Save Iron Thunderhorse

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TO KEEP IRON THUNDERHORSE ALIVE!
September 16, 2005

Wonkum (Greetings) friends and family,

Arumshemocke (Thank you kindly) for all of your letters and emails, faxes and telephone calls, on Iron's behalf and your correspondence to Iron. Thanks to you, Iron is still alive. THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS!

Although Iron is still in excruciating pain from his eyes and his right arm and shoulder, he continues to read and write by using two magnifiers to enable him to see. He holds the magnifier in one hand and writes or holds reading material in the other hand.

By doing this, he is able to continue to pursue his civil suit in federal court, to gather and submit evidence, and to respond in a timely manner to every court order and every attack by the Attorney General's office. Considering the mail interference between Iron and me and the severely restricted postage permitted Iron, this is nothing short of a miracle. Apparently, at least for the time being, our request for an FBI investigation seems to have stopped TDCJ's interference with legal mail to the court.

NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS.

1. Assistant Warden XXXXX XXXXXXXX refuses to permit Iron to purchase a pair of reading glasses and sun glasses at commissary to reduce the excruciating pain in his eyes resulting from the deliberate destruction of Iron's glasses and UV shields during the ranking officers' premeditated attack on Iron June 7, 2005.

2. Warden XXXXX also refuses to permit me to purchase prescription glasses for Iron and refuses to expedite the November optometrist appointment and the lengthy delay after that in obtaining glasses to replace those destroyed by his ranking officers.

3. Warden XXXXX also refuses to permit Iron to purchase enough postage stamps to deal with his legal mail - since Iron must write large in order to see what he is writing because of the destruction of his glasses and the refusal of Warden XXXXX to permit Iron to have his typewriter.

4. The wardens (perhaps XXXXX) refuse to permit mail from and visits by Native American spiritual advisors who write or ask to see Iron.

5. The wardens continue to limit my visits to twice per month and, since mail between Iron and myself is being delayed (apparently when it is legal mail), this, too, hinders the legal work. I do research for the case and the copying necessary to send copies of evidence, etc. to the court and the AG.

6. In August some guards tormented a mentally ill inmate in the cell next to Iron until the man threw excrement at them. The man was too mentally ill to bathe or be sanitary, apparently from drug abuse, and is quite probably infected with one or more of the virulent diseases running rampant in TDCJ prisons (HIV, hepatitis, etc.). The excrement thrown by the tormented man accidentally hit Iron in the right eye. He requested medical help. The nurse asked, "Was there any blood in it?" Iron replied, "Ma'am, I am blind. I could not see." The nurse told Iron, "Well, if you couldn't see any blood, there is nothing I can do." So no check was made about communicable diseases, such as would have been a matter of urgency had a guard been hit in the face by excrement.

7. We received an email from XXXXX in England, with copies of emails from Amnesty International in which AI said, "We are aware of the Iron Thunderhorse case and received the information you sent us from a number of people.... Unfortunately, as an volunteer-based human rights organization, our resources are limited and we are therefore rarely able to take on individual cases, but we monitor all prison abuse cases and the information helps us to document patterns of abuse.... Therefore, we would like to encourage you to take action and write to the prison and let them know that you disapprove of the way they treat Iron Thunderhorse.... Very often, public pressure helps improve the way inmates are treated." XXXXX'x friend wrote back, "may I add my concern to hers for the unsympathetic attitude displayed by Amnesty International! If you cannot intervene on this mans behalf who in Gods name can?" Same reply as before from AI. THERE IS NO PLACE TO TURN FOR HELP WHEN PRISONERS ARE ABUSED. Texas ACLU told me virtually the same thing. TDCJ HAS ENORMOUS POWER AND TREMENDOUS FINANCIAL AND POLITICAL RESOURCES. Which probably accounts for the next bad news.

The Texas legal help promised by XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX in New York totally fell through. Ms. XXXXXXXXXX, who promised to visit Iron the second week in August, finally responded to my email about a week ago and said that she was too busy with another client when she visited Polunsky that week and all her friends are too busy to help Iron. She gave me a name from the Houston Bar Association list of a woman who MIGHT be able to help, but she had not made any inquiries or recommendations or forwarded any background information on Iron's case. In other words, it's just back to square one for us.

The "good ole boys" network strikes again, evidently, or tackling the gigantic TDCJ network of malingering evasive people, secret files, inaccurate and deliberately false information, plus their ability to finance legal action indefinitely is just too much for Ms. XXXXXXXX'x friends to tackle. This is the reason given by Advocacy, Inc. in their refusal to get involved legally on behalf of those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act who are being abused in TDCJ.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR MY HUSBAND'S HEALTH AND SAFETY AND CONTINUE TO WRITE TO THE WARDENS AND OMBUDSMAN'S OFFICE AND OFFICE OF PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS AND TDCJ EXECUTIVE BRAD LIVINGSTON AND TX GOVERNOR RICK PERRY AND TX LEGISLATORS PLUS SENATORS IN WASHINGTON, DC, AND ANYONE AND EVERYONE YOU CAN THINK OF TO HELP KEEP MY HUSBAND ALIVE. THE POWER OF PUBLIC OPINION IS APPARENTLY ALL WE HAVE RIGHT NOW TO KEEP MY BELOVED HUSBAND,IRON THUNDERHORSE, ALIVE.

I have recently written to the Native American Rights Fund to request legal help with the religious suit. The Texas Native American spiritual advisor, who has tried unsuccessfully to visit Iron, tells us that the Native Americans in Texas are uniting to try to undo some of the damage done by Chaplain XXXX (one of the defendants in Iron's lawsuit). The lawsuit that Iron has filed will benefit every Native American incarcerated in Texas and, although no figures are available because of TDCJ's lack of recognition of any racial group except white, black, and Hispanic, there must be at least 15,000 Native Americans incarcerated in TDCJ.

If you would also write to the NARF to urge their participation, the address is:
Litigation Management Committee,
Native American Rights Fund,
1506 Broadway,
Boulder CO 90302.

Although they cannot intervene on an individual's behalf due to their limited funds, they could intervene to help with Iron's case (in case TDCJ succeeds in totally blinding Iron) and thus ensure relief for about 15,000 incarcerated Native Americans. Although someone else could file another class action suit on their behalf, this suit is already in progress and almost ready for trial (probably by January).

Please write to Assistant Warden Billy Hirsch in
regard to Iron's safety and welfare as outlined above and let him know that you care about Iron and ask him to do what's right. Be sure to include Iron's TDCJ ID#624391.

Assistant Warden Billy Hirsch
Polunsky Unit
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston, TX 77351

Iron and I prepared a list of legislators to contact and I will attempt to attach a copy of that list to this email.

I had waited to update everybody when we found out about the lawyers and requests to Warden Hirsch. It now appears that there is no recourse at this point. I met an attorney in CA who works for Death Row inmates and, since Iron's life is in danger even though he does not have a death sentence, he might be willing to help. Whether or not he could do so pro bono from CA is another question. PLEASE PRAY FOR GUIDANCE AND WISDOM.

Although the price Iron has had to pay is astronomical in terms of suffering and pain, he feels that this fight for justice is worth the cost. PLEASE SUPPORT HIM AND HELP KEEP HIM ALIVE.

As XXXXX says in her emails, "I will keep on writing to everyone in authority who will listen - and a few who seem to be deaf and blind too!....if enough people complain and care, we CAN actually DO something!"

There is power in a people united. Freedom and justice are worth fighting for, so Iron and I will fight on and we hope that all of you will also continue to do so. Without your support, Iron would be dead by now. Without your continued support, Iron will not live to go to trial. WE NEED YOU AND WE APPRECIATE YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN EVER KNOW.

Wanishi,
Ruth "Little Owl" Thunderhorse

Wanishi (May your path be beautiful)!

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Following the Footprints of a Stone Giant: the Life and Times of Iron Thunderhorse