A Letter From Felix Garcia to HEARD

This is a letter I received from HEARD. It is Felix’s most plaintive communication yet. We really need to help this innocent man gain his freedom. Here’s the PDF link to his latest letter. Felix – HEARD letter As I work on these videos, I come to see Felix as an intelligent, compassionate, ethical and

Finally! Felix #6 is Up!

Here’s the 6th installment in our interview series with Felix Garcia, in prison. Copyright Jim Ridgeway, Interviewers Jim Ridgeway and Pat Bliss, Tech and captions, Me :), and our awesome wonderful interpreter still opts for confidentiality – but I’m working on her. We’ll make a rock star of her yet. So, enjoy – here’s Felix

What I Learned from a (Deaf) Baseball Player – From Lipreading Mom

I’m reblogging this awesome article, as written by Shanna Groves of Lipreading Mom. It’s the story of early baseball legend William Hoy. Many of us baseball fans have heard of Hoy, but few may have known that he was Deaf. Hoy went by the nickname ‘Dummy.’ I shudder when I write that name because in

More News from HEARD

We wanted to let you all know a group of RIT students is working on an independent study project that focuses on Deaf Defendant/Prisoner Rights at the county jail and local prisons.  This project is being led by Attorney-Professors Michael Stein & Jennifer Gravitz.   The group will focus on finding and documenting info on

An Inmate Letter from Utah – Courtesy of HEARD

This is one of four Inmate Letters I received from HEARD, in my inbox last night. I will be posting them today, as I get them converted and redacted. We need to redact all inmate letters to protect the safety of these brave individuals who speak out against an unfair and unjust system. Although I

Kids Behind Bars – from Prisonmovement’s Weblog

This is a reblog from Prisonmovement’s Weblog. They did an excellent job in writing this piece. I should mention as well, that they’ve reformatted their site recently, and it looks awesome. As I’ve said before, I very much enjoy their work and consider it an honor to call myself a colleague. Before the other boys

Plea For Help From Law Enforcement

Over the years, I have known some dirty cops. I’ve known some sadistic cops. I’ve even known some outright evil cops. What’s rarely mentioned however is that I’ve also known an equal number of honest, hardworking and dedicated cops who truly wanted to serve the communities in which they lived and worked. I’ve actually interfaced

From CBS News – Deaf Captive Held For SS Checks

This story was covered by CBS News, and brought to my attention by Marsha Graham. Held captive by a neighbor, he was beaten, starved and forced to sign over his Social Security checks. The checks were valued at about 600 dollars a month. “He was physically abused. No scars, but the body was being beaten,”