The WALL
 Michigan lifer masters mathematics, Braille transcribing
Ramon
Cobos is a 49-year-old Michigan prisoner serving two life sentences
(running concurrently) for a violation of State drug laws. He's
been in prison for nearly 17 years, but despite such restrictions,
he's achieved national notoriety and great respect for developing
a skill as Braille transcriber of mathematics.
Cobos was born in Cuba, earned a mechanical/metallurgical
engineering degree and held a responsible position in a government
laboratory before fleeing the island and seeking asylum in the
United States. Unable to speak and write English with sufficient
fluency to be employed as an engineer, he found a job as an unskilled
factory laborer at Michigan Casting Corporation in Romeo, Michigan.
Cobos married Vicki Earl in 1987. During
her pregnancy in 1988, Cobos was injured in an industrial accident
and could not work. With only $268 dedicated to them every two
weeks from State unemployment compensation, desperation set in
and everything got worse.
It seems clear that language barriers from
the start set the limits and prospects for Cobos' eventual arrest.
A friend named Ken was trying to help Ramon find paying work
where speaking English properly wouldn't be an automatic bar
to being hired, and he did. But this was, apparently, a twisty
job interview involving unlikely co-workers.
According to Cobos, "Undercover police
officers, using an informant, and posing as Mafia figures Tony
Tocco and his body guard, used threats to me and my family that
persuaded, intimidated and convinced me to deliver cocaine."
Although there was no money exchanged for the delivery of more
than 650 grams of cocaine, Cobos was arrested, tried, found guilty
and in 1989 sentenced to life in prison under authority of Michigan's
harsh drug laws. One of his similarly-situated codefendants,
Kenneth Smith, was paroled six years ago.
Accomplishments in custody
Early in his sentence Cobos educated himself
in English. After working for a couple years as a clerk and shoe-factory
mechanic, he began full-time work in 1991 as a Braille transcriber-trainee.
He completed the transcription course and was certified as a
literary Braillist on December 30, 1993 by The Library of Congress
in Washington, DC.
For the next two years he transcribed literary
textbooks in history, language arts, and reading. Cobos then
completed the Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics and Science
Notation course, equivalent to a post-graduate level degree-and
was certified as a Nemeth Braillist on December 2, 1995 by the
Library of Congress.
The more advanced Braille language is required
for transcription of algebra, calculus, chemistry and other mathematics
and science textbooks. Cobos became a teacher in Braille literature
and mathematics for other prisoners.
Ramon Martinez Cobos is one of only a handful
of Braillists available in the US for the most complex transcriptions.
For instance, Cobos fulfilled a request by the QUALCOMM Corporation
of San Diego for the transcriptions of advanced computer code
used by visually impaired employees in the development of their
sophisticated communications technology. He's also transcribed
maps for the Michigan Transit Authority to provide maps of bus
routes in Braille to blind citizens.
Cobos has also transcribed documents in
Braille for the Michigan Supreme Court concerning the Michigan
Handicapper Civil Rights Act. In 1997 he began working full-time
as a volunteer at Prison Legal Services of Michigan, Inc. (PLSM).
He became an (in-prison) assistant to the staff attorney, transcribed
Court Orders, lettersfrom PLSM staff to non-English-speaking
people and visually impaired prisoners.
Arguably, Ramon Cobos exemplifies a useful
model of human development by doing what he's done under very
inhumane conditions of a life sentence in prison. By learning
English, Ramon became valuable as a translator and has often
served these needs of Hispanic prisoners over the years.
He's been a member of the Hispanic Americans
Striving for Advancement (HASTA), National Association for Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP), and from 1993 through 2000 was a member
of the National Lifers Association. Currently, he is a member
of the prestigious National Braille Association.
In 1994 he became a plaintiff in the Cain,
et.al. v. Michigan Department of Corrections class action case.
Plaintiffs presented a cause of action dealing with prisoners'
personal property rights, access to the courts, classification,
and the illegal tax on the prisoners' families when accepting
collect calls from correctional facilities. Cobos continues to
keep the Cain suit alive in court, and in 1995 was appointed
as a Member of the Board of Directors of Prison Legal Services
of Michigan.
Despite being imprisoned for nearly 17
years, Ramon Cobos has maintained a positive relationship with
his 16-year-old daughter. Mr. Cobos welcomes correspondence with
interested writers.
(Editor's note: On March 18, 2004 the Michigan
Parole Board decided it had "no interest" in taking
action on the eligibility of Ramon Cobos for parole. Mr. Cobos
must now wait until August 2008 for another chance to be paroled.
Despite the Board members' disinterest, others were not, including
former Michigan Governor William G. Milliken, who submitted paperwork
to the Parole Board urging action to release Cobos.
The Cobos' case illustrates why parole
boards must be observed and evaluated by community organizations
and individuals who can do an honest and open job of assessing
eligible prisoners. Surely it's time for parole boards to fully
explain in writing why a decision was made for release, or not.)
 Write to Ramon at:
Ramon Martinez Cobos #200306
Michigan Department of Corrections
G. Robert Cotton CF
3500 North Elm Road
Jackson, Michigan 49201
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