Saturday, September 12, 2020

PRISON PANDEMIC UPDATE # 32 ''Good News/Bad News''

 

09-11-2020

The good news is the Florida prison secretary announced on the news today that family visitation will resume. No word on WHEN visits will resume, or the conditions we'll have to deal with.

Orlando TV channel nine reported there have been over 15,000 prisoners tested positive for the coronavirus, out of 94,000, with 111 inmate deaths as of Tuesday, Sept. 8th, and over 2,700 staff tested positive. Lowell C. I., in Ocala, the women's prison, had 1,003 inmates tested positive. They WILL NOT be having visits until those numbers subside. Other Florida prisons have high infection rates, too.

A nurse told me last week that there have been no positive virus tests at Tomoka C. I. since May. They have opened back up some of the education programs, and chapel volunteers are coming in for socially-distant religious services. No Wellness Programs have yet resumed.

Bad News—my mother is still in Brandon Hospital, and now has pneumonia and low enzymes. The doctor has not released the pancreatic cancer biopsy results, for some reason. They may put her in another hospital, and although the doctor said she's getting better, she can't go home until they get this low enzyme situation back to normal. To me, it doesn't seem like she's better, but worse.

No one has talked to her in over a week. I've called several times, as have Libby and Aunt Alice, but she doesn't answer. I'm worried this hospital ''No Visiting'' policy is having an adverse effect on her, she wants to go home, be with her loved ones, and if she can't, she's giving up.

All we can do at this point is pray for her.

Libby and I are fine, all things considered. I'm working on this face mask lawsuit in Tallahassee circuit court, fighting the bogus D. R. I got in May, with Libby's help electronically filing everything. The Attorney General's office has already sent me a threatening letter, so I must be doing something right.

We are working on a submission seeking a new parole hearing in a couple of months. So much to coordinate. We are working on a Photo Exhibit Supplement for 2015--2020, a collection of my essays Libby is compiling, along with more of my artwork. I would be lost without Libby's love and determination to fight these forces of evil keeping me confined.

We need new letters of support from reputable citizens stating they believe I deserve to be released. More on that later.

For now, best regards and wishes to you and yours.

Charlie

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