Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Dear Friend of Justice,
2011 is drawing to a close. If you wish to deduct your contribution to the National Center for Reason and Justice, you must act soon.
You can mail your check (made payable to NCRJ) to NCRJ, POB 191101, Roxbury MA 02119.
You may donate via PayPal or Google Checkout at the NCRJ web site: http://ncrj.org/donate/.
Without your support, the NCRJ cannot keep up its fight for justice.
Thank you!
-Bob Chatelle
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Dear Friend of Justice,
In 1994, Elizabeth Ramirez was 19 years old. For years, she had been spurning the sexual advances of a man in whom she had no interest. For one thing, Elizabeth is a lesbian. For another, this man was involved in a relationship with Elizabeth’s sister and they had three children together. Often, Elizabeth would babysit these children.
After one visit, two of these children accused Elizabeth and three of her lesbian friends of sexually abusing them. I believe these accusations were coerced by the father. It was not the first time that this man had made an unfounded accusation of sexual abuse.
There was no credible or reliable evidence presented against the four young women at trial, which was tainted with extreme homophobia. One of the two alleged victims has since recanted her accusation, asserting that she was forced to make it.
You can read about this case here.
These four young women languished in prison for many years without hope. The National Center for Reason and Justice is now sponsoring this case, and we are making progress. We have found them an excellent lawyer. But we need money to achieve justice.
The lawyer would like to garner public support for the women’s innocence by having Elizabeth take a polygraph test. Hewants to use an expert who usually charges $3,500. In this instance, he is willing to reduce it to $2,200. If Elizabeth agrees, the NCRJ will pay the bill, even though our financial resources are very limited.
The NCRJ relies entirely on the contributions of individual donors. We have one fund-raising drive a year, which is going on right now. Many of you have already contributed, or have contributed in the past. If you have contributed this year, our sincere thanks once again. If you have not, please do so in order that we can help along this case and the others that we sponsor. Contributions are tax-deductible.
Pleae make out your check to NCRJ and mail it to NCRJ, POB 191101, Roxbury MA 02119. Or you can donate via PayPal or Google Checkout at the NCRJ web site: http://ncrj.org/donate/
Thank you for your support.
-Bob Chatelle
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Dear Friend of Justice,
Thanksgiving is behind us and many of us will soon be sending cards to friends and family. Please consider sending cards to one or more prisoners as well. It means a great deal to those behind bars, especially for those who are innocent.
Here are some addresses: https://bobchatelle.net/please-write-to-a-prisoner
If you see errors in this list, please let me know and I will correct ASAP.
-Bob Chatelle
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Dear Friend of Justice,
My organization, the National Center for Reason and Justice, relies entirely on the contributions or private donors to do its work.
If you have donated in the past, you should have received the following letter. If you have not yet donated, please consider becoming a donor. You may send a check to NCRJ, POB 191101, Roxbury MA 02119. Or you may donate via Google of PayPal at our website: http://ncrj.org/donate/
Here is our current letter:
November 11, 2011
Dear Friend,
NCRJ has had an exciting year.
In these and all our other cases, coercive police tactics, junk science, homophobia, racism, inadequate defense for the poor—or all of the above—feature prominently.
That is why we need your support.
NCRJ is the only organization that helps people falsely accused of crimes against children. No wonder appeals for our help keep streaming in.
But we need to do more, or those appeals won’t abate. We also must work to prevent more injustice, and more tragedies.
Last year NCRJ committed itself to combating the unjust laws and policies that grow out of the same hysteria, public credulity, and political opportunism that feed false accusations. These policies—such as sex offender registries and civil commitment—do not enhance public safety, but fan more hysteria.
The laws are unjust not only to the falsely accused but also to the guilty who have paid their debt to society and are trying to live productive, crime-free lives.
Toward our two goals—helping the falsely accused and moving toward fairer laws—we are building new strategic alliances and strengthening old ones for mutual benefit. This year we will:
All this work requires travel, research, and staff and board time: money.
Please help us with a tax-deductible donation of $1,000, $500, $150 — or whatever you can afford. You can use the enclosed self-addressed envelope, or go to ncrj.org and donate by credit card. If you choose the credit-card option, please consider becoming a monthly sustainer via PayPal.
We are grateful for your partnership in progressing towards our biggest goal: to make NCRJ obsolete, and shut our doors.
Sincerely,
Michael R. Snedeker
President of the Board of Directors
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
November 21, 2011
Mr. Gary Lanigan, Commissioner
Department of Corrections
POB 863
Trenton NJ 08625
Dear Commissioner Lanigan,
The National Center for Reason and Justice (NCRJ) is a 501 (c)(3) organization that fights for justice and due process of law. Our focus is those who have been falsely accused or wrongfully convicted of crimes against children.
Recently, one of our supporters sent us a copy of a disturbing letter he had received from an inmate at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center (ADTC) in Avenel, New Jersey.
We are very concerned. Outraged, would be a better word. The letter describes an institutional shakedown on November 3rd by the Special Operations Group (SOG). The letter details needless destruction of property and cruel and unlawful physical assault and battery, as well as various forms of gross psychological abuse inflicted by those in positions of power upon those powerless to redress the abuse. We understand that the abuses were documented in many grievances and incident reports filed by inmates, therapists, and custody staff.
We also understand that SOG complained about the policy of the ADTC that permits participants of the Hobby and Music programs to keep music and art supplies in their housing areas. Confining these materials to the Art and Music rooms would effectively kill these valuable therapeutic programs, because the Art and Music rooms lack the space and time slots to accommodate all of the participating inmates. We hope that you will not alter the current polices.
Our primary concern, however, is the violent and unlawful behavior of SOG staff. A full and fair investigation of the events of November 3rd is in order. We urge your office to take action to assure that such atrocities do not recur, at ADTC or elsewhere within the New Jersey Correctional System. Apologies must be issued and restitution must be afforded. We also demand an investigation into the history and suitability of some of your staff members to hold positions of public trust and responsibility.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Chatelle
Executive Director, National Center for Reason and Justice
Those of you with strong stomachs may wish to read the letter from the inmate.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
Yesterday Bernard Baran came by and took Jim and me to lunch. Afterwards, we hung out for a while in the Rose Kennedy Rose Garden, where Jim took this photo.
Bee has had some terrible health problems over the past couple of years. He’s lost too much weight.
Friends of Justice is a personal blog. Here I speak only for myself.
About three years ago, I did some postings about a friend of mine I called “Kevin.” I met “Kevin” because he was a prison friend of Bernard Baran’s. After Baran’s release in June of 2006, I began corresponding regularly with “Kevin” and began visiting him in prison.
I posted about “Kevin” because I was trying to find him some outside support – which I was able to do. I removed those postings. Even though I never used “Kevin’s” real name, I still had (and have) concerns about protecting his privacy.
I personally believe that “Kevin” was falsely accused and wrongfully convicted. But he was bullied into taking a guilty plea. At the time he was 18 and frightened. He had no sources of support. His family is physically and sexually abusive and riddled with substance abuse. He was told that his alternatives were doing a year of easy time in the county jail or spending the rest of his life in a real prison. He took the plea – which he regrets to this day. His conviction can never be overturned.
What prosecutors neglected to tell him was that after he served his year they had the power to commit him as a sexually dangerous person “from one day to life.” He could only be released if he could convince a jury that he was not sexually dangerous. With the help of a terrific public defender, he was able to do this last May. He had just turned 26.
By this time, he had acquired two wonderful supporters living in the southern part of Massachusetts. One of them had a trailer on her property, where “Kevin” has been living. He has been unable to find work except for part-time work given him by his other major supporter. With the assistance of food stamps, he has been able to get by.
Winter is approaching and the trailer is not winterized. He needs another place to live by December 1st at the latest.
While incarcerated, “Kevin” corresponded with a young woman (who I’ll call “Janet”) who lives in a community near Boston but is not part of Boston. They began seeing each other after “Kevin”’s release and have decided that they would like to live together. “Kevin” planned to move into “Janet”’s apartment. “Kevin” also thought his chances of finding work would improve if he were nearer Boston. He worked in the prison print shop for a few years and is an experienced silk screener. Also, where he lives now has a very high unemployment rate and there are no opportunities there for even day labor.
As a preliminary move, he registered “Janet”’s address as a secondary address.
A couple days later, “Janet” was terrorized by a visit from the local police. They were told that if “Kevin” moved there, or even continued to visit, they would knock on every door within 1,000 feet and tell the neighbors that a dangerous sex offender was in their midst. The police had also helpfully called “Janet”’s landlord. (“Janet” hadn’t yet spoken to him.) The landlord threatened to evict “Janet” if “Kevin” even visited.
“Kevin” and “Janet” haven’t given up finding a home. It will be very, very difficult. “Kevin” won’t be even able to look for work until he finds a home. “Janet” has a good job in Boston’s Fenway area, which she can’t afford to give up. But without “Kevin” working, she feels she can only afford about $900 a month. And almost no landlord will rent to a sex offender.
I am completely out of ideas. I post this for two reasons.
1. It is possible that someone might be able to suggest something that we haven’t considered.
2. I think it illustrates perfectly the consequences of Draconian sex-offender laws.
While I believe “Kevin” is innocent, I cannot prove it. And even if I could, it would do him no good in a court of law. But I believe most strongly that he is not sexually dangerous to anyone. He’s had a terrible life and deserves a chance.
The courts have given him his “freedom.” But because society is denying him a job and a place to live, that “freedom” is worth very little.
Copyright 2008-2026 Bob Chatelle. Design by Fort Hill Design.
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