FIGHTING THE FORCES OF EVIL — RETALIATION BY PRISON OFFICIALS

For over three years now, since my memoir excerpt, “To Protect The Guilty,” about retaliation against me by Ku Klux Klan (KKK) member prison guards was published in “Wordsmith 2010,” I have been fighting continued acts of official retaliation by Florida prison officials at three prisons. Even though I have paid a heavy price for standing up and fighting against the illegal actions of state officials, I’ve worked hard to document virtually every instance, hoping that at some point, higher authorities would step in and intervene against these people.

Even though prison officials have tried to block and hinder my efforts at every step, with the help of attorney, William J. Sheppard, and his staff, I have been able to research state and federal laws that forbid what has been done to me. There is nothing new under the sun, as has been said. Prisoners have been punished and retaliated against by their keepers for many years for exercising their First Amendment constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression, and there is a large body of law that defines what prison officials can and cannot do. Even so, in Florida, they do what they please and “damn the torpedoes,” knowing that most prisoners don’t have the legal knowledge or resolve to fight the prison Goliath. Every time a prisoner fights against a retaliation act, he or she is subject to even more retaliation, despite state and federal rules and laws against it. Following “administrative rules and remedies” is a frustrating task, since those state officials charged with reviewing and investigating the illegal acts of prison staff generally rubber-stamp complaints with “boiler-plate denials,” such as, “the response you received at the institutional level adequately addresses your concern. Denied.” In plain English that means, “Go to Hell.”

The federal courts have specified what comprises illegal retaliation in First Amendment freedom of speech cases, and although the following statement does not list every one of the dozens of acts of retaliation taken against me in the past three years, the allegations establish a damning pattern of official misconduct:


“Petitioner Charles P. Norman alleges that FDOC prison officials (1.) arbitrarily and intentionally delayed, hindered, intercepted, confiscated, refused delivery, and destroyed his incoming and outgoing correspondence and subscription magazines, repeatedly filed fabricated and false disciplinary charges against him, punitively transferred him twice to harsher, more distant prisons, denied him access to the prison law library digital/non-print legal research computer stations, denied him access to inmate canteen purchases, suspended his mail privileges, locked him up three times in solitary confinement, twice for 30 days and another 14 days , denying due process, (2.) because he (3.) exercised his First Amendment rights of free expression, to file grievances and otherwise seek access to the legal process, and that (4.) beyond imposing those tangible harms, the prison officials’ actions chilled his First Amendment rights and (5.) were not undertaken in narrowly tailored furtherance of legitimate penological purposes.” U.S.C.A. Constitutional Amendment 1.


What is not mentioned in the above statement is the role of two corrupt politicians in encouraging Florida prison officials to continue pressing me with retaliatory acts trying to make my life in prison more difficult and miserable than it ordinarily is. When a prisoner has two powerful politicians pulling strings and manipulating the system for personal reasons of their own, demanding and receiving the collusion of prison officials eager to please such people and more than willing to wield bullying tactics with impunity to satisfy their arrogance of power, fighting against such a stacked deck is virtually impossible. Those officials, Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober and his protégé, now Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, made a rare and unusual appearance at my March 21, 2012, parole hearing in Tallahassee where in their zeal to improperly influence the decision of the parole commissioners, made several false statements opposing my release. Since Pam Bondi is a member of the Florida Cabinet, and has veto power over the appointments of parole commissioners, her improper influence over their decision is especially egregious and unethical. Does anyone believe that a parole commissioner who owes his or her job to the approval of a powerful politician standing before them would dare make a decision contrary to that politician’s express desire to deny my parole release? Of course not. The next time those commissioners came up for reappointment, they know they would be subject to dismissal. Such tampering and interference destroys any semblance of an impartial independent body , making the parole commissioners into puppets manipulated by politicians out of fear of their own job security.

That’s what I am up against. I am still fighting the forces of evil , and as I have learned, the spiritual battle is even more daunting than the legal one. Sadly, many people who could help me stand to the side, unwilling to challenge politicians scrambling for some political advantage, not willing to risk the disapproval and wrath of such corrupt people. For those willing to help and support my efforts, I am grateful. God bless you. More later.

Charlie