The Women's Freedom Network Newsletter May/June and July/August 2001, Vol. 8, Nos. 3-4. Pulitzer Prize Winner Dorothy Rabinowitz Accepts WFN's Annual Leadership Award by WFN staff On May 16, 2001 recent Pulitzer Prize winner, Dorothy Rabinowitz, accepted the Women's Freedom Network Annual Leadership Award at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. Before a gathering of approximately forty-five people Dorothy Rabinowitz discussed her previous work and her current research interests. What follows is an article adapted from the Wall Street Journal ("Gerald Amirault Has Reason to Celebrate," July 9, 2001, A28) that was written by Ms. Rabinowitz. We include this adapted article to give you additional insight into the work of this year's award recipient.

Gerald, Violet and Cheryl Amirault were once prosperous owners of a day care center in Malden, Massachusetts called the Fells Acres Day School. The center began operation in the early 1960s. In the mid-1980s prosecutors charged the Amiraults with sexual abuse of children who attended the center. Violet and Cheryl were tried in 1987 and sentenced to 8 to 20 years in prison, while Gerald was tried in 1986 and sentenced to 30 to 40 years in prison. In 1995, both Violet and Cheryl Amiraults' convictions were overturned by renowned tough Boston trial judge Robert "Black Bart" Barton. Judge Barton is known for meting out fearsomely long sentences to the deserving guilty.

On July 6, 2001, in a unanimous decision the Massachusetts Governor's Advisory Board called for the commutation of Gerald Amirault's sentence. The Massachusetts Governor's Advisory Board (the Board) is one of the nation's toughest parole boards. It is considered nearly impossible to get this board to approve a parole request on first application. The Board cited several reasons for their decision recommending commutation, arguing overall that it was a matter of fundamental fairness.

First, the Board cited the severity of Gerald's sentence as compared with those given his co-defendants. Second, there was real and substantial doubt concerning his conviction. Third, there was the realization of flawed interviewing of children and the lack of physical evidence. Fourth, convictions in similar cases around the nation had been discredited. Lastly, there was the recent letter written by a juror in Gerald's trial expressing doubt and regret over the conviction. All of these reasons led the Board to their ultimate decision.

Nevertheless, the call for a commutation of Gerald's sentence has been met with protests from outraged parents and prosecutors who vow to keep opposing his release. The prosecutors in this case argued with never-diminishing fervor that they had convicted a family of predators and torturers. They cited as their evidence the most fantastic testimony from children, who had of course been pressed relentlessly by the state to confide the bad things that had happened at the Fells Acres Day School. Through it all, it was clear that whatever might happen to Violet and Cheryl, the prosecutors would do whatever it took to keep Gerald - a male and the prime symbol of their case - in prison, where he has been for 15 years. Gerald Amirault now waits on the decision of Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift.