Who are the victims of mass incarceration?

Who are the victims of mass incarceration? Many are young people arrested for possession of marijuana and taxpayers who shell out roughly $50,000 per year to "save society" from each nonviolent youth with a joint. More than 1.6 million people were arrested for drug offenses in the US in 2010, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report 2010, and more than half of them were for marijuana. That's a drug arrest every 19 seconds, 24 hours a day, every day. The numbers suggest that despite "no more war on drugs" rhetoric emanating from Washington, the drug war juggernaut is rolling along on cruise control. Marijuana arrests in 2010 stood at 853,838 (Data from "Stop the Drug War.org" at the link below).

Blacks are four times more likely to endure marijuana arrests than whites, although marijuana usage is slightly higher among whites. Rev. Jessie Jackson and others plan a march on White House on June 17 over marijuana arrests.

http://breakingbrown.com/2013/06/rev-jesse-jackson-to-lead-aobama-protest-at-white-house/

Black and brown youths are probably 100 times more likely to endure warrantless searches of their persons than their white counterparts. The recent "stop and frisk" trial in New York revealed that police were instructed to intimidate minorities and were actually given arrest quotas. The United States Department of Justice is set to investigate New York for a pattern of civil rights violations. See "Atty. Gen.Eric Holder Turns DOJ Attention Towards Mayor Bloomberg, Ray Kelly Over ‘Stop And Frisk.'"

http://www.theglobaldispatch.com/eric-holder-turns-doj-attention-towards-mayor-bloomberg-ray-kelly-over-stop-and-frisk-61533/

This DEA agent was told not to enforce drug laws in "white" areas, really (video).
http://youtu.be/72Lf9ZQK8t0

Taxpayers have shouldered the cost of arresting and incarcerating hundreds of thousands of people for the possession of marijuana, often in small quantities for personal use. Some national estimates put the annual cost of marijuana arrests above $10 billion, and low-level arrests for marijuana possession cost New York City alone $75 million in 2010.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/marijuana-possession-arrests_n_2490340.html

In Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal seeks to reduce incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders by diverting them to alternative programs, including drug courts, DUI courts, mental health courts, day reporting centers and expanded probation and treatment options. Other states should follow his lead to lessen the burden on taxpayers and avoid over-prosecution of marijuana users.

Besides the racism and over-prosecution inherent in America's "War on Drugs," many lives have been lost in the war, including police officers and potential defendants. New York police officers recently followed a teen home, entered by force, and shot him to death as he flushed a small amount of marijuana down the toilet. Can you picture that happening to a Caucasian child in an affluent neighborhood? It is time for everyone, especially African Americans and Latinos, to unite and denounce mass incarceration with Rev. Jackson, Dr. Boyce Watkins and Russell Simmons, along with 175 celebrities and public figures in their campaign to end the War on Drugs and Mass Incarceration.  You can learn more at this link. 

The real shame is that the criminal justice system is sometimes used to penalize people for noncriminal behavior. For example, a judge recently responded to an assault victim by demanding sex in exchange for 'legal favors.' She filed a complaint, and he sent cops to plant meth in her car. If the judge had not retaliated against the woman for rejecting his sexual advances, neither he nor the police officers would be in trouble today. Many civil and human rights activists and nonprofit organizations also claim being wrongly targeted for criminal prosecution and/or IRS audits for using their free speech rights. http://www.alternet.org/drugs/cops-plead-guilty-helping-plant-drugs-woman-sexually-harassed-judge

See more information at "Stop the Drug War" website
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2011/sep/20/drug_arrest_every_19_seconds_say

Which of these young people is the most likely subject for arrest?

BE SOBER, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. 
~1 Peter 5:8

Help Brian Isham: Life Without Parole

A man who was condemned to life without parole under the three-strikes law asks for your help. He claims that his third strike was a wrongful conviction. We take issue with the three-strikes law. Crime and punishment is not a ball game. It is wrong to incarcerate a person for life without the possibility of parole except in certain murder cases where guilt is irrefutably proved and likely to repeat if the inmate is released. No murder occurred in Brian Isham's convictions, yet he was condemned to spend the rest of his life in prison before age 40.

Stanford Law School conducts a project that challenges the three-strikes policy in California. The website states, "Among other claims, the Project has successfully argued that our clients were denied effective representation of counsel, in violation of the Sixth Amendment; and that our clients' sentences constitute cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the Eighth Amendment." See more at the url below.

Nearly all defendants sentenced to prison under the three-strikes law had been abused as children. Michael Romano, director of the Stanford project, said the project's clients had been homeless for extended periods, and many were illiterate. None had graduated from high school. In other words, these were discarded people who could be made to bear the brunt of this brutal law without risk of public backlash.

A NY Times article states, "Three strikes created a cruel, Kafkaesque criminal justice system that lost all sense of proportion, doling out life sentences disproportionately to black defendants." See more information at the url below.

Brian Isham fits the profile of three-strikes inmates in California as described by NY Times and Stanford Law School, although he was sentenced in Georgia. Isham was removed from his mother as a child and lived in institutions and foster homes until adulthood. He found his birth family since being sentenced to life in prison and learned that his mother is a recovering crack addict. One can only imagine what Isham's life was like before being removed from his mother and after being placed in institutions and foster homes. Isham was convicted by an all-white Georgia jury, and he says his attorney did little to argue his innocence. He admits to having done criminal acts in his past and feels he was tried on his record. Isham was sentenced to life without parole.

At this point, Isham is preparing to file a petition for habeas corpus. That is where your help is needed. "A writ of habeas corpus is used to bring a prisoner or other detainee before the court to determine if the person's imprisonment or detention is lawful. In the US system, federal courts can use the writ of habeas corpus to determine if a state's detention of a prisoner is valid. A habeas petition proceeds as a civil action against the State agent (usually a warden) who holds the defendant in custody" (Cornell Univ. Law School).

Isham has an opportunity to have his petition for habeas corpus filed, but he requires our help raising legal fees. Many people talk about ending mass incarceration, but Isham's case requires individuals to do more than talk, march, sign petitions, and protest prison profiteering. He requests that we share the expense of his habeas corpus petition by sending certified checks and money orders to:

Legal Defense Fund for Brian B. Isham

GDC ID: 000.051.1894
National Legal Professional Ass.

11331 Grooms Rd., Suite 1000
Cincinnati, OH 45242
(513) 247-0082

Congratulations to the U.S. Supreme Court, which recently ruled that a prisoner who presents credible evidence of his innocence can overcome a procedural barrier that he waited too long to go to court. You can read about it in this Washington Post article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-gives-inmates-more-leeway-to-challenge-convictions/2013/05/28/f144e6a0-c7aa-11e2-9245-773c0123c027_story.html

See links to other related news at the three links below:

THE OTHER DEATH PENALTY
http://www.theotherdeathpenalty.org/

A sentence of life without the possibility of parole is a death sentence. Worse, it is a long, slow, dissipating death sentence without any of the legal or administrative safeguards rightly awarded to those condemned to the traditional forms of execution. It exposes our society’s concealed beliefs that redemption and personal transformation are not possible for all human beings, and that it is reasonable and just to forever define an individual by his worst act. Life without the possibility of parole is wrong and should be abolished.

Stanford Three-Strikes Project Success Stories
http://www.law.stanford.edu/organizations/programs-and-centers/stanford-three-strikes-project/success-stories

NY Times - California Horror Stories and the 3-Strikes Law  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/opinion/sunday/california-horror-stories-and-the-3-strikes-law.html

If any links fail, please sign my petition regarding censorship applied to protect the prison industrial complex and email the USDOJ at AskDOJ@usdoj.com. Thank you.

Help Me Help You, Parolees and Probationers

We're trying to end mass incarceration in the United States. Won't you help by considering your ways? Wrongful convictions happen often - true. But most inmates are guilty as charged. Some are guilty of worse crimes than they were sentenced for but plea bargained for a lesser offense to reduce their sentences. Reducing America's incarceration rate is something that offenders can help activists to do. Just say no to drugs and criminal conduct. "Please help me to help you!" ~Jerry Maguire  http://youtu.be/AGt5f70K02Q



If you are addicted to any controlled substance, please seek help. If you know, or even love, people who influence you to do crimes, dump them. WANT to stay out of prison as badly as you wanted to get out when you were incarcerated. Seek and pray for gainful employment. TRY to get into a Second-Chance Act program, if you were recently paroled. Stop being so easily discouraged and lured into situations that could result in incarceration. TRY to get into a mental health program, if you suffer from mental illness. Be your own champion. Exercise the "Greatest Love of All" - loving yourself. 

Stop judging your own worth by how much money you have. Stop hurting people for gain. Stop acting like your oppressors who for financial gain locked you away in cages and await the opportunity to do it again.

Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.
~Proverbs 3:31

Repeat of paragraph 1:  We're trying to end mass incarceration in the United States. Won't you help by considering your ways? Wrongful convictions happen often - true. But most inmates are guilty as charged. Some are guilty of worse crimes than they were sentenced for but plea bargained for a lesser offense to reduce their sentences. Reducing America's incarceration rate is something that offenders can help activists to do. Just say no to drugs and criminal conduct. "Please help me to help you!" ~Jerry Maguire  http://youtu.be/AGt5f70K02Q

Mary Neal, Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/aimi

Freedom Gives Innocent Man Heart Attack

DAVID RANTA, 58, was convicted in 1991 of killing a prominent Hasidic rabbi, Chaskel Werzberger, following the failed robbery of a jewelry courier in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was sentenced to 37 and a half years. He was released last week after prosecutors acknowledged that the evidence against Mr. Ranta had fallen apart over the years. A witness, who as a 13-year-old boy identified Mr. Ranta in a lineup, now said that he had been coached by a detective, Louis Scarcella.

On his second day of freedom after serving 23 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, David Ranta suffered a serious heart attack Friday night, his lawyer said.

See the entire NY Times article at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/nyregion/man-freed-from-prison-has-a-heart-attack.html

The main causes for wrongful convictions were identified in a Buffalo News article* with the percentage of wrongful convictions that each cause effected:
(a) misidentification by eyewitnesses (75%),
(b) unvalidated forensic evidence (50%),
(c) lying government snitches (16%), and
(d) false confessions by juveniles and mentally challenged suspects (25%)

Read more about wrongful convictions in the article, "I Didn't Do It, Your Honor!"

http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-didnt-do-it-your-honor.html

Repeat of paragraph 1: DAVID RANTA, 58, was convicted in 1991 of killing a prominent Hasidic rabbi, Chaskel Werzberger, following the failed robbery of a jewelry courier in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was sentenced to 37 and a half years. He was released last week after prosecutors acknowledged that the evidence against Mr. Ranta had fallen apart over the years. A witness, who as a 13-year-old boy identified Mr. Ranta in a lineup, now said that he had been coached by a detective, Louis Scarcella.

Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons

Invitation from The Center for Church and Prison, Inc. to Public Forum: Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons Old South Church/Boston 645 Boylston Street.  Tuesday March 19, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. What is Solitary Confinement? “Solitary confinement is a controversial form of punishment used in prison. Prisoners who are placed in solitary will spend up to 23 hours a day in a cell with no human contact except prison staff. It has been called a barbaric form of punishment by its opponents due to its negative impact on the prisoner's mental health." Solitary Confinement: By the Numbers Solitary confinement is 23-24 hours a day in a cell six to eight feet wide and nine to 10 feet long. Over 80,000 inmates languish daily in some form of segregation in US prisons……and 25,000 of these inmates are held in supermax prisons—facilities made up solely or mostly of solitary cells. U.S. prisons hold more than three times as many men and women with mental illnesses as are held in mental health hospitals.  8-19 percent of U.S. prisoners have psychiatric disorders “that result in significant functional disabilities” while 45 percent of supermax residents have “serious mental illness, marked by symptoms or psychological breakdowns.”: Click to read more: Solitary Confinement Fact Sheet   Implications of Solitary confinement: Serious psychological damage, High rate of mental illness, High rate of recidivism, High rate of violence. Very Expensive:   $75,000, in a supermax prison  as opposed to $25,000 for an inmate in the general population. California With over 1,100 inmates in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) and 400 more in the Administrative Segregation Unit (ASU), Pelican Bay State Prison has an yearly budget of $180 million. For 2010-2011, the annual costs per inmate were as follows:  $70, 641 per SHU inmate  $77,740 per ASU inmate $58,324 per general population inmate 4 According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations, the average length of time spent in the Pelican Bay SHU is 6.8 years.5 This means the total cost of holding each inmate in the SHU is on average $480,358. Housing the same inmate in the general population would save $83,733. Some 2,200 additional prisoners are housed in Security Housing Unit Click to read more at: Fact Sheet: The High Cost of Solitary Confinement  Speakers and Panelists  Dr. Stuart Grassian  Psychiatric Effects of Solitary Confinement Mr. Bobby Dellelo Mr. Muarice Alves  Mr. Glenn  Williams  Leslie Walkers, Esq. Director: Prisoners Legal Service  Rahsaan Hall, Esq. Deputy Director: Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights  Tuesday March 19, 2013 Time: 6pm- 8:30pm  Venue: Old South Church/Boston, 645 Boylston Street.  Directions: Take Greenline to Copley/Boylston Street. "There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." Elie Wiesel "When one is frightened of the truth then it is never the whole truth that one has an inkling of." Ludwig Wittgenstein

The Center for Church and Prison, Inc. is  a resource and research center working towards community revitalization through prison reform and strategic solution development and intervention in the high rate of incarceration and recidivism in the United States prison system. Visit us: www.Churchandprison.org

Cesar Villa: Solitary Prison Torture

Solitary Watch published an account of life in solitary confinement from Cesar Francisco Villa, 51, a Pelican Bay prisoner. An excerpt of the article is published below, followed by a link to the entire article.

"SHU"

“To be considered an inactive gang member (eligible for release), you must turn over gang information. But if you are not a member, what do you have to turn in? Nothing,” Ceaser Villa writes.

The gang validation process, in which prison investigators determine whether or not prisoners are members of certain prison gangs and segregate them indefinitely in the SHU, has been criticized at California Assembly hearings in 2011 and 2013 as lacking proper oversight and providing effective due process. Currently, thousands of prisoners in California are serving SHU terms for gang validation, most in solitary confinement.

“Each morning wakes the potential for disaster. Each morning starts with anger before the anxiety,” Villa writes of the the frustrating monotony of life in the SHU, where he has since developed arthritis in the spine, hepatitis, a thyroid condition and high blood pressure. Below is an excerpt from a powerful description of life in the SHU, from a letter he wrote to California Prison Focus. For the full version, in PDF format, click here. –Sal Rodriguez

When we talk of the SHU and the affects the conditions have on the psyche, it’s not a simple construction one can wrap his or her mind around. Understanding the treatment of Pelican Bay inmates takes some getting used to. Understanding this sickness that runs rampant in the minds of prison officials leaves knots in the pit of bellies.

Nothing can really prepare you for entering the SHU. It’s a world unto itself where cold, quiet and emptiness come together seeping into your bones, then eventually the mind.

The first week I told myself: It isn’t that bad, I could do this. The second week, I stood outside in my underwear shivering as I was pelted with hail and rain. By the third week, I found myself squatting in a corner of the yard, filing fingernails down over coarse concrete walls. My sense of human decency dissipating with each day. At the end of the first year, my feet and hands began to split open from the cold. I bled over my clothes, my food, between my sheets. Band-aids were not allowed, even confiscated when found.

Continue reading at Solitary Watch http://solitarywatch.com/2013/03/16/voices-from-solitary-where-cold-quiet-and-emptiness-come-together/

And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone
~Genesis 2:18

Published by Mary Neal, director of the Human Rights for Prisoners March, in obedience to God the Father, who commands that we consider the torture of prisoners as if it were our own bodies being tortured (Heb.13:3).

Status Report From Pelican Bay State Prison

Subject: Pelican Bay State Prison, Short Corridor Update/Statement - **PLEASE SHARE AND PUBLISH**

The men at Pelican Bay Short Corridor want this sent to all media outlets asap. Forward, please, and make this viral on the internet. Send to friends, supporters, and family members ASAP. Thank You! - Kendra Castaneda

Pelican Bay Short Corridor Update (December 2011)

 

A Shout-out of respect and solidarity – from the Pelican Bay Short Corridor – Collective – to all similarly situated prisoners subject to the continuing torturous conditions of confinement in these barbaric SHU & Ad/Seg units across this country and around the world.

 

This is our update of where things currently stand and where we’re going with this struggle – for an end to draconian policies and practices – summarized in our “Formal Complaint” (and many related documents published and posted online, since early 2011)

 

As many of you know… beginning in early (2010), the PBSP – SHU Short Corridor Collective initiated action to educate people and bring wide spread exposure to – the (25+) years of ongoing – progressive human rights violations going unchecked here in the California Department of Corruption – via dissemination of our “Formal Complaint” to 100’s of people, organizations, lawmakers, Secretary Cate, etc… wherein, we also sought support and meaningful change.

 

The response by CDCR – Secretary Cate was “file an inmate appeal” (collectively, we’d filed thousands); therefore, after much reconsideration and dialogue, the collective decided to take the fight to the next level via peaceful protest action – in the form of hunger strike.

 

With the above in mind – beginning in early (2011)… we again sought to educate people about the ongoing torture prevalent in these prison systems – solitary confinement units; and pointing out our position that – the administrative grievance process is a sham, and the court system’s turned a blind eye to such blatantly illegal practices – Leaving us with no other meaningful avenue for obtaining relief, other than to put our lives on the line and thereby draw the line and force changes, via collective peaceful protest hunger strike action.

 

We believed this was the only – fully advantageous – way for us to expose such outrageous abuse of state power, to the world and gain the outside support needed to help force real change.

 

We requested support in the form of – asking people to write letters to those in power… we received more support than we ever expected – in the form of letters, rallies, and hunger strike “participants” – more than (18,000) similarly situated prisoners and some people on the outside!

 

All united in solidarity, with a collective awareness – that the draconian torture practices described in our “Formal Complaint” are prevalent across the land; and that – united in peaceful action, we have the power to force changes.

 

The hunger strike actions of (2011) achieved some success, in the form of – mainstream world wide exposure – solid, continuing outside support – some small improvements to SHU/Ad-Seg unit conditions … and assurances of more meaningful – substantive changes to the overall policies and practices re: basis for placement and amount of time spent, in such units – a substantive review of all prisoners files, per new criteria – and more change to the actual conditions in such units.

 

However, this fight is far from over! Notably, the second hunger strike action was suspended in mid-October … in response to top CDCR administrator’s presentation that the substantive changes be finalized… would be provided to “the stakeholders” (this includes our attorneys), within 60 days for comment. To date, CDCR hasn’t produced anything re: SHU/Ad-Seg policy changes; and PBSP’s Warden has not even replied to the (2) memo’s we’ve sent him concerning – additional program – privilege issues, per core demand #5 (see footnote #1 below)

 

Naturally, many people are not happy about CDCR’s failure to abide by their word – again – and they are asking… “what’s the next move in this struggle?”

 

Based on our collective discussions, our response is … people need to remain focused, and continue to apply pressure on CDCR, via letters, emails, fax, etc… summarizing the continuing core demands – immediately! There’s real power in numbers!! (see addresses to contact below, at footnote #2)

 

It’s important for everyone to stay objective and on the same page – remember… united we win, divided we lose. And, if we don’t see real substantive changes within the next 6 months… we’ll have to re-evaluate our position.

 

Additionally, now is a good time for people to start a dialogue about changing the climate on these level IV mainlines… As it stands now, these lines are warehouses, with all the money meant for programs – rehabilitation, going into guard pockets.

 

It’s in all of our best interests to change this in a big way, and thereby force CDCR to open these lines up and provide all of us with the programs and rehabilitative services that we all should have coming to us!!

 

Respect and Solidarity,

 

T. Ashker, A. Castellanos, Sitawa (s/n Dewberry), A. Guillen

 

-Dec. 2011-

 

Footnote#1: To date, we’ve received zero improvements re: core demand #5 … while Corcoran and Tehachapi have gained on canteen and dip-pull up bars – which, is all good. This is an example of what we pointed out in our “Formal Complaint” re: disparate treatment at PBSP-SHU compared to other SHU’s.

 

This is also a typical CDCR attempt to create discord and disruption to our unified struggle…we’re certain this feeble move will fail because all of us understand what our main objective is – an end to long term torture in these isolation units! It is our fundamental right to be treated humanely… we can no longer accept state sanctioned torture – of our selves! (and, our loved ones!) and we remain unified in our resistance!!

 

Footnote#2: Addresses of people to write

 

1. Tom Ammiano, Assemblyman                                     2. Gov. Edmund G. Brown

Capitol Bldg. Rm# 4005                                                      State Capitol, Ste #1173

Sacramento, CA 95814                                                      Sacramento, CA 95814

Phone# 916-319-2013                                                         Phone# 916-446-2841

Fax# 916-319-2113                                                             Fax# 916-558-3160

 

3. CDCR – Secretary Matthew Cate                                    4. Carol Strickman, Attorney at Law

1515 S. St. Ste. #330                                                            1540 Market Street, Ste. #490

Sacramento, CA 95811                                                          San Francisco, CA 94102

Phone# 916-323-6001                                                            Phone# 415-255-7036

                                                                                           Fax# 415-552-3150

 

All inmates correspondence to these people should be sent ‘confidential mail’ and anyone outside of prison, supporters, family members, etc… Please write and also email.