UP AGAINST THE WALL
Tuesday, August 27, 2002 11:32 PM
Sharif's email below explains his crisis. You can read the full background on him and see his pictures and poems at https://www.angelfire.com/fl4/prison/sharif.html But for now I want to say just a little about his current situation.
I've known Sharif a long time and watched him struggle with great spirit and determination to readjust to society. He's overcome a lot without resorting to crime at any time, even when he went hungry and homeless. But he is up against a brick wall now with only two options: Either he goes to prison tomorrow or he becomes a fugitive. Unless...
I know you don't know Sharif like we do, but he's a good man, a hard worker, loyal, intelligent, giving, and he wants nothing more than to live a productive life. He spent too many years in the Florida system for a drug crime ten years ago, no 11, almost 12 years ago...
He repaid his debt over a year ago and has been trying ever since to find a crack in the door society has slammed on him. Well society is about to win - no, lose, because they are the bill-payers.
They are about to dump him back into the system for a domestic dispute that happened during a time of great stress. The cops have a very bad habit of adding every drummed up charge they can think of to turn a very minor situation into a major one. That is what has happened here.
Sharif has almost rebuilt his life. He has done absolutely NO drugs in over 11 years. He is back in college, has a home being readied, and is settling in after more than a year of struggling against the tide. During all this time, he has been a reporter for Making The Walls Transparent, helping us learn about the problems of reintegration into society.
He is not asking for anything, just reporting his situation, but I feel compelled to.
If he doesn't come up with at least $500 of the $750 he owes this attorney/bondsman, everything he has worked so hard to accomplish will be lost. He will once again be just a number in a cell that costs us $20,000 a year.
So here's my thought. Sharif has $900 coming around September 15th.
Unfortunately the law won't wait. But if there is a reader out there who could, what a difference it could make in, not just Sharif's life, but in the lives of the children he educates, the people he touches.
If you are the crack in the door this time, please don't contact me... we don't have time. Sharif's email is amirsharif1@hotmail.com but he may not be in a position to check his mail at the library. But, there is a very kind lady named Ayanna Thompson in Dallas where Sharif checks in daily.
You could reach Sharif through her at 214-342-2291. You could use western union: Just send to Dallas, Texas for Lakeith Amir-Sharif.
I don't know what else to do but this and pray or I wouldn't bother you.
Kay Lee, MTWT
Pacific Institute of Criminal Justice
1868 San Juan Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94707
510-528-4603
kaylee@idiom.com or kayleeusa@yahoo.com
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-
Making The Walls Transparent
https://www.angelfire.com/fl3/starke
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*
"If a prisoner is wrong, stand up to him;
If he is right, stand up for him,
and never, ever give a prisoner a bum rap."
Richard "Dick" Korn, Ph. D.
https://www.angelfire.com/fl4/prison/goodbad.html
~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~
From: lakeith Amir-Sharif [mailto:amirsharif1@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2002 1:46 PM
Subject: Re: Sharif Update
I'd like to update everyone as to my current progress and situation. Some is good and some not so good. Today I began my criminal justice and law classes at the college here in Texas. It feels good to be back in school and doing something I enjoy as well as something that will allow me to some day help others facing the "just-us" system, be it civil or criminal.
I've also begun receiving counseling and thearphy as a control unit/sensory depriviation unit survivor. The doctors say that the people released from these control units scattered across the USA are no different than POW's released from Vietnam prison camps, except unlike Vietnam vets, little to no legitimate and longlasting programs have really been set up to deal with survivors of these usa hell-holes.
I've also completed my SSI process and am awaitng an answer from that office. Finally, I am signed up for housing assistance and I am suppose to have a permanent roof over my head in 3-4 months.
Another matter that I've been dealing with is unemployment benefits. I was fired from my tele-sales job due to my arrest, but now after filing for unemployment benefits my employer has come back and lied saying that " Oh we told the floor manager that Sharif was rehirable". That is bullshit, with a capital B !!! I've caught pure hell since they fired me, and they know I would of done almost anything to get that job back and get that weekly income flowing again, rather than roam the streets and from pillow to post wondering if I'd have a dry, safe place to sleep, or if I'd have enough to buy something to eat and avoid a day and night on little or nothing.
Yesterday I called to check-in with my bondsman/attorney ( yeah in Texas, Attorneys are doubling as bondsmen, in order to maximize the profits being derived from the war on the poor/crime/drugs) and was advised by Attorney Ronald W. Roberts that he was coming off my case and my off my bond if I didn't fork over at least 750.00 within 48 hours, which is the remainder of the attorney fees owed for his representation thus far; representation that 's amounted to nothing more than someone from his firm popping into the clerks of courts office to reschedule my hearings on three seperate occasions.
Something I didn't realize when Mr. Roberts posted my bond was that in fine print on the bond agreement it says that "client acknowledges and agrees that by retaining the services of the bonding company, more specifically, Attorney-Bail Bonds by Davis & Roberts, that client will be required to retain the services of the law firm of Davis & Roberts, P.C., d/b/a Law Office of Ronald W. Roberts in the representation of client in this matter".
Let this be a lesson to all of you (and your loved ones) no matter what your situation is, read the fine print before signing anything, because if you don't it may come back to haunt you and youll find yourself in a situation worse than the one you started with.
Anyhow, Mr. Roberts was offered weekly funds ranging from $60-75.00 from a MTWT supporter named Kelly Green, but he rejected that offer because Ms. Green, work schedule is well aware that I lost my job as a result of my arrest and that I had been diligently seeking employment, unemployment and SSI benefits plus any other assistance I could apply for in order to pay him while trying to survive at the same time.
At the present moment I am trying to get the college to send a fax to Mr. Roberts advising him that I will receive about 900.00 in a few weeks from my grant and that I could pay him then. I'm also about to write and hand deliver a letter to the judge advising them of my situation and asking that they have mercy and do whatever they can to aid me in avoiding a return to jail which would end my schooling and all the other things I have set in motion to get my life back on track.
I'm also looking into trying to repost my own bond of $650.00 through the jail, and this way I'd receive the money back whenever my cases are disposed of and I wouldn't have to answer to any of these "wonderful" attorney/bondsmen here in the Lone Star State.
By 6-7 p.m. Texas time tonight I'll either have resolved the matter or I'll be at the Lew Street Jail in downtown Dallas, Texas tomorrow.
Before I go let me make it perfectly clear that I do appreciate Attorney Roberts patience up until yesterday because he could of done this earlier and I wouldn't of made the progress I have. Yet he can't truly be expected to be any different than the majority of lawyers in this wonderful beacon of democracy. And hey I respect that, because after all this is amerika.
Besides we all know the system is not about justice, it's about dollars and cents, and lawyers have bills to pay, families to support, and life styles to maintain. And a clients personal hardships is the last thing an attorney wants to hear about when you cant or havent greased his palms in the timely manner he's prescribed for you. Grease the palms and talk their damn ears off, no matter what bull you might be talking about.
I want to thank everyone for your encouragement and support through all of the things I've faced since my release.
Sharif
Kay Lee,
MTWT
Pacific Institute of Criminal Justice
1868 San Juan Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94707
510-528-4603
kaylee@idiom.com or kayleeusa@yahoo.com
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-
Making The Walls Transparent
https://www.angelfire.com/fl3/starke
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*
"If a prisoner
is wrong, stand up to him;
If he is right, stand up for him,
and never, ever give a prisoner a bum rap."
Richard "Dick" Korn, Ph. D.
https://www.angelfire.com/fl4/prison/goodbad.html
