Don Thompson wrote for AP 23 May 2011, High court to Calif: Cut prison inmates by 33,000:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that California must drastically reduce its prison population to relieve severe overcrowding that has exposed inmates to increased violence, disease and death.
We don’t need a private prison in Lowndes County. Spend that tax money on education instead.
-gretchen
For the first time in nearly 40 years, the number of state prisoners in the United States has declined, according to “Prison Count 2010,” a new survey by the Pew Center on the States. As of January 2010, there were 1,404,053* persons under the jurisdiction of state prison authorities, 4,777* fewer than on December 31, 2008.Guess which way Georgia went? As you can see in the map, Georgia increased by 1.6% while Texas, already leading in not wasting tax dollars on new prisons, decreased by 0.7%. Continue readingThis marks the first year-to-year drop in the nation’s state prison population since 1972. While the study showed an overall decline, it revealed great variation among jurisdictions. The prison population declined in 26* states, while increasing in 24* states and in the federal system.
*Numbers updated as of April 1, 2010. (Report originally released March 17, 2010.)
Christians Against Prohibition is a nondenominational organization and website that welcomes everyone no matter what your perspective on God or the War on Drugs. Here at the website you will find educational materials — from an areligious as well as Christian perspective — as to why the Drug War and drug prohibition exacerbates every ill the prohibitionists decry, what can be done about it, and what you can do about it. (Hint: Legalize and Regulate.)CAP has a three-point mission statement:
And they spell out their position on the subject topic, The Evils of For-Profit, “Private,” Prisons: Continue reading
As we watch the state budget crisis deepen, one of the most wasteful and harmful policies of our state government – felony sentences for simple drug possession – remains in place. We are spending unnecessary millions to incarcerate people who pose no threat to public safety.That’s actually from the ACLU of Northern California, but the point is the same for anywhere that locks up people for minor drug offenses, like Georgia.Sentencing reform is the way to bring prison spending back in line with other priorities – like public schools and universities, social services, and drug treatment.
We don’t need a private prison in Lowndes County. Spend that tax money on schools instead.
-jsq
David Gutierrez wrote in Natural News 10 November 2008, Prescription Drugs Kill 300 Percent More Americans than Illegal Drugs
A report by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission has concluded that prescription drugs have outstripped illegal drugs as a cause of death.
An analysis of 168,900 autopsies conducted in Florida in 2007 found that three times as many people were killed by legal drugs as by cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines put together. According to state law enforcement officials, this is a sign of a burgeoning prescription drug abuse problem.
Is this just in Florida? Continue reading
And this is just the start of what’s going to happen to Georgia as long as that law is in effect.Legendary rock guitarist Carlos Santana, in town to be honored for a “Beacon of Change” award at Sunday’s MLB Civil Rights Game at Turner Field, called the state’s new immigration law “anti-American.”
Santana took his turn at the podium on the field in a pre-game ceremony before the Braves-Phillies game to criticize the immigration bill just signed into law by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal Friday.
“I represent the human race,” the Mexican-born Carlos Santana said. “The people of Arizona, the people of Atlanta, Georgia, you should be ashamed of yourselves.”
The Georgia immigration law, HB 87, cracks down on illegal immigration by increasing enforcement powers and requiring many employers to check the immigration status of new hires.
But what do you really think, Carlos? Continue reading
The statement has further practical explanation of why this opposition: Continue readingOur Lord began his ministry by declaring “release to the captives…” (Luke 4:18 NRSV), and he distinguished those who would receive a blessing at the last judgment by saying, “I was in prison and you visited me.” (Matthew 25:36b NRSV) Jesus also declared that one cannot serve two masters and condemned the idolatry of mammon, or wealth. (Luke 16:13).
Christians, therefore, must have a special concern for those who are captive in any way, especially for those who are imprisoned, and for the human conditions under which persons are incarcerated. Individual Christians and churches must also oppose those policies and practices which reflect greater allegiance to the profit motive than to public safety and to restorative justice for offenders, crime victims, and local communities.
Therefore, The United Methodist Church declares its opposition to the privatization of prisons and jails and to profit making from the punishment of human beings.
ADOPTED 2000
Destroy local labor while building weapons to destroy foreign enemies!
Mike Elk wrote for Alternet 28 April 2011, Defense Contractors Using Prison Labor to Build High-Tech Weapons Systems
It is a little known fact of the attack on Libya that some of the components of the cruise missiles being launched into the country mayl have been made by prisoners in the United States. According to its website, UNICOR, which is the organization that represents Federal Prison Industries, “supplies numerous electronic components and service for guided missiles, including the Patriot Advanced Capability Missile (PAC-3)”.Maybe you’re out of a job. Can you compete with 23 cents an hour?In addition to constructing electronic components for missiles, prison labor in the United States is used to make electronic cables for defense items like “the McDonnell Douglas/Boeing (BA) F-15, the General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin F-16, Bell/Textron’s (TXT) Cobra helicopter, as well as electro-optical equipment for the BAE Systems”.
Traditionally these types of defense jobs would have gone to highly paid, unionized workers. However the prison workers building parts for these missiles earn a starting wage of 23 cents an hour and can only make a maximum of $1.15 an hour.
More detail in Noah Schactman’s Danger Room story
And Justin Rohrich, who apparently broke the story, says Lockheed Martin demanded a correction because they claim: Continue reading
|
| When: | Saturday at 11:00pm – Sunday at 2:00am |
| Where: | Stewart Chapel AME Church, 887 Forsyth Street |
| Who: | Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sen. Robert Brown, Rep. Tyrone Brooks, Sen. Vincent Fort, Rep. David Lucas, Ms. Helen Butler |
