TresSugar

Prisoners Win Gardening Competition & New Bathroom!

CitizenSugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:00:44 -0700

Prisoners in Cardiff may soon have a fancier bathroom to keep a good grip of the soap in - they've just won $2,000 of luxury bathroom goods in a gardening competition. After entering the Cardiff in Bloom competition - and coming in second place in the community building category - their entry was automatically put in a drawing to win the luxury bathroom fixtures. When their name was pulled as the winners, a ripple of laughter spread through the City Hall venue. No decision has been made on whether the prisoners will be able to claim the prize.

The prison community garden is a regular entrant in the gardening competition, and they've won their division several times. Cardiff prides itself on being a green city, and competitions like Cardiff in Bloom, according to the city council, is a way of "increasing a sense of civic pride and making Cardiff a brighter and better place to live and work."

Pending the decision on the prize, the prisoners have been sent a brochure to peruse to see if anything strikes their fancy.

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UK Debates Holding Terror Suspects For 42 Days: Too Long?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:15:55 -0700

The US isn't the only country with a firm eye on terrorism - and they're certainly not alone walking the tricky line between government abilities to crack down in meaningful ways and civil liberties. The British House of Commons is set to vote on a measure allowing police to detain people for up to 42 days without charge if they're suspected of terrorism-related activities.

Human rights organizations are outraged by the provision. Amnesty International, has launched an online petition called, "Say 'No' to 42 Days" saying of the measure, "Allowing police to lock people up for a month and a half without charge will undermine basic human rights to which everyone in the UK is entitled." Human Rights Watch issued a statement saying that, "giving British authorities the power to detain terrorism suspects for up to six weeks without charge violates the fundamental right to liberty and risks undermining counterterrorism efforts."

Those closer to the government are speaking out as well. To see what they had to say, read more.

The former British spy chief says holding suspects for six weeks is excessive. Though the bill might be defeated in the House of Lords, it faces a round of political back and forth if the government insists on the plan. The House of Lords own blog says it's probably a portion of the bill that will ultimately be decided by the courts.

With the government in Britain already able to access scads of personal information, where is the line between safety and rights? Is 42 days too long to be held without charge?

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Front Page: Stocks Rally on Bailout Plan, I-35 Bridge Has First Day, South Korea Withdraws Troops, Prison Riots

CitizenSugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:00:47 -0700

Stocks Rally on Bailout Plan:
European stocks rebounded sharply after US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced yesterday evening plans to introduce new laws to buy hundreds of billions of bad debt from struggling banks. Options include establishing a government agency to buy bad loans, a plan that could, "ultimately undermine the dollar, push up inflation" according to one expert.

I-35 Bridge Has First Day:
The rebuilt I-35 W Bridge in Minneapolis had its first full day of service yesterday, three months ahead of schedule. Hundreds of vehicles lined up on both sides of the span to inch across shortly before 5 a.m. The 10-lane, $234 million span replaced the bridge that collapsed on August 1, 2007, killing 13 and injuring 145.

South Korea Withdraws Troops:
South Korea is set to completely withdraw its remaining troops in Iraq by the end of the year. The country has had troops stationed in Iraq for a reconstruction mission at the request of the US. From a high of 3,600 troops, now only 520 remain. The Defense Minister said, "There is no more need for us to stay there."
More Than 20 Die in Prison Riots:
Over 20 inmates in an overcrowded Tijuana prison died in riots this week according to police. The violence broke out after a prisoner died, apparently after abuse from a guard. The prison was built to hold 3,000 and now houses 8,000.

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Mexico's Prisoners Struggle and AIDS Drops in Malawi by 75%

CitizenSugar — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:30:02 -0700

While acceptance is growing in the United States, homosexual relationships in Mexico are still very taboo. Because of the stigma, Mexican prisoners with HIV or AIDS is really not a topic for discussion either, including prevention. In fact, many prison administrators deny that sex among inmates exists apart from specifically dedicated conjugal visits.

The prisoners certainly tell a different story. “We are a population of men, and it’s normal for men to have sex with whoever is around.” Ignorance and denial of this prison reality means that no scientific surveys of AIDS rates among prisoners exist. In fact, official statistics place the number of HIV-positive inmates in the capital’s prisons at a mere 62. There is no testing of the prisoner population and in many cases, convicts think that it is spread by mosquitoes, kisses, or even shared toothbrushes.

To find out what they're doing about it, and how similar methods have triumphed in Malawi, read more.

An outreach effort is currently underway to raise awareness about HIV in Mexican prisons. In one of Latin America’s toughest prisons, Reclusorio Preventive Oriente, such a program has been allowed, but the warden demonstrates the real need for its implementation. According to him, “I don’t know the level of HIV in this prison. I think it’s minimal. It’s almost nothing.”

Meanwhile across the world, a country that is not only acknowledging that HIV is a problem, but is beginning to turn the tide, is the African nation of Malawi. There they have witnessed a 75 percent drop in AIDS-related deaths over the past four years. The reason? Free medicine that helps prolong the lives of those who have contracted the virus. Since March of 2008, the government has put 159,111 people on subsidized antiretroviral drugs and 106,547 are still alive today.

How can a stigma that exists as strongly as it does in Mexican prisons be erased so the education and care needed can be given? How can Mexico become more like Malawi?

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13-Year-Old Boy Gets 15 Years For Murder - Fair Sentence?

CitizenSugar — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:03:53 -0700

A 13-year-old Texas boy accepted a plea deal yesterday for a 15-year sentence following the stabbing murder of his friend earlier this summer. The boy charged in the murder will be eligible for parole in three years. The judge in the case says that he agreed to the relatively light sentence for the murder (which could have been up to 40 years) because he thought the boy had a good chance to change.

The judge said:

I think this young man has a chance to be rehabilitated. I’m actually pulling for him. All these cases are difficult. These are kids. Some of these kids are good kids, some are rotten kids, but they’re all kids, and all these cases that come through here are difficult. You have to weigh them and evaluate them, but that’s true for judges in any situation.

The charges in the incident stemmed from the boy stabbing his 14-year-old friend in the heart. His mother is understandably distraught, but his defense attorney says, "She’s upset, but she’s accepted it and come to terms with what’s going on.”

Was the judge right to value the prospect of rehabilitation in a criminal so young? Or does it speak to the underlying "rottenness" of the child to have committed a crime so young?

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Condom Vending Machines in Jail: Hooked Up or Turned Off?

CitizenSugar — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:00:03 -0700

Inmates in a California prison are about to have access to free condoms as part of a controversial new pilot program that hopes to limit the spread of STDs among inmates. The prison will get 10 condom vending machines that will be stocked with 1,200 condoms a week.

The hope is that the condoms will limit the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among inmates. A spokeswoman for the Center for Health Justice says, "We know risk behavior is being reduced. We will eventually be reducing HIV infections by this measure." Gov. Schwarzenegger has twice vetoed legislation on statewide condom distribution, but agreed to conduct a one-year trial.

And no, taxpayers will not be shelling out for the rubbers (that was my first question) - a nonprofit group is paying to supply the prison with the machines and condoms, which will cost a total of $60,000.

The prison guard's union is against the plan because condoms can be a place to hide drugs and weapons - not to mention the fact that sex in prison is illegal outside of conjugal visits. Prisoners will be informed of this nooky-is-against-the-law fact when they're told where the machines are.

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Lost Your Job? Maybe a Felon Found It! Prison Gigs Aplenty...

CitizenSugar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:00:49 -0700

While California inmates were busy fighting fires this month, prisoners in South Carolina were stitching up some brassieres for Victoria's Secret. That's right. Check that tag, your bra might be the new license plate, an arguably more useful product, I'd say.

Mother Jones has a whole list of common goods that are now sourced to prisons. Drinking some coffee? Yup, that too. What else?

Eating: CA inmates produce 680,000 pounds of beef, and Starbucks has hired WA prisoners to pack up holiday coffee blends.
Playing: Nintendo Gameboys and Microsoft mouses are packed in the pokey.
Learning: TX and CA inmates make everything from lockers to juice boxes.
Wearing: The above mentioned Vicky's bras, as well as leisure wear for JC Penney

And the best prison product? To see it, read more.

Interruptions: Inmate call centers. That call you get during dinner? May just be coming from inside the big house.

Though the info is grabby, my eye wandered to this link included with it: A Glossary of Prison Slang. Oh, yes. Break out the flashcards.

Would you be more likely to buy goods from companies who use prison labor? Starbucks calls the practice, "entirely consistent with our mission statement." Is it consistent with yours?

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Iran Considers Death Penalty for Bloggers, Russia Jails One

CitizenSugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:00:42 -0700

The beauty of the Internet is getting to say exactly what you want in a public forum, right?(Well that and stalking ex-boyfriends and shopping at work, but I digress.) The ability to speak one's mind in bytes and blips has landed one blogger with a jail sentence for extremism. A Russian man who called the local police “scum” and calling for the clean-up of the force he blogged that the police should be burned in the town square twice a day. For this posting, was convicted of “inciting hatred or enmity” and given a one-year suspended sentence.

Free speech activists said the ruling is creating a dangerous precedent: “This was an absolutely unjustified verdict ... This verdict means it will be impossible to make rude comments about anybody.” News of the sentence permeated Russian blogs yesterday leading some to say, "I don't know now if I should be writing here or not." For his part, new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said he prizes free speech and that Russia should use a light touch when policing the Internet. That's not the case in Iran. To see what's happening there, read more.

In Iran, they have a somewhat different interpretation to "light touch" - the death penalty. Their parliament is debating a bill that would call for death for anyone “...establishing weblogs and sites promoting corruption. . .” Though the government itself will decide what would constitute “promoting corruption." Among other death sentence crimes in Iran are apostasy (leaving a religion, in this case Islam), prostitution, rape and armed robbery.

No word on the world's reaction to the ultimate crime against blogging - starting one and then never posting again.

Is cyberspace the next battleground for free speech? Can speech on the Internet be protected as a vital outlet for those in countries with state-controlled media or oppressive governments?

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Tough Love or Abuse? House Sets Juvenile Boot Camp Limits

CitizenSugar — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:00:53 -0700

This week, the US House approved a measure implementing national standards on juvenile boot camps intended to rehabilitate troubled youth.

The bill passed 318-103, and would nix excessive "tough love" practices like withholding water, food, clothing, shelter or medical care. The new law would allow physical restraint only when the safety of the child or others is in peril, and it would allow residents reasonable access to a telephone.

Rep. George Miller (D-CA) said of the decision, "Today we are taking an important step toward ending the horrific abuses that have gone on far too long in the residential programs for teens."

It's not a slam dunk, however. The White House has indicated they're against the plan as it expands federal oversight, and the Senate still has to vote. To see how many claims of abuse have been reported, read more.

About 20,000 to 30,000 teenagers attend juvenile punishment boot camps. An AP survey has identified more than 13,000 claims of abuse in juvenile correction nationwide between 2004-2007, though only 1,343 cases were confirmed stemming from the combination that some residents make up stories, while in other cases they're pressured not to report abuse. Since 1983 more than 35 youths have died in camps like these.

If the bill becomes law, it will allow the Health and Human Services Department to impose fines of up to $50,000 for every violation. Is federal oversight a good idea? Should camps be allowed to administer whatever punishment they deem necessary?

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Punishment vs. Human Rights - Are Prisons Going Soft?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:00:08 -0700

Though I don't know of many prisons guarded by the likes of the two pictured below, with the changes happening to crime and punishment in the US, it might not be long. With one out of every 100 Americans behind bars, and prisons turning criminals out to meet their budgets, the debate between what's a human right, and what liberties need be taken away as punishment is a tricky one. Several states have just come to some conclusions - on the side of rights.

In New York's juvenile detention centers, transgender youth are now allowed to wear whatever gendered-uniform they associate with and be called by whatever name they request, as well as receive access to special housing under a new anti-discrimination policy. The enhanced rights are drawing praise from advocacy groups. A spokesman for Governor Paterson said the policy reflects the state's intent to be "tolerant, responsive and respectful" of gender identity and gender expression issues.

Hawaii and California join New York among the small list of states that have taken steps to afford specific civil rights protection to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth in juvenile detention. This comes after a 2001 report found that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth routinely experienced discrimination, harassment and violence in New York's juvenile justice system.

Got Milk? To find out what happens if you're a vegan behind bars, read more.

In Massachusetts a federal judge found that the state prison system violated one prisoner's civil rights by denying him a vegan diet. Though the prison system had offered the man a standard vegetarian diet, he has spent nearly a decade seeking a ruling to receive a vegan diet that excludes all animal products, including eggs and milk products.

His reasoning to require the diet? He's a Buddhist (now) and had a religion specialist testify "explain[ing] why it was wrong to consume food derived from animals and explain[ing] the concept of karma and suffering." Why is the man in prison? He beat his 5-week-old son to death by throwing him onto a hardwood floor, repeatedly stomping on and kicking him, before turning his violence on the his child's mother. He may need more than soy milk to atone for that karmic digression.

Rights are returning after prison in Florida, where Governor Crist announced this week that more than 115,000 felons are to regain their voting rights. The expansion of prison rights might come as a comfort to two California high school students who are facing 69 felony counts for hacking into their school's computer system to change their grades. One of the hackers could face 38 years behind bars. An extra-credit report or two might have been a better solution?

What responsibility do prisons have to cater to human rights? Where do rights stop and punishment begin?

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