I talked to Ray on the phone. He had his 33rd forced electroshock today. From MindFreedom
by David W. Oaks — last modified 2008-11-13 10:40
Today is Wednesday. And that means Ray had another of his weekly involuntary outpatient electroshocks. I talked to him, and also talked to the Governor’s office.
“My 33rd electroshock today.”
One of the toughest times is when I talk to someone who is about to have involuntary electroshock.
Ray Sandford talked to me before his involuntary electroshock the other day. And then again today, Wednesday afternoon, I talked to him after his electroshock.
He told me he was told today was his 33rd electroshock in this series, which may mean he has been receiving “maintenance” electroshock for more than six months.
Meanwhile, Jeremy in our office found an example of a court order in 2002 in Minnesota precisely on involuntary electroshock. While client personal information was removed, and it does look legitimate, we did not get this directly from the court so we cannot vouch for its authenticity.
Note that in number 3 of the “facts” is the statement that persistent memory loss can be “fully mitigated” by relearning information, a totally unscientific statement. Of course, plenty of scientific studies show that even newer types of electroshock can result in persistent memory problems that are impossible to “fix.” That a finding of “fact” in a court order could be so bizarrely unscientific shows the astounding power imbalance for people on the receiving end of electroshock, who often lack aggressive and professional legal representation.
Meanwhile, I spoke to several people in the Minnesota government, including Minn. Dept. of Human Rights. They have a narrow focus on discrimination, but I got Ray on three-way call and he plans to file a complaint.
Thank you to everyone who has called. Please keep your calls to the Governor’s office civil and strong. While you can call at any time, please be prepared for another phone-in on this coming Wednesday. Hopefully we won’t need to do that, but the way things are going we may need to phone every Wednesday for some time.
Governor Tim Pawlenty
(651) 296-3391
Oh, I didn’t see that comment about contacting newspapers. That is a good idea.
Please phone the Minnesota governor or email him. I have done both.
When you phone they will probably transfer you to a voice mail for the comments.
I was a little nervous doing it, but it is worth it.
I still haven’t heard any responses to my questions.
For your info:
infodesk@pioneerpress.com
and the health editor at the Star is:
mlerner@startribune.com
Someone from one of my email groups who is an activist in Minnesota wrote the following which she gave me permission to print:
After extensive observation of Tim Pawlenty, you need to know that he is the ultimate political animal. He wanted very badly to be McCain’s VP pick and is already angling to be the Republican nominee in 2012. He does what is politically expedient and principle is quite expendable. Your emails will probably have more effect if they are copied to the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press and you also probably need to look for as many supporters in Minnesota as possible, because he is up for re-election in 2010.