There's an article in todays Tribune about marriages not taking place at Menard. The Tribune contacted me some time ago and this is the result. I did give the names of others this affects but they've chosen to do the story about Tony and me, sorry.

It's worrying that IDOC are STILL saying this is only a problem at Menard when we know full well there are other facilities where marriage is being denied the inmates.

As I haven't a clue how to get this article on to the thread I'll just tell you it's on www.chicagotribune.com and it's in the local news section, headed 'Menard prisoners face new obstacle to marriage'. If one of you can get this from the Tribune into this page then please do, even though it's about Tony and me it is a very sympathetic piece.

Rose

Good article. I like that it says she decided not to do this as soon as she took office. I still have never heard why she is against deputizing someone at Menard. Have you?

jims

Afraid not but perhaps that might change now, you never know. I was impressed by the fact the reporter took on board what I said about deputizing someone and actually did investigate that.

Rose

Yes, I'm impressed as well. Has anyone ever told us what the objection is to deputizing someone? What was Sergio talking about when he said only half a dozen inmates in the state prisons apply each year to be married??? That's crazy! Menard alone has at least 30 applications that have been approved, and many more who have applied.

j

I know, there's always so much hot air comes out of Springfield I should think they could run their heating off it. I know of more than a half dozen waiting, both at Menard and Springfield, that's without everyone I don't know about.

Ms Laramore never did tell me why she wouldn't deputize someone, she's always ignored that when I've mentioned it. It all boils down to the fact the SHE doesn't like 'convicts' and even when someone offers a solution, one that won't cost her a cent, she still won't do it.

Rose

I still say what Menard should do is haul about 10 or 15 inmates up to Ms. Larramore's office. If she's afraid to be around them in a controlled environment, literally feet away from the armory where the weapons are kept and where a crack tactical team can be assembled, why on earth would she want them to be brought up to her office where there is limited security?? I'm telling you, if Menard did that a few times, I'll bet she would change her mind. Especially if they went during a busy weekday with lots of little old ladies hanging about. I am going to write Ms. Larramore and tell her she is giving women a bad name. And what about all the women who work at the prison, and I'm not just talking about the officers, but all the admin staff and secretarial staff. They don't walk around like fragile wimpy women who get the vapors every time a big old scary inmate walks by. Arrrgghhh!! :argh

The problem is, j, that Menard just can't do that. It isn't just the prison security who are involved when one or a group of inmates are taken to the Courthouse. You have the local Sheriff's people there, as well State police and several other departments. When I asked if I could pay to have Tony taken there I was told all the organization it would take and that the total cost would run in to thousands of dollars.

Ms Laramore needs more than one letter, perhaps others could join you. I'm fed up with writing, all I get back from her, without fail, is another copy of the letter she sent to Steve Keim last March. I really mean that, she even has the cheek to use the stamped addressed envelope I send for her reply. I just get another copy of the same letter, never one addressing the issues I raise or one even addressed to me, just this one to the Chaplain. If I ever have to meet this woman I had better do so with my hands tied behind my back because I just loathe rudeness, and my fists might be inclined to find her mouth, and I'm not a violent person, really I'm not!!

Rose

Yes, I know it would cost a lot of money. But -- and I know I'm beating a dead horse here -- theoretically, if they'd just do it once, I think she'd be horrified. And, I would hope the state of Illinois would be horrified at the waste of money. You know, when they take an inmate to the hospital they don't go through all that rigamarole. I get a perverse thrill fantasizing about a couple dozen inmates, shackled, cuffed, in their orange jumpsuits, flanked by a dozen officers plus sheriff's deputies with rifles, marching into Ms. Pantywaist's office and hanging around for an hour or two while her precious little darling employees fill out paperwork. I'm bad...

I'd pay good money to see that happen and I'd have to be there with my video to record the look on her face, that's if I could ever stop laughing. I think all tehe men would get a kick out of that, too, I know Tony would. Send an email to the Tribune suggesting it. They have a letters page. They may just print it, I'm sure they have a sense of humour. It would cause quite a stir in sleepy little Chester.

Rose

What a complete, total, utter WUSS. I hope she realizes how stupid she sounds and how uncaring.

I don't think she's capable of feeling anything, she's certainly not the brightest button in the bunch. And I don't even like to call her a woman because that puts her in the same group as the rest of us, and she's certainly not up to it.

Rose

Menard prisoners face new obstacle to marriage
Advertisement


By Carlos Sadovi
Tribune staff reporter

February 9, 2004

Thousands of miles of separation and a life sentence in prison aren't what's hampering the marriage plans of Rose and Anthony Hall; it's paperwork and the Randolph County clerk.

Because of financial and safety concerns, county clerk Pat Laramore in December ceased the long-running practice of visiting nearby Menard Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison, and allowing inmates there to fill out forms required for marriage licenses.

"If they are getting married in Randolph County, this is the only place they can get their license," Laramore said. "I will not jeopardize the safety of my employees ever. I was not comfortable [going there]. I will never put them in that situation."

Marriage license service is still being offered at more than 40 prisons making up the Illinois Department of Corrections, officials say.

But at Menard, Laramore has put an end to the practice, turning aside suggestions that she could solve the problem by deputizing a prison official to do the job.

Her misgivings have kept Anthony Hall, a Chicago man serving a life sentence for a 1983 murder, and Rose Hall, a London resident, from tying the knot. Rose Hall, who even had her last name changed legally to her betrothed's, was a pen pal of the man while he was on Death Row.

"We want to marry because we are in love and want to spend the rest of our lives together," Rose Hall said from her home. "I don't know if I would still [marry] him if I didn't think that one day, and one day soon, we hope, we would be together in the free world."

The couple is convinced that a pending appeal could free him from the Illinois prison, and they want to marry now so he could eventually relocate with her to England. Anthony Hall was convicted of killing a 50-year-old cafeteria worker at Pontiac Correctional Center, where he was serving time for robbery. Last year former Gov. George Ryan cleared out Death Row and commuted Hall's sentence to life.

Rose Hall, 57, contacted Anthony Hall after seeing an advertisement seeking pen pals for inmates in an Amnesty International magazine. The two have corresponded for more than a year, and she has made the trek to Menard several times. Rose Hall, a retired government accountant who is divorced, said they decided to marry in May.

"I nearly backed out. I was completely terrified when we first met, but it was like we had known each other for years," she said. "I couldn't believe how kind, understanding and compassionate he is after spending nearly two decades facing death."

But Laramore said that although she is not against the inmates marrying, she made up her mind to stop the practice when she ran for the elected position last year. She did not want to have the eight female employees continue to go to the prison.

She said the county's insurance company also barred them from driving to and from the prison, which is only a few miles away from the county seat.

The last time Laramore was at the prison was in December, when they were required to finish pending requests. She said several inmates were led into an office where she and one of her workers were alone with the men. Guards watched from outside the room and were only present for the last inmate they saw that day.

"It was a very terrible experience, and that made me decide right then I would never have one of my employees put in that situation again," she said. "The very last person we issued a marriage license to was handcuffed and had ankle bracelets. There was never a guard before."

She said she would still allow inmates to fill out the paperwork if they are taken to the county clerk's office.

But Sergio Molina, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Corrections, said prison officials only would transport prisoners for court dates or emergency medical visits. Inmates are not allowed conjugal visits, he said.

Menard is the only facility where problems have been reported, he said. At the other prisons, county officials have been making the trips to the facilities. Less than half a dozen inmates in the state prison system ask to be married each year, Molina said.

"They're still trying to find a way to get it done," he said of Hall's request. "They are a maximum-security facility, and their primary mission is not to take inmates outside to get marriage licenses. Our primary mission is to maintain the safety and security at the facility."

Robin Harper-Whitehead, the past president of the Illinois Association of County Clerks and Recorders, said she has not heard of any other clerk in Illinois not issuing licenses to prison inmates.

Harper-Whitehead, clerk in Johnson County, where two state prisons are located, said Laramore could deputize a prison employee to fill out the paperwork.


Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune



Here's the article
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lol Your comments are a hoot. Yes, when the lady said that it was a "terrible experience" for she and a clerk to go to the prison, she obviously was of the mentality that these were barbarians out of control who were going to attack them on the spot. how many little old ladies are in the licensing office?
Rose, it was a good article.

I think if she had all four English ladies show up that she'd be quaking in fear!!

Ha Ha Cet. I Think You're Correct With That Comment. It Is Crazy! And The Sad Thing Is That People Who Aren't Involved Have No Clue What These Guys Are Like And How "un" Scary Most Of Them Are. And They Are Going To Read That Or Anything Even With The Slightenst Comment Like She Made And Think They Belong Where They Are And They Can't Be Trusted Around Anyone! Most People Have That Idea About Them Now. Ugh! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! It's An Up "mountain" Battle! But Worth It!

Rose -- since you know the Trib reporter, would could you contact him and let him know that Ms. Larramore violated her insurance company's rules when she went to the prison for the tour a couple weeks ago? Although, I suppose she was driven there by someone else in a van or a bus, thus constituting a legal loophole. Nevertheless, wasn't she frightened then? I understand that one of the guys in the new R&C unit made inappropriate comments to the tour as they passed by. I'll bet Larramore peed her pants.

I'll send him an email tonight. I was going to anyway, to tell him she was there and it hadn't crossed my mind about the insurance, even though I have a copy of the letter the insurance company sent her. She really has made herself look so foolish, especially as no other County Clerk's are acting in this way.

Rose

Rose
What a great article. I wish that they would have printed that Stateville also does not allow marriages. Their reasoning for not allowing inmates to marry is completely different from Menard's. It's just a bunch of bitter men an women who work the system and my fiance and I are still going ahead to file a law suit regarding this. The state of Illinois should be ashamed of their lack of compassion.

BKs...

Have you ever been given or heard an official reason for not allowing inmates to be married at Stateville?

jims,,,

jims

I sure have. My fiance and I want to be married and have been turned down. Stateville turned us down for 3 reasons. 1 because they said he was a red card when he came off Death Row from Menard (high security level) 2 He was STG (security threat group) and 3 high agression level. He fought all the reasons because they were wrong. They changed him to a blue card which is what ALL the guys off Death Row should have and is much much better than a red card. They changed his aggression level to low aggression level ( he's never been in seg since incarcerated) and they wont take away the STG even though he has no ties with any gangs whatsoever. He is a biker, that's all. They had him in IA almost everyday for a month trying to force answers from him that he had no clue about. That is Stateville's reason for not allowing us to marry, all of the above. Its a joke. They have told that to all the guys who requested to marry. They take pride in the fact that they have not allowed anyone at all to marry in the last couple of years. It's against the Supreme Court Rulings to stop them from marrying and that is why we are filing a lawsuit. I am in the process of legally changing my last name to his. It should be final in March.

BKsLady,

I did make a point of telling the Tribune all about Stateville as well. I even gave Carlos some contact numbers of people who had been denied marriage. I was quite upset that they didn't get in touch with you all, but I suppose with IDOC denying there's a problem anywhere else there's not much they could do.

Tony still has his red card ID and they just won't change it, I've got an email from Springfield all about that. But this has NEVER been given as a reason for us not to marry and, let's face it, if we had married our men before they left the Row instead of waiting, we wouldn't be in this position now. And they all had red IDs then so that blows that little excuse right out of the window.

Good to see you back here. Glad you went ahead with the name change. It really does make you feel one step nearer and they can't take it away from you OR do anything about it. I had no trouble when I visited after changing my name to Tony's.

Rose

It really upsets me that all of you guys are going through all of this because I was married in 98 and the woman went to the prison and I went to the court house and paid the 15.00 at the time for the license. This woman is something else, because she makes it seem like she has not security and that is so wrong. It's people like her that put a bad name on everything related to prisons. I called and left a message for the reporter to call me because I wanted to talk to him also.

Tony's Girl, thanks for your support. I hope the reporter rings you back, the more people who contact the Tribune the better it will be.

I'm going to send a copy of the Trib article to the Governor. He's always passed on anything I send to IDOC but, as I see it, he is, ultimately, the County Clerk's boss and it's up to him to make her do something about this situation. That won't help the others like BKsLady but it might start the ball rolling.

Rose

Look out Larramore, the British are coming...