Sunday, November 15, 2009

When you DON'T have the Right to Remain Silent

Dear Readers,



Below is just one of the sources on which I based information I shared with the Onamia City Council at the tax abatement meeting (oh my, its been a couple of years ago now! The wheels of justice do indeed grind slowly!) It is because I found out about Tanner Wilson's death - and, like any good citizen, relayed the information to the city council at a public meeting - that Nexus has sued me - in order to shut me up. (Perhaps, and this is speculation, Nexus already knew about their Mille Lacs Academy Executive Director's criminal activities and impending conviction for embezzlement in Oklahoma.... Maybe we've only seen the tip of the Nexus Iceberg...) The Onamia City council had no knowledge that a child had died at Gerard (a branch of the Nexus Corporation), nor were they aware of the failed Fairmont, MN Nexus facility. (I'd bet money - if I had any left, that is - that Nexus also failed to disclose the Paul Smith indictiment of which he was recently convicted. I know that it didn't come up at a public meeting. I know that.)

Let me ask you this, my friends - do you think it is fair that Nexus sued me for repeating information which is and has been for years readily available over the Internet? I mean, really - I acted responsibly and checked out the validity of the case. It turned out to be TRUE! So, do you think that Nexus has the right to sue me because I told the TRUTH?

Here's a shout-out: Does anybody know if Nexus sued Dave Reynolds, the Inclusion Daily Express, or the Des Moines Register? (or anybody else - since these bullies seem highly litigious...) I would really like to know the extremes Nexus has taken to bury their skeletons- or did they just sue only little old Hannabelle when she discovered the Tanner Wilson case? (Information which is even available on Ebay, folks! Check it out!) Has Nexus sued anyone else who wrote or spoke about this child's death? Just me? Wow! Why do you think that is??? I don't know - since those folks with all the "Cornerstone Values" gave me the Nexus Silent Treatment.

Now, my enemies (yes... I know you're still here) I ask you this: If I, as a concerned citizen, discovered information about a company that the city council in MY town was unaware of , maybe a little dirt that uh... slipped past the overzealous councilmen - and this city council intended to grant this company a huge free ride of tax abatement, knowing what I know - did I really have the right to remain silent? Wasn't it my civic DUTY to inform that government as to suspicious data my research uncovered? BEFORE they committed to 15 years of tax abatement? Before it was too late?

Whether you are Pronexus or a patriotic American citizen, do you agree that a citizen has an obligation to be forthright with information - expecially when the company in question has withheld important (and quite controverial) information? I personally witnessed former Nexus CEO Jim D'Angelo LIE about safety records to both the city council as well as the public. (He also lied on his sworn affidavit in one of my lawsuits....) Of course I don't have a high opinion of liars and I don't want to live next to sex offenders. I also admit a bias against bullies. But what about YOU? So, my enemies.... you The Loyal Pronexus.... what would you have done had you discovered something pretty bad about the company your city council was about to hand over the taxpayer dollars? Would you tell them? Or would you exercise your Right to Remain Silent?

OF COURSE YOU WOULD REMAIN SILENT!!!! You wouldn't want to get involved. (All that harassment and intimidation!!! "What if there is a fire?") What if Nexus got all huffy and sued you? What if the mayor organized your ostracization from the town you chose to build your life? What if the city council called you names? What if the local newspaper portrayed you in a negative light? Nope. Don't get involved. Don't share that important information with the Deciders.... You do have the Right to Remain Silent. Cherish it! It's just about the only right you have left. (You certainly no longer have your Right to Free Speech... At least I don't. That's pretty much as extinct as the right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.)

Just one last thing and then we can all go to sleep. :) This is soooo sad! Nexus refuses to acknowledge Tanner Wilson's LIFE! Yes - the LIFE he lost at one of their institutions. Nexus attorney Victor Lund has made a big deal about me using this dead child's name. In the legal papers, Tanner is referred to as " T_W" or described as the "minor". I've been chastised for speaking his name. Although I no longer have any Freedom of Speech, I refuse my Right to Remain Silent (even though everything can and will be used against me in a court of law) - when it comes to the NAME of this minor T_W_ He had a LIFE and he had a NAME. Tanner Wilson is a name that nobody should ever forget- no matter how many lawsuits Nexus launches to silence those of us who care about children and dare to speak out (both of which I do, by the way. I devoted my life to teaching.)

I know I'm not always good at getting my points across - I know because of so much negativity surrounding .... well... ME. But I don't believe that I should be punished by Nexus - as they use the Justice System as their butt-paddle to beat me up and make me go away - because I found out about a few of their boo-boos and oopses. Tanner Wilson, age 11 died in a prone restraint hold at a Nexus facility and I didn't know about it until years after he was gone. But then, Tanner touched my heart. (Yes, its been proven that I have one. Look at how many times it has broken in the past few years!) Not only did I tell the city council about him, I tried to honor the memory of this little boy in a video - this T_W_ - this "minor" inconvenience which Hannabelle pulled out of the Nexus closet of secrets. His NAME was Tanner Wilson. And he didn't deserve to die.



Parents Sue Facility And Staff For Boy's Restraint Death
By Dave Reynolds,
Inclusion Daily ExpressAugust 16, 2001MASON CITY, IOWA--

On Tanner Wilson's first day at Gerard of Iowa care center two years ago, staff member Lori Ingham tried to "take him to the ground". During the attempt to restrain him, Ingham succeeded in breaking the boy's leg.

On February 9 of this year, a year and a half after being admitted to the mental health facility, Wilson died while being restrained in a "routine physical holding".
He was 11 years old.

Officials have ruled the cause of death as asphyxiation -- he suffocated to death -- and are considering it a homicide.

One of the employees allegedly involved in restraining Wilson when he died was none other than Lori Ingham. She now faces a charge of child endangerment in connection with the death.

This Tuesday, Tanner's parents, Robert and Karen Wilson, filed a lawsuit against Ingham and fellow employee Jeremy Witt, along with Gerard Treatment Programs and an affiliate known as Nexus Inc..

According to the Des Moines Register, the suit claims Ingham and Witt "used unreasonable and unnecessary force in restraining and eventually killing" the boy. It also charges Gerard, which was being paid $9,000 a month to care for Wilson, with failing to properly train and supervise its employees.

The Wilsons are asking for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. They say they do not want other parents to go through what they have gone through.

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[Hannabelle's Note: Charges against the employee responsible for the deadly restraint hold were eventually dropped, the Wilson lawsuit was eventually settled out of court, and Nexus is still here.)