headline news

“Gardner was parole violator
Officials: Incidents didn’t merit prison”
Today’s headline in the Union-Tribune, talking about the suspect for the Chelsea King murder

Well, duh… aren’t they all? Is this news to anyone? I could go into a long diatribe about how the Union-Tribune doesn’t really have serious journalism, or that news in general isn’t news but rather another form of entertainment – but that’s enough.

The men who shot me were also out on parole. This is a story as old as the hills. I surely wasn’t the first, and Chelsea King’s story won’t be the last. And I wonder if anyone has done this research, but I would bet good money that almost all the people who commit the most serious of violence towards other people, are out on parole or at least have a prior record for something. It’s hard for me to imagine a grown man (or woman) springing fully into this world at that level without getting into trouble with the authorities at some point earlier in their lives. While there may be isolated incidences where the parole officers really did act inappropriately or unprofessionally or made bad judgments (and perhaps this is one of them, I have no idea), I believe what’s wrong with our society is a lot more complicated. And not being a social scientist, criminologist or psychologist – I have no idea how to fix it.

The men who shot me got 17 years for attempted murder. The woman involved got 5 years. I got my name in the headlines, just like Chelsea King, except that I was alive. For several days right after the shooting, there were pleas for donations of O- blood, my type, for they had deleted reserves on me and needed help replenishing them. Then after I survived the first few days, it was news of my progress. A week later the news was of the capture of the criminals. Of course I heard about this later, in fact I was shielded from any knowledge that I was in the papers till much later. But my grandparents saved as many papers and clippings as they could get their hands on, and I still have them, now very yellowed.

The robbers went to jail – men with no money or a means to earn any. My parents were saddled with mounting hospital bills, and a daughter who was going to need modifications to their home, and they had no idea how much more medical care in the future I’d need, or other costs my disability might cause. The men responsible had no money to help pay for that stuff.

My parents, or more accurately my mother, sued the store I was shot in, and later tried to sue the parole board for letting these men run free. I say my mother, though both my parents’ names were on the suits, because of the two of them, Mom is more analytic, resourceful and more likely to get angry. If she feels something is wrong, and a benefit is due to her, she’ll fight for it. I say this with some pride, because it’s a trait I’ve either inherited or acquired from her. I am very similar – you know when you buy a toaster and you’re supposed to get a rebate in 6 weeks, and then it doesn’t show, so you call and get a recording to send every thing in again, and then it doesn’t show, but you persist again – well, my mother and I are the type who will eventually get that $20!

She felt something was due to me, after all, this incident wasn’t MY fault. The first suit was against Peasant Garb, for a reason that still seems petty to me. I can’t fault the shop for what happens. But apparently the back door of the storeroom we were all in was locked. So, if any of us had made a break for it, we wouldn’t have been able to get out. The shop settled out of court – which I’ve always seen as a gift, honestly, or perhaps a way to avoid more publicity – and I got $100,000, of which $30,000 or so went to the lawyer. Not much money to last a lifetime. It paid for a few years of college and grad school, and it covered the down payment for my first house, and then it was gone.

The second suit against the parole board was thrown out at a hearing as without foundation. It never made it to court. End of story. You can’t sue a parole board, or parole officer, for they are protected by law, or at least they were then in Pennsylvania. I believe the men who shot me had skipped parole meetings, and had violated parole in more ways than one, but I really can’t say the parole officers are at fault.

So, any extra money my disability has cost me has essentially come out of my pocket, or shall I say, my husbands’ pockets (married twice). Luckily my health is pretty good, actually if I didn’t have medical costs related to my disability, I’d have nearly nothing. And even more luckily my insurance has always been good, and most of my costs related to my disability have been covered. I do wonder though, if I should find myself alone, whether I’d be able to get insurance. My preexisting conditions make me uninsurable. (I vote for Obama’s health reform.)

I have several friends who are paras and quads, for all kinds of reasons – car accidents, diving accidents, sports injuries, victims of violence. Some are spinal cord injured (SCI) because of their own mistakes – like diving into a shallow pool. Some can point the finger at other people or companies, and are lucky enough that those folk had deep pockets or umbrella insurance – car manufacturers for example – and they got money in a settlement. This is great, and I’m happy for them.

I believe I have only one friend who was also a gunshot victim. Jane was in a 7-eleven when it was robbed. The gunman made her boyfriend lie down, and then had her lie on top of him, and then shot into her back. Her spine was shattered in several places, resulting in all kinds of problems besides SCI (unable to have kids for one). Her boyfriend walked away almost uninjured, and dumped her right after the shooting. Her situation was even worse than mine, no money settlement at all. And when I knew her, she worked very few hours making little pay, because if she earned too much she’d lose social security disability and medicare or medicaid. I’ve known people who didn’t marry, though they had long term relationships, because that would disqualify them for benefits. You do what you have to, to work the system.

And then one day the frame of Jane’s wheelchair broke while she was sitting in it, and she fell over backwards. She broke her knee, and had other injuries, but the knee was the biggest problem. It caused a blood clot behind the knee cap and now she’s got long term consequences. She has to take Coumadin for the rest of her life for one thing. But she could point her finger at the wheelchair manufacturer, and this time she got money from someone. It was put in a trust for medical related expenses, so it wouldn’t increase her income, and hurt her benefits. Plus they bought her a new chair, car and condo. So, in one person, you see both sides. While she couldn’t have access to the money outright, it did give her some piece of mind.

I’ve talked all over the place today, but essentially all I’ve talked about is responsibility and consequences. I feel for Chelsea King’s family, I really do. I am sure they would prefer that their daughter were injured and alive rather than dead. The man who raped and murdered her deserves a severe punishment. I hope they’ve caught the right man. But it isn’t the parole office, or the fact she was out alone, or anyone else’s fault, other than the man who hurt her, or if you want to look large – it was our sick society. No matter what he does, or how much he’s punished, there’s no way a true reparation will be made. And one day, it’s possible he’ll be out on parole again, and Chelsea will still be dead, and her family will always miss her.

For me, it was 2 men and 1 woman, tried and convicted, who have served their punishment. It certainly wasn’t my fault I was shot. And because I didn’t die, I continue to carry the costs of someone else’s mistakes. I support the institution of funds for victims of violent crime, in the few places that set these up, but rarely do these funds last long. I think as a society we could really do better.