BY JOHN STUDER
DES MOINES, Iowa - "Please be advised that you have been approved to attend the Parole Board interview for Mark Curtis #805338 scheduled for 11/21/95. You need to be at the Iowa State Penitentiary by 8:30 a.m. for maximum security inmates," reads a letter Debbie Nichols, Public Services Supervisor for the Iowa State Penitentiary, sent to those who Curtis has asked to attend his upcoming parole hearing.
Curtis, a union and political activist convicted on frame-up charges of rape and burglary in 1988, has been in prison in Iowa for over seven years. More than 300 letters have been sent to the Iowa Board of Parole in the last two months urging that the board grant his release. Dozens of the letters have come from unionists, political activists and supporters of political rights in Iowa.
Three years ago the Iowa state legislature adopted a law abolishing prisoners' rights to an annual meeting with the parole board. Since then, the board had refused to meet with Curtis until this fall.
"The decision to grant Mark a parole hearing reflects the fact that they are feeling the pressure," said Hazel Zimmerman, defense committee secretary-treasurer. "It marks a real turning point in the fight for Mark's freedom. They have opened the process that will ultimately result in his getting out. We need to take advantage of this opportunity to reach out and broaden support for his release."
The refusal by the prison authorities to grant Curtis a hearing or to consider releasing him has made more and more people question whether there are political reasons behind his continuing imprisonment, Zimmerman said.
In addition, revelations about police racism, frame-ups, and brutality-such as the tapes exposing Los Angeles cop Mark Fuhrman in the course of the O.J. Simpson trial-have widened doubt about Curtis's conviction, which was based on the testimony of a Des Moines cop who had been suspended from the force previously for lying and brutality.
Under Iowa State Penitentiary regulations, Curtis is entitled to have nine people sit in on his hearing to show their support. Curtis has submitted the names of Jane Curtis, his mother; Kate Kaku, his wife; Frankie Travis, a unionist locked out by A.E. Staley in Decatur, Illinois; Kitty Loepker, a steelworker at the Granite City Steel company in Granite City, Illinois; Larry Ginter, a family farmer from Rhodes, Iowa; William Kutmus, Curtis's attorney; William Taylor, President of Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers local 7-507 in Chicago, who has written to the board offering to help find Curtis work when he is paroled; and John Studer and Hazel Zimmerman, the officers of the Mark Curtis Defense Committee.
In addition, under Iowa law the Department of Corrections contacts Keith and Denise Morris, the parents of the young woman Curtis was framed up for allegedly attempting to rape, and invites them to attend and speak at the hearing. They have attended every previous hearing the board has allowed, to aid parole and prison officials in arguing against Curtis's release.
The Mark Curtis Defense Committee is urging supporters to gather letters from political figures, union representatives, and others urging the parole board to free Curtis. Such letters are continuing to come into the committee's office for delivery to the board.
"Why don't you parole Mark Curtis?" writes L.W. Martin, a farmer and activist in the American Agriculture Movement from Hutchinson, Kansas. "I have followed the case for years and believe he was framed and should be compensated for the injustice."
"As a member of the United Mine Workers of America I am all too familiar with the victimization of union activists," writes Libby Lindsay, from UMWA district 17 in West Virginia. "I have followed Mark's case from the beginning and firmly believe him innocent. Guilt or innocence aside, Mr. Curtis has more than met all conditions for parole and there is no justification for his continued imprisonment. His immediate release would be the closest thing to justice in this entire case."
Another letter came from Roger Warren, a gold miner in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Warren was himself framed up by the police and railroaded to prison following a bitter struggle against Royal Oak Mines. He is now in jail at Stony Mountain Institution in Manitoba.
"The facts are that Mr. Curtis is a model prisoner, from all reports, and has used his time constructively," writes Warren. "The further argument for his release is that he has served more time than would be usual under these circumstances."
To send a letter to the parole board supporting Curtis's freedom, address it to the Iowa State Board of Parole and mail it to the Mark Curtis Defense Committee, Box 1048, Des Moines, Iowa, 50311. Tel: (515) 246-1695. The Committee will deliver your letter to the board.