Sue Schmitz now in prison camp

From Mark Crispin Miller

Here's yet another harrowing injustice down in Alabama. Like Don Siegelman and all too many others, this woman was convicted over nothing--and she's now gone to a distant, over-crowded prison camp, which, although a minimum security facility, is "no country club," as noted here.

Worst of all, the camp, called Atwood, has a "medical philosophy" that basically denies you treatment, unless you're at death's door. This is bad news for Schmitz, who's suffering from "diabetes, kidney problems and degnerative joint disease. She had a stroke in 2007."

She's filed a motion to stay out of prison pending her appeal. But that, of course, cuts no ice whatsoever with the sociopaths who rule in Alabama.

Here's Scott Horton's piece about the case:
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc-90002293

If you want to reach out to Sue, to help her get through this ordeal, here's an helpful message from a friend of hers in Alabama:

"If you know and love Sue Schmitz pass this address along. For the next 30 months, I ask you to write as often as possible. To insure she receives it do not include anything other than the letter in the envelope (no attachments or clippings)."

SUZANNE L. SCHMITZ
26831-001
FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTER
LEXINGTON SATELLITE CAMP
P.O. BOX 14525
LEXINGTON, KY
40512

MCM

The Injustice here is mindboggling.... Sue Schmitz reports Thursday to
Kentucky federal prison

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc-90002293

Schmitz reports Thursday to Kentucky federal prison
By Lee Roop
Times Staff Writer lee.roop@htimes.com
Minimum-security facility holds about 300 inmates

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/local.ssf?/base/news/126458732237...

With no word from a federal court on her motion to remain free while appealing her conviction, former state
Rep. Sue Schmitz, D-Toney, will report to a federal prison in Kentucky on Thursday.

"It looks like she's going to have to report, and she's going to do that," Schmitz attorney Keith Brashier of
Birmingham said Tuesday afternoon.

Schmitz, 65, was convicted last February of fraud involving federal money that paid her salary while she
worked in Alabama's two-year college system.
She served in the Legislature at the same time, and prosecutors argued that Schmitz did little work for her pay.
Schmitz is scheduled to report by 3 p.m. EST to a minimum-security prison camp for women in Lexington, Ky.
The camp, a former state psychiatric hospital known informally by its original name of Atwood, is next door
to a federal prison medical facility.
Unless she is released pending appeal, which could still happen, Schmitz will serve 30 months. There is no
time off for good behavior in the federal prison system, Brashier said, although inmates can be released to
halfway houses near the end of their sentences.
Schmitz's appeal is proceeding on a separate legal track. Brashier, one of her two appeals attorneys, will file
a brief by Feb. 8 arguing for overturning the jury's verdict. The government will reply, and the 11th Circuit Court
of Appeals will decide whether to hear the case.

The medical facility in Lexington houses about 1,400 male inmates with health problems.

The 300-inmate women's camp is not a medical facility, although Schmitz will report with what her trial
attorneys called a history of diabetes, kidney problems and degenerative joint disease. She had a stroke
in 2007.

In the federal system, minimum security means dormitory housing, a relatively low staff-to-inmate
ratio, and limited or no perimeter fencing.

But at least one person who has written about Atwood said it is no country club.

Sister Mary Dennis Lentsch, a Roman Catholic nun from Oak Ridge, Tenn., was sent to Atwood in 2003
and 2006 for protests at American military installations.
Writing in the book "Jailed for Justice," Lentsch said, "Everything at Atwood takes place in one, old building.
Atwood is grossly overcrowded, built with a capacity of 200 and often the population is 300-plus.

"The medical philosophy, as voiced by the medical staff, is treatment will be given in cases of 'life and limb,' "
Lentsch wrote.
"This is pretty much what I observed. Many inmates were given substitute medications rather than what had
been prescribed outside. No meal trays were provided for anyone sick. Even inmates coming back from surgery
were expected to come to the dining hall."
Calls to the prison were not returned. Schmitz has not responded to requests for a post-trial interview.