Update: The Dan Atkinson Case
October, 1976
In May, we reported the case of Daniel Atkinson, a 28-year-old heroin addict facing 20 years to life in prison, who escaped from Washington's Snohomish County Jail and turned himself in at a Veterans Administration drug-treatment center. His purpose in escaping was to call attention to the need for drug-treatment programs in prisons. The state of Washington, in fact, had such programs, for addicts both in and out of prison, but only on paper, The legislature had never voted operating funds. Atki...
