The Reality of Prison Rape

For those of us who have a loved one in prison, this is an awful topic to face. As this radio show points out, so many people joke about it and it's true. We joke because it makes us nervous. Inmates who have never been assaulted are horribly offended if you ask them if it's ever happened or if they are afraid of it. It's like telling them they can't hold their own, they have no "heart". So, it's not something we get to talk about unless it's a joke. But it is a scary thing when you're on the outside and you can't afford calls and you have no idea what's going on with your loved one.

More than 1 million prisoners were likely sexually assaulted in the 20 years preceding the passage of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, according to federal officials. Garrett Cunningham, a victim of prison rape, is joined by fellow prison rape prevention activists Judge Reggie B. Walton and Lovisa Stannow. They discuss realities and stigmas of sexual assault, particularly among men.

Survivor Adds A Name, Face To Prison Rape : NPR

Technorati Tags: prison, rape, incarceration, correctional officers

The Economic Impact on Prisons

States are saving money by lessening the harshness of sentencing, closing prisons and not sending offenders back to prison for minor parole violations. We also know one state so far has put an end to the death penalty. While the state of the economy is not fun for anyone, I'd go bankrupt to see this trend continue.

Kentucky’s governor plans to sign a bill to make permanent a pilot project that offers some inmates credit for time served on parole against sentence dates. The program saved the state $12 million last year. In Nevada, officials are considering closing the state’s oldest prison to save about $18 million per year.

Budgets crunched: Many states give prisons second look | NewsOK.com

Technorati Tags: prison, incarceration, death penalty, economy, policy

Sunday Sites #7 - Inmate Locators

People like to email me sometimes and ask how to find someone they know is locked up. It's different for every state and the information available to you is different in every state, so I thought I would list how to find an inmate in every state and the Federal system as well.

Federal - Online inmate locator here: http://www.bop.gov/

Alabama - Online offender search here: http://www.doc.state.al.us/

Alaska - Uses the VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) system as well as a toll free number to call for inmate information. More info here: http://www.correct.state.ak.us/

Arizona - Online offender search here: http://www.azcorrections.gov/

Arkansas - Online inmate search here: http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/

California - CDCR has a number you can call for information on the location of an inmate and nothing further. More info here: http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/

Colorado - Online inmate locator here: https://exdoc.state.co.us/

Connecticut - Online offender search here: http://www.ctinmateinfo.state.ct.us/

Delaware - Delaware also uses the VINElink web site :https://www.vinelink.com/

Florida - Online offender search here: http://www.dc.state.fl.us/

Georgia - Online inmate locator here : http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/

Hawaii - The Hawaii Department of Public Safety is skeletal at best. Very little information is available, however there are several phone numbers that could be of use to finding an inmate, listed under Corrections on this page: http://hawaii.gov/

Idaho - Online offender search here: https://www.accessidaho.org/

Illinois - Online inmate search here: http://www.idoc.state.il.us/

Indiana - Online offender search here: http://www.in.gov/

Iowa - Online offender search here: http://www.doc.state.ia.us/

Kansas - Online offender search here: http://doc.ks.gov/

Kentucky - Online offender lookup system here : http://apps.corrections.ky.gov/

Louisiana - Also uses VINElink and has a phone number to call as well. More info here: http://www.doc.louisiana.gov/

Maine - There is an email address available to ask for details regarding an inmate. More info here: http://www.state.me.us/

Maryland - Online inmate locator here : http://www.dpscs.state.md.us

Massachusetts - VINElink again, more info here : http://www.mass.gov/

Michigan - Online offender search here: http://www.michigan.gov/

Minnesota - Online offender locator here : http://info.doc.state.mn.us/

Mississippi - Online inmate search here : http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/

Missouri - Online Offender search here: https://web.mo.gov/

Montana - Uses VINElink, more info here : http://www.cor.mt.gov/

Nebraska - Online inmate locator here : http://dcs-inmatesearch.ne.gov/

Nevada - Online offender search here: http://www.doc.nv.gov/

New Hampshire - Online inmate locator here : http://www4.egov.nh.gov/

New Jersey - Online offender search here : https://www6.state.nj.us/

New Mexico - Online offender search here: http://corrections.state.nm.us/

New York - Online inmate lookup here : http://nysdocslookup.docs.state.ny.us/

North Carolina - Online offender search here : http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/

North Dakota - Online inmate lookup here : http://www.nd.gov/

Ohio - Online offender search here: http://www.drc.ohio.gov/

Oklahoma - Online offender lookup here: http://docapp065p.doc.state.ok.us/

Oregon - Online offender search here : http://docpub.state.or.us/

Pennsylvania - Online inmate locator here : http://www.cor.state.pa.us/

Rhode Island - Online inmate search here: http://www.doc.ri.gov/

South Carolina - Online inmate search here: http://www.doc.sc.gov/

South Dakota - A phone number is available for you to call here : http://doc.sd.gov/

Tennessee - Online offender lookup here: https://www.tennesseeanytime.org/

Texas - Online offender search here: http://168.51.178.33/

Utah - Online offender search here: http://www.cr.ex.state.ut.us/

Vermont - Online offender locator here : http://www.doc.state.vt.us/

Virginia - Online inmate search here: http://www2.vipnet.org/

Washington - Online offender search here: http://www.doc.wa.gov/

Washington, DC - Uses VINElink, more info here : http://doc.dc.gov/

West Virginia - Online offender search here: http://www.wvdoc.com/

Wisconsin - If you are registered, you can utilize Victim's Voice and search for an inmate here : https://www.wivictimsvoice.org/

Wyoming - Uses VINElink and more information can be found here : https://www.vinelink.com/

To see an archived list of all Sunday Sites, click here.

Technorati Tags: inmate search, inmate locator, offender search, offender lookup, inmate lookup, prison, department of corrections

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Nevada debates a Moratorium on the Death Penalty

Looks like this economic crisis could save a lot of lives.

Reprieve on death penalty debated - News - ReviewJournal.com

A bill debated Tuesday by Nevada lawmakers would impose a moratorium on capital punishment in Nevada until mid-2011, while a study is done on the cost of the death penalty.

Technorati Tags: death penalty, capital punishment, prison, nevada, moratorium

Raised Taxes to Pay for the Death Penalty

A small county in Indiana has had it's taxes raised to pay for a case in which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Imagine being anti-death penalty in that county. Imagine being anti-death penalty and someone who's already suffering financially because of the state of today's economy, and having your taxes raised to put someone to death. That is so backward, barbaric and wrong.

Still, I checked it out. I knew that Ohio has 88 counties, and I learned that at that time, 40 of them had sent no one to death row. 20 had one person on death row. Lake County (adjacent to Cleveland) had bankrupted its prosecutorial budget putting one person on death row. A handful had 3 or 5, a couple had 8 or 9, but nearly 60% of Ohio's death row came from Cleveland and Cincinnati. So, when politicians tells us the death penalty is for murder victims families, so they can have "closure," they are giving us a line, because most murder victim's families do not get the "justice" of the execution of the killer of their loved one. In fact, fewer than 1% of death-eligible murderers end up being executed.

NCADP - County Raises Taxes to Pay for Death Case March 26, 2009

You know, it saddens me that money is what's finally making a lot of people question the death penalty, but at the same time, I'm very happy it's being questioned.

Technorati Tags: death penalty, capital punishment, taxes, indiana, prison

Featured Prison: New Jersey State Prison, Trenton

New Jersey State Prison used to be known as Trenton State Prison. It houses about 2000 prisoners and used to house New Jersey's death row until the death penalty was banned in New Jersey.

Trenton State Prison was home to Ruben "Hurricane" Carter, Bruno Hauptmann who kidnapped the Lindbergh baby, and serial killer Charles Cullen. More notable inmates.

In 1952, violence broke out several times in the prison:

They were the hardest of hard-core prison inmates, and on three occasions in 1952, they placed New Jersey State Prison in Trenton under siege, destroying everything they could find, taking hostages and resisting every plea to surrender.

It was the most violent, tumultuous year in the history of New Jersey prisons — a generation before uprisings like Attica made inmate violence a national issue.

1952: Riots at Trenton prison

A book was written about Trenton State Prison by a Correctional Officer:

Inside Out is the 50-year history (1950-2000) of New Jersey's toughest maximum-security state prison as told by prison guard Harry Camisa, who lived it.

In his fifty years behind the walls of the prison, Harry witnessed 13 electrocutions and was taken hostage twice. He was in the center of a horrific bloodbath as two rival black Muslim sects fought for dominance in the prison. He was there when the Black Liberation Army tried to break out Joanne Chesimard's partner in a well-coordinated assault on 7-wing.

In his career, Harry knew all of New Jersey's major criminals, ranging from Charlie “The Bug” Workman, who gunned down Dutch Schultz in the 1930’s, to Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski, whose criminal career was the subject of two HBO television specials.

InsideOut: Fifty Years Behind the Walls of New Jersey's Trenton State Prison

New Jersey State Prison

New Jersey State Prison - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

New Jersey State Prison aka Trenton State - Prison Talk

New Jersey State Prison ("Trenton") - Inside Prison

Archive of all Featured Prisons on Genpop.org

Technorati Tags: new jersey state prison, trenton state prison, new jersey, trenton, prison, ruben carter, inmate, incarceration

Penalties for Prosecutors

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports today that Texas lawmakers are proposing penalties for prosecutors who suppress evidence in criminal cases:

In response to the exoneration of wrongfully convicted inmates, lawmakers filed legislation this week to crack down on prosecutors who withhold vital information from defendants.

State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, filed the bill, SB 1608, after 19 Dallas County men — and at least 35 others statewide — were found to have been wrongfully imprisoned, sometimes after improper conduct by prosecutors.

The bill would lift the statute of limitations on official-oppression cases and raise the penalty from a misdemeanor to a state jail felony if the withheld evidence was favorable to the defendant.

Kelvin Bass, legislative aide for West, said the bill would allow for review years after wrongful conviction.

Prosecutors are among the most protected class of people in our society. Unlike physicians, defense attorneys, and all other professionals who can be held accountable for ethical lapses, prosecutors are generally immune to any consequences for professional misbehavior. Texas SB 1608 is a strong expression of public concern for the injustices that such immunity has fostered.

Reasons for an Innocence Commission... In ANY State

This is a very good article about the state of wrongful convictions in Michigan. It's purpose is to prove why Michigan needs an Innocence Commission, but I think it shows why any state does.

Freeman case another reason for Michigan innocence commission | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

In Michigan, people don’t need to read the studies. Just read the headlines. Earlier this month, for example, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said her office has identified nearly 150 cases of convicted and imprisoned people that will require the retesting of evidence as part of the investigation into the now-closed Detroit police crime lab.

Also this month, a self-professed hit man, Vincent Smothers, told police he killed four people in September 2007 — crimes a 16-year-old is now serving up to 90 years in prison for. Davontae Sanford, who has learning disabilities, confessed to the crime that occurred when he was 14, but the confession now looks coerced. Sanford told police he used an M14 rifle to commit the crime, but forensics evidence shows that an AK47 and .45 caliber pistol were used.

Technorati Tags: wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, exonerated, exoneree, innocence, innocence commission, prison, crime

Exonerated Man to Speak Tonight

Real Estate Brooklyn coverage Bay Ridge Eagle Brooklyn, 2007 NY information :: daily paper in Brooklyn

REMSEN STREET — Jeffery Deskovic was tried and convicted for a murder and rape that he did not commit, even though DNA testing pointed to another man. It took 16 years for him and the Innocence Project in New York City to earn his freedom.

Now Deskovic is fighting to help others who have been wrongly convicted, bringing his fight to St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights. The presentation is free and open to the public.

The two-hour presentation begins at 6 p.m. tonight at the Callahan Center, St. Francis College, 180 Remsen St., Brooklyn Heights.

Technorati Tags: exonerated, exoneree, wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, innocence, prison

Sunday Sites #6 - Prison Phone Calls

This week has been crazy. My town is a Spring Break town, so last week there was a sudden influx of inebriated teens using the internet here, and the tubes went down. Almost every single day last week there was serious downtime, lasting as long as nine hours. Very frustrating considering I make my living on the web. So, that's why we didn't have a featured prison on Wednesday.

I am lucky enough to have caught the signing of the bill to repeal the death penalty in New Mexico, though. That seriously made my week. Way to go everyone who worked tirelessly promoting abolition in that state. You should feel seriously proud of yourself. You have saved lives.

So, this week, the sites are going to have a prison calls theme, because I know it is a source of serious frustration for a lot of you, both family and friends of the incarcerated as well as many volunteer workers in the prison system. I have had my own frustrations as well. I have done backflips to get a call from my friend, including signing up for a whole new phone line solely for calls from him. Living in Canada back then, I had to pay the exorbitant costs for a prison collect call, as well as long distance prices. I was paying about $22 per 15 minute call. I was making a lot more money back then, but that's still insane. Especially since my friend and I had a history of spending 16 hours at a time on the phone before he went to prison. Narrowing it down to 15 minutes was a near impossibility and he would call sometimes 8 times a day. That's a $176 day.

On top of these prices, the phone company, which was called MCI back then (I think they are GTL now?), would constantly block my line. I went through hoops trying to talk to someone who could tell me why and they said that they just randomly do that to whomever, because frequently people are unable to pay their bills. What? I could always pay my bills. And I'm sure there are a lot of very consciencious people out there, making sure their bills get paid even if that means they don't eat for a day or two. What that is, in my mind, is harassment of people who have fell on some hard luck. Lest we forget, it is not the prisoners paying these bills. It is their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, children who are paying these bills. People who have not been convicted of a crime, and therefore, should not be punished. They would cut off the line with no warning so childrens birthdays are missed, Christmas, Graduation. There was one point when something awful happened in my life and I was forced to tell my friend in a letter because they had chosen that time in particular to cut us off.

It is plain and simple harassment and I hope that the phone companies who do this will be held responsible one day. They are committing a crime far worse than the crimes of some of those people it affects.

There are some people out there, however, who can help with the phone situation, especially if you live outside of your loved one's area code and have to pay long distance rates.

Prison Calls Online - I was with this company for some time. They have excellent customer service and any time your line gets blocked they immediately get you a new one. All you have to do is get that number to your loved one via letter or visit. They get you a virtual number in the area code where your loved one is locked up so that you don't have to pay long distance charges, and it forwards to the phone of your choice, including cell phones which otherwise cannot accept collect calls. You prepay to fill your account so you are never spending more than you have. It's very easy to do this with your online account and a credit card, and the system can tell you approx. how many calls you can afford with the amount in your account. Everyone can save money with this company, even if you're in the same area code. There are a lot of other companies that do the same thing as these guys but I've heard a lot of things about people being screwed by some of these companies. I know this one is trustworthy and they do save you a lot of money.

The Campaign to Promote Equitable Telephone Charges - This website is designed to help you advocate for changes in the prison phone system.

New York Campaign for Telephone Justice - The objectives of the New York Campaign for Telephone Justice are to achieve more equitable rates for phone calls to and from prison, a high level of consumer choice within the prison telephone system, and fair service without unilateral preemptive cut-offs.

Illinois Campaign for Telephone Justice - The Illinois Campaign for Telephone Justice is seeking relief from the high cost of prison telephone calls from the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Prison Talk Prison Calls Discussion

And of course, the petition to lower the cost of calls from prison. Sign Here.

To see an archived list of all Sunday Sites, click here. To suggest a site for Sunday Sites, email me here.

Technorati Tags: prison, prison calls, inmate calls, prison phone, inmate phone, MCI, GTL

Prison Psychology

An interesting piece written by a prison psychologist, though I have to add that the questions she poses at the end, "And I can't help but wonder, for those who have the opportunity on parole, why they continue to fail, why they continue to come back. Isn't the fear of prison, even the living conditions and smells alone, enough to deter recidivism?" really aren't that confusing. It makes sense to me why they come back. They "continue to fail" because they are not being helped in any way by prison. You can't just stop people from continually making the wrong decisions in life by putting them in a cage for a few years and then opening the door, handing them a small amount of cash and kicking them out on the street. And as far as prison being an effective deterrent, this woman has got to be blind. People don't go into a criminal act thinking, "this is most likely going to land me in jail but the payoff is too great and I will risk it anyway". Usually in the commission of a crime, the last thing people are thinking about is prison. Most criminals think they won't get caught because, quite frankly, most criminals do not get caught. I figured a prison psychologist, of all people, would understand that.

Clarice Meets Hannibal | Psychology Today Blogs

I walk the 10 steps to my office, unlock the door, flip on the lights, and take my seat. Within seconds I have a line at my door - inmates without appointments, I observe. They have questions, "Just a moment of your time," or requests "I'm just passing a kite" - a note from one of my patients living in the cells. Unless it's an emergency I shoo them away - it poses a security concern to have so many inmates near my office door. I settle in.

Technorati Tags: prison, psychology, recidivism

Life After Prison

This is a great article about life after prison, especially in the cases of those who have been exonerated and are innocent. Many people oppose compensating the wrongfully convicted, but this article outlines why it's not just a good idea, it's our social responsibility. A wrongful conviction doesn't just take the time spent in prison away from a person's life, it takes his whole life, relationships and ability to support himself.

Innocent, yet exonerated: Life after prison | TheLoop21.com

“I didn’t even know how to turn on a computer,” he said. “The humiliating thing happened when I was applying to be a janitor’s assistant at the high school, and they told me I needed some additional training to mop the floors.”

He also battled a litany of biases and suspicions due to his stint in prison, regardless of being exonerated. The gaping hole in his work history was impossible to miss, and just about every job interview ended with him trying to explain why he was convicted and what for.

Technorati Tags: wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, prison, innocence, exonerated

Richardson Ends Capital Punishment in New Mexico!

New Mexico Independent » BREAKING NEWS: Richardson abolishes N.M. death penalty

Tonight, Gov. Bill Richardson signed his name to a law that abolishes the death penalty in New Mexico, saying, “This has been the most difficult decision of my political career.”

With his signature, Richardson made the Land of Enchantment the 15th U.S. state to ban capital punishment and pushed it into the worldwide community of states and nations that have abolished the death penalty, including many countries in the European Union.

Technorati Tags: death penalty, new mexico, capital punishment, bill richardson

Hours Away From the End of the Death Penalty in New Mexico

NCADP - The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Governor Bill Richardson continues to hear from New Mexicans about a bill to repeal the death penalty and today released details on the more than 9,400 calls, emails and walk-ins he’s received on the issue. The Governor has heard from a total of 9,413 constituents who voiced their opinion on House Bill 285. Of those, 7169 were FOR the repeal of the death penalty and 2244 were AGAINST.

After lawmakers passed the bill on Friday, the Governor urged New Mexicans to call and email him on their thoughts of the bill. The Governor then met with more than 100 New Mexicans at his office on Monday, many of which had concerns either pro or con, the repeal of the death penalty.

The Governor has until midnight on Wednesday, March 18th to take action on HB 285.

Technorati Tags: death penalty, capital punishment, new mexico, bill richardson

Help End the Death Penalty in New Mexico, Now!

From a newsletter email that the NCADP sent me:

Greetings All,

As you know, this past Friday, March 13, 2009, the New Mexico Senate voted 24-18 to repeal the death penalty in New Mexico and replace it with a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole.  House Bill 285 passed the House last month and was delivered to Gov. Bill Richardson for his signature on Sunday.   Governor Richardson has until Wednesday night to sign this bill, and when he does New Mexico will become the second state in as many years to legislatively abolish the death penalty.

The New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty has asked for our immediate help in two ways. 

#1 - The Albuquerque Journal is running an on-line own poll.  Please click on the link below to vote to urge Governor Richardson to sign the bill.  The poll is in the middle of the page:   http://www.abqjournal.com/

#2 - New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is inviting the public to help him decide if he should sign the bill.  Please take a few minutes right now to contact Governor Richardson and ask him to sign House Bill 285 as soon as possible.  Governor Richardson's office has set up a hotline to receive the opinions of New Mexicans (and anyone else) on the issue. That number is 505-476-2225. Those wishing to weigh in via e-mail can do so through the governor's web site at: http://www.governor.state.nm.us/contact.php and clicking on "Contact the Governor."

"This is an extremely difficult issue that deserved the serious and thoughtful debate it received in the Legislature," Richardson said in a prepared statement. "I have met with many people and will continue to consider all sides of the issue before making a decision."

Please take action RIGHT NOW to urge Governor Richardson to sign HB 285, the Death Penalty Repeal Bill, whether you live in New Mexico or anywhere else.  Especially if you know people who live in New Mexico, please forward this message and urge them to take action immediately.  Thank you.


A few additional thoughts:

Please visit NCADP's blog to see some photos of a few of the many key players who helped make this happen.

Check out NCADP on Twitter to see my "tweets" - short comments I made as sort of a play by play as the day went on.  While there you can sign up to follow NCADP on Twitter.

And finally, please make a generous contribution today to help NCADP continue to be a useful partner to the efforts of our affiliates, the folks who are on the front lines every day in this struggle.  New Jersey in 2007.  New Mexico and possibly others in 2009.  And many others with much work still to do.  Your support makes it happen. 
Thank you.

Yours in the Struggle,

--abe

Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director of Affiliate Support
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
http://www.NCADP.org

Technorati Tags: death penalty, new mexico, governor, bill richardson, prison

Harris County DA Will Test DNA

This is huge, now if only all states could do the same.

Earlier this week, Harris County DA Pat Lykos announced that moving forward, the DA's office will test DNA evidence in all cases where it is available and relevant.

Lykos announces DNA testing policy, calls for regional DNA crime lab

Technorati Tags: dna testing, harris county, pat lykos, prison

Study Shows Experts Gave Flawed Testimony

The Virginia Law Review study, released today, was written by Brandon L. Garrett, a law professor at the University of Virginia, and Peter Neufeld, co-founder of the Innocence Project. It examined 137 trials in which transcripts exist and forensic experts testified for the prosecution.

The cases are among 233 from across the country, 10 in Virginia, in which DNA has proved innocent people who were wrongfully convicted.

Garrett said that in 60 percent of the cases -- 82 of 137 -- in which forensic-expert testimony was available, they gave testimony overstating the evidence.

Forensic experts gave flawed testimony in 4 Virginia cases in '80s, study finds

Here's a great book about wrongful convictions in Virgina: The Innocence Commission By Jon B. Gould

Technorati Tags: virginia, wrongful convictions, innocence, prison

Twice a Victim

Anyone who has seen the moving video of Jennifer Thompson-Cannino has to know the pain a victim must feel when it's revealed that the victim's mis-identification of the assailant has led to a wrongful conviction. In the case of Larry Youngblood--which has become a tragic precedent leading to an even greater number of wrongful convictions--the young victim actually committed suicide after learning that the wrong man had spent more than a decade in prison.

Unfortunately, authorities who, it might be argued, are most culpable for a wrongful conviction, sometimes simply brush off its tragic results. I've written before about the case of Timothy Cole. In 1999, Cole died after spending 13 years in a Texas prison for a rape he didn't commit. He was recently exonerated by DNA.

Your heart has to go out to Michele Mallin, the rape victim. Here's how the Lubbock Online describes her involvement in the conviction and the callused rationalization given her by Lubbock authorities:

Much of the prosecution's case against Cole relied on his identification by Michele Mallin, the victim.

She had returned, again and again over the last year, to a crime she had long ago put behind her. Mallin remembered focusing in the hours she spent in the dark car parked in an empty, remote field on how she must, must remember the man's face so that he would go to jail and not attack anyone else.

"I've gone over my head a million times, 'How could I have misidentified him?'" she said days before the hearing. "That's all I remember thinking, because that's what's going to get this guy in prison, if I can identify him."

But the photo and in-person line-ups that led to Mallin choosing Cole may have improperly encouraged her to choose him, testimony showed. Mallin described her shock last spring to learn from one of the original investigators on the case that police had had another suspect, that Cole had died in prison from an asthma attack, and that he had not raped her.

She began to cry, alone in her home, overwhelmed with guilt as investigator George White gave her the news, she testified.

"'You shouldn't feel bad about this, Michele,'" she said White told her. "'[Cole] let himself be in that lineup.'"

Sunday Sites #5: Social Networks

I am a Canadian and I live in Playa Del Carmen, on the Mayan Riviera. The Caribbean ocean is a 5 minute walk away. The temperature here is almost always shorts and t-shirt weather. I live in a brand new condo with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops and pay virtually nothing to rent it. As I type this, I am looking out over a pristine pool just under my balcony. I woke up this morning, played with my son in the sun and then his father took him for the day so I jumped in the pool and had a swim in the morning heat. This building is brand new so hardly anyone lives here and I had the whole pool area to myself. The only noise was a slight breeze swaying the palms and a couple of parrots. This is my life. This is my amazing life and all I can think about is moving to the USA and volunteering for any Innocence Project or prison related organization that will have me. Am I insane?

Alright, so, This week I'm going to link to several social networks that revolve around various prison issues. They are great places to interact with prison activists and other friends and family of the incarcerated and to stay on top of the issues, events, petitions, etc.

Prison Talk - Prison talk is a forum site for friends and family of inmates. It covers all topics, including organizing car pools for visits, legal help and what can or cannot be sent to an inmate. I am vlu777 on Prison Talk.

The Prison Dharma Network - Prison Dharma Network (PDN) is an international, nonsectarian, contemplative support network for prisoners, prison volunteers, and corrections professionals. PDN's mission is to provide prisoners, and those who work with them, with the most effective contemplative tools for self-transformation and rehabilitation. Network with it's supporters and staff. Me on PDN.

Prison Place - Similar to Prison Talk, except it is more than just forums. There's groups, blogging, wikis, etc. Me on Prison Place.

Wrongful Convictions - A new and growing network devoted to wrongful convictions. Me on Wrongful Convictions.

fACTbOOK - a social network against state killing and torture. Me on fACTbOOK.

Prisoners Left Behind 2.1 - Lives stolen by the system, a network run by a prison ministry.

Prison Abuse Social Network - Fighting abuse in the prison system. Me on PASN.

Loving a Convict - for those of us who do. Membership requires Admin approval.

To see an archived list of all Sunday Sites, click here. To suggest a site for Sunday Sites, email me here.

Technorati Tags: prison, wrongful convcitions, social networking, networks

One Step Away From Abolishing Capital Punishment in New Mexico!

The New Mexico Legislature has voted to repeal the death penalty.

The bill now goes to Gov. Bill Richardson, who opposed repeal in the past, but says he would consider signing it.

The Senate voted 24-18 on Friday in favor of the bill, which replaces capital punishment with a sentence of life-without parole.

The Associated Press: New Mexico Legislature repeals death penalty

Technorati Tags: death penalty, capital punishment, new mexico

Madoff Scandal: The Innocence Project of Texas Needs our Help

I realize that everyone and their dog is blogging about Bernard Madoff, but here's a bit of info directly related to Genpop issues:

There are other innocent yet convicted people who may never leave prison because of Madoff. One of the victims of his massive Ponzi scheme was the Texas Innocence Project, which helps wrongfully convicted men and women gain their freedom. The project depended heavily for financing on a charity, the JEHT Foundation, which entrusted its money with Madoff.

Next investment: jailyard cigarettes

This is an extremely sad case, affecting so many people and organizations. How this man could and still does live with himself is beyond me. I feel for him, and before you comment angrily about me saying that, read this blog carefully. Would you expect anything less? Regardless what this man has done, he remains a human being, just like everyone in prison. I don't feel for him because he's heading to prison though, I feel bad for him because his guilt is probably exponentially worse than any prison time.

In light of this news though, the Innocence Project of Texas needs your help. This organization is extremely important. The state of Texas has had more wrongful convictions than any other. 32 people have been exonerated in Texas by DNA alone. The organization is currently working with the Dallas County District Attorney's Office on reviewing post-conviction requests that have previously been turned down. These number in the 100s and considering that since 2001, 19 men in Dallas County have had DNA bring their convictions into question already, this project is extremely important. The money that has been affected was to fund many DNA tests and could have freed many innocent people. The Innocence Project of Texas needs our help. Donate by clicking here. You can also send checks to The Innocence Project of Texas main office located at 1511 Texas Avenue, Lubbock, Texas, 79401.

Read what the Innocence Project of Texas had to say about the Madoff scandal.

More about the Madoff Scandal on Wikipedia.

Technorati Tags: bernard madoff, innocence project of texas, wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, innocence, prison

Featured Prison: Mansfield Correctional Institution (OH)

I missed posting a featured prison yesterday and things are a little hectic around chez Courtney this week so I'm going to do a feature on a prison I already knew a lot about because my friend was locked up there for the first few years of his sentence.

Mansfield Correctional Institution opened in 1991 very close to the old Mansfield Reformatory where the Shawshank Redemption was filmed as well as many paranormal television shows as it is considered to be haunted. The new Mansfield Correctional Institution was home to Ohio's death row from 1995 until 2005, when it was relocated to Youngstown. It's population is close to 2500, 1500 of whom are African American. It is home to two unique programs. One is the box factory, where inmates make cardboard boxes for state agencies. The other program is called the Tender Loving Dog Care Program where dogs are brought to to the prison who would have otherwise been put down. At Mansfield, they are trained by inmates to make them more adoptable. You can find information about adopting these dogs at the Ashland County Humane Society.

In 1997, there was a riot at Mansfield, which always used to make me nervous. During the riot, several inmates gained access to death row inmate Wilford Berry's cell and assaulted him. They had chosen Berry because he had waived his right to any appeal and submitted to death by lethal injection voluntarily. As such, he earned the nickname "the Volunteer". His fellow death row inmates didn't like the affect they percieved this might have on their own sentences. Berry suffered serious injuries requiring surgery and staples in his head. He was executed in February of 1999.

Wilford Berry on Wikipedia

Mansfield was also home to Kenny Richey, a Scottish man who was on death row for the murder of a two year old girl. After serving 20 years on death row, questions arose about his conviction. In an appeal, it was ruled that Richey's lawyer in the original trial had been ineffective and he was to be retried. He accepted a plea bargain by pleading no contest. In return he was released and sent back to Scotland. There have always been very significant doubts about Richey's guilt to the point that he caught the attention of Amnesty International among other organizations. He was also featured on an American Justice Episode, Playing with Fire.

Kenny Richey on Wikipedia

ManCI's Ohio DRC page

ManCI Discussion on Prison Talk

ManCI on Prison Place

A touching article about the release of a wrongfully convicted man, Clarence Elkins.

Archive of all Featured Prisons on Genpop.org

Technorati Tags: prison, mansfield correctional institution, manci, ohio, death row, kenny richey, wilford berry

Texas sees two death penalty related bills introduced

The State of Texas sees two death penalty related bills introduced. The chances of them actually being passed is a whole other story. We can hope at least.

State Rep. Jessica Farrar, a Democrat from Houston serving her eighth term, introduced a bill that would do away with capital punishment in Texas. This legislation is long overdue and should be taken seriously.

The bill takes the statute on capital offenses and deletes every instance of the phrase "death penalty."

It would require that "in a capital felony trial, prospective jurors shall be informed that a sentence of life imprisonment without parole is mandatory on conviction of the capital felony."

On Tuesday, on the day another Fort Worth man was scheduled to be executed, the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty organized a lobby day at the Capitol to urge legislators to give House Bill 682 a hearing.

Another bill before the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee would create an innocence commission and name it for a Fort Worth man who was convicted of the rape of a fellow Texas Tech student in 1985, and who died in prison after serving 10 years of a 25-year sentence.

This year he became the first person to be exonerated posthumously.

SANDERS: Texas Legislature should pass two death-penalty related bills

Technorati Tags: death penalty, capital punishment, texas, innocence commission, timothy cole, prison

Joseph Fears 8th Inmate to be Exonerated by DNA in Ohio

Joseph Fears was released from an Ohio prison yesterday morning as the eight inmate in Ohio exonerated by DNA evidence, and the 234th in the United States of America.

He started with a bowl of lobster bisque and worked his way down the menu at Mitchell's Steakhouse.

Next up was filet mignon wrapped in bacon, a baked potato, french fries, corn and asparagus. Dessert was a big piece of cheesecake smothered in strawberries.

To complete his first meal outside prison walls in 25 years, Joseph R. Fears Jr. washed it down with a glass of red wine and a shot of cognac.

The Columbus Dispatch : Savoring a first taste of freedom

Technorati Tags: prison, exonerated, wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, innocence, dna evidence, ohio, joseph fears

60 Minutes on Eyewitness Identification

This past Sunday, 60 Minutes did a piece on Eyewitness Identification featuring the Jennifer Thompson case in which she had misidentified her rapist and sent Ronald Cotton to prison for 11 years. Watch it online:


Watch CBS Videos Online

Part 2:

Watch CBS Videos Online

Technorati Tags: eyewitness testimony, jennifer thompson, ronald cotton, wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, innocence

Innocent Man Speaks About His Wrongful Conviction

William Dillon, who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, spoke for the first time in public about his wrongful conviction and about the Innocence Project, who he credits for his release last November.

"Many years, I waited for something to happen," he said. "I wrote anyone I could; anybody that I thought would listen, and I got no replies. Nobody was listening."

Dillon stands up, speaks out

Technorati Tags: wrongful conviction, innocence, wrongfully convicted, prison, innocence project, william dillon

Prison Life by William Newmiller

As the father of an incarcerated son, I've learned more than I ever wanted to know about prison life through my son Todd's writing from prison. As I hear from him my spirits rise and fall with his. A poignancy lives in the small things that bring him--and me--cheer. That he can notice an occasional delight against the backdrop of being locked up for a crime he didn't commit is to me an heroic example of human spirit. Some time ago he wrote:

“Hey. Big Todd. You want some that frif-frif-frif?” “LC” had come by my cell, and was selling the lollipops that guys occasionally make by shaping and microwaving together a couple of flavors of the taffy that’s available on canteen, around a Q-tip denuded of its cotton ends. “LC” has invented a collection of terms like “frif,” “gurst,” “zooter,” and the like, each of which has multiple meanings but none of which can be used interchangeably. Somehow this works as a means of communications, though it lends conversations with him a Dr. Seuss-like quality.

The price of the frif in question was a stamp or a token. I inquired as to the whether the confectioner had a preference. “A token is cool.” In exchange I was given a flawlessly circular lollipop of green and orange halves, neatly wrapped in plastic. It works surprisingly well as hard candy; although, after sitting in the mouth for a while warming up, its consistency starts to return to that of taffy. Sticky on the teeth.

The novelty of the thing is the key. And in this absurdity of constrained opportunity, the novelty of the lollipop was positively subversive. A Cat-in-the-Hat style frif.

More such writing can be seen at http://www.newspeakblog.com/category/print/i-am-ahab/ or at http://bearingfalsewitness.com/Ahab.asp.

A Victim's Reaction to Innocence

This is a great article on eyewitness misidentification. A excerpt from the article detailing the victim's reaction to finding out the man she identified as her attacker, who had spent 11 years in prison, was innocent:

Gauldin broke the news to her. "Her reaction: 'No, that can't be true. It's not possible.' You know? 'I know Ronald Cotton raped me. There's no question in my mind.'"

"It was like someone had just taken my life and, like, turned it upside down," she told Stahl.

Gauldin said Thompson cried and broke down. "I mean, she took it all on herself, you know, the guilt, you know, 'I did this to that man.'"

Thompson told Stahl she felt terrible shame. "Suffocating, debilitating shame."

But when she thought or dreamed about that night, it was still Cotton's face she saw. To get past it, she asked if he would meet with her at a local church. "I remember him walkin' into the church. And I physically could not stand up," Thompson recalled.

"She was nervous. Scared," Cotton said.

"I started to cry immediately. And I looked at him, and I said, 'Ron, if I spent every second of every minute of every hour for the rest of my life telling you how sorry I am, it wouldn't come close to how my heart feels. I'm so sorry.' And Ronald just leaned down, he took my hands…and he looked at me, he said, 'I forgive you,'" Thompson remembered.

"I told her, I said, 'Jennifer, I forgive you. I don't want you to look over your shoulder. I just want us to be happy and move on in life,'" Cotton recalled.

"The minute he forgave me, it's like my heart physically started to heal. And I thought, 'This is what grace and mercy is all about. This is what they teach you in church that none of us ever get.' And here was this man that I had hated. I mean, I used to pray every day of my life during those eleven years that he would die. That he would be raped in prison and someone would kill him in prison. That was my prayer to God. And here was this man who with grace and mercy just forgave me," Thompson told Stahl. "How wrong I was, and how good he is."

Eyewitness: How Accurate Is Visual Memory? - CBS News

Technorati Tags: prison, wrongful convcition, wrongfully convicted, exonerated, eyewitness, innocence

Sunday Sites #4

A couple of things to note this Sunday, in the sidebar I've added a couple of things. Prison Links is a link to my public Google Notebook that contains links to a lot of prison related sites. If you have any additions, please let me know. There is a link as well to my public Google Library which lists prison-related books. One of them is You Got Nothing Coming by Jimmy Lerner. I worked for this man on his web site when he got out and through our work, I got to know him. He's a really nice guy and the book is awesome and I highly recommend buying it. His site has since been taken down for personal reasons. Third thing, I added a link to my wishlist on Amazon - this is not a solicitation for you all to buy me junk, I just have a more complete list of prison-related books there for your browsing pleasure.

And with that, I give you this Sunday's Sites, which are all blogs.

Where’s Woolley - A blog by a man named Dave who blogged from prison and recently got out.

Texas Prison Bid'ness | - A blog about the prison for profit industry in Texas.

The Mind of Maurice Clarett - A former Buckeye tailback who is locked up on robbery, resisting arrest and concealed weapon charges blogs from prison. See his offender page here.

And finally Prison News Blog which is a blog about prison written by a man named Michael Santos who is locked up in a federal prison for distribution of cocaine. He writes his posts and sends them to his wife who posts them.

To see an archived list of all Sunday Sites, click here. To suggest a site for Sunday Sites, email me here.

Technorati Tags: prison, prison blog, blogs, prison books, jimmy lerner, maurice clarett

The Victim's Side of a Wrongful Conviction

When a wrongful conviction is brought to light and new evidence is taken into consideration, whether it results in an exoneration or not, it affects the victim:

The woman still lives in the Richmond area. She agreed to talk about the process because she wants state leaders to know what happens to victims when new science opens old wounds. She asked that her name not be revealed.

"I just want them to know it is hard," she said. "I can't tell you how horrible it makes you feel to have all those feelings come flooding back."

30-Year-Old DNA Clears Richmond Man Of Rape - WTKR

Overturning convictions and exonerating the wrongfully convicted can sometimes seem to the victim like they are being victimized all over again. If you don't care about the epidemic of wrongful convictions for the men and women they imprison, care about them for the effect they have on the victims of crime.

Technorati Tags: wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, innocence, victim, prison

Eyewitness Identification: Get Rid of It

Arkansas Voluntarily Uses Procedures For Better Eyewitness Testimony

Dr. Walker explains, "Eyewitness reports are important for generalized things they can give you an idea of what happened, but when you start getting into the particulars how tall a person is what they were wearing you start to loose the ability to be true across everyone."

To be brutally honest, I think they ought to outlaw the use of eyewitness testimony as an identification tool, altogether. Human beings are fallible, especially in times of stress. As Stanley Cohen stated in The Wrong Men:

While honest eyewitness testimony, offered freely, can nonetheless send innocent people to prison, testimony that is perjured or compelled can appear to a jury to be even more convincing, for it is apt to have been carefully crafted and well rehearsed.

And the Innocence Project states on their web site:

Eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide, playing a role in more than 75% of convictions overturned through DNA testing.

An Pat Priest mentions on the State Bar of Texas Web Site:

The U.S. Supreme Court recognized in a familiar triumvirate of cases on the law of eyewitness identification, all handed down on the same day in 1967, that eyewitness identification is unreliable...

I'm just not sure then, why it is still in use at all. I don't think there needs to be reforms in place to heighten the accuracy of eyewitness identification. I don't think we want the accuracy rate of eyewitnesses to be raised a little. Unless something is 100% transparently true, I don't think it ought to be used as evidence in any way, to send a man to his death or life in prison. All data on eyewitness identification shows it is faulty at best. Why then, do we continue to send men and women to prison based on it?

Technorati Tags: eyewitness identification, eyewitness testimony, wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, prison

When a Prosecutor has a Conscience

Take the case of New York prosecutor Daniel Bibb. He was prosecuting a high profile case--the rehearing of two men convicted in the Palladium Night Club shooting--and came to the conclusion the two men charged were innocent.

The New York Times reports:

Spurred by the doubts about the case, the district attorney’s office had assigned Mr. Bibb to reinvestigate with two police detectives, an inquiry that took nearly two years and led to the hearing into whether the convictions should be overturned. In his interview last summer with The Times, Mr. Bibb said he had tried before the hearing to persuade his superiors that the convictions should be set aside, but was ordered to defend them in court anyway.

Instead, he said, he purposely threw the case. Defense lawyers involved in the hearing have confirmed that he quietly helped them. He tracked down hard-to-find witnesses who cast doubt on the convictions, and held back while cross-examining witnesses with long criminal records. For Bibb, the fallout was that he became the target of an ethics investigation for having followed his conscience.

Today's Times article reports that the investigation has concluded after 6 months that no basis exists for disciplinary action and the inquiry has been closed.I share the opinion of David Luban of Georgetown University, who had praised Mr. Bibb and called the outcome a good one. He said that prosecutors need not always act as “full-fledged” adversaries. “Prosecutors are supposed to seek justice, not victory,” he said.

Changes in New York Drug Sentencing

In New York, a new set of drug law reforms has been proposed that would leave sentencing for non-violent drug offenses up to the discretion of a judge rather than using mandatory sentencing. This could find a lot of non-violent drug offenders in treatment, rather than prison.

Calitics:: New York to Repeal Rockefeller Drug Laws - Will CA Follow?

As our state budget lurches from crisis to crisis, it is clear that we cannot afford to maintain the laws for a war on drugs that has clearly been lost. Tom Ammiano's call to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana is a sensible and long overdue response to both failed drug/prison policy and the budget crisis.

Technorati Tags: drug laws, war on drugs, drug sentencing, new york law, prison

Women in Prison: The Scott Sisters

Dissident Voice : Women in Prison: Where Do We Draw the Line?

When I entered prison at the tender age of 22, I felt like my world was coming apart and life was not worth living. There were no more secrets and I had to strip naked in front of everyone, including men, because they thought it was funny. I was made to spread my buttocks and the officer looked. If I had a gun, I would have ended my life right then.

Taken from the Diary of Jamie Scott, wrongfully convicted in Mississippi.

Technorati Tags: wrongful conviction, women in prison, prison, wrongfully convicted, innocent

Recognition of Montana Death Penalty Vote in Rome

ZENIT - Rome Marks Montana Death Penalty Vote

A Montana state Senate decision to abolish the death penalty was marked in Rome on Monday -- the Colosseum was lit up to celebrate another step toward the end of capital punishment.

The Senate's decision last month still has to pass through the state's House of Representatives and be signed by the governor to become law, but the Community of Sant'Egidio celebrated the 27-23 vote as a victory.

At the initiative of that Catholic lay community, the ancient Roman site for killing Christians is set alight whenever a death sentence is commuted or a government moves toward abolishing the punishment.

Technorati Tags: death penalty, montana law, capital punishment, rome, prison

Nevada Questions Cost of Death Penalty

Nevada bill requires moratorium, study of death penalty cost | www.rgj.com | Reno Gazette-Journal

A dozen lawmakers have introduced a bill to impose a moratorium on capital punishment in Nevada until 2011, while a study is done on the cost of the death penalty.

As Nevada grapples with a limited budget, it’s time to consider the effectiveness of a punishment process that costs the state more per person than any other option, said Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno and a sponsor of the bill.

One of the most common myths regarding the death penalty is that it is the least expensive way to deal with an inmate. This article points out that the death penalty, in actual fact, can cost 3 to 4 times as much as life in prison.

Technorati Tags: death penalty, nevada, capital punishment, prison

Featured Prison: Lawtey Correctional Institution

Lawtey Correctional Institution is a state correctional facility in Florida. It's capacity is 832 and it houses adult males. It's population can be browsed here: Lawtey Correctional Institution Population and the inmate locator is here: Florida Department of Corrections Inmate Locator Lawtey CI is a Faith- and Character-Based Institution. According to the Department of Corrections web site, the Faith- and Character-Based Initiative is:

a bold and innovative effort to reduce recidivism and disciplinary infractions in correctional institutions by offering character-based programming in a positive environment to inmates committed to inner transformation. Without regard to religion, this initiative offers inmates a variety of activities and classes (both religious and secular) focused on personal growth and character development.

Without additional cost to the state, this initiative employs residential clustering to concentrate program offerings among like-minded inmates, utilizes mentors and provides an open public forum for community volunteers interested in making a difference in inmates' lives. Volunteer programming is rich with positive reinforcement designed to help inmates take well-defined steps toward mature and responsible living. The exciting news is this young initiative is already working. As an example, we are starting to see substantially lower disciplinary rates.

Faith- and Character-Based Programs

An Infusion of Religious Funds In Fla. Prisons (washingtonpost.com)

In 2003, two female corrections officers who worked at Lawtey CI sued the Department of Corrections for sexual harassment, claiming they were asked to perform sex acts by their superiors.

Two Women File Suit Against the Dept. of Corrections for Sexual Harassment

Some great photographs of Lawtey CI: http://www.oysterboyreview.com/archived/12/bednarek-dietz.html

Lawtey CI on Insideprison.com

Lawtey CI DOC Page

Lawtey Correctional Institution Discussions at Prison Talk Online: http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-85424.html

Archive of all Featured Prisons on Genpop.org

Technorati Tags: lawtey correctional institution, florida corrections, prison, incarceration, inmate

Obama Administration: No Constitutional Right to DNA Testing

Obama takes tough DNA evidence stance : The Swamp

The new deputy Solicitor General for the Obama administration urged the Supreme Court today to go slow in giving prisoners a right to seek DNA testing that could free them.

"Our position is there is no constitutional right to DNA," Neal Katyal, a former Georgetown law professor, told the justices.

I don't understand! Again, I pose the questions, what is there to lose? Time? Money? Is that more valuable than the freedom and life of a law-abiding, innocent citizen of the USA?

It blows my mind that this country sends men and women overseas to die in the name of freedom, but they won't test DNA for fear of time and monetary costs, in the name of that same freedom. Does that not seem entirely hypocritical to anyone else?

Technorati Tags: dna, dna test, innocent, wrongful conviction, wrongfully convicted, freedom, prison

7.3 Million in Corrections

Study: 7.3 million in U.S. prison system in '07 - CNN.com

The U.S. correctional population -- those in jail, prison, on probation or on parole -- totaled 7.3 million, or 1 in every 31 adults.

This is deplorable. I have been researching a move, with my 6 month old son, to the United States so I can volunteer for a non-profit organization, but this statistic has me wondering how intelligent of a move that is. 1 in 31 is a little too close for comfort. And while there are many people who work hard to reverse this trend, there are just too many who don't care. I wonder what it will take to have this widely accepted as a problem. Probably when 1 in 10 are incarcerated and there is not a single soul in the US who is not affected by it in some way. It's a shame things have to get so utterly drastic before the masses agree it's an issue.

Technorati Tags: prison, incarceration, probation, parole, prison statistics, prison stats

New Rule Would Require Prosecutors to Act on Wrongful Convictions

WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL

"The new rule requires prosecutors to take action when informed of a wrongful conviction," said Kempinen, who runs the prosecution project at the Law School. "At present, our ethics rules do not address the responsibilities of a prosecutor who learns of an erroneous conviction after the conviction is final."

You have to wonder what kind of a human being would ignore a wrongful conviction, simply because he wasn't required by law to say something.

Technorati Tags: wrongful convictions, wrongfully convicted, innocent, wisconsin law