Connecticut’s Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, contends that the state deserves whatever money the writers make (and, apparently, several hundred thousand more) because the women never would have become published authors if Connecticut had not convicted and imprisoned them. In my opinion, this argument blithely dismisses the women’s writing talent and their work ethic and sends them the message that the state is more interested in retribution than rehabilitation. Why are we not sending them the message that hard, honest work brings reward?

As of now, the lawsuit is pending. Meanwhile, Connecticut’s state legislature has taken up the issue of the women’s right to be paid for their work as part of its prison reform package, which seeks to remove some of the state’s roadblocks to rehabilitation and which it is scheduled for a vote in February of 2004. Those of you who wish to send a letter in support of the York writers may address those letters to the chair of the legislature’s judiciary committee: Representative Michael Lawlor
Legislative Office
Building, Room 2500
Hartford, Connecticut 06106-1591
Email: MLawlor99@juno.com

The more letters the better, I’m told. Thanks so much for considering this.

An anti-choice and anti-privacy judicial activist, Bill Pryor, has been appointed to the Eleventh Circuit federal bench just a month after the surprise appointment of anti-choice Charles Pickering to the Fifth Circuit bench.



Mr. Pryor has called Roe v. Wade an "abominable decision." If you'd like to do something about this, please click the links below.

CLICK HERE TO PROTEST THE PRYOR APPOINTMENT

TELL YOUR FRIENDS

I shall argue throughout this book that healing from trauma depends upon communalization of the trauma-being able safely to tell the story to someone who is listening and who can be trusted to retell it truthfully to others in the community.

From the New York Times article on Dr. Shay:

Like many scientists who cross disciplines, Dr. Shay keeps it all together with a unified, and controversial, theory. He believes that trust-destroying trauma has a single biology and a single psychology, whether it arises from political torture, prostitution, domestic violence or combat.

He has no use for particularists who want to keep separate accounts for the pain of Holocaust victims, soldiers and abused women. The experience of trauma is unique to each sufferer. Meanwhile, its biology is common to all. So comparing one group's pain to another, Dr. Shay argues, is pointless.

…So, if there were some way to figure out not so much what prisons need the books, but which prison facilities would allow the books to be given out personally, as gifts, I think then the books would have a better chance of not only being read, but of also being treasured through the simple humanity of the action…

Inmate Who Participated in Book Project, Received $330,000 Bill From State to Receive 2004 PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award



New York, New York — PEN American Center has named Barbara Parsons Lane, one of eight incarcerated writers who were sued by the State of Connecticut after contributing to the acclaimed collection Couldn’t Keep It To Myself: Testimonies from our Imprisoned Sisters, as the recipient of this year’s prestigious PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award. Lane, a victim of domestic abuse incarcerated for killing her husband, remains in prison; her son and daughter will accept the $25,000 prize on her behalf at PEN’s annual Gala on April 20, 2004 at the Pierre Hotel in New York City.

Couldn’t Keep It To Myself is a moving anthology of stories and essays by women who participated in a creative writing workshop at York Correctional Institution. Wally Lamb, author of the novels She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, has led the workshop for almost five years.

In January of 2003, just days before Couldn’t Keep It To Myself was due to be released, the Connecticut Attorney General’s office began summoning the book’s contributors to appear before Superior Court. It was only then that the writers—both those still incarcerated and those who had served their sentences and been released—learned they were being billed, at the rate of approximately $117.00 per day, for the cost of their imprisonment. Because none of the women had written directly about their crimes, this was not a case of a state trying to apply so-called “Son of Sam” laws; rather, the Attorney General argued it was seeking the monies under Connecticut’s vaguely-worded and rarely-applied “Cost of Incarceration” laws on the theory that the state sponsored the writing workshop. The State of Connecticut also sued Harper Collins Publishers for having reserved royalties of approximately $5,600 for each of the women. As one of the longest-serving inmates in the group, Lane received a demand for $339,505.00.

Barbara Parsons Lane entered York Correctional Institution in 1996. She joined Wally Lamb’s prison writing workshop shortly after its inception in 1999, stating that she wanted to write about her life to better understand it. She wrote prolifically and grew quickly as a writer, and in time became a mentor to other workshop participants as well, often helping them type and edit their manuscripts. Her growth within the writing program mirrored her progress as an inmate and a person: in addition to her writing activities, she became one of the leading trainers in York’s innovative program that conditions puppies for service to people with disabilities and helped found a hospice program within the prison for women with AIDS and other terminal diseases.

Nearly a year after they were initiated, the State of Connecticut’s lawsuits against the women and Harper Collins are still pending. Last June, PEN wrote to the Connecticut Attorney General to protest the state’s effort to recover the women’s share of the book proceeds, noting that although the law presumably permits the state to attempt to recover the cost of incarceration from any inmate who earns any income whatsoever, it has been applied extremely selectively: of tens of thousands of men and women who have served terms in Connecticut since the law went into effect, only 15 have been the subject of cost-of-incarceration actions—7 who were targeted following significant financial windfalls, and 8 of the women whose writings appear in Couldn’t Keep It To Myself. “Because these eight women came to the attention of the state through their work,” PEN wrote at the time, “it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that they have been targeted for their work—or at least that, intentional or not, they are being penalized for exercising freedom of expression.”

“In honoring Barbara Parsons Lane—and by extension, all of the women who poured their lives and their hearts into Couldn’t Keep It to Myself, only to receive bills for the cost of their incarceration—we are of course underscoring our concern over the State of Connecticut’s actions,” Freedom to Write Program Director Larry Siems said today in announcing the award. “But we are also honoring Ms. Lane and her colleagues in the York’s writing program for seizing the opportunity that writing presents to reflect on their lives and experiences. For more than 30 years, PEN has been encouraging prison writing programs as an essential part of the process of rehabilitation. Barbara Parsons Lane is an extraordinary example of how lives can be reconstructed in and through writing. We encourage the State of Connecticut to amend its Cost of Incarceration law in a way that encourages, rather than discourages, other men and women from exploring and sharing their stories.”

Wally Lamb, who has worked with Barbara Parsons Lane for more than four years and who nominated her for the PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award, agreed. “Barbara Lane is living proof that Connecticut has the capacity to rehabilitate, as well as punish, its incarcerated citizens and return them to society as productive individuals with useful skills and greater self-awareness. I urge the Department of Correction to make correction its top priority. As Couldn't Keep It To Myself contributor Bonnie Foreshaw put it, ‘What I hope is that people will bear in mind that we are human beings first, inmates second.’”

This is the twelfth anniversary of the PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award, which was established by actor Paul Newman and author A. E. Hotchner to honor a U.S. resident who has fought courageously, despite adversity, to safeguard the First Amendment right to freedom of expression as it applies to the written word. The judges for the 2004 award were acclaimed authors and PEN Trustees Eve Ensler and Grace Paley; Syndicated columnist, novelist, and essayist Stanley Crouch; Dave Horowitz, Executive Director, The Media Coalition; and Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Prison suspends writing program

Wally Lamb's class produced acclaimed book and controversy.

By DAVID PENCEK and FRANCIS McCABE

Norwich Bulletin





EAST LYME -- The York Correctional Institution has suspended an acclaimed writing program taught by author Wally Lamb.

The program led to the creation of an award-winning book of stories from inmates, one of whom won the prestigious PEN award for her contribution.

Brian Garnett, York's director of external affairs, said the program has been put on hold temporarily while staff is being reassigned. "We hope to proceed with the program in the very near future," Garnett said. "It's something we're very proud of and is extremely beneficial and innovative. We're very grateful to have Wally Lamb participating."

Garnett would not comment further on the reasons for the suspension or to explain how staff reassignments impact the program.

For his part, Lamb said he didn't know why the program had been suspended. "I was never told directly," he said.

Lamb was hesitant to comment on the issue, saying "negotiations" were ongoing. He would not say with whom he was negotiating, only that it involved "the future" of the program. Lamb said he will continue negotiations next week.

At least one session of the program, on April 1, was canceled, Lamb said. He could not say when the next session would take place.

The best-selling author began teaching at the Niantic prison in 1999. Last year, "Couldn't Keep It To Myself: Testimonies From Our Imprisoned Sisters" was published. It included the autobiographical writings of 10 current or former inmates.

The state billed the women for their imprisonment after the book was published under the "Cost of Incarceration" laws on the theory that the state sponsored the writing workshop. The state also sued Harper Collins Publishers for having reserved royalties for each woman. The cases are still pending.

One of the contributing writers, Barbara Parsons Lane, won the $25,000 PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award that honors those who have fought, despite adversity, to safeguard the right to freedom of expression as it applies to the written word. Lane was convicted of man-slaughter due to emotional duress and has been serving time since 1996.

dpencek@norwichbulletin.com
fjmccabe@norwich.gannett.com


Originally published Saturday, April 10, 2004

York Prison Halts Writing Workshop For Inmates

Program Suspended After Inmate Wins Major Award By ALLISON FRANK
Day Staff Writer, East Lyme/Salem
Published on 4/10/2004

East Lyme — A few weeks after an inmate at the Janet S. York Correctional Institution won a prestigious writing award, the state Department of Correction has temporarily suspended the workshop responsible for the woman's success.

Sources who work at the prison said the directive came from York's principal of education, Dorothea Greene. The sources, who requested anonymity for fear of losing their jobs, said Greene issued a memo prohibiting inmates from using classroom computers to write, and later confiscated the computer disks that contained their writing.

Greene could not be reached to comment Friday.

Department of Correction spokesman Brian Garnett said Friday that the writing program, led by best-selling author Wally Lamb, is on hold pending the reassignment of staff. The program's suspension comes on the heels of the announcement that inmate Barbara Parsons Lane is this year's recipient of the Pen/Newman's Own First Amendment Award, a $25,000 prize. Lane, a victim of domestic abuse, has been incarcerated since 1996 for killing her husband. She is one of 10 inmates at York who contributed to a collection of stories and essays published last year in the anthology “Couldn't Keep It To Myself: Testimonies From Our Imprisoned Sisters.” Garnett said the department is “immensely proud” of Lane and the other inmates who contributed to the anthology, and intends to reinstate the workshop “in the very near future.” “This is a program that offers a sense of introspection and self-examination, and rehabilitation,” he said. “We are proud of the accomplishments of the women, and of the woman who has won the award.”

Lamb, author of “She's Come Undone” and “I Know This Much Is True,” said Friday that he was told two weeks ago that the prison was putting his workshop on hiatus but that he doesn't know what sparked the decision.

“I am honestly not sure why they have suspended the program,” said Lamb, who has volunteered as a teacher at York since 1999 and who collaborates on the workshop with Dale Griffith, a teacher at York. “I'm hoping that the program can continue in its highly successful format with the people who have made it successful,” he said.

Griffith, reached at home Friday, referred questions to the department's public information office.

Garnett would not discuss the details of the staffing arrangement other than to say, “We fully hope that Mr. Lamb continues to head” the program.

Lamb said he “absolutely” wants to stay on board at York. He came to the prison five years ago as a favor to a friend who worked at the prison, and developed the visit into a program that has helped rehabilitate women whose crimes include manslaughter and murder.

Many of the women in Lamb's workshop express their feelings about the crimes that led to their imprisonment, of struggles with drug use or eating disorders, and of the abuses they experienced at the hands of others.

“They are, by writing, acquiring self-knowledge and self-understanding,” Lamb said. “I'm very proud of the students who have graduated from the program.”

While the program has earned accolades for its therapeutic value, it also has come under fire from the state attorney general's office, which invoked a 1997 state statute that allows the state to recover from inmates the cost it incurred in incarcerating them. Harper Collins, which published the anthology, had reserved royalties of approximately $5,600 for each of the women. The state last year sued Harper Collins and eight of the inmates who contributed to the anthology, including Lane, who had received a bill from the state for $339,505, according to the Pen American Center. The cases are still pending.

After hearing that prison officials were re-evaluating Lamb's program, Pen sent a letter of inquiry to the attorney general's office, said Larry Siems, director of the center's Freedom to Write and other programs. Siems said the organization, an advocate for programs such as Lamb's, hopes the York workshop is allowed to continue in its present form.

“It's a remarkable program and its achievements are obvious to everyone,” he said. “This award was part of the highlight of an extraordinary program.”

Lamb said he's pleased his students' work is being acknowledged outside of the prison walls. “This is a victory for all of the writers in the group and for all those who have been published in the volume,” said Lamb, who nominated Lane for the award. “Freedom of speech is a cherished American right, and it should be celebrated.”

It is truly wonderful to know that an organization like your cares so much about people who would otherwise go unnoticed.

A good book in prison is sometimes as important as a letter from home, especially if you have few friends and family on the outside. I can not explain to you how much the women love finding good books and sharing them with each other. They devour books, so anything you send will be greatly appreciated.

The library is a wonderful place for the women. It offers the entire compound general reading materials, books, newspapers, and magazines, it also serves to support the school curriculum with nonfiction and reference books as well as hosting the prison book clubs. We have two adult book clubs, a young adult book club and we will be starting a Spanish Language book club in the future.

[they see] religious services as an integral part of the rehabilitative process. Staff chaplains are supplemented by hundreds of dedicated religious volunteers from the community who together offer a total of more than 75 different collective religious services and programs, including Bible study. In fact, there is a chaplain-led Bible study in inmate Ventura's protective custody housing unit, but he chooses not to participate. He wants to be a "leader" himself, and that is not allowed.