There is a need in the USA to create a movement of people willing to work to change our retributive justice system to one of restorative or transformative justice.   One way to start is to register for daily Google Alerts on Restorative Justice to become educated and find out what is happening in the restorative justice movement around the world.   The needs of all those impacted by crime need to be addressed - victims, their families, perpetrators and their families and community stakeholders.   It is time for true change in the criminal justice system in the USA...restorative justice at all levels appears to be the best alternative to a retributive justice system that is irreparably broken.

It is important to advocate passing the Second Chance Act, as well as the 'good time' legislation. The current 'mandatory minimums' laws are irrational, unjust and further bankrupt our nation. Rev. Bookburn - Radio Volta

Action Alert:  FedCURE's 100,000 Letter Writing Campaign Support FedCURE's 100,000 Letter Writing Campaign to the United States Sentencing Commission.  Now! Action:   Write a letter to the United States Sentencing Commission supporting FedCURE's public comment to amend the Sentencing Guidelines to  incorporate a hybrid system of parole and good time allowances. Write a Letter - click here http://www.fedcure.org/information/FedCURE100kLetterWriting.shtml

I read a post that suggested a "Million Marijuana March" or some such thing in Washington, D.C.

I think that is a brilliant idea, but I would also like to offer what I believe to be a better version of the same idea. I will try to back up this idea as best as I can, but feel free to comment back with improvements or suggestions.

The main problem with marching on Washington, D.C. is that there are far too many people who can't make it all the way to Washington to participate in the march. Agreed?

Now, what if we chose a day, like April 20th 2009 for example, and organized a nationwide march in every major and mid-sized city? Think about it: The numbers in Washington, D.C. would be dwarfed in comparison to the numbers we could march with if EVERYONE across the country could participate without going to D.C.

If this were to happen, if we could all pull together and get this thing organized, and we pull it off successfully, there is no way that the media or the government will be able to ignore the thunderous roar of the masses who want something done about this! (Sorry for the run-on sentence...I get all motivated talking about this.)

So I challenge you America, all the masses of people who want to be heard... Find a way to spread the word to as many people as you can, in every community. Get the word out and MAKE OUR GOVERNMENT GIVE US WHAT WE WANT! And please, comment back with comments, suggestions, or improvements.

We have to stand together on this one.

Check out Wendy Greene's post - "The Greatest Crime of All"
(http://www.change.org/ideas/2028/view_blog/the_greatest_crime_of_all)

News from Jesup GA Federal Prison Work Camp

They are filling this place up to the max. All the beds are now full and they are putting cots in the library and the visiting room. There was a riot in a prison in Texas that led to massive transfers. As a result, they are moving people from mediums to lows and lows to camps to make room for the guys from Texas. The "Hole" is full so they have no place to send people that they want to disipline (ie catch smoking or with contraband, etc.). The huge roundup from the Mexican Cartel bust is more pressure on the system.

They NEED to start sending some people HOME.

That's my news for now. More later.

Zvi

FWD:I guess I'm not the only one who sees the perfect storm for sentencing reform brewing.  Just hours after I emailed you yesterday, three of our champions in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced bills that would, if they pass, change the face of sentencing! Rep. Waters wants to eliminate mandatory minimums. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) introduced HR 1466, the "Major Drug Trafficking Prosecution Act of 2009.'' The bill would get rid of all mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses; discourage federal prosecutions of low-level drug offenders, and allow courts to place drug offenders on probation or suspend their sentence. Introducing her bill to Congress, Waters cited FAMM's "Correcting Course" report as evidence that Congress has shown the will to repeal drug mandatory minimums before and should do so again. Click here to read Rep. Waters's statement.

Rep. Scott seeks to end mandatory minimum sentencing for crack and powder cocaine. Congressman Robert "Bobby" C. Scott (D-Va.), introduced H.R. 1459, the "Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act of 2009." The bill would eliminate the distinction between powder cocaine and crack cocaine; eliminate all mandatory minimum sentences for cocaine, and establish the possibility of probationary sentences for cocaine offenders.

Rep. Davis demands more good time. Congressman Danny Davis (D-Ill.) introduced H.R. 1475, the "Federal Prison Work Incentive Act of 2009," legislation that would substantially revive the good time system that existed before November 1, 1987, when the Sentencing Reform Act (SRA) was passed. The bill would increase good time and provide additional opportunities to reduce a sentence by engaging in work opportunities.  You can learn more about these bills by clicking here.   I can't always predict the weather with this much accuracy, but after 18 years of watching the political barometer rise and fall, I can tell you that this chance combination of circumstances isn't an everyday occurrence. Help FAMM make the most of this perfect storm by donating now!   Thanks -   Julie  President
  Sentences that Fit. Justice that Works.  

This Sunday evening I have been idly channel surfing, as is my wont, and ran across a curious phenomenon. There were separate channels playing news-documentary ‘specials’ on the so-called War on Drugs...Heroin on one, Marijuana the other. These programs, as well as programs on several other channels, were sponsored in part by drug companies who ran commercials hawking pharmaceuticals of one stripe or another, admonishing potential consumers to “ask your doctor” whether this or that drug is “right for you”. They then proceeded to recite a litany of horrendous side effects for these FDA-approved substances at a talking speed that would make a pro livestock auctioneer jealous, and of course thereby rendering this information all but incomprehensible. I’m reminded of an ad I saw some years back for a drug that was meant to treat something they called “social anxiety disorder”...leave it to a drug company to create a pathological denouement for shyness and then design a drug to treat it...what followed was another litany of side-effects that could have come from a Monty Python skit, beginning with halitosis and continuing on to things like body odor, acne, flatulence, on and on, I wish I was kidding you about this...an entire rogue’s gallery of socially unacceptable afflictions...it was difficult for me to believe that they had missed the obvious irony.

But I digress. What I saw tonight got me thinking about the fact that, in the midst of allowing Big Pharmaceutical to mount incessant snake-oil campaigns promoting their manipulations of human chemistry for profit, we are concurrently engaged in a “War” with no defined enemy, unacceptable levels of collateral damage, no clear goal and a completely unjustifiable price-tag...against “drugs”.

The drug war documentaries I watched were couched in what I can only view as sensationalist terms...corporate media goosing their share numbers by generating as much hysteria as possible, but the one constant and isolated snippet of fact to be gleaned from the fear-mongering was just this...they are losing the war on drugs. We’ve been hearing that statement ever since they started calling it a “War” (remember MEOW?). Whether or not these documentaries were telling the “truth” is perhaps a question for philosophy majors, however it is plain fact that the drug war is not being won, will not and can not ever be won. The reasons for this are quite obvious.

The first consideration is that mind/body altering substances and their recreational, ritual or medicinal uses have been around far longer than the impetus of civilization to codify laws regulating human behavior, and the use of these substances will persist no matter what resources are expended against such use. It is a simple matter of human nature.

The second thing is that by proscribing these substances, we succeed only in handing the power to control them over to those who are only too happy to subvert civilized mores in order to provide them outside the Law, charge anything they want and kill anyone who gets in their way. The unimaginably vast amount of black market capital and political power generated by the trade in illegal drugs is what fuels the drug turf wars currently raging in Mexico, which have to date claimed almost as many lives as the entire 6 some-odd years of  the war in Iraq, and which has fueled similar bloodbaths in this country for decades, funds the Taliban in Afghanistan through the heroin trade and is generally responsible for more murder and mayhem, planet-wide, than almost any other single factor. It represents a horrendous human cost in terms of lives lost or ruined and drains billions from our economy each year in drug profits sent offshore and money wasted on a futile effort to enforce poorly conceived proscriptions. Noted journalist Hugh Downs once wrote that the biggest trouble with drugs is that by their illegality, they remain outside the Law, and therefore are not amenable to the control of Law. I agree...as long as so-called recreational drugs are “outside the Law” they will continue to be a source of power to organized crime and organized terrorism, will continue to result in murder and mayhem on a vast scale, will continue to exert an unhealthy influence on our national political scene, will continue to be used as rationale to encroach upon the Bill of Rights that all American citizens trust and rely upon. The Prohibition should have taught us this, but memories are apparently short, and/or selective.

The way to control the mayhem caused by drugs in this country is to bring these substances under the Law by regulating and taxing them as alcohol and tobacco are regulated and taxed. I don’t imagine that this will be a perfect solution, as our experience with alcohol teaches us...but we’ve already seen what happens when we proscribe substances this way. It contributes to the decay of society and the impetus to violence to protect ‘turf’. The regulation of recreational drugs is an alternative where none other exists. We can use the tax revenues realized from a regulated supply of controlled substances to fund interdiction methods that do not result in non-violent and otherwise productive citizens being incarcerated for hard time on minor possession charges. We can provide our law enforcement agencies with the resources they need to combat violent and organized crime and real terrorism. We can provide medical rehabilitation to drug abusers, rather than drive them underground where they are likely perpetuate crime.

We in the USA currently enjoy the distinction of having a higher percentage of our population under incarceration than any other country outside communist China...this is correlated on a virtually one to one basis with the “War on Drugs”...and we are concurrently bombarded with news stories about how violent offenders and predators are released from prison because the prisons are literally running out of room, and we have incessant demands for more public money to build more prisons...because of drugs.

We like to distinguish our nation from such as the communist regimes, yet how can we do so when such a huge proportion of our population is behind bars? Are we a nation of murderers, car-jackers and rapists? Political detainees? Of course not. What we have are outmoded mind-sets when it comes to controlled substances, and we like to prescribe mandatory minimum sentences with regard to non-violent drug offenses. When push comes to shove, it leaves no alternative when it comes time to reduce a prison population when our Constitution demands this for reasons of humane treatment of our convicts and there are no such similar minimums with regard to certain violent offenders.

We have it within our power to jerk the rug right out from under the feet of violent, organized profiteers in the illegal drug trades and by doing so, remove the power base provided to them by billions of dollars in profit being bled off from our domestic economy. The power we relinquish to them allows them to ravage our society with impunity.

We must decriminalize drug possession and use, and regulate and tax its supply. It would be a sad day for organized crime, South American drug cartels and terrorist organizations like the Taliban. It would give us an opportunity to get a handle on drug abuse. Let us get this straight once and for all...we do not currently have the power to regulate and mitigate this trade, and we will never be able to do so; only the ones making billions, perhaps trillions on the black market have this power. Four decades of failed drug policy has taught us this; the Prohibition has taught us this. The status quo has to change.

Of course, there will always be those in our society who will not respond to efforts to guide them toward a less destructive path, regardless of how much money and effort is expended on their behalf; as already stated, there is no perfect solution to this problem. At the very least, I would like to think that those who can be saved will be saved, including society at large. Those who cannot be saved will succumb to a form a social Darwinism that will affect only them and will not propagate virally though our civilization as the drug problem is currently doing. In the process, the former black market suppliers will be looking for some other way to make a living, or a killing. At least we won’t be aiding them, at public expense, to threaten our Constitution and our very Republic.

Has any one considered these two ideas.

Idea 1 -Prisons.
============

Have a two tiered prison system. You know , divide and conquer. 

1st tier is prisons of the current structure.

2nd tier prisons are run on a strict spirtual and self sustaining model. Perhaps with some staff from Church groups.

To be promoted to a second tier prison, prisoners must practise spiritual studies, show absolute respect for the prison staff and other prisoners and must participate in skills training and production of resources to make their prison as selfsustaining as possible.

Prisoners can migrate to a second tier prison and finish their sentence so long as they meet the criteria of a second tier prison. Failing to meet the standards sees a transfer back to a tier one prison.

Idea 2 - Immaturity.
===============

Have you ever seen the TV show "Supernanny".

Human experience is such that we allgo through a process of maturity. Think initiation ceremonies.

By in large, a person stands a better chance of maturing well if they have good guidance from a mature person. Assume that mature here means a person of good character and selfless interest in the well being of others.

You know the type. Your mother.

In my opinion, this says the responsibility for the quality of security, safety, respect and maturity in our socities lies with the all the mature - not the immature.

There are times when mature people must address immature behaviors effectively. When this is done, immature people in the long run, are greatful.

In the main Police Officers as individuals join policing because they want to make a positive difference. At heart they a good spirited people willing to take on a difficult task on the behalf of their community. They are selected for their maturity and character and under go strong training.

Perhaps its time to show them respect and faith. 

The Idea - SuperNanny's Timeout.
=======
Introduce an immediate detention policy for immature, anti social behaviours.

Allow police officers to invoke an immediate detention against immature people who in the opinion of at least two officers and some form of evidence, have acted violently, taken drugs or acted anti-socially. 

Apply progressively (and immediate) periods of 1 week, 2 weeks and 4 weeks, doing service at the nearest armed forces base.

Have social workers work with the offenders to create a profile and recommended steps to remedy the immature persons behavior.

Allow for an appeal against the Police Officers judgement at the end of the detention. Do not permit Offenders to be dismissed from employment until the third offence (4 weeks).

The spirit of this approach is take strong positive immediate actions to help young people mature and give them alternate information and contacts to guide then to better long term outcomes. It also aims to elevate the spirit of the police and reduce the load on the legal system. 

Arizona's Duke / Nifong case but worse: Courtney Bisbee, a successful single Mom, false accused by one 13 year old of an alleged crime that never happened. This miscarriage of justice occurred in Scottsdale, Maricopa County, Arizona.
Help Free Courtney Bisbee and reunite her with her young daughter, Taylor Lee Bisbee, now living with her father in Las Vegas, NV, alienated from the maternal family and Grandparents whom she was bonded with since birth.
www.justice4courtney.com
Facebook:  Free Courtney Bisbee 

Folks I see some very good remarks here and I have seen the same on many other web sites.  We are all supporting reform in one of the most unjust justice systems on the planet.  Congress passes a “Second Chance Bill” last year allowing up to 12 months in a Halfway House.  BOP’s response, “stick it where the sun don’t shine” and I paraphrase.  Inmates are told that 6 months is more than adequate in the view of BOP but the reality in some locations, the camp at Edgefield SC for one, is that no one has, in the memory of those that have been there for a while, receive more than 3 months.  Really adequate for someone who has been incarcerated for 13 years and barely spell computer much less use one, has never seen a self-checkout isle at a grocery store, and thinks MySpace is where he lives, you get the idea.  Edgefield has no computer access for inmates as I have been informed is the case in other locations as is evidenced by the previous post here from the gentleman at Jesup Ga.

Many, no, almost all of us are vitally interested in the many bills that are currently pending. Those introduced by representatives Waters, Scott, Davis and Senator Jim Webb are worthy of your support and you should do all that you can to do so.  However, almost all of these bills deal with things like sentencing reform (long overdue), re-instating parole (ditto) increase good time allowance (also important) but all of these have mostly to do with what happens before one is incarcerated, and while they are incarcerated.  What about after they have “paid their debt to society.”

Folks, if you are convicted of a Federal Felony, in case you aren’t aware, you will never be allowed to mark your debt “paid.”  A federal felony is a life sentence handed down with absolutely no “due process and will haunt you for the rest of your life. 

With all of the bills pending most are missing the boat on a bill that will do more to help ex-offenders than all of the above mentioned bills combined.  Yes, I know, they help reduce sentences, get you out a few days sooner etc. but what good is all of that if you can’t get a job. Can’t get certain types of professional licenses, cant’ get loans, can’t, can’t, can’t, do you see the problem?  Yet our leaders sit in wonder at the high recidivism rate.  What the hell do they expect when they put every obstacle possible in the path of those who only want their lives back.

Ok, Ok, I am long winded but here is the point.  There is a bill, HR1529 the “Second Chance for Ex-Offenders Act of 2009” sitting on ice in the judiciary committee. This bill will allow a “real” second chance for first time, non- violent federal offenders.  The bill was introduced last year as HR 623 with about 17 or so co-sponsors but was not able to gain any traction and died in committee.  It is in danger of the same fate this year unless we get behind it with a vengeance.  You may view the bill and sign a petition in support at http://www.wedeserveourlivesback.com also at http://www.opencongress.org/ and at   http://www.washingtonwatch.com and no; I have nothing to do with the sites, just sharing information.  More importantly you must write, call, fax, e-mail your congressional representatives, all of them, Senators as well as members of the house and once won’t do.  You have to pound them.  Remember, they don’t want to appear “soft on crime” and truth to tell, most of them just don’t care.  We can change that.  We have to make them remember that “We the People” still run this country.  We hired them and contrary to what the think, we can damn well fire them.  This bill is the most human and humane bill that you will find. Please get to work.  Your loved ones future and your family depend on it.

 Thank you

To look at an alternative way to think about how we respond to wrongdoing and conflict, I invite you to visit my Website at www.restorativejustice.com. The focus is on restorative justice theory and practice.
Also on this Website I share my work on how we can apply restorative justice theory and practice in schools.

Dr Tom Cavanagh

I wonder if this could work at a state level,Does anyone know if it does?