November 20, 2009
Analyst proposes putting corrections projects in Va. on hold
Analyst proposes putting corrections projects in Va. on hold
By Tyler Whitley
Published: November 19, 2009
Virginia and its localities should stop building more prisons and jails because a decade-long building program has led to undercrowding, a state budget analyst said yesterday.
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Posted by lois at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2009
MT: "No One Should Go Through What I Went Through" ALCU suit on behalf of Bethany Cajune, 4 months pregnant when she was sentenced to jail for traffic violations
The following information and video is from Diana Kasdan, Staff Attorney, Reproductive Freedom Project
American Civil Liberties Union about information about a lawsuit the ACLU filed today on behalf of Bethany Cajúne, a young mother who was denied medically necessary treatment when she was about 4 months pregnant and sentenced to a local detention facility for traffic violations. In particular, this case challenges the jail's unconstitutional denial of her prescription medication to treat opioid dependency--which caused abrupt withdrawal, seriously jeopardizing Ms. Cajúne's health and putting her at risk of miscarriage.
(November 18, 2009)
"No One Should Go Through What I Went Through"
That’s what Bethany Cajúne told me the first time we spoke about her experience in Montana’s Lake County Detention Facility. “No one should go through what I went through.” We filed a case earlier today to make sure that Bethany’s desire to protect other women becomes a reality.
Posted by lois at 05:02 PM | Comments (0)
November 18, 2009
PA: Donna Pfender, Pres., Fight for Lifers West. Senate Judiciary Cmte Hearing on Prison Overcrowding and Sending Prisoners to MI
Senate Judiciary Committee Public Hearing on
Prison Overcrowding
November 16, 2009
Harrisburg, PA
Donna Pfender, President – Fight For Lifers West
Good afternoon to the Chairman, Senator Greenleaf; to the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee; to Senator Greenleaf’s aide, Gregg Warner; Ladies and Gentlemen.
I wish to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to testify today about the impact that transferring inmates to other states will have, not only on the inmates themselves, but on their family members and loved ones.
When I first heard that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections was in negotiations with other states to transfer inmates in a bid to alleviate overcrowding, my first reaction was one of disbelief. I couldn’t believe that human beings were being treated as commodities to be bought, sold or bartered for any reason. I knew about the Interstate Compact Act, but this was on a whole new level. I wondered why this wasn’t considered as an Eighth Amendment violation for “deliberate indifference” as well as an “objectively serious deprivation?” I felt not only that inmates were being dehumanized but that their family structures would fall apart.
Posted by lois at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)
PRISON LEGAL NEWS SUES VIRGINIA DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS OVER CENSORSHIP OF BOOKS, MAGAZINES SENT TO PRISONERS
PLN files censorship suit against Virginia Dept. of Corrections
Tue Nov 17, 2009
PRESS RELEASE
PUBLISHER SUES VIRGINIA DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS OVER CENSORSHIP OF BOOKS, MAGAZINES SENT TO PRISONERS
Richmond, VA – Prison Legal News (PLN), a non-profit monthly publication that reports on criminal justice-related issues, filed suit today in U.S. District Court against Gene M. Johnson, director of the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC), and other prison officials. PLN contends that the VDOC violated its rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by censoring magazines and books sent to Virginia prisoners.
Posted by lois at 01:52 PM | Comments (0)
November 17, 2009
WI: Why deny used books to prisoners in Wisconsin's state prison system?
Keep books flowing to prisons
By Camy Matthay • November 16, 2009
Greenbay Press Gazette
Why deny used books to inmates in Wisconsin's state prison system?
Wisconsin Books to Prisoners (WBTP), a project of Rainbow Bookstore, is a volunteer nonprofit organization that provides books to prisoners free of charge. Since the project began in 2006, it has put thousands of books into prison cells statewide.
The project currently receives more than 40 book requests a week. These requests show that prisoners love to read, want to learn more about the world, and want to improve their prospects when they get out of prison.
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Posted by lois at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)
College Ivy Sprouts at a Connecticut Prison
College Ivy Sprouts at a Connecticut Prison
November 16, 2009 NY Times
By ALISON LEIGH COWAN
CHESHIRE, Conn. — In many ways it was just another day, another class of Wesleyan University, one of the more selective colleges in the Northeast. The topic was multiculturalism in schools. The discussion focused on methods of evaluating the rhetorical skills of various commentators, from Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. to Dinesh D’Souza.
One student pored over the text, his glasses perched at the tip of his nose. Another raised his hand again and again, eager to speak. A third lobbed grenades into the discussion. Several worried aloud about their homework, a research paper due in a few weeks.
After years of slim pickings for prisoners who craved higher education, two Wesleyan University students convinced their school to bring an elite college education to inmates at a high-security prison.
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Posted by lois at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2009
Moms, children stay locked up together in Ohio. Ky. program allows women prisoners to see children monthly
Moms, children stay locked up together in Ohio
Ky. program allows inmates to see children monthly
By Sharon Coolidge and Eileen Kelley - November 13, 2009
Cincinnati Enquirer
MARYSVILLE, Ohio - The only thing missing from tiny Takeem Maffett's world are black and white prison stripes.
On the campus of the Ohio Reformatory for Women, convicts shuffle across from one spot to the next under watchful eyes.
Takeem's mother Takaya Patterson is exempt.
In contrast to the other buildings at the sprawling complex surrounded by razor wire and blinding lights, the nursery is colorful and dotted with Sesame Street characters.
Takeem's mother wears a prison jumpsuit. Takeem, with cherub cheeks and long slender fingers, sleeps in her arms as she rocks.
Just 2 months old, Takeem lives in prison.
Posted by lois at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)
November 14, 2009
Op Ed Newsday: Robert Gangi" Ease state budget woes by closing more prisons
OPINION: Ease state budget woes by closing more prisons
November 12, 2009 By ROBERT GANGI
Newsday
Robert Gangi is executive director of the Correctional Association of New York.
Gov. David A. Paterson has proposed severe spending reductions to close New York's projected $3 billion deficit for this fiscal year. Aid for public schools, Medicaid and other health and mental health programs, libraries, summer special education programs, and HIV-AIDS services are poised to take big hits.
Another place in the state's budget is primed for cutting: prisons.
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Posted by lois at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)
Prison health-care costs rise as prisoners grow older and sicker
Prison health-care costs rise as prisoners grow older and sicker
CNN-11-13-09
ardwick, Georgia (CNN) -- White fuzz covers his bald head. His sallow skin sags. A wheelchair and cane support limp legs.
This is not the typical image of a prison inmate. But 73-year-old George Sanges is among the burgeoning elderly population behind bars, a group expected to continue to grow as baby boomers age and states implement longer sentences.
Sanges, who is serving a 15-year sentence at Men's State Prison in Georgia, has cerebral palsy and takes multiple medications twice a day. His condition has worsened since he entered prison in 2005 for aggravated assault against his wife of 48 years. Twice while in prison, he was rushed to the hospital for heart problems.
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Posted by lois at 09:43 AM | Comments (0)
