Tennis pro Alison Hicks and her daughter Jess Ann.
"We're Gonna Get the Big Bad Sheriff!" (Joe Arpaio)
Says Ex-Bay Cityan
Tennis Pro Alison Hicks Fighting Back with Media Interviews, Movie
September 19, 2010
By: Dave Rogers
Alison Hicks, onetime Bay City Central tennis star and longtime tennis teaching professional, is taking her fight against injustice to the max.
(Please see MyBayCity.com April 28, 2009, "Confronting Notorious Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Ex-Bay Cityan Plans Film.")
She plans to speak at another in a series of "freedom marches" in Phoenix at the end of the month about her wrongful imprisonment and harsh treatment by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Producers of the Oprah Winfrey show reportedly are considering an interview of Ms. Hicks after she and her publicist visited the Oprah Show set last week.
"We're gonna get the big, bad sheriff!" exclaimed the petite battler in a phone interview with MyBayCity.com.
She has ended up in the eye of the hurricane created by the conservative movement's fury over illegal immigration in Arizona and the backlash from Hispanics protesting profiling.
A misunderstanding over the location of her daughter, Jess Ann, and her mental trauma in the wake of a fight with her boyfriend placed Alison in the hands of a brutal deputy, according to Alison's story. In the sheriff's "tent city" and the jail system, she encountered abusive treatment from staff and other inmates until she was finally freed by an understanding judge.
The lone victim of alleged illegal arrest, imprisonment and mistreatment has found herself supported by Hispanics who are protesting profiling under a new Arizona law.
Sheriff Arpaio is nationally known for his "tent city" jail and brutal conditions suffered by inmates regardless of their status --guilty or not yet convicted.
Wrote Jon Garrido for Hispanic News: "A story that could be anyone's story, not just a story of an undocumented Hispanic but a story of an innocent young white woman victimized by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's system of police abuse, a judicial system run amok as used by Joe Arpaio, and by female lesbian prisoners."
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Arizona authorities, particularly Arpaio, are guilty of "discrimination based on national origin."
Ms. Hicks, 46, of Okemos, and her publicist Martha Rooker, of Bath, Michigan, met this week with Richard Brauer, Traverse City film-maker who has worked with Michigan icon Jeff Daniels.
The pair are working on a deal to tell Ms. Hicks' story of mistreatment on film, either in Hollywood with rising actress Jamie McCall as a potential star, or elsewhere under Brauer's direction.
The film would likely be shot in Michigan and/or New Mexico, said Ms. Rooker, who also has Bay City roots.
Ms. Hicks has given more than half a dozen interviews on key radio stations around the country, telling the story of her wrongful incarceration in 2001 and her nine year fight against the Phoenix sheriff.
(For more information, please see the Alison Hicks story, including a startling video interview with activist attorney Michael Manning, at http://backspinmymovie.com)
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