FreeJonny1
For
Justice
To deny people their human rights is to challenge
their very humanity. Nelson Mandela
their very humanity. Nelson Mandela
Not a head line that we are used to seeing and maybe we wouldn't believe it even if we did. For a nation that stands for the civil rights of all people, the need to protect animals, water, trees, bugs and old buildings.....we FAIL when it comes to our children. We fail miserably! At the end of this article will be a video of children and Richard Ross (photo journalist on conditions in juvenile detention in America) in solitary confinement. It was the hope of many juvenile justice advocates, attorneys and families, to see drastic reductions in sentences for those juveniles sentenced as adults and serving time in adult prisons. So far this has not been the case. yes, laws have changed in many states and sentencing structures have changed. On average sentences have gone from life without the possibility of parole to 25 years to life. SERIOUSLY?!?! The first opportunity these young people will receive is at 20 years. Take a fifteen year old youth with that kind of sentence and he will have served more time in prison that he had been alive at the time of the crime. He will have been educated and matured in prison which is destructive not reformative. Where are our moral values? Why do we give more protection and attention to animal abuse then we do to the welfare, education and rehabilitation of young people? Why do we care more about the health and treatment of waters, parks and trees than we do our youth? Why are we not paying attention? Have you looked into the eyes of these young people? They have endured pain, suffering, abuse and neglect. They have been raised in harsh places with insurmountable odds and given no survival tools that insures their future success. Are they not worth our time and attention? Aren't they our future? How can any human being with any kind of compassion and understanding of the need for conservation, renewal and human rights, stand by knowing that this happens to children everyday? This nation is the laughing stock among civilized nations. We point our fingers at their misdeeds concerning Human Rights and they thumb their noses at us......knowing that we don't really care or we would take care of our own house first. It's just lip service....we don't care about our kids.....not in this nation.
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Not much to add to this message. Think your tough? Think your bad and that you are makin' a rep? Think your boys will be loyal to you? I have a son doing 68 years and his FRIEND? He killed three people and he got 60 years cuz he fingered as many as he could as he was goin' down. Didn't even have to tell the truth, didn't even have to make sense....he just gave the man what he asked for. Now my son is payin' for something he didn't do....just trusted the wrong boy and lost his freedom for it. I have written several articles on the over-use of Solitary Confinement in America. I have spoken about the fact that everyday in America there are thousands of youth being held in Solitary Confinement. There are times when I become impatient because of the slow process of change. Sometimes i want to stand and shout from the roof tops because I think no one is listening. Then someone like Richard Ross comes along and with an impassioned fervency takes on the juvenile in-justice system. For those of you who have never heard of Richard Ross, he is a well known photographer who spent time going around the country, taking photographs of juveniles in detention facilities, prison facilities and solitary confinement. He has a web site called juvenile-in-justice which depicts his work and makes it available to institutions and organizations around the world. His pictorial is graphic, stark and eye-opening. Now Mr. Ross will be photographing his own time spent in solitary confinement in a juvenile detention facility. I know many who have spent time in solitary confinement. Some for days, some for months, and some for years. It is a harrowing experience. The people who are held in these conditions are even more at the mercy of their captors. Their time in solitary is usually aggravated by guards who alter the temperature of the cell by making it either too cold or too hot. Guards control the light in the cells and so they mess with the minds of the captives by adjusting the amount of time the lights are on so that the captive looses all sense of day and night and the passage of time. Guards take food from their trays so that the inmates are hungry or they will give them inedible food. Guards will hold mail, keep the captive from bathing regularly and keep them from leaving their cell to exercise. Visiting is limited and only allowed through plexi-glass or via camera. Phone time is limited. Guards have total control and they use it. Solitary Confinement of youth, the confinement of youth in detention facilities and prisons, and the prosecution of youth as adults is a heinous crime against humanity. The United States is the worst offender of all and by this, condones torture in it's own back yard.. This week saw the defeat of all the proposed national legislation for gun control. It was a battle well fought and won. Our President, on the other hand, saw it has a disgrace. Many people question my stance on gun laws and gun control because, after all, guns are the reason my son is in prison. It is really quite simple. None of the proposed gun legislation would have stopped the young man from committing the crimes that caused my sons incarceration. None of the proposed gun legislation would have prevented Columbine, Sandy Hook, Aurora or Virginia Tech. Not one. The other reality is this, although we are greatly affected emotionally by sudden violent attacks, more people die everyday from prescription drugs (about 270 per day), 25,580 people died from traffic accidents in 2012 and an estimated 98,000 people die every year from medical malpractice related issues. The difference? No one focuses on the greatest issues or causes of death in the United States, only the most dramatic. The other reality? Criminals always have a way to get a gun. Changing laws concerning gun control will not change the ability of a criminal to get a gun. Let's take a look at the recent murder of Tom Clements, the Director of Prisons in Colorado. The man accused of his death, the death of another man and eventual demise of himself was a former offender. He did not purchase a weapon. Yet he had one. It was not his access or lack of access that brought about this crime. It was the mental instability of this former offender, exacerbated by 8 years of solitary confinement and torture that lead to the crimes he committed. Let's look at Virginia Tech. The young man responsible for those deaths used a 2 hand guns in the shooting. he was also mentally unsound and had been in and out of treatment since junior high. He had also recently ceased taking Paxal an antidepressant which has severe side effects and can increase a patients propensity to violence and suicide. We need to address mental health. We need to address family violence. We need to support families who are dealing with these issues that lead to profound acts of violence. This will make a difference....not gun legislation. Here are a couple of articles...one from the President and one from a Colorado Sheriff. Obama Gun Policy Colorado Gun Policy For many of us who advocate for criminal justice, juvenile justice and prison reform, the battle has been long and unending. We have met with lawmakers, approached medical experts, spoken with judges, prison officials and gathered as much information as possible. There are hundreds of strong reports published over the last ten years that present evidence that our current policies and practices do not work. But we don't have to read reports, we don't have to listen to the testimony of experts and we don't have to look to our lawmakers for guidance. We just need to look in our own back yards. We can see the devastation that violence, incarceration and prison conditions produces. We can see the impact on families, neighborhoods, communities, states and this nation. We can look around and see the need for change but we are not sure how to go about it. Our "War On Drugs" and "Tough On Crime" policies have not stopped mass murder. These policies have not stopped gang related violence. These policies have not lessened the incidence of addiction or the impact of addiction on our communities. These policies have not worked. What will? A return to humanity. A return to caring for and finding healing for those among us who have mental illness, addiction problems, whose lives have been plagued with abuse, neglect and violence. We have to decide we want to heal. We have to decide that brokenness and disease are not acceptable and find a way to bring comfort and healing. We have built huge prison complexes to house those who are broken, sick and misguided. We spend billions of dollars on locking away PEOPLE who need help in finding their way and success in our communities. We have taken rehabilitation, treatment, education and life skills training out of our prisons and leave PEOPLE to rot away in cement cells. We have failed to address restoration, re-payment for harm done and healing for victims through sincere apologies, counseling and support. We have taken away everything that works to restore human lives and communities. The person who breaks a law or commits a crime has a PROBLEM. Our first concern should be to address the problem of that individual so that they may make reparations for the harm they have done. That is actually a biblical and spiritual principal. We need better mental health care and treatment facilities for the mentally ill. We need to better educate and train our youth so that they realize there is a world outside "The hood" where they can become successful. We need to support families dealing with addiction and provide addiction treatment. We need to address family violence so that violence is not a way of life. We need accountability for our brothers and our brothers need to be accountable. In other words we need to care because every brother that is hurting effects our health and the health of our communities. It has been a long road and I must say that in the beginning I was seen as a bleeding heart for a hopeless cause. I am happy to say that is no longer the case. A LONG list of support has come out in favor of prison and justice reform. Many of them may surprise you although if you think about it....it shouldn't. They clearly see the impact on their families, their people and their neighborhoods. In this article posted by Prison Fellowship and Justice Fellowship, there is a CALL TO ACTION directed at the Christian community. Even more powerful is this open letter to President Obama from advocates that state they are ready to support policy changes and conditions of confinement and treatment for offenders. This list includes people like Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Q-Tip, Sean "Diddy" Combs, the Kardashians, Eva Longoria, Demi Moore, Susan Sorandon, Chris Rocke and such spiritual leaders as Rabbi Robyn Fryer Bodzin, Depak Chopra and Rev. Michale McBride. The list of supporters includes lawmakers, actors, musicians, religious leaders, fashion leaders and more. They have joined together as a coalition of advocates to speak for change in our justice system and the prison industrial complex. Rappers, Stars Ask Obama to Ease Drug Policy, Reform Prisons We know that our current policies and practices DON"T work. We know that we are not doing the right thing by our brother. We are tired of poor, broken and hurting communities. So isn't it time for change? Join the many voices, educate yourself and bring a change for health and humanity to YOUR COMMUNITY! There are many education tools on our web site FreeJonny as well as The Sentencing Project, The Pendulum Foundation and The Campaign For The Fair Sentencing Of Youth. We are also happy to speak to your church, club or organization concerning prison reform policies, justice reform and juvenile justice reform Contact Us and we can get started. A few months ago there was hope for juveniles who have been sentenced to Juvenile Life Without Parole or the equivalent too a life sentence. Legislation was being crafted to undo the harsh, cruel and unusual punishment of life sentences for juveniles. Colorado was once again heading towards juvenile justice reform which would change the opportunities for juveniles in conflict with the law. All of that came to an end with the untimely death of Tom Clements, the director of the Colorado Department of Corrections. The Governor concluded that this was not the time for juvenile justice reform legislation. It had been a very volatile year for Colorado legislators with the gun reform legislation, civil union bill and a host of other major changes. While this did not further the position of juvenile justice reform advocates, the reality of the loss of Mr. Cements raised a host of questions. First Gov. Hickenlooper was grappling with the loss of a friend and colleague potentially at the hand of another friends son. This became very personal and, as with any person, Gov. Hickenlooper needed to step back and review the facts. The failure on the part of parole and probation to monitor Evan Ebel gave him the freedom to move about and possibly commit horrible crimes. At the same time, it was a well publicized fact that Evan Ebel suffered greatly from long term incarceration in solitary confinement and was released directly to the streets. Something that Tom Clements focused on changing. Now the Governor needed to look at the whole system to evaluate how to move forward and bring lasting change. The hope is that Governor Hickenlooper will see the value in the work of Tom Clements and continue his vision for reform and rehabilitation to the prison system in Colorado. At the same time the Governor must grapple with the fact that his state currently has a few hundred individuals serving illegal prison sentences based on the Supreme Court of the United States Rulings on Graham and Miller which declare life sentences for juveniles to be cruel and unusual punishment. the implications for state policy are that if a state does not take factors related to youth into account when imposing harsh sentences they are in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. There has been talk of law suits against the state based on human rights issues. There whispers of different ways to hold the state accountable on this issue, much like the law suits that brought about change to the over use of administrative segregation and solitary confinement in this state. It may not be necessary to bring about sentencing reform for juveniles. Shortly after these events a Colorado Appellate ruling was published that declared a virtual life sentence of 112 years for a juvenile offender was unconstitutional according to the eighth amendment of the constitution and the recent SCOTUS rulings of Graham and Miller. Further, this ruling addressed the meaningful opportunity for parole, the fact that Colorado had developed the Youthful Offender System for the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders, and the evidence that juvenile offenders can be rehabilitated. This ruling has set the stage and given legal precedence for future legislation in Colorado. While our lawmakers and our Governor could not find the strength or tenacity to bring Colorado into compliance this year, it may be for the better. The next bill introduced may be powerful enough to bring about another sweeping change to juvenile justice in our state. If lawmakers can find the guts and the conviction to make changes that will better our communities and get juvenile offenders back into juvenile courts and juvenile facilities......where they belong. It may also be the catalyst for change in our prison system. Maybe once again we will focus on programs, rehabilitation and re-entry so that those individuals released from prison have a chance at success.....another change that is necessary to strengthen our communities. We can only hope. We live to fight another day. The past few weeks have been wrought with sadness and lingering questions over the untimely death of Colorado Department of Corrections Director, Tom Clements. Although I did not know Mr. Clements personally, I held him in high regard for the compassion and dedication he had to prison reform. Mr. Clements did not advocate the use of solitary confinement and implemented many changes to see that the inmate population held in such torturous conditions was significantly reduced. Mr. Clements was concerned by the number of inmates that were released directly from solitary confinement to community corrections or to the streets. He was aware of the difficult adjustments inmates encountered when they were released from solitary confinement. Not only did he seek to implement behavior modification plans to deter the use of solitary but he also implemented step down practices to ease re-entry into general population. In an article from the Colorado Independent written by Susan Greene, Tom Clements is quoted, “You have to ask yourself the question – How does holding inmates in administrative segregation and then putting them out on a bus into the public, [how does that] square up?” Clements said. “We have to think about how what we do in prisons impacts the community when [prisoners] leave,” Clements continued. “It’s not just about running the prison safely and securely. There’s a lot of research around solitary and isolation in recent years, some tied to POWs and some to corrections. My experience tells me that long periods of isolation can be counter-productive to stable behavior and long-term rehabilitation goals." Unfortunately the plans that Mr. Clements proposed were not supported by the Colorado government. In this testimony from the father of the accused killer of Mr. Clements, we see the impact of solitary on his son. "As early as a year ago, Evan Ebel’s father, Jack Ebel, testified before a committee of the Colorado State Legislature that after years in solitary, his son had trouble communicating during visits. ”Even though he’s well-read and he’s a good conversationalist and gentle — he started out that way, what I’ve seen over six years is he has become increasingly … he has a high level of paranoia and [is] extremely anxious. So when he gets out to visit me, and he gets out of his cell to talk to me, I mean he is so agitated that it will take an hour to an hour-and-half before we can actually talk,” Jack Ebel told legislators. He was speaking in favor of a bill that would have more closely monitored the mental health of individuals in solitary, and required that they spend some time in the general population before their release from prison. (The bill was voted down.)" Read More here from Solitary Watch There have been several law suits filed in Colorado concerning the use of solitary confinement, the conditions of confinement and the destructive nature of such torturous confinement. Ultimately it is we, the people, who are responsible for allowing these things to happen in our state and we must take responsibility for our ignorance and apathy. Maybe we can justify the course of action by believing that those held behind bars are just too sick and corrupt and therefore such confinement practices must be used. However, it is not true. Anyone deprived in such conditions of confinement will suffer mental breakdown. Here is testimony from a political prisoner held in Iran in solitary confinement. ( Sarah Shroud is a writer, educator and prison rights advocate currently based in Oakland, California. She had been living in the Middle East for over a year, teaching Iraqi refugees and living in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, when she was captured by Iranian forces somewhere along an unmarked border between Iran and Iraq in July 2009, and held in solitary confinement for 410 days. She has written for the New York Times, CNN, and Newsweek's Daily Beast and is currently writing a book with Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal about their experience as hostages in Iran.) "In prolonged isolation, the human psyche slowly self-destructs. On my worst days, I screamed and beat at the walls. I experienced hallucinations -- bright flashing lights and phantom footsteps -- nightmares, insomnia, heart palpitations, lethargy, clinical depression, and passive suicidal thoughts. I would pace my cell incessantly, or crouch like an animal by the food slot at the bottom of my cell door, listening for any sound to distract me. When I finally got books and television, I found it difficult to concentrate. I would sometimes spend an entire afternoon trying to read the same page, until I got fed up and threw my book against the wall. The only thing I thought about for over a year in solitary was the day that I would no longer have to be alone, but, ironically, it wasn't that simple. When I was finally released, I found it hard to make eye contact or be touched. My breathing remained labored and many of the symptoms I experienced in prison -- insomnia, hypertension, and anxiety -- persisted on the outside. Like many people with post-traumatic stress disorder, I sometimes drank too much to try and escape my symptoms. More than once I became belligerent, dangerously paranoid, or hopelessly depressed -- sometimes walling myself up in my house for days at a time." (read complete story - Solitary Watch Buried Alive) The Governor of Colorado, in a statement at Mr. Clements memorial service, declared that they would continue Mr. Clements vision and work. Given the track record of the Colorado legislature concerning prison reform, sentencing reform, parole reform and mental health measures......I am not hopeful. Thank You Mr. Clements for who you were and all you accomplished. More articles on the atrocity of solitary confinement in Colorado - Fortress of Solitude (2), Confinement on Trial in Colorado, Federal Judge Criticizes Supermax Confinement in Colorado, Judge Rules Against Colorado Supermax, CDOC in Need Of Correction A few years ago I toured a solitary confinement unit at a prison facility. A place where my own son had been housed and where many others that I have come to know in prison have been housed. Rows of doors, utter silence except the sound of footsteps on the floor as we walked through, curious faces peering through windows and then quickly disappearing. I saw the dog run where the inmate was given the opportunity to exercise, just cement walls with a chain link covering to let in the outside air. Inside those cells were men, locked away for months, years and even a decade....in isolation. Torturous and inhumane treatment by international standards. The weapon of torture used by other nations trying to break the minds and wills of prisoners of war. The devastating consequences of such treatment? We are just now reaping the consequences of our thoughtless actions. Last week a man of influence in such matters was murdered, Tom Clements the Director of Colorado Department of Corrections. Mr. Clements brought about more positive reform measures in the Department of Corrections in his two year tenure than had been done over the previous decade. Mr. Clements realized the dangers of solitary confinement and releasing former offenders from solitary confinement directly to the streets. Mr. Clements believed in step down re-integration for inmates held in solitary confinement. Mr. Clements worked to reform the use of solitary in the state of Colorado and many inmates who had been held in solitary for many years were transitioned to other facilities. This was not lost on the inmate population at large. They are very grateful for the reform measures that Mr. Clements put in place. Many other prison reform measures had been implemented or were in the works. I was told that the atmosphere inside of the prisons is one of disbelief and sorrow over the murder of Mr. Clements. "We just look at each other and shake our heads. We can't believe that the one person who was willing to give us a chance is gone. We hope that everyone realizes we are worth it and they keep changing things for the better." The reforms Mr. Clements had brought to the facilities were giving the inmates hope and with hope comes a new level of responsibility for making positive changes in their own lives so that the new opportunities were not wasted. That is right. If you start treating a person with respect, give them hope and encourage them, they will begin to take advantage of the opportunity and the hope. Unfortunately Mr. Clements was taken too soon. Our hearts and our prayers are with his family and will continue as they walk through this painful time. Mr. Clements widow spoke of him as a man of forgiveness and how he believed that everyone should be given a second chance. She asked that everyone honor that by offering forgiveness to the one who took his life and his family. The horror and pain and suffering that Mr. Ebel's family is living is equally as devastating. They never imagined that the son they held as a child would one day loose his life in a shoot out with sheriff's. It never occurred to them that their son would take the life of a friend. In an article published by the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, a picture is painted that gives insight to Mr. Ebel's mental state before this crime. It talks of the effects of years of solitary confinement on a mind, the fear and terror that comes with being released from solitary to the streets. The impact of prison on a person and the brutality that is prison. It puts a face to all the research, the reports and the TRUTH that speaks of the need to reform prison practices. Maybe....just maybe....the only good that will come from this tragedy is our final awakening to prison reform. One can only hope. Here is the article. "He Was Freaking." There is a common misconception in our country, that our legal system is good and just and fair. There is a common misconception that we are civil and progressive and community and human focused. You would think, with all the public outcry over individual rights, human rights and over health and healthy communities, that we would be diligent over justice policies, arrest, prosecution and all criminal prosecution. We are not. We have no accountability, no oversight. We are responsible for some of the most reprehensible human treatment in the western world. We are responsible for some of the worst miscarriages of justice and we make no apologies, only excuses, for our mistakes. I want to bring before you, two examples of how justice functions in our nation. I want you to consider with sincere heart these examples and then ask yourself, who have we become? Who are we as a nation? What can we possibly offer as reason for this reprehensible actions? Is this who we are? Is this healthy? Isn't there a better way? This girl was charged as an adult for the death of her grandmother when her grandmother died from a heart attack after the two had argued. She was 16 years old at the time that her grandmother, her primary care giver, died and she was charged as a criminal in her death. She was initially transferred to adult court and therefore held in an adult jail. She was broken, hurting, grieving and fighting for her future as a CHILD. Story Here - Words Can't Explain The next example is from a recent settlement in a civil law suit against a county in New Mexico. Stephen Slevin had been arrested and charged with a DWI. He NEVER had a hearing and was never convicted of a crime yet he spent 22 months in solitary confinement at the county jail. He was eventually released and brought a suit against the county to shed light on the conditions of confinement at this jail. Remember, this man never had his day in court. Story Here - Two year Ordeal In Soitary Every day there are stories of exoneration's for those wrongfully convicted. Those exoneration's come after 10, 15 and 20 years of court battles. Then there are the stories of those executed who were proved innocent AFTER their death. We house juvenile offenders in adult jails in solitary confinement. We lock men and women away for long years as punishment for crimes and we do not care for them. We feed them crap food, give them no education, no counseling, no rehabilitation, we don't give them positive life skills and we do not train them for the work force. We lock them away, dehumanize them in every way we can and then believe that we are building healthy strong communities. We have an opportunity, here in Colorado, to make meaningful, lasting changes in our juvenile justice policies. We have been handed the golden opportunity for reform through the recent Supreme Court rulings on juvenile life. It could be a spring board to begin healthy rehabilitation practices and stop throwing away or giving up on children. From the looks of it, we don't have the guts. So these scenarios will continue to play out in America, land of the brave, home of the free. As parents we deal with impatient children, lines, deadlines and trying to motivate our children to move in the direction we choose....when we choose it. Teenagers seem to have their own mind set, their own agenda and their own speed. If we want them to accomplish something around the house or to do something at a specific moment in time...they move like turtles and usually while not making eye contact. When it is their turn, when they need us to do something for them? It takes US forever. Driving through rush hour traffic to pick them up from practice, takes forever. Getting ourselves ready, dinner for the rest of the family and out the door to deliver your teen to the movies takes forever. But how long IS forever? For a teenage it is hard for them to see past the months calender. it is hard for them to chart a direct course to the end of the school year. It is hard to imagine that the day they graduate and go to college will ever REALLY come. Their immaturity and inexperience keeps them from evaluating time and space in a reasonable manner. It keeps them from being able to discern what is urgent and what really doesn't have to happen this very minute. The adolescent choices that we empower them with can seem larger than life to them and they don't always make good decisions. That is why we allow them to make minor decisions under our supervision. They can make a wrong choice and we can help them get back on track and make better choices in the future. Sometimes......Sometimes it costs them more than we can imagine.....more than WE can envision. SOMETIMES IT COSTS THEM UNTIL FOREVER!......THE REST OF THEIR LIFE?......IN PRISON? |
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