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10 Alaska B. Rag 1 (1986)

handle is hein.barjournals/askabar0010 and id is 1 raw text is: Gilngto': the dogs Page 7 *ks? S Vol. 10, Number 1 Dignita, &_mper ynitas March, 1986 $2.50 The Bachajani Express Two years in an Israeli prison By Alex Bortnick Finally achieving the proper security clearance, I set off for my first day as Leften- ant of the Prison Service in Ramie then Israel's only maximum custody institution. 'No bus rides left me off in a small town with a mile to walk, It rained, Spending the first 48 hours meeting staff and inmates, and touring the seven separate. self-contained sections, it was easy to recog- nize the Romance languages and distinguish the Slavic ones, but what and wherefrom was the Bachajani dialect (remote area of Yemen)? It was on the third mornilg that I popped around tolfielifrry The inmate running that show was a German, quite happy to spend his entire day with me speak- ing in his fluent English. An electronic engineer by training, he had worked for israel Aircraft Industries and before that for the U.S. Military in Germany. Unfortunately, he had done so on behalf of a country far removed from the Middle East, which netted him a lengthy term for spying. As we spent the day in his office sipping 'brkish cofee dozens of inmates came in to meet the new Ingleezi who was working there. Conversa- tions developed with them about Middle Eastern History (my first degree), Criminol- Alex Bortiack og (my second) and Correctional Admini. stration (my last) and what those programs entailed at American universities. Mostly, though, I just sat and listened to them for hours as the nature of prison life for 1,000 inmates, 63% of them PLO members, unfolded. By the time I left the library in late even- ing I had complete details of an upcoming escape attempt: 3 lads planned to diddle the locks on their cell and the library doors, push For golden friends I had by The Hon, Bev Cutler Superior Court, Palmer In memory of Barbara, Larry and Rick I still get a lump in my throat when the jury enters the courtroom to return a verdict. As a public defender, I dreaded those minutes. The D.A. stood there anticipating the kill. The judge secretly gloated. Even the in-court clerk looked smug as she took the paper from the foreman. Everyone in the courtroom was against us. And if by chance it were a Not Guilty verdict, suddenly I became the new criminal. Time has changed my perception of judges and clerks, for obvious reasons. But public defenders have not changed. They are as tough as ever, and still as paranoid- though perhaps with good cause Public defending is one of the most thankless tasks in Alaska. It also is one of the most inspired. Recently a Palmer PD. got a client out on bail Friday. only to find him back in fbr murder on Saturday. It reminded me of my first year at the agency when the identical thing happened to me. 'Nice. I was temp':ed to comfort the PD. by noting that someone else would have gotten the man out on b2rl if he had not. But the ED. didn't want solace. As far as he was concerned, his client was only accused of murder. This is in the tradition of public defend- ing as it has been, and as it should be-no apologies, no crying, and no guilty client%. All new PD.s learn these precepts from their mentors at the agency. They also learn that victory is relative, that wit is survival, and that Cicero knew what he was talking about when he advised When you have no basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff:' I was thus encouraged over a decade ago by Larry Kullk, by Rick Lindsley, and espe- cially by Barbara Miracle. who was the only woman in the agency when I signed on in the spring of 1975. Alaska journey begins I did not come to Alaska to work for the PD. agency, but events seemed to push me in that direction from the moment I arrived. The previous year I drove to Alaska on a whim-and in defiance of parental warnings that neither the trip nor the destination were appropriate for a lone female Barbara Miracle came to Alaska a few years earlier. under similar circumstances. We both were from Washington D.C., from 'lstablishment families, and in fact had played basketball opposite each other at rival girls' schools. (I realize that given our heights, that sounds improbable!) I had been attracted to Alaska by an ad on a bulletin board. Bob Hicks, then director of the Judicial Council, needed someone to do the grunt work on an LEAA-funded study of ball and sentencing for the court system. A law school soulmate urged me on, promising to come to Alaska if he ever graduated. It was spring and I hadn't decided what to do when school ended. I took the job, sight unseen. It was a perfect match. out some rusting window bars and go down the wall on tied bedsheets. From the ground they would crawl through the shadows to the womans prison, which occupied a corner of the complex. I had thought this was an affair of the heart, not then knowing the outer wall was under construction with a breach in it. I had also obtained full particulars on a cigarette lottery that had been operating throughout all the sections for the past 14 months, unknown to staff. Sharing some of Anchorage was a surprise however. I had never seen so many used car lots. And the cars in them looked so American. I had antic- ipated a foreign place. or at least a city with more intrigue. I followed directions to a green duplex on 12th between 0 and P. There I found Bob Hicks moving a washing machine, and Brian Shortell giving orders as to where it should go. Bob was in the process of moving out- ward and upward to Tusrnagain. The green apartments were to become a prominent feature of those first years in Anchorage. Scores of law clerk and public defender parties were held there. They were inhabited at various interludes by Bob. Brian Shortell, Barbara Miracle, Margie Mock, and Chris Schleus. My early familiarity with the area proved invaluable-after any party I always managed to find my way home. Continued on page 12 the latest winners' 128 cigarettes, I wondered what else was being shared among the sec- tions. More ominous was the information about coded messages that came through the call of the minaret, broadcast daily over the radio. A recent escape attempt by three inmates had netted two of them as early and unscheduled discharge; the third got hung up on the barbed wire. The former two are no longer with us, one having been killed in a famous anti-terorist raid and the other in a less famous raid, The third man, an Intelli- gence Officer from a neighboring country played chess with me during subsequent years. 'Another chess partner was fhe' former Continued on page 29 INDEX Mr. Justice Dimond ............ 4 Part 2 of Connors biography AI)S ....................... 8 Legal and social questions 'Exodus: courtesy Anytown Vice.. 9 Jack Boots as statesman Bar news and notes ......... 10-11 CLE. discipline, ethics New sections formed ........... 13 Bankruptcy economics Seminar photo page ....... 18-19 Off the Record. Younger Paradise lost ................. 23 Gruenstein goes south Bar presidents' conference ...... 23 News of proceedings 7lbrt reform ............... 24-26 Opinion. facts, reprints Fee arbitration ................ 26 Rules restated Bar Foundation ............... 28 Thanks and news Fast track rule ................ 32 New rule on record J. B. Dell strikes again .......... 34 More on settlements Columns President's cI.,mn ........... 2 Movie Mouthpiece ........... 5 All My Mials .... ............ 6 IPoshuts ................... 21 pm M wood6

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