"Injustice Anywhere Is A Threat To Justice Everywhere"

MARTIN LUTHER KING
...Letter From the Birmingham Jail, 1963

"Peep Game" The NPSCTAPP Video Channel

“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” HAILE SELASSIE

Vision Without Action Is A Daydream. Action Without Vision A Nightmare.

The National Public Service Council To Abolish Private Prisons made a concerted effort when choosing its name to erase any possibility of ambiguity regarding who we are and our mission statement. It is our unwavering organizational belief that as long as our government permits Private Prisons For Profit to operate as legal businesses, the American Criminal Justice System, in particular, will never have the capacity to develop -in theory or otherwise- a credibility that the people of this great nation can respect and feel morally comfortable with. This is not a complicated matter. In spite of the endless assortment of political debates and the countless number of discussions among independent committees appointed to research and examine the economic pros and cons of privatization, and in spite of all the "other" arguments created by design, to distract, divide, frighten and confuse the citizens of this country and prevent them from using humane common sense, one cannot ignore or pretend not to see the flashing red flag draped around the philosophical question standing at attention in the middle of the room. Arguably, the criminal justice system is not designed to be a "moral compass." However, it cannot ignore or deny the inherent components at the core of its foundation: equality, fairness, and the humane practice of justice. These are more than lofty concepts to be arbitrarily applied when convenience allows. Our justice system must offer unequivocal, resplendent and reliable standards of "right and wrong" ..."just and unjust" because the people cannot respect or pledge an allegiance to a justice system that fails to demonstrate the difference between "right and wrong" in its own application. The inherent and most fundamental responsibility of the criminal justice system cannot be shirked, avoided, taken lightly or "jobbed out." Like it or not, when an institution is the definitive symbol representing authority and judicial proceeding, your function must reflect a fundamental fairness, and above all else, it must be accountable to all of its citizens. If ever there was a reason for second guessing the process or the ability of the United States Government (Federal & State) to perform its duty when addressing the important task of corrections and rehabilitation in the criminal justice system, the cornerstone of that uncertainty sits squarely upon the shoulders that permit private prisons for profit to operate in the United States of America. Clearly, this immoral profit driven system is without parallel in its resemblance to the most heinous institution to ever exist upon American soil. Slavery.

Aristotle wrote, "It is the peculiarity of man, in comparison with the rest of the animal world that he alone possesses a perception of good and evil, of the just and the unjust"

INCARCERATING PEOPLE FOR PROFIT IS IN A WORD WRONG

All law emanates from the people, so that, when the laws thus enacted are not executed, the power returns to the people, and is theirs whenever they may choose to exercise it.

We are mindful that the Supreme Court is the final interpreter of the constitution...we are also mindful that the federal and state correctional facilities originate from government design and, therefore, must be regulated and maintained by the government.

We must restore the principles and the vacated promise of our judicial system. Our government cannot continue to "job-out" its obligation and neglect its duty to the individuals confined in the corrections and rehabilitation facilities throughout this nation, nor can it ignore the will of the people that it was designed to serve and protect.

There is urgent need for the good people of this country to emerge from the shadows of indifference, apathy, cynicism, fear, and those other dark places that we migrate to when we are overwhelmed by frustration and the loss of hope.

My hope is that you will support the NPSCTAPP with a show of solidarity by signing our petition to send one million signatures to congress expressing the will of the people to abolish the private prison for profit industry. Ahma Daeus

"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality"... DANTE

The Single Voice Project

"until all private prisons in America have been abolished and outlawed, “the promise” of fairness and justice at every level of this country’s judicial system will remain unattainable."
--Ahma Daeus

"Practicing Humanity Without A License"

My photo
"Kindness Is The Greatest Wisdom"

Man In The Mirror

No man can emancipate himself, except by emancipating with him all the men around him. My liberty is the liberty of everyone, for I am not truly free, free not only in thought but in deed, except when my liberty and my rights find their confirmation, their sanction in the liberty and the rights of all men, my equals. -BAKUNIN

Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit

By IAN URBINA and SEAN D. HAMILL
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13judge.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

For years, youth advocacy groups complained that Judge Ciavarella was unusually harsh. He sent a quarter of his juvenile defendants to detention centers from 2002 to 2006, compared with a state rate of 1 in 10. He also routinely ignored requests for leniency made by prosecutors and probation officers.

“The juvenile system, by design, is intended to be a less punitive system than the adult system, and yet here were scores of children with very minor infractions having their lives ruined,” said Marsha Levick, a lawyer with the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center.

“There was a culture of intimidation surrounding this judge and no one was willing to speak up about the sentences he was handing down.”



Showing posts with label Criminal Justice Profit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Criminal Justice Profit. Show all posts

Pa. prosecutor won't retry dozens of tainted cases

By: Michael Rubinkam
The Associated Press

Wilkes Barre, PA. A northeastern Pennsylvania prosecutor has dropped her effort to retry as many as 46 youths who appeared before a judge charged in a corruption scandal, bringing an end to a legal saga that involved an estimated 5,000 tainted juvenile convictions.
The agreement between defense lawyers and Luzerne County District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll means that none of the thousands of youths who appeared before disgraced former judge Mark Ciavella Jr. between 2003 and 2008 will face retrial, and all will have their juvenile records wiped clean.

Private Prisons keep On Growing

By: Matt kelley
Change.Org /Criminal Justice
The GEO Group, America’s second-largest private prison operator, announced yesterday that it had acquired a smaller prison operator, Just Care Inc., and raised its expected profits for the year ahead. It’s good to see that at least somebody likes the way our criminal justice is going. GEO incarcerates 60,000 people around the world, and it's showing no signs of slowing. And GEO’s not the only one expanding as quickly as possible to profit off our crowded prisons. An analyst at Seeking Alpha recently looked at the stock of Corrections Corporation of America (the biggest in the U.S.), and found the company growing like gangbusters and its financial outlook extremely strong, writing (apparently with a straight face) that CCA is “uniquely positioned to offer governments an efficient incarceration solution.” I was glad to see some commentors on the site let the author have it. The comments come from both sides, however, and they’re worth a read for a glimpse at how both sides (at an investment website) view the morality of private prisons.

Tennessee appeals court rules that public records laws apply to CCA

By Kate Howard • THE TENNESSEAN
Prisons run by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America perform a government function and must follow public records laws, the Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled. The prison giant appealed the ruling issued last year by Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman, who ruled that the corporation was the functional equivalent of government and that its administrators must turn over all records requested by prison reform advocate Alex Friedmann.

Defiance doomed Ciavarella, Conahan's plea deals

By Michael R. Sisak (Staff Writer)
Citizens Voice.Com
U.S. District Judge Edwin M. Kosik dissected the flawed logic of two disgraced former judges a few minutes after their partner in kickbacks, attorney Robert J. Powell, pleaded guilty early last month to corruption charges. Kosik stood near an elevator outside his courtroom and casually discussed what had just happened therein, including an attempt by Powell's attorney to portray some payments to the judges as a "finder's fee" - not as an incentive for them to send a steady stream of juveniles to the detention facilities co-owned by Powell.

Jenn Ackerman. Trapped: Mental Illness in America’s Prisons

Prison Photography
The Practice of Photography In Sites of incarceration
Jenn Ackerman. Trapped: Mental Illness in America’s Prisons

A few months ago I wrote to Jenn Ackerman, praised her Trapped project and of course offered to promote it. I wanted to get at her stories behind the images – namely do an interview. Jenn, however, is as good a promoter as she is a photographer.

The list of questions I wrote out while eating my chili-verde burrito on Wednesday are made largely redundant by her blog post “Trapped: Questions Answered”. Her photography and multimedia is so strong that it also speaks for itself. There is a painful truth in her work; more questions than answers.

Private jail would mean less county control

By: Sharna Johnson: CNJ Staff Writer

Most counties that hire private companies to run their jails find they have the same problems, but less control with the same accountability, a team of three experts told Curry County commissioners on Tuesday.

Manny Romero with the New Mexico Association of Counties shared a “snapshot” of pros and cons with commissioners at a special meeting.

Romero said it has been his experience that most counties that try privatization end up dissatisfied or have significant difficulties and retake control of their jails.

The Prisoner-Industrial Complex

by Shadi Bushra
The Stanford Progressive
The United States has attained the notable distinction of imprisoning a larger percentage of its population than any other country in history. The reasons to immediately reverse such a trajectory must address the tremendous waste such a system causes. The prison system not only drains money, but it also drains unfulfilled potential. Granted, many in prison were not productive members of society to begin with. However is it truly beyond us to take in the dregs of society and churn out contributing citizens? The future of our country as a racially equal, healthy, and ethical society relies on us doing exactly that.


Corrections Corp. stock jumps on outlook

Corrections Corporation of America’s earnings were down slightly in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period a year ago, but its optimistic outlook sent the private prison operator’s stock up 19 percent Thursday.

The Nashville-based company (NYSE:CXW) reported income of $34.6 million, or 29 cents per share, in the quarter ended March 31, compared to $35 million, or 28 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Revenue came in at $404.2 million for the quarter, up 6.5 percent from the previous year's quarter.

Annual turnover rate is 90% in TDCJ's private prisons

Amongst the interesting statistics in the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee's interim report on private prisons (PDF), was the shocking statistic that TDCJ-contracted private prisons have a 90% annual staff turnover rate. The report also presented numbers on differences in guard pay between public and private facilities.

"The wages and benefits paid to employees of private contractors are generally lower than that paid to employees of state-operated facilities... Correctional officer salaries in the private prisons vary among facilities, with the highest peaking at slightly more than $24,000 annually."

Vice President Cheney Criminally Indicted For Prison Profiteering

Censored News
BRENDA NORRELL
Human rights activists urged a probe into prison profiteering after the private prison corporation GEO Group and CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) began receiving numerous federal contracts to build detention centers. GEO's new contracts included migrant prisons in Laredo, Texas and Jena, Louisiana.

Scottish Private Prison Filled With Inmates Forced To Abandom Extension Plans

By MICHAEL HOWIE
Writer for "The Scotsman"
Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, abandoned plans for a private firm to build and run a multi-million pound prison near Glasgow. In a major policy shift from the previous administration, the SNP decided the replacement jail and subsequent jails will be run by the public sector.
Mr. MacAskill said "prisons are for public safety, not private profit, so we are drawing a line in the sand."

GEO Private Prison Bidding To Run California Inmate Medical System

Say It Ain"t So "Arnold" & Joe?!
It appears to me that our esteemed governor Mr. Schwarzenegger and "Joe-da-plumber" who's real identity is the GEO Group, is trying to lay some serious pipe here. The GEO Private Prison Group with it's GOD awful record of safety and care treatment which by the way just happens to be WORSE than the Department of Corrections has made a surprise bid to operate the California inmate health care system.
By DON THOMPSON

Uniquely American Justice

Written By: JOE WINDISH
A very interesting take on privatization, the criminal justice system & the bail bonds industry.
Anything goes when the profit line is in jeopardy!

The Dreamer

Just Seeds

Just Seeds
Prison Portfolio Project

Click The Cage To Read "Silja Tavi's" Compelling "Women Behind Bars"

Click  The Cage To Read "Silja Tavi's" Compelling "Women Behind Bars"
Never Forget We Are More Than This Situation

Women And Prison

Women And Prison
Writer's Block...The Voices of Women Inside

Strength To Love

Strength To Love
"Human Salvation Lies In The Hands Of The Creatively Maladjusted"... Martin Luther King Jr.

Ask Yourself

Ask Yourself
CLICK THE BANNER

Sign The Petition

Sign The Petition
JOIN THE SYMPHONY OF ONE

BOSTON LEGAL'S "GUARDIANS AND GATEKEEPERS"

http://www.abc.com/ This dramatic second episode of Boston Legal's 5TH season highlights the moving court case of a young girl allegedly raped in a private "for profit" prison by one of the prison guards. To view this compelling episode, go to abc.com and follow the prompts. Click on "full episodes"... then click on "Boston Legal" and continue to follow the prompts to the episode titled "Guardians And Gatekeepers" This really is a compelling and provacative "must see" episode

Ahma Daeus' Favorite Quotes

  • "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable" JOHN F. KENNEDY
  • "We must be the change we want to see in the world".........GANDHI
  • "We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies".... M.L. KING JR.
  • "Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty, the obedient must be slaves"
  • "The law will never make a man free; it is men who have got to make the law free"..... HENRY DAVID THOREAU
  • "The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear" ................AUNG SAN SUU KYI
  • "When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, it becomes less & less important whether I am afraid"................... AUDRE LORDE
  • "The function of freedom Is to free someone else".............TONI MORRISON