As a victims rights advocate and So. California Chairman of the first Recall of Calif. Chief Justice Rose Eliz. Bird, Dr. Garber met and worked with Dr. Jack Kevorkian in the 80's when he was with the Long Beach, CA Coroner's Office. They worked to replace California's gas chamber with painless lethal injection. Twenty-seven inmates on San Quentin's "death row" at the time had signed a petition for the donation of their organs and tissues if executed. Dr. Kevorkian and Dr. Garber both viewed it as a life saving effort. (Dr. Garber had introduced the term "Penal Euthanasia" in the 60's, and later traveled to San Quentin's "death row" several times at the request of inmates wishing to have their automatic appeals ended.)

Dr. Jack Kevorkian is a humanitarian and physician dedicated to changing archaic restrictions regarding voluntary euthanasia to relieve terminal suffering. Dr. Garber cites the case of his Alzheimer's stricken mother and her 10 years of extreme suffering, the last 5 of which she was a moaning and groaning "vegetable," as an example of society's failure to deal rationally with such terminal suffering.

The ACRU submits that Dr. Kevorkian's conviction is a judicial travesty on par with others such as the exoneration of O.J.Simpson. An example of the unsympathetic media coverage is an article in the April 26 issue of the respected U.S. News magazine. Entitled, "Jack Kevorkian gets some jail time", it is absurdly erroneous, for at 70, his is a life prison sentence. As for judge Jessica Cooper and prosecutor John Skrzynski equating humane, voluntary euthanasia with murder or any criminal homicide, it is outrageously illogical and is additional evidence of the need to reform our antiquated justice system as we enter the 21st century.

Malice is essential in the crime of murder, and there was certainly no malice in Dr. Kevorkian's humane, sympathetic efforts to relieve Tom Youk's terminal suffering. Further, we feel Judge Cooper's refusal to permit the testimony of Youk's wife, was prejudicial and additional grounds for appeal. The media and public have misportrayed this honorable physician, dedicated to changing our archaic laws related to voluntary euthanasia. The Michigan law making voluntary euthanasia "murder" is anachronistic, and one that Oregon remedied, and that California and other states will hopefully copy. We hope for a successful appeal of Dr. Kevorkian's conviction, which will someday be looked upon as we view America's "Witch burning" of times past.