Politics-Tomorrow is Memorial Day, in the USA. As an honorably discharged Veteran I look back at my time riding subs in the Navy with Pride. I really do love what this country stands for: Freedom, Liberty; and if you work hard you will be rewarded. That’s why I gave up over six months of my life to protect it. It’s been over 20 years since I was in the Navy and things have changed-I’ve changed. The core values of American thought have not changed. What has happened is simply that what I might define as freedom, is not what Bush or Chaney would say is freedom. Words like Freedom; Liberty, free to own a gun- those are spoken and each listener hears it and self-defines its meaning. It’s only when we discuss what “Freedom” means, do we find a wide array of different opinions. I believe that we Americans need to tell our elected leaders what we believe “Freedom” to be and not to have them dictate to us what our freedom will be. I don’t think that it is legitimate for our elected leaders to go on and on about how free we Americans are when our country has the highest incarceration rate and more prisoners than any other country in the world. This stat comes from www.pewcenteroneestates.org. How can anyone call mass imprisonment of our children; Mom’s, Dad’s, Veterans, Freedom? How can we call ourselves a free society when we have to lock up such a large part of our population? When western European Countries have the same level of freedom as we in America do, yet the amount of prisoners per set group of population is 10th what it is in America. Why? The rate of imprisonment in the US is 738 per 100,000 residents. Compare that to Frances 88 per 100,000 residents; or Japan’s 62 per 100,000—It’s an outrage to say that America is the land of the free. This is not what I fought to protect when I was not in the U.S. Navy. [this above information can be found at www.crc.org/nccd/pubs/2006nov_factsheet_incarceration.pdf] I don’t fault the average American. Hell, when I was “free” I really couldn’t give a damn who or how many were in prison. I figured “well, if a person’s in prison they must have done something”. Maybe that was 100% or 90% true at one time. But with DNA being used to prove over 300 people innocent—and that’s just death row cases with usable DNA. I see the injustice being handed out for the sake of expedience. The politics of the “war on crime” and the “war on drugs”, have become a means to manage and contain our poor and mentally ill. With the police using more and more paramilitary tactics and becoming more hostile toward the target classes—poor, Latino, homeless, mentally ill, drug users and blacks. America is truly becoming a country of haves and locked-ups. Social Darwinism at it’s best. Or should I say at its most perverted. As this and every other day passes and you-the person reading this-are free, count yourself blessed. I was, I was blessed, but I got caught up in drugs and was running from a mental illness. Things got bad and there was nowhere to turn to get help. All the beds were full at the inn—so to speak. And as happens much too often in America, I ended up in the criminal justice system—they always have a bed. So maybe while counting your blessings, reflect on why there are so few mental health facilities and so few drug rehab beds. Why Americans are being turned away from that type of help, where as the jail and prison always have a bed. I believe that we need, as a society, to move away from mass incarceration and move to a public health response to drug abuse and mental illness. Please, I’m asking you the reader to look further into this and form your own conclusion. If you think I’m wrong—let me know. Let me know specifically. In closing I want to express my solidarity with all the men and women in the US Armed forces. Whatever your faith or non-faith, I’m with you in my thoughts. Be safe and come back. With Respect, Veritas I wish to let the reader know that some of the information in this blog came from a paper by Jason Mallory. State University of New York at Binghamton. Thank you Mr. Mallory.

Prisons: Well according to USA Today, April 30, 2009, the California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation wasted $580,000 it never used in San Diego. I’m not surprised at all; I watch the Dept. of C7R in this prison waste money every single day. Hell, I watch staff steal the good state supplied ice cream we sometimes get for dessert. Because of that, some of the last to get fed that night just get jello. But $580,000 for wasted unused office space. Think of all the re-entry and substance abuse programs that money could have been used for. Better yet, that money could have been used as an incentive to pay inmates money-upon parole- to get their GED or VOC training. That money could have been used to pay for college books for inmates who wish to go to college…I could go on but what’s the point? The CDCR is only a warehouse for the drug addicted, mentally ill and poor. So in the eyes of the CDCR, wasting the money on unused office space is just as good as wasting it on the prisoners who don’t deserve anything. Prisons: I read a part of the US Justice Department Interrogation techniques approved in 2002. I noted that one of the techniques is the “Attention Grasp”. It says: Grasping the individual with both hands, one hand on each side of the collar opening, in a controlled and quick motion.” Well, I don’t know about controlled, but if this is now torture, hell, this has been going on in California State Prisons since I’ve been in the system since 2000. Getting grabbed by the shirt by staff is common. So is the “Facial Grasp”; “Insult Slap”; “Cramped Confinement”; and “Sleep Deprivation”. For Example: I was taken to an outside medical clinic for a test. I was handcuffed. Then a plastic black box was secured between my wrists and locked to another chain that went around my waist. My ankles were also secured with a cuff on each and a chain between them. This is a new way they transport. The effect of the black box is to completely restrict any hand and arm motion. We, there were several of us, were then put in a 6’ long X 4 ‘ high sealed steel cage inside a normal van. Due to my inability to move my hands and arms, I could not put my seat belt on. The cage was shut and double locked. Then the back doors of the van were shut and locked. There are two bench seats to sit on. WOW, now I did eight ballistic missile patrols on board U.S. submarines (1980-1986 SSBN 630 Gold, SSBN 627 Gold) so I’m okay in close spaces-but what the hell, I almost lost it. This was a (8) hour round trip. The correctional officers who drove stopped for half an hour to eat breakfast, and on the way back they stopped for 40 minutes to eat lunch. The whole time I simply got freaked out because I could not move my hands. I had to ask one of the other inmates to itch my nose! And every turn we took I went tumbling and there was nothing to hold on to. I knew if we got in a crash I was done for, there were no air bags or cushioning in that cage to stop my impact. A fire would have been “all she wrote”. There is no way that if that van caught on fire, that those “brave” correctional officers could unlock three locks, get the doors open and get me and the other inmates out. No, I had to keep the fiery crash scenario out of my mind. My swelling wrists and the small amount of blood now coming from where the cuff, on my tight wrist, was cutting into my now quickly swelling flesh was keeping my mind occupied. But having my hands pinned and so immobile was rapidly causing me to freak OUT! I took several deep breaths and started talking to the others about anything and everything just to keep my mind off the situation I was in. Of course I, we, made it back to the prison- an 8 hour round trip of torture. As I read the interrogation techniques from the justice dept. I noted in the section detailing “Cramped Confinement” “…lasts for no more than two hours.” Well, mister CIA or NSA or whatever agency who wishes to interrogate someone… Just bring them to any California State Prison and have them taken out for “medical” to an outside clinic”. I think that your suspect will sing like a bird when the c/o’s bring him/her back. Because I’ll tell you something-I had a Top Secret Clearance in the U.S. Navy and I would have told them everything—Now that is TORTURE! And we allow it every single day to be done to our fellow Americans. What kind of people are we? Please Wake UP! With Respect, Veritas

Prisons and Politics 5-7-09

Prisons and Politics 5-7-09 “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will continue ‘till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” ---Fredrick Douglass Aug. 3, 1857--- I open with Mr. Douglass’ quote because I see that this “…quietly submit…” is happening here in the U.S. We are allowing the budgets for education systems across America to be cut and slashed to the bone. While the States and Federal government increase prison budgets. Shouldn’t this be the other way around? I was just reading in the paper how violent crime was falling across the U.S. Since it’s always the “violent” offenders that “society” wants locked up and violent crime is going down, why are prison budgets going up? It costs the taxpayers of the State of California over $10 billion a year to run its prison system. That’s more than all the state funded higher education in California combined! How long will we quietyly submit while our government condems another generation of poor uneducated men and women to a life in jails and prisons. Come on, WAKE UP! We can’t be a free society with the most per capita incarceration rate of any other democratic country. Is this what we, Americans, want? I don’t think we do, I know I don’t; but then I can be accused of having an agenda. This is our kids we are flushing down the no education sewer. How long are we going to keep doing this? It seems as Herbert Spencer’s famous “Survival of the Fittest” has become the mantra of America. The only problem with that is not a level field and it can be sustained. We can’t keep cranking out educational failures-it’s just not moral. We the People need to hold our political officials accountable for each and every child that can’t read or can’t write. How are we going to build things in this country when our labor force can’t read a blue print? The focus of our state should be: 1) Violent Criminals in prison-with rehabilitation; 2) non-violent criminals in mental health treatment, drug treatment, vocational training or whatever is needed to keep them out of prison; 3) But above all do not sacrifice the children for the sins of their parents. Educate the Children. Please Support Education NOT Incarceration, With Respect, Veritas5509

Prison/Criminal Justice

Prisons: I have several rants for this blog. I’ll start with some prison related items. First, I would like to applaud the Colorado state house for passing a bill, last week, to abolish the use of the death penalty in that state. The bill only passed by one vote-but one is enough. Now it, the bill, will go to the state senate. I hope they pass the bill as well, and then the Colorado Governor signs it into law. It has been a “Crime” how the death penalty has been used in the United States. Since 1989 there have been 235 post-conviction DNA exoneration's-most from death rows. That means a jury found, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the man or woman committed the charged crime. Then went on and found again in another hearing that the convicted person should be put to death. How broken can we be? To have a system that can make such a grievous mistake to put an innocent person on death row. Again I ask, where is the outrage! Oh, I get it; people only get outraged if it affects them directly. Well people, it does. Because if so many people are found to be innocent-post conviction, and these are just the DNA cases that is, cases where DNA was left at the crime scene. And the jury system convicted them- then I ask how many other innocent men and women are rotting away in our prisons and jails? I would like to see real reform done with regard to the criminal justice system, before the next innocent person charged with a crime is you. Criminal Justice: Reforming the system. Here are a few ideas I have. First, do away with plea bargaining. I know firsthand that most criminal cases are disposed with through the use of plea bargaining. I also know that lot’s of the pleas are made by scared innocent people. Yes, I hear you, “But Veritas, why would an innocent person say they are guilty?” The reasons agree as countless as the stars in the sky. Most of my direct experience is that the person is just worn down by the system or scared that they might actually get more time, if they go to trial, because of a past record. I spent years in county jail and talked to countless men who just wanted the “thing” to be over with. They knew if they just plead guilty then they could go home-time served, or get on to state prison. You see as bad as state prison is-county jail is worse. That brings me to my next idea for reforming the criminal justice system: Set reasonable bail. I know that’s what’s supposed to happen. But that’s not what goes on. The county jails are bursting at the seams because of pre-trial detainees. The pre-trial people are not convicted of any crime, not at that point. They just simply can’t make bail, or in some cases are held on No Bail. No bail is for people with parole holds or accused of very serious crimes. But our constitution gives us, Americans, and those arrested on our soil the right to reasonable bail. Over the years that’s been watered down. The reason for it being put in the constitution was the British and Ol’ King George had a nasty habit of just arresting people and holding them for as long as the British wanted without a trial and never set a bail. Gee, that sounds like another George??? Anyway, the issue of bail should be revisited. It sucks to be poor or lower middle class and get charged with a crime in America. You will just wait and wait because you or your family can’t afford bail or the 7-10% for the bondsman. So, as I wrote earlier, you break down and take the plea just to get home so you don’t lose your house or job or both. Jail ain’t no fun and a lot of people will do just about anything to get out. So, another innocent person takes a plea. Our criminal justice system is broken, it’s so obvious. With 235 Post conviction DNA exoneration's. And these people went to trial. Pleas wake up! It could be you next. Thank you for reading this blog. With respect, Veritas5509