"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 inmate population. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inmate population. Show all posts

California Passes Bill Addressing Prisons

NEW YORK TIMES
By: Solomon Moore

LOS ANGELES — California took a major step toward overhauling its overburdened prisons on Friday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved changes to parole and early-release programs that could reduce the prison population by about 16,000 inmates.

Even as the governor prepared to sign the legislation into law, the United States Supreme Court rejected his appeal of a federal court order to draft a plan by next Friday to reduce the prison population by 43,000 inmates within two years.

“The application for stay presented to Justice Kennedy and by him referred to the court is denied,” the terse rejection said.

The governor said he would continue to appeal future rulings of the three-judge panel that ordered the state to draft a prison plan. The panel has found that overcrowding is the main reason California has failed to provide a constitutional level of health care to prisoners.

OUR REAL PRISON PROBLEM

NEWSWEEK
Dahlia Lithwick
Why are we so worried about Gitmo?

The United States, with 5 percent of the world's population, houses nearly 25 percent of the world's prisoners. As Webb has explained it, "Either we're the most evil people on earth or we're doing something wrong." We incarcerate 756 inmates per 100,000 residents—nearly five times the world average. Approximately one in every 31 adults in the United States is in prison, in jail or on supervised release. Local, state and federal spending on corrections amounts to about $70 billion per year and has increased 40 percent over the past 20 years.

Florida Legislature gives OK to ship inmates out of state

By: Steve Bousquet
Sending criminals to out-of-state prisons is a 'safety valve' for Florida's overpopulated prisons.

Florida, famous for shipping orange juice all over the country, may yet be known for a very different kind of export: criminals.

With the inmate population hovering around 100,000 and the state lacking money to build new prisons, the Legislature has given the corrections department the authority to ship inmates to other states for the first time.

''It's a safety valve,'' says the plan's sponsor, Sen. Victor Crist, a Tampa Republican who oversees prison spending. ``This is not a mandate. It's a passive safety net.''


New state initiative seeks to reduce prison overcrowding

by Chris Megerian/The Star-Ledger

State Parole Board officials say it's the first of its kind in the nation.

"We have to take full credit for this one," said Director of Community Programs Lenny Ward. "This is a New Jersey initiative."

The idea is to take technical parole violators -- people who haven't committed a new crime but may have failed a drug test or missed a meeting -- and house them for 15 to 30 days at secure facilities run by a private company, Community Education Centers, in Newark or Trenton.

Officials hope the program, which can house 45 parole violators at a time, will help the state avoid $14 million in incarceration costs in the coming budget year.

Cal leads nation in inmates, especially parole violators

Capitol Alert
Posted by Dan Walters
California has more men and women locked up in prison than any other state, a new federal report finds, and unlike any other state, the vast majority of those placed behind bars are parole violators. The report bolsters contentions by critics of the much-overcrowded prison system that state parole officers, who belong to the same union as prison guards, are extraordinarily willing to slap a parole inmate back behind bars, thereby exacerbating a prison overcrowding problem.

Does Jail Crisis Loom For County?

By Peter H. Milliken
YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County officials are concerned about the prospect of a direct federal contract with the private prison on Hubbard Road to house revenue-generating federal inmates. A commissioner said the county needs 150 revenue-generating prisoners to keep the jail open.

Federal Judges to rule on Calif. prison crowding

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO—Over the past three decades, California lawmakers and voters have sought to combat crime with an ever-expanding list of sentencing laws, adding years to inmates' terms and returning parolees to prison more often.

Immigrants Boon to Prison Profits

Private prisons have been booming over the past eight years. From 2000 to 2005, the number of private prisons increased from 16% of all prisons to 23%. All of the increase in federal prisons has been in prisons owned or operated by private firms.
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the country’s oldest and largest prison corporation, boasted that it enjoyed a $33.6 million increase in the third quarter over last year, while earnings rose 15%. Formerly known as Wackenhut, GEO Group, the nation’s second largest prison company, saw its earnings jump 29% over 2007. Another private prison firm that imprisons immigrants is Cornell Companies, and it reported a 9% increase in net revenues in the third quarter.

War On Drugs & Now On PBS 419 Prisons For Profit

Today, nearly 500,000 Americans are imprisoned on drug charges. In 1980 the number was 50,000. Last year $40 billion in taxpayer dollars were spent in fighting the war on drugs. As a result of the incarceration obsession, the United States operates the largest prison system on the planet, and the U.S. nonviolent prisoner population is larger than the combined populations of Wyoming and Alaska.

Who profits from private prisons?

By: JULIA

California has shipped more than 5,100 inmates to private prisons run by Corrections Corp. in Arizona, Mississippi and other states since late 2006, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered emergency measures to control a ballooning state-prison population. Prisons were so overcrowded that hundreds of inmates were sleeping in gyms, according to one report. An additional 2,900 prisoners are scheduled to be transferred to private prisons outside the state by the end of next year, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation....

Larger Inmate Population Is Boon To Private Prisons

STEPHANIE CHEN
The Wall Street Journal
Prison companies are preparing for a wave of new business as the economic downturn makes it increasingly difficult for federal and state government officials to build and operate their own jails.

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