Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 26 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Life Arts    H2'ed 7/30/13

Ties that Bind - How the BOP Undermines Families, Part Two

By       (Page 1 of 7 pages)   1 comment, 2 series
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Joan Brunwasser
Become a Fan
  (89 fans)


(Image by the Judy White Collection)   Details   DMCA

Background: Gary White was a county commissioner in Jefferson County, Alabama. Good friends with Les Siegelman, he introduced Les's brother, [former] Alabama Governor Don Siegelman to Richard Scrushy, a local Republican businessman. Because of this, White became inextricably intertwined with Siegelman, who was one of the biggest targets of the Rove-directed, heavily politicized Department of Justice [DOJ].

Scrushy and Siegelman were later indicted and convicted on charges stemming from that relationship. According to affidavits provided by Gary [and Judy, who was also in the room] White was asked to perjure himself before a Grand Jury in order to make the case against Siegelman and Scrushy. White refused and the very next day, the DOJ started delivering subpoenas to build a case against him. White is serving ten years and has been moved most recently to Federal Prison in Arkansas. [BOP is Bureau of Prisons.]. Judy and I spoke earlier this week.


Installment #23 [links to entire series at conclusion of article]


My guest today is Judy White. Welcome back to the second installment of Ties That Bind: How the BOP Undermines Families. Judy, did you ever get to actually see Gary and was there any visitation left by the time they were done messing with you?

JW: I continued waiting to see Gary.  And there he was!  As he entered through the door into the visiting room, he walked straight to the desk and gave Crawford his prisoner ID card, without looking in my direction.  Then he saw me and smiled as he walked toward me.  We are allowed one kiss and hug at the beginning of each visit, but right when I was able to touch my husband for the first time since January 5 th , the voice of a BOPer yelled, "WHITE!"  And just that quickly, he was gone again, taken back into the strip-search room.  I sat and waited.

When Gary was allowed to rejoin me, he told me the BOPer -- a "lieutenant" (they give themselves military titles and ranks) -- had "warned" him and threatened him with termination of our visitation, saying I had been "mouthy"!  Never mind that I had never before seen nor interacted with her, and never mind that no one had spoken with me alleging "mouthiness" -- whatever that is -- and never mind that being "mouthy" is not among anything I have ever seen or read in my extensive studies of BOP-World as being prohibited.  I suppose they all enjoy just making up rules and violations as they go along, with absolutely no oversight or accountability to anyone " or so it may seem.

Sitting across from each other in hard plastic chairs, we held hands and talked.  I was filling Gary in on what had happened with the BOPers the day before and earlier that morning, when Ms. Isom returned and asked to speak with me again.  She told me that I had been approved to wear two open-toe shoes, that the approval had been noted the day before and was in the computer system, but that the other BOPers just didn't know where to look.  I was dumbfounded.  If I had been approved, why hadn't anyone notified me?  And absent notification of approval, there was denial -- both direct and constructive denial.  What was the point of "reconsideration" and "approval" with no intention of notifying me so that I actually could have worn the proper shoes?  Ms. Isom agreed that I should have been notified and apologized, saying at least I would be able to visit in the future without the same problem.  I also took the opportunity to tell her I did not believe it was fair for Gary to have been warned and threatened by the BOP lieutenant.

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 3   Valuable 3   News 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Joan Brunwasser Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Joan Brunwasser is a co-founder of Citizens for Election Reform (CER) which since 2005 existed for the sole purpose of raising the public awareness of the critical need for election reform. Our goal: to restore fair, accurate, transparent, secure elections where votes are cast in private and counted in public. Because the problems with electronic (computerized) voting systems include a lack of (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Interview with Dr. Margaret Flowers, Arrested Tuesday at Senate Roundtable on Health Care

Renowned Stanford Psychologist Carol Dweck on "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success"

Howard Zinn on "The People Speak," the Supreme Court and Haiti

Snopes confirms danger of Straight Ticket Voting (STV)

Fed Up With Corporate Tax Dodgers? Check Out PayUpNow.org!

Literary Agent Shares Trade Secrets With New Writers

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend