Below the following late-breaking announcement you will find the November issue of Building Bridges.
POSTED NOV.6 -
NEW YORK FUNDING ACTION ALERT
It is very important that you contact the governor and your state senators (email PAN if you need help finding out who they are and how to reach them) to urge them to protect and maintain funding for the programs that are so necessary to those of us who are directly impacted by the newly implemented Rockefeller drug law reforms. These reforms provide for alternatives to incarceration (ATI) and for a reentry system that supports reintegration into our communities.
Message to Legislators:
Alternatives to Incarceration (ATI) and reentry programs play an essential role in the successful implementation of the Rockefeller drug law reform and are a key element of public safety that makes New York one of the safest states in the country. These programs are the foundation upon which the state has made its wise investment of federal funds. Please stand fast on your critical and longstanding support for community-based ATIs and reentry programs so that New York can further reduce crime, save lives and money, and strengthen families and communities.
Background:
Governor Paterson has called the Legislature back to Albany for a special session next week to reduce state spending. We recognize the need to do more with less, but that should not mean devastating budget cuts to vital ATI and reentry programs that are poised to serve the people and communities who will be impacted by the newly implemented Rockefeller drug law reforms. The Governor and the Senate must be urged to remember that federal funds are not enough to meaningfully implement Rockefeller. The State’s commitment to the ATI and reentry infrastructure must be protected.
Action:
Today please call Governor David Patterson at 518-474-8390; Senator John Sampson AND your own State Senator (Senate at 518-455-2800) and ask them to protect ATI, reentry and related programs that are the backbone of Rockefeller Reform.
Dear Reader,
I read a lot of prison related material, and some of makes it into these pages. But September's issue of Prison Legal News, Vol. 20 NO. 9 won’t fit, and I can’t condense it! I had hoped that it was available at every NYS prison library, but was told by the publisher that they didn't think any NYS prison library subscribes to it. How can that be? Surely it's a legal reference that should be available in any law library, in prison or out. So let me tell you a little about it, and maybe you’ll be able to subscribe.
The cover article is 13 pages long, including extensive footnotes. It's called "Anatomy of the Modern Prisoners' Rights Suit: A Practitioner's Guide to Successful Jury Trials on Behalf of Prisoner-Plaintiffs", written by Alphonse A. Gerhardstein.
The article not only is a guide for lawyers, but also for "prisoner-plaintiffs" who might be doing their own legal work. And it helps lay people understand what can be expected from a good lawyer. Attorney Gerhardstein spells out in detail what preliminary work is necessary to win a case. It's a lot of work! So for those who might be encountering the law for the first time, this article can also serve as a guide for questions you might want to ask when you seek legal help.
Here are some section titles to give you an idea of what you would learn by reading it: Trying Prisoner Cases to Win, A) Client Selection, Case Selection and Discovery, B) The Final Pretrial Conference, C) The Verdict Form, D) Jury Instructions, E) Jury Selection, G) (there was no F.)Trial Presentation: Tell an Honest Tale, H) Witness Order, Topics, I) Admissibility of a Prisoner's Criminal Record and Other Bad Acts, J) Admitting a Prison's Internal Investigation into Evidence, K) Damages,
L) Attorney Fees.
Other articles I enjoyed in the Sept issue were 'NY's Correction Law 24 Held Unconstitutional by US Supreme Court' and ‘Federal 3-Judge Panel Orders Calif. to reduce Prison Pop by 44,000 within 2 yrs.’ There were more of course.
Building Bridges will not be able to send you copies of the article. But you can subscribe online for $30. a year, Professionals: $80 for a year.
Be well, have hope, and please, share your copy of Building Bridges.
In this Issue
1. Activities around NYS
2. CFFCJP reports
3. Gardening at prison
4. ICARE column
5. Job opportunities
6. Lady Penumbra and Ty Conscious
7. Legislation
8. Lifers and longtermers clearinghouse
9. Obituary
10. Parole news
11. Post-conviction sealing hotline seeks input
12. Prison media
13. Prisoners of the census
14. Telephone rates lowered
15. Transportation to prisons
1. WHAT CAN YOU DO? HERE’S A LIST OF ACTIVITIES IN BKLYN, BFLO, THE CAP. DIST., AND MANH:
BROOKLYN:
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18 - FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20 9:00-5:00 PM MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYMPOSIUM
•
A series of specially designed seminars to help professionals in various disciplines work more effectively with formerly incarcerated people and their families. Seminars will be taught by Dr. Divine Pryor and Mr. Eddie Ellis, M.P.S., nationally and internationally recognized experts in the field of criminal justice reform. Both have served on the National Re-entry Policy Council for the Council of State Governors and numerous other national criminal justice boards.
Mr. Ellis and Dr. Pryor serve as Executive and Deputy Executive Director, respectively, of the Center for Nu Leadership on Urban Solutions at Medgar Evers College, CUNY.
Seminars are open to community or faith-based service providers, law enforcement officers, social service workers, educators, government agency personnel, attorneys, students and community residents. Coffee and light morning refreshments served.
Contact: Medgar Evers College, 718-804-8850 ace.info@mec.cuny.edu, www.mec.cuny.edu.
Location: School of Professional and Community Development, 1534 Bedford Avenue, 2nd flr, Brooklyn,
BUFFALO:
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 6:30-8:30PM PRISONERS ARE PEOPLE TOO will revisit a topic that was featured in May of this year: mentoring children of incarcerated parents. (Film: tba.)
There will be several guest speakers. Melissa Mowrey is Director of Client Services at “Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County.” Her many responsibilities include matching carefully screened adult mentors with children who have incarcerated parents in a federal, state or local prison. Karen Bartkowiak from “Compeer of Greater Buffalo,” who spoke to attendees in May, will return to provide a brief update of their program, a national initiative called “Mentoring Children of Prisoners: Caregiver’s Choice.” Bro. Charles Burgin of “Brotherman’s Progress” will be on hand to share what he has learned from volunteering his services as a mentor at a local charter school.
Location: Pratt-Willert Community Center, 422 Pratt Street, Buffalo, NY
PRP2 programs are sponsored by The Circle of Supporters for Reformed Offenders and Friends of BaBa Eng. For further information, contact Karima Amin: 716-834-8438; karima@prisonersarepeopletoo.org.
MANHATTAN
MONDAY NOVEMBER 9, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM NEW YORK CITY BAR ASSOCIATION PRO BONO CLE, MAKING THE RIGHT HIRE: EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITIES AND BEST PRACTICES WHEN HIRING PEOPLE WITH CRIMINAL CONVICTION HISTORIES
The program will address employers' state and federal law obligations - and best practices - when hiring people with criminal conviction histories. It will also include discussion of resources such as tax credits, bonding, and workforce development programs.
Moderator: Lou Miceli Executive Director, Workforce Professionals Training Institute
Speakers:
Alphonso David, Civil Rights Bureau Chief, NYS Office of the Attorney General
Tani Mills, Chief Program Officer, Center for Employment Opportunities
Keisha Ann Gray, Senior Counsel, Proskauer Rose LLP
Elaine Kost, Workforce Programs & Federal Bond Coordinator, NYS Department of Labor
Carl Hum, President & CEO, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
The program is open to attorneys and to others interested in these issues. CLE credit is available to attorneys who register by the deadline below.
This program is free of charge, but registration is required. To register, please send an e-mail by November 2, 2009, and indicate if you wish to receive CLE credits
Location: House of the Association, 42 West 44th Street, New York, NY
CAPITAL DISTRICT:
EVERY THURSDAY, 5:30 PM CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE, INC.
Re-entry meetings for those on parole or otherwise interested in discussing the barriers to successful reentry in our area. Location: Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Ave. Albany NY| 518.427.4300.
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 8, 11:30-12:30, FIRST UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY OF ALBANY FORUM: DAVID SOARES, ALBANY COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY WILL BE SPEAKING ON RACIAL PROFILING IN ALBANY:
Is it an issue? D.A. Soares will address this question in light of the publicity surrounding the arrest of Professor Gates of Harvard, at his home, a few months ago. What kind of incidents are happening in Albany? What guidelines do the police have in stopping people, and do they follow them?
Free and open to the public. If child care is wanted, please call the church office at 463-7135 by noon Friday before the Forum.
Location: 405 Washington Avenue (nr Robin) in Emerson Hall.
MONDAY NOVEMBER 9, 7:00-8:30 PM PRISON FAMILIES OF NY-SPEAKER SERIES
The speakers at the second of this ongoing series taking place the 2nd Monday of every month, will be the Re-Entry Services Coordinator of Region 4, NYS Division of Parole and a NYS Parole Officer. Q&A will follow.
Call Alison Coleman (518) 453-6659 for details. The location: Women's Building, 373 Central Avenue, Albany, NY
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 22, 11:30-12:30, FIRST UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY OF ALBANY FORUM: PATTI JO NEWELL, ACTING CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NYS COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
What would it really take to prevent domestic violence? Surprisingly, not as much attention has been given to this question as one might think. Intervention demands so many resources, prevention has typically been relegated to the back burner, or even thought of as a luxury. But, finally, prevention has garnered the attention it deserves as communities begin to wrestle with this profound question in light of a pervasive and persistent problem.
Free and open to the public. If child care is wanted, please call the church office at 463-7135 by noon Friday before the Forum.
Location: 405 Washington Avenue (nr Robin) in Emerson Hall.
ROOTS "RE-ENTRY RESOURCES ORIENTATIONS" FOR MEN AND WOMEN
SECOND AND LAST THURSDAYS FROM 6-8 AT
Christ United Methodist, 35 State Street, at 4th Avenue, Troy, NY 12180.
3RD THURSDAYS FROM 6-8 AT
Trinity Institution, 15 Trinity Place, Albany NY 12202
Call ROOTS at 518 434 1026 for more details.
2. COALITION FOR FAIR CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICIES REPORTS ON GENERAL MEETING AND POLICY COMMITTEE PROGRESS
The GENERAL MEETING has suspended meetings for the time being. We will reconvene when the Policy Committee is ready to present the first draft of the revised 259-i for a public opinion session.
The POLICY COMMITTEE appreciates all the feedback we’ve received. We are trying our best to write a proposal that will bring about the reforms you are asking for. Although the process is taking longer than we anticipated, we feel it’s worthwhile to spend time on deliberations which will result in a stronger proposal. We still plan to have a final draft ready by January 1.
RESEARCH in support of our efforts is being provided by the Fordham Law School Prisoners' Rights Advocates, a group of motivated law students who have volunteered their support.
3. GARDENING IS A SOURCE NOT ONLY OF NUTRITION BUT OF IDENTITY. THE QUALITY OF YOUR PRODUCE ALSO DEFINES YOU. ONE SEGMENT OF SOCIETY ESPECIALLY IN NEED OF BOTH NUTRITION AND IDENTITY ARE THE INCARCERATED.
SPREADING OUR GARDENS, SPREADING OUR HOPE. BY EDGAR NKOSI WHITE
If ever there was a time for gardens that time is now. In this time of global meltdown and anxiety there can be no finer remedy than that of returning to the earth. Gardening provides a hands-on therapy because it is one of the few remaining outlets for those of us who feel increasingly powerless in the face of corporate forces which threaten to overwhelm us daily by trying to convince us that we do not exist.
A garden is a source not only of nutrition but of identity. The quality of your produce also defines you.
One segment of society especially in need of both nutrition and identity are the incarcerated. Prisoners are woefully neglected when it comes to diet. Prisons are a haven for junk food and of course the junk food industry. The prison diet at best is massive carbohydrates augmented with sweets and powdered substitutes. The most difficult thing for those incarcerated is to obtain any fresh vegetables. These cannot be gotten from the canteen at any price. A family member may send a candy bar in a package but not an onion or a carrot. I find it interesting that they may send the latest sneakers but absolutely nothing of any nutritional value to an inmate.
Why don't the powers that be allow gardens? A garden in any prison facility allows much needed healthy and rewarding exercise as well as a remedy for the malnutrition which results so often in dental agony. (This is usually the first visible sign of incarceration). A green garden would supply a much needed sense of responsibility as well. Many prisoners take up food collections (that is to say that they contribute to food pantries by way of churches). I have seen this at Sing-Sing Prison as well as Green Haven in Connecticut at the time of the Hurricane Katrina outreach.
To enter prison is to lose even the right to your name. It is for this reason that a number is assigned and the individual is made to relinquish all rights to identity and become, in effect, "a package." A package may be shifted about at will. Moved arbitrarily from facility to facility without any advance warning. How therefore can a package transcend itself and become human? I think the answer may be found in the garden.
What can give a person a greater sense of worth than to know that they are actually still able to contribute something to society despite being incarcerated? Learning to tend a garden provides not only a form of release but an inspiration and a useable skill as well for the future. Indeed, to tend a garden is to know that there is still such a thing as a future.
To paraphrase Voltaire the French philosopher and satirist, all we can do in the end is tend our garden, for even a slave while he tends his garden is not a slave but a gardener. Every garden is therefore a victory.
[This is a condensed version of the original article. You can find the original
here]
4. ICARE COMMUNITY EDUCATOR WRITES ABOUT RECLAIMING AND REBUILDING HIS LIFE:
Events happen in our lives as children and they live packed neatly away in our hearts and minds throughout our adult years, never being brought up or out again. The pain, anger, love, frustration, and disappointment are turned into weights that we carry through our adult lives. For me these weights had become so heavy over the years that they slowed the upward movement of my journey to freedom. The power in this poem helped me to unpack those boxes and simply let go. I pray (if needed) it will do the same for you. Even though I have been home for close to two years my reclaiming, rebuilding and upward journey to freedom and a better life continues.
-- Jafar Abbas
I AIN'T BLAMING YOU
Oh! I’m sorry
I hope I wasn’t
Writing too
Loud.
I had
Absolutely
No idea that a pen
Could so easily break through
This forced internal silence
And set free so many Externally loud Noises.
I was afraid to talk about it
Even to myself
I was afraid.
But I needed
To confront it right?
If I was ever
Going to move forward
With my life.
To deal with it
So I could deal
With myself.
I think I
Can tell you
About it now that
I had it locked up inside
Me for so long.
I was mad at you!
I bet you didn’t
Know that.
You know
We got the same blood?
Well really not the same
Half of mine’s belongs to Mommy
But you already knew that.
Did you know
Your half still fights
With Mommy’s half and
I’m still stuck in the middle
Siding with Mommy
Needing my father
Wanting my own blood.
Did you know
I didn’t always like this blood?
The way it ran through my veins screaming
”I should kill you!”
Did you know
I didn’t always like this blood?
This red stuff
That made the world
Look at me and see you
“He looks just like his father.”
I didn’t always like this blood
This blue stuff
This you
In me.
I thought
It would make us
A part of each other
How far a----------part
From each other
We have
Grown.
Maybe
That’s the part of you
That abandoned
Me?
Or
The part of me
That abandoned
You?
I
Never
Told you
That I was
Scared.
That I swore
“When I get big!”
“You wait, when I get big!”
I never told you
How I cried all by myself
That day you said
“Good-bye.”
That day
My small world
Broke into a million
Confusingly tiny
Pieces.
I should
Have told you
That I loved you
And things may
Have been
All right.
But
I ain’t blaming you
And it’s never
Too late.
I
Love you
Daddy.
Jafar Abbas
5. JOB ANNOUNCEMENT AND GREEN JOBS TRAINING PROGRAM
1) FACES NY, Inc., a nonprofit agency in Central Harlem, is seeking full-time staffing for an Office of Minority Health funded re-entry initiative titled HIRE NY (Health Improvement for Re-entering Ex-offenders).
Job Title: Project Coordinator Hours: 35 hrs/weekly Salary Range: $40,000 - $45,000/yr
Qualifications: MSW or its equivalent. It is preferred that the candidate be bilingual, Spanish-English speaking. FACES NY, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Job Title: Re-Entry Case Manager Hours: 35 hrs/weekly Salary Range: $30,000 - $35,000/yr
Qualifications: BA degree in Social Work
For details, contact: Antonio Rivera, Director of Education & Client Services Fax #: 212 864-1614 or via email.
2). Do you know of someone interested in participating in a Green jobs training program?
The Green Training focuses on:
· Green Construction
· Home Energy Audits
· Home Heating and Cooling
· Home Tightening and Ventilation
· Installing Insulation “Blown In”, Vapor Barriers and Drywall
· Caulking and Sealing
Contact Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc, ask for Mika’il DeVeaux at 212.252.2235
6. LADY PENUMBRA AND TY CONSCIOUS PERFORMED AT MID-ORANGE'S HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH CELEBRATION IN OCTOBER
Recently Mid-Orange Correctional Facility invited Lady Penumbra and Ty Conscious to participate in their Hispanic Heritage Month Closing Celebration, sponsored by the Chaplain's office. The over 100 men who participated loved not only the poetry, but the very fact that there are so many people out here who remember them and recognize their humanity / humanness. They send their greetings back out to you.
Seven of the incarcerated people have formed a salsa band, The Mulattos de Salsa,who besides performing their own program also provided backup music for the poetry reading. At the end of the afternoon, when the band played its best selections, Lady Penumbra was invited by Deacon Rosado to dance some salsa for the audience. The entire afternoon was quite a success!
You can reach Lady Penumbra and Ty Conscious at PO Box 1784 NY NY 10035
7. LEGISLATION: ACTUAL INNOCENCE ACT; A4809-A EQUIVALENT REHABILITATION PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN VETOED BY THE GOVERNOR
[Copies of all bills mentioned are available from PAN by sending an email with the number of the bill and the month in which we reported it.]
ACTUAL INNOCENCE ACT OF 2009
On October 21, 2009 Sen. Eric T. Schneiderman (D-Manhattan/Bronx) and Assm. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) unveiled legislation to help exonerate innocent people who are wrongfully convicted in cases that lack DNA evidence. The "Actual Innocence Act of 2009" establishes "actual innocence" as a lawful basis for vacating a prior conviction and removes certain roadblocks that can prevent the wrongfully convicted from presenting proof that conclusively establishes their innocence.
Said sponsor Sen. Eric T. Scheiderman, Chair of the Senate Codes Committee and member of Chief Justice Lippman's task force on wrongful convictions. "This 'actual innocence' legislation is about justice and fairness - it ensures that innocent people don't spend decades behind bars while the real criminals go free."
"Prolonged and unnecessary incarceration of the innocent is detrimental to all - the wrongfully incarcerated, society, the criminal justice system and the victim. I can only hope that the proposed legislation ensures the others wrongly incarcerated like me, never have to suffer like I did in securing their freedom through the criminal justice system," said Marty Tankleff, who was wrongfully convicted for the murder of his parents based on a false confession.
"New York State's criminal justice system, like many other states’, has too often stressed the 'criminal' more than the 'justice,' sometimes resulting in innocent people being convicted and incarcerated....." said Sen. Velmanette Montgomery (D-Manhattan). "If the bill provides for the exoneration of just one person it will be worth it."
see article here.
UPDATE
A4809-A - EQUIVALENT REHABILITATION PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN Weinstein (MS) Same as S 5993 HASSELL-THOMPSON
Passed both houses (the Assembly unanimously) and was sent to the Governor on Oct. 16, who subsequently vetoed it.
Requires that rehabilitation programs for female inmates in state correctional facilities be equivalent to those provided to male inmates of correctional facilities elsewhere in the state; provides that such rehabilitation programs shall include, but not be limited to, vocational, academic and industrial programs.
8. LIFERS AND LONGTERMERS CLEARINGHOUSE: LONG-TERMERS HAVE TO DEVELOP ADJUSTMENT AND COPING STRATEGIES DIFFERENT FROM THEIR SHORT-TERM COUNTERPARTS. DOCS POLICIES ALLOW INDIVIDUALS SERVING LIFE, LONG-TERM, AND LIFE-WITHOUT-PAROLE SENTENCES TO FORM LONG-TERMER ORGANIZATIONS AS A MEANS OF ADDRESSING ISSUES.
The New York State Department of Correctional Services does not provide special counseling or programming services specially designed to assist long-termers adjust or cope with long-term sentences.
A problem faced by all persons in prison is the development of a strategy for doing time. For persons serving short-term sentences, release from confinement is an attainable goal in the not-too-distant future. On the other hand, release from confinement for persons serving long-term sentences is not a realistic goal for some time. Therefore, long-termers have to develop adjustment and coping strategies different from their short-term counterparts.
It is the policy of the state Department of Corrections to allow individuals serving life, long-term, and life-without-parole sentences to form long-termer organizations as a means of addressing issues relevant to coping with long-term confinement. The policy and procedures for formulation of lifer and long-termer organizations is set forth in DOCS Directive 4760 Inmate Organizations.
An approved lifer and long-termer organization provides an avenue for the collective participation of long-termers in the development of programs and services that address their adjustment and coping needs.
Lifer and long-termer organizations play a crucial role in establishing internal order within a correctional facility. Lifer organizations become stakeholders in the orderly functioning of facility operations so as to assure the continuation of a climate in which the organization can further its beneficial initiatives.
When individuals serving long-term sentences (10 years or more) compose a significant percentage of the population of a correctional facility are not provided with specialized correctional programs and services to meet their adjustment and coping needs, a level of frustration and tension develops, and overtime constitutes a tinderbox of discontent.
This is specially true when long-termers are denied by the facility administration the opportunity to form a lifer-and long-termer organization. The level of frustration, tension, and discontent created then grows and festers, available for any otherwise provoked incident to ignite.
When long-termers at a facility where a significant percentage of the population are serving long-term sentences are denied the opportunity to form a lifer organization, they should each individually write the Commissioner and/or the Deputy Commissioner for Program Services. The more individual letters the better, stating such relevant information as the approximate number of long-termers in the population at that facility. And please familiarize yourself with Directive 4760 to be sure you are grounded in your complaint.
Larry Luqman White
9. OBITUARY:
We are sorry to report that Reverend Lonnie McLeod died on Oct 25 of a heart attack at the age of 61. His funeral took place on Saturday, October 31st at St. Marks United Methodist Church. He is greatly missed by many in the prisoners advocacy community.
10. PAROLE NEWS: PART 11 OF PAROLE HANDBOOK; PAROLE STATISTICS.
PAROLE HANDBOOK ON LETTERS OF SUPPORT, QUEENSBORO C.F.’s ROLE
[available online here ]
WHAT IF MY FAMILY, FRIENDS, EMPLOYERS OR OTHER INDIVIDUALS WISH TO SEND LETTERS IN SUPPORT OF MY RELEASE FOR REVIEW BY THE PAROLE BOARD?
All letters of support should be sent to the Parole office in the facility in which you are confined. Additionally, any written statement you wish to make on your behalf should be sent to the facility Parole office. All letters received will be placed in your file for review by the Parole Board at the time of your appearance.
Letters should not be sent directly to the Parole Board Offices as your file is maintained at the facility. Sending materials to the facility is the best way to ensure that all letters and statements will be included in your file before you appear.
WHAT HAPPENS AT QUEENSBORO CORRECTIONAL FACILITY?
If you are being released to an address in New York City, Westchester, Nassau or Suffolk county, you may be sent to Queensboro Correctional Facility to await your release date. While at Queensboro, you will have an opportunity to attend classes designed to help you think about what you will do after release to insure that you do not return to prison. In addition, you will receive a substance abuse assessment and referral to treatment if you require it; a chance to apply for Medicaid benefits if you need assistance to pay for treatment; a referral to a group designed to strengthen your relationships with your family; and assistance in finding somewhere to live.
SEPTEMBER 2009 PAROLE BOARD RELEASES – A1 VIOLENT FELONS – unofficial research from parole database
Total Interviews.............. # Released....... # Denied.....Rate of Release
25 initials.................................5..............................20.................20%
122 reappearances.................30..............................92..................25%
147 total ................................35..............................112 ...............24%
Initial Releases
Facility...................Sentence..........Offense
Livingston ..............25-Life ...........Murder 2
Livingston................15-Life ..........Murder 2
Mid Orange..............20-Life ..........Murder 2
Woodbourne............20-Life...........Murder 2
Otisville....................15-Life...........Kidnap 1
Sept. Reappearances
Facility .....................Sentence........Offense ...............# of Board
Arthurkill.................15-Life...........Murder 2...................6th
Arthurkill.................25-Life...........Murder 2...................4th
Bare Hill...................8-Life.............Murder 2...................6th spec consideration
Bayview....................25-Life...........Murder 2...................4th
Clinton.....................15-Life............Murder 2...................11th
Clinton.....................15-Life............Murder 2...................4th
Elmira.......................15-Life............Murder 2...................4th
Elmira.......................25-Life............Murder 2...................5th
Fishkill.....................20-Life............Murder 2...................3rd
Fishkill.....................25-Life............Murder 2...................4th
Franklin....................15-Life............Murder 2..................6th
Franklin....................15-Life............M2 2x.........................6th
Franklin....................15-Life............Murder 2...................9th
Franklin....................15-Life............Murder 2...................5th
Gowanda..................15-Life............Murder 2...................8th
Groveland................21-Life............Murder 2...................2nd
Marcy........................15-Life............Murder 2...................3rd
Mid Orange..............15-Life............Murder 2...................4th
Mid Orange..............20-Life............Murder 2...................6th
Mid Orange..............20-Life............Murder 2...................2nd
Mid Orange..............20-Life............Murder 2...................3rd For Deportation Only
Mid Orange..............15-Life............Kidnap 1...................2nd
Mid-Orange..............15-Life............Murder 2...................9th
Mohawk....................20-Life............Murder 2...................6th
Mt. McGregor...........25-Life............M2 2x.........................2nd
Orleans......................15-Life............Murder 2...................8th
Otisville....................20-Life............Murder 2...................5th
Otisville....................15-Life............Murder 2...................5th
Sing Sing...................25-Life............Murder 2...................4th
Wallkill.....................25-Life............Murder pre 74 .........11th
SEPTEMBER RELEASES FROM PRISON REPORTS. (Please note that the following statistics are not limited to people convicted of A1 Violent felonies - but all are people with indeterminate sentences)
MID-ORANGE
Sept - Ross, Grant, Greene
Appearances: ..........23............13 released (7 A1VO)
Initials:......................11..............3 indeterminates released ( (2 for deportation; 1A1VO)
Reappearances:........12..............8 indeterminates released (6 A1VO)
WOODBOURNE
Sept - Clark, Grant
13 appearances (7 A1VO)
1 release (A1VO)
9 denials (3 A1VO)
1 postponements (A1VO)
2 split decisions (A1VO)
11. POST CONVICTION SEALING HOTLINE SEEKS YOUR INPUT
The New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is collecting stories from people who have been adversely affected by an old conviction, in order to convince the government to allow people to apply for their records to be sealed after staying out of trouble for a period of time. Please call the hotline at 1-888-898-0700.
If you are uncomfortable using your real name, you may remain anonymous. The hotline will be staffed on Fridays, but you may leave a message at any time and someone will get back to you.
12. PRISON MEDIA: ALL THINGS HARLEM, FANCY BROCCOLI, ON THE COUNT, SOUL SPECTRUM WITH LIBERTY GREEN
ALL THINGS HARLEM - www.allthingsharlem.com Community based reporting at its best. New coverage is added regularly. See their TV program on MNN. If you know of events in the community that you think are worth covering please contact Joseph Hayden at info@allthingsharlem.com.
FANCY BROCCOLI RADIO SHOW, WVKR, 91.3 FM - Sundays - Jazz & Prison Talk, 3:00-6:00 pm
Box 726, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY 12604-0726
Fancy Broccoli streams online - go to www.WVKR.org and click on (or near) the word 'LISTEN'.
Visit archives to find lots of other good interviews.
ON THE COUNT, WBAI, 99.5FM. - Sundays 10:30am-noon. To listen live on your computer, visit www.wbai.org. To listen later, visit their archives.
SOUL SPECTRUM WITH LIBERTY GREEN, WJFF Radio Catskill 90.5FM - Thursday evenings from 10pm to 1:30am. PO Box 546, Jeffersonville, NY 12748 Voice Box Call-in Comment Line: 845 431 6500 To listen on your computer, live, click here: www.wjffradio.org. To send an email, click here: Email:libertygreen@citlink.net
13. PRISONERS OF THE CENSUS - ARGUMENTS FROM BOTH SIDES AGREE PRISONERS NEED TO BE COUNTED IN THE COMMUNITIES FROM WHICH THEY CAME; MAINE RESIDENTS TAKE UP PETITION AGAINST PRISON-BASED GERRYMANDERING IN SCHOOL DISTRICT
ON SATURDAY, THE WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES in upstate New York printed a letter from Daniel Jenkins calling for the upstate counties to continue to adjust the federal census to exclude prison populations. He called on the Bureau to separately report the prison count to facilitate this process:
[click here for article]
ELI LEHRER WRITES IN THE CONSERVATIVE NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE that the Census Bureau should change where it counts incarcerated people: "Prisoners aren't, in any real sense, residents of the places where they are incarcerated. Their victims and families very likely live in the places where they came from. In short, the costs that prisoners impose on society fall on the municipalities where they lived and will probably return after release."
[See: Eli Lehrer, How Should the Census Count Prisoners? National Review Online]
THE RESIDENTS OF MAINE'S REGIONAL SCHOOL UNIT 13 HAVE LAUNCHED A PETITION DRIVE to end prison-based gerrymandering in their school district. The school district's voting system is based on Census Bureau estimates for 2006 that credited the town of Thomaston with the population of the Maine State Prison that had closed 4 years prior. Not only does Maine state law say that a prison is not a residence, the prison counted in the Census did not even exist at the time of the count.
Unfortunately, the school board has refused to change the voting system, and to date the Commissioner of Education has ignored requests to intervene.
By Maine law, voters can use a petition to require the Commissioner to rule on whether a voting system violates the constitutional principles of One Person One Vote.
The Prison Policy Initiative depends on the support of the people who receive this newsletter. To help support our work with a tax-deductible contributions visit www.PrisonersoftheCensus.org or contact Peter Wagner.
14. TELEPHONE JUSTICE AT LAST! A NEW CONTRACT HAS BEEN SIGNED AND THE INSTALLATION WILL BEGIN. WHEN THE SWITCH IS COMPLETED, A 20 MINUTE CALL WILL BE LESS THAN $1.
Over the next few months a switch will be made from GTL to a new provider of telephone service to people in NYS prisons. The Unisys Corporation along with Value Added Communications, Inc. will be the new provider. The new rate will be less than a nickel a minute, and there will be no connect fees. The cost of a 20 minute call will be 96 cents.
After the switch has been completed, and you are receiving calls through Unisys, you will be able to obtain a refund of any remaining funds left in your GTL account by calling Global Tel Link at 1 866-230 7761.
The first time someone in prison makes a call on the new system, unless the called party's phone company has a billing arrangement with Unisys, Unisys will offer it as a free 60-second call followed by an automated process which will allow the called party to set up a pre-paid account so that future calls can go through.
There will be a number and a website where you can get answers to any questions after the new system goes into effect.
15. TRANSPORTATION TO PRISONS:
CAPITAL DISTRICT
NEST Prison Shuttle schedule: Mt McGregor, Washington, Grt Meadow CFs on Sat, Nov 7 ($35 adults, $25 children), Coxsackie, Greene, Hudson on BOTH Sat, Nov 14 & 21 ($20 adults, $15 children) leaving Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, then Albany Greyhound bus station at 7:15. Sullivan trip (Ulster, Eastern, Woodbourne, Sullivan) on Nov 28 leaving at 6:30 AM ($45 adults, $30 children). Reservations: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
Free door to door rides from the Capital District: The Justice Committee at the Unitarian Church has 3 volunteer drivers. If you have a loved one in prison and you have no other way of getting to see him or her, maybe we can help. Call us to find out: 518 253 7533
Building Bridges is the monthly newsletter of the Prison Action Network.
For information on joining, please call 518 253 7533, or email PAN.