Prison Blog - Genpop.org

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

DNA Testing May Become Easier in PA

Getting DNA tests may turn easy for inmates - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Pennsylvania lawmakers might be asked to allow prisoners better access to genetic tests that could prove their innocence.

The Senate-commissioned Committee on Wrongful Convictions is due to release a report by summer's end that could recommend changes in state law, possibly making it easier for convicts to get DNA testing. Some prosecutors oppose such a change, fearing it would flood the system with frivolous requests.

"It's hard to get DNA testing in Pennsylvania. Nobody wants to admit they're wrong," said Drew Whitley, 53, formerly of West Mifflin, who served 17 years in prison for murder before a DNA test cleared him. "Even afterwards (the government) still has something to say. They never want to admit they're wrong.

"Who wouldn't want to prove if you got the right man? It's a damn shame I spent that much time in jail. I would still be in jail without DNA testing."

Pennsylvania is one of 47 states with a law allowing convicts access to DNA testing. Such tests have exonerated 240 people nationwide.

Technorati Tags: dna testing, innocence, exonerated, wrongful conviction, prison, law, crime

Monday, June 29, 2009

Executions Still a Possibility in New Mexico

Death Penalty News: New Mexico death penalty repeal set to take effect

Although New Mexico officially abolished the death penalty, that doesn't mean there won't be another execution in the state.

There are still 2 men on death row, their sentences untouched by the repeal and the governor unwilling to commute them. 2 other potential death cases are in the legal pipeline, awaiting trial. Conceivably, the state could end up putting someone to death a decade or 2 after capital punishment was outlawed, given the drawn-out appeals typical in such cases.

"Nonsensical," sums up Jeff Buckels, head of the capital crimes unit of the New Mexico Public Defender Department.

"It makes no sense to be seeking the death penalty in a state which has abolished the death penalty," he said.

Technorati Tags: death penalty, capital punishment, new mexico, crime, law, execution, prison

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Sunday Sites #14: Help Repeal the Death Penalty in Your State

Friday, June 26, 2009

Prison Rape Committed Mostly by Guards

Guards are the worst prison-rapists - Boing Boing

The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission final report is grim reading, especially the finding that prisoners report more rape committed by guards than by other prisoners.

More than 7.3 million Americans are confined in U.S. correctional facilities or supervised in the community, at a cost of more than $68 billion annually. Given our country's enormous investment in corrections, we should ensure that these environments are as safe and productive as they can be. Sexual abuse undermines those goals. It makes correctional environments more dangerous for staff as well as prisoners, consumes scarce resources, and undermines rehabilitation. It also carries the potential to devastate the lives of victims. The many interrelated consequences of sexual abuse for individuals and society are difficult to pinpoint and nearly impossible to quantify, but they are powerfully captured in individual accounts of abuse and its impact.

Former prisoner Necole Brown told the Commission, "I continue to contend with flashbacks of what this correctional officer did to me and the guilt, shame, and rage that comes with having been sexually violated for so many years. I felt lost for a very long time struggling with this. . . . I still struggle with the memories of this ordeal and take it out on friends and family who are trying to be there for me now."

Technorati Tags: prison, rape, crime, law, correctional officers, inmates, incarceration

National Freedom March for the Wrongfully Convicted

NATIONAL FREEDOM MARCH FOR THE WRONGLY CONVICTED
RALLY WILL BE HELD ON STEPS OF THE CITY COUNTY BUILDING

Pittsburgh, PA-June 22 - A National Freedom March for the Wrongfully Convicted is being held Saturday, June 27, 2009 on the steps of the Pittsburgh City County Building at 11 a.m. According to a recent report released by the Pew Center on the States, the U.S. correctional population -- those in jail, prison, on probation or on parole -- totaled 7.3 million, or 1 in every 31 adults. Speakers and informational materials will be available at the event. 18 states are actively participating with marches in their states across our country to their State Capitol or City Hall.

”Pennsylvania is just one of many states holding simultaneous Freedom Marches to raise public awareness of the up to 730,000 people in the correctional population that may have been wrongfully convicted,” said MaryAnn Lubas, Director of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Freedom March. “In the last 3 decades 238 Americans have been exonerated with DNA evidence after spending an average of 12 years incarcerated,” Lubas added. The National Marches are being coordinated by The Raye of Hope Organization, a group dedicated to raising awareness of wrongful convictions.

Keynote Speaker at the March will be Dave O’Hara, a member of False Allegations Solution Team, (F.A.S.T.). Falsely accused of a crime that cost him dearly financially and emotionally, he is now dedicated to helping others that were wrongfully accused and convicted.

O’Hara’s speech will provide insights into the devastation wrongful convictions can cause to the innocent and their families. He will address the need for systematic reform to help reduce these injustices. He will also speak on the role that judges play in perpetuating wrongful convictions by putting procedure over innocence, rubber stamp denial of appeals, and generally looking for every means possible to affirm convictions regardless of the facts or the quality of the defense upon which the fairness of trials are based.

Another speaker, will be Rick Morris, Executive Director of the DaRon Cox Legal Defense Fund. “Innocent citizens are locked up in the United States everyday,” said Morris, “If people were more aware that their tax dollars were being used to warehouse innocent people, they would be morally outraged. This Freedom March is a critical first step toward enlightening people as to the depth of the wrongful conviction problem across the country.”

Representatives from Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, The Innocence Institute, The Innocence Project/PA Chapter and the ACLU have also been invited to speak.

Please join us at this worthwhile event. More information on the National Freedom March for the Wrongfully Convicted at www.freedommarchusa.org.

For Further Information:
MaryAnn Lubas
724-695-1964
mlubas2@yahoo.com

Technorati Tags: freedom march, wrongfully convicted, wrongful conviction, exonerated, innocence, activism, crime, law, prison

Thursday, June 25, 2009

One Phone Call to Save a Life

From the NCADP:

Greetings Fellow Abolitionists,

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is today considering what to do, if anything, regarding the case of Troy Davis, and may issue its decision today, tomorrow, or some think most likely, on Monday, June 29.

As you know, Troy Davis was convicted of murdering a Georgia police officer in 1991. There is no physical evidence tying him to the crime and seven out of nine witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony. These seven witnesses must be heard in a new evidentiary hearing. Read an Amnesty International report about this case here.

If you have not yet signed the on-line petition at www.iamtroy.com, please do so now, as these petitions will be printed and hand delivered on Monday morning.

Here's the other thing you can do right now to help save Troy's life:

Please call Georgia's Chatham County District Attorney Larry Chisolm at 912-652-7308 and ask that he reopen Troy's case.

If you are a Georgia or Chatham County resident, please identify yourself on the call as a concerned resident. However, you do NOT need to be a Georgia resident to make the call! We want DA Chisolm to know that Troy has massive support across the country, so make the call yourself, and then please forward this widely and ask everyone you know to make this call.

If there is one phone call you make today, please make it to Larry Chisolm's office.

It's getting down to the wire. This may be the one call you make that can actually save a man's life. 912-652-7308. Please call now.

Thank you.

--abe

Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director of Affiliate Support
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
1705 DeSales St., NW Fifth Floor
Washington, DC 20036
http://www.NCADP.org
abe@ncadp.org
202-331-4090 - Office

Technorati Tags: troy davis, execution, commuted, governor, death penalty, capital punishment

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Featured Prison: Iowa State Penitentiary

http://www.geocities.com/isprison/1900building4.jpg

Iowa State Penitentiary is also known as Fort Madison, or the Fort, and it is the only maximum security in Iowa. ISP has a capacity of 500 violent and repeat male offenders. It's population is 1100.

Fort Madison was established in 1839, seven years before Iowa became a state. It is the oldest continuously operated prison west of the Mississippi River.

The last execution to take place in Iowa was the execution of Victor Feguer, who killed a doctor, in 1963. He was also the last federal prisoner to be executed for 40 years, until Timothy McVeigh's execution in 2001.

Two inmates escaped from Iowa State Penitentiary in 2005, by using prison industries materials to scaled a stone wall. They were captured a few days later.

In 2004, Construction and heavy rains unearthed the remains of a child that had apparently been there since before the prison was built.

Iowa State Penitentiary was featured on MSNBC's Lockup: Raw

Iowa Department of Corrections

Iowa State Penitentiary on Wikipedia

Iowa State Penitentiary on Insideprison.com

A Thorough History and Photos of Iowa State Penitentiary

Iowa on Prison Talk

To submit a little known fact about this or any other prison, or to suggest a prison for next week's featured prison, please email me at vlu777@gmail.com

Archive of all Featured Prisons on Genpop.org

Technorati Tags: iowa state penitentiary, fort madison, the fort, prison, crime, law, incarceration