Henkimaa » Polis

Prevo divorce documents raise “loosey-goosey” questions about Anchorage Baptist Temple house

Mel Green — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 22:55:35 +0000

by Mel Green | posted originally on Bent Alaska

Court documents in the divorce of Allen Prevo, son of Anchorage Baptist Temple pastor Jerry Prevo, and Holly Jo Prevo raise questions about ABT religious exemption housing. Or, in the judge’s words, “if there was a tax appraiser or a reporter from the Anchorage Daily News, things would not look good… it’s pretty loosey-goosey to me.”

Citing Alaska Statute § 25.20.120, which provides the option of sealing court records in proceedings involving child custody, attorney Wayne Anthony Ross on August 3 filed a motion to seal the records in the case of Allen Prevo v. Holly Jo Prevo (3AN-10-08113CI). The motion was filed on the same day that Anchorage Superior Court Judge Frank A. Pfiffner granted a decree of divorce. Arguing to seal the records, Ross wrote,

The plaintiff’s father (the children’s grandfather) is a high profile individual in the State of Alaska and is a well known, national figure. There are several journalists who would delight in airing any “dirty laundry” attached to the Prevo family. Access to these court records would provide little material that would be of any benefit to the public, and the negative publicity which would result could have a strong negative effect on the children.

Phyllis Shepherd, the defendant’s lawyer, countered on August 16:

It appears that plaintiff’s primary concern is, not so much the protection of his children, but to protect his father “a high profile individual in the state of Alaska and a well known national figure.”

The “high profile individual” is, of course, Jerry Prevo, pastor of the Anchorage Baptist Temple, who has long been a powerful figure in Anchorage and the state. He’s well-known to Anchorage’s LGBT community as a prominent leader in opposition to equal rights under the law for LGBT people, leading the fight against three ordinances which granted those rights in 1975, 1992, and 2009 — all of which passed the Anchorage Assembly, only to be reversed (twice through mayoral veto, once through vote of a successor Assembly). He had close ties with Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, and founded Alaska’s chapter of the Moral Majority in 2000. In 1985, Prevo accompanied Falwell on a widely publicized “Freedom Mission” to South Africa, returning to Anchorage to speak the praises of then-president and apartheid advocate P.W. Botha. Since at least 2003, Prevo has been chair of the board of trustees of Liberty University in Lynchburg, which Falwell founded as Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971.

Prevo also has ties with other national Christian figures, including Franklin Graham, and is on the board of directors of Graham’s charity Samaritan Purse. He accompanied former Alaska governor Sarah Palin on a Samaritan Purse mission to western Alaska. Prevo has several times been a member of Alaska’s delegation to the national Republican convention, at least twice serving as the delegation’s chair. At the 2009 convention, according the the Washington Post political blog The Trail, he handed Palin his cell phone for her to accept congratulations from Franklin Graham for her nomination as vice presidential candidate. His power is such that many political candidates feel compelled to take what Amanda Coyne of Alaska Dispatch once termed “the perp walk at Anchorage Baptist Temple” to introduce themselves to his congregation. The funeral of Sen. Ted Stevens was held in his church.

Allen Prevo’s attorney, Wayne Anthony Ross, is also widely known. In Anchorage he’s famous for driving a bright red Hummer bearing vanity plates with his initials, WAR. In 2009 he was Gov. Sarah Palin’s nominee for Alaska attorney general, and distinguished himself by becoming the only cabinet nominee in Alaska state history to fail to be confirmed by the Alaska Legislature. His candidacy had been widely opposed by Alaska Natives, women, and the LGBT community — who weren’t favorably impressed by a 1993 letter he wrote to the Alaska Bar Rag (of the Alaska Bar Association) calling gays and lesbians “degenerates” who practiced “sexual perversion” and were “”immoral in the eyes of anyone with intelligence.” Asked in a confirmation hearing if he could fairly represent LGBT Alaskans, Ross replied,

Let me give you an analogy. I hate lima beans. I’ve never liked lima beans. But if I was hired to represent the United Vegetable Growers, would you ask me if I liked lima beans. No. If I disliked lima beans. No. Because my job is to represent the United Vegetable Growers.

Wayne Anthony Ross is perhaps not correct when he writes — as his motion to seal the court records goes on to say —

The plaintiff respectfully submits to the court that it is in the best interests of the children to have these records shielded from public scrutiny.

In fact, there may in fact be “benefit to the public” — a benefit having nothing to do with the Prevo kids — in leaving the court records open to scrutiny. That’s getting down to the bottom of what’s going on with Jerry Prevo’s son’s housing.

Background

Allen and Holly Jo Prevo married on May 1, 1992 and had three children.

Allen Prevo, 43, is the only child of Jerry and Carol Prevo. He began working for his father’s church, Anchorage Baptist Temple, in 1983 as a lighting director and TV consultant, and currently is ABT’s audiovisual and computer technician in charge of virtually everything having to do with ABT’s television ministry — Sunday broadcasts, commercials, advertising, and lighting for plays. He also is an ordained pastor, though court records mention only a high school education, no college or seminary work. In 1997 while working at ceiling level at ABT, he fell 24 feet from a catwalk, landing on a railing and suffering severe injuries to his ribs and thoracic spine. As a result, he has a chronic pain condition which is managed with the pain medication Oxycontin (oxycodone). Prevo was the plaintiff in the case, with Ross stating on his behalf in the Complaint for Divorce of May 17, 2010,

There exists an incompatibility of temperament between the parties which renders a life together burdensome and intolerable. However, plaintiff does not wish a divorce and believes that if the defendant will involved herself in counseling with him, take the necessary time, and make the necessary effort, then this marriage could be saved. If the defendant refuses, however, to involve herself with plaintiff in counseling, take the necessary time, and make the necessary effort to try and save this marriage, then a divorce may be necessary.

The Plaintiff’s Trial Brief of March 18, 2011 elaborates:

In April 2010 Holly announced to Allen that she wanted a divorce. Allen filed for divorce on 10 June 2010 because he feared Holly was planning to take the children out of the state. Rather than wanting a divorce, Allen hoped to get Holly to agree to involve herself, with him, in marriage counseling. Holly, however, has refused to work toward saving the marriage. Instead, she has advised Allen that she plans to move to California after the divorce.

Holly Jo Prevo nee Jaggers, 39, currently works as a customer service representative for AT&T, though during most of her marriage to Allen Prevo she was out of the workforce, staying in the home as a homemaker and primary caregiver of the couple’s three kids. Previously she had been involved in volunteer activities centered around Anchorage Baptist Temple and the Anchorage Christian School, including directing the children’s choir and coaching cheerleading.

At issue in the divorce was the custody of the three minor children, possible child and spousal support, attorney’s fees, and the equitable division of marital property. The Amended Decree of Divorce of August 3 ultimately granting them joint legal custody of the two younger children, with Allen having primary physical custody of them; and Holly being granted sole legal and primary physical custody of their oldest child. Despite Allen’s initial claim in his Complaint for Divorce that “Defendant is financially capable of paying spousal support to plaintiff,” Judge Pfiffner found Holly’s claim to be the financially disadvantaged party — with an annual income in the area of $60,000 less than Allen’s — to be correct, writing in the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law,

Because of her limited income and assets and smaller earning capability, Holly needs a disproportionate share of the marital estate. Accordingly, the court has divided the estate on a 55/45 basis in favor of Holly.

Holly’s name was also restored to Holly Jo Jaggers.

Some details of the settlement, as well as some of the Finding of Fact incorporated in the decree, are still being argued about between the parties, resulting in further motions in countermotions.

The marital home

But one item in particular remains of public interest: the marital home at 2330 Banbury Drive. A search on the property at the Municipality of Anchorage Real Property Information site confirms that the property is, as discussed in court records, owned by the Anchorage Baptist Temple. Furthermore, it’s got a religious exemption from taxes. From there, the questions begin.

Anchorage news junkies may remember that in April 2004, municipal tax assessors revoked the exemption for four ABT-owned houses that were determined not to qualify for a religious exemption because none of the people living in them was “a bishop, pastor, priest, rabbi, minister or religious order of a recognized religious organization” as specified in state law about property tax exemptions. Three were teachers at the ABT-affliated Anchorage Christian Schools. The fourth was a janitor. Then, a couple of years later, the Municipality discovered that an additional six ABT-owned houses were occupied by teachers.

Anxious to retain its tax exemption on those houses, ABT enlisted the help of assistant pastor Glenn Clary, who also happened to be the treasurer of the Alaska Republican Party, to go down to Juneau and lobby legislators to fix things. The Republican-dominated legislature was quick to respond: in March 2006, Senate President Ben Stevens drafted language which added “an educator in a private religious or parochial school” to the list of people whose residence in a house made the house exempt from property taxes. Furthermore, the new language defined a “minister” to be someone who is considered one and is “employed to carry out a ministry” of a religious organization. Stevens then asked Sen. Bert Stedman, chairman of the Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee, to introduce the new language into a redraft of an obscure property tax bill that Sen. Con Bunde had introduce the previous year. Public testimony on the bill a few days later was aligned squarely against the bill, but legislators advance it anyway, and it ultimately passed and was signed into law by Gov. Frank Murkowski. The ACLU of Alaska sued, but ultimately a Superior Court judge found the new law constitutional.

It’s not completely clear from the court paperwork, but it’s possible that the religious exemption for the house the Allen and Holly Jo Prevo family lived in came out of this law — the portion of it which permits a religious organization to define for itself what a “minister” who is “employed to carry out a ministry” is. Allen Prevo is, again, an ordained minister — despite no record in the court documents to indicate his education went past high school to college, much less grad school or a seminary. And, Allen Prevo is employed to carry out ABT’s television ministry. Thus: the ABT house he lives in is tax-exempt.

But there’s still plenty of unclarity to be found in the court documents. For example, in paragraph 4 of the Counterclaim contained in the defendant’s (Holly’s) Answer to Complaint for Divorce (filed June 30, 2010), Phyllis Shepherd on Holly’s behalf asserts,

Defendant asserts that she is a disadvantaged spouse and is in need of spousal support to be paid by the Defendant.

Wayne Anthony Ross on behalf of Allen Prevo denied this, writing in the January 26, 2011 Answer to Counterclaim,

The defendant is gainfully employed and is continuing to live in the marital home while the plaintiff continues to pay the mortgage.

But how could Allen have been paying the mortgage when he didn’t own the home? (At this point, also, Ross and Prevo were continuing to insist that Holly, with an annual income perhaps one quarter of Allen’s, should pay him spousal support.)

The details begin to come clear in a significantly unclear way in on the first day of the divorce trial, which took place on April 5, 2011. A summary of the trail is included in the court file. These notes, prepared by court clerks during testimony, generally include the statements made by witnesses, but not (except in rare instances) the questions asked by attorneys — so it’s rather like hearing only one side of a telephone conversation. Occasionally Judge Pfiffner — identified in the record as COURT — also steps in with a few questions, as in this passage, in which Allen Prevo is being examined by Wayne Anthony Ross. Typos and errors here are as in the original; comments or explanation from me are in square brackets.

Direct Exam continues by Mr. Ross

Plaintiff ex. 6 – reference [Plaintiff identifies exhibit 6]

(spreadsheet of property, to be split 50/50)
(fair thing to do, not written agreement between us the church)
(been working for ABT fro 15 years and they will have rent go to equity in the home. If you stay in this home an its paid off its our home, verbal agreements and nothing in writing)

plaintiff ex. 3 – ID [Plaintiff identifies exhibit 3]

(verbal agreement we wrote up to be fair on this issue, written up…., not sure of date)
(written up for this litigation, since she decided on this divorce)
(if I were to quit ABT they would get the home, its in their name)
(took what we put toward the home, rent to own, transfer equity from other home to his home and they appliances and new boiler etc.,)
($322,888.50 valued at, yes)
(we picked out refrigerator and the washer and dryer, church put up the money and added to what we owed the church)
(correct)
(the previous house was also owned by ABT)
(got credit for the first ABT home toward the 2nd ABT home)
(yes, made repairs but paid for by ABT, increased what we owed on the home)
(They also paid fire insurance…,)

Clerk change back to Holly Fuentes

Exhibit(s) Offered

Court inquires of Allen Prevo

Allen Prevo
(No, the church paid the house off so I don’t know, I guess because we’re paying the church there’s no mortgage
(It’s listed as Anchorage Baptist Temple…if I had my paystub I could show you exactly
(We were paying a bi-weekly payment…toward the equity of the home
(That was…yes sir…$770 monthly, on the second page
(Yes…not sure if it’s fifteen years, started in 2005…started ABT in 1983
(It was a good deal sir
(I’ve stated to Holly, if I keep the kids for the school year I’d purchase the house and get money from the church to pay her half and then I’d owe my dad an arm and a leg
(If I don’t have the kids for the school year I don’t need that big of a house
(We’d default on the mortgage and we’d see…we’d divide it up
(They’d end up paying us fair market value…no sir
[…]
(Holly did all the financing when we were married
(This came from the church, what we have paid since 2005, how much we paid for the house
(Yes {paid by the Baptist Temple}…and added to…yes…correct

COURT:
-Anchorage Baptist Temple, your father, whoever is going to agree to all of this…that’s a stretch

Ross
-If he decided to become a Presbyterian…nothing requiring him to pay them

COURT:
-I’m willing to have you explain a lot more but if there was a tax appraiser or a reporter from the Anchorage Daily News, things would not look good
-I’m seeing and hearing all this stuff…I have to deal with it only in the context of this case
-Who owns this, is there equity, how it will be paid out, it’s pretty loosey-goosey to me

On the second day of the trial, April 7, 2011, Ronald Thomas Slepecki, a college professor at Wayland Baptist, was examined as a witness for the defense by Holly’s attorney Phyllis Shepherd. Before going to Wayland, Slepecki had been a staff member at ABT.

(I retired from the Air Force…in 1991-1995…I was over a lot of the children so I had interactions with…mostly those four years I knew of Allen and Holly
(That all changed in…we were family, they’d help sit our kids…both were great
(This is very difficult for me because I love them both, I’m here testifying to the truth, not here to be on one side or the other
(Well, yes…whenever you go up against your old bosses son is the way it could be seen
(I’ve worked for his dad for quite a long time…yes, Pastor Prevo…can be very tough to deal with
(He does wield a lot of power as it relates to that church…our government and the way it’s structured
(A Pastor is a Pastor…he does all the hiring and firing so it’s difficult to be put in a situation
[…]
(Yes, how it works…

Ross
-Objection, relevance

COURT:
-Overruled

Ronald Thomas Slepecki
(Any church atmosphere…that means the property is owned by the church and an ordained minister lives in that property
(So I met that, I was an ordained minister…therefore, the church does not have to pay taxes on that home because I meet those requirements
(Two would be later on if I move out of the church house…and purchased my own home, the church can designate a certain part of your salary as a housing allowance
(The rental value…then you have to justify that…all the things have to add up to that
(There’s one more than occurs at Anchorage Baptist Temple, there’s a third setup that relates to Allen and Holly’s home, that has been given to folks that are higher up
(I never got that, I asked and was denied

Ross
-Objection, speculation

Ronald Thomas Slepecki
(The church carries the note so they give you a better interest rate and you work off that and pay the church

Based on Allen’s first-day testimony, apparently the rent which Allen paid went towards equity in the home in some kind of unwritten, purely verbal agreement between him and ABT, or between him and his father. But after it became clear that there would be a divorce, the agreement was finally put down on paper. Which may possibly be what’s being referred to here, from Day 3 of the trial, held July 12, 2011 (though to verify someone would have to listen to the recording and/or examine the exhibit):

Holly Prevo
(His dad gave us that…his fingerprints would be all over that document, he’s fully aware of document…original document has been signed
(Allen signed it and Jerry Prevo…no doubt whatsoever

Rebuttal: Cross Examination by Mr. Ross

Holly Prevo
(I heard Jerry Prevo say…unless he’s a liar…yes, I did see it signed

Meanwhile, the rent that Allen paid, which went towards this supposed equity in the home, actually appears to have come out of one of the components of Allen’s compensation as an ABT employee — his housing allowance of $10,029.24. In other words, he was given a housing allowance, which he used to pay rent which went towards his equity.

(His total compensation, per Holly’s Answer to Complaint for Divorce as well as the final Findings of Fact, includes: Salary$58,844; housing allowance $10,029; cell phone $420; utility allowance $3,000; 403(b) contribution $9,500; vacation 4 weeks; for a total of $81,793. Additionally, there was free private school tuition for each child enrolled at Anchorage Christian School, up to about $11,750/year; medical reimbursement for 1/2 family medical expenses not otherwise covered by health insurance; ABT-provided truck insurance; and retirement held in Vanguard mutual funds valued at about $100,000. Holly in the meantime had an annual income in 2010 of $24,931.)

Judge Pfiffner, as he said on Day 1 of the divorce trial, could only do the best he could within the context of the case. As summarized in the Findings of Fact:

ABT has legal title to the residence at 2330 Banbury Drive in Anchorage. (Ex. G). There is no deed of trust on the residence. However, ABT and Allen Prevo had an unrecorded agreement in place whereby Allen owns the equity in the residence. (Ex. 3) The agreement provides Allen Prevo is vested with the equity from prior ABT housing. (Id.) The difference between the prior equity and the purchase prices was the initial paper mortgage amount on the Banbury residence. (Id.) Each pay period, a percentage of Allen Prevo’s annual housing allowance was subtracted from Allen’s paycheck and is applied to reduce the paper mortgage balance on the Banbury residence. (Id.) Essentially, Allen Prevo’s housing allowance is an interest free reduction in Allen Prevo’s paper mortgage. (Id.) The paper equity on the Banbury residence is a marital asset. [emphasis added]

Maybe we need what Judge Pfiffner mentioned in the first day of the trial —

-I’m willing to have you explain a lot more but if there was a tax appraiser or a reporter from the Anchorage Daily News, things would not look good
-I’m seeing and hearing all this stuff…I have to deal with it only in the context of this case
-Who owns this, is there equity, how it will be paid out, it’s pretty loosey-goosey to me

Yep, looks pretty loosey-goosey to me, too, an unschooled renter-for-life like me, who has never owned a house in my life.

Tax assessors, Anchorage Daily News, or any other journalists who just want to get down to the truth — whether or not you “delight in airing any “dirty laundry” attached to the Prevo family” — please have a look at this, will you?

The court file is not yet sealed.

Update 1: I’ve been informed that the court file was sealed at about 1:00 PM on August 29, several hours after this post went live on Bent Alaska.

Update 2: The file was not actually “sealed”: the order reads “Order Granting Motion in Part ~ Motion for Documents to be Filed Under Protective Seal ~ Before the court is plaintiff’s motion for the files in the above captioned case to be maintained under seal or kept confidential. Plaintiff’s motion is granted in part and denied in part. The court finds that the public interest in disclosure is presently outweighed by a legitimate interest in confidentiality. See Alaska R. Admin. 37.6(b). Specifically, the court finds that confidentiality should be maintained in order to protect the best interests of the minor children. See AS 25.20.120. Accordingly, all transcripts and documents filed in the above captioned case shall be kept confidential within the meaning of Alaska Rule of Administration 37.5(c)(4). Plaintiff’s motion to maintain the file under seal is denied. This order is without prejudice to a motion filed by any member of the public seeking access to the case file in whole or in part.”

Please note that there are other and much more personal aspects of this divorce, which I chose not to discuss in this story, which have bearing on the the judge’s decision on this matter.

Update 3: “Confidential” and “sealed”: under Alaska Rule of Administration 37.5(c)(4) and (c)(5):

(4) “Confidential” means access to the record is restricted to:
(A) the parties to the case;
(B) counsel of record;
(C) individuals with a written order from the court authorizing access; and
(D) court personnel for case processing purposes only.
(5) “Sealed” means access to the record is restricted to the judge and persons authorized by written order of the court.

The judge ordered the records to be kept confidential, but denied the plaintiff’s motion to seal them.

References

Besides the court documents cited within the text, or references which were linked, these references were also used:

“Co-sponsors flummoxed by hijacking of tax bill – BAPTIST TEMPLE: Exemption from taxes for church’s housing for teachers shoehorned into measure” by Richard Richtmyer (Anchorage Daily News, March 10, 2006).
“Committee gets earful about property-tax bill – EXEMPTION: No one spoke in its favor, but it advanced anyway” by Matt Volz, Associated Press (Anchorage Daily News, March 12, 2006).
“Temple’s homes for its teachers are tax exempt – COURT RULING: Alaska ACLU had sued to stop the practice” by Sheila Toomey and Megan Holland (Anchorage Daily News, July 4, 2008).

I’m going to Netroots Nation

Mel Green — Thu, 26 May 2011 07:21:05 +0000

Crossposted at Bent Alaska

Mel the reluctant political blogger is going to Netroots Nation after all — on full scholarship through the LGBT Netroots Connect initiative. Wanna know what I said on my scholarship application? Then read this post.

I wasn’t going to go. I didn’t want to go. When I ran into Shannyn Moore at the Bear Tooth back in February, and she suggested I apply for a Democracy for America scholarship to Netroots Nation, I told her that since I was trying to steer myself toward my writing — which feeds my spirit in a way that political blogging does not — I didn’t actually want to go to Netroots Nation. I directed the energy I might have used to fill out a scholarship application toward instead writing a post in support of the candidacy of my friend John Aronno of Alaska Commons — and, because he’s such a great ally of LGBT Alaskans, I asked Bent Alaska readers to support him, too. (And I’m happy to say that John won an NN scholarship in Round 1 of the competition. Shannyn is also going to NN.)

All of that was before I became as deeply involved with Bent Alaska as I now am: a coadministrator and behind-the-scenes geek, as well as an ongoing contributor.

So at the beginning of May, when Jeanne Devon of The Mudflats (aka AKMuckraker) wrote to me about an “interesting opportunity,” I went for it. Yeah, I decided. I do want to go.

The opportunity she put me onto was for a full or partial scholarship under a new Netroots Nation initiative, LGBT Netroots Connect, which — well, let the mailer tell the story —

For the past three years, an activist named Mike Rogers has taken it upon himself to organize LGBT bloggers, organizations and their allies at Netroots Nation. His efforts have been so successful that we’re making it an official part of our program—a new initiative called Netroots Connect.

Netroots Connect will bring small groups of progressives together for a day of strategizing around a particular issue. We believe the conversations that happen here will lead to the next generation of organizing efforts for key progressive issues.

And most importantly, we want you to be a part of it. You can apply to be part of this special strategy day for LGBT bloggers, organizations and allies, which will take place June 15.

Click here to apply for a spot.

The program also features some budget for full or partial scholarships to attend Netroots Nation in an effort to make sure the LGBT community is fully represented at the conference.

The day-long event will bring together those with a stake in a strong LGBT movement—bloggers, key activists and representatives from various LGBT organizations—for a daylong session designed to help form greater strategic alliances within the movement.

As of this writing, the “Click here to apply for a spot” link still takes you to the application form I filled out. But don’t bother filling it out — the deadline was May 6. But feel free to take a look, if you’re interested in the kinds of questions I was asked.

This scholarship didn’t have a public “support your candidate” component like the Democracy for America competition John & Shannyn were in, but I did keep a record of my most important answers. So I’ll supply those to you too.

Write a tweet: Who are you and why should you be at Netroots Nation?

I’m a writer, poet, & deep thinker who aims to educate & persuade with fact & opinion expressed with reason, clarity, passion, & respect.

In 50 words or less, what do you hope to gain from your participation in Netroots Nation?

I recently became coadminstrator of Bent Alaska, Alaska’s LGBTQ blog. I hope to get counsel on how to bring in other writers/bloggers to enrich Bent Alaska with more content from more voices.

In 50 words or less, what do you hope to bring to Netroots Nation as a participant?

I bring my perspective: I’m ambivalent about being a “political blogger” because politics, commonly understood, tends to be about political parties, ideologies, who’s got the most votes. I want a deeper democracy, in which every person has right of participation in any decision affecting her/his life and work.

Blogging/Online Qualification * Scholarship recipients must be a regular blogger with an average of 5 posts per week or engaged as an online activist for 10 or more hours per week.

• I blog 5 times per week on average for the past 4 months.
• Other: I’m principle investigator of the Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey (in progress); we plan also to conduct a statewide LGBT community survey.

Website names/address(s)

www.henkimaa.com
www.bentalaska.com
alaskacommunity.org

Do you work for an organization or company working in the on-line arena? Tell us a bit about your experience and the work you currently do.

I’m a 20-year staff member of the Justice Center at University of Alaska Anchorage, where I’m a publication specialist and web manager responsible for our large research-oriented website and online and social internet activities. justice.uaa.alaska.edu

In 50 words or less, what issues do you focus on and what issues would you like to learn more about.

I’m eclectic. I write about writing, my life, health and mental health, the justice system, politics, religion, philosophy. Politically, my most important focus, especially on Bent Alaska, is LGBTQ equality. I’m especially interested in unlocking the lock rightwing Christianist ideologues have on religious discussion of LGBTQ people and issues.

Three links * Please enter three blog post links you would like to include in your application. (Important: Do not worry about design issues at all, this is about original content.)

http://www.bentalaska.com/2011/03/harm-at-the-center/
http://www.henkimaa.com/2009/09/03/no-debbie-title-vii/
http://www.henkimaa.com/2009/05/29/prevos-devil-masks/

[I also thought about these links, but opted for the 3 above. Actually, I thought about a whole buncha other links too, but opted for the 3 above.]

http://www.henkimaa.com/2009/05/22/prevos-red-herrings/
http://www.bentalaska.com/2011/01/anchorage%E2%80%99s-lgbt-discrimination-survey/

Here’s your chance…. Anything you want to share that is not covered above? This is the place.

I’ve accomplished some important work in Alaska toward LGBTQ equality, including blogging about the 2009 “Summer of Hate” in Anchorage regarding a sexual orientation/gender identity equal rights ordinance. I’m also known here for some of my in-depth posts on Sarah Palin, Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan, and efforts by rightwingers to overturn provisions of Alaska’s constitution on judicial selection and retention, among other “political” posts.

But by far the most important work I’ve done for the cause of LGBTQ equality and progressive politics in general is to live openly and matter-of-factly as who I am — as a lesbian, yes, but also as a writer of poetry and science fiction/fantasy; as someone with a B.A. in Religion who continues to be fascinated by the human religious impulse; as someone who has struggled lifelong with depression/despair; and as everything else I am . That’s how I live my daily workaday life, and it’s also how I blog. Thus, I write about all sorts of stuff that I care ranging from day-to-day trivia to philosophical ponderings to the well-researched and documented political. I think it’s important to fight the political fights we fight, but it’s also important to live the lives those political fights are about — and to reflect our lives, with integrity, in how and what we write.

And so, this past Sunday night I got the word: I was in.

Mel the reluctant political blogger with Brian the Moose at the True Diversity Dinner, September 2009. Photo by Jeanne Devon (AKMuckraker) of The Mudflats.

I did inform a few people — notably Jeanne Devon, who told me about it in the first place, and my co-admin at Bent Alaska, E. Ross, and my fellow members of the newly created Bent Alaska News Team — but didn’t get around to writing a post about it until now because, well, I’ve been busy writing other blog posts. Oh yeah, and doing some of that writing that I told Shannyn Moore back in February I wanted to do instead of any of this political blogging.

Besides, I also wanted to get my travel arrangements in place. I did that today, with the help of the very activist whose efforts over the past few years led to the LGBT Netroots Connect, Mike Rogers. Turns out that this is the Mike Rogers who’s the managing director of Raw Story — and a really cool guy who’s looking forward to get an Alaska LGBT blogger down at Netroots so he can grill me about… well, you know which famous Alaskan he wants to grill me about.

Now I really want to go.

You’ll be hearing more about Netroots Nation on both Henkimaa and Bent Alaska over the next few weeks, especially when I’m right there in Minneapolis: one of my obligations as a scholarship recipient is to write at least two 125+ word blog posts per day over the course of the conference.

(125 words? Ha! Think I could possibly ever right a blog post shorter than 125 words?)

Meantime, I want to thank Shannyn for thinking of me back in February, Jeanne for thinking of me back earlier this month, Mike Rogers, for deciding he’d like to meet me in Minneapolis on June 15, and E. Ross, who founded Bent Alaska in March 2008 and single-handedly made it the single most important source of news and information for LGBTQ Alaskans and their friends and allies.

(She really should be going to Netroots Nation herself, but unfortunately has other obligations.)

Hangin’ with the Justice folks

Mel Green — Fri, 06 May 2011 23:42:39 +0000

John Angell & me. 2011 Justice Center Reception, UAA Consortium Library, 3 May 2011.

John Angell was the Director of the UAA Justice Center for the first several years I worked there starting in 1990. I still work there, but he’s emeritus. I took this self-portrait with him this past Tuesday at the annual reception the Justice Center holds for our university and community partners.

It’s one of a bunch of photos that I and my coworker Barbara Armstrong took at the reception; a complete slide show is the UAA Justice Center blog. Among the faces you’ll see there: Walt Monegan, former Anchorage police chief and former Alaska Commission of Public Safety Commissioner under Gov. Sarah Palin until she fired him — part of the Troopergate scandal during the summer and fall of 2008. He’s now with the Alaska Native Justice Center. I didn’t talk with him, but he’s still really cool.

There’s also pics of a lot of the great people I work with. That’s really cool, too.

Table 2 (poem)

Mel Green — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:05:55 +0000

Table 2, from the article "National Prison Population Growth: A BJS Report" in the Winter 1996 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum

Table 2

Between 1980 and 1994 the total number of people held in federal and state prisons and local jails almost tripled — increasing from 501,886 to 1,483,410.

— Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice

I am making a table. My hammer
is the keyboard of the computer —
tap tap — my nails are the commas
and decimal points that keep these legs
of numbers standing true.
The grain is the roundness of zeros and eights,
leaning spines of nines and percentage signs,
sharp angles of fours and sevens.
I will call this table (slightly
modifying its original name) Table 2:
Number of Adults in Custody
of State or Federal Prisons or in
Local Jails; and though it’s only
a copy, when I’m done it will be
a clearer, cleaner version of
the Bureau of Justice Statistics table
from which I copied it to include
in the Alaska Justice Forum.

But it’s not the ideal table.

Though I’m of that kind, a maker of poems
whom Plato had Socrates exclude
from his rational, perfect Republic —
an imitator of imitations, my work
one step from the carpenter’s table or bed,
but two steps from the idea of table
in the ether around God’s head —
for my day job I’m also of that kind
essential to the Republic. Sustained
by statisticians, I am a maker
of passionless tables that summarize
in numbers the reasoned philosophy
of this well-ordered State’s philosopher-kings.

But if this poem I make by night is a pale
faded imitation of the table I made by day,
the white spaces between my table’s columns
are paler copies yet of the concrete walls,
steel bars, control rooms, keys, and guns
of guards in towers. And its numbers in their
hundred thousands, the total in its millions
(seven digits divided by commas)
imitate in mere paper and ink the bodies,
the sweat and sheen and stink of bodies,
the rage and fear and anguish of minds,
the sorrow and grief and violent hatreds
of prisoners one mere step away:

embodying the closest approximation
of the ideal that waxes ineffable
in the ether around God’s head.

[April 15, 1997]

About this poem

Before 1990, most of what I knew about the American justice system came from fiction — books, movies, TV. Then I took a job as a publication specialist at the UAA Justice Center, which entailed amongst other thinks making lots of tables & charts on various aspect of the justice system. That’s the lens through which I became aware of the extraordinary growth of correctional populations in the U.S., especially due to the so-called “war on drugs” that began during the Reagan administration.

Sometime in about 2001, the U.S. surpassed the Russian Federation to become the nation with the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Here we are now (from an article in our most recent issue of the Alaska Justice Forum):

Figure 3. Rate of Incareration in Selected Nations (most current data available as of February 2011). From "Prisoner Reentry and the Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act" by Deborah Periman, Alaska Justice Forum 27(4), Winter 2011.

Makes you feel all proud & patriotic, eh?

As for Plato’s Republic: Plato didn’t much like poets, because the poetic imagination weakened the power & authority of the Plato’s idealized philosopher-king. As James P. Carse writes in The Religious Case Against Belief,

Plato’s Republic is a completely rational and comprehensive system. It is threatened more by the poets than by its military enemies — in fact, it needs those enemies.

Explains a lot, that does.

For my part, most “philosopher-kings,” idealized or not, go off the rails almost from the moment they achieve power & authority. Give me a poet any day.

The Palin February briefing

Mel Green — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:55:50 +0000

Over the past month I’ve been keeping track of news about Sarah Palin in order to brief those people who had accepted the Dana Milbank challenge, so that they could catch up quickly & easily when February came to a close.

(All dates based on when it happened per Alaska time.)

Feb 1. Sarah Palin said something stupid and/or self-aggrandizing and/or vindictive and/or flying in the face of Consensual Reality.
Feb 2. Sarah Palin said something stupid and/or self-aggrandizing and/or vindictive and/or flying in the face of Consensual Reality.
Feb 3. Sarah Palin said something stupid and/or self-aggrandizing and/or vindictive and/or flying in the face of Consensual Reality.
Feb 4. ditto
Feb 5. ditto
Feb 6. ditto
Feb 7–20. ditto
Feb 21. Frank Bailey book leaked.
Feb 22. Secret “Lou Sarah” Facebook account. More from the Bailey book leakage.
Feb 23. Bailey book leakage. “Girly men don’t ride the Irondog.”
Feb 24. Bailey book leakage. Also too, see Feb 1–20.
Feb 25. Ditto also too.
Feb 26. Ditto also too.
Feb 27. Ditto also too. Todd Palin doesn’t win the Irondog.
Feb 28. Ditto also too.

Not that much different from any other month, really. A tiny minority of stuff related to Sarah Palin was genuinely newsworthy (mostly information from the unethically leaked Bailey book) — but most of it wasn’t. I hope those of you who return to writing news stories or blogging about Palin after a month’s moratorium will pay attention to the difference. After all, most of us who don’t blog or news-write all the time about Sarah Palin are even sicker of her & her family than you are. So please: be considerate.

See Wickersham’s Conscience for some an update of other real news about Palin from February, and Andrew Halco for some shots of Baileys.

* * *

Update: WaPo’s Dana Milbank reports on his Palin-free month:

The turning point came when I watched Fox News on Feb. 11. A banner flashed on the screen: “FOX NEWS ALERT.” Dramatic music played. Stuart Varney, in for Neil Cavuto, delivered the bulletin: “Sarah Palin has issued a tweet.”

This was news?

It was then that I realized I had nothing to worry about. Palin was not going to make real news in February, or, most likely, at any other time. At most, she was going to make noise – enough to earn that $1 million Fox pays her a year.

Exactly.

Anthony Rollins, accused serial rapist, found guilty on 18 of 20 charges

Mel Green — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 00:37:42 +0000

The jury verdict was heard today in Case No. 3AN-09-07868CR, State of Alaska v. Rollins. Anthony Rollins was found guilty on 18 of 20 counts for which he was tried.

After five days of deliberation, today the jury in the trial of Anthony Rollins, former Anchorage Police Department officer accused of sexually assaulting multiple women while on duty and in uniform, found him guilty on 18 of the 20 charges against him. He was found guilty on charges of sexual assault, criminal use of computer, official misconduct for 5 of 6 alleged victims. He was found not guilty of sexual assault and official conduct with regard to one of the victims. Rollins is due to be sentenced, I believe, on June 10.

I learned this through following the Twitter feeds of Grace Jang of KTVA Channel 11 News, Rebecca Palsha of KTUU Channel 2 News, and whoever was tweeting for the Anchorage Daily News. News stories are already up at all three news websites — KTVA | KTUU | ADN — & undoubtedly more extensive coverage will be forthcoming tonight and tomorrow. Thanks particularly to Grace Jang and her colleague at KTVA, photographer Ken Fankhauser, whose use of Twitter brought a additional level of journalistic excellence to the trial.

Thank you to the jurors who served on this case; the attorneys (both prosecution and defense), judges, and other officers and employees of the court; the Anchorage Police Department officers who investigated the case; and the witnesses whose courage on the stand helped bring this case to trial, and to bring this conviction.

I’m not going to so simply say that these verdicts brought “justice” — that’s a much vaster thing than simply a verdict, a sentence, a man sent to prison. The swath of hurt in any case like this runs deep and wide, extending not only to the victims and their families, but to the family and friends of the offender, the communities that all of them live in, the community — Anchorage — that all of us live in. Even, yeah, the offender himself. And maybe I’ll write more about that later.

But given the limitations of the justice system that we have in place… this is certainly much closer to “justice” than a verdict of “innocent” would have been. I’m glad that Rollins will not be free to victimize other women.

Update: The Daily Tweets

I wrote this post before my automatically generated “The Daily Tweets” post generated. But since almost all of the tweets were about — or retweets of other people’s tweets about — today’s verdict, I’m just going to roll them into this post. So, here they are:

Rollins trial via @GraceJangKTVA: Jury resumes deliberations. Friday asked for playbacks of testimonies, 2 Qs re official misconduct. #fb #
BREAKING — RT: @GraceJangKTVA: Jury has reached verdict on #Rollins #039; 20 counts, from sexual assault to official misconduct. #fb #
Anthony Rollins verdict about to be heard in court. Per RT: @GraceJangKTVA, courtroom is filling up. #fb #
(Meanwhile, Echofon for Firefox is malfunctioning…. #$(&##$**@&@*(#&!!!) #
@adndogcom is also in Rollins courtroom awaiting jury’s verdict. #
I mean @adndotcom … [shaking head at my propensity to typo....] #
@GraceJangKTVA reports that first victim known in Rollins case is in courtroom as is her boyfriend & sister. #fb #
RT: @adndotcom: @yksin That’s after the Iditarod starts… // brilliant! #
RT: @GraceJangKTVA: Reps from Standing Together Against Rape and police union also here // and “Victim 4″ #
RT: @GraceJangKTVA: V3, who says #Rollins never sexually assaulted her but acted unprofessionally w/”sleazy come-on lines” also in court #fb #
RT: @GraceJangKTVA: Courtroom packed to the gills, but no sight of #Rollins nor his attorney #fb #
(Echofon now showing tweets from two different Twitter accounts I maintain all mixed up. [unable to tear hair out b/c it’s too short) #fb #
Everybody in Rollins courtroom still waiting for Rollins & his attorney to turn up. #fb #
RT: @GraceJangKTVA: #Rollins his attorney and wife just got here // Verdict on 20 counts should be heard soon. #fb #
RT: @GraceJangKTVA: Judge Michael Spaan presiding today. Judge Volland, V2 and V7 on the phone #fb #
RT: @GraceJangKTVA: Jury in #fb #
@RebeccaPalsha of KTUU reports guilt on all counts read out so far. #fb #
RT: @GraceJangKTVA: Guilty on all counts except 2 #fb #
That’s Anthony Rollins found guilty on 18 of 20 counts on which he was indicted. #fb #
RT: @adndotcom: Rollins guilty on charges of sexual assault, criminal use of computer & official misconduct for 5 of 6 alleged victims #fb #
RT: @GraceJangKTVA: Not guilty on sex assault for V7 and not guilty on official misconduct re V7 #fb #
RT: @GraceJangKTVA: Sentencing June 10 at 9 am for #Rollins Defense objects. Wants June 20 #fb #
RT: @RebeccaPalsha: Rollins crying #fb #
RT: @GraceJangKTVA: #Rollins #039; sister crying inconsolably #fb #
RT: @Ch2KTUU: Former APD Officer #Rollins found guilty on nearly all counts of sexual assault. http://bit.ly/g3zEVq #fb #
RT: @KTVA: Former APD Officer #Rollins Convicted on 18 Counts http://www.ktva.com/ci_17452975 #fb #
RT: @adndotcom: Article up at adn.com: Jury finds ex-officer Rollins guilty of most charges in sex assault trial. http://bit.ly/hZx96O #fb #
RT: @Scallywag195: @yksin Is his wife crying? // They didn’t say. But I feel bad for his family, as well as victims & their families. #
RT: @Scallywag195: @AKwriteclub Sugarspoon, correct? // That’s where I’ll be heading after 5:00. #

Rollins trial, day 11: Rollins claims he’s a sinner, but not a rapist

Mel Green — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:45:00 +0000

The trial in Case No. 3AN-09-07868CR, State of Alaska v. Rollins, is being heard before Anchorage Superior Court Judge Philip R. Volland. The case will go to the jury on Monday, Feb. 14, after closing arguments from the prosecution and the defense.

Today in court, cross-examination of Anthony Rollins, the former Anchorage Police Department officer accused of serial rape while on the job, concluded. Rollins continued to claim that any sexual contact he had with alleged victims was consensual in nature. Rther than a rapist, he claimed he was an adulterer who had violated his marital oath:

I made some bad choices, I’m sorry I sinned against my god and against my family, and I’m, I’m sorry. I let a lot of people down.

As KTVA Channel 11 summarized its story on the day’s proceedings (video at the bottom of this post),

As a married man and former Anchorage police officer, Anthony Rollins took two oaths both of which he admits on the stand to violating.

Those oaths were his marital oath and his oath as an Anchorage police officer. Rollins took a third oath on the witness stand to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. By denying that he sexually assaulted his accusers, did he violate a third oath as well? That’s the implication Deputy District Attorney Sharon Marshall left us with as she concluded cross-examination.

Rollins testimony was followed by the state calling back to the stand an APD officer who clarified on proper police procedure on how DUI’s are booked & processed, the proper use of APSIN (Alaska Public Safety Information Network) record checks, etc.

Judge Volland then told the jury he needed to meet with counsel (both defense & prosecution) on jury instructions. Final arguments will be heard on Monday, 14 February. 14 jurors have sat through the trial; 2 will be dismissed and deliberations will begin with 12 jurors on Monday after final arguments.

Today’s tweets

Anthony Rollins trial, day 11: @GraceJangKTVA and @photogfank in court livetweeting. Rollins cross-examination to continued. #fb #
Rollins trial: People livetweeting trial can be followed here: http://twitter.com/#!/list/yksin/rollins — so fa todayr just KTVA folks. #fb #
@KTVA – you do know don’t you that any attempt to visit your website right now results in “Server not found”? #
@KTVA DNS servers seem to be wrongly pointing requests for ktva.com instead to http://search.kvta.com/ (note transposed letters). #
Rollins trial via @GraceJangKTVA: Judge to work w counsels on jury instructions, closing arguments on Monday. #fb #
Rollins trial via @GraceJangKTVA: Jury will begin deliberations Monday afternoon. #fb #
Thanks again to @GraceJangKTVA and @photogfank, both of @KTVA Channel 11, for keeping the twitterverse informed in Rollins trial. #fb #
RT: @adndotcom: Ex-cop Rollins continues to deny sex assaults but admits he ‘sinned’ on the job. http://bit.ly/ifoa1C // [shaking head] #fb #

Media accounts of today’s testimony

11 Feb 2011. “Rollins sorry for ‘bad choices’ but maintains his innocence — SEXUAL ASSAULT TRIAL: He sticks to denials under cross-examination” by Casey Grove (Anchorage Daily News).
11 Feb 2011. “Rollins Trial Day 11: Final Day of Testimonies” by Grace Jang (KTVA Channel 11 News).

Video from KTVA (story by Grace Jang, photography by Ken Fankhauser):

Rollins trial, day 10: Rollins takes the stand

Mel Green — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:45:00 +0000

The trial in Case No. 3AN-09-07868CR, State of Alaska v. Rollins, is being heard before Anchorage Superior Court Judge Philip R. Volland in the Nesbett Courthouse at 4th & I in Anchorage.

Wednesday, February 9 at the trial of Anthony Rollins: before a packed courtroom, the ex-Anchorage Police Department officer accused of serial rape while on-duty took the stand in his own defense.

Cross-examination by the prosecution is expected to resume on Thursday morning. Yesterday I created a Twitter list of people who are in the courtroom livetweeting the trial: go to http://twitter.com/#!/list/yksin/rollins to follow. So far, the list includes @GraceJangKTVA & @photogfank of KTVA Channel 11 News and @CarolynHallKTUU & @RebeccaPalsha of KTUU Channel 2 News.

Also Wednesday, my blog post of February 2, “Why I’m following the trial of alleged serial rapist Anthony Rollins”was crossposted as a “Voices from the Flats” feature at The Mudflats. The Mudflats gets a good deal more traffic & discussion than Henkimaa does, and there was some good discussion there yesterday. I made some comments there too, including my summary of Rollins’ defense strategy:

Rollins’ defense goes like this: “I had sexual relations with other women outside my marriage, which was wrong, & I did so while on duty, which was wrong, but I didn’t sexually assault any of the women: they came on to me, at least two of them told me I was ‘cute’ [he testified that this morning about victims 1 & 2], & sex that we had was consensual. So while guilty of betraying my marital vows and of doing so while on the clock, I am not guilty of these crimes I’m charged with.”

Per the tweets from KTVA & KTUU journos in the courtroom, Rollins’ victims & their family members hearing his testimony are very agitated about his testimony — shaking heads, rolling eyes, tears, anger, upset. APD officers in courtroom near one journo also agitated. Analysis: they believe he’s lying. Well, so do I.

My later summary as the trial recessed:

Trial recessed just before 1:00 PM Alaska time & will continue tomorrow. The D.A. questioned Rollins about three so far of his accusers. I tell you that it’s pretty hard just to read the tweets; I can’t imagine how much harder it must have been for victims & their family members to sit in court & listen to Rollins claim that he took a 24-year-old DUI suspect in pajamas in handcuffs to a police substation, calling her mother to let her know where he was, & then proceeding to have sex with her from behind — where he was the one to pull down her pants — was “consensual” & was “invited” by her.

That’s the kind of stuff people have been hearing him say today.

D.A. also questioned him about how many women he’s had sex with outside marriage since he married his wife (also an APD officer) in 1987. “I don’t know. More than once.” He apparently regards his contacts with these young women who were under his police authority as being “affairs.”

One’s gorge rises.

For the full comments, go to The Mudflats. Further down this post, links to media coverage of today’s proceeding. But first,

My tweets

RT: @adndotcom: Ex-officer Rollins expected to testify in own defense today in sex assault trial. http://bit.ly/fCmDym #
Featured today on The Mudflats: my 2/2 post on why I’m following trial of alleged serial rapist Anthony Rollins http://bit.ly/exEPff #fb #
In court: @GraceJangKTVA & @photogfank again livetweeting. Rollins to take stand; courtroom packed incl. Rollins’ wife & APD cops. #fb #
Also livetweeting Rollins trial: @CarolynHallKTUU & @RebeccaPalsha. #fb #
Anthony Rollins trial: follow http://twitter.com/#!/list/yksin/rollins to see KTVA & KTUU livetweets. #fb #
Rollins claims: all 4 victims he testified about so far flirted w/ him, 2 said he was “cute”. Serial rapist/serial liar both. #fb #
Anthony Rollins trial: State now cross-examining Rollins. See http://twitter.com/#!/list/yksin/rollins to follow tweets of KTVA/KTUU. #fb #
RT: @NathanFillion: Orbis book & Spidey are dead on, but what’s Amazon trying to say with this other “suggestion”? http://yfrog.com/h46wysmj #
Rollins: RT: @GraceJangKTVA: Trial in recess until tomorrow. Attys expected to finish evidence tomorrow. Closing statements Fri or Mon #fb #
RT: @GraceJangKTVA: Side note: Do not ever get on Chief Asst. District Attorney Sharon Marshall’s bad side #fb #
@celticdiva Thanks! in reply to celticdiva #

Media accounts of today’s testimony

9 Feb 2011. “Former APD Officer Accused of Sexual Assaults Testifies” by Rebecca Palsha (KTUU Channel 2 News).
9 Feb 2011. “Ex-officer Rollins testifies sex acts were consensual — ON THE STAND: Former cop admits to some encounters, denies others” by Casey Grove (Anchorage Daily News).
9 Feb 2011.“Was it Rape or Consensual? Anthony Rollins Takes the Stand” by Grace Jang (KTVA Channel 11 News). (Video below.)

Rollins trial, day 7: See Ivan Moore’s column on “consent” in rape cases

Mel Green — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:45:00 +0000

The trial in Case No. 3AN-09-07868CR, State of Alaska v. Rollins, is being heard before Anchorage Superior Court Judge Philip R. Volland in the Nesbett Courthouse at 4th & I in Anchorage. The trial resumes Monday, February 7.

Once again the trial of Anthony Rollins, the former Anchorage Police Department cop accused of serial rape — was livetweeted by Grace Jang of KTVA Channel 11 News, Christine Kim of KTUU Channel 2 News, and photographer Ken Fankhauser in livetweeting the Anthony Rollins trial. Once again, I didn’t do much retweeting, so see their Twitter feeds for complete coverage. Or, follow the links below to media stories on today’s (Thursday, February 3) day in court.

You’ll also want to take a look at Anchorage pollster Ivan Moore’s column which was posted online today at by the Anchorage Press (to appear also in tomorrow’s print version). Moore wrote about “consent” in rape cases — from former Anchorage School District music teacher Satch Carlson (after whom the eponymous “Satch Carlson” law) to Anthony Rollins. I still harbor some anger at Moore for his suggestion in 2009 that we should throw transfolk under the bus if we wanted to get an equal rights ordinance in Anchorage (I wrote about the issue here and here), but on the topic of rape, consent, Satch Carlson, & Anthony Rollins — he’s spot on. Thank you, Mr. Moore.

The Rollins trial will resume on Monday, February 7. The state is expected to complete its case that day, at which point the defense will take up its case. Until then, I’ll try to think up other stuff to tweet about.

RT: @adndotcom: 5th alleged victim testfies against former Anch. cop in sex-assault trial. http://bit.ly/f4Boql // Anthony Rollins trial #
RT: @SciInMyFi: Coffee #science for the morning office crew? Roast ark brown for antioxidants: http://bit.ly/hfjyKp // mmm French roast! #
RT: @SciInMyFi: Coffee good for women but bad for men in stressful situations? http://bit.ly/eeXprH #science #sff #
Anthony Rollins trial day 7, ex-APD cop accused as serial rapist: being livetweeted by @GraceJangKTVA @christineKTUU @photogfank #fb #
Guardian (UK): Are science fiction and fantasy poised to break into the literary canon? Man Booker Prize nominees? http://bit.ly/fC8As3 #
Anchorage Press > Ivan Moore on “Defining “consent” in rape cases, from Satch Carlson to APD officer Anthony Rollins http://t.co/L3zrVXx #
Per @GraceJangKTVA: Anthony Rollins trial resumes Monday. Judge says state will rest case on Monday; trial progressing quickly. #fb in reply to GraceJangKTVA #
@exart @audioleo OK just what the heck is Thunderant & Portlandia? in reply to exart #
@audioleo @exart Thanks! in reply to audioleo #
@10ch Oops! Getting a lot of wrong email, hey? in reply to 10ch #
Via @adndotcom final alleged sex assault victim testified at Anthony Rollins trial earlier today. http://bit.ly/dMaNAt // #fb #
Here again, my Henkimaa post from yesterday: Why I’m following the trial of alleged serial rapist Anthony Rollins http://t.co/MR74Kah #

Coverage of Day 7 in the press:

3 Feb 2011. “Phone calls by police led to 6th alleged victim in Rollins case” by Casey Grove (Anchorage Daily News).
4 Feb 2011. “The Moore Report: Defining ‘consent’” by Ivan Moore (Anchorage Press).

(I’ll add the KTUU & KTVA stories when they become available.)

Rollins trial, day 6: 5th & 6th alleged victims testify

Mel Green — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 07:45:00 +0000

Today Christine Kim of KTUU Channel 2 News joined Grace Jang of KTVA Channel 11 News and photographer Ken Fankhauser in livetweeting the Anthony Rollins trial. And they tweeted a lot! — giving a very clear picture of what was being testified in court. But except for Grace Jang’s tweets about how long Anchorage Police Department had been suspicious of Rollins, & hence how culpable APD might be in leaving him free to (allegedly) commit these crimes — I didn’t do much retweeting. So see their feeds for complete coverage. Or, see below the links to the media stories on today’s (Wednesday, February 2) day in court.

@ScrivenerApp You’re most welcome! I’ll be making many more kind mentions I’m sure. Finally, an app that actually HELPS writers write! in reply to ScrivenerApp #
Anthony Rollins trial Ray 6: ex-APD cop accused of multiple sexual assaults while on duty. @GraceJangKTVA again livetweeting from court. #fb #
Answering a friend’s question: Why I’m following the trial of alleged serial rapist Anthony Rollins | Henkimaa http://bit.ly/hlPf7K #fb #
Rollins trial: @christineKTUU also livetweeting the trial today. #fb #
And @photogfank also livetweeting. That’s 3 to follow for #Rollins trial news today: @photogrank @christineKTUU @GraceJangKTVA #fb #
RT: @GraceJangKTVA: APD Internal Affairs put GPS on Rollins’ car in ’08-before V1 came forward in April 09. #
RT: @GraceJangKTVA: APD had suspicions about Rollins. How culpable is APD? #
RT: @Ch2KTUU: It might be Groundhog Day everywhere else in the country, but it’s Marmot Day in AK. http://bit.ly/eDITVe #
Writer’s Knowledge Base: the search engine for writers–finding resources that Google can’t: http://dld.bz/H5FX h/t @jaymgates #

Media coverage of today’s testimony:

3 Feb 2011. “5th woman alleges sexual assault by Rollins: Woman testifies that officer assaulted her at police substation” by Casey Grove (Anchorage Daily News).
3 Feb 2011. “Rollins Day 6: Women Claim Rape in Police Substation: Two more victims testify in the trial of accused serial rapist Anthony Rollins, a former Anchorage police officer” by Grace Jang (KTVA Channel 11 News).
2 Feb 2011. “Alleged Rollins victim says she just ‘wanted to go home’: Victim says she promised to meet Rollins again so he would take her home” by Christine Kim (KTUU Channel 2 News).