Jefty Landrigan

Hi folks. This is a post I promised to write to several friends about my visit to go see Jefty on Death Row (for background on Jefty, see (good summary of original cases) here, here, (of particular political interest) here, and here (and there is a lot more out there, google "Jeffrey Landrigan" if you really want to dig deep).

The Visit
Our visit was scheduled for 1:45PM at the Browning Unit of the Arizona State Prison Complex - Eyman, located in Florence, AZ. We met in an visitation area, separated by a pane of glass; except for us and the guards, the area was empty. Everybody else's scheduled visitations were moved to another area, as they keep Jefty segregated from all other prisoners now.

Realize that I did not know Jefty very well prior to the visit; we'd run into each other a few times as kids in Junior High & High School, and otherwise hadn't talked in the last 30 years. So my plan for the visit was to just be a human being and talk with him about whatever came to mind. And that's pretty much what happened. He started out by asking me why I came in the first place (which I'll talk about below), then we just chatted about various topics, including his case, the various appeals, people we knew from High School, my dogs, his kids, cars, dope, his tattoos (very nice work, btw, especially for prison tats), an upcoming visit from his sister (scheduled for next Saturday), and a couple other things I'll get to.

I read him all the messages that some of you were good enough to pass on to him through me, which he appreciated very much. He gave me some replies for most of them, which I'll pass on to you personally soon. I do want to emphasize that he was very grateful to know that people were thinking about him, it meant the world to him, so on his behalf, thank you all very much. I did in fact pass on every message I got, except for one very negative one which was, in fact, much more directed at me than him.

For those of you who are curious: No, I did not bring up the fact that I'm gay, nor did I bring up my partner Cliff. Yes, part of me feels like a coward for this. However, this was about Jefty, not about me, and I didn't want to risk setting him off (if you've read the links I provided, or other information about the Arizona case, you will understand my concern). I didn't, & still don't, think it would have been appropriate for me to have an agenda of trying to teaching tolerance to somebody who is going to die in ten days. And I didn't want to give him a reason to regret my visit, or to cut it short.

Also, sorry folks, I did not spread the good news about Jesus, either. I did pass on the Jesus-based messages that some of you sent, but again, not only did I think it was inappropriate to do so, I wouldn't have done it anyway. If you want a missionary for Jesus, always know that I am not your go-to guy.

For what it's worth: he does maintain that the killing of Greg Brown was an act of self-defense. He also shared some stories of Greg bullying Jefty (and others), often as a way to try to impress women. I personally neither believe nor disbelieve his account, and am just reporting it to you.

I tried very hard not to manipulate the conversation in any way, except to keep it going, and so I don't have any answers for those of you who are wondering about his stories about other crimes, feelings or lack of feelings of regret, etc., with one exception: I did ask him how he managed to escape from prison at McAlester (That's the Oklahoma State Prison, for those of you who wouldn't know such things). He said it was actually pretty easy; it was a low-security environment, and he and another prisoner were working on "perimeter maintenance", which basically means landscaping between the inner and outer fences. He and his partner cut a few holes in the wires securing the fences to their posts; later that night, the two of them just went out, pulled the fences apart where they'd cut them, and got into a waiting vehicle. And that was that. Except that he did share that, 100 miles away from the prison, the car broke down, and that they were assisted by an officer from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Interestingly enough, I have a similar story in my past that I shared with him, and we both had a good laugh.

The conversation was unusually (for me) non-awkward, although it did stall about three times. We visited for an hour and 55 minutes before I ended the visit 5 minutes early (we had hit another stall point, and it just seemed like a natural time to end our chat). Two officers in full-blown riot gear led Jefty away from the visitation area. On the way out to the parking lot, I chatted with a woman who was visiting her husband, who is also on Death Row, and she said that her husband had been good friends with Jeff for years. Her husband was very happy that Jeff had gotten a visitor, she told me, even though it did inconvenience all the other prisoners who had visitors that day.

Why did I visit, and how did it come about?
I had found out that Jefty was on Death Row in Arizona about 10 years ago, when I was browsing through a web site. I had thought about writing him at that time, but never did, partly out of sheer laziness, partly out of a doubt that he had any idea who I even was. About a month ago, I ran into an item in our local paper that alerted me to his upcoming execution. I posted a link to that article on Facebook, on the chance that other people from Bartlesville would be interested.

They were. You were.

As I've mentioned, I didn't know Jefty very well, but we'd talked a few times, and he'd been nice to me. This was at a time in my life when I didn't have much self-confidence, or social skills, and, well, it meant a lot to me that a hood like Jefty didn't put me down or beat me up, that he was actually nice to me. Yes, I have issues, and I certainly had issues when I was a teenager. Hell, I didn't just have issues, I had a subscription. Regardless, the fact that he'd been kind to me once, and that he was in imminent danger of execution, and the fact that he didn't (as far as I knew) have anybody in Arizona who would visit him, tugged at my emotions. I think the most prominent thought I had about the idea was, If I were in prison about to face death, I'd sure want somebody, anybody, to come see me. So, you know. Simple Golden Rule stuff. I do like my ethics simple & easy to navigate, and, for me, everything pretty much comes from the Golden Rule.

After discussing it some with people on Facebook (especially Kandace), I decided to go ahead & post an application to visit him. I had doubts about whether it would be processed in time, or whether Jefty would even welcome a visit, so I basically I thought that I would just post the application and then leave it up to fate to determine what would happen after that. Another simple principle I follow, and it's rarely failed me, is: When in doubt, let the universe decide.

Here's what the universe decided: First, having posted the application online on a Friday night, I was visited, at work, mind you, by an investigator for the Federal Public Defender's office. He wanted to know why I wanted to visit Jefty. I told him basically the same stuff I just told you. He told me that PD's were going to visit him the next day, and that they'd be happy to pass him a message from me. So, I sent along a note that said, in short, You barely know me, if at all, but if you'd like a visit, I'll come.

The next week, I got a call from the Arizona Department of Corrections. They had approved (which also meant Jefty had approved) my application, and I'd passed the background check they'd run on me. So, several bureaucratic maneuvers later, I wound up with a date & time to visit.

I would not have done this without the full support of my partner, Cliff. He was in fact very supportive, and actually drove me up to the prison in Florence (which is about 70 miles from Tucson) for the visit, waited around, in freaking Florence, for two hours, and was there waiting for me in the parking lot when the visit was done.

I also would have had much more worries about whether I was doing the right thing had I not had the support of so many of you on Facebook. So, thank you all very much.

And, finally, I would not have done this at all had I been in possession of a factoid that I didn't find out until last night, from talking with a dear friend in Oklahoma. After turning it over in my head for the last, oh, 18 hours or so, I've decided I'm not going to share that factoid with anybody until Jefty is executed or is granted clemency <edit> ever </edit>. It doesn't really make a difference, ultimately, to his case, one way or another, and I guess that as a good bleeding heart liberal, it shouldn't make a difference to me. But it does. Dear Lord, it does.

Some Final Thoughts
Several of you are very concerned about my mental state at this point, and I don't blame you a bit. There is every reason in the world for anybody who knows me to think that I would be totally spun at this point. Nevertheless, I am not, or at least not yet. I feel pretty good about having seen Jefty, and, well, to be honest, I am very relieved that it is done with. I am making a point of taking care of myself physically, even pampering myself a little. I don't have any desire to drink or use. I am very grateful for many things right now, especially that Cliff & I no longer lead a life that might land us in prison. I am very grateful to have been able to bond with so many of you, although I do wish the circumstances were different.

Jefty has done some terrible things in his life. He undoubtedly deserves to be in prison. But does he deserve to be put to death by the State of Arizona? Even if I were in favor of the state executing prisoners for their crimes, I would have to say, absolutely not. The deck was stacked against him every inch of the way. He was dealt a crappy hand, and he played it very badly. He killed one person, and probably killed another, and deserves to be punished. But neither cases rise to any reasonable standard in use today for application of the death penalty. He will (probably) be executed because of bad lawyering and some incredibly stupid behavior of his own in court, not because the magnitude of his crimes required it, or even suggest it.

But, as it happens, I don't believe the State should be executing people in the first place. It is in fact cruel, obviously does not provide much if any deterrent, and is a barbaric practice that makes us, collectively, a barbaric people.

What Can You Do?
If you are interested in writing a letter to the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency, you can do so via the Federal Public Defender's office. Here's the address:
Federal Public Defenders
ATTN: Lisa Eager
850 W. Adams St., Suite 201
Phoenix, AZ 85007

If you're going to do it, you need to do it right now, and you should probably Fed-Ex your letter. The Board will take letters up until Thursday, I am told, but you are running out of time. Tick-tock.

You may also want to write to Amnesty International, and ask them to intervene (although they already have, but more won't hurt). I don't know if it will do any good, but it certainly won't hurt. Amnesty International is a good organization that fights for justice in countries around the world, and, imho, it would do you some good spiritually to be involved with their struggles. Go visit them.

If you're the type that prays, please do so, for Jefty's victims, and for Jefty himself.

I am not any kind of saint, nor am I especially brave, although all of you who have suggested so are lovely people indeed, and my overlarge ego is satisfied and full! You can of course do anything I've done, or find other ways to make the world an easier place for somebody else. Just go do something. That's it. And that's what it's all about, friends. We're all in this together, you know.