Legal Update: Case #2013c-BHS-0066-DHS. Convened in the Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings, Monday, Jan. 07, 2013; in relation to the impacts of retaliatory actions taken against me for voicing good faith reports of staff misconduct and related abuse of patients.   

    This past Monday, January 07, 2013, I once again presented a case on behalf of the patient community at The Arizona State Hospital in a hearing convened under the authority of The Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings, Phoenix, AZ. And while I pretty much refuse to make any predictions about how the judge who handled will decide the findings of this case, which again had everything to do with my well grounded concerns about the the Arizona State Hospital's unacceptably inept care and treatment of the state's most seriously mentally disabled citizens, I can say that I found the assigned administrative law judge in this hearings' attitude to be far more healthy than the judge's I have presented these concerns to in the past. 
     My unwillingness to make any predictions at this point, however, are based on the fact that in the past 12 months I have learned the hard way that the limitations of the Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings (which is the venue that the hearing was convened in) are disturbingly extensive when it comes to meaningfully responding to issues that have the critical gravity of my concerns, and furthermore, that the very structure of the legal system in this particular context is anything but equitable in terms of common law. Therefor, I am not willing to take anything for granted until such a time as I have seen the actual findings of the court, as released in print as the official record. That will take some weeks yet, and I still have a bit of work to do specific to supplying the court with applicable evidential material. 
    But again, this hearing went well, and I feel that due to this particular judge's willingness to keep the flow of information and data flowing without granting Arizona assistant Attorney General Joel "the mortician" Rudd any more leeway than she granted me, the possibility of a reasonable verdict in this case is more than sound. And one way or the other, the basic transcript of the hearing is extremely telling, for once again, as per his established style, Rudd exhibited what I can only describe as graphic coldheartedness in terms of considering the various issues at stake. He treated my statements as something below merit, and at various points suggested that my allegations as a whole had (have) no basis whatsoever; while also disregarding, negating, or otherwise rejecting my suppositions specific to the breadth of the issues that I am attempting to address. The judge, however, shut him down, in effect, and literally admonished the man at more than one point for abusing his authority as a legal professional. This occurred at times when the significance of my statements about the criminality of the process that I went through when these issues arose, and again when he attempted to diminish my allegations in the context of definable patient abuse, and I can only say that he has had it coming for some time. In prior hearings, he has lambasted and demeaned my good faith attempts to shed light on the substandard conditions at ASH, and flatly insulted my character in terms of my statements specific to the abuse I personally suffered, and for the most part, the other judges that I have encountered to this point have granted him that authority... As twisted as that is. Thus, the records of these proceedings are only one aspect of the process that I am engaged in, and the distorted features of any one court (thus far convened) will only serve to establish further validity to my principal concerns, as this all pays out.      
     I can also state that my editor is very satisfied with the material that we have garnered at this point; and while I am not able to share many more details about the state of affairs at this time, it is clear to me that the record as it stands and continues to evolve will greatly serve me and my patient peers at ASH when the time comes for me (and my associates) to lay my very extensive body of materials on the table once and for all. Whether that ultimately occurs in a courtroom, or in a bookstore, I cannot easily predict. But it will happen, and that is what matters. 
     I, meanwhile, am still experiencing very real trauma in terms of needing to relive these matters as this process goes on, and I look forward to the day when the changes I am striving to see come about do just that. This is ok for the time being. It has to be done and nobody else is willing to do it. I will keep at it, and things will continue to evolve. 

IN CLOSING: In mid-August, 2011, when the current supervisor at ASH, Cory "crazycorycorner.weebly.com" Nelson was less than two weeks into his job, I drafted a very clear, non-threatening and basically polite request that he take into consideration the fact that I had witnessed and been personally subjected to a range of ongoing abuse, and related administrative misconduct specific to my rights each and every time I filed a good faith grievance report within the construct of ASH's formal operation. I of course have a copy of that communication. I stated at the time that I was not interested in conflict, and that my goal was to meaningfully address the clearly substandard conditions there, in the facility that he was now responsible for overseeing. I honestly felt at the time that this man would be capable of responding to me in equally good faith, because I knew then as I as I know how critically significant and undeniably legitimate my concerns are. But in effect, I never heard from the man, until such a time as it was too late. And at that time, I made that clear to him, too. I hope he is aware of this today, that he remembers it. I really do. 

I cannot emphasize enough the degree to which I need you, my readers, to stay on top of the affairs of The Arizona State Hospital as time passes. This is a new year, and I am not even warmed up yet in terms of the work I am dedicated to doing as a matter of stopping the rampant patient abuse at ASH. This abuse is criminal, it is sickening to the conscience, and there is no way that I or anyone of like mind is going to sit back and allow these matters to continue unabated. Visit my Resource Idea page(s) and determine what you can do in your own right to defend the rights, dignity, and care needs of Arizona's most seriously mentally disabled citizens today. I will be returning to reside in Arizona in due time, possibly within weeks, and I look forward to meeting those of you who I have come into contact thus far. In unity there is resolve. 

paoloreed@gmail.com