Outside Influence

Outside Influence is a reasoned and humanitarian approach to information for and in support of individuals and families ravaged by the US justice system.

[sarahlee310-blog]

[outside-influence-blog]

Every time I hear some smug pundit or politician saying that we can’t spend to create jobs because that would be laying too much of a burden on our children, I get angry — because of reports like this:

For this generation of young people, the future looks bleak. Only one in six is working full time. Three out of five live with their parents or other relatives. A large majority — 73 percent — think they need more education to find a successful career, but only half of those say they will definitely enroll in the next few years.

No, they are not the idle youth of Greece or Spain or Egypt. They are the youth of America, the world’s richest country, who do not have college degrees and aren’t getting them anytime soon.

Everything we know says that this generation will never — never — recover from the terrible job market into which it has graduated. But hey, we can’t do anything about that; we must have austerity, for the sake of the next generation.

[outside-influence-blog]

Is anyone else familiar with this assessment instrument?

An "SO" whom I know mentioned it to me recently.

Looking for information about where and how it has been used from someone with direct knowledge.

Thanks.

[outside-influence-blog]

Please share my petition, below.

Securus Technologies makes the process very difficult for families of inmates to report calls cut short (cut short due to the technology and its sensitivity to background noise) with a paper-based system to ask for investigation and reimbursement for short-calls.

If Securus can take our money to fund the accounts electronically, over their Web site, there is no reason (outside of profit) for not allowing us to report short-calls the same way.

I am the only person in the last week to have signed my petition.

IS ANYONE OUT THERE?????

If you have been touched by the prison system, please read and sign my petition, and forward it via your Tumblog.

THANK YOU.

[outside-influence-blog]

Securus drops many calls due to "background noise." Their process for reporting dropped calls is paper based, which is obviously designed to discourage reports.

Let's make our voices heard for an online reporting system.

Please read the whole petition and sign---and share it!

[outside-influence-blog]

This is a program currently running on CNBC World News detailing the profits being made by the private prison industry.

YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS. WE NEED TO ORGANIZE AGAINST THIS.

Many crimes can be dealt with outside a prison facility. Non-violent offenders can be supervised in half-way houses and home-detention, while still being able to work, contribute, and reduce the burden of cost on society and the many burdens imprisonment creates for the families of the inmates.

Please take the time to watch this.

[outside-influence-blog]

Why own stock in CCA?

You can set up an online account with

TD Ameritrade

Scottade, or

E*Trade

and become a shareholder in CCA (Corrections Corporation of America), the largest private prison management system in the USA (and probably in the world.)

WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THIS?

Because CCA is a for-profit business. It's a publicly traded corporation, meaning it sells shares (ownership) to individuals through the stock market. Guess who corporations listen to with the most respect? THEIR STOCKHOLDERS.

BECOME A STOCKHOLDER AND MAKE YOUR VOICE A LITTLE LOUDER, STRONGER.

GET AN EVER-GROWING GROUP OF STOCKHOLDERS, and WE CAN ATTEND THE ANNUAL MEETING AS STOCKHOLDERS AND SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE WRONGS BEING DONE BY THIS CORPORATION.

They not only profit from the incarceration of our loved ones, but they share that profit with some pretty prominent shareholders, including the BARBARA AND GEORGE BUSH FAMILY TRUST. All shareholder's names are public record by law for any public corporation. You would be sickened to see how many "law and order" public officials are making money off the Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws they have supported, i.e., the laws put more people in CCA prisons, and the more people in them, the more money the stockholders make.

I think it should be illegal for an elected official to profit from the incarceration of someone---DON'T YOU?

Let's change this. Start by opening an online account, fund it, and buy a few shares in CCA. Let's DO THIS.

[outside-influence-blog]

CCA "Operations Concerns Center" Info

If you have someone doing time in a CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) facility, and you have concerns about health issues or safety or anything to do with the operations of that facility here is some info to help you correct the situation.

Do not be afraid to make your voice heard on behalf of someone in a CCA facility for whom you need to advocate. CCA is a CORPORATION being paid by the GOVERNMENT---and guess what: YOU are the GOVERNMENT. YOU are paying them. Tell them what you expect regarding the care and safety of your loved one(s) in their facilities.

Call CCA Headquarters (in Nashville, Tennessee) at

615-263-3000 OR 800-624-2931

Ask for OPERATIONS CONCERNS CENTER.

You will have to leave a message, but if you have a truely urgent situation (as with medication not being given as prescribed, etc.) state that and also that you expect and need a return call in the next ONE to TWO HOURS, or you will have to call your loved one's attorney AND the person in the federal government in charge of the CCA contract for the facility of concern.

I have done this TWICE when the pharmacy at a CCA pre-trial detention facility "ran out of" important medication and my family member was not dosed with it for 48 hours. The Operations Concern Center called the WARDEN at the facility, who called ME withing just a few hours. My family member had his medication a few hours after that.

You can find out who is in charge of the contract, and it's good to have that info handy if you are going to say in your voice mail to the Operations Concern Center that you will escalate the call if you don't hear in ONE to TWO HOURS.

*** DO NOT CUSS OR THREATEN---BE ASSERTIVE. STATE THE PROBLEM, STATE THE RESOLUTION YOU WANT, THE TIME FRAME IN WHICH YOU WANT A RESPONSE, and be FIRM, BUT CIVIL. ***

If the facility is a pre-trial detention center, you can call the US Marshal's Service office in the nearest zip code to the facility. The US Marshal's Service oversees operations for pre-trial detention, and one of those Marshals is in charge of the contract. If you have called the wrong Marshal's office, someone will get you to the right one.

If the facility is a state detention center, you can call the office of your state representative to get the information about who at the state level oversees the contract for the facility.

~ IF YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR STATE REP, YOU SHOULD. You can easily find this info by calling the League of Women Voters in your area. They dispense information to all citizens free of charge. ~ IN FACT, YOU SHOULD HAVE THE REP'S CONTACT INFO ON YOUR SPEED DIAL. YOU CANNOT HOPE TO CHANGE THE SYSTEM AND MAKE IT ACCOUNTABLE TO YOU, A US CITIZEN, IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHO IS ELECTED TO REPRESENT YOU. ~

If the facility is a federal detention center, you can call the office of your US representative to get the information about who at the federal level oversees the contract for the facility. There will be an office contact number for your US representative in Washington, DC, and will almost certainly be a local number in your congressional district for the representative, as well.  

~ IF YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR US CONGRESSIONAL REP, YOU SHOULD. You can easily find this info by calling the League of Women Voters in your area. They dispense information to all citizens free of charge. ~ IN FACT, YOU SHOULD HAVE THE REP'S CONTACT INFO ON YOUR SPEED DIAL. YOU CANNOT HOPE TO CHANGE THE SYSTEM AND MAKE IT ACCOUNTABLE TO YOU, A US CITIZEN, IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHO IS ELECTED TO REPRESENT YOU. ~

[outside-influence-blog]

Art Can Be Soothing or Challenging

I am finding my way around tumblr bit by bit. I've figured out the benefit of following other tumblogs and also about reblogging (sharing) things from them. That expands what readers here will see beyond just my thoughts and ideas to include thoughts and ideas of others with tumblogs related to our purpose.

In addition to that, though, sometimes there are photos and music that can be nice buffers to the stress and strain of life. I just reblogged what I thought was a beautiful photo taken in Tibet that I hope you like as much as I do.

Other times, you may see art on here that is challenging.

Your comments are welcome and encouraged.

[jorrty]

Yumbulhakang, Tibet’s First King’s Castle (by lylevincent)

[gerutha]

Via the Center for Constitutional Rights: Members of Congress Send Letter of Inquiry to Bureau of Prisons over CMU Experimental Prison Units. Given the breadth of human rights violations already being practiced in the US’ increasingly privatized and for-profit prison system, and the lack of effective oversight, just the phrase experimental prison units’ alone made my blood run cold. And it’s even worse than I anticipated… ‘This week, Members of the House of Representatives issued a Congressional Letter of Inquiry to the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) expressing their concerns with the Communications Management Units (CMUs), experimental federal prison units with overwhelmingly Muslim populations. ‘…The Bureau of Prisons claims that the CMUs are designed to hold dangerous terrorists and other high-risk inmates; however, numerous prisoners are sent to the CMUs in retaliation for engaging in protected First Amendment activity, such as challenging poor treatment or other rights violations in the prison. Still others have clean disciplinary histories, and have been designated to the CMUs based on their religion. Individuals are designated to CMUs with no explanation and without a way to seek return to the general population—a due process violation that attorneys say allows for the abuse of power, retaliation and racial and religious profiling.’ So Muslims and/or people who challenge human rights violations are dispatched to these ‘experimental prison units,’ which are ‘an experiment in social isolation’: ‘Individuals detained in the CMUs are mostly Muslim and are limited in their communications and contact to the outside world. Unlike other prisoners in the federal system, CMU prisoners are categorically denied any physical contact with family members and are forbidden from hugging, touching or embracing their children, spouses or loved ones during visits. The CMUs are an experiment in social isolation. ‘The Bureau claims that CMUs are designed to hold dangerous terrorists and other high-risk inmates, requiring heightened monitoring of their external and internal communications. Many prisoners, however, are sent to these isolation units for their constitutionally protected religious beliefs, unpopular political views, or in retaliation for challenging poor treatment or other rights violations in the federal prison system.’ So basically, the US Federal Bureau of Prisons has created special prisons to house rabble-rousers, dissidents, and members of a religious minority. And, as of right now, the only action Congress has taken is to send a curious letter.

Melissa McEwan at Shakesville  (via reelaroundthefountain)

[artfromtheinside]

Terry Southwind, self-portrait in pencil. While in solitary confinement, Southwind sketched a portrait of Jim Cavanaugh from his mug shot photo.

[fuckyeahdrugpolicy]

SF “De Facto Drug Decriminalization” Sees Violent Crime Decline | Drug War Chronicle

Drug arrests in San Francisco have declined dramatically over the past two years without causing a spike in violent crime, calling into question the link traditionally made by law enforcement between drug law enforcement and reducing violent crime.

[…] “This has been somewhat of a de facto decriminalization of drugs — in other words, they’re not being prosecuted,” San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey told the Examiner. “And it does not appear that violent crime in San Francisco has risen, so it may say something about the necessity for the war on drugs.” +

[phroyd]

[akeiph]

“As Prof. Douglas Husak of Rutgers pointed out: “The war, after all, cannot really be a war on drugs, since drugs cannot be arrested, prosecuted, or punished. The war is against persons who use drugs. As such, the war is a civil war, fought against the 28 million Americans who use illegal drugs annually.” “

[fuckyeahdrugpolicy]

‘Weed Wars’ Promo

premieres Thursday, December 1 at 10PM E/P on Discovery Channel and Discovery Fit & Health

[sicklycat-blog-blog]

Wells Fargo’s stock holdings supports an industry that purposefully tries to incarcerate an ever-increasing number of people to drive up profits.

[sarahlee310-blog]

Privatization has nothing to do with saving money and everything to do with giving kickbacks to politically connected contractors like Corrections Corporation of America:

Sheriff Michael Page of Hernando County, Florida, is the latest in a line of Sheriffs to inherit the headache that is the county jail. After being operated by CCA for 22 years, the facility had fallen into exceptional disrepair, after CCA had neglected to perform millions of dollars worth of required maintenance. The county took over the facility a little more than a year ago and started the long process of upgrading the security, staff, and conditions of the jail.

Initial projections by then-Sheriff Richard Nugent hypothesized that the county could save up to $200,000 compared to what CCA would have charged. It turns out that de-privatizing the jail has actually saved Hernando County taxpayers more than $1,000,000 this year. Maybe Ric Scott and JD Alexander ought to reconsider their bullheaded push to privatize half the state’s prison system.