Washblog

Letter from John Letellier to Noemie Maxwell, Justice Works! Summer, 2008.

Noemie,

You asked how do I feel I was represented in my 3-Strikes case. I'll put it this way, during our initial consultation, my public defender tried to sell me AMWAY!  When the prosecution team saw who was representing me they high-fived each other!  I took the hint, "fired" my public defender, and pled Guilty!  I refused to dignify the legal system by engaging in it, which is tantamount to a tennis player refusing to play in a match because the game is rigged!

In terms of violence in my past, hey, I'm about as ferocious and dangerous as a chihuahua chewin' on a dishrag.  I tear up more easily than Fiona Apple  watching "Old Yeller" while peeling onions!  I'm about as rebellious as the tamborine player in KC and the Sunshine Band during contract negotiations!  I'm as rebellious as the guy who ignores the No Smoking sign at a cockfight.

Am I a colossal Public Nuisance?  Absolutely!  I am now 56 years old, however, and it's safe to say my days of acting like an idiot are over, okay.  But in terms of the past, yes, I'm besotted with contrition.  I'm a military veteran. I could get out of prison and enter a V.A. Hospital program.   Wouldn't this better serve us all?

I've spent 8 1/2 to 9 years in prison for a crime in which there was no real criminal intent! I was actually in the process of trying to get into a substance abuse program on my own accord, having matriculated from a mental health facility in Longview to Vancouver, only to be told that there was a "mix up"; that I would have to wait 6-8 weeks to get into the program.  Well, I surely wouldn't have signed the transfer papers had I known that I'd be dumped in the streets of an alien town!  That's exactly what happened.

Needless to say I panicked.  I did what any alcoholic would do who also suffered from acute anxiety and depression -- I went out and got drunk.  And in my drunken state I decided that I'd rather go back to prison than freeze to death in a city I was lost in, without any funds or a place to stay.  And then after I committed the robbery without a weapon -- or even the threat of a weapon -- I stood right there on the corner conspicuously until the police arrived!

I should hasten to add that the sentencing phase of the 3-Strikes is a colossal joke!  I was not even given an opportunity to explain why I committed the crime.  The 3-Strikes conviction process does not take mitigating circumstances into account!  It's a fascist concept.  It's definitely un-American.

You know, Noemie, we keep hearing about how the American justice system  may not be perfect, but it's still the best -- Well, pardon me if I get sick!  That's tantamount to bragging about being valedictorian at Summer school.  We can do better!!!!  Certainly, I am redeemable!

You know, there are scores of convicted monsters, (ie. Charles Manson) who, while they will probably never get out of prison, nevertheless get to attend a parole hearing every two years.  They, unlike me, at least have the illusion of possible reprieve!   They have hope, albeit very slim - but hope nevertheless.  I have no hope.  It's unconscionable, but -- hey, this is the US of A!

I hate to say it but all of the debate about the Three Strikes Act over the past few years has become a border so often crossed it makes Tijuana look like Cold War Berlin.  And, of course, after all is said and done, more is said than done!

I have been saying repeatedly and vociferously to anyone who will listen that the Three Strikes Act is at best a fascist concept and anyone who calls themselves an American should be appalled.  Part of the problem is that not enough people are informed.  Another problem is apathy.  The average citizen does not feel threatened by it.  Indeed, they feel a sense of security and safety.  Well, they should feel threatened because as Martin Luther King, Jr. so aptly put it: "An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

What I would like to say to the general public is that the Three Strikes statute is not only a threat to every American citizen, it is simply wrong on its face.  Hey, your rights as a citizen are on the proverbial chopping block every time you turn around.  You can't even clean up after your dog nowadays without first getting an environmental impact statement from the Army Corps of Engineers.

If you are on parole and trying to get a driver's license, well, forget it.  You'll get cut off at the pass more frequently than Ted Kennedy bar-hopping on St. Patricks' Day.  I can hardly think of a pus-pocket of perdition more soul-destroying than the DMV save for the DOC.  The point is that it's easier for a new parolee to climb back into the womb than it is to get a copy of his birth certificate.

That being said, we are all living under the oppressive umbrella called "Zero Tolerance", which is essentially a mode of non-reason and tantamount to cutting off our instinctive, cognitive abilities altogether.  It suppresses the very things that separate us from lower forms of life. Zero tolerance is a concept that was practiced by Hitler and Stalin.  It does not allow for mitigation, exceptions, or compassion.  It is completely black and white.  There are no gradations.  But even more important it doesn't solve anything.  The use of the slogan simply allows the Powers that Be to rule with an iron hand.  It's really a non-solution designed to intimidate and impress simple-minded people.

Whenever you hear the phrase "Zero Tolerance", remember, somebody bigger and stronger than you is essentially throwing a tantrum.

It is also important to remember that whenever a man or woman is given a life sentence without the possibility of parole under the Three Strikes Act, the powers that be are saying in effect that the accused and convicted person is "irredeemable". In other words, so far gone that he or she is beyond saving.  This, of course, is the height of disgraceful ignorance.

In closing, observers over a hundred years ago noted that the criminal justice system in this country was a vast, expensive, and relentless system.  Judge John Peter Atgeld, who was later elected governor of Illinois around the turn of the 20th century, said: "No man can examine the great penal system of this country without being astounded at its magnitude, its cost, and its unsatisfactory results."

Certainly we have our own "Ready, Fire, Aim!" answer to every social problem, and it needs to change.  

And that's a memo.

When you commit a crime, you do the time, that's what it's all about;
But it seems to be you're only cut free if they determine you haven't struck out.

For in Justice's name they've created a game, and it's like nothing you've seen before;
As you pay the price, maybe once or twice, the court tallies up your scores.

And if they decide your points are too high, they inform you it's over and done;
For what it's about, is three strikes you're out, and you know that the system has won.

Yet it seems the cost of this atrocious law is a price that shouldn't be paid;
For the courts are lying and then justifying their meaning and measure of hate.

For laws are passed, with no questions asked and they say that they're good and right;
But who can say that it's really okay to lock up a man for life.

And isn't it cruel to inflict these rules when no one was injured or hurt?
Yet society claps and the DAs laugh, then they claim that justice was served.

But no one can claim, not fortune nor fame, for the punishment here is steep;
As records of old are given and tolled, making your chances of freedom bleak.

For they look at the past, the first and the last, whether it's days or decades ago;
They use them all, to help you fall, as they bury and crush your soul.

And they'll quickly admit, that they don't forget, no matter how young you were;
If you did the crime and paid the time, they'll say that wasn't enough.

So on we march to this legal farce where the key is thrown away;
One two or three, I think you'll agree - there is no justice in this game they play.

For there are major flaws in their barbaric laws, but changes don't appear to come;
As they throw you strikes and give you life, though there wasn't a knife or gun.

So whether young or old, that's how it goes, for pressure is what it's all about;
As society cries, and the system lies, to convict you and strike you out.

J.D. Letellier

Copyright 2009