BY NORTON SANDLER
DES MOINES, Iowa-"Since December, Mark Curtis, an inmate
at your institution, has written three articles for
publication in our newspaper and posted them to be mailed to
us. None of the three articles has made it out of the prison
mail system. There can be no justification for these repeated
violations of freedom of speech and freedom of the press
guaranteed in the U.S. constitution," Militant editor Steve
Clark wrote in a letter to Gerardo Acevedo, warden at the Iowa
State Penitentiary in Ft. Madison. "We demand the immediate
release of these articles and the end to any further such
actions."
Curtis was framed-up and convicted on charges of attempted rape and burglary and has served seven and half years in prison. At the time of his arrest, Curtis, a socialist and trade unionist was involved in a struggle in defense of immigrant coworkers at the Swift (now Monfort) meatpacking plant in Des Moines.
Iowa authorities granted Curtis parole to Illinois on November 21-three and a half months ago. Illinois officials, however, denied his parole application claiming Curtis does not have sufficient "family ties" to the state. Curtis and his companion of more than a decade Kate Kaku who lives in Chicago are organizing to formalize their marriage and Curtis is planning to reapply for parole to that state.
In the meantime, Iowa prison officials have withheld from the mail three articles Curtis wrote for the Militant. Since his incarceration in 1988 Curtis has been a frequent contributor to the paper and beginning in 1995 he has written a regular column, "From Behind Prison Walls."
The first of the articles suppressed by prison authorities, which Curtis mailed in late December, reported on the positive reaction Curtis received from other inmates to his winning parole.
The second, sent in early January, commented on the explosion in the hiring of prison guards across the United States and on an assembly of inmates in the exercise yard at the Fort Madison penitentiary in response to the Iowa Department of Corrections abruptly imposing a "no smoking" ban in the cellhouses.
In early February, Curtis sent a third column, this time a compilation of excerpts from the numerous letters he receives in prison. He is now preparing a fourth column on discussions with fellow inmates on the U.S. government's decision to tighten its economic embargo of Cuba, following the downing of two aircraft that had invaded that country's air space by the Cuban air force.
Curtis's attorney, William Kutmus, contacted prison officials on March 1 requesting information on why his articles were being detained. He was told by a deputy warden that there was no censorship order or policy concerning Curtis.
The Mark Curtis Defense Committee (MCDC) is urging supporters to write the warden protesting the prison's unprecedented attempt to prevent Curtis's voice from being heard. Protest letters can be addressed to: Gerardo Acevedo, Warden, ISP, Box 316, Ft. Madison, IA 52627. Fax (319) 372- 6967.
The defense committee urges that copies of such letters be sent to its international center at P.O. Box 477419, Chicago, Illinois, 60647-7419.
Supporters of the Curtis defense committee in Illinois are also organizing to get messages to state officials there protesting the denial of Curtis's parole application.
Curtis supporters are stepping up activities in defense of the imprisoned trade unionist. Defense committee leader Hazel Zimmerman attended a March 1-2 conference of the Association in Defense of the Wrongly Convicted in Toronto. She reported in a phone interview that there was interest among numerous participants in Curtis's fight. Among those Zimmerman spoke with was Larry Marshall, the lead attorney for Rolando Cruz who was recently acquitted in a third trial after cops admitted they had lied in his previous trials. Cruz spent 12 years on death row in Illinois.
"The focus of the meeting was on those convicted and facing the death penalty," Zimmerman explained. "The thing that struck me that is connected to Mark's case is how the dice in criminal cases are loaded against the accused. The public and juries are inclined to believe that if someone is arrested and brought to trial they must be guilty. Prosecutor's careers don't depend on achieving justice, they depend on a high rate of convictions," emphasized Zimmerman.
Curtis reports that the volume of letters he receives daily has increased. The defense committee is urging supporters to write to him: Mark Curtis 80533, Box 316, Ft. Madison, IA 52627.