The SAFAR Newsletter

   It's Saturday morning and here I am at the library again working on my blog, but I'm pooped out. I've been fighting this battle for over 20 years now. I started in 1989 at Oregon State Penitentiary, where I was serving a 10 year sentence, with The Society Against False Accusations of Rape (SAFAR) Newsletter with the help of Betty Duffey. A woman I did not even know until she read about my wrongful conviction in The Liberator. She helped me for years publishing my newsletter and even flew out to see me. The SAFAR Newsletter was sent out to hundreds of convicts throughout the U.S. and lasted 35 editions. I would cut out articles, paste them to paper, copy, and send them out. Very Old School. Postage was expensive, but I got all the copying for free. A fellow convict (not an "inmate") was a former copy machine repairman and would rig our Law Library's copy machine for me to give me all the copies I needed. It was great! Right under the Law Librarian's/guard's nose. I loved it! I still have copies of most of the editions. Seems like a lifetime ago. I would of never dreamed I'd still be in this fight 20+ years later. Oh well, what can I guy do? Give up? Screw that! Every 2 years in the late 80's and almost the entire 90's I have to go in front of a parole board to see if I was to be paroled. I'd always tell them to go fuck themselves. Here's an Open Letter to the board that was published in 1997 in The Backlash. I have less than a month until I will be forced to live in my van due to Jessica's Law residential restrictions. The nightmare never ends. Take care my friends.

An innocent man

Having served several years for a crime I never committed,
I refuse parole.
by J.A., convicted rapist
Copyright © 1997 by J.A.

On April 10th, 1997, I am going to go in front of you to be judged again for a crime I did not commit. I have decided that to accept parole would be in conflict of my many years of proclaiming my innocence. I committed no crime to have all these years stolen out of my life and will not beg for parole. Being an innocent man, I refuse your parole offerings, which is my right under laws in effect at the time of supposed crime (September 5th, 1985). I will serve this prison term until my Good-Time Release Date at which time I will be released. See Bollinger vs. Board of Parole.
I have absolutely no remorse for the crime I was wrongly convicted of, I have not a shred of sympathy for my so-called victim, and I owe no one an apology for my actions. How can I have remorse, empathy, or apologize for something I did not do?
I realize my innocence means nothing to you and the fact I have served over six years in an Oregon prison for a crime I did not commit equally means nothing to you. I have come to realize that prisons and prisoners means more money for you and your kind. I refuse parole because I want nothing more to do with the "Corrections" industry in Oregon.
The woman who falsely accused me of rape on September 5th, 1985, did so in order to file a million dollar lawsuit, and because she is mentally ill with a history of falsely accusing men of sex crimes. I was wrongly convicted because vital evidence about my accuser's past and her motives were not allowed in the courtroom due to unconstitutional Rape Shield Laws that hide important evidence from juries in rape trials. And because rape crisis counselors in Salem, Oregon, gave her acting lessons and coached her how to appear as a real rape victim on the witness stand. My accuser, Donna Jean Rowland, of Albany, Oregon, was awarded $24,000.00 for her fraud.

Editor's note: As demonstrated on 60 Minutes or 20/20 in 1996, during Airline crash civil trials, the personal history, including sexual history, of crash victims and their family are routinely introduced into evidence by Airline and Insurance company lawyers. Why is it okay in that case, but not in rape cases?

Because I am not what you call a "sex offender" I will also be filing a lawsuit so I will not be forced to register as a "sex offender" once I am released from prison. I believe over six years out of my life is enough for the state of Oregon and I will not give up my privacy and dignity by being forced to register as a "sex offender." I believe these sex offender community notification laws are unconstitutional and a form of double jeopardy. I will not take part in this further injustice.
I will also not take part in any "sex offender" treatment programs or any other behavior modification classes. As I have stated, I am not a sex offender and was wrongly convicted of Rape because my so-called fair trial was rigged to ensure a conviction. Why should I subject myself to "sex offender" treatment? So some sex offender counselor can justify his job? Would it not be a waste of time for not only myself but also for Oregon's sex offender treatment industry, for me to partake in a "treatment" I do not need or want?
In 1990, another Oregon Parole Board said I should serve four years in prison for my so-called crime and be released. They stated for the record that:

• The "victim" was not harmed in any way.
• No threats were made at the "victim."
• The "crime" contained no violence.
• And Vern Faatz, the head of the Parole Board in 1990, said that the "victim" aided in the "crime."

I was to be released from this charge in 1995, but as you recall you ruled that even though I presented you with two positive psych exams that I must have a mental disorder because I refuse to "confess," so I must be too dangerous to be released.
Now, another one of your bought-and-paid-for state psychologists who prostitutes themselves to Oregon's Parole Board interviewed me for half an hour and has come to the conclusion I am in "denial" of my crime, so I must be too dangerous for society. What a farce! His evaluation of my mental and emotional health is not worth the paper it is written on. The only reasons your State Psychologists label prisoners mentally ill is because you pay them, thus allowing you to take away parole dates, keep more prisoners to fill your prison beds, and expand Oregon's multi-million dollar Prison Industry.
The years that you and your kind have stolen out of my life is enough. I owe you nothing more. As a matter of fact, someone owes me and my family an apology. But I know that is beyond those who profit off the backs of innocence and that justice and truth are just empty words to those who line their pockets with money made off of prisons and prisoners. The Oregon Prison Industry has made enough money off my misery. I am not a commodity for your prison warehouses.
I want to be left alone and have my life back. I hope you understand I have too much pride, honor, and integrity to accept your gracious parole. Thank you for your time and effort.
Sincerely, J.A.                                 http://www.backlash.com/content/gender/1997/7-dec97/safar07.html