A life again

UK: Last week, I met the man dubbed "America's toughest sheriff". Joe Arpaio, sheriff of Maricopa county, Arizona, was in Britain for a week to see if he had anything to learn from a criminal justice system that he regards as scarcely less luxurious than the Hilton hotel.

The sheriff is famous in the US for his uncompromising attitude to those who break the law. His "tent city" prison in the Arizona desert - a permanent, high-fenced canvas compound - holds 2,000 prisoners in 130-degree heat without air conditioning.

He puts men, women and children in chain gangs and uses them to clean the streets. His prison meals, he boasts, cost no more than the equivalent of 10p a head, and - a particular favourite punishment of the sheriff - he makes all his prisoners wear pink underwear. After all I had read and heard about him, I was, to be honest, a little apprehensive about our meeting, which took place at a programme for young offenders in east London. I expected an abrasive, unapproachable man who would have no time for the likes of me. Instead I found a charming character with a solid handshake and a ready smile.

Arpaio is not about to apologise for his methods. What did he think his chain gangs achieved, I asked him. "When good folks drive by, I want mothers to be able to say to their kids: 'Look at those bad people, honey. Behave or you'll end up just like them.'" Yet he admitted that arrests in Maricopa county remained steady at what to me sounds an alarming 300 a day, and that he had no evidence that his policies, many of which have been condemned by Amnesty International, had any reductive effect on reoffending rates.

As far as I could tell, his only justification for the systematic humiliation and maltreatment of prisoners was the fact that he was responding to public will. "The public is my boss," he said. "I serve the public." On that ticket, he has been re-elected three times and served for 13 years.

I'm not convinced of the merits of Sheriff Arpaio's way. Last year, after serving 20 years of a life sentence in prison, I was released on parole. After a passage of two full decades, which took me from a standpoint of self-loathing and worthlessness to a position where I can look myself in the mirror and feel a measure of self-respect, I know that he is wrong.

Of course, many victims of crime would be only too glad for their tormentors to get a taste of Arpaio justice - and if no prisoners were ever released, it might not be such a cause for concern. But since all but two or three dozen will one day be somebody's neighbour somewhere, it seems sensible to me to ensure that all prisoners are treated in a way that tries to ensure they are better equipped and motivated to lead responsible, law-abiding lives once they are back on the streets. Considering where I'd come from, to end up having this conversation with the sheriff was almost unbelievable. I'm sure he would have struggled to grasp the magnitude of the journey that had taken me from condemned man to writer for a national newspaper.

What many people fail to understand is that convincing prisoners of their own worthlessness, which the Arpaio method is designed to do, is rarely necessary. When I walked through the prison gates at the beginning of my sentence, I knew I was the proverbial scum of the earth. At my trial I had experienced the full force of public condemnation and disgrace for my crimes.

I was a guilty man, sentenced to mandatory life. The journey back to achieving a worthwhile life on the other side of the prison wall was going to be a long and difficult one. Further castigation and degradation were unnecessary. Not that the first prison officers I met as a freshly sentenced convict saw it that way.

I remember the encounter well. It was early evening in the reception area of one of the biggest prisons in London. I was locked in a small cubicle waiting to be "processed" when the shout rang out. "Next!" I had no idea it was aimed at me. There was more shouting and swearing, but I didn't know who it was directed at. All I knew was it was making me nervous.

Suddenly there was a tremendous rapping on the cubicle door. "Are you still fucking in there or what?" With my heart racing, I said yes, I was. The door opened and a laughing officer directed me to the front of a large counter with the baton he had obviously used to bang on the door.

"Right, strip," said one of his colleagues. All three wore their caps with peaks slashed. When I was naked, an officer called for someone to bring me some kit, at which another prisoner appeared and handed me a too-small striped shirt, oversized denims, ill-fitting shoes, a pair of socks and some huge white underpants before retreating back to his room. Self-consciously, I dressed as fast as I could, then was ordered back into the cubicle to wait to be escorted to the wing.

The whole procedure had taken no more than a couple of hours, but the way I was treated in that short time determined my attitude towards prison officers for years to come. They made it clear that the prison was their domain and that I was going to be tolerated at best. No doubt Sheriff Arpaio would have approved. But I felt like one of the captured humans in Planet of the Apes, fearful and wary of my captors, who thought of me as another species entirely.

My first year in prison was spent in 23-hour-a-day solitary bangup. As well as having to face up to the wrong I had done, my lack of education, social skills and work skills meant that I had massive failings to overcome. I wanted to make progress, but I did not know where to start. To counter my feelings of helplessness and reduce my vulnerability, I exercised rigorously in my cell. Intimidation and violence between prisoners, during the brief periods in which we were unlocked, were widespread, while the culture of the prison officers was resolutely hard-line. As prisoners we held our defences high and trusted nobody. I was in no doubt that survival was my main concern. It was no place to inspire a man to better himself.

As the years passed, however, I learned that prisons were full of conflicting forces. A prison governor I met at my second jail, for example, told me: "My job is to get you back out there and functioning properly. That's what prison is for." These were powerful words for me to hear, and even now they ring clear in my memory. Though most of his officers would have disagreed, there were always a few who understood that prisoners were still human, and that all it took was a little respect and consideration to get the best out of us (they would invariably find themselves nicknamed "Care Bear" or "Mother Teresa" by their colleagues).

And gradually, as time passed, I came to believe that it was possible to become a better man than I had been. A couple of years into my sentence, a well-meaning professional persuaded me that I was capable of being educated; seven years later, with the support of various prison education departments, I had a degree. The instinctive rivalry among captives, endemic hard drug-related activity and the constant negotiating around the self-appointed punishers in the prison staff meant that there was no let-up in the general hostility of the environment for almost all of the 18 years I spent in closed prisons. I think this gave me a good taste of the mental equivalents of Sheriff Arpaio's chain gangs and desert heat, and it convinced me that if we kick people when they are down, we should expect little of value in return.

In 1999, after a series of coincidences and lucky breaks, the chance arose for me to write a column for the Guardian, a weekly account of the reality of prison life, to be called A Life Inside. At this stage I was a life prisoner with at least five years still to serve. I was weary of prison life, but my activities during earlier years had left me well prepared to take advantage of the opportunity.

The reaction of some members of the prison service to this opportunity highlighted the vagaries and absurdities of prison life. Even though, years earlier, when I had expressed an interest in journalism, the Prison Service had supported my application for funding for a course, the authorities in the prison I was in at the time were adamant that it wasn't going to happen. It wasn't until the prisons minister and the head of the prison service gave their personal approval that I was able to proceed.

On one occasion, shortly after I started the column, the governor was showing a visitor round. Stopping at my cell, he introduced the visitor and announced, apparently with some pride, "This is Erwin James. He writes for the Guardian." This emboldened me to ask a question I had been longing to ask of the "number one". I had been saving my prison wages, I told him, and wondered if I might be permitted to buy a word processor. "Oh no, no, no," he said. "The public wouldn't like that." Thankfully, one of his officers went out of his way to make sure I always had a plentiful supply of extra paper.

Six years later, I am a free man on life parole. And this is the last column I will write for G2, though I will continue to write for the paper in other guises. My life is no longer governed by cell walls and bars; now I look out each day on a big sky. With the encouragement of people who were prepared to help rather than hinder, I was able to turn my life around, and I'm grateful to the "do-gooders" whose kindness cancelled out those who, like Arpaio, believe there is merit in "getting tough". As far as I am concerned, I succeeded in making my prison time work in spite of most of what I encountered and not because of it.

Sheriff Arpaio and I parted on good terms with a warm handshake - and an invitation to tour his jails the next time I'm in Maricopa County. I felt, in spite of the chasm between us, that we had forged a mutual respect. But my experience has taught me that a society that offers hope of betterment and genuine rehabilitation to its prisoners is healthier than one that offers no hope at all.

* The Home Stretch and A Life Inside, Erwin James's collections of Guardian columns, are published by Guardian Books

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (in Arizona) is doing it RIGHT!!:

* He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.
* He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails.
* Took away their weights.
* Cut off all but "G" movies.
* He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects. Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination.
* He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails. So he hooked up the cable TV again but only let in the Disney channel and the weather channel. When asked why the weather channel he replied, so they will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs.
* He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value.
* When the inmates complained, he told them.....this is a good one......"This isn't the Ritz/Carlton. If you don't like it, don't come back."
* He bought Newt Gingrich's lecture series on videotape that he pipes into the jails. When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series might explain why a lot of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.

By The Guardian posted 12 September 05

Related:

Crowded jails 'boosting suicides'
UK: The chief inspector of prisons warned that an overcrowding crisis in Britain's jails was leading to an increase in prisoner suicides.

Chief justice calls for new approach to law and order
UK: The retiring [ruling class] lord chief justice, Lord Woolf, made a passionate plea for a new approach to law and order which would see a major shift away from punishment towards the solution of problems which generate crime.

Britain's only prison ship ends up on the beach
UK: The last inmates have departed and a skeleton staff is left guarding Britain's only prison ship - in case anyone is minded to break in rather than out.

Throw away the key
The one profession to get results on recidivism has been sacrificed to Labour's desire to lock up criminals in private prisons.

Judges' misdeeds will remain secret
UK: Judges who are disciplined for bad behaviour will not have the findings against them made public under a complaints regime to be launched next year.

Prisoner total rises 15% in six years
England and Wales are continuing to jail offenders at a higher rate than any other major country in western Europe, it emerged today. New research indicates that the government's use of prison as its main tool of penal policy has increased by 15% since 1999.

CPS drops prosecution over death in custody
UK: The family of Roger Sylvester, who died after being restrained by police officers, yesterday expressed their disappointment at a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute any of the officers involved.

Prisoner's cell death
UK: A prisoner was found hanged in his cell last week, the Home Office said, fuelling criticism over the soaring number of suicides in custody.

Plans for five new 'superprisons'
Recent figures show a total of 75,550 prisoners were held in 139 jails in England and Wales, nudging up the previous record of April 2004 by just six inmates.

Prison has lost its way - report
UK: Bristol prison is suffering wide-ranging problems because of inconsistent management, the Chief Inspector of Prisons has said.

Row over acupuncture for prisoners
UK: The Home Office has responded to criticism over prison inmates who are being offered acupuncture on the NHS in order to relieve stress.

Number of prisoners sent back to jail trebles
UK: The number of prisoners being sent back to jail after release has nearly trebled in the past five years, according to a report published today.

Top judge says crowded prisons cannot break cycle of crime
UK: Reoffending rates after a prison sentence are at an "unacceptably high level" and the failure of the criminal justice system to stop prisoners reoffending should shock the public, England's top judge, [Ruling Class] Lord Woolf, said last week.

All the World's a Prison: History
No doubt many of my readers, even those who are well-educated or widely read, think that the prison -- the place where dark deeds are darkly answered[2] -- is an ancient institution, a barbaric hold-over from barbaric times. In fact, the prison is of relatively recent origin, and this tells us a great deal about the pretentions and realities of modern times, and the wisdom and high degree of development of the ancients.

Decade after inspector left in disgust, report tells of filth
UK: Dirty, mice-infested cells, high levels of self-harm, and widespread bullying over drugs and medications were just some of the damning findings of a report into conditions at Holloway, Britain's largest women's prison.

Most women 'should not be jailed'
Women make up 6% of the prison population in England and Wales. Imprisonment of women should be "virtually abolished", a prison reform group has said.

Youth 'murdered for officers' pleasure'
UK: An Asian teenager was murdered by a white racist after they were placed in the same cell as part of a game to fulfil the "perverted pleasure" of prison officers, a public inquiry heard on Friday.

Deaths in isolation as prison segregation increases
The use of segregation [solitary confinement] of prisoners as punishment has been increasing recently in Australia, the US, and the UK. Segregation can be used for protection or punishment, but in both cases it results in extreme psychological stress. An indication that segregation is being over-used is the appearance of deaths in custody from suicide of those placed in segregation.

Inquest blames jail for overdose death
UK: An inquest jury returned a verdict itemising a catalogue of faults at Styal prison in Cheshire, concluding that the prison's "failure of duty of care" contributed to the death of Sarah Campbell, 18, who took an overdose of tablets on the first day of her three-year sentence.

Put in the way of self-harm in a place intended to protect others
UK: Sarah Campbell, 18, spent the last hours of her life in the segregation unit of Styal prison, Cheshire. "The seg", as those places are referred to, used to be known as "the block", short for punishment block. [ Seg is a bullshit word for Punishment, Solitary Confinement, Torture, Mental Illness, Self-Harm, Human Rights Abuse and that is State Terror.]

Britain 'sliding into police state'
The home secretary, Charles Clarke, is transforming Britain into a police state, one of the country's former leading anti-terrorist police chiefs [false flag police chiefs] said yesterday.

UK solitary confinement
UK: Segregation units are prisons within prisons - the places where the most unchecked brutality is meted out to prisoners. In recent years conditions in high security segregation units have deteriorated, and the use of long-term segregation as a control mechanism has increased.

Inquiry must root out prison racists
UK: It is difficult to imagine a more brutal murder than that of Zahid Mubarek. The 19-year-old was clubbed to death by his cellmate at Feltham Young Offender Institution in the early hours of 21 March 2000. He was due to be released just a few hours later.

Prison suicides soar as jails hire 'babysitters'
UK: Prison officers are being taken off suicide watch and replaced by unqualified 'babysitters' because the system is overwhelmed by an epidemic of self-harm.

Plan to sell off juvenile jails as job lot
UK: The government is to put out to tender all its dedicated juvenile jails that hold children under 18 in a departure in Whitehall's privatisation programme.

Failure to sack 'racist' prison staff condemned
UK: Two prison officers suspended for racism are still on full pay three years after a stash of Nazi memorabilia, neo-fascist literature and Ku Klux Klan-inspired 'nigger-hunting licences' was found in a police raid on their home.

Report slams 'unjust' jailing of women on remand
UK: Six out of 10 women sent to jail while they await trial are acquitted or given a non-custodial sentence, a report published today reveals. Introducing the report, Lady Kennedy QC calls for a complete review of the use of remand and bail for women saying it is "inhumane and unjust".

Concern as UK prison suicides hit record level
UK: More prisoners took their own lives in English jails in August than in any other month since records began, prison reformers said today.

End of years of despair as Holloway closes its doors
But now Holloway prison in north London - where Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain, was hanged in 1955 - has been earmarked for closure, along with several other women's prisons, which have been hit by a spate of suicides.

How detox and self-help brought suicide jail back from the brink
UK: Six suicides in 12 months made Styal jail notorious and the Prisons Ombudsman criticised the prison and its staff for serious failures. But things are changing.

Belmarsh detainees consider suicide, says freed man
UK: The first of the Muslim detainees released from Belmarsh high security prison after being held on suspicion of terrorism has told the Guardian his fellow prisoners are suffering such severe mental problems that they constantly consider suicide.

Suicides and unrest have soared, admits Home Office
UK:The already overcrowded prison population is set to go on rising and will top 80,000 within the next three years, a senior Home Office civil servant warned yesterday.

England tops the EU in imprisonment
England and Wales jail more offenders per capita than any other European, Union country, according to new figures.

Unlawful Parole Considerations

Probation and Parole Officers fulfill an important role within the criminal justice system by supervising, managing and providing assistance to offenders on conditional liberty?

To: NSW Parole Board, Department of Corrective Services and the Carr Government

The NSW Parole Board and the Department of Corrective Services are acting in breach of sentencing law principles, and managing offenders contrary to Judge imposed sentences.

The Department of Corrective Services is managing the writer as a sex offender even though I am not lawfully serving a sentence for a sex related offence. I have been refused release to parole since April 2003 because I have not admitted guilt to a sexual offence that the sentence for expired in April 2000.

In 1993 I was sentenced to a set of 7 year fixed term of imprisonment for a sexual assault of a 19 year-old female. That sentence was imposed from 1 May 1993 and expired on 30 April 2000. I was further sentenced to a set of 3 year minimum terms of imprisonment with additional terms of 4 years for robbery whilst armed offences. That sentence was imposed from 30 April 2000 and to expire on 30 April 2007. The two sets of sentences are cumulative and the sole non-parole period was imposed for the robbery whilst armed offences.

Pursuant to a policy of the Department of Corrective Services I am being managed as a sex offender and being refused parole based on the sexual offence long after such a sentence has expired. In all parole considerations thus far not once has the Parole Board referred to the robbery whilst armed offences even though the sole parole period was imposed for such offences.

The department policy that permits this is the 'Guidelines for the Protection of Victims of Abuse and the Management of Sex Offenders'. This policy conflicts with sentencing law principles and with imposed sentences. The sentencing laws do not contain any provisions to hold offenders accountable for an offence after such a sentence has expired. The said departmental policy is in breach of sentencing law principles and could be seen to override statute law because it does hold people accountable for an offence after such a sentence has expired.

The totality principle as expressed by the Sentencing Judge was that I to serve lengthy time in prison, i.e. at lest 10 years. As of 30 April 2005 I've been in prison for 12 years. Regardless of the totality principal the sentence for the sexual offence was a fixed term and expired in April 2000. My guilt or innocence for the sexual offence is irrelevant because the sentence for that offence has long expired. I am not a repeat offender in the sense that I have no priors for sexual or robbery type offences.

The Carr Government should ensure that the Parole Board and the Department of Corrective Services acts in accordance with sentencing law principles and with imposed sentences.

The Carr Government has been contacted in this regard a number of occasions but the Premier and the Minister for Justice, Mr Carr and The Hon J Hatzistergos respectively, are not interested and refuse to take any action.

I have advised the Parole Board and the Carr Government that if the Parole Board continues to consider the sexual offence relevant for a parole order that I will refuse parole if granted on principle and will therefore be released with no parole or supervision after 14 years at the expiry of the full term.

I argue that it cannot be in the public's best interest to have offenders released at the expiry of their full terms with no parole supervision, especially long-term inmates like myself. On the other hand it is in the public's interest to release offenders under parole supervision regardless of the type of offence and whether or not the offender has admitted guilt.

The Parole Board is in breach of their Duty-of-Care owed to the public by not ensuring supervised release of offender, such as myself. Because of the Car Government's non-action in this case the Government seems to support and sanction the Parole Board's unlawful actions and failures to the public's duty-of-Care.

The Parole Board and the Carr Government must be held to account and must answer for this situation.

By John D. McCallum 31 January 05

Related:

Australia

NSW Parole Board and the Politics of NSW Prisons
I refer to my complaints that the Parole Board and the Department of Corrective Services are acting contrary to imposed sentences and sentencing law principles.

Prison boom will prove a social bust
Hardened criminals are not filling NSW's prisons - the mentally ill and socially disadvantaged are, writes Eileen Baldry.

The prison system requires assiduous oversight
As NSW Attorney General Bob Debus noted in 1996: "The kinds of complaints which occur in the system may seem trivial to outsiders but in the superheated world of the prison, such issues can produce explosive results."

Crime and Punishment
Mark Findlay argues that the present psychological approach to prison programs is increasing the likelihood of re-offending and the threat to community safety.

Government justice not personal justice
Mr Brett Collins of Justice Action said, "Victims should be looked after properly by implementing restorative justice measures and victims should be compensated for their pain and suffering. " However prisoners are entitled to serve their sentences in peace and privacy as well."

Carr Govt dramatic increases in the NSW prisoner pop...
Following the opening of the 500 bed Kempsey prison, and a new 200-bed prison for women at Windsor the Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS) and community organisations specialising in the rehabilitation of prisoners, have expressed concern....

New Zealand

More jails will create more crime says expert
NZ: Once a world leader in restorative justice, New Zealand is regressing by locking more people up for longer, visiting expert Sir Charles Pollard says.

USA

US Challenges of Parole Denials rejected
The California Supreme Court decided Monday to limit sharply the ability of inmates to challenge parole denials, ruling that the parole board has the right to keep a convict in prison simply because of the nature of the crime that sent him there.

New Strategies for Curbing Recidivism
US: State and federal lawmakers are finally realizing that controlling prison costs means controlling recidivism - by helping newly released people establish viable lives once they get out of jail.

Prison System Fails Women, Study Says
State policies designed for violent men make female offenders' rehabilitation difficult, an oversight panel finds. "If we fail to intervene effectively in the lives of these women and their children now, California will pay the cost for generations to come," said Commissioner Teddie Ray, chairwoman of the subcommittee that produced the report.

Restorative Justice and the Law
To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe."-- Marilyn vos Savant.

Restorative Justice Practices
Restorative Justice Practices of Native American, First Nation and Other Indigenous People of North America. This is part one in a series of articles about restorative justice practices of Native American, First Nation and other indigenous people of North America. The series is not intended to be all-inclusive, but rather a broad thematic overview. A related eForum article, "The Wet'suwet'en Unlocking Aboriginal Justice Program: Restorative Practices in British Columbia, Canada," can be read at:

The Long Trail to Apology
Native America: All manner of unusual things can happen in Washington in an election year, but few seem so refreshing as a proposed official apology from the federal government to American Indians - the first ever - for the "violence, maltreatment and neglect" inflicted upon the tribes for centuries.

England and Wales

Winning goals: Rethinking Crime and Punishment
I would reallocate resources within the prison service budget to give a higher priority to rehabilitation, retraining for future employment, and an improvement in literacy standards. During my own prison journey I was struck by the astoundingly high levels of illiteracy among prisoners. Tests show that about a third of all prisoners read and write at skill levels below those of 11-year-old schoolchildren.

London police may moor prison ship on Thames
UK: The London police are holding discussions about possibly mooring a prison ship on the River Thames in a bid to ease pressure on the spiralling prisoner population.

Prisons accused of ignoring age trend
UK: A 70-year-old prisoner who uses a wheelchair has to pay "unofficial helpers" six chocolate bars a week to help him get around and to collect his meals, according to an investigation by the chief inspector of prisons into the growing number of elderly inmates.

law and order days over, says Blair

Labour's crime plan includes satellite tracking of 5,000 worst offenders.

UK: [War criminal],Tony Blair will today make the provocative claim that Labour's new five-year crime plan heralds "the end of the 1960s liberal consensus on law and order" by putting the values of the law-abiding majority at the centre of the criminal justice system.

[? criminal law system, and ruling class at that it's a pity Blair didn't lead by some form of example.]

In tandem with the home secretary, David Blunkett, who has also attacked "Hampstead liberals" in the past, the prime minister will seek to refocus public attention on a key feature of the domestic agenda which is of growing concern to Labour voters. While insisting that the sixties removed ugly prejudices and expanded individual freedoms, Blair is expected to concede that the new lifestyles did not sufficiently foster responsibility to others, family discipline or role models - and focused the law and order system too much on offenders' rights. [?]

[How about a New World Order? That's OWN spelt backwoods.]

In less populist terms an expansion of the national DNA database and new satellite tracking technology to keep tabs on Britain's 5,000 most prolific offenders are at the core of the Home Office's five year anti-crime plan being published by Blunkett today. It will be matched by a new approach to neighbourhood policing, with "community-focused justice" at the centre of the government's next phase of its drive against antisocial behaviour.

[Like cattle people will be owned and tracked around the clock and any profiled DNA used to plant evidence at crime scenes for a noble cause like false flag operations. Big brother breathing down people's necks 24/7. There is no justice in that, only law brought about by the ruling class.]

But Blair, who faces another gruelling week to re-establish his authority, will seek to sex it up by appealing to the kind of Middle Britain anxieties that marked last week's score-draw byelections.

[Like he sexed up the WMD in Iraq to illegally and pre-emptively strike, occupy and commit genocide on the sovereign nation!]

Thatcherism's economic reforms further fragmented the social cohesion of communities, he will suggest. "People do not want a return to old prejudices and ugly discrimination. But they want rules, order and proper behaviour.

They know there is such a thing as society. They want the society of respect and responsibility, they want a community where the decent law-abiding majority are in charge, where those who play by the rules do well and those who do not get punished," he is expected to say.

[Then why didn't he lead by some form of example as a law abiding person? No one believes a criminal and a liar.]

To this end the number of "trailblazer" areas to tackle antisocial behaviour is to be expanded from 10 to 50. Police and community safety workers will be expected to identify and deal with the 50 worst offenders in each of the rundown communities.

Blunkett hopes they will develop a new way of policing which will see a team based in each neighbourhood with forums so that residents can determine their priorities for action. They will be given the specific crime figures for their neighbourhood with league tables showing how they compare with similar communities.

[After police 'identify and deal' they won't be trusted as much and therefore less likely to be informed about community common knowledge and crime because they will be hated. So they will not get many people actually giving them information because police won't be trusted.]

New measures are also expected to improve the treatment of victims and witnesses by the criminal justice system, [? criminal law system], including the appointment of a dedicated witness officer in every court to ensure they are kept fully informed.

The emphasis on targets appears to contradict Labour's declared wish to cut them and, in an article in the Guardian, today, [ruling class tabloid run stooges], the Blairite ex-minister, Stephen Byers, warns the prime minister that the style that used to work for him - "identify the polar opposites in any debate and then position yourself in the middle" - is no longer enough.

"This is the time for New Labour to define itself positively, not negatively," writes Mr Byers. Labour's crime, transport and defence plans are all due this week, before Mr Blair faces critics at the party's national policy forum at the weekend.

Today's plan will explain how Blunkett intends to meet his unprecedented pledge to cut crime by 15% within three years. This week's new crime figures are expected to show that overall crime remains stable, but violent crime, especially alcohol-related incidents, continues to rise. Blair now admits that the police were the least fit public service in 1997 and argues that renewed community policing, tackling the offence rather than the offender; and giving the police the necessary powers to restore respect on the streets are crucial.

[Of course the tax on alcohol that the government takes wouldn't have anything to do with alcohol-related incidents would it? And if police are in people's faces then it could backfire as well, especially giving them more powers? That could mean less dialogue and more violence. So how is that going to restore respect?]

Blunkett yesterday talked of the problems arising from a new breed of "lager loutettes" with the number of women drinking over the safe limit of 21 units a week rising from 14% to 33%. He said they were changing the nature of pub culture and the presence of women in the bar was no longer necessarily the calming influence on young men starting to lay about each other that it might have been in the past.

Ministers hope the extra 15,000 civilian police community support officers announced last week combined with more fixed penalty notices will underline the new drive against low-level offending that blights communities.

It will be underpinned by a growth in youth inclusion projects which offer sports and mentoring focused on out-of-control "feral teenage children" in high crime areas. But the five-year plan will also place a strong emphasis on using new technology to cut crime.

Satellite technology is to be used to tag and track offenders after they have been released from prison and while they are serving community penalties such as work orders. Ministers hope that this new generation of electronic tagging will enable the police and probation services to know where offenders have been, including scenes of crime, and help boost public confidence in alternatives to prison.

[Like cattle the community and not just offenders will be monitored in the future. The'll want to know where all the slave cattle are and in what yard.]

A decision is to be made later this summer on whether sex offenders will also face compulsory lie detector tests after their release from prison to ensure that they have no intention of reoffending.

[Sex offenders the most unpopular are the first category to open up big brothers infringments on civil rights. First they came for the sex offenders and I did nothing because I hated sex offenders. Then they came for scapegoats and patsies and called them terrorists using false flag operations and I did nothing. Then they came for me.]

A new national register of violent and sex offenders containing details of the 5,000 most prolific offenders is also to be developed to give the police instant access to the most accurate and detailed information on all known dangerous offenders.

The controversial national DNA database will also get a funding boost to ensure that it contains samples from all known prolific active offenders and kept up to date.

[DNA samples are dangerouse because athorities can lift a bit of a persons DNA in custody or by some means and plant it at a crime scene. Then as they already have a persons DNA profile so they can then claim they have found a match to that crime scene and have someone locked up for a crime they didn't commit.]

Their 3D-iD system is ideal for both stationary assets, such as large physical inventories or for mobile assets like people and portable equipment. 3D-iD is developed around patent-pending technology based on pseudonoise research conducted by the U.S. Department of Defense, [war.]

PinPoint has applied this research to create L3RF Tags (Long Range, Long Life, and Low Cost Radio Frequency). 3D-iD can read signals from distances of up to 200 feet to within a -+10 feet resolution.

As no line of sight is required, Tags can be seen through walls, closets, desks and doors. The result is a complete Local Positioning System.

To achieve this breakthrough, 3D-iD takes advantage of recent advances in radio tagging, battery storage and life, low-cost microcomputer technology, digital signal processing and enterprise data management.

By Alan Travis, Michael White and edited by Gregory Kable 19 July 04

Today Paedophiles TOMORROW You!

To suggest there is a need to restrict their movement is rubbish! This is a grab for civil liberties in NSW and it offends everyone else who is free to associate because soon it could be you who is restricted or someone you know.

Related DNA Links Updated 2009:

DNA Police

Related Prison Links:

Prison service 'on brink of a race crisis'
Britain's jails are plagued by a culture of racism among a hard core of officers and have been rocked by allegations that black prisoners have been made to fight white inmates, [prisoners], for the amusement of warders, according to the union chief in charge of 33,500 officers.

How detox and self-help brought suicide jail back from the brink
UK: Six suicides in 12 months made Styal prison notorious and the Prisons Ombudsman criticised the prison and its staff for serious failures. But things are changing.

Restorative Justice Practices
Restorative Justice Practices of Native American, First Nation and Other Indigenous People of North America: Part One BY LAURA MIRSKY.This is part one in a series of articles about restorative justice practices of Native American, First Nation and other indigenous people of North America.

UK: The injustice of jail
UK: Give or take Alcatraz, few prisons have a grimmer reputation than Holloway. The former chief inspector, David Ramsbotham, once declared it too disgusting to assess. Others have called the jail's cockroach-infested blocks the worst in the country. Holloway, its image pitched somewhere between Dante's Inferno and the penitentiary wing of Fawlty Towers, has never seemed a candidate for a good slammer award.

Belmarsh prisoners consider suicide, says freed man
UK: The first of the Muslim prisoners released from Belmarsh high security prison after being held on suspicion of terrorism, [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killing's resource war's in the Middle East], has [said], his fellow prisoners are suffering such 'severe mental problems' that they constantly consider suicide.

Revolving door: Criminal Law System
UK: They are just the opposite of master criminals. Indeed, in the words of Nick Davies in his latest three-part Guardian series on the criminal justice system, [? criminal law system], their criminal careers reflect "the same muddled inadequacy as they handle the rest of their lives". They were nearly all born and raised in chaos.

How the Prison Service Works
1.Abuse and torture inmates at HMP Wormwood Scrubs
2.Take years to admit a regime of violence and torture.
3.Settle 46 claims, paying 1.7 million to prisoners.
5.Carry on as before.
4.Keep 11 of the 14 prison officers responsible in their jobs.

Prisoners must get right to vote, says court
UK: The government will be forced to lift a ban on prisoners voting dating back to 1870 after the European court of human rights ruled yesterday it breached a lifer's human rights.

Cherie calls for women to be kept out of jail
UK: Cherie Booth today launches an impassioned attack on the jailing of women, warning of a 'cycle of poverty and crime' spiralling down the generations unless more female criminals are spared prison.

Blunkett charges miscarriage of justice victims 'food and lodgings'
UK: WHAT do you give someone who's been proved innocent after spending the best part of their life behind bars, wrongfully convicted of a crime they didn't commit? An apology, maybe? Counselling? Champagne?Compensation?

Prison needle cleansing programme
The Department of Health and the Prison Service appeared to be at odds last night over a needle cleansing programme designed to protect prisoners from blood-borne infections such as HIV and hepatitis.

England tops the EU in imprisonment
England and Wales jail more offenders per capita than any other European, Union country, according to new figures. The imprisonment rate of 141 per 100,000 makes the countries the prison capital of Europe for the second year running.

Don't put mothers behind bars
If we are to arrest the soaring prison suicide rate among women, we need to look at alternative punishment.

UK Prison Abuse: Guards Holding Nooses
'We will kill you. We will get away with it... we've done it before' Prisoners tell of hanging threats by officers holding nooses.

K K K in the UK
In the documentary it is alleged an officer dressed in a Ku Klux Klan mask at a training centre in north-west England. An undercover reporter from the BBC also claimed to have taped racist comments by some officers.

Suicides and unrest have soared, admits Home Office
UK:The already overcrowded prison population is set to go on rising and will top 80,000 within the next three years, a senior Home Office civil servant warned yesterday.

My Sarah was smart and talented - Why did she die in jail?
LONDON: Sarah Campbell was just 18 when she killed herself [? committed suicide,] one of seven women to die in jail this year. Our correspondent asks why so many women kill themselves in prison [? commit suicide in prison.]

The U.S. system of 'justice' is a tragic joke

US: Police abuse, and sometimes kill, innocent persons at will. Cops plant evidence, they lie, they coerce confessions and they commit perjury. Many are, simply, criminals.

Prosecutors suborn perjury. They introduce "evidence" they know is false, they fail to disclose and try to suppress exculpatory evidence and they knowingly prosecute innocent people.

The laws against some drugs are primarily a means to give the cops an open-ended warrant for search and seizure and a mechanism to keep poor people, young people and especially poor, young *black* people fearful, off-balance and easy to control.

The law that mandates heavier penalties for crack cocaine possession than for the powdered Hollywood variety is an outrageous act of oppression aimed at ensuring that blacks are punished more harshly than whites for the same offence.

Criminal court judges, for the most part, are in collusion with the cops and prosecutors and many wouldn't know justice if God came down from Heaven and handed it to them on a golden platter.

The result is that almost one in four (23 percent) black men in the age group 20-29 is either in prison, jail, on probation, or parole on any given day (four times that of whites). The number of young black men under the control of the criminal justice system, [criminal law system], is greater than the total number of black men of all ages enrolled in college as of 1996.

That the system is a blunt weapon for the continued oppression of black people - and, in a larger sense, poor people - is so obvious it needs no further assertion.

The prisons are overflowing with people who have never harmed a soul, and uncounted thousands who are innocent of the crimes they were convicted of.

The system must be brought down. It must be strangled, clogged and made so unworkable that it collapses under its own corrupt weight. Once the system grinds to a halt, the powers-that-be will panic, the legislators will be forced to act and the laws will change.

Accomplishing this may not be as difficult as it sounds. What it will take is to educate young people - and especially young BLACK people - to follow a few simple rules when dealing with the authorities.

The rules should be posted in foot-high letters on billboards in every city. They should be scrawled as graffiti on every ghetto wall. They should be taped to lockers in schools and carved into police-cell walls and posted all over the Internet. They should be set to a beat and turned into a hip-hop song. They should be seen wherever people who are the system's favourite targets gather.

If everyone followed the rules to the letter, the system would stumble to a halt under its own ponderous weight. And then, either the laws would change in an attempt to eliminate injustice, or the system would forced to cast off its mask and reveal the monster police state lurking underneath.

If that happens, there can be only one response, and that's to take it to the streets, dismantle the motherfucker and start afresh.

The rules fall into two categories: Stymie the Cops, and Get Your Rights - ALL Your Rights.

You've waited long enough. Here are

THE RULES OF RESISTANCE

NEVER tell the police anything the law doesn't require you to tell.

(According to a disastrous U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 2004, that means your name only [unless you're driving a car]. Practice these words for all other cop questions: "I'd rather not say.")

NEVER consent to a search of your person, your vehicle, your possessions or your residence.

(Insist they get a warrant. If they search without one, they generally can't use as evidence whatever they might find.)

NEVER confess. To anything. Never admit to anything.

(If arrested, say "I want to speak to a lawyer." Say nothing until you have. Never believe the cops when they tell you things will "go easier with you" if you give a statement, turn in your partner or point them towards evidence. This is the biggest lie cops tell, everyone knows it and yet, dumb motherfuckers fall for it every day. Don't be a dumb motherfucker.)

NEVER discuss your case with cellmates or others in or out of jail.

(Assume everyone you meet in jail is a police informant. Many of them are.)

NEVER plea bargain.

ALWAYS demand a lawyer.

(From the moment you are arrested, tell the cops you want to speak to a lawyer.

At the police station, tell everyone you come into contact with that you want a lawyer. Don't talk to the cops until you've spoken with a lawyer.)

ALWAYS plead not guilty.

(Even if you're guilty as hell. Make them prove it. Often, they won't be able to if you don't help them.)

ALWAYS demand a full jury trial.

(Use the rights you have. Challenge jurors. Drag out the process. Make it as expensive as possible for the State.)

ALWAYS appeal, if you are convicted.

ALWAYS pass on these rules to everyone you know.

There they are. Ten simple rules that hold awesome power.

Skeptical? Good. But think about it.

Can you imagine what the impact would be on the system if every single mother's son picked up by the cops refused to co-operate? Refused to tell them where he threw the dope, declined to identify the other dudes who were hanging out on the street corner, withheld permission for a search, demanded a lawyer, refused to confess or make a deal and insisted on a trial, complete with a jury of his peers? Do you think the system could withstand that for long?

It could not. The system sustains itself only because it is a revolving door into which the vast majority of its victims are sucked into the vicious vortex of arrest, bargain, confession, guilty plea, prison. Kind of like a giant garbage disposal unit.

But there are not enough public defenders to represent even a small percentage of charged persons if *everyone* demanded a lawyer and pleaded not guilty, not enough prosecutors to prosecute them, not enough courtrooms to try them in and not enough judges to fall asleep during their trials. Just finding enough people to sit on the vastly increased number of juries that would be required would throttle the system into paralysis.

And consider the effects on the police, if they knew that every single sonofabitch they charged would eventually face them in court, demanding to see their evidence, with a lawyer at their side to challenge their every lie.

The costs of running the system would rise astronomically. It could not be sustained. Things would change. And change is good.

So here they are again. The rules. Pass them on. Post them. Give them to your friends.

Think about it - revolution without firing a shot.

You have nothing to lose except the gun in your back.

THE RULES OF RESISTANCE

NEVER tell the police anything.
NEVER consent to a search.
NEVER confess.
NEVER discuss your case with others.
NEVER plea bargain.
ALWAYS demand a lawyer.
ALWAYS plead not guilty.
ALWAYS demand a full jury trial.
ALWAYS appeal, if you are convicted.
ALWAYS pass on these rules.

"Where you find the laws most numerous, there you will find also the greatest injustice." - Arcesilaus.

By Everyone Knows It 5 July 04

Ed: Actually there is no justice in laws made by the ruling class, only their rule of law in their institutions. Justice is the word they use but, it is 'US Law' and much of police corruption starts out as 'Noble Cause Corruption' because The Government is the Problem. Then once the cops get used to that 'Green Light' then, 'Monkey See Monkey Do', for themselves of course, and straight out Police Corruption is born.

Remembering the Common Hood Soweto and Runnymede

I flew from Detroit, with one stop, to the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg to participate in an international conference, The Promise of Freedom and its Practice: Global Perspectives on South Africa's Decade of Democracy.

Related:

The Long Trail to Apology
Native America: All manner of unusual things can happen in Washington in an election year, but few seem so refreshing as a proposed official apology from the federal government to American Indians - the first ever - for the "violence, maltreatment and neglect" inflicted upon the tribes for centuries.

Free-speech lockdown
As state prisoners, we have long been portrayed by advocates of the tough-on-crime movement as a faceless and heartless amalgam deserving extreme punishment and permanent incapacitation.

Abu Ghraib, USA
When I first saw the photo, taken at the Abu Ghraib prison, of a hooded and robed figure strung with electrical wiring, I thought of the Sacramento, California, city jail.

SACRAMENTO: Prisons to reform solitary confinement rules
US: Sacramento -- California corrections officials will revamp procedures used to keep thousands of prisoners isolated in tiny cells in some of the most remote lockups in the state, according to the settlement of a 10-year-old lawsuit brought by a jailhouse lawyer doing time at Pelican Bay State Prison.

Silencing the Cells: Mass Incarceration and Legal Repression in U.S. Prisons People without a voice are not people in any meaningful sense of the word. Silenced people cannot express their ideas; they can neither consent nor protest. They are reduced to being pawns in the schemes of the powerful, mendicants who must accept whatever is imposed upon them. In order to keep people in a state of subjugation, silencing their voices is essential. Nowhere is this clearer than in U.S. prisons.

USA: An ugly prison record
US: For a nation founded on slavery and genocide, Americans retain an astonishingly enduring faith in their continuing righteousness. They are sounding this note again as the prison torture scandal continues in Iraq.

From Terrell Unit in Texas to Abu Ghraib Doesn't It Ring a (Prison) Bell If the president wasn't so forthright about his disinterest in the world, it would have been hard to believe him Wednesday when he said the abuse in Abu Ghraib prison "doesn't represent the America I know." But being stripped, hooded and urinated on while your friend is forced to masturbate next to you? The only member of the Bush clan who knows about that kind of thing is Jenna.

Restorative Justice Practices
This is part one in a series of articles about restorative justice practices of Native American, First Nation and other indigenous people of North America. Part one of this series includes inter- views with three justice practitioners of the southwestern United States:

USA: Problems, blame abound in prison system
A correctional officer, [guard], watches over the central exercise yard at Folsom State Prison. California built 21 prisons and tripled prison staff as the statewide inmate, [prisoner], population grew in the '80s and '90s.

Mistreatment of Prisoners Is Called Routine in U.S.
Physical and sexual abuse of prisoners, similar to what has been uncovered in Iraq, takes place in American prisons with little public knowledge or concern, according to corrections officials, inmates, [prisoners], and human rights advocates.

A Catch-22 for Ex-Offenders
Tuesday, April 6, 2004 -- As the Bush administration focuses attention on ex-offenders with its modest program to help them return to the community, an eye-opening new study shows that the effort will require a lot more than re-entry programs.

A Quite Deliberate Failure: Reflections on the Politics of Crime
Though it is always difficult to predict the outcome of an election in the United States, it is quite a bit easier to make accurate pronouncements about the way in which an election campaign will unfold.

Personal Voices: America From Inside Federal Prison
I offer these thoughts to readers who may have an interest in knowing how the growing American prison population perceives the electoral process. Elections are the essence of democracy; they give each eligible voter an opportunity to be heard.

Fighting for Florida: Disenfranchised Florida Felons Struggle to Regain Their Rights US: TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Jeb Bush looked out over a roomful of felons appealing to him for something they had lost, and tried to reassure them.

Abolish the Security Housing Units: MIM
March 6 -- Protesters took to the streets in cities across the state of California to demand California prisons shut down the Security Housing Units (SHU). Like other control unit prisons across the country, the SHU are prisons within a prison. They are solitary confinement cells where prisoners are locked up 23 hours a day for years at a time. The one hour a day these prisoner sometimes get outside of their cell is spent alone in an exercise pen not much larger than their cell, with no direct sunlight.

USA: Sobering Prison Statistics
US: If recent incarceration rates remain unchanged, an estimated 1 out of every 20 persons (5.1%) will serve time in a prison during their lifetime.

Helping Prisoners Find Their Way Home?
Antonio Pinder used to be scared of returning home from prison, stricken by fear that he would fall back into the life that landed him behind bars. He hadn't had a steady job before he was sent away 13 years ago, and he worried that he never would. A year out of prison, he is still searching for work.

US Prison system ending love affair with incarceration?
After 25 years of explosive growth in the U.S. prison system, is this country finally ending its love affair with incarceration? Perhaps, but as in any abusive relationship, breaking up will be hard to do.

CONS COMMIT CRIMES IN HASTE, NOW CAN REPENT AT LAWTEY - -- Gov. Jeb Bush, in a Christmas Eve address to prisoners at the nation's first ''faith-based'' prison, in North Florida.

CURE --- Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants
CURE --- is a nation-wide grass roots organization dedicated to reducing crime through reform of the criminal justice system.[Criminal Law System.]

The Truth About Private Prisons
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation's largest operator of prisons for profit, is celebrating its 20th anniversary throughout this year "at both the company's corporate Nashville office and at all of the more than 60 prisons, jails and detention centers under CCA ownership and/or management."

CCA PRIVATE PRISONS: REPORT GRASSROOTS LEADERSHIP
New National Study of Corrections Corporation of America Warns Investors and Legislators of Risky Investment. Report explores continuing operational and financial problems; questions CCA's long-term viability as states reassess prison policies.

Finally, States Release The Pressure on Prisons?
US: After decades of massive prison growth, America may be ending its love affair with incarceration. Policymakers around the country, some of whom previously supported ratcheting up punishments, have begun to rethink the wisdom of unbridled prison expansion, and are advocating alternatives to simply "locking them up and throwing away the key."

California Parole System Deemed 'Broken'
SACRAMENTO, Calif: California spends $1.5 billion annually on parolees who mostly fail and are sent back behind bars because they are no better prepared for life on the outside than the day they entered prison, according to a report.

People with Mental Retardation in the Criminal Justice System
Based on the 1990 census, an estimated 6.2 to 7.5 million people in the United States have mental retardation. Various studies have suggested between 2 percent to 10 percent of the prison population has mental retardation.

USA: With Cash Tight, States Reassess Long Jail Terms
OLYMPIA, Wash., Nov. 6 - After two decades of passing ever tougher sentencing laws and prompting a prison building boom, state legislatures facing budget crises are beginning to rethink their costly approaches to crime.

A STRUGGLE ON TWO FRONTS: PRISONS & IMPERIALIST WAR
After a war waged by the U.S. military against Vietnam which took the lives of more than 3 million Vietnamese people and more than 58,000 GIs, the U.S. finally withdrew in 1975. It had suffered its first official major military defeat by a united people struggle led by the Vietnamese, along with a mass U.S. anti-war movement.

Report on State Prisons Cites Mental Illness
NEW YORK: Nearly one of every four New York State prisoners who are kept in punitive segregation [solitary confinement], confined to a small cell at least 23 hours a day are mentally ill, according to a new report by a nonprofit group that has been critical of state prison policies.

High court keeps alive case of prisoners held in solitary
NEW ORLEANS: The nation's highest court refused Monday to kill a lawsuit brought by two prisoners and an ex-prisoner at the Louisiana State Penitentiary who spent decades in solitary confinement.

US: Mentally Ill Mistreated in Prison More Mentally Ill in Prison Than in Hospitals (New York, October 22, 2003) Mentally ill offenders face mistreatment and neglect in many U.S. prisons, Human Rights Watch. "Prisons have become the nation's primary mental health facilities. But for those with serious illnesses, prison can be the worst place to be."

Shut down the Security Torture Units
San Francisco: October 18 In solidarity with other prison activist organizations, MIM, RAIL, the Barrio Defense Committee (BDC) and the Prison Reform Unity Project held a four hour rally in San Francisco demanding the Security Housing Units (SHUs) in California prisons be shut down.

Solitary Confinement: Mental illness in prisons
As noted earlier, inmates [prisoners] with mental illness are over represented in our toughest prison settings. Symptoms of mental illness (i.e., delays in response time, paranoia, difficulty interpreting the actions of others, command hallucinations, and so on) can make complying with prison rules difficult.

Post-Incarceration Sentences
Pat: "The 1990s brought a new front in the war on drugs, featuring a new layer of the Prison Industrial Complex, which has the effect of ensuring that people coming in contact with the criminal punishment system remain within the grasp of the Prison Industrial Complex even beyond prison walls."

Inside Prison, Outside the Law
Every year, tens of thousands of prisoners in state and federal custody are attacked. The exact number who die is difficult to determine: According to the nonprofit Criminal Justice Institute, in 2000, the most recent year for which figures have been compiled, 55 prisoners were murdered, 39 died "accidentally," and 118 died for unknown reasons.

Day Seven of the Fast for Freedom in Mental Health:
PASADENA, CALIF: On the seventh day of a hunger strike by six psychiatric survivors to oppose human rights violations in the mental health system, the American Psychiatric Association faces a direct and unprecedented challenge from a Scientific Panel of 14 academics and clinicians.

Supreme Court Justice Criticises Sentencing Guidelines
San Francisco, August 9, 2003, Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said today that prison terms are too long and that he favours scrapping the practice of setting mandatory minimum sentences for some federal crimes.

US prison population 2.1 million
The US prison population grew more than twice as fast last year as in 2001, bringing the total number of people held behind bars in the United States to more than 2.1 million, a record, according to a government report.

McKean Federal Prison: An Alleged Model
McKean, a federal correctional institution [? prison], does everything that "make 'em bust rocks" politicians decry--imagine, educating inmates [prisoners]! And it works. [Allegedly works.]

Prisoners Justice Day Press Release (Montreal)
On August 10th, 1974, Eddie Nalon bled to death in a solitary confinement unit at Millhaven Maximum Security Prison near Kingston,Ontario when the emergency call button in his cell failed to work. An inquest later found that the call buttons in that unit had been deactivated by the guards.

Notebook of a Prison Abolitionist
In his autobiography, Frederick Douglass recalls how as a slave he would occasionally hear of the "abolitionists." He did not know the full meaning of the word at first, but he heard it used in ways that he found appealing.

Study Warns of Rising Tide of Released Prisoners
Washington: More than 625,000 former prisoners will be coming back into U.S. society this year, part of a record flow of prisoners who will face crushing obstacles in finding work and housing and repairing long-fractured family ties, according to a newly released study.

Incite Statement Gender Violence and the Prison Industrial Complex
We call social justice movements to develop strategies and analysis that address both state AND interpersonal violence, particularly violence against women.

Second International Conference on Human Rights & Prison Reform
**This second gathering will be much smaller and more in depth in participation. A report on the human rights violation of discrimination in regard to prisoners will be produced. This report will be given to the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights which will be having its annual meeting near our conference and is the"think tank" for the human rights agenda of the United Nations.

Judged Forever- The Orange County Register
US: California's largest job-placement program for parolees will be shut down May 31 after an Orange County Register investigation found that ex-convicts were sent to questionable jobs [?] and that the state was charged for placements that did not occur. [? According to the ruling-class]

California Family Visiting Case
US: CALIFORNIA: Today (5/03/08) in Superior Court around twenty friends and family members of inmates from CSP Solano showed up to show their support in the Gordon vs. CA Department of Corrections (Case #322862) which deals with the subject of bringing back Family Visits to all inmates.

Prison Rates Among Blacks Reach a Peak, Report Finds
An estimated 12 percent of African-American men ages 20 to 34 are in jail or prison, according to a report released yesterday by the Justice Department.

Justices question prison visitation policies
WASHINGTON: In a case that could affect the visitation rights of millions of prisoners, Supreme Court justices on Wednesday struggled with the question of whether inmates have a constitutional right to visits with friends and family.

CURE --- Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants

CURE --- is a nation-wide grass roots organization dedicated to reducing crime through reform of the criminal justice system.

[Criminal Law System.]

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Washington: Please mail or E-mail information concerning discrimination in your country and best practices. This is not just racial but all discrimination especially to those most vulnerable in the Criminal Justice System.

[Criminal Law System.]

We would challenge you to come up with a sentence (15 words at the most) that defines only who should be in prison. This paragraph should be so tightly written that children, political prisoners, homeless, pre-trial persons who are not a threat, etc, would be excluded.

We also have a draft of an optional protocol written by Cindy Scaglione that brings universal suffrage to the last two groups banned from voting. These are prisoners and the mentally disabled. If interested, we can E-mail the draft of this protocol.

NATIONAL OFFICE
PO BOX 2310 Washington, DC 20013
(202) 789-2126
cure@curenational.org
CURE
Co-Directors
Charles and Pauline Sullivan

Waratah: One comment about this article as it stands without taking up the exact challenge.

The use of the term "criminal justice system" to refer to the "Criminal Law System" is a way of whitewashing the grave injustices which occur within the system.

As a lawyer, I know it as the "Criminal Law System".

By Human Rights posted 7 January 04

Related:

The Truth About Private Prisons
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation's largest operator of prisons for profit, is celebrating its 20th anniversary throughout this year "at both the company's corporate Nashville office and at all of the more than 60 prisons, jails and detention centers under CCA ownership and/or management."

CCA PRIVATE PRISONS: REPORT GRASSROOTS LEADERSHIP
New National Study of Corrections Corporation of America Warns Investors and Legislators of Risky Investment. Report explores continuing operational and financial problems; questions CCA's long-term viability as states reassess prison policies.

Finally, States Release The Pressure on Prisons?
US: After decades of massive prison growth, America may be ending its love affair with incarceration. Policymakers around the country, some of whom previously supported ratcheting up punishments, have begun to rethink the wisdom of unbridled prison expansion, and are advocating alternatives to simply "locking them up and throwing away the key."

California Parole System Deemed 'Broken'
SACRAMENTO, Calif: California spends $1.5 billion annually on parolees who mostly fail and are sent back behind bars because they are no better prepared for life on the outside than the day they entered prison, according to a report.

People with Mental Retardation in the Criminal Justice System
Based on the 1990 census, an estimated 6.2 to 7.5 million people in the United States have mental retardation. Various studies have suggested between 2 percent to 10 percent of the prison population has mental retardation.

USA: With Cash Tight, States Reassess Long Jail Terms
OLYMPIA, Wash., Nov. 6 - After two decades of passing ever tougher sentencing laws and prompting a prison building boom, state legislatures facing budget crises are beginning to rethink their costly approaches to crime.

A STRUGGLE ON TWO FRONTS: PRISONS & IMPERIALIST WAR
After a war waged by the U.S. military against Vietnam which took the lives of more than 3 million Vietnamese people and more than 58,000 GIs, the U.S. finally withdrew in 1975. It had suffered its first official major military defeat by a united people struggle led by the Vietnamese, along with a mass U.S. anti-war movement.

Report on State Prisons Cites Mental Illness
NEW YORK: Nearly one of every four New York State prisoners who are kept in punitive segregation [solitary confinement], confined to a small cell at least 23 hours a day are mentally ill, according to a new report by a nonprofit group that has been critical of state prison policies.

High court keeps alive case of prisoners held in solitary
NEW ORLEANS: The nation's highest court refused Monday to kill a lawsuit brought by two prisoners and an ex-prisoner at the Louisiana State Penitentiary who spent decades in solitary confinement.

US: Mentally Ill Mistreated in Prison More Mentally Ill in Prison Than in Hospitals (New York, October 22, 2003) Mentally ill offenders face mistreatment and neglect in many U.S. prisons, Human Rights Watch. "Prisons have become the nation's primary mental health facilities. But for those with serious illnesses, prison can be the worst place to be."

Shut down the Security Torture Units
San Francisco: October 18 In solidarity with other prison activist organizations, MIM, RAIL, the Barrio Defense Committee (BDC) and the Prison Reform Unity Project held a four hour rally in San Francisco demanding the Security Housing Units (SHUs) in California prisons be shut down.

Solitary Confinement: Mental illness in prisons
As noted earlier, inmates [prisoners] with mental illness are over represented in our toughest prison settings. Symptoms of mental illness (i.e., delays in response time, paranoia, difficulty interpreting the actions of others, command hallucinations, and so on) can make complying with prison rules difficult.

Post-Incarceration Sentences
Pat: "The 1990s brought a new front in the war on drugs, featuring a new layer of the Prison Industrial Complex, which has the effect of ensuring that people coming in contact with the criminal punishment system remain within the grasp of the Prison Industrial Complex even beyond prison walls."

Inside Prison, Outside the Law
Every year, tens of thousands of prisoners in state and federal custody are attacked. The exact number who die is difficult to determine: According to the nonprofit Criminal Justice Institute, in 2000, the most recent year for which figures have been compiled, 55 prisoners were murdered, 39 died "accidentally," and 118 died for unknown reasons.

Day Seven of the Fast for Freedom in Mental Health:
PASADENA, CALIF: On the seventh day of a hunger strike by six psychiatric survivors to oppose human rights violations in the mental health system, the American Psychiatric Association faces a direct and unprecedented challenge from a Scientific Panel of 14 academics and clinicians.

Supreme Court Justice Criticises Sentencing Guidelines
San Francisco, August 9, 2003, Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said today that prison terms are too long and that he favours scrapping the practice of setting mandatory minimum sentences for some federal crimes.

US prison population 2.1 million
The US prison population grew more than twice as fast last year as in 2001, bringing the total number of people held behind bars in the United States to more than 2.1 million, a record, according to a government report.

McKean Federal Prison: An Alleged Model
McKean, a federal correctional institution [? prison], does everything that "make 'em bust rocks" politicians decry--imagine, educating inmates [prisoners]! And it works. [Allegedly works.]

Prisoners Justice Day Press Release (Montreal)
On August 10th, 1974, Eddie Nalon bled to death in a solitary confinement unit at Millhaven Maximum Security Prison near Kingston,Ontario when the emergency call button in his cell failed to work. An inquest later found that the call buttons in that unit had been deactivated by the guards.

Notebook of a Prison Abolitionist
In his autobiography, Frederick Douglass recalls how as a slave he would occasionally hear of the "abolitionists." He did not know the full meaning of the word at first, but he heard it used in ways that he found appealing.

Study Warns of Rising Tide of Released Prisoners
Washington: More than 625,000 former prisoners will be coming back into U.S. society this year, part of a record flow of prisoners who will face crushing obstacles in finding work and housing and repairing long-fractured family ties, according to a newly released study.

Incite Statement Gender Violence and the Prison Industrial Complex
We call social justice movements to develop strategies and analysis that address both state AND interpersonal violence, particularly violence against women.

Second International Conference on Human Rights & Prison Reform
**This second gathering will be much smaller and more in depth in participation. A report on the human rights violation of discrimination in regard to prisoners will be produced. This report will be given to the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights which will be having its annual meeting near our conference and is the"think tank" for the human rights agenda of the United Nations.

Judged Forever- The Orange County Register
US: California's largest job-placement program for parolees will be shut down May 31 after an Orange County Register investigation found that ex-convicts were sent to questionable jobs [?] and that the state was charged for placements that did not occur. [? According to the ruling-class]

California Family Visiting Case
US: CALIFORNIA: Today (5/03/08) in Superior Court around twenty friends and family members of inmates from CSP Solano showed up to show their support in the Gordon vs. CA Department of Corrections (Case #322862) which deals with the subject of bringing back Family Visits to all inmates.

Prison Rates Among Blacks Reach a Peak, Report Finds
An estimated 12 percent of African-American men ages 20 to 34 are in jail or prison, according to a report released yesterday by the Justice Department.

Justices question prison visitation policies
WASHINGTON: In a case that could affect the visitation rights of millions of prisoners, Supreme Court justices on Wednesday struggled with the question of whether inmates have a constitutional right to visits with friends and family.