It's never easy

Two significant events for HFP yesterday! And two frustrating stories about how Michigan treats prisoners, young and old.

FIRST, we are pleased to report that a mentally challenged juvenile has been released from the Michigan prison system, so that he can get proper treatment and care: something that was not happening in prison! This came about because of the determination of a mother who worked around the clock on behalf of her son!

But, just three days before he was released, his mother learned that MDOC healthcare people were trying to administer this lad a psychotropic drug THREE TIMES A DAY...a drug that he hasn't taken in about a year! He wisely refused to take it.

His mother informs us the young man is now free of MDOC health care!

SECOND, I testified in a Michigan Parole Board public hearing yesterday on behalf of a critically ill, 55 year old prisoner who is dying. He now weighs 85 pounds, is losing weight at the rate of one pound per week, and suffered pain spasms so severe that the session had to be interrupted several times. His family and HFP are trying to get him into a VA hospital for his final days of treatment and care.

But, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Kulick said the State opposed the medical commutation, taking the position that the crime victims would be traumatized to hear that this dangerous criminal (failed armed robbery over 20 years ago) was being freed. Kulick contended that the dying prisoner might still be a threat to the public!

The decision will be up to the Governor.


Doug Tjapkes
HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS
20 W. Muskegon Avenue
Muskegon, MI 49440

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Half-a-race!

The HFP Drag-Racing Fund-Raiser had the potential of being extremely successful, and could have raised several thousand dollars. Let's just say it was partly successful. For background purposes I'll explain that I was racing a 1963 supercharged Studebaker Lark that has a reputation of being one of the fastest stock Studebakers in drag racing today. The engine was built by one of the finest Studebaker engine mechanics in the country, and the car many times has achieved quarter-mile runs in less than 14 seconds! We promised to make at least ten passes in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags at Mid-Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, Michigan, this past weekend, and we asked for pledges ONLY ON THOSE RUNS REACHED IN LESS THAN 14 SECONDS. On Friday, here's how we fared: Run #1 13.936 @ 101.24 mph Run #2 14.027 @ 101.30 mph Run #3 14.091 @ 100.88 mph Run #4 13.805 @ 102.84 mph Run #5 14.058 @ 101.26 mph By the 5th run we discovered that ...
Read more

Gregory John McCormick: 1964-2008

Itchy is dead. The lifeless body of this talented rock musician, whose band Shock Therapy was a popular group especially in Europe, was found in a field in Detroit last Wednesday, November 5. The Wayne County Coroner's office informed father Glenn McCormick that the body of his son Gregory, better known to all of us as Itchy, bore no signs of trauma. Glenn said that Itchy, who had been living at his father's dental lab in Detroit, had been drinking to excess for some time. While the toxicology report has not been released yet, the general consensus seems to be that he drank himself to death. Our agency, while still named INNOCENT, first got involved with Itchy in 2005. The Detroit native, who called Germany his home, got involved in some unfortunate activity that placed him in the Michigan State prison system on a charge of arson of a dwelling. It was really just a bonfire in an alley, but an alleged parole violation placed him in prison for 1-20 years. I personally sat w...
Read more

Three lives, connected by a divine thread

My kids say it should be a book! The Doug, Pat and Mark story is a doozie!   About 25 years ago, while fighting to free Maurice Carter from prison, I read a newspaper column written by Pat Shellenbarger of the Grand Rapids Press on the topic of eyewitness identification. I contacted Pat re that story. That led to a friendship between Doug and Pat that continues to this day.   In subsequent months, Pat would go on to assist me in an investigation into the Maurice Carter case that eventually led to solving the crime.  That particular episode became a chapter in my book about the Carter case, SWEET FREEDOM, published in 2006.   Fast forward to 2009, A New York businessman claims wrongful conviction, and while serving time in a Michigan prison is handed a copy of my book. Mark Hartman, who was also convicted in Berrien County, was amazed at the similarity of these two stories and tried to reach out to me. His letters bounced.   Persisting in his efforts to c...
Read more