Prevent Steve Kubby's death

Immigration Canada Continues Its Cover-Up Of Fraud in Refugee
“Protection”
Process. Steve Kubby’s Death Would Not Be Irreparable Harm? Call the
DA. to
help protect Steve Kubby from being sent to his death in a California
Jail.
The relevant information is at the end of this article...

Analysis by Richard Cowan

A Canadian Federal Judge, Yvon Pinard, said yesterday that he would
decide
in a few days or a few weeks whether or not to stop Immigration
Canada’s
attempt to send Steve Kubby to die in an American jail.

I attended the Court hearings, and after years of watching various
officials
with Immigration Canada distort the truth and sometimes outright lie, I
was
still surprised by their brazenness.

According to Keith Reimer, the counsel for Immigration, US prisoners
get
excellent medical care. (The next time I get sick I am going to get
myself
arrested instead of going to the doctor. Maybe that is why the US has
the
world’s largest prison population. It’s a part of the Bush/Cheney
health
care plan, and Guantanamo is a spa.)

He also claimed that Prop 215 and SB 420 would “protect” Kubby by
allowing
him to use cannabis, even in jail. This lie was refuted by the Kubbys
in the
refugee hearings, but Reimer still mumbled about it in court.

However, section 11362.785.(a) says, “Nothing in this article shall
require
any accommodation of any medical use of marijuana on the property or
premises of any place of employment or during the hours of employment
or on
the property or premises of any jail, correctional facility, or other
type
of penal institution in which prisoners reside or persons under arrest
are
detained. (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a person shall not be
prohibited or prevented from obtaining and submitting the written
information and documentation necessary to apply for an identification
card
on the basis that the person is incarcerated in a jail, correctional
facility, or other penal institution in which prisoners reside or
persons
under arrest are detained. (c) Nothing in this article shall prohibit a
jail, correctional facility, or other penal institution in which
prisoners
reside or persons under arrest are detained, from permitting a prisoner
or a
person under arrest who has an identification card, to use marijuana
for
medical purposes under circumstances that will not endanger the health
or
safety of other prisoners or the security of the facility.

In other words, SB 420 does not require that prisoners be allowed to
use
medical cannabis, but it does not prohibit it either. The chances of a
prisoner being allowed to use medical cannabis in a California prison
are
slim to none.

Steve’s wife, Michele, accused Immigration Canada of wanting to use her
husband in a medical experiment. Will he really die if he is deprived
of
cannabis, as the oncologist chosen by the Immigration ministry says?
(Dr.
Joseph M. Connors, the leading specialist in BC for Steve’s type of
cancer –
who was chosen by Immigration Canada, not by the Kubbys – has
repeatedly
said that Kubby needs cannabis to live.)

Michele is under enormous pressure, but perhaps the worst part for her
is
the shear senselessness of it all. Why is the Immigration Ministry’s
bureaucracy so intent on kicking them out of Canada?

Of course, I don’t know the answer to that, but I am reminded of the
Washington wisdom that came out of Watergate: “It’s not the crime; it’s
the
cover-up.” Right now the Ministry seems focused covering up the massive
fraud in its “refugee protection” process. They have to keep lying.

As in the above reference to SB 420, Immigration Canada has
consistently
misrepresented the most basic facts in Kubby’s case, and they continue
to do
so, especially in the Ministry’s response to the court challenge to the
so-called Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA).

There are three grounds for a challenge to a removal order following an
adverse PRRA decision. First, they have to raise ‘a serious issue to be
tried with respect to the PRRA decision.'

The Kubbys have shown that the bureaucrat that did the PRRA lied when
she
said that she was “unable to find any trustworthy and independent
sources to
corroborate that (Steven Tuck, another medical marijuana refugee who
was
held in custody in Washington State for a week without any medical
care,
even antibiotics) was not given proper medical attention while jailed.”

In fact, she never contacted the attorneys who had provided affidavits
swearing to the facts, or the doctors who treated Steve Tuck on his
release
from jail. In other words, she lied. Douglas Hiatt, the attorney who
got
Tuck out of jail in Seattle and took him to the hospital, came up for
the
hearings, but was not allowed to testify. Instead, he spoke to the
Canadian
media afterwards. He said that Steve Kubby “is a dead man,” if he is
forced
to return to the States. In fact, he would be subjected to even worse
treatment than Tuck received, because he could be shuttled around for
weeks
before he was returned to California.

One of the least known abuses in the US “criminal justice system” is
what
the prisoners call “diesel therapy.” Non-violent cannabis prisoners can
spend weeks on old buses (diesel fumes) chained to gang-bangers.
(Ironically, the federal warrant for interstate flight may have saved
Steve
Tuck’s life, because he had to be moved to California sooner. However,
the
feds use diesel therapy themselves as a “disciplinary tool” to punish
prisoners who stand up for their rights. Todd McCormick was “dieseled”
more
than once.

In his written response, Reimer actually tried to cover up for the
bureaucrat’s deception by citing a Seattle prosecutor: “Furthermore,
the
affidavits regarding Mr. Tuck's experience are contradicted by other
evidence including evidence specifically about medical treatment
available
to persons in custody in the State of Washington from Daniel
Sattersberg,
Chief of Staff of the King County Prosecuting Attorney's office.”

Of course, he would have to say that, but such a general statement of
policy
does not ‘contradict’ the specifics in Tuck’s case. In fact, there are
multiple ongoing investigations of the mistreatment of prisoners in
King
County jail.

The Reimer’s written response even says, ‘It is noteworthy that when
Mr.
Tuck returned to California, the state did not pursue most of the
charges
against him. Instead, he was convicted only of four misdemeanor counts
of
failure to appear, placed on probation and ordered to pay a fine.’

Yesterday, Reimer even repeated this argument in his rambling rehash.
In
fact, this is precisely what Tuck had repeatedly said would happen. It
is a
part of the written record of Tuck’s Refugee hearings from the
beginning. He
has always said that he was not afraid of facing charges for growing
medical
marijuana. What he feared was being held without proper medical
treatment.
And that is precisely what happened.

It is a measure of the dishonesty of the Ministry that they would seek
to
twist the facts in Tuck’s case to justify subjecting Steve Kubby to the
same
abuse. It nearly killed Steve Tuck, who is still recovering, and will
almost
certainly kill Steve Kubby.

Moreover, notice that there is no mention of medical cannabis in this
statement, which is the only medicine that Kubby needs. The Ministry
knows
perfectly well that US jails and prisons do not allow the use of
medical
cannabis by prisoners, so they avoided that one crucial question. Why?

Second, incredibly, the Ministry says, that Kubby had not established
that
he would ‘suffer irreparable harm’ if the removal is not stayed. Is
death
not ‘irreparable harm’?

The Ministry again claimed, ‘Mr. Kubby had not established that he
would be
incarcerated if he returned to the United States.’

Michele Kubby pointed out that last week, Chris Cattran, the Prosecutor
in
Placer County, who used perjured testimony to get the warrant that led
to
the raid on the Kubbys’ home, told the Auburn Journal newspaper that
Kubby
will be arrested at the border and then jailed for at least 120 days,
when
he is finally transported to Placer County, which does not allow the
use of
cannabis in its jail.

When it suits them the Ministry cites a statement of policy by a
prosecutor
as gospel fact, but when it does not fit the spin, they ignore it. Now
the
Ministry says that there is no risk in returning Kubby to the mercy of
the
people who began his family’s ordeal six years ago.

The Ministry says, ‘The Applicants must show that the irreparable harm
alleged is not speculative or based on a series of possibilities. The
Applicants must satisfy this Court that the alleged harm will occur if
their
return to the United States is not stayed.’

Given the statements by Dr. Connors and the Placer County prosecutor,
this
is clearly not ‘speculative.’ Nor is the problem confined to Seattle or
Placer County, for that matter.

On October 11, 2005, the Los Angeles Times reported:
‘Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson reported that
at
least 34 inmates had died recently because of neglect, incompetence and
"even cruelty" by medical staff. Henderson's action followed a lawsuit
by
the Prison Law Office.

‘On a tour of medical facilities at San Quentin, the judge observed a
dentist who neither washed his hands nor changed his gloves after
placing
his hands in patients' mouths.

‘On average, an inmate in one of California's prisons needlessly dies
every
six to seven days due to constitutional deficiencies in the … medical
delivery system,’ Henderson said.”

Would the Ministry argue that a US Federal Judge is biased?

Finally, in this context, it is bizarre that the Ministry would argue
that
‘the balance of convenience favours’ Kubby’ removal.’

Would it really be more inconvenient for the Ministry if they stay,
than it
would be for Steve Kubby and his family if he dies in a California
jail?

I do agree with the Ministry in its conclusion: ‘This is not simply a
question of administrative convenience, but implicates the integrity
and
fairness of, and public confidence in, Canada's system of Immigration
control.’

“Precisely! The people of Canada should not have confidence in a system
that
would lie to justify killing a cancer patient.” Over the last few years
I
have personally witness how intellectually and morally bankrupt this
system
really is.

It is now up to the people of Canada and America to stop a murder from
being
committed in their names.

Call the Prosecutor:
The Placer County District Attorney is Bradford R. Fenocchio.
http://www.placer.ca.gov/da/

Ask for either Chris Cattran, the Assistant DA, or Mr. Fenocchio.

Be polite but demand to know if Placer County is going to jail Steve
Kubby
and, if so, will they allow him to use marijuana in jail, as
recommended by
his doctor.

Mailing address:
Placer County District Attorney
11562 B Avenue
Auburn, CA 95603

Voice: (530) 889-7000
Fax (530) 889-7129

Fax and phone is better, but Email is better than silence:
bfenocch [at] placer.ca.gov

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