[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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