Schizophrenia: Think again!

New research on schizophrenia suggests that the drugs won't always work

The psychiatric establishment is about to experience an earthquake that will shake its intellectual foundations. When it has absorbed the juddering contents of the latest edition of one of its leading journals, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, it will have to rethink many of its most cherished assumptions.

Not since the publication of RD Laing's book Sanity, Madness and the Family, in 1964, has there been such a significant challenge to their contention that genes are the main cause of schizophrenia and that drugs should be the automatic treatment of choice.

With his colleagues, guest editor John Read (whose name I shall use as a generic term for this body of evidence), a leading New Zealand psychologist, slays these sacred biological cows. The fact that some two-thirds of people diagnosed as schizophrenic have suffered physical or sexual abuse is shown to be a major, if not the major, cause of the illness. Proving the connection between the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia, Read shows that many schizophrenic symptoms are directly caused by trauma.

Before proceeding any further with Read's evidence, two important caveats must be entered. Firstly, many parents of offspring with the illness may find what follows deeply upsetting or infuriating. But this is not about blame, and it is not being suggested that all cases are caused by parental care. It is also important to realise that the new evidence is far more optimistic in its implications than the psychiatric establishment's view, for patients, parents and carers alike. Secondly, it is important to stress that plenty of psychiatrists do not subscribe to all the tenets of the establishment view. I recognise that many are working in good faith with an incredibly testing patient population, and do a tremendous amount to help them.

The cornerstone of Read's tectonic plate-shifting evidence is the 40 studies that reveal childhood or adulthood sexual or physical abuse in the history of the majority of psychiatric patients (see, also, Read's book, Models of Madness).

A review of 13 studies of schizophrenics found rates varying from 51% at the lowest to 97% at the highest. Crucially, psychiatric patients or schizophrenics who report abuse are much more likely to experience hallucinations. The content of these often relate directly to the trauma suffered. At their simplest, they involve flashbacks to abusive events which have become generalised to the whole of their experience.

For example, an incest survivor believed that her body was covered with ejaculate. The visual hallucinations or voices often tyrannise and belittle the patients, just as their tormentors did in reality, creating a paranoid universe in which intimates cannot be trusted.

More research is needed to establish if abuse also heralds the other key symptoms of the illness, for example, incoherent, confusing or downright weird language. Studies already show that this is much more likely if the subject of conversation is emotionally charged. When asked to talk about sad rather than happy memories, speech becomes measurably more disordered, increasingly so the more personal the subject matter. We need research to investigate if verbal incoherence is abuse-related.

Another symptom is dissociation (feeling disconnected from oneself and surroundings). This has been shown many times over to be more common in the abused. It remains to be seen if catatonia (complete withdrawal from the world) is so related, although it seems extremely likely that it will be because elements of this are often found in victims of trauma. The same may be true of depressive thoughts, which many schizophrenics suffer and which are rife in the abused. About 15% of schizophrenics die by suicide, and depression is the norm in the suicidal. Suicide attempts are more common among people who have been abused as children, suggesting an abuse-schizophrenia connection, via depression and suicide.

Among the sexually abused there is a greater risk of developing schizophrenia the earlier the abuse happened, the closer the relation to the abuser and the more invasive the acts. Of course, not all schizophrenics suffered trauma and not all abused people develop the illness. What makes the difference?

Apart from the possible role of genes, less overtly cruel early childhood maltreatment, other than actual abuse, may be important. In a review of the 33,648 studies conducted into the causes of schizophrenia between 1961 and 2000, Read found that less than 1% was spent on examining the impact of parental care. What is more, the amounts have decreased steadily, from 1.6% during the 1960s, to four times less than that during the 1990s. Despite this, enough studies have been done to suggest negative or confusing early care may be an important addition to abuse as a cause.

Since mothers spend far more time caring for children than fathers (who account for much of the abuse), their role may be critical in this regard. There is now a vast body of evidence that early infantile deprivation and erratic or unresponsive care as a toddler make adults more vulnerable to depression and personality disorder (a close diagnostic relative to schizophrenia. See my book They F*** You Up - How to Survive Family Life).

It is very possible that maternal deprivation creates a vulnerability to schizophrenia if there is subsequent abuse. Children with schizophrenic mothers are twice as likely to develop the illness as those with an afflicted father. This could be because disturbing mothers are a major factor. Equally, it could be due to gender-linked genetic inheritance, but there are strong reasons to doubt it.

For instance, the mothers of 11,000 Finns were asked if they had considered an abortion for their child during pregnancy, a clear sign that the child was unwanted, increasing the likelihood of subsequent maternal deprivation. Followed up 28 years later, the offspring of mothers who had sought abortions were four times more likely to be schizophrenic - not likely to be anything to do with genes.

Parents' negativity and tendency to be mystifying - paradoxical, contradictory injunctions - may also be important. These were measured in families with problem boys who had not yet developed signs of schizophrenia. After 15 years, the more negative and mystifying the parents had been in a son's childhood, the greater his likelihood of being schizophrenic or of having symptoms.

Of course, that does not rule out the possibility that genes may play a significant role in plenty of schizophrenia, but, even in these cases, the only recent study of the role of early environment shows how important it is. Fifty-six children born to schizophrenic mothers who had subsequently been adopted at a young age and who were therefore, in theory, put at higher genetic risk of developing the illness, were compared with 96 adoptees who were at low risk because none of their biological parents had it. The families were observed extensively when the children were small and all the adoptees were assessed for psychiatric illness in adulthood.

On its own, simply having a greater genetic risk (because of schizophrenia in the biological mother) did not increase the likelihood that the child would develop schizophrenic symptoms. Genes alone did not cause the illness. However, if there was a high genetic risk and it was combined with mystifying care during upbringing, the likelihood was greater. This suggests that genes can be implicated, but only if the family environment is of the kind that fulfills schizophrenic genetic potential.

What, then, is the main case for genes playing a role? A recent review by Robert Plomin, the world authority on genetic causes of human behaviour, revealed that, apart from for Alzheimer's, not a single gene has been shown to play a critical role in any mental illness. There is no evidence that the genetic material of schizophrenics differs in any way from people without the illness.

For the time being, this places the burden of genetic proof on studies of identical twins and adoptees. Putting to one side the fact that there are serious doubts over the validity of twin studies as a method (see Jay Joseph's The Gene Illusion), suppose 100 schizophrenics all had genetically identical siblings. Studies show that half of the identikits will also have the illness. What explains its absence in the other half? Because both have exactly the same genes, the one thing of which we can be certain is that differences in genes are not the reason. It proves beyond peradventure that environment plays an important role in causing some schizophrenia.

More general evidence of the crucial role of environment comes from sociological studies. Schizophrenia is around 12 times more common in children of West Indian immigrants to Britain. Increased rates have been found for immigrants to other countries. Poor people are several times more likely than the rich to suffer schizophrenia, and urban life increases the risk.

Rates of schizophrenia vary as much as 16-fold around the world, as does its course. It is less common in developing nations and tends to last much longer and be more severe in rich, industrialised nations compared with poor, developing ones (even so, about 20% of schizophrenics in developed nations recover completely without taking anti-psychotic drugs). In fact, if you become ill in a developing nation where hardly anyone is treated with drugs, you are 10 times less likely to have any recurrence of the illness - a huge difference, also nothing to do with genes.

What it may have a lot to do with is the administration of drugs (see British psychologist Richard Bentall's book, Madness Explained). They have been shown to impede traumatised people from understanding their voices or visions and recovering from them. There is a close relationship between the drug companies and the psychiatric establishment. While it may not be the intention, the establishment explanation of the causes of and solutions to schizophrenia are crucial components in the process of selling drugs. If patients can be persuaded their illness is an unchangeable genetic destiny and that it is a physical problem requiring a physical solution, drug companies' profits will grow. Read shows those who buy this genetic fairytale are less likely to recover, and that parents who do so are less supportive of their offspring.

The huge importance to drug company profits of the bio-genetic refrain becomes apparent when you learn that most people do not hum along with it. Surveys find that the majority of people mention such environmental factors as trauma, stress and economic hardship as the commonest causes of schizophrenia. It may be seen that the drug companies have an uphill struggle to persuade them otherwise, for which they badly need the help of the psychiatric establishment's towrope. In Read's analysis, letting go of that rope will prevent it strangling the many schizophrenics whose illness has been caused by abuse. Genes may still emerge as a major cause of vulnerability to schizophrenia, as may problems during pregnancy. There is already no question that illicit hallucinogenic drugs are a major reason some vulnerable people become ill. But even if this is true, following Read's important work, it will be hard to ignore its implications.

All patients will need to be asked in detail about whether they have been abused. Anti-psychotic drugs will no longer be doled out automatically, psychological therapies will be employed much more frequently. The psychiatric establishment will have to spend more research money on investigating the role of nurture in causing the illness. Above all, as advisers to government, it will have to recommend much better systems for early detection of traumatised individuals and the funds to provide the kind of support for parents that could prevent much, if not most, schizophrenia.

There are already signs of a change in perspective. In August, the president of the American Psychiatric Association bemoaned his profession's subservience to drug companies and the fact that "we have allowed the bio-psycho-social model to become the bio-bio-bio model". As Read reports in his earth-shattering edition of Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, for too long the role of trauma has been ignored by the establishment and "the possibility of a relationship with psychosis has been minimised, denied or ignored". Read's earthquake may trigger a landslide.

By Oliver James posted 27 October 05

* Oliver James trained and worked as a clinical psychologist. He is the author of They F*** You Up - How to Survive Family Life.

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Returning veterans of Iraq/Afghanistan

In the last two years, nearly one million U.S. service-members have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Regardless of how you may feel about the war, most of us agree that those service-members deserve the best possible care and treatment our country can provide.

Unfortunately, in some cases, things haven't worked out so well. Some of our service-members have fallen through the cracks, with reports of homelessness, trauma and suicide. According to the NEJM, as many as 15% of returning service-members from Iraq will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Thousands have been wounded, and those who were killed left families behind.

Veterans for Common Sense has made available on the internet, and soon in print, a guide for returning veterans to help them navigate the available benefits and assistance available. Our goal is to make it as comprehensive as possible, to let returning veterans know of where they can get assistance if there are any issues with readjustment on their return home.

The guide also contains a section for people who are looking for ways to support the troops [militia], with links to organizations who are directly supporting the troops [militia] in the field. We're trying to let as many people as possible know about the guide, and so we're sending you this note in the hope that, if you are a veteran, you will find it useful, and if not, that you will pass it on.

The guide is available here: Veterans For Common Sense

By VIA posted 5 March 05

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Pressure on Blair to say sorry to other victims of miscarried justice

16 years of waiting, an apology at last for the Guildford Four."He must now apologise to the Birmingham Six as well. If not, is he trying to imply that the Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven were innocent but I and the Birmingham Six are still guilty? I will be contacting Bertie Ahern before the end of the week."

UK: It was one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice in British legal history. Three Belfast men and an English woman spent 15 years in prison after police fabricated confessions for the IRA bombing of the Horse and Groom pub in Guildford in 1974.

But even after their convictions were quashed in 1989, Gerry Conlon, Paul Hill, Paddy Armstrong and Carole Richardson, had spoken of the clinging stigma and the black hole of post-traumatic stress. Some felt there was a whispering campaign in the corridors of power that they had been freed on a technicality and a "cloud of suspicion" remained.

16 years after their release, and following years of campaigning by the moderate nationalist SDLP, Tony Blair said sorry for the miscarriage of justice in a TV recording from his Commons office. The public apology to both the Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven, who were wrongly imprisoned over the Guildford attack and other 1974 bombings in Woolwich, south-east London, followed pressure from the Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern, in a meeting last week and a petition of 10,000 signatures.

The families said it was the "beginning of the end" of a healing process that had included breakdowns and addictions to drugs and alcohol. But they and others raised the question of whether Mr Blair would also apologise to several other innocent victims of miscarriages of justice over terrorist campaigns in the 1970s.

One member of the Birmingham Six, wrongly convicted over the IRA Birmingham pub bombings of 1975, immediately demanded an apology for all the innocent victims of the justice system. Paddy Hill, who now runs the Miscarriage of Justice Organisation in Scotland said: "It is nice to see the prime minister acknowledges the fact that people were innocent.

"He must now apologise to the Birmingham Six as well. If not, is he trying to imply that the Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven were innocent but I and the Birmingham Six are still guilty? I will be contacting Bertie Ahern before the end of the week."

In his statement, Mr Blair said: "I recognise the trauma that the conviction caused the Conlon and Maguire families and the stigma which wrongly attaches to them to this day. I am very sorry that they were subject to such an ordeal and such an injustice."

The Maguire family were arrested after they were allegedly identified as being involved in the bomb plots. Annie Maguire, Gerry Conlon's aunt, a cleaner living in north London, was imprisoned along with her husband, Paddy, their two sons Vincent, 17, and Patrick, 13, her brother, Sean Smyth and a family friend, Patrick O'Neill.

Guiseppe Conlon, Gerry Conlon's father, who travelled to England to talk to solicitors about his son, was imprisoned with them. He had one lung, emphysema and had just undergone chemotherapy. He was given only Benylin as medication, and died in prison in 1980. All the convictions were overturned in 1991.

After a private meeting with Mr Blair, Gerry Conlon said the apology was overdue but exceeded expectations.

He said: "This hasn't ended for us. But today is the start of the end ... If you damage people and you can repair them, it is your duty to do that ....The good thing is that he has acknowledged it, and he accepts that we are in pain, that we are suffering terrible, terrible nightmares and terrible post-traumatic stress disorder ... It has been harder to clear our names than to get out of prison."

Mr Blair's apology came after a lengthy campaign by the SDLP which has been working with the Conlon family in west Belfast. After an exchange of letters, Mr Blair last year wrote privately to the SDLP leader Mark Durkan apologising for the miscarriage of justice. Mr Durkan told him it was not enough.

The Irish News in Belfast last month launched a petition signed by 10,000 people, including the Irish film director Jim Sheridan, whose Oscar-nominated film, In the Name of the Father, told the story of the Guildford Four. Daniel Day Lewis, who played Gerry Conlon, also signed.

Last week Mr Durkan and the Irish prime minister ,Bertie Ahern, pressed Mr Blair separately for an apology. Mr Durkan stressed yesterday that there was nothing unusual in the timing. Downing Street said the apology was not a political gesture, but the "decent thing to do".

Patrick Maguire, who was arrested at 13, said the apology was welcome but his childhood had been taken from him.

"I just became a number, 33892. Coming out of prison, that's when my other sentence started: no one believing in you. I became bitter and angry. A life of crime was to be my only outlet. Always putting on a brave face ... having trouble with the police for being one of the Maguire Seven for many years. I was at their mercy."

In his 30s he suffered breakdown and turned to drink and drugs. "I take up to 20 tablets a day and I have been told I will probably have to take most of them for the rest of my life," he said. "I wish sometimes that I was guilty so I wouldn't have to go through this, but I am not."

David Lidington, shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland: said: "It is odd for the prime minister to single out these particular cases when there are other examples where convictions have been overturned, on both sides of the community in Northern Ireland. Are all of these now to be issued with public apologies by the prime minister?"

Where are they now? How the wrongly accused have fared after their release

The Guildford Four

Gerry Conlon, now 50, lives in England, is unable to work and is undergoing psychiatric treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. He still suffers nightmares and flashbacks to prison and earlier turned to alcohol and drugs to "block out the memories".

Paul Hill, 49, married Courtney Kennedy, the daughter of the assassinated American attorney general, Bobby Kennedy, and niece of John F Kennedy, and moved to the US. In 2000, Tony Blair became the first British prime minister to apologise to the Guildford Four when he said sorry in a private letter to Paul Hill's wife.

Paddy Armstrong, 54, initially tried to settle into work but got caught up in the temptations of drink and gambling. He later married and settled in Dublin.

Carole Richardson, 48, was Paddy Armstrong's girlfriend when she was arrested. She was 17. She has kept a low profile since she was released and is now married with a daughter.

The Maguire Seven

Annie Maguire, from west Belfast, had been living in north London for almost 20 years when she was arrested. She worked as a cleaner. After her release she got a job working as a cleaner in a pub in north London. She now serves on community committees on her London housing estate.

Paddy Maguire, her husband, was a gas fitter from west Belfast who had served in the British army for three years in the 50s. He died two years ago.

Patrick Maguire, 44, Annie's son, was 13 when he was arrested. He is unable to work due to mental health problems arising from his time in prison. He lives in west London, has suffered breakdowns and is on medication.

Vincent Maguire, 47, Annie's son, was 17 when he was convicted. He says he has managed to cope psychologically and now drives a black cab in north-west London.

Guiseppe Conlon, Gerry Conlon's father, who had a history of bronchial problems, died in prison in 1980. He was arrested after coming to London to talk to solicitors about his son.

Sean Smyth, Annie Maguire's brother, was working in London when he was arrested. He now lives in Belfast.

Patrick O'Neill, a friend of the Maguires, was arrested at the Maguires' home after coming round to tell them his wife had gone into labour in hospital. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Vincent Maguire said.

By Angelique Chrisafis posted 11 February 05

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Isolation, psychiatric treatment and prisoner' control

The 2003 NSW Corrections Health Service (now Justice Health) Report on Mental Illness Among NSW Prisoners states that the 12 month prevalence of any psychiatric disorder in prison is 74%, compared to 22% in the general community, and while this includes substance disorder the high rate cannot be attributed to that alone.

Incidentally "Justice Health" may seem more 'just' that's why they changed their name "common government ploy" because they were not "correct" and even worse than hospitals outside the prison- about 10 times worse.

So they weren't correct and they're certainly not just. The twelve-month prevalence of psychosis in NSW inmates was thirty times higher than in the Australian community. The most common disorder was an anxiety disorder with the most common anxiety disorder being Post Traumatic (which can be very severe and disabling and indicates the horrors that many prisoners have experienced prior to and in jail).

One in twenty prisoners had attempted suicide in the twelve months prior to interview. This study only touches the surface of evaluation and statistics of the nitty-gritty of what's going on - it excluded many people, including those "too unwell" to be interviewed. It also reflects the attitude of the professional, but considering that we regard 'labelling' to be covered by the term 'psychiatric disability' we consider the report of great use.

This outrageously disproportionate situation arises from both prison conditions and the discriminatory nature of the "criminal justice system".

Injectable antipsychotics in prisons

This response was received from Justice Health Re: Anti-psychotic medication.

I write in response to your request for information dated 16th November 2004 regarding long acting depot anti-psychotics prison preparations.

There are certain clinical circumstances where certain anti-psychotics are required in the care of forensic patients. Their use is governed by the Mental Health Act and overseen by the Mental Health Review Tribunal.

In the case of patients discharged to the community under community treatment orders, the Mental Health Review Tribunal plays a similar role.

Justice Health aims to use the lowest possible dose and to minimise side effects on patients in all circumstances. There are quite a few preparations on the market and the dosage range ofthese preparations is outlined in MIMS.

It would be 'uncommon' for Justice Health psychiatrists to exceed recommended dosage ranges without careful clinical consideration and peer review.

Many of our patients are now being placed on newer atypical anti-psychotic depot preparations like Risperdoi, Consta and hopefully use of this medication and the new generation of depot anti-psychotics will in the future minimise even further side effects and discomfort for patients.

It is very uncommon for force to be required to administer these medications. In an acute phase of illness where patients are very unwell and not able to cooperate injectable medications might be utilised but these tend to be short acting agents rather than depot preparations.

Generally depot preparations are only used in the maintenance phase of illness by which time the majority of patients are accepting of the requirement to take this medication. I hope this information is helpful to you.

Yours sincerely
Dr Richard Matthews
Chief Executive Officer
26 November 2004

Justice Action has received many complaints about the use of injectable anti-psychotics used in the NSW prisons and mental health facilities.

We express concern that "Corrections Health" now "Justice Health" psychiatrists can prescribe over the recommended dose, without clinical &/or peer review?

[Regarding forensic prisoners, we have received written confirmation from Justice Health that not just short acting but also depot anti-psychotics can be and are administered using force, and that recommended dosages can be and are exceeded (which may occur without careful clinical consideration and peer review).

This is a great concern, regardless of the frequency of such events, as we have been informed prior of a Death in Custody case, where a prisoner suffered Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome, and according to staff died in a terrible manner following large doses of anti-psychotics.]

So prisoners can, and have died as a result of injectable anti-psychotics, and that this is a worry regarding Deaths in Custody, as well as being an extremely harrowing experience to undergo if it doesn't kill you.

'A'typical anti-psychotics have their own problems, and over medication does not disappear just because an older drug is not used.

An example is the increased risk of diabetes, or effects on heart function, and many prisoners are already at risk of such diseases, due to conditions inside and also to conditions outside relating to discrimination and deprivation (eg Indigenous people).

What is being done about these effects on prisoners'? Are prisoners' given information about these effects? What danger signals should they watch out for? Can they report to Justice Health staff if they experience it?

Prisoners' have complained to Justice Action many times that injectable anti-psychotics are used as a non-medical tool, eg as punishment for disagreeing with a Correctional Officer, or as a convenience, and that these uses are in breach of International Rights Instruments.

How does the process of Correctional reporting to Health staff work? And what do they think they can do to improve the situation?

What are the procedural details on how Corrections information fits into a decision of forensic status? Why are prisoners' complaints showing us they are not receiving adequate information about the process and what medications are being administered to them?

Prisoners have a right to know these things and ask what is going wrong. Prisoners should be offered copies of their medical records and provided with them if they want them.

We question the "very uncommon" statement regarding use of force - and need statistics from Justice Health. Justice Action receives a fair number of incident complaints, and the difference doesn't make sense.

Why are short acting anti-psychotics used with force anyway? Why can't the use of force for depots be banned? We argue prisoner's consent should be sought and the prisoner should be worked with rather than against.

Prisoners should be allowed to work out plans for what actions to take in case of loss of capacity and to communicate and discuss this with Health staff.

A Correctional environment should not prevent that, nor should it obstruct the carrying out of such a plan. This is a right and it is reasonable.

These provisions should allow prisoners to access a psychiatrist in an emergency, eg to express concern that they are deteriorating and to give input into their treatment so as to prevent the use of force or high doses.

Prisoners housed at the HRMU High Risk Management Unit or in other segregation units at all jails end up with mental illness.

The transfer of Juveniles to the Department of Corrective Services from Kariong and the use of isolation were reported to be one way of preventing hostility at the centre? But prisoners who are isolated for prolonged periods end up with mental illness. They can self-harm or even commit suicide.

Furthermore, it can easily be predicted that those placed in isolation will suffer mental illness. These are not necessarily forensic patients but they end up being mentally ill and treated like they're forensic patients - after prolonged periods of isolation?

So you take those prisoners you don't like that cause all the trouble and give them a mental illness as a way to change their offending behaviour. Brilliant?

After a prolonged period of isolation you take them to the long bay prison hospital and they're forced onto medication for the rest of their life, as a way of control. Under the heading prisoners programs this must rate as a complete failure in terms of solving problems, like lack of education, social skills or life skills.

By Gregory Kable and Just Us 7 December 04

Related:

Call for royal commission into NSW prison health system
Mr Tony Ross a social justice activist said yesterday that a royal commission into the health system in NSW should be wide reaching to ensure that the Corrections Health Service is also exposed because of reported widespread cover ups in the prisons health system.

Doctor Ron Woodham I presume?
"Corrections Health staff provide medical care. However, its staff's authority is essentially limited to making recommendations to corrective services on treatment. Corrective services staff can then decide what treatment can be given."

Carr's Castle the real story H.R.M.U.The High Risk Management Unit Goulburn Correctional Centre. A prisoner writes, " I was unsuccessful in my letters to Dr Matthews CEO of the Corrections Health Service on my problem regarding air - claustrophobic effect the cells have on me. Just recently the management decided my injuries are not seriously affecting me so no further discussions are necessary.

A TOTAL ABUSE OF POWER
We the prisoners at the High Risk Management Unit at Goulburn Correctional Centre would like to ask you for help in receiving equal treatment and opportunities as other prisoners throughout the system. As we are told that we are not in a segregation unit but we are treated as though we are in one.

On the treatment of prisoners at the NSW HRMU
Prisoners sister's letter from her brother: Following our phone conversation some weeks ago I would like to set out a few points on the treatment of prisoners in the High Risk Management Unit at Goulburn (Super Max) (Guantanamo Bay).

Review of Justice Ministers claims about conditions at HRMU
There is no fresh air in our cells only Air conditioning pumped out of an 8 x 8-centimetre vent over our beds. Conditions change with filthy moods of the prison guards. Induction clothing "one set" mostly shorts and a prisoner remains there for two weeks depending whatever suits the staff. If a prisoner shuts up about the abuse, and freezing conditions (Goulburn cold in winter hot in summer taking into account you're housed in concrete) then you may go to units 8 or 9.

Watchdogs slaughtered in NSW
On Tuesday the Carr Government reduced transparency and accountability yet again and New South Wales is in danger of becoming entrenched with cronyism and intimidations with the Carr Labor Government that continues to slaughter the watchdogs.

Conditions in the HRMU
Justice Action is trying to obtain documents on behalf of prisoners held in the Goulburn High Risk Management Unit (HRMU) from the Federal Attorney General's Department, Corrective Services Minister's Conference regarding the process described below, in which the Standard Guidelines for Corrections in Australia were adopted. This documentation will help explain the justification for the conditions in the HRMU.

Death in custody: In memory of Scott Simpson
Scott Simpson 34 died in custody on 7 June 2004 leaving behind a child. It is alleged that he hanged himself in a segregation yard at Long Bay Prison Complex. Justice Action has reasons to believe that Scott had been mistreated from the time he was taken into custody and the subsequent events that ensued that led to his sad death. We think that his treatment may well have caused his death.

Justice Denied In NSW Corrective Services
There used to be a (VJ) or Visiting Justice who would go into the prison and judge any claim or accusation that was made by any prisoner or prison guard. If it were found that a prisoner had offended then punishment was metered out.

Escape proof but not so the prisoners mind
Fewer prisoners escape from prison these days because they're "cemented in" by materials that do not break and by legislation that can keep prisoners in jail until they die.

US Execution: Please contact the Governor

The Vietnamese-American Community, the ACLU, and many others want the March 30 execution of Huang Thanh Le commuted.

These groups believe that Le suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his life in Vietnam and escaping through Cambodia before becoming a refugee in the United States. In 1995, Le was convicted for the murder of Hai Hong Nguyeen.

At his original trial, Le's attorney did not introduce evidence of Le's Post Tramatic Stress Disorder, which might have led to a lesser sentence.

Although Oklahoma's Pardon and Parole Board unanimously recommended the commutation of Le's sentence to life, Governor Brad Henry rejected the recommendation.

Despite his pre-election promise to support a moratorium on executions, Henry has ignored three recommendations for clemency from the Pardon and Parole Board.

By Charles Sullivan CURE posted 24 March 04

Related:

Death penalty: a lawyer sees the light
The observation by [Cherie Blair?] "Americans are from Mars and Europeans are from Venus" is illustrated by the two nations' differing reactions to the use of the death penalty as a legitimate punishment for murder.

Cherie Blair attacks US over death penalty in Catholic paper
Cherie Blair has renewed her attack on America's use of the death penalty. In a book review in the Catholic journal The Tablet, under her maiden name Cherie Booth, she says: "Capital cases are uniquely prone to error and thus call into question whether we can ever be really sure of obtaining the just result.

Insane prisoner granted stay in the USA
The case of a condemned killer with a history of paranoid delusions and violent outbursts raises questions about executing the mentally ill.

OHIO: Judges join dissent on execution delay
Lewis Williams - his attorneys argued that he was mentally retarded, was executed by lethal injection on Jan. 14 2004 in Lucasville, Ohio at age 45.

Mexico Awaits Hague Ruling on Citizens on U.S. Death Row
Sbaldo Torres, a convicted murderer on death row in Oklahoma, should have been dead by now, his appeals exhausted, his time up. But because 15 judges in The Hague, acting at the request of the government of Mexico, have forbidden his execution for now, he is alive in a cell in McAlester, awaiting the next move from the Netherlands.

Jury Passes On Business Of Killing
US: This drives the death penalty crowd in the legislature nuts. Yet another jury - another 12 men and women, tried and true, who had all attested to their belief in the death penalty - has refused to join in the killing business.

Ultimate Punishment: Dealing With the Death Penalty
Scott Turow has long juggled two careers‹that of a novelist and that of a lawyer. He wrote much of his first and best known legal thriller, Presumed Innocent, on the commuter train to and from work during the eight years he spent as an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago, and he has churned out another blockbuster every third year since joining the firm of Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal in 1986.

Are you sane enough to be executed?
New York: The US Supreme Court has let stand a ruling by a federal appeals court in February that officials in the state of Arkansas had the right to force a convicted murderer to take drug treatment to make him sane enough to be executed.

Amnesty steps up campaign to abolish death penalty
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International is urging people around the world to pressure countries to abolish the death penalty. Amnesty director Irene Khan has released a statement, which raps governments for carrying out "executions".

Port Lincoln Mayor has lost the plot!
Controversial Port Lincoln Mayor Peter Davis has called for drug addicts to be given a lethal injection to cut rising illicit drug use on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula.

'LAND OF THE FREE' SET TO EXECUTE TWO PRISONERS BY FIRING SQUAD: Wanted: Willing executioners for two convicted murderers. Must be psychologically sound and familiar with .30-calibre rifles. No victims' relatives need apply.

There has been some debate whether: 'Capital punishment should be re-instated in Australia, since the terrible events that took place in Bali' In all democratic nations, every human being is considered innocent of any alleged crime, until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt by a court of law. For this reason, certain safeguards must be used for capital punishment cases.

TEXAS EXECUTES 300th PRISONER
Keith Clay was executed tonight, becoming the 300th prisoner in Texas to die by lethal injection since the rogue state resumed the death penalty 20 years ago.

AUSTRALIAN COALITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY
" ... Our nation was built on a promise of life and liberty for all citizens. Guided by a deep respect for human dignity, our Founding Fathers worked to secure these rights for future generations, and today we continue to seek to fulfil their promise in our laws and our society.

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Please note the following article carefully.....it shows clearly the hateful, uncaring and anti-human rights attitude as reflected by the Governor of Texas (and most other elected Texas officials).

Supreme Court Justice Blocks Execution
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens blocked Indiana from putting to death its oldest death row inmate Tuesday to give the 71-year-old prisoner, who is partially deaf and blind, extra time to file federal appeals.

Stephen Romei: Death knell sounds for US capital law
GEORGE RYAN, outgoing governor of the US state of Illinois a republican who leaves office today, has put US capital punishment on the road to oblivion by commuting the sentences of all 167 of the state's death row inmates. Three were re-sentenced to 40 years' jail and the remaining 164 got life without parole.

Amnesty urges Bush to shut death row
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged US President George W. Bush to take a "moral stand" and abolish the death penalty after the Illinois Governor dramatically emptied that state's death row.

Call to Bronwyn Bishop's Federal Crime Inquiry

I call on Bronwyn Bishop to allow me to produce first evidence about police corruption and to be able to attend Parliament House Sydney without fear of conviction.

Photos, video audio, documents, and rego numbers of a bikie gang working with off duty and on duty police and used by NSW Police as a militia to intimidate me.

Where Senior police, the PIC and the Ombudsman have failed to investigate my legitimate complaints against senior officers. Where the Ombudsman and the PIC used the information I gave them to hand back to senior police to intimidate me again and again and again and again. Persecuted!

I was prevented from attending NSW Parliament House Sydney to give evidence because of an order made in the court that was false and misleading.

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

Complaint Handling Section Your Ref: 203475FD

Re: Your letter dated 27 August 2002

Thank you for acknowledging my further correspondence. You have said "this Commission is only able to investigate complaints of discrimination in specific areas of public life."

Please note as in my original complaint I said that, I am on a Disability Support Pension, because I suffer Post Traumatic Stress due to false imprisonment and assault for a period of 7 months behind bars and through rigorous proceedings in the courts and the effect that had on me being persecuted for nothing.

I have given you evidence of being marginalised, excluded and miss-treated by my local politician Clover Moore and the New South Wales Police Service as it was known at that time. No assistance from police and illegal arrest that caused me to be taken to a psychiatric hospital and drugged illegally because I placed a notice on Clover Moore's Office in Paddington outlining police assault and corruption including maladministration and a flawed investigations of my complaints.

As a disability support pensioner I am saying that I was treated differently which led to me having to move from my home 3 times, defenceless.

Dear Ms Rocky Clifford, without any help or protection from the law. Evidence has been sent to you suggesting police involvement. These were frenzied attacks towards me. The fact that I received no help in an emergency when I was assaulted by bikies and the duration of time this discrimination occurred.

You have the letters and file notes from my solicitors evidencing the facts of my discrimination whilst seeking assistance as well as my complaint, that ought to give you a reasonable picture of me not being helped by Police.

Currently without Police acknowledgment of the lack of assistance ethically, I still to this day suffer a conflict of interest with them and cannot contact or seek their assistance confidently, nor can I report crime.

I said I was constantly stalked by Police including the Police Air Wing to isolated locations even on Sunday's and could not go about my ordinary business without changing the way I live my life.

For instance:

I catch the bus and train instead of walking. I like walking.

I wanted to get away from the Criminal Justice System and now I am stuck with it having to come in to Justice Action for my own protection. I cannot get away from my current location given that I am poor and subject to welfare including the flat I live in.

I don't go out at night. I like dancing.

I live alone and cannot meet a friend easily because I am at work or at home.

My, Human Rights to live in peace as a disabled person and that complaint arises from an act or practice given to me by the Commonwealth of Australia without discrimination, and to be treated the same as everyone else especially by my local Politician Clover Moore and the New South Wales Police Service and the Department of Mental Health. I cannot even attend Parliament House due to this nonsense.

I look forward to your urgent attention. Please contact me by Phone at Justice Action when you have time.

Thanks,

Gregory Wayne Kable
26 September 2002

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

CC: the Greens, The Ombudsman, The Privacy Commission, The Democrats, John Brogden, Bob Debus, Michael Costa

Complaint Handling Section
Your Ref: 203475FD

Re: Your letter 21 November 2002

Dear Ms Rocky Clifford,

I refer to my fax dated 17 October 2002, and say that you were sent proof that the police got particulars wrong when they were in contact with me after I made a complaint to them. Unequivocal evidence of false reporting. I have said that I think this information could have proved fatal in the wrong situation. Not just that, but this was malicious and intentional by people who are not professional to have made any assessment and by people who have no ethics. I say that this is in direct contravention of the police rules and the law.

Flowing on from the above I was taken to Caritas drugged and on to Rozelle Psychiatric Hospital with enough drug in my body to knock down an elephant and I woke up 3 days later.

Released shortly thereafter by Magistrate Pearce.

Angus Neil-Smith my lawyer informed me that this arrest was illegal. I placed a poster on Clover Moore's window at her Paddington branch office telling the constituents about police corruption because police continued to harass me months after I made my complaint to Ms Moore.

You have mentioned my disability and I told you that I was treated differently and when I say differently, I mean in direct contravention of my disability, Post Traumatic Stress. To any person who does not suffer this syndrome the service I got from the police may have been very traumatic. To me it was acute and severe because I am disabled.

By Gregory Kable 18 January 2003

Related:

Roseanne Catt Case
Almost daily I am hearing of threats, intimidation, bashings and contracts being put on people's lives who have come forward with evidence against these people. We will make sure that this terror is no longer tolerated.

Australia: politicians should watch police
In Sydney yesterday the Opposition police spokesman, Andrew Tink, urged Federal Labor MPs to allow the public hearing of the claims, which include that senior police, the PIC and the Ombudsman's office were failing to investigate legitimate complaints of misconduct, including corruption in the police promotion system.

The community questions ICAC's slagging and fobbing you off?
The ICAC, Commissions, Ombudsman, Police Integrity Commission (PIC), and numerous Tribunals etc, are all arms of government set up as an insurance police for the government's 3 or 4 year election terms. In short they'll be out of office by the time you may be lucky enough to have your matter heard.

Who is bad?
Super Rat? M5? M11? K8? N2? So I trust that some people who, with the photos and guns guessed that a jury would quickly establish a case against a profiled person whom, you just had a picture and a history of. Common knowledge? The government knew their victims would take the blame. Not just chess in court, 'moving around the pieces', but 'putting false evidence, or not enough evidence before the jury."

2,500 crooked detectives? Or a corrupt Government?
Evan Whitton: Either two things occurred. If you said you didn't join the police force to extort money from working girls, your papers were marked 'not suitable for plain clothes' and you were sent back to uniform.

How to become corruption resistant in NSW
Don't trust those who cannot prove themselves with the little amounts of trust you give them. Just because they have a letter of perceived trust doesn't mean they can be trusted.

This is not how you eat 'antisocial behaviour'
Process corruption, perjury, planting of evidence, verbals, fabricated confessions, denial of suspects rights, a solicitor to induce confessions, tampering with electronic recording equipment, framing. Generally green lighting crime, and I say Murder, including the kids who overdosed on heroin. No doubt.

Black Knight - Long way to go home
In line with the current climate of police corruption and the demise of the reform unit set up by Wood, these facts ought to have been a good reason to leave Moroney out of the package as Commissioner.

Bob down and sniff my arse
These are serious invasions of privacy and draconian laws? Where are our democratic soldiers, the lawyers and the barristers who need to take on the government in the courts? Are they plastic? Or to busy feathering their nests? Or have they been cleverly purchased by this black government. Drug test police and politicians, and have the tests independently accessed.

Come in spinner? Or Come in sinner?
"You don't have, in my view very vigilant processes. I suppose it's akin to the problem of corruption within the police," he told the ABC radio. " People say there's corruption with the police (but) do you get the police to investigate problems within their own ranks?

Deeds
I am disturbed by Governments 'actions' in relation to shuffling the police service. Clive Small seconded into Parliament like a cocky in a perch. A breach of the fundamental Separation of Powers Doctrine does not in my view allow the thought of intervening, planning, or shuffling to stack the deck of our police service. The one that suppose to be autonomous according to Lord Denning. Where the Parliamentary Secretary can ask the commissioner of police to 'report' then sack him if he is not satisfied with such report.

Australia's Political Underworld...& their enforcers
The promotion of law and order means money to big business. Profits from insurance, security fixtures, patrol services and the like can only continue to grow if the perceived threat of uncontrollable crime wave escalates. In the past few months there have been many examples of the true nature of our blood thirsty politicians and their sinister attempts to spoon-feed a not so gullible public with their repetitious rhetoric.

Truth
Who is telling the truth? Well I guess Dr. Ed. Chadbourne or Mr. Peter Ryan may have the answer to that. Dr. Chadbourne sacked by Peter Ryan and more specifically in my view because he elected deputy commissioners Dave Madden and Andrew Scipione as the best men in the service in relation to his qualifications to make a recommendation in his capacity as human resources.That is if you believe that a Dr. can be corrupted.

Honesty
What is happening between the Police Service and politics is quite extraordinary at the moment. If stand over tactics don't work tell half the truth honestly and follow the example of sheep. Another word for it is sleaze, yeah. Another word for it is workplace harassment. Another word for it is bribing a Police Officer. Another word for it is misleading Parliament.

Tele Tales
Most people I know don't buy the Daily Telegraph. Why? Because of the lies and propaganda purported by them.

Lord Denning
Interesting how a member of the Police Board Mr. Tim Priest would hold grave fears for his safety from dangerous senior police but fails to name them or have them sacked. Rather Priest resigns as if he had no powers. Could that mean what he was saying is that the Governments are also corrupt?

Corrosive
Clive Small is Bob Carr's choice for the new Police Commissioner. It could only be the case considering his, Small's special appointment into Parliament House. Small who suffers from the little person syndrome is the ideal bend over boy who gets shuffled through his corrupt actions. Rolling the legal system for him after the fact, just like his predecessor Roger the dodger Rogerson.

Black Nexus
The Separation of Powers Doctrine is nowcontaminated witharangeofcolours, now leaving us with a black shirt on a once blue bridge that crossed that thin blue line. The 'Amery and Woodham show'.

Same boat
The Premier, Bob Carr, relies on a militia. A gang of bikies and our Police Service, to show all of us he is no murderer. He should be taken to the task along with his partners in crime like Clive Small to account for those people who like my self have been maliciously assaulted and who have complained, without any service and those who cannot speak for themselves who were murdered, like Terry Falconer. Terry murdered in custody.

Good Cop
Why have our democratic institutions broken down? It's not just the criminal justice system. The Anti-Corruption Network webmaster@anti-corruption-network.org exposes the same issues. A group of white-collar workers who say they have suffered as follows:

Dangerous
I refer to the Daily Telegraph article 22 March 2002 under the heading Priest quits advisory job.

Partners in crime - history!
Roger Rogerson, the old hero, who never faced a result in the Warren Lanfranchi, or Sally-Anne Huckstepp murders, was let off in my opinion when the New South Wales Government rolled the legal system (deciding what evidence to give the police prosecutor) to have the jury believe the illusion they (the Government wanted to create).

Police Chronology 1994-2001
View events in the NSW Police Force since the Wood Royal Commission began in 1994. 1994 May Justice James Wood is appointed Commissioner of the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service ('WRC').