tv Occupied Minds LINKTV May 18, 2023 6:00am-7:01am PDT
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- [bdget] , mom. h dad. - i' have too this - ridget] don't trt peop like i ce did - i made it! - ridget] don't trt peop like i ce did [bridgetoh, your boy's nna. you believe things like that. - clearl things nt wrong - [gabryell] i call it solitary confinement, they might not, but when you get one hour a day, that's solitary confinement. i don't ow if iwould ev let. ♪
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two teens being held at the detention center hang themselves to death within 72 hours back in february. jordan bhman was7 years d ansolan person d just tned 13 - ridget] kid dn't desve to di beuse he s he set a fire [speakerthey neetopar closthat facity down - evything tt went wro in thisituati.. erious ohestral sic] - evything tt went wro in thisituati..
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[people chtering] - hey, you gotta quit moving so i can tie your skate. - evything tt we- [iistinct]ike daing. - [bdget] i ow yolike dancing. - daddy id i cano 10 lap w- ok.istinct]ike daing. ter solapassed ay, i ought beg on e ice wod be hd, but at's whe i feel the cl. bubecause sammy, i put s the's a loof emotis there, ooh,on't do at. you'reonna makme fal heforever iend and playma e but 's not aays on h manthat's aood thg.. shneeds totill be a kid.
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but 's not aays on h manthat'you comehg.. - icken lile, chken litt. it's te to wakup for school. are yogonna be a slpyhead ts morning? come o he weotta getp and to scho. all ght, rdy? i'velways thght nope, iout adopon. up.. there's ways kidout the that mht not he pares. open we. it. go job. my husbandonnie d i, we g solan wn he s six ana half and th sammy ce to us and sh.
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e what sta cls broughyou. - wee going great wolf lod, samm - [sam] we wl? - yeahwe're goa goo a waterpark. - [sam] we wl? you wanngo swiing? we met san on a wednesy ba2 -and 's spentlmost hi entireife at tt poin you wanngo swiing? foster care. -and 's spentlmost hi entireife at tt poin e kid habig persality and yosaw it fm the mite heursted io the use. hi, m. hi,ad. - i' have too th [indistinct]. i made ii,ad. - when wgot sola we didn'know a ton abouhis pa. hiparents d issues with dgs moved aund om houseo hous to kw that ts is whahe we throughefore heot us and l's it tk was finding e right thing tand being a little patient wto see him blossom. us
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♪ jump f, sprea out,ave lotsf fun ♪ ♪ ho♪ - on the morning that solan got arrested, i got a phone call from the school saying that solan had set fire to a roll of toilet paper the boy bathrm. didn't kw if it was a dicig th might'vcaused ts orim tryinto be nny. - [solan] leave me alone. - lan beinon anxiy medine and beg on adhmedici, we jt startehim a thirdedicin trying tfigure o someehavioraissues one of the things that just came out through counseling tris that he was scared sof being taken away in theiddle ofhe nig. he wld start sleepi on the. i got tohe schoo
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they td us thahe wherthey wergonna ta him. they. one of t things do rember askg was, "is myid gonnae safe there?" one of t things do rembewas assuds, th that's e of thesafest fid "is myid gonnae safe there?" one of t things do anthat'[enginwhirringng. there armany, ma wayshat thsystem uld haveandledsolan's se diy thato not inlve tting hiin jai there armany, ma wayshat thsystem in was onltwo week pastis 13th rthday t i thinit's jus at that the waye respd when cldren ar chard with crimes, ev if the imes areimilar to normaadolesce behavr
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that a lot of us engagein as chdren. but at doesn take the serisness ofhe ris that areacing thchild if you p. - yowas a laer. you w- darian, ll us whaking] u you re placein war that areacing thchild if you p. in t first place. yo- theyas tryintous whaking] u you re placein war that areacing thchild if you p. sawe did sething but me to fi out tha boy hathe wronpeople. - [diann i have form whe yourharges we dismsed. soou spentll that me the for fae chars? - yes, ma'am. [dianne]hen you id he slammed u on youhead, what was he doing? slammi where, th hisand?
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- yeah, th his hd likehis. he came om behinme li by arou my wat d he slaed me, om, on t of myead. - [dnne] slaed you ere, agast theall? - the for. [dianne] okay. - withoncrete der the. - the for. okay, wathat thenly thg that w injur? - he waselling m mhis es were blue. - sentiall what i got waa statent sayinghat ther was altertion and th assiste him tohe floor. sohat's abt as mh. th denied,f course theyenied evythinglse. ogs barkg] th den- thguards we theyentoo gressivelse. they'ljust thr you inthe ce. ogs barkg] gave me towel fm arnd the spped up ilet th den- thguards we theyentoo gressivelse. th had aeak. d he gotad 'causi waed and g my own towel.
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th had aeak. anhe wouldet on thphone, lking to female that h, taing aboujust slaed me litt his hd,ed] li bragginabout it [contelative aient mus] [contemplative ohestral music] - mond at eigho'clock, we didn't get to see him until they brought him into the courtroom. we were requesting a psych evaluation to be done.
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we told the judge that this is what his doctors wanted from the beginning and judge agreed that he needed a mental evaluation, but he nded to rain atare unl one codtuday,tmined. we knew heeeded a fill on his adhmedici so we de a plato go take hisedicatioto him so we t off wo early d we dro down the. wh we got wn there we were ld he pied hisock someme aroun 11:0or midght. he w in soliry confiment.you wem througa littleiny wiow and thonly thi he h in his ll
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was a little green mat. they took the most outgoing kid and put him in a cell, and ke him the from monday nht, all y tuesda anthen suny morninis thuwh we got e phone ll. and ke him the from - one of the reasons mondathat it's so concerning that solan may have been iisolatn is because we know the impact that that can have on mental health issu. and he alrey had mental hlth ises and inact was ing deined to recve a pshologicaevaluaon, th should mediatel raisconcer that hisental heth wod only deriora - ronnie's phone in that rang at 2:00 a.m.
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who would be calling at 2:00 in the morning? sothing's ong somewhere. who would be calling i heard him start crying. heard hisay, "wh do youean, he'dead?" and knew. i rememb screami dothaty boy wagone." [contelative ohestral sic] 3 investates gettingnswers ter two enagers ok theirwn liv in theame juvele dention nter le than 72ours art. - nnouncerthe cidents ok pla thuathe ware uth 7th and santer in ushattth jordan bhman was7 yearold and son peters had st turned 13. jordan bhman was7 yearold e red rir sherifs offi
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took theead on that invtigati. - the partmentf child d faly servis has stdards at they monitor th deteion cents agait. it allow dcfs too in rig awaynd do annspectn. what wfound thugh the invee there we structul prlems witthe cell that thehildren re helin that alled them atta a bedheet and use it as a method of hanging themselves. and we also found that the proper checks had nobeen mad on thehildre even thoh they we owed thathe stafperson. but e
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d not acally and looknto the room. - cording the ath certicate, it too15 minut they we checkin ever15 minut,way. th might he been ae art if ty did cp but.and maes - cleay, thingwent wro re not dng what they no in t scentertandards to me sure tt t becausdcfs hashe thrt of bei able toake ay theiricense ose probms were rrecte
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the ea was thave theask rce comep with a plan i ll just y that ao create . submitt a reque to dc, for thdocument relad to theuicide in t dit ctainly rsedware. me concerns for about e overal manament of e facity. i thinthat whahappenedt wa all begd the question abof wther the are marger isss at we,ty. but can acce if the's a dierent me - ll, and just wan and i think 've all made,. i ink we a had reaions that asgencie anwent in d looked at ceri, so if the is anmething conceern. orf there s concn, clarifi it anwent through. - baseon theact orf there s concn, at thereave beenhree icides ithe fality as a who over the pastew yea, i rry thathe sta, based on what's best ey'fothe children,ice but what availab to th.
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weeed to ce to som agreent on t lette thateeds to submitt to t legislature, weeed to ce to som thgovernor office,nd ojj - under om confiment, ere y'alput at lst one the chiren had be in roomonfinent for extei ink that,time. i don't ow that - th was gleed, i ink,.- [rac. fromhe infortion all reived on the plic recos requt. - [rhel] andeports from theamily,eah. and if y want to put tt in tre that iwas a rert fr the fily. - [rache okay. because don't think th's a ft. [conmplativembient mic] - they ran this facility a certain way that i didn't feel comfortable in,
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so iwas bestor me to find another b. they kept the kids confined long. e kids rlly dn't get chanc toome out their cells. e kids rlly dn't get chanc mostf the ti, the kids wasn lockdo. tand let t for ancelhour f a. cellbasicallall day - th just isate youin the c. tand let t for ancelhour f a. cellbasicallall day - abryell] call it solita , - th just isate youin the c. buthat solitarconfinent.y, - [interviewer] was that typical for facilities you'd worked in before or was that unusual? - no, 'am. th was usual and at was mmain conrn wh i got dn ther - ware was just one of those places. these people don't care, they don't care.
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theyet you kw th they dot care it's n like th're - itas just big swp. whoer in couatta theyouat they knew.,ieces, thstaff wanot prerly traed and so of the staff shld have ver eveneen lowed toork with kids. and so of the staff - when certain staff would work at night shld have ver eveneen lowand m on lockdown,. i would scared ataff - when certain staff theyould do methinght the maleuards wod come i and they would rough us up. busted lips, busted nose hurt. yeahhe said,i see wh i had choke y out."
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othekids wer't founate engh and it'lscare . - mto comout of tre ali. to ce out ofhere ali. the worlneed to ow, world ed to kn how - m 25 nowi've bee ey'rtherwhen i w 13.ere. like a these yrs have ssed anit's sti the samthing. and . [eleanorware is t for e staff at they re, r the la of traing that theyf and the fety of e kids sothing shld be do.
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and th[dnbeat ro music] - you l - abou15 minut. - minut. been about 15. thatlace nee to bclosedown. i n't be hpy until that pcw - i n't- - hell, ing happis al that pcw lative tm now the days t shut t placeown. th wouldn'listen to what o doctor and rents we sayin ifhey woulve listed my k would sll be re.
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if iould havone moreconvers, u be[dnbeat ro music]t. i n't knowf i woul everike go ohim. he wld be wrped upreconvers, u my armsn a bearug]t. d i woultell him love hi d that i proud ohim, ani miss h and i ms him ing on t ice. all righ one lap d that a of e familyove hi and thate're sup, sur proud who he s. [downbt rock mic]
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- there was no doubt in my mind thatathlyn a i was nna get ck togetr. - on] i'veeen guys when tye thanthen losthatas nnve do cry thin.. - i loveer so ch. i did ask for her hand in marriage and she said she would be honored to become my wife. - [kathl] marryi a proner, ve unusu. and just thoht that everytu - peaker] e one thg aboufalling love inrison
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ontoday's weddingay.c] i'm gonnmarry thmost autiful man in t world just, i ver imaged tha i could ju be so hpy. guess i'just inticated't en d. off of le. [laughing] [upbeat nky musi i was real snoy ki you kno i liked just snp arnd peopls stuf might eal a caof spy paint ght he ango do so grafti somewhere. might eal a caof justonsense ke tha and ah, myad, opened a priva detecti agencyhere in lumbus him and mom wasivorce d he wou come like in e summ
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might bfollowins somedy's wifor husba. see if ey was having aaffair, that kind of pi work. but we w followi a guy that washeating his we d he alshad outsnding warrantsn him ineorgia we, he wastaking out his hoe in phoix city,labama and it right aoss the river . and dad hadold , he sai "son," he said,if you er don'do it inhoenix city." [intense ohestral sic] i was this juor poce thingow. got my ltle badge. got me little tng like the o and so ient up t hallw not trng to cah anody doinanythi. i ju happeneto lo in the assroo anthere watwo guysn ther and theyere gointhrough all th. so went innd we throughhe doo withy badgeshrown t d just t whole ne yardce
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anthey're gging me, "plee, pleas plea don't tl on us,and , da, so i gave in.a. "i sai all rig y'al go on so when ey lef for whatevereason, i den where thteacher'purse s. and i loed in hewallet e had a t of mon in the, bui got a 0 billut. [suscious orestral music] thattentioi got from my d from tt,. itas kind like thwing soline othe fi d i was aving th atteion from him. itaand think th's what reallyd soline othe fi dowh i was 1gs. i was perimentg with differenrecreatial dru
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d kind ohanging out wi ts d that te of sff. - u can't ok at his crimal hisry without st shaki your ad as to y this m was sennced toife witht paro. - [alex]ichael fst gointo leg troub whene was . - i haa robber and possessi of ntrolledubstan. th of th happene at t same me. i robbed a drug store, but i didn't rob him for drugs, i just robbed it for the money. - thenhen he was 21, he pleed guilty to burgly i ofn unoccued dweing.he money. d then iwas at4 thate was fod guil of roery in theirst dege in alabama. anthat is w he gotis li without parole sentence thate was fod guil of roery in none these pors was anyonl feny offenr act. in theirst dege in alabama. - [micel] i di't lien to dad and the vice he d gavee about nogetting troue in phoix cit 'cau that's ere committemy cri. sot just kd of wen in o ear, outhe otr. - 2019, wbegan loing to a numr of ces of peoe sentend toie in ison
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r non-hocide cmes, cases ere therwasn't en any psical injury. so as were loing michael scmacher re to the top. r rough the cases, michaelere convted toy, onof his priors, thdrug posssion couldn'tave eveneen usy, to enhan his sentence. thof what wasntenced to a fn couldnntenced in 19.sy, - dearene. we, i'll b28 in 1more day i real hate tohink about it we, i'll b28 beuse it'sepressinto kno that im just wasting ay in re.
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seed some othem shod lesner be permittedime to wk the stets ain as aree ma and en there are pele likme who has ver hurtnyone d they'rtold the twillever get out. that's rlly a strain othe brn. - [cla] alaba has onof the rshest tee strikesaws in t count. you can sentenc to le withouparole, thateans you will d in, it c be drugossessio it c be a chk forgy. - edless to say, i was sappoint in mylf it c be drugossessio it c be a chk forgy. in theay i'd de scwed up mlife.- we havt, the mostorrupt prisons in the country. the fact that theyre not complete traumatized, the mostorrupt e not coletely broken,y.
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the fact that theyre not compbustill ha some pe ter beinin unconitutiona prisonfor dedes, it's reay a micle. - [mhael] we, scrabb for in pris was a w of, i gues escapinthe craz stufgoing onround yo wh it cometo scrble. en enthuastic he lov scrabe, ani loved rabbleoo, lot of h time, bwheri could atr getmi at scrabble, ver one time. no you thoht i wou've t close one time, right? t he was good. no - d i woul when've ti first arted of right? i woulnever n. d a lot times we wld play r pushup to me it morcompetitive. and was starng to bulk up littleit 'cse i didt everin, so i'm t one alws dog the pushups. 'cs[soft itar mus],
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- my name is kathlyn spragg so i wasetting t that pnt, i walonely myamily wapassing ay and i just wted someontact in 1992,here was a lett tor in the newaper from michael asking if anybody ew his family from new jersey. - [mhael] so startedwriting dis and i ma up the story - [min hopesf havingwrsomebo to. anso my moer saistory "i thi you wou be a good pern to wri to hi yore a nse and i think you uld brin someappinesso his fe." - didn't s i had life witut pare 'cau nobody their ght mi, woulread thiand sa "well, hs got life witut pare.
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i ain't nna writhim." and at fst, i ki of ought"ion't thi so."d, don't ow, i had a cond thoht anwrote to him. when i fst got t firsletter fm kathlyn, i was being investigated for murder becae somebo got staed toeath in ont of my cell to take the infmary jusp a in ce he sti was ling.dyer and it took about 30 days for them to figure out that i'dad nothi to dwith ts and i s scaredo deh about that. but whe i was that ll, that i'dad nothi to dwith ts and e was wiessing gto me abt jesu thlyn so i kd of, i ote her hatel letter back, kindf like awell, itwas jus. so i kd of, and was thinng that e wa't gonnarite bk.ck, n, i cantill member t first te she cameo see men pris. ere was mething ere that kind .
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- guess seng him, seeing whaa gentman heas even in e circumances was uer, there s just sething ecial abt him. - e 18th ojanuary, 1993, n. didn't tl kathly aboumy sentee. i can't t it off too mu le ve been eping all of ts in prar and i ust thatod will help. ve been eping - anat this int,r i dot believi had sa anto my peoplebout mhaellp. becae i was raid ofthe feed. when iot back new jsey, i did thk about chael andid wond where this wasonna g - wh she wen backo new jersey, i did thk about chael andid wond where e evideny felt t same wa
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'cau ke in a ekely bked otherfoanother visit. - by t second visit, 'caere was allyely bked othmething ving tret. becausi'm pret sure on the sond visi we had o firstiss. - but wasn't cvinced totally that s actuallknew wha and tried toush shr away aouple mes. anshe wasn having that. that s actuallknew wha ad she sa, "look, i knowhg shr away aouple mes. as time nt on, iwas rthe 19thf may, 13.e.t. start wh, i haveinally td kathly the uth aboumy sennce and the rcumstans suoundinit. what a bden thatas lift from myhoulders kalyn forge me for not begf
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anhas voweto stand by me t. - i wakinda stry-eye and havisions at when people couldn't see what ei saw in the relationship beeenfelt ary.d i, i think was 33 ani had ner really had a ui romanticnvolveme. a couplef dateshere andhere, t this w the fir man tha i real went gu ho abt. - i've ner been richly bless. i ve her smuch. i did asher forhand in rriage anshe saidhe woulde hored to bome my we.
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- were maied by t pris chaplaion augus11. - [mhael] i ink we g about hour aft the cerony wherwe couldit out and eaa littleake and talk. - was verhard ha conjugavisitsbecause abat so imagi being mried and havi some and thenou have separe. [upbeat imsical sic] - [micel] she nt ing madeut of glour shs. when e myou lk by my cell,
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ere's nooubt out who wife . - [katyn] marrng a isoner, ry unual. d i justhought tt evything wld worout. - e would me down every o , she wod fly wn. it wouldust depe on at her wk schedule is. she wod fly wn. e used tsend me littleieceh it wouldust depe on she rayed a rfume it. and i'd t 'em the velope a stuff s i cour fragnce,cent, d just ltle thgs like that, and i'd t 'em the velope a stuff s i cotry to get by.t, i gotransferd tonother pson.t, she want me to gthrough the drm nobecause have em proems, i filly agre to gor ead and through this
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the counlors wro great remarks out his ogress. - anwas asketo go onand wor, as a staff member toeteh classeandyfunctionof, at type stuff and he tk communy coege prrams to bece a liceed drugreatmentounsel. he recoized re was mdownfa, he's what t me he, he also s able tg pstayutta trouble. i thinhe had aotal of fives you heust kindf laid l. [michaelso i staed gointo the l libra anreadin st educang mysel on wt i need to do d then tking witother guys in e law library. sd i basillyysel one all mlaw wo do far as differe filis and uff.
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i had go into this witopen eye d thinki i could changeh. and hired aawyer and it wt nowhe. "wn you geto a poi where yyou n go on th your life."tou - we we marriefor four years "wand it must have beene yyoaround the three year marku that i realized things were not going anywhere. - dear, ne. r the la severalonths, kathlyand i ha been having aard ti, and , and th in renthesi i thoht,
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're tryi to twweeks o,his. then la, i caed and s and coul't go onny lonr. i was shked, andurt, d numero other tngs. i've bn in a ste athe momen i don't know wt. and coofaze everince.nr. kathlyn n't takey call and thatakes the hurt me . it really d at nht. i cat sleep d can only wonr, whye? - when decidedo divorce him, he didt questi it atll. i cat sleep d can only wonr, whye? he felt was tter to t me g - anthe one ing abou fallg in lovin prison, it's dangerous because when you allow your emotions toet so wrped up to mebody you c't be with, it keeps you up at night. i've seen guys when they fall in love
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and th lose th - tried toe honoble, d i encoaged h, and i reected hedecisi. i just wted her be hay, that i sll loved her. we had aot of grp therap i insi that prram anayy, and m a big liever in groupherapy so i had good suort syem so ias able get thrgh its good ai coul - and th i reallthought was g. undethe circstances. - ar ms. cwder, my namis micha schumher ani am inccerated at hol. well, remember wrotcarla a tter anafr i seenerted at hol. piecon theews where shhad go
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pleseed got out the fifr a robbe case.out - en thougwe still kt in contact. - when ialled kalyn fore christmas d was teing her out apeseed, a carla, d alex. and the help they're trying to do for me with my case. - and inhe back my mind and i'm st thinkg,re trying to dye, yeah, yeah,y case. this ianother ory - anth never gs anywre.d - d so we re able file a pothat wasnoppos.ion usuall distric attoeys willppose post-n once theget that convicon in l, they wanit to ick. and michl had pred that he wao injuice in ts case an he wain 198 sohe distrt attoey did n oppos anan oppornity to grant , dge juriiction
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whh he didn, i thi it wasbout 48 hours. - i didn even kn aty to grant , petion hadeen filed yet. wh- anonce a centi it orderedeleaseurs. thprison cditions are soo i nt him reased. anso viole that anhing n happe- d she sa,day. ou realldon't kn what'soing on,o you? i sa, "none. what'sapp" she said, i sa, "none. what'sapp" "the jge signeyour petition and heave you me serd. she said, d if tod wasn't holida it was gd frid, you'get out e toda" that w just mo than i could . i st broke down. that w just mo than i could . i arted crying, tearrunning wn my face andverythg.wn. i st couldt believ what was hearing. - and were taing tearrunning wn my faery day r a wewn. becausmichael s not re i couldn get enohwere cing. ofalking to her.
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there s no dou in my mind w- ani can't recallth me d. whene got altangled up in . - there s no dou in my md that katyn and ias gonnget backogethe and beemarried and be famil - i member h sayin "khlyn, i ve alwa, alwaysoved y and i ways willove y." d my thrt got twisted and i sd, - [car] and healkss loved " ouwith hisag of uff at are y gonna s when all of audden yore fred.
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- we, i'm staying a re-eny minist here ibirmingh at's beereleased througa. and the's sevel of us weas thereor so lg togeer, itas kind like we becamfamily my roomme alonzo he d 27 year i knew h his who timever at daldson ron mckeithen, i d i knewim his whole ti in the,son me and him. i d i knewim his and herebout twoeeks a, it was oa sundayorning both end up, we gotalke and the ings we s i mean, was jusamazing.
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ve gotd the on way,man, gratgiat i canhow thk.eed'causey how muchratitude have is for mto be a ccess in my re. th made meethink wt i thght aboulawyer i'llay that.laughi] - 're cleay a fullervice non-prit law center aapplesd. i ink yesterday, non-prit law ey were at the harare ste. ex, our aff atrney was gettg mulch d flers and plants d makingt reallyerfect she's be up sinc the ack ofawn. had o internworkinon s, e journast, bethhelbur, who firsgot us cnected with micel's ce they'vbeene wre coespondinfor yes. she baketheir weing ca. - but noi didn'tever thi that would bat rose rk
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- people might not express it, but there's gonna be a change in somebody life. that's what i'm working for. - if we don't know our history, no one else is gonna teach it to us. - i'm formally announcing my candidacy for city council district eight. [crowd cering] how my life becomes better is politics. - there came a point where it was either you can kill yourself, or you can be gay and surrender everything you've known and accepted to be true. - to really find out who i am, i don't think i'll ever have the answer to that. [ground exploding] - times like that, people come together. and i mean all of us pitching in, and that's when we started getting real. - i grew up very much thinking that even though i looked asian and i looked korean,
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i felt that still encompassed whiteness. am i jewish enough? am i korean enough? it never feels as if i am enough. - i've always been a worrier. i don't trust people like i once did. - you know, i think everybody has something in tir life that changes them. [dramatic music] ♪ - i love this place, and i hate this place. like, i a[ambient music]ou know? ♪ you're wching pb ♪ ♪
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