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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Maybe there is more of Dante's Divine Comedy here ―"Abandon all hope all ye who enter here" ― than there is concern that Dillon's book poses a threat. I get that prison is a place where law breakers are punished by having their freedom taken away. The vast majority belong there and probably don't deserve some of the perks we get to enjoy. But banning books that offer hope? Dillon's book and life story are proof that faith and perseverance do sometimes pay off. His book does not threaten security. There is nothing in his book about how to put a file inside a cake or how to break out of prison. "The Florida DOC is afraid for prisoners to know the truth about the patterns of abuse, corruption and cover-up that has been shown to be pervasive throughout Florida’s justice and correctional system," Moscovitz said. "Tragically, William’s story is not a unique one."
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PASSAGE THREE OF THE DAY: "According to the Marshall Project, a non-profit journalism group that studies and reports on the criminal justice system, the terrific prison escape novel "Papillon" is banned from Florida prisons. Also banned were the 2020 Fantasy Football Guide, books about Al Capone, Amazing Sea Life adult coloring book and Basic French to name just a few of the 20,210 books prohibited. Not listed are perhaps two of the greatest prison escape stories ever written: "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Shawshank Redemption." Incredibly, also banned is a book called “How to Leave Prison Early," a how-to book on work release, parole and clemency."
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Hope can be a dangerous thing for the hopeless but it can also provide the the spark needed to face another day.
That's why it saddened me to hear that William Dillon's account of his 27-year incarceration for a crime he did not commit is being banned in our state prisons.
Dillon, along with wife Ellen Moscovitz, recently finished writing and publishing Dillon's account in a page-turner called "Framed: The Corruption and Cover-up behind the wrongful conviction of William Michael Dillon and his twenty-seven year fight for freedom."
Dillon was convicted and sentenced to life for the murder of James Dvorak in 1981 at Canova Park.
The book details how Dillon was wrongfully arrested and then convicted with the help of a fraudulent dog handler named John Preston.
It describes the investigation, the trial, Dillon's incarceration and his improbable quest for freedom that saw the Innocence Project of Florida and Assistant Public Defender Mike Pirolo team up to prove Dillon was innocent.
It was their collaboration fighting for DNA testing of a key piece of evidence that cleared Dillon and eventually allowed the Brevard County sheriff to identify the real killer.
I covered Dillon's fight for freedom and interviewed him while he was still in prison.
I was there when Dillon left the Brevard County Jail, where he had been transferred for his hearing, as a free man.
"Banning my book takes away a message of hope to the wrongfully convicted prisoners still behind bars," Dillon said. "Florida made a mockery of justice in my case, and took away nearly three decades of my life. I want the world to know what they did to me, so it will be harder for them to do it to anyone else. All prisoners should know what they are up against."
The book also offers a no-filter look at what Dillon experienced in prison, particularly during his first hour when he was gang-raped by several men, causing him to contemplate suicide.
A friend of inmate Gary Bennett, whom I've also written about and believe was also wrongfully convicted, sent him a copy of Dillon's book from Amazon.
Bennett never received the book but Dillon received a notice from the Department of Corrections explaining that the book "presents a threat to the security, order or rehabilitative objectives of the correctional system or the safety of any person."
Starting in April, I've reached out three times to the Department of Corrections for a comment but no one has responded.
The notice sent to Dillon goes on to cite pages 13-17 and 197-202 as depicting gang rape and violence. Should Dillon have sugar-coated his time in prison? Instead of banning the book, maybe the DOC should just do a better job protecting the inmates from being sexually assaulted. Just a thought.
Does this book jeopardize security, order or rehabilitative objectives or does it simply offer hope?
Surely inmates have seen or experienced the same things Dillon endured.
Maybe there is more of Dante's Divine Comedy here ―"Abandon all hope all ye who enter here" ― than there is concern that Dillon's book poses a threat.
I get that prison is a place where law breakers are punished by having their freedom taken away.
The vast majority belong there and probably don't deserve some of the perks we get to enjoy.
But banning books that offer hope? Dillon's book and life story are proof that faith and perseverance do sometimes pay off.
His book does not threaten security. There is nothing in his book about how to put a file inside a cake or how to break out of prison.
"The Florida DOC is afraid for prisoners to know the truth about the patterns of abuse, corruption and cover-up that has been shown to be pervasive throughout Florida’s justice and correctional system," Moscovitz said.
"Tragically, William’s story is not a unique one."
The DOC has a Literature Review Committee that meets twice a month to screen books and magazines. Subscriptions and book orders by prisoners and contributions from Books to Prisoners programs are reviewed in Tallahassee before they are distributed to the agency's 143 facilities.
According to the Marshall Project, a non-profit journalism group that studies and reports on the criminal justice system, the terrific prison escape novel "Papillon" is banned from Florida prisons.
Also banned were the 2020 Fantasy Football Guide, books about Al Capone, Amazing Sea Life adult coloring book and Basic French to name just a few of the 20,210 books prohibited. Not listed are perhaps two of the greatest prison escape stories ever written: "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Shawshank Redemption."
Incredibly, also banned is a book called “How to Leave Prison Early," a how-to book on work release, parole and clemency.
Maybe banning Dillon's book has nothing to do with anything I've already mentioned. Maybe the folks at the Department of Correction are just embarrassed by it. If that's the case, I guess I can't blame them. They should be embarrassed."
The entire commentary can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/47049136857587929
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”
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