I drove three hours round trip on Wedneday, April 17th to visit Billy Blake for over five hours at Great Meadows Maximim Secuirty Prison in Comstock, New York. There is no way to contact him by phone. Solitary inmates are allowed one outgoing phone call per month. I wanted to see if the publicity of the petition was in any way causing him problems. I’m happy to report that he’s doing as well as can be expected.
He reports that about half the solitary cells are now empty at his prison, something he’s never seen before there. They’ve always been filled. Nobody seems to know why or aren’t saying what’s going on. It’s been 32 years of solitary for Billy Blake and he’s wondering if he might get his first chance to live with general population soon.
Yesterday, I purchased and delivered a copy of Albert Woodfox’s book, Solitary, to him.
On the topic of my novel, Caged to Kill, the reviews are coming in. One reader said, “[It] sheds much-needed light on the horrors of solitary confinement, which thousands of people in NY continue to be subjected to in state prisons and jails.”Sales of the book totally fund my volunteer efforts.
You can read about it and see all the reviews at this link here on Amazon.
The petition I started to help free Billy from prison and to change the law in New York has reached 770 supporters.
Thank you to those who have signed. If you haven’t signed, please consider it. Here’s the link.
Tom
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