“WORKING IN A PANIC”
by Sharon Rondeau
(Aug. 20, 2015) — In a 44-page handwritten letter from Tennessee inmate Walter Francis Fitzpatrick, III dated 27 July 2015, he described his ongoing efforts to opt out of the Adult Basic Education class in which he is enrolled at the Northwest Correctional Complex (NWCX) despite his high level of education.
Fitzpatrick was immediately placed in the ABE class following his release from the Pro-Social Life Skills course to which he had objected after perceiving that it required him to make incriminatory statements. In a letter dated June 19, Fitzpatrick reported that the class instructor, Terry Hopper, had threatened him with a beating should he continue to refuse to participate.
On June 26, Fitzpatrick was peremptorily advised that he was excused from the Pro-Social Life Skills class and was moved to another guild within the prison.
In June of last year, Fitzpatrick was convicted of “aggravated perjury” and “extortion” by a McMinn County, TN jury following the issuance of indictments by a grand jury which was prejudiced against him by the actions of its then-foreman, Jeffrey L. Cunningham. A request from Fitzpatrick’s attorney, Van Irion, for a change of venue, and later, for a new trial, were refused by Senior Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood.
Since the fall of 2009, Fitzpatrick has reported on systemic corruption within the Tennessee courts which allows criminal court judges to hand-pick the foreman of each county grand jury. The foreman is then allowed to serve for as long as the judge wishes, sometimes for decades, as a sort of court employee.
On a conference call on Wednesday evening, the moderator noted that it was exactly one year since Fitzpatrick’s sentencing by Blackwood on August 19, 2014. Observers of the hearing provided sworn affidavits to The Post & Email stating that Blackwood had asked rhetorically during a lengthy soliloquy, “Who cares if the grand jury foreman is serving illegally?” and declared, “I’m tired of all these people coming in here and talking about their constitutional rights.”
Blackwood additionally called Fitzpatrick “a moral coward.”
The state of Tennessee has both said that the grand jury foreman is a juror and voting member of the grand jury but also that he or she is not a juror, depending on the circumstance. Blackwood has stated that “the grand jury foreman is no different than any other juror” but has signed multiple appointing orders for foremen dating back to at least 1980.
Despite having been provided with voluminous documentation of discrepancies and violations of law on the part of criminal court judges, Tennessee’s mainstream media refuses to investigate whether or not its county grand juries are operating legally.
Similarly, the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts (TAOC) responds only selectively to questions posed by The Post & Email regarding the media’s inability to obtain public records or even ascertain where they are maintained. In the past, TAOC employee Connie Turner told The Post & Email that audio-recordings and typed transcripts are considered “public information” but that their release is within the purview of each individual county court.
According to the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC), the Pro-Social Life Skills curriculum is intended to assist inmates with “anti-social thinking patterns” and “Pro-Criminal Attitude/Orientation,” among other chronic problems linked to a serial pattern of criminality to modify their behavior so as to ultimately be able to re-enter society.
The Post & Email has learned and demonstrated that the TDOC administrative procedures handbook describes the PSLS course as “not voluntary.”
In his letter, which required several days to complete because of various interruptions, Fitzpatrick reiterated that during the intake process one year ago at the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex (BCCX), he was informed by Classification Counselor Paul Oakes that “my veteran’s status and my level of education were accepted and verified.” The purpose of Adult Basic Education is to prepare the student to take the high school equivalency exam, or “GED.”
Fitzpatrick has been attempting to obtain a release from ABE since June 29 to no avail. He has characterized the forced participation of inmates in classes for which they are not qualified, are exempt by TDOC administrative policies, or which they have taken previously as a “daily robbery of the federal bank” billed to U.S. taxpayers.
Fitzpatrick’s letter also contains details of a violent altercation among rival gang members which took place on July 24 at NWCX, although not in the building where Fitzpatrick is currently housed. Tennessee mainstream media has reported on both the uprising and the current staffing crisis caused by a shortage of correctional officers, whose ranks have dwindled by more than 300 across the state, presumably because of a change in how and when overtime pay is calculated. The new rule, enacted by TDOC Commissioner Derrick Schofield last summer without input from the legislature, led approximately ten correctional officers to visit state legislators’ chambers with written complaints in hand on August 12.
On page 21, Fitzpatrick described how he engaged in a conversation with prison “Counselor Gary Copeland” to ask why he remains enrolled in ABE. Fitzpatrick’s meeting with Copeland followed his questioning of “school principal” Ronald Lanier and others, who appeared to be unaware that Fitzpatrick should have been easily exempted from the course on various counts, as The Post & Email has reported.
On page 23, Fitzpatrick continued after encountering an interruption:
On pages 25-27, reverting to a discussion of the July 24 violence, Fitzpatrick wrote:
Allow me to interject here news reports from outside local and Tennessee media aggressively report on the past week’s Site I multiple-units riots and mass stabbings. I’m told a local news crew was onsite here at Site II two (2) or so days ago.
Take note all the serious fighting occurred at Site I…not here at Site II.
Warden Mike W. Parris is frantically trying to keep the lid on any detailed descriptions regarding the actual scope and widespread nature of the violence and working in a panic to secret specific numbers of men injured, those hospitalized, those transported by ambulance and those air-lifted to critical care, mass casualty facilities as far away as Nashville.
Fitzpatrick’s report was consistent with that of inmate Bryant K. Lewis, documentation from whom was published in an article at The Post & Email on Wednesday.
A new day brought the following update:
Fitzpatrick then provided a written and graphic description of the NWCX buildings in relation to the scene of the July 24 gang-related violence.
On page 30 of his letter, Fitzpatrick related, “The TDOC/NWCX complex is in turmoil. More expansively the state wide [sic] TDOC organization is on the brink of utter failure. Narratives vectored to me are coming so quickly I can’t keep up.”
Page 31 contains the comment:
To emphasize: most of any information illuminating the terrible internal storm raging within the TDOC organization is being successfully suppressed.
You are seeing the last generation of America’s Veteran Heroes being abused, demeaned, pushed down and punished for doing what they were taught and took an oath to – The American Constitution. The majority of people have no clue what is being done and what has been done. Korean, Vietnam, Middle East Vets have been spit on, humiliated, suffered loss of limb/loss of normal lives/hated by liberals, discriminated against regardless of color and treated like criminals as a whole, dangerous people to beware of and other childish moronic tags from people that are mostly cowards or the takers of society that have learned to give nothing. Being around Veterans weakens their imaginary control of others and their inflated egos and exposes their greed and adolescent lifestyles regardless of their age. People like Bill Ayers are good examples of these socially and spiritually worthless types of human examples that give nothing to anyone but themselves or contribute anything positive to America or their social environment. The people that are this type should be exported to third world countries instead of leaving them here to damage what is left of America and its citizens worth their weight. Our military has been slowly sabotaged by this cabal of Democratic criminals and left Marxist bean brains that see everything through a very narrow hole until death. America will pay a price for placing and keeping saboteurs in power and giving lies to the American public while illegally controlling the media and locking Criminal Presentments out of our courts denying our Constitutional right to serve Criminal Presentments against corrupted officials. We see a silent RNC pretending to do something while trying to oust Donald Trump because he can’t be controlled and he is exposing their faux management and cowardly enabling of DNC Law Breakers by doing nothing and ignoring the few people that have stood up and at the same time illegally imprisoning 6 American Veterans and an NSA hero that were all whistle blowers trying to expose the top down corruption that has gone on for several decades in POTUS Hall in DC. The Grim Reaper is here and it’s time for change of all the formulated politicians who are basing careers on entitlements and a life on the golf course at taxpayer’s expense. Corporate corruption and hand washing will be on the table as America continues to erode with nearly 1/3 of its revenue generating citizens out of jobs or under-employed in a sea of controlled DNC jobless horrors which has gone on for the last 3 POTUS elections back to Vietnam with enough excuses to fill multiple libraries. Remember Russia in 1917-multiply by 100 and realize what is coming to America sooner than we can imagine-add DNC flooding America with millions of Muslims and Mexicans and we can now see with a clear picture of what future America will hold. Recent riots and deaths will appear as nothing to what is to come. America’s government has become the enemy to America’s Veterans in VA Hospitals and in the job market and society. The government we swore allegiance to has betrayed us in too many subtle ways not to mention it’s citizens. Their attitude is “It’s them or us.” has gone on for too long. As Veterans withdraw from support for their “government” as they watch their fellow brothers be illegally imprisoned, beaten, financially destroyed, socially beaten by the press, ignored by the media and made to feel worthless by most cowards in media -you will see a change in America that is coming like a fog that will be long overdue. We now let the cowards of America stand in pride for hating Veterans and Law Enforcement that protects them from harm by oath and dedication. Soon the cowards will have to stand alone and they will know who they are, the lest will also stand and know who they are. Everyone will know who they are and soon the tables will turn. Call it spiritual call it Karma-what goes round comes around-their day is near. God is watching-they can’t fool him or the Veterans who believe. Bill Ayers said on FOX News that “He wished he could have killed more people and blown up more government buildings.” His assistant Elizabeth Ann Newman from the Bronx and daughter to Marxist father Dr. Fred Delano Newman- (alias Stanley Ann Dunham from Kansas)-mother to Obama- was also with him when they blew up the Pentagon and the Washington Navy Yard Computer Building in Washington DC. Terrorism has not changed-it has grown to a more sinister and secret society called The Democratic Party.