Prison

Obama Commutes 214 Prison Sentences, Largest In One Day Ever

August 5, 2016 Leon Neyfakh, www.slate.com Create! Barack Obama, Prison

By Leon Neyfakh for Slate - President Obama has used his clemency power to shorten the prison sentences of 214 federal inmates doing time for drug offenses, it was announced on Wednesday. It’s Obama’s third time this year issuing commutations, a move that reflects his administration’s belief that too many people are serving overly harsh prison sentences because of a criminal justice system that is too tough on nonviolent crime. Wednesday’s batch of commutations brings the total number of people whose sentences Obama has shortened to 562—more than the previous nine presidents combined, according to the White House.

Loved Ones Search For Answers In Shaylene Graves’ Prison Death

August 1, 2016 Victoria Law, www.truth-out.org Educate! Death, Prison

By Victoria Law for Truthout - Wednesday, July 27, should have been the day that 27-year-old Shaylene Graves walked out of prison a free woman. After eight years in prison, Graves, known as Light Blue or simply Blue to her friends, was looking forward to her first meal out of prison and the welcome-home party her family was planning. Her family never got to throw that party. At 6:30 am on June 1, Graves' mom Sheri was sitting in her car waiting for her oldest son Michael.

Debtors Prison Costs Cities Millions

July 24, 2016 Educate! Debt, Prison

By Sue Sturgis for Facing South, Month in which Equal Justice Under Law, a civil rights group involved in the Jennings case, filed a federal class-action lawsuit alleging systemic violations of basic human and civil rights in the New Orleans legal system resulting in a modern-day debtors' prison: 9/2015 Percent of government agencies involved in the New Orleans criminal justice system that rely on criminal convictions and high money bonds for funding:100 Under the part of the system in New Orleans that's drawn the most public outrage, amount per felony charge a judge can assess on individual defendants to fund a judicial expense account that can pay for everything from court staff salaries to coffee: $2,000 Month in which Equal Justice Under Law and the MacArthur Justice Centerat the University of Mississippi School of Law filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Jackson, Mississippi, over a forced-labor camp and debtors' prison used by the city: 10/2015 Amount impoverished Jackson residents are able to work off their debt per day at the Hinds County Penal Farm near Jackson: $58

Taking On America’s Prison Profiteers

July 19, 2016 Staff ,www.inequality.org Resist! Prison, Prison Industrial Complex, Profit

By Staff of Inequality.org - No place in the world imprisons people at a higher per capita rate than the state of Louisiana. And that incarceration pays — for the profiteers who run the state’s private prisons. For the incarcerated, a totally different story. In 1998, the New York Times described one of Louisiana’s privately run facilities, the Tallulah Correctional Center for Youth, as possibly the worst such prison in the nation, a site “rife with brutality, cronyism, and neglect.”

In Police State USA Kids Go To Camp, In Prison

June 17, 2016 William N. Grigg, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! Children, Police State, Prison

By William N. Grigg for Mint Press News - Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a relentless self-promoter who christened himself “The World’s Toughest Sheriff,” has invited Phoenix-area parents to send their grade school and teenage kids to jail for the summer. “Summer Stars” is a two-day program supposedly intended to teach impressionable youngsters about the rigors of life behind bars, thereby deterring them from bad behavior. The program will be held in two sessions – June 23-24, and July 21-22 – and will be open for students from ages 8 to 18.

Freedom Rider: September 9th Prison Strike

June 16, 2016 Margaret Kimberley, www.blackagendareport.com Resist! Prison, Strikes

By Margaret Kimberley for Black Agenda Report - Prison inmates around the country have organized to resist the world’s largest and most profitable system of human bondage. Mass Black incarceration marks the U.S. as a racist police state. “When we stand up to these authorities,” say the prisoners, “they come down on us, and the only protection we have is solidarity from the outside.” All decent men and women must answer the call to action from the belly of the gulag in September.

North Carolina Cuts Use Of Prison Torture In Half

June 6, 2016 Kit O'Connell, www.mintpressnews.com Resist! North Carolina, Prison, Torture

By Kit O'Connell for Mint Press News - RALEIGH, North Carolina — Half as many prisoners in North Carolina face solitary confinement, thanks to dedicated efforts to cut back on the controversial practice often equated with torture. “Last spring, roughly 5,330 of the state’s 38,000 prisoners – 1 in 7 – were segregated from other inmates on any given day,” wrote Taylor Knopf on May 26 in the News & Observer. “By this month, that number had been reduced to 2,540.”

Gary Tyler Freed From Angola After 42 Years, Sentence Illegal

May 6, 2016 Staff, www.nola.com Resist! Angola, political prisoners, Prison

By Staff of The Associated Press - After almost 42 years at Louisiana's maximum security prison, Gary Tyler is a free man. Tyler had been jailed at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola since he was 16, convicted of first-degree murder for the 1974 slaying of a fellow Destrehan High School student amid rising racial tensions surrounding school integration. Now 57, he was released Friday. Norris Henderson, a counselor working with Tyler to help ease his re-entry into society, said Tyler's first reaction after walking out of Angola was relief.

One Chart Perfectly Captures America’s Massive Prison Problem

March 24, 2016 Jamilah King, www.mic.com Educate! Mass Incarceration, Prison, United States

By Jamilah King for Mic - We often speak about America's prison problem in vague, amorphous terms. For instance, the phrase "mass incarceration" has become commonplace, but even it can obscure the true scale of having an estimated 2.3 million people behind bars. But here's one graph that shows how many people are incarcerated in state prisons, local jails and federal detention facilities, and for what offenses:

Israeli Activist: They ‘Won’t Be Able To Break Us’

January 24, 2016 Ali Abunimah, www.electronicintifada.net Resist! Israel, Palestine, Police abuse, Political Prisoner, Prison

By Ali Abunimah for the Electronic Intifada. An Israeli court ordered the immediate, unconditional release of Palestinian human rights defender Nasser Nawaja on Thursday, but as of Friday morning he remained in custody. Lawyers are filing a motion against Israeli police for contempt of court. Nawaja, who works as a field researcher for B’Tselem in the occupied West Bank, was picked up as part of an intensifying crackdown on Israeli human rights groups. Butavia, being transported while in police custody, alleges that Israeli police are working hand in hand with Ad Kan. “The people sitting across from me [during interrogation] had Ad Kan forms in their hands,” Butavia states. “They simply received all the questions and the entire interrogation, ready made, from Ad Kan. The Israeli police is working for the Shomron Settlement Committee.” “This is entirely a political arrest. It’s whole purpose is to undermine our activity for human rights in the [occupied] territories and against the crimes and criminals of the occupation,”

Last Incarcerated NATO 3 Member May Die In Prison

January 24, 2016 Kevin Gosztola, www.shadowproof.com Resist! Nato 3, Police abuse, Political Prisoner, Prison

By Kevin Gosztola for Shadowproof. Jared Chase is the last member of the “NATO 3,” who remains in prison. Chase suffers from Huntington’s disease and faces additional charges for alleged aggravated battery against a prison guard. He is set to go on trial in April. Chase, Brian Jacob Church and Brent Betterly came to Chicago in May 2012 for protests against NATO. They became known as the “NATO 3” after they were targeted by undercover Chicago police and arrested on May 16. The state of Illinois accused the “NATO 3” of making explosives. On February 7, 2014, after a lengthy trial in which the key role of undercover cops became even more apparent, a jury acquitted the “NATO 3” of all terrorism charges. But they were found guilty of arson-related offenses and “mob action” charges. Betterly, who was released from prison in April 2015, was last with Chase while they were beat up by guards during their arrival at the Stateville prison’s receiving center. During a recent pretrial hearing on December 7, 2015, Chase showed up to court with a black eye and a swollen face. Betterly said he’s lost a considerable amount of weight, perhaps fifty pounds.

Mumia In Court: Devastating Cross Examination

December 23, 2015 Noelle Hanrahan, www.prisonradio.org/ Resist! Healthcare, Human Rights, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Prison, Prisoner rights

By Noelle Hanrahan for Prison Radio. It was a day of dueling doctors, admissions, explosive documents, and first hand testimony, which debated the constitutional right to health care while in prison. The question: does Mumia Abu-Jamal receive life saving new anti viral drugs that cure Hepatitis C? or will Judge Robert Mariani's federal court allow the Department of Corrections in Pennsylvania to deny any treatment for chronic Hepatitis C - and maintain (a just revealed protocol) that calls for "denying care" and "monitoring imates" while the virus ravages the body causing irreversible organ damage. In an explosive revelation: Bret Grote of the Abolitionist Law Center, dissected the testimony of DOC defense witness infirmary administrator, Mr. Steinhart - revealing that there is a written Hep C treatment protocol that was developed this year. Overheard in the courtroom, DOC associate defense counsel noted that they did not want this document available publically because it would increase the department's liability in the class action pending for inmate Hep C treatment.

Hunger Strike Update: Jason Robb Joins Strike & New Ways To Support

November 14, 2015 Staff, www.lucasvilleamnesty.org Resist! Ohio, Prison

By Staff of Lucasville Amnesty - For the past 4 days, Keith LaMar has been on hunger strike, protesting cruel restrictions that are arbitrarily being put in place by the new warden, Chris LaRose, at Ohio State Penitentiary. Keith was joined yesterday on hunger strike by fellow death row inmate, Jason Robb. What are their exact demands? 1. To allow the 5A long-termers (Keith LaMar, S.A. Hasan, Jason Robb and James Were) to keep all their books—consistently with other death row inmates in Ohio—tools which are crucial to their surviving the rigors of solitary confinement...

The FCC Aims To Lower Cost Of Prison Phone Calls In Historic Vote

October 21, 2015 Brian Dolinar, www.truth-out.org Resist! FCC, Prison

By Brian Dolinar for Truth Out - For Annette Taylor of Illinois, weekly phone calls are a lifeline, connecting her to the two sons she has in prison. "Getting those phone calls keeps us going," she said, "not just them inside, but us too." Although she has been convicted of no crime, she feels she is also being punished by the high cost of these calls. Thousands of mothers like Taylor are soon to see their phone bills reduced. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is poised to make a decision this month that will overhaul the industry that for decades has been making millions from phone calls made by incarcerated people throughout the United States.

Newsletter – Black August, End Neo-Slavery, Resist

August 30, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter Arctic drilling, Carbon, Drought, Environmental racism, Fight for 15, Finance and the Economy, Fracking, Gas, Guaranteed basic income, Hurrican Katrina, Iran, Japan, Jeju Island, Korea, Living Wage, Minimum Wage, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Oil, Okinawa, Peace, Political Prisoner, Prison, Prison Labor, Private Prisons, Racism, Solar Energy, Sustainable energy, TISA, TPP, TTIP, Wars and Militarism, Wind, Worker Cooperative, Youth imprisonment

By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese for Popular Resistance - Black August is coming to an end as we commemorate the ten year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. As many head back to school, a full season of actions are being planned for the fall to stop the corporate takeover of our communities and world and the push toward neo-slavery. There is a lot of resistance going on. We hope that you have an opportunity this summer to relax and build up your energy for the many actions that are being planned for the fall. If you go to a park, there is one more thing you can do: take a moment to think about the people who inhabited the land before it became a park.

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