Is This Not Also Torture: "Treating" Addiction in WA With Lifetime Prison Sentences
James Moody, serving Life without Possibility of Parole under Washington's 3-Strikes law since 2003, contributes the two posts that appear below the fold, "Is this not Also Torture?" and "My Story".
James' first two strikes were committed when he was in his twenties. The first was for a 1987 assault in a California bar "with a deadly weapon, to wit, a bottle" for which he served slightly over a year in county jail. The maximum term for this crime in California is four (4) years. Washington state "adjusted to foreign jurisdiction" by interpreting it as equivalent to an Assault 1, a crime with a maximum term of twenty-three (23) years. James' second strike was a 1992 felony 3 assault in Utah for which he served several months in a county jail. During his thirties, James was convicted for a number of misdemeanors, crimes that he describes in "My Story", below, as related to alcohol addiction. Alcoholism was a long-term struggle for him. But, by 2003, recently married, newly graduated from community college, and embarking on a new career, he thought that he had found a new life. That year, he relapsed and committed his third strike crime. Photo of James Moody by Noemie Maxwell 8/21/08.
In an interview this past August, James told me that he had, at the time of this crime, been engaged in an intense struggle to overcome alcohol craving and as he indicates in his story had, in fact, moved and changed jobs in hopes that this would help. He also mentioned during the interview that, at the time of the assault, he was on a prescription course of Paxil to treat depression. I asked if there were known interactions between alcohol and Paxil and he said that there were and that, in fact, the medical experts for both the defense and prosecution had testified that he had diminished capacity at the time of the attack.
I Googled Paxil and discovered that the FDA lists alcohol abuse as among its adverse effects. In fact, many first-hand accounts of intense Paxil-induced alcohol craving can be found on the Internet. Another FDA listed side effect of Paxil is aggressiveness. There is ample evidence that this drug is associated with violent actions that are out of character for the people who commit them. A 2004 Mother Jones article reports on a number of defendants who have been acquitted of murder for using Paxil and other drugs in that class. James now lives under close observation in prison, due to health issues. In 2005, he conducted a 6-week hunger strike in an attempt to draw public attention to what he believes is an unjust sentence. Aside from the justice issues raised by a sentence of life without parole for an assault committed by an ill person with diminished capacity, this case gives a small indication of the tremendous excess fiscal costs incurrred by Three Strikes. As far as I know, the physical and mental health status of Washington's 300 or so Three Strikers has not been studied. Anecdotally, this is a population with a high incidence of health problems. Nevertheless, the law requires, for the entire lifetime of the person who is sentenced, and without any other option available, the use of our most expensive public safety tool: incarceration. With treatment, James Moody could be working, paying taxes, paying for his own medical bills, and helping others. Under Three Strikes, he has become an expensive ward of the state, which is required to provide adequate medical care to him, to bear the entire cost, and has no leeway to seek less expensive alternatives that would also protect public safety.
IS THIS NOT ALSO TORTURE? By James Moody From the recent story of Canada's inclusion of the United States on its list of nations which employ torture, to the controversy over the CIA's destroying video tapes reportedly showing the torture of detainees, our nation's use of torture has been in the news.
But that's a world away, in places like Guantanamo Bay, or elsewhere right? Not here in America? Surely, it's not happening here in America, against our very own citizens who are being held in our nation's prisons? And just what exactly constitutes torture, anyways? Is it torture only if it contains some type of physical abuse, like broken bones or waterboarding? Or are there not other forms of torture equally as cruel, which inflict unimagined amounts of mental and emotional pain and suffering?
The Webster's Dictionary defines torture as: "Anguish of body and mind." So, both a mental and emotional component, not just the more commonly thought-of physical form.
Imagine facing an endless existence locked in a cell of a maximum security prison, without any hope of ever going home. Only in death will your suffering end. There is no chance for parole. No hope for rehabilitation or release. A punishment without end. Would you consider that a type of torture? But just what kind of monstrous crimes would even warrant such a harsh and cruel sentence anyways? One imagines the likes of Gary Ridgeway, the Green River Killer. Other criminals of that caliber also come to mind, ones with crimes so severe that they clearly mandate a life sentence, for we can all agree these predators can never again be set free to live among us. But surely this most severe of sentences is reserved only for these architects of evil. Apparently, one such architect, or criminal master mind, is the woman from Tacoma who was given a life sentence without parole after shoplifting Hostess fruit pies from a 7-11 store! (1) She, along with a long sad list of midlevel, drug and alcohol addicted repeat offenders have been given these life sentences with our state's 3-Strikes law. (Her case was deemed so outrageous it was cited on a bill designed to amend this law). The bill failed to pass. In 2003, having never before been to prison, and having no prior "strike level" offenses (2), at forty years of age I was struck out following an assault commited during a night of blackout drinking. A crime for which I willingly turned myself in the very next morning, shocked by what I had done and ready to take responsibility for my actions. Just not for life! This law was sold to the public as the ultimate answer to hardcore recidivism. But increasingly what it has been doing is arbitrarily ensnaring hapless drug addicts and alcoholics who commit midlevel offenses due to their addictions. Meanwhile, true career criminals, high level drug dealers, and sexual predators are either savvy enough and well represented by paid attorneys that they avoid being struck out by this law entirely. One such high profile case which clearly shows the arbitrary and capricious nature of this law is one of three-time convicted rapist Gary Cherry whose story appeared in the Seattle Times following his release from prison this past January. It would seem very difficult to equate releasing this man back into the community, while keeping the Hostess fruit pie girl with any real common sense to public safety!
This law was also designed with a deterrent effect in mind, the idea being that those who have one or two prior strikes would stop and think before committing another crime. But with so many changes to this law, and individual prosecutorial discretion as to what does or does not constitute a strike, (3) combined with the drug addicts' notorious lack of forethought when committing a crime, "spur of the moment" there is really no evidence this law is deterring anyone. (4)
No one is suggesting we don't deserve to be in prison. We do. But with an appropriate sentence, one that allows for a full measure of punishment and payment for our actions, followed by rehabilitation and eventual release.
As Bill Gates said so well in his Commencement address to Harvard this past June, "if you believe that every life has value, then it's revolting to learn that some are seen as worth saving, and others are not." Now, while Gates was referring to those in dire Third World poverty, I believe his statement holds true for every life, everywhere, including the "Fourth World" of our nation's prisons. We are people who have made mistakes, but we are also people with value, people worth saving.
The National Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse states that every dollar spent on treatment saves seven dollars in future incarceration costs. (5) Let's focus on the solution, rather than the problem, by providing good quality intensive inpatient substance abuse treatment. Isn't it time for a more progressive, not to mention effective, approach to combating crime than this draconian law left over from the dark ages?
MY STORY By James Moody In June 2003, I graduated from Highline Community College with an A.A.S. degree in Human Services and, although I was still working on the C.D.P. (Chemical Dependency Professional) I was nonetheless on my way to achieving my long-held goal of becoming a substance abuse counselor. In January 2003, I was hired at (an) Adolescent Treatment Center in Burien as a house manager, after passing the Washington State Patrol criminal background check. I passed without any problems. As a recovering alcoholic () for more than a decade, all of my past legal trouble was due to my addiction. My hope now was to help others find their own road to recovery when, sadly, I lost my own battle with addiction. In July 2003, I took a job at Mt. Rainier National Park working for Guest Services Inc. with the idea that a change in scenery might help me to regroup from the relapse. I was wrong. I should have checked myself into inpatient treatment until I had stabilized my recovery, as I again started drinking. I deeply regret this decision. On a night in July, 2003, in a blackout from a long night of drinking, I came home and severely assaulted my roommate, a god and kind man who I truly liked and in no way would have wished to harm. Thankfully, he made a full recovery. The next morning, when I awoke and realized what I had done, I turned myself into the police and took full responsibility for the harm I had caused. I knew that morning that I would be going to prison, and deservedly so. But I was shocked to discover that they were going to strike me out, despite having no prior strikes and no prior prison record. They would accomplish this through a convoluted process they call adjusting for foreign jurisdiction. My life was over with this sentence. Before this offense in 2003 I had been only to county jail, mostly back in the 1980s for offenses common with the disease of alcoholism. Two of these were for third degree assault, the lowest level felonies in the criminal justice system, crimes which merited relatively short jail terms. Now I would be going to prison for the first time in my life, for life, as a persistent offender! I very much wanted to pay for my crime and had turned myself in for that very purpose. But I want to pay with an appropriate sentence, not Life Without the Possibility of Parole.
NOTES Added by Noemie Maxwell
Is This Not Also Torture: "Treating" Addiction in WA With Lifetime Prison Sentences | 3 comments (3 topical)
Is This Not Also Torture: "Treating" Addiction in WA With Lifetime Prison Sentences | 3 comments (3 topical)
|
|
Recommended Diaries
Recent Diaries
The Catfood Commission seems to be hitting snags
By eridani (0 comments)
Don't cut Social Security or Medicare
By eridani (1 comments)
Attorney General Rob McKenna promotes ballot rehab effort for anti-gay candidates
By Lurleen (0 comments)
Panel Discussion: How faith communities are working to secure marriage equality
By Lurleen (0 comments)
The Tim Eyman Song and other fun stuff
By ThinkerFeeler (0 comments)
Health Insurance != Health Care
By m3047 (0 comments)
2010 Essential Races - Who Would You Support?
By The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (5 comments)
HCR--just a political liability, not a political disaster
By eridani (9 comments)
DelBene Goes Re-Puke. More DINO's
By rmdSeaBos (4 comments)
Eyman and Bopp suffer big losses
By Lurleen (0 comments) Related Links++ its adverse effects + Mother Jones article + story appeared in the Seattle Times + Commenceme nt address to Harvard this past June + Cherease Cross: Kind, Beautiful, Caring: She Deserved a Better Chance + Man avoids 3-Strikes: Gets 10 years for bar assault + Improving Public Safety through Cost-Effective Alternatives to Incarceration in Illinois + More on Criminal Justice + Also by noemie maxwell Washblog RSS FeedsPolitical ContactsLocal MediaCoastal/Grays HarborAberdeen Daily World Chinook Observer Montesano Vidette Pacific County Press Willapa Harbor Herald KXRO 1320 AM Olympic Peninsula Peninsula Daily News Bremerton Sun Bremerton Chronicle Gig Harbor Gateway Port Orchard Independent Port Townsend Leader North Kitsap Herald Squim Gazette Central Kitsap Reporter Business Examiner KONP 1450 AM Sound and Islands Anacortes American Bainbridge Review Voice Of Bainbridge San Juan Journal The Islands' Sounder Whidbey NewsTimes South Whidbey Record Stanwood/Camano News Vashon Beachcomber Voice Of Vashon KLKI 1340 AM North Puget Sound Bellingham Herald The Northern Light Everett Herald Skagit Valley Herald Lynden Tribune The Enterprise Snohomish County Tribune Snohomish County Business Journal The Monroe Monitor The Edmonds Beacon KGMI 790 AM KELA 1470 AM KRKO 1380 AM Central Puget Sound King County Journal Issaquah Press Mukilteo Beacon Voice of the Valley Federal Way Mirror Bothell/Kenmore Reporter Kirkland courier Mercer Island Reporter Woodinville Weekly Greater Seattle Seattle PI Seattle Times KOMO TV 4 KIRO TV 7 KING 5 TV KTBW TV 22 KCTS 9 UW Daily The Stranger Seattle Weekly Capitol Hill Times Madison Park Times Seattle Journal of Commerce NW Asian Weekly West Seattle Herald North Seattle Herald-Outlook South Seattle Star Magnolia News Beacon Hill News KIRO 710 AM KOMO AM 1000 KEXP 90.3 FM KUOW 94.9 FM KVI 570 AM South Puget Sound The Columbian Longview Daily News Nisqually Valley News Lewis County News The Reflector Eatonville Dispatch Tacoma News Tribune Tacoma Weekly Puyallup Herald Enumclaw Courier-Herald The Olympian KAOS 89.3 FM KCPQ 13 KOWA FM 106.5 UPN 11 Cascade/Okanogan Ellensburg Daily Record Levenworth Echo Cle Elum Tribune Snoqualmie Valley Record Methow Valley News Lake Chelan Mirror Omak chronicle The Newport Miner Spokane/Palouse The Spokesman-Review KREM 2 TV Spokane KXLY News 4 Spokane KHQ 6 Spokane KSPS Spokane Statesman-Examiner Othello Outlook Cheney Free Press Camas PostRecord The South County sun White Salmon Enterprise Palouse Boomerang Columbia Basin Herald Grand Coulee Star Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Yakima Herald-Republic KIMA 29 Yakima KAPP TV 35 Yakima KYVE Yakima Wenatchee World Tri-City Herald TVEW TV 42 Tri-cities KTNW Richland KEPR 19 Pasco Daily Sun News Prosser Record-Bulletin KTCR 1340 AM KWSU Pullman Moscow-Pullman Daily News |