Another Update - Legal Issues, Etc.

I am glad that people took the time to respond to my last article! There are probably a few people who actually read all the way through, like my mother for sure. This is going to serve as an update for both live journal AND gather. It is just a bunch of random stuff, and another update venting about my life at the moment.

My younger brother, who is going to be 24 tomorrow, got arrested today on suspicion that he killed a kitten. His neighbors from across the street, who have it out for him and have done all kinds of terrible stuff to him and his family, called the police on him today when they saw him take his DEAD kitten to a sewage drain pipe to toss it out. It had died from being flea infested. My brother and his wife and kids are poor and live in a poverty-stricken area, and their neighbors have nothing better to do than to call the police every time they perceive something to be wrong. His neighborhood is very small-town ghetto. Anyway, they said they saw him swinging the kitten around, that it was still alive when he dumped it. That was a lie - created by neighbors who have called the police on my brother and sister-in-law more than once for no reason at all. They have also HAD the police called on them for harassing my sister-in-law and their four children while my brother was away in prison earlier this year.

So they arrested my brother, who apparently became belligerent, which is not a surprise. He is in jail tonight, until at least the 27^th, and all of their animals were taken away from them. My whole family is really upset, especially my brother’s wife. My brother has been trying to make an effort to be a normal person lately, but it isn’t working out in his favor I suppose. He shaved his head - which was a big sacrifice for him - because he thought it would look better when he has to go in front of the judge for prior charges.

On to my legal matters. I guess, at this point, why be embarrassed to admit that in November of last year, I was arrested for possession of marijuana. Now it is on a website. I am not going to link to that site, because it will make it one of the more popular places to click on my name, and I’m not going to have that! Apparently, since it is public record once a person is arrested, there is nothing I can do about it. But the thing is, I was offered diversion, and have been in the court diversion program since earlier this year. It isn’t exactly fun to be on diversion, waiting for these charges to be taken off my record. It will take two years from the date I complete diversion for it NOT to show up on my record. Which, when you think about it, is actually not a bad deal. I had to pay for the program though, and I was offered to just pay a fine of $200 and forget about it, though it would’ve stayed on my record. Do they know how much money $200 is for me (and to me!)? I guess now that I’m writing about this publicly, it really doesn’t matter anymore what I say. Not to mention that since I was arrested, that TOO is a matter of public record. I can’t act like it didn’t happen just because I’m in diversion.

Looking back, I see diversion is a waste of my time and energy. I can’t be released from the program at the moment until I get counselors to write letters to the program, which only ONE of the counselors I saw did in a timely fashion. Based on her recommendations, I believe they are going to try and KEEP me on the program until I complete more counseling. Her recommendations were tailored to ME. She kept in mind that I am disabled, have a lack of transportation, or even the ability to GET to appointments on a weekly basis. At least she understood my situation. I went to a male counselor earlier on in the year who had the expectation that I would come in twice a week. One time was for counseling and the other for group counseling. He also measured my success by whether or not I was going to AA meetings on a frequent basis. To be honest, how is a person without a car, who hardly has money to pay for gas when she can get rides, supposed to get to meetings several times a week, when she is lucky if she can get out of the house to get her meds or go to her doctor’s appointments!?

There IS a medical marijuana law in Vermont that is on the books - for people in chronic pain like I am. I considered fighting the charge when I first got it, but that law was still being talked about at the time for people like me. The only medical marijuana law that was on the books at the time was for people with terminal illnesses such as Multiple Sclerosis, AIDS or cancer. I wasn’t covered under the law that existed at the time I was arrested. I WOULD BE covered under the law that is on the books at present time in Vermont, but the problem is, I moved from Vermont to upstate New York not terribly long ago, so I’m ineligible. I only live a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Vermont border, but I really don’t have a choice as to where I reside, seeing as how I am disabled, ineligible for Vermont housing due to my “criminal record”, etc. I tried to make it in Vermont on $500 a month, now I’m doing the same here in New York State.

My battle is not completely unlike the one that I am fighting. I think it has a lot to do with where we both are in life - living in poverty, struggling to survive. I believe that people in this socio-economic position are limited in their choices, limited by their situation. We are more likely to commit crimes, which can be statistically backed up. I think poor people are a target of the police, and being where we are begets trouble upon trouble at times. I realize that there are SOME things we can do to change, but being disabled, impoverished, etc, with no end in sight, I can’t help but to SOUND pessimistic, when in truth, I am being REALISTIC!

That’s all I can say for now. It has been a really long day and I am going to go zone out in front of the boob tube.