TROY DAVIS UPDATE:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Member M. Moore
To: Police Abuse group
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:14:38 -0800
Subject: Troy Davis case raising novel legal issues

To all: As you know there was an event in Oakland on Dec. 13 to highlight
the cases of three condemned men: Kevin Cooper (Calif.) Troy Davis (Georgia)
and Mumia Abu Jamal (Penn.) All three are near the end of their appeals and
all have appealed to the Supreme Court. The Court recently declined to hear
Kevin's case and we're waiting on Mumia. Below are the details about Troy
Davis's case as I've already sent out details about the other two. MM

Troy Davis case raising novel legal issues  By Bill Rankin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution December 18, 2009

Condemned inmate Troy Anthony Davis filed the legal equivalent of a Hail
Mary when he petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a hearing on his
innocence claims. But in August, for the first time in nearly half a
century, the nation¹s highest court took a case filed directly to its docket
that had not come up from a lower court on appeal. Once again, Davis, who
sits on death row for killing an off-duty Savannah police officer in 1989,
was spared execution. And since the reprieve, Davis¹ lawyers say a new
witness has come forward on his behalf.

³It was just stunning,² said U.S. Supreme Court historian Lucas A. ³Scot²
Powe, a professor of law and government at the University of Texas at
Austin. ³But I understand why the court did it. It was Davis¹ last chance.
He had exhausted all other possible appeals.² The high court ordered a judge
in Savannah to hold a hearing, receive testimony and make findings as to
whether new evidence clearly establishes Davis¹ innocence. This assignment
was given to U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr., who was appointed by
President Bill Clinton in 1994. Davis¹ legal team recently provided Moore
with a new affidavit from a Savannah woman who said a key prosecution
witness, Sylvester ³Redd² Coles, told her he was the one who actually shot
and killed Officer Mark Allen MacPhail.

Davis¹ supporters, led by Amnesty International, have mounted a global
campaign on his behalf. Former President Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict XVI
have said Davis should not be executed. Before the Supreme Court made its
extraordinary decision, 27 former judges and prosecutors filed a motion on
Davis¹ behalf and asked the high court to intervene. In court filings, state
Attorney General¹s Office lawyers reminded Moore that five separate courts
and Georgia¹s parole board have rejected Davis¹ claims. They predicted that
Davis will not be able to prove his innocence at the as-yet unscheduled
hearing. In an order he issued soon after getting the case, Moore noted that
the U.S. Supreme Court has never found that the Constitution recognizes a
³free-standing innocence claim² such as the one raised by Davis. For this
reason, the judge requested the parties to suggest what burden of proof
should guide his decision.

Jason Ewart, a member of Davis¹ legal team, said Davis is eager to finally
present his recantation testimony in court for the first time. But the
lawyer acknowledged they ³are working on a blank slate. We¹re really now
talking about what the law should be here.² Ewart said Davis¹ new evidence
is powerful. ³It essentially eviscerates the evidence presented at trial and
presents evidence that wasn¹t available at that time,² he said. In court
filings, Davis¹ lawyers continue to contend the actual killer was Coles. In
a prior interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Coles denied being
the triggerman. Coles went to police shortly after MacPhail was shot dead in
a Burger King parking lot. MacPhail, a 27-year-old former U.S. Army ranger,
had rushed to the scene responding to the wails of Larry Young, who was
being pistol-whipped.

Prosecutors said Davis was with Coles when Coles began harassing Young,
demanding Young to give him a beer. Davis then began hitting Young with his
pistol. After arriving at the scene, MacPhail was shot before he could
unholster his firearm. When Coles told police Davis was at the scene, Davis
became the prime suspect. At the 1991 trial, nine prosecution witnesses
testified they saw Davis at the scene, saw him shoot MacPhail or were told
by Davis he killed MacPhail. But since then, seven of these witnesses have
recanted, saying police pressured them into falsely fingering Davis. Coles
is one of the two key witnesses who has not recanted his testimony. Since
the trial, Coles has confessed to five separate friends and family members
that he killed MacPhail, said a court filing by Davis¹ legal team.

The most recent person to come forward is Quiana Glover, a Savannah woman
who said she was at a friend¹s house in June when Coles told her he killed
MacPhail, according to her affidavit. Glover said she had known Coles since
she was a young girl. According to Glover¹s affidavit, a woman who was with
Coles at the party told him he was drinking too much and to slow down. ³This
[expletive] is killing me,² Coles replied. When Glover said she asked what
Coles was talking about, he said, ³Man, looky here, I¹m the one who killed
that [expletive]. But if they want to hold Troy¹s [expletive] then let them
hold him. Besides, I¹ve got kids to raise.² Glover said that several days
later she was at a sports bar when she saw a married couple, Hollis Mitchell
and Alicia Blakely, wearing ³I Am Troy Davis² T-shirts and asking people to
sign a petition they were going to give to the local district attorney.

Glover said she signed the petition and then, after hesitating, told them
what she said Coles had told her, her affidavit said. She gave them her cell
phone number and was later contacted by an investigator for Davis¹ legal
team, who took her sworn statement. Glover did not return phone calls last
week seeking comment. In a telephone interview on Thursday, Blakely
recounted meeting Glover at the sports bar. ³She came up to me and said she
had something to tell me,² Blakely said. ³She said, ŒI know who killed that
police officer.¹¹¹ After Glover repeated what she said Coles had told her,
Blakely said, ³I couldn¹t believe it. I was like, oh, my gosh, we¹ve got to
get that out there.²

Timeline of the Troy Davis case
€ Aug. 30, 1991 ­ A Chatham County jury sentences Troy Davis to death for
the 1989 murder of Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail.

€ July 16, 2007 ­ With Davis¹ execution set for the next day, the state
parole board issues a stay.

€ March 17, 2008 ­ By a 4-3 vote, the Georgia Supreme Court upholds Davis¹
death sentence, rejecting his request for a hearing.

€ Sept. 12, 2008 ­ The state parole board declines to grant clemency to
Davis.

€ Sept. 23, 2008 ­ Less than two hours before Davis¹ scheduled execution,
the U.S. Supreme Court grants him a stay.

€ Oct. 14, 2008 ­ The U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Davis¹ appeal.

€ April 16, 2009 ­ The federal appeals court, after granting Davis yet
another stay of execution, denies Davis¹ bid for a hearing in a 2-1
decision.

€ Aug. 17, 2009 ­ The U.S. Supreme Court orders a federal judge to hear
evidence in Davis¹ case.

The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that defendants have the Constitutional right to examine witnesses from forensic labs that provide evidence in their criminal cases.  The cases below underscore how important that ruling was for justice.

CLG News
December 18, 2009

Inquiry Condemns Oversight at State Police Crime Lab -- Analyst, undetected for 15 years, falsified test results and compromised nearly one-third of his 322 cases

18 Dec 2009 -  NYTimes.com - The New York State Police’s supervision of a crime laboratory was so poor that it overlooked evidence of pervasively shoddy forensics work, allowing an analyst to go undetected for 15 years as he falsified test results and compromised nearly one-third of his 322 cases, an investigation by the state’s inspector general has found. The analyst’s training was so substandard that at one point last year, investigators discovered he did not know how to operate a microscope essential to performing his job, a report released Thursday by the inspector general said. -- Access the entire article at this link:  Report Condemns Police Lab Oversight

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/nyregion/18statepolice.html

*****************************

Innocence Project – Innocence Blog
Posted:  December 16, 2009

Forensics in the Gates Case

Donald Eugene Gates was freed in Arizona after serving nearly three decades behind bars for a Washington, D.C., crime he didn’t commit. An examination of the forensics behind his wrongful conviction makes a strong case for federal forensic reform to prevent injustices like this in the future.

FBI forensic analyst Michael Malone testified at Gates’ trial in 1982 that hairs found at the scene of the 1981 rape and murder were “microscopically indistinguishable” from Gates’ hairs.  His statements vastly overstated the possible conclusions that could be drawn from a hair comparison. Unlike some other forensic disciplines (DNA testing, blood type testing), hair comparison analysis can only reveal potential similarities between specimens, not the statistical likelihood that two specimens might share common characteristics.

Although Malone’s forensic conclusions have been challenged in other cases and a 1997 Justice Department review discredited his work, no formal review of his convictions has ever been conducted. The Judge who presided over the Gates case recently ordered the U.S. Attorney’s Office to conduct such a review.  See more at this link:  D.C. Case Underscores the Need for Forensic Reform  http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/2298.php 

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MARY’S COMMENTARY

Scientific testimony can be faulty, unlike one might expect from watching television shows.  Most often, mistakes happen because of poor equipment or human error.  Occasionally medical examiners actually conspire with district attorneys or police to deliberately introduce false testimony at trials.  Invalid scientific evidence has caused some people to be wrongly convicted or sentenced to death like Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in Texas in 2004 for his children’s arson murders when there was actually no proof of arson.  The scientific methodology that was initially used in the fire investigation at Willingham’s home and presented to his jury was faulty.  See the article at this link: Cameron Willingham’s Wrongful Execution – and Others http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/cameron-todd-willinghams-wrongful.html

Another notable case is Philip Workman’s murder conviction in Tennessee. The former chief medical examiner in Memphis, Dr. O.C. Smith, apparently tried to shed doubt on damaging scientific testimony the doctor gave against Workman as the condemned man’s execution date drew near.  Dr. Smith was indicted for staging his own kidnapping.  The medical examiner was found in the stairwell at his office with barbed wire wrapped around his head and with explosives and notes secured to his person with duct tape. The notes read, “Dr. Smith lied about bullet trajectory in the Philip Workman’s case.”  Other witness testimony against Workman also fell apart, but he was executed without a new trial in 2007 despite the doctor’s alleged antics.  Learn more about Mr. Workman at this link:  Philip Workman, Innocent Man Executed?  http://www.nowpublic.com/world/philip-workman-innocent-man-executed

In September 2008, Detroit closed its police lab after an audit found serious errors in many cases that probably caused wrongful convictions.  See more in this article:  Supreme Court’s DNA Deliberations - http://www.nowpublic.com/world/supreme-courts-dna-deliberations-mary-neal

Increasing budgets for indigent defense and investing in better forensic laboratory equipment and highly skilled personnel would decrease wrongful convictions, thereby saving taxpayers wasted money on punishing innocent people with lengthy prison sentences or execution.  According to an article published in Buffalo News by Ronald Fraser, Ph.D., eyewitness testimony, lab tests, and even defendants’ confessions cannot always be trusted.  In fact, Dr. Fraser reports that 50% of wrongful convictions result from invalid forensic evidence.  See more information at this article:  I Didn’t Do It Your Honor!  http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-didnt-do-it-your-honor.html

NYTimes.com offers informative articles about the unreliability of forensic evidence at the link below.  One is entitled: “DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated, Scientists Show,” by Andrew Pollack.  He reports, “With fabricated blood or saliva, you can just engineer a crime scene,” said the lead author of a new study.   NYTimes.com forensic science articles - http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/forensic_science/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=forensic&st=cse 

Excerpt from my article, “I Didn’t Do It Your Honor!”   Innocent people will continue to fall through the cracks occasionally and be imprisoned for crimes while the guilty go free. No measures will prevent every single wrongful conviction. But we can stop all wrongful executions very easily. Instead of costing money to do this, it would save around $90,000 per condemned inmate per year: End capital punishment, and no one will be wrongly executed. Just say . . . DEATH TO THE DEATH PENALTY!

Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com/

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

Supreme Court debates Miranda Warnings again
Chicago Law Enforcement Examiner 

On Monday, the Supreme Court began debating on whether the Miranda warning rights should be made clearer for criminal suspects. The case that has brought this debate to the highest court is Florida v. Powell.
It all began with Kevin Dwayne Powell being arrested for having in his possession a firearm that he freely confessed to buying off the street. Powell signed a Miranda statement waiving his right to a lawyer. Powell's lawyer, Deborah Brueckheimer said that the warnings Powell was given from the Tampa, Fla., police was not clearly explained to him.


The Miranda Warnings stems from a landmark case of (Miranda v. Arizona 1966) a 25-year-old man by the name of Ernesto Miranda. He was mentally handicap and arrested for kidnapping and rape. In the police station, he was positively identified as the offender and after two hours of interrogation, he signed a written confession. Miranda was sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison and his conviction was upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the state's decision (5-4) and established that the Fifth Amendment had been violated because the majority stated that privilege against self-incrimination requires that a criminal suspect in custody or in any other manner deprived of freedom must be informed of his or her rights.
Now the Supreme Court will debate whether the police should be even more clearer in administering The Miranda Rights.

It has been over 43 years since this landmark case was decided and the debate continues today. Maybe the Court should just allow every suspect to have an attorney every time they are arrested, this will alleviate the back and forth nonsense of whether police officers are clear or not clear enough in telling every suspect that they have the right to keep their mouth shut.
http://www.examiner.com/x-10377-Chicago-Law-Enforcement-Examiner~y2009m12d7-Supreme-Court-debates-Miranda-Warnings-again

More evidence that innocence does not matter enough in criminal justice.

The Conspiracy Charge Traps Women
By Tri-State Defender Newsroom

The cost of incarceration — Part III
By Patrice Gaines
NNPA News Service

“The Cost of Incarceration” is an eight-part occasional series written by Patrice Gaines, former Washington Post reporter; author and co-founder of The Brown Angel Center, a program in Charlotte, N.C. That helps formerly incarcerated women become financially independent.

Charlie Mae Mays is 77. She has been diagnosed with lung cancer but it is in remission.

Of course, that makes her happy. But she measures her life in terms of whether or not she will one day see her daughter walk out of prison free.

[Her oldest daughter Michelle, was arrested on] the policy of charging people with “conspiracy.” ... She is one of thousands of women some call a victim of a law that created the “girlfriend problem.”

“Women romantically involved with drug-involved men often get caught in the conspiracy net cast by the war on drugs, many times receiving harsher sentences than the drug kingpins,” says Nkechi Taifa, senior policy analyst for the Open Society Institute (OSI), a private grant-making foundation that aims to shape public policy regarding issues such as human rights and social reform.

This kind of prosecution of women does not allow a judge or jury to take into consideration the reasons why a woman may remain silent or stay with a drug dealer.  The court ignores factors such as domestic violence, economic dependence, or disability that makes one reliant on someone to provide financial support.

Michelle West was a single mom with a nine-year-old daughter. She once dated and lived with Olee Wonzo Robinson, a man police said was a drug dealer. West and her family say he was physically and verbally abusive to her. Finally, she left and moved in with her mother.

“She was trying to go on with her life,” her mother remembers.

 A couple of years later police came knocking. Michelle says they threatened her with drug charges if she didn’t cooperate in their investigation of her ex-boyfriend. She was petrified because her ex had warned her he would kill her daughter and mother if she ever talked to police, she says.

West was convicted of charges that include conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and aiding and abetting in drug-related homicide. Witnesses testified that West did whatever Robinson ordered her to do. She denies having anything to do with a murder or drug dealing. One of the informants who testified against her was the triggerman in the murder and received immunity for his testimony. West maintained her innocence. Still, she received the same sentence as her ex-boyfriend.

The policy of using “conspiracy” charges allows drug laws to punish not only the kingpin but his girlfriend, who may have had nothing to do with his drug business or could have done something as small as drive a boyfriend to drop off drugs. The number of women in prison has increased at nearly double the rate of men since 1985, according to the U.S. Department of Justice statistics. African-American women are incarcerated at a rate eight times that of white women and represent 30 percent of all females incarcerated under state or federal jurisdiction.

A large percent of these women charged with conspiracy in drug cases have histories of physical and sexual abuse and/or untreated mental illness. Court documents show that while West was incarcerated and awaiting trial she reported Robinson sent her threatening letters and made threatening calls. The administrator of the jail testified that he had seen West in tears, expressing great concern over the safety of her daughter.

Today, West, 48, says by email, “The FBI gave me an ultimatum to cooperate with the government – a risk that would have been a death sentence to my daughter – or go to trial and face life.”

In the late 1990s the story of Kemba Smith, a Hampton University college student, grabbed media headlines. Smith had been in an abusive relationship with a drug dealer. When the boyfriend was murdered, the government held her accountable for the $4 million drug ring; although there was no evidence she ever sold, handled or used drugs. In 1994 she was sentenced to 24.5 years in prison.

Smith gave birth to a son while incarcerated and served 6.5 years. In December 2000 President Clinton granted Smith clemency. She has since earned a college degree and is married and living in the Midwest.

“It still troubles me that I know women that were there (in prison) while I was there and they are still there,” said Smith, who is also a motivational speaker who does advocacy work focused around drug policy reform. “My situation is no different than theirs except I had the public outcry.”

There are signs that a change in conspiracy laws could happen during the Obama administration. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) has introduced the “Fair Sentencing Act of 2009.”

 “In addition to focusing on major traffickers as opposed to bit players in the drug trade, the Durbin bill also addresses mitigating factors such as whether the defendant acted on impulse, fear, friendship, or affection,” said Nkechi Taifa of OSI. “This helps to eliminate concerns such as ‘the girlfriend problem’…”

“The thing about conspiracy is it is so un-American in many ways,” said Jennifer Seltzer Stitt, director of Federal Legislative Affairs at Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM). “People are being hauled in with no evidence or very little.”

If the legislation passes, it’s long overdue, said Dean Dannye Holley, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University. He remembered that 30 years ago, when he got out of law school, one of his first cases was representing a woman who lived with a drug dealer.

“This (conspiracy charge) is a common practice, especially in minority neighborhoods… where so often drug cartels are gang-related and dominated by males who have females associated with them,” said Holley.

But even a new law may have no affect on Michelle West’s sentence. Still, Miquelle West, the daughter Michelle left behind, believes any shift in attitudes could help her mother.

The recollection of their abrupt separation still makes Miquelle, now 27, emotional.

 “It was May 3, 1993. My mother dropped me off at school and said, ‘I’ll see you later.’ I never saw her on the streets again,” said West, a fashion stylist who lives in New York.

“I remember my mom telling me that when I was born that they used to give babies shots in their foot and she said she felt my pain when they did it,” said Miquelle. “I understand, because now I feel that way. I feel her pain.”

Charlie Mae Mays was so distraught she didn’t even have the strength to walk on the day of Michelle’s sentencing, so her daughter “Pete” insisted she stay home. Now, Mays says, “I want to live to see her walk out free.”

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How did black women get an incarceration rate that is eight time higher than white women?  The conspiracy charge in the war on drugs is used to arrest girlfriends of drug dealers, regardless of their innocence, and give them same sentence as their romantic partners.  The women are apparently "guilty by association." This helps keep prisons full and provide prison workers - at tremendous cost to taxpayers ($50,000 per woman per year plus foster care costs for children left behind), the women, their children, and their communities.  Children who are separated from their mothers at an early age often develop separation anxiety disorder and feelings of rejection.  This can lead to mental illness.  Therefore, taxpayers keep on paying in future decades for the greed of prison profiteerism.  The prison cost is currently over $50 billion per year, and 2/3 of inmates were not convicted for violent crimes.   In fact, 1.25 million prisoners are actually mental patients who should be in treatment, not prison. 

STOP THE PROLIFERATION OF THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX THAT ROBS SOCIETY OF MONEY NEEDED FOR EDUCATION, JOB AND RECREATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR THE YOUTH, AND OTHER SOCIAL CONCERNS.  END SLAVERY IN THE U.S.A.  REMOVE INNOCENT WOMEN FROM PRISON. GIVE MOMS BACK TO THEIR CHILDREN AND ELDERLY PARENTS WHO NEED THEM.

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post. Mostly, I write and republish news and videos that reveal human
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Mary Neal
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI 

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Below is an email from a woman who needs your help.  Please endorse and share her petition.  These are the facts of the matter as Cynthia relayed them to me:

Cynthia Davis reported a woman for child neglect last year.  The woman retaliated by falsely accusing Cynthia Davis of a crime.  The white police officer who went to Cynthia Davis' home to question or arrest her on the woman's allegations attacked and beat Cynthia, who is an African America.  He caused her to fall, and Cynthia incurred a head injury.  Since that abuse, Cynthia suffers from seizures and PTSD.  She was unable to work, lost her home, and had many other problems - all since her police brutality occurred.  She was so stressed as the day of trial approached that Cynthia had a stroke recently, and now she has impaired speech.  Cynthia is an educated woman and was making an excellent income prior to her brutality which caused her head injury and led to her financial, mental, and physical crisis.

CYNTHIA DAVIS IS IN COURT TODAY.

The police officer who beat Cynthia and caused her disabilities was in the news for beating another citizen.  Cynthia said the Newark D.A. offered her a deal:  If she agreed not to pursue damages for police brutality, and she would not have to stand charges on the negligent mom's false allegations.  This was clearly blackmail, and Cynthia would not accept the deal. 

Unfortunately, court is not going well for Cynthia.  She said that the day a hearing was held, the judge walked in court and asked something to this effect: "Is there someone in here who needs a mental health break," and the D.A. and police officers all laughed with the judge.  Next, the court refuses to allow Cynthia's evidence that her prosecution is the result of blackmail.  They disallow her admitting police phone records from 9/8/08 and police videotape from 9/1/08, 9/2/08, and 9/8/08.  She asks your support on her petition for justice and for your prayers.  Petition for Cynthia Davis to have a fair trial:  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/please-promote-and-support-advocacy-for-cynthia-johnson

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

My Care2 friends and family,
.
I know that I've sent this message to you quite a few times but it's getting down to crunch time and the local government still has not released the police phone records and/or videotape that would prove without a doubt that I have actually been abused and harrassed by one of our finest blues.
.
This cover-up has caused so much harm to my life and I am still to this day trying to recover and rebuild and they are still trying to blackmail me into doing things their way in order not to prosecute me and not release their records.  Yesterday was a nightmare trying to prepare for tomorrow's court date.  Local government officials are shameless and disgusting with their "CODE OF SILENCE" rules and they back each other whether they know each other or not.
.
I thank you all for signing and forwarding this petition but I still need your help.  If there are any that have not signed, please do so and then forward to friends, family, colleagues, and any organizations that might post this petition to their websites.  If any of you have already signed, please forward to friends, family, colleagues, and any organizations that might post it to their websites.  I have a little over 24 hours to get some major interest into this situation or I just might get seriously harmed in court tomorrow.  I don't even feel safe walking into that courthouse full of Newark police officers.  I asked for an escort the last time I was there and was refused.
.
Please help!  The countdown has begun to either my freedom or my incarceration for a crime that I did not commit.  I stood up for myself and this is what I am being prosecuted for.  Nothing more!  All I have left is the TRUTH!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/please-promote-and-support-advocacy-for-cynthia-johnson
CA

PLEASE NOTE AT CARE2 NEWS NETWORK http://www.care2.com/news/member/513396753/1300380

NOTICE:  Prisoner activists and mental health advocates are discussing a class action lawsuit by people incarcerated for mental illness or their relatives and next friends on their behalf.  Mental illness is the only disability treated legally, not medically.  If a diabetic man blacks out at the wheel and injures or kills commuters, he goes to the hospital. If a psychiatric patient kills or injures, he goes to prison.  If a woman has a heart attack in the china store, falls and breaks plates, she goes to the hospital.  If a bipolar sufferer has a crisis and breaks plates, she goes to prison. The suit will be for PSYCHIATRIC PARITY UNDER THE LAW.  People who opt in will need to pay a nominal fee to help raise the legal retainer. 

We will demand that mentally ill people who are imprisoned for violent offenses go to hospitals for their entire sentences and that nonviolent offenders are released under Kendra's law (mandatory treatment and subsistence assistance in their communities). 

Making this change - decriminalizing mental illness - will save billions every year off America's prison budget by putting mental illness back into the health care system where it was before Reganomics.  Taxpayers have not saved a dime by imprisoning our neighbors with mental illness, but many people have suffered inhumane prison sentences for having a common, treatable health condition.  Treating mental illness is cheaper, more humane, and it promotes community safety.  No longer will the mentally ill be left untreated until they PROVE (by smoking guns and dripping knives) to be a danger to self and others. 

Half of U.S. inmates are mentally ill.  In fact, there are 1.25 million incarcerated mental patients, so this will be a large class.  Give me your thoughts.  We're in the planning stage and talking with other prisoner activists.  Invite friends who have mentally ill relatives who are or were imprisoned to eMail me at MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com  or call 770 559 4690.

 

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 disability.