June 26, 2011

Dear Sis~
They moved six Death Row guys to the main D/R unit at the Rock last week, including old Roy (now 70 yrs old), my neighbor for the last 2-1/2 years.  He's got nobody on the streets and I was the only one looking out for him, so he's gonna be lost over there.  But, he will either have a new trial, or be off Death Row (with a life sentence) as soon as the Florida Supreme Court hands down his direct appeal decision, which should be soon.  You may recall that in Roy's case they never found the body of the alleged murder victim and there were no witnesses to the alleged murder.  The primary evidence against him was a jailhouse snitch who claimed Roy "confessed" to him.  The use of jailhouse snitch testimony is the most egregious practice in the criminal justice system and puts more innocent people in prison than any other single thing.  Professional, lying jailhouse snitches play the system like a banjo, making up "confessions" and then getting out of jail in return for their fabricated testimony.  Prosecutors use this false testimony often knowing (or at least suspecting) it is fabricated because they care more about obtaining convictions than learning the truth...
Anyway, four of the six guys transferred arrived here after me which tells me I am still on the "do not transfer to the Rock" list (either because of the nature of my case, or because I escaped from the Rock in 1978).  That's fine with me as I have zero interest in going over there where the visiting situation is all screwed up.  Plus, they have a really stupid policy of randomly moving 10% of everyone every week, so you are constantly being uprooted...
Just read a lengthy article/expose (maybe not the right word) in my New Yorker, titled A Dirty Business, about the insider trading trial and conviction of billionaire hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, who ran the Galleon Fund.  The wider story is about the endemic corruption on Wall Street, the pervasive insider trading at the highest levels which makes a mockery of the idea that there's any kind of level playing field.  Any thinking person already knew this, but it's interesting to see it confirmed by unequivocal evidence.  As the author of the story, George Packer, correctly observed, "The market has become more of an exclusive gambling club for the very rich than a level playing field open to the ordinary investor"...
Alright, Sis, I'll let you go for now.  Keep your chin up and a smile on your face.
Love, Bill