June 20 - 26, 1996 / Volume V, No. 25
Few Anchorage residents have exercised their First Amendment rights as dramatically as Theresa Obermeyer. Fewer still have been thrown in jail because of it. Despite a long career as an educator, a PhD, having held a seat on the School Board, and an impressive resume which spans dozens of pages, Obermeyer's preoccupation with a perceived conspiracy against her and her husband has created a host of problems.Marginalized in the community at large and formally charged with disrupting the public process, Obermeyer has paraded through town in a homemade jailbird outfit for the past few months. Now, she's wearing the real thing - an orange jumpsuit reserved for disruptive prisoners who have broken the rules.
As one of Anchorage's most well-recognized people, Theresa also holds the honor of being a resident few people want to talk to. Her exercise in saying unpopular (and difficult to prove) things has turned much of the community against her. Furthermore, she has said, her long-standing conflict with the federal judiciary has removed any chance of her receiving a fair trial.
Though I understand how she can seem disruptive, it was clear from talking with Theresa and reading the Daily News' report that the authorities' behavior was at least partly responsible for Theresa's behavior. To someone who lives to participate in the public process, who puts a lot of faith in the value of the Constitution, and who is running for U.S. Senate, the threat (real or perceived) of being barred from a public meeting is pretty upsetting.
And though she doesn't have the right to disrupt the public process, it is her right to participate, and our responsibility to facilitate that participation. Greeting her egress from the elevator with armed goons hardly qualifies - especially because we could have predicted that regardless of her prior intentions, this confrontation could only end one way.
Given that Obermeyer is now one of Alaska's highest-profile prisoners, it came as little surprise this morning when the Press received two communications regarding her imprisonment.
The first was an anonymous fax sent from the Commissioner of Corrections' office, detailing what the author believed to be special privileges given to Obermeyer because of her political position. No matter that she's not a viable candidate. No matter that nobody's been concerned about Obermeyer-bashing for years. The author suggested the state was avoiding conflict through granting of special privileges.
The two Department of Corrections employees named in the letter, Sgt. Bruce Main and Acting Superintendent Ole Larsen, not only denied the allegations, but explained the situation in a teleconference. Though they say Obermeyer is receiving no special treatment, she is clearly a special prisoner in many ways. The media has expressed interest in her case, and as a federal prisoner, she is one of a select few remanded to the state's Meadow Creek facility at the request of U.S. Marshalls.
Sgt. Main characterized Obermeyer's behavior so far as "pleasant and polite," though as a result of a misunderstanding over phone call regulations (she gets one personal call per day and 'reasonable access' to her attorney; as a remanded federal prisoner she was granted a number of phone calls the first day to inform friends and family of her whereabouts), she received one disciplinary action - the orange jumpsuit. She will spend her first 21 days in 'orientation,' and her final week as a federal prisoner remanded into state custody - a status slightly more restrictive than state prisoner.
The second communication we received was from John Grames, a fellow conspiracy theorist who's had his own string of problems with the federal courts. He's holding a rally tomorrow, June 21st, outside the federal courthouse to demand her release. "We consider Theresa Obermeyer a political prisoner," he wrote, adding that guards had no authority to restrict her access to the public meeting.
A lot of people have found Theresa annoying for years. I've always respected her willingness to stand up for what she believes regardless of its popularity. Her obsession with her husband's plight may have destroyed her political career and her social standing, but at least she's never compromised her personal integrity or allowed herself to be silenced through intimidation.
This is the essence of free speech in America. As good citizens it is our duty to celebrate and support Theresa's rights as well as our own, even if her ideas and sometimes abrasive personality may be unpopular. I'm ashamed that the people responsible for providing order in our court facilities gave Theresa a rope and pressured her to hang herself with it - a preemptive strike against one of our most vocal dissidents.
More than most of us, Theresa has participated fully in Anchorage. She's been an outspoken advocate of free speech and proper judicial conduct, and provided a colorful, educated counterpoint in many a public discussion (contrary to popular belief, she's not solely concerned with her husband). I don't think Theresa intended to cause a disruption that day, but because of the way it played out, we'll never really know.
Next time, when Theresa's out and attending a public meeting, take a couple minutes to hear her out. And next time, let her bring her own rope.