Social Justice Magazine
Bruce Reilly has been a member of Direct Action for Rights & Equality since the inception of its Behind the Walls prison committee in 1999. Bruce was a jailhouse lawyer for 12 years inside, became an activist once paroled in 2005, and is a steering committee member of the Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted People’s Movement. His poetry, screenwriting, and PIC commentary has appeared in numerous places over the years, and now he attends Tulane Law School. His testimonies on legislation at the RI Statehouse should never be missed, as they are both colorful and informative.
ollowing a pattern of racial slurs and racial abuse by members of New York's White Plains Police Department, the Attorney General definitively proved that they cannot indict a ham sandwich (as the old adage goes). After 68-year-old Marine Kenneth Chamberlain told police he was alright, over the course of 15 minutes, they finally broke in his door and killed him immediately. It is captured on … [Read more...]
ouisiana’s House Appropriations Committee held a hearing this week on HB 850, regarding the sale of Avoyelles Correctional Center, and the authorization to sell every prison built after 1989. This would follow the direction of Arizona and Florida, and possibly lead to The GEO Group, Inc. having a third prison in the most incarcerated state in the world. To understand this proposal, it is … [Read more...]
s the legislative process picks up in many states, one common lobbyist will again take their leadership position at the statehouses. The state Attorney General and local police chiefs will again move to the front of the line of “The People.” And once again, their participation will prove a problematic separation of powers. As most children learn in school: the Legislature, appointed by the … [Read more...]
The recent article by Michelle Alexander appearing in the New York Times, “Crash the System,” has stirred up a great deal of interest among the activist community.Most of the people I have heard from, however, have been those who never faced imprisonment- including many lawyers and law students… i.e., people who actually read the New York Times or have it shared with them on their … [Read more...]
There are many ways to die in the “custody and care” of the criminal justice system. We see it seemingly every day in America. Whether it is an NYPD shooting or an Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) shanking, clearly the government agencies have failed to uphold the “care” of the phrase used in courts to demand someone’s release. An immigration attorney once told me, in response to the … [Read more...]
It is often bemoaned that candidates only talk about certain issues, only debate the same topics, and hardly ever disagree on anything of true substance. “My economic package is better than yours.” “I’m tougher on our enemies than the other guy.” Blah, blah, blah. When we consider that Obama, Bush, and McCain all agreed on (1) the Bailout of the banks, (2) hundreds of thousands … [Read more...]
Rick Santorum asked Mitt Romney point blank: “Do you believe people who were felons, who served their time, who exhausted their parole and probation, should be given the right to vote?” This was in response to an ad by Romney’s “Super-PAC” attacking the former Pennsylvania senator.The ad says Mr. Santorum voted to “let convicted felons vote” — something the senator says is … [Read more...]
A proposal passed this week by the General Assembly of Occupy Oakland is to generate a national day of action that will call attention to prisons across America. While presidential candidates take to their stumps, one might be unaware that America is the international leader of incarceration with no competition in sight. February 20th, amidst American Black History Month, has also been … [Read more...]
Another reminder that the holiday season is not a global love-fest: this report from All of Us or None: “I was contacted by a number of family members whose loved ones are incarcerated in Tutwiler, Mississippi. They informed me that there has been a race riot in Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, where some California prisoners are housed. Days ago the Jail exploded in violence. … [Read more...]
In 1989, California was spending $600 million to supervise the 23,000 children under the control of California Youth Authority (CYA). Two thirds of those children were taken from the home and placed in a variety of scenarios, from group homes to cages, and a consensus grew that this was overly expensive; furthermore, the decisions on what to do with a child (generally between ages 8 and 18) … [Read more...]
In America, the sentence never ends. With a multitude of “collateral consequences” to face, there are many reasons for someone released from prison to either lie about their criminal history or try to avoid it. In reality, to develop an upstanding citizen lifestyle, you need to find work, secure a place to live, and get involved with the community.But, if you're barred from employment, … [Read more...]
My First Semester in Law School: Not What You Thought As my first semester of law school comes to a close, I can’t help but step back from my typical public policy commentary and reflect upon what has been the most action-packed four months of my life. As someone once said, “You can’t step into the same stream twice,” and there is a part of me that has remained static while everything … [Read more...]
Can the government fire employees after the media highlights their criminal records? They may, but it may come with a cost. The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) allowed three people into their training program who had records, and all of the felonies were over five years old. Two passed the training and made it to be drivers. Not an incident was reported until the media … [Read more...]
As somebody’s momma once said, “the best thing you can do is show up.” This has been happening all over the country since a group of folks decided to head down to that bull on Wall Street and call out to stop the bullshit. This is not a report on “OWS,” it is an insight on the historical demolition of popular movements. Divide and Conquer The classic method of the powerful to … [Read more...]
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