#oakalla prison

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"FEARS "BLACK HOLE": Sufferer from Claustrophobia Fights Term in Penitentiary," The Province (Vancouver). March 11, 1943. Page 10. ---- Claiming that his client, Kenneth Burns, 19, suffered from claustrophobia and an irresistible impulse to do away with himself when he is alone and under confinement, G. V. Pelton appealed to the Court of Appeal today for a reduction of one day in the two-year sentence imposed by Magistrate H. S. Wood. The prisoner would then serve his sentence in Oakalla Prison Farm instead of New Westminster Penitentiary.

Mr. Pelton stated that Burns would be more accessible to visitors in Oakalla and would be able to see his mother there.

He added there was a dark hole used for unruly prisoners in the penitentiary and that last year one young man, after emerging from the dark hole, hanged himself.

Montague Caple appeared for the crown. Judgment was reserved.

Burns was convicted of dealing with a forged cheque for $102 which had been issued by the Workman's Compensation Board. Mr. Justice Sloan pointed out that Canadian penal institutions are conducted with a view to the inmates receiving proper care and that doctors and psychiatrists are provided for them. [Not true in the later case].

Chief Justice McDonald announced that the convicted prisoner now has the choice of applying for leave to appeal from sentence to either a single judge or the full court. Heretofore all such applications have been heard by a single judge.

[recentlyheardcom]

A coalition of mostly House and Senate Democrats penned a letter to President Biden on Friday urging him to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted in the 1970s of fatally shooting two FBI agents at point-blank range.The Democrats – led by House Natural Resources Committee ranking member Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., and joined by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. – cast doubt on the circumstances under which Peltier was found guilty in 1977 of killing the two agents two years prior. The letter was sent ahead of Indigenous People's Day on Oct. 9. One House Republican has also signed on to the letter."As Members of Congress, we sign this letter with a deep commitment to the crucial role we play in upholding justice for all Americans – and to also hold our government accountable when we see a case of injustice, as demonstrated by the long incarceration of Leonard Peltier," the lawmakers wrote to Biden. " We stand with the Tribal Nations of the United States, Indigenous voices worldwide, and leading voices on human rights and criminal justice around the globe in support of Mr. Peltier’s release.""Over the course of his incarceration, particularly in recent years, key figures involved in Mr. Peltier’s prosecution have stepped forward to underscore the constitutional violations and prosecutorial misconduct that took place during the investigation and trial that led to his conviction," the letter continued.NEW YORK DEM'S CAPITOL HILL FIRE ALARM INCIDENT REFERRED TO FEDS FOR CHARGES SIMILAR TO JAN. 6 RIOTERSRep. Raul Grijalva led a coalition of 33 lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in sending the letter to President Biden on Friday.The Democratic lawmakers also noted in their letter to President Biden that Peltier is 79 years old, is suffering from numerous health issues, has been imprisoned for nearly five decades, and is currently being held in a high-security prison in Florida.READ ON THE FOX NEWS APPIn 1977, after a 25-day trial, Peltier was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences of murdering FBI Special Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams during a shootout in June 1975 at Jumping Bull Ranch located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.CONSERVATIVES CHEER BIDEN OMB DIRECTOR WARNING GOP CUTS COULD PURGE THOUSANDS OF FBI, ATF AGENTS: 'GOOD START'The two agents entered the reservation to arrest an individual wanted for burglary before they engaged in the shootout with several individuals, including Peltier. The agents were wounded by gunfire before they were ultimately murdered, the court found, by Peltier at point-blank range. Peltier fled after the shooting to Canada, where he was captured and extradited back to America to stand trial.While he, Democrats and various activist organizations have repeatedly claimed the trial was marked by lack of sufficient evidence proving he killed the agents, Peltier's conviction has been upheld several times on appeal, even after making its way to the U.S. Supreme Court on two occasions, in 1979 and 2004. The U.S. Parole Commission rejected Peltier's request for parole in 2009.Leonard Peltier is led across the Oakalla prison exercise yard to a waiting helicopter after being deported from Canada to face charges of murdering two FBI agents."We in the Federal Bureau of Investigation vehemently oppose granting Mr. Peltier parole," former FBI Executive Assistant Director Thomas Harrington remarked in a statement during the parole proceedings."The intentional and vicious attack by Mr. Peltier was not simply a blatant attack on two FBI special agents; it was an attack on law enforcement as a whole – an attack on the rule of law," Harrington said. "The inevitable haziness brought on by the passage of time does not diminish the brutality of the crimes or the lifelong torment to the surviving families.

"And the FBI Agents Association (FBIAA), a professional association that mainly represents active FBI special agents, has repeatedly argued against granting Peltier clemency. As part of that effort, the group penned a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland in late 2021, stating the facts of the case and expressing concern that advocates are "working to mislead the public, the Department of Justice, and the White House.""The FBI Agents Association strongly opposed executive clemency for Leonard Peltier," FBIAA President Natalie Bara told Fox News Digital in a statement Friday. "Activists sympathetic to Peltier continue to mislead elected officials and the public in order to secure an early release for this unremorseful murderer of FBI Special Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams.""FBIAA will continue to counter these efforts, and we stand with the entire FBI family in our determination to ensure that Peltier serves his full sentence."In addition to Grijalva, Jayapal, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders, Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ted Lieu, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush and Ilhan Omar also signed the letter. A single Republican, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, has also signed the letter.The White House did not respond to a request for comment.Original article source: Democrats call on Biden to release Leonard Peltier, activist who fatally shot two FBI agents

[paperhound]

We’ll admit we came for the barely discernible mastheads and compelling headlines (“Glamorous Granny who Defends Sex Criminals!”, “Marbles Ain’t for Killers, Lady”, “I Was a Commie Sex-Bomb!”), but stayed for “WE’LL SLIT YOUR THROAT: TERROR IN A PRISON BARBER SHOP”, seven pages of “it-happened-to-me” local newspaper history by Vancouver Province editor Bruce Larsen. At Oakalla Prison Farm in May 1956, three convicts, convinced they were given an unfair trial, held a straight-razor to a guard’s throat for six hours and demanded an audience with Larsen. They negotiated to release the hostage in exchange for an article outlining their “beef” to be printed in a special evening edition of the Province. The first such special edition to go to press since the Second World War, the newspaper hit the streets at 9pm with the headline “THIS STORY FOR A LIFE!” in two and a half inch black type. In an odd coda to the main article, Real Detective mentions that Province publisher Ross Munro fed Larsen amphetamines so that he could stay awake for 48 hours in order to churn out multiple articles on his remarkable experience, because as they say in the tabloid parlance: “What a scoop!”

[vancouvertrueborns]

Could one of these turbaned gents crossing Granville and Hastings in 1908 be the controversial Baboo Singh? The Nameless Collective, which does deep dive podcasts on Vancouver Indo-Canadian history, playfully suggests that he was one of these dapper dudes, or, as they put it, one of the original Beeba Boys.

Baboo came to Canada from the Punjab and worked for immigration officials, supplying them with information about political activists. This did not endear him to Ghadr Party supporters in Vancouver who were pushing to overthrow British rule in India. Baboo was also a dodgy businessman, accused of a weapons offense, pocketing somebody else’s money transfer and passing a bad cheque.  

One of Baboo’s lesser known achievements is that he opened the first Indo-Canadian business on a South Van strip, which, 58 years later, became the Punjabi Market.

City directories list Baboo’s Singh Realty Company at Main and 47th in 1912. Perhaps he had a little store front like Enterprise Realty had on Main near 49th in the 1910s. (Sign retouched for emphasis.) Newspaper ads show that Baboo was busy trying to sell cleared lots in the growing suburb. In 1915, he was convicted of forging a signature on a deed and sentenced to a year at Oakalla prison. It is believed that he returned to India after his release.

Today, Sucha Singh Claire (pictured in front of Nurmahal Fashions) is credited with starting the ethnic shopping strip at 49th and Main. He opened Shan Sharees and Drapery there in 1970. The 83-year-old retired merchant still lives in the neighbourhood and the Punjabi Market turned 50 in 2020.

Sucha Singh Claire photo by Christopher Cheung. B & W pics from City of Vancouver Archives.

[narcbrain]

Inside B.C. Jails: Former inmates and their relatives speak out

Inside B.C. Jails: Former inmates and their relatives speak out

Back in 1986, when he was 21 years old, Errol Patrick Johnson was sent to Oakalla to serve his first jail sentence. He remembers the prison as a cold “dungeon” with large enough holes in the windows for pigeons to fly in and out.

“Oakalla was a pretty scary place. And that was kind of where I grew up,” said Johnson, now 55 and living in the Lower Mainland.

“And I grew up fast.”

Johnson is one…

[rebeccahpedersen]

Man raped by inmates during ‘scared straight’ prison tour awarded $175K from B.C. gov’t

The victim was just a teenager when he was forced to visit Burnaby’s Oakalla Prison in the late 1970s.

Original Story: https://ift.tt/2KWnC5R

from Blogger https://ift.tt/2Egwx1t

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

""No Ill Treatment": Prison Charge "Ridiculous,' Warden Claims," The Province (Vancouver). March 13, 1943. Page 3. ---- NEW WESTMINSTER, March 13. - "It is a ridiculous statement," declared Col. William Meighen, warden of the B. C. penitentiary, in answer to allegations made Thursday in Court of Appeal by J. V. Pelton, Vancouver barrister.

Pelton criticized treatment of prisoners in the institution when he asked that his client, Kenneth Burns, 19, be sent to Oakalla prison instead of the penitentiary. He claimed a young man hanged himself after being confined to the "black hole" at the penitentiary.

One man did hang himself in the penitentiary, said Col. Meighen, but it had nothing to do with the treatment given him and no reason for his act could be ascertained at the inquest. It was the first occurrence of its kind in 20 years.

Col. Meighen pointed out in contrast to alleged cases of ill treatment he had received numerous letters of thanks and commendation from ex-prisoners or their relatives for the treatment that had been accorded inmates.

Burns won his plea and his sentence was reduced from two years to two years less a day to permit him to be sent to Oakalla.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"SLAYERS Held In OAKALLA," Vancouver Sun. July 3, 1934. Page 1 & 2. --- INDIANS ARE FOUND GUILTY ---- EXECUTION DATE SET --- Arrival in Vancouver Sunday of the three Indian brothers condemned to die on the gallows on October 26 for the murder of Dominion Constable Frank Gisborne, was marked by the traditional stoicism of their race. They are Eneas, Richardson and Alex George.

Under heavy guard, they were taken to Oakalla Prison Farm to await their execution.

A fourth brother, Joseph George, still is at Oakalla also charged with the slaying. Joseph was wounded in the melee at Canford Reserve near Merritt on May 23 and has been un- der medical supervision in Vancouver for some time in an endeavor to ascertain whether his deafness is likely to be permanent.

THE VERDICT The three Indian brothers, Richardson, Eneas and Alex George, were found guilty at Vernon on Saturday night of the murder of Dominion Indian Department Constable F. H. Gisborne and were sentenced by Mr. Justice Denis Murphy to hang on October 26.

Gisborne and British Columbia Police Constable Percy Carr were slain on May 23 at Canford Reserve, near Merritt, when they went to apprehend Eneas in Alex George connection with the stabbing of his wife.

According to testimony the bodies of both were thrown into the Nicola river, but only that of Gisborne has been found. Gisborne was battered to death, while, according to witnesses, Carr was still groaning when he disappeared into the fast-running stream.

Alex, the younger brother, who, it is stated, is in an advanced stage of tuberculosis, seemed to deepen in pallor, but Richardson and Eneas displayed no emotion.

From the gallery, how ever, came a hushed cry as the aged mother-in-law of Richarson and Eneas heard the sentence. Her eyes streaming with tears, she later visited the trio in Richardson George the cells, took the hand of each through the heavy bars and, in soft Indian dialect, asked a blessing on them.

EXECUTION HERE Unless an appeal, which is expected, is successful, or executive clemency is shown, the mother-in-law and her husband must now care for the 10 children of Eneas and Richardson.

The execution is scheduled to take place in Oakalla prison, Vancouver.

Mrs. Carr wife of Constable Carr, who maintained a stoic calm while the story of the slaying of her husband and his fellow officer was unfolded in court, Eneas George let loose her repressed emotions after the verdict, and wept. She embraced one of the officers who has been working tirelessly in the investigation of her husband's death.

DEFENSE PLEA Mr. Justice Murphy gave a summing up lasting three hours. The defense called no witnesses. Stuart Henderson, chief defense counsel, pleaded for a reduced verdict and declared there "was not a shred" of evidence to show premeditation. He declared that if Gisborne's gun had not jammed in the fight which ended in the slayings, then he, and not the Indians, would be facing the charge of murder.

"I ask you gentlemen to put yourselves in the place of the Indians," he pleaded, "and see if you would have done anything different than they did when they were under the belief that their brother was dead and that their own lives were in peril."

(Joseph George, a fourth brother, suffered a fractured skull in the fatal fight.)

THE PROSECUTION Attorney General Gordon Sloan declared "Society in general and police officers in particular must be protected from those who would endanger human lives and the structure which society has erected for its own defense." He described the slaying as a cold-blooded murder of a peace officer in discharge of his duty, and asked the extreme penalty.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Xmas Day Means Welcome Break In Life Of Prisoners," Vancouver News Herald. December 25, 1933. Page 1. --- Hundreds of uniformed men who spend long periods of their lives behind concrete walls and iron bars, for one short day will break the monotony of their existence as Christmas comes to the two main penal institutions in British Columbia: the British Columbia Penitentiary at New Westminster, and Oakalla Prison Farm.

Behind the high white walls of the penitentiary, where long-term prisoners work and eat and sleep the years away; where they can meet visitors from the world outside only once a month; where the news of the day is not read or heard; where music and entertainment comes only at long intervals, the 400 prisoners within will enjoy a different day.

It will be a day free from the grind of work in the blacksmith shop, machine shop, carpenter, tailor, mall-bag shop or on hard labor outside the buildings.

The blue-uniformed Negroes, Chinese, Japanese, Indians and white men who each day of the year parade in the cell-block and are locked each night in their six-foot by 10-foot cells, will hear music, will have a day of rest and will have the extra treat of a special Christmas dinner.

The Salvation Army Band will give a concert in the big chapel during the day-the unique chapel in which Roman Catholics and Protestants sit back to back, each facing their own altar, but yet all in the same big room under the eyes of alert guards.

For dinner, the men will be given roast pork, as the main treat of the meal. They will also have cake. fruit and nuts, items which they seldom see during the year.

For the penitentiary men, however, one of the greatest treats will be the appearance in the cell blocks of several radios, over which they will be able to receive concerts during the day.

As a Christmas favor later in the week, the men will hear, on Wednesday, a concert given by the Home Gas Orchestra, under direction of Calvin Winter. At Oakalla, beef steaks will be provided in addition to roast pork, at the Christmas dinner, while the men will also be able to eat cake, apples, oranges and nuts. In addition, they will all be given extra supplies of pipe tobacco and cigarettes. They will be entertained by a concert party from Vancouver. Cigarettes are barred in the penitentiary, but regular allowances of pipe tobacco are given out.

For those men whom Society, through the long channels of police investigation, lower and higher courts, has put behind prison walls for periods ranging from a few weeks to "the rest of your natural life," the spirit of Christmas will come from the unknown, unseen world outside to bring a few hours of smiles and possibly happiness.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"YOUTHS GET STIFF TERMS," Victoria Daily Times. August 5, 1933. Page 1 & 2. ---- MacNaughton and Watkins Go to Penitentiary For Four Years on Drug Counts ---- Davies Given Three Months; Sentences Climax Series of Burglaries ---- James E. MacNaughton and William Watkins, two of the trio of youths charged by the police with perpetrating a series of burglaries here since the latter part of July, were each sentenced in the City Police Court by Magistrate Jay to four years in the penitentiary. along with a fine of $500. If the fines are not paid they will each spend an additional six months in the penitentiary.

The heavy sentence was imposed by the magistrate because their burglar- les of doctors' offices and a drug store had yielded them a large quantity of heroin, morphine and cocaine.

Detective Fearon Woodburn told the court before the magistrate passed sentence that MacNaughton had admitted he was a drug user, and that he had used some of the drugs that had been stolen here before the police captured them.

"The charge of having drugs such as morphine, cocaine and heroin in your case is aggravated by the fact of you having stolen them in large quanti- ties," said the magistrate to Mac- Naughton and Watkins,

For the burglaries of the Begg Motor Company, and the offices of Dr. M. J. Keys and Dr. Thomas McPherson, the magistrate imposed a sentence of four years. For the robbery of the grocery store of James Adam a sentence of three months was imposed. However. the two latter sentences of four years and three months will not add to the penitentiary term, as they are to run concurrently, the magistrate stipulated. This makes the total sentence four years and six months, if the $500 fines are not paid. DAVIES GETS HORT TERM To the third of the trio, Frank Davies, the magistrate handed a sentence of three months. He said that Davies had been proved guilty only on the charge in connection with the burglary of Adam's store, and as the value of the goods stolen was under $25 it was rated only as a minor offence with the penalty in proportion.

Detective Woodburn showed the court the quantity of high-powered narcotic drugs that had been found in the possession of the young men when the police at 2 o'clock in the morning invaded the house at 478 Earsman Street, in which they were staying.The collection included sixty-eight vials of these drugs in a case, four bottles of heroin, and various bottles of morphine tablets. These had been taken from the doctors' offices and from Jeanneret's drug store. Quantities of powders and vanity accessories in packages were among the drug store goods also found in the young men's possession.

Watkins at first pleaded not guilty. but on Friday changed his plea to guilty.

The police informed the court that $15 in cash was found in MacNaughton's pockets when he was searched. It was explained that 89 in cash had been taken from Jeanneret's drug store and $7.50 from Dr. McPherson's office. The magistrate ordered the cash recovered to be divided between the two as it was undoubtedly part of the cash stolen.

CAREER ENDS HERE The sentencing of the three here today climaxes the venture to the Coast upon which they set out a few weeks ago from Winnipeg, where they had associated at "Mike's" rooming house, and where MacNaughton admitted he had been convicted of thieving and was sentenced to two years.

MacNaughton, under examination by Prosecutor C. L. Harrison, told the court how the three had beaten their way to the Coast on freight trains, sending their suit cases and club bags ahead of them by express from town to town. They stopped at hotels in the various cities on the way across to Vancouver. When they reached Victoria they established themselves in the Earsman Street house of a sister of one of the trio, who had left town on a vacation. It was there that the detectives discovered the loot from the series of Victoria burglaries, following the capture of MacNaughton early last Sunday morning as he was leaving Dr. Keys's office by George Hawes and Stanley Weston, janitor at the Pemberton Building.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"4 YEARS FOR DOPE THEFT," Vancouver Sun. August 5, 1933. Page 22. ---- VICTORIA, Aug. 5. - James E. MacNaughton and William Watkins, two of a trio of youths charged with perpetrating a series of burglaries, were each sentenced today by Magistrate George Jay to four years in the penitentiary along with a fine of $500.

If the fines are not paid they will each serve an additional six months.

To the third of the trio, Frank Davies, the magistrate handed a sentence of three months.

The sentencing of the three here climaxes the venture to the coast upon which they set out a few weeks ago from Winnipeg, where they had associated and where MacNaughton admitted he had been convicted of thieving and was sentenced to two years.

The heavy sentence on MacNaughton and Watkins were imposed by the magistrate because their burglaries of doctors' offices and a drug store had yielded them a large quantity of heroin, morphine and cocaine. Premises robbed were the Begg Motor Co., the offices of Dr. M. T. Reys and Dr. Thomas MacPherson, and the Adams grocery.

Davies was convicted only of the grocery robbery.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"FOUR SENTENCED IN REWARD RACKET," The Province (Vancouver). August 28, 1933. Page 1. --- Charges of Retaining Stolen Car Heard in Police Court. ---- Five men arrested a week ago in connection with collection of rewards offered for stolen cars appeared before Police Magistrate W. M. McKay today.

Tommy Olsen and Joseph Meek were sentenced to three months each and Clarence Olsen and Chris Olsen to one month each. Alex Wasileff was dismissed.

The men were charged with retaining stolen property in connection with a car owned by H. W. Hicks, 756 West Fourteenth, which was stolen on July 15 and for which a reward was offered on August 8. The men were arrested on August 20 after police had traced a number of telephone calls regarding the reward.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Jailed 3 Months For Assault," Vancouver Sun. May 29, 1934. Page 2. ---- Three months from the date of his arrest, April 7, was the sentence imposed by Judge Lennox in County Court Monday afternoon on John Halford, 28, for assault committed, His Honor held, when the accused lost his temper.

The charge against Halford, who was represented by T. G. McLelan, arose out of a fracas at the Cascade Gravel Co. plant in North Vancouver District on April 7, when he was accused of causing actual bodily harm to Chris Lund.

Walter S. Owen conducted the prosecution.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"18 Months for Selling Army Discharge Form," Vancouver Sun. April 9, 1943. Page 13. --- A sentence of 18 months in jail with hard labor was imposed by Magistrate H. S. Wood today on Edward Johnston, 22, of 741 Thurlow, who had been remanded a week on a charge of creating a public mischief.

Johnston was convicted of selling a blank army discharge form to a soldier which was "capable of unlawful use by the holder."

The charge was brought by RCMP officers who arrested him after the transaction was made.

Unknown to Johnston, the buyer was a member of the army intelligence branch who had been assigned to investigate a "racket" believed to exist in Vancouver for the sale of the forms to soldiers desirous of leaving the army.

"I take a very serious view of this case," the magistrate declared in passing sentence.

He ordered that $20 loaned to the soldier for purchase of the form be returned to the RCMP.

Johnston was represented by G. V. Pelton. Prosecutor Gordon Scott appeared for the Crown.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT PRISON BUILDINGS AT BURNABY WILL COST MORE THAN $400,000," The Province (Vancouver). May 18, 1912. Page 31. ---- The new Provincial Government prison farm at Burnaby, upon which work has already started, will represent an expenditure of over $400.000, apart from the cost of the land. The building is being erected on the crest of the hill on Burnaby District Lot 84, and will overlook the whole farm of 240 acres. The buildings are in three distinct parts, the administrative building with a wing on each side of it. The central portion will be 52 feet by 194 feet, and the wings 52 feet by 132 feet. There will be accommodation for 250 prisoners, and arrangements are being made whereby the capacity can be increased be 200. Mr. Husch A. Hodgson is the architect, and the construction is being carried on by Meera, Smith & Sherborne.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS TO GLADDEN HEARTS OF CONVICTS,” Vancouver Sun. December 21, 1932. Page 11. --- YULE CHEER IN PEN AND PRISON ---- SPECIAL FARE AT NEW WESTMINSTER AND OAKALLA CONCERT PARTIES TO BRING NOTE OF SEASON'S GAIETY --- The spirit of Christmas will be present inside the grim grey walls of the B. C. penitemtiary and Oakalla prison from Dec. 25, when special menus will provide a welcome change of diet and the inmates will enjoy relaxation from the stem discipline maintained in both institutions. 

There will be special Church services by the prison Chaplains Sunday and entertainments for the inmate on Monday afternoon. Similar arrangements have been made for New Year's Day and the Monday following.

Following out the policies of Col. H. W. Cooper, warden of the B. C penitentiary, New Westminster, and Walter Owen, warden of Oakalla, Burnaby, efforts toward humanizing the inmates now held behind steel bars will be increased. 

Roast pork, raised on the prison farms, will replace the festive turkey but the traditional plum pudding, fruit and nuts will recall better times spent outside. Practically all the eatables have been produced on the farms and all cooking will be done inside the prison.