Chapter 38

A truly new year.

It was the end of January. The holiday season had been the most joyous in decades, and the Presidential Inauguration speech had the highest televised audience in history, both numbers and percentages. The announcement that the termination ban would be made permanent as the first order of the new congress was greeted with the wildest of enthusiasm.

The research and development of fertility treatments targeted at increasing male pregnancies had come out of the closet with a bang. The fact the operators of a slaughterhouse first discovered it was footnoted in small print on the research documents. The impact of the discovery was not. The underpinning of the PCA was the population imbalance. This was no longer valid.

The PCA in America was fully uprooted by the Supreme Court decision immediately after the inauguration, with the announcement that it was a violation of the 13^th and 14^th amendments.

The religious objections to such selective pregnancies were swept aside as women all around the world sought to balance the next generation with male and female members.

The anticipated Chinese reaction to the President's Executive Order was a paper tiger. Future historians would say that the threat was greatly overrated and should have never been accredited for the act in the first place. Like all histories, the facts would be written to fit the future conceptions.

The various states reacted differently to these events. Even though the activities were unconstitutional, the state laws remained on the books pending legislative repeal.

In Illinois, the situation was complex. The Lottery act was itself not associated with termination. Thus the Selection board was still in business. The Termination act portion of the Population Control Act was declared unconstitutional, and thus no longer enforceable. But no one initially closed down the Lottery.

So, David continued to keep his doors open in response to selection processes. From eight thirty to nine in the evening, Monday through Friday, paid staff and volunteers answered phones, took down intake information and filed exemption requests. The information was separated so that financial and other personal information was associated with the index number and not a client SSN. The clients got a copy of the print out to take with them, as well as a copy of the exemption letter and it's associated reference number.

When the legislature finally enacted a closure of the Lottery act on January thirtieth, David sent the last of his people home, closed the offices and took Margaret on vacation to Florida, for a long needed rest. Some of his friends took advantage of the closure to remain at the plant and enjoy free room and board.

What is Slavery? What choices reflect Free Will?

It was a chilly February day in the lecture hall at the University of Chicago. Professor Edwards' class on ethics in society was an elective class for the humanities, and he was hard put to get any traction to have it upgraded. So far, he had marginal success. Hopefully with this new subject it would take on a better light and he would see tenure.

"That is the heart of our class today" Professor Edwards said to his law class. "What is the core of free will and how does society limit or control it?"

Looking out to his crowd of intelligent women, Edwards launched into his favorite spiel. "Slavery is the indentured servitude of one person to another without compensation, and obedience is conditional against reprisal. People enter Slavery voluntarily or are forced by a system that deliberately strips them of their rights and actions of free will. Who can give me an example of Slavery in this country?"

"The condition of the Negro in the southern states before the emancipation proclamation?" A young woman said from the rear of the auditorium.

"Yes, Ms. How do you pronounce your name?"

"Haflie, sir. I don't want to burden you trying to pronounce my last name."

"Yes. We have had many circumstances of slavery our history. And all of them are terribly distasteful. Can you think of any other examples?"

"Germany during the Second World War. Russia after that war. Cambodia in the mid twentieth century. Ethiopia, Niger, Myanmar and Somalia at the turn of the century." Haflie continued.

"Excellent examples. Now, more recently, one of my graduates asked me about the instance of slavery during the recent PCA era. Does anyone know what I am talking about?"

Everyone was silent for a few moments. After a short time, Haflie raised her hand. "Do you mean the Goats under the PCA act, sir?"

"Yes. Exactly. These young women were sentenced to death under an unjust law. Some of them were yanked from the flow of doomed women and forced to work under uncivilized conditions and assist in the murder of their fellows. Regardless of the incentive to do this, fear, coercion, or preferential treatment, it was as unjust as the status of the Negro in the Carolinas in the eighteen fifties."

"Could you please explain that with a little more detail, Professor?" Melanie Clark asked.

"If we accept the concept of free will as a society, then we accept that we are all responsible for our actions, regardless. If we do harm to our fellow man, we are reaping benefits to which we are unentitled." Edwards said. "If you are taken from a flow of doomed people, and you assist in the deaths of your fellows, you are as guilty as the person who is the initial owner of the slaughter house. These human "Goats" as it were, convinced their fellows to die. And as was pointed out at Nuremberg, there are no innocents when crimes against humanity are concerned."

"Professor that might not be an accurate view of the situation." Haflie said, raising her hand.

"Ms., Hafie. This is not a discussion. This is a lecture. I think taking notes would be more appropriate for a student such as yourself. I expect that much of this will be in the newspapers shortly. Now, given these facts of bondage without free will, how heavily can the perpetrators be punished? And where does the guilt lie?"

Hafie and Melanie both took careful and exacting notes for the remainder of the lecture. Realizing that perception was power, they both realized that speaking up now would not be good. They had to get the news of this to David as quickly as possible.

Legal Persecution. Not Prosecution

The former graduate student was Colleen McNair, currently the assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois. A diligent and tenacious lawyer, Colleen has a personal interest in Findley. Colleen had been investigating Findley since her youngest sister Sarah's termination.

According to Sarah's friend Kitty, under deposition and under oath, they had refused a substitution request. "They said that they wouldn't trade prime for pet food."

This started Colleen on a personal crusade to punish those who had killed her sister. And she pursued it with every tool at her disposal. Beginning in October, She had detailed two research clerks to find the laws and ordinances that Findley would have had to comply with, regarding their business. Additionally she researched any of the statutes surrounding the PCA and it's administration.

After weeks of the clerk's investigations, Colleen was finally able to convene a grand jury investigation on ethics and possible irregularities of Findley's conduct in the administration of the PCA. The question was "Did selective behavior by the termination and butcher facilities constitute prejudicial behavior?" That none of this was germane to the law at the time was irrelevant.

Grand Juries were the prosecutor's tool to get the permission to go to trial. They are extremely powerful institutions with immense power. In the right hands, they are an extremely useful tool in uncovering injustice and wrongdoing. In the wrong hands, they make an excellent podium for a witch-hunt.

Grand Juries are also supposed to be secret. The testimony, evidence, and even the existence are supposed to be classified. They are the Prosecutor's personal dry run at bringing people to Justice, and as such are considered not to be "Public". Even though the public pays for them, they proceedings are considered too sensitive to be publicized unless an indictment is brought. Even then the methods and practices are never fully disclosed.

People summoned to testify were not given the advantage of consulting with a lawyer and could be ordered to testify regardless of implications to them. In most states, all witnesses were denied legal representation. In fact lawyers were usually barred from the proceedings.

Case Law

Colleen did not intend to enter into the argument about Findley's methods of termination. That was too easy to defend. Nor did she want to get into the any of the other aspects of the operation.

The basis for this case would be that there was prejudicial selection of people by Findley and their management. Since the mention in many of the exclusion orders and extensions referenced "value to society as a whole", she felt that she could make the case that the process of evaluation was "capricious and prejudicial" and unfair.

This would give her two sets of charges. One was slavery. Slavery under the PCA was defined as "Unfair coercion to cause a person to accept substitution under the selection act, or to provide services in exchange for not being selected." The goal legally would be to stretch this definition to include not just selection but execution, and to extend the process to the slaughterhouse and not just the Selection Board.

The troublesome issue seemed to be in the regulations governing the use of "Goat" assistants in the slaughterhouse. There seemed to be no firm guidelines on the use of these people, or any guidelines over how they could be selected. They could not be used to do work undertaken by Union employees, nor could they be used in a brothel. But there were no recommendations over treatment or use. The limitations were that they had to be registered in five days, extensions were filed after thirty days and that the extensions were for ninety day increments.

Colleen also hoped to develop a case where a person was forced into this situation against their will. Or prove that they had been placed into this situation capriciously or by prejudice.

The big challenge would be showing that the goats were pulled illegally. Proving that to a jury would be a challenge, but Colleen felt that if she could bring enough charges, that Findley would take a plea bargain. Pleading guilty to one felony count with twenty years was better then being convicted of two hundred counts with possible death penalty for each one. Willful Manslaughter was second-degree murder. First-degree murder would be pressed and charged, with manslaughter as a fall back. No way these people would get off Scott free. They would pay for killing her sister.

Colleen could still remember seeing Sarah on the spit at the ASPCA banquet. She would get revenge.

And so people were summoned.

Legal Discovery

No legal charges can be brought against a person or a business without either evidence of violation of a law, or conspiracy of intent to violate that law. You can be prosecuted for writing a document that advocates the overthrow of a government by force, even if you do not take any action in that direction yourself. Conspiracy is about intent. Not about action. Thus it is the hardest to prove and the hardest to defend once the ball starts rolling.

To establish a slavery charge, Colleen started with interviews.

First on the list was Delores Freeman, a retired manager at the PCB, subpoenaed to appear to testify. Delores swore in her statement that Findley did not receive any preferential treatment under the Act, and that in fact they had been a minor player up until the last six months of the span of the act.

"David was always very polite and essentially small fry. H&S and M&H were the real players. Until H&S was closed for health violations, David never gained any real allocation under the MAB."

"Why was that?"

"He had a niche in the marketplace. His selections were usually destined for the pet food industry. Women who reported there were not going to be in a meat case, but a soup can or pet food can. His initial intake was never more then fifty or so a week."

"What changed?" Colleen asked. "And remember you are under oath."

"The situation with H&S. The state had a seventy-five thousand-woman allotment per year for population management. David was a bit player. I think the only reason he was ever in the business was to provide a secure place in case his wife was selected."

"SO he could provide an escape hatch for her?" Colleen said.

"No. So he could have the termination done humanely. Everyone knew that Merle Hill was an absolute horror. And no one knew anything about M&H. Margaret and he both told me that hearing how her sister was terminated. Imagine being skewered alive and then roasted?"

"Were the records of the exempted and the excluded kept along with the reasons for exclusion or exemption?" Colleen asked.

"Yes. Along with all the Goat registrations."

"Goat Registration?" Colleen asked. "What was that?"

"David kept more goats longer then anyone ever did during the entire PCA program. He maxed out his number from the time Margaret was exempted and kept that up to the end of the law. And he kept the same group for almost the entire time."

"Really? Is this unusual?"

"Yes. Merle Hill never had more then six of his allotted sixteen, and they were never kept longer then three weeks. I think he used them for his personal brothel. When he and his men got tired of them they termed them." Delores continued.

"And how was Findley different?"

"Well, when Margaret was exempted, she took an interest in how operations were done. She and David changed the operations model significantly. He told me once he had the most valuable senior staff in the world. A leading lawyer, Clinical Psychologist, Market development manager and Woman's chair at the University of Chicago. And all of them working to change the model." Delores said. "I think he was more prepared for the end of the PCA then anyone was."

After subpoena of the MAB records it wasn't long before a pattern began to form in Colleen's mind. If you were special or connected, or had something to offer Findley, they kept you around. Usually a week or two, but sometimes longer, depending on how and what you were used for and what you had to offer. Of the sixty goats that had been in the three locations while Findley managed them, twelve had voluntarily changed their status before the repeal of the PCA. Three were there from the beginning. One was Carol Black, who Colleen did not want to see just yet. Just in case she is a co conspirator.

Cindy Carmichael was another. A bubble head and a piece of fluff if ever she saw one, Colleen didn't want to touch her for fear of the political fallout. Her mother had a reputation of being a shark and having too many connections. That left one that was one of the longest members. Colleen decided to meet with her last after she got the preliminaries out of the way. Cracking one young woman would be easy. She was barely past being a teenager.

First on Colleen's list was the union steward. Marty Robinson was a large, beefy man, with strong arms and a clear mind. As a member of the Teamsters 2953 he was also unemployed. The PCA had put the entire union group out of business, but they were pursuing contracts in other venues. One of them was the possibility of Tofu product development. "Protein is protein," they said in their advertising, and Stienhauer was already announcing a large-scale production plant to be fully staffed by union membership.

"Mr. Robinson. You were the senior steward at large at Findley's, and later Findley and Stienhauer?"

"No mam. Never Findley and Stienhauer."

"I see. Just Findley's then."

"Yes. We did retraining for the Stienhauer team, but they were under a different team with a different steward."

"I see. What did the duties of the union butchers consist of at Findley?"

"We were the initial slaughter and butcher teams for Findley."

"And did that change?"

"It never did. The Teamsters were always the slaughter and butcher teams at Findley."

"We have seen some evidence that Candy Mitchell and others were actually Union members, even though they were selectees. How do you explain that?"

"That is correct. Fact in evidence before you with reference to her membership book."

Marty said with a smile. "The circumstances of the employee membership are contractual. She voluntarily became a member in good standing, and was the most respectful and hardest working member I have ever had the pleasure of working with."

Becoming frustrated, Colleen began to loose her temper a little. "Marty, did you fuck her? Is that why she became a union member?"

"Ms. McNair, my relationship with Candy Mitchell was first and foremost professional. It became intimate on those occasions that she initiated and remains intimate on those occasions that she initiates. And beyond that it is none of your god damn business."

"So you admit that she slept with you to avoid being killed." Colleen said.

"Mam, I think you have to draw your conclusions as to her motivation. I would say however that there never was any question of a sexual favor in exchange for her employment at Findley. She was employed as a butcher and terminator, and probably terminated a substantial number of the women who were termed at Findley for the duration of her employment."

That piece of information stunned Colleen. "You mean that women slaughtered my sister?"

Sitting in the chair, Marty realized that he had given away a important piece of information that was not released to the public. And that he had gotten a piece that was important as well.

"That would depend on what day she appeared for processing. When was that?" Marty asked.

"I doubt you would remember her." Colleen said, loosing for a moment her professional decorum.

Looking closely, Marty saw familiar features that he had seen when he had spit mounted a woman for the ASPCA banquet. "Sarah. Her name was Sarah" George said. "I remember her because she was a special product. Her last name was Blair, though."

Hearing the name of her sister come from Marty broke through Colleen's professional veneer. "You bastard" she said quietly.

"Ms. McNair, I believe you are finished with this witness. Mr. Robinson, you are dismissed. Please remember you are under oath and bound by the secrecy of these proceedings." Judge Harkness said.

"Thank you, your honor. I would like to inform you that I will be talking about this with my attorney, based on the conduct of Ms. McNair." Marty said.

With that, the judge admonished Colleen. "You don't gain any sympathy from me or this court by falling to base insults."

"I apologize, your honor. I would like to establish that it is evident that sexual favors were exchanged between a selectee and management. I believe that the union membership was a sham to disguise the true nature of the relationships."

Which lead to the next interview.

"George, what was your position at Hill and Stienhauer?" Colleen asked.

"Senior Shop steward for all hourly employees."

"And did that include all front end and back end operations?"

"It did under H&S. After we were closed down, and Findley came in, we did back end only. Not validation or intake." George Harkness replied.

"So, you didn't do any of the selection process or exemption processes." Colleen said.

"No. In fact when we were H&S we never exempted anyone." George said.

"No exemptions?" Colleen asked.

"Nope. If you walked in the door you went out in a box or on a stick." George said.

"So, termination was universal and without any kind of selection or preferential treatment?"

"No. It wasn't preferential treatment." George replied. "The review process was to weed out those who should have not been selected in the first place." George said.

"Why did Findley do such a careful review?"

"Regulations. There were pregnancy tests, blood tests, carcass classification that was honest. And we followed Sanitation regulations that we never followed before. And there was no bullyboy behavior any more. Findley had us doing all that stuff by the book, with a USDA inspector on every step of the page. And they used us to rotate and train them USDA guys too, after Findley took over." George said with pride.

"Why was that?" Colleen asked.

"Because we did it right. Lady, we were closed down because USDA found our product was tainted and poisoned people. After we were closed down, and Findley came in and took over, they revamped everything we did. A woman never saw a man from the time she walked in the door. The goats did everything on intake, management, and review of paperwork. All the stuff that was above and beyond the regs." George said.

"George, how were all the Goats paid?" Colleen asked.

"Union scale. Money deposited into individual accounts. Two nurses, the Doc when she was there, and all the intake people."

"What doc?"

"We had an MD who was selected. We pulled her out of the stream and had her added to staff for case management and health screening. When the legal exemption for her came through, we put her back out the door." George said.

"So, who did the selection of the Goats?" Colleen asked.

"Usually it was the screening teams. If a woman had a particular talent or skill with people, and she was compatible with the team, and we had an open slot, we held them over. If they fit into the team, and were willing to work, we collared them. If we could get them exempted, we did. And if they decided to complete, we termed them." George said.

"Why would a woman decide to complete?" Colleen asked.

"Lots of reasons. Most were staying around to help while they got the last of their affairs in order. See their kids and stuff. Some wanted to help with keeping things straight. Haflie did that. And after that situation changed, she was re-evaluated and decided to help out permanent like. There are lots of reasons. We did a lot of extensions for people to let them get affairs in order. Marty Burke would know the numbers."

"And how were they treated?"

"Like everyone else. Audrey decided that she didn't want to do intake and lead anymore. So she told Marty Burke and me that she wanted to go on. She asked if we could take her over to the Saddle shop. And we did. Chelsea Blair saw her kids and then left her collar on the table and took a group down to a blue light special. Different women had different reasons." George said.

"Did the women perform sex as part of their arrangements?" Colleen asked.

"They had sex as part of their living arrangements. The bulletin board was posted with the Swinger House rules and everyone stuck to them." George said.

"Swinger house rules?"

"Sure. The women started it. If a woman was interested, she made the first move. If a door was open you knocked. If it was closed, you didn't knock. It was all private and personal."

"George, do you think the women were pressured to provide sex?"

"With Findley? Hell no. If you touched a goat it better be cause she asked. Women were totally in charge. They called all the shots. Course, most of them were older and horny as hell at the end of the day, so we obliged. But during the day I never saw a live women and my main job was to keep Kim and the others happy."

"Kim?" Colleen asked.

"Yes. Kim was my operations lead. Like Candy was at Findley. She was the journeyman in the union that did about half of the terms. Carley Swenson did line two. Like I said, we were a union shop."

"So the Naked Goats were in charge?" Colleen asked.

"Yes. The state rules said that the Goats had to be naked and with an orange collar. And the Findley rules said that they were in charge. Hell, with them running intake and management, we never had a fight or a bolter the whole time. Low key and quite and calm."

"How were women terminated?"

"After Findley? You have to get a release on that. I signed a confidential waiver and I was told that I could not discuss it." George said.

The Union representation was a wrinkle that Colleen had not anticipated. That might throw a defense in there that she didn't want to deal with.

Colleen expected her last interview to be the one that cracked the case for her. She started off by trying to set the stage by having her witness seated at a chair before she came in. Intimidation with lots of folders and files should provide the leverage to crack this young woman open.

"So, Ms. Mitchell, how did you become exempted from termination at Findley's?"

"I became exempted as a result of the presidential order on November 12" Candy replied.

"Let me rephrase that. How did you come to be a Goat?" Colleen asked.

"Ms. McNair, until I have had a chance to talk with legal representation on this issue I decline to answer any questions regarding my involvement at Findley Processing." Candy said politely.

"Look young girl."

"Excuse me, Ms. Getting all authoritarian with me really is not going to work. Trying to intimidate me is not really going to work either. Unless and until I have an opportunity to talk with my lawyer, I refuse to comment on anything other then facts in evidence as presented to be reviewed." Candy said in an even tone.

"Young lady, you are on the border of being indicted as a conspirator."

"Which means you read me my rights and allow me to see the charges and to contact a lawyer. Right?"

Looking at the cool grey eyes of the young woman in front of her, Colleen realized that this woman was not going to be intimidated. "Ms. Mitchell" Colleen began.

"Ms. McNair. Most people call me Candy. Let's try to keep this at least minimal on the drama, ok?"

"Ok. Candy. You were selected and then retained by Findley processing from the time of your arrival as a substitute for your mother until the end of the PCA, is that correct?"

"That is a fact in evidence, yes." Candy replied.

"And why do you think you were retained?" Colleen asked.

"Not a fact in evidence." Candy replied.

"What did you do while you were there?" Colleen asked.

"Actions as permitted for me by the PCA, and my membership in the local union 2953 of the meat cutters of America." Candy replied.

"You were a meat cutter?" Colleen asked.

"Yes. Journeyman. And my Union will provide representation to the fact of my performance of duties under the PCA and MAB regulations of the time." Candy replied coolly.

"Is it true that you were kept as a play toy for the management and employees at Findley?"

"Fact not in evidence and I resent the implication." Candy said.

"Young lady, do you want to call your Lawyer now?" Colleen said with sickening sweetness in her voice.

"Sure. Do you mind? I have her number. Her name is Carol Black."

Colleen was taken aback at that. Not the person she wanted to encounter in preliminary findings. Especially if she was on the other side. "You are a client of Carol Black?"

"Client, Friend, and student. And I will be talking with her regardless of what your cute little form says regarding secrecy. I do have a right to an attorney. And I have a dollar to pay her with." Candy said sweetly.

"Your Honor, Please instruct the witness to answer the question." Colleen said.

"Ms. Mitchell, please answer the question." Judge Harkness said.

"Your honor, the question implies a possible wrongdoing on my part, and as such I feel that I cannot answer it without first discussing it with my attorney."

"Ms. Mitchell, I will decide that". Judge Harkness replied.

"No ma'am, I am afraid not. If you place me under arrest I still have the right to my attorney. The question I was asked implied that I committed an act of prostitution to save my life. Agreeing with that would leave me open for prosecution. The prosecution has already implied wrong doing on my part and as such, I feel it necessary to exercise my Fifth Amendment rights." Candy said quietly and calmly.

"I am finished with this witness, your honor. Ms. Mitchell, I will be looking to get in contact with you later regarding possible charges." Colleen said as Candy stood up to leave. After the door closed, Colleen turned to the jury and commenced her summation of the testimony to the jury.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that we have established at least one case of some sort of manipulation of these women. And this manipulation started after Findley took over the operations of their slaughterhouses."

Kimberly Martin was calm and relaxed as she sat I the witness chair. As the last witness that Colleen was going to be able to call due to budget constraints, Colleen knew she had to make or loose her case now.