Sheriff & Judge Holding Richard I. Fine, Now One Year In Solitary "Coercive Confinement (Video 7 minutes)

Los Angeles, CA. On March 4, 2010 it will be one year in the L.A. County Jail for Richard I. Fine, who accused Superior Court Judge David Yaffe of corruption for taking illegal payments from the L.A. County in a case involving the County of Los Angeles. The ACLU has been called in to prevent inmate abuse by the L. A. County Jailers who are holding Fine in solitary “Coercive Confinement” in Central Men’s jail for contempt of court by order of Superior Court Judge Yaffe. Watch this seven minute video interview

Having never been convicted of a crime, Richard I. Fine is a 70 year old anti-trust attorney, who holds a Ph.D in International Law, who has been held without a trial and without bail and no hearing or release date. These circumstances are in violation of U.S. Supreme Court precedent, In Re Farr (1974), where the five day limit on holding a person in “coercive confinement” for civil contempt of court cases must apply.

The ACLU had previously informed Mr. Fine’s family and Full Disclosure that they were unable to assist him. But when his upper dental plate broke on January 5, 2010 he complained to his jailers that he could not eat without them, he realized he desperately needed their help.

Full Disclosure called Actor Ed Asner, long known as a humanitarian and who was recently honored by the ACLU for his devotion to preserving Civil Liberties. Mr. Asner unhesitatingly offered to call Ramona Ripston executive director of the ACLU and wife of prominent Ninth Circuit Court Judge Steven Reinhardt, to request help for Mr. Fine. For years the ACLU has served as court appointed monitor for the L. A. County jails to prevent inmate abuse and assure attention to inmate health care complaints.

Watch this 7 minute video news update report featuring:

· Mary Tiedeman ACLU Jail Project Coordinator
· Peter Eliasberg ACLU Managing Attorney
· Richard I. Fine by collect telephone call from his jail cell

Related Links:

Ed Asner, Requests Medical Updates On Richard Fine

L A Sheriff Denies Full Disclosure Interview of Richard Fine

Inmate Complaint Claims Sheriff Guilty of Unlawful Imprisonment

Ed Asner Requests Update On Richard I. Fine's Condition In L A Central Men's Jail

EDWARD ASNER'S HUMANITARIAN APPEAL FOR INMATE FINE

Los Angeles, CA After reading the latest reports from Full Disclosure Network® actor Ed Asner has requested updates on the condition of Richard I Fine Prisoner ID #1824367 in the L. A. County Central Men's Jail. For the past two weeks Mr. Fine has complained of the broken dental plate that has prevented him from being able to chew his food. The condition was reported to the jail's medical infirmary and two complaints and an appeal were filed by Mr. Fine to no avail.

HELD IN SOLITARY "COERCIVE CONFINEMENT"

Richard I. Fine has been held in L.A. County jail since March 4, 2009 in solitary "Coercive Confinement" for contempt of court following his challenge of Judge David Yaffe for having accepted illegal payments from L A. County who was involved in the case Marina Strand Colony II Homeowners Assn. vs County of L.A. In spite of U S Supreme Court precedent In Re Farr holding that persons cannot be held in "coercive confinement" for more that five days in contempt of court cases, Mr. Fine remains in jail for almost eleven months.

ACLU MONITORING COUNTY JAILS

Apparently County jail operations are now more concerned with who will pay for the dental repairs than they are with fixing the problem. When Ed Asner learned of the situtation, he called on the ACLU to look into this matter and asked Full Disclosure to keep him updated from our side of the story. As a result of court cases, and an agreement with L. A. County, the ACLU has been monitoring the L. A. County Jails to prevent inmate abuse and assure proper medical attention to the inmates. Ed Asner was assured by Ramona Ripston, Executive Director of the ACLU, that they would look into the matter.


FULL DISCLOSURE'S UPDATE FOR ED ASNER (1-23-10):
Dear Ed:

I got a call at 10 p.m last night, at home, from a Lieutenant at the L A County Central Men's Jail, as he promised to update us on Mr. Fine. He told me the following:

1) Mr. Fine is able to eat even with a broken dental plate, contradicting Mr. Fine.
2) The jail Medical clinic cannot fix the dental plate
3) Mr. Fine will have to pay to have it fixed.
4) No plans have been yet scheduled to deal with this problem.

And, there appears to be no sense of urgency on the part of the Sheriff's Department to do anything to accommodate the dental problem, as it has now been over two weeks since the dental plate broke and was first reported.

There is a belief that Mr. Fine and or his supporters could raise the money to fix the dental plate. As I mentioned, I have talked with Executive Assistant to the Sheriff, Commander Jim Lopez, a Lieutenant and Watch Commander's Deputy in Men's Central Jail about this and the telephone problem over the last two days.

Last night (Fri 1-22-10) I got two voice mail messages from Commander Lopez at 7:48 p.m. and 8:16 p.m. he said that he talked to the Sergeants involved in oversight and they have solved one problem, but gave no specifics, and that they still have not resolved the dental problem and that he will be back to me on Monday.

I will continue to notify you if I hear from Mr. Fine and or the Sheriff's Department and hope to hear from you or Ramona of any developments from your end.

Thank you and the ACLU for your interest and concern. It is greatly appreciated by all who are watching this sorry saga play out. I hope that the clerical problems with the Ninth Circuit will be addessed as well, as Mr. Fine filed a petition weeks ago for an En Banc hearing before the full Court to appeal the Court's decision to deny his petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. I will be at my office this afternoon at 310-822-4449 and checking my messages frequently.

Best regards,

Leslie Dutton

Producer

Full Disclosure Network®.

BIG MEDIA AND ANTI-TRUST LAWS

Los Angeles, CA. In a ten minute video news blog the Full Disclosure Network® presents leaders of the Screen Actors Guild ( SAG) membership who point to the real danger of the proposed contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). They say the conditions are very similar to why Anti-Trust laws were enacted by the Congress years ago. And, the question is asked why are those laws are not being applied to the Big Media that now controls the production of movies and television, while distributing the product and transmitting it over cable companies and the internet that they also control.

Featured in the video news blog are:

• Scott Wilson, Screen Actors Guild Membership Leader
• Alan Rosenberg, President, Screen Actors Guild
• Edward Asner, former President of the Screen Actors Guild
• Ted Turner, Founder of Cable News Network
• Leslie Dutton, Moderator

The divided SAG leaders describe themselves as threatened with extinction or they call themselves “Moderates” who are more compliant with the power that controls the industry.

Ed Asner. Unhesitatingly describes the “moderates” as “walking softly and carrying a little stick” when it comes to negotiations. While Scott Wilson, says that “the collective bargaining is all about the Internet where the Big Media has a stranglehold”.

This is the first in a series of Full Disclosure Network® programs covering the future of Hollywood facing Media Consolidation and globalization and will it survive?

Ed Asner Attacks Progressive LA City Council on Public Access Demise

Los Angeles CA Full Disclosure Network® presents a nine minute video news blog with Ed Asner who appears to attack the "progressive" members of the Los Angeles City Council and challenges them to stop the neglect of the public cable access television channels and to start funding the facilities here in the heart of the media world and Hollywood California. Asner, was especially critical of the City's practice of diverting the vast majority of $25 million in annual cable franchise fees, paid by the cable operators, into the city's general fund rather than supporting the public access channels, as it was intended

FORMIDABLE FORCES FIGHT DEMISE
Ed Asner is considered one of the most prominent activist actors of his time. He has emerged as the second political powerhouse to voice concern about government actions that would destroy America's public access cable television system, joining Stanley Sheinbaum, the former UC Regent and President of the L A Police Commission who has been waging a campaign to convince the California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown, to file for injunctive relief to stop the closing of the Time Warner Cable public access channels in Los Angeles.

CITY FAILS TO PROTECT PUBLIC CHANNELS
Without opposition from the Mayor or the City Council of Los Angeles, Time Warner Cable has shut down public access cable channels in I.A. as of January 1, 2009. The City has failed to designate or provide for even one public access channel to fill the void, while approving a plan to retain four government controlled public cable channels.

PROGRESSIVE COUNCIL ACUSED OF KILLING FREE SPEECH
Asner, who won seven Emmy awards for his “Lou Grant” TV series focusing on the news gathering and reporting operations, tells Full Disclosure of his concern that the “Progressive" members of the L. A. City Council have lost their way and forgotten about the importance of free expression and the public's right to public "venting" their issues of concern.