“…with Liberty and Justice for ALL."

The following is an excerpt from Part Two:

Several months following our release, we contact the local branch of ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union. Their mission is “to help preserve and protect the civil liberties of all Rhode Islanders against government infringement.” The right to due process of law is a specific issue with which they get involved. Our intention is to be re-tried fairly. They decline to help us. I then do some research online and discover a Providence-based lawyer specializing in post-conviction petitions for relief. I call to schedule a consultation.

Nearing the end of the meeting, we are geared up to proceed. Finally, this is our chance to reverse the travesty. He understands why we had to plead guilty to the false indictment. He believes we have a strong case. We feel like we have just been cured of cancer. We are going home to sleep
on it.

Then we are struck the fatal blow. He walks us to the door. “Who was the judge at your trial?”

“Judge Sour Clout.” He stops dead. He stares at us for a moment and shakes his head wearily. I cannot imagine what the problem is. The silence is deafening. It is as though we have jumped but the parachute fails.

“Have a seat.” We sink into the waiting room chairs and resume breathing. Sid speaks up. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s gonna be pissed that you’re busting his balls. There’s a good chance he’ll have you locked up again while awaiting trial.” We know that means we will not make it to the trial. We will probably be counted among the ranks of “suicide” victims. Worse yet, we might survive. We could end up a casualty, like one man I know who was castrated by other inmates in the yard while guards provided “adequate supervision.”

So much for liberty and justice, thank you very much.

Fingernails on Condoms

The following is an excerpt from Part Two:

The SOCN, Sex Offender Community Notification board, is a pathetic joke. We have to undergo an interview to be classified as level one, two, or three. The levels rate likelihood to “re-offend.” The tests used are administered by SOCN. Results designate us as category one, the lowest level of monitoring and community notification. They decide to classify us at level three anyway. Naturally, we appeal the decision on the premise that high publicity does not equate with high risk. It is obvious that they are upset because we avoided many years of jail time. Their stance was: “There has GOT to be another way to punish them.”

Why do they even bother with testing if they are just going to override the results?

In its “Gay Marriage” special report published in 2004, the apostolate organization Catholic Answers explores the impact that marriage has on society: The evidence is clear. Married people are better off than single or divorced people are. The report cites every advantage possible, from longevity to sustained or improved health, to greater sexual satisfaction resulting in increased happiness. Yet, “There is no data showing similar benefits for same-sex couples. We don’t know whether same-sex couples would enjoy these benefits.” Unbelievable! Let us control the findings to substantiate the desired conclusion. That’s the exact philosophy of SOCN. It makes as much sense as fingernails on condoms, but people swallow that stuff.

Public Enemy

The following is an excerpt from Part Two:

What the public perceives for me and Sid is what the media projects. We “operated a massage parlor for gay men.” The reality is that we offered massage services for people of any orientation. Equally available on the Web was “Healing Ministries of New England,” a curing modality for people and pets. That, however, didn’t make the news—it was not juicy or incriminating enough to qualify for “what sells.”

Prolifically mentioned was “rape,” “gay,” “abuse,” “scandal.” The masses would go bonkers to learn that we would be “getting away with something.” Ours was a very high profile case. Emotions and perceptions were based on information presented in the news, as inaccurate as much of it was. What was accurate was only that we were accused of child molestation. Following the mistrial, agreeing to a plea became our only viable option. That is not nearly the whole story, nor was justice or any version of it served.