HEAL is an
egalitarian network of activists self-empowered to plan events, create
change, and make the world a better place for all life. Our goals
include the liberation of humans, nonhuman animals, and the earth! We
work in cooperation with like-minded organizations that put compassion
in action!
This site is dedicated to passing on and reporting the real news.The real news is
that which is
often neglected by
mainstream media and that
which you must know to be an informed
citizen.We have organized the news by subject.Links
to complete reports are in blue.
Please scroll down to view the stories or choose from the menu
below:
Got problem kids? Man, when they
hit those teenage years they all get
rebellious and willful, and start thinking
independently, and often start doing things
their parents would rather they didn't. This is
one of the tough responsibilities of being a
parent — you have to be willing to let your
children grow into independent human beings.
But let's say you never got that memo, and
you think your job is to raise children who are
just like you: insecure, a little bit angry,
shackled tightly into a fearful belief system
that says all human beings are evil. Independent
thinking is the last thing you want in your
obedient little repressed child-slave! Well,
there's help for you:
Shepherd's Hill Farm, an accredited
Christian boot camp that will stomp his wild
soul right back down into the mud of conformity
and obedience.
It's way out in the middle of nowhere, so
there will be no place for the wayward teen to
escape to…and no one to hear them scream.
We have
testimonials from inmates residents of
the camp about the other benefits of
attending. Does your child have special medical
needs, like seizures? They will take his
medicine away, but their staff is well-trained
in being able to simultaneously wrestle a child
to the ground and pray for him. Is your child a
bit on the hefty side? He will get 'special
meals' — a can of beans, a bit of vegetable, and
a piece of bread — until they reach that ascetic
ideal. Your child will be 'brainwashed in the
blood of the lamb,' so it's all OK — even the
beatings serve to transfigure hooligans into
robots for Jesus. For complete story,
click here.
Ohio youth prisons ordered to ensure
inmates fed--February
26th, 2010--COLUMBUS,
Ohio — A federal judge has ordered Ohio youth detention facilities
to alter a practice of withholding food from inmates who don't
report for meals in the cafeteria.
U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley
says in the order filed Friday in Columbus that a meal refusal
policy used at the Circleville Juvenile Correctional Facility and
others did not put a priority on inmates' health and safety.
For complete story,
click here.
A Bridgeport man who billed himself as an
"inspiration speaker" to inner-city youths
was arrested by Greenwich police Monday and
charged as the mastermind behind string of
robberies throughout the region.
Gregory
Jetter, 48, of 182 Wheeler Ave., Bridgeport,
was taken into custody at a federal
courthouse in New Haven where he was
appearing on an unrelated violation of
probation charge.
He was charged with first-degree robbery,
first-degree conspiracy at robbery and
first-degree larceny, police said.
Jetter's arrest comes after several
months of a multijurisdictional
armed-robbery investigation into incidents
in Fairfield and New Haven counties, police
said. Greenwich police were the first to
identify Jetter as being involved in the
string of robberies, when they said he was
the getaway driver in a July 2009 robbery of
Estate Treasures in Riverside. During the
incident, Lakeem Jetter,19, and
Moses McCree, 20, were charged with
stealing more than $250,000 worth of jewelry
at gunpoint.
Although initial reports indicated that
McCree was the mastermind to the robberies,
Detective
Pasquale Iorfino said further
investigation revealed
Gregory Jetter, a convicted felon with
an extensive arrest history, was the brain
behind the operation.
Jetter used "being an inspiration speaker
for inner-city children to draw in troubled
teens," said Iorfino.
Iorfino said once teens and young men
became part of his group, called the
McCree Foundation Inc., he led them
down a dangerous path. For complete
story,
click here.
For more on this story,
click here.
PHOENIX - The leader of a boot camp for troubled
teens who served six years for the death of a
boy was released from prison Thursday.
Charles
Long ran the Buffalo Soldiers boot camp. He was
sent to prison after the death of 14-year-old
Anthony Haynes, who died of dehydration and near
drowning after being forced to exercise in the
hot sun.
Long was convicted of reckless manslaughter
and aggravated assault. For complete
story,
click here.
St. Joseph High School senior Ciara Main and her classmates sell bowls of rice at lunchtime as a fundraiser for the program “Get on the Bus.” The program unites inmates at the California Mens Colony and their families on Father’s Day. //Len Wood/Staff
Each year, thousands of children visit parents incarcerated in
the California penal system.
Ciara Main, a senior at St.
Joseph High School, can sympathize with them, and on Wednesday
she helped organize a “Get on the Bus” fundraiser to make those
visits a little more comfortable.
Main and her fellow club members sold bowls of rice at the
school – in an Ash Wednesday “Rice Bowl Day of Fasting” – to
help raise money and awareness for their cause. The students are
putting together “Stay In Touch Bags” for the children who
participate in the program.
The bags include note cards, pens and stamps, which allow
them to write letters to their parents, along with a disposable
camera and a photo frame. Each child also receives a teddy bear
for the journey home.
Children from Santa Rosa to San Diego participate in the
program, which covers seven prisons throughout the state,
including California Men’s Colony outside San Luis Obispo.
When
she was very young, Main visited her father, who was in
jail at the time. That experience inspired her to become
president of the school’s Get on the Bus Club, a small
portion of a statewide effort to unite families.
For complete story,
click here.
Editorial: Where's the justice?--February 15th, 2010--Another day, another $10 million legal settlement for high-powered plaintiffs' attorney Thomas R. Kline.
Kline has won a
number of eight-figure awards for
clients injured or killed due to
negligence or incompetence by
businesses, government agencies, and
nonprofit health-care providers.
The latest
settlement ends a lawsuit brought on
behalf of Omega Leach, a 17-year-old boy
who died while in the care of the city's
Department of Human Services.
The
settlement provides Leach's family with
a financial reward, but no justice.
The Inquirer
broke the story. Leach was one of dozens
of troubled teens DHS sent to a private
mental health facility in Tennessee
owned by Universal Health Services Inc.,
a hospital chain based in King of
Prussia. A family court judge sent Leach
there after he violated probation by
missing a court hearing and testing
positive for marijuana.
At the
facility, Leach got into a scuffle with
a worker. A surveillance camera showed
the worker strangling Leach. Witnesses
said the boy was slammed to the ground
and banged into a wall. Leach died the
next day.
Tennessee
authorities ruled his death a homicide.
Yet, no criminal charges have been
filed. Instead, DHS stopped sending kids
there. The facility changed names, and
the worker left. An attorney for
Universal Health Services says "no one
admits fault." A fat check has been
written in place of the dead boy.
A Parkway Elementary School student was cuffed and sent to an adult mental institution earlier this month after she through a temper tantrum in the middle of class, reports TCPalm.com. The little girl was handcuffed by a Sheriff's Office deputy "for her safety and the safety of others," a police report said.
The incident report said the girl was hitting school officials and screaming, although it's unclear what brought on the tantrum. The handcuffs worked because the little girl calmed down after an hour in the tight silver bracelets, but her troubles were just beginning.
A few days later, the girl had another fit, allegedly hitting the school's principal in the stomach. The principal, who was eight months pregnant, called the same deputy, who then tossed the little girl in the back of his patrol car and transported her to the local adult mental institution. For complete story, click here.
For Detained Youths, No Mental Health Overseer--February 10th, 2010--Edwina G. Richardson-Mendelson has been the administrative judge of the New York City Family Courts for nine months, in charge of the judges responsible for the detention of dozens of young people charged with crimes, the vast majority of whom suffer from some form
of mental illness.
But it was not until last September that she was informed of what
struck her as a startling fact: The State of New York does not have a
single full-time staff psychiatrist charged with overseeing treatment
of the 800 or so young people who are detained in state facilities at
any given time.
“There wasn’t one human being on-site overseeing all the mental
health needs of the population,” Judge Richardson-Mendelson said in
an interview. “When we place these children in these facilities, we
expect their needs to be met, especially their mental health needs.”
Yet all 17 psychiatrists at the detention facilities in the state’s
deeply troubled juvenile justice system work on contract and part
time. Weeks often pass between their visits with each troubled youth,
and officials say their turnover rate is extremely high. For complete story, click here.
Downriver minister charged in child sex case--February 9th, 2010--River Rouge --A minister who police say has a reputation for reaching out to troubled teens was charged Monday with six counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly having sex with an under-aged boy. The Rev. Russell Schaller, 35, of River Rouge, senior pastor at Greater St. Johns Missionary Baptist Church on Detroit's east side, was arraigned in 26th District Court and ordered held in the Wayne County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond. For complete story, click here.
River Rouge --A minister who police say has a reputation for reaching out to troubled teens was charged Monday with six counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly having sex with an under-aged boy.
The Rev. Russell Schaller, 35, of River Rouge, senior pastor at Greater St. Johns Missionary Baptist Church on Detroit's east side, was arraigned in 26th District Court and ordered held in the Wayne County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond.
Schaller is a River Rouge resident and the events he is accused of took place there over the past six months with a youth under the age of 16, police said.
The alleged victims came forward back in November and told Executive Director Steve Zepp at Green Isle Children's Ranch.
In a statement, the children's ranch said, “The resident accused in the incident was removed from the program at Green Isle Ranch during the summer for reasons not associated with the allegations, and the executive director was replaced in mid-December.” For complete story, click here.
In June 2009, police received information that Garry Prokopishin, a director for the Calgary and District Foster Parents Association, was allegedly offering troubled teens in his care money for sexual acts.
This has prompted an immediate review by Alberta Children and Youth Services. For complete story, click here.
Home
for
troubled
teens
slated
to
close--February
2nd,
2010--BENNINGTON
– A
local
long-term
residential
educational
facility
for
at-risk
youth,
204
Depot
Street,
will
be
closing
this
week
and
leaving
10
people
without
jobs,
according
to
William
Bryan,
president
of
the
Board
of
Directors
of
SEALL
Inc.
"The
decision
was
made
to
cease
making
referrals.
Statewide
(the
Department
of
Children
and
Families,)
told
us,
they
have
to
cut
between
12
and
18
beds.
We
were
only
filling
roughly
10
of
those
beds
so
that
their
other
programs
will
have
to
feel
our
pain
as
well,"
Bryan
said.
204
Depot
Street,
which
will
close
on
Feb.
6,
serves
older
adolescent
boys,
between
the
ages
of
15
and
17,
through
a
residential
educational
program
that
lasts
at
least
a
year.
It
is
run
by
SEALL
Inc.,
a
local
nonprofit
organization
with
a
board
of
eight
people.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
Troubled
Teen
Hospital
Closing--January
26th,
2010--Tuesday,
Newschannel
9
confirmed
that
Cumberland
Hall
is
shutting
it
doors
at
the
end
of
this
month.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
The relationship came to an end in July 2006, when her mother called Integrity House, a home in Utah for troubled teens. Counselors from Integrity House "abducted" Moore with her parents' consent, shoving her into a car and driving her to their facility, where she lived for the next year.
During her stay, Moore wrote a "come clean letter" — a sort of confession to her parents — in which she listed the men she'd had sex with.
In a deposition, a counselor at Integrity House said that after Moore lost her virginity, she had a "mind-set that she was damaged goods, so it didn't matter what she did."
Moore "thought she loved" Horton, counselor Carol Williams testified. She thought she could "be with him for the rest of her life," Williams said.
Moore's family has sued Starbucks in federal court, claiming the company failed to protect the minor. They asked for $16.8 million in damages, including $10 million in punitive damages, and $200,000 in loss of earnings to date. For complete story, click here.
The
three
women
worked
at
Parmadale,
a
local
treatment
center
for
troubled
teens
in
Parma.
Prosecutors
said
they
caused
the
death
of
17-year-old
Faith
Finley,
who
suffocated
while
being
restrained
on
the
floor
at
the
facility.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
Landmark
Federal
Class-Action
Lawsuit
Charges
Los
Angeles
County
With Failure
To
Educate
Youth
In
Probation
Camps--January
12th,
2010--
LOS
ANGELES
– An
alliance
of
legal
groups
including
the
American Civil
Liberties
Union
and
the
ACLU
of
Southern
California
today
filed a
ground-breaking
class-action
lawsuit
against
the
Los
Angeles
County
Probation
Department
and
top
county
education
officials
for
their total
failure
to
provide
youth
in
the
county's
largest
juvenile probation
facility
with
basic
and
appropriate
education.
The
failure has
resulted
in
children
not
being
adequately
prepared
to
re-enter society
and
the
workforce.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
Four
Years
Later:
Martin
Lee
Anderson
Boot
Camp
Death--January
6th,
2010--By
now,
the
story
of
Martin
Lee
Anderson's
death
has
been
well-documented.
During
his
first
day
at
the
Bay
County
Juvenile
Boot
Camp,
Anderson
collapsed
during
a
fitness
run.
Boot
camp
drill
instructors
thought
he
was
faking
to
get
out
of
the
exercise,
so
they
pushed
Anderson
to
complete
the
run.
The
camp's
cameras
recorded
an
agonizing
twenty-minute
confrontation,
which
thrust
the
case
into
the
worldwide
spotlight.
Once
the
guards
realized
Anderson
was
truly
in
distress,
they
called
for
help.
But,
it
was
too
late.
The
teen
died
early
the
next
morning,
January
6,
2006,
in a
Pensacola
hospital.
The
Medical
Examiner's
initial
autopsy
found
Anderson
died
as a
result
of
complications
from
sickle
cell
trait.
Those
results,
and
the
results
of a
second
autopsy
conducted
several
months
later,
became
the
central
evidence
in
the
criminal
trial
of
seven
of
the
drill
instructors
and
the
camp
nurse.
A
year
and
a
half
after
Anderson's
death,
they
were
all
acquitted
of
aggravated
manslaughter
charges.
Since
the
trial,
Anderson
family
supporters,
including
the
local
NAACP
chapter,
have
continued
to
push
for
federal
civil
rights
violation
charges
against
the
defendants.
Bay
County
NAACP
president
Rev.
Rufus
Wood
said,
"I
want
it
to
be
clear
that
this
is
not
as
much
about
black
and
white
as
it
is
about
right
and
wrong.
This
is
about
right
and
wrong,
and
it's
about
wrong.
What
happened
to
Martin
was
wrong."
For
complete
story,
click
here.
For
more
on
this
story,
click
here.
U.S.
says
sex
abuse
high
at
13
juvenile
centers--January
7th,
2010--WASHINGTON
(AP)
— A
government
study
issued
Thursday
finds
13 juvenile
detention
facilities
around
the
country
have
high
rates
of sex
abuse
and
victimization,
where
nearly
1
out
of
every
3
inmates reported
some
type
of
victimization.
A
Justice
Department
study
has
found
that
nationwide,
about
12%
of youths
held
in
state-run,
privately-run,
or
local
facilities
reported
some
type
of
sexual
victimization
—
but
those
rates
varied
widely
from
place
to
place.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
Schools
face
accreditation
issues--January
5th,
2010--...Smith
said
the
school
is
applying
for
accreditation
from
another
body,
the
Pacific
Northwest
Association
of
Independent
Schools.
And
if
that
body
accredits
the
school,
it
will
satisfy
the
state's
accreditation
requirement.
Several
other
private
schools
also
face
advised
or
warned
status.
Utah
Helicopter
Inc.,
a
postsecondary
school
in
Spanish
Fork,
is
being
recommended
for
advised
status;
Cross
Creek
Academy,
a
private
residential
school
in
La
Verkin
for
troubled
teens,
for
advised
status;
Top
Flight
Academy,
also
a
private
residential
school
in
Mt.
Pleasant,
for
warned
status;
private
school
Dorius
Academy
in
Layton
for
warned
status.
Attempts
to
reach
Utah
Helicopter,
Dorius
and
Top
Flight
Academy
this
week
for
comment
were
unsuccessful.
Karr
Farnsworth,
administrator
at
Cross
Creek,
said
he
was
unaware
of
the
school's
recommended
advised
status
and
said
he
doesn't
know
how
it
got
that
status.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
For
more
information
on
Utah,
click
here.
NY
Accused
of
Abusing
Troubled
Teens--January
6th,
2010--(CN)
-
The
New
York
State
Office
of
Children
and
Family
Services
subjected
500
troubled
youths
in
state
detention
to
violent
physical
restraint,
and
routinely
denied
them
legally
required
mental
health
care
services,
nine
children
and
their
parents
claim
in a
federal
class
action.
Among
other
wanton
acts,
state
employees
regularly
employ
a
dangerous
form
of
control
known
as
prone
restraint
-
having
two
adults
hold
the
youth
face-down
on
the
floor
while
his
hands
are
held
or
cuffed
behind
him.
Prone
restraint
exposes
the
victim
to
risk
of
cardiac
and
respiratory
arrest,
back,
arm
and
neck
injuries,
abrasions,
strained
muscles
and
head
injuries,
according
to
the
complaint.
Such
treatment
led
to
the
2006
death
of a
Bronx
teen
at
the
Tryon
Boys'
Residential
Center
in
Johnston,
and
serious
mental
and
physical
injuries
to
scores
of
others,
the
complaint
states.
The
families
claim
that
OCFS
Commissioner
Gladys
Carrion
allowed
the
behavior
to
continue
despite
red
flags
raised
by
the
U.S.
Justice
Department
and
a
blue-ribbon
panel
appointed
by
Gov.
David
Patterson.
The
nine
named
plaintiffs,
all
of
whom
are
identified
by
only
their
initials,
said
their
treatment
violated
the
14th
Amendment,
Title
II
of
the
Americans
with
Disabilities
Act,
and
Section
504
of
the
Rehabilitation
Act.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
Trapped
in a
Mormon
Gulag--January
5th,
2009
(Rec'd
January
5th,
2010)--This
story
is
about
Eric
Norwood's
personal
experiences
at a
place
called
The
Utah
Boys
Ranch,
which
models
itself
as a
"tough-love"
prep-school,
but
while
Eric
was
there,
he
witnessed
some
unbelievable
atrocities.
It
is a
Mormon-funded
and
staffed
facility,
and
religious
indoctrination
is a
fundamental
aspect
of
the
school.
There
was
sexual,
physical,
and
emotional
abuse,
suicide,
staff
corruption,
and
escape.
A
major
Utah
political
figure,
Senator
Chris
Buttars,
was
the
executive
director
while
Eric
was
there.
See
Video
below
or
click
here
for
more
on
this
story.
Former
Whittell
dean
indicted
in
Georgia--December
6th,
2009
(Rec'd
January
2nd,
2010)--A
grand
jury
in
Georgia
has
indicted
a
former
Whittell
High
School
administrator
on
felony
charges
of
aggravated
battery,
invasion
of
privacy,
and
four
counts
of
first
degree
cruelty
to
children.
Richard
Darrington,
37,
was
hired
as
Whittell's
dean
of
students
at
the
beginning
of
the
school
year,
but
lost
the
position
when
the
Nevada
Department
of
Education
revoked
his
substitute
teaching
license
after
learning
of
outstanding
battery
charges
facing
him
in
Georgia.
The
charges
stem
from
Darrington's
time
in
the
southern
state,
where
he
operated
a
private
school
for
teens
called
Darrington
Academy
for
five
years.
The
bill
of
indictment,
which
lists
23
grand
jurors
of
the
Superior
Court
of
Fannin
County,
alleges
that
Darrington
“did
maliciously
cause
bodily
harm”
to
one
of
his
students
“by
seriously
disfiguring
his
tooth,”
resulting
in
the
aggravated
battery
charge.
The
invasion
of
privacy
charge
alleges
that
Darrington
placed
a
recording
device
in a
girls'
room
and
observed
and
recorded
their
activities
without
consent.
The
four
counts
of
cruelty
to
children
allege
that
Darrington
forced
students
to
stand
outside
in
freezing
weather
with
no
shirts,
shoes
or
socks
on
two
separate
occasions,
that
he
slammed
a
girl's
head
into
a
wall,
and
that
he
stood
on a
boy's
ankles
while
in a
“tripod”
position
and
also
slammed
his
head
into
a
wall.
In
addition
to
Darrington,
three
other
teachers
at
the
school
were
included
in
the
indictment;
one
for
invasion
of
privacy
and
six
counts
of
cruelty
to
children,
and
the
other
two
for
two
counts
each
of
cruelty
to
children.
(For
complete
story,
click
here.)
Treatment
of
Youths
in
New
York
Prisons
Spurs
Suit--December
30th,
2009--Youths
detained
in
some
of
New
York’s
juvenile
prisons
have
suffered
bruises,
cuts
and
a
host
of
other
injuries
from
aggressive
physical
restraining
practices
that
violate
their
legal
and
constitutional
rights,
according
to a
federal
lawsuit
filed
on
Wednesday.
The
class-action
suit,
filed
in
federal
court
in
Manhattan
on
behalf
of
roughly
500
youths
in
10
of
the
prisons,
also
accuses
the
Office
of
Children
and
Family
Services,
the
state
agency
that
runs
the
facilities,
of
failing
to
provide
adequate
mental
health
services
The
legal
claim
follows
two
withering
reports
from
the
United
States
Department
of
Justice
and
a
state
task
force
that
portrayed
the
state’s
juvenile
justice
system
as
so
riddled
with
problems
that
it
needed
a
complete
overhaul.
The
suit
seeks
an
injunction
that
would
sharply
limit
the
use
of
force
by
youth
counselors
and
require
the
state
to
provide
the
youths
with
more
treatment
for
mental
health
problems,
which
affect
a
vast
majority
of
those
in
custody.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
Md.
official
would
like
to
'blow
up'
girls'
detention
center--December
28th,
2009--LAUREL
— -
As
you
approach
Thomas
J.S.
Waxter
Children's
Center,
a
sign
cautions
that
you
are
under
camera
surveillance.
Notices
warn
against
bringing
in
contraband
-
glass
bottles,
cigarettes,
weapons.
A
metal
detector
sits
in
the
front
hall.
You
pass
through
a
locked
metal
door
to
reach
the
residential
wings.
Down
the
hallway,
the
staff
supervision
room
is
separated
from
the
children
by a
thick
metal
cage.
On a
Wednesday
in
September,
a
girl
stands
shackled
in
the
hall,
the
cuffs
around
her
hands
and
ankles
connected
by a
metal
chain.
This
is
Waxter,
the
only
long-term,
secure
treatment
facility
for
female
juvenile
offenders
run
by
the
state.
"Nothing's
worse
than
Waxter,
dead
serious,
nothing's
worse,"
said
Britney
McCoy,
19,
who
has
been
in
and
out
of
Waxter
and
other
facilities
since
she
was
12.
She
was
most
recently
in
Waxter
in
2008.
McCoy
is
not
Waxter's
only
critic.
The
Juvenile
Justice
Monitoring
Unit
of
the
attorney
general's
office
has
noted
a
litany
of
problems
at
Waxter,
including:
allegations
by
girls
that
they
are
physically
abused
by
staff
members;
mingling
of
girls
convicted
of
serious
crimes
with
girls
held
for
minor
offenses;
inadequate
physical
facilities;
and
overcrowding
and
understaffing,
which
lead
to
violence.
"No
one
should
have
to
live
there.
No
one
should
have
to
work
there,"
said
Claudia
Wright,
who
monitors
the
facility
for
the
Juvenile
Justice
Monitoring
Unit.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
ACLU
says
youth
tortured
at
state
prison--December
17th,
2009--A
17-year-old
boy
suffering
from
mental
illnesses
was
so
traumatized by
his
deplorable
treatment
in
the
Montana
State
Prison
that
he
twice attempted
to
kill
himself
by
biting
through
the
skin
on
his
wrist
to puncture
a
vein,
a
lawsuit
filed
Wednesday
by
the
American
Civil Liberties
Union
of
Montana
alleges.
The
lawsuit
filed
in
Lewis
and
Clark
County
District
Court
claims that
the
boy,
“Robert
Doe,”
has
been
treated
illegally
and
inhumanely and
has
been
detained
for
about
10
months
in
solitary
confinement.
Doe
was
Tasered
as
part
of a
“behavior
modification
plan,”
pepper-sprayed
and
stripped
naked
in
view
of
other
inmates,
the
complaint states.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
Poor
Children
Likelier
to
Get
Antipsychotics--December
12th,
2009--New
federally
financed
drug
research
reveals
a
stark
disparity:
children
covered
by
Medicaid
are
given
powerful
antipsychotic
medicines
at a
rate
four
times
higher
than
children
whose
parents
have
private
insurance.
And
the
Medicaid
children
are
more
likely
to
receive
the
drugs
for
less
severe
conditions
than
their
middle-class
counterparts,
the
data
shows.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
Saving
Troubled
Teens:
A
Greedy
Industry?--December
10th,
2009--..."If
you're
going
to
do
it
right,
it's
going
to
be
costly,"
said
Behar.
The
biggest
expense
for
these
programs
is
staffing
well-trained,
qualified
people
who
can
make
good
decisions
in
an
emergency
situation.
In
Behar's
32
years
of
experience
overseeing
state-run
facilities,
she
knows
it's
very
difficult
to
turn
a
profit.
Yet
many
of
these
private
facilities
are
making
money,
hand
over
fist.
"In
order
to
make
a
profit,
they
have
to
cut
in
some
way,
and
since
manpower
is
the
biggest
expense,
that's
where
the
cuts
come,"
Behar
said.
The
companies
are
saving
money
by
hiring
younger,
less
experienced
people
and
are
providing
less
expert
supervision.
Critics
argue
this
cost-cutting
measure
puts
the
children
at
risk.
Dana Blum believes the staff's negligence is to blame for her son's death. "They killed my child when they didn't attend to him. I feel like he was murdered." The Salt Lake City District Attorney took Aspen to court. But ruling there was no "intent" to kill Brendan, a Utah judge dropped the criminal charges filed against the two employees. The state put Youth Care on probation, requiring it to retool its employee training. The facility never faced any fines, and remained open for business.
Devastated and distraught, Dana began looking online into Aspen's public financial statements. She learned that the Cupertino-based company is actually owned by a health care corporate giant, CRC Health. And Bain Capital, a multibillion dollar private equity firm, owns CRC.
Dana has filed a civil suit against the financial goliath, which could settle out of court. Critics believe this is why so few stories of abuse, neglect, and death at these facilities are made public. Aspen has enough money in its war chest to make these allegations go away. "If you look at their daily profit numbers compared to what they charge, it's obscene," Dana said. "It made me very angry that they couldn't provide better emergency services for my son."... For complete story, click here.
Governor
Pat
Quinn
Refusing
to
Shine
Light
on
Juvenile
Prisons--December
10th,
2009--Illinois
Governor
Pat
Quinn
is
not
allowing
WBEZ
to
examine
the
state's
juvenile
prisons.
For
four
months
WBEZ
has
been
trying
to
negotiate
some
access
to
the
prisons.
Last
week,
Quinn's
staff
told
us
there
would
be
none.
We
said
we
would
report
that
denial.
Later
that
day,
we
were
offered
a
single
tour
of
one
of
the
better
facilities,
an
offer
WBEZ
accepted,
but
an
offer
which
would
not
allow
the
public
meaningful
insight
into
the
hundred
million
dollar
department
that
has
care
of
some
of
the
most
troubled
and
troubling
kids
in
Illinois.
Bob
Reed
is
the
governor's
spokesman.
He
says
they're
working
on
their
own
review
of
the
facilities.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
14-Year-Old
Accuses
Officer
Of
Assault--December
9th,
2009--MURFREESBORO,
Tenn.
--
A
school
resource
officer
in
Rutherford
County
who
helps
keep
at-risk
youth
on
the
right
track
is
accused
of
assaulting
one
of
the
troubled
teens.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
For
more
on
this
story,
click
here.
Duchesne
nurse
charged
with
sex
abuse
of
teens--December
8th,
2009--(Cedar
Ridge
Academy
in
Utah)--ROOSEVELT
— A
man
who
worked
as a
nurse
at a
boarding
school
for
troubled
teens
has
been
charged
with
sexually
abusing
two
of
the
school's
teenage
residents.
Geary David Oakes, 57, of Cedarview, Duchesne County, is charged in 8th District Court with two counts of forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony, and two counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.
A nurse at Cedar Ridge Academy, Oakes engaged in sex acts with two 15-year-old students from the school, the charges state.
One of the teens told deputies that Oakes gave him pain medication, according to the Duchesne County Sheriff's Office, and that he "provides pain and sleeping medications for the kids at Cedar Ridge and tells them to keep it a secret." Oakes denied that he had supplied anyone with medication that was not prescribed, authorities said.
Cedar Ridge Academy, located north of Roosevelt, is billed as a therapeutic boarding school. Investigators believe Oakes' alleged activities with the teens occurred at the school and at his home during November. For complete story, click here. For more on this story, click here and here.
Kin sue Harvard over
son’s suicide--December
4th, 2009--Harvard
sophomore John
Edwards was studying
to become a doctor
and training for the
Boston Marathon in
June 2007 when he
sought help at the
university’s Health
Services because he
could not study for
as many hours as
some of his friends.
A nurse practitioner prescribed a drug to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a condition the overachieving Edwards had never been diagnosed with. Later, she prescribed two powerful antidepressants, Prozac and Wellbutrin, when he began complaining of anxiety, depression, and other side effects. Meanwhile, he was taking a fourth drug for acne, Accutane, that has been linked to suicidal thoughts.
“The Wellbutrin is having the effect that we were seeking . . . but unfortunately I feel like it has canceled out the anxiety-reducing effects of the fluoxetine [Prozac], as recently I’ve been pretty nervous,’’ Edwards wrote in a Nov. 27, 2007, e-mail to the nurse practitioner, Marianne Cannon. “Let me know if I should schedule to come in and meet with you soon, or if I should change the med plan.’’
Cannon replied that she was concerned and told Edwards to schedule an appointment with her. Two days later, Edwards, 19, of Wellesley committed suicide in a bathroom at Harvard Medical School by suffocating himself with a plastic bag.
His father, John B. Edwards II of Wellesley, filed a suit Wednesday in Middlesex Superior Court alleging gross negligence by Cannon; Dr. Georgia Ede, who was the doctor who supervised her; and Harvard College, for causing his son’s wrongful death. For complete story, click here.
Outdoor Therapeutic
Program to close
Dec. 31--December
3rd, 2009--Camp
Appalachian
Wilderness, a
state-subsidized
facility north of
Cleveland that helps
troubled teens, is
set to close Dec.
31.
The Georgia
Department of
Behavioral Health
and Developmental
Disabilities
announced last week
that the White
County program was
no longer
financially
sustainable.
For complete story,
click here.
Truancy Officer
Preyed on Girls--November
27th, 2009--A
Hamilton truancy
officer convicted of
sexually abusing
four female students
used a school pilot
scheme to identify
and groom troubled
teens, a court has
been told.
Mark
Pene,
54, was
sentenced
yesterday
in the
Hamilton
District
Court to
six
years
and
three
months'
jail
after
pleading
guilty
to
indecent
assault,
having
sexual
connection
with a
girl
under
16,
doing an
indecent
act with
a girl
under 16
and
doing an
indecent
act on a
girl
under
12.
The
charges
related
to
offending
against
four
girls,
aged 11
to 17,
between
2005 and
2008.
At the
time,
Pene was
employed
as a
truancy
officer
in
Hamilton,
working
with
troubled
teenagers
and
their
families.
Pene
gained
access
to two
of his
victims
by
inviting
them to
take
part in
a school
pilot
scheme.
The
programme
included
such
benefits
as free
lunches,
payment
of
school
fees and
money
for
clothing.
Pene
yesterday
sat
impassively
in the
dock as
details
of his
offending
were
revealed,
moving
only to
shield
his face
from a
Waikato
Times
photographer.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
G4S
Youth
Services,
which
contracts
with
the
Florida
Department
of
Juvenile
Justice
to
run
the
boys
program,
is
accused
in
one
of
the
suits
of
negligence
on
behalf
of a
teen
whose
shoulder
was
shattered
by
an
employee
in
February
2008.
That
suit,
filed
this
month,
claims
G4S
and
the
department
ignored
past
problems
and
didn't
properly
protect
Anthony
Vessels,
16.
The
boy's
attorney
said
surveillance
video
shows
the
employee
throwing
the
youth
to
the
ground,
then
sitting
on
him
as
he
writhed
in
pain.
Vessels,
now
18,
lives
in
Orlando
and
is
pursuing
his
GED,
his
attorney
said,
but
continues
to
suffer
physically
and
psychologically
from
the
injury.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
Court upholds ruling
against home for
troubled teens--November
21st, 2009--YOUNGSTOWN
— The 7th District
Court of Appeals has
upheld a township
zoning appeals board
ruling that a group
home for emotionally
and behaviorally
troubled teenage
boys doesn’t belong
in a single-family
residential
neighborhood.
A
three-judge panel of
the appeals court
unanimously ruled
Friday in support of
the Ellsworth
Township board’s
decision that the
Redemption House
group home, 11780 W.
Western Reserve
Road, does not
constitute a
single-family
housekeeping unit as
defined in the
township zoning
code.
In
making its ruling,
the appeals court
backed an August
2008 ruling by Judge
Timothy E. Franken
of Mahoning County
Common Pleas Court
that affirmed the
December 2006 ruling
of the Ellsworth
Township board.
“This is not the
proper location for
them to do this type
of activity,” said
Atty. Scott Cochran,
who represented
neighbors opposed to
the group home’s
location.
“There was nothing
to indicate to us
that this was, in
any way, a family
environment,” he
added. For
complete story,
click here.
American Youth in
the 21st Century:
Pathologized,
Criminalized
and Disposable--November
16th, 2009--Punishment
and fear have
replaced compassion
and social
responsibility as
the most important
modalities mediating
the relationship of
youth to the larger
social order. Youth
within the last two
decades have come to
be seen as a source
of trouble rather
than as a resource
for investing in the
future, and in the
case of poor black
and Hispanic youth
are increasingly
treated as either a
disposable
population, cannon
fodder for barbaric
wars abroad, or the
source of most of
society’s problems.
Hence, young people
now constitute a
crisis that has less
to do with improving
the future than with
denying it. As Larry
Grossberg points
out, “It has become
common to think of
kids as a threat to
the existing social
order and for kids
to be blamed for the
problems they
experience. We slide
from kids in
trouble, kids have
problems, and kids
are threatened, to
kids as trouble,
kids as problems,
and kids as
threatening.” This
was exemplified when
the columnist Bob
Herbert reported in
the New York
Times that
“parts of New York
City are like a
police state for
young men, women,
and children who
happen to be black
or Hispanic. They
are routinely
stopped, searched,
harassed,
intimidated,
humiliated and, in
many cases, arrested
for no good reason.”
No longer “viewed as
a privileged sign
and embodiment of
the future,” youth
are now increasingly
demonized by the
popular media and
derided by
politicians looking
for quick-fix
solutions to crime
and other social
ills. While youth
have always had to
bear the misplaced
fear and distrust of
adults, how youth
are represented,
talked about, and
treated has changed
dramatically in the
last two
decades. For
complete story,
click here.
DEATH ROW SERIAL
MOLESTER CONNECTED
TO CEDU--November
12th, 2009--California
Department of
Justice (DOJ)
investigators are
researching the
possibility that
serial child
molester and child
murderer, James Lee
Crummel, 65 of San
Quentin State
Prison, had years of
free, unsupervised
access to the
students at the now
defunct CEDU School
in Running Springs.
The CEDU schools
in Running Springs
were founded by Mel
Wasserman in 1967
and promoted itself
as an emotional
growth-boarding
school for troubled
youths. Monthly
costs to board a
student reportedly
ran as high as
$3,500 dollar a
month. The school
closed its doors in
2005 amidst
allegations of
financial
improprieties,
allegations of
sexual and physical
abuse of the
students, by other
students and staff
members and
citations issued by
the State of
California for
various violations.
At a non-compliance
conference, CEDU
officials reportedly
admitted that the
rights of students
under their care
were systematically
violated. For
complete story,
click here.
Superjail for youth
raises troubling
questions--November
9th, 2009--Troubled
teens promised
cutting-edge
treatment at
Ontario's new $93
million superjail
for youth have
instead been
deprived of food,
denied programming
and subjected to
questionable body
cavity searches,
according to a
review by a senior
provincial official.
Irwin Elman,
Ontario's advocate
for children and
youth, is
investigating cases
of excessive force
used by some staff
at Roy McMurtry
Youth Centre in
Brampton, which
holds 102 male and
female youths, 90 of
whom are still
awaiting trial.
Police are looking
into at least one of
these incidents, he
said. What's more,
despite the centre's
much-publicized
commitment to
"state-of-the-art"
programming – a
proven tool in
preventing young
people from becoming
repeat offenders –
it simply doesn't
exist, he said.
For complete story,
click here.
State finds child
abuse and neglect at
school--November
4th, 2009--The
state of Oregon has
shut down a boarding
school for troubled
teens in Central
Oregon after
allegedly finding a
pattern of child
abuse and neglect of
its students,
forcing parents
around the country
to scramble to bring
home their children.
"Our first priority
is to ensure the
safety of the
students at Mt.
Bachelor Academy,"
Erinn Kelley-Siel,
Director of the
Children, Adults and
Families division of
the Department of
Human Services, said
Wednesday in a
statement.
"Ultimately, the
investigations
revealed such
serious abuse and
widespread
violations of
Oregon's licensing
rules that we
decided we needed to
take immediate
action."
The results of the
Oregon Department of
Human Services
seven-month
investigation of the
Mount Bachelor
Academy outside
Prineville, Ore.,
were given to Crook
County authorities
to decide whether to
pursue criminal
charges.
Triggered by a
complaint, the
investigation found
nine cases of
alleged abuse and
neglect involving
five students since
2007.
Most came out of a
mandatory treatment
program called
Lifesteps. At least
two students were
forced to act out
sexual roles in
front of staff and
other kids during
treatment sessions,
one had to act out
past physical abuse,
one was not properly
supervised on a trip
to Europe, and
others were
subjected to obscene
and degrading
comments from staff,
the investigators
alleged. For
complete story,
click here.
For more on this
story,
click here
,
here,
here,
here,
and
here.
State suspends
license from central
Oregon school for
troubled teens--November
4th, 2009--State
officials have told
parents to remove
their children from
a central Oregon
boarding school
after investigators
found students were
subject to
inappropriate sexual
role-play, public
humiliation and
physical
deprivation.
Following a
seven-month
investigation, the
Oregon Department of
Human Services has
temporarily
suspended
Mount Bachelor
Academy's
license.
Investigators found
nine substantiated
allegations of child
abuse and neglect as
well as numerous
licensing
violations.
For complete story,
click here.
For more on this
story,
click here
and
here.
Group sues Idaho
county over teen
treatment center--BOISE,
Idaho (AP) - A
company that pushed
to build a
residential
treatment center for
troubled teens in
rural western Idaho
is suing Boise
County in federal
court, saying
commissioners
violated the Fair
Housing Act when
they scuttled the
center's proposal
amid staunch local
opposition.
Development firm
Oaas-Laney sought
approval in 2007 to
build Alamar Ranch,
a 72-bed facility
that would have
treated teens with
behavioral problems
or addictions.
But neighbors fought
to keep the ranch
from being built,
citing traffic, fire
and safety concerns
and even holding a
fundraising event
featuring a local
folk singer,
according to the
lawsuit.
Boise County
eventually approved
the project, but
under conditions
that Alamar Ranch
officials said were
arbitrary,
discriminatory and
made the project
financially
impossible.
Boise County
maintains the
decision was based
on legitimate
government
interests. For
complete story,
click here.
A study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association says second-generation anti-psychotics like Risperdal, Ablify, Zyprexa and Seroquel are being given to teens with common conditions like ADHD, leading to obesity in just 11 weeks.
The side-effects common to these drugs may be worse in kids and teens than adults, the study concludes. For complete story, click here.
Teen’s parents
settle abuse case--October
26th, 2009--GONZALES
— The parents of a
Prairieville
teenager who allege
he suffered abuse
and related
temporary kidney
failure at a
Louisiana National
Guard Youth
Challenge facility
last year have
reached a $95,000
out-of-court
settlement with the
state of Louisiana,
the teen’s attorney
said. For
complete story,
click here.
Autopsy: Teen had
heat stroke at
summer camp, killing
him--October
21st, 2009--BEND,
Ore. – Preliminary
autopsy findings in
a summer camp death
may lead to criminal
charges for staff
members. [HEAL Note:
This occurred at an
Aspen Education
Group program called
SageWalk.] For
complete story,
click here.
For more on this
story,
click here.
Troubled teens
buckle under weight
of jibes--October
20th, 2009--Teenagers
who are told they
are too thin or too
fat by their parents
- even if the
comments are well-
intentioned - suffer
headaches, feel
stress or get
depressed more than
those who are not, a
study has found.
For complete story,
click here.
ROSWELL, N.M. (KRQE/KBIM) - A Roswell teacher accused of making sexual advances to a teen he was mentoring is out of jail but not back at work.
James Ogas, 38, faced a judge for the first time Wednesday charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor. The charges are 3rd-degree felonies.
Investigators say the alleged contact happened inside the automotive shop at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell where Ogas is a part-time automotive-technician teacher.
According to court documents, twice last month Ogas inappropriately touched the 17-year-old who was part of a program for troubled teens sponsored by the New Mexico National Guard.
Investigators said along with the touching, Ogas frequently wrote the teen letters, which were described as sexually suggestive. For complete story, click here.
Our authorities may
not be able to track
down Osama bin
laden, but never
fear, they’re
keeping us safe from
budding little
terrorists such as
first grader Zachary
Christie. Caught
red-handed, the
Newark, Delaware,
six-year-old was
suspended from his
school and may face
45 days in reform
school for violating
the Christina School
District’s “zero
tolerance” policy on
weapons. His
offense?
Bringing a
camping utensil
set to school.
The “weapon” in
question is a “hobo
tool” the first
grader had received
after recently
joining the Cub
Scouts; it contains
a fork, spoon, and
knife. Zachary was
so excited about his
new acquisition — as
any normal boy would
be — that he brought
it to school to use
during lunch period.
School officials
then suspended him,
saying they have no
choice because the
district’s code of
conduct prohibits
the possession of
knives “regardless
of the possessor’s
intent.”
Unfortunately,
little Zachary’s
story is a common
one today, with
well-meaning
students being
subjected to
disproportionate
punishment across
the nation in the
name of zero
tolerance. Writing
about Zachary’s case
in the New York
Times, Ian
Urbina
provides one of
these other
examples, that of a
third-grade girl who
“was expelled for a
year because her
grandmother had sent
a birthday cake to
school, along with a
knife to cut it. The
teacher called the
principal — but not
before using the
knife to cut and
serve the cake.”
For complete story,
click here.
A
judge
sentenced
Jonathan
Carver
to
serve
1 to
15
years
for
each
of
five
counts
of
forcible
sexual
abuse
of a
17-year-old
girl.
Carver
pleaded
guilty
to
the
charges
in
August.
He
had
worked
as a
house
parent
at
Alpine
Academy
in
Erda,
where
the
girl
was
being
treated.
He
admitted
to a
long
relationship
with
her.
The
relationship
was
discovered
when
the
girl
left
the
school
and
her
parents
became
concerned
that
Carver
was
still
contacting
her.
They
contacted
police.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
Teenage girl left
brain-damaged after
receiving cervical
cancer jab
05 Oct 2009 A
teenage girl has
been left
brain-damaged after
suffering epileptic
seizures just days
after being given
the controversial
cervical cancer jab.
Stacey Jones, 18,
suffered her first
seizure in March
when she was 17,
days after she had
the Cervarix
injection. In the
following weeks she
had several more
fits, causing such
severe brain injury
that she had to be
admitted to a
rehabilitation unit,
where she is
relearning simple
tasks. For
complete story,
click here.
TELEVISION
programs
claiming
to
tame
toddlers
and
troubled
teens
may
do
more
harm
than
good,
parenting
experts
have
warned.
The
families
of
Australian
teenagers
who
appeared
in
World's
Strictest
Parents
on
Channel
Seven
– in
which
the
teens
were
sent
overseas
for
a
week
to
learn
discipline
from
strict
parents
–
said
the
program
helped
turn
their
lives
around.
But
the
methods
used
have
been
questioned
since
the
final
episode,
aired
last
week,
revealed
how
the
teens
have
fared
since
going
home.
Serial
runaway
Jono
Denny,
16,
was
sent
to
South
Africa
to
live
with
Portia
Bethe
and
her
family.
After
returning
to
his
home
at
Ballina
on
the
North
Coast
he
re-enrolled
in
high
school
and
behaved
himself
for
six
weeks.
Then
he
was
arrested
after
a
night
of
heavy
drinking.
He
was
released
after
being
cautioned.
Psychologist
Michael
Carr-Gregg
said
World's
Strictest
Parents,
Brat
Camp
and
Supernanny
offered
unrealistic
solutions
to
behavioural
problems.
"I
would
prefer
to
see
programs
which
are
more
instructive,"
he
said.
"Obviously,
no
one
is
going
to
send
their
teenager
off
to a
different
country
for
a
week
to
teach
them
a
few
life
lessons.
It's
just
not
practical
or
realistic."
Mr
Carr-Gregg
said
his
research
showed
80
per
cent
of
parents
lack
confidence
in
their
ability
to
raise
their
children.
World's
Strictest
Parents
drew
more
than
1
million
viewers
a
week.
He
said
most
child
psychologists
would
not
recommend
the
strict
discipline
promoted
on
the
show.
"What
I
would
like
to
see
from
these
shows
is a
focus
on
authoritative
parenting
rather
than
authoritarian
parenting,"
he
said.
"The
problem
is
that
authoritative
parenting
–
which
teaches
parents
about
creating
boundaries,
negotiating
skills
and
so
on –
does
not
make
very
exciting
television.
"Authoritarian
parenting,
with
a
focus
on
strict
discipline
and
punishment,
is
more
likely
to
create
fireworks."
A
parenting
guide
author
and
chairwoman
of
Early
Childhood
Australia's
publications
committee,
Pam
Linke,
said
the
programs
provided
a
simplistic
view
of
managing
behavioural
problems.
"The
families
being
filmed
would
have
to
be
influenced
by
the
fact
that
there
is a
camera
on
them.
"It's
not
a
realistic
approach
to
solving
behavioural
problems
with
children.
There
is
no
instruction
about
how
these
parenting
models
would
work
in
real
life."
For
complete
story,
click
here.
(Webmaster
Note:
Abusive
programs
have
regularly
been
featured
and
promoted
by
US
television
programs.
Including
the
deadly
SageWalk,
an
Aspen
Education
Group
program
that
recently
voluntarily
relinquished
their
license
to
Oregon
authorities
after
another
death
at
the
program,
was
used
as a
setting
for
"Brat
Camp"
on
ABC.
Dr.
Phil
McGraw
has
repeatedly
placed
children
in
Aspen
Education
Group
programs
as
well
as
Provo
Canyon
School.
Other
talk
show
icons
have
placed
children
in
the
notoriously
abusive
and
internationally
criminalized
WWASPS
programs.
Turn
off
your
TV
and
think
for
yourself,
please.)
Unless
it's
the
teens
telling
the
jokes.
And
the
material
is
coming
from
their
own
experiences.
San
Diego
County
high
school
students
who
struggle
to
cope
with
these
issues
are
confronting
them
head-on
in
an
unlikely
stand-up-comedy
class
that
also
serves
as
therapy
of
sorts.
Paid
for
with
$6,500
in
federal
stimulus
money,
this
new
course
was
designed
for
students
who
are
interested
in
the
entertainment
industry.
But
it
has
also
helped
teenagers
face
their
demons
and
relate
to
classmates
at
the
county
Office
of
Education
community
school
in
National
City.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
Residents in a Hanover County neighborhood are concerned about a home for troubled teens in their subdivision.
A community meeting is scheduled for tonight to address issues raised by those who live near Healthy Solutions, a foster home for four at-risk males ages 12 to 17 that opened this summer on Cudlipp Avenue in the Craney Island Farms community off U.S. 301. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. at Cool Spring Baptist Church.
Craney Island Farms resident David Liggan, who lives off Cudlipp Avenue, said he's concerned about a business operating in a residential area.
"We were never notified . . . or asked our opinion about the facility going into our area," Liggan said, referring to the home that provides 24-hour adult supervision and counseling services to teens who have behavioral issues.
Peggy Nicholls, who lives on Cudlipp Avenue, said the county should have alerted homeowners if a business was going in on their street. "I feel like the wool was pulled over our eyes," she said. For complete story, click here.
Former Boys Ranch
resident sues
Sedgwick County--September
23rd, 2009--A
former Boys Ranch
resident has sued
Sedgwick County,
alleging it failed
to protect him from
being raped while he
lived at the home
for troubled teens
in late 2004.
The
plaintiff
—
who
is
19
now
and
was
14
at
the
time
he
says
he
was
raped
—
filed
a
lawsuit
in
June
in
state
district
court
that
has
been
moved
to
federal
court
in
Wichita.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
Don't forget
detainees at home--September
21st, 2009--Torture
is wrong. Our nation
believes this, and
we are concerned
about torture
tactics used on
detainees, as we
should be. Shouldn't
we also be concerned
about abusive
tactics used on our
own population,
particularly our
children?
The Aug. 25 Ithaca
Journal article
headlined, "Staff
severely injured
youths," describes a
U.S. Justice
Department report
that found staff at
two
juvenile-detention
facilities in
Tompkins County used
excessive force in
controlling some of
their residents.
Some might argue
that the staff
behavior is not
torture, but if the
results are injuries
and even death, what
name should we give
it? We put them in
detention centers in
the hopes that they
will reform
themselves and
become positive,
productive citizens.
How can they learn
to behave in a
peaceful manner when
they are treated
with violence?
Get-tough, boot-camp
programs purport to
help troubled teens,
but they don't work.
A review of the
scientific evidence
by the National
Institutes of Health
found that programs
using fear and tough
treatment are
ineffective and may
make teen criminal
behavior even worse.
For complete story,
click here.
Redmond wilderness
school
[SageWalk--Aspen
Education Group]
suspends operations--September
15th, 2009--A
Redmond-based
wilderness school
said Tuesday it has
agreed to suspend
operations amid
state and Lake
County
investigations into
the death of a
16-year-old Portland
boy on his first
hike with the
school, in a remote
area east of Bend
late last month.
Word of the halt to
operations came one
day after Lake
County sheriff's
deputies traveled
from Lakeview and
executed a search
warrant at the
Redmond office of
SageWalk Wilderness
School, as part of
its continuing
investigation into
the death of Sergey
Blashchishen.
For complete story,
click here.
For more on this
story,
click here.
I'm OK, but you're
not.--September
16th, 2009--So
you have a troubled
or problem teen. Let
me guess, they come
home from school and
virtually lock
themselves away in
their bedroom. If
they do come and
join the family,
they are plugged
into their MP3
player or PSP. You
actually have to
demand putting the
electronics away
when at the dinner
table; that is if
they even join you
for dinner. It’s a
pretty common
problem; I’d venture
to say across
Western society.
Let’s think back –
when I was a teen,
I’d plug into the
cassette player with
earphones on (I’m
old enough that CD’s
were not around).
Once I was driving,
I’d not even come
home – I’d go
driving. I was
usually busy enough
after school with
work and theatre
that there were some
weeks I’d barely see
my parents. Was I a
problem or troubled
child? My parents
probably thought so,
but guess who I
thought had the
problem? It’s
not any different
today. Oh, the
script may have
changed some, the
technology and
access to
information has
drastically changed,
but how we
communicate (or lack
of communication)
remains the same.
I’m curious though,
have you ever asked
your teen why they
stay away from the
family so much? Some
of this is natural
child development
for certain, but
choosing to stay
home to study
instead of joining
the family for a
‘night out bowling’
is something else.
Yes, our teen can be
defiant; sometimes
it’s what they do
best. But every now
and then, we must
remember to turn
that magnifying
glass away from them
and onto ourselves.
What are we doing to
drive wedges into
that gap? If we
don’t know then we
need to ask. So many
teens feel they
cannot talk to their
parents, when in
reality that is what
everyone, both teens
and parents, really
want! For
complete story,
click here.
Real life horrors
revealed in
Boot Camp--September
5th, 2009--The
most disturbing
aspect of Christian
Duguay's Boot Camp
is the fact that
places such as that
depicted actually
exist. Places that
promise
rehabilitation for
troubled youths that
are nothing more
than entities of
torture that do more
damage than good.
For complete story,
click here.
3 charged in Ohio in
teen's restraint
death--September
2nd, 2009--COLUMBUS,
Ohio — Three former
employees of a
Cleveland
residential center
for troubled
teenagers were
indicted Wednesday
in the death of a
17-year-old girl who
choked on vomit and
suffocated after she
was restrained face
down, a control
technique the
governor has since
banned.
Cynthia King, 32, of
Warrensville
Heights, Lazarita
Menendez, 28, of
Bedford Heights and
Ebony Ray, 33, of
Broadview Heights
were indicted in
Cuyahoga County on
involuntary
manslaughter and
child-endangering
charges in the death
of Faith Finley at
the Parmadale Family
Services center in
Parma. For
complete story,
click here.
The Lake
County Sheriff's Office is
investigating the death of a
Portland teen who collapsed during a
hike as part of a wilderness camp
exercise, a spokesman said today.
Sergey
Blashchishen, 16, died Friday after
collapsing about 2:30 p.m., said
Deputy Chuck Pore. An autopsy was
performed on Sunday but the results
are incomplete and a cause of death
has not been determined, Pore said.
Investigators are trying to find out
if Blashchishen, who lived in
Northeast Portland, had any medical
problems that might have contributed
to his death, Pore said. He had
passed a physical the day before he
died.
Blashchishen
was attending the SageWalk
wilderness school, a program for
troubled teens based in Redmond. He
was hiking with a group in northern
Lake County between Burns and Bend
when he got sick.
"He said he
didn't feel good and shortly after
that collapsed," Pore said.
The Bureau
of Land Management has suspended the
permit for SageWalk to operate on
BLM land, pending the outcome of the
investigation. It could not be
confirmed if Blashchishen was on BLM
property when he collapsed.
For complete story,
click here.
(For more on this story,
click here,
here,
here,
and
here.
Gay
reparative therapy isn't advisable,
says APA--August
31, 2009--The
American Psychological Association
has finally confirmed what MySpace
Zach and his supporters knew back in
2005 – gay reparative therapies
don’t work.
In an update to a 1997
resolution "Appropriate
Therapeutic Responses to
Sexual Orientation," the
APA now advises that
mental health
professionals should
avoid telling clients
that they can change
their sexual orientation
through therapy or other
treatments.
"Contrary to claims of
sexual orientation
change advocates and
practitioners, there is
insufficient evidence to
support the use of
psychological
interventions to change
sexual orientation,"
said Judith M. Glassgold,
PsyD, chair of the task
force which examined the
efficacy of so-called
reparative therapy.”
APA appointed the
six-member Task Force on
Appropriate Therapeutic
Responses to Sexual
Orientation in 2007 to
review and update APA's
1997 resolution,
"Appropriate Therapeutic
Responses to Sexual
Orientation," and to
generate a report. APA
was concerned about
ongoing efforts to
promote the notion that
sexual orientation can
be changed through
psychotherapy or
approaches that
mischaracterize
homosexuality as a
mental disorder.
The task force examined
the peer-reviewed
journal articles in
English from 1960 to
2007, which included 83
studies. Most of the
studies were conducted
before 1978, and only a
few had been conducted
in the last 10 years.
The group also reviewed
the recent literature on
the psychology of sexual
orientation.
"Unfortunately, much of
the research in the area
of sexual orientation
change contains serious
design flaws," Glassgold
said. "Few studies could
be considered
methodologically sound
and none systematically
evaluated potential
harms."
Looking back at
Zach
Zach Stark was for many
the face of the
vulnerable, oppressed
gay teen.
Stark, then 16 and
living in Bartlett,
Tenn., chronicled his
coming-out story in his
MySpace blog.
He
detailed his parents
unfavorable reaction and
wrote, “Today, my
mother, father and I had
a very long 'talk' in my
room, where they let me
know I am to apply for a
fundamentalist Christian
program for gays."
It would take place at
Refuge, a youth program
of Love in Action
International, a Memphis
group that runs a
religion-based program
intended to change the
sexual orientation of
gay men and women.
As mandated by Refuge,
Stark's blog posts
stopped the day he
entered the facility,
but debate and outrage
over such programs did
not.
A
New York Times
story published July
17, 2005, shortly after
Stark entered Refuge,
brought the matter to
the forefront of the
mainstream media with
the headline “Gay
Teenager Stirs a Storm.”
In that story, former
teacher and GLSEN
Executive Director Kevin
Jennings told the New
York Times, “All
reputable health and
education professional
organizations have
clearly and
unequivocally denounced
this ‘treatment’ as
quackery.”
Closer to home, young
people from the area
organized a protest
outside the Love In
Action facility soon
after the Stark was
admitted to the program.
As days passed, the
group's numbers swelled
as the teens were joined
by a wide range of
people from the
community forming what
they called the Queer
Action Coalition (QAC),
concerned about Stark’s
mental health after
reading his ominous blog
posts.
"It's like boot camp,"
Stark wrote before
entering the facility.
"If I do come out
straight, I'll be so
mentally unstable and
depressed it won't
matter." For
complete story,
click here.
Caging
Children--August
28th, 2009--Children under the
age of 18 can't vote, serve as
jurors, or join Blockbuster, but in
the U.S. – the only developed nation
with such a policy – they can be
tried in adult courts and
imprisoned in facilities designed
for adults. A groundbreaking study
from the University of Texas' LBJ
School of Public Affairs could
kick-start a national discussion
about the foolishness of that
policy.
The report,
"From Time Out to Hard Time: Young
Children in the Adult Criminal
Justice System," was compiled by
Michele Deitch, an adjunct
professor at the LBJ School, and her
students. Its roots were tragic:
Deitch and her group worked with the
UT Law School Supreme Court Clinic
on the case of Christopher
Pittman, who, at age 12, was
charged with killing his
grandparents. He received a 30-year
sentence – the mandatory minimum in
South Carolina. After the Supreme
Court rejected his appeal, Deitch
explained, "we were sitting on a ton
of research that we had done, so we
thought it was vital to get it out
there." For complete story,
click here.
Jeff Deerr does not want a group
home for troubled teens in his
neighborhood.
"I am definitely opposed to the
idea," he said. "I go to work and I
come home after working an
eight-hour day and I have a peaceful
neighborhood. I don't believe that
doing something like this is right."
Deerr was among more than 25
residents from the Vinton Heights
subdivision who sat in an Area Board
of Zoning Appeals meeting Wednesday
night for nearly four hours to speak
out against proposed home.
The group home, proposed by Seeds
of Hope Community Ministries, was
slated to operate out of a residence
at 2012 Valdez Drive in Lafayette if
approved.
But the Board of Zoning Appeals
voted 6-1 against the proposal,
which led to a sea of cheers from
residents in attendance. For
complete story,
click here.
For eight years, in
the remote, isolated
school, she says,
she was emotionally
and spiritually
abused. At times,
she was also
physically and
sexually abused — in
some cases by a man
who served as a dorm
parent there, she
said.
It wasn't until
decades later that
she realized she
hadn't been the only
abused child at
Mamou Alliance
Academy, a
now-closed boarding
school run by the
Christian and
Missionary Alliance
(C&MA), an
evangelical
Protestant
denomination.
For complete story,
click here.
NY
detention system faulted in
juveniles' injuries--August
24th, 2009--ALBANY, N.Y. —
Workers at four youth detention
centers in New York caused dozens of
serious injuries, including broken
bones and teeth, when they routinely
used force as a primary way to
restrain juveniles and not just as a
last resort, according to federal
investigators.
The Justice
Department's Civil Rights Division
also reported that youths in the
state system failed to get needed
counseling and mental health
treatment, though most have
psychological problems. The findings
released Monday were the result of a
nearly two-year probe.
Gladys
Carrion, commissioner of the state
Office of Children and Family
Services, said they have begun
overhauling the troubled system she
took over 18 months ago, including a
new restraint policy and hiring more
mental health workers. "Much more
still needs to be done," she said.
Investigators said conditions they
found last year at the Lansing and
Louis Gossett Jr. residential
centers outside Ithaca and the Tryon
residential centers for boys and
girls in Johnstown violated the
teens' constitutional rights as well
as department policy. For
complete story,
click here.
Payout over
teen's boot camp tragedy--August
24th, 2009--The
parents of a teenager beaten to
death by staff at a boot camp in
Hubei Province this month have been
awarded 350,000 yuan (US$51,000) in
compensation.
The money,
which will be paid by a local
education bureau, comes less than
three weeks after Yao Jian, 14, died
on an outward-bound training program
intended to boost his confidence.
"The money will
not ease the agony of losing our
son," his father Yao Jun, 37, told
China Daily yesterday. "We
can only hope this tragedy will ring
alarm for parents and the government
to avoid such incidents." For
complete story,
click here.
(Webmaster Note: Really?
China is better at swift action than
the US? What's up with that?!
Strengthen
and Pass HR 911
already.)
NEA Attacks Administration's
Education Reform Plan21
Aug 2009 The nation's largest
teachers union sharply attacked
President Obama's most significant
school improvement initiative on
Friday evening, saying that it puts
too much emphasis on a "narrow
agenda" centered on charter schools
and echoes the Bush administration's
"top-down approach" to reform. The
National Education Association's
criticism of Obama's $4.35 billion
"Race
to the Top" initiative
came nearly a month after the
president unveiled the
competitive grant program...
For complete story,
click here.
(No charter schools. Improve
Public Education!!!)
Woman sues
state over sexual assault--August
18th, 2009--A
19-year-old who was sexually
assaulted by a guard at a state
juvenile-detention center last year
has filed a lawsuit claiming the
state failed to properly supervise
the guard or protect her from his
advances.
In a lawsuit filed
in King County
Superior Court last
month, the young
woman's attorneys
claim the state
failed to properly
train and supervise
the on-call
temporary guard at
Echo Glen Children's
Center or to fully
investigate previous
complaints about
him.
The guard,
39-year-old Robert
H. Fox, pleaded
guilty in February
to first-degree
custodial sexual
misconduct in
connection with the
assault, according
to court documents.
He now is serving an
eight-month sentence
in the King County
Jail. For
complete story,
click here.
One third
of all children in jails are
'wrongly imprisoned'13
Aug 2009 More than a third of
children sent to prison last year
were wrongly jailed, a report into
child custody rates says. The study
by Barnardo's found that the
Government had breached its own
guidance on child custody by
allowing so many 12-, 13- and
14-year-olds to be imprisoned for a
non-serious offences. For
complete story,
click here.
DNA
database has 300 children added a
day11
Aug 2009 More than 300 children a
day are being put on to the DNA
database fuelling fresh fears over
the growth of the "Big Brother"
state. Almost 1.1 million youngsters
aged between ten and 17 have had
their profiles recorded by the
police since 2000, with a large
proportion aged under 15, the Daily
Telegraph can disclose. And around
one in six are likely to have never
been convicted of any crime.
For complete story,
click here.
Teen sent
to PEC home--August
10th, 2009--The
grandmother of a teenaged boy being
housed at a youth residential
treatment facility in Prince Edward
County. wants to know why he can't
be treated closer to home. The
14-year-old Cole Harbour boy, who
was the subject of a recent Supreme
Court of Nova Scotia case regarding
his care, suffers from attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder, and
related behavioural problems.
He was recently enrolled at the
Bayfield Treatment Centre in
Consecon by the Nova Scotia
Department of Community Services.
His grandmother -- who cannot be
named in order to protect the boy's
identity -- told The Intelligencer
she wanted the boy to get help, but
did not expect him to be moved out
of the province. "All we did
was ask for help, not for him to be
shipped away," she said. She
said she and her husband asked
Community Services for help with the
boy, whom she admits suffers from
considerable behavioural issues,
last year. As reported by the
Halifax Chronicle-Herald, Community
Services originally made
arrangements for the boy's treatment
at a facility in Utah after the Nova
Scotia Supreme Court ruled it was
permissible to send him there for
treatment unavailable in his home
province.
However, after arrangements at both
Cinnamon Hills Youth Crisis Centre
and Provo Canyon School fell
through, the boy was moved to
Bayfield - a decision Patrick Eagan,
the family's lawyer, says shows a
definite motive. "It's just
somewhere to shove this kid," he
said. For complete story,
click here.
Former
employee admits sex with teen at
school for troubled girls
(Alpine Academy in UT)--August 5th,
2009--An
employee at a live-in treatment
school for troubled girls in Tooele
County admitted Wednesday to having
a sexual relationship with a
17-year-old female student.
Jonathan
R. Carver, 29, of Kaysville, pleaded
guilty in 3rd District Court to five
counts of second-degree felony
forcible sexual abuse.
He
faces up to 15 years in prison on
each count when he is sentenced Oct.
6 by 3rd District Judge Stephen
Henriod. Court documents
detailing the original charges --
four counts of rape, two counts of
forcible sodomy and one count of
witness tampering -- indicate Carver
had sex with the girl at least 20
times between October and December
of 2008. Carver and his wife
were "house parents," responsible
for taking care of eight girls every
day as they underwent treatment for
emotional and behavioral problems at
Alpine Academy in Erda, according to
the school's program director Janet
Mulitalo. For complete
story,
click here.
Chinese
Youth Beaten to Death at "net
addiction" "boot camp"--August
4th, 2009--
China's anti-internet addiction
industry has claimed another victim,
after supervisors at a
rehabilitation camp allegedly beat a
16 year old inmate to death.
Deng Senshan had been sent to
Guangxi Qihuang Survival Training
Camp to "cure" him of his internet
addiction, the AFP reports. His
parents were paying $1000 for the
treatment. However,
the youth ended up in solitary
confinement shortly after arriving
at the establishment, and was
subsequently beaten to death by
supervisors for "running too
slowly", according to the news
agency. For complete story,
click here.
Controversial Treatment Center Shuts
Down--July
31st, 2009--Some Tri-State
teens undergoing drug and alcohol
rehabilitation at a controversial
treatment facility may be home
tonight after the last of the
centers closed this week in
Indianapolis.
Pathway Family Center had vacated
its building earlier but was still
housing teens in various homes.
Sources tell the I-Team that ended
this week with calls to parents to
pick up their children. No one from
Pathway returned the I-Team’s calls
today, and the longtime emergency
number for the center has been
disconnected.
In the Cincinnati area, the program
in Milford originally was called
Kids Helping Kids. It used
controversial methods that removed
teens from their homes for months
and sometimes more than a year.
Teens spent entire days in classes
that included hand motions,
toddler's songs and other means some
likened to a cult, but others said
saved their lives.
After the I-Team’s original report,
the program changed names and then
shut down in Milford. Those teens
were transported to the Indianapolis
site instead.
(Pathway
Family Center is
CLOSED!!!!) For complete
story,
click here.
(Story does not include the fact
that
HEAL,
ISAC,
and other
youth
advocates fought
diligently to expose and close
Pathway.)
AHCA report
cites kicking, spitting on teens,
other reported abuses at Devereux
House--July
29th, 2009--A
Tallahassee group home for troubled
teens currently under criminal
investigation by law-enforcement
officials was shut down by state
health-care regulators in May
following troubling reports of
physical and verbal abuse of
residents by center employees.
For
complete story,
click here.
ADHD Drugs
Linked to Sudden Death in Kids--Received
July 25th, 2009 (Article: June 15th,
2009)--MONDAY, June 15
(HealthDay News) -- Stimulant
medications commonly prescribed to
treat attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are
associated with an increased risk of
sudden death, but those deaths are
still rare, new research finds.
For complete story,
click here.
Report
alleges multiple problems at Hinds
juvenile facility--July
24th, 2009--Unreported
suicide attempts, poor staff
relations and failure to provide
timely mental health evaluations
continue at Hinds
County's Henley-Young Juvenile
Detention Center, according to a
state inspection report.
The state Juvenile Facilities
Monitoring Unit inspected the
detention center on June 23
and gave its report to the county
July 22.
Juvenile Facilities Monitoring Unit
Director Donald Beard and Henley-
Young's detention director Darren
Farr did not return calls.
The report, obtained by The
Clarion-Ledger, makes 14
recommendations. It's unclear
what could happen to the center if
it doesn't follow them, but
county officials say they plan to.
"A crucial step in recognizing
problems associated with a
juvenile's behavior is a
mental health evaluation," the
report states.
The inspection came after Hinds
supervisors learned that seven
juveniles have attempted suicide at
the center since January.
In one case, a girl was found with
several socks tied around her
neck. In another, a boy repeatedly
hit his head on the door of his
cell.
Detention center staff never
reported the cases to the county or
state, which must be done
immediately, according to the most
recent report. For complete
story,
click here.
(Webmaster note: This is what
happens at a "regulated" and
state-run facility that has
safeguards in place to prevent
violations and harm to youth.
Now, take away the "regulation" and
government oversight and what kind
of abuses and violations do you
think are probable? The
unimaginable happens to youth every
day in behavior modification
programs throughout the United
States. Keep your children at
home.)
Court: Keep
cleared juveniles' files--July
23rd, 2009--ALLENTOWN -
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court
yesterday ordered the preservation
of court records of juveniles who
are suing a corrupt Luzerne County
Court judge.
Previously,
when it
overturned
the
convictions
of
youths
who
appeared
in
former
Judge
Mark
Ciavarella's
courtroom,
the
court
said the
records
should
be
destroyed,
prompting
complaints
from
attorneys
for the
juveniles.
The
attorneys
said
loss of
the
records
could
imperil
the
youths'
ability
to
recover
damages
from the
judge
and
others
implicated
in the
corruption
scandal.
For
complete
story,
click
here.
(For an
update
on this
story,
click
here,here
or
here.)
The APA's Nuremberg Defense
By Scott Horton 20 Jul 2009 ...[T]he
disclosures surrounding the
waterboarding of Abu Zubaida give
further proof that beginning in
2002, healthcare professionals,
specifically psychologists, played
an essential role at every stage in
the development and application of
torture techniques. The failure of
professional organizations, and
specifically the American
Psychological Association, to
acknowledge this and take
appropriate countermeasures is
disturbing...Professional oversight
bodies have engaged in consistent
evasion, and now the APA is focused
on the relaxation of its ethics
standards to provide defenses for
psychologists who joined in the Bush
Administration’s torture program.
For complete story,
click here.
(Webmaster Note: Behavior
Modification Programs for Teens Are
Experiments
In Torture.)
Detroit Public Schools moves
closer to bankruptcy and
privatization
By Walter Gilberti 16 July 2009
Detroit teachers and schools
employees are in danger of having
their jobs, wages and benefits
sacrificed in the interest of an
anti-public schools agenda driven by
Emergency Financial Manager Robert
Bobb and the Obama administration.
In a two-pronged attack on the
continued existence of public
schools in Detroit, Bobb has hired
four private professional education
management firms to oversee
instruction at 17 Detroit high
schools, while, at the same time,
ratcheting up his earlier threat to
institute bankruptcy proceedings.
For complete story,
click here.
LDS
seminary principal in court, hands
over evidence--July
13th, 2009--PROVO —
Officers came to court Monday
morning prepared to re-arrest a
former LDS seminary principal
accused of sexual misconduct with a
16-year-old student.
Michael J. Pratt,
37, the former
principal at Lone
Peak High School's
LDS seminary
program, was
arrested Thursday on
numerous
allegations, but was
bailed out on
$20,000 cash-only
bail at 3:37 a.m.
Saturday.
"Look,"
an emotional Pratt
told the media upon
exiting the
courtroom. "I am
hopeful that the
truth will be fully
presented at the
appropriate time."
Officers from the
Utah County Special
Victims Task Force
came to 4th District
Court Monday for
Pratt's review of
bail hearing to
express concern that
Pratt may have been
tampering with
evidence on his
laptop computer.
Prosecutor Guy
Probert told Judge
Steven Hansen that
there were some
"evidentiary
questions" relating
to the laptop, which
had been sent out of
the area with
Pratt's family after
the allegations
surfaced. It is
believed that the
computer belongs to
The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day
Saints, but Probert
could not officially
confirm that.
"The laptop is
being returned by
mail. A copy of the
hard drive is being
produced today,"
Probert said.
For complete story,
click here.
For story update,
click
here.
(Webmaster note:
Don't send your kid
to Utah!)
One teen runaway found, two
missing--July
9th, 2009--Update on three runaways who escaped
abusive wilderness program...A national
organization is pleading for information about a
15-year-old girl missing from McDowell for more than
a year. In separate cases, sheriff's deputies
have located one of two teenage runaways for whom
they've been searching. The other one hasn't been
spotted. As part of its ongoing search, the
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is
again asking for the public's help in locating Diana
Hernandez Yanez, 15, of Yancey Street in Marion. She
was 14 when she left her home on July 21, 2008.
Neighbors told police that they saw her get into a
red pickup truck that morning. Friends say the
truck, a red 2000 Chevrolet S-10 low-rider pickup,
belonged to 19-year-old Andres Velasquez Tinoco of
Coxes Creek Road, whom Diana reportedly met just a
couple of weeks prior to her disappearance.
For complete story,
click here.
Miss. juvenile detention
case near end--June
26th, 2009--A preliminary agreement has been reached
in a federal lawsuit that claims youth were abused
at a south Mississippi juvenile detention center and
forced to live in squalid conditions. For
complete story,
click here.
Supreme Court Says Child's
Rights Violated by Strip Search--But if
the student had been suspected of having illegal
drugs that could have posed a far greater danger to
herself and other students, the strip search might
have been justified, the majority said. 26 Jun 2009
In a ruling of interest to educators, parents and
students across the country, the Supreme Court
ruled, 8 to 1, on Thursday that the strip search of
a 13-year-old Arizona girl by school officials who
were looking for prescription-strength drugs
violated her constitutional rights. The officials in
Safford, Ariz., would have been justified in 2003
had they limited their search to the backpack and
outer clothing of Savana Redding, who was in the
eighth grade at the time, the court ruled. [Needless
to say, GOPedophile Clarence Thomas thinks it's a
good idea to strip thirteen-year-olds.]
For complete story,
click here.
Can Wilderness Camps Kill
Your Kid?--June
22nd, 2009--It's
an industry that preys on desperation. If
your teenager has emotional issues, abuses drugs, or
is promiscuous, help is just a phone call away.
Wilderness intervention programs promise to "fix"
bad behavior by teaching your child life skills and
building self-esteem. These facilities offer a
beacon of hope for
parents
like Crystal Manganaro, who sent her son, Matthew,
to a wilderness camp outside of Houston. But what
Crystal didn't realize was that the camp she
entrusted with her son's life would so carelessly
take it away. For complete story,
click here.
Are Troubled Teens
Tortured?--June
23rd, 2009--Yesterday,
we brought you the story of
Matthew Meyer, a troubled teen who died at a
wilderness camp. Today, we bring you the story of
Nick Gaglia.
Gina
Kaysen Fernandes:
Imagine a world where your
child is locked away for
years, spending days at a
time in a windowless room.
Communication is shut off
and you have no way of
knowing about their
treatment, which may include
being physically restrained
for hours on end. This
horrifying scenario isn't
prison -- it's a voluntary
program aimed at treating
troubled teenagers.
It's a
place where Nick Gaglia
spent two and a half years,
because "my life was
spinning out of control."
The residential
treatment program
known as "Kids of North
Jersey" in Secaucus, New
Jersey, "seemed like a great
fit," says Nick, who was
abusing drugs and alcohol at
the age of 13. Nick's
parents saw
advertisements for the
program on television and
soon enrolled their son.
They hoped professionals
would get Nick clean and
sober so he could put his
life back on track. But
instead of giving Nick the
coping skills he'd need in
the outside world, he became
a prisoner subjected to
verbal abuse, psychological
torment, and physical
restraint. "I would call it
torture and abuse," says
Nick, who shared his
harrowing ordeal with
momlogic. For complete
story,
click here.
ADHD Drugs Linked to Sudden
Death--June
15th, 2009--On
that morning, the 54-year-old mother of two living
in McAllen, Texas, was preparing to take her eldest
son to school. She had an early appointment, so her
husband, Rick Hohmann, would be dropping off younger
son, 14-year-old Matthew, at his school that day.
It was Ann Hohmann who
gave Matthew his
Adderall XR pill that morning with a glass
of water. But it was her husband who later found
him after he had collapsed on the bathroom
floor.
"To me, he seemed fine,"
she recalled. "My husband had seen him walking
around, brushing his teeth. Then he walked in
and found him flat down on the floor in the
bathroom.
"When he turned him
over, his lips were blue," Hohmann said.
She said that her
husband called her first, and then he called
911. He performed CPR until the ambulance
arrived. But it was too late.
"They worked on him for
a while, but he was dead," she said. For
complete story,
click here.
If anything, the Obama administration seems to be
pushing the radical pharmacological envelope even
further than the Bush administration----at the very
least, nothing has changed for the better in the
government-assisted determined push to control /
engineer America's children.
On Wednesday, an FDA advisory committee gave the FDA
a green light to expand the marketing license of
three toxic antipsychotic drugs--Seroquel, Geodon,
and Zyprexa--for use in children. Such approval
gives manufacturers a shield
from liability--for illegally promoting the drugs
for off-label use. And such approval ensures
increased use of these drugs. Manufacturers
and mental health providers will profit while
children's physical and mental health will be
sacrificed. These drugs pose severely disabling,
potentially lethal hazards--including diabetes,
metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease.
The body of evidence showing these drugs to be
harmful is irrefutable: it is documented in FDA's
postmarketing database, and in secret internal
company documents uncovered during litigation.
Did the FDA provide the advisory panel members with
the evidence ? And if not, why not?
The report, "Preventing Mental, Emotional, and
Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress
and Possibilities" (2009) re-iterates the earlier
national mental health policy directive under
President Bush: The President's New Freedom
Commission on Mental Health (2002)--which promoted
universal mental screening and the expanded use of
patented psychoactive drugs (those listed in
industry-initiated, TMAP algorithm prescription
guides).
The NAS report also recommends aggressive screening
and pharmacologic intervention with toxic
psychoactive drugs for children. The provocative,
unsubstantiated premise is that mental illness can
be detected through genetic screening--a la eugenics
rationale--and that they can be prevented.
"Hundreds of studies that have appeared in just the
past decade collectively suggest that the brain
isn't so different from, say, the arm: it doesn't
simply break on its own. In fact, many mental
illnesses - even those like schizophrenia that have
demonstrable genetic origins - can be stopped or at
least contained before they start."
"This isn't wishful thinking but hard science."
If the consequences of psychiatry's delusions
weren't so serious, that statement is laughable. As
every real medical scientist knows, psychiatry lacks
even the rudimentary objective, scientifically
verifiable tools of science, much less, "hard
science."
The TIME reporter is impressed with NAS report
weight in pagination: "a 500-page report, nearly two
years in the making, on how to prevent mental,
emotional and behavioral disorders."
"The [NAS] report concludes that pre-empting such
disorders requires two kinds of interventions:
first, because genes play so important a role in
mental illness, we need to ensure that close
relatives (particularly children) of those with
mental disorders have access to rigorous screening
programs. Second, we must offer treatment to people
who have already shown symptoms of illness (say, a
tendency to brood and see the world without
optimism) but don't meet the
diagnostic criteria for a full-scale mental illness
(in this case, depression)....."
According to TIME, the authors of the NAS report
recognize but rationalize the reality that mental
screens will mislabel healthy individuals as
mentally ill:
"Early-detection programs will identify as
candidates for mental illness some people who
are merely persnickety or shy or eccentric."
Indeed, a responsible reason NOT to screen is the
high false-positive rate of mental screens.
For example, the false-positive rate of TeenScreen,
the mental health dragnet of school children, is as
high as 84%.
TIME reports that that the invalid screening tools
did not deter the NAS authors from recommending
mental screening--even acknowledging that those
mislabeled may be prescribed toxic
antidepressants and/ or antipsychotics:
"Some prevention programs even prescribe psychiatric
medications, including antipsychotics and
antidepressants, to people who aren't technically
psychotic or depressed....But those who contributed
to the National Academies report say preventing the
suffering of people with mental illness is worth the
risk of some false positives, partly because of the
enormous cost of treating mental illness after it's
struck."
Former teen counselor gets
jail time--June
9th, 2009--A
former counselor for troubled teens who was accused
of having sex with one of her students has accepted
a plea negotiation with prosecutors after turning
down a similar deal last year.
Cathleen Crowley, 30, of Rye was sent to the
Cheshire County jail in Westmoreland for a month as
part of the deal that was finalized last week.
Crowley withdrew her first guilty plea connected to
the student’s accusations during a hearing last
November in Cheshire County Superior Court.
The plea Crowley and her attorney, Gary S. Lenehan
of Manchester, first negotiated with prosecutors
would have kept her out of jail.
Judge Brian T. Tucker was expected to hand down
suspended, one-year jail sentences on misdemeanor
charges of sexual assault and giving alcohol to a
minor.
But after hearing the case against Crowley — she was
accused of giving the student alcohol and engaging
in sex acts with him in her van and a hotel in Keene
in 2007 — Tucker said he would reject the deal she
made with prosecutors and hand down a six-month jail
sentence....The state Division for Children, Youth
and Families has substantiated an abuse finding tied
to the student’s allegations against Crowley,
Assistant Cheshire County Attorney John S. Webb
said.
The finding appears on Crowley’s permanent state
record and should
[but, probably won't] prevent her from working again
as a youth counselor or in a similar position, he
said. For complete story,
click here.
'Orwellian
language' in schools turns pupils into 'customers',
finds damning report09 Jun 2009 Schools
using the 'Orwellian language of performance
management' are undermining teenagers' education by
turning them into 'customers' rather than students,
a landmark report says today. Teachers who are
forced to use phrases such as 'performance
indicator' and 'curriculum delivery' lack enthusiasm
for the job, the six-year investigation found.
For complete story,
click here.
Police recruits to be
trained at Tranquility Bay--June
4th, 2009--The
Tranquility Bay facility at Treasure Beach which was
previously used as an offshore reform school for
rebellious children, mostly from the United States,
will now be used to train police recruits for at
least the next two years.
At a meeting
Tuesday with Treasure Beach residents and in
subsequent response to journalists' questions,
Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of
administration, Jevene Bent said training
"operations" would begin "somewhere in the middle of
the month".
The complex
sited on two and a half acres of beach front land,
referred to by locals as Old Whard, was
controversially used for 12 years by the United
States group, World Wide Association of Speciality
Programmes and Schools (WWASP) as a 'boot camp' for
teenagers. It was closed in January.
The Jamaica
Constabulary Force's two-year lease on the
privately-owned facility begun on June 1. For
complete story,
click here.
Juvenile safety feared--June
2nd, 2009--Seven juveniles have attempted
suicide at Hinds County's youth detention center
since January, according to a report obtained by The
Clarion-Ledger. For complete story,
click here.
"He’s gonna come back, we’re
all (going to be) distant, we’re all (going to be)
strangers here," his grandmother said. "We know we
love each other. He knows we’re mom and dad, . . .
but it ain’t gonna be the same. There’s a distance
there."
The 14-year-old boy, raised
by his maternal grandparents since he was four, is
at a short-term treatment centre in the temporary
care of the Community Services Department. If the
family isn’t successful, he will be sent to Cinnamon
Hills Youth Crisis Center for an undetermined time.
For complete story,
click here.
(To learn more about Cinnamon Hills and abuse,
click here.)
Brianna Turnbull Pleads No
Contest--June
1st, 2009--A
North Platte woman pled no contest to charges she
helped a teenage boy escape from state custody and
hide for three months. Two felonies were reduced to
misdemeanors against Brianna Turnbull. The
23-year-old pled no contest to charges of attempted
violation of custody order; attempted juvenile
escape, and contributing to the delinquency of a
child. Turnbull is the daughter of a Lincoln County
Judge. The case is behind handled by a special
prosecutor Charles Brewster of...Turnbull worked at
the Salvation Army's Quinn Wilcox house in North
Platte when she met Kaden Clark-Guthrie of Trenton.
For complete story,
click here.
For an update on this story,
click here.
Congressional
Hearing on Death/Abuse in Schools and Programs Using
Physical Restraint--May
19th, 2009--
Click here
for the online video from C-Span.
Teacher's aide in Maryland
Heights convicted in sex case--May
21st, 2009--A
teacher's aide at a school for troubled teens in
Maryland Heights was convicted late Wednesday of
having sexual contact with two students. Bruce
Germany, 55, was convicted on 14 felony counts of
sexual contact with a student by a teacher between
September 2006 and April 2007. The charges
involve two 15-year-old girls who attended Lakeside
Center for Troubled Youth at 13044 Marine Drive.
For complete story,
click here.
Thousands beaten, raped in
Irish reform schools--May
20th, 2009--DUBLIN – A fiercely debated,
long-delayed investigation into
Ireland's Roman Catholic-run institutions
says priests and nuns terrorized thousands of boys
and girls in workhouse-style schools for decades —
and government inspectors failed to stop the chronic
beatings, rapes and humiliation.
Nine years in the making, Wednesday's 2,600-page
report sides almost completely with the horrific
reports of abuse from former students sent to more
than 250 church-run, mostly residential
institutions. But victims' leaders said it didn't go
far enough — particularly because none of their
abusers were identified by name.
The report concluded that church officials always
shielded their orders' pedophiles from arrest to
protect their own reputations and, according to
documents uncovered in the Vatican, knew that many
pedophiles were serial attackers.
The investigators said overwhelming, consistent
testimony from still-traumatized men and women, now
in their 50s to 80s, had demonstrated beyond a doubt
that the entire system treated children more like
prison
inmates and slaves than people with legal
rights and human potential. For complete
story,
click here.
(Webmaster note: Switch out Irish for American
and you will understand America's teen "help"
industry.)
Feds end 11-year oversight
of Ga. juvenile facilities--May
18th, 2009--Georgia’s juvenile justice
system has been released from federal oversight, 11
years after the U.S. Justice Department investigated
reports of overcrowding and abuse at the state’s
youth detention facilities, the governor said
Monday. For complete story,
click here.
Counselor accused of sex
with teen--May
15th, 2009--A man accused of carrying on
a monthslong sexual relationship last fall with a
teenager in a school for troubled girls is in Tooele
County jail facing seven felony charges.
Kaysville
resident Jonathan Carver, 29, and
his wife were both working as
live-in counselors at the Alpine
Academy in Erda during the man's
alleged relationship with a
17-year-old female student starting
in October 2008. For complete
story,
click here.
State investigating ab slapping of teen
boys--May
12th, 2009--A controversial video
appears to show a juvenile justice official in Seminole County
striking adolescent detainees in their abdomens.
But although physical contact between officials and detainees is
mostly prohibited, the state Department of Juvenile Justice says the
boys may have volunteered for the military-style treatment at the
Seminole County Juvenile Detention Center.
"There has been speculation that it was used for training purposes,"
said Frank Penela, a spokesman for the department, who has not yet
seen the video.
Nonetheless, the department, which has been stung in recent years by
the death of one detainee at a boot-camp-style facility and as well
as the discovery of a graveyard containing unidentified graves near
another, is investigating the incident. For complete story,
click here.
Group Home Employee Accused Of Molesting
Teens--May
8th, 2009--A Sacramento man who helped troubled teens at a
group home is under arrest and accused of molesting girls while on
the job.
In
a place where people are watching your every move, Sacramento County
authorities say Jeffrey Caldwell was able to make major
inappropriate moves this past February while working at the
Sacramento County Assessment Center. For complete story,
click here.
Government wants the military to run state schools -- Right then, fall into line you 'orrible little pupils! 08 May 2009 The Armed Forces will be drafted in to run state schools under plans to drive up discipline and respect in classrooms. Ministers are in talks with defence chiefs about taking over a handful of schools and turning them into military academies. Alongside daily lessons, pupils would be expected to take part in activities such as drills, uniformed parades, weapons handling and adventure training. For complete story, click here.
Gardasil Linked to Nerve Disorder--Cervical Cancer Vaccine May Raise Risk of Guillain-Barre Syndrome 30 Apr 2009 Girls and women who receive the Gardasil [Gardakill] vaccine to prevent cervical cancer may be at increased risk of a rare but serious disorder of the nervous system [Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS)] in the first few weeks after getting their shots, researchers report. For complete story, click here.
America's Tough Love Habit--May, 2009--We are, famously, blasé about our acts of torture overseas. But why? The laser-like focus on fixing the economy, wanting to avoid more political divisiveness, the diminishment of watchdog journalism—are all part of the explanation. But there's another overlooked reason as well.
Americans tend to valorize tough love—at times, even tough love that verges on torture—in prisons, mental hospitals, drug rehabs, and teen boot camps. We aren't squeamish about the psychological aspects of torture. We might even admire them.
Thousands of troubled children, for instance, now attend tough "wilderness programs" "emotional growth boarding schools" and other "tough love" camps where they face conditions like total isolation, sleep deprivation, food deprivation, and daily emotional attacks. For complete story, click here.
Director at youth camp fired--May 2nd, 2009--SILVER SPRINGS - A program director accused of using older boys to threaten younger ones at a camp for troubled youth was fired Thursday, state officials said Friday.
Frank Penela, a spokesman with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, said the state agency received a letter from Eckerd Youth Alternatives confirming that Eckerd fired Emeka Virgo, a program director at Camp E-Ke-Etu in the Ocala National Forest off East State Road 40. Eckerd, a private company, runs the camp under a contract with the state.
Eckerd officials did not return phone calls Friday.
Virgo joins two camp counselors - Roscoe Watts, 30, and Dana Valentino, 32 - who were also fired Thursday for unspecified violations of company policies. For complete story, click here.
Weeks before his death, Gabriel Myers, the 7-year-old Broward boy who hanged himself in the shower of his foster home, had been prescribed a powerful mind-altering drug linked by federal regulators to an increased risk of suicide in children.
In all, Gabriel had been prescribed four psychiatric drugs, two or three of which he was taking at the time of his death, said Jack Moss, Broward chief of the state Department of Children & Families. Moss said he is not sure which medications the boy was taking because Margate police took the foster home's medication log as part of an investigation into Gabriel's death last week.
Three of the psychotropic drugs carry U.S. Food and Drug Administration ''black box'' label warnings for children's safety, the strongest advisory the federal agency issues. Three of the medications are not approved for use with young children, though they are widely prescribed to youngsters ''off label'' -- meaning doctors can prescribe the drug even if not formally approved for that use.
In 2005 -- reacting to a series of stories in The Miami Herald that as many as one in four foster children were prescribed potentially dangerous mind-altering drugs -- state lawmakers approved a law aimed at curbing their use. Children's advocates now question whether the law is being ignored. For complete story, click here.
CNN) -- Juveniles held in a Mississippi detention center are subject to "horrific physical and mental abuse" at an insect-ridden, filthy facility, alleges a federal lawsuit filed Monday.
The suit, filed by the Mississippi Youth Justice Project and Mississippi Protection and Advocacy Inc., accuses staff at the privately-managed Harrison County Juvenile Detention Center of "punitive shackling, staff-on-youth assaults, 23-hour-a-day lock-down in filthy jail cells, unsanitary conditions resulting in widespread contraction of scabies and staph infections, dangerous overcrowding that forces many youth to sleep on the concrete floor, and inadequate mental health care."
The facility is is operated by Mississippi Security Police, a private security corporation based in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The company is paid $1.6 million yearly by Harrison County to manage the juvenile center, according to the lawsuit, which names the county as a defendant. For complete story, click here.
Mount Bachelor is part of Aspen Education -- believed to be the largest chain of teen residential programs in the U.S. Aspen, as part of CRC Health, which is owned by Bain Capital, was seen by advocates as much more sedate and less given to wacky practices than clearly "out there" programs like those associated with the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASP or WWASPS). At one WWASP school, for example, teens were kept in outdoor dog cages.
The stories of psychological abuse coming out of Mount Bachelor -- a few of which are included in my Time piece -- are every bit as bad as I have heard from teens and parents at chains of programs that have far worse reputations. For complete story, click here.
An Oregon School for Troubled Teens Is Under Scrutiny--April 17th, 2009--...A spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) declined to discuss the details of the ongoing investigations, which include a second inquiry based on possible licensing violations. But according to 10 students, two separate parents and a part-time employee interviewed by TIME — some of whom are involved in the inquiry — Mount Bachelor Academy regularly uses intensely humiliating tactics as treatment. For instance, in required seminars that the school calls Lifesteps, students say staff members of the residential program have instructed girls, some of whom say they have been victims of rape or sexual abuse, to dress in provocative clothing — fishnet stockings, high heels and miniskirts — and perform lap dances for male students as therapy. For complete story, click here.
Mount Bachelor Academy near Prineville takes in students from around the
country. The academy is licensed by the Oregon Department of Human Services,
which confirmed it has launched two concurrent investigations.
The first investigation centers on reported abuse and the second on possible licensing violations. State officials would not discuss details of either investigation Monday.
"We cannot comment on the details or timeline of the assessments while they are ongoing. When they are concluded, there may be information that can be shared," Gene Evans, a department spokesman, said in a written statement.
Former students have posted on MySpace and Facebook numerous complaints about the school, ranging from what they characterized as humiliating group therapy sessions to sleep deprivation. Judson DeVries, who left the school in 2007, told The Oregonian he was forced into "very embarrassing" role-playing games. For complete story, click here.
Barbara Deiotte, a social worker at Munster's Wilbur Wright Middle School, has seen an uptick in teenage depression.
"My personal thoughts are that today's lifestyle is more stressful -- everything is kind of fast," Deiotte said, referring to possible reasons for the increase.
"Or maybe we're more aware (of depression)."
With teens, "depression can be a very temporary response" to stress associated with hormones or conflict with parents, she said. "That will come and go. It's normal adolescent angst. Please read complete story, click here.
Two 17-year-old boys were arrested and charged with harassment after allegedly showing up at a Penn Hills house and threatening another 17-year-old boy. The mother of the threatened boy said she believes that her son was threatened because he blew the whistle on alleged extortion going on in the Homewood Community Intervention Supervision Program.
The boy and his mother were not being identified by police with an ongoing investigation into the program. For complete story, click here.
Clean Slates for Youths Sentenced Fraudulently--March 26th, 2009--The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on Thursday ordered the slate cleaned for hundreds of youths who had been sentenced by a corrupt judge. For complete story, click here.
BAY CITY, Mich. – Police in Michigan say a 15-year-old boy has died after being Tasered by officers who were trying to break up a fight.
Police didn't release his name and say state police are investigating.
A Bay City police news release says officers answered a report of an early morning fight on Sunday. The statement says two males were arguing in an apartment, and one of them "attempted to fight the officers."
Police say officers Tasered him, and his reaction led them to immediately call for emergency medical help. He was pronounced dead at Bay Regional Medical Center.
Deputy Chief Thomas Pletzke tells WNEM-TV police placed one officer on administrative leave. For complete story, click here.
Hawthorne Cedar Knolls teen accused of sexually abusing another boy on campus--March 16th,2009--HAWTHORNE - A 17-year-old boy at Hawthorne Cedar Knolls was accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-boy in his residence Saturday night, three days after five teens there were accused of assaulting a fellow resident, police said.
Efrain Castillo, who lives at the residential treatment center for troubled youngsters, was charged with sexual misconduct, unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child, misdemeanors, Mount Pleasant Police Chief Louis Alagno said. He is being held on $10,000 bail at the Westchester County jail in Valhalla. The victim was treated at the Westchester Medical Center. For complete story, click here.
Darrington closes doors--March 2nd, 2009--Darrington Academy, a private school for troubled teens in Blue Ridge, closed its doors Friday, a move that owner and headmaster Richard Darrington says is due to the current state of the economy. For complete story, click here.
The troubled Academy at Ivy Ridge is reportedly closing its doors for good this weekend.
The Ogdensburg private academy, which was geared toward troubled teens will close this weekend and transfer the remaining students to a facility in South Carolina, according to the Daily Courier-Observer this morning. For complete story, click here.
Camp E-Tu-Nake falls victim to state budget cuts--March 10th, 2009--BLAKELY, GA (WALB) - A youth alternative camp in Blakely is closing because of state budget cuts. Camp E-Tu-Nake will close March 27th. For complete story, click here.
Group Home Operates Without License--March 10th, 2009--LaVERGNE, Tenn. -- A group home for foster children in LaVergne is known around town as a hot spot for trouble, and the home has been operating for almost a year without a business license...Police said 43 percent of the trouble calls from LaVergne High School was associated with kids at the Rock of Refuge.
"We did have some pretty rough kids over at LaVergne High," said Usinger.
The LaVergne Records Department said the home's business license expired in June 2008. Usinger denies the home is trying to expand, but issues with the business branching out have been raised.
"A lot of questions have been raised," said Boyd.
In the large neighborhood, it's hard to tell which houses the Rock of Refuge call home, but neighbors have complained since almost the start of the business... For complete story, click here.
70 Youths Sue Former Judges in Detention Kickback Case--February 27th, 2009--More than 70 juveniles and their families filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday against two former judges who
pleaded guilty this month in a scheme that involved their taking kickbacks to put young offenders in privately run detention centers. For complete story, click here.
Luzerne County Courthouse Corruption Probe Expands--March 2nd, 2009--WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- The federal probe into corruption at the Luzerne County courthouse is widening. The I-Team has learned that federal investigators are expanding their investigation.
Sources close to the case tell the I-Team that "target letters" have been sent to several lawyers in Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties. Those letters reportedly say they will be questioned about information they may have about corruption within the Luzerne County legal system.
The I-Team has also learned that at least one district justice from Luzerne County has been questioned by federal agents.
All of this comes in the aftermath of the arrest of four high ranking Luzerne County officials. Suspended Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan pled guilty to taking millions in kickbacks in connection with a juvenile detention center in Pittston Township.
Also busted was former Court Administrator William Sharkey, Sr. He admits to stealing $70,000 in seized gambling money. And Sandy Brulo, a Probation Supervisor, is accused of tampering with public records.
The U.S. Attorney's Office will not comment on our information. For complete story, click here.
Youth boot camps proven to fail--March 3rd, 2009--Clinical psychologists have joined the chorus of disapproval of the Government's planned `boot camps', saying punishment as a deterrent does not work.
The Government is planning to widen the powers of the Youth Court with a range of new sentencing options including sending the worst repeat offenders to military-style camps run by the army.
Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft has already put the boot in to boot camps for young offenders.
He said last week that sentencing youthful offenders to boot camp was "arguably the least successful sentence in the Western world". For complete story, click here.
What We Lost When We Lost Rocky -- Paper First Exposed Teen Torture--March 3rd, 2009--When people talk in the abstract about what we lose when we lose newspapers, it's often hard to drum up much concern. Yeah, people are losing their jobs--that's what happened to the buggy makers when the car took over. Yeah, news is important--but hey, we've got the web now. And the MSM blew it on Iraq, so who needs them anyway? We've got twitter.
Just last week, Denver lost the Rocky Mountain News and before its website disappears, I wanted to share an example of just how much newspapers matter.
This series--Desperate Measures--was the first to comprehensively take on the multi-million teen abuse empire variously known as WWASP, WWASPS and Teen Help. Please take the time to read it--once you start, it's hard to turn away. (And sadly, though WWASP has lost a few rounds lately, it's still operating).
Expensive to conduct, extensive, well-written and well-reported, this journalism helped inspire a generation of activists, as well as my book, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids, which is the first book length investigation of the billion dollar business.
In the series, Pulitzer-prize winner Lou Kilzer and photographer Dennis Schroeder make abundantly clear that the programs affiliated with WWASP are harsh, abusive and wildly popular--and they get a top WWASP official to admit that their staff is untrained and its methods completely untested:
"These people are basically a bunch of untrained people who work for this organization," Ken Kay told the Denver Rocky Mountain News in an interview before he rejoined Teen Help as a vice president. "So they don't have credentials of any kind. ...
"We could be leading these kids to long-term problems that we don't have a clue about because we're not going about it in the proper way. ...
"How in the hell can you call yourself a behavior modification program -- and that's one of the ways it's marketed -- when nobody has the expertise to determine: Is this good, is this bad?"
Kilzer shows that WWASP's contract with parents allows the programs to "use handcuffs, mechanical restraints, electrical disabler, Mace or pepper spray in order to restrain the student." Parents could not sue the program for "liability or damages resulting from restraint procedures." for complete story, click here.
At age 14, the Wilkes-Barre youth had been declared a juvenile delinquent and sent away for treatment, first to a wilderness-style juvenile detention camp and later to a reformatory school.
His crime? He and a friend entered several open cars in Ashley and stole some change, a pre-paid cell phone and a portable music player, he and his mother, Amy, said.
Suddenly the once carefree, basketball-playing teen found himself locked up for 10 months. Each day he struggled to control the rage that was building inside as he worked to earn his release.
What he could not control, he and his mother said, is the sense of helplessness and anger that still haunts him today as he tries to comprehend why he was put away for a misdemeanor crime that, if committed by an adult, likely would have resulted in probation and a fine.
It’s a question thousands of other juveniles and their parents asked during the 12 years now-disgraced Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. presided over Luzerne County’s juvenile court.
People such as Kimberly Bryk of Exeter Township and her daughter, Jamie, who spent more than a year lodged in juvenile detention facilities for a fist fight with another girl, and Sandy Fonzo of Wilkes-Barre and her son, Ed, who bounced in and out of several detention facilities after he violated probation on an initial charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Today those parents and their children think they may have an answer:
Ciavarella and Judge Michael Conahan pleaded guilty on Feb. 12 to accepting more than $2.6 million in kickbacks in exchange for rulings that favored the PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care juvenile detention centers formerly co-owned by Butler Township attorney Robert Powell. For complete story, click here.
The Maine Legislature is considering a bill to
require constitutional safeguards when prisoners are
relegated to solitary confinement — Maine’s
segregation unit certainly qualifies as solitary
confinement — and to preclude solitary confinement
for prisoners suffering from serious mental illness.
It is groundbreaking legislation and goes a long way
to correct a historic wrong turn in corrections.
Back in the 1980s, explosive growth of the prison
population combined with the closure —
deinstitutionalization — of public mental
hospitals resulted in massive overcrowding in the
prisons and a large proportion of prisoners
suffering from serious mental illness. Prison
rehabilitation programs had also been drastically
cut back.
There was good research showing that crowding and
idleness result in sharp rises in the rates of
violence, psychiatric breakdown and suicide in
prisons. But instead of alleviating the crowding,
re-instituting rehabilitation and finding somewhere
that individuals suffering from mental illness could
receive needed treatment, authorities took a wrong
turn and reacted to the rising violence by locking
down prisoners they castigated as “the worst of the
worst” in their solitary cells. Recent research
suggests that this kind of isolation fails to reduce
violence in the prisons. But there are some harmful
effects.
In solitary confinement, the prisoner is isolated
from others in a cell nearly 24 hours per day. In
Maine, the cell doors are solid metal, so the
prisoner has to shout merely to be heard by staff or
residents of adjacent cells. The prisoner eats meals
alone in his cell and remains almost entirely idle
with no programs to permit him to increase socially
desirable skills. This is not “the hole” of
yesteryear. Lights are on around the clock and the
doors open by remote control. The isolation and
idleness are near total. Staff pass by the cells and
slide food trays through slots in the door, but
meaningful communication rarely occurs. For
complete story,
click here.
Defender, prosecutor in
feud over evidence--January
15th, 2010--Broward's public defender has leveled a
broadside against State Attorney Mike Satz's office,
saying his prosecutors systematically sit on
evidence favorable to defendants, cover up for bad
cops and use a double standard of justice that
favors the wealthy and influential. For
complete story,
click here.
Fake DNA prompts change
in criminal forensics--January
13th, 2010--America’s fascination with the use of
forensic science to solve crimes is best proven by
the explosion of TV shows dealing with the topic,
from dramas like CSI and Cold Case to reality shows
like Forensic Files and The Bureau.
During the past two decades, advances in forensics —
the use of
science and technology to investigate and establish
facts in courts
of law — have led to a seismic change in how police
work is conducted
and what jurors expect when hearing a case.
Although forensic evidence is available only in 10
to 20 percent of
all criminal cases, the public places great weight
on its inclusion,
a fact that’s keenly aware to prosecutors and
defense attorneys.
Perhaps the main reason is improvements made in DNA
profiling, or the
analysis of human material like blood, semen, skin
tissue or hair
that can be used to precisely identify an
individual.
The best-known example of DNA profiling’s impact is
the Innocence
Project, a nationwide non-profit group that uses
testing to determine
if a prisoner has been wrongfully convicted. Since
the group began in
1992, more than 240 people in the United States have
been exonerated,
including 17 who were waiting to be executed on
Death Row.
Just last month, the longest-incarcerated victim of
a wrongful
conviction was freed due to the Innocence Project’s
work. James Bain
— who had been imprisoned for 35 years for
kidnapping, rape and
burglary — was exonerated by DNA testing. Before the
project’s
involvement, his appeal was denied four times by the
courts.
But forensics came under fire last summer when
scientists in Israel
were able to create DNA evidence capable of
identifying the wrong
person, causing profiling’s supposed infallibility
to become suspect.
The same bio-tech firm that did the research,
however, has developed
a system to detect the difference between natural
and manufactured
DNA, based on the lack of methylation — a chemical
reaction — in the
artificial sample. For complete story,
click here.
JUDGING THE JUDGES--December
30th, 2009--Just 12 chief federal judges wield
almost exclusive power over secret
misconduct investigations of more than 2,000 fellow
jurists — though some have themselves been accused
of botching reviews or committing ethical blunders,
according to a Houston Chronicle review.
At least four current or former chief circuit judges
have been the subject of recent high-profile
complaints about their behavior; one posted photos
of naked women painted to look like cows and other
graphic images on his publicly accessible Web site;
another manipulated the outcome of a vote in a
death penalty case.
Not one faced formal discipline.
Nationwide, the integrity of the federal judicial
misconduct system relies heavily on chief judges.
Each oversees complaints — more than 6,000 in the
last 10 years — against all circuit, district,
senior, bankruptcy and magistrate judges in
multi-state regions called circuits. Third
Circuit Chief Judge Anthony Scirica, who is also
chairman of
the executive committee of the Judicial Conference
of the United States, told the Chronicle, “The
federal judiciary takes its ethical
responsibilities with the utmost seriousness. Every
misconduct complaint is carefully reviewed.”
He was the only chief circuit judge who directly
responded to Chronicle requests for comment, though
other circuits' staff replied. In seven
circuits, according to the Chronicle analysis,
supervising judges took no public disciplinary
action at all in the last decade, meaning not a
single federal judge faced any sanctions in 29
states with more than 875 full-time federal judges,
despite thousands of complaints. For complete
story,
click here.
Dallas County jail guard
quits after inmate's 'lap dance'--December
30th, 2009--A Dallas County jail guard has resigned
while under investigation for allowing a
20-year-old male inmate to perform a sexually
suggestive
dance for her to music earlier this month, according
to Sheriff’s Department reports.
The “lap dance” occurred in the county’s new direct
supervision jail, where guards supervise inmates
from inside the housing pods — a growing trend in
corrections. For complete story,
click here.
Jails to limit inmate
mail to postcards only--December
29th, 2009--Heidi Boghosian receives hundreds of
letters each week from inmates across the country.
Most are looking for someone to help them or just to
hear their stories.
"The quality of the letters are so touching because
they're looking to establish relationships with
anyone who will listen to them," said Boghosian, the
executive director of the New York-based National
Lawyer's Guild, which publishes the Jailhouse
Lawyers Handbook.
Boghosian, and other civil rights advocates, are
concerned about a policy that 12 Oregon counties,
including Washington and Clackamas, will implement
next month restricting inmates' outgoing social mail
to postcards. By spring, incoming mail will also be
limited to postcards. For complete story,
click here.
Inquiry
Condemns Oversight at State Police Crime Lab
--Analyst, undetected for 15
years, falsified test results and compromised nearly
one-third of his 322 cases
18 Dec 2009 The New York State Police’s supervision
of a crime laboratory was so poor that it overlooked
evidence of pervasively shoddy forensics work,
allowing an analyst to go undetected for 15 years as
he falsified test results and compromised nearly
one-third of his 322 cases, an investigation by the
state’s inspector general has found. The analyst’s
training was so substandard that at one point last
year, investigators discovered he did not know how
to operate a microscope essential to performing his
job, a report released Thursday by the inspector
general said. For complete story,
click here.
Former guard at halfway
house sentenced--December
15th, 2009--A former contract guard at a Houston
halfway house has been sentenced to five months in
federal prison for sexual abuse of a person in
detention. U.S. Attorney Tim Johnson said
30-year-old Nathan Jones of Houston was sentenced to
prison on Tuesday. He will serve five months in home
confinement after completing the prison sentence.
Jones was convicted over the summer of the federal
felony offense. He admitted that in 2007, while
employed at Leidel Comprehensive Sanction Center, he
engaged in a sexual act with a female federal
prisoner in his office. For complete story,
click here.
TALLAHASSEE - Advocates for the
separation of church and state
scored a victory today when the
1st District Court of Appeal
reversed the dismissal of their
claim that state-funded,
"faith-based" rehabilitation of
ex-prisoners is
unconstitutional.
The Council
for Secular Humanism, a New
York-based organization with
membership in Florida, had
appealed a Leon County circuit
court judge's 2008 dismissal of
the group's complaint that the
state's contract with Prisoners
of Christ and Lamb of God
Ministries is unconstitutional.
Specifically, the appellant
complained that the contracts
violate the "no-aid" provision
of the Florida Constitution,
which bars the state from
spending taxpayer money
"directly or indirectly in aid
of any church, sect, or
religious denomination or in aid
of any sectarian institution."
For complete story,
click
here.
Problems at fingerprint labs have often been traced
back to common themes such as inadequate
supervision or training and a lack of standards for
analyzing fingerprints. Houston, in fact, didn't
even have a manual outlining standard procedures
for analyzing prints, according to an audit that
was released last week.
But some experts say the situation in Houston is
just an example of fingerprinting's deep-rooted
woes, which extend across the country.
“Everything needs to change,” said Jennifer Mnookin,
a law professor at UCLA who has studied fingerprint
issues.
In fact, large fingerprint units have been
repeatedly accused of botching their work over the
last few years.
Examples include:
Last year the Los Angeles Police Department
acknowledged that its fingerprint analysis unit was
a sloppy operation where files were left lying
around, prints sometimes lost and at least two
people had been wrongly identified as criminal
suspects because of botched fingerprint analysis.
In 2007, the Seminole County Sheriff's Office in
Florida disciplined multiple employees after it
discovered analysts cutting corners and pegging
fingerprints to the wrong suspects.
Experts say fingerprinting is far from an exact
science. Unlike many other forensic disciplines,
there are few standards for confirming
fingerprints.
That means an analyst in Houston could conceivably
come to different conclusions from an analyst in
Dallas about whether prints are usable, or even
whether they belong to the same person. Lack
of regulation... For complete story,
click here.
Six more inmate sex
abuse suits filed in Oregon--December
7th, 2009--SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Six more
current or former inmates at Oregon's prison for
women have sued the state claiming they were
sexually abused and harassed by male prison
employees.
That makes a total of 11
such suits alleging sexual abuse at the Coffee Creek
Correctional Facility in Wilsonville. It houses
about 1,100 inmates.
The Salem
Statesman Journal reports that among the
allegations in the latest suits is that a
corrections officer forced inmates to perform sex
acts, and and that he demanded sex in exchange for
letting women out of their cells or letting them off
the hook for violating rules. For complete
story,
click here.
Illinois inmates fight soy
sentence in lawsuit--November
19th, 2009--Some Illinois inmates filed a
suit against the soy diet they are served in prison,
but the debate on soy originated outside prison
walls. The argument is centered on the fact that
most soy in America is genetically modified.
Genetically modified organisms are plants, animals,
or bacteria, in which the genetic material, or DNA,
has been altered in such a way that does not occur
naturally, according to the World Health
Organization. The genetic makeup of these organisms
is altered using a special set of technologies.
“Genetically engineered soy now constitutes 90
percent of all soy growing in the United States,”
said Jeffrey Smith, executive director of the
Institute for Responsible Technology, Fairfield,
Iowa. The organization’s purpose is to educate
people about the health risks of genetically
modified organisms.
Immune system problems, gastrointestinal
problems, organ damage, deregulation of insulin, and
accelerated aging have been linked to genetically
modified feed in animal feeding studies, according
to the American Academy of Environmental Medicine in
Wichita, Kan. In May, the academy issued a statement
calling on all doctors to prescribe a
non-genetically modified diet to all patients.
For complete story,
click here.
For more on this story,
click here.
Lawsuit: Inmate died after water
denied--November
17th, 2009--A federal
lawsuit claims an inmate who died while on a work detail in
Quitman County in June was denied water while picking up trash
in the summer heat. For complete story,
click here.
Auditors found instances in which the lab failed to handle
criminal evidence according to standards set by the American
Society of Crime Laboratory Directors. For complete story,
click here.
Hartford Police Investigating Three
Of Their Own In Beating Of Prisoner--November
8th, 2009--HARTFORD - Police are investigating three of
their own after a prisoner was beaten Nov. 1. Police Chief
Daryl K. Roberts said that the investigation began Thursday,
shortly after police commanders learned of the assault, which
was captured on the department's video monitoring system.
For complete story,
click here.
Prison worker: Riot started over
food quality--November
6th, 2009--FRANKFORT,
Ky. — A Northpoint Training Center corrections officer testified
Friday that inmates rioted at the prison in August because they
weren’t being fed enough and the food they did receive was of
poor quality. For
complete story,
click here.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has
ordered a review of a little-known Bush
administration policy requiring some
defendants to waive their right to DNA
testing even though that right is guaranteed
in a landmark federal law, officials said.
The practice of using DNA waivers began
several years ago as a response to the
Innocence Protection Act of 2004, which
allowed federal inmates to seek
post-conviction DNA tests to prove their
innocence. More than 240 wrongly
convicted people have been exonerated by
such tests, including 17 on death row.
For complete story,
click here.
Federal Appeals Court Condemns
Shackling Of Pregnant Prisoners In Labor
--October 2nd, 2009--NEW YORK – Ruling in the case of an
Arkansas woman who was shackled to her hospital bed while in
labor in 2003, a federal appeals court today said that
constitutional protections against shackling pregnant women
during labor had been clearly established by decisions of the
Supreme Court and the lower courts. This is the first time a
circuit court has made such a determination. The full Eighth
Circuit Court of Appeals made the ruling today in the case of
ACLU client Shawanna Nelson.
"This is a historic decision by a U.S. Court of Appeals that
affirms the dignity of all women and mothers in America," said
Elizabeth Alexander, Director of the American Civil Liberties
Union"s National Prison Project. "Correctional officials across
the country are now on notice that they can no longer engage in
this widespread practice." For complete story,
click here.
NSW Health has given its full backing to its
criminal DNA testing, despite it leading to the
wrongful conviction of a man for break and enter in
2008.
NSW Health commenced an exhaustive review of its
DNA "cold links", where DNA evidence is matched to a
person on a state DNA database. For complete
story,
click here.
The man almost took the dirty secret
of his death to his grave. The
Tarrant County medical examiner’s
office said injuries from a pickup
wreck killed him. But after a
funeral director hundreds of miles
away found a bullet in the man’s
head, authorities realized a killer
was on the loose.
Worse has happened in the autopsy
suites of Texas medical examiners.
A child molester faked his own
death and almost got away with it
after the Travis County medical
examiner mistook the burned body of
an 81-year-old woman for the
23-year-old man. For complete
story,
click here.
In 1996, Congress passed a law that made it
much harder for inmates to challenge abusive
treatment. It has contributed significantly
to the bad conditions — including the
desperate overcrowding — that prevail today.
The law must be fixed. For complete
story,
click here.
Making Forensic Science Scientific--September
21st, 2009--With the busiest death chamber in the nation, it
was only a matter of time before Texas positioned itself to
become the first state to admit that it executed a person who
was wrongfully convicted. And now that day is at hand.
According to a nationally respected fire engineer, the so-called
scientific evidence used to convict Cameron Todd Willingham of
setting a blaze that killed his three daughters in 1995 was not
scientific at all. In his scathing report to the Texas Forensic
Science Commission, Craig Beyler found that the arson
investigators on the case had a poor understanding of fire
dynamics and based their conclusions on erroneous assumptions,
sloppy research and a dash of mysticism. For example, one
investigator determined that, because the house fire burned "hot
and fast," an accelerant such as gasoline had been used to set
it. But that theory -- still given credence in some
investigatory circles -- is not factual. Gasoline fires are not
significantly hotter than those started with wood, Beyler
reported. For complete story,
click here.
Forensics Under Fire--September
18th, 2009--There has been much nail-biting in
courthouse crowds across the country since the February release
of the National Academy of Sciences report on the state
of forensic science. The report, to put it mildly, was not
flattering. Forensic labs are underfunded, and many of the areas
in which forensic scientists toil – including handwriting,
ballistics, and fingerprint analysis, just to name a few – are
unsupported by rigorous empirical scientific testing, the report
concluded. Of existing "forensic methods, only nuclear DNA
analysis has been rigorously shown to have the capacity to
consistently, and with a high degree of certainty, demonstrate a
connection between an evidentiary sample and a specific
individual or source," reads the report.That
conclusion has, frankly, freaked out a lot of folks – including
many prosecutors who are often the "end consumers" of forensic
science, as Matthew Redle, Wyoming state director of the
National District Attorneys Association, recently put
it. In an effort to figure out what should be done, now that the
forensic cat has been let out of the bag, Vermont Sen.
Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chair of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, convened a hearing Sept. 9 to discuss with experts
how to proceed. "Much important work is done through forensics,"
but that is certainly not always so, Leahy noted, singling out
Texas' execution of Cameron Todd Willingham for an
arson-murder based on junk fire science as a disturbing recent
example. For complete story,
click here.
Ohio
ACLU against Strickland-endorsed reform bill--September
8th, 2009--A justice reform bill endorsed by Gov. Ted
Strickland and passed by the Senate designed to prevent
wrongful convictions also includes a controversial measure to
expand the collection of DNA samples to those arrested on
felony charges. Currently, Ohio takes DNA only from people
convicted of felonies and violent misdemeanors. Law
enforcement groups support the expansion, saying it gets
violent offenders off the street quicker and prevents future
crimes. But others say DNA collection before conviction
crosses the line, especially because the bill does not address
what happens if a person isn't convicted.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio opposes the measure,
saying it poses a "myriad of civil liberty risks" including
violating a person's constitutional protections against illegal
search and seizure, is ripe for abuse and is an invasion of
privacy. For complete story,
click here.
Officers allegedly used inmate as
prison fighter--September
16th, 2009--A prison sergeant and two former officers
used an inmate known as `Monster' to beat up troublesome inmates
at Dade Correctional Institution, a federal indictment alleges.
For complete story,
click here.
Harris County criminal court judge
indicted--August
27th, 2009--A Harris County Criminal Court-at-Law
judge was indicted this morning for misdemeanor official
oppression, officials said. Few details were
immediately available regarding the charge against Don Jackson,
a 17-year judge, said Joe Stinebaker, spokesman for Harris
County Judge Ed Emmett. For complete story,
click here.
Prisoners moved after riot
controlled, officials brief media--August
22nd, 2009--BURGIN,
Ky. — Rioting inmates started several fires at a central Ky.
prison, and damage to several buildings was so extensive that
officials have to bus some of the facility's 1,200 prisoners
elsewhere, police said Saturday.
For complete story,
click here.
Drug-test suit alleges false
imprisonment--August
21st, 2009--Five former probationers allege in a lawsuit
filed Thursday that they were falsely charged and imprisoned in
2008 after drug tests that Treatment Associates conducted showed
false-positive results.
The plaintiffs are suing Treatment Associates owner Jeff
Warner, as well as two Bexar County supervisors, for unspecified
damages. The Bexar supervisors named in the suit are Bill
Fitzgerald, chief of the county's Community Supervision and
Corrections Department, and Kathleen Cline, the probation
department's director of operations. According
to the suit, filed in the county's 408th District Court, former
probationers Michelle Archer, Rosa M. Rocha, Frank Viesca,
Raymond Anthony and Jimmie Martinez were jailed after faulty
drug tests showed their urine was positive for illegal
substances.
“Jailing these individuals who had been successfully
serving probation ... was devastating to the integrity of the
criminal justice system and destructive to the ability of the
system to protect the safety of the public,” said their
attorney, David Van Os. For complete story,
click here.
Inmates grow, gather veggies, make soup
for hungry--August
18th, 2009--COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The nation's food banks,
struggling to meet demand in hard times, are turning to prison
inmates for free labor to help feed the hungry.
Several states are sending inmates into already harvested fields
to scavenge millions of pounds of leftover potatoes, berries and
other crops that otherwise would go to waste. Others are using
prisoners to plant and harvest vegetables.
"We're in a situation where, without their help, the food banks
absolutely could not accomplish all that they do," said Ross
Fraser, a spokesman for Feeding America, a national association
of food banks. For complete story,
click here.
(Webmaster Note: Isn't it wonderful that when financial
times get tough, we can always return to slave labor? And,
with indefinite detentions and no criminal convictions as the
current standard minimum for being held prisoner in the US, you
too may get to be a slave. Where do you draw the line?
If you do not stand up for others now, there will be no one left
to take a stand.)
DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated,
Scientists Show--August
17th, 2009--Scientists in Israel have demonstrated
that it is possible to fabricate
DNA evidence, undermining the credibility of what has been
considered the gold standard of proof in criminal cases.
For complete story,
click here.
Scalia says there's
nothing unconstitutional about executing the innocent.
By Ian Millhiser 17 Aug 2009 In light of the very real evidence
that Davis could be innocent of the crime that placed him on
death row, the Supreme Court today invoked a rarely used
procedure giving [Troy Anthony] Davis an
opportunity to challenge his conviction.
Joined by Justice Clarence Thomas in dissent, however, Justice
Antonin Scalia
criticized his colleagues
for thinking that mere innocence is grounds to overturn a
conviction: This Court has never held that the Constitution
forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a
full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court
that he is "actually" innocent. Quite to the contrary, we
have repeatedly left that question unresolved, while expressing
considerable doubt that any claim based on alleged "actual
innocence" is constitutionally cognizable. For complete
story,
click here.
A federal judge on Thursday
issued a stern rebuke to state corrections officials for
the way they classify some parolees as sex offenders
even though the defendants have never been convicted of
sex crimes.
U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks also voiced
frustration with state parole officials for ignoring
earlier court decisions and a previous directive by him
and ordered the state Board of Pardons and Paroles to
review whether to leave parolee Ray Curtis Graham on sex
offender restrictions.
"It's time for the parole division and the Board of
Pardons and Paroles to stop being defensive and start
trying not to use technical defenses," Sparks said, in
ruling that the restrictions were not imposed on Graham
legally and that parole officials ignored a subsequent
court warning about the deficiency.
"The undisputed evidence established no official
involved in the ... process has ever made the necessary
finding that Mr. Graham constituted a threat to society
by his lack of sexual control."
Sparks also declared a mistrial in the case after a
week of testimony when attorneys for the state objected
to comments he made to the jury about a witness'
testimony.
Graham filed suit against parole officials after they
officially listed him as a sex offender in December 2007
— without allowing him to see the results of a
psychiatric evaluation they ordered him to undergo or to
appear with his attorneys at a hearing at which the
decision was made. Graham, who served time in prison for
burglary and attempted murder, was never convicted of a
sex crime. He was arrested for aggravated rape in 1982,
but was never convicted. (Web Assistant Note: Sex
offender status without a conviction in secretive parole
officer circles? Titles given without proof,
sounds like troubled teen diagnosis. Who needs science
or due process when we have (so-called) professionals
making shit up? (Sarcasm)) For complete
story,
click here.
MOBILE, Ala. -- Herman Thomas' attorney, Bob
Clark, said Thursday that he was "reasonably
certain" that more indictments against the
ex-judge soon would emerge from a special Mobile
County grand jury.
The 48-year-old Thomas, who
left the
Circuit Court bench in October 2007 under
pressure,
was indicted in March on charges that
included kidnapping, extortion and sodomy in
connection with criminal court defendants.
For complete story,
click here.
CSI Myths: The Shaky Science Behind
Forensics--August,
2009--Forensic
science was not developed by scientists. It was mostly created
by cops, who were guided by little more than common sense. And
as hundreds of criminal cases begin to unravel, many established
forensic practices are coming under fire. PM takes an in-depth
look at the shaky science that has put innocent people behind
bars. For complete story,
click here.
MIAMI -- In
her online profile, Paula Jones says she is
42, "nonjudgmental" and likes fishing,
gardening and cuddling. There's a catch,
though. Jones' picture shows her in her blue
Florida prison uniform. She won't be out
until at least 2010.
Her listing is posted
on a Web site called WriteAPrisoner.com.
She's looking for a pen pal.
"If you're looking for someone genuine
and true, I'm looking for you," her profile
says. "I'm just a stamp away."
By posting her profile, however, Jones is
breaking a rule. Florida officials have
banned inmates from having the
Match.com-style listings, saying prisoners
just create problems for their
outside-the-pen pals.
Other states - Missouri, Montana, Indiana
and Pennsylvania - have similar
restrictions. Now lawsuits in Florida and
elsewhere say the bans are unfair and
violate First Amendment rights.
"The public knows when they're writing to
these people that they're prisoners," said
Randall Berg Jr., a lawyer representing two
pen pal groups - including Florida-based
WriteAPrisoner.com - that have sued in the
state. "Nobody is being duped here."
WriteAPrisoner.com president and owner
Adam Lovell says the bulk of the people who
use his site to write to inmates are from
religious groups, military people stationed
overseas and others affected by the prison.
Fraud isn't as widespread as Florida
corrections officials suggest, he said.
For complete story,
click here.
Losing The Moral High Ground--July
23rd, 2009--The US military has, understandably and
correctly, condemned the
coerced video of a US soldier taken hostage by Taliban in
Afghanistan. But I fear that the argument that the public
humiliation of prisoners is against international law won't take
the US very far after 8 years of Bush-Cheney.
After the evidence surfaced that the US military took all those
humiliating pictures of prisoners at Abu Ghraib to blackmail
them by threatening to make them public, the US assertion of
support for this principle of the Geneva Conventions will be met
with, well, let us say substantial skepticism.
In fact, as I was reminded by a former ambassador, the
Bush-Cheney-Yoo-Addison gutting of US conformance with the
Geneva Conventions really makes it difficult for Washington
credibly to complain about the treatment of any of our captured
soldiers. The Taliban could hold the soldier hostage forever if
they follow the principle put forward by Sen. Lindsey Graham.
They could (God forbid) put him in stress positions naked and
threaten to release the pictures to his family, and they would
have done nothing that Rumsfeld's Pentagon had not done
routinely and on a vast scale. For complete story,
click here.
"When I was 15, my friends started going to jail," says
Victoria Law, a native New Yorker. "Chinatown's gangs
were recruiting in the high schools in Queens and, faced
with the choice of stultifying days learning nothing in
overcrowded classrooms or easy money, many of my friends
had dropped out to join a gang."
"One by one," Law recalls, "they landed in Rikers Island, an entire
island in New York City devoted to pretrial detainment
for those who can not afford bail."
Law shares this and other recollections in her new
book,
Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated
Women(PM Press). At 16, she herself decided to
join a gang, but was arrested for the armed robbery that
she committed for her initiation into the gang. "Because
it was my first arrest -- and probably because
16-year-old Chinese girls who get straight As in school
did not seem particularly menacing -- I was eventually
let off with probation," she writes.
Before her release from jail, Law was held in the
"Tombs" awaiting arraignment. While the adult women she
met there had all been arrested for prostitution, she
also met three teenagers arrested for unarmed assault.
"Two of the girls were black lesbian lovers. In a
scenario that would be repeated 13 years later in the
case of the New Jersey Four, they had been out with
friends when they encountered a cab driver who had tried
to grab one of them. Her friends intervened, the cab
driver called the police and the girls were arrested for
assault." Law notes that "both of my cellmates were
subsequently sent to Rikers Island." For complete
story,
click here.
PUEBLO, Colo.—Documents and videotapes made by an opponent of the
federal Supermax prison are being archived at Colorado State
University-Pueblo.
Archivists at the university's Southern Colorado Ethnic Heritage
and Diversity collection are reviewing the papers of Mitchell
Kaufman, who died in 1998.
Kaufman's brother Joel says Mitchell Kaufman initially opposed
Supermax because he believed the prison system was inherently
racist, citing its disproportionate numbers of Hispanic and black
inmates.
Joel Kaufman says his brother also opposed Supermax for its small
cells where inmates might be confined for all but a half-hour each
day.
Supermax, built in 1994, houses the nation's most dangerous
prisoners.
Mitchell Kaufman died at age 54 from a reaction to medication.
For complete story,
click here.
State investigating abuse reports at
private prison--July
16th, 2009--FRANKFORT, Ky. — The state Department of
Corrections is investigating allegations of sexual abuse against
as many as 16 Kentucky women housed at the privately run Otter
Creek Correctional Center in Wheelwright. For complete
story,
click here.
Legal experts and prosecutors are concerned about the results of
last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that requires lab
analysts to be in court to testify about their tests. Lab sheets
that identify a substance as a narcotic or breath-test printouts
describing a suspect's blood-alcohol level are no longer
sufficient evidence, the court ruled. A person must be in court
to talk about the test results.
The opinion, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, has prosecutors
and judges shaking their heads in disgust and defense lawyers
nodding with satisfaction at the notion that the Constitution's
Sixth Amendment guarantee that defendants "shall enjoy the right
. . . to be confronted with the witnesses against him" is not
satisfied by a sheet of paper.
"This is the biggest case for the defense since Miranda," said
Fairfax defense lawyer Paul L. McGlone, referring to the Supreme
Court ruling that required police to inform defendants of their
Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. He said judges
"are no longer going to assume certain facts are true without
requiring the prosecution to actually put on their evidence."
For complete story,
click here.
Supermax prison blocked Obama books
requested by detainee --Officials at the
Florence, Colorado supermax prison deemed the bestsellers
'potentially detrimental to national security' 10 Jul 2009
He has been president of the United States for 172 days, yet it
appears that Barack Obama is still deemed capable of producing
writing that is "potentially detrimental to national security".
That peculiar judgement was made following a request by a
high-security prisoner to read Obama's two bestselling books,
Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope. The plea was
made by Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, who is being held at a supermax
prison in Florence, Colorado. Abu Ali, a US citizen, was found
guilty on 25 November of helping al-Qaida and plotting to
assassinate the then US president [sic] George Bush. For
complete story,
click here.
ACLU Seeks End To Censorship Of
Religious Material By Virginia Jail--July
9th, 2009--STAFFORD, VA – The American Civil Liberties
Union and the ACLU of Virginia today demanded that
officials at the Rappahannock Regional
Jail immediately end their illegal practice of censoring
religious material sent to detainees.
In a letter sent today to the jail's superintendent, Joseph
Higgs, Jr., the ACLU asks for jail officials to guarantee
in writing that the jail will no longer censor biblical
passages from letters written to detainees and to revise
the jail's written inmate mail policy to state that
letters will not be censored simply because they contain
religious material.
"It is nothing short of stunning that a jail would think it okay
to censor the Bible and other religious material for no
reason other than its religious nature," said David
Shapiro, staff attorney with the ACLU National Prison
Project. "Such censorship violates both the rights of
detainees to practice religion freely and the free speech
rights of those wanting to communicate with detainees."
For complete story,
click here.
Since March, the city's Adult Probation
and Parole Department has been using the
system to reshuffle the way it assigns
cases. Each time someone new comes
through intake, a clerk enters his or
her name and the computer takes just
seconds to fish through a database for
relevant information and deliver a
verdict of high, medium, or low risk.
"It's a complete paradigm shift for the
department," said chief probation and
parole officer Robert Malvestuto.
"Science has made this available to us.
We'd be foolish not to use it."
Criminologists say the system works -
it can identify those most likely to
commit violent crimes. But whether
Philadelphia can use that to intervene
and change people's behavior is still
not known. A full evaluation won't be
done until the end of the year.
For complete story,
click here.
Ex-guard attests to alleged inmate
abuse at Westmoreland County Prison--July
4th, 2009--A Westmoreland County Prison inmate was taken out of
his cell, punched, choked, kicked and threatened with death as
punishment for talking back to a guard, according to a statement
given by a corrections officer who said he witnessed the
incident. For complete story,
click here.
Innocents Lost--June
21st, 2009--A MAJORITY OF the Supreme Court ruled last week
that prisoners do not have a constitutional right to
post-conviction DNA testing. The decision was based in large
part on the assertion that federal judicial intervention was
unnecessary because the great majority of state legislatures
already had passed laws to give prisoners adequate access to the
revolutionary technology. The majority's argument has merit, but
the decision in District Attorney's Office v. Osborne was
nonetheless wrong.
The decision sprang from the case of
William G. Osborne, who was convicted of
the brutal 1993 kidnapping, rape and
assault of an Alaska woman. A
rudimentary DNA test performed on semen
found at the crime scene excluded two
suspects but not Mr. Osborne. Mr.
Osborne's trial lawyer declined a more
advanced DNA test for fear that the
results could definitively implicate her
client.
On appeal, Alaskan courts denied Mr.
Osborne's request for further DNA
testing, concluding that eyewitness
accounts and other evidence against him
were so strong that DNA tests would
likely not be dispositive. A federal
appeals court ultimately ruled that Mr.
Osborne was entitled to further testing;
the Supreme Court by a 5 to 4 majority
overturned this decision last week.
For complete story,
click here.
Keystone Cops at the Police Lab--June
18th, 2009--When CSI became the most popular drama on
television earlier this decade, forensic scientists
employed by police departments emerged from anonymity.
Discerning viewers seemed to understand that real- life police
laboratory personnel (filling a job description officially
known as "criminalist") do not solve murders and rapes
within an hour. Still, the glamorization generated by television
drama had begun, increasing exponentially with the spinoff shows
CSI: Miami and CSI: New York.
Many criminalists indeed serve justice well, conscientiously
analyzing evidence found at crime scenes, including blood,
fingerprints, scrapings from beneath fingernails, hair, dirt,
shoe impressions, tire tracks, hard copy documents,
computer messages and more. The good ones keep up with new
forensic techniques, write objective reports, consult
openly with defense attorneys as well as prosecutors,
testify truthfully in court and never lose sight of the
ultimate goal — convicting the guilty while excluding the
innocent from the pool of suspects.
But as it becomes increasingly evident that wrongful convictions
constitute a cancer within the criminal justice system, it
becomes simultaneously obvious that numerous criminalists
are part of the problem. One incompetent or dishonest
criminalist can infect hundreds of cases in a crime
laboratory, with some of those cases mutating
into wrongful convictions. For complete story,
click here.
Elusive Justice Overdue In the Case
of Political Prisoner Paul Minor--June
18th, 2009--It is time for the Obama Justice Department
to reverse one of the most egregiously political persecutions of
the Bush era - Paul Minor's bogus conviction on trumped up
charges of public corruption "bribery" despite a total lack of
evidence that his role as the top
funder of Democratic candidates in Mississippi netted him
anything other than misery and a harsh prison sentence.
Attorney General Eric Holder stated recently that "elections
have consequences." That premise should apply not just to
President Obama's pick for the Supreme Court and appointment of
new U.S. Attorneys, as Holder mentioned. It should compel a
swift review of the unjust prosecutions of prominent Democrats
targeted by the Bush Justice Department.
Paul Minor's case is Exhibit A.
Paul Minor's attorneys recently filed a straightforward,
compelling brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
outlining the multiple errors the prosecution made in convicting
Minor for bribery despite the government not being required to
prove a quid pro quo. In such cases, crystal clear case law
requires the presiding judge to instruct the jury that they can
only convict a campaign fundraiser of bribing public officials
if clear "this for that" evidence exists of a quid pro quo
agreement leading to a specific official act by the recipient in
exchange for the campaign contributions. For complete
story,
click here.
ACLU suit to challenge isolation
prisons--June
18th, 2009--Civil rights activists plan to file a lawsuit
today contesting the transfer of a Tunisian American prisoner to
a federal prison facility that some inmates have dubbed "Little
Guantanamo." The suit by the American Civil Liberties
Union on behalf of Sabri Benkahla could be the first of many
challenging the secretive units, which drastically restrict
outside contact. For complete story,
click here.
In Light Of New Report, ACLU Calls
On Congress To Restore Courts As Check On Prisoner Abuse-June
17th, 2009--WASHINGTON – In light of a new report showing
that a law intended to reduce so-called “frivolous lawsuits” by
prisoners has resulted in barring serious prison abuse cases
from reaching the courts, the American Civil Liberties Union
today called on Congress to amend parts of the Prison Litigation
Reform Act of 1996 (PLRA). The law
requires prisoners to exhaust the internal grievance process of
their facilities and allege a physical injury due to
mistreatment in order to seek redress in the courts. The
troubling consequences of the PLRA are made clear in a
Human Rights Watch report released today which finds that the
exhaustion and physical injury requirements of the law have been
particularly problematic for juveniles who are at higher risk of
sexual assault and other violence. The American Civil Liberties
Union has long fought to amend parts of the PLRA known as the
exhaustion provision,
the physical injury provision and the Act’s application to
juveniles. For complete story,
click here.
ATLANTA (AP) — The recession
is hitting home for inmates,
too: Some cash-strapped
states are taking aim at
prison menus.
Georgia prisoners already
didn't get lunch on the
weekends, and the Department
of Corrections recently
eliminated the midday meal
on Fridays, too. Ohio may
drop weekend breakfasts and
offer brunch instead. Other
states are cutting back on
milk and fresh fruit.
Officials say prisoners are
still getting enough calories,
but family members and critics
say the changes could make
prisoners irritable and food a
valuable commodity, increasing
the possibility of violence.
For complete story,
click
here.
Prosecutors, judge accused of
misconduct--June
2nd, 2009--Attorneys
with the Louisville public defender's office are accusing two
prosecutors of withholding crucial information and then lying in
court about making a deal with a jailhouse informant in a
capital murder case. For
complete story,
click here.
Arizona: Halt to a Detention
Practice--May
30th, 2009--The director of Arizona state prisons
suspended the use of unshaded outdoor holding cells after an
inmate’s death. The inmate, Marcia Powell, 48, was left in an
unshaded enclosure for nearly four hours on May 19 as
temperatures topped 100. The corrections director, Charles L.
Ryan, said Ms. Powell, serving a sentence for prostitution,
should not have been left in the cell for so long. Mr. Ryan
placed three officers on administrative leave pending a criminal
investigation. The outdoor cells hold inmates when they are
being transferred from one area in a prison to another.
For complete story,
click here.
Guard charged in hospital beating in
Lancaster--May
28th, 2009--A Lancaster County Prison guard last August
severely beat a prison inmate who had been shackled to a
hospital bed, according to criminal
and civil complaints. Silvestre Villarreal, a longtime
prison guard who weighs about 200 pounds, climbed on a bed at
Lancaster General Hospital and straddled the inmate, according
to the complaint of a civil lawsuit filed a
week ago. The correctional officer repeatedly hit the
inmate, Vance Laughman, until nurses intervened. He struck him
so hard that he broke his own hand, according to the complaint.
For complete story,
click here.
The Wyandotte County jail is following Johnson
County’s example and preventing inmates from
sending personal letters in envelopes.
The Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office
announced Wednesday that inmates would have to
limit all of their personal correspondence to
postcards no larger than 5 by 7 inches. The new
policy does not apply to “official”
correspondence — privileged or governmental
mail.
A release from the office said the move was
made to reduce the workload of the jail’s
mail-handling services and to reduce contraband.
For complete story,
click here.
A Standard for Fair Trials--May
17th, 2009--When dismissing the charges against former
Alaska senator Ted Stevens recently, the trial judge noted that
the prosecutorial failures to turn over exculpatory evidence in
that case were symptomatic of a larger problem within the
Justice Department. Indeed, such failures are happening across
our criminal justice system. Three weeks ago, the Supreme Court
reversed the death sentence of a Vietnam veteran because a
Tennessee prosecutor withheld witness statements that directly
contradicted the state's version of the case. For complete
story,
click here.
Cell phone nets TDCJ inmate 60 more
years--May
14th, 2009--A Coffield Unit inmate was sentenced to 60
years in prison Tuesday after an Anderson County jury found him
guilty of possessing a cell phone in a correctional facility.
A seven woman, five man jury found Derrick Ross, 38, of the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Coffield Unit guilty of
having a prohibited item in a correctional facility. For
complete story,
click here.
A report in February by a committee of the
National Academy of Sciences found
“serious problems” with much of the work
performed by crime laboratories in the
United States. Recent incidents of faulty
evidence analysis — including the case of an
Oregon lawyer who was arrested by the
F.B.I. after the 2004 Madrid terrorist
bombings based on fingerprint identification
that turned out to be wrong — were just
high-profile examples of wider deficiencies,
the committee said. Crime labs were
overworked, there were few certification
programs for investigators and technicians,
and the entire field suffered from a lack of
oversight.
But perhaps the most damning conclusion
was that many forensic disciplines —
including analysis of fingerprints, bite
marks and the striations and indentations
left by a pry bar or a gun’s firing
mechanism — were not grounded in the kind of
rigorous, peer-reviewed research that is the
hallmark of classic science. DNA analysis
was an exception, the report noted, in that
it had been studied extensively. But many
other investigative tests, the report said,
“have never been exposed to stringent
scientific scrutiny.” For complete
story,
click here.
PALM BEACH, Fla., May 11 (UPI) -- Advocates for
the separation of church and state say they're
closely watching Florida's expansion of
non-denominational faith-based prisons.
While 21 other states have faith-based
dormitories, Florida is the only one with entire
prisons focused on faith and character, the
South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Monday.
Glade Correctional in Palm Beach County this
week becomes the fifth faith-based prison in
Florida under a program begun in 2003, said
Kathy Connor, a state corrections spokeswoman.
Constitutional issues arise, however, when
prisons start linking where inmates live to
religious programs, said Alex Luchenitser, a
lawyer with Americans United for Separation of
Church and State. For complete story,
click here.
Ritter gets bill requiring DNA tests on
arrest--May
7th, 2009--A bill that supporters say will save "our
daughters' and our wives' " lives is on the way to Gov. Bill
Ritter's desk after lawmakers approved taking DNA samples upon
arrest.
Senate Bill 241 has been dubbed "Katie's Law" and is named for
the New Mexico college student whose murder spurred her parents
to push for DNA testing upon arrest.
The bill was amended to allow police to take DNA tests upon
arrest but for the sample not to be processed unless a person is
charged. The sample will be destroyed if no charges are filed.
For complete story,
click here.
Lawsuit filed over Florida prisons'
pen pal ban--May
6th, 2009--The Fort Lauderdale owner of a Christian pen
pal service filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday charging the Florida
Department of Corrections with violating the First Amendment by
blocking her from putting churches in touch with Florida
inmates.
Joy Perry runs Prison Pen Pals and the Freedom Through Christ
Ministry, which gives prisoners' contact information to churches
that want to send them Bibles and other religious materials. She
filed suit in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville along with
Adam Lovell of Edgewater, president of
WriteAPrisoner.Com.
For complete story,
click here.
Judge OKs inmate suit over routine strip
searches--March
31st, 2009--PHILADELPHIA—Prisons
cannot routinely strip search drunk drivers and other non-drug,
non-violent arrestees without reason to think they are hiding
contraband, a federal judge ruled in a potential class-action
suit.
The ruling in Pennsylvania follows those in nine other federal
circuits, although the 11th U.S. Circuit recently disagreed in a
case involving a prison in Fulton County, Ga.
Senior U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois, though, rejected that
court's reasoning and said in a 49-page opinion that plaintiffs
strip searched at the Delaware County Prison can proceed with their
suit against the Geo Group.
The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company, which operates dozens of
prisons around the country, ran the nearly 1,900-bed Delaware County
Prison until ending the contract last year. For complete
story,
click here.
Former Alabama judge indicted on
inmate sex charges--March
31st, 2009--CNN) -- A former south Alabama
judge is accused of checking male inmates out of jail and
forcing them to engage in sexual activity including paddling,
according to officials and court documents.
Former
Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas was arrested Friday after
a grand jury returned the indictments against him. He was released
on $287,500 bond later Friday.
The indictments total 57 counts, and the charges range from
ethics violations to kidnapping, extortion, sex abuse and sodomy. If
convicted on the most serious charge -- kidnapping, a Class A felony
-- Thomas faces a prison sentence of 10 to 99 years in prison,
Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson Jr. said Monday.
For complete story,
click here.
Prison officials said the two should not have been placed in the
same cell together, and there will be an investigation.
Corrections officers found 23-year-old Paul Duran unresponsive in
the cell Wednesday night, the McAlester News-Capital reported.
This was less than an hour after he was placed in the cell that
was already housing 32-year-old Jesse James Dalton, who is serving a
sentence of life in prison without parole, in part because of
testimony given by Duran about a 2003 murder. For complete
story,
click here.
Lawsuit claims abuse in La. jail;
attorney likens prison to Abu Ghraib--March
6th, 2009--ST. TAMMANY, La. — A contractor and
former law enforcement officer has filed a federal lawsuit
accusing St. Tammany Parish deputies of holding him in jail for
four months in conditions his attorney likened to Abu Ghraib,
the notorious prison in Iraq.
Norman J. Manton Jr.
of Covington was arrested in January 2008 during an investigation
into the disappearance of Albert Bloch, 61, of Jefferson Parish.
Charges against Manton, a former Covington police officer and
deputy, were later dropped.
Bloch has not been found.
Manton's suit, which seeks $3.25 million in compensatory and
punitive damages, alleges that deputies coerced a witness into
connecting Manton to the case. In jail, he was denied medical
treatment, held in isolation and beaten by other inmates, according
to the suit. For complete story,
click here.
His wife, Kitty, beat a highly publicized,
years-long addiction to diet pills and
anti-depressants.
As governor of
Massachusetts in the 1980s, Dukakis
championed cutting-edge treatment programs
for imprisoned drunk drivers in his state,
which were among the first in the nation. He
launched programs to curb teenage drinking
and drug abuse.
As the Democratic nominee for president
in 1988, he challenged Americans to kick
their habit of drink and drugs.
On Tuesday, Dukakis, 75, brought his
rehab message to Austin, in meetings with
state leaders to urge them to grow Texas’
treatment programs — even expand some to
cover Medicaid recipients.
And he brought congratulations: Texas is
a national model, by greatly expanding its
prison treatment and rehabilitation programs
two years ago in a move that was criticized.
(Please see the other articles on our site
exposing the Texas model as torture.
For complete story,
click here. For more
info,
click here.)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One in every 31 U.S. adults is in
the corrections system, which includes jail, prison,
probation and supervision, more than double the rate of
a quarter century ago, according to a report released on
Monday by the Pew Center on the States.
The study,
which said the current rate compares to one in 77 in
1982, concluded that with declining resources, more
emphasis should be put on community supervision, not
jail or prison.
"Violent and career criminals need to be locked up,
and for a long time. But our research shows that prisons
are housing too many people who can be managed safely
and held accountable in the community at far lower
cost," said Adam Gelb, director of the Center's Public
Safety Performance Project, which produced the report.
For complete story,
click here.
Supreme Court scales
back 'Miranda,' eases rules for questioning
suspects 25 Feb 2010 The
Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that investigators
may resume questioning a suspect who invoked his
Miranda right to a lawyer after the suspect has
been out of police custody for 14 days. The 7-2
decision scales back a 1981 high-court decision
intended to protest suspects from repeated
police badgering to talk and to safeguard the
rights established in the 1966 Miranda v.
Arizona ruling. For complete story, click here.
Monsanto
'faked' data for approvals claims its ex-chief
09 Feb 2010 Former managing director of Monsanto
India, Tiruvadi Jagadisan, is the latest to join
the critics of Bt brinjal, perhaps the first
industry insider to do so. Jagadisan, who worked
with Monsanto for nearly two decades, including
eight years as the managing director of India
operations, spoke against the new variety during
the public consultation held in Bangalore on
Saturday. On Monday, he elaborated by saying the
company "used to fake scientific data" submitted
to government regulatory agencies to get
commercial approvals for its products in India.
For complete story,
click here.
US waves white flag in
disastrous 'war on drugs'--After 40 years,
Washington is quietly giving up on a futile
battle that has spread corruption and destroyed
thousands of lives--January
17th, 2010-- After 40 years of defeat and
failure, America's "war on drugs" is being
buried in the same fashion as it was born – amid
bloodshed, confusion, corruption and scandal.
US agents are being pulled from South America;
Washington is putting its narcotics policy
under review, and a newly confident region is
no longer prepared to swallow its fatal
Prohibition error. Indeed, after the expenditure
of billions of dollars and the violent deaths
of tens of thousands of people, a suitable
epitaph for America's longest "war" may well be
the plan, in Bolivia, for every family to be
given the right to grow
coca in its own backyard.
The "war", declared unilaterally throughout the
world by Richard Nixon in 1969, is expiring as
its strategists start discarding plans that
have proved futile over four decades: they are
preparing to withdraw their agents from
narcotics battlefields from Colombia to
Afghanistan and beginning to coach them in the
art of trumpeting victory and melting away into
anonymous defeat. Not surprisingly, the new
strategy is being gingerly aired in the media of
the US
establishment, from The Wall Street Journal to
the Miami Herald. For complete story,
click here.
Supreme Court drops key
case on limits of immunity for prosecutors--January
4th, 2010--The US Supreme Court on Monday
dismissed a case over whether prosecutors who
knowingly procure false testimony that leads to
a
wrongful conviction can later be sued for
damages.
Lawyers announced that the parties in the
underlying lawsuit had agreed to end the case in
a $12 million settlement.
The two innocent men, Terry Harrington and
Curtis McGhee, had spent nearly 26 years in
prison for a murder they didn’t commit. After
the truth was discovered and they were
released, they sued the prosecutors in
Pottawattamie County, Iowa.
An investigation revealed that the prosecutors
helped assemble and present false testimony
that led to their convictions. Messrs.
Harrington and McGhee had been sentenced to life
in prison at hard labor with no possibility of
parole. For complete story,
click here.
Drug giant General Electric uses libel law to
gag doctor
20 Dec 2009 General Electric, one of the world’s
biggest corporations, is using the London libel
courts to gag a senior radiologist after he
raised the alarm over the potentially fatal
risks of one of its drugs. The multinational [GE
Healthcare, a British subsidiary of General
Electric] is suing Henrik Thomsen, a Danish
academic, after he described his experiences of
one of the company’s drugs as a medical
"nightmare". He said some kidney patients at his
hospital contracted a potentially deadly
condition after being administered the drug
Omniscan. For complete story,
click here.
Black leaders urge
census to change how it counts inmates--December
17th, 2009--A coalition of African American
leaders concerned about minorities being
undercounted in the 2010 Census called Wednesday
for inmates at
federal and state prisons to be tallied in their
home communities instead of the towns where they
are incarcerated.
Marc H. Morial, president of the National Urban
League and chairman of a census advisory
committee, said the practice now shortchanges
communities in money and democratic
representation. Census statistics are used to
calculate the allocation of more than $478
billion in federal funds and to draw political
boundaries.
Noting that about 1.2 million of the nation's 40
million African Americans are in prison, Morial
said, "What we have in the prison population
issue is a built-in undercount."
Morial and about a dozen other black leaders
brought up the prison count during a meeting
with Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to discuss
how to make the census more accurate, a
perennial problem. In 2000, about 1.3 million
people were overcounted, mostly because of
duplicate counts of whites with multiple homes.
In contrast, about 4.5 million people, mostly
black and Hispanic, were not counted. For
complete story,
click here.
Yahoo, Verizon: Our Spy
Capabilities Would 'Shock', 'Confuse' Consumers
By Kim Zetter 01 Dec 2009 Want to know how much
phone companies and internet service providers
charge to funnel your private communications or
records to U.S. law enforcement and spy
agencies? That’s the question muckraker and
Indiana University graduate student Christopher
Soghoian asked all agencies within the
Department of Justice, under a Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) request filed a few
months ago. But before the agencies could
provide the data, Verizon and Yahoo intervened
and filed an objection on grounds that, among
other things, they would be ridiculed and
publicly shamed were their surveillance price
sheets made public. Yahoo writes in its
12-page objection
letter,
that if its pricing information were disclosed
to Soghoian, he would use it "to 'shame' Yahoo!
and other companies -- and to 'shock' their
customers." For complete story,
click here.
Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) --
Prosecutor
Michael Loucks remembers clearly when
lawyers for
Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest drug
company, looked across the table and promised it
wouldn’t break the law again.
It was January 2004, and the attorneys were
negotiating in a conference room on the ninth
floor of the
federal courthouse in Boston, where Loucks
was head of the health-care fraud unit of the
U.S. Attorney’s
Office. One of Pfizer’s units had been
pushing doctors to prescribe an epilepsy drug
called
Neurontin for uses the
Food and Drug Administration had never
approved.
In the
agreement the lawyers eventually hammered
out, the Pfizer unit, Warner-Lambert, pleaded
guilty to two felony counts of marketing a drug
for unapproved uses. For complete story,
click here.
New US vaccine production techniques:
Genetically modified insect cells, E. coli,
caterpillar ovaries24 Nov
2009 Spurred by $487 million in federal
funding, a sprawling new vaccine factory is
opening in North Carolina Tuesday that will
produce shots using dog
cells instead of chicken eggs. A
Connecticut biotech company has also applied to
sell a vaccine employing a radically different
approach involving a
genetically engineered virus infecting insect
cells...
Baxter
International
won approval last month to sell an H1N1 vaccine
in Europe that uses a decades-old line of
African green monkey
kidney cells, and it is working on a
vaccine for the United States. Protein Sciences
of Meriden, Conn., has applied to the FDA for
approval to sell a vaccine made by
genetically engineering
flu genes into a worm virus, which
then infects cells from
caterpillar ovaries to produce the
necessary proteins to make vaccine. VaxInnate of
Cranbury, N.J., for example, produced an
experimental H1N1 vaccine using
genetically engineered
E.coli bacteria, and Vical of
San Diego just won a $1.25 million contract from
the Navy to develop an H1N1 vaccine that
involves injecting DNA sequences from the
virus directly into people. For
complete story,
click here.
(CNN)
-- It was
two-and-a-half days before
Illinois Gov. George Ryan
was to leave office in 2003.
I sat in a crowded
auditorium in Northwestern
University's Law School in
Chicago, where Ryan was
expected to make a major
announcement on capital
punishment.
"Half, if
you will, of the nearly 300
capital cases in Illinois
have been reversed for a new
trial or for some
re-sentencing." he said, his
voice tired but clear.
Wrongful
convictions had been all
over the papers around that
time -- the Anthony Porter
case, the Ford Heights Four,
Rolando Cruz.
"How in
God's name does that happen?
In America, how does it
happen?"
Ryan continued. "How
many more cases of wrongful
conviction have to occur
before we can all agree that
this system in Illinois is
broken?"
On that day,
the governor commuted the
sentences of all death row
inmates in the state and
credited an unlikely source
for helping him make his
decision: Professor David
Protess' undergraduate
Investigative Journalism
class at Northwestern
University's Medill School.
In the
previous decade, Medill
students had uncovered some
of the most high-profile
wrongful convictions in the
city. The class had worked
to secure the release of 11
innocent prisoners, five of
whom were scheduled to be
executed.
As a
wide-eyed journalism student
at Northwestern, I remember
feeling proud of my
classmates, proud of my
school and proud of the
profession I was entering.
Today, six
years later, Protess' class
is far from the center of
the same praise. Presented
with evidence in a new case,
the state attorney's office
is questioning the
motivations of the messenger
-- the class itself. For
complete story,
click here.
Can Prosecutors Be Sued
By People They Framed?--November
4th, 2009--Do
prosecutors have total immunity from lawsuits
for anything they do, including framing someone
for murder? That is the question the justices of
the Supreme Court face Wednesday.
On one side of the case
being argued are Iowa
prosecutors who contend
"there is no
freestanding right not
to be framed." They are
backed by the Obama
administration, 28
states and every major
prosecutors organization
in the country.
On the
other side are two black
men — Terry Harrington
and Curtis McGhee — men
who served 25 years in
prison before evidence
long hidden in police
files resulted in them
being freed. For
complete story,
click here.
9yr-old boy tortured,
says former Guantanamo detainee
--'I was interrogated hundreds of times by the
FBI, CIA and even MI5, beaten, and subjected to
continuous torture, sexual degradation, forced
drugging and religious persecution.'
30 Oct 2009 A British Muslim detained for three
years at the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison
manned by the United States, revealed that the
youngest detainee he knew of was a
nine-year-old boy who
was also tortured like the rest.
Ruhal Ahmed’s story was among more accounts of
atrocities committed against the detainees at
Guantanamo, told before an open commission
hearing which began Friday on the sidelines of
an international conference to criminalise war.
The testimonies before the Kuala Lumpur War
Crimes Commission Hearings will be submitted to
a tribunal in conjunction with the Criminalise
War Conference and War Crimes Tribunal 2009
spearheaded by former Malaysian prime minister
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Dr Mahathir said that
the tribunal’s decision would be forwarded to
the United Nations for further action.
For complete story,
click here.
California gives the
poor a new legal right--October
17th, 2009--California is embarking on an
unprecedented civil court experiment to pay for
attorneys to represent poor litigants who find
themselves battling powerful adversaries in
vital matters affecting their livelihoods and
families.
The program is the first in the nation to
recognize a right to representation in key civil
cases and provide it for people fighting
eviction, loss of child custody, domestic abuse
or neglect of the elderly or disabled.
Advocates for the poor say the law, which Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger signed this week, levels
the legal playing field and gives
underprivileged litigants a better shot at
attaining justice against unscrupulous
landlords, abusive spouses, predatory lenders
and other foes.
Although some analysts worry that it could swell
state court dockets or eat up resources better
spent on other needs of the poor, the pilot
project that won bipartisan endorsement in the
state Assembly will be financed by a $10
increase in court fees for prevailing parties.
Anybody confronted with criminal charges has a
constitutional right to an attorney, as set out
in the landmark Supreme Court decision in Gideon
vs. Wainwright in 1963. But such a right does
not apply in civil court, and the majority of
citizens fighting what can be life- altering
civil actions now attempt to handle their cases
without professional guidance.
An estimated 4 million people seek to represent
themselves in California in civil matters each
year, the state Judicial Council estimates, not
because they want to but because they can't
afford to hire a lawyer. For complete
story,
click here.
Mystery 'Police' Force
Has Small Montana City on Edge--October
8th, 2009--When
two brand new, shiny black Mercedes SUVs bearing
a "Hardin Police Department" logo drove through
the main thoroughfare of Hardin, Mont., last
week, people took notice.
“How many police forces have Mercedes?” said
Charlene Warren, a local business owner who has
lived in Hardin for more than half a century.
“That threw up a red flag.”
And speaking of flags, it did not go
unnoticed that the emblem on the sides of the
SUVs bore a strong resemblance to the Serbian
national flag.
Furthermore, those "police department" cars
were rolling through Hardin, a small
southeastern Montana town of 3,600 that just
happens not to have a police department.
The luxury vehicles that rolled through town
belonged to the American Police Force (APF), a
California-based security firm that is drafting
a contract that will give it control over a $27
million medium-security prison that was built in
Hardin more than two years ago, but has never
held any prisoners.
But that contract is now on hold as the
Montana State Attorney General’s Office
investigates APF and the Big Horn County
Sheriff's Department enters preliminary talks
about incorporating a real police department in
Hardin so a similar episode doesn’t occur in the
future. For complete story,
click here.
Schoolgirl dies after GlaxoSmithKline HPV
vaccination
--HPV vaccine batch quarantined as
'precautionary measure' --Vaccination part of
[insane] national immunisation programme
29 Sep 2009 An urgent investigation has been
launched after a 14-year-old girl died shortly
after receiving a cervical cancer vaccination at
her school. Natalie Morton was a pupil at the
Blue Coat Church of England School in Coventry,
where she was given the human papilloma virus (HPV)
jab yesterday. She was taken to Coventry
University hospital, where she died at
lunchtime. Three other girls from the school are
reported to have experienced possible side
effects of dizziness and nausea after receiving
the Cervarix jab, which was given to female
pupils as part of a national immunisation
programme against HPV. For complete story,
click here.
American Police Force
Corporation Takes Over Small Town Police Force
and Prisoner-Less Jail
29 Sep 2009 (MT) This is the strange story of
how
American Police
Force,
a little known company which claims to
specialize in training military and security
forces overseas, has seemingly taken control of
a $27 million, never-used jail, and a rural
Montana town's nonexistent police force. After
arriving in this tiny city with three Mercedes
SUVs marked with the logo of a police department
that has never existed, representatives of the
obscure California security company said
preparations were under way to take over
Hardin's jail, which has no prisoners. For
complete story,
click here.
Sean
Conway was steamed at a
Fort Lauderdale judge,
so he did what millions
of angry people do these
days: he blogged about
her, saying she was an
“Evil, Unfair Witch.”
Scott
Dalton
for The
New York
Times
Judge Susan
Criss said a
Facebook
page said a
lawyer was
drinking,
not
grieving,
after a
funeral.
