Michigan Citizens for Prison Reform Legislative Day event a Huge Success

We are very excited to bring you this great news!!!

October 26, 2011 was a day that many worked hard to see to fruition and the outcome of those efforts was huge. A Legislative Day is not a common occurrence at the Michigan Capitol Building. This is an event where Legislators are invited to meet with constituents and discuss common concerns the constituents have with their prospective Legislators. This is an informal meeting usually during lunch hour so that many Legislators can come and go during their busy schedules and still have conversations with concerned constituents.

In our case, it was about and for prison reform and humane treatment for the loved ones in prison. We were asked about our funding source for this advocacy work we do. The reply is, we are not a funded organization. We are a grassroots organization made up of concerned citizens with loved ones incarcerated and working for changes in the Corrections. The drive and motivations comes from our hearts and not our wallets. We are committed to seeing that humane and proper therapeutic treatment is gained for the mentally ill who are incarcerated; that programs exist and are available for all incarcerated; and that proper classification and less solitary confinement/segregation is used over all for the incarcerated. Prisoners are people too.

The room and attendees were very receptive to each other. The tone was comfortable and non-defensive. The Legislators paid close attention and received written information to take with them. There were organizations and groups present representing other work in the area of Corrections reform. There was a lot of positive energy in the room and very engaged conversations.

One of our members was told by a Legislator that he was so impressed to walk into the room and see that the Legislators were engaged in conversation with the constituents and the room was alive with energy. He said that this is not the norm for a Legislative luncheon. He highly complimented our group in the planning and carrying out of this day! 

Another Legislator said at a meeting later in the day, he was “honored to have a wonderful luncheon that so many of us were privileged to attend.”  We feel we were very successful in having our concerns heard and received by Legislators. We were invited to continue to push contacting and reminding our Legislators of our concerns and reform ideas.

A few from our group were invited to meet with a staff person from the Governor’s office. This meeting was a surprise, yet a wonderful opportunity because of all this work. The meeting was hopefully the first in an attempt to communicate openly and exchange information about potential changes with the Governor’s office and Corrections as well. The main areas of our advocacy platform were presented and received.

We feel our message that prisoners are people too was well received and hope this is just the beginning of much work to do on their behalf. We hope all who attended felt the success of having face-to-face conversations with Legislators and presenting information of value to making change within the Corrections system. We hope those who are not familiar with what we do but want to become involved in the change process will attend one of our meetings and find out how you can advocate on behalf of the many incarcerated people in this state.

We thank each of you who came to be a part of this important day. We thank Representative Haveman for his extended efforts in making this day possible, as well.

Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr.org

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634

Reform could transfer hundreds of inmates out of isolation units

From:  California Watch  http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/reform-could-transfer-hundreds-inmates-out-isolation-units-13285

October 27, 2011 | Michael Montgomery and Sarah Terry-Cobo, California Watch

Hundreds of California prisoners locked in stark segregation units could be transferred to regular prison cells under new policies being developed by state corrections officials.

The transfers could include inmates who have been held for decades at Pelican Bay State Prison’s windowless Security Housing Unit, which was the center of two recent hunger strikes that drew participation from thousands of inmates.

Officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation are planning to review the files of every prisoner now housed in the state’s four Security Housing Units. They will retroactively apply new criteria determining who is placed in the facilities and for how long, according to an Oct. 13 memo signed by corrections Undersecretary Scott Kernan, who retired last week.

“Those who no longer meet the criteria would be released from the SHU (Security Housing Unit),” states the memo, which also was signed by representatives of four advocacy groups and distributed to inmates.

Officials confirmed the document’s accuracy.

At issue is the system used by the department to identify, or validate, inmates as members or associates of one of seven prison gangs.

According to state law, an associate is an inmate who is “involved periodically or regularly” with members or associates of a gang. Formal identification of the inmate by the corrections department requires three independent pieces of evidence.

But advocacy groups say the evidence used by the department, such as tattoos or drawings, often is vague and inaccurate. What’s more, they say the process does not always identify men involved in violent or illegal acts.

Once validated, the inmate is locked in the special unit for an indeterminate term. Those inmates include so-called associates.

According to department data obtained by California Watch, 79 percent of the validated inmates being held in the special units are classified as prison gang associates rather than full-fledged members.

In an interview prior to his retirement, Kernan said a new policy was needed to move some of those inmates out of Security Housing Units to make room for other prisoners who pose a greater security threat.

“I’ve said very publicly we over-validate and don’t do enough documentation for those associates,” he said.
Instead, Kernan said the new policy should focus on isolating gang leaders and inmates involved in acts of violence.

“Those are the people we should put in places like the SHU,” he said.

Former corrections officials say the transfer could extend to hundreds of prisoners if the department uses a criteria that focuses largely on an inmate's behavior. Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said it was impossible to speculate on precise numbers until the new policy guidelines are finished.

A 2007 study commissioned by the corrections department recommended establishing “Security Threat Groups” and focusing on the biggest troublemakers inside those groups, so inmates are not locked in the Security Housing Units merely for alleged affiliation with a prison gang.

Kernan said officials were looking closely at the report's recommendations but would approach any changes to the Security Housing Units with caution.

"We are not going to be pushed by the inmates or their advocates to change policy of this magnitude and get people killed," he said. "We're going to do it slow and methodical and make sure we're doing the right thing."

A version of this story aired on KQED’s "The California Report," where the audio is available

**This information is being shared by Citizens for Prison Reform for purely informational purposes.

Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr.org

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634

  

VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

From:  http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/09/26/mdoc-prisoners-mobilize-to-fight-costly-phone-contract/

VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

Posted on 09/26/2011 by Diane Bukowski
By Josh Puckett

 We are about 30 days from filing a class action lawsuit against the M.D.O.C. (Michigan Department of Corrections) and PCS (Prisoner Communication Services), in an attempt to enforce SB 138 Section 272, or completely void the contract due to a suspect bidding process. (Click on PCS prisoner letter  to read letter to Attorney General Bill Schuette. It explains our position in depth.) 

We have also sent letters and attached the letter we wrote to the A.G. to many groups, including the Detroit Chapter of the NAACP, MI-CURE, AFSC, and CAPPS. We are looking to send that letter to all the Senators and House members.

(VOD Ed: click on: http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/07/31/michigan-prisoners-and-families-betrayed-by-phone-scheme/ to read earlier VOD story detailing the fraudulent MDOC/PCS scam, as well as other links by putting “PCS” in searh engine.)

We have also set up a Facebook page to consolidate the family members. 

Facebook/wearethehandsoftime 

We have also set up an online petition that will send emails out once a person signs up. It is: 

http://www.tinyurl.com/nomoreSEF 

Last we set up a P.O. Box so family members and inmates alike can send their stories of how the Special Equipment Fund has hurt their relationship with the people they love and care for. It’s at: 

The Coalition to Lower Phone Rates

c/o C. Bachus

P.O. Box 2154

Holland, MI  49422 

We are determined to fight this money grab by the MDOC. Now is not the time to being Double Taxing those who have loved ones in prison. This is the time we need to focus on building family bonds, not destroying them. I even set up our legal team here to fight this fraudulent Special Equipment Fund.  We realize that this will not be undone until we take legal action. Yet, after watching the Arab Spring in the Middle East, we realized the importance of using Social Media to spread the truth, grow our support base, and consolidate the families and friends of those beyond these walls. Social Media allows us to strike back and have our voices heard via our loved ones who have computers, and expose the age-old dirty practices of the MDOC. 

MDOC/PCS phone rates in contract; Special Equipment Fund adds most to the cost, can be used for any purpose by both MDOC and PCS

We are not afraid to use our names and stories. We are not afraid, nor will we stop fighting. The team I set up consists of: 

·         Carl Ashley, #136985, he is the lead paralegal, he will be writing and formatting the brief, and in the past has won a few suits against the MDOC. He is well known throughout the system. He is a Lifer, and well-respected by inmates and staff alike.

·         Josh Puckett #250645 will be assisting with any Oral arguments, as well as handling media relations so we can keep the buzz going and grow positive support for our position. He is a Lifer who is well known throughout the system for using Social Media to grow support for his Commutation. (See http://freejoshpuckett.com. ) He is serving on the Warden’s Forum, and is well respected by Staff. He works closely with C. Bachus, to create the sites, and stay in contract with the outside groups and media contacts.

·         John English #174718 works with Carl in legal research and analysis of the Bills, and as well as prisoner relations. He will assist also at trial. He is also a Lifer who is well respected by Inmates, and seen as an agent for positive Change on the Warden’s Forum.

·         Michael Cheatham-Bey #172290 also assists with obtaining legal documents  and provides needed insight into our legal strategies. He only has four more years left, but is still willing to stand against this injustice by the MDOC. He is well respected by his fellow inmates and staff alike.

·         Anthony Fawcett #183991 is also a well known “Legal Begal” who got involved with the fight after starting a previous suit against the MDOC on behalf of another inmate who was not being allowed to call his family in the Middle East. He has detailed knowledge of the last phone contract as well as Michigan Compiled Law (MCL). He has argued in court on behalf of himself in a previous lawsuit against the State. He maintains a good relationship with staff and inmates alike.

·         Jerry Lashuay #176424 helps with media relations as well as legal analysis. He is the Co-Founder of Juveniles Against Incarcerations for Life (J.A.I.L.) He has a good relationship with staff, works on the Warden’s Forum and is also currently pursuing a Commutation.

        Yadira Hiciano: she is an experienced paralegal living and working in New York. Her firm is a real estate law firm but her skills allow her to assist in finding obscure laws, researching the Bills, and providing insight into team strategy. She is a good friend of Josh Puckett, and the site administrator of http://freejoshpuckett.com. Being from New York, she saw this same company kicked out of New York and replaced with a far cheaper system where calls are approximately $1.30 for 30 minutes.
 
·         C. Bachus is the free world lead for media relations. She is the significant other of a Lifer, and a well-known community organizer in the fight for fair phone rates. She blogs on behalf of the Coalition and works closely with Josh Puckett to get the word out and write the families and friends of the inmates. She is also the Administrator for the Facebook page. 

We are currently looking for a few more family members, as well as someone from the women’s prisons to add to the team. These men and women deserve their recognition for all the long hours of work they are doing to right this wrong. They are the ones who will have to pay the filing fees and who will suffer the staff retaliation when this is filed.  

All of them have given me the o.k. to use their names. We hope by putting their names out there it will curtail future retaliation. As well, showcase the diverse group of people working on this cause, thus inspiring hope in those waiting for this to be corrected. They also deserve our thanks for all they are doing and have done on this road. 

It will be a long road to come. The MDOC will not easily relinquish the $787,000 a month that they are making [from the Special Equipment Fund of the PCS contract].We expect this fight to take 7-10 months, so we are also asking the court for an initial preliminary injunction to lower the rates back to the Embarq rates of 10-15 cents a minute, which will still make the MDOC $350,000 per month at the minimum level of minutes listed on the contract sample payout chart. If the court grants this it will give some relief to the inmates and their families until the suit is resolved. 

So, we have a plan, now we need to get that plan public support, we need to get these websites out there, and we need to get support for our team. We may even need to raise funds if the cost of this suit gets too high. We would even love to have a real Lawyer to help us,but the fact remains if you want something done right you must do it yourself.  

Josh Puckett can be reached by mail, Jpay.com, or his own email at: 
J. Puckett #250645
4269 West M-80
Kincheloe, Michigan 49784
Email: jp250645@yahoo.com.
Websute: http://freejoshpuckett.com

**This information is being shared by Citizens for Prison Reform for purely informational purposes.

Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr.org

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634

UPDATE: Citizens for Prison Reform meets with the Legislature and other advocacy groups at the Capitol today

A Look Inside Our Prisons Legislative Luncheon day filled with hope and much accomplish today!  Mark this date as a our new beginning to our next stage in reforming Michigan's prisons!

 

UPDATE:

 

Citizens for Prison n Reform had our Luncheon with the legislator's today and it went better than anyone could have expected! We opened Michigan's eyes today and have been invited to push hard and fast for change with the help of some key Legislator's.

 

We have so many to thank and thank all of you that made it today to join us and work with us on this most important event!

 

It was a huge success and is just the beginning of a new stage in our reform! More information to follow...our month and a half of planning day and night has paid off! We'll be posting a full update on here, facebook

 

Now, we will take a night to sleep well...our work is not done, but has only started to accelerate! Please join us in this time of accomplishment and moving forward to another great day and hope for all incarcerated!

 

We thank all of you that helped in making this day happen and look forward to working together on these issues in the future!  Nice job!

 

Citizens for Prison Reform"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr.org

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634

 

 

A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE HELPED US PREPARE FOR OUR MOST IMPORTANT DAY!

Citizens for Prison Reform

We're asking for all of your prayers and thoughts today!

Citizens for Prison Reform is geared up and ready to speak with our legislators and constituents throughout the state at our "A Look Inside Our Prisons" Legislative luncheon.

Please send positive thoughts and prayers! We will have an update for all sometime this weekend. Thanks for all the support and hard work everyone has put into this day!

We look forward to sending out an update this weekend on how the day goes.

Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr.org

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634

Editorial: Michigan can't afford to keep best medicines from mentally ill

From:  The Detroit Free Press                                                                              Oct. 14, 2011 
http://www.freep.com/article/20111014/OPINION01/110140354/Editorial-Michigan-can-t-afford-keep-best-medicines-from-mentally-ill

Editorial: Michigan can't afford to keep best medicines from mentally ill

County jails and state prisons, tragically, have become Michigan's largest mental health care facilities, after two decades of policies that have dismantled the mental health care system.

Michigan closed psychiatric hospitals during the 1990s without putting additional resources into community-based mental health programs. And now, those programs face even deeper cuts.

Shortsighted legislation, now before the House, would further weaken and erode Michigan's anemic mental health care system by limiting access to medication for people with mental illness and epilepsy.

House Bills 4733 and 4757 would strip Medicaid patients with these conditions of drug access protections. They would, in effect, reverse laws enacted in 2004 to maintain access to single-source drugs -- in other words, drugs with no current generic equivalents -- by requiring prior authorization for certain drugs not on the state's preferred drug lists. Getting that would require patients to have a failure period with a generic drug, a dangerous practice for people with serious mental illness.

Drugs under patent don't have generic matches. Thus, patients without access to them would get generics for a different drug, not simply a cheaper version of the same drug.

It's already happening at the Michigan Department of Corrections. Earlier this year, it adopted a policy to dramatically decrease the use of brand-name psychotropic drugs like Seroquel. It requires prison mental health staff to use cheaper generic medications whenever possible, but Seroquel has no generic equivalent.

Prescription decisions are best left to physicians, not broad legislative mandates. Michigan will start saving millions of dollars next year after the patents on four major drugs expire and those markets open to generics.

The House bills aim to save about $6 million in brand-name drug costs, but those estimates don't include increased emergency room visits, prison, homelessness, acute care and other costs that such changes would incur, said Mark Reinstein, president of the Mental Health Association in Michigan. He cited a 2008 study in Ohio that estimated taxpayers would spend four times as much with a similar policy.

The bills would also deprive patients of new, breakthrough medications still under patent.

Gov. Rick Snyder said during the campaign that destroying Michigan's mental health care system was a mistake, something he hoped to correct if elected.

He can start by convincing backers of these shortsighted and fiscally imprudent bills that keeping the best medicines from mentally ill patients is a policy Michigan can't afford.

**This information is being shared by Citizens for Prison Reform for purely informational purposes.

Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr.org

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634

CNBC SUNDAY 10-23-11 at 10:00 pm BILLIONS BEHIND BARS: INSIDE AMERICA'S PRISON INDUSTRY

WE WANTED TO MAKE YOU AWARE OF THIS PROGRAM THAT WILL AIR AGAIN ON SUNDAY 10-23-11 @ 10:00 PM ON CNBC. A few of us have seen this and thought you may be interested in watching. You'll want to check your local programming for the correct channel.

Sunday, 10/23/2011:
10:00 PM BILLIONS BEHIND BARS: INSIDE AMERICA'S PRISON INDUSTRY

"Billions Behind Bars: Inside America's Prison Industry," a CNBC original documentary, goes behind the razor wires to investigate the profits and inner-workings of the multi-billion dollar corrections industry.

With more than 2.3 million people locked up, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world. One out of 100 American adults is behind bars, while a stunning one out of 32 is on probation, parole or in prison. This has created a thriving prison economy: the states and the federal government together spend roughly $74 billion a year on corrections, and nearly 800,000 people work in the industry.

From some of the poorest towns in America to some of the wealthiest investment firms on Wall Street, CNBC's Scott Cohn travels the country to go inside the big and controversial business of prisons. He investigates a private prison in Idaho, dubbed a "gladiator school" by inmates and former prison employees who cite its high level of violence. He also chronicles what happens when a hard hit town in Montana accepts an appealing sales pitch from a private prison developer. In Colorado, we profile a little-known workforce behind bars, and discover that many products created by prison labor have seeped into our everyday lives -- even some of the food we eat. We also meet a tough-talking judge in the law-and-order state of Texas who's actually trying to keep offenders out of prison and save taxpayer money, through an innovative and apparently successful program.


Read more: http://tv.broadwayworld.com/article/CNBCs-BILLIONS-BEHIND-BARS-To-Premiere-1018-20111014#ixzz1bZ07bT00

 

 

 

Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr.org

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634

CITIZENS FOR PRISON REFORM MONTHLY MEETING - November 12th

CITIZENS FOR PRISON REFORM IS HOSTING:

A meeting for prisoner families, loved ones and individuals interested in working to reform Michigan’s prison system.

Date: Saturday November 12, 2011

Location:   West Lansing Church of Christ 

  5505 W. St. Joseph Hwy
  Lansing, MI 48917    

  

Time:   Registration/Sign-in at 10:15 a.m.

              (Park and enter at the back side of Church)

                    Meeting from 10:30 a.m.  to 12:30 p.m. 

Presenter:  CAPPS( Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending)

                        Director:  Barb Levine

12:30‐ Lunch following for those who wish to join at the R-Club  6509 Centurion Dr.

              (Off of Creyts Rd-where St. Joe and Creyts meet, parking in back)

Questions:  Contact 269-339-0606 or citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

RSVP for the upcoming meeting by:  Wednesday, November 9^th.

Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr.org

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634

Most Admired Chief Executive BMAC 2011: Juliet Lyon

From the Third Sector:  http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/Article/1099301/Admired-Chief-Executive-BMAC-2011-Juliet-Lyon/

Most Admired Chief Executive BMAC 2011: Juliet Lyon

The director of the Prison Reform Trust is a dedicated campaigner for the better treatment of prisoners, writes Femke Colborne

Since Juliet Lyon was appointed director of the Prison Reform Trust 11 years ago, the charity has become one of the most influential organisations involved with the criminal justice system, campaigning tirelessly for better conditions for prisoners and using research to confront and influence politicians.

Before joining the trust, Lyon had been associate director of the Trust for the Study of Adolescesce, which became Young People in Focus, and knew all too well about the importance of obtaining hard statistical evidence to support your argument. The use of such evidence has been key to the Prison Reform Trust’s success in lobbying for change.

"The trust is taken seriously because we do our best to use reliable evidence and clear and accurate information," says Lyon. "We place more store on evidence and information than on opinion. It doesn’t matter what we think – it’s about the evidence. That’s the reason we are seen as a charity of substance."

During Lyon’s tenure, the Prison Reform Trust has campaigned strongly, through its Out of Trouble campaign, for a reduction in the use of youth custody. Youth custody levels are now about 30 per cent lower than when Lyon started at the trust. The charity has campaigned with the Women’s Institute to stop the imprisonment of people who are mentally ill, helped to reduce the cost of phone calls from prisons and offered a daily advice service.

Lyon has become a familiar voice in the media on the justice system. She believes that maintaining a high profile has contributed significantly to the charity’s success. "We have really tried to focus on communications," she says. "We have learned to work well with the media and we take the time and trouble to nurture those relationships.

"There is a lot of interplay between politicians and the media. We want to be visible to politicians, so we make sure we have messages in the media as much as possible."

Lord Ramsbotham, former Chief Inspector of Prisons, first got to know Lyon when he invited her to brief his inspectorate after a damning report on Holloway Prison in London highlighted problems with suicides in the prison.

"She had an acute understanding of prisoners as people and instantly conveyed concern for how they were treated," says Ramsbotham. "Even someone as experienced as Michael Howard left the briefing saying that he’d had no idea about some of these problems. That performance was typical of the thoroughness and humanity with which she approaches everything."

Humility might be her watchword, but according to Ramsbotham, Lyon also knows how to be sharp and critical. "She is someone whom the government knows it has to consult," he says. "Her views are worth listening to and the government would be very foolish not to take them into account. Woe betide anyone involved with the criminal justice system who doesn’t listen to her."

Ramsbotham has nothing but praise for the way Lyon has led the trust. "It has a reputation that is second to none," he says. "It is the most influential organisation in the sector, and people sit up and listen to what Juliet says."

Despite becoming such an influential figure in the justice field, Lyon keeps directly in touch with people she is there to represent.

"I am usually in a prison every couple of weeks, talking to the prisoners and staff," she says. "Seeing is believing, and that is an important element of what we do. People who have seen things first-hand have a touch of humility because they realise how hard it is, and humility makes for a better working relationship with the people you are trying to support."

**This information is being shared by Citizens for Prison Reform for purely informational purposes.

Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634

Growing prison populations hinder budget cuts

From USA Today:  http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-10-20/prison-life-sentence-budget/50846828/1

Growing prison populations hinder budget cuts

WASHINGTON — The rising number of prisoners serving costly life terms across the country is complicating state officials' efforts to make dramatic cuts to large prison budgets, lawmakers and criminal justice officials said.

From 1984 to 2008, the number of offenders serving life terms quadrupled, from 34,000 to roughly 140,000, according to the most recent count by The Sentencing Project, which advocates alternatives to incarceration.

• STORY: Prison work crews cut in cost-savings move

One of the fastest-growing subgroups are inmates serving life without the possibility of parole. Those numbers have jumped from 12,453 in 1992 to 41,095 in 2008 and represent the most costly inmates to house as the aging inmates require increased medical care.

"The challenge for us is to distinguish between the offenders we are afraid of — those who deserve to be locked up for life — and those who we are just mad at and who can be handled outside of prison," Texas state Sen. John Whitmire said.

Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, helped lead an effort to divert hundreds of offenders to less expensive treatment programs outside of prison. He said the cost of basic housing for an inmate serving life — calculated at $30,000 per year — can easily top $1 million over the inmate's lifetime.

In Texas, the second-largest state prison system in the country, with 156,000 inmates, the number of offenders serving life without parole has been increasing since the sentence was adopted by the state Legislature in 2005, from 47 in 2007 to 391 this year. The number of Texas prisoners serving life with the possibility of parole — 8,665 — has increased in four of the past five years.

"If we're committed to spending a lot of money on lifers without parole, it's going to have an impact on who comes in the front end of the system," Whitmire said, adding that prison should "not be the first option" for parole and probation violators.

In California, the country's largest prison system with 164,000 inmates, the number of prisoners serving life terms has been steadily increasing, even as the state faces a federal court mandate to reduce the prison population by 30,000 by 2013. More than 20% of the state's inmates are serving life terms or equivalent sentences.

Joseph Cassilly, a past president of the National District Attorneys Association, said there is concern that increasing budget pressures on state governments could drive officials to consider paroles for lifers in an attempt to reduce costs.

"How do you explain that to a victim of a crime or a surviving family member who thought life in prison really meant life in prison?" Cassilly said.

**This information is being shared by Citizens for Prison Reform for purely informational purposes.

Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634

PEAP Panel Highlights Value of Prison Reform Litigation

From Penn Law:  http://www.law.upenn.edu/blogs/news/archives/2011/10/peap_inmate_healthcare_panel.html

A panel event featuring attorneys Ashley Parrish and Margaret Winter, experts in the field of prison reform litigation, convened Wednesday, October 19 at Penn Law to address questions of constitutionality and social policy relevant to healthcare reform in state prison systems.

Jointly sponsored by the Law School’s Prison Education and Advocacy Project, International Human Rights Advocates and the Health Law and Policy Group, the panel drew a sizable audience of students interested in inmate healthcare reform and policy.

Winter, who currently serves as associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project, highlighted the necessity of providing adequate medical and psychological treatment to inmates. “Often if general conditions are bad in a prison, you can probably guarantee that medical and mental healthcare will be deplorable,” Winter said.

She added that as “captives of the state,” prisoners are entirely reliant on the state for the “basic necessities of life.”

Demand for access to healthcare among the prison population is especially high, she explained, given that many inmates suffer from chronic diseases prevalent among the poor while others are afflicted with untreated psychological conditions.

The need for prison healthcare reform has become still more pressing, Winter noted, since the extension of prison sentences by the 1996 Prison Litigation Reform Act. “We’re seeing a vast new geriatric population in prisons with needs that younger prisoners don’t have,” she elaborated. “It’s inevitable that people are going to suffer unnecessary deaths and permanent injuries if there isn’t appropriate healthcare.”

Parrish, a partner at the Washington, D.C. office of international law firm King & Spalding and a member of its national appellate and strategic counseling practice group, was involved with the landmark Coleman v. Wilson case, a class-action suit brought against the California Department of Corrections on behalf of mentally ill inmates. This enabled him to identify several critical failings within the California prison system: inadequate space, understaffing, and the absence of effective protocols for evaluating the health of inmates.

While the Coleman case resulted in a series of court orders that brought marginal improvement to the prison system, Parrish said, California prisons saw sharp rises in population shortly afterward due to the passage of legislation revising the terms of parole and sentencing. The conditions that ensued, he recalled, were appalling.

“There were 200 prisoners held in a gym, with beds stacked three high, and one toilet for 57 prisoners,” he recounted.

According to Parrish, a special prejudge panel convened in 2006 determined that a prisoner release order was to be granted to reduce the number of inmates housed at each facility, a finding later affirmed by the Supreme Court.

To contextualize the “extraordinary” nature of the decision, Winter provided a brief history of prison reform advocacy in the U.S., introduced as recently as the 1970s.

After a brief period of prison reform expansion, she said, in the 1990s the Supreme Court grew “increasingly hostile” to the possibility of federal intervention in state prison systems, thereby introducing greater difficulty to the securing of injunctions for the release of prisoners.

“Our jaws were dropping, because somehow a court was reaffirming some very basic principles that it had been sneering at for a couple of decades,” Winter recalled. “This decision… is the first really powerful ray of hope that things are changing now.”

Parrish framed the ruling within the ongoing debate concerning the degree of federal intervention permissible to ensure the efficacy of political processes at the state level. “The real problem isn’t that states are making bad political judgments—it’s that they’re not made to suffer the consequences,” he said. “What’s happening to the prison system is symptomatic of failings across a range of different areas.”

According to Alexandra Holson L’14, this year’s PEAP membership coordinator, Parrish and Winter were invited to speak on the basis of their “incredible qualifications” and experience collaborating with the Supreme Court and high-level organizations to improve prison conditions.

“We invite students to go into the jails to teach prisoners,” as part of PEAP’s programming, Holson said, “but it’s often hard to show them the bigger perspective about what actually goes on because what they’re seeing is a reward program for inmates who have behaved well. They don’t see the other side of the spectrum—like housing or healthcare—so we wanted to plan programs that show another perspective and level of consideration for the populations they visit.”

**This information is being shared by Citizens for Prison Reform for purely informational purposes.

Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634

L.A. County Supervisors Approve Oversight Of County Jails

From Neon Tommy:  http://www.neontommy.com/news/2011/10/supervisors-propose-reform-la-county-jail-system

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved two different proposals to reform the county jail system on Tuesday in the wake of a string of allegations of deputy-on-inmate abuse.

The move comes just days after embattled Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca announced his own internal review of cases that have brought scrutiny to his department's criminal justice policies.

 

Those cases include a reported incident in which a rookie deputy was ordered to beat a mentally ill inmate by his supervisor, according to the Los Angeles Times.

 

One proposal on the table for Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting was forwarded by members Zev Yaroslavsky and Mark Ridley-Thomas, and proposes the creation of a five-person "Citizen's Commission" specifically tasked to look into abuse in the jail system.

 

The scope of the commission will include a "review of the nature, depth and cause of the problem of inappropriate deputy use of force in the jails, and recommend corrective action as necessary," according to the text of the measure.

 

The second measure, forwarded by LA County Supervisor Gloria Molina, advocates installing surveillance cameras in county jails, a use-of-force policy overhaul, and monthly progress reports to the Board of Supervisors.

 

"Accountability at the Sheriff's department is long overdue," said Molina in a statement.  "The very credibility of the Sheriff’s Department is at stake.  Its integrity can be restored only if Sheriff Baca and his team wholeheartedly accept reform.  It speaks volumes when we hear stories of top scoring Sheriff’s Deputy recruits opting out of a law enforcement career—and in this economy, no less—because of first-hand experience with excessive use of force."

 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, a court-appointed monitor of prison conditions in L.A. County, released a report in late September documenting hundreds of inmate complaints about deputy-on-inmate abuse. The report also includes testimony from civilian witnesses, including two chaplains and a volunteer tutor.

 

One chaplain, who was not identified in the ACLU report, recalled that "he saw four or five deputies repeatedly kicking an inmate. The inmate was lying motionless, facedown on the ground. His hands appeared to be tucked behind his back; they remained there throughout the attack. The inmate pleaded with the deputies to stop, yelling, 'help me.'"

"I was afraid that if I had tried to stop the beating or even just yell at the deputies to stop, they would come over and hurt me," the chaplain said, according to the report.

Baca's department is also taking heat from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, which, according to the Los Angeles Times, is also looking into deputy abuse of inmates in the jails.

 

**This information is being shared by Citizens for Prison Reform for purely informational purposes.

Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634

Prolonged solitary confinement is torture, says expert

From:
http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2011/10/prolonged-solitary-confinement-is-torture-says-expert/

Long term solitary confinement in excess of 15 days could amount to torture and should be banned, says Juan Mendez, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

Quoting scientific studies, Mendez says indefinite and prolonged solitary confinement or isolation causes mental damage.

Juveniles, persons with mental disabilities or in pre-trial detention should not be isolated because it can be used to ‘extort’ confessions.

Mr. Mendez, who was detained and tortured by the Argentinean military dictatorship in the 1970s, is not confining his message to governments.

“I am also expecting civil society organizations that have even more experience than I have on solitary confinement to pick up this report and to the extent that is possible, to use it as a campaign tool to see if we can abolish solitary confinement in its worst manifestations but even in those where it is permissible, to establish clear safeguards and protection so that it doesn’t end up constituting torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.”

The torture expert adds that the practice should only be used in exceptional circumstance and for very short periods of time.

(Duration: 25”)
Solitary confinement should be banned in most cases, UN expert says

**This information is being shared by Citizens for Prison Reform for purely informational purposes.

Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634

Citizens for Prison Reform Phone Rate Petition - REMINDER

Dear Friends, Family and Concerned Citizens,

 

We had one of our core members create a petition for us to sign regarding the increased phone rates(almost double) within the prison system.  I ask that you take just a minute to sign this petition.  There have been many negative affects of the contract MDOC underhandidly signed with PCS, on top of the nearly double rate of the call.  There is a charge to open the account, a charge to close the account.  If you don't use it in 90 days (such as due to someone being in solitary confinement or ill) they take all your money unless you close it.  You can no longer have multiple people under one account, so everyone who wants to talk with an incarcerated loved must pay to open and close these accounts.  This has currently resulted in my son having only 2 people on his calling list.  It would cost each family member/friend 25.00 plus the nearly 4.00 set up fee to open an account.

 

Keeping loved ones connected, and communicating should be a very important part of MDOC's mission and work.  It gives prisoners and their families hope and a better outlook.  It is a proven fact that prisoners who stay connected overall do better within the prison setting.

 

This petition goes directly to your Senator and Representative.  We have had many who have signed so far receive an email within a few days from their legislators with positive responses.  Please help our voices be heard. 

 

Help lower Michigan prisoner phone call rates by signing an important online petition at:

http://tinyurl.com/nomoreSEF

 

Please circulate this widely and ask other to sign the petition.

 

Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

-Martin Luther King

Email:  citizensforprisonreform@yahoo.com

Website:  www.micpr

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizens-for-Prison-Reform/171253319587634