Letters for August 15, 2002

Blame game

Re “Folsom Blues” by Tom Walsh (SN&R Editor’s Note, August 8):

Easy access to guns is not the reason for the boost in prison population in the past 30 years. The immediate cause was the social self-esteem-for-everyone programs, feel good above all else, do your own thing and forget about the rest of society, blame everyone but yourself, and above all take no responsibility for your actions. Blame society, your parents, the cops, the schools—anyone but yourself. Well, they got caught and are now doing the time in prisons, which, by the way, are nicer than many of their victims’ homes.

Lou Meyer
Sacramento

Missed the mark

Re “Disorder in the Court” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Cover, August 1) and “Exactly Who is Retarded?” by Tom Walsh (SN&R Editor’s Note, August 1):

These articles are very well written, but somewhat miss the sociological mark and completely fail in their reach to properly edify and distinguish the moderately wide spectrum with respect to mental retardation and autism. Society needs to be made extremely aware that there is an ever-increasing number of California state prisoners who are suffering confinement with enduring serious mental illness/retardation perception and quite possibly autism. I can personally attest that many are heavily sedated with psychotropic medications and lack the awareness and/or understanding that they are in prison serving time for a conscious crime against society. David Maggi was extremely lucky to have Bob Blasier, and other strong attorneys like him, because normally indigent defendants are provided extremely overworked public defenders.

I personally believe that a myopic glossing over of these very extreme and tragic legal and sociological issues is cute, maybe even amusing to the more sadistic readers, but true human beings don’t need to ask questions when the answers are readily available. My hope is that we can now all intelligently talk openly about the overwhelming incarceration of the mentally impaired.

Waymon M. Berry
California State Prisoner

Victim’s rites

Re “Disorder in the Court” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Cover, August 1):

As the parent of an 8-year-old autistic boy, I found your story both informative and deeply troubling on several points. To be brief:

1. The victim, Mrs. Volp, is exactly that—a victim of a violent crime. And, as such, whether she finds it uncomfortable or not, her identity becomes as much a matter of public record as that of her assailant. To demand privacy seems to miss the point.

2. Both Jeff and Craig Volpe repeatedly use the term “mentally retarded” to describe David Maggi. This is both understandable and completely incorrect. Autism does not equal mental retardation. While it is true that some autistic people are mentally challenged, the fact is that many are high functioning but have the kind of social disabilities described in your article.

3. Finally, to Craig Volpe’s point regarding David as a “victim”: David is as much a victim as is Mrs. Volp. He went undiagnosed until age 10 by a society that remains in deep denial as to the alarming rise in cases of autism. While his mother and father struggled to help him, our private and public institutions were busy ignoring and frustrating their attempts to get help for him. The question should be raised: why did it take 10 years to diagnose David’s condition? It is convenient to blame the parents. It is also profoundly wrong unless we are prepared to accept as fact the absurdity that parents do not intrinsically want to help their own children. In California, the incidence is now approaching 1/500 live births. And services and treatment for the vast majority of these kids are non-existent. So, Mrs. Volp is a victim in the same way that any of us are who come into random contact with the burgeoning and abandoned classes of our society who are certainly lost but rarely evil. Proposition 21 is a classic case of the old legislative saw, “Good cases make bad law,” but it is very much a bit player in Mr. Garvin’s very fine story. And so, given our demonstrable and collective ignorance and ego as a populace, we shall continue to see irresponsible acts committed by folks for whom we do not take responsibility.

Stephen McKenna
Basking Ridge, NJ

Can you say revenge?

Re “Disorder in the Court” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Cover, August 1):

I would like to respond to the letter to the editor from Craig Volpe, the brother in-law of the woman who was stabbed by David Maggi. Mr. Volpe’s vitriol towards David Maggi is sadly misplaced. Of course, the public should have compassion for the victim. What happened to her should never have happened. The social services system failed to protect the victim and the public at large from the aggressive impulses of a seriously impaired individual. But calling David Maggi “that bastard” and demanding a prison sentence is not only ludicrous, it displays an alarming lack of humanity.

David Maggi has the mental capacity of a child. Mr. Volpe seems to think that having autism and mental retardation preclude one from being able to walk and chew gum. He is woefully uneducated about cognitive disabilities. There is nothing in David Maggi’s history to suggest he lacks motor skills or thought processes. What he lacks is the ability to reason and to understand how the world works, to distinguish fact from fantasy. Mentally, he is like a child who watches TV and then acts on it. Newspapers are filled with accounts of children who shoot their playmates because an irresponsible adult left a loaded gun lying around and the children unsupervised. Would anyone in their right mind recommend prison sentences for children?

Given that everyone involved in David’s care and defense agrees that he is a danger to himself and others and should be permanently placed in a secure facility, there is only one reason to demand a prison sentence: lust for vengeance. And I find it truly sad that anybody would wish to exact vengeance from someone with the mind of a child.

Donna Kraus
via e-mail

Throw away the key

Re “Disorder in the Court” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Cover, August 1):

I liked this article. The elements in the story—that’s good conflict, man. People should know that this stuff is coming down. No one knows how the system works. People with high IQs are morons, too, you know. So everyone should be in jail.

Frank Gardiner
Sacramento

Steal little, steal big

Re “One Good Thing” by Detria Thompson (SN&R Guest Comment, August 1):

Mr. Crooks is a convicted criminal. He was convicted of stealing from his own mother! He is also convicted of demonstrating a total lack of concern for the safety of your children by driving while drunk. Yet, you want to defend him?

Maxine Waters is doing what she does best. Playing the race card and beating her chest in defense of criminals. She is raising money for Mr. Crooks’ defense fund. He is already convicted! But as any good liberal will do, any excuse to pass the hat for nonsensical agendas.

Stop complaining that Mr. Jackson is retarded! He wasn’t disabled enough to prevent him from causing a gash to the head of the arresting officer. He wasn’t disabled enough to start a fight with the police in the first place. He, too, is a criminal!

“ … but by the grace of God go us all.” Within your circle of friends that comment is probably true. But for the rest of society, we would never steal from our own mothers and we don’t drive drunk. Don’t hold your low standards up to us all.

Mr. Crooks was living in the spotlight. He was making the rounds of the AM talk shows and the cops did what they should have done. They learned he was at the CNN studios and they took him into custody for warrants. Maxine Waters called the arrest a “police kidnapping.” Once again, defending criminals is what she does best.

Terry E. Toller
via e-mail

Spy vs. neighbor

Re “Would you spy on your fellow Americans?” (SN&R Streetalk, August 1):

Yes, for sure, let’s spy on our neighbors, friends and community, and while we’re at it, we can start another Inquisition and eliminate all those who don’t agree with us and who don’t share our viewpoint.

Ron Lowe
Nevada City