The Prison Guard's Daughter by Deanne Quinn Miller

Author:Deanne Quinn Miller [Miller, Deanne Quinn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Personal Memoirs, History, United States, 20th Century, State & Local, Middle Atlantic (DC; DE; MD; NJ; NY; PA)
ISBN: 9781635768046
Google: AlopzgEACAAJ
Publisher: Diversion Publishing Corporation
Published: 2021-09-07T22:12:50+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Taking Our Case Public

There was another reason Malcolm Bell quickly endeared himself to our group: Our members discovered that he, too, was a victim of Attica.

As a whistleblower who’d received media coverage nationwide, Malcolm found his world completely pulled out from beneath him. He could not find a job again in the corporate sector. His first marriage ended in divorce. The father of two young boys, he left the home and could not see them as frequently as he preferred. It was a painful schism for him. Our group, once it realized how much he’d lost and given up by choosing to do the right thing, became more welcoming and accepting of him.

We even asked him to join us at what would be our first major public presentation, a panel in late September 2000 at Genesee Community College in Batavia.

We in FVOA were learning from our lobbying and the occasional media interviews that our stories—most of which had been untold—had power. Most of the public assumed that we’d been well taken care of in the aftermath of Attica.

We also realized that we needed bigger forums, and Genesee Community College (GCC) offered us one. The administration there knew about our organization and wanted to have a panel discussion about Attica. Gary Horton helped make it happen. As he told the media the days before the event, our aim was twofold: To let the world know how we were treated and to also let the world know the identity and mission of FVOA.

We did not know what to expect or how many would attend the session at the college’s fine arts theater. It ended up packed, with over three hundred people.

We opened the session with one of the videos of the retaking. For those who have never seen the videos, the chaos is palpable. The cacophony of gunfire is relentless; at least 2,200 bullets, shotgun pellets, and shells were fired in the retaking and, in addition to the thirty-nine slain, another eighty-nine people were injured. The tear gas is so thick that anyone who sees the video cannot help but wonder how police expected to lay siege to the prison without killing hostages.

That video set the stage for what was to come with our stories. Gary’s wife, Debbie, who also helped arrange the panel, told the silent crowd, “Pain does not have an expiration date. There is no statute of limitations on pain.”

Michael Smith was on the panel, as were G.B. Smith, Malcolm Bell and me. William Cunningham, the lawyer for Lynda Jones, joined us and told how he still had the check that the Attica widow had wisely refused to cash. Cunningham had said he would be there to help us whenever needed. He served as a reminder that the one widow who did not accept state financial “assistance” was the only one who had received any meaningful restitution.

“I feel so bad for the [surviving] hostages,” Cunningham told the GCC crowd. “You’re here like you’re begging the state of New York for something.

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