<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18975">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=4>Take Action for Victor Valdez!</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>On November 19th, 2009, Maine State Prison inmate Victor Valdez was placed
in the Supermax, the prison's extreme punishment unit, after allegedly
disobeying orders. Members of the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition began
receiving mail from other prisoners alerting us that Valdez, a 52 year old
immigrant from the Dominican Republic with serious medical issues, was being
abused by guards. </DIV>
<DIV><EM>(See A Prison Obituary: The Tragedy of Victor Valdez by Lance Tapley
for more information -</EM><A
href="http://portland.thephoenix.com/news/105972-prison-obituary-the-tragedy"
target=_blank>http://portland.thephoenix.com/news/105972-prison-obituary-the-tragedy</A>)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> These letters described physical beatings and severe medical
neglect. Advocates alerted prison officials but no action was taken.
On November 27th Victor Valdez was dead. No autopsy was performed and his
body was quickly cremated.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> M-PAC members pressed for an investigation into Victor's death. On
October 28th, almost a year later, Deputy Attorney General William Stokes
released his decision - clearing the guards and prison officials of any
responsibility.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>Join members of the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, human rights
observers from throughout the state, and members of Victor's community in
presenting Maine Commissioner of Corrections Martin Magnusson and his
staff with a "Peoples Indictment" for their complicity in Victor's
death.</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV>On Wednesday, November 17th at 10:30a supporters will meet at
the Welcome Center of the State House Complex to hand deliver the
indictment and to make a public call for a federal civil rights
investigation into the death of Victor Valdez.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Call 570-815-9650 for directions and additional information.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>See you there.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition (M-PAC)</DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.maineprisoneradvocacy.org/"
target=_blank>www.maineprisoneradvocacy.org</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>Please forward widely!----------------------------------Please
forward widely!-------------------------------</STRONG></DIV>
<P><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT></P></BODY></HTML>