Advocacy against wrongful convictions, criminalizing mental illness, the death penalty, and other justice issues is under fire.  Free speech suffers when one works for justice for convicted persons.  I am glad Northwestern is fighting releasing information on the students who have no charges pending against them.  Why investigate the students?


Students who question murder convictions under investigation
By Nicole Lapin, CNN
November 6, 2009 -- Updated 1440 GMT (2240 HKT)

Prosecutors subpoenaed students' records, saying team's motive was good grades; Northwestern won't submit records; hearing scheduled for Tuesday

Editor's note: Nicole Lapin is an anchor and reporter based at the
CNN Headquarters in Atlanta. She graduated from Northwestern
University's Medill School of Journalism.

(CNN) -- It was two-and-a-half days before Illinois Gov. George Ryan
was to leave office in 2003. I sat in a crowded auditorium in
Northwestern University's Law School in Chicago, where Ryan was
expected to make a major announcement on capital punishment.

"Half, if you will, of the nearly 300 capital cases in Illinois have
been reversed for a new trial or for some re-sentencing." he said,
his voice tired but clear.

Wrongful convictions had been all over the papers around that time --
the Anthony Porter case, the Ford Heights Four, Rolando Cruz.

"How in God's name does that happen? In America, how does it happen?"
Ryan continued. "How many more cases of wrongful conviction have to
occur before we can all agree that this system in Illinois is broken?"

On that day, the governor commuted the sentences of all death row
inmates in the state and credited an unlikely source for helping him
make his decision: Professor David Protess' undergraduate
Investigative Journalism class at Northwestern University's Medill
School.

In the previous decade, Medill students had uncovered some of the
most high-profile wrongful convictions in the city. The class had
worked to secure the release of 11 innocent prisoners, five of whom
were scheduled to be executed.

As a wide-eyed journalism student at Northwestern, I remember feeling
proud of my classmates, proud of my school and proud of the
profession I was entering.

Today, six years later, Protess' class is far from the center of the
same praise. Presented with evidence in a new case, the state
attorney's office is questioning the motivations of the messenger --
the class itself.

The students have raised questions about the murder conviction of
Anthony McKinney. In response, the state attorney's office issued a
subpoena for the students' grades, grading criteria, expense reports,
syllabi and e-mail messages -- mine included.
Find out more about the Medill Innocence Project.

The year after Gov. Ryan's speech, I signed up for Protess' class. I
was assigned to the team working on McKinney's case, who was
convicted in 1978, when he was 18, for shooting a security guard in
Harvey, Illinois.

On the night of September 15, 1978, a white security guard named
Donald Lundahl was killed at close range by a shotgun blast while
sitting in his car.

Later that evening, a police officer noticed McKinney, an African-
American, running down the street. He was arrested.

McKinney had no violent criminal history and was not in possession of
a weapon. He was briefly released after telling police he was
watching the Muhammed Ali-Leon Spinx heavyweight championship fight
when the murder took place and was running from "gang-bangers" when
the officer saw him.

Authorities questioned another teenager, who told police that he saw
the murder, claiming he saw McKinney, from 50 yards away, say, "Your
money or your life," and shoot Lundahl.

McKinney was picked up again, and after a second lengthy
interrogation, he signed a confession, typed by police. During his
trial, he recanted the confession, and said it was coerced.

But based on officers' testimony and that of the teenager, McKinney
was convicted of murder.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty, but because he had no record,
McKinney was sentenced to life in prison. Had his sentence been
death, McKinney would have been executed long before the commutation
of death row cases in 2003. He would have been dead well before
Protess even took up his case.

Since Protess started the course in 1992, his classes have
investigated about 50 cases.

Although the ones that are chosen have major red flags, like lack of
physical evidence, not all convictions are found to be unjustified.

Of the 50, 11 led to exonerations. Two indicated solid evidence of
guilt. The rest are under review by the judiciary or were
inconclusive, Protess said.

Protess made clear to all of his classes that the coursework was
about pavement-hitting journalism, the process behind discovering the
truth -- guilt or innocence. I went into the class to learn that
process.

During the two quarters I took the course, I lived the McKinney case.
My team and I spent nights and weekends doing things I never told my
family or friends because they wouldn't believe me. Some times it was
a matter of staking out a source's house or going to smoky, seedy
bars to fish for information on the decades-old case.

Those times, a professional private investigator and another team
member would be in the car listening for the words "winter wedding"
-- the "safe word" we were supposed say into the cell phones in our
pockets if something dangerous ever went down. (It never did.)

Unlike other Medill classes, this course was hands-on, gritty and
raw. I gained more practical skills in those months than in all of my
other college courses combined. The experience prepared me to do the
work I have done professionally and will continue to do throughout my
career.

In our investigation, we reenacted the crime scene and determined it
was impossible to discern any words spoken or shouted from 50 yards
away.

Later, we tracked down the then-teenage witness who said he saw
McKinney that night. The man recanted his testimony on videotape, and
told us police beat him.

We also found a fire department document that indicated the
paramedics were called to the police station during McKinney's
interrogation, raising the question of whether he was roughed up
during his interrogation as he said he was.

We interviewed the "gang-bangers" who chased him that night. They
acknowledged they chased him after the Ali fight because they were
angry he had damaged their car earlier.

Finally, we identified alternate suspects, one of whom stated on
videotape that he was there when the murder was committed -- and that
McKinney wasn't.

After I graduated, the investigation continued. Once Protess felt
there was enough evidence, after nine teams of student reporters had
worked on the case, the information was shared with the Center on
Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern's Law School and McKinney's
legal team.

The audio and videotaped interviews, affidavits and other on-the-
record interview transcripts we worked on also were presented to the
district attorney's office. Last year, the new evidence was submitted
to the Cook County Circuit Court in an effort to exonerate McKinney.

I am still haunted by the case. I am still haunted by my visit to see
McKinney in prison -- the gentle face of a man who still has hope
after so many years.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, Sally Daly, told me that
we, as students, were "conducting these interviews for a grade in
this class."

She went on to say the "request for the grades goes to explore any
possible bias, interest or motive."

The claim is that we, as students, were motivated to get witnesses to
play into a preconceived thesis of innocence in order to get good
grades. I think I speak for my fellow alums when I say this class was
never about grades.

It has always been about searching for truth and justice for people
whose cases didn't get due diligence from a bogged-down system. This
was about journalism in its purest and most passionate form.

For years, the class has been a check on the work of police and other
law enforcement officials. Protess has seen and dealt with his fair
share of heat for more than a decade, but never anything like this
attempt to investigate the investigator.

Northwestern is not complying with the request for documents. A court
hearing on November 10 will decide if the subpoena will stand. While
we were students at the time, we "took reporting to the Nth degree,"
as the dean of the school told The Chicago Tribune. We functioned as
journalists and should be protected by reporter's privilege laws.

About 50 similar programs across the country are watching to see what
precedent could be set if the state is entitled to these materials.
Will programs like Northwestern's continue if the volunteers are
worried about attorneys' fees to handle requests for documents?

Recently, Judge H. Lee Sarokin, the federal judge who famously freed
Ruben "Hurricane" Carter on a murder conviction that proved to be
unfounded, wrote in support of all former members of "Team McKinney."
"If a reporter hopes to win a Pulitzer or an investigator for the
defense hopes to obtain further business," he wrote, "how can those
motives possibly be relevant to the evidence obtained?"

The focus should be on the evidence, not grades. Student information
is irrelevant to Anthony McKinney's case. Being forced to hand over
private information will not only compromise the integrity of the
program, but create a chilling effect on free speech and
investigative reporting.

I recently went back and watched Gov. Ryan's speech on YouTube. I got
the same chill I did watching it in person that day. I can only hope
that a new generation of students has the opportunity to feel that, too.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/06/lapin.wrongful.conviction/index.html?eref=rss_us

__._,_.___

Supreme Court appears split on tackling rogue prosecutors
The Supreme Court Wednesday heard arguments in a lawsuit brought by
two Iowa men who spent 25 in prison after prosecutors allegedly
fabricated evidence against them. Justices seemed divided on the
issue of how much immunity prosecutors should enjoy.

By Warren Richey | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the November 4, 2009 edition
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1105/p02s01-usju.html

WASHINGTON - The US Supreme Court on Wednesday took up the difficult
issue of what to do about unscrupulous prosecutors willing to induce
false testimony and hide exculpatory evidence to convict innocent
defendants.

At issue in Pottawattamie County v. McGhee is whether two men sent to
prison for life are entitled to sue the local prosecutors in Iowa who
helped arrange false testimony that led to their wrongful convictions.

Both men served 25 years in prison before being released after
investigators discovered the false testimony and uncovered
exculpatory evidence never disclosed to defense lawyers.

The high court has long recognized that prosecutors presenting a case
at trial enjoy absolute immunity from citizen lawsuits seeking
compensation for alleged violations of their constitutional rights.

But the court has also recognized that a prosecutor may not enjoy the
protections of absolute immunity when serving not as a trial advocate
but as an investigator searching for clues and corroboration that a
crime has been committed.

During oral argument on Wednesday, the justices split into three
camps. In one camp were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Paul
Stevens, and Sonia Sotomayor, who appeared primarily concerned with
ensuring that victims of such prosecutorial misconduct have a
potential remedy through a civil lawsuit.

In another camp were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel
Alito who appeared primarily concerned with the potentially "chilling
impact" on all prosecutors if the court allowed some defendants to
file such citizen lawsuits.

In the center were Justices Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, and
Antonin Scalia who appeared to share the concerns of both other camps.

Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal, arguing in support of absolute
immunity for the two prosecutors, said the government's position was
based on important societal concerns that prosecutors feel free to
act as vigorous advocates.

"Absolute immunity doesn't exist to protect a few bad apples," Mr.
Katyal said. If prosecutors know they may be sued by disgruntled
defendants "they will flinch in the performance of their duties."

Paul Clement, a former solicitor general arguing on behalf of the two
wrongly-convicted defendants, said the federal appeals court in New
York has allowed such citizen lawsuits against prosecutors since
2000. "There has not been a flood of these cases," he said. "There
has been a trickle."

Mr. Clement said he had identified 17 cases brought since the 2000
appeals court action.

Chief Justice Roberts said his concerns went beyond just potential
litigation. "We are concerned about the chilling effect on the
prosecutors," he said.

Stephen Sanders, a Chicago lawyer representing the two former
prosecutors, urged the court to maintain an expansive application of
absolute immunity for all prosecutors.

He warned that if the high court ruled for the two wrongly-convicted
defendants, "it would work a radical change in the law of immunity."

A decision in the case is expected by June 2010.

Federal Investigation Requested In Mitrice Richardson's Disappearance From Lost Hills, Ca. Jail

Nancy Lockhart launched a Change.org petition for a federal investigation into the disappearance of a gifted young woman who suffers from depression. Mitrice Richardson was arrested in Lost Hills, CA Jail on September 16 at 10 p.m., then reportedly released after midnight with no money, I.D., food, water, or cell phone. Join petitioners in asking for federal help resolving this mystery. WHAT HAPPENED TO MITRICE RICHARDSON? 

Link for the petition:  http://www.change.org/actions/view/federal_investigation_requested_in_mitrice_richardsons_disappearance_from_lost_hills_ca_jail

Mitrice Richardson is a college graduate from California State University of Fullerton, in Psychology, with a 4.00 GPA. Mitrice Richardson has begun the process of acceptance into the Psychology Professional

Mitrice Richardson is a college graduate from California State University of Fullerton, in Psychology, with a 4.00 GPA. Ms. Richardson has begun the process of acceptance into the Psychology Professional College, Alliant, to pursue her Ph.D. as a Clinical Psychologist.  She is an African American who is openly gay.

Mitrice Richardson is in a crisis and is in danger.  Support is needed to find her. Use the widget below to join petitioners asking for a federal investigation into the whereabouts of Mitrice Richardson to bring her home and to ensure that this does not happen to more people. 

The "take action" button below should also take you to the petition.

or, Create a Petition

People who are experiencing a mental health crisis should not be released from jail after midnight in unfamiliar territory to fend for themselves without money or a means to call for assistance, if that is really what happened.  No woman should.

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

JAIL IS THE LAST THING THAT MENTAL PATIENTS NEED, AND TOO OFTEN, IT IS THE VERY LAST THING THEY EXPERIENCE. Please join our effort to decriminalize mental illness. No one deserves to be punished for having a health crisis.

Thanks for your interest. God bless you!

Below are Care2 News Network articles most recently submitted by Mary Neal. The ten (10) articles below are accessible by clicking the "comments" tabs below the articles to reach them at Care2.  Once at Care2 News Network, you can click the title or the "visit site" button to go to the full-length article and any videos, where you can see it full length.  Please use your back arrow to return to my sharebook and read more articles from the list.  Some of the articles below are among the most difficult to post of any that I have ever published.  Thank you for reading them.  Your opinions are invited. 

1

Amnesty International Southern Regional Conference in Georgia - Oct 30 - Nov 1
Society & Culture  (tags: AmnestyInternational, AmnestyInternationalSouthernRegionalConf, MaryNeal, DecaturGeorgia, HumanRights, Dignity:AllRightsForAllPeople )

Mary
- 14 minutes ago - care2.com

Care2 News Link: http://www.care2.com/news/member/513396753/1289391
We hope many of you can make it to Atlanta for what promises to be an engaging and inspiring weekend in the fight for human rights! The 2009 conference theme is "Dignity: All Rights for All People." You'll leave with ideas for activism to take home.

1 comment

WHICH Type of H1N1 Vaccine Will YOU Be Forced to Accept?
Health & Wellness  (tags: EnforcedH1N1Vaccines, MassachusettsMarshalLawBill, MaryNeal, H1N1inoculation, AssistanceToTheIncarceratedMentallyIll, MaryNeal )

Mary
- 12 days ago - freespeakblog.blogspot.com

Germany - The armed forces, according to a newspaper report, has ordered a different vaccine against the swine influenza for Germany's 250,000 soldiers. The vaccine is different than the serum which will be used to inoculate the civil population as planne

14 comments problem?

64

VIDEO - Illinois School Police Attack and Beat Special Needs Student
Society & Culture  (tags: IllinoisPoliceBrutality, assistancetotheincarceratedmentallyill, WrongfulDeathOfLarryNeal, MaryNeal, AIMI, SchoolBeating, PoliceOveruseOfForce, DecriminalizeMentalIllness, PoliceAttackSpecialNeedsStudent, Tasers, SchoolPolice, MaryNeal )

Mary
- 16 days ago - freespeakblog.blogspot.com

One might ask who is brain damaged in the video. Is it the student, who was quietly walking down the school corridor at class change, or is it the enraged officer who deemed the child's shirt tail being out so offensive that the student deserved to possi

22 comments problem?

37

Mary Neal Presents "Steps Toward Justice" Hub3
US Politics & Gov't  (tags: ValleySwimClub, CyrusVanceJr, USDOJ, NativeAmericans, TribalLands, AssistanceToTheIncarceratedMentallyIll, ColombiaMassPoliceDept, PoliceSaveSuicidalMan, StepsTowardJusticeHub3, MaryNeal, GoodNews, MLK, AIMI )

Mary
- 30 days ago - hubpages.com

FIVE stories carrying good news for justice! Bigotry against ethnic children punished; Native Americans helped; Cyrus Vance for NY D.A.; Colombia, MA Police save suicidal man; movement to decriminalize mental illness growing. GOOD NEWS with lots of videos

12 comments problem?

48

TASERED: Legless Middle-Aged Man in Wheelchair
Society & Culture  (tags: Handicapped, AfricanAmerican, DogJustice, MaryNeal, DoubleAmputee, Taser, PoliceBrutality, OveruseOfForce, AssistancetotheIncarceratedMentallyIll )

Mary
- 36 days ago - freespeakblog.blogspot.com

Please don't taser legless middle-aged men in wheelchairs, even if they are African Americans. Please. Blessings!

30 comments problem?

48

Help Todd Willingham Rest in Peace - Clear the Name of Wrongly Executed Texan
US Politics & Gov't  (tags: CameronToddWillingham, TexasDeathRow, GovRickPerry, CapitalPunishment, WrongfulExecution, LethalInjection, AbolishDeathPenalty, AssistancetotheIncarceratedMentallyIll, MaryNeal, LarryNeal, DogJustice, TexasMoratoriumNetwork, TMN )

Mary
- 44 days ago - freespeakblog.blogspot.com

STOP THE SLANDER against Cameron Todd Willingham. He was executed in 2004 for arson murders of his own children. Authorities now admit there was likely no arson. Texas Moratorium Network launched a petition to clear Todd's name and remove infanticide from

19 comments problem?

60

POLL - Should Inmates Whose Innocence Is Proved By DNA Tests Be Executed Anyway? The Thomas Arthur Story
US Politics & Gov't  (tags: ThomasArthur, AlabamaDeathRow, InnocenceMatters, AssistancetotheIncarceratedMentallyIll, MaryNeal, TroyWicker, JudgePulliam, BirminghamNews, Post-ConvictionDNA, SupremeCourt, JusticeDenied, MaryNeal, LarryNeal, WrongfulDeathOfLarryNeal, DogJustice, Civil )

Mary
- 56 days ago - votingcentral.com

Thomas Arthur, Alabama death row inmate, wanted to avoid his July 31, 2008 WRONGFUL execution so badly that he allegedly got Gilbert to lie and say Gilbert killed Troy Wicker. DNA tests proved both inmates innocent, but Alabama still plans to kill Arthur!

34 comments problem?

89

Abused Mentally Ill Man's Lawsuit Against CCA Private Prison Dismissed
Health & Wellness  (tags: CCA, MentallyIllPrisoners, DecriminalizeMentalIllness, PrisonProfiteers, FrankHorton, NashvillePrisonSystem, AssistanceToTheIncarceratedMentallyIll, AIMI, MaryNeal, wrongfuldeathoflarryneal, SolitaryConfinement, PrisonerTorture )

Mary
- 60 days ago - tennessean.com

What happens when a mentally ill inmate is imprisoned naked for nine months living in filth in dark solitary confinement and is so abused and traumatized that he can only speak gibberish when released? Judge dismisses family's lawsuit, of course!

47 comments problem?

100

Troy Davis Gets Hearing, Says U.S. Supreme Court
US Politics & Gov't  (tags: TroyDavis, U.S.SupremeCourt, HearingforTroyDavis, CapitalPunishment, Abolitionists, JusticeForTroyDavis, GeorgiaSuperiorCourt, AssistanceToTheIncarceratedMentallyIll, AIMI, MaryNeal, LarryNeal, DogJustice, WrongfulDeathOfLarryNeal )

Mary
- 72 days ago - ajc.com

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a new hearing for death row inmate Troy Davis, whose supporters say is innocent and should be spared from execution for killing an off-duty police officer almost 20 years ago.

59 comments problem?

40

Police Slam 80-Yr-Old Black Woman to the Ground Where She Lay Bleeding
US Politics & Gov't  (tags: 80-yr-oldTakenDownbyPolice, MaryNeal, assistancetotheincarceratedmentallyill, AIMI, PoliceOveruseOfForce, AfricanAmerican )

Mary
- 82 days ago - globalgrind.com

This film depicts a "take down" by police officers in a Wal-Mart parking lot. The citizen is reported to be an 80-year-old woman with completely white hair and on a walking cane.

18 comments problem?

California inmate, Jeremy Smith, has been schizophrenic since childhood.  He was arrested for hitting another mental patient in a mental health facility.  He caused no lasting damage.  That act of aggression from Jeremy, a sick young man, has already costed California taxpayers over $70,000 per year, because Jeremy is isolated in the "hole," which is solitary confinement.  His mom reports that Jeremy was sentenced for EIGHT YEARS.

Allegedly, Jeremy said some things to a prison guard that were not nice.  Now he faces additional sentencing for making "terrorist threats."  This is how a simple battery on the part of a mentally ill person can easily turn into life in prison - SOMETHING YOU, THE TAXPAYERS, FINANCE - the criminalization of mental illness.  Please pray for Jeremy and his mom, Care2 member, Gina.  Pray for all mentally ill people in dark, 9' 6' cells today, where they are usually naked and always alone.  Pray for our officials who allow this to continue.

Please sign Jeremy's petition for justice at this link - treatment, not punishment for mental illness.  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/JusticeForJeremy

Below is a copy of his current pending charges.

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Criminal Case Information - Case Details
criminal case information/calendar menu / search results / case details

Defendant Information:Name:SMITH, JEREMY  Birth Year:1977

Case Information:Court Case #:MF008647A  Filing Date:03/05/09 Related Case #:None
 Arrest Date:N/A

Bail Amount:$100000.00
Bail Status:N/A
Bail Type:N/A

Charges/Dispositions
CountTypeCodeSectionCharge DescriptionCharge DispositionDisposition Date
001 F PC 422 THREATEN WITH INTENT TO TERRORIZE    
002 F PC 76(A)(1) THREATEN/ETC CERTAIN STATE OFFICIALS/JUDGES/ETC    

Sentence Information
  ** n/a - no convicted charges **

Scheduled Hearings
Notes: 1. For Metropolitan Division cases: If the Div/Dept is 1-17, A-K or T then the Div/Dept is your courtroom number. If the Div/Dept is other than those listed in the previous sentence see the information desk near the escalator for your courtroom number.
 2. If a defendant has more than one hearing scheduled for the same date and time, he or she should appear on the felony case first.
 3. Calendars for each court may periodically change as court schedules are modified by court personnel. Persons viewing the court calendar assume full responsibility for appearing at the proper date and time and at the proper court irrespective of the information contained herein.

Hearing Date/TimeHearing LocationDiv/DeptHearing Type
09/10/2009, 08:30AM Metro Division - 1415 Truxtun CC HEARING ON REPORT: PC 1368-1370 
10/15/2009, 08:30AM Metro Division - 1415 Truxtun CC HEARING ON REPORT - PC 1368 
11/25/2009, 09:00AM Metro Division - 1415 Truxtun RH READINESS 
12/07/2009, 09:00AM Metro Division - 1415 Truxtun 01 JURY TRIAL 

Aliases
Defendant nameSMITH, JEREMY 
Aliases SMITH, JEROMY  

 © 2008 Superior Court

JAIL IS THE LAST THING THAT MENTAL
PATIENTS NEED, AND TOO OFTEN, IT IS THE VERY LAST THING THEY
EXPERIENCE. Please join our effort to decriminalize mental
illness. No one deserves to be punished for having a disability.

The beauty of co-existence!

See the announcement below for Amnesty
International's Regional Conference on
Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 in Georgia.

First, please enjoy one of my favorite videos.  All races, nationalities, and ages dancing together, loving and sharing music and fun together - armed only with string instruments and making a joyful noise! 

This is my perception of what AI works toward.

The video is rightly called
VICTORY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V0mqrpY31s 

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Southern Regional Conference 2009 in Decatur, Georgia!
Oct. 30 to Nov. 1

Visit the website for AI's conference at this link:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/regional-conferences/south/page.do?id=1650029  

Come together with fellow Amnesty activists from across the South for an exciting weekend to celebrate and strengthen the human rights movement. The 2009 conference theme is "Dignity: All Rights for All People." You’ll leave with ideas for activism to take back to your community, contacts for other activists, and more knowledge about Amnesty’s fight for human rights and dignity.

We hope many of you can make it to Atlanta for what promises to be an engaging and inspiring weekend in the fight for human rights!

We are proud to be hosting our Amnesty International Secretary General, Irene Khan at our regional conference this year.  She will be speaking about her new book The Unheard Truth: Poverty and Human Rights and the critical importance of AI’s new Demand Dignity campaign.

Agenda: This is a working agenda and subject to slight changes and modifications. Priority campaign workshop titles are place holders pending the final determination of actual workshop titles. Click Here to view the Conference Agenda

Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan will be attending and speaking!

Events to include:

• Workshops, including Right to Health, Media Work, Coalition Building, Campus Activism, and more
• Film Screenings
• Human Rights Tour of Atlanta
• Student Caucus
• Atlanta Pride March
• Welcome Cultural Program
• Extended Networking Break in the Ideas Fair
• Local Group Caucus Lunch
• Student and Youth Caucus Lunch
• Faculty Advisors' Roundtable Lunch
• Amnesty International 101
• State by State Planning

Become a member online and you will receive an Amnesty International tote bag at the conference!

Irene Khan

Irene Khan joined Amnesty International as Secretary General in August 2001.

As the first woman, first Asian and first Muslim to head the world's largest human rights organization, she has led Amnesty International through challenging developments in the wake of 11 September 2001, confronting the backlash against human rights, broadening the work of the organization in areas of economic, social and cultural rights, and initiating a process of internal reform and renewal to enable the organization to respond flexibly and rapidly to world events. She has also sought to bring a strong focus to the issue of women's human rights and violence against women.

Prior to joining Amnesty International, Ms. Khan worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for twenty one years, serving in many different parts of the world, including as Deputy Director in the Department of International Protection, Chief of Mission in India, Senior Legal Advisor for Asia and Senior Executive Officer to the High Commissioner.

In 1977, she helped to found Concern Universal, a UK-based development NGO.

In 2002 Ms. Khan was awarded the Pilkington "Women of the Year" award. In 2003 she received the John Owens Distinguished Alumni award from the University of Manchester. She has been awarded honorary doctorates by Ferris University (Japan) and Staffordshire University (UK). She has been voted one of the 100 Most Influential Asians in the UK. She is the winner of the 2006 Sydney Peace Prize.

She is a graduate of Harvard Law School, USA and the University of Manchester, UK. She is a Bangladesh national.

Despite economic growth in almost every corner of the world, billions of people still live in poverty. Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan claims that economic analyses do not provide a full picture and economic solutions alone cannot end the problems of poverty. In a bracing argument enriched with her personal experiences and case studies from around the world, Khan sees poverty as the world's worst human rights crisis because it traps people in a vicious cycle of deprivation, insecurity, exclusion and voicelessness. She argues that the foremost challenge is the empowerment, not the enrichment, of poor people, and makes a passionate and urgent plea for action to uphold human rights in the fight to end against poverty.

Esha Momeni is an Iranian-American women's rights defender, artist, and graduate student at California State University Northridge. Esha traveled to Iran in October 2008 to work on her thesis, filming footage for a project on the women's rights movement and interviewing volunteers for One Million Signatures, a campaign that petitions to rewrite the Iranian constitution to recognize men and women as equal. While there, she was arrested and charged with propagandizing against the state. Esha was held in the notorious Evin Prison for 28 days, 25 of which she spent in solitary confinement. She was released on an excessive $200,000 bail in November and placed on a travel restriction for several more months. Esha was honored with the Kappa Tau Alpha Outstanding Service Award in May 2009 while still in Iran.

Terrica Redfield, staff attorney at the Southern Center for Human Rights, focuses on representing clients on death row in Georgia and Alabama. Prior to joining SCHR, Ms. Redfield completed at two-year fellowship at Fair Trial Initiative (FTI) in Durham, North Carolina. Ms. Redfield graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2002. Ms. Redfield was awarded the Mortimer M. Caplin Public Service Fellowship. She is a member of the Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama bars.

Charity L. Woods is the State Coordinator for Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the largest health reform effort nationally and is involved in local progressive issues and politics. Before working with HCAN Charity was the South Carolina State Field Coordinator for Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), working with the presidential campaigns during the 2007-2008 primary season. She also has legislative, lobbying, campaign and nonprofit experience that have allowed her to hone her public relations, organizing and communications skills.

Sameer Dossani is the Director of Amnesty International's Demand Dignity Campaign. Prior to joining Amnesty in 2009, Sameer served as Director of 50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice which campaigns for the radical reform of international financial institutions including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Sameer holds degrees in Philosophy, Religious Studies and Women's Studies from McGill University, Canada and La Trobe University, Australia.

Brian Evans is the Campaigner for Amnesty International USA's Death Penalty Abolition Campaign. Prior to moving to Washington, DC, in 2006, he was a founding member of the Texas Moratorium Network and a member of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, organizations working to stop executions in the state of Texas. He has a Masters degree in Middle East Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and also served for 8 years as the Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia Country Specialist for Amnesty International USA.

Ebenezer Akwanga is a human rights activist from Cameroon. At age 15, he founded the Voice of America Fan Club to help educate Cameroonian students about democracy and human rights. Later, he was elected president of the first Student Union of the University of Buea where he stood against tuition increases and led non-violent demonstrations. For his activism, he was expelled and banned for life from enrolling at any university in Cameroon. Ebenezer became a founding member of the Southern Cameroons Youth League of which he is currently Chairman. His involvement led to his arrest, torture and conviction on trumped-up charges and he was sentenced to 20-years of hard labor. He served seven years with two years in solitary confinement. Amnesty campaigned fervently on his behalf for many years and in 2006, Ebenezer was granted refugee status in the United States. Ebenezer has earned a BSc in Criminal Justice Administration from the University of Phoenix and is a candidate for a Master of Arts Degree at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

Derrick Boazman is the host of "Too Much Truth" a talk show on WAOK in Atlanta. In this capacity, speaking on both his show and at rallies and events, Mr. Boazman has been a prominent advocate on the call for justice on behalf of Troy Davis. He is also a former member of the Atlanta City Council representing District 12 where he worked on such issues as criminal justice reform and public schools.

Dr. Alfred W. Brann, Jr., Professor of Pediatrics at Emory School of Medicine, is a specialist in neonatal/perinatal medicine and child neurology. As Director of The Collaborating Center, Dr. Brann addresses infant mortality by developing community-based health care delivery systems with transparent surveillance that permit continuous quality improvement in women's health and health outcomes for pregnant mothers and their newborns. In addition to its domestic activities in the Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama, the Center has provided consultation and/or conducted projects in some 30 countries in all six regions of the World Health Organization. Dr. Brann is the recipient of the Jack A. Raines Humanitarian Award from the Medical Association of Georgia.

Martina Correia is a State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator for Amnesty International USA in Georgia, a United States Army veteran, survivor of stage IV mestatic breast cancer, and prominent advocate who has spoken about human rights to audiences large and small across the world including the European Union, and is the sister of Troy Davis. In addition to her advocacy work, Martina is a volunteer with the Public School system in the City of Savannah.

The deadline to submit a resolution is complete. All members who join before or at the conference will be eligible to vote on the resolutions!

» Click here to read the resolutions (on the members section)

Voting on Resolutions at the 2009 Regional Conferences will be by Voting Cards rather than by count of hands. To obtain a Voting Card at the Regional Conference, you must be a dues paying member of AIUSA (having paid dues to AIUSA or submitted a valid dues waiver in the last year) or designate a group representative (one per group) and submit a Group Voting Authorization Form. You may become a member anytime prior to voting, including on-site at the conference, to be eligible to vote. If mailing your dues prior to the conference, be sure to allow plenty of time for delivery and processing.

Please plan to arrive on site early Friday evening to participate in our Friday evening Welcoming Reception and Town Hall.

» Register for the Southern Regional Conference
» Download the Registration Form (PDF)
» Register As A Group (PDF)  (Group Discount !! For every four paid registrants, the fifth will be free! If you are registering a group, please attach a list of each person's name and contact information along with the registration form.)

Thank you to all who have volunteered for the Southern Regional Conference. The registration process for volunteers is now complete.

he Holiday Inn Decatur is offering Amnesty International conference attendees a special room rate of $89 for a single or double, plus local taxes and fees. Space is limited, so please book your room as soon as possible!

Conference attendees must make their own reservations directly with the hotel by calling (404) 371-0204. To obtain the special group rate, be sure to mention "Amnesty International USA" or by going to http://tinyurl.com/srobook

Many of my regular readers might recall how my Human Rights for Prisoners Article often encountered censorship problems at NowPublic.com.  It would just disappear!  Well, it is gone again. 

I think it is very significant to know WHAT the censorship staff deletes.  Last week at Care2 News Network, the censorship staff deleted my article regarding America's cybersecurity and Senator Rockefeller's Senate Bills 773 and 778 to give the presidential office the power to shut down the Internet.

Today, when I was working in my blog, the censorship staff lifted a link from the blog WHILE I was working in it.  I knew the easiest place the grab the link was in my HUMAN RIGHTS FOR PRISONERS MARCH at NowPublic, because it is FULL of links about the VERY CRIMINAL justice system.  But the entire article was missing at NowPublic.com.  Read below what "they" hide. 

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HUMAN RIGHTS FOR PRISONERS MARCH

Based on recent proposed legislation, this writer believes officials are getting the point of how badly prison reform is needed. Below are some proposed bills that deserve support:

~ Sen. Jim Webb (VA-D) introduced The National Criminal Justice Act of 2009 calling for a national commission to "undertake a top-to-bottom review of our entire criminal justice system."

~ Rep. Johnson (TX-30) introduced H.R. 619 to resume Medicaid payments for care in mental institutions (withdrawal of these funds helped cause hospital closings); and H.R. 766 to provide housing and financial counseling for individuals before their release from inpatient or residential institutions.

~ Mr. Davis of Illinois (for himself, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr. Towns, Mr. Rush, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Ms. Waters, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Fattah, Mrs. Christensen, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Cummings, and Mr. Clay) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary: H. R. 1475 to amend Title 18, United States Code, to restore the former system of good time allowances toward service of federal prison terms, and for other purposes.

Regarding H.R. 766, counseling is a good start. But if prisons were made to pay minimum wage to inmates who work, their salaries could be used to (a) make restitution to inmates' victims, (b) pay child support and help minors avoid becoming another expense for taxpayers while their parents are incarcerated, and (c) enable released inmates to afford a home, a business, or further their education upon prison release. Why should the proceeds of prison laborers go to private prison owners and investors who are already compensated around $50,000 per year per prisoner in some states and even more for sick and condemned inmates? People exiting prisons need more than financial counseling to become viable members of a community - they need financial ASSISTANCE. Make prison owners pay minimum wage and end slavery in America.

Financial and housing counseling proposed in H.R. 766 would also help identify the needs of mental patients being released from hospitals, but counseling alone will not be useful to chronic mental patients. This is particularly true of those suffering from "anosognosia," which prevents acute mental patients from recognizing their own illness. Such patients exit the hospitals and jails and quickly discontinue their therapy, necessitating re-hospitalization or re-arrest. Taxpayers experience no saings when mental patients fail to get proper care and provisions for continued treatment when dismissed from institutions. Frequently, released psychiatric patients commit crimes ranging from simple vagrancy to murder, like 32-year-old Na Yong Pak, a woman who was released from a mental health facility in Georgia last year and promptly murdered her mom - burned her to death. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2009/02/11/burned_woman_mental.html

Georgia saved nothing by ignoring this family’s protests and dismissing Pak from the hospital earlier than needed, which resulted in her mom’s death and a felony murder arrest for Pak. http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/18683942/detail.html

The family is devastated, another sick person was charged and probably sentenced to a lengthy, expensive prison term, and the only people who might benefit are prison owners. Private prison profiteers benefit even when people go to public prisons because until public correctional facilities are full, they don't get inmates. This is probably why mental hospitals are closed, community care limited, and mandatory treatment largely outlawed.

Chronic mental patients exiting institutions should be placed in an Assisted Outpatient Treatment program like Kendra’s Law that combines subsistence assistance with mandatory outpatient treatment. Kendra’s law reduces homelessness, recidivism, and future hospitalizations by 85% or better. Furthermore, fewer arrests mean safer communities and less expense to taxpayers.

DETAINEE TREATEMENT is frequently "inhuman" inside as it was outside America's borders. Plans are underway for the first annual Human Rights for Prisoners March and Conference in Atlanta in mid-May, 2009. Read first-person reports by seven Pennsylvania inmates who made sworn statements that they are electrocuted, beaten, half-starved, and verbally abused because they reported being tortured and beg for your help at this link (if this link is not allowed to work, please Yahoo "Mary Neal Care2 Sharebook"): http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/1124844

Whereas prison torture has been exposed and condemned in America's offshore prisons, abusive conditions with often deadly results continue largely unchecked inside the country's correctional institutions. Furthermore, racially motivated incidents of police brutality continue to threaten the cohesion of our social structure. Information about the Human Rights for Prisoners March is at the end of this article and will be updated until finalized.

There is a need to stamp out prisoner abuse and murders inside the U.S.A. as well as outside and avoid having detainees within America's borders live and die like the individuals in the VIDEO at the link below while their families are denied records and accountability. More videos are available throughout this article. (Beware - graphic violence, nudity, and death):

Torture in American Prisons - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWxpQ87C4t4

(Torture in American Prisons link originally placed here was deactivated. If this one fails, it is available at YouTube and other sites. Put the title in your browser for a 50 min. documentary of prison torture inside America that rivals the "War on Terror" prison camps.)

Most of the improvements listed below would cost nothing. In fact, they would reduce America’s incarceration rate and save billions of dollars annually. For instance, death row inmates cost about $90,000 more per inmate than those in maximum security prisons. Mentally ill inmates who are released under an assisted outpatient treatment program would experience a better than 80% reduction in future arrests, hospitalizations, and homelessness, and outpatient commitment would promote public safety. There are currently 1.25 million mentally ill people in America’s correctional facilities. Because treatment is significantly less expensive than either hospitalization or imprisonment, states would save significant amounts of tax money that is needed elsewhere.

Peaceful prisoner activists and individuals with an interest in human rights are invited to attend, particularly those interested in:

1) death penalty
2) prison torture
3) solitary confinement
4) life without the possibility of parole
5) trying children as adults and life sentences for minors
6) mandatory sentencing
7) three-strikes laws
8) law of parties (sentencing all parties equally, regardless of parties' level of participation in crimes committed, i.e., Jeff Wood drove with the wrong person to a store in Texas)
9) criminalizing mental illness, including PTSD among American veterans
10) relocating prisoners out of state, which restricts visits even for sick prisoners
11) private prison profiteering - especially by decision-makers with positions in criminal justice (possible conflicts of interest)
12) excessive sentencing and unacceptable disparities in sentencing for similar offenses
13) enforcement of Freedom of Information Act
14) prisoner healthcare
15) increased funding for public defenders
16) post-conviction DNA testing
17) no penalty or misdemeanor charge for less than one oz. of marijuana
18) strict enforcement against police and prison brutality; prosecution of 100% of offenders
19) new trials with substantial new evidence, like the Troy Davis case
(Is Davis is preserved to execute one day and set off riots to excuse Martial Law? President Obama should pardon Davis.)
20) so-called "non-lethal weaponry" and the possibility of conflicts of interest among decision makers regarding police equipment purchases
21) illegal alien raids and arrests
22) police profiling and abuse of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons
23) surveillance of U.S. citizens; loss of privacy rights
24) plans for mass "emergency centers" inside U.S.A. for Americans
(H.R. 645)
25) remedial damages for victims and families of abused or murdered prisoners (whether or not victims lived to reach jail)

**Additional concerns were suggested by email respondents to supplement this list.

The Human Rights for Prisoners March will be conducted in the tradition of non-violent social change demonstrations by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Freedom Riders, which were supported by people of different races and backgrounds united to promote civil rights. It seems fitting to have the march in Dr. King's hometown.

Alarm about prisoners' treatment in the "War on Terror" camps continues to be high. Even physicians participated in "inhuman" torture of persons detained by the CIA in secret overseas prisons, according to an ICAC report that was not intended to be made public. "No one who took actions [tortured detainees] based on legal guidance from the Department of Justice at the time should be investigated, let alone punished," said CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield.

The abuse and deaths of prisoners inside America get little or no investigation, and like the tortured offshore detainees, there is usually no effort to hold prisons and jails responsible for inmates' treatment. Even detainees who are arrested for misdemeanor offenses frequently wind up on websites like the one at the link below. Larry Neal's family was informed that he is no. 26 on the prisoner genocide website, but his position may change as more American prisoners are murdered, usually without recourse:

http://www.geocities.com/prisonmurder/

(Click on each dead prisoner's photograph for his/her story.)

From the moment a police officer says "halt" or pulls a person over for a ticket, the individual is essentially a prisoner. Many prisoners never make it to jail before being abused or killed, like Oscar Grant, who can be seen holding up his hands in surrender before being stretched out on the floor at a train station and shot to death by B.A.R.T. officers in a VIDEO at this link: Oscar Grant: 1st Unarmed Black Man Police Killed in 2009 - Next?. Sadly, Oscar Grant's death continued a tradition of police overuse of force which claims the lives of numerous citizens every year, particularly among those who are either poor, black, brown, or mentally dysfunctional.

While the world's attention is focused on inhumane treatment of persons in America's custody overseas, more attention is needed regarding prisoner welfare within America's borders. This writer's mentally ill, physically handicapped brother was secretly arrested until death in Shelby County Jail in Memphis, Tennessee in 2003, during the Bush Administration, and there was apparently a similar order from the Justice Department that Larry Neal's death would not be investigated and no one would be punished - not the police who lied repeatedly during his incarceration about having him in custody, preventing his access to vital heart medication; not The Cochran Firm, which undertook his family's wrongful death case and hid it on the shelf while doing nothing to bring lawsuit against the jail as the law firm contracted to do; not Shelby County officials who violated the terms of the jail's Agreement with the USA to report deaths and abuse of inmates; not the stalkers who threaten his family for inquiring about Larry; and certainly not the judges, state bars, and other officials who help to keep his death deprived of investigation and accountability.

Mainstream news refuses to report any of these events. Containing negative news about America’s prison industry is of paramount importance to private prison owners and investors who profit substantially from the imprisonment of 2.3 million people. Americans have been surprised at the identities of some highly respected persons who are prison profiteers holding responsible positions in our nation, like the veteran Pennsylvania judges who earned $2.6 million in kickbacks by channelling poor children into a private detention center. This writer presumes that prison profiteering is also prevalent among elected officials, the judiciary, and decision makers in mainstream media, which would account for the lack of coverage given to prisoner abuse and inmate deaths inside America, where the prison industry costs taxpayers $50 billion each year, and untold millions are earned through prison work projects. Why investigate and tell on oneself? No one cooks the goose that lays them golden eggs.

Judges Pled Guilty in “Jailing Children for Dollars” Scheme
http://my.nowpublic.com/health/judges-pled-guilty-jailing-children-dollars-scheme

Many decision makers profit significantly by America having the largest incarceration rate in the history of mankind and by high rates of recidivism, excessive sentencing, criminalizing mental illness, poor funding for prison rehabilitation programs and youth work and recreation projects. Where is the incentive to Change negative circumstances when one profits millions annually by their perpetuation? Before Americans go to court on any criminal matter or civil suit against police or a prison, they should be allowed to see the judge's portfolio - and their own lawyer's, too. When citizens learn that police officers in their municipality are being outfitted with Tasers, they should ask to see investment portfolios of those who appropriated the funding. The concerns listed herein and lack of media coverage have a simple and old explanation - greed.

After Larry’s murder, his family learned that such abuse of power is ordinary and considered acceptable by those in authority. Larry’s family being denied records and accountability for five years following his death is symptomatic of a system wherein basic human rights are set aside to prevent prosecution of a protected class of individuals, as is also alleged regarding torture in America’s offshore prison camps. (http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com)

Probably because Larry Neal’s 2003 death was covered up by authorities instead of being met with justice, Memphis Shelby County Jail continued its abuse against other inmates. See the raw footage of transgender detainee Duanna Johnson's 2008 beating while Shelby County Jail personnel merely watched at this link. Johnson was murdered before filing the lawsuit planned against the jail.

http://www.lgbthatecrimes.org/doku.php/duanna-johnson

See federal lawsuits regarding three more mental patients beaten or killed by Memphis law enforcement since Larry Neal's death cover-up: http://braxtonandfriends.org/index.html

Prisoners inside America who are detained in public and private correctional facilities are frequently subjected to torturous conditions, depravation of medical care and psychiatric treatment, and some die regularly, including non-violent offenders and many of the country's most vulnerable citizens who are chronic mental patients like Larry was. He spent 20 years mostly as an inpatient in an asylum before many such institutions were closed in the 1970's and sick people were released to live homeless throughout the country.

Following are excerpts from a Washington Post report on prisoner torture which occurred in secret offshore determent camps.

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Report Calls CIA Detainee Treatment 'Inhuman'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/06/AR2009040603654.html?wpisrc=newsletter

Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 7, 2009; Page A06

Medical officers who oversaw interrogations of terrorism suspects in CIA secret prisons committed gross violations of medical ethics and in some cases essentially participated in torture, the International Committee of the Red Cross concluded in a confidential report that labeled the CIA program "inhuman."

One prisoner reported being shackled in this manner for "two to three months, seven days of prolonged stress standing followed by two days of being able to sit or lie down."

(Please use the link above to access the full article.)

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More videos showing prison torture within America's correctional facilities are available at this link: Killing Inmates Is Costly~Cheaper to Watch TV (w/ Torture Videos)

In November 2008, former Attorney General Gonzales was indicted by a Willacy, Texas jury for prison profiteering - earning kickbacks for using his position to prevent USDOJ investigations of prisoner abuses in county jails. Although the Texas case was dismantled and former Attorney General never stood trial, the conditions of prisoners in American jails and prisons are substandard to the point of being abusive and dangerous, and investigations by the USDOJ (the agency charged with protecting the civil rights of institutionalized persons) are indeed withheld as alleged.

Grand jury indicts Cheney, former Attorney General Gonzales as Prison Profiteers
http://my.nowpublic.com/health/indicted-vp-cheney-and-former-attorney-general-gonzales-private-prison-profiteers

America is called a prison nation by many people who are alarmed at the country's rising incarceration rate, the highest of any nation in history. America's rate of incarceration is now 1 in every 99.1 persons, according to figures released in February 2008 by PEW. In 2006, the USDOJ reported that 1 in every 31 persons in America was actually imprisoned or living under the immediate threat of incarceration as parolees or probationers. The number has undoubtedly grown substantially in three years, because entrepreneurship in criminal justice is very lucrative.

Taxpayers pay an average of $50,000 per year per inmate, and substantially more for warehousing chronically ill prisoners like hospice patients and inmates who have acute mental illness, and an additional $90,000 annually for death row inmates. PEW reports that our prison budget is now $50 billion annually. That amount does not include the cost of arrest and trial with state-appointed attorneys. Taxpayers are paying more than the average annual income of a family of four to save society from a teenager who smoked a joint or a young mother who wrote a bad check. Prison profiteers generate extra profits by prison work projects like the one at this link: Prisons Earn $878 Million Annually by Poisoning Inmates and Guards, Lawsuit Alleges...

In Georgia, even people with traffic tickets they cannot pay immediately are put on probation while they make principal and interest payments on fines due. If drivers miss payments, they may then be arrested for violating probation as they are guilty of the crime of being poor.

One can click on the map pictured above to find the percentage of incarcerated persons in each state. Many people assert there is a malicious connection between the country's fast accelerating prison rate and the advent of private prisons. As the number of Americans behind bars grows, so do the portfolios of private prison stockholders. Private prisons have been accused of having even less regard for prisoner rights than public detainment centers. Despite rampant abuse, the federal government and local municipalities across the country continue to contract with private prison corporations to warehouse ever increasing numbers of inmates.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK

An $11 theft is costing taxpayers millions to punish THE SCOTT SISTERS, two black women who have served 14.5 years each in prison in Mississippi for the alleged robbery of $11. They were each given DOUBLE-LIFE sentences. No one was hurt during the robbery, and they claim innocence. www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/1118098

The article at the link below carries a VIDEO of extreme prisoner abuse at CCA's Nashville prison, which was recently awarded another substantial contract to imprison a "guaranteed" number of inmates: Torture Mentally Ill ~ 9 mo. Solitary Confinement in Filth, Naked

The Human Rights for Prisoners March will help honest police officers and guards gain a less volatile work atmosphere. Most law enforcement personnel and prison guards are honest people who desire to protect and serve. However, honest officers and guards must depend on their co-workers in crisis situations. They have no desire to be ostracised on the job or be hit with “friendly fire” in emergency situations. Therefore, there is an repulsive tendency among law enforcement personnel to ignore abuses and withhold intervention that could save lives. When prisoner abuse and police brutality are no longer tolerated in America, mutual respect between law enforcement and the citizenry will be enhanced (including inmates). Corrections personnel will benefit by the March if it promotes justice.

Larry Neal's wrongful death in Memphis/ Shelby County Jail was covered-up by authorities and deprived of the investigative effort that Michael Vick’s dogs’ deaths prompted. As a result, "unacceptably different" Duanna Johnson was beaten, and more sick Memphis citizens were abused. Some died. Who is next?

SEE THE EXTENT OF A JAIL DEATH COVER-UP IN THIS BRIEF ARTICLE. The fact that you never saw this story in mainstream news proves the powerful resolve to protect America's $50 billion per year prison industry at the expense of justice and human rights.

Constitutional Rights Nullified for Neal Family
http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/1019414

There is no reason to kill mentally dysfunctional citizens as Memphis law enforcement seems to presume, and there is certainly no excuse for authorities allowing this. An estimated 1.25 million of America's prisoners are mentally ill. If the mentally ill were treated as sick people in need of assisted outpatient treatment in their communities (Kendra’s Law) or as inpatients in secure mental hospitals (depending on the gravity of their offenses), prison overcrowding and most of America’s homeless problem would be immediately resolved with tremendous savings for taxpayers. But just one healthy 30-year-old condemned to life in prison can cost taxpayers as much as $11 million to incarcerate. What reason would prison profiteers have to improve mental health care by instituting enforced treatment and subsistence programs that prevent tragedies?

COVER-UPS ARE COMMON after inmates and citizens are killed by law enforcement. See another example of jail personnel who resist cooperating with a prisoner abuse and murder investigation at this link:

Mentally Ill Inmate Beaten to Death by Guards; Jail Personnel Aren't Talking http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/03/21/fultonjail0321.html

There is a need to bring more attention to the horrors of prison life and other gross injustices within America which are allowed to continue largely without investigation or remedy. For that reason, ASSISTANCE TO THE INCARCERATED MENTALLY ILL and Larry Neal's survivors hope concerned people will support the Human Rights for Prisoners March, originally set for May 16, but postponed due to severe weather and interference in coordinating the effort online.

People who are concerned about criminal justice and human rights, as well as protecting civil rights for all Americans, should take this opportunity to peacefully support incarcerated persons and demand CHANGE regarding areas of concern.

Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. ~ Hebrews 13:3

Truth burns up error. ~ Sojourner Truth

Mary Neal
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (Google it)
http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI
Mailing address: P.O. Box 7222, Atlanta, GA 30357
email: MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com
NOTE: Interested parties who get no response to inquiries
within 24 hours should write the mailing address

Hello Care2 Friends and Care2.

Care2 News Network, please check your security right now. I am prevented from posting news!

MASSACHUSETTS PASSED MARSHAL LAW BILL for Quarantines re H1N1 Vaccines

http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/massachusetts-approves-mass-quarantines.html  

and

WHICH Type of H1N1 Vaccine Will YOU Be Forced to Take - Yes, there are types

http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/which-type-of-h1n1-vaccine-will-you-be.html  

Care2 News Network, will you please see that your security is in check? This is important news to many Care2 members. They want to KNOW that a state has already signed a bill to set aside the Constitution of the USA and quarantine residents of Massachusetts.  Some of them may live there, and this pertains to them and their families.  People have a right to know EVERYTHING about bills passed by representatives. 

PRESIDENT OBAMA believes in open government.  Why would anyone try to hide a bill that was disclosed on mainstream news already? 

I think they just don't want me to submit news that will be widely read and shared because some people still hope to hide The Cochran Firm fraud, and my Sunday interview on the Rev. Pinkney show is on the same article. 

Help clear the interference, please, Care2 News Network.  Check your security.  Also, the cyberdogs have placed a DoS on my ability to load pictures here.  I am sorry.  If my full privileges are not protected at Care2, there will be unpleasantness.

Mary Neal