Featured Prison: US Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facilty

Otherwise known as ADX-Florence in Colorado, is often referred to as the toughest prison in the country. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and is part of the Florence Federal Correction Complex. It was built as a control unit prison in which inmates are in solitary for 22-23 hours a day. Their one hour outside their cells is spent exercising by themselves. It houses offenders who are otherwise "uncontrollable".

Opened in 1994, ADX-Florence, known as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies" has 490 beds and houses about 430 men.

Part of the prison is a "stepdown" program, designed to encourage less antisocial behavior and eventually transfer prisoners out of the ADX and back to the Maximum Security population. The program is three years in length with each subsequent year allowing more freedom and social contact with other inmates. Any violation during the program means participants revert to year one.

Most cells' furniture is made almost entirely out of poured concrete, including the desk, stool, and bed. Each chamber contains a toilet that shuts off if plugged, a shower that runs on a timer to prevent flooding, and a sink missing a potentially dangerous tap. Rooms may also be fitted with polished steel mirrors bolted to the wall, an electric light, a radio, and a television set that shows recreational, educational and religious programming.^[4] These privileges can be taken away as punishment. The 4 in (10 cm) by 4 ft (1.2 m) windows are designed to prevent the prisoner from knowing his specific location within the complex because he can see only the sky and roof through them. Telecommunication with the outside world is forbidden, and food is hand-delivered by correctional officers.

The Guiness Book of World Records called it the most secure prison in the world.

Some notable prisoners at ADX-Florence are "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski, Terry Nichols of the Oklahoma City Bombing, Eric Rudolph of the 1996 Olympic Park Bombing, Andrew Fastow of Enron, Barry Mills one of the leaders of infamous prison gang The Aryan Brotherhood, Timothy McVeigh of the Oklahoma City Bombing, and Woody Harrelson's father Charles Harrelson.

ADX-FLorence on Wikipedia

ADX-Florence on the Bureau of Prisons Web Site

Supermax Prison, The Alcatraz of the Rockies

Supermax Prison Fast Facts

Inside Bomber Row

Archive of all Featured Prisons on Genpop.org

Technorati Tags: prison, incarceration, federal prison, supermax, solitary confinement, adx florence, bop

Dallas DNA Premiers Tonight

On the Discovery Investigation Channel.

“Dallas DNA” tracks the work of Dallas County’s Conviction Integrity Unit, established by Craig Watkins, the state’s first African-American district attorney, to re-examine disputed criminal convictions. The basic stats are alarming: of the first 40 cases brought before the CIU, 19 turned out to be wrongful convictions.

Television: DNA tells the tale in Dallas

Technorati Tags: DNA, dallas, dallas dna, discovery, investigation, tv, television, prison

Controlling Contraband

And though family members, friends and even inmates themselves are usually responsible for bringing in the contraband, occasionally, like in Segura's case, those to blame are the very people tasked with keeping it out.

Banned items find way into Texas prisons - at times with jailers' occasionally

Occasionally? What an incredibly naive way to look at contraband. You take undereducated, under-trained people and throw them into some of the scariest places in the USA, and then you barely pay them for it. And they are expected to rise to the occasion, become the best of the best, the cream of the crop and someone the Government can rely on, even though daily they are faced with opportunities to make a lot more money. And you think this only happens occasionally?

Here's the only way to fight contraband in prison:

1. Educate Correctional Officers in the field of criminal psychology, sensitivity training, problem solving and non-lethal self-defense techniques so that they feel safer.

2. Allow inmates free access to phones to call any number they want, providing the owner on the other end has agreed to receive calls from this inmate.

3. Give inmates something to do. More sports, more movies, more television, more music.

4. Treat, properly, any inmates with drug problems.

5. Educate all inmates - sensitivity training, trades, scholarly subjects, racial issues.

6. Reward good behavior. Reward contraband-free cells. Real rewards, something they would actually want. A steak dinner, a dvd player. A legal cell phone for a week.

7. Pay COs that follow this regime, more.

A concept that governments in all states and most countries don't really get, is that when you give, freely, your subjects the things you don't want them to have, you have gained control over it. There are two choices with contraband of all kinds, in prisons and outside of them. Either see the items passing hands in the shadows and catch a slight portion of it and punish, or hand it out and see it out in the open, know where it is at all times and control it. Use it as leverage.

Of course, I don't apply this to weapons, but sensitivity training and education on racial issues should lower the need for weapons in prison - though I don't think anything could ever eliminate them entirely.

Technorati Tags: prison, correctional officers, incarceration, contraband, drugs, weapons, cell phones

Sunday Sites #10: Prison Potpourri

Two words I thought I'd never see together...

This week I'm totally exhausted from not sleeping due to the sudden influx of visiting scorpions in my condo. Not necessarily because I'm afraid of being stung - a friend of mine has been stung several times and says it just makes you fee a bit drunk - but because I'm afraid of one stinging my 8 month old son. As a result of this arachnid-induced sleeplessness, this weeks sites aren't going to be neatly tied together by some common thread. What we have today, is just... well... whatever.

CJS Offender Section - This page is interactive and interesting, though it has nothing to do with American prisons.

Prisonet - Directory of organizations assisting the families and friends of the incarcerated.

Prisoner Visitation and Support - a volunteer visitation program to Federal and Military prisoners throughout the United States.

Alpha Dictionary - How to speak Big House

CorrectionsOne - Corrections news, products, training and careers.

Avvo - Lawyer locator, free legal advice and more.

To see an archived list of all Sunday Sites, click here.Technorati Tags: prison, incarceration, corrections, prison slang

Innocence, Innocence and More Innocence

I'm starting to wonder if there are any honest or capable people working in forensics at all. It will always be fact that humans make mistakes though, and as such all DNA in every case, past, present and future, should be tested automatically.

A 53-year-old Houston man is innocent and should be released from prison after serving 22 years for a rape and robbery, his lawyer said Friday, because faulty forensics and false testimony from the Houston crime lab secured his conviction.

A jury convicted Gary Alvin Richard in a 1987 attack on a nursing student in a trial based largely on blood-typing evidence from the Houston Police Department crime lab. But, prosecutors and the defense attorney agree, new tests completed Friday show that an HPD analyst misled jurors at Richard’s trial and failed to report evidence that may have helped him.

Based on the new tests, both sides will ask a judge next week to release Richard on bond while they sort out what happened in his case.

Another evidence mistake from HPD crime lab surfaces

Here is the best reason to eliminate the death penalty, everywhere. There is always going to be some asshole who can't do his job properly or tampers with evidence or accepts bribes to say what people want to hear. Always. To be so naive to think an innocent man has never been put to death in the USA with scum like this running CSI departments, is like believing in the tooth fairy at 30. Straight up stupid.

Accusations against Omaha's CSI commander could make Nebraska's largest city the latest to become embroiled in a crime lab scandal.

Such scandals have played out across the nation in recent years, including assertions of misconduct and errors at labs in Houston, Detroit and Baltimore.

Brandon Garrett is a University of Virginia law professor whose interests include criminal procedure and wrongful convictions.

He says in Omaha's case, the accusations are all-the-more consequential because the lab technician accused is the commander of the crime scene unit. He says that calls into question evidence gathered in more cases than just the ones in which Kofoed handled evidence, because he supervised everyone in the unit.

Conviction questioned in wake of CSI charges

It's not all bad news. Timothy Cole's name given to new legislation that compensate's the wrongfully convicted.

With a picture of a teen-age Tim Cole of Fort Worth displayed at the front of the chamber, the state House of Representatives on Friday passed legislation bearing his name to help wrongfully convicted men make the often harrowing transition to life on the outside after their release from prison.

House votes to boost compensation for wrongfully convicted

This is awesome, too. The more criminal justice students hear stories like Steven Barnes', the more likely it is that these incidences of wrongful convictions will become rarer in the future.

Students in the criminal justice program at Utica College saw a whole new side of the justice system on Thursday.

As most of you already know, Steven Barnes was released from prison last year, after The Innocence Project proved he was wrongfully convicted of raping and killing Kimberly Simon more than 20 years ago.

On Thursday, Barnes had a chance to share his story with students.

Wrongfully convicted Steven Barnes speaks with criminal justice students

Technorati Tags: innocence, wrongful convictions, dna testing, timothy cole, prison

Johnnie Lee Savory waits for the truth

"Injustice is like a stray bullet. It doesn't care where it lands."

These are the words of Johnnie Lee Savory who, paroled in 2006, continues to fight to prove his innocence in the case of a the double-homicide charged to him when he was 14. He spoke this week at the McCormick Tribune Center in Chicago along with Steve Drizen, the attorney at the Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions who has worked his case.

Johnnie is a remarkable man. As a prisoner, he reached beyond his incarceration to organize campaigns to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Though imprisoned at a tender age, he rejected prison culture, and since his parole, he helped inmates transition out of prison. Of the thirty years he spend in prison, Johnnie says, "I was clinging to the promise that the truth would win out."

He's still clinging to that promise. Johnnie and his team continue to press the state of Illinois, pointing out that DNA evidence (which the state has in its possession) would show his innocence. Still, the state refuses to test the material. I'd be eager to hear from anyone who could explain why it is not in the interest of the state to seek the truth in this case. I search my mind, and can't think of a single reason. Or at least not single good reason.

The bad reason is that Illinois' criminal justice establishment doesn't want to be caught on the wrong side of the truth: that they took thirty years away from a good man.

You can help by contacting Illinois' Governor Pat Quinn. Just follow this link: http://www.illinois.gov/gov/contactthegovernor.cfm. Fill in the contact form and tell the Governor to do the right thing.

Prison Closures, Prison Budget Cuts and an ACLU Complaint

I'm back! It was like living without my right arm, not having my computer. But alas, after a few trips to Cancun and back, the machine I like to call Romeo has been repaired on Apple's tab.

So, here's a few bits of news from the enchanting world of US Corrections today.

The ACLU has filed a complaint against the Crossroads Correctional Center in Montana for mistreatment of Native American inmates:

The ACLU complaint states that there were repeated strip-searches in view of other inmates before and after sweat lodge ceremonies and that correctional officers retaliated against the inmates when complaints about their mistreatment were lodged.

KXLH Helena News, Shelby, Courts, ACLU, Crossroads Correctional

New York State DOC plans on closing several minimum and medium security prisons. The closures have corrections staff concerned:

The closures will save the state an estimated $20 million this year, and $30 million in the 2010-2011 fiscal year, says Erik Kriss, a DOC spokesperson.

According to a press release from Donn Rowe, the president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOBA), the closures will contribute to an overcrowding problem.

"Our prisons, which currently operate at 104 percent capacity, are already overcrowded and understaffed and these cuts will only exacerbate an already dangerous situation, endangering the lives of corrections officers and increasing the risk of inmate violence," he said in the release.

Last Call at the Iron Bars - DOC to Close Annexes at Eastern, Sullivan

Wisconsin Governor proposes a new state budget that includes changes to prison policy that would allow more non-violent offenders to be released sooner and have their supervision end sooner. As expected, many critics are shouting about "risks to public safety" even though all statistics in all studies ever done on the subject indicate that imprisonment causes recidivism, thus being the true cause of "risks to public safety". Not to mention the fact that non-violent offenders don't actually threaten public safety, they only threaten property and the unattainable, Utopian, fairy-taleish desire for a drug-free America.

Gov. Jim Doyle's budget proposal includes multiple measures to ease state prison overcrowding, including making some felons eligible for release sooner and eliminating probation for some nonviolent offenders. Doyle also would end extended supervision earlier for inmates who have been released.

Republicans, including Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, have said Doyle's proposals put public safety at risk.

Prison policy changes could save $2B

And finally, this is a really great story.

Technorati Tags: prison, corrections, budget cuts, closures, native american, ACLU

Judge Boyce M. Martin, Jr. of the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, wrote in an opinion this week:

Now in my thirtieth year as a judge on this Court, I have had an inside view of our system of capital punishment almost since the death penalty was reintroduced in the wake of Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972). During that time, judges, lawyers, and elected officials have expended great time and resources attempting to ensure the fairness, proportionality, and accuracy that the Constitution demands of our system. But those efforts have utterly failed. Capital punishment in this country remains “arbitrary, biased, and so fundamentally flawed at its very core that it is beyond repair.” Moore v. Parker, 425 F.3d 250, 268 (6th Cir. 2005) (Martin, J., dissenting). At the same time, the system’s necessary emphasis on competent representation, sound trial procedure, and searching post-conviction review has made it exceedingly expensive to maintain.

The system’s deep flaws and high costs raise a simple but important question: is the death penalty worth what it costs us? In my view, this broken system would not justify its costs even if it saved money, but those who do not agree may want to consider just how expensive the death penalty really is. Accordingly, I join Justice Stevens in calling for “a dispassionate, impartial comparison of the enormous costs that death penalty litigation imposes on society with the benefits that it produces.” Baze v. Rees, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 1520, 1548-49 (2007) (Stevens, J., concurring). Such an evaluation, I believe, is particularly appropriate at a time when public funds are scarce and our state and federal governments are having to re-evaluate their fiscal priorities. Make no mistake: the choice to pay for the death penalty is a choice not to pay for other public goods like roads, schools, parks, public works, emergency services, public transportation, and law enforcement. So we need to ask whether the death penalty is worth what we are sacrificing to maintain it.

An examination of the opportunity costs of handling capital cases is currently propelling a bill to repeal the death penalty in Colorado. It remains to be seen if leaders who have presided over our current economic collapse will decide to continue to spend our limited treasure on death.

Equal Justice Under Law

The promise of equal justice is carved in stone--the stone facade of our nation's Supreme Court. But a recent bipartisan report by the Constitution Project paints a picture of a promise broken for the countless poor who find themselves in the craw of our flawed criminal justice system.

NPR reports that former judge Tim Lewis, one of the report's authors and co-chair of the Constitution Project's National Right to Counsel Committee said of the report, "it doesn't paint a pretty picture." The NPR report goes on to quote Lewis, "You should not have a better shot at justice, a better opportunity for an adequate defense, depending upon who arrests you in this country or where you were when you were arrested or what court system a defendant winds up in. This is a basic constitutional right."

The report notes that "Alan Crotzer, a man who spent 24 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. 'I was poor and indigent,' said Crotzer. 'I didn't have no political connections, but I was innocent. And because of that fault in me, I spent more than half of my life in prison.'"

Listen to the audio of the NPR report.

Trouble in Paradise

So, my computer's video card died and, as most of you know, I am in Mexico. This pretty much means it's going to be days, if not weeks before I see it again. I can't post regularly because I don't have a computer. Hopefully, I will be back soon. In the meantime, check out my business' web site, http://www.optimizeforengines.com and take the free analysis to see if Google likes your web site. I'll steal my colleagues computer to run the analysis.

Hasta Luego!

The Largest Incarceration Rate in the World

Here's a great article about how the USA now has the largest incarceration rate in the world, and why. I have often had conversations about this with many people and the question that keeps coming up is, are there that many Americans in need of being kept away from society for fear they may do something so terribly wrong? Really? Of all the countries in the world, America has the highest population of individuals who, without shackles and chains, would hurt another human being? And if this isn't the case, why would any American citizen, especially those that lead the country, want the rest of the world to think that? Why would they want to send that message to the rest of the world? That 1 in 31 Americans can't be out on the street or without supervision because they threaten public safety.

As an outsider, a Canadian living in Mexico, I am often around people who have nothing good to say about the USA. Some of whom have even sworn off ever visiting again because they feel it is too dangerous. This is the impression the American incarceration rate is giving foreigners. Obviously, I know better. I know that the vast majority of people incarcerated in the USA, even some people in for murder, wouldn't harm another living soul for the rest of their lives if they were out on the street. I know that the incarceration rate is a reflection of politicians' fears of being seen as "soft on crime", but I see these things because I spend time every day educating myself about these problems. Most people just see the way American news plays on fears and they see 2.4 million in prison. I know people in Mexico City who think it is safer than anywhere in the US.

My question is, as it always is with prison-related issues, why? Why would America want it's reputation to be worse than that of Australia when it was a penal colony? Why do Americans put up with it?

The article:

America now has the largest incarceration rate in the world. The number of imprisoned American citizens is far greater than any of the 36 largest European inmate populations, including Russia.

Many questions arise from this information. Three questions stand out: Why do we imprison so many Americans? Is the person leaving prison a better citizen for the experience? And why are so few individuals incarcerated in Europe?

Net worth: America now has the largest incarceration rate in the world « Prisonmovement’s Weblog

Technorati Tags: prison, incarceration, USA

former Chair of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Calls for Reform

In a letter to the Dallas Morning News this past week, Charles Terrell urged that Texas "take pains to spare the innocent." In part, he writes, "We have killed innocent people and will do more.... I know this because I was there. All of us want a safer Texas, but not at the expense of innocent people."

You can read his complete letter here.

Here's an interesting detail from Terrell's online biography:

In January 1991, the Board of the Texas Criminal Justice System named a new 2,250-bed prison unit under construction in Livingston, Texas the Charles T. Terrell Unit, which opened in November 1993. The prison facility became Death Row in 1999; Terrell asked that his name be removed from it.

Sunday Sites #9 - Services to Make Life a Little Easier for Your Inmate

This week I bought a birthday gift for my friend in prison. It's his birthday next week. I never forget his birthday or Christmas because he says it's hardest then being without friends and family. A couple of years ago he made my birthday spectacular when he had 2 dozen red roses sent to my house and a book, a CD and a DVD from Amazon. I'd always had something sent on his birthday and I vowed never to forget, for any reason after that birthday he spoiled me. If he can manage to pull all that off and have it delivered right on my birthday from prison, I can manage to at least try to give him a smile on his.

So, with that, this Sunday's Sites are about how to make your inmate's time a little easier behind bars.

Konmart.com - Send books, money, photos, letters and care packages through this web site to any prison in the USA.

UpNorth Services - Another shopping site including appliances, electronics, utensils, stationery and much more. Specifically for New York State inmates.

US Direct - An inmate care package service for the State of California.

JPay - An easy way to send money to your inmate. This service is only for some states.

And of course Amazon.com is the best way, in my opinion, to send your incarcerated loved one books or music.

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

Technorati Tags: prison, inmate, inmate services, shopping for inmates

A Few New Prison-related Documentaries

I love Sean Penn and I'm passionate about putting an end to wrongful convictions. Needless to say this film has me pretty excited. I wonder how I will be able to see it here in Mexico, though.

San Jose Criminal Law Examiner: Must see film on wrongful convictions: "Witch Hunt", narrated by Sean Penn, airs on MSNBC April 12

Witch Hunt, directed by Dana Nachman and Don Hardy, is an unprecedented documentary which features the stories of individuals who were wrongfully arrested, charged, and convicted of child molestation in Bakersfield in the 1980's. The documentary was produced and narrated by Sean Penn, who was moved by the compelling stories of these families whose lives were devastated by small town hysteria and government misconduct. Witch Hunt showcased the 2009 San Jose Cinequest Film Festival and the screening at the historic California Theater in downtown San Jose drew throngs of avid Bay Area film aficionados as well as those who sought to learn more about wrongful convictions.The everlasting impact of this horrific injustice is incontrovertible; on the children who were coerced into making false claims of molestation as well as their parents who spent years in prison away from their loved ones.

And while we're on the topic of films, Ryan Jenkins at the Innocence Project of Florida's blog, Plain Error, recently sent me the link to these two documentaries:

The Visitors - "An unexpected look at prison life, told through the voices of those on the outside.  This intimate film begins in New York City in the middle of the night, as lines, mostly of women, assemble to board buses headed to prisons upstate.  For these travelers the journey to see their partners has become routine, their relationship depending on a few hours’ visit each weekend and brief phone calls in between.  Some were involved with their partners long before incarceration; others met after. There is no discussion of the crimes and little of redemption; instead the conversation lingers on the length of the sentence and how intense the longing can become, on the loneliness, and on the isolation of being in a situation that family members and outsiders cannot understand. As one woman poignantly states, “I’m doing my time, too.” This moving film leaves us to ponder the aching desire for companionship and the overwhelming dedication to love, as strained as it may be."

&

Unit 25 - Argentine Simón Pedro stabbed a man and has been sentenced to prison.  What make his case unusual is that Simón has a choice in where he serves his time. His family convinces him to choose Unit 25, a facility that requires inmates to embrace Christianity in exchange for relief from the customary prison horrors. While first resisting Unit 25’s evangelical demands and structure, Simón appears eventually to succumb and willingly participate in the astonishing rituals of this community of faith behind bars. Directed by Alejo Hoijman, Unit 25 brings an original perspective to an oft-explored cinematic subject—prison life—as it delves into the realm of devout inmates, where the worlds of religion and incarceration are at times paradoxical and at other times parallel.

Technorati Tags: prison, wrongful conviction, sean penn, witch hunt, the visitors, unit 25, documentary, film

Corrections Layoffs

It seems like every State is laying off or cutting the wages of corrections workers. This is bad not just for the workers themselves, but for inmates and inmates' families. If the prison population remains the same but the number of correctional officers is cut, the remaining officers are going to have a harder job and be under more stress and stressed out cops running a prison is a very bad thing. Article after article keeps popping up about these layoffs and wage cuts. Here are a few related to this topic:

Corrections layoffs on top of prison closures - New York

Douglas, union squabble over job cuts | burlingtonfreepress.com

Capitol Weekly: Labor contracts for SEIU face Legislature’s OK

Walla Walla Union-Bulletin: Local News

Technorati Tags: prison, correctional officer, layoffs, wages, economy

St. Louis Jails Under Fire

“I just hope other people come forward and don’t let Slay or all these other folks in higher power continue to intimidate them,” said former correctional officer Angela Jones. “It’s about being fair and accountable and doing the right thing at this point.”

Relying mostly on quotes from six unnamed correctional officers and nine inmates, the ACLU report says there is “endemic abuse” and “patterns of police violations” in St. Louis’ jails, citing poor medical care, overcrowding, physical abuse, sexual misconduct and improper living conditions.

More speak out about City jails

Technorati Tags: jail, prison, st. louis, missouri

Prosecutorial Misconduct: More common than some think

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that "Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, speaking in a slow and deliberate manner that failed to conceal his anger, said that in 25 years on the bench, he had 'never seen mishandling and misconduct like what I have seen' by the Justice Department prosecutors who tried the Stevens case."

It's good to see that Judge Sullivan has opened his eyes to the issue of government misconduct. If he looks around more, he'll see more. Certainly, the consequences for many have been far worse than what Ted Stevens has suffered. Consider a couple cases from the Innocence Project:

In the case of Curtis McCarty in Oklahoma, prosecutors intentionally misled jurors and relied on falsified forensic evidence to convict an innocent man of murder, leading to a death sentence. McCarty was exonerated in 2007 after serving 21 years in prison – including 19 on death row.

Prosecutors also committed misconduct in the case of Bruce Godschalk, who spent more than 14 years in Pennsylvania prison for a rape he didn’t commit. When the Innocence Project requested DNA testing after Godschalk had served 13 years in prison, prosecutors said they had secretly sent the evidence for testing and received an inconclusive result. Additionally, they said the tests had destroyed the evidence. A missing piece of evidence would then later mysteriously surface, and DNA testing freed Godschalk.

These are not isolated examples. In 2007, Holyoke Professor Richard Moran wrote in an op-ed column for the New York Times that "My recently completed study of the 124 exonerations of death row inmates in America from 1973 to 2007 indicated that 80, or about two-thirds, of their so-called wrongful convictions resulted not from good-faith mistakes or errors but from intentional, willful, malicious prosecutions by criminal justice personnel."

I hope now that Judge Sullivan has seen misconduct in the prosecution of a wealthy, powerful, and celebrated US Senator, he--and others--will keep their eyes open and see what has been happening to many whose tragedies far exceed what Ted Stevens has suffered.

Featured Prison: Columbia Correctional Institution, WI

Columbia Correctional Institution is operated by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and located in Portage, Wisconsin. It has been open since 1986 and has a total capacity of 541, but recorded an average population of 839 in 2007. The overcrowding has resulted in some inmates sleeping on the floor.

A $50,000 steel sculpture sits in the parking lot for the prison.

In 2007 and 2008 two female staff members of the prison were accused of having sex with inmates. Because the law does not allow for prisoners to consent to sex with prison staff, it was considered sexual assault.

On November 28, 1994 an inmate named Christopher Scarver was on work detail with Jeffrey Dahmer and another inmate in for the murder of his wife, Jesse Anderson. Left unsupervised, Scarver beat the other two with a metal weight bar. Jeffrey Dahmer died on way to hospital and Anderson two days later.

Columbia Correctional Institution DOC page

Columbia CI on Wikipedia

Photos of Columbia Correctional Institution

Columbia CI on PrisonTalk

Columbia CI's School Stats

News results for Columbia CI

Archive of all Featured Prisons on Genpop.org

Technorati Tags: columbia correctional institution, portage, wisconsin, corrections, cepartment of corrections, prison, jeffrey dahmer, jesse anderson, christopher scarver

Post-Trial DNA Testing: Proves Guilt as Well as Innocence

Many people will, ignorantly, use the facts in this article as a reason not to support post-trial DNA testing. Yes, it is expensive and yes, it proves guilt almost as often as it proves innocence, but wouldn't we rather know for sure? Wouldn't we rather know for a fact that a man or woman who has committed a heinous crime is behind bars and not running free hurting other people while an innocent person does his or her time? To me, there is no question. There can be nothing more valuable than knowing a person is guilty or innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt, because otherwise we create more victims. Victims of the system in the innocent people convicted of a crime, and victims of the real perpetrators who remain at large because of the false conviction.

Kansas inmate Charles Hunter insisted he was an innocent man, that the system got it wrong.

So did Charles Williams, a Texas prisoner convicted of three rapes that happened two decades ago.

Just do DNA testing, both pleaded with prosecutors and advocacy groups. Science would set them free, just like it had some 230 inmates before them.

Only one problem. Science didn’t prove Hunter and Williams innocent last month.

It proved their guilt.

DNA tests on inmates sometimes proved they were guilty - Kansas City Star

Technorati Tags: innocence, innocence project, wrongfully convicted, wrongful convictions, DNA, prison

Miguel Roman Innocent After 20 Years

Connecticut Law Tribune: ‘I’ve Got My Freedom, And That’s It’

He spent 20 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. But Miguel Roman never lost his faith. “He is very religious,” said his lawyer, Rosemarie Paine. “He’s always known what is in his heart, that he didn’t do this, and he had the faith this wrong would get addressed.”

Roman officially became a free man last week after Hartford Superior Court Judge David Gold officially dropped murder charges.

Roman had been sentenced to 60 years in prison for the 1988 murder of his girlfriend, 17-year-old Carmen Lopez, but recent DNA tests showed he could not have been the killer. Had he served the entire sentence, he would have not been released until he was 92.

A jury convicted Roman on circumstantial evidence and witness testimony, even though an FBI investigator testified that various forensic tests eliminated him as a suspect.

“I'm glad to have everything finished,” Roman said after last week’s hearing. “I've got my freedom, and that’s it.”

Technorati Tags: miguel roman, innocence, wrongful conviction, prison

The Innocence Project of Pennsylvania Opens Today

PHILADELPHIA - A nationwide organization that has worked to exonerate hundreds of wrongfully convicted inmates has a new affiliate housed at Temple University.

The Pennsylvania Innocence Project, based at Temple University's law school, opens its doors Monday and will review petitions submitted from around the state by inmates who say they are serving time for crimes they did not commit.

"Even before our doors are open ... we're getting letters every week from (Pennsylvania) inmates," executive director Richard Glazer said.

Innocence Project chapter coming to Pa. | AP | 04/05/2009

The Innocence Project of Pennsylvania

Technorati Tags: innocence project, innocence, wrongful convictions, pennsylvania, prison

Factually Innocent Man Hasn't Proven He Was Mistreated

Attorney General opposes pay for 'factually innocent' man who served five years in prison - San Jose Mercury News

Cleared of armed robbery after being locked in prison for five years, Jeffrey Rodriguez thought he had proved he had nothing to do with the crime. After all, a judge ruled he was "factually innocent,'' an extremely rare decision that wiped the case clean off his record.

But now the state Attorney General's Office is opposing Rodriguez's effort to get the standard $100-a-day payment for those who are wrongfully incarcerated — $138,100 in his case — saying the San Jose father hasn't proved he was mistreated by the system. The office is opposed even though Rodriguez's case has been extensively litigated, including two trials, an appellate court decision in his favor and the 2007 factual-innocence finding.

Rodriguez had been counting on the state money to fulfill his dream of owning a barbershop and to help out relatives who sold a home to pay his legal fees.

Technorati Tags: innocence, wrongful conviction, compensation, prison

Sunday Sites #8 - Prison Organizations

I haven't had much time to post the past couple of days (thanks to Bill Newmiller for posting during that time!) because my son came down with a throat infection and had a high fever. In the heat of the Caribbean, that's a hard thing to deal with. Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa all had to take turns holding him because he just wanted to be held. At 7 months old, very scary! But I'm happy to announce, I woke up this morning to a giggly, smiley little boy and now have a moment to get you some Sunday Sites.

This week it's going to be prison-related organizations.

Fortress Innocence Group - The Fortress Innocence Group was formed by Martin Tankleff, Jay Salpeter, the private investigator who fought for his innocence, and others, in the fight for justice. Fortress reinvestigates cases in which there is no DNA, but compelling evidence of innocence.

Prisoners of the Census - The Census Bureau counts people in prison as if they were residents of the communities where they are incarcerated, even though they remain legal residents of the places they lived prior to incarceration. As Census data is used to apportion political power at all levels of government, crediting thousands of disproportionately urban and minority men to other communities has staggering implications for modern American democracy.

Prisoners of the census examines a once-obscure Census Bureau glitch that undermines our democracy and suggest workable federal, state and local solutions that would reduce the harm caused by the Census Bureau's prison miscount.

The November Coalition - Working to end drug war injustice, the November Coalition, a non-profit grassroots organization, was founded in 1997.

Members educate the public about destructive, unnecessary incarceration due to the U.S. drug war, and advocate for drug war prisoners.

The Fortune Society - Their mission is to support successful re-entry from prison and promote alternatives to incarceration, thus strengthening the fabric of our communities.

Prisoners.com - a nonprofit corporation of education, information and charity. Our mission is to benefit the 120,000+ state, local and federal prisoners in Pennsylvania, their families and loved ones. Further, we aim to assist prisoners everywhere.

Detention Watch Network - DWN is a coalition that addresses the immigration detention crisis head on. Together we work to reform the U.S. detention and deportation system so that all who come to our shores receive fair and humane treatment.

American Correctional Association - The American Correctional Association is the oldest, and largest International correctional association in the world.

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

Technorati Tags: prison, incarceration, non profit, organization, charity, drug war, detention, immigration, re-entry, census, corrections

Prosecutorial Accountability

Writing for the Justice Project, John F. Terzano, focuses on prosecutorial accountability in the wake of Eric Holder's decision to drop charges against former Senator Ted Stevens. Regardless of your political opinion about Stevens, he and everyone else (especially those less wealthy, less powerful, less famous, and, yes, less white) deserve ethical treatment when under the law's suspicious eye.

Terzano writes that "the kind of prosecutorial misconduct that occurred in Steven’s case is pervasive in our criminal justice system, at both the state and federal level. Withholding evidence is the most common type of prosecutorial misconduct. Making matters worse, prosecutors who engage in even the most egregious misconduct are rarely investigated or held accountable for abusing their power. "

He goes on to point out that "The vast majority of states have failed to enact effective safeguards designed to prevent misuse of prosecutorial power. Prosecutors are rarely reported to disciplinary authorities for acts of misconduct, and state bar associations rarely initiate disciplinary proceedings against prosecutors—civil practitioners are disciplined on a much greater scale than prosecutors."

Further, he announces the Justice Project's upcoming publication of "Improving Prosecutorial Accountability: A Policy Review," which will outline "the systemic problems that lead to prosecutorial misconduct." Among its recommendations is that "jurisdictions establish prosecutorial review boards that would be responsible for investigating and sanctioning prosecutors who abuse their power."

Terzano's post at http://www.thejusticeproject.org/blog/a-critical-step-to-improving-prosecutorial-accountability/ is worth the read, as, I am sure, will be the soon-to-be-released review of prosecutorial accountability.

Florida May Provide Condoms to Prisoners

Check out this prize:

Okay, now I think things have gotten a little out of hand. Let’s start with Florida's latest attempt to legislate stupidity into law. The bill (Senate bill so188) starts:

A bill to be entitled
An act relating to state inmates; authorizing a nonprofit or public health care organization to distribute sexual barrier protection devices to inmates in the state correctional system; requiring the Department of Corrections to develop a plan to properly dispose of used sexual barrier protection devices; providing an effective date.

Let’s think about this for a moment;requiring the D.O.C. to develop a plan to properly dispose of used barrier protection devices…Let’s reword that so it makes a little more sense; requiring Correctional officers to throw away used rubbers? They’re kidding right?
It’s not enough that the state has to feed, house and care for inmates now we have to clean up their used condoms as well? Does anybody else find this offensive in the least?

The Silent Majority: Condoms for convicts? What the hell is wrong with Florida?

Ok. Aside from this guy's heinous blogroll, including Anne Coulter (shudder), I can't stand his thought process. People like him assume that because we hand out condoms, we are condoning a sex act, even promoting it. Nothing could be further from the truth. When it comes to rape, obviously I would wish that they cease to occur. But we're not living in Utopia. It's not going to stop any time soon and as long as it continues, protecting the victims with condoms is the least we can do. As far as consentual sex in prison goes, I don't have a problem with it. But again, that's because I live in reality and I know that no matter what rules are in place, and what punishments are handed out for them, people are still going to manage to find a way to have sex in prison. As human beings, and full-fledged citizens of the USA, are they not entitled to be able to avoid being infected with the HIV virus by practicing safe sex? The bottom line is, sex in prison happens. Do we want people who will eventually be free among us to be infected with HIV or not?

Technorati Tags: prison, HIV, condoms, rape

Featured Prison: Washington State Penitentiary, Walla Walla

The construction of this prison began in 1886 and in 1878, the first inmate arrived. A license plate factory on the premises has been in operation since 1921. It is the largest prison in Washington State.

The prison houses long-term, older, and violent offenders. It's capacity is 1,825 but recorded a population of 2,277 in 2000.

Washington State Penitentiary is home to Washington's Death Row and is also the location of executions.

Nicknames: The Walls, Concrete Mama.

In 1887 two inmates escaped by scaling the walls on Independence Day. In 1986 an escape attempt was made by a man who'd made a lifelike dummy of himself using his own hair. He was found sealed inside a box that was supposed to have contained books.

In the 1940s, the public could attend talent shows and concerts put on by the prison's inmates. In the 1960s they had a program called "Take a Lifer to Dinner" that allowed local professionals to take a man sentenced to life in prison, out for a day. The prison also hosted boxing matches and little league exhibition games.

The Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway and the Hillside Strangler, Kenneth Bianchi are both incarcerated at Washington State Pen.

Washington State Penitentiary DOC page

Washington State Pen Info

Washington State Pen Discussion on Prison Talk

Washington State Pen on Wikipedia

Archive of all Featured Prisons on Genpop.org

Technorati Tags: washington state penitentiary, washington state, prison, incarceration, walla walla

Ohio Execution Delayed

I still can't wrap my head around what exactly the downside is to allowing the condemned the right to DNA tests that could prove them innocent. In any case, for any crime, if there is any evidence that could prove a defendant is innocent, it should be looked at. You know the saying, "everyone is entitled to their opinion"? Well, in this case, no. If you disagree with testing DNA that could possibly set a man free, even if 999 times out of a thousand, the DNA proves guilt and not innocence, your opinion is wrong and you should probably take up residence in Haiti or North Korea.

Fort Mill Times | FortMillTimes.com - Ohio execution delayed until high court ruling - Fort Mill, SC

A condemned killer who wanted more time to prove his claim of innocence received a reprieve of weeks or months Tuesday after a federal appeals court stopped his April execution. The state said it wouldn't appeal for now.

Brett Hartmann, 34, was scheduled to die by injection April 7 for killing a woman who was stabbed more than a hundred times, then had her hands cut off.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a brief reprieve was appropriate to determine whether Hartmann could succeed with his claim that he did not murder 46-year-old Winda Snipes in 1997.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court granted the delay while the U.S. Supreme Court weighs whether prisoners have a constitutional right to test DNA evidence in their cases. A decision is expected this spring.

Technorati Tags: ohio, execution, death penalty, capital punishment, DNA testing, innocence, prison

New York State Minimum Security Camp to Close

The Press Republican - Article: Camp Gabriels to close

Camp Gabriels is slated to close under the new state budget.

Three of four minimum-security prisons in upstate New York will be shut down, according to aides in Sen. Betty Little's office: Gabriels, here in Franklin County; Camp Pharsalia in Chenango County; and Camp McGregor in Saratoga County.

The fourth, Camp Georgetown in Madison County, will remain open.

Technorati Tags: new york, camp gabriels, prison, incarceration