prison

#PrisonReform Tweets 9.5
by

#PrisonReform Tweets 9.5

by

Brothers McCollum 51, Brown 47, Finally Compensated after 30 years wrongfully incarcerated

Henry McCollum sits stunned as applause rings out in a Robeson County courtroom in Lumberton, N.C. Tuesday, September 2, 2014, after a judge has declared McCollum and his brother Leon Brown innocent of a brutal rape murder for which they have spent 30 years in prison. Behind him is Beverly Lake, Jr., founder of the Innocence Commission, who was vital in the process to free the men. Photo: Chuck Liddy/Raleigh News & Observer/MCT via Getty Images

Sourced through Scoop.it from: goodblacknews.org

The knife pulled half way out kind of justice.

The knife pulled half way out kind of good news.

 

#AbolishPrisons

#PrisonReform Tweets 7.8
by

#PrisonReform Tweets 7.8

by

Kalief Browder

Kalief Browder (1993-2015), an American student, was arrested in 2010 at age 16 for stealing a backpack. He spent three years at Rikers Island, New York’s main prison – without ever having been found guilty. He spent over a thousand days in prison, over 700 in solitary confinement.


In the US Constitution, the Sixth Amendment states:
“the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial”
But in the Bronx, Browder’s part of New York, there are not enough judges or money to carry out the Constitution.
About 96% of those accused of a felony in the Bronx plead guilty in exchange for a shorter sentence. There is no trial. Those who maintain their innocence – and whose families’s cannot afford bail or who are held without bail – are sent to prison where they can wait up to five years.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: abagond.wordpress.com

by

Deputy Caught on Camera Shattering Wheelchair Bound Man’s Dentures While Beating Him To A Pulp

Shockingly, not only did this department fire the unhinged officer, they showed complete transparency in not only issuing a full statement, but also releasing a four and a half minute long video of the incident.

Source: thefreethoughtproject.com

 

Incarceration is only a fraction of the punishment.
The abuse that happens inside the prison compounds the punishment.

 

What an unjust society we live in.

 

by

Chicago Cop Shot 28 Times By White Officers Freed From Prison

 

After a years long battle, Howard Morgan (pictured), a Chicago cop shot by White officers, was freed last week after outgoing Ill. Gov. Pat Quinn commuted the 40-year prison sentence, MSNBC reports.

 

– Click through for more –

 

Source: newsone.com

by

Horrific hate crime that prompted SPLC lawsuit in Mississippi concludes with final guilty pleas | Southern Poverty Law Center

It was a vicious hate crime that shocked the country – a black man in Jackson, Mississippi, attacked by a group of white teens and killed when he was deliberately run down by a pickup truck.

Captured by a motel security camera and broadcast on CNN, the murder of 47-year-old James C. Anderson in June 2011 prompted an SPLC lawsuit against the seven teens involved. That case ended with a confidential settlement.

This week, the criminal case came to an end when two men – John L. Blalack, 20, and Robert H. Rice, 24 – became the last of 10 defendants to plead guilty in connection with Anderson’s murder and other, earlier hate crimes against African Americans in Jackson. Convicted under the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, they each face up to 10 years in prison.

“This case was a sickening reminder of the consequences of racism and hate,” said SPLC Founder Morris Dees. “James Anderson was brutally murdered for no other reason than the color of his skin. And the lives of these young people have been ruined. As a nation, we must work even harder to confront the legacy of white supremacism that continues to haunt us.”

In 2012, Deryl Paul Dedmon, 22, the driver of the truck that ran over Anderson and the alleged ringleader of the group, pleaded guilty to murder and hate crime charges. He was sentenced to life in prison after Anderson’s family urged the prosecutor to not seek the death penalty.

In court yesterday, according to The Clarion-Ledger, Blalack admitted that he and the others had cruised the streets of Jackson, which they called “Jafrica,” on at least 10 occasions to harass and attack African Americans. On one trip, they beat a man near a golf course until he begged for his life.                                                               

On the night of June 25, 2011, seven of them left a party in nearby Puckett, armed with beer bottles to throw. Sometime after midnight, they found Anderson, an autoworker and the lead tenor in his church choir, in a motel parking lot. One of the teens knocked him to the ground as the assault began. One reportedly shouted “white power” during the attack.

Blalack recounted how he left the scene with three others and later received a phone call from Dedmon saying, “I just runned that n—-r over.” He said he returned to see people huddled around Anderson’s body.

Anderson, who worked at a nearby Nissan plant, was described by U.S. Attorney Gregory Davis as a “wonderful human being” and loving family man – “a father, a son who called his mother every morning, a brother and a partner.”

Others who pleaded guilty earlier were John Aaron Rice, 21; Dylan Wade Butler, 23; Jonathan Kyle Gaskamp, 22; and Joseph Paul Dominick, 23, all from Brandon; William Kirk Montgomery, 25, from Puckett; Shelbie Brooke Richards, 21, from Pearl; and Sarah Adelia Graves, 21, from Crystal Springs.

This case will be featured on “Hate in America,” a documentary premiering at 8 PM (Eastern), February 23, on Discovery ID. The SPLC worked closely with the producers to examine the violence inspired by hate, fear, and intolerance. SPLC Founder Morris Dees will be appearing in the piece, as will several other SPLC experts.

Source: www.splcenter.org

 

#BlackLivesMatter

 

by

Rikers Island Jail Spends About $100K Per Inmate Annually

A new report out today reveals that Rikers Island, the nation’s second largest jail and subject of a damning federal investigation, spends $96,000 per inmate each year. That’s more than a 40 percent increase since 2006 and, The New York Times reports, twice the amount spent per inmate by other big cities like Los Angeles, which houses a larger inmate population.

 

– Click through to read more –

 

Source: colorlines.com