Join Inmates v. CA re Prison Torture

Announcement for Prison Focus: Help Needed re Lawsuit for Human Rights of California Prisoners - Relief from Prolonged Solitary Confinement

from California Prison Focus 
Thu, Jun 21, 2012

[I have volunteered for a night or two at CA Prison Focus and stayed in contact with people there.  It really is bare-boned, no money, all heart, lots of letters all-night work.  Please support them and pass on this message to more people.  Their website, which has their Prison Focus newsletters available electronically, is http://www.prisons.org. 

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At last we are greeting you online! We want to thank you for fighting alongside us against long-term solitary confinement in California.  We greatly appreciate the support you have given us in this struggle, whether in the form of a check or a block of your time.

California Prison Focus has been waging this fight against the SHUs (Security Housing Units) for over 20 years. Since the start of last year’s hunger strike by nearly twelve thousand prisoners, we have worked unceasingly to pressure CDCR to meet the prisoners’ five core demands.

Now we want to share exciting news: California Prison Focus is co-counsel in a class action lawsuit filed on May 31, 2012. On behalf of SHU prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison, the lawsuit alleges that long-term solitary confinement in California violates the federal Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.  It also claims that CDCR violates the constitutional requirement of due process when it throws people into SHU who have done nothing violent or illegal and then keeps them there for decades—or life.
 

You can support this lawsuit by clicking here.

http://cts.vresp.com/c/?CaliforniaPrisonFocu/9d749a93e9/bb521dd5da/152d84485e/cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=V2QZ4ARPVFYU2

 
This legal action requires huge numbers of hours of attorney time—our attorney donates hers completely pro bono. It also involves out-of-pocket expenses. We must travel frequently to Pelican Bay to confer with our plaintiffs about legal strategy and get their histories and other information to prove our case. We travel on the cheap, driving rather than flying, and staying at inexpensive motels, but still each trip costs about $400.

This lawsuit has the potential to make an enormous impact on the lives of thousands of prisoners and their families. But there is no law firm with deep pockets behind it. The costs of pursuing the suit could compromise our chances of success, and a historic opportunity would be lost.
 Will you donate to support this lawsuit?  Each gift of $20 will buy half a tank of gas on our next trip to the Pelican Bay SHU. Any amount will help. Please give what you can.

A movement against prolonged solitary confinement is building fast! With your help, California Prison Focus will hasten the demise of this form of torture in our state.

________________________________
California Prison Focus
1904 Franklin St. #507
Oakland, California 94612
US

NETWORKING INVITATION - You and your friends and groups are invited to JUSTICE SEEKERS CONFERENCE CALLS throughout April 2012. Link http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/justice-seekers-conference-call-april-1.html - Call 218-632-0550, at 6:30pm EST. Dial the access code 330203# and to speak, dial *6. The three photos and one link in this blog are to inform you about this exciting networking opportunity for activists, organizations, lawyers, officials, the media and others who offer advocacy, goods and services that provide for and promote social and economic justice as well as individuals who need help w/ their justice quests! I can't wait to actually speak with my online friends. UNITE for justice! We are all committed to improving the human condition. We will become more effective as we learn about and commit to help grass roots and large organizations. By promoting each other's events, signing petitions, and knowing who to refer people to who face particular issues, we can help each other reach the top of Justice Mountain. Unity is imperative to a successful climb. Meet your teammates in Justice Seekers Conference Calls throughout April 2012.

See the link above for full information about the JUSTICE SEEKERS CONFERENCE CALL. The conference call is an incredible opportunity for people to come together and share news and information or seek assistance regarding:

• human and civil rights
• prison intervention
• mental health services and programs
• youth services
• re-entry programs
• law enforcement
• elder care
• health care 
• drug / alcohol intervention
• legal services
• housing
• economic justice /employment
• outreach and missionary ministries
• services for families and/or children
• literacy, adult education, public/private schools, tutoring
• war/peace
• media
• government
• ALL OTHERS ARE INVITED!

Unity makes it happen! Join hands and keep climbing Justice Mountain together.

Become a Dog Justice Blog Member

INVITATION TO JOIN DOG JUSTICE FOR MENTALLY ILL BLOG

AS A CONTRIBUTING MEMBER
POST YOUR STORIES AND PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS

http://dogjusticeformentallyill.blogspot.com/2012/01/bryce-seton-mentally-ill-child-gave.html

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. We are now accepting 99 members who wish to share their stories or offer goods and services in DOG JUSTICE blog. Most memberships are reserved for dogged out mentally ill people and their families. There are also limited memberships available for mental health care providers, addiction treatment facilities, attorneys, re-entry programs, etc., to use the blog for public service anouncements for a nominal quarterly fee. Advertisers will have no competing ads on the blog's margins.

Dogged out mentally ill people and their families are invited to join DOG JUSTICE blog and post your stories for free. You will have three months to tell your stories, whether positive or negative. If you do not feel comfortable writing yourself, we will do it for you and launch a petition for you, if desired. You will be responsible for your own content regarding validity, etc. Every member can post as many blogs as desired during the three months of membership. By rotating members who contribute to the blog every quarter, we hope to give 400 dogged out mentally ill people and their families an opportunity to use this service every year. Three months of high visibility online may turn your situation around. Many people will know and care about you and want to help.

ADVERTISERS - It seems a good idea for everyone needing health care or legal services for mentally ill and/or drug addicted people to know where they can find a variety of services at a single website. At DOG JUSTICE FOR MENTALLY ILL blog, advertisers will be able to post lengthy or short public service announcements (including photos and videos), rather than just a small ad. Ideally, DOG JUSTICE blog will bring together mentally challenged and addicted people and their partners with health care professionals and attorneys who can help them. Advertisers may renew their memberships quarterly and post two public service announcements per quarter. No members' posts or ads will ever be removed by the blog's administrator without a request, so your content should have a permanent presence online at DOG JUSTICE FOR MENTALLY ILL blog and continue to be accessed by members and the general public indefinitely.

HIGH VISIBILITY - My sites usually enjoy good traffic on the web, and members seeking help zealously promote the blog among their friends and social networks. Members will recognize that sharng our DOG JUSTICE link brings more attention to their issues and signatures for their petitions, therefore a greater chance of satisfactory resolution. Every time members share a link to DOG JUSTICE, we necessarily publish the advertisers goods and services. Promoting services by psychiatrists, counselors, drug treatment centers, attorneys, etc., will decrease the number of people incarcerated for mental illness and remove barriers to timely treatment. I will promote DOG JUSTICE blog diligently, as it is our goal to help the mentally ill resolve legal issues and ultimately replace incarceration with inpatient and outpatient care. Ideally, 400 different members every year will be introducing your treatment or legal services to their networks in perpetuum, even if you only join the blog for one quarter.

Members work together for DOG JUSTICE for the mentally ill.

Decriminalize mental illness.

Individuals and families impacted by mental illness who want a permanent affiliation with Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI) are invited to join us at Care2 Network: http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/aimi - Care2 memberships are free, but no sales are allowed. AIMI expects to start a Google+ group by March 1, 2012, and you are invited to join and publish there at no cost. (I have never been able to get the Facebook AIMI group page to act right. Their loss.)

Talking about mental illness helps to remove the stigma attached to that common, treatable health disorder. Reaching out for help is the wise course. TRY to email me at MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com or call me at (678)531-0262 to arrange membership. If you fail to get a response within two(2) days, it means your attempt to communicate with me failed. Leave a comment with your email address, website and/or phone number in the comments section at DOG JUSTICE FOR MENTALLY ILL blog or one of my other Blogger blogs - FreeSpeakBlog, MaryLovesJustice, or JusticeGagged. Unfortunately, work to decriminalize mental illness has opponents, and communicating with me can be difficult. Interference is probably because full prisons are profitable to prison investors. Human rights work has always suffered opposition, including slavery abolition, women's suffrage, the labor movement, and the civil rights movement. However, God is on our side. Use DOG JUSTICE blog link today: http://dogjusticeformentallyill.blogspot.com/ - See the "Dog Justice" poem below. It was used by "Stolen Lives Project" and is republished by prison activists everywhere who realize that the mentally ill comprise over half of America's massive prison rolls. The mentally ill usually stay in prison longer (no good time), have a higher rate of recidivism, and endure harsher living conditions as inmates, including solitary confinement, brutality, and in my brother's case, death. DOG JUSTICE poem tells my story. With DOG JUSTICE blog, let's tell yours.

DOG JUSTICE

by Mary Neal (all rights reserved)

Too bad you weren't a dog, my brother

In my heart, I cried

Many more people would care about you

And wonder why you died

You had no spots or floppy ears

You never fetched a ball

Instead, you were a human being

But poor, black, and flawed

You died in jail for mental illness

I know down in my heart

Your death would be investigated

If only you could bark

Dog deaths get swift justice

Their abusers are sent to jail

Poor Mama would have closure now

If you'd had a wagging tail

But you were made in God's image

And some day, I have no doubt

The mentally ill and American dogs

Will have at least equal clout

Blessings!