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Sisters, We Need Your Help!

The following letter was recently received from an inmate at the Marysville Reformatory for Women:

On Monday, November 13, there was an unprovoked beating of a black inmate at Marysville Reformatory for Women. The incident began with a disagreement between two womin (one black, one white) in the yard. One male corrections officer came running, grabbed the black womin, and threw her up against a fence. The womin submitted to being handcuffed and then realized that the guard had no intention of stopping the beating, even while she was handcuffed. So she took off running. She ran about 100 yards, stopped and faced the approaching CO, and then kicked him in the balls, instantly disabling him. By this time two other CO's were on the scene and began beating her, and while she was on the round kicked her in the head and face. She was taken into administrative isolation and declared to have no physical injury.

The guard, as of this writing (November 16) is still not back at work, due to his injury. The white woman was later taken into isolation and given 15 days in maximum security. The black woman hasn't had her hearing yet, but will probably be facing new charges. She had just been granted her parole and was to leave the farm soon. Because she was known as a lesbian and "troublemaker", the guards wanted to get in their last harassment before she left. She will now probably be facing a minimum. of a few years more here, thanks to the racist, queer-baiting CO's.

After the incident, a group of womin sent a petition to Superintendent Dorothy Arn, asking to talk with her about the incident and stating their disapproval of how the situation was handled. They are all being threatened with a Class II (the most serious) violation of the prison rules, which will mean serving time in maximum security. Also Mrs. Arn informs

NATIONAL_NEWS___

them they may be sued by the institution for "threatening the security" of the farm. Mrs. Arn also warns any further petitions or criticisms of the

LNS

institution will be handled in the same manner. Sisters, we need your help! We are living in a sadistic prison camp and the control is getting greater

Court Bans Automatic Military Dismissal for Gays

The Army, Navy and Air Force have begun major reviews of policies concerning homosexuals after a ruling by a United States Court of Appeals placing limits on the practice of automatically dismissing homosexuals from the military.

Legal officials are assessing the ruling to create new guidelines on the dismissal of homosexuals since the court told the Defense Department that it could not discharge homosexuals from the military without offering "some reasoned explanation" or specific

reasons.

Although the ruling made it clear that men and women could still be dismissed from the services for homosexuality, it limited the military from easily ordering their dismissal. Pentagon legal officials said that the ruling "complicated" the issue considerably without overturning the law barring homosexuals from military service.

The two homosexual rights activists who raised the issue, former Tech. Sgt. Leonard P. Matlovich of the Air Force and former Ens. Vernon E. Berg lil of the Navy, were exultant at the decision.

Legal officers said the Defense Department policy toward homosexuals, or toward those with "homosexual tendencies," had been dismissal from the military. Army regulations say "homosexuality is incompatible with military service," and a "person with homosexual tendencies seriously impairs discipline, good order, morale."

In recent years, the Defense Department has changed its policy of giving homosexuals less than honorable discharges. Last year, for example, 407 homosexual men and women were honorably discharged from the military. A total of 118 homosexuals were given general discharges, a less-

than-honorable dismissal.

In its ruling, the appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that upheld the discharges of Mr. Matlovich and Mr. Berg, The court said, “We cannot escape the conclusion that in cases of this type a reasoned explanation should be made for any detrimental action ordered.

The case was complicated, the court said, by Air Force regulations that say, in effect, that the service would retain homosexuals on active duty "under unusual circumstances" if the airman's ability to perform military service "has not been compromised."

The court said, "We are at sea as to the circumstances in which the Air Force makes exceptions to its policy of eliminating homosexuals and when it refuses to make an exception." The court said that "a reasoned explanation" was necessary in the event of a serviceman's dismissal.

Excerpted from -Bernard Weinraub The New York Times December 8, 1978

Bedford Hills Prison Reform?

New York (LNS)—After nine months of deliberation, a decision was handed down on November 22 in a class action suit filed by 11 inmates at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in upstate New York, against the institution's use of male guards in the living quarters. The judge ruled that male guards should be prohibited from working the night shift, from being present at the morning count at 6:30 a.m., and from being in the shower area. The press promptly labelled the decision a victory for prisoners' rights. But the women prisoners, who

A Letter From

Marysville Reformatory

all the time. Please write to Mrs. Arn that such practices won't be tolerated and that there are people out there who are watching what is happening in here. Demand:

1. The immediate removal of CO Cantril and other racist officers.

2. The dismissal of any criminal action against the womin who was beaten.

3. The right of inmates to petition the institution.

Some other unrelated demands, but just as important:

1. No confinement in rooms without sanitary facilities (womin are confined up to 2 months in rooms with no toilets or water-just buckets).

2. Medical treatment and a drug program for addicts (addicts receive no medical attention).

3. An end to slave labor ($.10/hour)-we demand the minimum wage.

4. Complete financial accountability to the inmates of prison finances.

5. An end to inconsistent rule enforcement, including reprisals for unwritten rules.

6. Inmate input on institutional policies.

7. Unrestricted visiting (we now get one visit per month from each visitor.

8. More phone calls (we get one 10-minute call per month).

9. Freedom to be politically active without intimidation or reprisal.

Address your letters to:

Dorothy Arn, Superintendent Ohio Reformatory for Women 1479 Collins Avenue Marysville, Ohio 43040

were asking to have male guards barred from their living quarters completely, are far from satisfied with the court's compromise ruling.

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"The women were thoroughly disgusted with the decision," a woman from Women Free Women, a lesbian prison activist group, told LNS. "Although parts of it might be considered favorable to the women, the overall effect of the decision will not be very dramatic in effect, the male guards are free to wander up and down the corridors, peek into the cells and harass the women-in other words, business as usual. Male guards were first brought into Bedford Hills in July 1976, as a measure to eliminate "discrimination" in employment. At the same time, women were hired as guards in male prisons. But typically, while men now make up more than one-third of the staff at Bedford Hills, women constitute less than 10 percent of the staff at New York's male prisons.

At Bedford Hills, male guards were first assigned to the housing blocks in early 1977. And in April of that year, the women filed suit. They charged that the men invaded their privacy-watched them in the showers and toilets, pulled down the curtains blocking their cells from view, and terrorized them.

While the suit was in court, an injunction prohibited male guards from entering the housing units. Since the judge ruled that the women can take measures to insure their privacy, guards are allowed to enter women's housing facilities during the day. There are also provisions in the ruling that allow for male guards to be stationed in the housing units whenever the administration deems it necessary.

The women plan to appeal the decision. For more information, contact Women Free Women, Box 283, West Nyack, New York 10094:

(See October issue of WSW for original story.)

National News (Continued on page 13)

January, 1979/What She Wants/Page 5