[nfbmi-talk] the kevin worley story

[joe harcz Comcast]

It is like I said at the leadership seminar, "we should have the backs of 
every blind person discriminated against, or at least our brothers and 
sisters in the NFB."

That is the very essence of civil rights, not denial.

And certainly not, "I've got mine, now you get yours."


Joe

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Terry D. Eagle" <terrydeagle at yahoo.com>
To: "'joe harcz Comcast'" <joeharcz at comcast.net>; "'NFB of Michigan Internet 
Mailing List'" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2014 9:59 AM
Subject: RE: [nfbmi-talk] the kevin worley story


>I recall the event, as I was at home sleeping 16 hours a day while
> recovering from mono.  Mark Eagle was a year old, and I wondered then if
> this was his future facing ignorance, second-class citizenship, and a
> general lack of dignity and respect by persons in authority and the 
> public.
> Fortunately, because of the NFB and our manning the barricades we now can
> purchase a bus or airline ticket unquestioned as an equal to the sighted,
> not surrender our white cane anymore than a sighted citizen with a walking
> cane, or force into a career of basket weaving or broom-making.  Yet such
> basic gains were not achieved by going-along-to-get-along, or reserved for 
> a
> few blind fortunate enough to be well connected.  Despite progress, many
> barriers to equality, opportunity, security and independence need to be
> removed, and the barricades to progress need to be manned on an ongoing
> basis.
>
> It never stops to amaze me how with success and money, and advancement in
> age by some people, there is a lack of memory of roots and struggles, some
> literally.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbmi-talk [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of joe
> harcz Comcast via nfbmi-talk
> Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2014 5:08 PM
> To: nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nfbmi-talk] the kevin worley story
>
> And he stopped those of us fighting for civil rights of the blind from 
> even
> documenting violations at the Leadership Seminar, and called those who did
> trouble makers?
>
> From The Braille Monitor April 1987
>
>
>
> The Kevin Worley Story
>
> A LESSON IN CIVIL RIGHTS
>
>
>
> by Peggy Pinder
>
>
>
>
>
> (Editor's Comments: In the middle part of the nineteenth
>
> century, America was torn by the question of slavery.  At that
>
> time James Russell Lowell said:
>
>
>
> Truth forever on the scafferd;
>
> Wrong forever on the throne.
>
> Yet, that scafferd sways the future,
>
> And behind the dim unknown
>
> Standeth God within the shadows,
>
> Keeping watch above his own.
>
>
>
> On another occasion Lowell said:
>
>
>
> They are slaves who dare not be
>
> In the right with two or three.
>
>
>
> The kind of slavery which Lowell protested no longer exists
>
> in America, but that does not mean that oppression has been
>
> eliminated or slavery completely abolished.  As you read the
>
> following article, ask yourself what you would have done if you
>
> had stood in Kevan Worley's place in the line at the bus station.
>
>
>
> How would you have felt as your small children, your wife, and
>
> the crowd of bystanders witnessed your humiliation?  What scars
>
> will be left on the nine-year-old son and the two-year-old
>
> daughter?
>
> Ordinarily the Monitor does not make a practice of printing
>
> offensive language, but we make an exception in the present
>
> instance.  The blind of the nation and their friends must know
>
> what was said by the police.  It is no game we play, this
>
> business of self-organization and struggle for equal treatment.
>
> It is as vital and important as the lives and destinies of us
>
> all, and those who fear the consequences of the struggle for
>
> freedom should consider carefully and quietly drop out of line.
>
> There is a price to be paid, and the time of payment is now.
>
> There is also a reward to be achieved.  Its name is freedom, and
>
> we do not intend for it to be postponed until future generations.
>
>
>
> We intend to have some of it now--some for ourselves, and even
>
> more for the blind who come after us.  However, we can only have
>
> it if we are prepared to work for it, sacrifice for it, and fight
>
> for it.  Freedom is like that.  It is never given.  It must
>
> always be earned.
>
> With this in mind what are you prepared to do on a daily
>
> basis as you interact with family, friends, acquaintances, and
>
> strangers?  And what are you prepared to do to build and
>
> strengthen the National Federation of the Blind?  Individual
>
> action and collective action--both are required.  In short, you
>
> and the Federation.  Each of us should think of these things and
>
> ponder our own level of commitment as we contemplate the Kevan
>
> Worley story.  Here it is in the words of Peggy Pinder, who
>
> served as attorney for the Worleys.)
>
>
>
> What happens in the United States if an individual stands up
>
> and asserts rights guaranteed by law?  Our textbooks and our
>
> traditions tell us that law protects us, that human and civil
>
> rights lie at the very core of our nation's jurisprudence.  But
>
> human and civil rights are the end result.  Someone had first to
>
> stand up for those rights and often had to suffer for doing so.
>
> A glance at American legal history reveals many victims, men
>
> and women whose rights were trampled upon and who never
>
> personally achieved redress in court.  The great case of Marbury
>
> v. Madison established the Supreme Court as the final decider of
>
> what is and is not permitted under our Constitution.  As a
>
> footnote to history, William Marbury, who originally brought the
>
> suit, lost completely.  The slave plaintiff Dred Scott lost his
>
> case to compel his freedom, a defeat which helped to bring about
>
> the Civil War.  Homer Plessy lost his case for equal treatment of
>
> blacks and whites by railroad companies, ushering in the legal
>
> permission to segregate people by race known as "separate but
>
> equal" treatment.  Japanese-American internee Toyosubaro
>
> Korematsu lost his case to have the World War II internment of
>
> Japanese- Americans declared unconstitutional.  The Supreme
>
> Court's permission for imprisonment based on race in Korematsu
>
> provoked the Federation's founder Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, then a
>
> university professor and legal scholar, to write a learned
>
> protest which earned him a permanent place in American legal
>
> tradition.  Dr. tenBroek's analysis is the starting point of
>
> every first-year law student's study of the Fourteenth Amendment
>
> to the United States Constitution, and his insights and language
>
> are used routinely by today's lawyers.
>
> History has slowly righted the wrongs inflicted in these
>
> individual cases.  But many of the individuals who first asserted
>
> important civil rights did not live to enjoy those rights
>
> themselves.
>
> The suffering of these men and women did not begin with
>
> their final defeat in court.  When a human or civil right is
>
> violated, the pain and humiliation are immediate and last a
>
> lifetime.  When one human being treats another as an inferior, as
>
> second-class, as subhuman, both human beings are degraded.  The
>
> one who receives the injury must be strong indeed to prevent it
>
> from warping and embittering the outlook.
>
> We blind people are accustomed to dealing with people who
>
> believe us less capable than our neighbors.  The National
>
> Federation of the Blind serves as our vehicle for righting these
>
> wrongs and for bringing about a better world in which the blind
>
> will be accepted as equals.  The Federation also serves each of
>
> us as a source of strength, helping us to keep perspective and
>
> teaching us that bitterness and resentment will not change the
>
> world.  Only a strong belief in ourselves and a willingness to
>
> work for creative change will bring the results we seek.
>
> There is a long list of Federationists who have led the way
>
> in suffering arrest and public harassment because they stood up
>
> for their rights.  Judy Sanders, Russell Anderson, Steve and
>
> Nadine Jacobson, Gary Mackenstadt, Barbara Pierce, Larry Krejci,
>
> Sharon Gold, Sheryl Pickering, David Estes, Kevin Harris, and
>
> Fred Schroeder have all been arrested in the last two years for
>
> sitting in their assigned airline seats, seats which turned out
>
> to be in exit rows.  Only Steve and Nadine Jacobson were ever
>
> tried in a court of law.  As for all the others, they were never
>
> even charged, or the charges were dropped by local prosecutors or
>
> judges who knew that the blind person had committed no crime.
>
> The Jacobsons told their story to a jury as did United Airlines.
>
> The Jacobsons won, receiving a complete acquittal from the jury.
>
> Other Federationists--President Maurer, Mary Ellen Reihing,
>
> Bonnie O'Day, Paul Gabias, Curtis Chong, Jan Uribes, Steve
>
> Hastalis --have been physically removed or barred from airplanes
>
> or have been falsely told that their flight was "canceled,"
>
> though the airlines did not have the courage to arrest these men
>
> and women.  They were simply refused passage when they insisted
>
> on sitting in their exit row seats--seats assigned to them (not
>
> by their request) by the airlines.
>
> Each of these men and women underwent the pain and
>
> humiliation of public harassment when they stood up for their
>
> rights.  Each was finally vindicated by the courts as completely
>
> as by their own consciences.  Each has learned the lesson of
>
> Federationism in a new way.  But even if a court had found each
>
> and every one of them guilty of some criminal charge, every one
>
> of them would still stand acquitted before their own beliefs.
>
> Each of them chose their beliefs over immediate comfort, their
>
> beliefs over the wishes of those around them, their beliefs over
>
> the usual practice of complying with directives of those in
>
> charge.  Each is stronger, and we are all stronger for it.
>
> Each is stronger because he or she learned that, when you
>
> seem most to be alone, when the people all around you seem to be
>
> united against you, that is when you feel most strongly the
>
> supporting force of 50,000 other blind people encouraging you to
>
> endure for principle and belief.  The journey from second- class
>
> citizenship to first-class status is never easy, but it is always
>
> worth the effort and exceedingly rewarding.  In fact, it is
>
> likely to be more painful than anything else except staying where
>
> you are as a second-class citizen.
>
> Kevan and Debbie Worley are Federationists from St. Louis
>
> where Kevan serves as a chapter president.  Both are blind.
>
> Neither had ever been arrested for insisting on equal treatment
>
> before September 4, l986.  They had always been there when
>
> someone else needed encouragement and support.  They knew that
>
> their rights in Missouri were protected by a White Cane Law
>
> making violation of the civil rights of a blind person a crime,
>
> and they had a friend whose recent illness called them to make an
>
> eighty-mile bus trip to cheer and encourage the long hours of
>
> convalescence.
>
> On September 4, l986, Kevan and Debbie Worley, both carrying
>
> their white canes, arrived at the Trailways bus station in St.
>
> Louis at about 7:00 a.m. with their son and daughter.  The
>
> Worleys got in line while their son went to play video games.
>
> When they arrived at the ticket counter, they stepped into that
>
> twilight world where a person's simple dignity and humanity must
>
> be fought for before the judge of conscience and belief.  Here in
>
> their own words is what happened:
>
>
>
> --------------------
>
>
>
> Affidavit of Kevan Worley
>
>
>
> Comes now Kevan Worley and, being first duly sworn, deposes
>
> and states as follows:
>
> 1.   My name is Kevan Worley.  My address is 5432 Odell
>
> Street, St. Louis, Missouri, 63139.  I am totally blind.
>
> 2.   On Thursday morning, September 4, 1986, my wife Deborah
>
> and I and our two children, Jayson, age nine, and Megan Beth, age
>
> two, took a cab from our home to the Trailways Bus station in
>
> downtown St. Louis.  We left our home at approximately 6:50
>
> Thursday morning, arriving at the bus station a little after
>
> 7:00.  Our son Jayson went to play video games, while Megan,
>
> Deborah, and I got in line to buy tickets.  We were going to
>
> visit friends in Festus, Missouri, some forty miles south of St.
>
> Louis.
>
> 3.   When it came our turn to purchase tickets, Deborah
>
> asked the female ticket agent for two adult and one child's
>
> ticket to Festus.  The ticket agent asked to see a doctor's
>
> letter.  Deborah said we did not need a letter from a doctor
>
> since we weren't asking for any half price fares, except for a
>
> child's ticket which is always half fare.  The lady asked again
>
> for a doctor's letter and Deborah said, "I don't understand.
>
> We've never used a doctor's letter before, and anyway we want
>
> full fare tickets for my husband and me and the full fare charged
>
> for our children."
>
> 4.   The ticket agent got very loud and once again told
>
> Deborah that she would not be allowed to buy tickets without a
>
> doctor's letter.  At this point Deborah asked to see a supervisor
>
> and was told that the supervisor would, "not be in until nine and
>
> by that time your bus will be gone."
>
> 5.   At this point I decided that the ticket agent must be
>
> confused about my white cane and the fact that Deborah had asked
>
> for a half fare ticket for our son.  I explained that my wife and
>
> I wanted full fare tickets and that the half fare ticket we
>
> wanted was for our nine-year-old son.  I explained that we didn't
>
> want any special treatment or reductions in fare because of
>
> blindness, just the ordinary tickets for adults and for children.
>
>
>
> The ticket agent angrily replied that she wasn't going to sell us
>
> tickets.  I then said, "You've been rude to everyone in this
>
> line. We've heard you. Please just sell us the tickets.  We do
>
> not want special treatment from you and we have a right under the
>
> law to buy regular tickets.  All we want to do is go to Festus."
>
> The agent said, "I cannot sell you any Godamn tickets without a
>
> doctor's statement."
>
> 6.   At that time I told the ticket agent that we would not
>
> move until she sold us tickets.  She said, "I won't sell you any
>
> fucking tickets so get out of my line." She then moved to the
>
> next ticket window to my right.  I picked up my cane, moved to my
>
> right, and attempted to bar that window with the cane by holding
>
> it horizontally across my body, five to six inches out away from
>
> my chest along the edge of the counter.  My right hand extended
>
> down to the tip of the cane and my left hand was placed on the
>
> handle of the cane.  At no time did my cane leave our side of the
>
> window or rise higher than the level of the countertop.  My
>
> attempt was to bar the window as a sign of defiance and I said,
>
> "We won't be leaving if we're not allowed to buy tickets and go
>
> to Festus, and neither will anybody else." As I moved to my
>
> right, I accidentally brushed against an older lady.  Deborah put
>
> her arm around me and said, "it's an older lady." At that time,
>
> the older lady moved around behind me to the ticket window
>
> located to my left where we had orignally been standing.  The
>
> agent went back to that ticket window and they began to transact
>
> business.
>
> 7.   Realizing that I could accomplish nothing by preventing
>
> others from buying tickets, I then moved farther down the counter
>
> to my right.  As I did, I accidentally knocked over some object
>
> sitting on the counter.  It sounded like one of those hard molded
>
> plastic cases that they put on the counter to display schedules
>
> or credit card applications.  The ticket agent then called the
>
> police and said, "Somebody's bustin' up my station."
>
> 8.   I continued every twenty to thirty seconds to say, "I
>
> would like for my family and me to be sold tickets to Festus.
>
> Please sell us tickets.  Will someone from Trailways please sell
>
> our family tickets to Festus.  Look, all I want are tickets to
>
> Festus." Those kinds of things I was saying every time I heard
>
> someone walking up to the counter to buy tickets.
>
> 9.   While I was doing this, I asked Deborah to go call the
>
> police.  Our rights under the Missouri White Cane law were being
>
> violated, and I felt that we should call for police assistance.
>
> Deborah went to call while I continued saying, "Please sell us
>
> tickets to Festus" for another five to seven minutes.
>
> 10.  As Deborah returned to my side with Megan in her arms
>
> crying, police came up from behind us and asked Deborah, "Is this
>
> the asshole busting up Trailways?  Why in the hell does he want
>
> to go to Festus?" Deborah said, "I don't know.  You'll have to
>
> ask him." They spun me around and the older sounding officer
>
> said, "What the hell are you doing here?  Why don't you get out
>
> of here? This isn't a play." The younger-sounding one (I learned
>
> later his name is Steve) said, "Where are you from? I know you
>
> can't be from St. Louis.  You're too fucking stupid." I had been
>
> holding forty dollars in my hand the entire time. I held the two
>
> twenty-dollar bills out to the officers and said, "I want to go
>
> to Festus.  That's all we want to do is go to Festus.  You can
>
> resolve this by talking to the agent.  Would you please buy the
>
> tickets for us?  All we want to do is go to Festus." One of the
>
> officers said, "You're not going anywhere.  Just get the fuck out
>
> of here." I said, "I'm sorry.  I cannot leave if my family does
>
> not get bus tickets to Festus."
>
> 11.  The next thing I remember is officer Steve telling me,
>
> "We'll take you in for resisting arrest." At this time Deobrah
>
> said, "Are you arresting him?  Is he under arrest? You can't do
>
> that.  You haven't told him he's under arrest." "The fuck we
>
> can't.  We can do anything we want.  We're St. Louis police
>
> officers," Steve said.  Deborah asked, "Don't you have to read
>
> his rights or anything?" "We don't have to read him shit," one of
>
> the officers replied.  At this point, they wrenched the cane from
>
> my hands while Deborah protested by saying, "You can't do that.
>
> You can't take his cane away." One of the officers said, "The
>
> hell we can't" as I was spun around and handcuffed.
>
> 12.  They started taking me to the door, and Deborah asked
>
> if she could have the money in my front left pocket if they were
>
> taking me in.  One officer yelled, "No you can't" and the other
>
> one said she could.  All I knew at the time was that someone did
>
> reach in my front left pocket and take the hundred-dollar bill.
>
> (I later learned that Deborah had moved quickly to my side and
>
> taken the bill before anyone tried to stop her.)
>
> 13.  The two officers then marched me out to the street in
>
> handcuffs.  As they did, one of them said, "We'll take you down
>
> with the niggers and see how your asshole likes that." The one
>
> officer, Steve, was on my right.  He moved very fast, while the
>
> other officer on my left walked very slowly and started bending
>
> my elbow up at a peculiar angle.  This put me in an awkward and
>
> painful position.  By the time we reached the street, my elbow
>
> had been bent up high enough that, combined with the different
>
> paces of the officers, I was suffering considerable pain. I had
>
> to try somehow to get my elbow down a little to ease the
>
> pressure.
>
> 14.  It was at this point that one officer said, "Oh, you
>
> want to struggle, huh, you mother fucker?" and threw me to the
>
> ground.  The other officer said, "Oh, he wants to fuckin'
>
> struggle, huh?" When I fell, I landed on my right side.  Steve
>
> walked around me, prodding me with his shoes.  I turned on to my
>
> stomach to protect my face.  Immediately the older sounding
>
> officer called for an ambulance while Steve waived a billy club
>
> over my head.  I could feel the air and hear the whistling sound
>
> of the club being waved over my head as Steve cursed me and
>
> threatened me.  He said, "Do you still want those fucking
>
> Trailways tickets to Festus?  Why don't you beg for them and I'll
>
> split your fucking brains all over the sidewalk."
>
> 15.  At this time I was very panicked and felt I should do
>
> anything they said because I was feeling very threatened.  I
>
> started saying, "I'm sorry, man.  Let's forget it, man." Steve
>
> said, "Man?  I'm not 'man.' I'm a fucking St. Louis police
>
> officer." He then said something about showing him respect.
>
> 16.  The officers then told me to get up.  I tried to get up
>
> and found that the handcuffs made it difficult to get my balance.
>
>
>
> I fell back slightly, so they both jerked me to my feet and
>
> shoved me into the back of a car.  Steve got into the front seat
>
> of the car while continuing to curse me by saying, "What in the
>
> fuck do you think you're doing, you stupid, blind-assed mother
>
> fucker." He continued to berate me with real anger and outrage.
>
> I could hear real violence in his voice.  I was terrified and
>
> said nothing.
>
> 17.  At this point I heard my wife approaching the car and
>
> asking if she could have the house keys.  One of the officers
>
> relayed the message from Deborah to Steve in the front seat.
>
> Steve reached back and attempted to get in my right pocket.  He
>
> was unsuccessful in getting the keys, so he got out of the car
>
> and said, "I'm not going to strip search the son of a bitch out
>
> here. I'm just not going to do it.  You don't need the fucking
>
> keys." Deborah said, "Where will you be taking him?" Steve
>
> replied, "We'll be taking him to the Twelfth and Clark police
>
> station."
>
> 18.  By this time there was at least one more officer (a
>
> third one) on the scene--a police sergeant, I believe.  I heard
>
> one of the officers talk to a passer-by.  The officer said
>
> something about a civil matter and that this was a criminal
>
> matter and the passer-by should "get the hell out of here." I
>
> presume that this passer-by was offering information which would
>
> help us.
>
> 19.  The police officers then laughed at Deborah, who was
>
> attempting to get into a cab.  They said, "Look at the bitch now.
>
>
>
> She's trying to take those kids home without her cane.  Where the
>
> hell is her cane?  Why don't we arrest them both, throw them into
>
> a cell and see how blind people fuck?" They all got a good laugh
>
> out of this.
>
> 20.  "They'll probably win a civil action and get about half
>
> a million dollars," one of the officers said.  "Why don't we just
>
> put a gun to his head right now and ask for $10,000 in advance."
>
> Again they all laughed heartily.
>
> 21.  At this point, I heard another vehicle drive up.  They
>
> told me to get out of the car and asked me if I wanted to go to
>
> the hospital.  I said, "That will be up to these gentlemen." They
>
> said, "Look, you either want to go to the hospital or you don't."
>
> I said, "I don't know what you want me to do.  I'll do whatever
>
> it is you want to speed this thing up.  I don't know what you
>
> want me to do." The woman and man (they were new arrivals) asked
>
> me if I wanted to go to the hospital.  I said I didn't know.
>
> They asked if I had any bruises or scratches and I said I had
>
> some elbow scrapes, but I didn't know if they needed hospital
>
> treatment.  They turned me around slowly and said they didn't
>
> think I'd be treated.  I said I'd do whatever the officers wanted
>
> me to do.  At that time they exchanged information.  I heard
>
> papers shuffling.  I was put back in the car where I sat by
>
> myself for three to five minutes.  I was then led out of the car
>
> into a paddy wagon and taken to the police station.
>
> 22.  I was taken from the paddy wagon by one officer and led
>
> into the police station.  On the way in, the other officer was
>
> banging my cane on the ground repeatedly and quite hard.  One
>
> officer said, "Does that damned thing have some kind of sensor?"
>
> The officer with the cane banged it harder, and I heard the ring
>
> from the tip slide up the cane.  He said, "It sure the fuck
>
> doesn't now," and they both laughed about that.
>
> 23.  Once inside the police station I was with Steve alone.
>
> He took me to different desks.  He didn't seem to know what was
>
> going on.  He was asking people, "Where do I take him?  Where do
>
> you want him?" He seemed to be confused about where to process
>
> me.  I was finally taken upstairs.  It took almost half an hour
>
> to fill out forms listing my property and getting information
>
> such as my name and address, etc.  He asked me to take everything
>
> out of my pockets and asked me to count my money.  I counted it
>
> and said, "I believe there's about $5.80 there." He said he would
>
> count it and said, "There's $6.10.  The stupid blind fucker can't
>
> even count." The two officers then debated for a while what to
>
> charge me with.  They didn't seem sure about this, and they
>
> finally decided to say that I had assaulted each officer,
>
> disturbed the peace, and resisted arrest.  When they had
>
> mentioned all these charges, they talked them over, and each one
>
> agreed that I had done all those things.
>
> 24.  I was then escorted by two other men to a cell after
>
> waiting for a while for a woman to get sheets to put on a bed.
>
> They talked about priding themselves on having special
>
> accommodations and said they couldn't put me with others in the
>
> jail.  I said I didn't need sheets and that I'd just sit on the
>
> bed.  They again said they were able to deal with people "in your
>
> condition." I was then locked in a cell for an hour and a half.
>
> I was offered a honey bun which I did not accept.  I was taken to
>
> pre-trial, where I talked with a man named Mr. Webber.  He said,
>
> "You've got a business at the Municipal Court Building, don't
>
> you?" I said, "Yes sir." Mr. Webber told me what my charges would
>
> be and said a lawyer had already contacted them.  I asked which
>
> lawyer, and he said he didn't know, but that I should be out
>
> shortly.  I was then taken back to my cell for a time.  Then a
>
> man who works for the Muncipal Court came and apologized for my
>
> being in there so long. He said he recognized me from our
>
> business.  He said, "I'd have been back here sooner, but I've
>
> been so busy with all these real criminals.  You will be released
>
> on your own recognizance without having to put up any money." He
>
> gave me something to sign, which I did.  I waited for probably
>
> another hour at which time I was taken to the finger- print man
>
> named Stephen.  He did many fingerprints on me, taking thirty or
>
> forty minutes.  Mug shots were also taken of me.  I was then
>
> escorted by another policeman on an elevator downstairs where I
>
> was given my summons as well as my personal property.  I next
>
> went out to the lobby where I met my wife and my friend, Mr. Mark
>
> Harris.  This was at approximately 2:00 in the afternoon.
>
> 25.  I later discovered that the jail officials had not
>
> returned my wedding ring, a simple gold band, when they returned
>
> my other property to me.
>
>
>
> Kevan Worley
>
> St. Louis, Missouri
>
>
>
> This 8th day of September, 1986, KEVAN WORLEY personally
>
> appeared before me.
>
>
>
> Barbara A. Spoon, Notary Public
>
>
>
> --------------------
>
>
>
> Affidavit of Deborah Worley
>
>
>
> Comes now Deborah Worley and, being first duly sworn,
>
> deposes and states as follows:
>
> 1.   My name is Deborah Worley.  My address is 5432 Odell
>
> Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63139.  My husband is Kevan Worley.
>
> Both of us are blind.
>
> 2.   On Thursday morning, September 4, 1986, I accompanied
>
> my husband Kevan and my two children, Jayson and Megan, to the
>
> Trailways bus station.  We were on our way to visit some friends
>
> in Festus, Missouri.  Kevan and I had our long white canes with
>
> us as we always do.  We arrived at the bus station at a little
>
> after 7:00 in the morning. We went to the ticket counter and
>
> waited in line.
>
> 3.   When we made it to the front of the line, I approached
>
> the ticket agent, a woman, and told her that I wanted to purchase
>
> a half-fare ticket for a child and two round trip adult tickets.
>
> We did not need a ticket for our daughter since she is two and
>
> would ride on one of our laps.  The agent told me that I needed a
>
> doctor's statement in order to do this, and I said we did not.
>
> The agent said that in order to travel with the handicapped fare
>
> one had to have a doctor's report.  I said I did not want to
>
> purchase a handicapped ticket and that I wanted to purchase
>
> full-fare tickets for my husband and me, and a half-fare child's
>
> ticket for my nine- year-old.  I asked to see a supervisor and
>
> was told her supervisor was not there and would not be in until
>
> nine o'clock.  She said that would be too late for our bus.
>
> 4.   At this time Kevan tried to explain to her that we were
>
> not asking for special treatment.  She still refused to sell us
>
> the tickets.  Kevan then told her that she would sell us the
>
> tickets.  The agent again refused.  Kevan and the agent continued
>
> to disagree and the agent became louder and louder as well as
>
> beginning to swear.  She was abusive to Kevan.  At this point
>
> Kevan moved down the counter to the right.  The agent called the
>
> police.
>
> 5.   Kevan told me to call the police.  I went to the pay
>
> phone and called 911.  I told the person who answered that I
>
> needed an officer sent to the Trailways bus station.  I gave her
>
> my name and described the situation.  She said there was an
>
> officer on the scene.  I said there was not an officer in the
>
> station, and she insisted there was.  I explained that we were
>
> blind and that Trailways was refusing to sell us tickets, which
>
> is a violation of Missouri law.  She told me that Trailways did
>
> not have to sell us a ticket if they didn't want to do so.  I
>
> asked if she was refusing to send an officer and she replied that
>
> she could not send an officer without an address.  I said we were
>
> at the Trailways station downtown and that certainly any officer
>
> would know its location.  I was told she would need a street
>
> address.  I finally came up with the address and she said she
>
> would send an officer.
>
> 6.   At this time I returned to Kevan.  My son joined us,
>
> and my daughter was crying because she became frightened with
>
> everyone starting to yell.  Soon two police officers arrived.
>
> One of them asked me if this was "the asshole tearing up the
>
> station" and "what does he think he's doing here?" I said, "I
>
> don't know.  You'll have to talk to him." They began talking to
>
> Kevan, asking him what he thought he was doing there.  Kevan
>
> explained what we had tried to do, showed them the money in his
>
> hand.  He even asked if the officer would purchase the tickets
>
> and resolve the situation.  He explained that all we wanted to do
>
> was to go on our trip.
>
> 7.   The officer told Kevan that we had to leave, and we
>
> refused to do so because we thought that Missouri law protected
>
> our right to be treated like everyone else.
>
> 8.   The officer said he was going to arrest Kevan for
>
> resisting arrest.  I said, "Does this mean he is under arrest?
>
> Are you arresting him?" The officer said he could do anything he
>
> wanted to do.  His language was very foul.  The officer very
>
> quickly grabbed Kevan and pulled Kevan's arms behind his back.
>
> Kevan's cane was grabbed from his hand, and I reached for the
>
> cane, saying, "You can't take that!  What are you doing?" An
>
> officer slapped hand- cuffs on Kevan very roughly and said, "I
>
> can do any fucking thing I want to do." I again asked if Kevan
>
> was under arrest and said, "You have to tell him what his rights
>
> are." He said, "I don't have to do a fucking thing."
>
> 9.   The officer also said, "I'll arrest you, too." At that
>
> time I took a step or so backwards because my children were with
>
> me.
>
> 10.  They hurried Kevan outside.  I got my children as
>
> quickly as I could out to the front of the station.  By the time
>
> I got there, the officers had Kevan on the ground.  He was lying
>
> face down on the sidewalk.  I ran over and said, " What are you
>
> doing to him?" One of the officers was circling Kevan.  I believe
>
> it was officer Steve Holt, and he was yelling at Kevan about
>
> having to respect him because he was an officer of the law.  He
>
> was again using foul language and I said, "What are you doing?"
>
> He told me to get the fuck away from him.  I backed up again
>
> because he seemed to be violent, and I felt that any minute he
>
> very well might strike me or Kevan or possibly my children.  He
>
> held a club as he circled Kevan.  He was screaming just like a
>
> person who didn't know what he was doing.  There was no logic to
>
> the things he was saying.
>
> 11.  I went into the station at this time, trying to think
>
> of what to do.  I left my son standing there but carried my
>
> daughter with me.  I knew I had to call for help from somebody.
>
> I attempted to call Mark Harris, and in being frightened I first
>
> dialed my home number.
>
> 12.  I went back outside.  At this time Kevan was in the
>
> police car.  I again attempted to talk to the officer.  I asked
>
> where Kevan was being taken and he told me to the Clark Street
>
> station.  I said, "So, is he under arrest?" I asked if I could
>
> get our house keys from Kevan.  At this time the officer became
>
> angry and again threatened me with arrest.  I asked Kevan if he
>
> was okay, and the officer started to move from the car.  He
>
> picked up his club again and told me to, "Shut the fuck up; I'm
>
> tired of messing with you.  Keep it up and I'll arrest you too."
>
> At that time, Kevan yelled from the back seat instructing me to
>
> call Mr. Maurer.
>
> 13.  Another police car pulled up along with a police van.
>
> I approached one of the new officers, asking if I could get
>
> Kevan's house key.  They refused to let me do this.  I was again
>
> threatened with arrest by Officer Holt.
>
> 14.  At this time I was able to get a Laclede cab and I took
>
> my children home.  My son climbed through a window in the house
>
> because we did not have a key.  I then contacted Mr. Maurer of
>
> the National Federation of the Blind.
>
>
>
> Deborah Worley
>
>
>
> SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN before me this 8th day of September,
>
> 1986.
>
>
>
> Ardith I. Hammond, Notary Public
>
>
>
> --------------------
>
>
>
> Despite the Worleys' belief, Missouri law did not protect
>
> their rights at the Trailways bus station.  The National
>
> Federation of the Blind immediately swung into action.  The next
>
> day, Federationists from Missouri and three other states--more
>
> than fifty blind people with less than twenty-four hours'
>
> notice--converged on the St. Louis bus station to picket
>
> Trailways and to protest the treatment of the Worleys.
>
> Television, radio, and newspaper reports of these incredible
>
> events spread throughout the St. Louis area.  The common reaction
>
> throughout St. Louis was outrage that such a thing could occur.
>
> The public responded in person as well.  Many people came
>
> into Debbie Worley's vending location in the Municipal Building
>
> (across from the court building) to express their support and
>
> came back again and again as customers.  Debbie's business has
>
> benefited, despite the threats of the police who arrested Kevan
>
> that "We'll see how her business does now."
>
> The day after Kevan was arrested, a Trailways spokesperson
>
> further fanned the flames of resentment against his company by
>
> defending its refusal to sell tickets to blind persons.  As he
>
> put it, " We don't hire drivers to take the blind to the
>
> bathroom."
>
> The police remained firm through this barrage of bad
>
> publicity.  They insisted that Kevan had kicked each officer,
>
> thus committing two assaults.  They insisted that it was Kevan
>
> who had disturbed the peace of the bus station.  And they
>
> insisted that Kevan had resisted arrest.  They insisted that
>
> charges be filed.
>
> The two assault charges were immediately refused.  The state
>
> prosecutor obviously didn't believe the police officers' story
>
> that they were brutalized by a handcuffed blind man.  No
>
> prosecution there.  But the city prosecutor backed the police.
>
> After all, they are another arm of the same city government he
>
> serves.  City charges of disturbing the peace and resisting
>
> arrest were filed against Kevan Worley, and the trial was
>
> scheduled for January 5, l987.
>
> Painful though it was, the Worleys hoped that this would
>
> provide an opportunity to tell their story in court.  They had
>
> tried twice (once in the bus station and once afterwards) to file
>
> charges against the ticket agent for violating their rights under
>
> the Missouri White Cane Law.  Nobody would touch the case.  The
>
> subject had gotten too hot to handle.  Their nine-year-old son, a
>
> thoughtful and observant child, refused to talk with them about
>
> the incident, retreating into hurt silence.  Their two-year-old
>
> daughter started playing a game she had never played before.  She
>
> would run up behind someone, grasp both wrists, and say, sternly
>
> and unsmilingly, "I'm police." The police department refused the
>
> Worleys' complaint against the two officers, denying that any
>
> wrong had been done and denying that the wedding band had been
>
> taken.  The courtroom was the only place left.
>
> Court opened at l:00 p.m. Monday, January 5, 1987.  The
>
> Worleys waited with their son in the courtroom until nearly 4:00
>
> p.m. while the presiding judge, the Honorable Michael Riley,
>
> handled other cases--accepting guilty pleas and conducting three
>
> other trials scheduled before the Worleys'.  At about 4:00 p.m.,
>
> the case of the City of St. Louis v. James Kevan Worley was
>
> called for trial.
>
> Anyone who has ever been involved in circumstances requiring
>
> a blind person to stand up for his or her rights knows just what
>
> happened next.  When we assert ourselves, insist on equal
>
> treatment, maintain that we are full and equal members of
>
> society, many of the people around us are so astonished and upset
>
> by the thought that they magnify and expand everything the blind
>
> person does a hundredfold.  Fellow passengers shout, swear at,
>
> and physically threaten the blind person sitting peaceably in an
>
> airline seat and later describe the blind person's demeanor as
>
> loud, rude, and abusive.  Potential employers become angry and
>
> resentful when pressed to treat a blind applicant fairly and
>
> recall the articulate blind applicant's behavior as inappropriate
>
> and rude.  The health club owner, the roller rink manager, the
>
> horse stable master are all likely to excuse their discriminatory
>
> behavior by insisting that the blind person did something wrong.
>
> This is all part of the pattern, part of what people moving from
>
> second-class status to first-class citizenship must face.  It is
>
> what Kevan Worley knew he was about to face as his trial began.
>
> It is why the Federation, with all its support and encouragement,
>
> means so much to Kevan and to all blind people.
>
> The City of St. Louis produced three witnesses to show that
>
> Kevan had disturbed the peace and resisted arrest.  The three
>
> were excluded from the courtroom except when they were testifying
>
> so that they could not hear the testimony of the other two.
>
> While in the hallway waiting to testify, excluded witnesses are
>
> not allowed to speak to one another about the case.  Even in this
>
> exclusion, the witnesses against Kevan could not bring themselves
>
> to deal fairly with a blind person.  While the second witness was
>
> testifying, the first and third were comparing their testimony
>
> out in the hall.  This showed great disrespect for Kevan and the
>
> case involving him.  But it also showed great disrespect for the
>
> judge.  When he found out, the judge almost jumped off his bench
>
> while the city prosecutor started dropping all his books and
>
> papers as he sought to excuse himself from this violation of the
>
> court's order that witnesses were to be separated.  When the
>
> third witness came into court, he coolly told the judge under
>
> oath that he had not been discussing the case in the hall, just
>
> the other witness's grandchildren.
>
> The testimony of the three witnesses against Kevan was like
>
> testimony of three entirely different incidents.  The first
>
> witness, Pauline McCelleary (pronounced like the vegetable) was
>
> the ticket agent on September 4, l986.  She insisted under close
>
> questioning that Kevan had asked for a half fare ticket and that
>
> he had refused to provide the necessary documentation.  She said
>
> that Debbie never spoke to her and did not have a white cane.
>
> She said that Kevan "hollered and screamed" at Debbie while he
>
> was being handcuffed, then "hollered and screamed" at the police
>
> as they led him out.  She said that Kevan kicked each police
>
> officer in the leg while the three were still inside the bus
>
> station.  She said that Kevan struggled as he was being led out
>
> and kicked over an ash can.  She said that Kevan held his cane by
>
> its handle and, two separate times, leaned over the ticket
>
> counter, waving the cane in her direction in an effort to strike
>
> her with its end.  She said he missed her both times.
>
> After these interesting statements were made under oath, the
>
> first police officer came to the stand.  His name is Steve Holt
>
> and he is identified in Kevan's narration as "the younger
>
> officer." As he was testifying, McCelleary and the other police
>
> officer were comparing notes outside.  Officer Holt stated that
>
> he was never kicked inside the bus station.  He stated that Kevan
>
> did not struggle or shout as he was led outside.  He stated that
>
> Kevan did not kick over an ash can on his way out of the bus
>
> station.  He said that anybody who said so would be mistaken.
>
> Officer Holt stated that he was kicked by Kevan after they got
>
> outside of the bus station.  He stated that, after being kicked,
>
> he and his partner "gently placed" Kevan on the sidewalk and that
>
> he then knelt by Kevan until Kevan "regained his composure." He
>
> said this took place right outside the station door, sixteen to
>
> twenty feet from the police car.  He denied using any foul
>
> language, any threats, or any filthy sexual suggestions.  He also
>
> said that, when he and his partner first approached Kevan, they
>
> both carefully gave their names and their titles as police
>
> officers. He stated that each officer then permitted Kevan to
>
> feel their badges to satisfy himself that the two were really
>
> officers.
>
> Officer Holt repeatedly insisted that Kevan had "resisted
>
> the officers" while everyone was still standing at the bus
>
> counter.  He described this resistance as "tensing up" when an
>
> officer first placed a hand on Kevan's arm.  He stated that, as
>
> soon as Kevan was told he was under arrest, he submitted to being
>
> handcuffed without protest.  He continued to refer to this as
>
> "resisting" throughout his testimony.  He also recalled, under
>
> questioning, Kevan's holding money in his hand and asking the
>
> officers simply to buy the tickets and resolve the matter easily
>
> that way.
>
> When this officer was finished, the other officer, named
>
> William Bereitshaft (pronounced BRRR-RIGHT-shaft) took the stand.
>
>
>
> He said that he had not been kicked inside the bus station, that
>
> Kevan had not struggled or hollered when being led from the
>
> station, that Kevan did not kick over an ash can on his way out,
>
> and that Kevan had not physically resisted the officers in any
>
> way at the ticket counter.  He said that anyone who said so would
>
> be mistaken.  He also claimed that he was kicked by Kevan outside
>
> the station, though he insisted that he was kicked two to three
>
> feet away from the police car and twenty feet or so away from the
>
> station door.  He testified that Kevan tried to break away from
>
> the officers, though Kevan had his hands cuffed behind his back
>
> and had no cane.  The officer said he didn't know why Kevan was
>
> trying to break away, but that he was.  He also stated that Kevan
>
> was "gently placed" on the sidewalk to "give him time to compose
>
> himself," though he insisted that he, not Officer Holt, was the
>
> one who knelt by Kevan until calm returned.  He also denied using
>
> any foul language and maintained that Kevan had been told their
>
> names and felt their badges before any conversation occurred.
>
> Both officers insisted that they had read Kevan's rights to
>
> him.  Both officers insisted that Kevan had been trying to buy a
>
> half-fare ticket without proper documentation.  Both officers
>
> vigorously denied that either of them had threatened anyone with
>
> a billy club.  Officer Holt even denied that he had his billy
>
> club with him, but officer Breitschaft clearly recalled that both
>
> officers had had their billy clubs at all times.
>
> Kevan and Debbie both testified in accordance with their
>
> affidavits and both added that no constitutional rights were ever
>
> read to Kevan and no feeling of policemen's chests had been
>
> invited by the officers or done by Kevan.  Kevan told the judge
>
> that he wouldn't even know where to feel to find a badge.
>
> By this time, it was nearly 7:00 p.m. and the judge informed
>
> the courtroom that he had heard enough.  He dismissed both
>
> charges against Kevan and the case was over.
>
> Nine-year-old Jayson had come to court with his parents and
>
> had sat quietly all afternoon waiting to testify.  When witnesses
>
> were excluded, he went into the hall with the rest.  He was
>
> scheduled to be the last witness and was still in the hall
>
> (though the court marshal was with him because both his parents
>
> were in the courtroom) when the judge began to rule.  The judge
>
> stated that he did not need Jayson's testimony and sent someone
>
> to bring Jayson back inside.  Jayson marched in, marched right up
>
> the aisle, opened the gate, and was nearly up to the witness
>
> chair before anyone realized that the youngster didn't know that
>
> his father had already been cleared of the charges.  Jayson was
>
> finally ready to talk, was eager to talk. It was a proud day for
>
> the son when his father was finally declared innocent by a formal
>
> court of law.
>
> After the case was over, people who had been in the hallway
>
> during the trial began comparing notes with the people who had
>
> been in the courtroom.  They discovered that Officer Bereitschaft
>
> who had sworn an oath to tell the whole truth, had then told only
>
> a small corner of it.  After Pauline McCelleary testified, she
>
> came out into the hallway and discussed her testimony and the
>
> entire incident at length with Officer Bereitschaft as he waited
>
> to go inside.  As she left, she mentioned that she was going to
>
> see her grandchildren.  Officer Bereitschaft quite calmly told
>
> the judge that he had not discussed the case with McCelleary at
>
> all.  The rest of his testimony was equally truthful.
>
> McCelleary also spent some time in the hall complaining to
>
> the officer.  She said that she had had previous complaints about
>
> her ticket selling, but that she had continued in that assignment
>
> until the day the Worleys appeared.  After their incident, she
>
> had been removed from ticket selling.  She resented this demotion
>
> and blamed the Worleys for it.  This undoubtedly had a great deal
>
> to do with her truthfulness under oath.
>
> The courage and good spirits shown by Kevan, Debbie, and
>
> Jayson Worley is the same courage and spirit shown by the other
>
> Federationists who have been arrested and publicly humiliated
>
> during the last two years. It is a courage based on the absolute
>
> certainty that they were right in the stand they took.  It is a
>
> courage based on the absolute certainty that their brothers and
>
> sisters in the Federation would stand with them.
>
> Kevan and Debbie are stronger because they stood up for
>
> their rights.  The Federation is stronger.  We are all one step
>
> nearer to that equality of treatment we seek because of what
>
> happened in the St. Louis bus station and the St. Louis
>
> courtroom.
>
> Every Federationist who has stood up for equal treatment and
>
> been arrested for it has been declared innocent by the courts of
>
> this country.  But, even if every one of them had been found
>
> guilty, they would still stand acquitted before the court of
>
> their own consciences.  Each of these Federationists has given a
>
> deeper meaning to the words spoken so prophetically by Dr.
>
> Jernigan in his 1973 banquet speech "Blindness: Is History
>
> Against Us?": "Whatever the cost, we shall pay it.  Whatever the
>
> sacrifice, we shall make it.  We cannot turn back, or stand
>
> still.  Instead, we must go forward.  We shall prevail--and
>
> history will record it.  The future is ours."
>
> Through the Federation, we seek a world where equal
>
> treatment of blind persons is ordinary and commonplace.  We
>
> haven't reached that yet, and much work remains to be done.  It
>
> is certain that other Federationists will be called upon to stand
>
> up for their rights, to suffer humiliation and even arrest for
>
> their beliefs.  Those who have already suffered have added much
>
> to our momentum toward freedom.  Others will come along to
>
> increase the momentum even more.  It is part of what we seek and
>
> believe in.  It is part of our pledge to Dr. tenBroek and to Dr.
>
> Jernigan and to President Maurer.  We will not falter.  We will
>
> not turn back.  With our brothers and sisters in the Federation,
>
> we shall prevail.
>
>
>
>
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