From the website of Kelly Duda - www.factor8movie.com
In 1999, shortly after I interviewed inmate Rolf Kaestel about the problems with the plasma program, he
was whisked away involuntarily to Utah, where he was immediately put under 23-hour lock down at the
Draper Unit of the Utah Department of Correction. Twenty years of Rolf’s belongings were also “lost.”
I spoke with an assistant attorney general in Arkansas who confirmed for me at the time that the transfer
was indeed a retaliatory action against Rolf for speaking out.
I have known Rolf Kaestel for 8 years, and if there were ever a successfully rehabilitated man, he is the one.
If rehabilitation remains even a snippet of consideration in Arkansas’ penal system, Rolf Kaestel must see
freedom. It's long overdue.
Rolf has served 26 years of a life sentence for robbing $264 from a taco stand with a water pistol in 1981.
It is approaching three decades since his offense. Many child rapists and murderers have served less time.
In fact, the outgoing governor, Mike Huckabee has granted clemency to 12 murderers, despite the protests
of victims’ families and prosecuting attorneys -- yet Rolf’s requests continue to be denied. Why?
Could it have anything to do with Rolf’s decision years ago after he had changed his life to try and help
reform the prison system and fight brutality and corruption where ever he saw it?
With more than two million people imprisoned in the United States, and overcrowding so serious in Arkansas
that criminals are being let out on a daily basis, I ask you again, why is Rolf not free?
The jurors who sentenced Rolf to life were unaware that the State of Arkansas does not allow parole on a
life sentence. Jurors who were later contacted stated that they would not have given him a life sentence had
they known that he would be forever ineligible for parole. (Although why the jury thought a life sentence
with parole would have been justified is still disturbing.)
Rolf is the only man in the history of the State of Arkansas to be given a life sentence for a toy gun robbery.
(A robbery in which no one was hurt and the money was returned.) If his crime would have been
committed in Utah where he is serving out his sentence (while still considered an Arkansas prisoner), he
could not have been sentenced to life for such an offense. If such a crime were committed today in
Arkansas a life sentence could not be possible.
The victim’s family believes that Rolf’s sentence was exceedingly harsh. Doctors at the Arkansas
Department of Correction, in separate evaluations, deemed him rehabilitated years ago. Even the Arkansas
State Parole Board gave him a favorable recommendation for release in 1993.
Rolf is a model prisoner. He worked for many years as a certified paralegal for a Little Rock law firm while
he was imprisoned in Arkansas. In fact, attorney Jim Clouette acknowledged that Rolf’s excellent work
writing briefs for over fifteen years increased the law firm’s stature with the Court of Appeals in the
Arkansas State Supreme Court.
Rolf is a principled man, whose continued positive outlook on life and dedication to the legal and justice
system, despite his harsh sentence, continues to inspire me. Knowing him gives me hope. … But for him,
hope is running out….
As long as the powers that be in Arkansas refuse to release Rolf Kaestel, justice plays no part in the “natural
state.” Only corruption, cronyism, politics and lip service.
If you’d like to write Rolf, his address is:
Rolf Kaestel
Inmate # 29594
Inmate Housing WB-110-B
Utah State Prison
P.O. Box 250
Draper, Utah 84020-0250
If you see the injustice of what has happened to this person then he needs your help. If the people
who have the power to release Rolf are pressured by you, the people who elect them into office, to
set this man free, then possibly they will respond. Please use the power of the people and say that
this man has paid his debt to society and poses no threat of future offences.
This is the only thing that will help him now. The system has him in their control and resent the
steps he has taken to ensure human rights to all - including the humans in prisons. Even in the face
of continued abuse, he holds strong to his convictions and only wishes to be free to live a normal life.
Won't you please help him do this - is he really asking for that much?
If you’d like to tell the Governor of Arkansas what you think:
Governor Beebe
Governor's Office
State Capitol Rm 250
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
(501) 682-2345
Email:http://www.state.ar.us/governor/formpopup.html
Website: http://www.state.ar.us/governor/contacts.html
If you’d like to tell the Governor of Utah what you think:
Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr.
State Capitol Complex
East Office Building, Suite E220
PO Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220
801-538-1000
800-705-2464
Fax 801-538-1528
Email: http://governor.utah.gov/goca/form_governor.html
Website: http://www.utah.gov/governor/contact.html
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