Petrelis Files

August 9, 2004

Barney Calame
Deputy Managing Editor
The Wall Street Journal

Dear Mr. Calame:

Since the Wall Street Journal lacks an ombudsman or readers' representative, I am directing this email to you.

One of your reporters, Mr. Mark Schoofs, signed a petition in support of releasing 1960s radical Kathy Boudin from prison, which was published in the June 2001 edition of Poz magazine. The petition and the list of signatories is also on Boudin's web site.

Schoofs, number 63 on the list, is identified as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and many Poz magazine readers know he won a Pulitzer Prize for his stories on AIDS in Africa for the Village Voice.

My questions for you are -- does your publication allow reporters to sign political petitions, and identify themselves as Wall Street Journal reporters?

A prompt reply is requested and appreciated.

Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
^^^

Kathy Boudin's web site

POZ Magazine

June 11, 2001

To: The New York State Parole Board
Re: Parole for Kathy Boudin

Some of us have met, spoken or worked with Kathy Boudin in our capacity as longtime advocates for people with HIV, others have not. But all of us know well her groundbreaking AIDS work at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility over the past 15 years. She is, without doubt, one of our nation's most vital and important advocates for incarcerated women with HIV. No one who has ever witnessed, for example, Bedford Hills' legendary AIDSWalk, organized by Ms. Boudin and A.C.E., the AIDS counseling and education group Ms. Boudin founded, will ever forget how deeply inspirational it is. The idea that inmates solicit pledges from one another, families and friends, as well as guards and prison administrators, and conduct a day-long ceremony in the prison yard promoting PWA empowerment, HIV prevention and also an evening, memorial to those lost to AIDS is a moving example of what this terrible, epidemic has taught those who care enough to learn: that true compassion can heal historic conflicts and divisions. Literally, tens of thousands of women have benefited from the peer support, information and care initiatives Ms. Boudin pioneered at Bedford Hills. And not just women at Bedford Hills, but nationwide, because the programs developed by Ms. Boudin have become a model for other U.S. penal institutions. This lifesaving work would never have been done as early in the epidemic, nor as effectively, were it not for Ms. Boudin's creativity and commitment. It would be difficult to quantify, but it is certain that her work has not only extended and improved the lives of women and families with HIV, but has also saved New York State taxpayers a small fortune. Preventing HIV is vastly less expensive than treating it. Treating HIV-educated patients is less expensive than treating those who are uninformed or have not found the hope to care.

From what we have learned from women who have been paroled from Bedford Hills, Ms. Boudin's success is anchored in her ability to work appropriately within the system, knowing when to push and when to be patient. Also, she approaches AIDS work in a holistic manner, as apart of recovery and rehabilitation. AIDS does not exist in isolation, nor can care, treatment or prevention.

Kathy Boudin's work of service while serving her sentence of 20 years to life has given life and hope to many. This vocation for healing may never make up for past actions that cost lives, but it is proof that, far from posing any further risk to society, she is ready, and has earned her right, to become a greatly contributing member of society. Her advocacy is urgently—even desperately—needed by the larger community, as are her equally impressive skills as a writer, teacher and s pokes person.

As it enters its third decade, AIDS is no longer a fashionable charity. Meantime, it is estimated that at current rates of infection, 1 billion of the Earth's inhabitants will have HIV by 2010. AIDS advocacy worldwide urgently needs expertise to develop prevention and treatment strategies to address the lives of those at greatest risk of contracting the disease, many of whom are young women of color. Moreover, we need educators who understand the multiple burdens so many of these at-risk populations face, including the challenges of raising children in poverty, as well as addiction, homelessness and mental illness.

With all respect and sympathy to the families of the victims of her past crime, we urge the Parole Board to grant Kathy Boudin the opportunity to take her advocacy perfected at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility out into the greater world. There she is certain to help so many more women face the challenge of HIV in their families. We need her.

Respectfully,

1. Sean Strub, Founder, POZ Magazine
2. Walter Armstrong, Bditor in Chief, POZ Magazine
3. Joseph Bostic, NYC AIDS Housing Network
4. Ann Northrop, co-host, "Gay USA," Gay Cable Network
5. Bob Lederer, Producer, "Health Action," WBAI Radio, New York City
6. Lark Lands, Ph.D., POZ Magazine Science Editor
7. Gus Cairns, Editor, Positive Nation Magazine (UK.)
8. Megan Strub, Executive Vice President, POZ magazine
9. Eain A. Murphy Ph.D., Research Fellow, Columbia University
10. Allison Zack, POZ Life Forum Director, POZ magazine
11. Todd Bender, Product & Sales Coordinator, Twentieth Century
Re-Editions, Inc.
12. Mariama HE Nance, Brooklyn, New York
13. Chloe Jo Berman, New York City
14. Ruben Rodriguez, Hotline Services Supervisor, The Osborne Association
15. Renate Koch, ACCSI (Accion Ciudadana Contra el SIDA) -Venezuela
16. Edgar Carrasco, LACCA.SO Venezuela
17. Alberto Nieves, RVGT+ - Venezuela
18. Neris Ruiz, AMAS+ - Venezuela
19. William Barco, ACCSI - Venezuela
20. Robert Cisnei'os, Director, Hudson Valley Poverty Law Center
21. Dawn M. Stewart, Secretary Frontline Hepatitis Awareness
22. Karen Aberie, President, Aberie Unlimited, Hunter, NY
23. Jean Maclean Snyder, Trial Counsel, MacArthur Justice Center
24. Edward Steinhart, Ph.D., History Department, Texas Tech University,
Lubbock, TX
25. Barbara Huff, high school English teacher and Methodist, Austin, Texas
26. Debra S. Wright, Drug Policy Forum of Michigan
27. Rachel Maddow, Doctoral Candidate, University of Oxford
28. David Rupprecht, Novi, Michigan
29. John lversen, former Co-Chair, Oakland EMA HIV Services Planning Cc
30. Barbara Lubin, Director, Middle East Children's Alliance, Berkeley, CA
31. Maudslle Shirek, Vice Mayor, Berkeley, CA
32. Jackie Walker, ACLU National Prison Project
33. James Learned, Director of Treatment Education, Community Research Initiative on AIDS (CRIA)
34. Nina Reznick, Attorney at Law
35. Merrill Cole, M.F.A., Ph.D., University of Washington
36. Tammy Vitrano, Program. Director, Women Alive Coalition
37. Alan Haber, Cabinetmaker, Ann Arbor, Michigan
38. Patrick Califia-Rice, author and AIDS activist
39. Dominic Hamilton-Little, New York, NY
40. Romeo Sanchez, Alliance for Inmates with AIDS (AlliA)
41. James Russo, Catholic Social Services, Ann Arbor MI
42. Cynthia Skow, MSW; California Prison Focus
43. Jeff Graham, Executive Director, AIDS Survival Project
44. Asia Russell, Project TEACH Outside, Philadelphia Pennsylvania
45. Jeff Gustavson, member, ACTG Immunology Research Agenda Committee, Survive AIDS
46. Kate Krauss, Health GAP Coalition
47. Kevin O'Leary, Editor in Chief, Male Magazine
48. Anna Forbes, MSS, AIDS and Women's Health Policy Consultant; Instructor, Bryn
Mawr School of Social Work and Social Research
49. Heidi Dorow, Women's Institute for Leadership Development
50. Julie. Davids, Director, Critical Path AIDS Project
51. Susan Wolfson, Founder, SENSEI Health
52. David Gilden, Director of Treatment Information, American Foundation for AIDS Research
53. Charlie. Welch, New York, NY
54. Richard Elovich, Former Director of HIV Prevention, GMHC, NYC
55. Phill Wilson, Founde.r, African American AIDS Policy and Training
Institute
56. Katie Szymanski, Assistant Editor, Bay Area Reporter
57. Shawn Decker, AIDS Educator and Activist
58. Gwenn Barringer, AIDS Educator and Activist
59. Emily Mills
60. RonniLyn Pustil, CATIE (Community AIDS Information and Treatment Exchange
Canada)
61. Steve Schalchlin, composer/lyricist
62. Sarah Schulman, activist and author, People in Trouble.
63. Mark Schoofs, staff reporter, Wall Street Journal
64. Illith Rosenbimn, activist
65. Bill Dobbs, member, Queer Watch
66. Daniel Wolfs, author, Men Like Us: The GMHC Complete Guide to Gay Men 's Sexual, Physical and Emotional Well-being
67. Frank Pizzoli, Founder, Positive Opportunities
68. Mark deSollaPrice, Author, Living Positively in a World with HJV/AIDS
69. Susanna Martin, SLAM High School Organizing Program
70. Rebecca Neren berg, Managing Editor, HEPP News (HIV and Hepatitis
Education/Prison Project)
71. Anne S. De Groot, MD, TB/HIV Research Lab, Brown University
72. Molly Snyder-Fink
73. Terry A. Klipers, M.D., M.S.P., Prof. at The Wright Institute
74. Augustus Nasmith, Jr., Past President, AIDS, Medicine & Miracles
75. Nikolas Stein, Paralegal, Southern Center for Human Rights, Atlanta, GA
76. Noa Kielurnan, Queensbury, UK
77. Cathy Olufs, Treatment Advocate, Women Alive Coalition
78. Brenda Calderon, Treatment Advocate, Women Alive Coalition
79. Marina Gornez, Treatment Advocate, Women Alive Coalition
80. Nancy MacNeil, Executive Director, Women Alive Coalition
81. Alma Alvarez, Fiscal Manager, Women Alive Coalition
82. Beverly Mosley, Board of Directors President, Women Alive Coalition
83. Mary Lucy, City AIDS Office, Los Angeles
84. John A. Beck, Senior Supervising Attorney, Prisoners' Rights Project, Legal Aid Society
85. Dave Powell, organizer, Met Council on Housing; Board President, ABC-No-Rio Community Center (LES)
86. Judy Greenspan, Chairperson, HIV in Prison Committee of California Prison Focus
87. Dawn Dawson, New York City
88. John Kirn, Project Coordinator, SLAM/United Student Government, Hunter College
89. Rebecca Denison, WORLD (Women Organized to Respond to Life-Threatening Diseases), San Francisco
90. Thomas Scott Tucker, author and activist
91. Larry Gross, Professor of Communications, University of Pennsylvania
92. Lauren Cornel!, Deep Dish Television, NYC
93. Beth Feinberg, Justice Network on Women
94. Milton Zele.rmyer, Staff Attorney, Legal Aid Society, NYC