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======================================================================================= Weekend Roundtable
August 29, 2007
Governor John Baldacci
Dear Governor I am writing to ask you to order the return to Maine state prison of inmate Deane Rowland Brown, who has been exiled to a maximum security prison in Baltimore Maryland in apparent retaliation for bringing nepotism, brutality, and health code violations at the Maine State Prison to the attention of the print and electronic media. Mr. Brown served as a weekly telephone correspondent on WRFR Community Radio's Weekend Roundtable last year. His on-air revelations about problems at Maine state prison have led to improvements there in environmental quality, in care of mentally ill inmates, and to a decline in use of excessive physical force and chemical agents during "extractions" of inmates from cells. Rather than reward Brown for sparking these and other reforms, your administration has chosen to punish him by sending him to a high security prison in Maryland, where he is held in maximum security with the 'worst of the worst' prisoners, barred from any telephone use, and separated by more than 500 miles from his friends and co-workers in midcoast Maine. Mr Brown, a convicted burglar, has no record of violence or gang activities inside or outside of prison. The claim by the Maine Department of Corrections that he is exiled for "security" reasons is spurious and wholly without foundation. The only apparent security issue here is the "job security" of certain prison officials who have been alleged by Mr Brown to be violating Maine state laws and regulations in the course of their public service. I understand that there is litigation underway that may ultimately return Mr Brown to Maine, but believe that rather than expose the state of Maine to a very public legal scolding for its adherence to backward and unethical prison policies, the state simply have him returned to Maine state prison's general population, restore his property and clarify his and other inmates' right to use the telephone to communicate with friends and media outlets without fear of unjust retribution. We are willing to negotiate ground rules for Brown's correspondence activities, such as respecting the privacy rights of other inmates, but ask foremost that you exercise your authority as governor to direct a safe and speedy return of Deane Brown from exile. Please do not merely forward this request to the Department of Corrections. The buck stops with you for decisions that may otherwise meet with unreasonable resistance from lower ranking officials. Prisoner or not, no Mainer deserves such cruel treatment, which reflects badly upon our state's commitment to human rights and equal protection under the law. Sincerely
Ron Huber, producer
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