by Josh Levin
900 A month after her husband’s funeral: Mortgage deed, October 1, 1983, Holmes County, Florida/MyFloridaCounty.com.
901 “friendly to strangers unless”: “Farmers’ mood: The Democrats…if it matters,” South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL), October 25, 1982.
902 allegedly stealing the owner’s refrigerator: Incident report, June 17, 1987, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
903 commandeering four bulls: Complaint, October 1, 1985, State of Florida v. Linda Ray Linch, Holmes County Circuit Court.
904 similar-looking bulls: No information, November 15, 1985, Florida v. Linch.
905 $738 civil judgment: Final judgement, July 14, 1989, Leroy Hunter v. Linda Lynch, Suwannee County Circuit Court/MyFloridaCounty.com.
906 “virtual prisoner”: “Patient: Ex-Doctor Ruined My Face,” October 24, 1985.
907 lost his medical license: Final order, May 12, 1984, Department of Professional Regulation v. Bernard Gross, MD, Board of Medical Examiners, Florida Department of Health/public records request.
908 Gross was charged: Case information, Miami–Dade County Criminal Justice Online System.
909 dismiss the case in 1986: Order granting motion to dismiss without prejudice, June 23, 1986, Linda Ray v. Stefano Dimauro, MD, et al., Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida (Dade County)/Miami–Dade County Civil, Family, and Probate Courts Online System.
910 “reasonable investigation”: Ibid.; Florida Statutes sections 766.57 and 768.495.
911 a payout of $100,000: Complaint, September 19, 1985, Ray v. Veterans Life.
912 settlement in January 1988: Docket sheet, Ray v. Veterans Life, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division.
913 more than 96 percent white: U.S. census data, 1980.
914 86.4 percent of its votes: “Florida Panhandle Still Wallace’s, but Slippage Is Seen,” New York Times, August 3, 1975.
915 members of the Dupree family: “Friends Say Threats Led to Change in Burial Plans for Black Woman,” AP, July 23, 1991.
916 working dairy farm: “List of property covered,” financing statement for debtors Ken Lynch and Linda Lynch, May 8, 1985, Charlotte Gruber v. Ken H. Lynch and Linda R. Lynch, Fourteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida (Holmes County).
917 foreclosed on in October 1985: Notice of lis pendens, October 23, 1985, The Federal Land Bank of Columbia, SC v. Charlotte Gruber, Linda Ray Lynch, and Ken H. Lynch, Fourteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida (Holmes County).
918 around 1909: U.S. census worksheet for Ward 16, city of Chicago, 1940.
919 In 1937, she’d married: Marriage license, July 29, 1937, CCCO.
920 birthplace of gospel music: Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church archives: organizational history, Chicago Public Library online.
921 “spent their vacation”: “Mississippi Visitors,” August 11, 1945.
922 Markham deeded 185 acres: Warranty deed, individual to individual, Holmes County, Florida/MyFloridaCounty.com.
923 The couple’s Florida marriage record: February 25, 1986, Jackson County Clerk/MyFloridaCounty.com.
924 Graceville Police Department investigated: Mark Squeteri affidavit, October 28, 1993, USA v. Springer, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division.
925 When Markham was admitted: Flowers Hospital history and physical for Constance Loyd and operative report for Constance Loyd, August 10, 1986, EOUSA/FOIA.
926 “become a chronic akinetic mute”: Flowers Hospital discharge summary, September 23, 1986, EOUSA/FOIA.
927 “providing adequate care”: Home health certification and plan of treatment, September 23, 1986, EOUSA/FOIA.
928 The Graceville police reported: Death report, District Fourteen Medical Examiner’s Office.
929 Markham’s death certificate: Jackson County Health Department/District Fourteen Medical Examiner’s Office.
930 The medical examiner: Investigative report, October 5, 1986, District Fourteen Medical Examiner’s Office.
931 “If I had truly”: “Examiner’s Murder Case Becomes a Tangled Tale,” September 21, 2003.
932 Gulf Life Insurance Company paid: Gulf Life Insurance Company to William Sybers, November 4, 1986; Sybers’s office to Gulf Life Insurance Company, November 18, 1986, District Fourteen Medical Examiner’s Office.
933 warned its readers: “TV insurance has low cost, low benefits, experts say,” Money/South Florida Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL), July 20, 1987.
934 $3,000…seventy-five-year-old woman: Union Fidelity ad, Detroit Free Press, March 16, 1987.
935 Mildred Markham’s enrollment form: Exhibit, Linda Ray Lynch v. Union Fidelity Life Insurance Company, Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida (Sarasota County).
936 medical examiner’s office decided: Sybers to Union Fidelity life claims department, June 9, 1987, District Fourteen Medical Examiner’s Office.
937 In June 1987: Complaint, July 27, 1987, Lynch v. Union Fidelity.
938 would reach a settlement: Docket sheet, Lynch v. Union Fidelity, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division.
939 she’d nab more than $60,000: Squeteri affidavit, October 28, 1993, USA v. Springer.
Chapter 18
Author interviews with Mark Squeteri, Terrence Hake, Craig Alldredge, Johnnie Harbaugh, Carol Harbaugh, Theresa Davis, Jane Snell-Simpson.
940 his career as a Pullman porter: Employee service and earnings totals for James Monroe Markham, RRB/FOIA.
941 began sending money: “Judge Gives Different Ruling,” UP/Times (Munster, IN), July 1, 1936; RRB, “Railroad Retirement Handbook,” p. 2.
942 born in 1896: James Monroe Markham World War I registration card, Ancestry.com.
943 Hake had been the key figure: “August 5, 1983: Operation Greylord investigation revealed,” Chicago Tribune, November 6, 1997.
944 RRB sent $820.37: Exhibit attached to Squeteri affidavit, USA v. Springer.
945 Squeteri tracked down: Squeteri affidavit, USA v. Springer.
946 He also interviewed: Written materials reviewed as part of the evaluation,
947 On October 28, 1993: Warrant for arrest, USA v. Springer.
948 red 1992 Mercury Cougar: Subject report for Linda Springer, U.S. Marshals Service/FOIA.
949 The indictment they filed: March 25, 1994, USA v. Springer.
950 Queen, Jane, and Karen Snell: Written materials reviewed, Freiman forensic evaluation.
951 released on $25,000 bond: Individual custody/detention report, U.S. Marshals Service/FOIA; appearance bond, USA v. Springer.
952 In a financial affidavit: February 24, 1994, USA v. Springer.
953 7007 North Nebraska Avenue: Defendant information relative to a criminal action in U.S. District Court, EOUSA/FOIA.
954 had died of natural causes: Investigation report, August 10, 1992, District Four Medical Examiner’s Office.
955 Three weeks later: Motion for continuance of trial, April 18, 1994; order, April 19, 1994, USA v. Springer.
956 “was incapable of knowing”: Petition for behavioral clinic examination, March 27, 1978, Linda Taylor burglary case.
957 “she was vague, tangential”: Motion to determine competency of defendant, May 13, 1994, USA v. Springer.
958 “It is difficult to say”: Michael Gamache forensic evaluation of Linda Springer, May 10, 1994, USA v. Springer, BOP/FOIA.
959 Dr. Donald Taylor described: Evaluation, May 18, 1994, USA v. Springer, BOP/FOIA.
960 on June 1, 1994: Mental competency hearing and order, USA v. Springer.
961 Taylor told a nurse: Psychiatric nursing database admission form for Linda Springer, August 24, 1994, BOP/FOIA.
962 twenty-six different medical conditions: Medical history report for Linda Springer, August 24, 1994, BOP/FOIA.
963 “narcotic farm”: “Narcotic Farm Praised,” AP/Cincinnati Enquirer, February 9, 1943.
964 roughly two thousand women: “Appendix III
: Lexington Medical Referral Center” in U.S. Government Accountability Office, Bureau of Prisons Health Care, February 1994, p. 31.
965 Nurses described…set of blinds: Nursing notes, September 23, 1994, BOP/FOIA.
966 Within twenty-four hours: Consent forms for use of neuroleptic and antidepressant medication, August 25, 1994, BOP/FOIA.
967 doubled to forty milligrams: Federal prison system medication routine, August 1994, BOP/FOIA.
968 tried giving Taylor an exam: Freiman forensic evaluation.
969 567 true-or-false statements: “Test revised that gauges personality,” Atlanta Constitution, January 23, 1990.
970 “frustrated and angry”: Freiman forensic evaluation.
971 they’d called her: Psychosocial assessment, doctor’s progress notes, September 22, 1994, BOP/FOIA.
972 “my real mother and sister”: John Eisenbach, doctor’s progress notes, August 25, 1994, BOP/FOIA.
973 “had blood similar enough”: Freiman forensic evaluation.
974 On September 25, Sandra Smith: Nursing notes, September 25, 1994, BOP/FOIA.
975 “needs some type of help”: Telephone conversation summary, doctor’s progress notes, September 28, 1994, BOP/FOIA.
976 “bothers her”: Conversation summary, doctor’s progress notes, October 5, 1994, BOP/FOIA.
977 “mentally disturbed”: [Quoted in] Freiman forensic evaluation.
978 “personality disorder not otherwise specified”: “Diagnostic impression” in ibid.
979 Taylor underwent surgery: Record of medical care and operation report, September 29, 1994, BOP/FOIA.
980 fifty-two days in the Pinellas County jail: Individual custody/detention report, USM/FOIA.
981 A booking photograph: Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
982 a hearing on December 14, 1994: Clerk’s minutes, USA v. Springer.
983 “the defendant’s condition has deteriorated”: Order, December 15, 1994, USA v. Springer.
984 “green snakes”: Psychiatric nursing database admission, January 17, 1995, BOP/FOIA.
985 “dog having puppies”: Psychiatric nursing assessment form, February 7, 1995, BOP/FOIA.
986 “Attempted to stress need”: Nursing notes, January 29, 1995, BOP/FOIA.
987 “Sleeping entire shift”: Progress notes, February 18, 1995, BOP/FOIA.
988 “was uncooperative and complained”: Sandra Lang and Robert Gregg forensic evaluation of Linda Springer, April 13, 1995, USA v. Springer, BOP/FOIA.
989 affect was “bright”: Progress notes, April 13, 1995, BOP/FOIA.
990 $13.13: Release authorization form, April 13, 1995, BOP/FOIA.
991 “The report from the last federal facility”: Gonzalez to Judge Thomas Wilson, June 7, 1995, USA v. Springer.
992 “in the worst condition”: Gamache to Alldredge, June 13, 1995, USA v. Springer, BOP/FOIA.
993 he’d suggested months earlier: Gamache to Jeff Carbia (assistant federal public defender), December 16, 1994, USA v. Springer, BOP/FOIA.
994 “experiencing a deteriorating mental state”: Gamache to Alldredge.
995 “defendant remains mentally incompetent”: Order, USA v. Springer.
996 Eight months later: Motion for order for dismissal, March 6, 1996, USA v. Springer.
997 confiscated upon admission: “‘This is, literally, the last stop for some of them,’” Tampa Tribune, December 11, 1988.
998 a decade since…five years since: “The family is No. 1 casualty of welfare warfare,” Chicago Tribune, October 2, 1985; “The hidden faces of the hungry,” St. Petersburg Times, March 14, 1990.
999 “don’t want to work”: Cannon, President Reagan, p. 439.
1000 “I thought you would have grown in five years”: “Speaker Calls President Insensitive,” Washington Post, January 29, 1986.
1001 “a huge number of well-meaning whites”: “Daring Research Or ‘Social Science Pornography’?,” New York Times, October 9, 1994.
1002 “When reforms finally do occur”: Murray, Losing Ground, p. 236.
1003 60 percent of AFDC families: “Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Related Programs” in House Committee on Ways and Means, 1996 Green Book, p. 474.
1004 welfare task force proposed: Up from Dependency: A New National Public Assistance Strategy, December 1986.
1005 “America’s fertility policy”: Murray, The Bell Curve, p. 548.
1006 “a new covenant”: “The New Covenant: Responsibility and Rebuilding the American Community,” speech at Georgetown University, October 23, 1991.
1007 2 percent of the state’s annual budget: “David Duke’s Addictive Politics,” Time, October 1, 1990.
1008 get birth control implants: “Duke Presses Louisiana Birth Control,” Washington Post, May 29, 1991.
1009 “welfare family could cost taxpayers”: “David Duke’s Addictive Politics.”
1010 “Perhaps the messenger”: “The numbers from Louisiana add up chillingly,” Baltimore Sun, November 18, 1991.
1011 He explained that mothers: “Clinton’s Standard Campaign Speech: A Call for Responsibility,” New York Times, April 26, 1992.
1012 “pure heroin”…“guiding star”: DeParle, American Dream, p. 4.
1013 “welfare is considered odious”: Health and Human Services Department data cited in Sparks, “Queens, Teens, and Model Mothers,” p. 180.
1014 2 percent of parents on AFDC: HHS data cited in Sparks, “Queens, Teens, and Model Mothers,” p. 180.
1015 “What’s the best thing”: State of the Union address, January 25, 1994, American Presidency Project.
1016 “By creating a culture of poverty”: Jason DeParle, “Rant, Listen, Exploit, Learn, Scare, Help, Manipulate, Lead,” New York Times, January 28, 1996.
1017 “you can’t maintain civilization”: Jason DeParle, “House GOP Proposes ‘Tough Love’ Welfare Requiring Recipients to Work,” New York Times, November 11, 1993.
1018 “responded with the smile”: DeParle, American Dream, p. 131.
1019 Nearly six hundred witnesses…Just seventeen: Sparks, “Queens, Teens, and Model Mothers,” p. 184.
1020 “low-life scum”…“their pants”: DeParle, American Dream, p. 133.
1021 “This issue is not”: Legislative hearing, July 18, 1996, Congressional Record.
1022 Joe Biden and John Kerry: “The Failure of Welfare Reform,” Slate, June 1, 2016.
1023 New Republic ran a photo: August 12, 1996, issue.
1024 “Today we are ending”: Remarks and Q and A, American Presidency Project.
1025 “I am here today”: “Welfare Reform Bill Signing,” August 23, 1986, C-SPAN.
1026 “the best argument”: Clinton, My Life, p. 330.
1027 published a front-page article: “Welfare escape not simple or final for woman who won Clinton’s praise,” October 27, 1996.
1028 7:11 p.m.: Constance Loyd death certificate, CCCO, Lincoln County, Mississippi, Chancery Clerk online.
About the Author
Josh Levin is the national editor at Slate and the host of the sports podcast Hang Up and Listen. He previously worked at the Washington City Paper and has written for Sports Illustrated, The Atlantic, GQ, and Play: The New York Times Sports Magazine. He was born and raised in New Orleans and is a graduate of Brown University. He lives in Washington, DC.
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