Yes you read this correctly, Barrett Brown is facing 100 YEARS in prison for sharing a link, hiding his laptop, and expressing his First Amendment right to free speech. Is this right? Is this JUSTICE? I think not….the Government is clearly afraid of those of who share information and knowledge. Be afraid, Be very afraid……we are NOT Terrorists!!!
By Sam Stanton and Denny Walsh
Three weeks after Gov. Jerry Brown declared the state’s prison overcrowding crisis over, a court of three federal judges said Tuesday that state officials can have six more months to reduce the inmate population to the previously ordered level.
The judges noted that California officials have said they cannot meet the court’s June 30 deadline for reducing its population to 137.5 percent of design capacity, but the officials believe they can hit that mark by Dec. 31.
“Accordingly, this court modifies the June 30, 2011, order by granting defendants a six-month extension in which to comply with its terms and provisions,” said the order from 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt, U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton of Sacramento and U.S. District Judge Thelton E. Henderson of San Francisco.
Karlton and Henderson have overseen years of litigation aimed at bringing the level of mental and medical health care for inmates up to constitutional standards. Following a trial, the three-judge court appointed by the 9th Circuit’s chief judge ruled that the crowded conditions of the state’s 33 adult prisons were the primary reason for the unconstitutional care.
Prisoners were jammed into areas of the prisons not designed for housing. At some points, the number of inmates ballooned to double the designed capacity, and the U.S. Supreme Court endorsed the three-judge court’s order.
Since the governor instituted his so-called realignment program a year ago to divert nonviolent, nonserious offenders to county jurisdictions, the state has made progress cutting the prison population, but Brown said he cannot release additional inmates without putting the public at risk.
Corrections officials indicated they are pleased with Tuesday’s order but are still not satisfied.
“We are pleased the court recognized that releasing thousands of inmates to reach the arbitrary population cap by June would have jeopardized public safety,” the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement. “However, we believe the court should go further and terminate the population cap entirely, as CDCR is providing a constitutional level of health care at current population levels.
“It’s important to point out that the state has reduced the prison population by more than 43,000 inmates since 2006, and has spent billions of dollars to improve the delivery of care to inmates.”
It said even the December deadline is “an arbitrary number based on ‘original design capacity’ (that) would come at great risk to public safety or significant taxpayer expense.”
The federal court wants the prison population cut by the end of the year to about 110,000 inmates, down from about 119,000 currently. The design capacity of the state’s 33 adult prisons is about 80,000.
The court’s order noted that Brown’s administration declared earlier this month that “there are no ongoing systemwide constitutional violations in medical and mental health care,” and the state filed motions seeking to end oversight by the federal judges.
Michael Bien, lead attorney for the inmates, said Tuesday that “the order’s message is the judges are going to hold the state to the numbers. Corrections got an extension, but it didn’t get anything else. The question is still ‘Are they going to comply?’ “
Brown and his prison officials “are still saying everything is just fine and the courts should go away and leave us alone,” Bien said. “They claim the courts have no more jurisdiction since the constitutional standard has been met.
“It’s one thing to say that, it’s another to prove it,” he declared. “They have a long way to go to do that. They’ve made these claims before, but they’ve never been able to back them up.”
Throughout the rest of this year, he said, the state’s all-out push to rid itself of court supervision will be hotly contested.
Karlton has presided for more than 20 years over a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all seriously mentally ill inmates. The Brown administration has filed a motion to dismiss that suit and a motion to vacate the three-judge court’s ruling on population reduction. It has not yet filed a similar motion in Henderson’s court seeking to do away with the class action on behalf of all medically ill inmates over which he presides.
Karlton has scheduled oral arguments for March 27 on the motion to wipe out the suit on behalf of mental patients in the prisons.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/ 30/5150765/us-judges-give- california-six.html#storylink= cpy
Like that is a surprise. Anyone who has had the misfortune dealing with CDCr knows how they outright lie, cover up and skirt any issues.
The following article angers me to no end. We KNOW they are lying. With an annual budget of approximately 10 BILLION dollars, why ration tampons for the women? Seriously…women menstruate. Making tampons a NEED, not a want. There is absolutely NO REASON to not give the women an adequate supply of a necessity. Withholding tampons is abuse and miss use of ‘power’. Please continue to make calls and send emails on behalf of the women. We are their voices.
call the prison and demand to know what the hell is going on (559) 665-5531 and call Sacramento Ombudsman Office (916-445-1773) email Sara.Malone@cdcr.ca.gov
CHOWCHILLA — As concerns over housing conditions at the Central California Women’s Facility outside town draw protest, officials on Monday continued to deny claims that the prison is too packed.
After a Saturday protest by hundreds of prison rights activists outside the facility, corrections officials invited the media to tour the prison Monday.
“In my opinion, there’s no overcrowding,” said Bart Fortner, CCWF spokesman, while leading the tour. “We’re still keeping within the allotted amount of inmates within one cell that’s allowed by the state fire marshal.”
Tracy Smith, 35, an inmate at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, says living with multiple people in the prison’s 348-square-foot rooms leaves everyone ‘miserable.’ One of her roommates says things are ‘getting out of hand.’
Several years ago, the prison was at nearly 200 percent of design capacity, housing inmates in gyms and day rooms, said Travis Wright, administrative assistant to the warden. “We’d have 30-some inmates living here with one bathroom. That happened at all the prisons.”
Then, in October 2011, the state rolled out its realignment plan under pressure from federal authorities. Many offenders were sent to county jails rather than state prison, and the CCWF’s population declined.
However, officials recently converted Valley State Prison, across the street, into a men’s facility, sending hundreds of women to the CCWF and significantly increasing its population.
Inmate Alicia Cruz, 26, who’s served eight years at the CCWF, said she remembers when conditions were a “disaster” several years ago.
“Right now,” she said, “it’s a little bit chaotic, not too extreme, but it’s getting out of hand.”
As of January, the CCWF was the most crowded in the state’s 33-facility system with roughly 3,700 inmates in a prison built for 2,004 — about 187 percent of design capacity, according to corrections officials.
Like almost all inmates at the women’s prison, Cruz sleeps in a 348-square-foot room, which includes a sink, a shower and a toilet. The room has four bunk beds.
One of the beds is empty, so she sleeps with six other people in what she calls a “ridiculous” situation. “It effects us mentally.”
Her roommate Tracy Smith, 35, who has served more than four years, echoed the concern: “We don’t have room to do nothing. Miserable, you’re being suffocated. It makes you irritable.”
Just outside the dormitory is a 5,632-square-foot day room with televisions. The women also can go walking in a large yard outside the housing unit.
But they are concerned about access to vocational programs and medical care.
Read more here: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2013/01/29/2785254/officials-insist-inmates-needs.html
anonymous (Photo credit: the|G|™)
Yes, they sure did. The hacktivist collective Anonymous wreaked havoc on the United States Sentencing Commission. The Op named “Operation Last Resort” was launched to avenge the death of Aaron Swartz, a well-known 26-year-old web activist and programmer. Swartz committed suicide in his Brooklyn apartment two weeks ago, shortly after being arrested for downloading numerous documents from JSTOR.
Anonymous hacktivists who have been ‘caught’ are facing overly harsh charges that could result in very LONG prison sentences for NON VIOLENT crimes. You can read more about those who are being victimized by our government at FreeAnons.org
“We are not getting Tampons, we were given a handful for a room of 8 women for a whole month. They have cut our meals in 1/2 and we no longer get meat, we are given only Soy. Women are going hungry. There are to many packed in too small of spaces and women are now starting to get into fights. Women are being locked in isolation. We are not getting our mail. Boxes are not being delivered. There are no jobs nor classes for us that were transferred over from VSPW. We are told the waiting lists are very long. The ones that do have jobs are only earning 8 Cents an hour for very long, hard shifts. We are also not getting cleaning supplies”.
They ask please that advocates and Media to let people know they need help ASAP!
Central California Women’s Facility – Mission StatementThe primary mission of the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) is to process, rehabilitate, and incarcerate California’s female offenders in a secure, safe, disciplined and ethical institutional setting.
|
|---|
WOW!! Deaf In Prison nominated us for a Reality Blog Award- we are very honored, to say the least! Although I dont write many of my own articles ( copy and paste Queen here!!) my heart is focused on changing Criminal Justice as we now know it. It’s my passion and has been for many years. I fully believe that change will happen-the more that become aware of how our system functions and fails, the more that become outraged. That outrage will be the catalyst for change. This blog serves to educate all on the good, the bad and the very UGLY of this system that is consistently failing not only those who are involved/enmeshed in it-but ALL of US.
1. If you could change something what would you change?
Answer: There are many things that I want to change, that need to be changed- my answer is the criminal justice system.
2. If you could repeat an age, what age would it be?
Answer: I dont want to repeat any previous ages/stages- everything that I have gone through, experienced has brought to me to where I am today.
3. What really scares you?
Answer: our Government and Apathy ( and spiders!!)
4. What one dream have you not completed yet and do you think you will be able to complete it?
Answer: A community outreach project for those disenfranchised by the system- and yes, this will be completed!
5. If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be?
Answer: no one else….I love me!
CHOWCHILLA — Hundreds of people led by more than a dozen advocacy groups plan to converge on Chowchilla on Saturday to protest overcrowding at the Central California Women’s Facility.
At more than 180 percent of design capacity, the women’s prison is the most crowed facility in California, according to data from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
“It’s gender discrimination,” said Adrienne Roberts, campaign coordinator with California Coalition for Women Prisoners.
The coalition said it has received hundreds of letters from people inside the prison describing a lack of basic medical care, as well as limited access to job programs and legal resources.
“The system is not working,” Roberts said. “People are living in the most inhumane and insufferable conditions.”
The protest is scheduled for 3 p.m. in front of Valley State Prison outside Chowchilla.
Prison officials didn’t return calls seeking comment by deadline.
Hundreds of female inmates were transferred to the prison after the formerly named Valley State Prison for Women was recently converted to a men’s facility to ease prison crowding under a federal court order.
“It’s a total paradox to be reducing the prison population in California and as a result CCWF is now the most overcrowded prison,” Roberts said.
Organizers of the rally demand the state release prisoners, such as elderly, terminally ill and permanently incapacitated inmates, to ease Chowchilla’s crammed women’s facility.
A number of early-release programs designed by the state could be used to safely reduce the prison population, Roberts said.
“This is not something that we have not come up with. These are programs that the Department of Corrections is simply not implementing,” Roberts said. “If they were, it’s estimated that 4,000 people would be released.”
Recently state officials tried unsuccessfully to convince a federal three-judge panel to allow the prison system to operate under its current conditions.
The governor and top prison officials argued that improvements to medical facilities and the reduction in inmate population had adequately addressed crowding concerns.
The judges have yet to rule on the issue, and are expected to make their decision in the next three months.
However, the judges maintained their stance that the state must reduce its prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity by June 26. The population cap does not refer to individual facilities, but to the system’s 33 adult prisons collectively.
California’s prison system stands at about 150 percent of design capacity, according to corrections officials.
Read more here
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is converting Valley State Prison for Women into a men’s prison in response to a U.S. Supreme Court order to reduce overcrowding. Instead of releasing people, they are squeezing over 1,000 women and transgender people into the two remaining women’s prisons. This has aggravated overcrowding (bringing Central California Women’s Facility’s population dangerously close to 4000), created dangerous conditions and health care is getting much worse. What’s more, they have added yet another men’s prison to their inhumane system.
COME SHOW SUPPORT FOR ALL PEOPLE LOCKED UP IN CHOWCHILLA’S PRISONS!
TELL THE FEDERAL JUDGES OVERCROWDING MUST STOP NOW!
BRING OUR LOVED ONES HOME!
Rides available by bus and carpool. Contact chowchilla.rally@gmail.com or 415-255-7036 x 314
Caravans leaving from MacArthur BART in Oakland at 10:30AM and Chuco’s Justice Center in Inglewood at 8:30AM. We will gather at 2PM at SE corner of Ave. 24 and Fairmead Blvd off Highway 99 in Chowchilla.
Rally begins at 3PM at VSPW.
Manifestación Para la Libertad de Chowchilla, Sabado, 26 de enero
3:00PM en Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW)
El Departamento de Corrección y Rehabilitación de California (CDCR) quiere convertir Valley State Prison (VSPW), una prisión estatal para mujeres, en una prisión para hombres en respuesta a la orden dada por la Corte Suprema Estodounidense de reducir la sobrepoblación en las prisiones de CA. En vez de disminuir la poblacion y cerrar VSPW, quieren forzar y comprimir 1,000 mujeres y personas transexuales en las dos prisiones para mujeres que permanecen, haciendo crecer la población de una prisión a casi 4,000 cuando su capacidad máxima es 2,000. Esto ha agravado el problema de la sobrepoblación, creado condiciones peligrosas, y empeorado la atención medica en las prisiones. Venga y demuestre su apoyo para todas los personas encarceladas en la prisión de Chowchilla!
Transportación disponible por autobus y coche
Escribanos a chowchilla.rally@gmail.com o llame 415 255 7036 ext. 314
Caravanas salén de MacArthur BART en Oakland, CA a las 10:30AM y de Chuco’s Justice Center en Inglewood, CA a las 8:30AM.
Reunion de Manifestantes a las 2:00PM en la esquina de Avenue 24 y Fairmead Blvd. Al lado de la HWY- 99 en Chowchilla. La manifestación comenzara a las 3:00PM en VSPW.
WHEN: February 14th
WHERE: Everywhere - join us!
February 14th has become a day to offer commercialized messages of affection to those near and dear to us.
Obviously feelings of love can be expressed any day of the year, and actions speak louder than Hallmark cards. Therefore we are reclaiming this arbitrary day and using it for our own purpose - to send messages of love to those incarcerated for political reasons.
By Lizzie Buchen
Last week, while defiantly declaring the end of California’s prison crisis, Gov. Jerry Brown insisted further reductions in prison overcrowding “cannot be achieved without the early release of inmates serving time for serious or violent felonies,” a move that would “jeopardize public safety.” In other words, now that Realignment is sending low-level offenders to local custody instead of state prison, those who remain in prison need to stay there to protect the public.
This unfounded assumption is used to justify a large and growing mass of the state’s unnecessary incarceration. Most serious and violent offenders do need to serve some time behind bars to protect the public, but we keep them there for far too long. And the terms are only getting longer. If California wants a sustainable solution to its prison crisis, it needs to rethink its increasingly harsh sentencing policies across the gamut of offenses – not just the low-level targets of Realignment and Prop 36.
A recent study found that California offenders who committed violent crimes can now expect to serve seven years in prison – in 1990, they would have served less than three. Looking at people who committed murder, those who were released in 2009 served an average of 16 years; now, they can expect to serve more than 50 years. This lengthening of sentences for violent crimes is a major reason California’s prisons are overflowing and will continue to do so. In 2009, nearly 100,000 of the state’s prison inmates were doing time for violent crimes, a number that will only grow as the exit door continues to recede.
Continue Reading @ California Progress Report
The United States Criminal Justice System is flawed, broken, yet fixable; Prison Reform and Sentencing Reform should be major agenda's for each state- we need to stop warehousing prisoners and ready those who are going to parole.
Inmate rehabilitation improves public safety and lowers prison costs.
“We have to care because we can't afford not to".
Posts here are NOT my work, unless noted as such. See my disclaimer in the 'about' section. This blog serves as a Public Service Announcement.
