March 13th Digest Post

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By BitcoDavid

I promised I’d keep you updated on this story. Well, the Cannibal Cop has been found guilty. According to the NYT, Gilberto Valle has been found guilty and fired from the department. Sentencing will take place on June 19th, and he could face life. His lawyer called the verdict devastating, and said that she believed the prosecution had failed to prove its case. She said their will be an appeal. For Times coverage, go here.

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English: A screengrab from President Barack Ob...

A screengrab from President Barack Obama’s first White House news conference. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Alan E. Sash is a business litigation attorney. He recently wrote a letter to the editor, which the Times published. In it, he defends President Obama’s dreadful Pardons record. The president has issued fewer pardons than any since Eisenhower. Roosevelt pardoned 100 for every one of Obama’s. For an interesting read on the Obama pardon record, go here. To see Sash’s letter, go here.

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Bonnie Kerness is the Coordinator for American Friends Service Committee’s Prison Watch Project. She recently wrote a supporter contribution article for Solitary Watch, entitled The Hidden History of Solitary Confinement in New Jersey’s Control Units. It is a fascinating read, both from the prison reform standpoint and as a study in American history. It can be found in its entirety, here.

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Prison for Profit: CCA, GEO et al Put Revenues...

Prison for Profit: CCA, GEO et al Put Revenues Ahead of Rehabilitation (Photo credit: watchingfrogsboil)

PrisonMovement’s Weblog grows more awesome every day. Here’s a great post they did on the economics of running a prison for profit enterprise. In it, they mention the fact that the Private Prison Industry has  spent close to half a billion dollars on lobbying efforts since the year 2000, and that in the year 2010 alone, the two largest Private Prison corporations made a total net profit of $3,000,000,000. Go to PrisonMovement’s Weblog to see the entire article. It’s well worth the read.

Speaking of the Private Prison Industry, Prison Legal News, in their March issue, did a striking piece on the inequity of inmates of color held in private prison facilities. Apparently, an overwhelming number of prisoners being housed in private facilities are Black or Hispanic. Now, we already know that these two groups dominate all incarceration within the U.S., but this article points out that where a choice exists, prisoners of color are more likely to be sent to the more abusive and exploitative private facilities. The leader in this trend appears to be California, with a whopping 89% of inmates being Black or Latino. Here’s the link to their PDF on the subject. This link will get you to the article, but if you scroll up or down, you will find a plethora of fascinating reading. I highly recommend Prison Legal News as a source of news and information regarding the prison system in America.

Lastly, I’ve been waiting to post this story for quite some time, but it seems I always had too much on my plate to get to it. From the L.A. Times – March 7th, an update on the case of the two former Fullerton, CA officers who beat Kelly Thomas, a homeless schizophrenic man to death. The two officers are charged with manslaughter and excessive force. According to the L.A. Times’ update, the court has been asked to drop charges against one of the officers – Officer Manuel Ramos – but refused. The judge says the case against both men, and a 3rd officer will go forward. Go here to follow this story.

BitcoDavid is a blogger and a blog site consultant. In former lives, he was an audio engineer, a videographer, a teacher – even a cab driver. He is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and a Pro/Am boxer. He has spent years working with diet and exercise to combat obesity and obesity related illness.

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