Margaret (Meg) Appleton

RantWoman posts this testimonial almost unedited in memory of Margaret  "Meg" Appleton. RantWoman never met Meg but has been hearing of her case for a long time from a friend who offers the following remembrance.

RantWoman posts this with particular prayers for Meg's grandmother "Nonny," and Meg's son, with hope that posting this will be meaningful for them and others who loved Meg.

One small note for RantWoman's lexicography-minded readers: in prison argot, the "Jenny Seg" diet plan refers to the fact that women in segregation / solitary tend to lose about a pound a week while they are in segregation because of the inadequate diet.

Dear Friends

A very dear friend of mine passed away last week in prison.  Her name was Margaret ("Meg") Appleton, and her name was much maligned in the media.  I want to tell you a little about the Meg I knew.

Here is what I know of the case.  Meg's family, parents and brother, were killed 20 years ago.  Meg was considered a prime suspect, perhaps because she was always considered strange in that town, too smart and too liberal.  She had recently left Columbia, KY to go to college in Lexington.  Ten years after the murders, she was arrested, on the basis of hearsay.  There was never, that I knew of, hard evidence tying her to the murders, but her co-defendent took a plea bargain that implicated her, so she pled guilty, under threat of the death penalty.

Here's what I know of the things Meg did while in prison.  At the first prison, near Louisville, she got involved with Paws with a Purpose, a program to train dogs to help people with handicaps, particularly people in wheelchairs.  I think she trained two dogs, and she contributed a lot of her time to helping out with others' dogs, to making things for the dogs (dog beds and vests).  She made many items for an annual dog program fundraising sale, including quilts, and she taught others in the prison various crafts skills.

Meg was working on an undergraduate degree in sign language interpretation, and she provided interpretation for deaf inmates when the state did not provide.  I remember her talking about a deaf inmate who did not read lips, who had come back from a parole hearing with no idea what the response had been.  Meg accompanied that woman to her next hearing and interpreted.

Meg loved to read, and she worked, informally, as a tutor for women who were trying to get their GEDs.   Because she had not finished her own bachelor's degree, she could not be hired for this job.  (Understand that a high-paying job there was $1.25/day;  from this money, inmates buy "hygienes" like shampoo or soap, toothpaste, etc., and any supplementary food.  Unlike in the movies, they can't buy cigarettes in KY.   When the prison system went nonsmoking, Meg quit, then taught some of the quit-smoking classes.)

Inmates are not allowed to touch networked computers, but Meg worked with the librarian there, coaching her through computer glitches and problems.
When Meg was transferred out, she was in the process of learning Braille, to work in the Braille shop.   Apparently, she learned very quickly.  The Braille shop leader was very pleased to learn that Meg could read music, and could therefore learn to Braille it. 

Next, Meg was transferred to a privately-run prison in Eastern KY.  I think it was there that she tried to start some sort of organization to raise money for women who had no one on the outside to send in money.  There is so much that inmates need or want to buy, from soap that doesn't leave their hands cracked in winter, to extra layers of clothing for cold weather or nicer, better-fitting shoes.   At that prison, she worked in the library.  It brought her real pleasure to "book shop" for the other women. 

She read voraciously, and they would come to her and ask, "What do I want to read?"  She talked about starting a book club, and a literacy program.  She continued teaching.  She also worked with the librarian to clear out duplicate books to make room for new ones, and organized donations of picture books to a nearby program that cared for orphans and for the children of many of the incarcerated women.  This made the mothers feel like they had something to give to their children.   She organized a crafts club there as well.  They made baby gifts, Christmas gifts, and other things for inmates to send to their loved ones.

Finally, Meg was transferred to Western Kentucky, where she got on the wrong side of the administration.  After almost 8 years of exemplary incarceration, she found herself repeatedly in "seg," what the movies call "solitary".  Even there, where inmates communicate by yelling into air ducts and under doors, she served --- as a dictionary and general reference for the word games the inmates played, to pass the activityless time.  And of course she read, and did her best to share her books with others there.  She sang Christmas carols there, teaching people the words, two of the three Christmases she was there.  (This past Christmas, they held a special disciplinary hearing, just for her, to make sure she was in seg for the holiday.   Meg helped many people write grievances, and wrote many herself, bringing the attention of the State to employee misconduct and inmate rights' violations.  The staff at Western resented this.)

While at Western, Meg was treated by a doctor who was apparently particularly aggrieved by Meg's grievances, and her habit of reading the few medical books available there.  The prison medical staff routinely ignored the prescriptions of those outside doctors she was allowed (usually by grievance) to see.  She was taken to the local ER three times this winter, once with sepsis.  She believed, at the time of her death, that she had irreversible medical damage.

Western has an interesting dog program, much less elaborate and more self-sustaining than Paws with Purpose.  The nearby pound offers a deal to people who want to adopt a dog that was turned in to the pound because of behavioral issues.  They can pay a fee, and the dog goes to trainers in the prison, who teach the dog to behave well.  It is, for the inmates, much less of a bonding experience with the dogs, and much less challenging.  No one at Western teaches the dog to set the brakes on a wheelchair, or turn light switches on or off on command, or to pull the covers up on a bed.  However, they do get to teach the dogs the basics of sit/stay/heel, and to socialize the dogs.  Meg helped with that program as well, sharing what she knew of training techniques.

Throughout her incarceration, Meg advocated for religious tolerance and expression.  She was a devout Episcopalian, and often found herself in systems where "Christian" was considered synonymous with "Baptist," albeit there was an acknowledgement of Catholicism.  She also dabbled in paganism.  She helped found groups for both religions, and made sure that there were services available, particularly (with help from her friend Martha, on the outside) at Western.  The Episcopal bishop who has brought communion to Western has written movingly about that experience.  But she also helped members of other faiths to be allowed to practice their own faiths.   Her own spiritual  practices brought her comfort, and she was proud to help others find their own comfort.

Meg was transferred back to the Louisville area prison about a month ago, while in seg, and died in a cell there.

She will be greatly missed by her friends and family on the outside, and by many inmates in the KY system.