. 4. One’s perform ance, regarding physical activities as related to others. From the front door, I further saw a need for citizens of our community to fully understand that all positions held at home, public or private should be held with humility, courtesy and respect. One's tem peram ent should be controlled to a positive attitude and projected with humility, courtesy and respect, One s pe rso n a lity should be presented with cleanliness of image and respectfulness of presence All of one’s perform ances should be performed to the best of their ability with sincerity, accountability, responsibility and respect for what ever is being performed. In the shadows of positions, temperaments, personalities and performances I saw greed, jealousy, fights and general misery as the results for those not yet recognizing and under standing these root communication landmarks. For those who failed to use the gift of humility, courtesy and respect, which are absolutely free in nature, carries with them the penalities of disatisfaction, unrest, frustration and regrets. A smar A bdul Seifulla, E d itor aka Joe West 40404 E a rly one S a tu rd a y m o rn in g , before the sun had reached it’ s fu ll m aturity and while the greyness o f dawn still hung in the sky, prisoner #CMXMJO had been awake fo r hours. He had tossed and turned all night and sleeplessness had le ft him d ra in e d o f s p ir it, his resistance against the assultiveness o f a prison day was quite’ lo w . He was w ell aware o f the peril o f his situation as he stood perplexed - waiting fo r the cell doors to open for morning chow call. P risoner #00000 is tw e nty tw o years o l age, but loo ks younger because o f the absence o f fa cial hair. He has long blond hair that ex tends below s h o u ld e r level, lik e most blonds he has a very delicate complexion that sunburns easily, his facial features are soft and feminine when compared to his prison coun terparts, his slight frame also adds to the fe m inine a ir that seems to s u rro u n d h im . Even his voice betrays any concept o f masculinity as it rises and wavers in moments o f stress o r the th re a t o f extrem e violence. A ll ot his life he has gone to greal lengths to prove his m an ho od -- w h ich is one o f the reasons why he is in prison now. L ite has never been easy fo r a man that seems to have more than an abundance o f fem ale ch a ra c teristics. Prisoner #00000 has faced th is p ro b le m w e a rily but he has never yielded to the pressure or per secution that his physical features have subjected him to. He now finds himself in a society that takes a alternative view to his womanly features, only now there is nowhere to run, no sanctuary, no fa th e r, no m o th e r, no sister, or b ro th e r to console h im in to strength. He is alone. He is not a weak person nor is he homosexual but he is unsure o f his a b ility to defend him self against the learing eyes and lustful smiles o f the hard ened convicts. H is indecision has lead him to the b rin k o f all con sum ing fe ar. He doesn’ t ta lk to a n y b o d y , n o r does he go to the yard, he leaves his cell only i f called out by a counselor or to go to chow. He has heard the stories and now he finds himself in a atmosphere that reeks o f " H O M O S E X U A L IT Y ” and perversion. He can feel it in the air, it has touched him in not so sub tle ways, he know s they are out there waiting for him. One or two o f them have come by his cell w ith o f fers o f protection, (it's me or them kid) cigarettes and comissary have been pushed at h im but he has refused all offers. First he tried to get a transfer to the little jo in t but because o f the seriousness o f his crime, the length o f his sentence and the over- crowdedness, he was denied a trans fer. Yesierday tw o men came by his cell, they told him that he had to come out to the yard sooner or later and they’ d be w aitin g -- they left sm iling and he thought about get ting a knife to k ill them w ith but he d id n ’ t know anybody what w ould loan him one w ith o u t requiring a favor in return. Prisoner #00000 sits in a cell at Oregon State Penitentiary, he is all alone. He is waiting fo r the death o f his soul. He is sure that i f they force h im to do it o r i f he weakens beneath the fearful cloud o f sodomy that hangs over him - he w ill die. He knows that he is not gay and he can’ t conceive o f do.ing something like that w ithout losing his essence o f s e lf but they te ll h im th a t it doesn’ t m atter before i t ’ s over he w ill like it. So he sits, he waits, his loneliness and fear consuming the sunrise - w ith every heartbeat he prays fo r deliverence but so far God hasn’ t intervened. The hours tick away - the days and nights become one big nightmare and in the night mare he is raped by a succession o f faceless men, his buttocks is ripped and bleeding and semen cakes around his m outh. Tears o f pain and him ilia tion fill his eyes and he vom its up his soul in a frenzy o f screams and protest. Long after he wakes, the pain throbs in the pit o f his stomach, he thinks maybe he has a ucler but deep inside he knows the pain isn’t physical. I t ’ s the pain o f fear - the fear o f what they w ill do to him and for how long - maybe forever. W ith a sigh o f defeat prisoner #(XXXX) rises, puts on his peniten tia ry coat and hat, the chow hall has rang and he has decided that today he w ill go out to the big yard and die. "T h is isn’ t a true story in that p ri soner #00000 is a figm ent o f my imagination but there are real men and women like him that do exist in the flesh. They know o f w hat I speak and they are well acquainted with the pain, fear and loneliness o f h o m o s e x u a lity in p ris o n . Men lusting after the flesh o f other men is indeed a shameful and disgusting act but before you turn the page or read the next article, th in k about prisoner #00000 - he could be your son or a friend that you lost track o f after high school -- he could be the little boy that played in the sandbox w ith you years ago — does he deserve what has been described ir these lines, does anybody deserve it? - N O O O O O O O !!! " Y o u can do som ething tha might change the course o l anothe: human being life, you can stop th< perversion, you can do something tt save a man o r w om an fro m th< death th a t comes iro n "H O M O S E X U A L IT Y ” in prison W rite yo ur le g is la to r, w rite th< governor, w rite the Presidt it, tel them that you know what’ s going or behind these walls and that it sho tie stop -- su pp ort C o n ju g a l v is ." n o w !” Some cancers, once thought to be hopeless, can now be cured. FKe are a fam ily in District 14 L e t’s join together and vote fo r Harold Williams for State Representative C om m ittee to elect Harold W illiam s Marva Graham, Tres; 6124 NE 11th A v e Portland Lean Ground Beef BROCCOLI 49< Fresh and Tender SE 20th b D IV IS IO N SE 72nd b FLAVEL NE 15th b FREMONT W BURNSIDE at Z1»t SAN R A F A E L -1110 NE 122nd ib. Forest Grove 2329 PACIFIC Oregon City 878 MOLALLA Candy 1061 SW 1st LLOYD CENTER 1*410 SE DIVISIO N 3966 SE POWELL NE 74th b G L IS A N HILLSBORO 950 SE OAK T R 0OBEJBI L L <
