[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 101 (Wednesday, July 16, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7512-S7513]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
JUSTICE
Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, on a separate second issue I want to
address this morning the larger context of the continuing downward
spiral in the national political dialogue, and specifically how it
addresses the case of a single American. We have tragically in our time
witnessed this deterioration in the public dialogue. We are now
witnessing how its venom can influence the life of a single citizen. I
am addressing, of course, the Whitewater investigation and the actions
of independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr.
Mr. President, I claim no expertise in the question of the Whitewater
investigation. Indeed, it is not the focus of my remarks this morning.
And I hold no brief for either President Clinton or the First Lady as I
address this issue. Indeed, the injustice of which I speak does not
involve anyone in the President's family, but rather a simple 42-year-
old woman named Susan McDougal.
Since September 9, 1996, Susan McDougal has been imprisoned for
refusing to testify to an Arkansas grand jury convened by the
independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr. And indeed, under the law a
witness who refuses to cooperate and testify before a grand jury may be
held for a civil contempt of up to 18 months. In this instance
therefore the independent prosecutor initially acted within the law and
probably appropriately. But that is where the problem begins. Because
according to the legislative history of the statute, and indeed under
the case law, the purpose of civil contempt and imprisonment ``is to
secure testimony through a sanction, not to punish the witness by
imprisonment.''
But according to briefings filed with the court, the prison
conditions that Susan McDougal has endured up to this point sound more
appropriate for a hardened violent criminal than a person jailed for
civil contempt.
In fact, while serving 3 months in the Faulkner County Detention
Center in Arkansas, Susan McDougal lived under the following
conditions. She did not see the light of day for 3 months. She was
jailed in a unit that was constructed for 10 people but in reality
usually held more than 20. As indicated by these photographs, she was
usually shackled both by hands and feet whenever she went to court or
to the doctor or to the dentist. This was not customary practice.
Indeed, no other prisoner in that facility was shackled by hands and
feet in this manner virtually at any time, no less when receiving
medical treatment.
When in transport, marshals were under instructions not to remove her
shackles at any time including when she required to urinate. She was
allowed one visit per week, and only through glass. She was forbidden
any family or friendly contact through visitation. She was denied
potable water. She could only drink from a rusty shower or a sink
attached to a toilet. She was allowed no reading materials except for
the Bible, of which I am sure she would have been grateful except she
was forbidden to have any reading glasses, even when she offered to buy
them with her own funds.
After a brief stint at the Carswell Federal Medical Center in Fort
Worth, where she was placed in a work camp with other women, many of
whom were serving 30 and 40 years on narcotics charges, she was
transferred to California. There in Los Angeles at the Sybil Brand
Institute for Women, she was placed in isolation with one tiny slit in
a door, the windows covered with barbed wire, with a single peephole
where she could see the light of day. She was denied any reading
material and was denied a chance to even meet with the prison chaplain.
She was later moved to complete isolation from all other prisoners
and was allowed out of her cell for 2 hours per day. So for 22 hours a
day she was in complete isolation, no contact with anyone, no ability
to see the light of day, with a single window covered with barbed wire,
nothing to read, no one to talk to, not even counseling from a
minister.
During the evening hours, she is awakened every 20 minutes by a
flashlight that is placed in her eyes. She is served breakfast at 4:30
in the morning where she eats alone in a 5-foot cell. If she should
leave her cell, she is handcuffed behind her back and is forced to wear
prison uniforms that are colored red, which is the color to indicate a
murderer or an informant. She is routinely body searched and forced to
strip naked for prison officials. She is escorted by a guard wherever
she goes, including to the infirmary or the library.
And finally, every time she uses the shower or on those occasions
when she is allowed access to a telephone, every other prisoner is
forced to be locked into their cells, which has heightened animosity
toward her personally and led to dangerous, unlivable circumstances.
[[Page S7513]]
Mr. President, I do not know Susan McDougal, and I confess I do not
know a great deal about the Whitewater case. In many respects I rose
today on the Senate floor to speak to neither, but to talk about
justice. This is a barbaric set of circumstances that are indefensible
and give rise to the question of whether or not Mr. Starr's
investigation is being led by someone who seeks justice or is driven on
the personal destruction of individuals to vindicate himself and his
own investigation.
Mrs. McDougal is not imprisoned for murder or robbery or any violent
offense. She has faced no jury and is convicted of nothing. But for
almost a year, she has been held on civil contempt.
The Federal courts have ruled on a variety of circumstances,
including in 1983 in the Sanchez case, and in 1984 in the Simkin v.
United States case that a court is obligated to release an individual
if it becomes clear that she will not testify after continued
confinement.
Indeed, in case after case throughout the history of this country
judges have released individuals who have refused to testify after 6 or
8 months of imprisonment.
Susan McDougal has now been imprisoned for 10 months. There is no
indication that it will end soon. And it clearly is not going to result
in her giving credible testimony.
Indeed, it was argued before a Federal judge 2 weeks ago that not
only is Susan McDougal's incarceration inhumane, it is
counterproductive.
If Susan McDougal were released from these extraordinary barbaric
circumstances tomorrow, her testimony in the Whitewater case would be
of absolutely no value. Her testimony would have no credibility. It
clearly would have been coerced. No grand jury, no judge, and no jury
would give it any validity.
Her testimony is now useless. Any individual held in solitary
confinement with no privacy, with no ability to consult with family or
friends, denied access to a chaplain, shackled hand and foot, subjected
to body searches, awakened during the night every 20 minutes, in some
circumstances by a flashlight in her eyes, could not possibly at this
point be giving voluntary testimony that would be usable in a court of
law.
Mr. President, Kenneth Starr should pursue the facts. If they produce
further evidence that allows a case to proceed, it is his duty to do
so. It is the obligation of every officer of this Government, in any of
its branches, to first and foremost, however, pursue justice.
Former Senator William Cohen, then a Member of this institution,
said, ``The appearance of justice is just as important as justice
itself in terms of maintaining public confidence in our judicial
system.''
Mr. President, there is no confidence in our judicial system that can
come from these facts. There is a cold tyranny on a single American
citizen. It is time for the Federal judiciary to intervene to bring
justice and to change the circumstances of Susan McDougal's life.
I yield the floor.
Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Under the previous order, the Senator is recognized for 20 minutes.
Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that morning
business be extended to accommodate 20 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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