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| This Dead Man in his new-found freedom is considered by a growing mass of citizens to be one who is not dead at all. In fact, you now have a Dead Man who has never been more alive, more animated, more psychologically and spiritually free. In the taking of this person's life, property, family, identity, you have made him stronger. You have created a more powerful entity because there is no longer the fear of ostracism or annihilation for speaking out or taking action. He is free, though in an entirely new way. This is a novel and extremely powerful freedom. |
| At this writing, there are in excess of 3,000 of this new type of Dead Man. All reside in the same place, a United States Maximum Security Federal Prison. They are the Lifers, the Life-without-parole convicts. The Life victims of the War on Drugs. |
| There have always been Lifers. However, today there is a difference. Lifers in earlier times believed, those who were sane, that they deserved to be there. Think about that! |
| Not true of the modern Dead Man. The Dead Man from a former era looks upon the modern Dead Man with scorn, anger, and disbelief. As fouling up the works. The former Dead Man has "pride" for having accomplished great deeds in getting to where he finds himself today. Lives taken, shots fired, chases chased, and victims victimized. A credible though twisted "pride." Locking a bankful of customers in the vault and the killing of an elderly security guard during a "Takeover Bank Robbery" carry a degree of ruthlessness NOT present in the sale of $650 worth of a flower, an inert powder, a gooey ball, a fungus, or a colored paper that someone wanted to buy. |
| Victims of the former Dead Man didn't wake up one morning saying: "I hope to be locked up in a bank vault today" Or: "Wouldn't it be fun to be raped and murdered today!" No, this did not happen. They did not give their consent. Not so regarding the buyer in the above-mentioned sale. |
| Instead of the uncomplaining Dead Men, you now have 3,000 plus Drug War Lifers who are NOT content to be Dead Men. Who with the assistance of their families and friends will fight for and will ultimately regain their lost freedoms. This will be accomplished by changing bad law. |
| These are Dead Men who compare their stories of grassy parks, perhaps a waterfall, to the much more onerous and dreadful stories of shots fired, lives taken, chases chased, and victims victimized. Who find not only that they have nothing in common with those others but that those other Dead Men have suffered ethical and moral breakdowns. |
| The Drug War Lifer's family doesn't forget him. The judge who sentenced him doesn't forget him either. It was he who created this new type of Dead Man. A Dead Man fighting! A Dead Man writing! |
| No, the judge doesn't forget. Try as he may. Now he is the one who locked the customers in the bank vault. He is the criminal. Now he is the one who converses with those who perpetrated like crimes. He is the one with a sense of "pride." |
| The judge is now the villain. We may ask: "How can the vile act be atoned for?" He has taken a man's life. Perhaps more, many more than one. Collectively, he has taken thousands of innocent lives. He should be viewed as a war criminal. A Drug War Crimes Tribunal should be convened. |
| Now he is a type of Dead Man. A Dead Man created by law. |
| Who will see fit to judge this Dead Man? Who will stand and accuse the judge? |
| Is it true that this Dead Man returns to the scene of the crime? Will the punishment fit the crime? And who will write the history of the War on Drugs? The living, the survivors, the family members? |
| My new-found freedom, the freedom of being a Drug War Lifer-without-parole, allows me, forces me, to pose these weighty questions. |
| Who has the answers? |
| Robert J. Riley, Pharmacopolitical Life Prisoner #59047-065 |
| January, 2000 |
