November 11, 2012

Contributions to graphic novel top $6000

As you know, I'm collecting money to send copies of my graphic novel into prison libraries, It's the toughest work I've ever done (raising funds), but it's for a great cause. I'm sure you've given, so thank you! If you haven't or know someone who might, here's the link again: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/240532
November 9, 2012

What’s Deliberate Indifference?

We are about to find out.  In a Texas case just filed today, an Air Force veteran jailed for criminal mischief, died after repeated smashing his head into the jail's walls.  Allegedly, jailers watched and did nothing. According to the complaint, Appell was put in a padded cell but not restrained. That, according to his mother, allowed him to paced the cell and strike his head against the door viewing window allegedly whiled the jailers watched.
November 8, 2012

Overcrowded federal prisons create their own problems

We all know that humans smashed into a finite space have more difficuloties than those with lots of breathing room. Now consider being crowded behind cell bars and unable to get out at will. WHile prison is supposed to be punishmnet, this recent overcrowding has proven to be much more. Read the full story at Reason.com http://reason.com/blog/2012/10/26/four-horrifying-facts-about-our-overcrow
November 7, 2012

Can Felons Vote?

State law decides if felons can vote. According to Solitary Watch and Mother Jones magazine, more than 2 million voters found themselves having to check with the Secretary of State in their own state to see if they were eligible to vote. In Texas, once someone is "off paper," then he or she can cast a ballot. In Florida, the governor declared that any felon is blocked from voting; that overturned the decision of the last two Florida governors. Given the high
November 5, 2012

Colo. Solitary Confinement Prison Empty

Maybe we're all just nuts? Opened over objections Colorado State Penitentiary II was built without a vote of the people, a requirement for Colorado projects that increase state debt, and in spite of a warning from the state treasurer that the voters should decide. The prison was built despite a 2005 Colorado Department of Corrections report from its own staff confirming that Colorado held three times as many people in solitary confinement as the average state prison system.
November 1, 2012

Low-level felons still marching into Calif. state prisons

Despite new policies, innumerable studies, and the concerns of over-taxed Californians, state judges continue to send low-level felons into the state prisons instead of county facilities. Everyone loses! "A panel of three federal judges presiding over inmate lawsuits against California has given the state until Jan. 7 to produce a new prison reduction plan. California must reduce crowding to 137.5% of what its 33 priso
October 31, 2012

Aljazeera criticizes 3-strike laws

Nothing, finally, surprises me about prisons and prison law. But reading today a long story in Aljazeera: Power & People, I discovered that people in the middle east find our laws excessive. Whew! In Saudi Arabia, they still cut off the hands of thieves. They hold public beheadings. But still, the authors of this article find that the U.S. 3-strike law, requiring life imprisonment for a third crime, to be excessive. http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2012/10/2012103164254329343.html
October 30, 2012

Russians question US jail precedures

How bad is the Houston jail?  Well, acording to the Russian radio stories, 4 Russians are asking international human rights observers to investigate.  They contend they are […]
October 30, 2012

Private federal prison implodes: who pays?

OK, so ... the federal prison system hired a private firm to collect doctors together who would work on prisoners. But no one seems to have been watching what that private firm did with the money, or whom they forgot to repay--like the doctors and the hospitals. By Jay Price - jprice@newsobserver.com "BUTNER -- A Florida-based company that lent its CEO more than $5 million f
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