every person in prison is not guilty of a crime

July 13, 2012 292 EXONERATED
	Madeleine, I’m writing to let you know about important news from Washington that I know you’ll be excited to hear. Yesterday, lawmakers in both houses of Congress introduced legislation that will help prevent wrongful convictions by bringing reliable, science-based standards to forensic evidence. Leaders of both the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Science Committee took a tremendous step towards improving the criminal justice system by introducing legislation that would ensure that forensic sciences are based on the best science. The bills would put experts working at science-based agencies in charge of conducting research to ensure that forensic science disciplines have a strong scientific backing and are governed by consistent and meaningful standards. The bills are designed to address problems that were outlined in a 2009 National Academy of Sciences report that found that, with the sole exception of DNA evidence, none of traditional forensic science disciplines – including hair microscopy, fingerprint, bullet and bloodstain analysis – have been scientifically validated. This has resulted in practices that both hamper law enforcement’s ability to solve crimes and that have led to wrongful convictions. Faulty forensics have contributed to a staggering 50% of the DNA exonerations. I am especially thankful to the lead sponsors of the two bills, Sen. John D. Rockefeller and Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Donna Edwards and Daniel Lipinski. The Innocence Project urges Congress to act quickly to pass this legislation and to develop and support mechanisms for the practical implementation of the resulting research and standards.

Quality vs Quanity

Metal on metal, the sound reverberating through the brain; the very sound frightening.What next for those locked away for an indeterminate time?
Guards who resemble archetype 20th century SS officers more than 21st century enlightened correctional officers, food you won’t feed your pet and living conditions that make the slums seem like gold coast homes.
What can a family do? Maybe we cannot change the big things but the little things that contribute to the quality of life can be changed.
WE CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THEIR LIVES.
It is the little things that do make a difference; sending paper so they can write rather than having to buy it at 35% over retail in the commissary, is one way. It is allowed, there is no law that says it is contraband, as long as it is in the original wrapping.
Lobbying so they can order shoes, especially work boots, from another source than commissary as long as the shoes are within the guidelines allowed by the DOC, instead of 35% over retail.
We can lobby IDOC and the Governor’s office to stop allowing Consolidated to charge usury phone rates.
I know IDOC earns money from Consolidated; however, they only earn a small percentage, why not let the contract go out for bid and, their earnings would be the same but the rates charged the families would be significantly lower. Families who least can afford the expense of a phone call from prison is paying 300% of the normal tariff.
Call the Governor’s office and ask who is being paid off by Consolidated, call your local paper, call your representative, if we don’t nothing will happen. 217-782-7884.
Someone must have been paid. One of Blagojevich’s largest contributors has the contract to provide the women’s prisons with makeup sold through the commissary, doubt they would have been so generous if the commissary sales were not a money machine.

THANK YOU

I was in Springfield, IL the capital of Illinois, the other day lobbying for better health care in our prisons.
The weather was gorgeous and we actually accomplished our mission… to let the legislature’s know we were watching, and prisoners are people and the responsibility of our government.
I was going to write about what was said that day, but will save it for another day.
I want to write about the people I had the honor to join.
They are amazing.
I had forgotten how wonderful the members of PrisonCore group are, all volunteers, not any with a vested interest, i.e., business or personal gain.
They spent their own money and gave willing of their time to support one of the least popular causes in society.
We were in Springfield to give a voice to those without a voice,. our neighbors whom we would prefer to ignore, prisoners, a few who do not belong in prison, but the vast majority, robbers, drug dealers, rapist and some who have committed crimes that should only exist in the imagination of writers.
The people who have lost their rights to live in our community, but have not lost their ability to feel, who are still human, who think, who hurt, who love, who laugh who cry, who get sick and die, who are the brothers and fathers, sisters and mothers, lovers and sons of our neighbors.
They are our responsibility, they cannot go to a Doctor if they get sick, they cannot even go to the local Walgreens or Wal-Mart to buy some aspirin or a cold tablet, get a band aid or something to settle the stomach.
I was honored to be included, thank you all.
I found this poem on the internet; it is by Felix Dennis, http://www.felixdennis.com,
this is for all of you.

For those who never found it too much trouble
To help their fellow man - nor asked the price,
For those who wield their shovels in the rubble
While scholars scoff at building paradise;
For those who fetch and carry for their neighbours,
Or wash the sick or sit beside the frail,
For those who earn a pittance for their labours,
But never play the martyred tattletale:

For those for whom a word of thanks suffices,
Or deem that it was meant, if never said,
For those who run a mile from fame's devices,
And hide their medals underneath the bed;
For those who slave in worn out wards and clinics,
Or work beside the nurses, hand in glove,
For those who pay no mind to whining cynics,
Who know the worth, if not the price, of love:

For those who give their lives to teaching others,
Yet never learn the meaning of conceit,
For those who treat the homeless as their brothers,
For men who empty bins and sweep the street;
For volunteers who listen - but don't lecture,
For coppers who would rather wear no gun,
For juries who can cast aside conjecture
And steel themselves to do what must be done:

For friends who keep their temper, yet stay candid,
For citizens who stand up to the yobs,
For those who bring up children single-handed,
For companies who tailor-make them jobs;
For those who blew the whistle as they hung us,
For those who stood when you and I would fall,
For these, the unsung heroes here among us:
Please raise your glass to bless them, one and all.

$175,000,000. that is Real Money

How much is $174,000,000.00 in real money???
It almost triples the amount the state currently spends on reading improvement, per Illinois state Board of Education’s budget for 2009, , Reading Improvement $79,139,800. 00

It would increase the budget for “Youth Substance Abuse Prevention”, which targets children 9-14, the age most at risk. Before they are in trouble.

Think of what a small portion of this money could do for your community?

It is money the Illinois department of correction would save if they just implemented the current law.

Illinois statue (730 ILCS 5/) Unified Code of Corrections.
(730 ILCS 5/Ch. V Art. 8A heading)
ARTICLE 8A, ELECTRONIC HOME DETENTION, is the law, has been the law for over 10 years yet IDOC is not utilizing this law

This Illinois law calls for people convicted and sentenced to prison for
Non-violent crimes to be eligible for release on Electronic Home Monitoring
(EHM) devices, however officials of the Illinois department of Corrections
say that the technology is being used in very few [give number] cases. The
Reason is that the state is not currently equipped to monitor a large number
of people on EHM. [I expect a call back on this from Jason Garnett, IDOC Deputy Director for Parole Operations and Security-tp.]
The initial cost for ramping up this program would be negligible compared to the savings.
But they aren’t just numbers they are people like:
“Joanna” who has Alzheimer's and less than a year left on her sentence, her lucid days are getting further and further apart. Her family wants her home for at least whatever time she has remaining.
“Danielle” also has less than a year; she was with the wrong crowd, was the wrong color and listened to the wrong people. She did not have any past brushes with the law. She also has less than a year, but God has given her another sentence, she has MS.
“Johnny” is serving time for drunk driving, does not have a past record. He is the Father of a seven year old boy who is very ill, and wants nothing more than his father home. “Johnny” has less than eight months on his sentence. Hope his first event isn’t a funeral.
Ten plus years ago technology was not as advanced as it is today. Electronic Monitoring devices not only have GPS, but monitor drug intake even tobacco. They are smaller and cost less than $2.00 per day to implement. “Joanne”, “Danielle”, “Johnny” names aren’t real, but their stories are. They cost you and I anywhere between $30,000.00 and $150,000 per year.
What would you do with the money?
The Illinois Compiled Statutes declares that "a person serving a sentence
for conviction of a Class 2, 3, or 4 felony offense which is not an excluded
offense may be placed in an electronic home detention program pursuant to
Department administrative directives states “Excluded offenses are basically sex crimes and/or violent crimes against a person”.