Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Choosing Prisons Over Hospitals: How We Treat the Mentally Ill


The United States is stepping up to house the mentally ill, but in the worst way possible: prison. According to a startling Mother Jones report, for every one mentally ill patient undergoing treatment at a hospital, there are ten more mentally ill people incarcerated. That’s not treating the problem, that’s just stashing away the problem.
Only a couple of centuries ago, locking up mentally ill people was standard practice. However, since then, advancements in psychology and health services have made it clear that there are ways to treat and/or medicate people afflicted with mental illness so that they may be reintegrated into society. The fact that we know how to handle these issues and still choose to throw patients in jail rather than a hospital is a sad commentary on our priorities.
Two unfortunate trends have collided to create this mess. First, there is a severe lack of mental health resources available. Despite the fact that we understand the scope of the problem, money is not earmarked to address the problem, leaving mentally ill citizens without treatment. Second, the for-profit prison system demands a large number of inmates to function. As a result, people who do not need to spend time in prison are sentenced to be there anyway.
Interestingly, though, as Mother Jones points out, it’s not even a practical approach for the state to take from a financial standpoint. Washington state found that its mentally ill inmates cost them more than three times more to house than a typical prisoner, while Florida realized that it was paying to keep mentally ill inmates in jail twice as long due to perceived “bad behaviors.”  It’d be understandable – not conscionable, but understandable – if the courts were sending the mentally ill to jail in order to save money, but since it just winds up costing the government more than providing them with adequate hospitalization, it’s a flawed plan on multiple levels.
It’s not as if people within the system aren’t attempting to make reform happen, though. A Virginia Beach sheriff volunteered to give up some of the state money allotted to his jails so it could be reallocated to mental health hospitals instead. His hope was that doing so would allow some of his sickest inmates to get the care they actually needed, rather than the care they received in his prison.
Other prison employees vented their frustrations over being unprepared to help inmates with their mental illnesses. They describe countless instances of self-harm and disruptions. A Mississippi deputy spoke of one prisoner who “tore up a damn padded cell that’s indestructible, and… ate the cover of the damn padded cell. We took his clothes and gave him a paper suit to wear and he ate that. When they fed him food in a Styrofoam container, he ate that. We had his stomach pumped six times, and he’s been operated on twice.”
Alas, even mental health advocates are skeptical that Congress will provide the necessary funding to provide more hospital alternatives to prisons, given the divisive political climate. Therefore, one of the best temporary solutions is to help the mentally ill from appearing in courtrooms in the first place. Research shows that training police officers for as little as one day about mental illness helps to reduce the prison population. Since 10 percent of calls to the police are to report the actions of someone dealing with a mental illness, this knowledge can help the police to handle situations without always concluding in an arrest.


Bed Bath & Beyond Ends Ban on Workers With Criminal Past
  Apr 22, 2014 2:06 PM PT


Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. agreed to stop automatically rejecting job applicants with criminal records and to evaluate individual situations as New York’s attorney general expanded a crackdown on discrimination against ex-offenders.
Under New York law, employers are barred from disqualifying any prospective hire simply on the basis of a criminal history. Such blanket discrimination is illegal in several states and cities and may also violate federal civil rights law, according to the New York-based National Employment Law Project. A company can still look at the nature of a past crime and the responsibilities of a particular job in considering an applicant.
The household goods retailer, which operates more than 1,400 stores across the U.S. with 62 in New York, will pay a $125,000 in the settlement, including $40,000 in restitution to applicants unlawfully denied jobs, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office said.
“This agreement puts employers on notice that slamming the door on job seekers based on past conduct without deciding whether that conduct is relevant to the current job is not only wrong -– it’s unlawful,” Schneiderman said in a statement.

Job Fair

The attorney general’s office said it investigated the retailer after learning that a human resources manager had disseminated information at a job fair stating that the company didn’t hire individuals with felony convictions. The company agreed to modify its practices in the state and conduct training to comply with New York law, Schneiderman’s office said.
The settlement doesn’t include an admission of wrongdoing, Leah Drill, a spokeswoman for the Union, New Jersey-based company, said in an e-mailed statement.
“Bed Bath & Beyond is committed to complying with the laws and regulations governing our business, including state and federal employment law,” she said. “We are in agreement with the attorney general that employment opportunities should remain open to individuals with criminal histories that have been rehabilitated.”
Federal agencies and New York have stepped up enforcement of protections for job-seekers with criminal histories, Madeline Neighly, staff attorney for the National Employment Law Project, said. The center estimates that 70 million U.S. adults have criminal records.

‘Public Safety’

“Excluding anyone with a criminal history from employment undermines public safety,” Neighly said in an e-mail. “Employment is key to reducing recidivism and strengthening families and community involvement.”
Last month, Schneiderman’s office reached settlements with four of the country’s largest job applicant background check companies, HireRight Inc., First Advantage, General Information Services Inc. and Sterling Infosystems, in which they agreed not to issue automatic rejection letters when convictions were identified and to defer to individual assessment from employers.
Quest Diagnostics Inc., one of the world’s largest providers of diagnostic testing, agreed last year to reform its hiring practices under a deal with Schneiderman’s office. Oswego, New York, also agreed last year to modify a local ban on individuals with felony convictions from obtaining taxi licenses, according to the attorney general’s office.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Dolgencorp LLC, which does business asDollar General (DG), and BMW Manufacturing Co. in 2013 alleging that their criminal background policies for employees and job applicants violated federal civil rights law by disproportionately targeting black job seekers.
Dolgencorp and BMW said in court filings that they didn’t engage in unlawful hiring practices. The cases are pending in federal courts in Chicago and Spartanburg, South Carolina, respectively.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christie Smythe in Brooklyn at csmythe1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net Fred Strasser, Andrew Dunn




Tuesday, May 20, 2014

How the Connecticut Department of Children & Families is failing a trans girl of color

Man, 23, who was sentenced to SIX life sentences plus 118 years as a teen for armed robbery that hurt no one asks for last ditch pardon



    A young Virginia man who, as a juvenile, was given six life sentences plus 118 years in prison for an armed robbery in which no one was hurt is asking for a conditional pardon from outgoing Governor Bob McDonnell.
    Travion Blount's lawyers claim he should serve no more than 20 years for his part in the September 2006 robbery, which he carried out as a 15-year-old with two 18-year-olds who received 10-year and 13-year sentences in plea deals.
    Blount, who is now 23, refused a plea agreement and was found guilty by a Norfolk jury. A Circuit Court judge then handed down what many believe is the longest sentence in the country given to a teenage offender for a crime that wasn't murder.

    Unfair sentence: Travion Blount, pictured, was given six life sentences plus 118 years in prison in 2007 for an armed robbery in which no one was hurt, is asking for a conditional pardon from outgoing Governor Bob McDonnell
    Unfair sentence: Travion Blount, pictured, was given six life sentences plus 118 years in prison in 2007 for an armed robbery in which no one was hurt, is asking for a conditional pardon from outgoing Governor Bob

    According to The Virginia Pilot, the teens raided a house party, stealing cellphones, a small amount of cash and marijuana, records show. No shots were fired and Blount injured no one. The three were quickly caught and charged by police. 
    'There is no arguing that the crime committed was trivial,' the man's appeal for a conditional pardon reads, adding that the teen was 'naive and unduly influenced' by the much older boys.
    'What is arguable is the fact that, out of three individuals who committed the crime, only one person will die in prison.'
    Tragic: Travion Blount's lawyers claim he should serve no more than 20 years for his part in the September 2006 robbery, which he carried out as a 15-year-old
    Tragic: Travion Blount's lawyers claim he should serve no more than 20 years for his part in the September 2006 robbery, which he carried out as a 15-year-old. He is asking outgoing Virginia Governor Bob McDonell, pictured, for a pardon
    Tragic: Travion Blount's lawyers claim he should serve no more than 20 years for his part in the September 2006 robbery, which he carried out as a 15-year-old. He is asking outgoing Virginia Governor Bob McDonell, pictured right, for a pardon
    Family fights: Blount, pictured left as a child with his sister, has been in Wallens Ridge State Prison, a maximum-security facility in Big Stone Gap, since 2007, as his family fights for a new sentence
    Family fights: Blount, pictured left as a child with his sister, has been in Wallens Ridge State Prison, a maximum-security facility in Big Stone Gap, since 2007, as his family fights for a new sentence
    Pardons are often granted at the end of elected terms and McDonnell leaves office January 11. Such pardons grant early release with conditions for keeping on good behavior.
    Blount's clemency appeal states that he will abide by any conditions the Governor sees fit.
    The petition also lists Blount's criminal history - he was convicted for unauthorized use of a vehicle, robbery, attempted robbery and malicious wounding in four separate incidents.
    Change.org online petition has been set up on Blount's behalf to lobby state officials for a new sentence.
    Monique Santiago, an accountant from Hampton, read about Blount's case and thought the punishment was excessive.
    Longest sentence: Blount, who is now 23, refused a plea agreement and was found guilty by a Norfolk jury. A Circuit Court judge then handed down what many believe is the longest sentence in the country given to a teenage offender for a crime that wasn't murder
    Tragic: Travion Blount's lawyers claim he should serve no more than 20 years for his part in the September 2006 robbery, which he carried out as a 15-year-old
    Longest sentence: Blount, who is now 23, refused a plea agreement and was found guilty by a Norfolk jury. A Circuit Court judge then handed down what many believe is the longest sentence in the country given to a teenage offender for a crime that wasn't murder
    Pardon: Pardons are often granted at the end of elected terms and McDonnell leaves office January 11. Such pardons grant early release with conditions for keeping on good behavior. Blount, pictured right with his father, vowed to abide by any conditions the Governor sees fit
    Pardon: Pardons are often granted at the end of elected terms and McDonnell leaves office January 11. Such pardons grant early release with conditions for keeping on good behavior. Blount, pictured right with his father, vowed to abide by any conditions the Governor sees fit
    'It just blew my mind,' Santiago told The Pilot. 'He should be punished, but to this extreme? No.'
    The state has refused a new sentence for the young man after appeals in state and federal courts.
    The federal appeal remains active in the U.S. District Court in Norfolk.
    His layer John Coggeshall said publicity has helped the case.
    'It's time to bring this into the political arena as well as the legal arena,' he told The Pilot.
    Virginia is one of a few states where a judge can sentence a juvenile to life without parole for crimes such as rape, abduction and robbery.
    A spokesperson for McDonnell said the governor was aware of the case and the request was 'working its way through the normal process.'


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2532857/Travion-Blount-asks-pardon-Man-23-sentenced-SIX-life-sentences-plus-118-years-teen-armed-robbery-hurt-no-one-asks-ditch-pardon.html#ixzz32KTv7aQy
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    Losing Right to Vote


    Article image
    Published: Thursday 13 February 2014

    Across this country today, an estimated 5.8 million Americans—5.8 million of our fellow citizens—are prohibited from voting because of current or previous felony convictions. That’s more than the individual populations of 31 U.S. states. Because of the racial disparities in our penal system, African-American and Latino men are vastly disproportionately denied the right to vote.People of Color Are Losing Their Right to Vote

    People of Color Are Losing Their Right to Vote 


    “I found myself standing in front of railroad tracks in South Florida. I was waiting on the train to come so I could jump in front of it and end my life.” So recounted Desmond Meade, describing his life nine years ago. He was homeless, unemployed, recently released from prison and addicted to drugs and alcohol. The train never came. He crossed the tracks and checked himself into a substance-abuse program. He went on to college, and now is just months away from receiving his law degree.
    Meade, however, will not be able to practice law in Florida. As a former felon, he cannot join the bar. That is one of his rights that has been stripped, permanently, by Florida’s draconian laws. In a democracy, if one wants to change a law, you vote for lawmakers who will represent your views. Yet, as an ex-felon in Florida, Meade also has lost the right to vote for the rest of his life.
    It’s called “felony disenfranchisement,” and is permanent in 11 states: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Tennessee, Virginia and Wyoming. It’s enforced in differing degrees, like a patchwork, across the U.S. In 13 states and the District of Columbia, you get your rights back upon release from prison. In others, you have to get through your probation or parole. In Maine and Vermont, prisoners retain the right to vote, even while incarcerated.
    U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the issue this week at a legal symposium at Georgetown University:
    “Across this country today, an estimated 5.8 million Americans—5.8 million of our fellow citizens—are prohibited from voting because of current or previous felony convictions. That’s more than the individual populations of 31 U.S. states.” Close to 6 million Americans, denied the basic right to vote. Because of the racial disparities in our penal system, African-American and Latino men are vastly disproportionately denied the right to vote. Holder continued, “The current scope of these policies is not only too significant to ignore—it is also too unjust to tolerate.”
    The Georgetown event was co-sponsored by The Leadership Conference, a coalition of civil-rights, legal and human-rights groups. Last September, the group released a report titled “Democracy Imprisoned.” In it, the group writes, “Florida’s disenfranchisement rate remains the highest and most racially disparate in the United States.” It is no coincidence that this key swing state is home to more than 1 million of the nation’s nearly 6 million disenfranchised.
    Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist eased the laws, making the application for the reinstatement of rights automatic. But in 2011, his successor, Republican Gov. Rick Scott, imposed a waiting period of at least five years for anyone to apply to the clemency board. Meade told us on the “Democracy Now!” news hour: “Even after applying, the processing time for the application takes upwards of six years. So, in reality, an individual will have to wait anywhere between 11 to 13 years just to see if they have a chance, a shot, at getting their rights restored.” Crist has switched parties to run for governor as a Democrat against Scott.
    Law professor Michelle Alexander opens her groundbreaking book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” with the story of Jarvious Cotton: “Cotton’s great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Ku Klux Klan for attempting to vote. ... His father was barred from voting by poll taxes and literacy tests. Today, Jarvious Cotton cannot vote because he, like many black men in the United States, has been labeled a felon and is currently on parole.”
    At a national level, bills are being proposed that would guarantee voting rights for ex-felons, with both Democrat and Republican support. After Holder, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky spoke at Georgetown, advocating for full voting rights. But it is still an issue over which states exert enormous control.
    Desmond Meade is not sitting around waiting for his rights to be handed back to him. He is organizing. He currently serves as the president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, with close to 70 groups pushing for reforms of the state’s disenfranchisement laws:
    “It’s about humanity. It’s an all-American issue. It’s not about Democrat or Republican. It’s about the common decency of letting an individual or helping an individual to reintegrate back into their community so they can become productive citizens and enjoy life.”
    We can all be thankful that the train he was waiting for that fateful day never came.
    © 2011 Amy Goodman
    Distributed by King Features Syndicate

    A Family Sentence

    A Nonviolent Man Is Serving Life After Breaking A Now-Expired Law. They’re Asking Obama To Help.



    Katherine Keating Become a fan 
    Contributing Editor The WorldPost, Executive Producer ONE ON ONE SERIES

    ONE ON ONE: 5 Minutes With John Forte On What A 14-Year Prison Sentence Taught Him



    John Forte is a highly acclaimed hip-hop writer, producer and performer who has released four solo albums and worked with the Fugees, Wyclef Jean and Herbie Hancock. Forte co-wrote and produced two songs on the enormously successful Fugees' album The Score, which won Best Rap Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards. A year later, Forte released his own critically acclaimed debut album, Poly Sci, which was produced by Wyclef Jean. In addition to rap and hip-hop, Forte is also classically trained, having studied violin at the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire.
    Forte is also a convicted criminal, who served eight years in federal prison after he was found guilty of drug trafficking in 2001. He released his second album, the confessional I, John, in 2002 while serving time at Pennsylvania's Lorreto Federal Penitentiary. President George W. Bush later pardoned Forte's 14-year sentence in 2008. Since his release from prison, Forte has become an activist for criminal justice reform, and is particularly passionate about America's juvenile justice system.
    "I saw the worst reflection of our society as evidenced in our prison system," he says. "We are hemorrhaging right now."
    Forte openly admits he did the wrong thing involving himself in criminal enterprise, but says he shares his story in the hope of affecting positive change in the lives of other young people who may also be susceptible to such a path.
    "My activism towards criminal justice reform and towards juvenile justice is very, very personal," he says. "I do it by telling my narrative as opposed to trying to preach to people. I think that as an artist, it's my responsibility, self imposed or otherwise, to tell my story as honestly as I possibly can."
    The U.S. has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. About 1 in 35 adults were supervised by the adult correctional systems at the end of 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Those same statistics showed that black males ages 18 to 19 were almost 9.5 times more likely than white males of the same age group to be in prison and overall, black males were 6 times and Hispanic males 2.5 times more likely to be imprisoned than white males in 2012.
    Forte's activism in this area manifests as wanting to see the nation pay more attention to the issues surrounding incarceration; youth mental health, education and how, in his words, "we're failing our kids."
    "I don't want to play the race card, but I would be a fool to say I did not notice a disproportionate number of children of color in the juvenile criminal justice system," he says. "How are we failing these kids, and what can we do to make it better?" 

    Forte's compulsion to try and bring attention to the issue stems from his own experience; for him, the personal is political.
    "When I was away, there was a number of guys I served time with who said, 'The first thing I'm going to do when I get out of here is forget this ever happened,' and for me, that wasn't an option," says Forte. "I don't have the luxury of being able to forget about my past, for better or worse."