Prisoner Testimonies of Torture in United States Prisons and Jails
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BLACK MEN MAKING IT in AMERICA: the Engines of Economic Success for Black Men in America
BLACK MEN MAKING IT IN AMERICA: The Engines of Economic Success for Black Men in America W. Bradford Wilcox, Wendy R. Wang, and Ronald B. Mincy Black Men Making It in America: The Engines of Economic Success for Black Men in America 1 Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: Introduction 4 CHAPTER 2: Black Men Who Have Made It 7 CHAPTER 3: Assessing Conventional Accounts of Black Men’s Success 12 CHAPTER 4: Other Engines of Opportunity for Black Men 16 CHAPTER 5: Conclusion 20 APPENDICES 24 2 Black Men Making It in America: The Engines of Economic Success for Black Men in America EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Over the last decade, much of the racial news and academic research on black men in America has been sobering, if not downright depressing. But negative news isn’t the only story about race or even about black males in the United States. In Black Men Making It in America, we report some good news: • Black men’s economic standing. More than one-in-two black men (57%) have made it into the middle class or higher as adults today, up from 38% in 1960, according to a new analysis of Census data. And the share of black men who are poor has fallen from 41% in 1960 to 18% in 2016. So, a substantial share of black men in America are realizing the American Dream—at least financially—and a clear majority are not poor. • The institutional engines of black men’s success. As expected, higher education and full-time work look like engines of success for black men in America. -
Growth in the U.S. Ex-Felon and Ex-Prisoner Population, 1948 to 2010
GROWTH IN THE U.S. EX-FELON AND EX-PRISONER POPULATION, 1948 TO 2010 Sarah Shannon, Christopher Uggen, MElissa Thompson, Jason Schnittker, and Michael Massoglia Abstract The steep rise in U.S. criminal punishment in recent dEcades has spurred scholarship on the collateral consequences of imprisonment for individuals, familiEs and communities (Pager 2009; WakefiEld and Uggen 2010; Western 2006; Wildeman 2009). WhilE sEveral excEllent studies have estimated the size and social distribution of the former prisoner population (Bonczar and Beck 1997; PEttit and Western 2004), far less is known about the size and scope of thE total ex-felon population beyond prison walls. This paper extends previous national estimates of the U.S. ex-fElon population to 2010 and develops state-level estimates based on demographic life tables (Uggen, Manza and Thompson 2006). The felon population has far-reaching consequences for individuals as well as communities and social institutions, including civic engagEment and community health. 1 GROWTH IN THE U.S. EX-FELON AND EX-PRISONER POPULATION, 1948 TO 2010 As U.S. rates of criminal punishment have increased dramatically over the past 40 years, social scientists have begun to document and explicatE the far-flung consequences of incarceration (see, E.g., WakefiEld and Uggen 2010). As Figure 1 demonstrates, however, the lion’s share of this growth has been among the non-incarcerated population of probationers and parolees who are supervised in their communities. Such trends have important social and dEmographic consequences, as those subject to criminal sanctions facE restrictions on Employment, housing, voting, and welfare recEipt, as well as long- term effects on physical and mental health (Ewald and Uggen 2011; Massoglia 2008; Schnittker and John 2007). -
Prison Abolition and Grounded Justice
Georgetown University Law Center Scholarship @ GEORGETOWN LAW 2015 Prison Abolition and Grounded Justice Allegra M. McLeod Georgetown University Law Center, [email protected] This paper can be downloaded free of charge from: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/1490 http://ssrn.com/abstract=2625217 62 UCLA L. Rev. 1156-1239 (2015) This open-access article is brought to you by the Georgetown Law Library. Posted with permission of the author. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons Prison Abolition and Grounded Justice Allegra M. McLeod EVIEW R ABSTRACT This Article introduces to legal scholarship the first sustained discussion of prison LA LAW LA LAW C abolition and what I will call a “prison abolitionist ethic.” Prisons and punitive policing U produce tremendous brutality, violence, racial stratification, ideological rigidity, despair, and waste. Meanwhile, incarceration and prison-backed policing neither redress nor repair the very sorts of harms they are supposed to address—interpersonal violence, addiction, mental illness, and sexual abuse, among others. Yet despite persistent and increasing recognition of the deep problems that attend U.S. incarceration and prison- backed policing, criminal law scholarship has largely failed to consider how the goals of criminal law—principally deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and retributive justice—might be pursued by means entirely apart from criminal law enforcement. Abandoning prison-backed punishment and punitive policing remains generally unfathomable. This Article argues that the general reluctance to engage seriously an abolitionist framework represents a failure of moral, legal, and political imagination. -
The California Prisoners Union in Without Freedom of Expression 1971
THE CALIFORNIA A Prisoners Rights Union Publication Sacramento, CA June 1991 Vol. 19, No.2 1971-1991: A History of Fighting For Prisoner's Rights PRU and the Law .\ "The law in its impartial majesty forbids the rich and poor alike from steahng bread and sleeping under bridges." By Michael Snedeker ways been the second type. These categories are not water-tight; the Union or Its volunteers have often tried to Union's Philosophy help individuals, and have also weighed in heavily recently Is the Law a thing to be ad against the explosive growth of mired? In California, laws are imprisonment as the ofiicial solu auctioned off to the interest tion to a host of societal groups that pay the most. Gover· problems. However, groups that nor Wilson was given $760,000 want to abolish prisons or help by California's prison guards to individuals share an indifference run for office; few among us could to the legal structure governing remain unaffected by such a sum prisons, while the Prisoners of money. Inside prison, laws are Union has made this stn lct-ure more like suggestions than fixed its central focus. norms. Still and all, the Bill of The righ ts closest to our hearts Rights has not yet been repealed; are tho e g1raranteed by the First the Prisoners Rights Uh ion has Amendment to the United States alws,ys been interested in and in· Constitut ion, Ilnd Al·ticle 1, sec volved with cha nging or enforc· lions 2 and 3 of the California ing laws. Constitution; the rights t.bat col Our interest arises fro m the ledively make up what has been Union's essential nat u re. -
Slavery by Another Name History Background
Slavery by Another Name History Background By Nancy O’Brien Wagner, Bluestem Heritage Group Introduction For more than seventy-five years after the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War, thousands of blacks were systematically forced to work against their will. While the methods of forced labor took on many forms over those eight decades — peonage, sharecropping, convict leasing, and chain gangs — the end result was a system that deprived thousands of citizens of their happiness, health, and liberty, and sometimes even their lives. Though forced labor occurred across the nation, its greatest concentration was in the South, and its victims were disproportionately black and poor. Ostensibly developed in response to penal, economic, or labor problems, forced labor was tightly bound to political, cultural, and social systems of racial oppression. Setting the Stage: The South after the Civil War After the Civil War, the South’s economy, infrastructure, politics, and society were left completely destroyed. Years of warfare had crippled the South’s economy, and the abolishment of slavery completely destroyed what was left. The South’s currency was worthless and its financial system was in ruins. For employers, workers, and merchants, this created many complex problems. With the abolishment of slavery, much of Southern planters’ wealth had disappeared. Accustomed to the unpaid labor of slaves, they were now faced with the need to pay their workers — but there was little cash available. In this environment, intricate systems of forced labor, which guaranteed cheap labor and ensured white control of that labor, flourished. For a brief period after the conclusion of fighting in the spring of 1865, Southern whites maintained control of the political system. -
Overview of Prison Privatization in Arizona
Prison Privatization in Arizona A briefing paper prepared by the American Friends Service Committee, Arizona Area Program American Friends Service Committee, Arizona Area 103 N. Park Ave., Ste. 111 Tucson, AZ 85719 (520)623-9141 (520)623-5901 fax [email protected] October 2010 Introduction The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Quaker organization that works for peace and justice worldwide. Our work is based on a commitment to nonviolence and the belief that all people have value and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. The AFSC‟s programs promote social justice by focusing on a diverse set of social concerns. The organization‟s criminal justice work has always focused on the need for an effective and humane criminal justice system that emphasizes rehabilitation over punishment. Here in Arizona, our criminal justice program advocates for a reduction in the state‟s prison population through rational sentencing reform and a moratorium on new prison construction. A key focus of that effort is our work to educate the public on the risks inherent in prison privatization through for-profit prison corporations. This document is an attempt to paint a picture of the current efforts at privatization of prisons in the state of Arizona and raise questions about the potential pitfalls of this practice. Arizona Overview Arizona‟s experiment with for-profit incarceration began in the early 90‟s when the state faced the first of many prison overcrowding crises. Arizona‟s first privately operated prison was the Marana Community Correctional Treatment Facility, a minimum-security prison for people with substance abuse issues. -
April 29, 2020 Public Comment with Responses
Steve Sisolak James W. Hardesty Governor Chair, Nevada Sentencing Commission Victoria Gonzalez Chuck Callaway Executive Director Vice Chair, Nevada Sentencing Commission STATE OF NEVADA DEPARTMENTOF SENTENCINGPOLICY 625 Fairview Drive , Suite 121 / Carson City , NV 89701-5430 Phone: (775) 684-7390 http ://sentencing . nv .gov NEVADA SENTENCING COMMISSION MEETING PUBLIC COMMENT April 29, 2020 Personal identifying information has been redacted Public Comment #1: (with 1 attachment) From: Jocelyn Lee Subject: Sentencing Commission Date: Thu 4/16/2020 12:19 PM Judge Hardesty or To Whom it May Concern, Please see the letter attached regarding Compassionate Release of my uncle, Greg Wolf, from Lovelock Correctional Facility. Thank you, PC #1-Attachment 1 of 1) Thursday, April 16, 2020 To: Judge Hardesty Subject: Compassionate Release COVID 19 Dear Judge Hardesty; My uncle, Gregory Wolf, has been imprisoned in Nevada since about Christmas, 1997 for ludeness charges. I am advocating for his compassionate release. He is 74 years old and has been suffering recently with great vision loss in both eyes due to cataracts and has been unable to get the proper surgery. I believe my uncle is no longer a threat to society. He has some funds and a brother and sister, Karen Wolf of Las Vegas and Alyn Wolf of Colorado, who will help Greg with housing and adjusting to civilian life. Greg has shown good behavior and he will make sure to register with the Sheriff’s office as a sex offender as required by law. Great thanks for your support in this matter! Sincerely, Jocelyn Lee Public Comment #2 From: Karen Wolf Subject: COMPASSIONATE RELEASE COMMISSION FOR INMATE GREG WOLF Date: Thu 4/16/2020 7:44 PM APRIL 16, 2020 DEAR GOVERNOR SISOLAK; I am putting in a plea for consideration for my brother for GREGORY WOLF, AGED 74 , IN LOVELOCK CORRECTIONAL CENTER SINCE 1997 For ludeness, sex offender status .He needs compassionate release as soon as possible for he is legally blind and tells us he’s never gotten his cataracts surgery he was promised in Carson City. -
Ely State Prison Facility Condition Analysis
State of Nevada Department of Corrections Ely State Prison Facility Condition Analysis ELY STATE PRISON 4569 North State Route 490 Ely, Nevada 89301 Site Number: 9941 STATE OF NEVADA PUBLIC WORKS DIVISION FACILITY CONDITION ANALYSIS Report Printed in February 2016 State of Nevada Department of Corrections Ely State Prison Facility Condition Analysis The Facility Condition Analysis Program was created under the authority found in NRS 341.128. The State Public Works Division develops this report using cost estimates based on contractor pricing which includes materials, labor, location factors and profit and overhead. The costs of project design, management, special testing and inspections, inflation and permitting fees are not included. Cost estimates are derived from the R.S. Means Cost Estimating Guide and from comparable construction costs of projects completed by SPWD project managers. The deficiencies outlined in this report were noted from a visual survey. This report does not address routine maintenance needs. Recommended projects do not include telecommunications, furniture, window treatments, space change, program issues, or costs that could not be identified or determined from the survey and available building information. If there are buildings without projects listed, this indicates that only routine maintenance needs were found. This report considers probable facility needs for a 10 year planning cycle. This report is not a guarantee of funding and should not be used for budgeting purposes. This report is a planning level document for agencies and State Public Works Division to assess the needs of the Building and/or Site and to help support future requests for ADA upgrades / renovations, Capital Improvement Projects and maintenance. -
A Decade After Abu Ghraib: Lessons in Softening up the Enemy and Sex-Based Humiliation
Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality Volume 31 Issue 1 Article 1 June 2013 A Decade after Abu Ghraib: Lessons in Softening Up the Enemy and Sex-Based Humiliation Johanna Bond Follow this and additional works at: https://lawandinequality.org/ Recommended Citation Johanna Bond, A Decade after Abu Ghraib: Lessons in Softening Up the Enemy and Sex-Based Humiliation, 31(1) LAW & INEQ. 1 (2013). Available at: https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/lawineq/vol31/iss1/1 Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality is published by the University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing. 1 A Decade After Abu Ghraib: Lessons In "Softening Up" The Enemy and Sex-Based Humiliation Johanna Bondi Introduction In April 2004, many in the United States and around the world watched with horror as the now-infamous photographs of torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison emerged. The photos depicted images of U.S. soldiers engaged in torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.! Among other things, the photos documented the sexual abuse and humiliation of Iraqi detainees in the prison.' The photographs depict naked detainees, some of whom were forced to engage in sex acts or simulated sex acts.3 Sworn statements of the detainees at Abu Ghraib reveal a pattern of abuse and degradation, including "details of how they were sexually humiliated and assaulted, threatened with rape, t. Johanna Bond, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Law, Washington & Lee University School of Law. 1. Joshua L. Dratel, The Legal Narrative,in THE TORTURE PAPERS: THE ROAD To ABU GHRAIB xxi (Karen J. Greenberg & Joshua L. -
From Slave Ship to Supermax
Introduction Antipanoptic Expressivity and the New Neo-Slave Novel As a slave, the social phenomenon that engages my whole con- sciousness is, of course, revolution. Anyone who passed the civil service examination yesterday can kill me today with complete immunity. I’ve lived with repression every moment of my life, a re- pression so formidable that any movement on my part can only bring relief, the respite of a small victory or the release of death.1 xactly 140 years after Nat Turner led a slave rebellion in southeastern Virginia, the U.S. carceral state attempted to silence another influential EBlack captive revolutionary: the imprisoned intellectual George Jackson. When guards at California’s San Quentin Prison shot Jackson to death on August 21, 1971, allegedly for attempting an escape, the acclaimed novelist James Baldwin responded with a prescience that would linger in the African American literary imagination: “No Black person will ever believe that George Jackson died the way they tell us he did.”2 Baldwin had long been an advocate for Jackson, and Jackson—as evident from his identification with the slave in the block quotation above—had long been a critic of social control practices in the criminal justice system reminiscent of slavery. Jackson was a well-read Black freedom fighter, political prisoner, Black Panther Party field marshal, and radical social theorist who organized a prisoners’ liberation movement while serving an indeterminate sentence of one year to life for his presumed complicity in a seventy-dollar gas station robbery. He first exposed slavery’s vestiges in the penal system in Soledad Brother, the collection of prison letters 2 Introduction he published in 1970. -
The Correctional Peace Officers Foundation National Honor Guard
CPO FAMILY Autumn 2017 A Publication of The CPO Foundation Vol. 27, No. 2 The Correctional Peace Officers Foundation National Honor Guard To see the CPOF National Honor Guard members “up close and personal,” go to pages 24-25. Bravery Above and Beyond the Call of Duty See page 20 for the inspiring stories of these three life-saving Corrections Professionals whose selfless acts of Sgt. Mark Barra bravery “off the job” Calipatria State Prison, CA earned them much- Lt. John Mendiboure Lt. Christopher Gainey deserved recognition at Avenal SP, CA Pender Correctional Project 2000 XXVIII. Institution, NC Inside, starting on page 4: PROJECT 2000 XXVIII ~ June 15-18, 2017, San Francisco, CA 1 Field Representatives CPO FAMILY Jennifer Donaldson Davis Alabama Carolyn Kelley Alabama The Correctional Peace Officers Foundation Ned Entwisle Alaska 1346 N. Market Blvd. • Sacramento, CA 95834 Liz Shaffer-Smith Arizona P. O. Box 348390 • Sacramento, CA 95834-8390 Annie Norman Arkansas 916.928.0061 • 800.800.CPOF Connie Summers California cpof.org Charlie Bennett California Guy Edmonds Colorado Directors of The CPO Foundation Kim Blakley Federal Glenn Mueller Chairman/National Director George Meshko Federal Edgar W. Barcliff, Jr. Vice Chairman/National Director Laura Phillips Federal Don Dease Secretary/National Director John Williams Florida Richard Waldo Treasurer/National Director Donald Almeter Florida Salvador Osuna National Director Jim Freeman Florida Jim Brown National Director Vanessa O’Donnell Georgia Kim Potter-Blair National Director Rose Williams -
The Global Economy, Economic Crisis, and White-Collar Crime
Contents Volume 9 • Issue 3 • August 2010 SPECIAL ISSUE The Global Economy, Economic Crisis, and White-Collar Crime EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION White-collar crime and the Great Recession .......................................................................429 Neal Shover, Peter Grabosky WALLS OF SECRECY AND SILENCE RESEARCH ARTICLE. Walls of secrecy and silence: The Madoff case ..........................................435 and cartels in the construction industry Henk van de Bunt POLICY ESSAY. Secrecy, silence, and corporate crime reforms ..................................................455 William S. Laufer POLICY ESSAY. Silent or invisible? Governments and corporate financial crimes .....................467 John Minkes POLICY ESSAY. How to effectively get crooks like Bernie Madoff in Dutch .............................475 Henry N. Pontell, Gilbert Geis POLICY ESSAY. Getting our attention .......................................................................................483 Nancy Reichman SERIOUS TAX FRAUD AND NONCOMPLIANCE RESEARCH ARTICLE. Serious tax fraud and noncompliance: A review of evidence ....................493 on the differential impact of criminal and noncriminal proceedings Michael Levi POLICY ESSAY. Criminal prosecution within responsive regulatory practice ............................515 Valerie Braithwaite POLICY ESSAY. Fairness matters—more than deterrence: .........................................................525 Class bias and the limits of deterrence Paul Leighton POLICY ESSAY. Serious tax noncompliance: Motivation