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 I can't believe
I'm really home
By Amy Ralston (Pofahl)
(Editor's note: Amy Ralston had been
in federal prison since 1991 serving 24 years on a conviction
involving her husband's international trade in MDMA (ecstasy).
Amy helped her estranged husband before his trial, but then the
US government agents attempted to intimidate her into cooperating
with their investigation. Amy refused to plea bargain or give
information she didn't have. Her husband received a six-year
sentence in Germany and served only four years in custody. Amy
developed considerable public support nationwide which culminated
in the success of her clemency petition to President Clinton,
and he ordered her released this last summer after spending almost
ten years behind prison walls.)
The sun shines through the bedroom window
as I lay across a big, queen-sized bed, in my own room, surrounded
by love, and for the first time in over nine years it's NOT a
dream. There have been times since my release when a shock of
fear ran down my spine, like when I'm ironing or hugging mom.
It crosses my mind then that I may wake up and find myself in
a three-man room at FCI Dublin where I dreamed of being where
I am now. It tweaks me to think how it might not have happened,
how easily events could be different.
However, I'm living proof that it can happen.
Everyone who knows me from prison can say that I never gave
up. I refused to accept my sentence or become "institutionalized"
by buying into the theory that "I can't change things...I'm
just one person...it's impossible to fight the system."
Some inmates even called me "obsessed." Well, maybe
more of us should become obsessed with fighting for what is rightfully
ours.
It never sounded corny to me to be fighting
for my freedom. I identified with our colonial forefathers who
fought for freedoms now trashed by our government. Now that
I'm free I say it was worth every grueling minute spent in the
law library on that archaic typewriter with the broken corrector
ribbon and no air conditioning. I do regret leaving so many wonderful
women behind who also deserve to be free. To you - Leslie, Olga,
Dana, Scarlett, TC, Chin, Anita, Connie, Sylvia, Stephanie, Vicki,
Karen, Angie, Jose, Natasha, Penny, Fatimah, Grace, Linda, Danielle
and Mary - I say, "Have faith, these times they are a changing."
The drug war is losing energy. Do you notice the lack of inflammatory
rhetoric about crime and drugs in the presidential race this
year?
 Media celebrities
Walter Cronkite and Peter Jennings have weighed in consistently
with criticism of a lost battle costly in more ways than just
dollars and cents. Geraldo, Court TV, Meet the Press, Nightline,
Montel Williams, 20/20, 60 Minutes, Frontline, Dateline - all
the major networks, in some form or fashion, have featured stories
devoted to drug war victims and the social failure of this costly
war. Interestingly, in the late 1980s all the major networks
were airing shows to justify the war on drugs. Fear mongering
of "crack" cocaine fired the headlines on a daily basis
in major urban areas. Now, years later, we have learned about
the CIA managing shipments of "crack" to South Los
Angeles.
My case has literally enlightened the entire
town of Charleston, Arkansas: my home, a conservative place that
does not approve of any illegal drugs or drug dealing. I suppose
it's because I grew up in a small community that my case has
been on the tongues of all the locals ever since the Glamour
magazine article was published in May 1999. The local paper
became my champion, urging all the townspeople to turn out publicly
and sign a petition supporting my clemency petition to President
Clinton. My parents were shocked when people showed up in droves,
producing almost 800 signatures. If we can turn a town around,
can we now turn a nation around?
So what do I think it will take to end finally
the drug war mentality?
Fundamentally, it takes participation, dedication,
effort, unity, and a rejection of the philosophy that it can't
be done. There are certain specific things that absolutely MUST
be done, and here are some of my ideas:
We absolutely must enlist our family members
by educating them to participate. Each one of us is linked to
a large reserve of family and friends who frequently say, "Let
me know if there is anything I can do." Getting to know
your elected officials is a first step, a comfortable first place
for shy folks to begin.
Politicians must respond to contacts from
voters who tell them how this drug war is a bust, and that we
taxpayers want accountability for the billions wasted annually
fighting an unwinnable war. It only takes a minute to phone your
local congressional office to air one's frustration. We want
things to change, and so we must ask our family members daily
if they have fulfilled these requests - and keep asking until
they make it a priority.
From my own experience I've learned that people
typically feel as though it is hopeless to complain or question.
"I'm just one person," it's said. It helps to assure
the uncertain by telling them that prisoners across the nation
are asking their family members to carry out these simple tasks.
So let's unite in commitment and work on a countrywide remedy
since the mentality of the greater populace and the media stories
have become one. My personal freedom must become the social
freedom of the victimized drug war communities.
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