The state of California intends to execute Theodore Shove. So he's fighting back because, honestly, what else does he have to do with his time? Except repent, of course...
Shove and eight of his fellow death row inmates at California's San Quentin Prison recently sued federal judges throughout California. They also sued President Barack Obama. And Attorney General Eric Holder. And Homeland Security Security Janet Napolitano. And numerous members of Congress. And their own defense attorneys. And, naturally, others as well.
Their lawsuit explained:
"Domestic Terrorism, Treasonous Acts of Terrorism against Our Country are clearly being perpetrated for great financial and political gains for everyone involved."
In a 445-page complaint, accompanied by 189 pages of appendices, the San Quentin lawsuit went on in similar fashion. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly needed only two pages to dismiss the suit.
Shove, the lead plaintiff in this case, apparently has ring-leader potential. He was convicted in 2008 for having masterminded the 2001 beating deaths of an 81-year-old man and his 79-year-old wife. Prosecutors say Shove, now in his late 50s, wanted to take over the couple's aerospace salvage business. The man Shove hired to commit the murders is serving a life sentence.
I think that all prisoners should be assisted in filing prisoner law suits so that their claims will be organized and they will have more faith in the judicial system. The US government has many unused printers from pre Internet days and the government should print reference materials for prisoners. Prisoners should have clear instructions for filing either for post judgment relief of their sentences or for filing complaints about prison abuse and conditions. Part of the reason that the courts have problems processing prisoner lawsuits is that the prisoners are not told how to present their complaints.
I don't have a criminal record but former judge Naughty Nottingham ordered the USMS to hold me without a trial, an appearance by a government attorney, a charge that I committed a federal offense, an arraignment, or a bail hearing for 5 months. I was kept in three different county jails which had contracts with USMS. I requested law library privileges at all three jails. At two, I never got to a law library at all even though I tried at one for three weeks. I couldn't even get directions on how to apply for habeas corpus. At the third, I was eventually given almost unlimited library access. The problem was that they didn't even have a copy of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure even though 40% of their prisoners were federal. The so called jail law library had only the Colorado Revised Statutes, a West Guide to Colorado practice, and an incomplete set of American Jurisprudence, published 1975. I am positive they had no other law books.
County jails are where many or most federal prisoners are held until after they are convicted and before conviction is when they most need law libraries. Even if they have a public defender they should be able to supplement and verify his research on their own.
My theory is that prisoners should be encouraged to study law so that they respect justice and that therefore recidivism will drop. Guilty prisoners will not confront their guilt when they, and their families, think the system is stacked against them.
Posted by: kay sieverding | January 30, 2010 at 02:36 PM