1. (2 links) The United States Supreme Court denied Troy Davis' Appeal. Troy Davis' family and supporters and everyone who wants to end capital punishment in America or protest any other injustice should join the BOYCOTT 4 JUSTICE: No Shopping on the 9th of any month in 2011. Everyone who is fed up should join this peaceful protest against corporate greed and government misdeeds. Money matters to elitists. Keep yours every 9th. See information at this link if they let you: http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/boycott-4-justice-no-shopping-may-9.html Unless the Georgia Pardons and Parole Board or Governor Deal intervenes, another innocent man will be executed. The only thing preventing Davis' execution now is Georgia's lack of sodium thiopental, the anesthesia that is one of three shots administered for lethal injections. Two Georgians were among several condemned Americans executed with faulty anesthesia within the past six months, and they died in agony. Other countries are not allowed to engage in human rights abuses like the USA. See another article in this blog: "Libya, USA" at this link:
http://marylovesjustice.blogspot.com/2011/03/libya-usa.html
2. (1 link) This article is intended to better acquaint the world with Georgia courts that tried and sentenced Davis and denied him a new trial before his peers numerous times. Apparently, Davis is considered "immaterial" like my family was ruled by the United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia in 2009. Although this ruling is on record, I am censored and stalked for telling people about it just as Davis is not allowed to talk about injustices he endures. It seems highly unlikely that any black man's death and his family's pain and suffering is "material" in Georgia courts. The State Legislature enacted a new law in 2006 giving courts the power to prevent a black youth's death by police from going before a jury although the former officer had been indicted on murder charges by the grand jury. See "Corey Ward - Police and Cochran Firm Victim" at this link: http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/corey-ward-police-and-cochran-firm.html - Everyone indicted for murder has to stand trial by jury in Georgia except defendants judges choose to excuse. Not only can wealthy people and police officers commit murder and escape capital punishment, but the new law provides that they do not even have to defend their actions before a jury.
3. (1 link) I empathize with Troy Davis and his supporters. Georgia courts also denied my family a jury trial twice when we sued The (Johnnie) Cochran Firm for defrauding us to protect Memphis Shelby County Jail after my mentally, physically handicapped brother was secretly arrested for 18 days until his murder on August 1, 2003. Google "Wrongful Death of Larry Neal." Google "Cochran Firm Fraud." See this link, also - http://WrongfulDeathOfLarryNeal.com - Mine is the first family this century to have a beloved relative secretly incarcerated, murdered, and returned to his mother as a naked corpse with all pleas for records, an inquest, federal investigation, and justice denied. When the injustice system does not want plaintiffs or defendants to win a case on overwhelming evidence, they are denied jury trials where the matters will be decided by their peers rather than justice officials.
4. (2 links) Unlike other inmates, Davis is under a gag order that prevents him from communicating with the press and the public about his innocence. Amnesty International (AI) does a commendable job of defending Troy Davis and deserves gratitude and support from all people who care about human and civil rights. AI launched petitions to save Troy Davis, one of which is below in this blog and has resumed "Tuesdays for Troy Davis" protests in Atlanta. Cyberstalkers prevent my access to the petition, and they likely prevent other supporters from signing. Links to petitions against capital punishment are sometimes redirected and signatures are often prevented or covertly removed. See "Internet Censorship American Style" - http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/internet-censorship-how-they-do-it.html - Also, see my YouTube channel for videos capturing real-time cyberstalking used to prevent Americans, particularly minorities, from knowing about their defunct Constitutional rights such as "Prison Labor Profits" at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icRD77mugaI
5. Many dignitaries and world citizens joined Davis and his family in protesting his execution on unproved allegations that he murdered off-duty Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail. It is wrong to execute anyone, particularly in the absence of irrefutable evidence of guilt. It is wrong to issue a gag order to prevent a human being from saying, "I am innocent. Listen to my evidence. Please help me." Therefore, for years I have joined thousands of others in speaking for Troy Davis, a man who is not allowed to speak for himself.
6. Excerpts from the Associated Press (AP) report below are followed by links to articles I published to give voice to a voiceless, innocent man on death row. A brief summary of events that led to Davis' wrongful conviction are presented in my "Background on the Troy Davis Case." Although Davis' case has been reviewed by officials in the injustice system several times, he was always denied a new jury trial in a state where 37 inmates are reportedly missing. The missing prisoners led a nonviolent inmate worker strike in December 2010 hoping to win a more humane incarceration. Links to their story are also provided below the AP report excerpts herein.
7. Prison profiteering is a thriving industry in the USA at a time when other industires are declining. Roughly 1 in 13 Georgians is a prisoner, parolee, or probationer - significantly higher than the national average. Unless the missing 37 Georgia prisoners are "found," there may be more dead inmates like my mentally, physically handicapped brother, Larry, who was arrested numerous times because his loud singing and panhandling irritated police. This is the risk unless more Americans, including human rights organizations, protest Guantanamo-style brutality to inmates inside U.S. correctional facilities.
8. (1 link) After Larry's secret death in a publicly-owned county jail that was already under overview by the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) due to its long history of abusing inmates, the USDOJ and Shelby County Government officials colluded with The (Johnnie) Cochran Firm to cover-up Larry's murder. The Cochran Firm contracted with my family as our wrongful death attorneys. Johnnie Cochran was already suffering from a fatal brain tumor, and his firm embarked on a strange new program after his sickness and death to defraud its own clients, according to revelations by former Cochran Firm attorney Shawn Chapman Holley in her NPR interview at this link - Listen to "Controversy at Cochran Law Firm" http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12171473
9. (1 link) Holley's allegations that ethical attorneys and most of Cochran's staff were forced out of the firm after his death because they refused to mistreat minority clients were proved by the way The Cochran Firm defrauded my family and others I report about in my blog - http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/ . Immediately after Larry's death, The Cochran Firm signed contract with the Neal family under a secret conflict of interest: The managing partner of The Cochran Firm's Memphis office was himself a Shelby County Commissioner and liable for the jail violating its Agreement with the USA regarding inmate intake procedures, care for sick and disabled inmates, and mandatory fatality reports. The firm held the Neals' lawsuits regarding Larry Neal's negligence and murder under yet undisclosed circumstances out of court by secretly withholding all legal work which the firm lied and said was underway for 10.5 months of Tennessee's 12-month statute of limitations. That was done to shield the jail from the Neals' lawsuit, federal investigation, and public outrage. Both Shelby County Government and USDOJ continue to refuse to release records under federal subpoena or the Freedom of Information Act. Only "slave class" people like Troy Davis and 2.3 million American prisoners are held accountable to the law in America, and many are punished for unproved crimes at significant costs to taxpayers while the real criminals walk among us and some preside over us.
10. After The Cochran Firm saved Shelby County Jail by defrauding Larry's family, the injustice system then colluded to protect The Cochran Firm from the Neals' lawsuits regarding its fraud and malpractice by falsely declaring that the Atlanta office where our lawsuit was served to The Cochran Firm by Georgia Marshals is nonexistent. This incredible ruling by Georgia Superior Court was made in 2006, and The Cochran Firm never stopped advertising and "representing" clients under that identity in Georgia, mostly blacks, Latinos, and Native Americans. United States District Court in Georgia ruled in 2009 that The Cochran Firm's fraud against the Neals was "immaterial." These are the same courts that Troy Davis pleaded with for a "fair day in a just court." Like the Neal family, justice for Troy Davis was denied.
11. (1 link) Troy Davis' gag order mirrors the censorship that I endure trying to publish reports and videos regarding the secret arrest and murder of Larry Neal and abuses to many other Americans and immigrants. See real-time cyberstalking in the videos at the YouTube widget running across the top of MaryLovesJustice blog and at my YouTube channel jkempp703. The wrongful deaths of Larry Neal and Troy Davis are intended to be quiet abuses of power. I spent significant time and money (buying new computers after illegal takeovers) reporting The Cochran Firm Fraud to the public that I hoped would result in fewer consumers of legal services being defrauded by that law firm like Kathryn Johnston's family and mine were. However, the injustice system compensates for its COINTELPRO law firm's lost business by setting Cochran Firm attorneys over litigation in class action cases (likely to defraud many more Americans) like the BP oil spill and DePuy hip implant litigation. See INTERNET CENSORSHIP AMERICAN STYLE at this link to see the effort applied to defrauding and censoring Americans: http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/internet-censorship-how-they-do-it.html
12. Below are excerpts from AP's report on the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of Troy Davis' last appeal. Read about two more cases being deliberated by the High Court in this blog that will determine whether children can be interrogated by social workers or police in their schools without parental knowledge, attorneys, or Miranda warnings, entitled "Juvenile Justice: Kids 4 Cash" at this link: http://marylovesjustice.blogspot.com/2011/03/juvenile-justice-kids-4-cash.html
13. Excerpts from Associated Press - Monday, March 28, 2011, by Greg Bluestein - ATLANTA — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a Georgia death row inmate who was given a rare chance to argue his innocence but failed to convince a federal judge that he was wrongly convicted of the 1989 murder of a Savannah police officer.
14. The decision clears the way for state officials to move forward with Troy Davis' execution, but problems with the state's supply of a key lethal injection drug put the timing in doubt. Federal regulators this month seized the entire stockpile of the drug, sodium thiopental, amid questions about how the state obtained it. The move effectively put all executions in Georgia on hold.
15. He's been scheduled for executions three times since 2007, but was spared each time by courts agreeing to take another look at his case. After Monday's ruling, though, even Davis' attorneys acknowledge his options are limited. Defense attorney Jason Ewart said the likeliest route is the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, a five-member board that rarely postpones executions.
16. Davis' sister said she's disappointed by the court's ruling but hopeful that the state pardons board would review the case.
17. "We have to address the parole board. They said they wouldn't execute someone if there's doubt, and this case is so riddled with doubt," said Martina Correia. "It's a shame in the U.S. when people don't value innocence."
18. MacPhail's mother, Anneliese MacPhail, said she was hopeful the court's decision has put to rest Davis’ legal appeals.
19. The case has become a rallying point for death penalty opponents across the globe, attracting support from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Amnesty International and dignitaries such as former President Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict XVI. Several of Davis' supporters urged the pardons board to commute his sentence.
20. "No objective person could confidently determine that Davis is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence available now in his case," said Laura Moye of Amnesty International. "That leaves an ominous cloud hanging over an irreversible sentence such as the death penalty." (The Seattle Times carries the entire AP report. What about Georgia media? Georgia media steadfastly refuses to warn millions of residents that The Cochran Firm's Atlanta office denied having that identity in Georgia Superior Court in 2006 while commercials for the law firm continued to run and more minorities were defrauded.)
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21. REFERENCED LINKS:
22. Below are fifteen (16) links to my previous articles about Troy Davis and the death penalty and news from other sources. Excerpts are included.
DIVERSION NEEDED! LET'S KILL TROY DAVIS! http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/diversion-needed-lets-kill-troy-davis.html ~ I think they are ready for a showdown. This innocent man's execution could be the catalyst for awful things in America. Let us all advocate for justice for Troy Davis and a full investigation into Officer MacPhial's murder, something that did not happen when Davis was arrested on the word of a man who was present at the murder and admitted to having a gun fitting the caliber of the murder weapon. If Davis is lynched, please stay home and BOYCOTT 4 JUSTICE.
BACKGROUND ON THE TROY DAVIS CASE
http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/background-on-troy-davis-case-by-mary.html ~ ON AUGUST 19, 1989, MARK MacPHAIL, an off-duty policeman, was working as a security guard at a Burger King restaurant in Savannah, Georgia. The incident started when Sylvester “Redd” Coles began harassing a homeless man, Larry Young, for a beer while Troy Davis and others watched quietly from a distance.
Troy Davis Appeal Denied by GA Court - No Surprise to Neal Family ~ http://www.nowpublic.com/world/troy-davis-appeal-denied-ga-court-no-surprise-neal-family I do not think that courts in Georgia care a whit about guilt or innocence, right and wrong. They make judicial decisions based on a completely difference criterion that has ZERO to do with the law and justice. I do not base this assessment on the Troy Davis matter, but from my own dealings with courts in this state. When the judges know that you would win before a jury and they don't want you to win for whatever reason, the judges simply refuse to allow your case to go to jury trial. That is the Georgia way.
21. REFERENCED LINKS:
22. Below are fifteen (16) links to my previous articles about Troy Davis and the death penalty and news from other sources. Excerpts are included.
DIVERSION NEEDED! LET'S KILL TROY DAVIS! http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/diversion-needed-lets-kill-troy-davis.html ~ I think they are ready for a showdown. This innocent man's execution could be the catalyst for awful things in America. Let us all advocate for justice for Troy Davis and a full investigation into Officer MacPhial's murder, something that did not happen when Davis was arrested on the word of a man who was present at the murder and admitted to having a gun fitting the caliber of the murder weapon. If Davis is lynched, please stay home and BOYCOTT 4 JUSTICE.
BACKGROUND ON THE TROY DAVIS CASE
http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/background-on-troy-davis-case-by-mary.html ~ ON AUGUST 19, 1989, MARK MacPHAIL, an off-duty policeman, was working as a security guard at a Burger King restaurant in Savannah, Georgia. The incident started when Sylvester “Redd” Coles began harassing a homeless man, Larry Young, for a beer while Troy Davis and others watched quietly from a distance.
Troy Davis Appeal Denied by GA Court - No Surprise to Neal Family ~ http://www.nowpublic.com/world/troy-davis-appeal-denied-ga-court-no-surprise-neal-family I do not think that courts in Georgia care a whit about guilt or innocence, right and wrong. They make judicial decisions based on a completely difference criterion that has ZERO to do with the law and justice. I do not base this assessment on the Troy Davis matter, but from my own dealings with courts in this state. When the judges know that you would win before a jury and they don't want you to win for whatever reason, the judges simply refuse to allow your case to go to jury trial. That is the Georgia way.
Supreme Court DNA Deliberations http://www.nowpublic.com/world/supreme-courts-dna-deliberations-mary-neal ~ Since 1989, 232 convicted felons have been exonerated because of DNA testing. "All they're getting is a darn test," attorney Peter Neufeld, co-founder of the Innocence Project, told the court Monday morning. "And they're staying in prison while they get that darn test."
Supreme Court DNA Ruling; Study Shows DP Is No Crime Deterrent http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/supreme-court-dna-ruling-study-shows-dp-no-crime-deterrent ~ THE RESULTS ARE IN. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 against prisoners having a right to post-conviction DNA testing that could be used to prove their innocence of crimes for which they were sentenced to prison terms or execution.
NAACP Launches Campaign to Save Troy Davis and Address DP Prejudice http://www.nowpublic.com/world/naacp-launches-campaign-save-troy-davis-address-dp-prejudice ~ There is no physical evidence linking Davis to the crime and seven of the nine witnesses have recanted or contradicted their original testimony, several saying they were coerced. One of the witnesses who has not recanted is the prime alternative suspect in the case and has been in and out of jail numerous times. NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, who recently met with Mr. Davis for two hours on death row said, “Beyond a shadow of a doubt, this man is innocent."
Jim Crow Crowned Prom King in Georgia ~ Watch Out, Troy Davis! ~ http://www.nowpublic.com/world/jim-crow-crowned-prom-king-georgia-watch-out-troy-davis Montgomery County High School in Georgia has two separate proms for its graduating seniors - one for the white students and one for the black ones.
Troy Davis - Global Day of Action, May 19 http://www.nowpublic.com/world/troy-davis-global-day-action-may-19 ~ These days, people who live in Georgia and Tennessee and Texas and other Southern states don't raise our own pigs much any more. Now, not only can we not kill pigs in city limits, but we cannot even raise livestock in city limits. Without farming as an outlet for Southerners' killer instinct and with lynching black people without a court order being a problem, Southerners cling to capital punishment and execute more inmates than in other regions of the country.
Troy Davis Granted Hearing Before 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 9 http://www.nowpublic.com/world/updated-troy-davis-granted-hearing-11th-circuit-court-appeals-dec-9 ~ Former President Jimmy Carter and the European Union were among those calling for a stay of execution. Davis was scheduled to be executed on October 27 after the U.S. Supreme Court denied review following Davis' unsuccessful appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court. COMMENT EXCERPT: I read that the attorney who represented Troy at his murder trial was only paid $1,000 for defending the African American youth on a capital murder charge. Compare that to the $24,000 each month that taxpayers are paying to defend former Attorney General Gonzales against a civil suit brought by lawyers who allege he kept them out of the USDOJ because they were not Bush supporters. I have no idea what taxpayers are paying to defend Gonzales on his prison profiteering indictment. Justice in America is too skewed to benefit the rich for this country to ever execute anyone.
Another Stay of Execution for Troy Davis - New Trial Please? http://www.nowpublic.com/world/another-stay-execution-troy-davis-new-trial-please ~ Excerpt from an interview with Troy Davis - PTBB News - "My faith has taught me that if you give all your worries to God he will carry your burdens," Davis wrote in a letter to me sent the day after my visit. "It's God that carried me through death's valley and took my worries away."
For Davis, faith is the door to freedom. "Having faith makes you stronger than your family and able to support them more than they are supporting you," he said, "because they are the ones who will be left behind once you are gone and you have to show them you are not afraid to die."
"Sometimes all of this seems like it's happening to someone else. I sometimes dream to be free, but in each dream my family is 18-and-a-half years younger, and my father is still alive," said Davis during an in-person interview in April 2008.
"I am disappointed at the system, but refuse to become bitter and angry, because I still have a lot of fight left in me . I have too much to live for to give up, to give up on myself means I have given up on my family as well, but we are in this together and I cannot give up now." (See the article at the link above for full PBS excerpt).
Please do the right thing. Grant Troy Davis a new trial. It is not so hard to be just in life. It is a simple matter of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. Just be fair. No more lynching. After nearly two decades on Georgia’s Death Row, please grant this American his simple request for “a fair day in a just court.”
Troy Davis Update - Death Warrant Issued for Oct. 27 http://my.nowpublic.com/world/troy-davis-update-death-warrant-issued-oct-27 ~ The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency for Troy Anthony Davis shortly before 5 p.m. on Friday, September 12. They did so despite overwhelming doubts of Davis' guilt - and after stating last year that they would "not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused." On September 23, The U.S. Supreme Court stayed Troy Davis' execution "pending the disposition of [his] petition for a writ of certiorari." On October 14, the Court decided not to accept his petition.
Troy Anthony Davis Granted Last-minute State of Execution by U.S. Supreme Court http://my.nowpublic.com/culture/troy-anthony-davis-granted-last-minute-stay-execution-u-s-supreme-court ~ TROY ANTHONY DAVIS, who was scheduled for execution at 7:00 p.m. today in Georgia's death chamber, was granted a last minute stay of execution by the United States Supreme Court.
Abolitionist Alert: Troy Davis Needs Help ~ http://my.nowpublic.com/world/abolitionist-alert-troy-davis-needs-help ~ We the People now understand that legal technicalities such as late-arriving evidence and late development of scientific methods to test evidence leaves the lives of possibly innocent men and women hanging on the hope that the citizen's governor or some righteous federal judge will say to the executioner, "Stop! In the name of the great United States of America and God, whom we trust, we will never kill a man while doubt of his guilt remains."
Troy Davis Denied Clemency - Execution Set for September 23 http://my.nowpublic.com/world/updated-troy-davis-denied-clemency-execution-set-september-23 ~ Is this a case of "We know you may be innocent, but we are going to kill you anyway, because your evidence was slow in arriving"?
Georgia Execution for September 23: Troy Anthony Davis, Possibly Innocent http://www.nowpublic.com/world/georgia-execution-september-23-troy-anthony-davis-possibly-innocent ~ Davis was sentenced to death for the murder of Police Officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia. According to Amnesty International, the case against him consisted only of witness testimony that contained inconsistencies, even at trial. Since then, all but two of the state’s nine witnesses from the trial have recanted or contradicted their testimony. Many of these witnesses have stated in sworn affidavits that they were pressured or coerced into testifying or signing statements.
Troy Anthony Davis Press Coverage http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/News-coverage.html ~ An Innocent Man on Georgia's Death Row - A chronology of press coverage over time.
23. (1 link) Please see previous articles by this writer regarding fairness for Troy Davis and Officer MacPhail at: http://www.nowpublic.com/user/51620/assignments Also, Google "Mary Neal Troy Davis" for more articles about why Troy Davis and my family were denied justice in Georgia courts.
24. (2 links) MISSING GEORGIA PRISONERS (Just like China)
Still no news of 37 missing Georgia prison strikers San Francisco Bay View, Feb. 19, 2011 at this link: http://sfbayview.com/2011/still-no-news-of-37-missing-georgia-prison-strikers/ . The 37 Georgia prisoners who were labeled leaders and organizers of the sit-down strike that began on Dec. 9, 2010, are still missing, and other participants are still in lockdown. The struggle for prisoners' civil and human rights continues. See more news about injustices at this San Francisco BayView link (if they let you): http://sfbayview.com/category/enemylines/
25. (1 link) "Repression Breeds Resistance," said Elaine Brown during the December 2010 Georgia prisoners' labor strike.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/14/prisoner_advocate_elaine_brown_on_georgia
26. (1 link) Article by Dr. Boyce Watkins: "We must all support the Georgia prison labor strike":
http://newsone.com/newsone-original/boycewatkins/dr-boyce-we-must-all-support-the-georgia-prison-strike/
27. (1 link) AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: BACKGROUND ON THE TROY DAVIS CASE - FINALITY OVER FAIRNESS
http://www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/troy-davis-finality-over-fairness/troy-davis-background/page.do?id=1121074
28. (1 link) SAVE TROY DAVIS Petition by AI: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=12970
29. (1 link) Thank you for your interest in justice from this laywoman's perspective. I am followed across the Internet and in person by stalkers to prevent advocacy for justice and compassion in America. In fact, my Twitter page is not permitted to open on Atlanta City Library computers to prevent minority citizens from knowing about The Cochran Firm Fraud - http://twitter.com/koffietime , and making plans on my tapped phone to pass out flyers at the 2011 Black History Parade in Atlanta in February may resulting in the parade being canceled at the last minute. Yet, I continue my Human Rights for Prisoners March online and will increase public picketing despite being threatened by Atlanta Police in June 2010 to arrest me for telling the public about the secret arrest and murder of Larry Neal and The Cochran Firm Fraud. Hopefully, minority people will learn from my family experiences that having blacks in positions of power in the government means nothing; abusers of power come in all races. I live in Atlanta, a city with people famous for civil rights activism who do nothing to curtail my censorship and gangstalking that ensured after suing The Cochran Firm for its fraud and starting my Human Rights for Prisoners march. Prison profiteering has spread throughout America like an airborne disease, and many "leaders" are modern slave traders through their stock holdings.
30. Either Americans have freedom of speech and press or we do not. The fact that citizens have no protected right to life is proved whenever men and women are imprisoned or executed on unproved charges and by the secret arrest and murder of Larry Neal, a harmless lifelong schizophrenic heart patient. The Constitution is rendered defunct by virtue of the fact that the judiciary and executive branches of government refuse to protect citizens' rights thereunder. Indeed, the Constitution has been reduced to the status of antiquated laws like those dictating where citizens can tie their horses in city zones.
The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. Psalm 103:6
He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Psalm 33:5Blessings!
Mary Neal - http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com/
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
