I haven't heard that song for over 30 years, but it plays in my head every once in a while. Good words, Randy. Thanks.

Perhaps she knows how a huge percentage of black men and women in America feel. http://www.drugwarfacts.org/racepris.htm

I'm glad she was eventually freed, but it might be good to examine our own justice system before we go pointing accusing fingers far away, deep in the past.

Wow! I remember listening to this song in grade school. For some reason I remember being told it had been written by prisoners - it's great to know the true story. Thanks for posting this!

How nice that someone's posted her address and phone number publicly on a blog. I bet she really appreciates that.

And I have to agree with Jami. I, too, am glad she's free and I understand the local perspective of this story, but our own justice system - especially as it relates to the "war on drugs" - is a mess. And I have to wonder why the thought of "a young, frightened woman unjustly jailed in a Turkish prison under a numbing life sentence" should be any more compelling than a young, frightened woman (or man) unjustly jailed in an American prison under a numbing life sentence - or any sentence for that matter.

But it's not really politically correct or conducive to fight for the little guy against "the man" anymore, is it?

Madam Hatter: Care to give us an example of some folks unjustly imprisoned in America?

Thanks Pat.

Jim- Seriously? How much time have you got?

And Pat refers only to unjust laws. It isn't too hard to find countless cases of people who've been wrongfully convicted - and therefore unjustly imprisoned - of violating "just" laws (like murder) as well. [Try Googling "wrongful conviction cases"]

Briefly, here's some from Oregon: from Center on Wrongful Convictions:

The Exonerated: Oregon Christopher Boots William Branson Jasper Jenkins Theodore V. Jordan Santiago Ventura Morales John Pender Eric Proctor Lem Woon

I think you missed the whole point Madame Hatter.

A group of musicians used their talents to write and publish a song for Jo Anne McDaniel. They donated all of the proceeds to her while she was in prison so that she might have the essentials of life.

The generosity and attention this group brought to Ms. McDaniel's plight also raised public awareness of her unjust imprisonment. It is that attention that saved Jo Anne's life and ultimately led to her release.

Fortunately for Jo Anne, she did not come from a generation of supporters who did nothing but bitch and whine, all the while anonymously.

That's really heavy, Randy. Kudos for writing about it. People need to face the harsh realities that exist out there, even if they don't experience them personally.

Happy Hat-

Thanks for reiterating the obvious. Sorry it took so long for me to see it.

Actually, it is you who missed my point because I was perhaps a bit too subtle. I have a tendency to be too blunt and outspoken and have tried to temper that in my old age, and sometimes when I try to be tactful, I'm too oblique. So here's my point:

[DISCLAIMER: This is criticism but is not meant to offend anyone, so I apologize in advance if I do.]

I find it ironic that on Blue Oregon, which rarely, if ever mentions - let alone criticizes - the local police or criminal justice issues as they effect "the little guy," that so many people could wax nostalgic about this one particular (long ago and far away) injustice without acknowledging (by even occasionally writing about it here) what's going on right here, right now in our own country and neighborhoods.

And I'm sorry Randy, I support you on a lot of things and have thanked and applauded you here when I do, but you guys in city hall have got to do something about all the "deaths by cop" and other LE scandals around here. I know it's really Potter's deal and I know you're just Portland and can't control the whole state, but you can certainly talk about it, set an example and lead the way.

That's not to say all cops are bad or everyone in prison is there unjustly. I don't want to start on that false dichotomy of choices. But the cops that are bad - or are under-trained, or burnt out, or otherwise not handling situations optimally - and the policies that condone them, need to be changed.

The militarization of LE correlates to (and was funded by) the overly-punitive and hysterical war on drugs which in turn, leads to increasingly punitive laws elsewhere (Measure 11). When it's OK to marginalize and/or take away the rights of one group of people (ie, pot smokers, or the homeless for example) it's easier to do the same to others - the old slippery slope. And pretty soon, as we've now seen with habeus corpus, 200 years of freedom and democracy go down the tubes and people are rotting in prison for non-violent crimes (or are summarily executed for peeing in the street)... just like in Turkey.

The Oregonian just reported on the AG's new "Organized Crime" report. The article goes into great length about the alleged gangs of Uzi-toting pot farmers who (they make it sound like) are going to start mowing down droves of hunters on opening day. So far, they've arrested five illegal immigrants who are there working off their debt for getting smuggled into the USA. Fear-mongering anyone?

Sorry for the rant and for raining on everyone's trip down memory lane. I just thought this was all kind of ironic.

Unfortunately Ms. Madam Hatter, you have not grasped the obvious.

You have used your energy here to rant about amorphous injustices that you have yet to offer any specifics about.

Please resist the temptation to pound out another angry response to Blue Oregon readers citing various web page links and other such indistinct references.

Had you commented here with a plea for the plight of just one victim of an unjust imprisonment -including offering specifics- you may have actually begun a movement just like for, hmmmm, I wonder who?

As was stated a few comments above I am sure Ms. McDaniel, if she is reading this, is thanking the heavens above that she did not have advocates like you fighting for her release.

If she did she would still be alone and forgotten but most likely dead.

So much for my disclaimer...

Not sure what "amorphous injustices" you are referring to but the "web page links and other such indistinct references" I cited above were merely in response to Jim Pozey's question:

"Care to give us an example of some folks unjustly imprisoned in America?"

I happen to believe, like Jami and Pat Ryan noted above, that "it might be good to examine our own justice system before we go pointing accusing fingers far away, deep in the past," and that "every single person who is in jail and has physically endangered no one, done no violence, and stolen no property" has been unjustly imprisoned.

But Jim (perhaps ironically?) asked for an example. So I gave him several. From Oregon. Who were exonerated - and therefore proven to be unjustly incarcerated. If you or anyone else now need specifics in order to verify the information I provided, do the research yourself. It's not like it's hard to find.

And, hey, I'm not out to start a movement nor did I find fault with the movement for Ms. McDonald. I think what was done was great. I just think it's sad that that kind of activism - and the same type of issues - are rarely discussed or even mentioned on the leading progressive political blog in the state.

Finally, since none of you know me from Adam, I find it hilarious that you feel justified in blithely condemning me personally with statements like:

"Ms. McDaniel, if she is reading this, is thanking the heavens above that she did not have advocates like you fighting for her release. If she did she would still be alone and forgotten but most likely dead."

and

"Fortunately for Jo Anne, she did not come from a generation of supporters who did nothing but bitch and whine, all the while anonymously."

• especially from hypocrits who also "bitch and whine" (aka blog) anonymously!

FYI - I'm very active in the issues that I feel strongly about and, do a hell of a lot more than just bitch about them online. In fact, our efforts have led to a federal civil suit being filed - the only recourse available to us to seek justice in this particular matter.

When I have tried to bring up this specific case on Blue Oregon, it was ignored. Or criticized - as this post proves. As has been almost every reference I've made to the general topics of police use of force, the war on drugs, or our dysfunctional criminal justice system.

Just recently, there were three people killed by cops in one weekend here in Oregon. In Clackamas County, 4 out of the 10 homicides that occured in the county last year were committed by cops. 40%!

Whether you believe they were all justified or not, it was big news for every media outlet and a hot topic on many local blogs. But not even a word about any of it here. Not even a mention, as far as I saw. The movers and shakers in the Democratic party in Oregon - the party that's supposed to be protectors of, and advocates for, the poor, the disenfranchised, the powerless - were and still are silent.

If by pointing that out, I offend anyone, I'm sorry. But you confuse the issue with your personal attacks and by misconstruing my words to imply that I was doing the same about the movement for Ms. McDaniel.

Randy, I've seen Bill Coleman play dozens of times. His support of Joann McDaniels was a big deal in the day. If you get the chance, drop in on his gig. He does "Crying" better than you do.

"He does "Crying" better than you do."

No Way!

Is he still in the Salem area, Rocky? Does he still do "Oregon".

Drop by BO more often...I can always use the help.