Interview with Moorbey

By BitcoDavid

Moorbey was generous enough to grant me a quick interview about his time on the Wrong Side of the Wall. His answers to my questions are presented intact – in his own unique voice.

From Moorbey’z Blog

BD: How old were you when you were arrested?

Moorbey: My very 1^st arrest came at tha ripe ole age of 10 yearz ole. And my next arrest came at 18 yearz ole

Was it a first offense?

No it waz my second. [It should be noted that Moorbey's 1st offense was at age 10, making this his first adult offense. Normally, a juvenile's record is sealed at age 18. -- BD]

Did you have good legal representation? Did a private attorney provide that or was it a Public Defender? No lawyer at all?

My lawyer waz great it cost my parentz 13,000 dolla’z to be able to serve a 5 year sentence or get a cheaper lawyer an do a 10 to 12 year hit 4 my 1^st adult run-in with l.a injustice shystem.

Where did you end up spending most of that time, and were you moved a lot?

California Men’s Colony – Arial View. cdcr.ca.gov

I went from tha county jail str8 to California men’z colony. I did tha whole nickel there 4 from my 1^st day walking tha yard I hooked up with militant revolutionary typez since that waz my type of background having been around memberz of the loz angelez chapter Black Panther Party growing up. I started teaching a black history class that waz open to all and after a few weekz I waz told by tha warden that if he haz hiz way I waz going to catch another case before my time waz up.Because I waz 1of those Malcolm X typez and waz a threat to society & tha amerikan way of life.   And loved a good fight and me and tha c o’z always knocked headz.

Were you held in a place where your family had easy visitation access?

It waz a 6 ½ hour drive from l.a to California men’z colony. I did not want visitorz 4 it might fuck up my program. Plenty mail on a daily basis and my account stayed fat.

Original six members of the Black Panther Party (November, 1966) Top left to right: Elbert “Big Man” Howard; Huey P. Newton (Defense Minister), Sherman Forte, Bobby Seale (Chairman). Bottom: Reggie Forte and Little Bobby Hutton (Treasurer) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is a tougher question to answer, but do you feel that you were treated fairly by guards and other C.O.s or were you abused? Please try to answer this question fairly, but honestly. I’ve had inmates tell me horror stories of physical and psychological abuse, and I’ve had others tell me they thought the staff at their facility was decent, just trying their best to get a tough job done.

I did not like staff and they did not like me. Alot of tha c o’z used to tell me what they were going to do to me and I would tell them kool, but I’m gonna break  a little something off in ur azz if  u come at me the wrong way. I can’t even count how many timez staff jumped on me and I got a good azz whippen but I sure az hell let them know they were just in fight and there waz no fear in heart.

Were your charges drug related?

yes

College Humor

Do you feel that the punishment “fit” the crime?

no

Do you believe that you were treated more harshly due to ethnicity, economic class, or social class? Conversely, would you say that justice was truly blind in your case, and you got no more or less than anyone else in the system?

Yes 4 my partner in crime at tha time waz a white dude he got 1year 4 an 1^st offense and me I got a smooth azz nickel and believe u me I did it all.

Did you spend any time in “SHU” or any other form of solitary confinement?

I spent 9 monthz on tha dark side. Tha darkside meant there waz no light except 4 when then they were giving u that nasty azz loaf 4 ur mealz. What ever was on tha menu 4 tha day juice ,food and dessert was made in to a loaf and cooked.

You can read more of Moorbey’s work on Moorbey’z Blog. DeafInPrison.com is very grateful to him for this interview, and BitcoDavid is a huge fan of his writing voice. I know my writing teachers are spinning in their graves, but that’s just too bad.

BitcoDavid is a blogger and a blog site consultant. In former lives, he was an audio engineer, a videographer, a teacher – even a cab driver. He is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and a Pro/Am boxer. He has spent years working with diet and exercise to combat obesity and obesity related illness.

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Florida Justice and the Tragedy of the White House Boys

By BitcoDavid

The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys opened on New Years Day, 1900, and remained open for 111 years. At one point it was the largest juvenile reform school in the U.S. Young men and boys were sent there from all over the state, for all kinds of things – some criminal, and some not. Orphans, runaways and truants were housed with – and treated the same as – hardened juvenile offenders.

View of the infamous White House. Photo: Wikipedia

It wasn’t long after her opening, that the school began developing a macabre and fearsome reputation. As early as 3 years in, reports surfaced that inmates were being held in leg irons. The school was 14 years old, when a fire caused the deaths of six students. Shortly after that, a 13 year-old inmate died after only 38 days in custody.

By the early ’60s, Florida officials were saying things like, “somebody should have blown the whistle a long time ago”. — Wikipedia

Students were discovered hogtied, and held in isolation for weeks – even months – at a time. Inmates were commonly starved, beaten, raped and denied medical attention. And these are children. Boys 10, 11 and 12 years old.

One of the school’s administrators – OJ Keller – with the tools of the trade. Photo: White House Boys

The most notorious and chilling place on the entire campus was a small building known only as the White House. Here students were taken to be beaten and otherwise tortured.  Many boys died there. This statement isn’t an exaggeration. Both the state and Federal governments have been investigating the school over the past several decades, and have not yet finished discovering all the bodies buried in secret graves all over the campus.

Apparently one of the rules during these beatings was that the inmate couldn’t cry out. If the student made any audible noise, the beating would start over again.

In one story, a boy’s jaw was broken before receiving his beating with the strap. After the beating he was taken to a hospital, for his broken jaw.

In another story, a boy was taken to the White House after telling the camp psychiatrist that he would not allow the man to rape him. The psychiatrist was present at the beating. Other boys have since accused this same psychiatrist of raping them.

A portable radar device used for finding the hidden graves at the Dozier site. Photo: White House Boys.

Survivors of the school – and in particular the White House – have formed an organization dedicated to bringing about awareness of what went on at Dozier over the past century. They are called the White House Boys. They have published their stories on a Web site, and it’s a read that will absolutely chill you to the bone.

This is an important story, and I could go into more detail, but at a certain point it begins to become not only egregiously gruesome, but a bit hard to believe. The massive amount of torture, rape, blackmail, homicide, abuse, deception and outright – perverse – criminality on the parts of all the adults charged with caring for these children – dozens of them in total – seems so horrific it borders on nightmare-like.

Grit your teeth, tense your stomach muscles and go to the White House Boys to learn more. You can also go to this Wiki page, or here from NPR. Mad Mike’s America – my mentor site, has also covered the White House Boys’ story.

Now here’s what I don’t get about this. I understand Parchman Farm. I don’t condone or defend it, but I understand it. You had a financial motivation, a racial motivation and a resentment motivation. So I get that. But here – here you have an organization that ran for over a hundred years. Different administrators, different government officials and different staff would have resulted in policy changes, one would imagine. I can understand one psychotic warden, and maybe 20 bad years under him. The fact that this level of abuse, neglect and outright criminal behavior went on for decade after decade… well, was it built on an Indian burial ground? I just can’t understand how a place that large, and that public, could have an embedded culture of torture and murder that would last for over a century.

BitcoDavid is a blogger and a blog site consultant. In former lives, he was an audio engineer, a videographer, a teacher – even a cab driver. He is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and a Pro/Am boxer. He has spent years working with diet and exercise to combat obesity and obesity related illness.

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Reminder: Symposium on Criminal Justice and the Deaf

By BitcoDavid

Boyden Hall, the trademark building of Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Just a reminder that on Wednesday, March 27th there will be an international symposium at Bridgewater State University on Deafness, mental illness and the Criminal Justice System with special guest speaker – Dr. Brendan Montiero, M.D.

Marsha Graham of AnotherBoomerBlog will also be speaking, as well as several other luminaries in that sliver of the Venn Diagram, where deafness and law enforcement meet.

Adult Criminal Justice System (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So come to Bridgewater State University – just a stones throw from the wholly dreadful and fearsome Bridgewater State Mental Hospital – drink some free coffee, and listen to some great presentations by experts in the field.

For those who can’t be there, we will be covering this event here, on DeafInPrison.com, so we’ll be able to let you in on what you missed. We are also listing it on our events page. If you know of an event involving the CJS and the Deaf, please forward the details to us, and we’ll list it as well.

BitcoDavid is a blogger and a blog site consultant. In former lives, he was an audio engineer, a videographer, a teacher – even a cab driver. He is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and a Pro/Am boxer. He has spent years working with diet and exercise to combat obesity and obesity related illness.

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