James B. Cox
2822 Poly Drive
Billings, MT S9I02
December 24, 20 1
Senator Jim Shockley, Chairman Law and Justice Interim Committee
P. 0. Box 201706
Helena, MT 59620-1706
Dear Senator Shockley,
I have several areas of concern that I was not able to fully bring to light in the Law and Justice Interim Committee hearing of December 15-16 due to time Time Limitations:
Corporations are responsible to their stockholders, not to people who pay for their services as third parties, who in the case of private contractors with the Department of Corrections (DOC), are the taxpayers of Montana. Some of DOC’s contractors may be organized as nonprofit corporations, but there is a huge difference between nonprofit and unprofitable to management. The income of those DOC contractors is maximized by holding and recycling prisoners, not by reintegrating them into society as shown in DOC’s published mission. That is a conflict of interest.
The DOC itself is paid from public funds for incarcerating prisoners; it is paid nothing for releasing them to rejoin society: financially, to the DOC, a prisoner restored to society is an income stream lost. The DOC and its contractors have a common interest in maintaining and increasing the incarcerated and officially supervised population. The Montana Constitution protects citizens against abuses by government. It does nothing to protect us against abuses by private corporations. The DOC uses contractors to take actions that it cannot carry out itself without inviting civil rights lawsuits.
The DOC does this in two ways that I have seen (in addition to other possible ways that I have not seen.) The first is to put evidence of malefaction beyond the reach of citizens’ Right to Know secured by the Montana Constitution. The second is to add to judges’ sentences and parolee’s conditions of release by including a condition that a parolee must attend various groups-e.g. Anger Management–from a DOC contractor, then hathe contractor add restrictions to the parolee which, if not met, result in his expulsion from the required group, and reincarceration for that reason.
An example I have encountered of the first is my request to Director Ferriter of July 22, 2010, for a copy of any public record giving authority to withhold a letter of mine from a prisoner. I cited MCA 2-6-102 and its following paragraphs in that request. I have not gotten any responsive record, nor any response at all, but I did get an immediate reaction: the prisoner, Ronald W. Vaughn, was quickly transported to the private prison at Shelby, beyond the reach of that statue, where he remains. I attach a copy of my request letter and its attachment. Also, I sent him in Shelby a postal money order which was withheld from him as “contraband” as I was his approved visitor, but not an immediate family member. The money order was not returned to me, nor destroyed, nor endorsed by any individual. The Post Office provided me evidence (attached) that it was endorsed by the private prison and processed through a DOC account. I do not know who got the money. I have only sent that one money order there, so have no evidence how commonly such things are done.
An example of the second device that I encountered recently was a parolee, Jack Griffin, whose parole was revoked for being expelled from a required group-not to carry out any part of his sentence–and for not being employed or seeking employment while he was hospitalized. He is now recycled to tll.e Montana State Prison (MSP) without a hearing before the parole board. I have inquired of Mr. Ferriter how that was accomplished.
I have helped a number of released ex-offenders get on their feet and upright in the community by helping them get jobs (e.g. with drafting resumes and providing required work gear; I am not an employer) providing some transportation until they coUld afford their own, giving some a place to stay in my house, etc. In so doing, I have destroyed them off as continuing sources of funding for DOC and its contractors. Since I have taken no money for this myself, I am not manipulated by threats to cut it off. Most are still under lengthy periods of parole, and so are susceptible to retaliation, but I can provide you the names of three men who are still in the Billings area and with whom I still have contact, who are irrevocably finished with parole or probation, beyond the grasp of DOC and its contractors. In the course of such help, I have been told by a DOC contractor that I was being charged with obstructing justice–not to warn me, but rather to gloat of a fait accompli. So I looked up that law, MCA 45-7-303, and found that it is so broad as to defame me as an offender, along with anyone else not immune from arrest. It does not contemplate the existence of an ex offender. That definition should be amended to protect the public.
In helping Mr. Griffin reintegrate into society after his arrival in Billings, I provided him timely transportation to locations preapproved by his parole officer, Ms. Melanee Melia, with one sole exception: I took Mr. Griffin to the emergency room of St. Vincent hospital without her approval. By providing him that transportation, I had been interfering with her ability to arrest him for not keeping to his approved agenda, so my letter of October 4, 2011, to her (copy attached) reflects that I thougll.t that that was the reason for her astonishing anger at me. But things that I heard in the hearing on December 15, e.g. about Mr. Harriman’s untreated hernia, imply that there was an even worse reason for Ms. Melia’s behavior: in taking Mr. Griffin to the emergency room, I interfered with Ms. Melia’s ability to deny him medical treatment. And even worse, his actual medical condition was accurately recorded by St. Vincent hospital, not unrecorded or falsified by a DOC official or contractor, as was apparently done to Mr. Harriman.
Mr. Griffin was admitted to St. Vincent hospital and treated there over a week. After his release, Ms. Melia arrested him. While he was DOC’s prisoner in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility (YCDF) in Bi.llin£s, I got a letter from his employer (copy attached) and had St. Vincent hospital send him a form to fill out for disclosure of his medical information from his hospitalization. He was not given that form; if there was a local hearing, the letter from his employer was not presented at it. I sent him a second such blank form myself with pre-addressed envelope to that hospital and a postal money order for postage. I have to wait at least 30 days to apply to the Post Office for evidence of whether it was cashed and by whom it was endorsed. Mr. Griffin was removed from YCDF early on his next allowed visiting day so that I was unable to speak with him. YCDF did not tell me where DOC had taken him, but I was able to locate him in a local jail in Anaconda under DOC contract. I saw him there on his next allowed visiting day, Wednesday, December 14.
In that visit, Mr. Griffin looked pale, but I was not allowed to photograph him. He told me that he had a severe heart attack there and had been diagnosed at the community hospital in Anaconda, then temporarily treated in St.James hospital in Butte. Therefore, on December 16 I got blank forms from both hospitals for the release of his medical records and sent them to him by express mail along with a postal money order for postage. Mr. Griffin’s next allowed visiting day was Sunday, December 18; again he was removed before I could visit him. A jail employee would not tell me where he had been taken, saying “we don’t track prisoners we don’t have,” but I learned that was false: Post Office tracking information (attached) for the express mail shows delivery was attempted but refused because there was no person authorized to receive it, then when another attempt at delivery was made, it was forwarded to MSP and received there. Mr. Griffin is being held in a part of MSP where no visits are allowed.
Mr. Griffin has sent me an application to visit him at MSP, but to sign it, I have to certify “I have received (from the inmate) {sic} and read a set of regulations explaining mail/visiting procedures” which I have not. Mr. Griffin told me in my visit to him in Anaconda that Dr. Zeiner, who treated him in St.James hospital in Butte, said that his treatment was temporary, that Mr. Griffin had to have surgery on heart valves immediately, but I do not have any record of that yet. I am confident of the three hospitals who diagnosed and treated Mr. Griffin that they will properly process his filled out autli.orizations for disclosure of is medical records if they are allowed to receive them. Mr. Harriman’s untreated hernia has not been life-threatening, but from what Mr. Griffin told me, his coronary condition is. I have contacted relatives of his in Missouri who will have standing to sue about wrong death, if it occurs in MSP: Mr.Griffin was not given the death penalty by the judge nor his crime .
Disinterested organizations such as the U.S. Postal Service and those three hospitals are essential for bringing to light DOC’s actions, because DOC has an organizational culture of breaking the law by ignoring the public’s Right to Know extending from the Director to the lowest non-supervisor and including the DOC’s legal staff. Mr. Ferriter did not originate that; his behavior is a product of it. Ms. Melia’s as well: she is not a rogue employee whose lawbreaking is to be corrected by her supervisor; her behavior is correct as it fits that culture and promotes financial growth for DOC and its contractors. Indeed, willingness to break the law seems from Ms. Bunke’s example to qualify an employee for promotion in DOC. (She was swiftly moved from Billings to Deer Lodge to evade my request for copies of public records, and promoted.) That request (attached) concerns incarcerating a man for failure to apply to work in a specific restaurant owned or managed by an ex-supervisor of probationers ana parolees, and has never been responded to.
That instance illustrates an additional problem in the DOC which may be amenable to amelioration by this Committee: the revolving door between employees of DOC and interested private organizations, exemplified by ex-Warden Malioney leaving MSP and going to work for the private prison at Shelby. The U.S. Department of Defense has a prohibition on separated officers and employees going quickly to work for its contractors. A similar restriction could be put on DOC employees, though it wouldn’t end the DOC’s and its contractors’ common financial interest in increasing die prison population.
I have repeatedly seen that DOC’s ignoring the Constitutional Right to Know and breaking MCA 2-6-102 and its following paragraphs–the statutory implementation of that right–has enabled the DOC to conceal its breaking of other laws and violation of other rights. That statute is striking in that provides no penalty for violating it, neither for any guilty individual employee nor the organization. I believe that enacting a penalty for breaking that statute would aid in increasing DOC’s observance of it; I believe that it is within this committee’s role to address that.
Finally, In the Committee hearing on December 15, I mentioned that amending MCA 71-3- 1203 to provide due process to those whose property is taken should be addressed in the next legislative session as a result of the U.S. District Court for Montana finding that statute unconstitutional in case CV10-65-BLG-RFC-CSO, Cox v. Yellowstone County. I am immensely pleased that the ruling benefits not only me, but all the people of Montana.
If I am able to get the copies of public records that the DOC is withholding, I expect them to include information useful to this committee, and will forward it to you. I will research the requirements of HIPAA concerning any records I may receive upon authorizations for disclosure that Mr. Griffin is allowed by DOC to make. If you have any questions on any of what I have said above or the attachments, please contact me at my address above or by email at jim@cox.org. Thank you for the opportunity to appear at the Law and Justice Interim Committee hearing.
Attachments
Sincerely,
James B. Cox”
March 27, 2006
Ms Pam Bunke, Regional Administrator
Department of Probation and Parole
2615 4th Avenue South
Billings, Montana 59101
Dear Ms Bunke:
This is a request for a copy of public records under Montana Code Annotated 2-6-102 and its following paragraphs.
Ms. Lisa Hjelmstad of your staff said in a telephone message she left for me on 855-5585 at12:22 PM on March 17, 2006, that there is “a procedure” for allowing the public to attend a probation violation hearing and told me to contact Chaplain Kinser regarding it. In that message she also said that the probation violation hearing of interest to me was scheduled for 1:00 PM that very day.
Those 38 minutes she provided me before the start of the hearing-even if I had gotten her message that very minute-did not allow me to contact Chaplain Kinser before it. But when I did speak with him later, he told me that he knew of no such procedure, and I cannot find such a procedure published anywhere. Therefore, please provide me a copy of that procedure in accordance with the statute I cite above.
My intention is to publish that procedure and to provide a copy of it to Chaplain Kinser to assist him. I acK.nowledge my responsibility to pay for a copy of the records I have requested above, and hereby agree to do so up to the sum of $2o. If the charge will be more than that, please inform my the reason for that, as I do not want to give any impression that I am bribing a public official to do her duty.
By itself, waiting until 38 minutes before a hearing and then referring to a procedure to attend unknown to those involved in it might indicate a machination unique to Ms. Hjelmstad, but Chaplain Kinser also told me that others had asked him about such a procedure, indicating to me that it is also used by other probation and parole officers in your office, and, therefore, something you know of and may have personally initiated.
I look forward to promptly receiving a copy of the requested public record from you.
Sincerely,
James B. Cox
Certified Mail7005 0390 0003 3585 8943
March 30, 2006
Ms Pam Bunke, Regional Administrator
Department of Probation and Parole
2615 4th Avenue South
Billings, Montana 59101
Dear Ms Bunke:
This refers to my letter to you of March 27, 2006, which is a request for a copy of public records under Montana Code Annotated 2-6-102 and its following paragraphs, and adds to it a request for copies of two voicemail messages I left this evening, one on 208-9297 for a “Melanie” and one on 281-0473 for John Frost, both of which numbers are used for official business of your office in Billings.
My cell phone provider has a copy of the voicemail that Melanie left for me, threatening me with prosecution, being her second call to me from 208-9297; my cell phone bill will indicate its exact time and the time of my two phone calls above, which, in conjunction to the times of her two calls to me, will be significant and needful to me. Therefore, I look forward to promptly receiving a copy of those public records from you.
I infer from my conversation of this evening with that Melanie when she phoned me on my cell phone 855-5585 preceding that voicemail she left for me, that she got that number from the note I left taped to my front storm door for Nathan Green and Ms. Hjelmstad.
Since Monday, when I began to lock deadbolts to which Mr. Green has no key, he has not been able to enter my house unless I am at home, nor is he able to let Ms. Hjelmstad enter when I am not at home, nor can she let herself into my house using the keys I gave him when I am not present. Ms. Hjelmstad has asserted that she can search my entire house whenever she wishes without a warrant due to my letting Mr. Green reside here, and I note that my house remains his residence until she approves otherwise, giving her license to search my house without a warrant at any time from now on indefinitely until she decides to relinquish it. I am almost positive that her actual authority for searches does not stretch that far, but she has avoided providing me a copy of it, though the law requires that she do so.
I certainly do not oppose lawful searches of my house. It is especially important to me that I be present for such searches as there is in my house evidence relating to Ms. Hjelmstad’s lawbreaking and my receipt for certified mail in which I told her exactly that, which I do not want her to be able to surreptitiously remove and destroy under color of law. So, therefore, I am at home right now awaiting a search by that Melanie. I told her I would be home by 7:00 this evening and have been waiting for her since that time. It is now 8:45 and I am using my otherwise idle time to set forth in writing relevant facts:
In the voicemail I left for that Melanie, I gave her the phone number of a girlfriend of Mr. Green’s where he may be, one Annette’s, 545-8379; also, since then I have found out a phone number which I believe is another girlfriend’s of his, 209-4416, which I will give to that Melanie when she arrives here. As I told her and explain above, Mr. Green has not been in my house since Monday, though I realize that this remains his residence until Ms. Hjelmstad approves otherwise. I asked her for a copy of the criteria for approving a residence, but she has ignored that request, though clearly she had to approve mr house as a residence, for her ever to allow him to stay here in the first place. So, therefore, hereby request a copy of that public record from you.
When I picked up Mr. Green at the jail upon his release on March 17,2006, following his arrest by Ms. Hjelmstad in her office on March 15, he had a notion of hopelessness about being sent back to prison, beyond my ability to encourage him. I couldn’t get him to go with me to the IRS office as we had discussed to get an electronic copy of documentation he needs to file his tax (though there’s still time). I did convince him to go for his driver’s license, for which he had been studying, and after he told me he had passed the written portion, let him use my motorcycle to take the driving test for the motorcycle endorsement.
Attachments I and 2 are copies of notes that he left for me thereafter, which explain to me his mental state in not returning to my house. From the first, it was clear to me that his intention was not to permanently deprive me of the use of my motorcycle, but when he did not keep his self-imposed schedUle for returning it, I did ask the Billings Police to attempt to locate it, a public record of which should remain. Following the second note yesterday, I located the motorcycle and found it to be as he described (that in his shame he exaggerated the cosmetic damage) and called the police to withdraw my request to locate it.
If that request, in which I named Mr. Green as last known possessor of my motorcycle, is the basis of the arrest warrant that Melanie told me has been filed for Mr. Green, understand from this letter that no theft occurred, and that the damage to my motorcycle (which I will have photographed at the shop where it is now for repair) is consistent with tipping over at very low-speed. I have not seen Mr. Green since to see his own scrape.
It is now past n:oo PM, no one has come yet to search my house, and it has now occurred to me to wonder why that Melanie called me and not Ms. Hjelmstad, who is Mr. Green’s probation officer. It has also occurred to me that it may be that in failing to provide me the copies of public records that I requested, Ms. Hjelmstad may have been following your supervisory direction. Therefore, in addition to the copies of public records that I have requested from you above, I hereby repeat directly to you my request for copies of the following public records:
I.A copy of the procedure to be followed by any person to attend a probation violation hearing in Yellowstone County, and also the procedure to be followed in order for such person to be a witness,
2. A copy of the procedure to be followed by any person to obtain a copy of the transcript of a probation violation hearing in Yellowstone County,
3• A copy of any procedure to be followed by a probationer to effect in practice his statutory right to present evidence at a probation violation hearing, when such evidence is not in his possession in jail, but rather is in another person’s possession,
4• A copy of any law or other authority in use in Yellowstone County setting forth any limitation on the normal protection of any person against unreasonable search and seizure which is occasioned by such person providing :tg a probationer a place to stay in that person’s residence, and
5• A copy of any law or other authority in use in Yellowstone County setting forth any limitation on a probationer obtaining or changing employment.
I cannot find any published copies of these public records. As I expect that allowing the public to be aware of these matters in advance will result in fewer revocation of probation, which are a burdensome public expense and blot on the effectiveness of the Department of Corrections, my intention is to publish them. I acknowledge my responsibility to pa}’ for the copies of records I have requested above, and hereby agree to do so up to the sum of $100. If the charge will be more than that, please write to me at my address above explaining it, as I do not want to give any impression that I am bribing a public official to do her duty.
I look forward to receiving from you copies of these public records.
Sincerely,
Attachments (2; Jpp)
James B. Cox
Certified mail – Return Receipt Requested
October 4, 2011
Ms. Melanie Melia
Montana Department of Corrections
2615 4th Avenue South
Billings, MT 59101
Dear Ms. Melia:
This is a request for a copy of public writings under Montana Code Annotated 2-6-102 and its following paragraphs. I am a citizen of Montana residing at the address above. I hereby agree to pay up to $50 for copies of the public records I request below.
Yesterday I repeatedly left voicemail for you at 896-5443 in your office hours concerning the medical condition and hospitalization of probationer or parolee Jack Griffin who is to report to you. You did not return my repeated calls; instead when I finally reached you at 208-9297 after normal office hours, you accused Mr. Griffin to me of “ignoring” your calls “all day.” Please send me a copy of any public record showing such calls to him that you claim to have made. Please also send me a copy of any regulation or other authority in use by you concerning emergency medical treatment of probationers/parolees under your supervision.
In that phone conversation, I told you Mr. Griffin’s room number, R-510, at St. Vincent hospital, where there is a hard-wired telephone. Please send me a copy of any public record of any phone call you made to him there. You certainly did not while I was in the room,but
I was absent from it for some while as in that phone conversation with me you directed me to go get a battery charger for Mr. Griffin’s assigned electronic anklet, and I obeyed that direction of yours. Please send me a copy of any public record showing your authority to so direct me.
Absent such authority to direct me, your direction seems on the surface to be a baseless power assertion serving only to gratify your ego, but it may indicate something worse: to the Department of Corrections a prisoner released is a revenue stream lost; as a whole, your actions concerning Mr. Griffin are consistent with a goal of protecting the revenue stream he provides, e.g., when Mr. Griffin’s employer drove him from his work site to lunch at a fast food outlet, I was astonished to be verbally told that you portrayed that as a violation. Please send me a copy of any public record showing violations of Mr. Griffin’s that you allege so far.
Mr. Griffin’s petition to the Montana Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus shows an instance of the Department of Corrections adding to a prisoner’s sentence. Your actions seem an instance of adding to a prisoner’s conditions for parole or probation. Therefore, please send me a copy of any public record showing such conditions for Mr. Griffin. Mr. Griffin was abruptly transferred from Shelby to your supervision soon after filing that petition; if the purpose was to find a way to extend his incarceration and avoid losing the revenue of it despite that petition, your actions seem consistent with that purpose.
Finally, in our phone conversation,you would not answer when I asked you if it was being recorded. Please send me a copy of any regulation or similar authority you use concerning recording conversations on official telephones and retention of such recordings.
Finally if the fee for providing me the copies I request above will be more than $50, please send me a copy of the regulation or other authority used in setting those fees. I look forward to receiving the requested copies from you.
Sincerely,
1-5)
James B. Cox
October 11, 2011
James B.Cox
2822 Poly Drive
Billings, MT S9I02
Ms. Melanie Melia
Montana Department of Corrections
2615 4th Avenue South
Billings, MT 59101
Dear Ms. Melia:
This refers to my certified letter of October 4, 2011, to you are your address above containing my request for copies of certain public writings under Montana Code Annotated 2-6-102 and its following paragraphs and my agreement to pay for those copies. Although you did not sign the return receipt personally, your swift and severe reaction to my request in telling Jack Griffin to “fire” me as his sponsor and have no further contact with me makes clear that you received it, so there is no need to certify this one. I look forward to receiving the requested copies from you in accordance with law.
I have provided Mr. Griffin rides to work, to church, and to assigned counseling sessions all as scheduled and approved by you, and to the hospital–where he still is today–which was not scheduled or approved by you. You astonishing reaction on the phone seeking to construe his hospitalization as a violation was the direct and proximate cause of my request to you. I can understand how my asking you on the phone to ascertain direct from the hospital Mr. Griffin’s exact time of arrival there frustrated your ability to say that I lied to you about his that time of arrival and facilitate his imprisonment.
Your instructing Mr. Griffin to tell me about having no further contact with me is disingenuous and disingenuous, that if he did so you could deny having said that, and if he did not tell me you could construe that as willful disobedience to your orders. Mr. Griffin obeyed you by conveying your instructions but also told me that they originated with you. They conflict with the Department of Corrections’ published goals.
Ms. Melia, my visiting Mr. Griffin in the hospital and giving him transportation to his scheduled work, counseling appointments, and church services helps integrate him into the community and promotes positive change in his behavior in accordance with the Montana Department of Corrections goals published at http://www.cor.mt.gov/ and does nothing to interfere with its other two published goals enhancing public safety and supporting the victims of crime. It is clear that restoring prisoners to society cuts off revenue to the Department of Corrections for incarcerating them.
Ms. Melia, your official actions are inconsistent with the Department of Corrections published mission statement and consistent with an underlying motivation of protecting the Department of Corrections revenues by re-incarcerating prisoners you supervise. Although you may be used to intimidating the families of men under your supervision, I hope your will obey the law by providing me the copies of public records that I requested from you.
Sincerely,
/sj
James B. Cox
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Mike Ferriter Director
—STATE OF MONTANA–
Legal Services Bureau
October 21, 2011
James B. Cox
2822 Poly Drive
Billings, MT 59102
Re: Letter requesting public documents
Dear Mr. Cox,
Your letters to Officer Melia have been forwarded to the Department of Corrections Legal Services Bureau for review and response. An attorney will be assigned to this matter and will respond within the next thirty days. In the meantime, please direct all future correspondence and communication regarding this matter to the Legal Services Bureau at the address above.
Sincerely,
Kevin Brennan
Plant Superintendent kbrennan@asi-industriaLcom
1(406)245-6231 Work
1(406)698-1054 Cell
1(406}245-6236 Fax
PS Form 152, May 2002
POSTAL CUSTOMER:
To whom it may concern,
I would like to state that Mr. Jack Griffin has in fact been offered employment with ASI-Industrial. The offer of employment was made on the 4th of November, with a start date of November 7th. The position is a welder’s helper /laborer, on the 2nd shift, (3:30pm-1:50am) with a pay of 9.00 an hour.
It is my intention to extend this offer of employment when he is released from custody. Feel free to contact me with any questions or verification regarding this matter.
Kevin Brennan
Plant Superintendent
December 19, 2011
Ms. Melanee Melia
Montana Department of Corrections
2615 4th Avenue South
Billings, MT 59101
Dear Ms. Melia:
This refers to my three previous letters to you, to which you have not responded. The reason for that is becoming more clear to me as events transpire beyond your ability to suppress. What you do, you will be seen to do.
A reason for your severe reaction to my taking Jack Griffin to St. Vincent hospital in Billings became starkly clear this past Thursday when I attended a Law and Justice Interim Committee hearing and heard about prisoners of the Montana Department of Corrections (DOC) being denied medical treatment: by taking him to the emergency room there without your permission, I circumvented your ability to deny him medical treatment. In so doing, I may have avoided manslaughter by you.
Mr. Griffin was properly admitted to St. Vincent hospital and remained there over a week despite your lack of approval, Ms. Melia, as Mr. Griffin medical records there will show- which exist beyond your ability to efface. Following your arrest of him-on the bizarre grounds of not looking for work while he was in the hospital and of having contact with his fiancée contacted St. Vincent to send a form with a postage-prepaid return envelope, to him in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility (YCDF), where he was a prisoner of the DOC, to get a copy of his medical records.
Mr. Griffin did not receive it. Therefore, I went to St. Vincent hospital and got a second such form and prepaid envelope and sent it to Mr. Griffin along with a postal money order in the same envelope. He did not receive them. His next allowed visit in YCDF-lie was only allowed one per week–was on Thursday afternoon, December 8, 2011. Before I could visit him there, he was removed under DOC control.
I was able to locate Mr. Griffin in another facility under contract to DOC for housing its prisoners-the Deer Lodge County jail in Anaconda, Montana. Phoning there, I was told that his next allowed visit was on Wednesday evening, December 14. I visited him there at that time. He looked quite pale; I was forbidden to photograph him. He told me that he had a serious heart attack after being transported there, that he was promptly taken by kindly jail staff to the Anaconda medical facility without approval by DOC, and that he was diagnosed there as suffering a severe heart attack.
In that visit, Mr. Griffin told me–thou£h. I do not have the medical records in hand–that he was transported from Anaconda to the hospital in Butte, Montana for treatment. I obtained forms from the hospitals in Anaconda and Butte for Mr. Griffin to get a copy of his medical records and sent them to him by Express Mail. On Sunday-his next allowed visiting day-I was told that he was no longer there; the guard could not or would not tell me where he had been taken. I then found out on USPS.com that the post office attempted to deliver that Express Mail but it was refused because there was “no authorized recipient available.”
That, plus Mr. Griffin not receiving the form and prepaid return envelope that St. Vincent hospital sent to him in Yellowstone County Detention Facility, makes it appear to me that jails housing DOC prisoners treat those prisoners differently from other prisoners, probably by contract. Though being privately owned, the Crossroads Correctional Center is beyond the reach of the Right to Know secured by Montana Constitution, those jails are government entities subject to it. And you are too. Not obeying the law is lawbreaking, Ms. Melia; your persisting in it is persistent lawbreaking.
Please provide me the copies of public records that I have requested from you without further delay.
Sincerely,
James B. Cox
Certified mail- Return Receipt Requested
October 24, 2011
John Williams, Regional Administrator
Montana Department of Corrections
2615 4th Avenue South
Billings, MT 59101
Dear Mr. Williams:
This refers to my three letters to you and your staff of October 4, 2011, and following in which I properly requested copies of public records. You have not responded to them, but have reacted in such a way that now I must add to my requests as shown below. However, what is more important than my individual requests, or my making those public records freely available to the public, or even your using your public office to break the law by concealing them, is your motivation in doing so which is strong enough that you break the law to effect it.
Mr. Williams, as shown in its mission statement published at http://www.cor.mt.gov/ the Montana Department of Corrections “enhances public safety, promotes positive change in offender behavior, reintegrate offenders into the community and supports the victims of crime.” But its revenues come from incarcerations, not from carrying out that mission; restoring prisoners to society cuts off revenue to the Department of Corrections for incarcerating them. The actions of your office indicate that your principal goal is to protect the Department of Corrections’ revenue stream, not carry out its official mission.
Helping an offender as I have helped Jack Griffin since his arrival in Billings to find work and to get to work on schedule and to required counseling groups and to church has interfered with retaining revenue from incarcerating him or detaining him in the Intensive Supervision Program to such an extent that I have been forbidden to contact him further and he is required to look for work anew now without me able to provide him transportation for his search as before, nor to work, required counseling, or church-all things that support the Department of Corrections official mission.
In accordance with Montana Code Annotated 2-6-102 and its following paragraphs, please send me a copy of any law or other authority in use by your office which would deny a person who is not a felon and who is unconnected with Mr. Griffin’s crime, contact with him. Absent such authority the actions of your office seem a willful violation of my civil rights. I agree to pay up to $10 for a copy of such public record-making a total commitment of $70 for the copies I have requested so far. I am a citizen of Montana residing at the address above.
Sincerely,
James B. Cox
Jack Griffin Incarcerated Montana State Prison
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