Alert:
Call
to
Action
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Johnnie
Mae
Brown
2/6/98
Last week we told you about Ms. Johnnie Mae Brown, who was recently arrested at Kennedy Airport and incarcerated in the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women for fleeing court-mandated drug treatment, in 1972! If you missed last week's Week Online, you can find this horrifying story at http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/1-30.html#respond. While many of you called or wrote, we need a much larger response in order to free Ms. Brown and allow her to get back to her home, her children, her job at the New York City Human Resources Administration, and her volunteer service working with recovering addicts. As we mentioned last week, Ms. Brown is the very model of the successful former addict, reintegrated as a productive member of society. Now the State of New Jersey is destroying everything for which she has worked so hard. WE MUST NOT LET THIS HAPPEN! We also have new information on how best to make your voice heard in support of Ms. Brown. HOW TO HELP: Johnnie Mae's fate lies in the hands of the New Jersey Parole Board. She will have a "special" hearing, which is not yet scheduled, during which a decision can be made to release her, or to refer her case to a regular parole board hearing. Should the parole board refuse to release her, there is the possibility of asking for a hearing in state court on compassionate grounds. DRCNet is asking you to write to the parole board on Ms. Brown's behalf. However, it is important to keep in mind that the parole board hasn't done anything to victimize Johnnie Mae (yet). And, since her fate is in their hands, letters should be thoughtful and informative without being confrontational. The idea is that a parole board which has been educated and softened will be more likely to release her. A parole board which feels cornered and angry might keep her longer. The parole board should be encouraged to hold hearings for Johnnie Mae a.s.a.p. so that she can get back to work and home and friends. N.J. Parole Board, P.O. Box 862, Trenton, NJ 08628 Johnnie Mae Brown, #98-29, c/o Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, P.O. Box 404, Clinton, NJ 08809-4404. Thanks for your attention and support.
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