- Suicide Rates Drop in Calfornia State Prisons
- More teens kept in adult jails (Ohio)
- New director focuses on future of state's prisons (Iowa)
- Accommodations Being Made As Average Age of Prisoners Rise (New York)
- Counties strain to find room for criminals (Ohio)
- GOP report critical of inmate releases, open to changes (Michigan)
- The Big Question: Why are our prisons so overcrowded, and how can we tackle the crisis? (UK)
- Teens to stay in adult jails (Australia)
- Vacant buildings to become prisons (Malaysia)
- Children who stay with mothers in prisons hamper – Prison officer (Ghana)
- 2 prisons plan to expand (Oklahoma)
- Camden wants prisons gone from downtown (New Jersey)
Thursday, May 31, 2007
News: 5/31/2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
News: 5/28/2007
- Court to consider capping prisons (California)
- Senate OKs bill to reduce prison need (Texas)
- Corrections hopes bill will reduce recidivism (Kansas)
- Wanted: More Texas prison guards
- WSJ eyes profit in prison building boom
- Chemical castration program might be expanded (Oregon)
- Private jails lack the staff ethos integral to halting offending (UK)
- Kenya: Prisoners on Deathrow Demand Conjugal Rights
- Concern at prison overcrowding (UK)
- Rehab programmes hosted at jails but no practising social workers (Guyana)
- Inmates Running Prisons Says Watchdog (New Zealand)
- Prison managers given pay rises, says corrections (New Zealand)
- New bill could change how inmates make calls (Ohio)
- Bobblehead doll sends 350 workers fleeing from Washington corrections offices
Friday, May 25, 2007
News: 5/25/2007
- Inmate executed for cellmate murder (Ohio)
- California May Soon Spend More on Prisons than Colleges
- Prisons official quits in porn stir (South Carolina)
- Jails at bursting point as numbers hit another all time high (UK)
- UN Project to Improve Prisons And Police in Southern Sudan Wins Grant
- Prisoner yacht refit claims spark investigation (New Zealand)
- Better care for ex-prisoners call (UK)
- Corrections Corp. Expands Oklahoma Prisons
- New Mexico pays more for private prisons, report says
- State will boost capacity at nine prisons to save money (Michigan)
- Legislators eye adding guards, using county jails to ease overcrowding (Maine)
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Armenians in California Prisons
If you want a unique and revealing view of a culture -- look at it from a prison. Hetq Online - Armenian Investigative Journalists is hosting a series of articles by its editor in chief, Edik Baghdasaryan, on Armenians in America. This includes the 18,000 Armenians in California prison, a number that other Armenians found surprising. One important perspective was that of a prison chaplain:
Chaplain Bedros Hajian told us about the Armenian convicts in various detention centers. He then took us to his office in the largest prison complex in California. The representatives of different religious communities have separate rooms in American prisons, where they meet members of their congregation. Bedros Hajian is not from the Armenian Apostolic Church, he simply preaches the Bible in prisons and works mainly with Armenians.The facility pictured appears to be LA County Jail, the largest jail in the world, but not a prison as stated in the article.
When I asked Bedros how many Armenians there were in this prison, he looked at his computer screen, opened the prison website and told me, “Name a letter.” I said, “K.” He entered the letter K in the search box for first and last names. A list of prisoners came up matching the search criteria. Within a few minutes, we managed to count dozens of Armenian last names. You can find out about the criminal history and prior convictions of each prisoner by clicking on his last name. The main crimes committed by Armenian convicts include drug sale, prostitution (male), theft and credit card fraud. There are an especially large number of young people in the prison. Starting out as drug users (Armenians here also use the English word drug ), they are soon forced to turn to crime to support their habit.
“There is a drug user in every family, but usually the parents don't know,” Bedros Hajian maintained. He believes drug abuse is the biggest problem in the Armenian community. “There is one way to solve this problem, which is by having Armenian leaders, party heads, the Church and other organizations take the lead. The political parties say that they are political structures and don't deal in social issues. I say, ‘Fine, suppose we free Western Armenia, who's going to live there – drugs users?' The youth here are put on drugs at school on purpose, so that they can be controlled. All the Armenian organizations must unite to fight against this problem. The only way is for everyone to admit that such a problem exists and to work against it. They don't even want to admit that this problem exists,” said Hajian.
I asked Armenian convicts in various prison whether representatives of our church visited them and they said no. The Armenian Apostolic Church in California, where there are around one million Armenians, deals mainly in baptisms, birthdays and memorial services here as well. Our talk with the Prelate of the Western Diocese in the USA, Father Hovnan Terteryan, revealed that the Church is truly disconnected from the Armenians serving time in the state's prisons. “Those numbers are exaggerated, I think there are around 300-500 Armenians in prison here,” said Father Hovnan. When we said that that was not the case, and that we were ready to present the names of thousands of Armenian prisoners, he gave in somewhat and said that they used to have someone visiting convicts, but could no longer afford it with the current number of priests. He then also said that they were training someone, who would then be sent to prisons.
News: 5/23/2007
- DOC withdraws request to release illegal immigrants (Oklahoma)
- Prisons chief hails execution team secrecy (Missouri)
- Texas short on guards as lawmakers mull new prisons
- Taxpayer to fork out R5.3bn for new jails (South Africa)
- Mafias Control Ecuador Jails
- Jails crisis as prisoner numbers reach new peak (UK)
- Corrections admits corruption widespread (New Zealand)
- Prisons officers to boycott sports day (Trinidad)
- Prisons department to go hi-tech (Tanzania)
- Prison neighbors rally against sex offender plan (New Jersey)
- New tour delves deeper into life at Alcatraz (California)
- Prison Inmates to Work in Industries (Georgia)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
News: 5/22/2007
- In California, prisons' budget to trump colleges'
- Locked Up and Ailing (California)
- Executioners need identity shielded, state says (Missouri)
- Shortage of corrections officers kills jail-space deal (Washington)
- Lack of medical bills dogs prisons (Ohio)
- Jails paying more for inmates' medical expenses (Indiana)
- Corrections' attitude to bribes concerning (New Zealand)
- Not my job to build prisons, says Balfour (UK)
- ‘Speed up new prisons’ (South Africa)
- Prisoner sex ban in WA jails (Australia)
- Trinidad prisons officers on work to rule (Trinidad and Tobago)
- All change at Department of Corrections (New Zealand)
- Prisons to undertake new role (Tanzania)
- A tale of 2 jails, and both unwanted (Pennsylvania)
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Churches asked to remember prisoners
We are nearing the end of the worldlwide Week of Prayer and Transformation (5/14-20) celebrated annualy by Prison Fellowship. For example, churches in the Cayman Islands were asked to pray for the men and women currently in prison, in that country and worldwide:
According to recent (worldwide) statistics, 67% of released prisoners will likely commit new crimes and return to prison within three years.(Cayman Net News)
Pastor Alson Ebanks, Chairman of PFCI, said, “These people will one day be part of our community, so the support and encouragement they receive from the community is crucial.”
The Week of Prayer and Transformation aims to remind both the church and community of their vital roles in restoring prisoners so they are productive members of society.
This week, Prison Fellowship Cayman Islands will be joining with local churches and community members to highlight the opportunities to help all those affected by crime, including prisoners, prisoners’ families, ex-prisoners, corrections and criminal justice officials, prison chaplains and victims of crime.
“We are pleased that the Cayman Islands will be a part of this worldwide effort,” said Pastor Ebanks
Local churches being encouraged to remember prisoners, their families and all those affected by crime during their weekend worship services.
There are 15 local churches that work actively with PFCI, and many others that minister to the prisoners on a weekly basis. PFCI hopes this participation will increase during the Week of Prayer and Transformation.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Rockland jail chaplain suspended without pay, faces charges
Rockland County (New York) Jail Chaplain Rev. Teresa Darden Clapp has been suspended without pay and charged with eight administrative infractions handing out anti-Muslim tracts to jail inmates. Suzan Clarke of the Lower Hudson Valley Journal News reports that Clapp was served notice of the charges yesterday:
Clapp was suspended with pay in April after she distributed religious cartoon booklets that condemned Islam and contained derogatory depictions and descriptions of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad.
The charges were the recommendation of the special attorneys hired by the county's Law Department to look into the issue.
The report and recommendations by Kevin J. Plunkett and Darius P. Chafizadeh of the firm Thacher, Proffitt and Wood in White Plains were submitted late Monday afternoon, Kralik said.
Citing privacy requirements in an ongoing personnel matter, Kralik said he could not divulge the specifics of the 10-page report on the advice of counsel.
However, he said, Clapp will face eight administrative charges: two charges of gross misconduct, one of official misconduct, three of misconduct and two of gross negligence. He also said he could not discuss what each charge entailed.
Clapp has until May 24 to answer the charges and will likely face an administrative hearing to determine her culpability within the next 30 days.
News: 5/18/2007
- Colorado prisons outpace Pakistan, Libya, China
- Drug arrests overload Franklin County Jail (New York)
- Corrections employees set to see pay increases (Indiana)
- Inmates in Limbo (Guatemala)
- Gay holding cells 'may fuel prejudices' (South Africa)
- Report: Judge to probe Shaik's hospital stay (South Africa)
- Balfour laments overcrowded prisons (South Africa)
- Tobago to get new prison
- Social workers could ease jail crunch (Kentucky)
- Building a nonlethal toothbrush takes some scientific know-how
Thursday, May 17, 2007
News: 5/17/2007
- Inside an Execution Chamber: A Virtual Tour of California's Future Death Row
- Judge gets Schwarzenegger's plan to fix prison overcrowding (California)
- Jail tax plan gets a chilly reception (Ohio)
- New prisons boss cites post-audit changes - wants $80 million for expansion (Utah)
- Police Investigating Second Inmate Death In Month (Florida)
- Overcrowded jails on agenda (Georgia)
- UN urges Liberia to outlaw trials by ordeal
- Advocates fight for prisoners' phone rights (Canada)
- Baffin inmates stressed by overcrowding: lawyer (Canada)
- Reducing re-offending through skills and jobs - Hope (UK)
- CIPD finds employers willing to recruit ex-offenders (UK)
- Governor approves expanded prison phone service (Texas)
- Maryland prisons chief leaves after less than a year in office
- Price tag to close juvenile center set at nearly $1M (Minnesota)
- HMP to host Correctional Summit (Bahamas)
- Camden County jail over budget (Florida)
- Community corrections beefs up home-monitoring systems (Alabama)
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
News: 5/16/2007
- New law aims to create balance in prison-release placement (Washington)
- Escapes prompt review of rules (Michigan)
- Feds looking to put prisoners in understaffed regional jails (Tennesee)
- Fresh probe into Shaik's 'preferential treatment' (South Africa)
- Booth to head new prisons commission (UK)
- Province to expand prisons (Canada)
- Police cells still used as jails (UK)
- Nigeria frees elderly prisoners before power shift (Nigeria)
- State Contracts to Put Inmates in Two Bridges (Nebraska)
- Revised jail budget tops $11 million mark (Kansas)
- Bill allowing early release of county inmates progresses (Michigan)
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
News: 5/15/2007
- State proposes new lethal injection procedures (California)
- Medical Contracting Company Loses Suit In Death Of Inmate (Florida)
- Youth prisons targeted (California)
- Sex scandal between deputies, prisoners prompted review (Utah)
- Overcrowding impedes prison health care reforms, receiver says (California)
- Prison population holding around 98% (Oklahoma)
- 'Purgatory' well-managed, audit finds (Utah)
- Responding to ACLU Demands, California Prisons Allow Same-Sex Access to Family Visitation
- Kept in the dark (India)
- CCA finishing 3rd prison in Eloy (Arizona)
- Victim Notification System in Indiana
- Group looking for new uses for closed prison (Ohio)
- New state program aims at slowing prison system's revolving door (Arizona)
- Corrections officials to accept bid for state prison land (Alabama)
Opinon: 5/15/2007
- Imprisonment of Juveniles: Harsh and Ineffective (Georgian Repbublic) - Nino Gelashvili and Mariam Khotenashvili, Daily Georgian News
- California Prisons, Post-Partisanship, and the Death of Democracy - Laura Magnani, California Progress Report
Monday, May 14, 2007
News: 5/14/2007 (AM)
- Prison crisis looming (Nevada)
- Pak children in jails vulnerable to sexual abuse (India)
- Australian Indigenous people over-represented in prisons: report (Australia)
- Make halfway house a priority: residents (Canada)
- Judges seek to retain sentencing powers in prisons crisis (UK)
- Double the prison population – MP (UK)
- Outrage Against Gay Partners–In–Crime Kept Together (India)
- York County may follow Hall's lead for jail reimbursements (New York)
- Berlin prison could be a boon for North Country (Vermont)
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Communion wine decision pleases Catholic Bishop
Catholic officials are pleased with a decision to once again allow communion wine in New Zealand prisons, according to a Catholic Communications press release. Recently, Department of Corrections had held that such wine was prohibited by the 2004 Corrections act, prohibiting the celebration of Mass in prisons.
Acting General Manager Public Prisons Service, Paul Monk said that the prohibition of Communion wine in prisons was an "unintentional consequence" of the Act, and that the consumption of a small amount of Communion wine would not affect the good order of a prison. "In fact it will support the invaluable role that the Church plays in the rehabilitative process of some of our prisoners," he said.(via Scoop)
Mr Monk confirmed the exemption will allow the consumption of Communion wine as soon as possible, while Corrections looks at how a more permanent amendment to the Act can be made.
On behalf of the Catholic Church's prison chaplaincy, Bishop Barry Jones of Christchurch, said that all the New Zealand bishops are delighted that this difficulty has been worked through. "It is good to know that the prison service realises that the Church is able to offer help to some prisoners in their rehabilitation programme," he said.
News: 5/13/2007 (Weekend)
- Dale County Jail Riot (Alabama)
- Paralyzed in prison (Pennsylvania)
- Drug charge filed against jail guard (US Federal)
- Juvenile Corrections Complaints (South Dakota)
- Alabama prison population near high after end of speedy paroles
- Prison overcrowding dilema: State prisons 98 percent capacity (Oklahoma)
- Union's fears on prisoner rail work (UK)
- Nicotine patches calm Watch House inmates (Australia)
- War-torn nations look to US prisons for model
- Hard time hard to shake: Habitual offenders take toll on Santa Cruz County Resources (California)
- Program attempts to steer mentally ill away from prison (New Hampshire)
- Prison project on ice (Alaska)
- Stockton correctional facility could see expansion in future (Kansas)
- Victim's Dad Helps Craft Bill Requiring Blended Sentences (Maine)
- New tour delves deeper into daily life at Alcatraz (California)
Opinion: 5/13/2007 (Weekend)
- Leaders Face Tough Choice With California Prison Overcrowding, Flunk The Test - Rich McKone, NewsBlaze
- So many jailed, and the key of compassion thrown away (Australia) - Peter Jensen, Sydney Morning Herald
- Too many people in state prisons (Alabama) - Ronald Fraser, Huntsville Times
- Better policies, not bigger prisons (Massachusetts) - editorial, MetroWest
Prisoner Free Exercise Cases Are Plentiful This Week
Professor Howard Friedman has posted this week's prisoner free exercise cases on his blog, Religion Clause.
Babies Behind Bars
Amanda Evans of WCIA News in Champaign (Illinois) reports on a new program at the Decatur women's prison. The star of this show is Mason, son of inmate Tami Cain:
He's the first baby born behind bars and he'll stay with mom until she walks free.
"I have an overwhelming urge to completely change my life and not come back here."
Tami Cain has been here for three months on drug charges. She fits the strict criteria to keep her baby because this is her first time in prison and she's set to go home in less than two years.
Those behind the live in nursery say it's giving these inmates the motivation to be good moms and good citizens.
Warden Mary Kepler says, "It gives them responsibility there isn't somebody else that's going to take the baby and look after it."
Baby Mason doesn't know he's in prison. He just knows he's with mom and Tami wants to keep it that way.
"The road that I was on was not the right one and I was gonna end up here over and over again. I've completely changed and having him helped even more."
For those who worry about babies in prison, the Illinois Department of c=Corrections says it reduces the number of re-offenders and helps the children stop the cycle.
A sort of homecoming
Mothers Day -- a difficult time for incarcerated women. Charles McCarthy of the Fresno Bee reports on the program that brings children and their mothers together at California prisons. Tammy Price is serving her time at Valley State Prison for Women (one of two women's prisons in Chowchilla) and her child was one of more than 400 who made the trip this time:
Price said Friday was just the second time in nine years that she has seen her son, Preston Price, 17. And she has three years remaining on her prison sentence.This program has recieved quite a bit of praise over recent years, and an additional service, Chowchilla Family Express, now makes monthly runs from a number of cities. It is operated by the Get on the Bus organization, and funded by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
"It's a blessing from God to be able to see him," said Price, 43.
The buses were part of a program -- called Get On the Bus -- that this year brought 650 youngsters aboard 36 buses to visit their moms behind the barbed wire in Valley State, the Central California Women's Facility and three other facilities in Southern California.
At Valley State, it was a long-awaited morning for 140 inmates as their children, many accompanied by grandparents, filed into the prison's visiting center.
Many of the visitors wore souvenir purple T-shirts, which also helped the prison staff identify them in the crowded center and on the lawn outside.
The Mother's Day bus program was founded by Sister Suzanne Jabro of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. She also founded a smaller Father's Day visitation last year. Both programs are a collaboration with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and both continue to grow.
When the first Mother's Day visitation bus left Southern California in 2000, seven children were aboard to visit their mothers behind prison walls. Last year, buses took 595 children -- plus sponsors -- from all over California.
Participants receive teddy bears, T-shirts and travel bags. Volunteers help make it work.
Friday, May 11, 2007
News: 5/11/2007 (PM)
- Schwarzenegger names experts to begin $7.8 billion prison reform (California)
- Warrant Issued For Woman In Connection With Inmate's Escape (New Hampshire)
- Jury: Sheriff, County Not Liable In Inmate's Death (Arizona)
- Shareholder proposal on CCA political donation disclosure fails
- New jail to be built next to existing one: minister (Canada)
- Cameroon: Our Prisons Should Be Reformatory Centres
- Program gives horses, inmates second chance (Indiana)
- Show-and-tell at the jail (Wisconsin)
- Prison dental hygiene (Texas)
- Exclusive Interview with a Corrections Officer at a Jail Similarto one that Paris Hilton will be in (part 2) (California)
Opinion: 5/11/2007
- Taking care of our own (California) - editorial, San Francisco Chronicle
- Curb HIV infection rates in Texas prisons - Joe Amon and Megan McLemore, Human Rights Watch, Austin American-Statesman
- What the US can learn from others (China) - editorial, People's Daily Online
- Juvenile Injustice (New York) - editorial, New York Times
News 5/11/2007 (AM)
- Commissioners inspect jail (Michigan)
- More than 400 immigrants fill state prisons (Oklahoma)
- Two instructors assaulted at youth center (Illinois)
- 27 lifers released (India)
- Prison Health Care Plan Looking Strong (Canada)
- New ministry is hit by jails crisis on its first day (UK)
- Prison worker gets cancer care award (UK)
- Prisoner Custody Officers will escort prisoners to and from courts (UK)
- DA: Don't free violent inmates (South Africa)
- Manufacturing firm saves itself £500000 by employing prisoners (UK)
- Brooklyn House of Detention Two Parts Jail, One Part Residential (New York)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
News: 5/10/2007 (PM)
- Az prisons chief looks warily at Indiana riot probe (Arizona)
- Ambitious plan for California's prisons released today
- Reporters subpoenaed in Fla. execution
- Judge concerned about state's handling of death penalty case (Wyoming)
- $145K for jail suicide (Florida)
- Unauthorized cell phones in Nevada prisons now a crime
- Jail administrator answers allegations made by inmate (Oklahoma)
- City-County Jail has generated $3.5 million since '02: Maier (Illinois)
- New Otago Corrections Facility opens (New Zealand)
- Obasanjo Seeks Reform for Prison, Police, Judiciary (Nigeria)
- Shocking disclosure at Prison Inquiry (Barbados)
- Prison service ruled out of running Scotland's new jail
- Numbers Crunchers: Data shows programs designed to keep inmates on right path working (Massachusetts)
- County wants state parolees out of Dutchess jail (New York)
- Florida Jail Guard Facing Felony Bribery Charges
Restorative Justice advocate promotes forgiveness and friendship
The Kootenay Advertiser's KERSTIN RENNER reports on a recent presentation by Katy Hutchison of Victoria, who shared the story of the brutal murder of her first husband and her way of finding a gift in that tragedy.
"It's about building safe communities," Hutchison told the audience. "It's about justice." Hutchison talked about something that might be unbelievable for most people: forgiving the man who killed your husband. Not only has Hutchison forgiven, in fact, she has invited Ryan Aldridge to share in her presentation about the importance of choices, responsibility and justice.
Together, they paint a very clear picture not only of what happened on New Year's Eve 1997, but also what led to the tragedy and how both of them - victim and offender - have worked through the healing process together.
It started with first, carefully planned meetings and has ended in a presentation the two are touring across the country, to schools and communities to share the message that restorative justice - when victims and offenders get together in a setting outside of the courts - can lead to healing and even friendship.
When offenders face their victims
Keith Vass writes about the pioneering Nova Scotia restorative justice program, in the Halifax Daily News. He describes a case where a young woman and the owner of property she damaged work out how she can make amends for what she has done, once she has personally taken responsibility for the act and offered apology to the person harmed.
People who work in the program say it can turn around troubled kids, who can atone for what they've done and be left, in many cases, without the stigma of a criminal record. But they warn that growing caseloads - and especially increasing use of the program for serious crimes - may start to detract from the program's promise.
In 2005-06, 668 cases were referred to restorative justice in Halifax Regional Municipality. Province-wide there were 1,619 referrals that year.
The program is credited for a drastic drop in the number of youth cases before Nova Scotia's courts. In 1998, the year before the program was launched, 2,569 youth cases were tried in the province. By 2003 the number was down to 1,706.
Nova Scotia was the first province to create a province-wide restorative justice program for young offenders. It's become a model for initiatives in other parts of Canada and around the world.
When a case is referred to restorative justice, it's handed to one of nine regional community-justice agencies to arrange meetings between offenders and victims. Victims are given the chance to describe how the crime has affected them and to work out how the offender can repair the harm.
The Community Justice Society handles referrals in Halifax. Executive director Yvonne Atwell says 88 per cent of young offenders who go through its program complete the agreements made with their victims.Victims and offenders can reach any agreement they see fit, but written apologies and community service are the most common options. Offenders are also often asked to make restitution payments or charitable donations.
If offenders live up to the agreement, charges will be dropped. If they don't, they'll find themselves back in court facing prosecution.
News: 5/10/2007 (AM)
- Crist ready for executions to resume (Florida)
- DOC alters procedure for lethal injections (Florida)
- Tennessee prisons defend pizza decision
- Former staffers doubt abuse claims (Oregon)
- Official: Mentally ill in Jails Getting Help Faster (Florida)
- Man in early jail release involved in crash (Florida)
- What about Roberto? (California)
- Inmate costs over budget (Illinois)
- US BOP Entitled To End Boot Camp Program
- New prisons not sustainable (New Zealand)
- Judges are told to cut jail terms for thieves (UK)
- Lord Falconer: MoJ will provide 'better outcomes' for justice (UK)
- Conservatives: MoJ proposals an 'insult to victims' (UK)
- Corrections to appeal against order to reinstate prison officer (New Zealand)
- 'Our justice system faces several crises' (South Africa)
- State rescinds deal for private prison (Colorado)
- Behind bars (Nevada)
- Bellevue delays vote on residency for sex offenders (Wisconsin)
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Rockland county jail to hire imam following chaplain's distribution of anti-Islam tracts
Suzan Clarke of the Lower Hudson Journal News continues her coverage of accusations that Rockland County Jail Chaplain Teresa Darden Clapp distributed tracts offensive to Muslim prisoners. It was announced that an Islamic cleric, or imam, will be hired to serve at the jail:
The imam would work one day per week, and additionally as needed for special cases. Those are the same terms governing the way a rabbi and a priest are currently contracted to work at the jail, Undersheriff Thomas Guthrie said today.
Teresa Darden Clapp, an ordained Christian minister and the jail's chaplain, was suspended last month for passing out religious cartoon booklets that condemned Islam and contained derogatory depictions and descriptions of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad.
Since the incident, local Muslims have met with jail officials to discuss their concerns about the tract incident. They also alleged that when they tried to come to the jail to minister to inmates, they were treated unfairly by Clapp.
The county has ordered an independent investigation into Clapp's actions.
Jail officials ordered the tracts removed when the learned of the incident through an inmate's complaints.
News: 5/8/2007 (AM)
- Death Chamber: Double The Cost (California)
- TYC reform legislation moves to conference committee (Texas)
- A new approach to help young offenders (California) - part 2
- Assembly set to vote on bills affecting the hiring of felons (Wisconsin)
- Prison warden resigns (Pennsylvania)
- Home Office prepares for split (UK)
- Man 'with brain' gets chance to use it (New Zealand)
- Archive Will Document Life In NI Prisons (UK)
- Commissioners hear report about STAR program court (Texas)
- Cornell 'positioned for growth' after flat quarter
- Consultant: Lee jail population increased in 2006 (Florida)
- On Navajo Nation, dwindling jail space, poor conditions prompt calls for change
- Township: Prison population of 2000 should not be expanded (Pennsylvania)
- IRCC one of two prisons which will no longer be served by ICC teachers (Illinois)
- Candidates share views on alternative sentencing (Kentucky)
- Playboy spread reignites Pennsylvania prison debate
- How bad is jail? See for yourself (Wisconsin)
- Interview with a Corrections Officer at a Jail Similar to Where Paris Hilton Will Do Time (California)
Monday, May 7, 2007
News: 5/7/2007 (PM)
- Special Report: Dying Behind Bars (Michigan)
- Number of Sex Offenders Rising in Pasco (Washington)
- Manhunt Continues for Suspects in CMC's Prison Guard Attack (California)
- guard rescued inmates come to the aid of a corrections officer who was attacked by prisoner (Virginia)
- Prisons plan 'vetoed by Blair' (UK)
- Judges 'may be forced into lighter sentences' (UK)
- Officer says he had no idea what caused the uprising (Barbados)
- Prison art auction raises more than $30000 for at-risk families (New Zealand)
- Youths in adult jails increase (UK)
- 'Ghost' child prisoners languish in RP jails - group (Philippines)
- Bill Could Shorten Some Drug Dealers' Prison Time (Maryland)
- Delegate miffed by the leak of prison visit (West Virginia)
- Residents Upset Over Plan to Bring In Sex Offenders (Pennsylvania)
- Paint can full of pot sent to inmate (South Carolina)
- Warden Killed More Than 130 Years Ago Finally Gets a Headstone (Utah)
Survivors (not victims) of crime share struggles at special forum
Black Press reporter Rochelle Baker writes of a recent public forum in Chilliwack (Canada) marking National Victims of Crime Awareness Week. The session featured a variety of presentations, including Jean Cusworth whose 19-year-old daughter Jennifer was murdered Oct. 16, 1993 and the case remains unsolved.
Although she doesn’t know if the offender ever read the letters, and they were painful to write, some good came out of them.
They brought other estranged families together, and on one occasion police read them to a offender who then confessed to the murder of a 16-year-old girl and led investigators to the body.
Cusworth said survivors of crime need to be their own advocates.
As the result of active involvement in their daughter’s case, the Cusworths went onto work with the RCMP to provide a victim/survivor perspective to their work and to assist other victims of crime.
While reading her letters, when the grief overwhelmed her, Cusworth had panelist Glenn Fleet continue reading them for her.
Flett, is an offender who spent 25 years behind bars after shooting a manager to death during a robbery at Hudson’s Bay in Toronto.
In 1982 he became a Christian and began to work with other offenders while in jail.
Committed to the concept of restorative justice with it’s goals of empowering both victims, rehabilitating offenders and a safer community, Flett went on to found LINC, Long-Term Inmates Now in the Community.
Flett said it’s important for survivors and offenders to work together because homicide impacts the whole community.
“LINC wasn’t created just for prisoners, but to connect people. I really believe offenders like myself want to be included and want to change given the opportunity. I’m not unique, but I was given unique opportunities.”
Opinion: 5/7/2007
- Mental health system failing (Indiana) - Kathleen Bayes, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
- Coming to a neighborhood near you (California) - editorial, Orange County Register
- Preventing the Ministry of Justice causing injustice (UK) - David Pannick, Times Online
- Don't let Utah's jails evolve into discount motel (Utah) - Jay Evenson, Deseret News
- State panel says drug courts work (New Jersey) - Lawrence Aaron, NorthJersey.com
- Hearing for AB 1539 - Sick and Dying Prisoners Needs a Crowd (California) - B. Cayenne Bird, American Chronicle
- America should believe in a second chance (Louisiana) - Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), Louisiana Weekly
News: 5/7/2007 (AM)
- Our Violent Youth Prisons (California) - Part 1
- Escaped inmates back in custody (North Carolina)
- MOVING NJ'S SEX OFFENDERS: Go someplace else
- Runner Supports Bill for More Prison Beds (California)
- 'Culture change' in works at prisons (Utah)
- Saudi Arabia pardons up to 11000 prisoners
- Two SF County jail lawsuits settled (New Mexico)
- Corrections Corp of America "overweight," target price raised
- Reforms steer some people into prison, jail (Wisconsin)
- Drug program works for state, offenders (Indiana)
- Prison won't be done for 3 years (US Federal)
- Inmates prosper, learn in prison industry (Oklahoma)
- Veterans program may lose funding (Kentucky)
- Mentally ill and homeless: City officers on front line call it societal problem (New Hanpshire)
Sunday, May 6, 2007
News: 5/6/2007 (Weekend)
- Former TYC official faced allegations of misconduct years earlier (Texas)
- Judge Denies Health Plan for Inmates (Michigan)
- Jury Awards Family Of Dead Inmate $2.75 Million (Michigan)
- County jails seen as dangerously crowded (Massachusetts)
- Ways and Means approves emergency prison funding (Nevada)
- Mentally ill filling the jails (New Hampshire)
- Wyoming struggles with understaffed prison
- E. Idaho women inmates disciplined for drug plot
- I know what ails jails, says CM (India)
- Portfolio committee to visit West Cape prisons (South Africa)
- Britain mulls early release for prisoners
- Falconer denies reports of early release for thousands of prisoners (UK)
- TT prisons in bad state (Trinidad and Tobago)
- Bihar’s old, ailing jailbirds to be set free (India)
- BuCor sends more security men to Davao penal farm (Phillipines)
- Jail inmates to perform Tagore’s Tasher Desh (India)
- Corrections officials eye new location for proposed prison (Virginia)
- Idaho Prison Workers Recognized
Friday, May 4, 2007
April-May prisoner free exercise cases
Professor Howard Friedman has posted his always useful digest of recent prisoner free exercise cases.
U.S. prisons groom dogs for Iraq war veterans
Jason Szep of Reuters tells us about Edward Parent and Chuck -- Parent is a prison inmate and Chuck is a Labrador retriever he is training to be a service dog for disabled U.S. veterans:
"The Iraq war is going to change the whole demographics of the
disabled population in this country," said Sheila O'Brien, executive director of the National Education for Assistance Dog Service (NEADS), which has trained dogs to assist people who are deaf or physically disabled since 1976.
O'Brien tapped the nation's swelling prison population for help since 1998, after some persuading by then Massachusetts prison commissioner Michael Maloney. She's now convinced inmates can train dogs like professionals and wants to build on the program's 10 prisons by adding three more.
"The prison program just about cuts the time needed for formal training in half." she said.
The number of young, physically disabled U.S. veterans is surging. Already, at least 180,000 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have applied for disability benefits. O'Brien reckons thousands are wounded badly enough to need assistance.
"We are gearing up to meet that need and one way we are doing that is by doubling the number of puppies that we are placing in prison," she said.
Inmates stay with the dogs 24 hours a day for about a year, meeting with an expert trainer from NEADS once a week and even brushing their puppy's teeth at night, before the dogs enter two months of more advanced training with professionals.
"Chuck is like my son. I treat him as that," said Parent, who is serving a 10-year sentence at the John J. Moran medium security prison in Rhode Island for killing a teenage woman with his car while driving under the influence of alcohol.
"I protect him from other dogs. Other inmates. From himself. I take care of him just as I would my child. I feed him. I bathe him. Everything," he said. "What it's done for me is unbelievable."
Opinon: 5/4/2007
- As We See It: Prison deal only a start (California) - editorial, Santa Cruz Sentinel
- Stealth giveaway (Florida) - editorial, Bradenton Herald
- GATHERING PLACE (Hawaii)
- Shut Down Juvenile Centers (California) Tommi Avicolli Mecca, BeyondChron
- Who is Keeping Tabs on Bushite Profiteering Prison Corporations? - Pete Bagnolo, OpEdNews
News: 5/4/2007 (AM)
- High court stays scheduled Tuesday execution of Moore (Nebraska)
- Alabama inmate executed
- Cornell Companies (CRN) Announces Contract Award From Arizona Department of Corrections
- Gem County jailers head to District Court (Idaho)
- ICC will stop offering classes to two prisons (Illinois)
- Haiti: Prison Reform and the Rule of Law
- Watchdog criticizes ailing jails (Greece)
- Prisons Officers send SOS (Trinidad and Tobago)
- Rare illness drove tab to $5.1 million (Ohio)
- OC patients to get free surgeries (California)
- Prison bill moves to next House vote (Colorado)
- Small-time recidivists, big costs (North Carolina)
- Charleston facility ready to take more inmates (Maine)
- Measure would affect prison stays (Oregon)
- Sheriff Reverses ICE Opposition (Virginia)
- Jail chief out; sheriff finds replacement (Washington)
Thursday, May 3, 2007
News: 5/3/2007 (PM)
- Arizona Corrections Dept. reveals New Castle findings (Indiana)
- Governor Seeks Solution to Overcrowded Prisons (Nevada)
- Schwarzenegger signs bill to relieve prison crowding (California)
- State to release 2000 fewer prisoners than planned (Michigan)
- Prisons busting out in Delaware
- NIC: Jail conditions ‘awful' (Wisconsin)
- Inmate hangs himself in jail (New York)
- 12000 foreigners in UK jails
- Restorative justice schemes backed (UK)
- Legal Aids Council saves two prison inmates (Nigeria)
- Raising the bar for inmates (Massachusetts)
High hopes for cooperative vegetable patch
Mike Foynes of the Cheboygan Tribume (Michigan) reports that Cheboygan County Sheriff Dale Clermont hopes that a new project will provide both an outlet for prisoners, and food for the needy. Using a plot of land behind a county office building, jail inmates will be able to earn time off their sentences by growing vegetables:
According to Clarmont, jail inmates and Cheboygan County Commissioners have been receptive to the idea.The primary recipient for the food is the community food bank operated by St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Cheboygan.
“There will be fresh vegetables for the needy in our community as a result of this work,” he declared. “We'll try potatoes, onions, beets, corn, tomatoes, the whole gamut. The MSU Extension Office will advise us on what will work best for us. The vegetables will be donated to non-profit charities, primarily the Food Pantry.”
Deputy Kelsey Kennedy donated equipment and labor to start the project by turning over the soil at the site Tuesday.
“We've probably got a quarter of an acre here ready to go,” Clarmont said. “That's a pretty good-sized garden.”
News: 5/3/2007 (AM)
- Two federal judges hold key to California prison reform (California)
- Referee to make recommendation on inmate case (Oklahoma)
- Prison officer charged with murdering inmate (Guyana)
- £1M-A-DAY JAILS SCANDAL (UK)
- Inquest into boy's suicide hears of overcrowding at secure unit (UK)
- Drugs in prison on the increase (UK)
- Campaigners optimistic over plans for women in prison (UK)
- McDowell addresses Prison Officers conference in Sligo (Ireland)
- Nigeria: Legal Aid Boss Decries Prison Congestion
- Inmates on hunger in Gobustan jail can be held accountable (Azerbaijan)
- Juvenile facility runs out of room (Wyoming)
- Counties board 46 state prison system inmates (Maine)
- SAFETY IN PRISONS (New Jersey)
- Prison health committee bill heads to House (Maryland)
- Mendota to get $115m to finish federal prison (California)
- Prison program makes good on training dogs for adoption (Colorado)
- Corrections Corporation of America Announces 2007 First Quarter Financial Results
- Prison will need help with funding (Mississippi)
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
'Mother Teresa of Prisons' Passes Away
Sister Carmelita of St. Anne's Congregation of Chennai, also known as the Mother Teresa of Prisons for her work among the prisoners, died May 1, aged 73 years after a prolonged battle with cancer. The funeral service will take place May 3.(SAR News)
Having served as headmistress in schools run by her congregation in different states across the country, Sister Carmelita had taken up prison ministry in Bangalore after her retirement. An indefatigable champion for prisoners' rights, the Catholic nun arranged lawyers to fight cases of under-trials and help them get parole. She was also involved in the rehabilitation and counseling of prisoners.
Her work included "just listening to the prisoners problems", counseling them, informing the family members about the progress and status of various cases, arranging for lawyers and providing stationeries and toiletries to the jail inmates.In an interview to SAR News last year, Sister Carmelita had said: "When we started my prison mission work, we used to visit the prison daily between 3p.m. and 5p.m. I felt the duration was very short to do anything. It's then that I decided to spend a full day in the prison. The silent pangs of the prisoners made me to take up this ministry."
"Some prisoners tell me that if people like me don't visit them, they would go mad," Sister Carmelita had told SAR News. During her ministry, the nun helped arrange the release of nearly 1200 prisoners.
News: 5/2/2007 (AM)
- A plea for help for Coalinga prison (California)
- Inmate who had seizures dies in lockup (Illinois)
- Short notice triggered riot (Indiana)
- Bill to alleviate local jail overcrowding clears House (Texas)
- State drops surgeon used for lethal injection (Missouri)
- Wanted: Indispensable, Disposable Workers (Colorado)
- Teen sex offender bill goes to governor’s desk (Arizona)
- Sweeney says sex offenders are coming to South Woods (New Jersey)
- Board named to consider sex offender residency in Green Bay (Wisconsin)
- Jails awash with drugs, says Opposition (Australia)
- Guards back in jail (Canada)
- McDowell orders inquiry into prisoner's call to radio show (Ireland)
- Women's prison will get day in court (Canada)
- Package lobbed over wall ignited jailhouse melee (Canada)
- Prisoners Could Get More Credit for Good Behavior (Kansas)
- Guards armed with new riot gear (Pennsylvania)
- Jail expansion still top council priority (South Carolina)
- Prison closer to getting water (Mississippi)
- Sing Sing, dance, dance (New York)
Opinion
- Prison deal won't do the job (California) - editorial, North County Times
- Will Schwarzenegger's new death chamber actually help inmates? (California) - Sara Cantania, Salon
- Housing, job limits can’t keep predatory sex offenders away (Alabama) - editorial, Tuscaloosa News
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
News:5/1/2007 (PM)
- Prison inmate found hanged (Pennsylvania)
- Senator Tries To Halt Execution (Nebraska)
- Tennessee Governor Resumes Executions Following Review
- TYC abuse lingered after revelation (Texas)
- Patrick aide says state jails overcrowded, conditions a 'travesty' (Massachusetts)
- State prison reform urged (Pennsylvania)
- Ex-warden wins lawsuit against Corrections Department officials (South Carolina)
- Overflowing prisons set to explode (New Zealand)
- Punjab CM wants jails to be schools for reform (India)
- Nigerian Prisons Service and an NGO set up After Care Centre
- La Tuna Celebrates 75th Year (US Federal)
- Jail aims to eliminate ‘blind spots’ (Pennsylvania)
- Home Sweet Home (Florida)
- Former Fayette County prison official must repay $6000 (Pennsylvania)
- Collier sheriff requests 6 percent budget increase (Florida)
Opinion: 5/1/2007
- LA Times Editorial: California's prison cop-out
- Prison deal not a renaissance (California) - Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee
- Prison policies fail prisoners (US Federal) - Michelle Santos, Lompoc Record
- Private prisons perfect fit for fearful future (Indiana) - Primus Mootry, Anderson Herald Bulletin
H/T to Monterey County Herald
Court: N.H. state prison inmate should get kosher diet
AP's Katherine Webster reports that a federal judge has ruled that New Hampshire prison inmate Albert Kuperman, an Orthodox Jew, must be given kosher food, even if he has been caught with non-kosher foods:
Kuperman's lawyers said revoking his kosher diet violated his First Amendment right to practice religion, and U.S. Magistrate Judge James Muirhead agreed.
"If a diabetic inmate were placed on a medically appropriate diet and was then caught purchasing a candy bar from the canteen, the prison would not be justified in removing the inmate from his medical diet and forcing him to eat a high sugar diet for six months for the violation," Muirhead wrote. "Similarly, an inmate eating an extra helping or unauthorized item isn't restricted to bread and water for six months."
Kuperman signed a form acknowledging that the punishment for eating non-kosher food would be a six-month suspension of his kosher diet, but Kuperman testified at a hearing that he bought meat from the canteen for another inmate who was 'strong-arming' him. Kuperman said he did not eat it.
The magistrate's report also said Kuperman was accused of eating non-kosher chicken from the prison kitchen.
Muirhead agreed with Kuperman's lawyer, who argued it served no legitimate security purpose to punish a sincerely religious inmate by barring an essential religious practice.
"Removing an orthodox Jew from a kosher diet serves, religiously speaking, to distance an inmate from his own spirituality and religious practice," Muirhead wrote. "Such a move has a direct negative impact on the inmate's ability to better himself or maintain himself spiritually."
Salem priest to face accusers at trial
Alan Gustafson of the Salem Statesman Journal (Oregon) reports on lawsuits charging that a Catholic priest sexually abused boys while a juvenile corrections chaplain. Fr. Michael Sprauer denies all such allegations:
The priest allegedly molested the boys in segregation cells, his chaplain's office, in a storage closet and in a car that he drove to transport one youth to his sister's funeral.
Sprauer has denied all of the sexual-abuse accusations through his attorney and in a videotaped deposition.
To loyal parishioners, he remains a trusted man of God. Some think the well-known priest is being railroaded by ex-convicts seeking to cash in on bogus allegations.
"They've got nothing to lose and everything to gain," said Kevin Mannix, a former state legislator and long-time parishioner at St. Joseph Church in Salem, where Sprauer remains on the staff as a parochial vicar, assisting the Rev. James Coleman.
Mannix said he has known Sprauer for 20 years. He described him as "quiet, intelligent, diligent and completely dedicated to ministry."
"Yes, I think he's being falsely accused," Mannix said. "The best way to see this resolved is through a fair trial."
By law, it's too late for any criminal investigation or possible prosecution of the sex-abuse allegations against Sprauer. The statute of limitations expired long ago.
But Oregon law allows victims of sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits as long as three years after discovering the impact of abuse on their lives. In some cases, that can mean years, or decades, later.
Funds still needed for jail chapel
Rhonda Pickett of the Mobile Press Register writes that Mobile Couinty Metro Jail Chaplain Charles Fail is trying to raise the $160,000 needed to renovate exisiting space into a chapel for inmates:
Right now the chaplains and the volunteers who work with the jail's ministry have to share space with the jail's maintenance department, which is slated to eventually take over the office area the chaplains now occupy, Fail said.
Those plans show the nearly 2,600-square-foot chapel would include an open seating area with a raised section in the front, an inmate restroom, an office for visiting ministers, office space for the three staff chaplains, a room for volunteers with a kitchenette and a storage closet. There will be two main entrances to the chapel, the plans show.
"We've got to have space for more services," Fail said. "There are several areas of the jail that we haven't gotten to yet to provide religious services. We need the chapel. The whole Mobile community needs the chapel."
News: 5/1/2007 (AM)
- Santa Ana lawmaker contributes to prison reform effort (California)
- Mother sues in death of son in county jail (California)
- 2 say TYC was warned (Texas)
- Huron man has date with death (Ohio)
- State Changes Inmate Tracking System (Massachusetts)
- Legislation would amend release rules to ease jail crowding (Michigan)
- Georgia joins talk on mentally ill inmates
- O'Connor admits Corrections was wrong (New Zealand)
- Pittsford considers siting new prison (Vermont)
- Cornell Completes Purchase of Colorado Women's Facility
- The GEO Group Reports First Quarter 2007 Results
- Shared big jail under study (South Carolina)
- Tampa firm taps rising demand for tracking bracelets (Florida)
- Inmates take swipe at toilet paper cuts (New York)