The Justice Charter has been updated. It contains 18 key steps to NYS criminal justice reform, along with rationales for each and savings estimates for some.
The Justice Charter can be found at the CURE-NY website, www.users.bestweb.net.
A limited number of hard copies of the Justice Charter can be obtained from CURE-NY.
A very limited number of CDs, containing a Power-Point presentation of the Justice Charter, can be obtained from CURE-NY by those able to make such a slideshow presentation to a least ten people.
The Justice Charter also contains: Chilling Facts Regarding Our Present System, A very troubling litany of problems in the U.S. and New York State criminal justice systems, and
Faith Communities Call for Justice, A measured indictment of NYS justice, grounded in the tenets of many faiths.
Please consider making good use of the Justice Charter, Rudy Cypser, cureny@bestweb.net
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Saturday, July 01, 2006
July 2006 Edition
Dear Readers,
IF YOU HAVE A LOVED ONE WHO’S BEEN DENIED PAROLE, or is eligible for parole, or you care about the issue for some other reason, you’re invited to a meeting that is only a few months away. Family Empowerment Day 2 on Oct 21, which is described in Article 5 of this issue, is all about coming together to plan what we can do to end parole denials to community-ready individuals.
It’s exciting to learn about the growing interest in the event. The Coalition of Families and Community has heard from many people, and we know each one of them is also spreading the word. HOW MANY OF YOU ARE EXPECTING TO ATTEND? If you are, please let us know. If you’ve been inviting your friends and family to attend, please let us know how many have accepted the invitation, with their names and contact info if possible. The Coalition needs this information to be able to create an event that is pleasant as well as effective. Send the information to any of the following: prisonaction@hotmail.com; PAN, H-M IMC, PO Box 35, Troy NY 12181; in the Capital District: 518-253 7533; in the Buffalo area: 716-834-8438, in Poughkeepsie area: 845-616-9698.
Together we CAN make a difference!
Articles:
1. Additional Bills pass in State Legislature!
2. Buddhism Text Denied to Prisoner
3. Chairperson of Parole, Robert Dennison, Visits Beacon Prison
4. Convict Nation, by Silja J. A. Talvi
5. Family Empowerment Day 2 Updates
6. From the Inside: Jehan Abdur-Raheem, Chas Ransome
7. From Other Media: ‘Jail Jam’ OK, Pataki Appoints 7 to Parole Board
8. Legal Battle Won by Prison Legal News
9. Locked Down for More than a Lifetime - Seth Hayes
10. Meetings
11. Radio Programs
12. Transportation to Prisons
1. Additional Bills Pass in State Legislature
S7588/A10832, was signed into law by the governor on June 7, 2006! NYS penal law now reorients the focus of incarceration to promote reentry while an individual is being sentenced and is in prison, and the corrections law now clarifies the process for applicants seeking Certificates of Relief from Disabilities, thus enabling job seekers to find employment or gain occupational licenses more quickly. To look up the text of this bill, go to www.communityalternatives.org. Thanks to ICARE for all their work on this bill. For more information about ICARE, you can visit www.nyicare.org.
A11562 passed in the Assembly on June 21. It requires that both the Department of Correctional Services and the Division of Parole notify all persons who reach their maximum sentence of imprisonment about their right to vote in writing. The legislation also requires that in addition to notifying a person released from prison or discharged from parole about their right to vote, each such person be provided with a voter registration form together with information about the importance and mechanics of voting.
Finally, the legislation requires that the State Board of Elections be notified about all persons who are again eligible to vote because they have reached their maximum imprisonment date, been discharged from parole, conditional release, or presumptive release, or completed a period of post-release supervision. The State Board of Elections must then transmit this information to all local boards of elections.
S.5934-A/A.6179-A is now at the governor's office. The Senate and Assembly passed the licensing bill sponsored by Senator Velmanette Montgomery and Assemblymember Michael Benjamin that states that men and women who are trained to practice cosmetology and barbering in prison can no longer be denied a license simply because of their criminal conviction/s. Cosmetology training is offered to women incarcerated at Taconic, Bedford Hills and Albion Correctional Facilities. Barbering training is available to male inmates at Hudson, Green Haven, Auburn and Mid-State Correctional Facilities.
Senator Montgomery calls on criminal justice advocates statewide to join her in urging Governor PATAKI, ph: 518 474-8390, to sign this bill into law. PLEASE CALL THE GOVERNOR TO URGE HIS SUPPORT FOR BILL S.5934- A/A.6179-A!
SHU Bill
A bill to prohibit placing mentally ill inmates in solitary confinement passed the State Legislature. It now goes to Gov. George Pataki.
According to Paul Grondahl, Staff writer, Albany Times Union, in his Wednesday, June 28, 2006 column, [Sen. Michael Nozzolio, R-Seneca Falls, chairman of the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections and sponsor of the bill]. “said the bill's unanimous passage in the Senate came about because it not only would offer more humane treatment for mentally ill prisoners placed in Special Housing Units (SHUs), also known as The Box, but would make prisons safer for correction officers, too. Support from the correction officer union and others representing prison employees was crucial, Nozzolio said.”
In that same article, Paul mentioned PFNY, an organization to which many of our readers belong: “’Two dozen women who are wives, sisters and mothers of prisoners praised passage of the bill at the fourth annual retreat of Prison Families of New York, held last week in Lake George’, the group's director said. ‘Their loved ones with mental illness were being criminalized, and they had no business being in the SHUs,’ Alison Coleman said.”
2. Access to Book on Zen Buddhism Denied
at Gowanda Correctional Facility, Gowanda, New York USA
by Kooi Fong Lim, The Buddhist Channel, June 5, 2006 - Excerpts from original article, posted at www.buddhistchannel.tv
Gowanda, New York (USA) -- A prisoner at the Gowanda Correctional Facility in New York State; William "Red" Graham has been denied access to a basic introductory text on Zen Buddhism entitled "Prison Chaplaincy Guidelines for Zen Buddhism" authored by Venerable Kobutsu Malone.
The facility's "Media Review Committee" will not allow William to receive a copy of the book due to a non-existent regulation which it lists as "Depicts/describes procedures to be implemented solely by Administration"........A comprehensive review of the directive's guidelines reveals nothing that substantiates a justification for the ban, as none of the content in the book contradicts in any way whatsoever what the State lists as "standards for media evaluation.".........To date, only Gowanda Correctional Facility in New York has objected to the book. No other correctional facilities within New York State, The Federal Bureau of Prisons, or prisons and jails in any other state have taken similar action.
3. Chairperson of Parole, Robert Dennison, Visits Beacon Prison
On February 27, 2006, at the request of women in prison at Beacon Prison, Robert Dennison, Chairperson of the New York State Division of Parole, visited Beacon to talk about parole. The following is a excerpt from a “fact sheet” of said visit, reported by someone who was there and presumably unable to take notes or have recording equipment, so it cannot be verified. It was first published in May 2006 Deuce Club, the newsletter of The Coalition for Parole Restoration (CPR ). We publish a few paragraphs to attract your interest. To read the entire article please send your request to CPR, PO Box 1379, NY NY 10013-0877, call 888 590 9212, or email: parolecpr@yahoo.com.
Dennison admitted that the commissioners are more likely to let people convicted of nonviolent crimes go, even though they know that their recidivism rate is much higher that people convicted of violent felony offenses.
............Dennison admitted women do better in prison than men, and much better on parole. The likelihood of a woman convicted of a violent crime to return to prison is less than one percent. In fact, statistics are practically non-available concerning this. Dennison also admitted that since 2001, only 28 people convicted of class A-1 felonies have been paroled.
..........Dennison denied that the stats in the New York Law Journal article, “Parole Release Rates Plunge Under Pataki’s Tough Policy” [01/31/06], were correct. When questioned about the “correct” stats, he said he didn’t know.
...........Dennison also stated that he would repeat everything he said in front of the women in Beacon in front of the media.
..........When asked if he believed in rehabilitation, Dennison clearly answered “Yes.”
..........Dennison further stated that parole decisions were not made in advance, contrary to what some people in prison might believe.
If a person was sentenced to 20 years to life, obviously the judge must have been of the opinion that 20 years was appropriate, if indeed the person had done all he/she could do. When posed this question, as to why people in this situation were repeatedly denied parole, Dennison simply answered: “The parole board has the discretion to increase that sentence.”
We can change our attitude, our outlook on life, we can do programs and be in counseling for years, but we cannot change the nature of the crime. How do you expect us to go up against that? The answer by Dennison was, “You can’t.”
4. Convict Nation, By Silja J. A. Talvi, senior editor, In These Times
June 1, 2006 - In These Times (US) [full article available at www.inthesetimes.com]
In May, I traveled to McNeil Island Corrections Center, a medium-custody men's prison in Washington state. I made the journey out there because I had been invited to experience the Native American prisoners' annual Pow Wow, which brings together spiritual elders, prisoners and their families, for a powerfully intense four-hour ceremony.
The biggest challenge, as I quickly discovered, wasn't taking in all of the emotion surrounding the event, but having even the briefest moment of privacy for thinking, taking notes, or talking to prisoners. Increasingly, American prison life doesn't allow for privacy -- not even for outsiders like myself. I could discern no possible security risk from a small-statured woman with a pen and a notepad at an island prison, surrounded by barbed wire and frigid waters. Regardless, for four hours, my every move and word was followed, intercepted and occasionally interjected upon. I could barely endure it for the half a day I was there. Millions of Americans don't have that choice.
Of course, many prisoners are indeed guilty of precisely the crimes they've been charged with -- or some version of the crime for which they've been sentenced. And some are absolutely innocent, doing time on trumped up charges, or because a snitch got out of prison time by "rolling" on some of his friends. But assessing the consequences of our country's soaring imprisonment rates has less to do with the question of guilt versus innocence than it does with the question of who, among us, truly deserves to go to prison and face the restrictive -- and sometimes brutally repressive -- conditions found there.
5. Family Empowerment Day 2 Updates:
The G.E.O. at Mid-Orange is promoting Family Empowerment Day 2 by giving each person on a housing unit a copy of the following information sheet, with a request that each person send a copy to his family and friends. The information sheet reads as follows:,
Dear _____, On October 21, 2006 there will be a Family Empowerment Day 2 event held. I need you (or alternatively, you and our family members) to attend this very important meeting as my representative/s because I don’t have a voice without you speaking for me.
The topic will be PAROLE. The day will consist of speakers, discussion groups, and deciding on a plan of action. Free food and childcare will be provided. Please attend this event for me, it will be held at the following time and address: October 21, 2006, 11 am to 3:30 PM, Middle Collegiate Church, Second Avenue and 7th Street, NYC 10003, 212 477-0666.
Remember you are my connection to the outside so please attend this meeting on October 21, 2006, it’s a Saturday.
[The G.E.O. will also be encouraging reentry organizations to support “this very important event.”]
****************
The Latest Information on FED2:
Date: October 21, 2006
Time: 11 am - 3:30 pm
Topic: Parole Policies in NYS (and what can be done to change them).
Location: Middle Collegiate Church, Second Avenue at 7th Street in Manhattan,.212 477-0666.
Presented by the COALITION OF FAMILIES AND COMMUNITY:
Individuals who have loved ones in NYS prisons
Interfaith Coalition of Advocates for Reentry and Employment (ICARE)
Citizens for Restorative Justice (CRJ)
Coalition of Families of NYS Lifers
Coalition for Parole Restoration (CPR)
Prison Action Network (PAN)
Prisoners Are People Too!
Your organization is invited to join the coalition....
PAROLE IS THE ISSUE....how to End Parole Denials to Community Ready Individuals
Family Empowerment Day 2 will be a day where family and supporters meet, greet and decide what we can do to end parole denials to community-ready individuals.
Tentative program schedule:
11:00 Registration and Refreshments
11:30: Welcoming Remarks and Introduction
11:45 - 12:45 Opening Keynote Speaker/s (15-30 minutes each, depending ...)
12:45 - 1:15 Networking/Tabling break with buffet /refreshments.
1:15 - 2:45 Individual breakout groups led by each available speaker
3:00 Closing remarks and Call to Action
3:15 Time to Network and sign petitions, etc.
3:30 Break down.
History of the event:
The first Family Empowerment Day was held on May 21, 2005. It was the brainchild of the Otisville Correctional Facility’s Lifers Group, who involved their families and supporters in organizing a day of consciousness; a day of strength through diversity; a day of hope. The following was written by the men in the group:
Every year parole denials are served out in large numbers amongst violent felony offenders. To many this is a disheartening experience, psychologically shattering. That experience is shared by prisoners and their loved ones who must, once again, be told: “I don’t know when I’m coming home.” Husbands and wives worry about their continued future as single parents and providers, children weep and ask: “How come Daddy/Mommy is not coming home?”. Elderly parents must be comforted, if for nothing else than their fear of dying alone.
Like ripples in a pond, so many other lives were (and are) affected. For every community-ready person denied parole a heavy toll is exacted on the social, political and moral fiber of society. Families and communities are destabilized, needed funding for healthcare, childcare, housing, education, job training and community institutions is shifted to support already overburdened State Correctional budgets.
Many men and women throughout the State are losing hope. Hope is the one thing which holds many together in the period between parole appearances and parole denials. Family Empowerment Day renewed hope for a lot of the people in attendance last year, who believed those eminently qualified were being denied because they were doing something wrong. This was (and is) not the case, and 5/21 raised consciousness among families and supporters to that fact. That day’s events helped them to understand that they are the pillars of strength for their incarcerated loved ones; they are their foundation and that if they crumble those inside most assuredly will as well.
Family Empowerment Day 2, on October 21, 2006 will be a day where family and supporters meet, greet and learn what steps can be taken together to shed light on what has gone on in the dark for far too long. It is a day that, like the incredibly diverse yet solidly united men in the Otisville Lifers Group who conceived the event, can move us forward as one family which can begin to think and act together rather than continue as a disunified, politically unempowered group scattered across the state, in separate enclaves, divided by race, social class, ethnicity and religion.
We believe in education, faith and transformation. Theses principles guide us to fight for those who won’t fight, those who have given up hope, and those who because of death, can no longer fight. We also fight for the families and supporters who do not understand why community-ready men and women are not being released. Please do not let them down.
*****************
Film Fundraiser raises $170 for Family Empowerment Day 2:
The screening of “Favela Rising” on June 14, followed with a Q & A session led by PAN board member Nathan Hamlin, raised $170 for Family Empowerment Day 2. Thanks to all supporters who came out and were rewarded by an inspiring film and provocative discussion afterward.
*****************
6. From the Inside
Editor’s Note: last month we omitted the names of the prisoners at Gt Meadow who wrote a collective statement of condemnation and outrage at the murder of Sister Karen Klimczak. We apologize to the men whose heartfelt words were published without giving them individual credit:
George Baba Eng, 77A4777;
John Standley, 84B1584;
James Gardiner, 86A0323;
Jimmie Lee Allen, 80A1633;
Shawnon Bolden, 90T4601;
Victor Bolling, 93A4570;
Ashton Nedrick, 87A3212.
[From now on the Building Bridges policy will be to publish the name and DIN of all those in prison whose submissions are printed. If you do not want that information published please make sure we know.]
I read the June 2006 Building Bridges with a sense of pride and accomplishment. I’m both elated and heartened by the momentum building up as a result of persons on both sides of the wall.
Over recent years I noticed a decline in positive legitimate activities by incarcerated individuals as gang fighting and drug use dominated the minds of those behind the walls. Now there seems to be a new awakening, and it’s good to see so many getting back aboard. I’m glad to see Elmira’s PAC organization back in full swing. Their enthusiasm is commendable.
Thanks for publishing the expose of Rush Limbaugh’s hypocrisy (May 2006 issue, from the Internet, by A. Papa) and for honorably mentioning Sister Karen Klimczak. We laugh at phonies like Limbaugh, and we weep at losing a helper and supporter like Sis Karen.
My thanks to the families and friends of prisoners conscious enough to realize that no significant changes will come without their participation. Justice will not come without effort.
--Jehan Abdur-Raheem, 77A1180
*****************************************************
It was a great loss when Grandpa Al Lewis passed on February 3, 2006. However, he only asked that we be the best at whatever it was we did in life. He gave so much to prisoners and their loved ones that it’s only right that we continue on in his absence. The Al Lewis Live Show is hosted by Karen Lewis on WBAI from 12 noon to 2 PM after On The Count. If anyone wishes to give a donation to honor his spirit, his life and his contributions, they may do so by sending them to either: KPFK/California, Attn: Sue Welsh, 3729 Cahuenga Blvd West, No Hollywood, Cal 91604 or WBAI, NYC, PO Box 11445, Church St Station, NY NY 10277-2071.
Grandpa Al always wanted us to remember that no matter how seemingly good it gets: ‘The struggle goes on. The victory is in the struggle, for me. And, I accepted that a long time ago.’ He will always be, for me and many others, a guiding force to honor, recognize and respect as we follow his beacon to greatness. May he rest in peace and his family find peace of mind from knowing that he was great in all he did!
-- Chas Ransome DIN 85A16436
Chas Ransome is a Creative Program Developer and Special Event Coordinator who has been instrumental in getting fellow inmates to write letters to the Assembly and Senate on both the MCI Contract and Parole. Many more than he expected wrote their own letters. Building Bridges congratulates people on both sides of the wall who are becoming involved in the political process! Remember, your vote is only a small part. Becoming informed and letting our representatives know where you stand makes a real difference. Working on campaigns, going door to door and making phone calls can actually get your candidate elected. We may not have money, but we’ve got the numbers!
**********************
I’d like to share these words of wisdom with those men and women that are changing for the better: “The journey in between what we once were and who we are now becoming is where the dance of Life really takes place. Life is a journey, travel light.” -- Mika’il Muwakil DIN 77A2639
7. From Other Media Sources
‘Jail Jam’ OK, Assoc Press: Albany
A federal judge has tossed out a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of NYS prisoners forced to share cells with other inmates, ruling the practice does not violate the U. S. Constitution.
US District Judge Gerard Lynch, in a decision dated May 26, said that simply putting two convicts in a cell designed for one “is a far cry from the ‘wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain’ against which the Eighth amendment protects.”
[Thanks to Mika’il Muwakil for forwarding this article]
Pataki Appoints 7 to Parole Board
The 7 new appointees and their expiration dates:
Jennifer Arena, June 16, 2008;
Alan J.Croce, June 18, 2009;
James Ferguson, July 6, 2011;
Gerald J. Greenan III, June 18, 2012;
Christina Hernandez, June 02, 2011;
G. Kevin Ludlow, June 18, 2011;
Chris Ortloff, June 18, 2012
June 24, 2006 -- ALBANY - Lame-duck Gov. Pataki's patronage machine shifted into high gear yesterday as the names of dozens more politically connected friends and associates - including the wife of CNBC host Lawrence Kudlow - were sent to the GOP-controlled Senate for appointment to high-level jobs and prestigious boards. Democrats challenged some of the moves, which came on the last day of the legislative session, and even some Republicans were aghast, with one saying of the appointments: "With few exceptions, a parade of hacks." Democrats pounced on the qualifications of Jennifer Arena, a longtime Pataki administration spokeswoman, for a two-year term - at $101,600 a year - on the state Board of Parole. Senate Minority Leader David Paterson (D-Manhattan) said Arena failed to meet the state law's requirement that board members have at least five years' experience in such fields as criminology, law, psychology and law enforcement. "There are reasons the law makes this requirement and it is to preserve some integrity to the appointments process," said Paterson. Arena's résumé lists her as a 1990 Michigan State University graduate in journalism who has held two journalism-related jobs, in Florida and Buffalo, and three public-relations jobs working for Pataki and former Republican Attorney General Dennis Vacco. Pataki spokesman Michael Marr contended Arena's experiences as a spokeswoman were sufficient to meet the legal requirement. [Most of this came from a recent New York Post article by Fredrick U. Dicker.]
8. Legal Battle Won by PLN
June 27: Prison Legal news won an important press freedom case by obtaining a federal court ruling that we are entitled to the Federal Bureau of Prisons' information on the amount of money it has spent on all litigation over a multi year period. The BOP had claimed they lacked the information in one location and wanted $7K to look. The court held PLN is entitled to a fee waiver as provided for by the Freedom of Information Act. This practice, of charging public interest groups outrageous "search fees" has been a long standing government policy under the Bush administration which was denounced by the New York Times in an editorial on February 4, 2006. PLN's case is among the first to obtain a win for the press and other public interest organizations.
Many thanks to Ed Elder, PLN's attorney in the case and a member of the National Lawyer's Guild.
[For a complete report on this victory, you can write PLN at 2400 NW 80th St. #148, Seattle WA 98117,
or call them at: 206/ 246-1022].
9. Locked Down for More than a Lifetime
A letter from the Robert Seth Hayes Support Committee -
www.sethhayes.org l info@ssethhayes.org
Robert “Seth” Hayes is a U.S. political prisoner and former member of the Black Panther Party who has been imprisoned in New York state for more than three decades. When Seth was convicted in 1974, his sentence was 25 years to life. The implicit understanding at the time of his sentencing was that Seth would serve 25 years as a minimum, after which time he would be eligible for release based on his record and conduct in prison. In July, 2006, Seth will be going before the parole board for the fourth time. At each of Seth’s previous parole hearings, he was denied release due to the serious nature of the crime he was convicted for and given another two years in jail. The refusal of parole for the serious nature of the crime seems contrary to the spirit of the law, for it is something that a prisoner can never change, and the giving of parole is based upon the prisoner's behavior while behind bars. Seth is not the only one being subjected to these unfair rules. This has become common practice for the New York state parole board, who, by denying parole based on the seriousness of the conviction, are defacto re-sentencing many prisoners to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Seth’s prison record is exemplary, and if a decision about Seth’s parole were to be based on his conduct and personal growth, he would have rejoined his family and his community years ago.
Please write a letter to the parole board to let them know that you think Seth deserves to be released. All letters should be mailed or faxed to Seth’s lawyer, Susan Tipograph, immediately, as Seth's parole hearing is taking place on July 15, 2006. Susan Tipograph, Attorney At Law, 350 Broadway, New York, NY 10013, fax (212) 625-3939. For more information, visit www.sethhayes.org.
Robert Seth Hayes Parole Support Events:
7PM, Sunday, July 2, 271 Grant Street, West Side, Buffalo, NY
7PM, Monday, July 3, 118 East Utica Street,East Side, Buffalo, NY
Arissa - Buffalo Chapter P.O. Box 84 Buffalo, NY 14213 Tel: (716) 796-5460 or email leslie@arissa.org
10. Meetings
A. Prison Families of New York groups:
ALBANY
7-8:30 pm every Monday at The Womens Bldg. 79 Central Ave, Albany . Ring the bell for the library and lounge to get in. Alison at 518 453 6659.
POUGHKEEPSIE
7 - 8:30 pm Monday July 10 and July 24 at the Family Partnership Building 29 North Hamilton Street. Deb at 845-616-9698, dabboz@aol.com.
B. Other Advocacy/Self-Help Groups:
Citizens for Restorative Justice. Thur. July 6th at the Family Partnership building at 29 North Hamilton Street in Poughkeepsie. Deb at 845-619-9698 or dabboz@aol.com.
Coalition of Families of NYS Lifers: Any family member or friend of a prisoner with life at the end of their sentence is invited to contact the Coalition of Families of New York State Lifers, PO Box 1314, Wappinger Falls, New York 12590 or . If you know anyone who is a family member or friend of a prisoner, please encourage them to write.
Surviving The City: A prison release support group in Albany
Every 2nd & 4th Saturday of the month - 11:30 am (next meeting July 8)
176 Sheridan Ave, at the Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless Bldg.
Together, we're working to advance ourselves far beyond the walls that incarcerate us!!! All formerly incarcerated individuals are welcome to come and share their hopes,inspirations, and experiences. Call Nathan at 518 368 3480 for more information.
11. Radio Programs
Voices from the Prison Action Network is now heard at 5:30pm on Tuesdays at WRPI Troy, 91.5 FM, and for those outside broadcast range, live at www.wrpi.org. It’s part of the Indymedia Radio Program which starts at 3 and ends at 6. WRPI, Troy has a lot of worthwhile programming, including Democracy Now! at 9am every weekday. Preceding Voices from the Prison Action Network, from 12-2 on Tuesdays is Wild Style Breaks hosted by DJ Sho' Nuf.
The Fancy Broccoli Show airs on somewhat alternate Sundays from 3 - 6pm on Independent Radio WVKR 91.3 FM, Poughkeepsie NY. WVKR streams online - go to www.Live365.com and search for WVKR
On the Count! WBAI 99.5 FM - Pacifica Radio in NYC 10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon Saturdays
12. Transportation to Prisons
A. Please join Prison Action Network when we meet the DOCS free bus at the Albany bus terminal, 12:45 AM on Sunday morning July 9. The bus will be traveling to Gowanda - Collins - Groveland - Livingston. We will meet on Friday afternoon [July 8] to prepare packets, and we need help. Please call 518 253-7533 for location.
B. Prison Action Network offers Rides: Call 518 253-7533 if you need a ride to visit your incarcerated loved one [there is no charge for this service]:
Rides are available from Albany, with the following limitations. Please contact PAN to be connected to your driver.
the prison must be within 150 miles of Albany [300 miles round trip].
driver is willing to wait 2-3 hours for visit to be concluded.
driver is willing to start, from the visitor's residence, as early as 8:00 A.M.
driver is willing to get back home as late as 6:00 P.M.
driver is available on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.
car seats 5, though, for a trip of 150 miles, sitting in the middle of the back seat would be a tight squeeze.
C. The NEST prison shuttle schedule: Mt. McGregor, Washington, and Great Meadow Facilities on Sat, July 1 ($30 adults, $20 children), July 22 ($15 adults and $10 children), leaving Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, and Albany Greyhound Bus station at 7:15. Trip to the Utica Hub (Midstate, Marcy, Mohawk, Oneida) Sat, July 15 leaving at 5 AM ($40 adults, $25 children). Call for reservations and information: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
Readers are invited to submit notices or articles of interest for publication in this newsletter.
We invite you to write or call Building Bridges, a project of the Prison Action Network:
PAN, c/o H-M IMC
PO Box 35
Troy, NY 12181
518 253 7533
prisonaction@hotmail.com
www.prisonaction.blogspot.com
Request for help:
Prison Action Network receives many requests from prisoners for legal assistance. We have no legal staff. Currently we have in hand a letter asking for help with a class action suit in regard to asbestos, unsanitary mess-hall/kitchen and second-hand smoke. If you can advise, please contact PAN and we’ll forward your response.
Thanks to the AJ Muste Memorial Institute for their generous support.
IF YOU HAVE A LOVED ONE WHO’S BEEN DENIED PAROLE, or is eligible for parole, or you care about the issue for some other reason, you’re invited to a meeting that is only a few months away. Family Empowerment Day 2 on Oct 21, which is described in Article 5 of this issue, is all about coming together to plan what we can do to end parole denials to community-ready individuals.
It’s exciting to learn about the growing interest in the event. The Coalition of Families and Community has heard from many people, and we know each one of them is also spreading the word. HOW MANY OF YOU ARE EXPECTING TO ATTEND? If you are, please let us know. If you’ve been inviting your friends and family to attend, please let us know how many have accepted the invitation, with their names and contact info if possible. The Coalition needs this information to be able to create an event that is pleasant as well as effective. Send the information to any of the following: prisonaction@hotmail.com; PAN, H-M IMC, PO Box 35, Troy NY 12181; in the Capital District: 518-253 7533; in the Buffalo area: 716-834-8438, in Poughkeepsie area: 845-616-9698.
Together we CAN make a difference!
Articles:
1. Additional Bills pass in State Legislature!
2. Buddhism Text Denied to Prisoner
3. Chairperson of Parole, Robert Dennison, Visits Beacon Prison
4. Convict Nation, by Silja J. A. Talvi
5. Family Empowerment Day 2 Updates
6. From the Inside: Jehan Abdur-Raheem, Chas Ransome
7. From Other Media: ‘Jail Jam’ OK, Pataki Appoints 7 to Parole Board
8. Legal Battle Won by Prison Legal News
9. Locked Down for More than a Lifetime - Seth Hayes
10. Meetings
11. Radio Programs
12. Transportation to Prisons
1. Additional Bills Pass in State Legislature
S7588/A10832, was signed into law by the governor on June 7, 2006! NYS penal law now reorients the focus of incarceration to promote reentry while an individual is being sentenced and is in prison, and the corrections law now clarifies the process for applicants seeking Certificates of Relief from Disabilities, thus enabling job seekers to find employment or gain occupational licenses more quickly. To look up the text of this bill, go to www.communityalternatives.org. Thanks to ICARE for all their work on this bill. For more information about ICARE, you can visit www.nyicare.org.
A11562 passed in the Assembly on June 21. It requires that both the Department of Correctional Services and the Division of Parole notify all persons who reach their maximum sentence of imprisonment about their right to vote in writing. The legislation also requires that in addition to notifying a person released from prison or discharged from parole about their right to vote, each such person be provided with a voter registration form together with information about the importance and mechanics of voting.
Finally, the legislation requires that the State Board of Elections be notified about all persons who are again eligible to vote because they have reached their maximum imprisonment date, been discharged from parole, conditional release, or presumptive release, or completed a period of post-release supervision. The State Board of Elections must then transmit this information to all local boards of elections.
S.5934-A/A.6179-A is now at the governor's office. The Senate and Assembly passed the licensing bill sponsored by Senator Velmanette Montgomery and Assemblymember Michael Benjamin that states that men and women who are trained to practice cosmetology and barbering in prison can no longer be denied a license simply because of their criminal conviction/s. Cosmetology training is offered to women incarcerated at Taconic, Bedford Hills and Albion Correctional Facilities. Barbering training is available to male inmates at Hudson, Green Haven, Auburn and Mid-State Correctional Facilities.
Senator Montgomery calls on criminal justice advocates statewide to join her in urging Governor PATAKI, ph: 518 474-8390, to sign this bill into law. PLEASE CALL THE GOVERNOR TO URGE HIS SUPPORT FOR BILL S.5934- A/A.6179-A!
SHU Bill
A bill to prohibit placing mentally ill inmates in solitary confinement passed the State Legislature. It now goes to Gov. George Pataki.
According to Paul Grondahl, Staff writer, Albany Times Union, in his Wednesday, June 28, 2006 column, [Sen. Michael Nozzolio, R-Seneca Falls, chairman of the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections and sponsor of the bill]. “said the bill's unanimous passage in the Senate came about because it not only would offer more humane treatment for mentally ill prisoners placed in Special Housing Units (SHUs), also known as The Box, but would make prisons safer for correction officers, too. Support from the correction officer union and others representing prison employees was crucial, Nozzolio said.”
In that same article, Paul mentioned PFNY, an organization to which many of our readers belong: “’Two dozen women who are wives, sisters and mothers of prisoners praised passage of the bill at the fourth annual retreat of Prison Families of New York, held last week in Lake George’, the group's director said. ‘Their loved ones with mental illness were being criminalized, and they had no business being in the SHUs,’ Alison Coleman said.”
2. Access to Book on Zen Buddhism Denied
at Gowanda Correctional Facility, Gowanda, New York USA
by Kooi Fong Lim, The Buddhist Channel, June 5, 2006 - Excerpts from original article, posted at www.buddhistchannel.tv
Gowanda, New York (USA) -- A prisoner at the Gowanda Correctional Facility in New York State; William "Red" Graham has been denied access to a basic introductory text on Zen Buddhism entitled "Prison Chaplaincy Guidelines for Zen Buddhism" authored by Venerable Kobutsu Malone.
The facility's "Media Review Committee" will not allow William to receive a copy of the book due to a non-existent regulation which it lists as "Depicts/describes procedures to be implemented solely by Administration"........A comprehensive review of the directive's guidelines reveals nothing that substantiates a justification for the ban, as none of the content in the book contradicts in any way whatsoever what the State lists as "standards for media evaluation.".........To date, only Gowanda Correctional Facility in New York has objected to the book. No other correctional facilities within New York State, The Federal Bureau of Prisons, or prisons and jails in any other state have taken similar action.
3. Chairperson of Parole, Robert Dennison, Visits Beacon Prison
On February 27, 2006, at the request of women in prison at Beacon Prison, Robert Dennison, Chairperson of the New York State Division of Parole, visited Beacon to talk about parole. The following is a excerpt from a “fact sheet” of said visit, reported by someone who was there and presumably unable to take notes or have recording equipment, so it cannot be verified. It was first published in May 2006 Deuce Club, the newsletter of The Coalition for Parole Restoration (CPR ). We publish a few paragraphs to attract your interest. To read the entire article please send your request to CPR, PO Box 1379, NY NY 10013-0877, call 888 590 9212, or email: parolecpr@yahoo.com.
Dennison admitted that the commissioners are more likely to let people convicted of nonviolent crimes go, even though they know that their recidivism rate is much higher that people convicted of violent felony offenses.
............Dennison admitted women do better in prison than men, and much better on parole. The likelihood of a woman convicted of a violent crime to return to prison is less than one percent. In fact, statistics are practically non-available concerning this. Dennison also admitted that since 2001, only 28 people convicted of class A-1 felonies have been paroled.
..........Dennison denied that the stats in the New York Law Journal article, “Parole Release Rates Plunge Under Pataki’s Tough Policy” [01/31/06], were correct. When questioned about the “correct” stats, he said he didn’t know.
...........Dennison also stated that he would repeat everything he said in front of the women in Beacon in front of the media.
..........When asked if he believed in rehabilitation, Dennison clearly answered “Yes.”
..........Dennison further stated that parole decisions were not made in advance, contrary to what some people in prison might believe.
If a person was sentenced to 20 years to life, obviously the judge must have been of the opinion that 20 years was appropriate, if indeed the person had done all he/she could do. When posed this question, as to why people in this situation were repeatedly denied parole, Dennison simply answered: “The parole board has the discretion to increase that sentence.”
We can change our attitude, our outlook on life, we can do programs and be in counseling for years, but we cannot change the nature of the crime. How do you expect us to go up against that? The answer by Dennison was, “You can’t.”
4. Convict Nation, By Silja J. A. Talvi, senior editor, In These Times
June 1, 2006 - In These Times (US) [full article available at www.inthesetimes.com]
In May, I traveled to McNeil Island Corrections Center, a medium-custody men's prison in Washington state. I made the journey out there because I had been invited to experience the Native American prisoners' annual Pow Wow, which brings together spiritual elders, prisoners and their families, for a powerfully intense four-hour ceremony.
The biggest challenge, as I quickly discovered, wasn't taking in all of the emotion surrounding the event, but having even the briefest moment of privacy for thinking, taking notes, or talking to prisoners. Increasingly, American prison life doesn't allow for privacy -- not even for outsiders like myself. I could discern no possible security risk from a small-statured woman with a pen and a notepad at an island prison, surrounded by barbed wire and frigid waters. Regardless, for four hours, my every move and word was followed, intercepted and occasionally interjected upon. I could barely endure it for the half a day I was there. Millions of Americans don't have that choice.
Of course, many prisoners are indeed guilty of precisely the crimes they've been charged with -- or some version of the crime for which they've been sentenced. And some are absolutely innocent, doing time on trumped up charges, or because a snitch got out of prison time by "rolling" on some of his friends. But assessing the consequences of our country's soaring imprisonment rates has less to do with the question of guilt versus innocence than it does with the question of who, among us, truly deserves to go to prison and face the restrictive -- and sometimes brutally repressive -- conditions found there.
5. Family Empowerment Day 2 Updates:
The G.E.O. at Mid-Orange is promoting Family Empowerment Day 2 by giving each person on a housing unit a copy of the following information sheet, with a request that each person send a copy to his family and friends. The information sheet reads as follows:,
Dear _____, On October 21, 2006 there will be a Family Empowerment Day 2 event held. I need you (or alternatively, you and our family members) to attend this very important meeting as my representative/s because I don’t have a voice without you speaking for me.
The topic will be PAROLE. The day will consist of speakers, discussion groups, and deciding on a plan of action. Free food and childcare will be provided. Please attend this event for me, it will be held at the following time and address: October 21, 2006, 11 am to 3:30 PM, Middle Collegiate Church, Second Avenue and 7th Street, NYC 10003, 212 477-0666.
Remember you are my connection to the outside so please attend this meeting on October 21, 2006, it’s a Saturday.
[The G.E.O. will also be encouraging reentry organizations to support “this very important event.”]
****************
The Latest Information on FED2:
Date: October 21, 2006
Time: 11 am - 3:30 pm
Topic: Parole Policies in NYS (and what can be done to change them).
Location: Middle Collegiate Church, Second Avenue at 7th Street in Manhattan,.212 477-0666.
Presented by the COALITION OF FAMILIES AND COMMUNITY:
Individuals who have loved ones in NYS prisons
Interfaith Coalition of Advocates for Reentry and Employment (ICARE)
Citizens for Restorative Justice (CRJ)
Coalition of Families of NYS Lifers
Coalition for Parole Restoration (CPR)
Prison Action Network (PAN)
Prisoners Are People Too!
Your organization is invited to join the coalition....
PAROLE IS THE ISSUE....how to End Parole Denials to Community Ready Individuals
Family Empowerment Day 2 will be a day where family and supporters meet, greet and decide what we can do to end parole denials to community-ready individuals.
Tentative program schedule:
11:00 Registration and Refreshments
11:30: Welcoming Remarks and Introduction
11:45 - 12:45 Opening Keynote Speaker/s (15-30 minutes each, depending ...)
12:45 - 1:15 Networking/Tabling break with buffet /refreshments.
1:15 - 2:45 Individual breakout groups led by each available speaker
3:00 Closing remarks and Call to Action
3:15 Time to Network and sign petitions, etc.
3:30 Break down.
History of the event:
The first Family Empowerment Day was held on May 21, 2005. It was the brainchild of the Otisville Correctional Facility’s Lifers Group, who involved their families and supporters in organizing a day of consciousness; a day of strength through diversity; a day of hope. The following was written by the men in the group:
Every year parole denials are served out in large numbers amongst violent felony offenders. To many this is a disheartening experience, psychologically shattering. That experience is shared by prisoners and their loved ones who must, once again, be told: “I don’t know when I’m coming home.” Husbands and wives worry about their continued future as single parents and providers, children weep and ask: “How come Daddy/Mommy is not coming home?”. Elderly parents must be comforted, if for nothing else than their fear of dying alone.
Like ripples in a pond, so many other lives were (and are) affected. For every community-ready person denied parole a heavy toll is exacted on the social, political and moral fiber of society. Families and communities are destabilized, needed funding for healthcare, childcare, housing, education, job training and community institutions is shifted to support already overburdened State Correctional budgets.
Many men and women throughout the State are losing hope. Hope is the one thing which holds many together in the period between parole appearances and parole denials. Family Empowerment Day renewed hope for a lot of the people in attendance last year, who believed those eminently qualified were being denied because they were doing something wrong. This was (and is) not the case, and 5/21 raised consciousness among families and supporters to that fact. That day’s events helped them to understand that they are the pillars of strength for their incarcerated loved ones; they are their foundation and that if they crumble those inside most assuredly will as well.
Family Empowerment Day 2, on October 21, 2006 will be a day where family and supporters meet, greet and learn what steps can be taken together to shed light on what has gone on in the dark for far too long. It is a day that, like the incredibly diverse yet solidly united men in the Otisville Lifers Group who conceived the event, can move us forward as one family which can begin to think and act together rather than continue as a disunified, politically unempowered group scattered across the state, in separate enclaves, divided by race, social class, ethnicity and religion.
We believe in education, faith and transformation. Theses principles guide us to fight for those who won’t fight, those who have given up hope, and those who because of death, can no longer fight. We also fight for the families and supporters who do not understand why community-ready men and women are not being released. Please do not let them down.
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Film Fundraiser raises $170 for Family Empowerment Day 2:
The screening of “Favela Rising” on June 14, followed with a Q & A session led by PAN board member Nathan Hamlin, raised $170 for Family Empowerment Day 2. Thanks to all supporters who came out and were rewarded by an inspiring film and provocative discussion afterward.
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6. From the Inside
Editor’s Note: last month we omitted the names of the prisoners at Gt Meadow who wrote a collective statement of condemnation and outrage at the murder of Sister Karen Klimczak. We apologize to the men whose heartfelt words were published without giving them individual credit:
George Baba Eng, 77A4777;
John Standley, 84B1584;
James Gardiner, 86A0323;
Jimmie Lee Allen, 80A1633;
Shawnon Bolden, 90T4601;
Victor Bolling, 93A4570;
Ashton Nedrick, 87A3212.
[From now on the Building Bridges policy will be to publish the name and DIN of all those in prison whose submissions are printed. If you do not want that information published please make sure we know.]
I read the June 2006 Building Bridges with a sense of pride and accomplishment. I’m both elated and heartened by the momentum building up as a result of persons on both sides of the wall.
Over recent years I noticed a decline in positive legitimate activities by incarcerated individuals as gang fighting and drug use dominated the minds of those behind the walls. Now there seems to be a new awakening, and it’s good to see so many getting back aboard. I’m glad to see Elmira’s PAC organization back in full swing. Their enthusiasm is commendable.
Thanks for publishing the expose of Rush Limbaugh’s hypocrisy (May 2006 issue, from the Internet, by A. Papa) and for honorably mentioning Sister Karen Klimczak. We laugh at phonies like Limbaugh, and we weep at losing a helper and supporter like Sis Karen.
My thanks to the families and friends of prisoners conscious enough to realize that no significant changes will come without their participation. Justice will not come without effort.
--Jehan Abdur-Raheem, 77A1180
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It was a great loss when Grandpa Al Lewis passed on February 3, 2006. However, he only asked that we be the best at whatever it was we did in life. He gave so much to prisoners and their loved ones that it’s only right that we continue on in his absence. The Al Lewis Live Show is hosted by Karen Lewis on WBAI from 12 noon to 2 PM after On The Count. If anyone wishes to give a donation to honor his spirit, his life and his contributions, they may do so by sending them to either: KPFK/California, Attn: Sue Welsh, 3729 Cahuenga Blvd West, No Hollywood, Cal 91604 or WBAI, NYC, PO Box 11445, Church St Station, NY NY 10277-2071.
Grandpa Al always wanted us to remember that no matter how seemingly good it gets: ‘The struggle goes on. The victory is in the struggle, for me. And, I accepted that a long time ago.’ He will always be, for me and many others, a guiding force to honor, recognize and respect as we follow his beacon to greatness. May he rest in peace and his family find peace of mind from knowing that he was great in all he did!
-- Chas Ransome DIN 85A16436
Chas Ransome is a Creative Program Developer and Special Event Coordinator who has been instrumental in getting fellow inmates to write letters to the Assembly and Senate on both the MCI Contract and Parole. Many more than he expected wrote their own letters. Building Bridges congratulates people on both sides of the wall who are becoming involved in the political process! Remember, your vote is only a small part. Becoming informed and letting our representatives know where you stand makes a real difference. Working on campaigns, going door to door and making phone calls can actually get your candidate elected. We may not have money, but we’ve got the numbers!
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I’d like to share these words of wisdom with those men and women that are changing for the better: “The journey in between what we once were and who we are now becoming is where the dance of Life really takes place. Life is a journey, travel light.” -- Mika’il Muwakil DIN 77A2639
7. From Other Media Sources
‘Jail Jam’ OK, Assoc Press: Albany
A federal judge has tossed out a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of NYS prisoners forced to share cells with other inmates, ruling the practice does not violate the U. S. Constitution.
US District Judge Gerard Lynch, in a decision dated May 26, said that simply putting two convicts in a cell designed for one “is a far cry from the ‘wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain’ against which the Eighth amendment protects.”
[Thanks to Mika’il Muwakil for forwarding this article]
Pataki Appoints 7 to Parole Board
The 7 new appointees and their expiration dates:
Jennifer Arena, June 16, 2008;
Alan J.Croce, June 18, 2009;
James Ferguson, July 6, 2011;
Gerald J. Greenan III, June 18, 2012;
Christina Hernandez, June 02, 2011;
G. Kevin Ludlow, June 18, 2011;
Chris Ortloff, June 18, 2012
June 24, 2006 -- ALBANY - Lame-duck Gov. Pataki's patronage machine shifted into high gear yesterday as the names of dozens more politically connected friends and associates - including the wife of CNBC host Lawrence Kudlow - were sent to the GOP-controlled Senate for appointment to high-level jobs and prestigious boards. Democrats challenged some of the moves, which came on the last day of the legislative session, and even some Republicans were aghast, with one saying of the appointments: "With few exceptions, a parade of hacks." Democrats pounced on the qualifications of Jennifer Arena, a longtime Pataki administration spokeswoman, for a two-year term - at $101,600 a year - on the state Board of Parole. Senate Minority Leader David Paterson (D-Manhattan) said Arena failed to meet the state law's requirement that board members have at least five years' experience in such fields as criminology, law, psychology and law enforcement. "There are reasons the law makes this requirement and it is to preserve some integrity to the appointments process," said Paterson. Arena's résumé lists her as a 1990 Michigan State University graduate in journalism who has held two journalism-related jobs, in Florida and Buffalo, and three public-relations jobs working for Pataki and former Republican Attorney General Dennis Vacco. Pataki spokesman Michael Marr contended Arena's experiences as a spokeswoman were sufficient to meet the legal requirement. [Most of this came from a recent New York Post article by Fredrick U. Dicker.]
8. Legal Battle Won by PLN
June 27: Prison Legal news won an important press freedom case by obtaining a federal court ruling that we are entitled to the Federal Bureau of Prisons' information on the amount of money it has spent on all litigation over a multi year period. The BOP had claimed they lacked the information in one location and wanted $7K to look. The court held PLN is entitled to a fee waiver as provided for by the Freedom of Information Act. This practice, of charging public interest groups outrageous "search fees" has been a long standing government policy under the Bush administration which was denounced by the New York Times in an editorial on February 4, 2006. PLN's case is among the first to obtain a win for the press and other public interest organizations.
Many thanks to Ed Elder, PLN's attorney in the case and a member of the National Lawyer's Guild.
[For a complete report on this victory, you can write PLN at 2400 NW 80th St. #148, Seattle WA 98117,
or call them at: 206/ 246-1022].
9. Locked Down for More than a Lifetime
A letter from the Robert Seth Hayes Support Committee -
www.sethhayes.org l info@ssethhayes.org
Robert “Seth” Hayes is a U.S. political prisoner and former member of the Black Panther Party who has been imprisoned in New York state for more than three decades. When Seth was convicted in 1974, his sentence was 25 years to life. The implicit understanding at the time of his sentencing was that Seth would serve 25 years as a minimum, after which time he would be eligible for release based on his record and conduct in prison. In July, 2006, Seth will be going before the parole board for the fourth time. At each of Seth’s previous parole hearings, he was denied release due to the serious nature of the crime he was convicted for and given another two years in jail. The refusal of parole for the serious nature of the crime seems contrary to the spirit of the law, for it is something that a prisoner can never change, and the giving of parole is based upon the prisoner's behavior while behind bars. Seth is not the only one being subjected to these unfair rules. This has become common practice for the New York state parole board, who, by denying parole based on the seriousness of the conviction, are defacto re-sentencing many prisoners to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Seth’s prison record is exemplary, and if a decision about Seth’s parole were to be based on his conduct and personal growth, he would have rejoined his family and his community years ago.
Please write a letter to the parole board to let them know that you think Seth deserves to be released. All letters should be mailed or faxed to Seth’s lawyer, Susan Tipograph, immediately, as Seth's parole hearing is taking place on July 15, 2006. Susan Tipograph, Attorney At Law, 350 Broadway, New York, NY 10013, fax (212) 625-3939. For more information, visit www.sethhayes.org.
Robert Seth Hayes Parole Support Events:
7PM, Sunday, July 2, 271 Grant Street, West Side, Buffalo, NY
7PM, Monday, July 3, 118 East Utica Street,East Side, Buffalo, NY
Arissa - Buffalo Chapter P.O. Box 84 Buffalo, NY 14213 Tel: (716) 796-5460 or email leslie@arissa.org
10. Meetings
A. Prison Families of New York groups:
ALBANY
7-8:30 pm every Monday at The Womens Bldg. 79 Central Ave, Albany . Ring the bell for the library and lounge to get in. Alison at 518 453 6659.
POUGHKEEPSIE
7 - 8:30 pm Monday July 10 and July 24 at the Family Partnership Building 29 North Hamilton Street. Deb at 845-616-9698, dabboz@aol.com.
B. Other Advocacy/Self-Help Groups:
Citizens for Restorative Justice. Thur. July 6th at the Family Partnership building at 29 North Hamilton Street in Poughkeepsie. Deb at 845-619-9698 or dabboz@aol.com.
Coalition of Families of NYS Lifers: Any family member or friend of a prisoner with life at the end of their sentence is invited to contact the Coalition of Families of New York State Lifers, PO Box 1314, Wappinger Falls, New York 12590 or . If you know anyone who is a family member or friend of a prisoner, please encourage them to write.
Surviving The City: A prison release support group in Albany
Every 2nd & 4th Saturday of the month - 11:30 am (next meeting July 8)
176 Sheridan Ave, at the Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless Bldg.
Together, we're working to advance ourselves far beyond the walls that incarcerate us!!! All formerly incarcerated individuals are welcome to come and share their hopes,inspirations, and experiences. Call Nathan at 518 368 3480 for more information.
11. Radio Programs
Voices from the Prison Action Network is now heard at 5:30pm on Tuesdays at WRPI Troy, 91.5 FM, and for those outside broadcast range, live at www.wrpi.org. It’s part of the Indymedia Radio Program which starts at 3 and ends at 6. WRPI, Troy has a lot of worthwhile programming, including Democracy Now! at 9am every weekday. Preceding Voices from the Prison Action Network, from 12-2 on Tuesdays is Wild Style Breaks hosted by DJ Sho' Nuf.
The Fancy Broccoli Show airs on somewhat alternate Sundays from 3 - 6pm on Independent Radio WVKR 91.3 FM, Poughkeepsie NY. WVKR streams online - go to www.Live365.com and search for WVKR
On the Count! WBAI 99.5 FM - Pacifica Radio in NYC 10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon Saturdays
12. Transportation to Prisons
A. Please join Prison Action Network when we meet the DOCS free bus at the Albany bus terminal, 12:45 AM on Sunday morning July 9. The bus will be traveling to Gowanda - Collins - Groveland - Livingston. We will meet on Friday afternoon [July 8] to prepare packets, and we need help. Please call 518 253-7533 for location.
B. Prison Action Network offers Rides: Call 518 253-7533 if you need a ride to visit your incarcerated loved one [there is no charge for this service]:
Rides are available from Albany, with the following limitations. Please contact PAN to be connected to your driver.
the prison must be within 150 miles of Albany [300 miles round trip].
driver is willing to wait 2-3 hours for visit to be concluded.
driver is willing to start, from the visitor's residence, as early as 8:00 A.M.
driver is willing to get back home as late as 6:00 P.M.
driver is available on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.
car seats 5, though, for a trip of 150 miles, sitting in the middle of the back seat would be a tight squeeze.
C. The NEST prison shuttle schedule: Mt. McGregor, Washington, and Great Meadow Facilities on Sat, July 1 ($30 adults, $20 children), July 22 ($15 adults and $10 children), leaving Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, and Albany Greyhound Bus station at 7:15. Trip to the Utica Hub (Midstate, Marcy, Mohawk, Oneida) Sat, July 15 leaving at 5 AM ($40 adults, $25 children). Call for reservations and information: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
Readers are invited to submit notices or articles of interest for publication in this newsletter.
We invite you to write or call Building Bridges, a project of the Prison Action Network:
PAN, c/o H-M IMC
PO Box 35
Troy, NY 12181
518 253 7533
prisonaction@hotmail.com
www.prisonaction.blogspot.com
Request for help:
Prison Action Network receives many requests from prisoners for legal assistance. We have no legal staff. Currently we have in hand a letter asking for help with a class action suit in regard to asbestos, unsanitary mess-hall/kitchen and second-hand smoke. If you can advise, please contact PAN and we’ll forward your response.
Thanks to the AJ Muste Memorial Institute for their generous support.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Pataki Appoints 7 to Parole Board
The 7 new appointees and their expiration dates:
Jennifer Arena, June 16, 2008;
Alan J.Croce, June 18, 2009;
James Ferguson, July 6, 2011;
Gerald J. Greenan III, June 18, 2012;
Christina Hernandez, June 02, 2011;
G. Kevin Ludlow, June 18, 2011;
Chris Ortloff, June 18, 2012
Anyone having information on any of these people, please contact PAN.
Jennifer Arena, June 16, 2008;
Alan J.Croce, June 18, 2009;
James Ferguson, July 6, 2011;
Gerald J. Greenan III, June 18, 2012;
Christina Hernandez, June 02, 2011;
G. Kevin Ludlow, June 18, 2011;
Chris Ortloff, June 18, 2012
Anyone having information on any of these people, please contact PAN.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Albany Prison Release Support Group
1. Albany Prison Release Support Group:
SURVIVING THE CITY,
A prison release support group
Every 2nd & 4th Saturday of the month - 11:30 am (next meeting June 10)
176 Sheridan Ave, at the Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless Bldg.
Together, we're working to advance ourselves far beyond the walls that incarcerate us!!!
All formerly incarcerated individuals are welcome to come and share their hopes, inspirations, and
experiences.
Call Nathan at 518 368 3480 for more information.
SURVIVING THE CITY,
A prison release support group
Every 2nd & 4th Saturday of the month - 11:30 am (next meeting June 10)
176 Sheridan Ave, at the Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless Bldg.
Together, we're working to advance ourselves far beyond the walls that incarcerate us!!!
All formerly incarcerated individuals are welcome to come and share their hopes, inspirations, and
experiences.
Call Nathan at 518 368 3480 for more information.
Muntaqim-Hayden Voting Rights Cases Dismissed
May 4, 2006, Disenfranchisement: News
"Court Dismisses Muntaqim-Hayden Voting Rights Cases"
Both felony disenfranchisement cases, Muntaqim v. Coombe and Hayden v. Pataki, consolidated in February 2005, were dismissed today by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Muntaqim-Hayden challenged New York's disenfranchisement law that bars people with felony convictions from voting while they are in prison or on parole. Because Blacks and Latinos are disproportionately arrested and convicted of felonies, the plaintiffs charged that the law dilutes the voting power of Black and Latino communities, and in doing so, violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because of its denial of the right to vote on account of race.
In the first of two decisions, the Second Circuit today dismissed Muntaqim v. Coombe arguing that because Muntaqim was a resident of California before his incarceration and was never eligible to vote nor did he ever vote in New York, he lacks standing and consequently, the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. The Court contends: "Because [Muntaqim's] inability to vote in New York arises from the fact that he was a resident of California, not because he was a convicted felon subject to the application of New York Election Law...he has suffered no 'invasion of legally protected interest.' ... [A] favorable decision of this Court on his claim that New York Election Law...violates the VRA would do nothing to enfranchise him."
The Second Circuit also dismissed Hayden v. Pataki concluding that "Congress did not intend the Voting Rights Act to cover such [felon disenfranchisement] provisions" and that such an application "would alter the constitutional balance between the States and the Federal Government."
The decisions can be downloaded from the Decisions section of the Second Circuit's home page at www.ca2.uscourts.gov/.
"Court Dismisses Muntaqim-Hayden Voting Rights Cases"
Both felony disenfranchisement cases, Muntaqim v. Coombe and Hayden v. Pataki, consolidated in February 2005, were dismissed today by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Muntaqim-Hayden challenged New York's disenfranchisement law that bars people with felony convictions from voting while they are in prison or on parole. Because Blacks and Latinos are disproportionately arrested and convicted of felonies, the plaintiffs charged that the law dilutes the voting power of Black and Latino communities, and in doing so, violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because of its denial of the right to vote on account of race.
In the first of two decisions, the Second Circuit today dismissed Muntaqim v. Coombe arguing that because Muntaqim was a resident of California before his incarceration and was never eligible to vote nor did he ever vote in New York, he lacks standing and consequently, the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. The Court contends: "Because [Muntaqim's] inability to vote in New York arises from the fact that he was a resident of California, not because he was a convicted felon subject to the application of New York Election Law...he has suffered no 'invasion of legally protected interest.' ... [A] favorable decision of this Court on his claim that New York Election Law...violates the VRA would do nothing to enfranchise him."
The Second Circuit also dismissed Hayden v. Pataki concluding that "Congress did not intend the Voting Rights Act to cover such [felon disenfranchisement] provisions" and that such an application "would alter the constitutional balance between the States and the Federal Government."
The decisions can be downloaded from the Decisions section of the Second Circuit's home page at www.ca2.uscourts.gov/.
Jailhouse Lawyer’s Handbook available at no charge
The Center for Constitutional Rights, in alliance with the National Lawyers Guild, has just released “The Jailhouse Lawyer’s Handbook: How to Bring a Federal Lawsuit to Challenge Violations of Your Rights in Prison.” The handbook is a free resource for prisoners and their family members who wish to learn about legal options to challenge mistreatment in prison. It can be downloaded at www.ccr-ny.org, or you can request a copy by writing to the following address:
Jailhouse Lawyers Handbook, c/o The Center for Constitutional Rights, 666 Broadway, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10012
Jailhouse Lawyers Handbook, c/o The Center for Constitutional Rights, 666 Broadway, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10012
Parole Policies Letter to Candidates
Anyone who would like copies of the following to mail out to the individual Candidates running for NYS Governor: Spitzer, Suozzi, Weld, Faso, please let Kathy know and she will e-mail these to you. Anyone who would like their name added please send her your full name, city and state. For those who are from out of state just list the city where your loved one is incarcerated.
Here is the copy of what will be sent to each candidate. Please respond directly to liferfamilies@yahoo.com
Letter:
We, the members of the Coalition of Families of New York State Lifers (CFNYSL), represent over 13,000 families who struggle daily with the burden of having a loved one incarcerated in the state of New York with the word life in their sentence.
We are concerned with the parole commission’s stance as it now stands and with your plans for the commission if you become governor. As you are no doubt aware, the parole boards routinely denies parole to eligible men and women with good records and many years of incarceration because of “the severity of instant offense.” Unfortunately, this creates a sense of hopelessness since the nature of the crime is the one thing that can never be changed.
Many of our loved ones have served far over the 15, 20 or 25 years their minimum sentence called for. Many have completed all the programs that DOCS has to offer and are just being warehoused for the political benefit of our current administration.
Statistics show that the current administration has managed to control the parole board and to cause men and women sentenced when parole was a realistic prospect, to be constantly re-sentenced to longer and longer terms in prison. We hope that if you become Governor, you will actively seek to reestablish fairness in parole board behavior. We want you to be smart on crime, but keeping an aging population in prison long past their eligibility for parole is not accomplishing that. It is simply ruining family’s lives, creating a sense of hopelessness in men and women who believed they needed to reform and redeem their lives; and echoes vast injustices from the very system that theoretically delivers justice to ALL its citizens.
We seek your response to these concerns prior to our having to make a decision in the voting booth in November.
Thank you.
Here is the copy of what will be sent to each candidate. Please respond directly to liferfamilies@yahoo.com
Letter:
We, the members of the Coalition of Families of New York State Lifers (CFNYSL), represent over 13,000 families who struggle daily with the burden of having a loved one incarcerated in the state of New York with the word life in their sentence.
We are concerned with the parole commission’s stance as it now stands and with your plans for the commission if you become governor. As you are no doubt aware, the parole boards routinely denies parole to eligible men and women with good records and many years of incarceration because of “the severity of instant offense.” Unfortunately, this creates a sense of hopelessness since the nature of the crime is the one thing that can never be changed.
Many of our loved ones have served far over the 15, 20 or 25 years their minimum sentence called for. Many have completed all the programs that DOCS has to offer and are just being warehoused for the political benefit of our current administration.
Statistics show that the current administration has managed to control the parole board and to cause men and women sentenced when parole was a realistic prospect, to be constantly re-sentenced to longer and longer terms in prison. We hope that if you become Governor, you will actively seek to reestablish fairness in parole board behavior. We want you to be smart on crime, but keeping an aging population in prison long past their eligibility for parole is not accomplishing that. It is simply ruining family’s lives, creating a sense of hopelessness in men and women who believed they needed to reform and redeem their lives; and echoes vast injustices from the very system that theoretically delivers justice to ALL its citizens.
We seek your response to these concerns prior to our having to make a decision in the voting booth in November.
Thank you.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
May 2006
Dear Members,
This issue is packed full of interesting and useful information, and we hope you’ll take some time to read it all. From now until October, Building Bridges will be giving a lot of attention to promoting and publicizing Family Empowerment Day II , which is a growing focus for many members of the network. We need your help to spread the word and assist with the planning. More on that in the pages to follow....
Together, we CAN make a difference!
Articles:
1. CURE-NY Annual Meeting and Lobby Day
2. Coalition for Women Prisoners
3. from Inside
4. from Karima Amin, Director of Prisoners Are People Too!
5. Getting the Best From Your Public Defender in Court
6. Getting Free, continued [from April issue]
7. Help for Rockefeller Drug Law Prisoners
8. Meetings
9. Merit Time Bill Status
10. Telephone Justice/Justicia Telefonica
11. Transportation to Prisons
12. Words from Ramon
1. CURE-NY Annual Meeting and Lobby Day:
May 9, 2006
In the Knickerbocker Room,
Capitol Hill Deli, 42 Eagle St., Albany, NY
Reminder: Kindly email your intentions to attend (to cureny@bestweb.net) so they can complete arrangements for the breakfast, lunch, and meeting. (If you don’t have internet access, contact PAN and we will forward your information.) Formerly incarcerated persons and families of persons still incarcerated are free; others are invited to offer a donation, suggested at $20.
Agenda
Continental Breakfast and Social
Speakers: JIM MURPHY, President of CURE-NY, SENATOR TOM DUANE, Senior Minority Member of the NYS Senate Codes Committee and the NYS Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee, ALICE GREEN, President of the Center for Law and Justice., JOHN CAHER, Albany Bureau Chief for the New York Law Journal.
Lunch and Lobbying Team explanation
Lobbying (appointments at 1:45, 2:00, 2:15, 2:30, 3:00, and 3:30)
Bills of Interest to CURE-NY in legislative visits:
Family Connections (Telephone Justice): A.7231; S.5299-C
Merit Time A.3230-B, S.1701-B
Mentally ill and Solitary Confinement: S.2207, A.3926
2005 Geriatric: A.01513; S.104
Parole Board Members: A. 03802; S.1499
Justice Reinvestment Fund: A.6546; S.01063
Voting in Local Jails: A.06182, S.1174
Drug Law Repeal: A.06796
Dept. of Health Oversight: A.03544
Inmate Residence and Redistricting: A. 6409
Vote while on Parole: A.00731
Higher Education: A.02756, S.1480
Termination of Parole: S.6013
Public Defense Commission: A.6908
2. Coalition for Women Prisoners
The next Coalition for Women Prisoners meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 17th from 5:00pm-7:00pm at the Legal Aid Society, 1st Floor Conference Room, 49 Thomas St., between Church and West Broadway. Contact Jaya Vasandani at 212 254 5700.
During CWP’s Lobby Day April 4, 30 groups of from 3-6 people each visited NYS legislators to promote the following 5 key reform proposals. Many of the legislators signed a statement of support for these proposals (a full report of who signed which, will be published when finalized):
1. Further reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
2. Allowing incarcerated survivors of domestic violence to be eligible for early release.
3. Requiring prison officials to file Medicaid applications for inmates before release.
4. Increased funding for programs that keep families connected when a mother is in prison.
5. Expand the scope and number of vocational programs in women’s prisons.
3. from Inside:
1. Just to let you know what I am doing here in Coxsackie. I run groups for the pre-release center, prepare those who are soon re-entering society by setting them up with available resources for housing, employment, treatment and other needed resources, and also in these groups we discuss issues of empowerment like self-worth, skills, family, education, etc.
I also sit with men who are dying from terminal illnesses in the Hospice program, which is far more emotional. We comfort them and do what we can to see to it that they understand that they aren’t alone and that someone cares.
Presently I am also working on beginning an empowerment program called Chisel, which will deal with emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of being in prison and returning back into society. Here in this facility we lack any independent progressive programs and I seek any help from the readers who may have information on starting programs, as it is desperately needed.
I am with our brother Ramon, and all the others who join in this struggle, hand in hand, heart to heart. Know you aren’t alone in the struggle.
William Clanton, 03A4400 PS: I am seeking a copy of the entire article, Distorting Political Reality, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial March 17, 2006.
2. I would like to compliment Building Bridges on the April 2006 edition. They have all been good, and they are getting better. “Good, Better, Best, Never let it rest, until Good is better, and Better is best!”
I agree with Ramon Gonzalez on p.10. There are Lifers that have become complacent, but we must remember, “as the going gets tough, the tough get going; tough times never last, but tough people do!” Keep up the good work!
Mika’il Muwakil, Warwick, NY
April 4 2006
3. Attention: All readers of Building Bridges: In September of 2006, one of the Otisville Lifers’ own eminently qualified, community-ready men will be appearing before his second parole board. Most of you know Bryce Rudert (85A4359) as “Big Sonny” or through his writings. We believe he has demonstrated, far above and beyond the legal criteria, that he is qualified for release to parole supervision.
Throughout his time in prison he has not only worked hard at turning his life around, he has worked just as hard helping others to do the same. In fact, he is always willing to lend others a helping hand. Now it is our turn to lend Sonny a helping hand. We strongly urge you to join us by showing your support.
To find out what you can do to aid in the Otisville Broadband Parole Support Initiative, write or call PAN and request Sonny’s Parole Profile complete with information and instructions. Sonny needs all your support, and YOUR voice will make a difference!
Thank you, The Otisville Lifers’ Group
4. The Clinton Lifers and Long-Termers Organization is reaching out to legislators, prisoner advocacy groups, criminal justice reform organizations, and government officials for support and assistance in our call for the creation of a task force on long-term prisoners.
Two of the most pressing concerns of prisoners serving long-term sentences in NY are: 1] the increasing amount of time they are required to serve in prison, and 2] the lack of programs designed to address the unique needs of those serving long-term sentences. Both concerns are the result of changes in state policies. The one-size-fits-all policy for both long-term and short-term prisoners continues under the current DOCS administration, and long-term offenders receive no guidance or direction regarding their adjustment and coping needs.
We propose the creation of a “Task Force” on Long-term prisoners that would: 1] study the conditions mentioned above and recommend a state strategy involving the prison and parole agencies, with other partners as appropriate, and 2] study the acclaimed “Life Line Program” currently operating under the Canadian Correctional system as a model for replication in NYS.
--Clinton Lifers & Long-Termers Org, Clinton C.F., PO Box 2001, Dannemora, NY 12929
5. Building Bridges received a letter from a man who has been incarcerated since August 1991 for committing a sex offense. He says, “My scheduled Conditional Release Date was July 2003. My parole officer has indicated that I am to propose a residence/program where there are responsible adults willing to provide adult collateral monitoring. I am unable to find such a residence/program from within prison. My charges are Rape 1 (2 counts). I do not have a history besides the above charge with regard to sex offenses, and I have never harmed a child.” He goes on to list programs he has successfully completed, and ends by saying, “All I need is the opportunity to be placed in a structured environment where I can continue on my road to success. Can you please provide me with that opportunity? I promise I will not let you down.” He provides his mother’s phone number for further information. If you would like more information or if you have any information which could be helpful to him, please contact PAN and we will pass it on.
4. from Karima Amin, Director of Prisoners Are People Too!
IN SYMPATHY:
Sr. Karen Klimczak, founder of Hope House (Bissonette House), a transitional home for male parolees in Buffalo NY, was found dead about 5 miles from the house. A resident of Bissonette House has confessed. "Mad Dads" President Dwayne Ferguson echoed the sentiments of many when he told WBEN, "she's going to be really missed in our community." Klimczak was behind a "Non-Violence Begins With Me" campaign. In an interview with WBEN, Sister Mary Johnice of the Response To Love Center on Buffalo's East Side said of her close friend, "She was a gift for us; she was our hope...she was our Jesus." Sister Karen Klimczak was 62.
SUPPORT REQUEST:
Artelia "Tia" Lewis is a formerly incarcerated individual who is a student at D'Youville College and a Peer Support Specialist with the WNY Independent Living Project, Inc. She is also engaged in an internship with Cazenovia Recovery Systems.
Tia has a daughter who is serving a 23 year prison sentence. She is currently in a SHU ("special housing unit") for prisoners with psychiatric disabilities. Recently, Tia went to Albany to speak out in favor of a law which would require alternatives to the inhumane solitary confinement of the SHU.
Tia and her daughter, Katisha, could both benefit from our prayers and words of comfort and encouragement. You may contact Tia's daughter at the following address: Katisha R. Beaty
DIN 01G0328, Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, P. O. Box 1000, Bedford Hills, NY 10507
You can reach Artelia "Tia" Lewis at: Artelia Lewis, Peer Support Specialist, Mental Health Peer Connection, WNY Independent living Project, Inc., 3108 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14214
FALSE CONFESSION, WRONGFUL CONVICTION, EYEWITNESS ERROR: Several PRP2! members traveled to Albany NY from Buffalo and Niagara Falls NY to present at the Prison Forum of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany, on Sunday, March 26, 2006.
The topic was false confession, wrongful conviction, eyewitness error, and the speakers were: Sis. Nora Massey, Sis. Laila (Louise) Piromalli, Sis. Dwyonna Drayton, and Mr. Bill Bradberry, Esq. They shared valuable information and related the stories of Terroll Massey, Valentino Dixon, John H. Walker, Jr., and Vishnu Persad respectively.
Mr. Bradberry has good news to give us about Vishnu. There was to be a hearing on April 18, 2006 at which the issue of Vishnu's POTENTIAL RELEASE pending a NEW TRIAL may be resolved. Keep Vishnu Persad and his family in your prayers.
Visit http://prisonaction.blogspot.com to read a Palm Beach Post article for details. If you don’t have Internet access, please call or write PAN and we’ll send you a copy.
5. Getting the Best From Your Public Defender in Court
by John V. Elmore — from April 2006 The Francis Report http://www.thefrancisreport.com.
Most people charged with crimes in American Courts are poor and cannot afford an attorney to represent them. Many indigent defendants want to know how they can receive justice in court when they have a lawyer who is paid by the State. They think that their lawyer is working with the prosecutor and judge to railroad them.
In some instances the perception that an indigent defendant, who is represented by a lawyer paid by the State, will be railroaded is true. However, the overwhelming number of public defenders and court assigned lawyers are extremely competent and committed legal advocates who take pride in the quality of their work. Despite the inherent advantages the system gives the police and the prosecution, an indigent defendant armed with the right attitude and knowledge can have a realistic chance in his fight for justice.
Many indigent defendants do not trust their lawyers. They erroneously believe that it is a good idea to lie to their lawyers by creating false evidence, protecting their friends, or by minimizing their role in the incident. Lying to your lawyer can lead to disastrous results. If the lies are believed by the attorney, he may give poor advice or reject a favorable plea bargain. Investigative resources are wasted when an attorney tries to corroborate the misinformation. Even worse is a situation where a defense lawyer unknowingly presents false evidence to the jury, which the prosecutor later disproves. The defense lawyer then loses all credibility with the jury and even truthful evidence of a defendant’s innocence is not believed.
I once represented a defendant who was accused of a murder. His attempts to create false evidence led to the police to discover evidence that he actually committed a crime. In this particular case, the defendant claimed to have an alibi that he was with his girlfriend at the time the murder was committed. In an effort to collaborate the alibi I interviewed a cab driver and the cab company dispatcher to determine the time that my client arrived at his girlfriend’s house. After I reviewed the cab dispatch records and interviewed his girlfriend, I concluded that the purported alibi evidence would put my client in close proximity to the scene of the crime at the time the murder occurred. I suspect that after I met with the cab driver and the dispatcher, one of them became aware that my client was connected to the murder. Most likely one of them alerted the police of the possible connection. Both the driver and the dispatcher were called by the prosecution as witnesses and gave very damaging testimony. The defendant’s attempt to create an alibi provided prosecutors key evidence that led to a conviction.
The following tidbits of advice will help an indigent defendant get the best results when represented by a public defender.
1. Always tell your attorney the whole truth. You are the best source of information about what happened. Your lawyer needs this information to properly defend you and to properly advise you whether or not to accept a plea bargain.
2. When you have an appointment to see your attorney, show up and be on time. Public Defenders have very busy caseloads. They will not have adequate time to prepare your case if you are late or miss appointments.
3. If you know the identity of your witnesses provide your attorney with their names, addresses, and phone numbers. Bring your witnesses to court with you. Do not assume that the public defender will subpoena your witnesses or remind them when they are needed in court.
4. Come to court dressed like a professional. While in court control your emotions and be polite and courteous all of the time.
5. Treat your attorney with respect and he will respect you. Never accuse him or her of working with the prosecution or trying to railroad you. Why would you want to insult someone when your life is in their hands?
6. When deciding whether or not to accept a plea bargain, make your decision based upon logic and not emotion. Take a realistic look at the evidence that a jury will hear against you. If you rationally and logically conclude that you can win the case and are willing to risk the consequences if you lose, then proceed to trial. If you logically conclude that you cannot win, then ask your attorney to negotiate the best possible plea bargain. When it comes to plea bargaining you must know “when to hold them and when to fold them.”
7. If you are in custody while awaiting trial, do not discuss your case with other inmates. Your attorney is smarter than any jailhouse lawyer. Think about it. If your jailhouse attorney is so smart, then why is he in jail? Many jailhouse lawyers are actually jailhouse informants. Many of them end up being government witnesses to a “jailhouse confession.”
6. Getting Free, continued [from April issue]
This piece was wrongly attributed last month. It should have been credited to:
James E. Morse, Stormville, NY
“A white man with a criminal record has a better chance of getting an entry-level job in New York than a black man with a squeaky-clean record, a study has found.”[The New York Post, 17 June 2005]
This study, as outlined in the article, establishes a direct relationship between current penal practices and joblessness among men of color released from captivity. The devious nexus between race-based disparities in criminal justice so-called and joblessness is readily apparent; it is a social affliction that this author calls Malus Chronos, that is Bad Times of the manufactured variety. Since this devious social practice fuels the engines of recidivism among ex-offenders, and is not likely to be cured by persons who feed off of it, people of color serving time in New York’s penal realms should be encouraged to commit suicide -- that is, political suicide.
“Greater than armies is an idea whose time has come.” -- Victor Hugo
Prisoners of color (mainly citizens born and raised in the U.S.A.) should be encouraged to commit political suicide for the purpose of putting an end to the racial injustice characterizing New York’s judicial and penal systems. For “demographics” (the official rationale for a Jim Crow penal system) is a transparent falsehood concocted by the beneficiaries of Bread and Power. Political suicide is accomplished by prisoners of color having their voting rights restored - before encountering recidivistic joblessness, and other post-release traps and pitfalls. For only the vote can countervail Bread and Power’s vital interest in the maintenance of the status quo.
Article II, 3, of the New York State Constitution mandates political disenfranchisement (loss of voting rights) for individuals convicted of “infamous crime.” Though, on its face, Article II is racially neutral, in 1991, the Judicial Commission on Minorities conceded that the courts (via racial disparities in convictions and sentence type) are using Article II as an instrument of political discrimination that adversely affects the voting power of all people of color. [Over 80% of all state prisoners hail from NYC Assembly Districts that are largely nonwhite, including Harlem, Brownsville, E. New York, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Lower East South Bronx, Jamaica.]
In a recent decision [See Locke v. Farrakhan, WL 2058775 (U.S. Nov. 8, 2004.)], the Supreme Court declined to review a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case that allowed Washington State prisoners to challenge a felon disenfranchisement statue that, like New York’s, violates the 1965 Voting Rights Act. However, the Court did let stand a decision by the New York’s Second Circuit Court of Appeals, holding that the “results test” of the Voting Rights Act cannot be applied to challenge the validity of New York’s disenfranchisement statute, because the Act is “silent” regarding said statues.
However, since the Second Circuit judges have voted on their own motion to review their decision, if the Supreme Court declined to review the Washington State case, this circumstance has prompted an increasing number of persons (free and imprisoned) to write letters to Second Circuit judges, expressing their desire to have the voting rights of state prisoners restored. Once said voting rights are restored, one of the first duties that we re-enfranchised voters will assign to our legislative representatives is the task of changing the current laws governing census taking. Currently, prisoners are counted, not as members of the political districts from which we hail, but as a part of the district wherein our prison is located. Thus, as the census is now conducted, each felony conviction in New York City deletes from communities of color increments of economic power and transfers it to the communities surrounding the penal realms. Secondly, our restored voting power will insure that state government, for the first time, possesses a direct economic stake in preventing ex-offenders from returning to prison. While some prisoners will remain in prison, vote or no, the present economic trend is to “swell the ranks of sinners” for the benefit of Bread and Power, long after imprisonment stops making sense.
“Twist about, turn about
Jump Jim Crow
Every time I wheel about,
I do just so.”
-- The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book
Obviously, Jim Crow (racial injustice) was not legislated out of existence by the Voting Rights Act of 1965; he simply changed his name to Malus Chronos and relocated to the bounded spaces of the penal realms. There Malus Chronos touts the deception that racial segregation in a totalitarian order is somehow reformative of character; there he has people of color twisting, turning, wheeling about -- doing the recidivistic shuffle unto death. The cemeteries within the penal realms are swollen with prisoners not sentenced to death, but who died waiting to be freed.
Wherefore, the political suicide of state prisoners -- this voting of his/her surplus numbers out of existence -- is, in fact, a noble Testimony of Freedom that must be encouraged by persons (on both sides of prison walls) who support racial justice -- not only in words, but in deeds too.
Your letter to the Chief Judge of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals is word and deed combined.
7. Removed due to irrelevance after 30 days.
8. Meetings:
A. Prison Families of New York groups:
ALBANY
7-8:30 pm every Monday at The Womens Bldg. 79 Central Ave, Albany . Ring the bell for the library and lounge to get in. Alison at 518 453 6659.
POUGHKEEPSIE
7 - 8:30 pm Monday May 8 and May 22 at the Family Partnership building, 29 North Hamilton Street. Deb at 845-616-9698, dabboz@aol.com.
B. Other Advocacy/Self-Help Groups:
Citizens for Restorative Justice. We have our next CRJ meeting on Thurs. May 4th. I'm sure we will be preparing for the CURE meeting and lobby day on May 9th. At the Family Partnership building at 29 North Hamilton Street in Poughkeepsie. Anyone is welcome to join us in anything that we do. Deb at 845-616-9698 or dabboz@aol.com.
Justice Committee of FUUSA. Next meeting at 12 noon on May 28. For individuals desiring to get involved in prison and criminal justice reform. FUUSA, 405 Washington Ave., Albany. Contact Thayer Heath at 518 861 0035 or thayer1923@aol.com..
Coalition of Families of NYS Lifers: No meeting scheduled yet, but we’ve defined our vision and our mission:
VISION: To establish and maintain a working relationship with NYS DOCS in order to facilitate an understanding of the need of the families of those who are incarcerated with life as a part of their sentence.
MISSION: Educate and facilitate dialog between DOCS and the families of Lifers in order to strengthen family bonds.
For more info: PO Box 1314, Wappinger Falls, NY 12590, or liferfamilies@yahoo.com
9. Merit Time Bill Status:
In response to those who have asked:
S1701-B MONTGOMERY
Correction Law
TITLE....Provides for accumulation of merit time allowance
02/01/05 - REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION
01/04/06 - REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION
01/25/06 - AMEND (T) AND RECOMMIT TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION
01/25/06 - PRINT NUMBER 1701A
03/08/06 - AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION
03/08/06 - PRINT NUMBER 1701B
10. Telephone Justice/Justicia Telefonica
Participate in our monthly family member conference call: Once a month, we have a state-wide conference call for prison family members from throughout the State to call in to stay involved with the progress of the campaign, and to share their input. The next conference call is Tuesday, May 16th at 7 pm (Eastern Standard Time). Call 212.614.6459 or email info@telephonejustice.org for the TOLL FREE CALL IN NUMBER.
A lot of you have been asking about the MCI/DOCS contract's expiration date of March 30, 2006. DOCS has exercised its option of the first one-year renewal. So the contract which is now with Verizon Business (MCI) is still in effect. That is why we are working through political and legislative means to get the legislation passed so that the contract can be voided! Here's how you can continue to help:
Every week on Wednesday encourage everyone you know to call Governor Pataki (212) 681-4580 or (518) 474-8390 and Verizon (800) 621 9900 from 8 am to 5 pm to say "I’m calling in support of the NY Campaign for Telephone Justice to ask that you put an end to the prison phone contract between Verizon/MCI and DOCS."
CADA MIERCOLES pidales a su familia y a sus amigos que llamen al Gobernador Pataki al (212) 681-4580 o al (518) 474-8390 y a Verizon (800) 621-9900 entre las horas ocho (8) de la manana hasta las cinco (5) de la tarde, lunes a viernes. Digales, "Llamo para apoyar La Campana Neoyorquina para Justicia Telefonica (NYCTJ) para pedir que acaben con el contracto telefónico de prisiones entre Verizon/MCI y el Departamento de Servicios de Correción.
SAVE THE DATE: Friday, May 12, 2006. Please let us know your availability for a noon time vigil in Manhattan. Call Marion at 212 614 6421 for more information.
11. Transportation to Prisons:
A. Prison Action Network will meet DOCS free bus to COLLINS/GOWANDA on Saturday, 5/13 at 1:00 AM. To join us at the Albany bus terminal on the 13th or to help put together information packets and snacks and toys for the children on Friday May 12, please call 253-7533.
B. Prison Action Network: Call 518 253-7533 if you need a ride to visit your incarcerated loved one [there is no charge for this service]:
.
Rides are available from Albany by a PAN volunteer. If you and/or your family need transportation to visit your loved one in prison, and the following limitations work for you, please contact PAN at the address on your envelope or at the email address or phone number in this letter, and we will connect you to your driver
the prison must be within 150 miles of Albany [300 miles round trip].
driver is willing to wait 2-3 hours for visit to be concluded.
driver is willing to start, from the visitor's residence, as early as 8:00 A.M.
driver is willing to get back home as late as 6:00 P.M.
driver is available on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays [and, in a pinch, on Fridays].
car seats 5, though, for a trip of 150 miles, sitting in the middle of the back seat would be a tight squeeze.
12. Words from Ramon:
Call for Attendance:
I am calling on all of you to join PAN and FUUSA’s Social Responsibility Council (SRC) and the Otisville Lifers Core Committee to a round table Think Tank on July 6 from 6:15 - 9:15 PM at Otisville C.F., to plan Family Empowerment Day II. To confirm your participation, contact PAN at 518 253-7533 or email: prisonaction@hotmail.com.
As most Building Bridges readers know, I am chairman and social interaction director of the Otisville Lifers, and in that capacity I work alongside many dedicated brothers entrenched in our struggle for fair parole policies. However, we aren’t working alone - PAN and members of FUUSA’s SRC join in our meetings to conceptualize and formulate strategies to address our plight. Our current project is Family Empowerment Day II, under the auspices of The Coalition of Family and Community. The venue is Middle Collegiate Church located in New York City on Second Avenue at 7th Street. October 21, 2006 is the date. All are welcome to attend; family members, friends, groups, organizations, ministry, academic, legal, even members of the political community. So “Save The Date”!
What will come out of this year’s Family Empowerment Day event? In order to answer this question all organizations - CPR, CURE-NY, CRJ, PFNY, NYIF, CFNYSL, Family Members and Friends of People Incarcerated, Citizens against Recidivism, PRP2!, and all others who are reading this, will need to decide the tasks that will be undertaken collectively. Together, “we, the people must decide.” Again, please contact PAN to arrange to join us on July 6.
The only thing we hold on to is Hope. When that hope is resurrected, there is new life. When there is new life there is possibility. And when there is possibility change occurs. This is the same change that the Division of Parole fails to recognize in each and every one of us. By supporting our initiatives you allow us to show society the power of collective, rehabilitated minds, not stagnated by the subliminal chains of DOCS or the Division of Parole.
Through our networking this day - 7/6/06 - by finalizing the families’ and community's tasks, we can ensure that “We” the People will be heard as a result of Family Empowerment Day. Our collective networking will be the crucial factor that stimulates the vital cross pollination which will in turn, breathe true creative life into the Family Empowerment Day event, and thereafter, in our march for fair parole policies.
R. Gonzalez
Readers are invited to submit notices or articles of interest for publication in this newsletter.
This issue is packed full of interesting and useful information, and we hope you’ll take some time to read it all. From now until October, Building Bridges will be giving a lot of attention to promoting and publicizing Family Empowerment Day II , which is a growing focus for many members of the network. We need your help to spread the word and assist with the planning. More on that in the pages to follow....
Together, we CAN make a difference!
Articles:
1. CURE-NY Annual Meeting and Lobby Day
2. Coalition for Women Prisoners
3. from Inside
4. from Karima Amin, Director of Prisoners Are People Too!
5. Getting the Best From Your Public Defender in Court
6. Getting Free, continued [from April issue]
7. Help for Rockefeller Drug Law Prisoners
8. Meetings
9. Merit Time Bill Status
10. Telephone Justice/Justicia Telefonica
11. Transportation to Prisons
12. Words from Ramon
1. CURE-NY Annual Meeting and Lobby Day:
May 9, 2006
In the Knickerbocker Room,
Capitol Hill Deli, 42 Eagle St., Albany, NY
Reminder: Kindly email your intentions to attend (to cureny@bestweb.net) so they can complete arrangements for the breakfast, lunch, and meeting. (If you don’t have internet access, contact PAN and we will forward your information.) Formerly incarcerated persons and families of persons still incarcerated are free; others are invited to offer a donation, suggested at $20.
Agenda
Continental Breakfast and Social
Speakers: JIM MURPHY, President of CURE-NY, SENATOR TOM DUANE, Senior Minority Member of the NYS Senate Codes Committee and the NYS Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee, ALICE GREEN, President of the Center for Law and Justice., JOHN CAHER, Albany Bureau Chief for the New York Law Journal.
Lunch and Lobbying Team explanation
Lobbying (appointments at 1:45, 2:00, 2:15, 2:30, 3:00, and 3:30)
Bills of Interest to CURE-NY in legislative visits:
Family Connections (Telephone Justice): A.7231; S.5299-C
Merit Time A.3230-B, S.1701-B
Mentally ill and Solitary Confinement: S.2207, A.3926
2005 Geriatric: A.01513; S.104
Parole Board Members: A. 03802; S.1499
Justice Reinvestment Fund: A.6546; S.01063
Voting in Local Jails: A.06182, S.1174
Drug Law Repeal: A.06796
Dept. of Health Oversight: A.03544
Inmate Residence and Redistricting: A. 6409
Vote while on Parole: A.00731
Higher Education: A.02756, S.1480
Termination of Parole: S.6013
Public Defense Commission: A.6908
2. Coalition for Women Prisoners
The next Coalition for Women Prisoners meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 17th from 5:00pm-7:00pm at the Legal Aid Society, 1st Floor Conference Room, 49 Thomas St., between Church and West Broadway. Contact Jaya Vasandani at 212 254 5700.
During CWP’s Lobby Day April 4, 30 groups of from 3-6 people each visited NYS legislators to promote the following 5 key reform proposals. Many of the legislators signed a statement of support for these proposals (a full report of who signed which, will be published when finalized):
1. Further reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
2. Allowing incarcerated survivors of domestic violence to be eligible for early release.
3. Requiring prison officials to file Medicaid applications for inmates before release.
4. Increased funding for programs that keep families connected when a mother is in prison.
5. Expand the scope and number of vocational programs in women’s prisons.
3. from Inside:
1. Just to let you know what I am doing here in Coxsackie. I run groups for the pre-release center, prepare those who are soon re-entering society by setting them up with available resources for housing, employment, treatment and other needed resources, and also in these groups we discuss issues of empowerment like self-worth, skills, family, education, etc.
I also sit with men who are dying from terminal illnesses in the Hospice program, which is far more emotional. We comfort them and do what we can to see to it that they understand that they aren’t alone and that someone cares.
Presently I am also working on beginning an empowerment program called Chisel, which will deal with emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of being in prison and returning back into society. Here in this facility we lack any independent progressive programs and I seek any help from the readers who may have information on starting programs, as it is desperately needed.
I am with our brother Ramon, and all the others who join in this struggle, hand in hand, heart to heart. Know you aren’t alone in the struggle.
William Clanton, 03A4400 PS: I am seeking a copy of the entire article, Distorting Political Reality, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial March 17, 2006.
2. I would like to compliment Building Bridges on the April 2006 edition. They have all been good, and they are getting better. “Good, Better, Best, Never let it rest, until Good is better, and Better is best!”
I agree with Ramon Gonzalez on p.10. There are Lifers that have become complacent, but we must remember, “as the going gets tough, the tough get going; tough times never last, but tough people do!” Keep up the good work!
Mika’il Muwakil, Warwick, NY
April 4 2006
3. Attention: All readers of Building Bridges: In September of 2006, one of the Otisville Lifers’ own eminently qualified, community-ready men will be appearing before his second parole board. Most of you know Bryce Rudert (85A4359) as “Big Sonny” or through his writings. We believe he has demonstrated, far above and beyond the legal criteria, that he is qualified for release to parole supervision.
Throughout his time in prison he has not only worked hard at turning his life around, he has worked just as hard helping others to do the same. In fact, he is always willing to lend others a helping hand. Now it is our turn to lend Sonny a helping hand. We strongly urge you to join us by showing your support.
To find out what you can do to aid in the Otisville Broadband Parole Support Initiative, write or call PAN and request Sonny’s Parole Profile complete with information and instructions. Sonny needs all your support, and YOUR voice will make a difference!
Thank you, The Otisville Lifers’ Group
4. The Clinton Lifers and Long-Termers Organization is reaching out to legislators, prisoner advocacy groups, criminal justice reform organizations, and government officials for support and assistance in our call for the creation of a task force on long-term prisoners.
Two of the most pressing concerns of prisoners serving long-term sentences in NY are: 1] the increasing amount of time they are required to serve in prison, and 2] the lack of programs designed to address the unique needs of those serving long-term sentences. Both concerns are the result of changes in state policies. The one-size-fits-all policy for both long-term and short-term prisoners continues under the current DOCS administration, and long-term offenders receive no guidance or direction regarding their adjustment and coping needs.
We propose the creation of a “Task Force” on Long-term prisoners that would: 1] study the conditions mentioned above and recommend a state strategy involving the prison and parole agencies, with other partners as appropriate, and 2] study the acclaimed “Life Line Program” currently operating under the Canadian Correctional system as a model for replication in NYS.
--Clinton Lifers & Long-Termers Org, Clinton C.F., PO Box 2001, Dannemora, NY 12929
5. Building Bridges received a letter from a man who has been incarcerated since August 1991 for committing a sex offense. He says, “My scheduled Conditional Release Date was July 2003. My parole officer has indicated that I am to propose a residence/program where there are responsible adults willing to provide adult collateral monitoring. I am unable to find such a residence/program from within prison. My charges are Rape 1 (2 counts). I do not have a history besides the above charge with regard to sex offenses, and I have never harmed a child.” He goes on to list programs he has successfully completed, and ends by saying, “All I need is the opportunity to be placed in a structured environment where I can continue on my road to success. Can you please provide me with that opportunity? I promise I will not let you down.” He provides his mother’s phone number for further information. If you would like more information or if you have any information which could be helpful to him, please contact PAN and we will pass it on.
4. from Karima Amin, Director of Prisoners Are People Too!
IN SYMPATHY:
Sr. Karen Klimczak, founder of Hope House (Bissonette House), a transitional home for male parolees in Buffalo NY, was found dead about 5 miles from the house. A resident of Bissonette House has confessed. "Mad Dads" President Dwayne Ferguson echoed the sentiments of many when he told WBEN, "she's going to be really missed in our community." Klimczak was behind a "Non-Violence Begins With Me" campaign. In an interview with WBEN, Sister Mary Johnice of the Response To Love Center on Buffalo's East Side said of her close friend, "She was a gift for us; she was our hope...she was our Jesus." Sister Karen Klimczak was 62.
SUPPORT REQUEST:
Artelia "Tia" Lewis is a formerly incarcerated individual who is a student at D'Youville College and a Peer Support Specialist with the WNY Independent Living Project, Inc. She is also engaged in an internship with Cazenovia Recovery Systems.
Tia has a daughter who is serving a 23 year prison sentence. She is currently in a SHU ("special housing unit") for prisoners with psychiatric disabilities. Recently, Tia went to Albany to speak out in favor of a law which would require alternatives to the inhumane solitary confinement of the SHU.
Tia and her daughter, Katisha, could both benefit from our prayers and words of comfort and encouragement. You may contact Tia's daughter at the following address: Katisha R. Beaty
DIN 01G0328, Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, P. O. Box 1000, Bedford Hills, NY 10507
You can reach Artelia "Tia" Lewis at: Artelia Lewis, Peer Support Specialist, Mental Health Peer Connection, WNY Independent living Project, Inc., 3108 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14214
FALSE CONFESSION, WRONGFUL CONVICTION, EYEWITNESS ERROR: Several PRP2! members traveled to Albany NY from Buffalo and Niagara Falls NY to present at the Prison Forum of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany, on Sunday, March 26, 2006.
The topic was false confession, wrongful conviction, eyewitness error, and the speakers were: Sis. Nora Massey, Sis. Laila (Louise) Piromalli, Sis. Dwyonna Drayton, and Mr. Bill Bradberry, Esq. They shared valuable information and related the stories of Terroll Massey, Valentino Dixon, John H. Walker, Jr., and Vishnu Persad respectively.
Mr. Bradberry has good news to give us about Vishnu. There was to be a hearing on April 18, 2006 at which the issue of Vishnu's POTENTIAL RELEASE pending a NEW TRIAL may be resolved. Keep Vishnu Persad and his family in your prayers.
Visit http://prisonaction.blogspot.com to read a Palm Beach Post article for details. If you don’t have Internet access, please call or write PAN and we’ll send you a copy.
5. Getting the Best From Your Public Defender in Court
by John V. Elmore — from April 2006 The Francis Report http://www.thefrancisreport.com.
Most people charged with crimes in American Courts are poor and cannot afford an attorney to represent them. Many indigent defendants want to know how they can receive justice in court when they have a lawyer who is paid by the State. They think that their lawyer is working with the prosecutor and judge to railroad them.
In some instances the perception that an indigent defendant, who is represented by a lawyer paid by the State, will be railroaded is true. However, the overwhelming number of public defenders and court assigned lawyers are extremely competent and committed legal advocates who take pride in the quality of their work. Despite the inherent advantages the system gives the police and the prosecution, an indigent defendant armed with the right attitude and knowledge can have a realistic chance in his fight for justice.
Many indigent defendants do not trust their lawyers. They erroneously believe that it is a good idea to lie to their lawyers by creating false evidence, protecting their friends, or by minimizing their role in the incident. Lying to your lawyer can lead to disastrous results. If the lies are believed by the attorney, he may give poor advice or reject a favorable plea bargain. Investigative resources are wasted when an attorney tries to corroborate the misinformation. Even worse is a situation where a defense lawyer unknowingly presents false evidence to the jury, which the prosecutor later disproves. The defense lawyer then loses all credibility with the jury and even truthful evidence of a defendant’s innocence is not believed.
I once represented a defendant who was accused of a murder. His attempts to create false evidence led to the police to discover evidence that he actually committed a crime. In this particular case, the defendant claimed to have an alibi that he was with his girlfriend at the time the murder was committed. In an effort to collaborate the alibi I interviewed a cab driver and the cab company dispatcher to determine the time that my client arrived at his girlfriend’s house. After I reviewed the cab dispatch records and interviewed his girlfriend, I concluded that the purported alibi evidence would put my client in close proximity to the scene of the crime at the time the murder occurred. I suspect that after I met with the cab driver and the dispatcher, one of them became aware that my client was connected to the murder. Most likely one of them alerted the police of the possible connection. Both the driver and the dispatcher were called by the prosecution as witnesses and gave very damaging testimony. The defendant’s attempt to create an alibi provided prosecutors key evidence that led to a conviction.
The following tidbits of advice will help an indigent defendant get the best results when represented by a public defender.
1. Always tell your attorney the whole truth. You are the best source of information about what happened. Your lawyer needs this information to properly defend you and to properly advise you whether or not to accept a plea bargain.
2. When you have an appointment to see your attorney, show up and be on time. Public Defenders have very busy caseloads. They will not have adequate time to prepare your case if you are late or miss appointments.
3. If you know the identity of your witnesses provide your attorney with their names, addresses, and phone numbers. Bring your witnesses to court with you. Do not assume that the public defender will subpoena your witnesses or remind them when they are needed in court.
4. Come to court dressed like a professional. While in court control your emotions and be polite and courteous all of the time.
5. Treat your attorney with respect and he will respect you. Never accuse him or her of working with the prosecution or trying to railroad you. Why would you want to insult someone when your life is in their hands?
6. When deciding whether or not to accept a plea bargain, make your decision based upon logic and not emotion. Take a realistic look at the evidence that a jury will hear against you. If you rationally and logically conclude that you can win the case and are willing to risk the consequences if you lose, then proceed to trial. If you logically conclude that you cannot win, then ask your attorney to negotiate the best possible plea bargain. When it comes to plea bargaining you must know “when to hold them and when to fold them.”
7. If you are in custody while awaiting trial, do not discuss your case with other inmates. Your attorney is smarter than any jailhouse lawyer. Think about it. If your jailhouse attorney is so smart, then why is he in jail? Many jailhouse lawyers are actually jailhouse informants. Many of them end up being government witnesses to a “jailhouse confession.”
6. Getting Free, continued [from April issue]
This piece was wrongly attributed last month. It should have been credited to:
James E. Morse, Stormville, NY
“A white man with a criminal record has a better chance of getting an entry-level job in New York than a black man with a squeaky-clean record, a study has found.”[The New York Post, 17 June 2005]
This study, as outlined in the article, establishes a direct relationship between current penal practices and joblessness among men of color released from captivity. The devious nexus between race-based disparities in criminal justice so-called and joblessness is readily apparent; it is a social affliction that this author calls Malus Chronos, that is Bad Times of the manufactured variety. Since this devious social practice fuels the engines of recidivism among ex-offenders, and is not likely to be cured by persons who feed off of it, people of color serving time in New York’s penal realms should be encouraged to commit suicide -- that is, political suicide.
“Greater than armies is an idea whose time has come.” -- Victor Hugo
Prisoners of color (mainly citizens born and raised in the U.S.A.) should be encouraged to commit political suicide for the purpose of putting an end to the racial injustice characterizing New York’s judicial and penal systems. For “demographics” (the official rationale for a Jim Crow penal system) is a transparent falsehood concocted by the beneficiaries of Bread and Power. Political suicide is accomplished by prisoners of color having their voting rights restored - before encountering recidivistic joblessness, and other post-release traps and pitfalls. For only the vote can countervail Bread and Power’s vital interest in the maintenance of the status quo.
Article II, 3, of the New York State Constitution mandates political disenfranchisement (loss of voting rights) for individuals convicted of “infamous crime.” Though, on its face, Article II is racially neutral, in 1991, the Judicial Commission on Minorities conceded that the courts (via racial disparities in convictions and sentence type) are using Article II as an instrument of political discrimination that adversely affects the voting power of all people of color. [Over 80% of all state prisoners hail from NYC Assembly Districts that are largely nonwhite, including Harlem, Brownsville, E. New York, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Lower East South Bronx, Jamaica.]
In a recent decision [See Locke v. Farrakhan, WL 2058775 (U.S. Nov. 8, 2004.)], the Supreme Court declined to review a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case that allowed Washington State prisoners to challenge a felon disenfranchisement statue that, like New York’s, violates the 1965 Voting Rights Act. However, the Court did let stand a decision by the New York’s Second Circuit Court of Appeals, holding that the “results test” of the Voting Rights Act cannot be applied to challenge the validity of New York’s disenfranchisement statute, because the Act is “silent” regarding said statues.
However, since the Second Circuit judges have voted on their own motion to review their decision, if the Supreme Court declined to review the Washington State case, this circumstance has prompted an increasing number of persons (free and imprisoned) to write letters to Second Circuit judges, expressing their desire to have the voting rights of state prisoners restored. Once said voting rights are restored, one of the first duties that we re-enfranchised voters will assign to our legislative representatives is the task of changing the current laws governing census taking. Currently, prisoners are counted, not as members of the political districts from which we hail, but as a part of the district wherein our prison is located. Thus, as the census is now conducted, each felony conviction in New York City deletes from communities of color increments of economic power and transfers it to the communities surrounding the penal realms. Secondly, our restored voting power will insure that state government, for the first time, possesses a direct economic stake in preventing ex-offenders from returning to prison. While some prisoners will remain in prison, vote or no, the present economic trend is to “swell the ranks of sinners” for the benefit of Bread and Power, long after imprisonment stops making sense.
“Twist about, turn about
Jump Jim Crow
Every time I wheel about,
I do just so.”
-- The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book
Obviously, Jim Crow (racial injustice) was not legislated out of existence by the Voting Rights Act of 1965; he simply changed his name to Malus Chronos and relocated to the bounded spaces of the penal realms. There Malus Chronos touts the deception that racial segregation in a totalitarian order is somehow reformative of character; there he has people of color twisting, turning, wheeling about -- doing the recidivistic shuffle unto death. The cemeteries within the penal realms are swollen with prisoners not sentenced to death, but who died waiting to be freed.
Wherefore, the political suicide of state prisoners -- this voting of his/her surplus numbers out of existence -- is, in fact, a noble Testimony of Freedom that must be encouraged by persons (on both sides of prison walls) who support racial justice -- not only in words, but in deeds too.
Your letter to the Chief Judge of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals is word and deed combined.
7. Removed due to irrelevance after 30 days.
8. Meetings:
A. Prison Families of New York groups:
ALBANY
7-8:30 pm every Monday at The Womens Bldg. 79 Central Ave, Albany . Ring the bell for the library and lounge to get in. Alison at 518 453 6659.
POUGHKEEPSIE
7 - 8:30 pm Monday May 8 and May 22 at the Family Partnership building, 29 North Hamilton Street. Deb at 845-616-9698, dabboz@aol.com.
B. Other Advocacy/Self-Help Groups:
Citizens for Restorative Justice. We have our next CRJ meeting on Thurs. May 4th. I'm sure we will be preparing for the CURE meeting and lobby day on May 9th. At the Family Partnership building at 29 North Hamilton Street in Poughkeepsie. Anyone is welcome to join us in anything that we do. Deb at 845-616-9698 or dabboz@aol.com.
Justice Committee of FUUSA. Next meeting at 12 noon on May 28. For individuals desiring to get involved in prison and criminal justice reform. FUUSA, 405 Washington Ave., Albany. Contact Thayer Heath at 518 861 0035 or thayer1923@aol.com..
Coalition of Families of NYS Lifers: No meeting scheduled yet, but we’ve defined our vision and our mission:
VISION: To establish and maintain a working relationship with NYS DOCS in order to facilitate an understanding of the need of the families of those who are incarcerated with life as a part of their sentence.
MISSION: Educate and facilitate dialog between DOCS and the families of Lifers in order to strengthen family bonds.
For more info: PO Box 1314, Wappinger Falls, NY 12590, or liferfamilies@yahoo.com
9. Merit Time Bill Status:
In response to those who have asked:
S1701-B MONTGOMERY
Correction Law
TITLE....Provides for accumulation of merit time allowance
02/01/05 - REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION
01/04/06 - REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION
01/25/06 - AMEND (T) AND RECOMMIT TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION
01/25/06 - PRINT NUMBER 1701A
03/08/06 - AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION
03/08/06 - PRINT NUMBER 1701B
10. Telephone Justice/Justicia Telefonica
Participate in our monthly family member conference call: Once a month, we have a state-wide conference call for prison family members from throughout the State to call in to stay involved with the progress of the campaign, and to share their input. The next conference call is Tuesday, May 16th at 7 pm (Eastern Standard Time). Call 212.614.6459 or email info@telephonejustice.org for the TOLL FREE CALL IN NUMBER.
A lot of you have been asking about the MCI/DOCS contract's expiration date of March 30, 2006. DOCS has exercised its option of the first one-year renewal. So the contract which is now with Verizon Business (MCI) is still in effect. That is why we are working through political and legislative means to get the legislation passed so that the contract can be voided! Here's how you can continue to help:
Every week on Wednesday encourage everyone you know to call Governor Pataki (212) 681-4580 or (518) 474-8390 and Verizon (800) 621 9900 from 8 am to 5 pm to say "I’m calling in support of the NY Campaign for Telephone Justice to ask that you put an end to the prison phone contract between Verizon/MCI and DOCS."
CADA MIERCOLES pidales a su familia y a sus amigos que llamen al Gobernador Pataki al (212) 681-4580 o al (518) 474-8390 y a Verizon (800) 621-9900 entre las horas ocho (8) de la manana hasta las cinco (5) de la tarde, lunes a viernes. Digales, "Llamo para apoyar La Campana Neoyorquina para Justicia Telefonica (NYCTJ) para pedir que acaben con el contracto telefónico de prisiones entre Verizon/MCI y el Departamento de Servicios de Correción.
SAVE THE DATE: Friday, May 12, 2006. Please let us know your availability for a noon time vigil in Manhattan. Call Marion at 212 614 6421 for more information.
11. Transportation to Prisons:
A. Prison Action Network will meet DOCS free bus to COLLINS/GOWANDA on Saturday, 5/13 at 1:00 AM. To join us at the Albany bus terminal on the 13th or to help put together information packets and snacks and toys for the children on Friday May 12, please call 253-7533.
B. Prison Action Network: Call 518 253-7533 if you need a ride to visit your incarcerated loved one [there is no charge for this service]:
.
Rides are available from Albany by a PAN volunteer. If you and/or your family need transportation to visit your loved one in prison, and the following limitations work for you, please contact PAN at the address on your envelope or at the email address or phone number in this letter, and we will connect you to your driver
the prison must be within 150 miles of Albany [300 miles round trip].
driver is willing to wait 2-3 hours for visit to be concluded.
driver is willing to start, from the visitor's residence, as early as 8:00 A.M.
driver is willing to get back home as late as 6:00 P.M.
driver is available on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays [and, in a pinch, on Fridays].
car seats 5, though, for a trip of 150 miles, sitting in the middle of the back seat would be a tight squeeze.
12. Words from Ramon:
Call for Attendance:
I am calling on all of you to join PAN and FUUSA’s Social Responsibility Council (SRC) and the Otisville Lifers Core Committee to a round table Think Tank on July 6 from 6:15 - 9:15 PM at Otisville C.F., to plan Family Empowerment Day II. To confirm your participation, contact PAN at 518 253-7533 or email: prisonaction@hotmail.com.
As most Building Bridges readers know, I am chairman and social interaction director of the Otisville Lifers, and in that capacity I work alongside many dedicated brothers entrenched in our struggle for fair parole policies. However, we aren’t working alone - PAN and members of FUUSA’s SRC join in our meetings to conceptualize and formulate strategies to address our plight. Our current project is Family Empowerment Day II, under the auspices of The Coalition of Family and Community. The venue is Middle Collegiate Church located in New York City on Second Avenue at 7th Street. October 21, 2006 is the date. All are welcome to attend; family members, friends, groups, organizations, ministry, academic, legal, even members of the political community. So “Save The Date”!
What will come out of this year’s Family Empowerment Day event? In order to answer this question all organizations - CPR, CURE-NY, CRJ, PFNY, NYIF, CFNYSL, Family Members and Friends of People Incarcerated, Citizens against Recidivism, PRP2!, and all others who are reading this, will need to decide the tasks that will be undertaken collectively. Together, “we, the people must decide.” Again, please contact PAN to arrange to join us on July 6.
The only thing we hold on to is Hope. When that hope is resurrected, there is new life. When there is new life there is possibility. And when there is possibility change occurs. This is the same change that the Division of Parole fails to recognize in each and every one of us. By supporting our initiatives you allow us to show society the power of collective, rehabilitated minds, not stagnated by the subliminal chains of DOCS or the Division of Parole.
Through our networking this day - 7/6/06 - by finalizing the families’ and community's tasks, we can ensure that “We” the People will be heard as a result of Family Empowerment Day. Our collective networking will be the crucial factor that stimulates the vital cross pollination which will in turn, breathe true creative life into the Family Empowerment Day event, and thereafter, in our march for fair parole policies.
R. Gonzalez
Readers are invited to submit notices or articles of interest for publication in this newsletter.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
John Caher:Parole Suit Proceeds in Light Of 'Steep' Decline in Releases - John Caher, Albany Bureau Chief, NY Law Journal
07-20-2006 ALBANY
— The "abrupt and steep decline" in the parole release rate for A-1 violent felons presents "at least circumstantial evidence" that the parole board is relying on gubernatorial policy rather than legislatively directed law, a federal judge has held.
Southern District Judge Charles L. Brieant, who sits in White Plains, denied the state's motion to dismiss a pending class action suit in which thousands of New York state prison inmates claim they are being denied parole by a board appointed by Governor George E. Pataki and that is following his directives rather than statutory criteria. Earlier this year, the New York Law Journal reported that under Mr. Pataki the release rate for A-1 violent felons has dropped from 28 percent to 3 percent (NYLJ, Jan. 31).
Judge Brieant said that while there is no due process right to parole release, there is a constitutional right to have parole determinations made in accordance with the statute — a potentially key finding that recognizes a "distinction between a challenge to the process of determining a parole decision, and a challenge to the actual outcome."
Under Executive Law §259-I, the parole board is required to take into consideration a number of factors, including the seriousness of the offense, the inmate's institutional adjustment, and academic and other achievements. While the parole board clearly has the discretion to give as much weight as it deems appropriate to any of those factors, it may not refuse to exercise any discretion at all and automatically deny release to violent felons, Judge Brieant said. That is what the plaintiffs in Graziano v. Pataki, 06-cv-00480, allege the board is doing.
"Without suggesting that he has done so, the Court can hold with confidence that the Governor would not be permitted to effect a 'policy' as an end run around the legislature, in order to accomplish the goal of amending the statutory criteria to deny parole to a class of violent offenders," Judge Brieant wrote. "Such an end run is precisely what is alleged by the Plaintiffs."
Mr. Pataki's disdain for parole is a matter of public record. He has succeeded in eliminating parole for violent felons, prospectively, but has not persuaded the Legislature to eliminate parole entirely and replace it with a determinate sentencing structure. Critics and the plaintiffs in this case allege the governor has sought to achieve through a parole board he appointed that which he cannot achieve in the Legislature.
Judge Brieant's decision, dated July 17, was prompted by a motion by the attorney general to dismiss the action. Assistant Attorneys General Neil Shevlin and Jennifer L. Johnson had argued that there is no policy to deny parole to violent felons solely because of the severity of their crimes. They also argued that the federal courts should abstain from interference in what is a state matter.
But Judge Brieant held for the plaintiffs.
Robert N. Isseks, counsel for the plaintiffs, said the ruling indicates that members of the yet-to-be-certified class will "finally have an opportunity to prove that the board is denying them parole solely because they have committed A-1 violent felonies and without any concern for the statutory objectives of rehabilitation and readiness for release."
Handling the case with Mr. Isseks are Alex Smith of Middletown and Peter A. Sell of Manhattan. "Under the parole challenges that have come before, this class action enables the plaintiffs to present proof that the Pataki parole board has been systematically using the fact of a murder conviction, without more, to keep prisoners from being considered for release," Mr. Isseks said. Both the Division of Parole and the attorney general's office declined to comment.
Unofficial Policy
Judge Brieant acknowledged that there have been dozens of actions in which individuals denied parole have made allegations similar to those in this case. However, he said the allegation here of a "policy or practice to deny parole based solely" on the offense "transcends what all previous Court decisions have addressed, namely, whether a particular parole denial constituted a violation of one or more Constitutional rights."
The state had argued on an equal protection claim that the plaintiffs here — all of whom are violent felons — are not similarly suited to non-violent offenders eligible for parole. However, while agreeing that there may be reasons to deny a violent prisoner parole and grant parole to a non-violent convict, Judge Brieant said both are entitled to the same statutory consideration. "The violent nature of the offense may obviously be considered, but may not serve to make a denial a foregone conclusion, in contravention of the statutorily-prescribed process of consideration," Judge Brieant wrote.
He acknowledged that the pendency of this case "brings confusion to pending cases in the Division of Parole and adds unrest in the prisons." Judge Brieant ordered a conference for July 28, at which time he will consider permitting an immediate interlocutory appeal of his ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Judge Brieant's decision comes on the heels of another lawsuit on his docket alleging that the parole board has adopted an "unofficial policy or practice" to "unlawfully eliminate or substantially curtail the Parole Board's discretion when making parole release determinations concerning prisoners serving sentences for A-1 violent felonies." That case, Frederick v. Pataki, 06-CV-5132, filed on July 6, centers on an inmate who was granted parole by one board and was about to walk out the prison door — he had given away his belongings and his in-prison job — when his release was abruptly rescinded.
Parole Rescinded
Court records show that in August 2003 parole commissioners Vernon C. Manley and Daizzee D. Bouey voted to release Mr. Frederick. Although Mr. Frederick had murdered one woman and attempted to kill another, the commissioners were persuaded he had reformed. Mr. Frederick had immediately taken responsibility for his crime, made considerable accomplishments in prison, compiled a spotless institutional record and won endorsements from, among others, the superintendent of Sing Sing. The superintendent described Mr. Frederick as a "poster child" for the type of offender for whom the parole system is supposed to work. However, the same commissioners who voted to release Mr. Frederick were also responsible for the release of Kathy Boudin, a 1960s radical convicted of felony murder and robbery in connection with an incident that left two police officers and a Brinks security guard dead. That decision was publicly denounced by Mr. Pataki. While Mr. Frederick was preparing for release, another member of the board, Robert Dennison, met with relatives of one of the victims. After Mr. Dennison asked if they thought Mr. Frederick "should die in jail," a relative agreed that the convict should never go free, according to court records. Mr. Frederick was then subjected to a parole rescission hearing based on newly discovered evidence. The newly discovered evidence was that the victim's relatives opposed release. Messrs. Manley and Bouey, who voted to release Ms. Boudin and Mr. Frederick, were suspended and a new parole board, with Mr. Dennison sitting on the panel, reconsidered and voted to deny release, according to the complaint. Mr. Dennison was promoted to chairman of the commission and the chairman who had been presiding when Ms. Boudin was released was replaced. The governor recently replaced Messrs. Bouey and Manley. Officials have said there is no correlation between Mr. Dennison's promotion and the Frederick case, and no correlation between the Boudin decision and the former chairman's reassignment. But attorney Vivian Shevitz of South Salem, Westchester County, contends the parole board and state court judges who upheld the rescission "were apparently intimidated by the Governor's political agenda."
"The policy and practice carried forward by Commissioner Dennison and approved by the New York courts was a sham; it is a violation of due process and equal protection in that it forwards a political agenda. " Ms. Shevitz said in the complaint. She is seeking a federal court order that the rescission hearing and resultant state court decisions violated several of her client's federal constitutional rights.
— John Caher
— The "abrupt and steep decline" in the parole release rate for A-1 violent felons presents "at least circumstantial evidence" that the parole board is relying on gubernatorial policy rather than legislatively directed law, a federal judge has held.
Southern District Judge Charles L. Brieant, who sits in White Plains, denied the state's motion to dismiss a pending class action suit in which thousands of New York state prison inmates claim they are being denied parole by a board appointed by Governor George E. Pataki and that is following his directives rather than statutory criteria. Earlier this year, the New York Law Journal reported that under Mr. Pataki the release rate for A-1 violent felons has dropped from 28 percent to 3 percent (NYLJ, Jan. 31).
Judge Brieant said that while there is no due process right to parole release, there is a constitutional right to have parole determinations made in accordance with the statute — a potentially key finding that recognizes a "distinction between a challenge to the process of determining a parole decision, and a challenge to the actual outcome."
Under Executive Law §259-I, the parole board is required to take into consideration a number of factors, including the seriousness of the offense, the inmate's institutional adjustment, and academic and other achievements. While the parole board clearly has the discretion to give as much weight as it deems appropriate to any of those factors, it may not refuse to exercise any discretion at all and automatically deny release to violent felons, Judge Brieant said. That is what the plaintiffs in Graziano v. Pataki, 06-cv-00480, allege the board is doing.
"Without suggesting that he has done so, the Court can hold with confidence that the Governor would not be permitted to effect a 'policy' as an end run around the legislature, in order to accomplish the goal of amending the statutory criteria to deny parole to a class of violent offenders," Judge Brieant wrote. "Such an end run is precisely what is alleged by the Plaintiffs."
Mr. Pataki's disdain for parole is a matter of public record. He has succeeded in eliminating parole for violent felons, prospectively, but has not persuaded the Legislature to eliminate parole entirely and replace it with a determinate sentencing structure. Critics and the plaintiffs in this case allege the governor has sought to achieve through a parole board he appointed that which he cannot achieve in the Legislature.
Judge Brieant's decision, dated July 17, was prompted by a motion by the attorney general to dismiss the action. Assistant Attorneys General Neil Shevlin and Jennifer L. Johnson had argued that there is no policy to deny parole to violent felons solely because of the severity of their crimes. They also argued that the federal courts should abstain from interference in what is a state matter.
But Judge Brieant held for the plaintiffs.
Robert N. Isseks, counsel for the plaintiffs, said the ruling indicates that members of the yet-to-be-certified class will "finally have an opportunity to prove that the board is denying them parole solely because they have committed A-1 violent felonies and without any concern for the statutory objectives of rehabilitation and readiness for release."
Handling the case with Mr. Isseks are Alex Smith of Middletown and Peter A. Sell of Manhattan. "Under the parole challenges that have come before, this class action enables the plaintiffs to present proof that the Pataki parole board has been systematically using the fact of a murder conviction, without more, to keep prisoners from being considered for release," Mr. Isseks said. Both the Division of Parole and the attorney general's office declined to comment.
Unofficial Policy
Judge Brieant acknowledged that there have been dozens of actions in which individuals denied parole have made allegations similar to those in this case. However, he said the allegation here of a "policy or practice to deny parole based solely" on the offense "transcends what all previous Court decisions have addressed, namely, whether a particular parole denial constituted a violation of one or more Constitutional rights."
The state had argued on an equal protection claim that the plaintiffs here — all of whom are violent felons — are not similarly suited to non-violent offenders eligible for parole. However, while agreeing that there may be reasons to deny a violent prisoner parole and grant parole to a non-violent convict, Judge Brieant said both are entitled to the same statutory consideration. "The violent nature of the offense may obviously be considered, but may not serve to make a denial a foregone conclusion, in contravention of the statutorily-prescribed process of consideration," Judge Brieant wrote.
He acknowledged that the pendency of this case "brings confusion to pending cases in the Division of Parole and adds unrest in the prisons." Judge Brieant ordered a conference for July 28, at which time he will consider permitting an immediate interlocutory appeal of his ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Judge Brieant's decision comes on the heels of another lawsuit on his docket alleging that the parole board has adopted an "unofficial policy or practice" to "unlawfully eliminate or substantially curtail the Parole Board's discretion when making parole release determinations concerning prisoners serving sentences for A-1 violent felonies." That case, Frederick v. Pataki, 06-CV-5132, filed on July 6, centers on an inmate who was granted parole by one board and was about to walk out the prison door — he had given away his belongings and his in-prison job — when his release was abruptly rescinded.
Parole Rescinded
Court records show that in August 2003 parole commissioners Vernon C. Manley and Daizzee D. Bouey voted to release Mr. Frederick. Although Mr. Frederick had murdered one woman and attempted to kill another, the commissioners were persuaded he had reformed. Mr. Frederick had immediately taken responsibility for his crime, made considerable accomplishments in prison, compiled a spotless institutional record and won endorsements from, among others, the superintendent of Sing Sing. The superintendent described Mr. Frederick as a "poster child" for the type of offender for whom the parole system is supposed to work. However, the same commissioners who voted to release Mr. Frederick were also responsible for the release of Kathy Boudin, a 1960s radical convicted of felony murder and robbery in connection with an incident that left two police officers and a Brinks security guard dead. That decision was publicly denounced by Mr. Pataki. While Mr. Frederick was preparing for release, another member of the board, Robert Dennison, met with relatives of one of the victims. After Mr. Dennison asked if they thought Mr. Frederick "should die in jail," a relative agreed that the convict should never go free, according to court records. Mr. Frederick was then subjected to a parole rescission hearing based on newly discovered evidence. The newly discovered evidence was that the victim's relatives opposed release. Messrs. Manley and Bouey, who voted to release Ms. Boudin and Mr. Frederick, were suspended and a new parole board, with Mr. Dennison sitting on the panel, reconsidered and voted to deny release, according to the complaint. Mr. Dennison was promoted to chairman of the commission and the chairman who had been presiding when Ms. Boudin was released was replaced. The governor recently replaced Messrs. Bouey and Manley. Officials have said there is no correlation between Mr. Dennison's promotion and the Frederick case, and no correlation between the Boudin decision and the former chairman's reassignment. But attorney Vivian Shevitz of South Salem, Westchester County, contends the parole board and state court judges who upheld the rescission "were apparently intimidated by the Governor's political agenda."
"The policy and practice carried forward by Commissioner Dennison and approved by the New York courts was a sham; it is a violation of due process and equal protection in that it forwards a political agenda. " Ms. Shevitz said in the complaint. She is seeking a federal court order that the rescission hearing and resultant state court decisions violated several of her client's federal constitutional rights.
— John Caher
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
John Caher: Dismantling Parole
'Dismantling Parole'
Parole Release Rates Plunge Under Pataki's Tough Policy
John Caher
01-31-2006 NY Law Journal
Thousands of New York prison inmates sentenced at a time when parole release was a realistic prospect are now lingering behind bars as the Pataki Administration has dramatically restricted parole for violent felons, arguably going beyond anything authorized by the Legislature, a probe by the New York Law Journal reveals.
Through an administrative process subject to scant judicial review, Governor George E. Pataki's appointees to the New York State Board of Parole have evidently used their broad discretion to implement a gubernatorial policy to keep violent felons behind bars as long as possible, notwithstanding the recommendations of sentencing judges guided by a different and more lenient legal, political and legislative framework.
Parole release rates have declined radically since Mr. Pataki, a Republican elected initially on a tough-on-crime platform, became governor in 1995 and as the board members appointed by his predecessor, Democrat Mario M. Cuomo, have all been replaced.
The results are telling: In fiscal year 1992-93, the state released 23 percent of prisoners eligible for parole who had committed so-called A-1 felonies — murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and arson. By 2004-2005, that had plummeted to 3 percent, just nine prisoners. At the same time, the release rate for other violent criminals who appeared for interviews before the parole board plummeted to 18 percent, or 337 inmates, from 51 percent.
In a 2003 ruling, Acting Supreme Court Justice Edward A. Sheridan of Albany observed that since taking office, the governor has annually called for the elimination of parole. The judge, citing the sharp drop in parole releases since Mr. Pataki took office, found an "undeniable inference that the Board has 'gotten the message' and is implementing executive policy."
Critics of the administration's parole practices say inmates convicted under prior regimes — -especially inmates who plea bargained and had reason to expect that they would be freed after serving the lower end of an indeterminate sentence — -are getting a raw deal.
"It's fine, a legitimate political decision to do things prospectively," said Alfred A. O'Connor, an attorney with the New York State Defenders Association in Albany. "It's quite a different matter when you are victimizing people who are in [prison] under a completely different set of circumstances, a set of assumptions about what would happen."
Consider Brian E. Jacques, who plea-bargained for a term of 15 years to life (see sidebar).
When Mr. Jacques pleaded guilty to an Albany County murder in 1983, he expected to be released after 15, maybe 17, years. At the time, that was a reasonable expectation. But Mr. Jacques had the misfortune of coming up for parole when government attitudes about early release had changed.
Despite a good prison record and no prior history of violent behavior, Mr. Jacques has been denied parole four times since Mr. Pataki took office and has spent 23 years behind bars. Mr. Jacques' fate is in the hands of the parole board. He could be released after his next parole hearing in August, or never, and the fact that the sentencing judge gave him the minimum is of no consequence.
"I wholeheartedly believe they are following Governor Pataki's agenda not to release violent felons," Mr. Jacques said. "I believe his message to the parole board is, 'Do not let these people out,' and they are following that standard."
Several parole board members either declined to be interviewed or did not return repeated telephone calls. Scott E. Steinhardt, spokesman for the Division of Parole, said in a statement that each of the board's decisions "reflect a careful and independent level of consideration."
By law, parole is a possibility, not a guarantee or reward for good behavior, and an inmate has no legal expectation of securing parole release (see sidebar). Moreover, the parole board has broad discretion in making its decisions. While the board is required to take into consideration a number of factors — such as the seriousness of the crime and the inmate's rehabilitative effort — -it can place any weight on those factors and need not explain itself. Current commissioners often give more weight to the seriousness of inmates' crimes than to claims of rehabilitation.
Public Safety
Chauncey G. Parker, the governor's director of criminal justice and commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice Services, which encompasses the Division of Parole, does not deny that the parole board shares the governor's philosophy and, to the extent permitted by law, follows his agenda. He said it is axiomatic that a panel appointed by a long-term governor would reflect the philosophy of the executive. But he sidestepped questions on whether it is fair to impose today's attitudes on inmates sentenced during another era.
"The governor's focus as a matter of public safety is to make sure . . . that people convicted of violent crimes serve the longest possible sentences," Mr. Parker said. "It is clear that the governor thinks as a matter of public policy and public safety that a more effective way to do this would be to have a determinate sentencing structure and have the judges make the decision, except for murder where it would be life without parole or something like that."
Mr. Steinhardt, the Parole Division, spokesman, stressed that in the past decade, new crimes by parolees have decreased and the number of parolees returned on new felony convictions has dropped 48 percent.
Although exact numbers were not available, a large portion of New York's 63,000 inmates were sentenced to indeterminate, parole-eligible terms, the 2004 New York State Statistical Yearbook suggests. Mr. O'Connor said those convicts should be judged for parole purposes under the rules and protocols in effect when they were sentenced.
"It is one thing to have a determinate sentencing system. It is another to be retroactively imposing that," Mr. O'Connor said. "Now, there is no difference between a 15-year-to-life sentence and a 25-year-to life sentence."
Since taking office, Mr. Pataki has sought to redesign New York's sentencing structure to more closely mirror the federal system. The federal government abolished parole in 1984, substituting for the parole system one in which inmates serve a determinate sentence followed by a period of supervised release. Mr. Pataki would follow the federal government's lead.
"What the governor is proposing is a clear, transparent sentencing structure investing the discretion in the court and not in the parole board," Mr. Parker said. "Under current law, what the judge says is a factor, but ultimate discretion is vested in the parole board. If the governor's proposal went through, the judge's sentence would be the sentence."
But the Legislature has gone only half way, eliminating parole for some offenses, maintaining it in others — and leaving the thousands of inmates convicted under older laws at the mercy of the current parole board.
The Sentencing Reform Act of 1995 abolished parole for second felony offenders and Jenna's Law in 1998 abolished parole for all violent offenders and added a post-release supervision component. As it now stands, only non-violent, non-drug offenders receive an indeterminate sentence. All other felons are sentenced, prospectively, to a determinate term.
As the result of changes in the law, the number of violent inmates eligible for parole has plummeted to 2,414 from 7,623 since 1992-93, a decline of 68.3 percent. But the number of eligible violent felons released each year has declined more rapidly — by 88.4 percent. Overall, the state released only 38 percent of the violent and nonviolent inmates before it last year, down from 62 percent in 1992-93.
"The parole board is acting as a second sentencing court, imposing its own sentence in place of the sentence imposed by the judge," said Robert N. Isseks, a criminal defense attorney in Middletown. "That is particularly clear in those cases where the judge imposed a sentence less than the maximum [such as 15-years-to-life rather than 25-to-life]. Then, the parole board steps in and imposes a sentence that is twice as much."
Mr. Isseks recently filed a federal class action in the Southern District accusing the Pataki Administration of side-stepping the parole law in order to advance its agenda. Nine named plaintiffs who were sentenced to less-than-the-maximum for second-degree murder, but have been repeatedly denied parole, allege that the parole boards relied on the seriousness of their offense while paying little attention to other statutory criteria.
A Life Sentence
A convict serving, say 5 to 15 years, has to be released eventually. But one serving a sentence where the upper limit is life is guaranteed only a parole hearing every other year after serving the minimum. Almost 20 percent of the people in New York prisons are serving a term where the top end is life — the highest percentage in the nation and nearly twice the national average.
Gerald T. Balone has served more than 30 years on a 25-years-to-life sentence for three murders (see sidebar). During his three decades in prison, Mr. Balone has completed rehabilitation and vocational programs. He says he does not know what more he can do to obtain the parole release he believes was presumed by his legislatively defined sentence.
"I am at a loss," Mr. Balone said. "I don't know what to do."
Alfred Mancuso, a 72-year-old career felon, received a 25-years-to-life sentence for murder in 1978. He has been denied parole eight times — every two years for the last 16 years — even though he claims to have a spotless prison record and continues to maintain his innocence.
"The bottom line is, they are afraid of Governor Pataki," contended Mr. Mancuso, a prisoner at the Collins Correctional Facility near Buffalo. "Every time they grant someone parole, [Mr. Pataki] comes out against it in the newspaper. I honestly believe they are hitting me because they are afraid of the repercussions."
Mr. Mancuso and other prisoners and advocates point repeatedly to the case of Kathy Boudin, a 1960s radical involved in the infamous 1982 Brinks armored truck heist. Three people were killed, and Ms. Boudin was convicted of felony murder.
After serving 22 years of a 20-years- to-life term, Ms. Boudin, who had numerous individuals and organizations lobbying for her release, was paroled in 2003 (see sidebar). Mr. Pataki promptly denounced the decision and, within months, replaced longtime Parole Board Chairman Brion Travis. There have been no controversial parole releases since then.
'No Accountability'
"The lack of any established criteria and the unlimited discretion of the parole board begs for problems," said advocate Amy James-Oliveras of Wappinger's Falls, whose husband, George Oliveras, served 27 years of a 25-years-to-life term before he was paroled on a murder conviction. Ms. James-Oliveras is active in the Coalition for Parole Restoration, an organization comprised largely of wives of parole-eligible prisoners whose release has been blocked by the parole board.
"There is no accountability, and no real avenue of judicial review," she said.
Some trial judges have overturned or challenged parole board determinations on the grounds that the appointed panel is following executive policy rather than the law (see sidebar), a charge the Division of Parole disputes. But even if a prisoner convinces a court to order a new hearing, his efforts may be for naught.
A review of scores of cases and records reveals a pattern: An inmate is denied parole, files and loses an administrative appeal, files and loses an Article 78 petition and appeals to an appellate panel. Since the courts can do nothing other than order a new parole hearing, and the inmate gets a hearing automatically every two years, by the time the matter gets to the appellate court, another hearing has been scheduled, and the whole court issue is moot.
Mr. Oliveras, for instance, was convicted of murder and robbery in the Bronx in 1975. His 25-years-to-life sentence made him eligible for parole in 2000. But at the time of his hearing, about a third of his record on his rehabilitation was missing. There was no record of his academic achievements or his participation in anger management courses.
He challenged his parole denial administratively, but lost. He went to Supreme Court and was denied again. He appealed to the Appellate Division. When the appeal finally got to court, Mr. Oliveras was four days from another parole hearing. So the court dismissed his claim for mootness.
At his next appearance — when Mr. Oliveras was prepared to go to court over the missing records — he was granted parole, so the issue of the lost records was never adjudicated. He was one of 10 A-1 violent felons paroled in 2002, out of 242 eligible — a release rate of about 4 percent.
"They [parole commissioners] are playing a role they are not supposed to play," Mr. Oliveras said. "They are re-sentencing in effect. They are playing a judicial role."
Critics say that, after a few adverse court rulings, the parole board now covers itself by stating, in its denial, that it took into account the statutory factors. But the critics suspect that the board makes determinations based on the instant offense alone.
"There are cases where it is obvious [that denial of parole] is based on the instant offense, and only lip service is being applied to the statutory criteria," Mr. Isseks said.
Joy Pujas of Ulster County is also active in the parole restoration movement. Her husband is doing time for a murder 24 years ago. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in New York City in 1982, came up for parole in 2002 and has been denied twice since then.
"If a judge can impose 25-to-life but instead imposes [20]-to-life, that indicates the judge thinks that under some circumstances [20] is sufficient," Ms. Pujas insisted. "But the parole board says it is not."
Ms. Pujas is urging legislation that would change the way commissioners are appointed. At least three lawmakers — Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, D-Queens, and Senators Velmanette Montgomery, D-Brooklyn, and Thomas K. Duane, D-Manhattan — are sympathetic and have proposed legislation or sponsored forums to discuss the issue. So far, there has been little movement in either house.
Political Considerations
"Clearly, there are political considerations in these appointments," said S. Earl Eichelberger, who served as a parole commissioner between 1985 and 1999 as a Cuomo appointee.
Mr. Eichelberger, whose term extended four years into the Pataki era, said there was a sense that commissioners were expected to carry out the general parole policies of both the Cuomo and Pataki administrations.
However, Mr. Eichelberger said he is unaware of a commissioner ever receiving direct orders from the executive chamber during either administration. Rather, he said, it was assumed that the board should respect the criminal justice philosophy of the sitting governor.
Retired Commissioner Henri C. Raffalli, who served on the parole board from 1987 to 1998, said the panel was influenced not by politics or politicians, but by changing social values.
"I never felt any pressure, not from Cuomo and not from Pataki," said Mr. Raffalli. "The social pendulum kept swinging back and forth. The board is very sensitive to the expressions of society, as expressed in the newspapers. So we would try to run along those lines."
At one hearing shortly after Mr. Pataki came into office, Mr. Raffalli told a prisoner up for parole that "society says murder is a heinous crime" and the voters had elected a governor who "doesn't say we ought to put you in prison for 15 to life. He says we ought to get rid of you completely and kill you," according to a transcript of the proceeding.
Mr. Raffalli, in an interview, said his point was that prevailing attitudes had shifted fundamentally since the prisoner was sentenced to a 15-year-to-life term, and that those sentiments weighed heavily against his release. The prisoner was denied parole.
Inmates and their families say they are losing hope that parole decisions will be made based on the objective criteria of the law as written.
"You want to believe in a system, a system where there's righteousness, where people pay their dues and that it is all about correcting and rehabilitating and not only about punishment," said Ms. Pujas, who testified at Mr. Aubry's hearing. "We have come to the point where it is total punishment. Financially, it is devastating. Emotionally, it is crippling."
Parole Release Rates Plunge Under Pataki's Tough Policy
John Caher
01-31-2006 NY Law Journal
Thousands of New York prison inmates sentenced at a time when parole release was a realistic prospect are now lingering behind bars as the Pataki Administration has dramatically restricted parole for violent felons, arguably going beyond anything authorized by the Legislature, a probe by the New York Law Journal reveals.
Through an administrative process subject to scant judicial review, Governor George E. Pataki's appointees to the New York State Board of Parole have evidently used their broad discretion to implement a gubernatorial policy to keep violent felons behind bars as long as possible, notwithstanding the recommendations of sentencing judges guided by a different and more lenient legal, political and legislative framework.
Parole release rates have declined radically since Mr. Pataki, a Republican elected initially on a tough-on-crime platform, became governor in 1995 and as the board members appointed by his predecessor, Democrat Mario M. Cuomo, have all been replaced.
The results are telling: In fiscal year 1992-93, the state released 23 percent of prisoners eligible for parole who had committed so-called A-1 felonies — murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and arson. By 2004-2005, that had plummeted to 3 percent, just nine prisoners. At the same time, the release rate for other violent criminals who appeared for interviews before the parole board plummeted to 18 percent, or 337 inmates, from 51 percent.
In a 2003 ruling, Acting Supreme Court Justice Edward A. Sheridan of Albany observed that since taking office, the governor has annually called for the elimination of parole. The judge, citing the sharp drop in parole releases since Mr. Pataki took office, found an "undeniable inference that the Board has 'gotten the message' and is implementing executive policy."
Critics of the administration's parole practices say inmates convicted under prior regimes — -especially inmates who plea bargained and had reason to expect that they would be freed after serving the lower end of an indeterminate sentence — -are getting a raw deal.
"It's fine, a legitimate political decision to do things prospectively," said Alfred A. O'Connor, an attorney with the New York State Defenders Association in Albany. "It's quite a different matter when you are victimizing people who are in [prison] under a completely different set of circumstances, a set of assumptions about what would happen."
Consider Brian E. Jacques, who plea-bargained for a term of 15 years to life (see sidebar).
When Mr. Jacques pleaded guilty to an Albany County murder in 1983, he expected to be released after 15, maybe 17, years. At the time, that was a reasonable expectation. But Mr. Jacques had the misfortune of coming up for parole when government attitudes about early release had changed.
Despite a good prison record and no prior history of violent behavior, Mr. Jacques has been denied parole four times since Mr. Pataki took office and has spent 23 years behind bars. Mr. Jacques' fate is in the hands of the parole board. He could be released after his next parole hearing in August, or never, and the fact that the sentencing judge gave him the minimum is of no consequence.
"I wholeheartedly believe they are following Governor Pataki's agenda not to release violent felons," Mr. Jacques said. "I believe his message to the parole board is, 'Do not let these people out,' and they are following that standard."
Several parole board members either declined to be interviewed or did not return repeated telephone calls. Scott E. Steinhardt, spokesman for the Division of Parole, said in a statement that each of the board's decisions "reflect a careful and independent level of consideration."
By law, parole is a possibility, not a guarantee or reward for good behavior, and an inmate has no legal expectation of securing parole release (see sidebar). Moreover, the parole board has broad discretion in making its decisions. While the board is required to take into consideration a number of factors — such as the seriousness of the crime and the inmate's rehabilitative effort — -it can place any weight on those factors and need not explain itself. Current commissioners often give more weight to the seriousness of inmates' crimes than to claims of rehabilitation.
Public Safety
Chauncey G. Parker, the governor's director of criminal justice and commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice Services, which encompasses the Division of Parole, does not deny that the parole board shares the governor's philosophy and, to the extent permitted by law, follows his agenda. He said it is axiomatic that a panel appointed by a long-term governor would reflect the philosophy of the executive. But he sidestepped questions on whether it is fair to impose today's attitudes on inmates sentenced during another era.
"The governor's focus as a matter of public safety is to make sure . . . that people convicted of violent crimes serve the longest possible sentences," Mr. Parker said. "It is clear that the governor thinks as a matter of public policy and public safety that a more effective way to do this would be to have a determinate sentencing structure and have the judges make the decision, except for murder where it would be life without parole or something like that."
Mr. Steinhardt, the Parole Division, spokesman, stressed that in the past decade, new crimes by parolees have decreased and the number of parolees returned on new felony convictions has dropped 48 percent.
Although exact numbers were not available, a large portion of New York's 63,000 inmates were sentenced to indeterminate, parole-eligible terms, the 2004 New York State Statistical Yearbook suggests. Mr. O'Connor said those convicts should be judged for parole purposes under the rules and protocols in effect when they were sentenced.
"It is one thing to have a determinate sentencing system. It is another to be retroactively imposing that," Mr. O'Connor said. "Now, there is no difference between a 15-year-to-life sentence and a 25-year-to life sentence."
Since taking office, Mr. Pataki has sought to redesign New York's sentencing structure to more closely mirror the federal system. The federal government abolished parole in 1984, substituting for the parole system one in which inmates serve a determinate sentence followed by a period of supervised release. Mr. Pataki would follow the federal government's lead.
"What the governor is proposing is a clear, transparent sentencing structure investing the discretion in the court and not in the parole board," Mr. Parker said. "Under current law, what the judge says is a factor, but ultimate discretion is vested in the parole board. If the governor's proposal went through, the judge's sentence would be the sentence."
But the Legislature has gone only half way, eliminating parole for some offenses, maintaining it in others — and leaving the thousands of inmates convicted under older laws at the mercy of the current parole board.
The Sentencing Reform Act of 1995 abolished parole for second felony offenders and Jenna's Law in 1998 abolished parole for all violent offenders and added a post-release supervision component. As it now stands, only non-violent, non-drug offenders receive an indeterminate sentence. All other felons are sentenced, prospectively, to a determinate term.
As the result of changes in the law, the number of violent inmates eligible for parole has plummeted to 2,414 from 7,623 since 1992-93, a decline of 68.3 percent. But the number of eligible violent felons released each year has declined more rapidly — by 88.4 percent. Overall, the state released only 38 percent of the violent and nonviolent inmates before it last year, down from 62 percent in 1992-93.
"The parole board is acting as a second sentencing court, imposing its own sentence in place of the sentence imposed by the judge," said Robert N. Isseks, a criminal defense attorney in Middletown. "That is particularly clear in those cases where the judge imposed a sentence less than the maximum [such as 15-years-to-life rather than 25-to-life]. Then, the parole board steps in and imposes a sentence that is twice as much."
Mr. Isseks recently filed a federal class action in the Southern District accusing the Pataki Administration of side-stepping the parole law in order to advance its agenda. Nine named plaintiffs who were sentenced to less-than-the-maximum for second-degree murder, but have been repeatedly denied parole, allege that the parole boards relied on the seriousness of their offense while paying little attention to other statutory criteria.
A Life Sentence
A convict serving, say 5 to 15 years, has to be released eventually. But one serving a sentence where the upper limit is life is guaranteed only a parole hearing every other year after serving the minimum. Almost 20 percent of the people in New York prisons are serving a term where the top end is life — the highest percentage in the nation and nearly twice the national average.
Gerald T. Balone has served more than 30 years on a 25-years-to-life sentence for three murders (see sidebar). During his three decades in prison, Mr. Balone has completed rehabilitation and vocational programs. He says he does not know what more he can do to obtain the parole release he believes was presumed by his legislatively defined sentence.
"I am at a loss," Mr. Balone said. "I don't know what to do."
Alfred Mancuso, a 72-year-old career felon, received a 25-years-to-life sentence for murder in 1978. He has been denied parole eight times — every two years for the last 16 years — even though he claims to have a spotless prison record and continues to maintain his innocence.
"The bottom line is, they are afraid of Governor Pataki," contended Mr. Mancuso, a prisoner at the Collins Correctional Facility near Buffalo. "Every time they grant someone parole, [Mr. Pataki] comes out against it in the newspaper. I honestly believe they are hitting me because they are afraid of the repercussions."
Mr. Mancuso and other prisoners and advocates point repeatedly to the case of Kathy Boudin, a 1960s radical involved in the infamous 1982 Brinks armored truck heist. Three people were killed, and Ms. Boudin was convicted of felony murder.
After serving 22 years of a 20-years- to-life term, Ms. Boudin, who had numerous individuals and organizations lobbying for her release, was paroled in 2003 (see sidebar). Mr. Pataki promptly denounced the decision and, within months, replaced longtime Parole Board Chairman Brion Travis. There have been no controversial parole releases since then.
'No Accountability'
"The lack of any established criteria and the unlimited discretion of the parole board begs for problems," said advocate Amy James-Oliveras of Wappinger's Falls, whose husband, George Oliveras, served 27 years of a 25-years-to-life term before he was paroled on a murder conviction. Ms. James-Oliveras is active in the Coalition for Parole Restoration, an organization comprised largely of wives of parole-eligible prisoners whose release has been blocked by the parole board.
"There is no accountability, and no real avenue of judicial review," she said.
Some trial judges have overturned or challenged parole board determinations on the grounds that the appointed panel is following executive policy rather than the law (see sidebar), a charge the Division of Parole disputes. But even if a prisoner convinces a court to order a new hearing, his efforts may be for naught.
A review of scores of cases and records reveals a pattern: An inmate is denied parole, files and loses an administrative appeal, files and loses an Article 78 petition and appeals to an appellate panel. Since the courts can do nothing other than order a new parole hearing, and the inmate gets a hearing automatically every two years, by the time the matter gets to the appellate court, another hearing has been scheduled, and the whole court issue is moot.
Mr. Oliveras, for instance, was convicted of murder and robbery in the Bronx in 1975. His 25-years-to-life sentence made him eligible for parole in 2000. But at the time of his hearing, about a third of his record on his rehabilitation was missing. There was no record of his academic achievements or his participation in anger management courses.
He challenged his parole denial administratively, but lost. He went to Supreme Court and was denied again. He appealed to the Appellate Division. When the appeal finally got to court, Mr. Oliveras was four days from another parole hearing. So the court dismissed his claim for mootness.
At his next appearance — when Mr. Oliveras was prepared to go to court over the missing records — he was granted parole, so the issue of the lost records was never adjudicated. He was one of 10 A-1 violent felons paroled in 2002, out of 242 eligible — a release rate of about 4 percent.
"They [parole commissioners] are playing a role they are not supposed to play," Mr. Oliveras said. "They are re-sentencing in effect. They are playing a judicial role."
Critics say that, after a few adverse court rulings, the parole board now covers itself by stating, in its denial, that it took into account the statutory factors. But the critics suspect that the board makes determinations based on the instant offense alone.
"There are cases where it is obvious [that denial of parole] is based on the instant offense, and only lip service is being applied to the statutory criteria," Mr. Isseks said.
Joy Pujas of Ulster County is also active in the parole restoration movement. Her husband is doing time for a murder 24 years ago. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in New York City in 1982, came up for parole in 2002 and has been denied twice since then.
"If a judge can impose 25-to-life but instead imposes [20]-to-life, that indicates the judge thinks that under some circumstances [20] is sufficient," Ms. Pujas insisted. "But the parole board says it is not."
Ms. Pujas is urging legislation that would change the way commissioners are appointed. At least three lawmakers — Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, D-Queens, and Senators Velmanette Montgomery, D-Brooklyn, and Thomas K. Duane, D-Manhattan — are sympathetic and have proposed legislation or sponsored forums to discuss the issue. So far, there has been little movement in either house.
Political Considerations
"Clearly, there are political considerations in these appointments," said S. Earl Eichelberger, who served as a parole commissioner between 1985 and 1999 as a Cuomo appointee.
Mr. Eichelberger, whose term extended four years into the Pataki era, said there was a sense that commissioners were expected to carry out the general parole policies of both the Cuomo and Pataki administrations.
However, Mr. Eichelberger said he is unaware of a commissioner ever receiving direct orders from the executive chamber during either administration. Rather, he said, it was assumed that the board should respect the criminal justice philosophy of the sitting governor.
Retired Commissioner Henri C. Raffalli, who served on the parole board from 1987 to 1998, said the panel was influenced not by politics or politicians, but by changing social values.
"I never felt any pressure, not from Cuomo and not from Pataki," said Mr. Raffalli. "The social pendulum kept swinging back and forth. The board is very sensitive to the expressions of society, as expressed in the newspapers. So we would try to run along those lines."
At one hearing shortly after Mr. Pataki came into office, Mr. Raffalli told a prisoner up for parole that "society says murder is a heinous crime" and the voters had elected a governor who "doesn't say we ought to put you in prison for 15 to life. He says we ought to get rid of you completely and kill you," according to a transcript of the proceeding.
Mr. Raffalli, in an interview, said his point was that prevailing attitudes had shifted fundamentally since the prisoner was sentenced to a 15-year-to-life term, and that those sentiments weighed heavily against his release. The prisoner was denied parole.
Inmates and their families say they are losing hope that parole decisions will be made based on the objective criteria of the law as written.
"You want to believe in a system, a system where there's righteousness, where people pay their dues and that it is all about correcting and rehabilitating and not only about punishment," said Ms. Pujas, who testified at Mr. Aubry's hearing. "We have come to the point where it is total punishment. Financially, it is devastating. Emotionally, it is crippling."
Sunday, April 02, 2006
April 2006
Building Bridges
April 2006
Dear Members, We have many interesting things to share with you in this issue. One is our NEW TELEPHONE #: 518 253 7533. Please make a note of that.
Articles:
1. Awaiting Real Rockefeller Reform
2. Call for Prison Abuse Reports
3. CURE-NY ANNUAL MEETING and LOBBY DAY
4. Death Penalty Bills - Take Action Now
5. Family Empowerment Day 2: Date is Set
6. From Inside: 1. Getting Free, 2. Community-Ready
7. Gang Crime Bill
8. G.E.O. [Governmental Education Organization] at Mid-Orange
9. Meetings in Albany and Poughkeepsie
10. Prison Arts and Crafts Shows
11. Prisoner Voting Rights
12. Proposed Merit Time Bill, Explained
13. Spitzer meets with Justice Advocates
14. Telephone Justice
15. Transportation to Prisons
16. Volunteers Make Travel Kits for Kids
17. What's New from Prisoners of the Census
18. Words From Ramon
19. Wrongful Convictions Legal Pool
1. Awaiting Real Rockefeller Reform
By Anthony Papa, AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/story/34212/
Julia Diaco, the so-called "Pot Princess" was sentenced on March 22 in Manhattan Supreme Court to five years probation for drug dealing. Diaco was 18 years old when she was arrested for multiple sales of drugs to undercover narcotic officers from her dorm room at NYU University. Despite having a "strong" case against her and facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted, she received probation upon completing a drug rehab and education program.
This follows the high-profile case of Caroline Quartararo, a former spokeswoman on Rockefeller drug law reform for Governor Pataki who received a similar minor sentence after being arrested with crack cocaine. Quartararo was given treatment and a $250 fine. She was arrested on December 20 for possessing three rocks of crack cocaine. She pleaded guilty to seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Cheri O'Donoghue, whose son Ashley is currently serving a sentence of 7-21 years for a first-time non-violent drug offense said the cases of Julia Diaco and Caroline Quartararo prove that, "if you are rich and privileged you will likely receive compassion from the courts."
"While I support the notion of compassion and access to treatment for people who use and abuse drugs," said O'Donoghue, "the reality is that people of color who get caught up in the criminal justice system generally receive neither." While drug use rates are similar between blacks and whites, approximately 92 percent of the people in prison on drug charges in New York are black and Latino.
O'Donoghue's 23-year-old son, who is black, sold cocaine to two white students, who in turn sought to re-sell the drugs on their Hamilton College campus. The students were caught, and received probation. Ashley O'Donoghue was left to languish in prison, another casualty of the draconian Rockefeller drug laws. He is one of more than 4,000 people sitting in New York state prisons convicted of B-level Rockefeller drug law felonies. The modest reforms to the state's drug laws in 2004 and 2005 have no impact on these B-level offenders.
Gabriel Sayegh, director of the State Organizing and Policy Project of the Drug Policy Alliance says New Yorkers want to see meaningful Rockefeller Drug Law reform. "Even after the reforms last year, the vast majority of people incarcerated under these failed laws are still languishing behind bars. Our elected officials in Albany need to take action to enact real reform of these laws, so that young men like Ashley O'Donoghue can receive the same compassion as those who are rich, well-connected, or are employed by the governor."
[Anthony Papa is the author of 15 To Life: How I Painted My Way To Freedom (Feral House). ]
2. Call for Prison Abuse Reports
Greetings Friends, The Presente Film Collective is in the process of developing a documentary about the history of torture in the U.S., going back to the beginning. In one of the segments of the film, we want to address abuse and torture in jails and prisons. Do you know a prisoner who might want to write an account of abuse/torture he/she experienced or witnessed? If so, would you be able to put it in an e-mail and send it to us at nbnvrc@earthlink.net. Thanks so much. (We can't promise to put all the stories we receive in the film, but will use as many as we can.) In peace and justice, Presente Film Collective
3. CURE-NY Annual Meeting and Lobby Day
SAVE THE DATE: MAY 9,2006 9AM-4PM
Capital Hill Deli,42 Eagle St., Albany NY
Meeting starts at 9AM,then lobbying key Legislators after lunch
Keynote speakers to be announced
Advocates’ education on key criminal justice issues.
Comradeship in the struggles for reform.
Legislative visits to educate and learn.
Continental breakfast and lunch provided
Suggested donation of $20; ex-offenders and families free
Reserve your space now; Contact CURE-NY
Box 102, Katonah NY 10536; or cureny@bestweb.net;
4. NY State Senate to Vote on New Death Penalty Bills - You Can Take Action Now:
They're at it again. Governor Pataki is pushing for reinstatement of the death penalty and, on March 7, the Senate obliged him by voting 2 bills onto the floor, one for murders of policemen and one for broader reinstatement. We expect a lot of grandstanding with no real debate or hearings. They haven't gotten the message: New Yorkers don't want and don't need the death penalty. They're out of touch with New Yorkers, who paid close attention to the testimony at Assembly hearings and have learned from 10 years experience with an intrinsically flawed system. The full Senate will vote very soon. We need to act now.
Please let your all State Senators hear from you with letters, faxes, calls and emails. To find them, please visit www.vote-smart.org remember you need your STATE SENATOR. Please make sure that you include your address in contacting your legislators. And thanks for all you do, New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty.
5. Date Set for Family Empowerment Day 2: October 21, 2006
You and your friends and family are invited to meet others who want the return of our loved ones from prison. The topic will be Parole. The day will consist of speakers, discussion groups, making friends, and deciding on a plan of action. Free food and childcare will be provided. SAVE THE DATE! [If you or your organization want to help organize/promote/pay for/ this event, please contact PAN. October 21, 2006
11 noon - 3:30 pm
Middle Collegiate Church
Second Avenue and 7th Street, NYC 10003
6. From Inside:
Edwin Castro sent in the next article, which is too long to print in one issue. We will publish it in installments, but those with internet access can find the full version right now at prisonaction.blogspot.com.
Getting Free
“......to hold a man forever between a lack and an excess; a lack of work, and an excess of punishment.” Les Miserables, Victor Hugo [1802-1885]
In 1988, the then Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals directed the NYS Judicial Commission on Minorities to examine the presence and effects of racism in the state’s criminal courts. In April 1991, the commission reported that there was, in fact, evidence of race-based disparities in the court’s rate of conviction and type of sentence imposed.1 This invidious trend has carried over into the 21st century. In 2006, 93% of New York’s prison population are people of color.
Recently, a Russian prisoner observed how, in Russia, when a prisoner misbehaves, the consequence is an increased work detail. In the penal realms of NY, when a prisoner violates the sanctity of bounded space [institutional rules], termination from his/her work-assignment is a routine result of official sanctions. The russian captive observes that this practice is “backwards.” The official excuse for this continuance of this questionable practice is that, in the penal realms-- as in free society -- work is a privilege that provides the prisoner with the incentive to obtain a maintain employment, once released from captivity. A recent article in a NY City daily newspaper provides further evidence of how bounded spaces distort reality. The article, by Julie Moult, is headlined: RACIAL OUTRAGE IN N.Y. JOB HUNT. In part it reads, “A white man with a criminal record has a better chance of getting an entry-level job in New York than a black man with a squeaky-clean record, a study has found.”2
Building Bridges will leave it there for this month. The May issue will describe the study mentioned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This next was written by Willie Thomas, founder of the Otisville Lifers Group.
COMMUNITY READY: PRESERVING AND DEFINING A TERM
The term ‘community-ready’, absent of a clear definition and often misused, is in danger of losing its significance or even withering away. Tossed around in discussions by radio commentators [mostly on alternative radio stations] the term has essentially evolved into a glow phrase. Yet, in the context of the argument for parole reform, its meaning has often been left open and hard to pin down. Not only is that a gross disservice to supporters but it threatens to deteriorate the concept into a buzz word.
In 1999, when members of the Otisville Lifers Self-help group coined and began using the term, it was to clearly distinguish between parole-ready and community-ready individuals. In making the distinction, we examined traits, expectations, acquired knowledge, skill levels and behavior patterns, using our own insight, growth and development as measuring tools. We wanted a word to define those worthy men and women whose efforts far exceed the standards of parole-ready and who, if released, could immediately serve as assets to their community. The discussion led to the identification of 7 components of the community-ready person: 1. family-oriented, 2. spiritually grounded, 3. community conscious, 4. politically astute, 5. economically able, 6. socially interactive and 7. self actualized.
Next Month Building Bridges will continue this article with the Lifers’ definitions of those adjectives.
7. Gang Crime Bill
State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, 18th Senate District, wrote a letter to criminal justice advocates on 3/24/06, informing us of legislation [A.10268] proposed by Assemblyman Peter Rivera, and sponsored by members Weisenberg, Errigo, Boyland, Clark, Greene, and Titus, that would add additional prison time to a gang member’s sentence. If convicted of a nonviolent crime an extra two to five years could be added to the prison sentence; for violent felonies, gang members could serve an extra ten years. She says, “this bill is aimed at reducing gang activity. However, this is obviously another way to avoid addressing the contributing factors to gang activity, such as lack of educational resources, after-school programs, as well as jobs and job training for young people.” Senator Velmannette Montgomery hopes we will make our views and concerns known to Assemblyman Rivera concerning this legislation.
The bill, and an article from the Troy Record about it, are available at http://prisonaction.blogspot.com, or you can contact PAN for a copy.
8. G.E.O. [Governmental Education Organization] at Mid-Orange:
Mid-Orange Correctional Facility‘s G.E.O. [Governmental Education Organization], founded by Jason B. Nicholas, reports that the G.E.O.’s over-riding mission is to provide a platform from which prisoners in the organization can make their voices heard on topics of the day. They write government officials. They also disseminate information about actions of the legislative, judicial and executive branches of government to government officials and members of the media, and publish a newsletter concerning such matters. You can view their brochure at http://prisonaction.blogspot.com or ask PAN to send you a copy.
9. Meetings in Albany and Poughkeepsie
Albany:
Prison Families of New York Support Group 7 - 8:30 pm every Monday at The Womens Building, 79 Central Ave. Ring the bell for the Library and Lounge to get in. Alison at 518 453 6659.
Justice Committee of FUUSA. April 30, 12 noon. Planning group for prison and criminal justice reform actions. Unitarian Church, 405 Washington Ave. Contact Thayer Heath at 518 861 0035 or thayer1923@aol.com.
CURE ANNUAL MEETING and LOBBY DAY - Save the date: May 9, 2006
9AM-4PM Capital Hill Deli,42 Eagle St., Albany NY. Meeting starts at 9AM, then lobbying key Legislators after lunch. More details above [#3].
Poughkeepsie:
Prison Families of New York Support Group 7 - 8:30 pm on the 2nd and 4th Mondays at the Family Partnership building, 29 North Hamilton Street. Deb at 845/616-9698, dabboz@aol.com.
Citizens for Restorative Justice. Thursday April 6 at 6:30 pm at the Family Partnership building at 29 North Hamilton Street . Justice advocacy group. All are welcome. Deb at 845/616-9698 or at dabboz@aol.com for more info.
10. Prison Arts and Crafts Shows
If you are located in or are traveling to Washington, DC, be sure to visit our two spring Prison Arts and Crafts Shows on Saturday, April 1 and 8, at First Trinity Lutheran Church, 309 E Street, NW from 10 AM to 5 PM, with free admission, live entertainment and more than 1000 pieces of prison art for sale from prisons across America. Proceeds benefit prison artists, victims of crime, and programs that support rehabilitation and reentry. For further information contact: Prisons Foundation,
1718 M Street NW, #151 Washington, DC 20036 www.PrisonsFoundation.org Staff@PrisonsFoundation.org 202-393-1511
11. Prisoner Voting Rights
From the CURE-NY Newsletter Spring ‘99: “Canadian Prisoners Can Vote: the Canadian supreme Court ruled in February, 1996 that prisoners at Canadian federal prisons have the right to vote. Prisoners will cast their ballots in their prior residences, rather than in the location of the institution in which they are being held. In the decision, the Supreme Court Justice wrote, ‘the electorate chooses the government; the government does not choose the electorate.’”
You can write Hon. John M. Walker, Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, 2d Circuit, Connecticut Financial Center, 157 Church Street, New Haven, CT 06510 Re: Muntaqim v. Coombe, and tell Judge Walker that you want your voting rights restored. The more letters he receives, the better your chances of voting your way OUT of prison. Your letter signals your awareness that voting is your birthright.
Write on!
-Edwin Castro from Green Haven
12. Proposed Merit Time Bill, Explained:
Current Merit Time Law: The NYS legislature has provided an additional incentive for inmates to behave in prison: “Merit time Allowances” [see Correction Law 803 practice commentaries]. Merit time is significant because inmates can earn up to one-sixth time off the front or the back of their sentence, not to exceed - in the aggregate - one-third of the sentence imposed by the court. Such allowances may be granted for good behavior and efficient and willing performance of duties assigned or progress and achievement in an assigned treatment program. Merit time may be withheld, forfeited or canceled in whole or in part for bad behavior, violation of facility rules or failure to participate in duties or programs assigned.
Every inmate, however, is not eligible for merit time considerations: inmates who were sentenced to a term with a maximum of life imprisonment are ineligible, inmates who were convicted of violent felony offenses, offenses that are sexual in nature, and finally aggravated harassment on an employee [of DOCS] by an inmate, are the charges that make one ineligible for merit time consideration.
Proposed Merit Time Bill: Senate bill S1701, is distinct in that it proposes to furnish inmates with an opportunity to earn up to one-third off the front or the back of their sentences. Also once merit time is granted it cannot be taken away for any reason. Additionally, if an evaluation denies merit time it cannot be made up at a later date.
Here’s how the implementation of S.1701 would work if passed into law. Every six months inmates would be evaluated by viewing their records and a determination would be made for or against issuing merit time. If an inmate is considered to have met the requirements [good behavior, program/assigned duty participation] then he/she would receive two months credit for the prior six month period. When the accumulated time reaches one-third of the minimum period of incarceration, the inmate is then scheduled to go before the parole board. If the person has a determinate sentence, i.e. a set number of years, then he/she would be released after serving two-thirds of the sentence.
In the case where an inmate, for any reason, is not released at their earliest possible release date, then the merit time earned would apply to the maximum release date,not to exceed one-third of that time. For example, if a person is serving an indeterminate sentence of 6-12 years and has earned the maximum amount of merit time (2 years] toward their minimum period of incarceration [6 years], yet he/she was not released by the parole board, that inmate could continue earning merit time [only 2 more years] toward their maximum period of incarceration [12 years].
As stated above, merit time does not apply to anyone convicted of a crime that is determined to be a violent felony offense.3 Therefore, women convicted of crimes where they were defending themselves against known abusers are not eligible for merit time consideration. Even if the proposed bill is not passed into law, this is one aspect of the current merit time law that should be changed.
DOCS already has a system in place that could accommodate the changes S.1701 would cause. Nevertheless, if the department had to hire someone to help with the volume of inmates’ evaluations, the cost would be offset by the inmates that are released.
- Ben Wilson, 93A6674
13. Spitzer Meets with Justice Advocates:
March 12, 2006, Caribbean Life Brooklyn/Staten Island Edition:
Senator Montgomery, Attorney General Spitzer and Criminal Justice Advocates Meet to Discuss Support Services and Opportunities for Formerly Incarcerated People
Albany, New York (March 2, 2006): At a recent meeting organized by State Senator Velmanette Montgomery (D-Brooklyn), criminal justice advocates from throughout the state were invited to engage in a dialogue with State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, chief prosecutor for New York, regarding proposals to help ensure that individuals released from prison are provided with adequate services and opportunities to support their successful transition back into community living.
During the exchange, Mr. Spitzer heard from several previously incarcerated people who are now professionals leading organizations that provide a myriad of services designed to help former prisoners navigate a positive path upon their release from prison. Other meeting participants included representatives of long-standing nonprofit organizations that serve prisoners and their families in a wide variety of ways.
The groups that were represented include the Osborne Association; Fortune Society; Citizens for Restorative Justice; Women’s Prison Association; Bard Prison Initiative of Bard College; New York Therapeutic Communities; NuLeadership Policy Group of Medgar Evers College; New York State Defender’s Association; Prison Families of New York; Legal Action Center; Peter Young Housing, Industries and Treatment; and the Urban Justice Center.
Commenting on the meeting, Senator Montgomery said, "I believe it is important for Attorney General Spitzer to hear about the shortcomings of the current system and to hear ideas for reform from the people who have really and truly been there. If our state is going to implement successful transition programs, dialogues like these help to set the stage.
"New York’s policy makers need to hear directly from men and women who have lived behind bars and who are now on the outside looking in with an eye towards helping others who have shared similar fates."
Senator Montgomery pointed out that the advocates’ testimony focused on the need for an statewide plan to address the obstacles that impede a successful re-entry. This plan -- which would designed and implemented by various governmental agencies, community-based groups and individual criminal justice advocates -- would be put in motion at the time of sentencing and continue throughout incarceration and upon release from prison.
The advocates emphasized that an effective re-entry plan must include a continuum of comprehensive programs and services that address the education, job, housing, substance abuse treatment, primary health care, mental health and other needs of men and women who are striving to reenter society and be productive, law-abiding citizens.
"An important part of the equation for their success is a permanent funding stream that will support existing community-based providers that are on the front lines delivering the services and support the creation of new initiatives statewide," underscored the Senator.
Mr. Spitzer expressed his willingness to participate in future meetings on this issue with Senator Montgomery and criminal justice advocates.
14. Telephone Justice
Having Problems with Verizon-MCI?
1. Have you been contacted by Verizon/MCI about a new billing method?
2. Has it caused you problems? What problems?
3. Did you hear about it because Verizon/MCI left a message on your answering machine?
4. If not, how did you hear about it? In other words, did you find out because Verizon/MCI put a block on your phone? Another way?
5. Have you received anything in the mail from Verizon/MCI about this new billing?
6. Were you asked to give $100 to Verizon/MCI upfront in order to keep getting prison calls?
7. Did you do this by credit card, money order or check? How long did it take to do this?
8. Was a block put on your phone while you were going through this process?
9. Is this new billing process a hardship for you? If so, why?
10. Have you tried to talk to Verizon/MCI about it? If so, what were you told?
11. Do you use Verizon/MCI for your other phone services like local and regular long distance calling?
12. If no, who is your present telephone company?
13. Have you ever paid Verizon/MCI bills late in the past?
If you'd like to, please include a message to the CEO of Verizon/MCI about the prison telephone contract. It can be anonymous or you may provide name, phone, address, and email. We will send them in collectively.
Thank you for your participation on this survey. Please send your responses back to info@telephonejustice.org and pass it on to others you know!
The NY Campaign for Telephone Justice is a project of The Center for Constitutional Rights, Prison Families Community Forum and Prison Families of New York, Inc.
www.telephonejustice.org http://www.telephonejustice.org/
Marion Rodriguez, Organizer / The New York Campaign Justice/ 212.614.6421 / mrodriguez@ccr-ny.org www.telephonejustice.org http://www.telephonejustice.org/ Boycott MCI!
15. Transportation to Prisons:
A. The NEST prison shuttle
The NEST prison shuttle schedule: Mt. McGregor, Washington, and Great Meadow Facilities on Sat, April 1 ($30 adults, $20 children), and the Coxsackie, Greene, and Hudson Correctional Facilities on Sat, April 8, and Sat, April 22 ($15 adults and $10 children), leaving Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, and Albany Greyhound Bus station at 7:15. Trip to the Utica Hub (Midstate, Marcy, Mohawk, Oneida) Sat, April 15 leaving at 5 AM ($40 adults, $25 children). Call for reservations and information: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
B. Prison Action Network:
Call 518 253-7533 if you need a ride to visit your incarcerated loved one.
Rides are available from Albany. If you and/or your family need transportation to visit your loved one in prison, and the following limitations work for you, please call, email, or send a letter to PAN and we will connect you to your driver [there is no charge for this service]:
the prison must be within 150 miles of Albany [300 miles round trip].
driver is willing to wait 2-3 hours for visit to be concluded.
driver is willing to start, from the visitor's residence, as early as 8:00 A.M.
driver is willing to get back home as late as 6:00 P.M.
driver is available on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays [and, in a pinch, on Fridays].
car seats 5, though, for a trip of 150 miles, sitting in the middle of the back seat would be a tight squeeze.
C. Free-Bus Meetups: On April 8, PAN volunteers will be meeting the DOCS bus traveling to Collins and Gowanda at 12:45 am. Packets of information [which can include any relevant information you send us] are distributed to adult travelers and [thanks to PFNY] snacks and travel toys are given to young children. On May 20 we will meet the bus to Bedford Hills and Taconic at 6am. Buses stop in Albany on their way to ALBION, ATTICA, BEDFORD HILLS, COLLINS, COXSACKIE, FISHKILL, GOWANDA , GREAT MEADOW, GREENE, GREEN HAVEN, GROVELAND, LIVINGSTON, ORLEANS, TACONIC, WASHINGTON, and WYOMING . To join us meeting any of these buses, please call PAN at 518 253-7533. To travel on these buses, your incarcerated loved one must make the arrangements with his/her counselor.
16. Volunteers Make Travel Kits for Kids Traveling to PrisonVisits
Prison Families of New York, Inc. has been working with students at local colleges and faith-based groups to create travel kits for prisoners' children who have to ride long (2-10 hours) distances, by bus or car, to visit their parent (or other family member) in a NYS prison. These kits generally include a package of crackers and juice box, coloring book/work book, paperback book (of various reading levels and interests), quiet toys, wetwipes, etc.
Activity kits for young adults and bags of personal care items for older adults are also being created. All are then passed on to PAN or other groups doing prison transportation or able to access those families who do travel long distances. If you would like to assist with this project, please contact Alison at PFNY, 518-453-6659
17. What's New from Prisoners of the Census
http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org A project of the Prison Policy Initiative:
Distorting political reality
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial, March 17, 2006
Excerpts: Read entire article at:
[URL: http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/news/fact-17-3-2006.shtml ]
Juneau County is the 43rd fastest-growing county in the country,owing to a nearly 5% increase in population between 2004 and 2005. Put bluntly, Juneau County's gain is Milwaukee County's pain... Of the gain of 1,251 people, 950 were inmates at the relatively new New Lisbon Correctional Institution... The pain comes in how the U.S. Census Bureau counts prison inmates. The prison is viewed as inmates' "usual residence," the standard the bureau uses to count us all. But those census numbers are traditionally used, for instance, in redrawing state political and congressional boundaries every 10 years and in disbursing federal funds... A solution: Count where inmates are from, not where they've been forced to live. Have that money that comes with their headcount go to where their kids live and go to school. Have their numbers counted for the homes they will in all likelihood return to.
[Those without internet access can contact PAN for a copy of the complete article.]
18. Words From Ramon
Ramon Gonzalez is a board member of Prison Action Network, and a regular contributor to these pages so we’ve decided to give him his own column. In this month’s column he urges all prisoners to get involved in the struggle for parole reform:
To those in and out of the struggle; Greetings! Hopefully this message will be absorbed and taken as the voice of reason by readers within a DOCS facility. I have been imprisoned for 15.5 years; been subjected to 2 parole denials. Since 1994 I have aggressively fought for prisoners’ issues on the facility level via positioning within both the Inmate Grievance and Inmate Liaison Committees. In 1996 I was the target of Central Office’s wrath on numerous occasions. In 1997 I was instrumental in the opening of criminal cases against correctional staff in 5 instances for staff-on-inmate assault. In 1999 I was the target of Y2K allegations, in which I was given 48 months in the SHU, only served 6, and got an Article 78 reversal. Since 2001 I have been involved with the Lifers’ struggle. In 2005 I was offered an advisory board member position with Prison Action Network, and accepted. In 2006 I was offered the Coalition for Parole Restoration - Otisville liaison position which I also accepted. I am currently chairman of the Otisville Lifers Group and Director of the Social Interaction Initiatives Committee, and deeply entrenched with obtaining fair parole policies and educating the misinformed and unaware public.
The one most important thing Lifers everywhere should know is that I do not have Life. I have a 12.5 to 25 year sentence, and am rapidly approaching my 3rd and final board and inevitable CR date. If I can walk, talk and fight like a Lifer, why can’t you? Our struggle is not an easy one and I can count more deaths of Lifers than I can releases of them. So I hope deep down in my soul, I pray from my heart, I appeal to all you Lifers who aren’t in the struggle, to step up, wake up, smell the coffee and look at the current state of parole seriously. Get involved with the Lifers or any other progressive group in your facility. If there’s not one, start one! Our struggle needs soldiers; soldiers with pens, soldiers with typewriters, soldiers with conviction and voices. Silent soldiers can’t be heard. To those groups in the battle, if you take a good look at your group you may find that within your ranks there are men without Life [long-termers], like me, fighting for you. Applaud them, appreciate them. It’s not their battle it’s yours. But if they fight you should stand with them!
Dedicated to my Brothers,
Ramon [M.O.] Gonzalez
19 Wrongful Convictions LegaL Pool
PAN hears from many family members who are fighting for the exoneration of their incarcerated loved ones. Unfortunately many more wrongfully convicted prisoners have no one on the outside, or have exhausted all their resources. PAN calls for any lawyer who would be willing to help someone in that situation, to whatever extent he or she is able, to contact us for inclusion in a Wrongful Convictions Legal Pool. In the meantime, to see an example of what one family is doing to get justice for their loved one, you can visit - if you have internet access - www.freevalentinodixon.bravehost.com
Readers are invited to submit notices or articles of interest for publication in this newsletter. Let us know if you want your name included.
April 2006
Dear Members, We have many interesting things to share with you in this issue. One is our NEW TELEPHONE #: 518 253 7533. Please make a note of that.
Articles:
1. Awaiting Real Rockefeller Reform
2. Call for Prison Abuse Reports
3. CURE-NY ANNUAL MEETING and LOBBY DAY
4. Death Penalty Bills - Take Action Now
5. Family Empowerment Day 2: Date is Set
6. From Inside: 1. Getting Free, 2. Community-Ready
7. Gang Crime Bill
8. G.E.O. [Governmental Education Organization] at Mid-Orange
9. Meetings in Albany and Poughkeepsie
10. Prison Arts and Crafts Shows
11. Prisoner Voting Rights
12. Proposed Merit Time Bill, Explained
13. Spitzer meets with Justice Advocates
14. Telephone Justice
15. Transportation to Prisons
16. Volunteers Make Travel Kits for Kids
17. What's New from Prisoners of the Census
18. Words From Ramon
19. Wrongful Convictions Legal Pool
1. Awaiting Real Rockefeller Reform
By Anthony Papa, AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/story/34212/
Julia Diaco, the so-called "Pot Princess" was sentenced on March 22 in Manhattan Supreme Court to five years probation for drug dealing. Diaco was 18 years old when she was arrested for multiple sales of drugs to undercover narcotic officers from her dorm room at NYU University. Despite having a "strong" case against her and facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted, she received probation upon completing a drug rehab and education program.
This follows the high-profile case of Caroline Quartararo, a former spokeswoman on Rockefeller drug law reform for Governor Pataki who received a similar minor sentence after being arrested with crack cocaine. Quartararo was given treatment and a $250 fine. She was arrested on December 20 for possessing three rocks of crack cocaine. She pleaded guilty to seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Cheri O'Donoghue, whose son Ashley is currently serving a sentence of 7-21 years for a first-time non-violent drug offense said the cases of Julia Diaco and Caroline Quartararo prove that, "if you are rich and privileged you will likely receive compassion from the courts."
"While I support the notion of compassion and access to treatment for people who use and abuse drugs," said O'Donoghue, "the reality is that people of color who get caught up in the criminal justice system generally receive neither." While drug use rates are similar between blacks and whites, approximately 92 percent of the people in prison on drug charges in New York are black and Latino.
O'Donoghue's 23-year-old son, who is black, sold cocaine to two white students, who in turn sought to re-sell the drugs on their Hamilton College campus. The students were caught, and received probation. Ashley O'Donoghue was left to languish in prison, another casualty of the draconian Rockefeller drug laws. He is one of more than 4,000 people sitting in New York state prisons convicted of B-level Rockefeller drug law felonies. The modest reforms to the state's drug laws in 2004 and 2005 have no impact on these B-level offenders.
Gabriel Sayegh, director of the State Organizing and Policy Project of the Drug Policy Alliance says New Yorkers want to see meaningful Rockefeller Drug Law reform. "Even after the reforms last year, the vast majority of people incarcerated under these failed laws are still languishing behind bars. Our elected officials in Albany need to take action to enact real reform of these laws, so that young men like Ashley O'Donoghue can receive the same compassion as those who are rich, well-connected, or are employed by the governor."
[Anthony Papa is the author of 15 To Life: How I Painted My Way To Freedom (Feral House). ]
2. Call for Prison Abuse Reports
Greetings Friends, The Presente Film Collective is in the process of developing a documentary about the history of torture in the U.S., going back to the beginning. In one of the segments of the film, we want to address abuse and torture in jails and prisons. Do you know a prisoner who might want to write an account of abuse/torture he/she experienced or witnessed? If so, would you be able to put it in an e-mail and send it to us at nbnvrc@earthlink.net. Thanks so much. (We can't promise to put all the stories we receive in the film, but will use as many as we can.) In peace and justice, Presente Film Collective
3. CURE-NY Annual Meeting and Lobby Day
SAVE THE DATE: MAY 9,2006 9AM-4PM
Capital Hill Deli,42 Eagle St., Albany NY
Meeting starts at 9AM,then lobbying key Legislators after lunch
Keynote speakers to be announced
Advocates’ education on key criminal justice issues.
Comradeship in the struggles for reform.
Legislative visits to educate and learn.
Continental breakfast and lunch provided
Suggested donation of $20; ex-offenders and families free
Reserve your space now; Contact CURE-NY
Box 102, Katonah NY 10536; or cureny@bestweb.net;
4. NY State Senate to Vote on New Death Penalty Bills - You Can Take Action Now:
They're at it again. Governor Pataki is pushing for reinstatement of the death penalty and, on March 7, the Senate obliged him by voting 2 bills onto the floor, one for murders of policemen and one for broader reinstatement. We expect a lot of grandstanding with no real debate or hearings. They haven't gotten the message: New Yorkers don't want and don't need the death penalty. They're out of touch with New Yorkers, who paid close attention to the testimony at Assembly hearings and have learned from 10 years experience with an intrinsically flawed system. The full Senate will vote very soon. We need to act now.
Please let your all State Senators hear from you with letters, faxes, calls and emails. To find them, please visit www.vote-smart.org remember you need your STATE SENATOR. Please make sure that you include your address in contacting your legislators. And thanks for all you do, New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty.
5. Date Set for Family Empowerment Day 2: October 21, 2006
You and your friends and family are invited to meet others who want the return of our loved ones from prison. The topic will be Parole. The day will consist of speakers, discussion groups, making friends, and deciding on a plan of action. Free food and childcare will be provided. SAVE THE DATE! [If you or your organization want to help organize/promote/pay for/ this event, please contact PAN. October 21, 2006
11 noon - 3:30 pm
Middle Collegiate Church
Second Avenue and 7th Street, NYC 10003
6. From Inside:
Edwin Castro sent in the next article, which is too long to print in one issue. We will publish it in installments, but those with internet access can find the full version right now at prisonaction.blogspot.com.
Getting Free
“......to hold a man forever between a lack and an excess; a lack of work, and an excess of punishment.” Les Miserables, Victor Hugo [1802-1885]
In 1988, the then Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals directed the NYS Judicial Commission on Minorities to examine the presence and effects of racism in the state’s criminal courts. In April 1991, the commission reported that there was, in fact, evidence of race-based disparities in the court’s rate of conviction and type of sentence imposed.1 This invidious trend has carried over into the 21st century. In 2006, 93% of New York’s prison population are people of color.
Recently, a Russian prisoner observed how, in Russia, when a prisoner misbehaves, the consequence is an increased work detail. In the penal realms of NY, when a prisoner violates the sanctity of bounded space [institutional rules], termination from his/her work-assignment is a routine result of official sanctions. The russian captive observes that this practice is “backwards.” The official excuse for this continuance of this questionable practice is that, in the penal realms-- as in free society -- work is a privilege that provides the prisoner with the incentive to obtain a maintain employment, once released from captivity. A recent article in a NY City daily newspaper provides further evidence of how bounded spaces distort reality. The article, by Julie Moult, is headlined: RACIAL OUTRAGE IN N.Y. JOB HUNT. In part it reads, “A white man with a criminal record has a better chance of getting an entry-level job in New York than a black man with a squeaky-clean record, a study has found.”2
Building Bridges will leave it there for this month. The May issue will describe the study mentioned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This next was written by Willie Thomas, founder of the Otisville Lifers Group.
COMMUNITY READY: PRESERVING AND DEFINING A TERM
The term ‘community-ready’, absent of a clear definition and often misused, is in danger of losing its significance or even withering away. Tossed around in discussions by radio commentators [mostly on alternative radio stations] the term has essentially evolved into a glow phrase. Yet, in the context of the argument for parole reform, its meaning has often been left open and hard to pin down. Not only is that a gross disservice to supporters but it threatens to deteriorate the concept into a buzz word.
In 1999, when members of the Otisville Lifers Self-help group coined and began using the term, it was to clearly distinguish between parole-ready and community-ready individuals. In making the distinction, we examined traits, expectations, acquired knowledge, skill levels and behavior patterns, using our own insight, growth and development as measuring tools. We wanted a word to define those worthy men and women whose efforts far exceed the standards of parole-ready and who, if released, could immediately serve as assets to their community. The discussion led to the identification of 7 components of the community-ready person: 1. family-oriented, 2. spiritually grounded, 3. community conscious, 4. politically astute, 5. economically able, 6. socially interactive and 7. self actualized.
Next Month Building Bridges will continue this article with the Lifers’ definitions of those adjectives.
7. Gang Crime Bill
State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, 18th Senate District, wrote a letter to criminal justice advocates on 3/24/06, informing us of legislation [A.10268] proposed by Assemblyman Peter Rivera, and sponsored by members Weisenberg, Errigo, Boyland, Clark, Greene, and Titus, that would add additional prison time to a gang member’s sentence. If convicted of a nonviolent crime an extra two to five years could be added to the prison sentence; for violent felonies, gang members could serve an extra ten years. She says, “this bill is aimed at reducing gang activity. However, this is obviously another way to avoid addressing the contributing factors to gang activity, such as lack of educational resources, after-school programs, as well as jobs and job training for young people.” Senator Velmannette Montgomery hopes we will make our views and concerns known to Assemblyman Rivera concerning this legislation.
The bill, and an article from the Troy Record about it, are available at http://prisonaction.blogspot.com, or you can contact PAN for a copy.
8. G.E.O. [Governmental Education Organization] at Mid-Orange:
Mid-Orange Correctional Facility‘s G.E.O. [Governmental Education Organization], founded by Jason B. Nicholas, reports that the G.E.O.’s over-riding mission is to provide a platform from which prisoners in the organization can make their voices heard on topics of the day. They write government officials. They also disseminate information about actions of the legislative, judicial and executive branches of government to government officials and members of the media, and publish a newsletter concerning such matters. You can view their brochure at http://prisonaction.blogspot.com or ask PAN to send you a copy.
9. Meetings in Albany and Poughkeepsie
Albany:
Prison Families of New York Support Group 7 - 8:30 pm every Monday at The Womens Building, 79 Central Ave. Ring the bell for the Library and Lounge to get in. Alison at 518 453 6659.
Justice Committee of FUUSA. April 30, 12 noon. Planning group for prison and criminal justice reform actions. Unitarian Church, 405 Washington Ave. Contact Thayer Heath at 518 861 0035 or thayer1923@aol.com.
CURE ANNUAL MEETING and LOBBY DAY - Save the date: May 9, 2006
9AM-4PM Capital Hill Deli,42 Eagle St., Albany NY. Meeting starts at 9AM, then lobbying key Legislators after lunch. More details above [#3].
Poughkeepsie:
Prison Families of New York Support Group 7 - 8:30 pm on the 2nd and 4th Mondays at the Family Partnership building, 29 North Hamilton Street. Deb at 845/616-9698, dabboz@aol.com.
Citizens for Restorative Justice. Thursday April 6 at 6:30 pm at the Family Partnership building at 29 North Hamilton Street . Justice advocacy group. All are welcome. Deb at 845/616-9698 or at dabboz@aol.com for more info.
10. Prison Arts and Crafts Shows
If you are located in or are traveling to Washington, DC, be sure to visit our two spring Prison Arts and Crafts Shows on Saturday, April 1 and 8, at First Trinity Lutheran Church, 309 E Street, NW from 10 AM to 5 PM, with free admission, live entertainment and more than 1000 pieces of prison art for sale from prisons across America. Proceeds benefit prison artists, victims of crime, and programs that support rehabilitation and reentry. For further information contact: Prisons Foundation,
1718 M Street NW, #151 Washington, DC 20036 www.PrisonsFoundation.org Staff@PrisonsFoundation.org 202-393-1511
11. Prisoner Voting Rights
From the CURE-NY Newsletter Spring ‘99: “Canadian Prisoners Can Vote: the Canadian supreme Court ruled in February, 1996 that prisoners at Canadian federal prisons have the right to vote. Prisoners will cast their ballots in their prior residences, rather than in the location of the institution in which they are being held. In the decision, the Supreme Court Justice wrote, ‘the electorate chooses the government; the government does not choose the electorate.’”
You can write Hon. John M. Walker, Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, 2d Circuit, Connecticut Financial Center, 157 Church Street, New Haven, CT 06510 Re: Muntaqim v. Coombe, and tell Judge Walker that you want your voting rights restored. The more letters he receives, the better your chances of voting your way OUT of prison. Your letter signals your awareness that voting is your birthright.
Write on!
-Edwin Castro from Green Haven
12. Proposed Merit Time Bill, Explained:
Current Merit Time Law: The NYS legislature has provided an additional incentive for inmates to behave in prison: “Merit time Allowances” [see Correction Law 803 practice commentaries]. Merit time is significant because inmates can earn up to one-sixth time off the front or the back of their sentence, not to exceed - in the aggregate - one-third of the sentence imposed by the court. Such allowances may be granted for good behavior and efficient and willing performance of duties assigned or progress and achievement in an assigned treatment program. Merit time may be withheld, forfeited or canceled in whole or in part for bad behavior, violation of facility rules or failure to participate in duties or programs assigned.
Every inmate, however, is not eligible for merit time considerations: inmates who were sentenced to a term with a maximum of life imprisonment are ineligible, inmates who were convicted of violent felony offenses, offenses that are sexual in nature, and finally aggravated harassment on an employee [of DOCS] by an inmate, are the charges that make one ineligible for merit time consideration.
Proposed Merit Time Bill: Senate bill S1701, is distinct in that it proposes to furnish inmates with an opportunity to earn up to one-third off the front or the back of their sentences. Also once merit time is granted it cannot be taken away for any reason. Additionally, if an evaluation denies merit time it cannot be made up at a later date.
Here’s how the implementation of S.1701 would work if passed into law. Every six months inmates would be evaluated by viewing their records and a determination would be made for or against issuing merit time. If an inmate is considered to have met the requirements [good behavior, program/assigned duty participation] then he/she would receive two months credit for the prior six month period. When the accumulated time reaches one-third of the minimum period of incarceration, the inmate is then scheduled to go before the parole board. If the person has a determinate sentence, i.e. a set number of years, then he/she would be released after serving two-thirds of the sentence.
In the case where an inmate, for any reason, is not released at their earliest possible release date, then the merit time earned would apply to the maximum release date,not to exceed one-third of that time. For example, if a person is serving an indeterminate sentence of 6-12 years and has earned the maximum amount of merit time (2 years] toward their minimum period of incarceration [6 years], yet he/she was not released by the parole board, that inmate could continue earning merit time [only 2 more years] toward their maximum period of incarceration [12 years].
As stated above, merit time does not apply to anyone convicted of a crime that is determined to be a violent felony offense.3 Therefore, women convicted of crimes where they were defending themselves against known abusers are not eligible for merit time consideration. Even if the proposed bill is not passed into law, this is one aspect of the current merit time law that should be changed.
DOCS already has a system in place that could accommodate the changes S.1701 would cause. Nevertheless, if the department had to hire someone to help with the volume of inmates’ evaluations, the cost would be offset by the inmates that are released.
- Ben Wilson, 93A6674
13. Spitzer Meets with Justice Advocates:
March 12, 2006, Caribbean Life Brooklyn/Staten Island Edition:
Senator Montgomery, Attorney General Spitzer and Criminal Justice Advocates Meet to Discuss Support Services and Opportunities for Formerly Incarcerated People
Albany, New York (March 2, 2006): At a recent meeting organized by State Senator Velmanette Montgomery (D-Brooklyn), criminal justice advocates from throughout the state were invited to engage in a dialogue with State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, chief prosecutor for New York, regarding proposals to help ensure that individuals released from prison are provided with adequate services and opportunities to support their successful transition back into community living.
During the exchange, Mr. Spitzer heard from several previously incarcerated people who are now professionals leading organizations that provide a myriad of services designed to help former prisoners navigate a positive path upon their release from prison. Other meeting participants included representatives of long-standing nonprofit organizations that serve prisoners and their families in a wide variety of ways.
The groups that were represented include the Osborne Association; Fortune Society; Citizens for Restorative Justice; Women’s Prison Association; Bard Prison Initiative of Bard College; New York Therapeutic Communities; NuLeadership Policy Group of Medgar Evers College; New York State Defender’s Association; Prison Families of New York; Legal Action Center; Peter Young Housing, Industries and Treatment; and the Urban Justice Center.
Commenting on the meeting, Senator Montgomery said, "I believe it is important for Attorney General Spitzer to hear about the shortcomings of the current system and to hear ideas for reform from the people who have really and truly been there. If our state is going to implement successful transition programs, dialogues like these help to set the stage.
"New York’s policy makers need to hear directly from men and women who have lived behind bars and who are now on the outside looking in with an eye towards helping others who have shared similar fates."
Senator Montgomery pointed out that the advocates’ testimony focused on the need for an statewide plan to address the obstacles that impede a successful re-entry. This plan -- which would designed and implemented by various governmental agencies, community-based groups and individual criminal justice advocates -- would be put in motion at the time of sentencing and continue throughout incarceration and upon release from prison.
The advocates emphasized that an effective re-entry plan must include a continuum of comprehensive programs and services that address the education, job, housing, substance abuse treatment, primary health care, mental health and other needs of men and women who are striving to reenter society and be productive, law-abiding citizens.
"An important part of the equation for their success is a permanent funding stream that will support existing community-based providers that are on the front lines delivering the services and support the creation of new initiatives statewide," underscored the Senator.
Mr. Spitzer expressed his willingness to participate in future meetings on this issue with Senator Montgomery and criminal justice advocates.
14. Telephone Justice
Having Problems with Verizon-MCI?
1. Have you been contacted by Verizon/MCI about a new billing method?
2. Has it caused you problems? What problems?
3. Did you hear about it because Verizon/MCI left a message on your answering machine?
4. If not, how did you hear about it? In other words, did you find out because Verizon/MCI put a block on your phone? Another way?
5. Have you received anything in the mail from Verizon/MCI about this new billing?
6. Were you asked to give $100 to Verizon/MCI upfront in order to keep getting prison calls?
7. Did you do this by credit card, money order or check? How long did it take to do this?
8. Was a block put on your phone while you were going through this process?
9. Is this new billing process a hardship for you? If so, why?
10. Have you tried to talk to Verizon/MCI about it? If so, what were you told?
11. Do you use Verizon/MCI for your other phone services like local and regular long distance calling?
12. If no, who is your present telephone company?
13. Have you ever paid Verizon/MCI bills late in the past?
If you'd like to, please include a message to the CEO of Verizon/MCI about the prison telephone contract. It can be anonymous or you may provide name, phone, address, and email. We will send them in collectively.
Thank you for your participation on this survey. Please send your responses back to info@telephonejustice.org and pass it on to others you know!
The NY Campaign for Telephone Justice is a project of The Center for Constitutional Rights, Prison Families Community Forum and Prison Families of New York, Inc.
www.telephonejustice.org http://www.telephonejustice.org/
Marion Rodriguez, Organizer / The New York Campaign Justice/ 212.614.6421 / mrodriguez@ccr-ny.org www.telephonejustice.org http://www.telephonejustice.org/ Boycott MCI!
15. Transportation to Prisons:
A. The NEST prison shuttle
The NEST prison shuttle schedule: Mt. McGregor, Washington, and Great Meadow Facilities on Sat, April 1 ($30 adults, $20 children), and the Coxsackie, Greene, and Hudson Correctional Facilities on Sat, April 8, and Sat, April 22 ($15 adults and $10 children), leaving Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, and Albany Greyhound Bus station at 7:15. Trip to the Utica Hub (Midstate, Marcy, Mohawk, Oneida) Sat, April 15 leaving at 5 AM ($40 adults, $25 children). Call for reservations and information: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
B. Prison Action Network:
Call 518 253-7533 if you need a ride to visit your incarcerated loved one.
Rides are available from Albany. If you and/or your family need transportation to visit your loved one in prison, and the following limitations work for you, please call, email, or send a letter to PAN and we will connect you to your driver [there is no charge for this service]:
the prison must be within 150 miles of Albany [300 miles round trip].
driver is willing to wait 2-3 hours for visit to be concluded.
driver is willing to start, from the visitor's residence, as early as 8:00 A.M.
driver is willing to get back home as late as 6:00 P.M.
driver is available on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays [and, in a pinch, on Fridays].
car seats 5, though, for a trip of 150 miles, sitting in the middle of the back seat would be a tight squeeze.
C. Free-Bus Meetups: On April 8, PAN volunteers will be meeting the DOCS bus traveling to Collins and Gowanda at 12:45 am. Packets of information [which can include any relevant information you send us] are distributed to adult travelers and [thanks to PFNY] snacks and travel toys are given to young children. On May 20 we will meet the bus to Bedford Hills and Taconic at 6am. Buses stop in Albany on their way to ALBION, ATTICA, BEDFORD HILLS, COLLINS, COXSACKIE, FISHKILL, GOWANDA , GREAT MEADOW, GREENE, GREEN HAVEN, GROVELAND, LIVINGSTON, ORLEANS, TACONIC, WASHINGTON, and WYOMING . To join us meeting any of these buses, please call PAN at 518 253-7533. To travel on these buses, your incarcerated loved one must make the arrangements with his/her counselor.
16. Volunteers Make Travel Kits for Kids Traveling to PrisonVisits
Prison Families of New York, Inc. has been working with students at local colleges and faith-based groups to create travel kits for prisoners' children who have to ride long (2-10 hours) distances, by bus or car, to visit their parent (or other family member) in a NYS prison. These kits generally include a package of crackers and juice box, coloring book/work book, paperback book (of various reading levels and interests), quiet toys, wetwipes, etc.
Activity kits for young adults and bags of personal care items for older adults are also being created. All are then passed on to PAN or other groups doing prison transportation or able to access those families who do travel long distances. If you would like to assist with this project, please contact Alison at PFNY, 518-453-6659
17. What's New from Prisoners of the Census
http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org A project of the Prison Policy Initiative:
Distorting political reality
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial, March 17, 2006
Excerpts: Read entire article at:
[URL: http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/news/fact-17-3-2006.shtml ]
Juneau County is the 43rd fastest-growing county in the country,owing to a nearly 5% increase in population between 2004 and 2005. Put bluntly, Juneau County's gain is Milwaukee County's pain... Of the gain of 1,251 people, 950 were inmates at the relatively new New Lisbon Correctional Institution... The pain comes in how the U.S. Census Bureau counts prison inmates. The prison is viewed as inmates' "usual residence," the standard the bureau uses to count us all. But those census numbers are traditionally used, for instance, in redrawing state political and congressional boundaries every 10 years and in disbursing federal funds... A solution: Count where inmates are from, not where they've been forced to live. Have that money that comes with their headcount go to where their kids live and go to school. Have their numbers counted for the homes they will in all likelihood return to.
[Those without internet access can contact PAN for a copy of the complete article.]
18. Words From Ramon
Ramon Gonzalez is a board member of Prison Action Network, and a regular contributor to these pages so we’ve decided to give him his own column. In this month’s column he urges all prisoners to get involved in the struggle for parole reform:
To those in and out of the struggle; Greetings! Hopefully this message will be absorbed and taken as the voice of reason by readers within a DOCS facility. I have been imprisoned for 15.5 years; been subjected to 2 parole denials. Since 1994 I have aggressively fought for prisoners’ issues on the facility level via positioning within both the Inmate Grievance and Inmate Liaison Committees. In 1996 I was the target of Central Office’s wrath on numerous occasions. In 1997 I was instrumental in the opening of criminal cases against correctional staff in 5 instances for staff-on-inmate assault. In 1999 I was the target of Y2K allegations, in which I was given 48 months in the SHU, only served 6, and got an Article 78 reversal. Since 2001 I have been involved with the Lifers’ struggle. In 2005 I was offered an advisory board member position with Prison Action Network, and accepted. In 2006 I was offered the Coalition for Parole Restoration - Otisville liaison position which I also accepted. I am currently chairman of the Otisville Lifers Group and Director of the Social Interaction Initiatives Committee, and deeply entrenched with obtaining fair parole policies and educating the misinformed and unaware public.
The one most important thing Lifers everywhere should know is that I do not have Life. I have a 12.5 to 25 year sentence, and am rapidly approaching my 3rd and final board and inevitable CR date. If I can walk, talk and fight like a Lifer, why can’t you? Our struggle is not an easy one and I can count more deaths of Lifers than I can releases of them. So I hope deep down in my soul, I pray from my heart, I appeal to all you Lifers who aren’t in the struggle, to step up, wake up, smell the coffee and look at the current state of parole seriously. Get involved with the Lifers or any other progressive group in your facility. If there’s not one, start one! Our struggle needs soldiers; soldiers with pens, soldiers with typewriters, soldiers with conviction and voices. Silent soldiers can’t be heard. To those groups in the battle, if you take a good look at your group you may find that within your ranks there are men without Life [long-termers], like me, fighting for you. Applaud them, appreciate them. It’s not their battle it’s yours. But if they fight you should stand with them!
Dedicated to my Brothers,
Ramon [M.O.] Gonzalez
19 Wrongful Convictions LegaL Pool
PAN hears from many family members who are fighting for the exoneration of their incarcerated loved ones. Unfortunately many more wrongfully convicted prisoners have no one on the outside, or have exhausted all their resources. PAN calls for any lawyer who would be willing to help someone in that situation, to whatever extent he or she is able, to contact us for inclusion in a Wrongful Convictions Legal Pool. In the meantime, to see an example of what one family is doing to get justice for their loved one, you can visit - if you have internet access - www.freevalentinodixon.bravehost.com
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