Mississippi Prison Watch

SPLC Lawsuit Targets Abuse, Neglect of Children Held in Jackson, Miss., Detention Center

2011-06-05T13:37:00.001-04:00

From: Southern Poverty Law Center
06/01/2011

The Southern Poverty Law Center and Disability Rights Mississippi filed suit in federal court today to protect the rights of children and teens who face inhumane treatment in Mississippi's largest juvenile detention center.

The suit says Hinds County, which operates Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center in Jackson, violates the constitutional rights of children by subjecting them to prolonged periods of isolation and sensory deprivation, denying them mental health services, and subjecting them to verbal abuse and threats of physical harm.

The SPLC and DRMS filed the class action lawsuit after numerous attempts to resolve the issues with county officials failed.

"This litigation presents an opportunity for the county to re-direct its resources away from this abusive facility and into community-based alternatives that will better serve our children, protect public safety and reduce taxpayers' exposure to legal liability," said Jody Owens, who leads SPLC's Mississippi office.

Abusive incidents detailed in the lawsuit include:

- A staff member taunted one young man and encouraged him to kill himself so that there would be "one less person officers have to worry about" after the teen began cutting himself with a razor.

- Staffers regularly verbally abuse children, cursing and threatening harm to the children and their family members.

- A staff member threatened to harm a child's family because the child took too long to return to his cell after his shower.

- Youths are forced to stay in their small cells for 20 to 23 hours every day with very little human contact, exercise or access to education and rehabilitation programs.

- Staffers regularly withhold necessary medication from children with serious mental health problems.

Off Parole; On With Life

2011-04-07T08:15:00.006-04:00

A Full Pardon March & Rally for the Scott Sisters
Received per email, written by Asinia Lukata Chikuyu - 6 April 2011

On the strength of about 500 enthusiastic college students, national justice advocates, and local organizers, Jamie and Gladys Scott stood strong on the steps of the Mississippi State Capitol and requested that governor Haley Barbour finish what he started. On January 7, 2011, The Scott Sisters were released from the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility by the governor to save the state the embarrassment of their continued incarceration with potential death looping over Jamie Scott due to kidney failure. At the same time, the governor wanted to save the state the cost of providing for the kidney transplant he order as a condition of the suspended sentence in granted the Scott Sisters.

On Friday, April 1, 2011 the Scott Sisters asked Haley Barbour to allow them to move on with their lives. They told governor barbour that 16 years and 32 days was more than enough time served for a crime that they didn’t commit. They told Haley Barbour that they wanted to vote, go on a get acquainted retreat with their children and grandchildren. They said they wanted to devote their lives to improving the quality of life for others wrongfully incarcerated. To do these things, they said they needed to have freedom of movement and freedom of opportunity to seek gainful employment. They needed the governor to show compassion and grant them a full pardon.

The Scott Sisters said they needed to get "Off Parole and On With Life". And that was the main chant of the 500 supporters who marched the streets of downtown Jackson and stood at the Capitol Building as colonnade columns, like the ones in the pyramids, for Jamie and Gladys. The students from Fort Valley State University, Tougaloo College and Jackson State University stood tall with The Scott Sisters to urging governor barbour to grant a full pardon out of righteousness.

After freeing five men who actually committed murder, the crowd exhorted haley to earnestly consider the light his decision will shed on the image of Mississippi. Given the shameful history of this state, it was pointed out the healing and redemptive quality of a compassionate decision in favor of Jamie and Gladys would have on this state and this nation. Getting Jamie and Gladys "Off Parole and On With Life" could be a shining star for a brighter future for them, the state and the nation, if only the governor could be convinced.

Call the governor’s office requesting a full pardon at 601.359.3150 or 1-877-405.0733 or email the governor to request a full pardon at governor@governor.state.ms.us

As Afrikans in America continue to fight for freedom, justice and equity, we are fighting because - "We declare our right on this earth to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary". And we are sick and tired of being the only ones showing respect. That is why we’re here without fear and we want our sisters totally free. That is why we will be back here on September 15, 2011 again, bigger and stronger, if it is necessary to convince the state that denying justice to Jamie and Gladys is a threat to justice for all of us. On September 15th we’ll be facing the rising sun of our new day begun, let us march on 'til victory is won. Our prayer is "may we forever stand, true to our God, true to our native land".

DON'T FORGET TO SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION!
http://www.change.org/petitions/a-full-pardon-for-jamie-gladys-scott#?opt_new=t&opt_fb=f

Asinia Lukata Chikuyu
FREE YOUR MIND...
& see what follows

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See also this story on Reuters.

This youth prison has violent, abusive conditions But the company that runs it makes millions

2011-03-04T14:33:00.001-05:00

From an email by Matt Nelson, ColorOfChange.org :
3 March 2011

This youth prison has violent, abusive conditions
But the company that runs it makes millions
Join us in calling on Mississippi officials to shut down this prison:

Teenagers and young men locked up at the youth prison in Walnut Grove, Mississippi live in a nightmarishly abusive and violent environment.

According to a lawsuit against the prison, guards have sold drugs to the youth there, engaged in sexual relationships with them, beaten them while they are handcuffed and defenseless, and looked the other way as some inmates are brutally attacked by others.1 The prison is privately-run, and its management has tried to increase their profits by cutting essential safety, health and educational services.

It's sick. Mississippi shouldn't be paying a private company to neglect and abuse youth prisoners. Will you join us in demanding that Mississippi officials cancel the state's contract with the company that operates the prison? It takes just a moment: http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/geo/

Two youths have lost their lives in the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility over the past three years and countless others endure daily threats to their safety. The violence at the prison was highlighted a year ago when a melee broke out in the prison, leaving multiple youth injured and 21-year-old Michael McIntosh with permanent brain damage.2

Ross Walton, who spent three years inside the Walnut Grove prison said this when he testified recently in front of the Miss. State Legislature:

“Walnut Grove treated us like we were nothing. Like we didn’t matter. Like our destiny was to spend the rest of our lives locked up, making more money for the private prison corporations and making our mothers cry….We have the potential to turn our lives around and make you proud. And we all deserve more than an abusive prison that cares more about profits than people.”

A for-profit youth prison, like Walnut Grove, has a strong financial incentive to imprison as many young people as possible on the cheap, and a financial disincentive to rehabilitate prisoners (which would reduce the demand for prison beds). This profit motive is a big part of why the Walnut Grove prison has such terrible conditions.

The prison is run by the GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut), the second largest for-profit prison company in the country. The company makes hundreds of millions of dollars each year, and has a long history of health and safety violations in their facilities.

A systemic problem

We’ve seen before how private prisons create openings for corruption and abuse. In the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, a private juvenile prison company bribed two judges to fill their cells with youth who committed minor infractions. One of the judges, Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, Jr., was recently convicted of accepting bribes and kickbacks for putting juveniles into detention centers. He and another judge, Michael Conahan, are said to have received $2.6 million for their scheme.3

In Boise Idaho, guards at a corporate prison watched, but did not intervene as a man was beaten unconscious by another inmate. This victim now lives with permanent brain damage and the company, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), faces an FBI Civil Rights investigation.4

Ending the abuse at Walnut Grove

Some of the youth imprisoned at Walnut Grove have committed serious crimes, but 67% of them are there for non-violent offenses.5 But no matter what crime they've committed, children’s lives shouldn’t be at risk because corporations cut corners in order to increase their profits. Youth prisoners must be given safe and healthy conditions, and an opportunity to lead successful lives after their incarceration.

The abuse at Walnut Grove needs to end immediately and the youth there should be moved to facilities that can provide for their care and rehabilitation. Your voice can help make that happen. Please join us in calling on Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, and the Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner, to cancel the state's contract with the GEO Group. And please ask your friends and family to do the same. It just takes a minute:
http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/geo/

Thanks and Peace,
-- James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Matt, Natasha and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
March 2nd, 2011

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU -- your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/205?akid=1923.157987.-12v27&t=6

References:
1. "Federal Lawsuit Reveals Inhumane Conditions at For-Profit Youth Prison," SPLC, 11-16-2010
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/759?akid=1923.157987.-12v27&t=8

2. "C.B., et al. v. Walnut Grove Correctional Authority, et al." SPLC, 11-16-2010
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/760?akid=1923.157987.-12v27&t=10

3. "The verdict’s in, let change begin," The Times Leader, 2-20-2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/765?akid=1923.157987.-12v27&t=12

4. "'The public doesn't know what goes on behind these walls,'" KBOI, 2-28-2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/762?akid=1923.157987.-12v27&t=14

5. "Federal lawsuit seeks to end years of physical, sexual abuse of teenage inmates," Better Mississippi Report, 12-20-2010
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/763?akid=1923.157987.-12v27&t=16

Barbour suspends sentences for Scott sisters

2010-12-30T05:19:00.002-05:00

Great news!
From: Hattiesburg American:

Dec 29, 2010

Gov. Haley Barbour today suspended the prison terms for two Scott County sisters sentenced to life for an $11 armed robbery in Scott County.

Barbour issued orders indefinitely suspending the sentences for Jamie Scott and Gladys Scott.

“To date, the sisters have served 16 years of their sentences and are eligible for parole in 2014. Jamie Scott requires regular dialysis, and her sister has offered to donate one of her kidneys to her,” Barbour said in a prepared release.

“The Mississippi Department of Corrections believes the sisters no longer pose a threat to society. Their incarceration is no longer necessary for public safety or rehabilitation, and Jamie Scott’s medical condition creates a substantial cost to the State of Mississippi.”

Read the rest here.

See more in Thursday’s Hattiesburg American.

See also here, apparently the mainstream media has woken up!: Washington Post.

Free the Scott Sisters: Grace calling Mississippi.

2010-12-13T19:28:00.002-05:00

Hey Friends of Justice out there:

Don't let Governor Barbour leave Jamie and Gladys to die in prison.

This week is a pretty critical time for folks to be contacting the Governor of Mississippi to implore him to pardon Jamie and Gladys Scott. One of the more recent news editorials detailing their struggle is already posted below. You can also hit their mom's blogspot for more info (Evelyn Rasco - such a beautiful soul - is their mom; Nancy Lockhart and Sis Marpessa are their champions). Be prepared for some awesome gospel, blues, and soul to stream through when you open it (that means crank up your speakers, not turn them down)!

The conditions of the prison they're in - particularly the trailer where Jamie receives dialysis treatments (when the machine is working, that is) are horrendous - but you needn't make reference to that in your communication with Governor Barbour's office about the pardon - there's an appropriate contact for that below.

If you're a registered Republican - even from outside of Mississippi - please share that with Governor Barbour in your letter, as the man will likely be running for national office in 2012. It would help for him to know that real Republicans are interested in seeing that Americans are capable of delivering both justice and mercy when we've been wrong...

Here's the info to reach Governor Haley Barbour (visit that link, first, to get to know a little about him):

Honorable Haley Barbour
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, Mississippi 39205

1-877-405-0733
governor@governor.state.ms.us

You may also want to put something on letterhead and e-mail it as an attachment to the governor's personal assistant - Dorothy Kuykendal:

DKuykendall@governor.state.ms.us

Jamie Scott (center) with Mom and brother.

Also, check out this recent post and please contact the Mississippi health department regarding the black mold, toilets in Quick Bed and inadequate infrastructure in this dialysis trailer which are all located at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl, Mississippi. There are a lot of lives at stake - the survival rates for sick Mississippi prisoners have plummeted in recent years under the current health care provider, Wexford - Mother Jones did an excellent piece on this in March.

Jeffrey K. Brown, Ph.D., R.P.E., B.C.E.
Bureau Director
State Public Health Entomologist
Mississippi State Department of Health
570 East Woodrow Wilson Avenue
Jackson, Mississippi 39216

601.576.7972 Office
601.576.7632 Fax
769.257.2242 Cell

jeffrey.brown@msdh.state.ms.us
www.healthyms.com

Sisters may or may not be guilty, but Mississippi assuredly is

2010-11-22T05:28:00.000-05:00

Sisters may or may not be guilty, but Mississippi assuredly is

Syndicated columnist
Seattle Times
Sunday, November 21, 2010 - Page updated at 05:01 AM

Let's assume they did it.

Let's assume that two days before Christmas in 1993, a 22-year-old black woman named Jamie Scott and her pregnant 19-year-old sister Gladys set up an armed robbery. Let's assume these single mothers lured two men to a spot outside the tiny town of Forest, Miss., where three teenage boys, using a shotgun the sisters supplied, relieved the men of $11 and sent them on their way, unharmed.

Assume all of the above is true, and still you must be shocked at the crude brutality of the Scott sisters' fate. You see, the sisters, neither of whom had a criminal record before this, are still locked away in state prison, having served 16 years of their double-life sentences.

It bears repeating. Each sister is doing double life for a robbery in which $11 was taken and nobody was hurt. Somewhere, the late Nina Simone is moaning her signature song:

"Mississippi Goddam."

For the record, two of the young men who committed the robbery testified against the sisters as a condition of their plea bargain. All three reportedly received two-year sentences and were long ago released. No shotgun or forensic evidence was produced at trial. The sisters have always maintained their innocence.

Read the rest here.

NYT: So Utterly Inhumane

2010-10-13T04:17:00.001-04:00

October 12, 2010 - New York Times
‘So Utterly Inhumane’
By BOB HERBERT

You have to believe that somebody really had it in for the Scott sisters, Jamie and Gladys. They have always insisted that they had nothing to do with a robbery that occurred near the small town of Forest, Miss., on Christmas Eve in 1993. It was not the kind of crime to cause a stir. No one was hurt and perhaps $11 was taken.
Jamie was 21 at the time and Gladys just 19. But what has happened to them takes your breath away.

They were convicted by a jury and handed the most draconian sentences imaginable — short of the death penalty. Each was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in state prison, and they have been imprisoned ever since. Jamie is now 38 and seriously ill. Both of her kidneys have failed. Gladys is 36.
This is Mississippi we’re talking about, a place that in many ways has not advanced much beyond the Middle Ages.

The authorities did not even argue that the Scott sisters had committed the robbery. They were accused of luring two men into a trap, in which the men had their wallets taken by acquaintances of the sisters, one of whom had a shotgun.
It was a serious crime. But the case against the sisters was extremely shaky. In any event, even if they were guilty, the punishment is so wildly out of proportion to the offense that it should not be allowed to stand.

Three teenagers pleaded guilty to robbing the men. They ranged in age from 14 to 18. And in their initial statements to investigators, they did not implicate the Scott sisters.

But a plea deal was arranged in which the teens were required to swear that the women were involved, and two of the teens were obliged, as part of the deal, to testify against the sisters in court.

Howard Patrick, who was 14 at the time of the robbery, said that the pressure from the authorities to implicate the sisters began almost immediately. He testified, “They said if I didn’t participate with them, they would send me to Parchman and make me out a female.”

He was referring to Mississippi State Prison, which was once the notoriously violent Parchman prison farm. The lawyer questioning the boy said, “In other words, they would send you to Parchman and you would get raped, right?”
“Yes, sir,” the boy said.

The teens were sentenced to eight years in prison each, and they were released after serving just two years.

This is a case that should be repugnant to anyone with the slightest interest in justice. The right thing to do at this point is to get the sisters out of prison as quickly as possible and ensure that Jamie gets proper medical treatment.
A number of people have taken up the sisters’ cause, including Ben Jealous, the president of the N.A.A.C.P., who is trying to help secure a pardon from Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi. “It makes you sick to think that this sort of thing can happen,” he said. “That these women should be kept in prison until they die — well, that’s just so utterly inhumane.”

I have no idea why the authorities were so dead set on implicating the Scott sisters in the crime and sending them away for life, while letting the teens who unquestionably committed the robbery get off with much lighter sentences.
Life sentences for robbery can only be imposed by juries in Mississippi, but it is extremely rare for that sentencing option to even be included in the instructions given to jurors. It’s fair to think, in other words, that there would have to be some extraordinary reason for prosecutors and the court to offer such a draconian possibility to a jury.

Chokwe Lumumba, a lawyer representing the sisters, captured the prevailing legal sentiment when he said: “I don’t think Mississippi law anticipates that you’re going to be giving this instruction in a case where nobody gets hurt and $11 is allegedly stolen. In the majority of robbery cases, even the ones that are somewhat nasty, they don’t read that instruction.”

Read more here.

Please Help Pardon the Scott Sisters.

2010-10-08T05:28:00.004-04:00

This in from Free The Scott Sisters Wednesday. Thursday was the 16 year anniversary of their incarceration. Please write letters on their behalf ASAP - they do make a difference.

-------------------------------

Mrs. Rasco would like to inform everyone that Jamie was taken to the doctor yesterday and given medication thanks to all phone calls and e-mails. The doctor seemed to think that she has a sinus infection. The doctor was not able to check her ears as all machines for making ear examinations are broken.

THANK YOU ALL!

Please continue to send e-mails and faxes to the board of Pardon's and Parole and express your support for their release. You may include points such as their accomplishments in prison.
Jamie and Gladys both have completed training courses. Gladys is a great seamstress and completed this program in prison. Jamie has completed several courses as well. Both Jamie and Gladys have assisted numerous inmates in learning to read.

Your letters will mean a lot to the board in making their decision for a pardon with an EXPUNGED record.

Fax: (601) 576-3528 -- Ms. Warnock --swarnock@mdoc.state.ms.us

Board Members - Fax: (601) 576-3528
Bobbie Thomas - Board Member
Clarence Brown - Board Member
Betty Lou Jones - Board Member
Danny Guice - Board Member

State of Mississippi Parole Board
660 North Street
Suite 100A
Jackson, MS 39202

In Solidarity,

Nancy Lockhart, M.J.

March for Freedom: Awareness for Wrongful Convictions, Oct 2nd 2010

2010-10-01T09:01:00.001-04:00

RAISING AWARENESS OF WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS AND THE NEED FOR JUSTICE REFORM

MARCH FOR FREEDOM OF WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS 2010On Oct. 2 2010, demonstrators are gathering in locations across America to raise awareness of wrongful convictions, spotlight the need for criminal justice reform, and support for a death penalty moratorium.

National Event Information: http://freedommarchusa.org/

EVENTS:

Demonstrations / events will take place at these locations:

1. Phoenix, AZ -- Coordinator: Camille Tilley - justice4courtney@mac.com

2. Los Angeles, CA - Coordinator: Gloria Killian - acwip@yahoo.com

3. Boise, ID - Coordinator: Gary Adams. Boise, ID - garyadams@getmpi.com / gla1949@hotmail.com

4. Lansing, MI - Coordinator: Ursula Armijo at ubarmijo@comcast.net

5. Poughkeepsie, NY - Coordinator: Patricia Borden pmborden@gmail.com.

6. Pittsburgh, PA – Coordinator: MaryAnn Lubas -- mlubas2@yahoo.com

If there is no event in your area, you can support this cause by:

1. Spreading the word about wrongful convictions and the need for criminal justice reform to your circle of friends, co-workers and acquaintances.

2. Sending an email, letter or calling your elected representatives to say that you are concerned about wrongful convictions and our justice system.

WHO:

Demonstrations organized by grassroots volunteers representing these organizations:

- Freedom March USA, Marching for Awareness of Wrongful Convictions - http://freedommarchusa.org/

- National Coalition for Criminal Justice Reform - http://www.reformingjustice.com/

CONTACT:

For information on a specific event, contact the coordinator listed above.

In Texas, the following organizations and individuals support this cause and serve as an information resource on wrongful convictions and the need for criminal justice reform:

Information on Oct 2 Events & Criminal Justice Reform:

National Coalition for Criminal Justice Reform - http://www.reformingjustice.com/

Texas chapter:

Lucy Frost justicereform@gmail.com

Americas Wrongfully Convicted - http://www.americaswrongfullyconvicted.com/

Roger McClendon
America’s Wrongfully Convicted
roger@americaswrongfullyconvicted.com

Information Resource on Criminal Justice Reform:

Dr. LeRoy Gillam, president Southeastern Christian Association (SECA)
832-228-3207

In The Interest of Justice (ITIJ)
http://www.itij.org/

Pastor Rod Carver
Supporters of Hannah Overton: www.freehannah.com

Terri Been, Kids Against The Death Penalty: http://www.freewebs.com/kadp

Kristin Houle Exec. Director
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP): www.tcadp.org/

Jeff Blackburn or Cory Session
Innocence Project Of Texas: http://ipoftexas.org/

Lily Hughes, Campaign To End The Death Penalty: http://www.nodeathpenalty.org/content/index.php

BACKGROUND

MARCH FOR FREEDOM OF WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS 2010 aims to raise united voices for justice.

Modern science and technology have shaken the strong faith many once placed in the accuracy of judgments made by our criminal justice system.

Thanks to DNA analysis of biological evidence, hundreds have been exonerated—many after spending years on death row.

Research by Seton Hall law professor D. Michael Risinger indicates that 3.3%-5% of those convicted of crimes are factually innocent. Those who value justice demand that the criminal justice system apply the lessons to be learned from the many cases of wrongful conviction, and support policy initiatives that:

1. Raise the accuracy rate in judgments of guilt and innocence.

2. Resolve credible post-conviction claims of innocence.

3. Remedy the tragic impact of wrongful convictions.

For those who are guilty of crimes, we support enlightened approaches to incarceration that nurture genuine rehabilitation and reintegration of productive citizens whenever possible.

FACTS ABOUT AMERICA’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM:

- The United States incarcerates more people than any country in the world, including the far more populous nation of China[1].

- One in 100 Adult Americans is incarcerated in a prison or jail.

- One in 31 Adult Americans is incarcerated, on probation or parole.

- Incarceration rates heavily concentrated among men, racial and ethnic minorities, and 20-and 30-year olds.

1 in 9 Black men 20-34 years old, 1 in 15 Black men 18+, 1 in 36 Hispanic men 18+.

- Texas is one of the leading states in verified wrongful convictions. To date, more than 38 people have been exonerated in Texas using DNA.

- Nationally, more than 133 people have been exonerated from death row since 1973[2].

- Expert estimates of wrongful convictions range from 3% to 12%, based on data from DNA & other exonerations[3].

- Executed But Possibly Innocent: Of the cases frequently cited as those executed despite strong evidence of innocence, 6 are Texas cases[4].

- How many innocent people are in prison? No one knows, but experts agree that “any plausible guess at the total number of miscarriages of justice in America in the last fifteen years must be in the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands.”[5]

Senator Jim Webb’s page about the problem and legislation he has introduced: http://webb.senate.gov/email/criminaljusticereform.html

“America's criminal justice system has deteriorated to the point that it is a national disgrace. Its irregularities and inequities cut against the notion that we are a society founded on fundamental fairness. Our failure to address this problem has caused the nation's prisons to burst their seams with massive overcrowding, even as our neighborhoods have become more dangerous. We are wasting billions of dollars and diminishing millions of lives.” – Senator Jim Webb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Pew Research Center - http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/8015PCTS_Prison08_FINAL_2-1-1_FORWEB.pdf

[2] http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-and-death-penalty

[3] Research by Seton Hall law professor D. Michael Risinger and other expert estimates

[4] http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executed-possibly-innocent

[5] http://truthinjustice.org/exonerations-in-us.pdf

Scott Watch: Praying for a Mississippi Miracle

2010-09-17T23:16:00.000-04:00

For those of you unfamiliar with Jamie and Gladys Scott's story, here's last March's Mother Jones article about them, and here's the Free the Scott Sisters' blog; leave some love there for their mom, Mrs. Rasco.

This has been one of the most outrageous miscarriages of justice I've ever heard of. But today is a day of great hope...

-----------------

UPDATE FROM MRS. EVELYN RASCO SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

Dear Supporters:

Mrs. Rasco has requested that I inform all supporters of the following:

The September 16, 2010 rally was a great success. In addition, she has asked me to report that buckets, and buckets of money were collected at the rally and she hopes that the collections will be used to benefit Jamie and Gladys.

Currently, we are waiting to determine what the decision of the Pardons and Parole board will be. We have learned from indirect sources that the meeting with Governor Barbour's representative has resulted in a pardon packet being passed to the Pardons and Parole board for a decision.

I've included a few links of the most recent media attention. This is the most publicity that the sisters have received in 16 years.

MSNBC News- Mrs. Rasco and NAACP President Ben Jealous - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39217086#39217086

USA TODAY - http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-09-14-scott-sisters_N.htm

September 15, 2010 rally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrooQ8ZwvpY

I would like to thank all supporters of this case. Without each individual person -- this case would not be where it is today. We cannot stop now -- please remain until the sisters are free.

THANK YOU!

Peace and Blessings!

In Solidarity,

Nancy Lockhart

Federal Judge Says Prosecutor Lied and Overturns Mississippi Death Sentence

2010-09-17T05:36:00.000-04:00

From Death Penalty Information Center:

A federal District Court judge ordered a new sentencing trial for Quintez Hodges, who is currently on Mississippi's death row, because former Assistant District Attorney James Kitchens, Jr., lied under oath during Hodges’s trial and the prosecutor conducting the trial should have known that Kitchens' testimony was false.

Kitchens is now a judge on Mississippi's circuit court.

As a part of the prosecution’s strategy to show Hodges lacked remorse and had a criminal history, Kitchens falsely testified that Hodges was given a light sentence on a previous robbery charge. The judge ruled, “[The defendant] has shown that there exists a reasonable likelihood that the jury’s verdict might have been affected as a result of the false testimony. In this instance, the State, seemingly unconcerned with the accuracy of the testimony to be given in a trial where the result could be death, provided the jury with false information.”

(R. Balko, "Federal Judge Rules That a Former Mississippi Prosecutor, Now a Judge, Lied in Court," Reason.com Blog, September 14, 2010).

the Desaparecidos of 9/11

2010-09-11T15:42:00.000-04:00

A friend passed these lyrics on to me today in remembrance of those most forgotten from the tragedy on 9/11/2001. Grief was spoken in our country in many languages that day - and it was silenced by fear. Still is.

This is for the families of the Desaparecidos everywhere. Liberty weeps for you, too. May you someday safely bring your loved ones into our light.

Peggy Plews
Arizona Prison Watch

--------------------------

If I Give Your Name
by Emmas Revolution

Mi esposa, my wife, worked on the 80th floor
The company had hired illegals before
She got the job by word of mouth
That’s the way in the north when you’re from the south
They say 3,000 but the counting’s not done
Mi esposa está muerta
Three thousand and one

I have no papers, I have no rights
All my days end in sleepless nights
Missing you, silently
If I give your name
Will they come after me?

Mi hermano, my brother, the elevator man
A doctor in our country but you take what you can
I saw the photos in Union Square
But I could not leave his picture there
They say 3,000 but that’s not true
Mi hermano no volverá
Three thousand and two

Mi hija, my daughter, went in early that day
She had always been that way
Her daughter asks, "Where did she go?"
How to tell her, I don’t know
They say 3,000 but that can’t be
Perdí a mi hija
Three thousand and three

Mi padre, my father, I have no words
I tried to find you when I heard
They gave some ashes to families
But I’ll only have the ones I breathe
They say 3,000 there’s so many more
Desaparecidos
Three thousand and four

Mi esposa, my wife. Will they come after me?
Mi hermano, my brother. Will they come after me?
Mi hija, my daughter. Will they come after me?
Mi padre, my father. If I give your name,
Will they come after me?

March on the Mississippi Attorney General's Office

2010-08-18T08:09:00.000-04:00

From Facebook Cause Mississippi Justice:

March on the Mississippi Attorney General's Office

DATE: DECEMBER 22nd , 2010
LOCATION: MS ATTORNEY GENERAL JIM HOOD'S OFFICE

Walter Sillers Building 550 High Street Ste. 1200 Jackson, MS 39201

TIME: 1pm -7pm

The Scott Sisters have been in jail in Mississippi for 15 years. They are facing double life imprisonment for $11 robbery. They had no prior arrests, no criminal record, and no one was injured. There was no evidence to whatsoever to implicate them. The jury deliberated for 36 minutes and handed down double life sentences for each of the Scott Sisters. Many of the witnesses in the case testified to being coerced to give false testimony against the Scott Sisters. How is this justice?

MS Attorney General Jim Hood has assigned Charlie Rubisoff, an Investigator in his office to further investigate matters.

As Americans, justice is the glue that holds our democracy together. Stand in solidarity with the Scott Sisters and make sure that justice is preserved by calling the Mississippi Attorney General's office at 601-359-3680 and ask to speak with Investigator Charlie Rubisoff. Demand an investigation in to the case of the Scott Sisters and ask they be exonerated from these charges.

We are marching on Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood's Office to DEMAND THE SCOTT SISTERS BE FREED!

We are looking for organizers.
Please contact marchonjimhoodsoffice@yahoo.com

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=131835530193902&ref=mf

Urgent appeal - PLEASE take action today!

2010-08-15T12:36:00.000-04:00

From Mississippi Justice Facebook Cause:

I have been contacted by the family of Fredrick Bell, the are now desperate and are begging for your help. Fredrick's case is due in court this month, an execution date is likely to be set for mid to late November. Fredrick is a father, a son, a brother, and uncle. He is a healthy and likely innocent man.

It is now beyond vital that if you have not already done so you sign this petition. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fredrick_bell/

This is an article Fredrick wrote and sent to me, it is his plea, in his words:

THE TIME IS NOW TO STAND UP FOR FREDRICK BELL HE’S INNOCENT AND ON MISSIPPISSI DEATH ROW!

The State of Mississippi, the root of deep south racism, injustice, and lynching’s upon African American people. Innocent men sit inside Parchman notorious prison.

In the State of Mississippi in 1991, a robbery and murder occurred at a store. Police was able to recover fingerprints, a bottle and other materials to be tested for DNA. Police arrested Fredrick Bell and Anthony Joe Doss. Doss allegedly confess to the crime, alleging that it was Bell’s idea to rob the store because of being in need to gain money.

In 1993, Fredrick was tried and convicted by a jury that was not impartial but rather tainted. A member of the victims family was able to sit on his jury. During the course of Fredrick’s wait before he was tried, he repeatedly requested his Attorneys to test a fingerprint and bottle that had been recovered from the crime scene. Gathered with evidence not tested, and a crime never adequately investigated by his lawyers Bell was found guilty and sentence to DEATH ROW!!!.

He has remained warehoused on Mississippi death row for 17 years.

Today new evidence has surfaced that could free him from Mississippi death row, despite the fact that he has a possible November, 2010 execution date. Fingerprints from the cash register did not match Fredrick’s and he was not even in the State of Mississippi when the crime is to have allegedly occurred. A witness in the case has since recanted and revealed that he was coerced by police to finger Bell.

The time is now to Stand up for Fredrick and to demand the Mississippi Governor, Courts and your State Senator to not execute this man without first ensuring that he receives a fair trial.

No person should be executed, but we are in a evil time where the people believe that the death penalty deters crime, but this has never proven to be the case. All across this country wrongful convictions are on the rise. Police, Judges, Prosecutors, and Governors have played sufficient roles in getting it wrong when it comes to the criminal justice system. No other race has suffered from these lynching’s more then the African American people. Troy Davis is on death row in Georgia when seven out of nine witnesses have recanted their testimonies, clearing Mr. Davis as they detailed how police coerce them to finger Troy.

Bell is just one of many case where Courts and Governor’s have ignored recanted testimony to proceed with death penalty lynchings. We are calling on the Mississippi Courts and Governor to break the chain of ignoring newly discovered evidence to proceed with the carrying out of a death sentence. Bell has always maintain his innocence and he should be afforded with the mercy from the Courts and Governor to have every right to show his claim of innocence. Fingerprints that were recovered from the crime scene should be tested immediately. THE FINGERPRINTS SHOULD BE RAN THROUGH A DATABASE TO DETERMINE WHO THEY BELONG TO. The fingerprints do not belong to Bell.

Write your Governor, State Senator, and News Media. Bell should not be executed without a fair and impartial hearing on his claims of innocence, all evidence in the case that can be tested DNA, should be tested now. (You can follow this case on Facebook. Log on to facebook and request to be MARK A. CLEMENTS friend. For more information on this case you can contact MARK A. CLEMENTS, Administrator for the Campaign to End the Death Penalty at (847-276-1382) CAMPAIGN TO END THE DEATH PENALTY FREE FREDRICK BELL NOW FOR A STATE LYNCHING!

We are now seriously running out of time to help Fredrick, once he is dead it is too late then.

Please take five minutes from your day to imagine the heartbreak and hell, both Fredrick and his family are going through, and show your support by signing the petition. PLEASE!!

Mississippi justice also have a web site, there is a video there made to help Fredrick, there is also a video giving details of a rally the family have planned. It is vital, time is running out quickly. Sign, share, help save a life.

In peace and love - Judie

March in support of Frederick Bell August 17th

2010-08-11T09:43:00.001-04:00

From Mississippi Justice (Facebook Cause)
A families plea...

I have spoken with Frederick Bell's sister today, and she so desperately needs your help. As mentioned before the family are frantic with worry that he may well get a November execution date and be murdered.

They have arranged a march to be held at Greater Centre Hill church on Tuesday August 17th 2010 at 7pm. They are asking two favours, if you are in the area please support them and Frederick and attend the march. They also badly need a speaker who will speak out about the DP. Could you be that speaker? If so please contact me via PM and I will pass along the contact details.

There is also untested DNA in Fredericks case. The family want to have this tested, the lawyer is hesitant, I am guessing due to cost. We are therefore asking for donations for the testing of the DNA. Every single last $ will help. Your donations should be sent to Fredericks lawyer:

David Voisin
P.O. Box 13984
Jackson MS 39236
(601-949-9486)

Glenn Swartzfager
(601-359-5733 -601-354-6505)

Kenny Colgan- 662-234-7575
Oxford MS

You can see a little about Frederick Bell on this video made by Mississippi justice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqAbtWqTzaw

Their web page is www.mississippijustice.yolaweb.com

Their is also a petition for Frederick at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fredrick_bell/

Frederick is a loved father, son, brother, uncle and friend. His family are desperate to get him off DR and home with them. Please help them...

Frederick has always maintained he was out of state the day of the crime, he has also stated if the DNA is tested it will prove he was not their. Mississippi are not listening to this, just as they are not listening to the fact that at trial an eye witness who put Frederick at the scene of the crime, has now recanted this statement, saying he was coerced by the Police. We NEED to make Mississippi listen before it is too late.

Please read and share as widely as possible to ensure maximum exposure to this case.

Thank you so much on behalf of the Bell family.
Mississippi Justice (Facebook Page) - Julie (admin.)

Please read and sign petition for wrongfully convicted Frederick Bell

2010-07-28T06:24:00.000-04:00

Please read the text of this petition and sign if you agree!

Fredrick Bell was sent to death row in Mississippi 19 years ago for the murder of Bert Bell (no relation). His trial in a racially divided state was a farce. There were items of evidence that were never tested, which Fredrick says should they be, will clear him. Fredrick has always maintained he was out of state at the time of the murder, and the witness Frank Coffee who testified at trial he saw Fredrick at the scene has since recanted, claiming he was coerced by the Police into framing Fredrick. Now Fredrick is out of appeals. The courts have given his lawyers until August 26th to file a very last appeal, if that fails, it is likely an execution date will be set for around November, making Fredrick the fourth inmate executed in Mississippi this year.

We are asking that Fredrick be given a chance to prove his innocence, death is irrevocable, there are no chances to redeem a wrong decision.

This petition will close around about the 18th August so we have time to get it to lawyers, the Governor of Mississippi and the DA pleading for Fredrick to have the DNA in his case tested, and a new trial without the now recanted Frank Coffee.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fredrick_bell/

More about this petition from Mississippi Justice, a Cause on Facebook:

At the moment, Fredericks Lawyers have until August the 26th the file a writ of certiorari. His lawyers plans to file this writ, around a week early, to ensure it is with the court by the 26th. Should this writ be denied then the court is liable to issue an execution date. The chances are the date would be around early to mid November.

We are also asking that all members also write, phone, fax or e-mail the Governor: phone at 1-877-405-0733 or 601-359-3150, or by mail at: P.O. Box 139, Jackson, Mississippi 39205. Or write the office at governor@governor.state.ms.us.

Thank you.

Scott Watch: Mother and Child Reunions

2010-07-22T22:02:00.004-04:00

An update from Sis Marpessa on the Scott Sisters. There's something about love across generations that makes Hell hurt a little less. Blessings to Mrs. Rasco from Arizona - it's going a little nuts in the streets here, but we're still with you all. For everyone else, let's get on all this before Monday - there are three concrete things listed that we can do right now to help.

Actually, skip the part below and head on over to the Free The Scott Sisters' blog instead - there's an awesome, soulful tune that comes up with the current page (hit the player to the left if it doesn't start automatically). Listen to it as you read this update there, buy a t-shirt if you can, and put your brain to work again on how we're going to get the State of Mississippi to free these women (and keep Jamie alive in the process).

Finally, if anyone out there is in or near Chicago in a couple of weeks we could use a hand - and a few good signs. I'm Peggy, and I'm posting this shout out all over the country - please contact us if you might be in a position to do an action there. My email is prisonabolitionist@gmail.com.

Enjoy the reunion...

----------------------------

Greetings all,

Mrs. Rasco just returned from visiting with Jamie and Gladys and wanted everyone to have an update right away. Jamie no longer has evidence of infection and the boils that were on her body have cleared up. She is, however, still very weak and exhausted from her dialysis and at times during the visit was speaking while her eyes were closed. She told her mother that she wants and needs a kidney transplant.

Thanks to you supporters, Mrs. Rasco was able to get in to visit Gladys!

Mrs. Rasco said that Gladys was so happy to see her that she picked her up off of the ground and kissed her, to the delight of everyone in the visiting room! It was truly a beautiful moment. Gladys' daughter, Courtney, was at first denied due to a claim that she was not on the visiting list. Thanks to the efforts of Sondra Humphrey, Director of MS CURE, Courtney was able to finally visit her mother the following day for one hour. Mrs. Rasco is very, very grateful for her
intervention.

The Scott Sisters are still in need of pro bono legal representation and we are asking for an individual, group or class to please help develop ideas for these women's legal defense. This is incredibly their 16th year on this outrageous charge, the injury just grows each and every day that their lives are hijacked in that place and their children and grandchildren suffer without them.

1. Please purchase t-shirts to help with fund raising efforts!! We need folks to wear them to help raise awareness as we need everyone to begin talking about this case so that no one can say that they have not heard about it.

Visit http://www.radicaljack.com/scsit.html and get yours today!

2. Additionally, both women said that they have practically exhausted their commissary funds and anyone who wishes to donate to the women directly may send donations via http://www.inmatedeposits.com/ , register for Access Corrections and use each of their name and number to make your donation.

Jamie is #19197 and Gladys is #19142.

3. Ask Color of Change to feature the Scott Sisters at http://www.colorofchange.org/, and also copy and paste in an e-mail to: info@colorofchange.org.

Thank you! More updates will come soon!

==============

Please continue to advocate on behalf of Jamie and Gladys Scott, their children and families need for them to return home alive, the time is NOW!

Attorney General Eric Holder
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
HOTLINE: 202-353-1555
PHONE: 202-514-2000
202-307-6777 fax
AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

Christopher Epps
601-359-5600
CEPPS@mdoc.state.ms.us
723 North President Street
Jackson, MS 39202

Governor Haley Barbour
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
1-877-405-0733 or 601-359-3150
Fax: 601-359-3741
(If you reach VM leave msgs, faxes, and please send letters)

911 Mississippi State Prisons

2010-07-21T21:30:00.008-04:00

I found this article fascinating, albeit troubling as well. You really can't take the American Correctional Association seriously as an accrediting agency now, seeing him at the helm after getting a great score. They don't calculate prisoner mortality rates into their evaluations and equations, I guess. How can they have any accreditation at all? Don't any of those ACA people have a clue about what was happening in Parchman? It 's as bad as what's been going on in the prison Jamie and Gladys Scott have been buried in. Who do they think is responsible for all this if not him? Is the MDOC now the national gold standard for the ACA? That's pathetic.

I wonder how many of those ACA people even care that this man was fired early in his career, back when he was a corrections officer, for violating the civil rights of an escapee as part of a group of MDOC staff who beat the guy senseless after apprehending him. That's all according to court records easily enough located on the internet.

They got their jobs back after a fight (no big surprise) - and as we all know he went on to preside over one of the most brutal, negligent departments of corrections in the country. Under his watch, mortality rates among prisoners have skyrocketed to where Mississippi's is the second highest in the nation. That has also occurred since Wexford took over the health care. I suspect it has something to do with whether or not they're properly treating - or even bothering to prevent or screen for - illnesses like Hep C, Diabetes, and heart disease and their secondary complications.

I hope a team of investigative journalists or some top notch college students out there in Mississippi pick up on this and run with it - look at all those deaths and try to find out what caused them. Were they from chronic or acute illnesses? Were people getting adequate care or were their pleas for medical attention going unanswered? What's the mortality rate in the prisons among dialysis patients? Is there a high incidence of Hep C infection among them (much non-IV drug transmission occurs through poorly maintained medical equipment, like dialysis machines. Do you think Wexford would even tell a patient if they ever got infected through dialysis? Do you think the MDOC would?)

What's the prevalence of diabetes and complicating factors, like kidney disease, among Mississippi prisoners? How about among African American prisoners? I bet you'll find that a lot of people are dying from illnesses like diabetes related to "lifestyle" (including things the prisons have total control over, like diet) or from secondary complications of disease processes that could have been manged - as in Jamie Scott's case. I bet it's pretty high among minority women in prison in particular. I think it's pretty fair to say that prison life had a lot to do with her developing diabetes and severe kidney disease this early in life.

I have good reason for asking those questions. I was going to embed links that led to some of the answers, but I've already covered a lot of that ground - someone else needs to move this from blog to paper. Someone from Mississippi. There's a whole prison full of women wiling and ready to talk - probably the men are, too. All they need is someone willing to listen and then do something with it.

In the meantime, think on this, America. The man who runs the Mississippi Department of Corrections just became the president of the American Correctional Association, which is supposed to be accrediting all of our jails and prisons. Think any prisoners in Mississippi are going to see justice now? Think any prisoners in ANY state will get what they need in terms of medical care from the directors who now look to him for leadership?

What a reflection of cowardice and self-interest on the part of the membership of the American Correctional Association (dominated and kind of sponsored by the private prison industry, by the way) to put that guy out as their president. Why would they choose him? Certainly not because of his stellar ethical foundation. But I guess every single one of them is knowingly letting people die, too, trying to keep them from making too much noise in the process. That's what happens here in Arizona. I haven't heard one prisoner rights activist from any state in the country say that their DoC director is a decent human being who takes full responsibility for the treatment of prisoners in his (her) custody.

I sure hope the Scott Sisters keep making noise, bringing what's happening there to the world's attention. We'll try to keep amplifying your voices - and those of any other prisoners and family members who write to us - as much as possible. We've haven't been posting a lot, but believe me, we're still out here for you. We haven't been fooled a bit...

This is from the end of May . The article was in the MS Digital Daily, which I believe is the state of Mississippi's PR "news" line, not to be confused with a real journalistic venture. If I'm wrong about this being anything other than a press release for the MDOC - or if I've erred about facts in my remarks above - then please correct me by leaving a comment at the end of this article, and we'll look into it. We can execute Troy Davis even if he's factually innocent, but god forbid we lambaste an abusive man in power.

----------------------------------------

Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher B. Epps Elected American Correctional Association President
posted by Baxter Cannada \| 5/25/2010
By KENT CROCKER Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Christopher B. Epps has been elected as president of the prestigious American Correctional Association. Commissioner Epps will be the 102nd president of the organization. The first ACA president was Rutherford B. Hayes. Hayes later became the nineteenth president of the United States. The American Correctional Association (ACA), originally founded in 1870 as the National Prison Association, is an international organization of correctional administrators and professionals in various correctional disciplines. At the 1954 Congress of Correction in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the name of the American Prison Association was changed to the American Correctional Association. The organization is composed of more than 20,000 members from 60 countries. Approximately 450 Mississippians are members of the organization. As ACA president, Commissioner Epps will head a major publishing operation. The ACA magazine Corrections Today is the leading correctional publication. It is accompanied by over 300 other ACA publications, training curricula and videos. The ACA is a primary source of training for correctional professionals. In recognition of the growing correctional health care profession, ACA also publishes Correctional Health Today. Mississippi is a long term beneficiary of the ACA. Through the American Correctional Association accreditation program, under the leadership of Commissioner Epps, the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) has developed and or enhanced institutional programs, agency operating procedures and overall safety. This improvement is partially responsible for a decrease in recidivism from 34 percent 2003 in to the current 30 percent. Through the accreditation process, Mississippi became the 14th state to receive the ACA Eagle Award. The Eagle Award signifies that every aspect of a correctional agency that can be accredited has been accredited. Since Mississippi received the Eagle Award on August 11, 2008, one other state has received the award. Apart from the agency’s accreditation, several MDOC employees have become accredited through the ACA thus enhancing their value to the taxpayers of Mississippi. Governor Barbour praised the Mississippi Department of Corrections, under the leadership of Commissioner Christopher Epps, for improvements in agency management and fiscal responsibility. Governor Barbour stated “It is a testimony to the leadership of the MDOC that the agency received full accreditation by an international association that Chris Epps later became president of, even while MDOC reduced its operating costs by more than $100 million during a 5-year period.” (Interjection: I think this is the magic this man works, folks - cutting costs with lives. It makes his boss real proud, too. -PA) James Gondles, Executive Director of the American Correctional Association stated "In our rich and varied 140 year history only 102 women and men have been called to serve in the ACA Presidency. These leaders were the trail-blazers in our industry, the people with ideas to shape new plans for rehabilitation, to enhance public safety, and to turn offender lives around. Commissioner Epps has been called to lead and he certainly fits that pattern. We are excited about our future with President Elect Epps at the helm." Commissioner Epps states, “The American Correctional Association has provided me with the professional network to understand the approaches that are working in the other states and various member nations. This has been a valuable component in Mississippi’s endeavor to improve quality while reducing expenditures.” He went on to express his heartfelt appreciation for Governor Barbour’s support, the support of James Gondles, and for the membership of the ACA as a whole. He said, “In my 28 years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections and my 8 years as Commissioner of Corrections, I have always known my fellow employees as a second family and have never questioned their support. Each and every one of them knows that this wasn’t just an election of Chris Epps: It was recognition of the Mississippi Department of Corrections as the best corrections agency in the U.S. and the best state agency in Mississippi. As proud as my other family is of me, I am doubly proud of them.”

Color of Change: Come to Mississippi.

2010-07-07T17:04:00.002-04:00

--------------------update from Free the Scott Sisters---------------------

Please go to the link below and request that Color of Change feature the Scott Sisters.

http://www.colorofchange.org/

Also copy and paste in an e-mail to:

info@colorofchange.org

Thank you!

Conditions of confinement: Why we call and write.

2010-07-05T01:35:00.003-04:00

July 4, 2010

Dear Supporters:

Jamie and Gladys would like to thank all supporters for everything that is being done to assist in securing their freedom. They would especially like to thank The Gray Haired Witnesses for the most recent Washington, DC event.

Jamie sends a special thank you to everyone for contacting the Health Department regarding conditions at MDOC's- Quickbed Unit which is where she and many other inmates are housed. She has said that the prison made noticeable improvements and are continuing to do so. Many other inmates have also expressed their thanks to everyone who called and wrote the Mississippi Health Department. The Health Department did visit the prison and it has made a great difference in the lives of inmates.

Mrs. Rasco said that Jamie has broken out in boils again. The medical clinic has given her antibiotics and hopefully this will clear her condition. Although Jamie is sick; she is in very high spirits because of the improved living conditions. I would personally like to thank Ms. Gloretha Darlene Pinckney-Gray for sharing the idea of contacting OSHA and the Health Department. Ms. Gray - you have made a difference in many lives there at MDOC - Quick Bed. We thank you!

Jamie's Birthday is on July 16th and she would very much appreciate receiving cards and letters from supporters. Please write to Jamie Scott at the following address:

Jamie Scott # 19197
CMCF/2A-B-Zone
P.O. Box 88550
Pearl, MS 39288-8850

Anyone who wishes to send funds directly to Jamie for her commissary privileges may do so by following instructions provided via this link.

http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/Sending%20Money.htm

Free The Scott Sisters T-Shirts are available and may be purchased via the link below. Thank you to Paul Lefrak for organizing this and to Jack and Mike for picking up the torch! Please order your shirts, wear them and assist us in spreading the word.

http://www.radicaljack.com/scsit.html

Last but not least, a documentary is now being produced of The Scott Sisters, their family and this tragic case. The producer and his team are working around the clock to meet deadlines and ensure that all bases are covered. This documentary should be released in a few months!

In Solidarity,

Nancy R. Lockhart, M.J.

Prisoners are patients too: June 2010 MDOC agreement on standards of care.

2010-06-24T12:58:00.009-04:00

This is the actual text of the agreement MDOC made regarding mental health and health care services for prisoners earlier this month. While some things clearly apply specifically to the litigants only, I read much of this as applying to the whole prison population of Mississippi...someone correct me if I'm wrong.

The suit can be resumed within a year by any of the plaintiffs if the MDOC doesn't hold up their end of the bargain. I think we should reference this case in every complaint we make about health or mental health care to the MDOC from now on - and be sure to forward our documentation of neglect and abuse at the other prisons to the court and/or the plaintiffs' attorney with the ACLU...

----------------------------

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
GREENVILLE DIVISION
JEFFERY PRESLEY, et al.
Plaintiffs,
v. No. 4:05-cv-00148
CHRISTOPHER EPPS, et al.,
Defendants

AGREEMENT OF THE PARTIES TO SEEK
ORDER OF DISMISSAL WITHOUT PREJUDICE

The Parties, by their undersigned counsel, hereby agree to seek an Order of Dismissal without Prejudice, on the following terms:

1. The above-captioned case is dismissed without prejudice by stipulation of the parties on the terms set forth herein. Defendants represent that it is their intention to relocate the entire current population of Unit 32 to appropriate housing within the MDOC or a facility contracted with the MDOC to provide for care of MDOC prisoners. Plaintiffs have entered into this Agreement in reliance on Defendants' representations.

2. Defendants agree that within one year from the entry of this Order, they will correct alleged deficiencies in the system of delivery of medical and mental health treatment to class members by undertaking certain improvements in the delivery of care, as set forth below in paragraph 3 of this Agreement.

3. The improvements in the delivery of care which Defendants agree to implement are as follows:

With respect to mental health care, Defendants agree:

A. They will no longer house any persons with serious mental illness at Unit 32 and they will transfer all persons with serious mental illness to East Mississippi Correctional Facility or, in the rare and extraordinary case where a seriously mentally ill prisoner cannot safely be housed at EMCF, then another appropriate facility. For purposes of this Agreement, the term "serious mental illness" refers to the definition of severe mental illness set forth in paragraph 1 of the Supplemental Consent Decree entered by the Court in this action on November 15, 2007.

B. They will ensure that services to address the mental health needs of all prisoners meet generally accepted professional standards.

C. They will maintain sufficient staffing levels of qualified health care professionals to provide care for prisoners' mental health needs that meets generally accepted professional standards.

D. They will provide timely access to psychiatrists and other mental health care providers and they will provide a face-to-face encounter when a request for care reports a clinical symptom or a desire for a change in treatment.

E. They will ensure that encounters with mental health care providers occur in a clinical setting that ensures audio privacy and confidentiality.

F. They will ensure that all encounters with patients are timely and adequately documented in the medical record progress notes and other documentation of care will be kept in accordance with accepted professional standards.

G. They will ensure monitoring of patients on psychotropic medications in accordance with the community standard of care. Medications and pharmacy services will comply with community standards.

H. They will develop appropriate treatment protocols to address the needs of Unit 32 patients suffering acute psychiatric crises including, when indicated, constant observation in a room designed to facilitate such observation. Unit 32 inmates that are patients housed in Unit 42 or another unit for crisis management will have reasonable out-of-cell time daily and access to a variety of treatment modalities as clinically indicated. Unit 42 or any other unit designated for crisis management will not be used to house patients requiring an inpatient level of care longer than necessary to stabilize and transfer.

I. They will provide timely access to an inpatient level of care for patients for whom such care is clinically indicated.

With respect to medical care, Defendants agree:

J. They will provide timely and adequate access to care to meet prisoners’ serious medical needs, and ensure that services meet generally accepted professional standards.

K. Sick call services and acute care will include adequate patient assessments, physical examinations, and treatment plans. Referrals to mid-level or advanced level providers will be made timely as clinically indicated.

L. All care provided will be properly documented in the medical record in accordance with community standards.

M. They will develop policies and procedures to provide sufficient operational guidance to staff providing health care services, including a written set of physician-approved nursing protocols;

N. They will maintain sufficient numbers of qualified health care professionals to meet prisoners' medical needs and sufficient security staffing to ensure timely patient escorts to clinics. They will ensure that all persons providing medical treatment possess licensure and/or certification that permit them to practice within the State of Mississippi and that such persons practice only within the scope of their training and licensure.

O. Patients with chronic conditions will be seen in chronic care clinics at a frequency determined by their level of disease control. Treatment will be in accordance with nationally accepted clinical guidelines.

P. Patients will receive ordered medications timely and without interruption. Medications will be administered and documented in accordance with accepted nursing standards.

Q. Defendants will conduct quality improvement activities and adequate clinical performance reviews. All clinical staff will be properly supervised.

4. Defendants agree that on reasonable notice Plaintiffs and their experts will have unimpeded access to facilities, staff, inmates, and medical records at Mississippi State Penitentiary and any other MDOC facility to which Defendants transfer Presley class members for purposes of monitoring Defendants' progress in correcting the alleged deficiencies in the delivery of medical and mental health care identified in paragraph 3 of this Agreement.

5. Within one year from the date of this Order, Plaintiffs may file a motion requesting that this case be restored to the Court's active docket, based on the findings of Plaintiffs' experts that Defendants have not substantially remedied the alleged deficiencies in medical and mental health care described in paragraph 3 of this Settlement Agreement. If the Plaintiffs file such a motion supported by the experts' findings, the case will be restored to the Court's active docket and the case will be set down for an evidentiary hearing on whether there exist current and ongoing violations with respect the Plaintiffs' right to constitutionally adequate medical and mental health care.

6. If Plaintiffs do not file the motion described in paragraph 5 within the prescribed time period, or if the motion is filed but the Court finds after evidentiary hearing that there is no current and ongoing violation of Plaintiffs' right to constitutionally adequate medical and mental health care, the case will be finally dismissed with prejudice.

7. The Court will retain jurisdiction of the case until it is finally dismissed pursuant to the terms of this Order, and to determine the reasonable amount of plaintiffs' attorneys' fees, expert fees and costs, pursuant to Paragraph 18 of the original Consent Decree entered in this case on April 28, 2006.

CONSENTED TO:

/s/ Margaret Winter
Gabriel B. Eber
THE NATIONAL PRISON PROJECT OF THE ACLU FOUNDATION, INC.
915 15th Street, N.W., Seventh Floor
Washington, D.C. 20005
Tel. (202) 393-4930; fax (202) 393-4931
mwinter@npp-aclu.org

Stephen F. Hanlon
Laura Fernandez
HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP
2099 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 955-3000; fax (202) 955-5564

Robert B. McDuff
MS Bar No. 2532
767 N. Congress Street
Jackson, MS 39202
Tel. (601) 969-0802; fax (601) 969-0804
rbmcduff@mcdufflaw.com

MDOC COMMISSIONER:
_s/ Christopher B. Epps_______________
Christopher B. Epps

APPROVED AS TO FORM:
s/ Leonard C. Vincent________________
LEONARD C. VINCENT
MDOC GENERAL COUNSEL
MS BAR NO. 6615
Post Office Box 38
Parchman, Mississippi 38738
(662) 745-66ll, Ext. 2307
Fax: (662) 745-2959
lvincent@mdoc.state.ms.us

s/James M. Norris__________________
JAMES M. NORRIS
SPECIAL ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL
MS BAR NO. 3882
Post Office Box 36
Parchman, Mississippi 38738
(662) 745-66ll, Ext. 4159
Fax: (662) 745-2959
jnorris@mdoc.state.ms.us

Endorsement by Imprisoned Women´s Rights Watch of the Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice

2010-06-20T14:46:00.003-04:00

From: Imprisoned Women's Rights Watch:
Also endorsed by Mississippi Prison Watch:

Sunday, June 20, 2010

We here at the blog of Imprisoned Women´s Rights Watch, together with our friends, supporters and coworkers at all Prison Watch Project Blogs, endorse the actions and beliefs of the Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice. We wish their Fast and Demonstration in DC on June 21st for The Scott Sisters will reach the hearts of everyone everywhere, and that justice will be heard and acted upon.

For the Scott Sisters, and all people, women, men, children, living in prisons under deplorable circumstances, without hope, without decent care, without dignity or human rights. May justice and hope free them all!

The women and men of Mississippi Prison Watch, Imprisoned Women´s Rights Watch and Prison Watch Project
Posted by PrisonWatchProject .

Gray-Haired Witnesses: June 21 Fast.

2010-06-19T10:31:00.003-04:00

MAKE YOUR PLANS TO JOIN US!!
JUNE 21, 2010 -- WASHINGTON, DC
10 AM - DEPT. OF JUSTICE
12 NOON - WHITE HOUSE PRESS CONFERENCE
1PM-9PM - LAFAYETTE SQUARE PARK

We need EVERYONE to join us in bringing national attention to the case of the Scott Sisters and all those who have been incarcerated wrongly and egregiously over-sentenced!

This is a day-long fast to be the voice of those who cannot speak for themselves, while standing on the shoulders of our righteous ancestors who taught us that we dare not become complacent and accepting of oppression but to struggle against injustice and to bring together the people who will loudly declare that enough is enough!

We stand on this history today. We stand before you as Gray-Haired Witnesses asking freedom-loving people of all colors who believe in the dream of Ida B. Wells, of a just, safe and open America for all peoples regardless of our different social locations to break the veil of silence and stand strong in a renewed spirit of moral consciousness for this country. The greatest asset we have is our body, mind and spirit and our willingness to step out of the daily flow of life and stand tall for what is right and just. The jagged tears in the social and cultural infrastructure of Black and poor communities and families are unconscionable and unacceptable to us. We come ready to repair them. In the tradition of race women throughout history, we declare our presence and we will not be silent and we are not afraid.

**********

MEET US AT NEW YORK AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, RADCLIFFE ROOM, 1313 NEW YORK AVENUE, NW BETWEEN 8:30 AND 9:45 AM (2 blocks from the White House and Lafayette Square Park). The church is also available to us from 11:45a until 1:00.

Directions to Dept. of Justice from the New York Ave. Presbyterian Church: Come out of the building at 1313 New York Avenue, NW and turn left, cross the street at corner of the church,---you will be in front of the Inter American Bank—which is now H St, NW. Stay on H, cross at 13th, and count the numbers down to 9th—turn right on 9th, now count down the letters until you reach Pennsylvania Ave., NW –the address is 950 Pennsylvania. It’s about 10 city blocks.

There is a public parking lot located 4 blocks from the church and 4 blocks from the Department of Justice. It’s the best deal in town—most other parking is in garages that will not fit a bus. This is the contact information: City Center Parking operated by U Street Parking - 900 9th St., NW—the entrance is on 9th St, which is one way. Cars can park all day for $20 and buses can park all day for $35. Come down H St, NW to 10th, turn right on 10th go up 1 block, turn right, and then right again on 9th—the entrance is mid block on the right. Buses park to the far right of the lot. The telephone number is 202 265-0010 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 202 265-0010 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 202 265-0010 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE - 10 AM - WE WILL BEGIN OUR FAST, PICKET, SPEAK OUT AND PRESENT PETITIONS AND DEMANDS FOR ERIC HOLDER. Gray-Haired Witnesses are calling for white clothing in solidarity, but participants need not join in the fast or wear all-white to support!

12 NOON - WHITE HOUSE PRESS CONFERENCE -- The Shocking Case of the Mississippi Scott Sisters Must Become a National News Story.

1PM-9PM - LAFAYETTE SQUARE PARK - Continuation of Fast with Speakers, Performers, Activists, Music -- Come thru and lend your support as we raise awareness of the shocking case of the Mississippi Scott Sisters and uplift and educate attendees around issues of serious concern to our Sistas and our community at large. We need your voice to be a part of this program! Bring non-perishable food donations that will be distributed to the needy of the DC community at the conclusion of the fast.

Participants include:

Khadijah "Moon" Ali-Coleman
Kermit Eady - Former Head, Black United Fund of NY, Eady Associates
Michael Johnson -Black Unity Movement, Black Student Union
Nkechi Taifa, Esq. - President, Legacy Justice Institute
Sam Jordan - Advocate for Justice and Prison Abolition
Senghor Jawara Baye - Pres. Gen., UNIA-ACL
Slangston Hughes
"Spoken Word" - Spoken Word Artist
Strong Love Band
Bro. Yango!
+ More, More, More!

----------------

CALL DONNIE FINLEY OF GLORIA'S KITCHEN, JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI IF YOU CAN HELP WITH DONATING A BUS SO THAT MRS. RASCO AND FAMILY CAN ATTEND THE RALLY. CALL DONNIE ASAP at: 601-454-6507.

---------

IN SOLIDARITY:

On behalf of President-General Senghor Jawara Baye and the Government of the UNIA-ACL worldwide, we are here-in providing our full and unconditional support against the wrongful imprisonment of the Scott Sisters under the rampant racism exhibited by the state of Mississippi. Too long have we stood by and allowed our people to lanquish in the prisons of amerikkka. These two strong Black women have been held hostage on trumped-up charges of an $11.00 robbery since 1993...almost 17 years! This is what has transpired with them and many others since our sojourn in this wicked land. How long my people? How long will we continue to stand by while our Bothers and Sisters rot and die in the bowels of amerikkka’s dungeons?

Jamie is dying for lack of inept and inadequate medical care. This blatant racism that exists in amerikkka has not met its death as some would have you believe. Rise up now and show that you will no longer tolerate such. Let the powers that be know that it is way pass time for justice to step forward... instead of it always being just-us. We want Jamie and Gladys Scott released immediately. We want full and complete medical care issued and restitution for all these years of false imprisonment. We also call for a swift hand in all these cases where we have had so many of our people so blatantly and wrongfully imprisoned.

Zama Cook
Minister of Information
Government of the UNIA-ACL
---------

DURING THE DAY OF MONDAY JUNE 21:

We need you to support by doing some or all of the following--

1. STAND WITH US IN WASHINGTON AND BRING OTHERS!

2. Call, fax and e-mail Eric Holder and let him know that you are in Solidarity with the Gray-Haired Witnesses and demand an investigation into the case of the Scott Sisters and Jamie Scott's medical treatment. HOTLINE: 202-353-1555, PHONE: 202-514-2000, 202-307-6777 fax, AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

-- Call the Commissioner's office and demand that Jamie Scott be moved to the Medical Bldg. and leave the hot, moldy and infection-inducing Quick Bed unit, that she be given the nutrition that the doctor has told her she needs to survive, and that he advocate for the pardon of both of the Scott Sisters with the Governor's office. 601-359-5600, CEPPS@mdoc.state.ms.us

-- Call/fax Gov. Haley Barbour and demand that he release Jamie and Gladys Scott from prison! 1-877-405-0733 or 601-359-3150, Fax: 601-359-3741

3. Send our press release to your local and national press and tell them that you are fasting in solidarity with the Gray-Haired Witnesses fast for justice and that you want them to write a story about the case of the Scott Sisters (press release is at http://www.scribd.com/doc/31674423/grayhairpr).

4. Repost our information to your Facebook and other social netwoking sites. Help us get the word out.

5. Forward the press release to national and local press outlets! We need your help! (Press release is at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/31674423/grayhairpr)

6. Issue a statement of support on an individual or organizational level on this endeavor and get it to us before June 20 and it will be read at the event. Write a blog, article or commentary, post it and pass it on for posting on our website.

7. Volunteer to help us on that day, we need you!

8. Change your Facebook or other networking site profile pic in solidarity for the day and represent one of the Scott Sisters or their mother! i don't want to include attachments on this e-mail in case everyone can't receive them, so please just e-mail me back for them or go to the Facebook group GRAY-HAIRED WITNESSES FOR JUSTICE and both of the photos will be there for you to use. Thank you so much!!
-----------

ENDORSEMENT LIST-- THANK YOU ALL FOR STANDING WITH US!!

Action Committee for Women in Prison
Agnes Johnson, The 1212 Community in the Bronx
Ahmad Abdulibad, Minister~General, Sons Of Afrika
Bonnie Kerness, AFSC*
Brenda Scott Lowery
Bro. Moorbey, Chairman, Black Unity Movement
Bro. Sauti & Sis. Shiriki, KCBLR.ORG Radio
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
Charles E. Campbell, Allen Hydro Energy Corporation (AHEC)
Christian Guerrier, Founder, Millennials Project
Cleo Silvers
David Blanchard
Dick Gregory - Human Rights Activist
Dominique Reed, HRC-Fed Up!
Donna Wallach, Justice for Palestinians
Dr. Judson L. Jeffries, Professor & Director, The Ohio State University
Earl Smith, Executive Director, Order of Kush International
Eddie Griffin (BASG)
Fayemi Shakur, Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign
Florence L. Tate
Free Mumia NYC
Harambee Radio and Television Network
Helen Raines Staley, Albany NY
Int'l Concerned Family/Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Jacqui C. Williams
Julie Ann Turner
Kenneth King
Kermit Eady, Eady Associates
Leonna A. Brandao, S.W.III, New Vision Org., Inc.
Malaika H. Kambon, People's Eye Photography
Marilyn McMahon, California Prison Focus
Marritte Funches, founder of the August Initiative
Mary Ratcliff, Editor, San Francisco Bay View Newspaper
mesha Monge-Irizarry, Director, Education Not Incarceration, SF Chapter,
Idriss Stelley Foundation, + SF MOOC City Commissioner*
Michael Johnson/Black Student Union (Comm. College of Balt. County/Essex)
Michelle Alexander, Author, "The New Jim Crow - Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness"
Mississippi Prison Watch
Monica Moorehead, Women's Fightback Network, NYC
Mumia Abu-Jamal, Political Prisoner
Nancy Lockhart, M.J., Legal Analyst
Nathan Hare, Black Think Tank
Nkechi Taifa, Esq. - President, Legacy Justice Institute
Pastors Against Injustice, Wayne Jones
Paul Lefrak.
People's Organization for Progress
Rev. Kenneth Glasgow, T.O.P.S.
Rev. Majadi Baruti, Udja Temple Ministries
Ron Scott, Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality
Sam Jordan - Advocate for Justice and Prison Abolition
Senghor Jawara Baye, President General UNIA-ACL
Sistah Q, Author of Maintaining Our Temples
Solidarity
Sundiata Acoli, Political Prisoner
Tara Graham
Terry Howcott
The African American Freedom & Reconstruction League
The MOVE Organization
Trinita Simpson
4JusticeNow
(* For ID purposes only)

Blessed are those who struggle
Oppression is worse than the grave
Better to die for a noble cause
than to live and die a slave

Up through the years we've continued this fight
our liberty to attain
And though we have faced insurmountable odds
yet the will to resist remains

(From: Blessed are Those Who Struggle - The Last Poets)

The Scott Sister's shocking double-life sentence must not become death sentences on our watch!

All info
is at http://www.grayhairedwitnesses.blogspot.com.
Press
Releases: http://www.scribd.com/doc/31674423/grayhairpr
and
http://www.scribd.com/doc/32890430/ALEXGREGPR
Flyer:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/32978058/ghflyer613
PSA:
http://www.divshare.com/download/11504574-e65
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YULqQ9qPxio&feature=player_embedded
Facebook:
GRAY-HAIRED WITNESSES FOR JUSTICE
Phone: 1- 866-968-1188, Ext. 2
E-Mail:
ghwitnesses@gmail.com

Scott
Sisters
Website: http://www.freethescottsisters.blogspot.com

Mumia and the Gray-Haired Witnesses.

2010-06-15T17:08:00.004-04:00

SUPPORT THE GRAY-HAIRED WITNESSES FAST FOR JUSTICE!
JUNE 21, 2010 -- WASHINGTON, DC
10 AM - DEPT. OF JUSTICE
12 NOON - WHITE HOUSE PRESS CONFERENCE
1PM-9PM - LAFAYETTE SQUARE PARK

We need your support in bringing national attention to the case of the Scott Sisters and all other women who have been incarcerated wrongly and egregiously over-sentenced, punishing and destroying our families and children, please plan to participate!

----------------------------from Mumia Abu-Jamal--------------------------

IN SOLIDARITY:

Dear Gray-Haired Witnesses:

It's wonderful that y'all are supporting the Scott Sisters of Mississippi.

I salute you all for your efforts to obtain justice and liberation for them.

From the dawn of human time, the 'gray-haired ones' -- the elders, were the communal repository for knowledge of things seen and unseen.

This arises from the great respect accorded the aged in African traditional society.

That sistas such as y'all are doing this, in this society of coldness, repression and what I call the 'Prisonhouse of Nations', is a good and necessary thing.

As Michelle Alexander has written, the prison industrial complex is the 'new Jim Crow'.

So, the battle continues.

So, kudos. i salute you all.

Ona Move! LLJA!

Alla best,

Mumia (Abu-Jamal)

----------------------------------------------------

Solidarity, a democratic revolutionary socialist, feminist, anti-racist organization, emphatically endorses the fast at the U.S. Department of Justice in D.C. undertaken by the Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice in support of freedom for the Scott Sisters of Mississippi, Jamie and Gladys Scott. We support the immediate inspection of the prison where Jamie is being held despite suffering from end-stage renal disease and call for her immediate hospitalization. This outrageous case of injustice—double-life sentences for these sisters over a theft of less than $11—is a racist and class-based extreme injustice of the worst sort. The Scott Sisters must be released at once! Solidarity joins this growing movement for justice for the Gladys and Jamie Scott and for all women suffering behind bars in inhuman conditions.
-----------

Mrs. Rasco, mother of the Scott Sisters, loved Bro. Toure Muhammad's wonderful Final Call article (http://www.finalcall.com) on their case and was very thrilled to see it! She apologizes for any misstatements she has made and wishes to clarify that the jury racial make-up was 7 whites, 5 Blacks, 1 black and 1 white alternate, (altho the Black alternate did not return). She's very grateful for the support!
==============

SUPPORT NEEDED!!

-- Anyone coming to the event from VA have room to bring anyone else? Please respond ASAP if you are able to share your ride up, thank you!!!

- THE SITUATION WITH GETTING THE BUS UP TO THE DEMONSTRATION FROM MISSISSIPPI IS GETTING VERY DIRE, HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED OR ELSE THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO COME. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD AND STRONGLY ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO GET INVOLVED, IT IS VERY MUCH NEEDED TO BRING MRS. RASCO, FAMILY AND MS SUPPORTERS TO DC, THEY NEED TO BE THERE TO SPEAK OUT TO THE NATIONAL PRESS!
Please mail an M.O. for whatever you can spare (no amount is too small!) ASAP made out to Donnie Finley and mail to: Donnie Finley c/o Gloria's Kitchen, 2855 Bailey Ave., Jackson, MS 39206. If you need more info please phone Donnie at: 601-454-6507 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 601-454-6507 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Thank you in advance for your kind support!

MORE UPDATES TO COME VERY SOON! PLEASE GET YOUR PLANS NAILED DOWN, NOT EVERYONE WILL BE WEARING WHITE OR FASTING, SO PLEASE DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU!!

All info is at http://www.grayhairedwitnesses.blogspot.com.

Press Releases: http://www.scribd.com/doc/31674423/grayhairpr and http://www.scribd.com/doc/32890430/ALEXGREGPR

Flyer: http://www.scribd.com/doc/32978058/ghflyer613

PSA: http://www.divshare.com/download/11504574-e65

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YULqQ9qPxio&feature=player_embedded

Facebook: GRAY-HAIRED WITNESSES FOR JUSTICEPhone: 1- 866-968-1188, Ext. 2
E-Mail: ghwitnesses@gmail.com

Scott Watch: A Dirty Injustice in today's South?

2010-06-14T02:55:00.001-04:00

FinalCall.com News

A Dirty Injustice in today's South?

By Toure Muhammad -Contributing Writer

Updated Jun 11, 2010 - 12:19:24 PM

http://www.finalcall.com

'Gray-haired' activists plan D.C. protest to demand justice for jailed Miss. sisters

(FinalCall.com) - The dirtiest thing about the South is not the “Dirty South” music genre, but institutional racism that shatters dreams and destroys families. For the Scott Sisters, who supporters say were unfairly sentenced to life in prison 16 years ago, it has meant watching their children grow into adults and mourning the loss of their father.

Since October 1994, Gladys and Jamie Scott have been serving two life terms each in prison, convicted of an $11 robbery. The Scott Sisters had never been in trouble with the law, but on December 24, 1993, the Scott County Sheriff's Department in Mississippi arrested the Black women for an armed robbery where no one was murdered, injured or even taken to the hospital.

Gladys and Jamie, then 19-years- and 22-years-old have always maintained their innocence. This case represents a complete miscarriage of justice, say friends, family members and a growing number of supporters.

Three teenagers, all related and aged between 14 and 18, confessed to the robbery. In the initial complaint filed shortly after the robbery, the victims did not mention the Scott Sisters' alleged involvement in the crime. But the three teens agreed to a plea bargain that included implicating the two girls. The boys received 10 months in jail while the Scott Sisters, who were never offered a plea bargain, were sentenced to two life terms each.

“Even one of the alleged victims testified in court that Jamie and Gladys never robbed them, never took anything from them and that the three boys did, but that he believed that Jamie and Gladys told them to do it,” said Evelyn Rasco, the Scott Sisters' mother during an exclusive interview with The Final Call. There was never any physical evidence entered into the trial and it was an all-White jury, she noted.

“No justice was given to them at all. It was a circus court. This is wrong. They have nine children and four grandchildren; oldest grandchild is seven-years-old,” said the mother.

Testimony from the Black youth reveals that coercions, threats and promises led to naming the Scott Sisters as the robbers. The 14-year-old testified that he signed a written statement without an attorney present. The teen was told that he would be sent up to Parchman Farm—the notorious Mississippi penitentiary—if he did not cooperate. In addition, he was told that he would be “made out of a woman” (raped by men) at Parchman. In 1998 one of the sentenced teens signed an affidavit maintaining the sisters were not involved with the crime.

The injustice stems from not only racism, but a vendetta against the family because of Scott Sisters' outspoken late father and another family member, explained Mrs. Rasco. The nephew of James “Hawk” Rasco, the father of the Scott Sisters, implicated a White sheriff who was extorting Black night club owners which resulted in the sheriff serving time in prison, she said. The night club owners had been paying approximately $100 per week to sell alcohol in Scott County, which was a dry county. Mr. Rasco who had recently moved to Mississippi from Chicago bought the night club from the nephew.

According to the mother, a Black deputy felt her husband should continue paying bribe monies that the nephew paid. Supporters say when Mr. Rasco refused the deputy responded, “I will get you, even if it is through your daughters.” Mr. Rasco died in February 2003 from a heart attack.

Mrs. Rasco has never given up hope. She has written letters, made phone calls and told everyone who would listen about her daughters' plight. She caught the attention of Nancy Lockhart, a legal representative and community organizer who was working at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Ms. Lockhart began assisting the Scott Sisters after receiving a letter about the case from Mrs. Rasco in December of 2006. “When I read that letter, I could detect that she wasn't lying. I knew the letter was from the heart,” said Ms. Lockhart. “Then I read the transcripts. The case reeked of innocence.”

The Scott Sisters have exhausted all their legal remedies. Every attempt by the Scott Sisters to challenge their convictions has been denied. Jamie Scott is currently represented by Attorney Chokwe Lumumba for her medical issues only. Both Jamie and Gladys are in need of criminal lawyers to review their cases and determine a course of action, according to their mother.

The fight to free the sisters is now heightened by Jamie's worsening health condition. “Jamie is deteriorating every day,” said Mrs. Rasco.

In January, 2010, Jamie Scott suffered failure of both kidneys. “The medical diary of Jamie Scott is very extensive and depicts inhumane treatment, torture and the lack of appropriate medical care,” said Ms. Lockhart. From March 15, 2010, to approximately March 25, 2010, Jamie was hospitalized where attempts were made to eradicate severe infection and surgically implant a fistula into her arm for dialysis. She has no usage of that arm to date and continues to battle infections. One of the doctors stated that infection had spread throughout her body, say supporters. Her sister Gladys wants to donate a kidney to her sister.

The Scott Sisters' cry for justice has been heard by the Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice, a group of “elder” activists who plan to fast and travel to the White House on June 21 to urge the federal government to “exercise an authentic system of justice for Gladys and Jamie Scott and all other women who have been incarcerated wrongly and egregiously over-sentenced,” said spokeswoman B.J. Janice Peak-Graham.

The Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice have demanded freedom for the Scott Sisters and they want an inspection and observation team to enter the Pearl, Miss., prison where Jamie Scott is being held.

During the day-long upcoming demonstration, supporters will make a formal appeal to Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama.

Mrs. Rasco is unable to afford the trip to D.C. and is hoping supporters will be able to help pay for a bus. “The children really want to come in support of their mothers,” she said. “(This injustice) has destroyed my life. I am going to keep fighting until they are free or until I die; whichever one comes first.”

(To get involved in the June 21 fast and protest visit http://www.freethescottsisters.blogspot.com/ or contact The Committee to Free the Scott Sisters, 641-715-3900, ext. 99222.

CORRECTION to above article: The jury had 7 whites and 5 blacks.

Scott Watch: Michelle Alexander and the Gray-Haired Witnesses

2010-06-14T02:36:00.000-04:00

THE NEW JIM CROW' AUTHOR MICHELLE ALEXANDER ENDORSES GRAY-HAIRED WITNESSES FOR JUSTICE

P r e s s R e l e a s e
Contacts:
B.J. Janice Peak-Graham / Marpessa Kupendua

1- 866-968-1188, Ext. 2

ghwitnesses@gmail.com

http://www.grayhairedwitnesses.blogspot.com/

WASHINGTON, June 9/Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice News – Author and legal scholar, Michelle Alexander, has taken time from her current national book tour to strongly endorse the June 21, 2010 Gray-Haired Witnesses Fast for Justice in DC and their mission in a statement to their web editor and founding member, Marpessa Kupendua. In her new book this brave and insightful legal scholar and civil rights advocate argues that although Jim Crow laws have been eliminated, the racial caste system it set up was not eradicated. It’s simply been redesigned, and now racial control functions through the criminal justice system. In her support of the Gray-haired Witnesses for Justice movement, Ms. Alexander wrote:

"With extraordinary vision and courage, and in the tradition of Ida B. Wells and countless other women who have stood for justice in the face of severe racial oppression, the Gray Haired Witnesses for Justice are calling attention to the harm caused by America's latest caste system: mass incarceration. Women of color are the fastest growing group of the prison population today and the Gray Haired Witnesses for Justice are shining a bright light on the racial bias and cruelty of our criminal justice system. All Americans who care about justice should join them in their campaign to free the Scott sisters, who have been sentenced to die in prison for an extremely minor, non-violent offense. “

In a February, 2010 article which appeared in the Huffington Post, she wrote, “ The clock has been turned back on racial progress in America, though scarcely anyone seems to notice. All eyes are fixed on people like Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey who have defied the odds and achieved great power, wealth and fame.”

In referencing the focus of the Gray-Haired Witnesses on the case of the Scott Sisters, she had this to say, “The double life sentences imposed on the Scott sisters for an alleged robbery in Mississippi netting little more than $11 is a glaring example of a criminal justice system that is no longer much concerned with justice. No one was hurt or injured, and these women have no prior offenses. No other Western democracy subjects its own people to such draconian punishment for minor crimes. And no other country in the world incarcerates such a large percentage of its racial and ethnic minorities. This is Jim Crow justice, alive and well today. I urge all those of conscience to support the Scott sisters and the thousands of other prisoners who find themselves in similar shoes. Sadly, the Scott sisters are not alone. The Gray Haired Witnesses for Justice are standing up for all those suffering needlessly behind bars and we must join them. If we fail to act, history will judge us harshly."

Michelle Alexander is the author of "The New Jim Crow - Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness". Her book is taking the nation by storm, especially by major news analysts and commentators in examining issues of race bearing upon the era of the Obama administration. Ms. Alexander is a rising legal star who presents a bold and innovative argument that mass incarceration amounts to a devastating system of racial control.

On June 21, 2010, the Gray-Haired Witnesses will commence a Fast at the Department of Justice in a 10:00 a.m. formal appeal to Eric Holder, rejoin at the White House at Noon with a press conference and formal appeal to President Obama, and then continue at Lafayette Square Park from 1PM until 9PM for the duration of the fast with speakers, live performances and artists. They are calling on all people of good will to join them on that day and demand justice for the Scott Sisters and an end to the oversentencing, degradation and dehumanization of Black women in this system and nation as a whole.

Michelle Alexander is the author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (The New Press, 2010). The former director of the Racial Justice Project of the ACLU in Northern California, she also served as a law clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun on the U.S. Supreme Court. Currently, she holds a joint appointment with the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University.

When the "Worst of the Worst" Describes the Prison, Not the Prisoners

2010-06-08T23:38:00.000-04:00

Jun 7th, 2010
by Will Matthews, ACLU

When the "Worst of the Worst" Describes the Prison, Not the Prisoners

Less than a decade ago, Unit 32 at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, Miss., was one of the very worst prison facilities in the nation. As the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports:

The supermax unit at the State Penitentiary at Parchman once held 1,000 men from gang leaders to petty thieves to seriously mentally ill inmates whose howls could be heard day and night. Prisoners were kept in isolation 23 hours a day, often behind full metal doors in stifling cells with broken lights, yet violence was common between inmates and guards and among the inmates themselves.

But thanks to the efforts of the ACLU’s National Prison Project, which eight years ago initiated litigation aimed at improving the grossly inhumane conditions that caused the infamous Unit 32 to be, in the words of NPP’s Associate Director Margaret Winter, “an incubator for violence and mental illness,” Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) officials have agreed to close the unit and transfer its entire population to other facilities over the course of the next six months. Prison officials will move all seriously mentally ill prisoners to the East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian, Miss., a facility that is uniquely able to house prisoners afflicted with psychiatric problems, and they have agreed to improve the levels of medical and mental health care provided in Unit 32 so long as any prisoners remain there.

The significance of this victory cannot be overstated. For years, the NPP has fought hard around the country against the use of so-called “supermax” prisons, draconian facilities in which prisoners are subjected to stark isolation and are under lockdown 24 hours a day. On Unit 32, prisoners were kept in cells where summer heat indexes reached 120 degrees, toilets were nonfunctional, the housing areas were routinely awash in sewage from broken plumbing and they were subjected day and night to the ravings of severely psychotic prisoners whose mental illnesses were left untreated. Purportedly created to house the very “worst of the worst,” “supermax” facilities, including those in Mississippi, invariably are used to detain a large percentage of people who do not need to be there — prisoners convicted of property or drug crimes, for example, who are sent there for behavioral problems but have no way of earning their way back out. Many of Unit 32’s prisoners were assigned there simply because they have HIV, are seriously mentally ill or are in protective custody.

Since the ACLU first filed suit in 2002, the changes inside Unit 32 provide the rest of the nation with what Winter calls “a model for prison reform.” MDOC developed programs in which prisoners could earn their way out of solitary confinement through good behavior. As a result, the prison population in solitary confinement has decreased from over 1,000 to 150, and incidents of violence have plummeted. But the decision by MDOC officials to shutter Unit 32 is a clear acknowledgement that no matter what kinds of improvements are made to conditions in these “supermax” facilities, it simply is not humane, cost-effective or in the best interest of public safety to house prisoners in perpetual lockdown and profound isolation.

Link to article Here

ACLU files motion to dismiss suit against MDOC

2010-06-05T10:46:00.003-04:00

ctpost.com

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A proposed agreement has been reached to remove all inmates from the notorious Unit 32 at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, which once housed death row and mentally ill inmates in conditions that prisoner advocates described as inhumane.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion Friday in U.S. District Court asking a federal judge to dismiss its lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Corrections. MDOC has been implementing changes at Unit 32 ever since a consent decree was reached in the case in 2006, a year after the complaint was filed.

"It's a very big and important step after these profound stages to now be emptying that place, finally," said Margaret Winter, associate director of the ACLU National Prison Project.

The agreement requires MDOC to transfer all the remaining inmates in Unit 32 to other housing over the next several months and ensure all inmates receive adequate medical and mental health care.

The unit had held as many as 1,000 inmates. Winter said fewer than 200 remain in Unit 32, and it's unclear where they will be placed. The agreement requires those with serious mental illness to be housed at MDOC's mental health facility in Meridian.

"My hope is that we will not see Unit 32 re-created somewhere else," Winter said.

MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps was traveling Friday and couldn't be reached immediately for comment. MDOC's changes at the facility in recent years have pertained to health care, mental health care, the use of force and the classification of prisoners.

"We have more than complied with the agreement that we entered into with the ACLU and this dismissal is evidence of our compliance," Epps said in a statement released through his office Friday.

The ACLU had alleged in its complaint that mentally ill inmates were sent to Unit 32 because of poor discipline, but a 23-hour-a-day confinement caused their condition to worsen. The ACLU also alleged physical abuse by guards, poor sanitary conditions and extreme heat during the summer months.

"It was one of the very worst prisons in the nation when we brought this suit. The conditions there were atrocious," Winter said. "It was a generator for violence and mental illness."

The ACLU will monitor the situation over the next year, and if conditions of the agreement aren't met, the lawsuit can be restored to the court docket, Winter said.

Walls Won't Protect Us from Bombs

2010-05-21T04:48:00.004-04:00

“Everybody wake up
If you’re living with your eyes closed
See the man with a bomb in his hand
Everybody wake up

Oh baby it's not easy sometimes
They build these walls ever higher and hide behind them
Seems an odd way to try and make things right
Oh I feel like I go crazy sometimes

Our finest hour arrives
See the pig dressed in his finest fine
The believers stand behind him and smile
As the day lights up with fire

Everybody wake up
If you’re living with your eyes closed
See the man with a bomb in his hand
Everybody wake up

I remember the words of the misguided fool
Do unto others as you'd have them do
Not an eye for an eye is the golden rule
Just leaves a room full of blind men

And the finest hour arrives
See the pig dressed in his finest fine
Don't believe him leave and stand behind him and smile
As the day lights up with fire"
©Dave Matthews Band

Dave’s words strike a particularly strong chord within me. “We build these walls ever higher to hide behind…” and it does seem an odd way to try and make things right, does it not? Everywhere we turn these days we seem to encounter ever higher and more divisive walls that swallow people inside the shadows of their tyranical, towering, industrial, grayness.

We seem to hold the belief that somehow walls will protect us from all of the evils, darkness and ill winds that the world can blow our way. We learn that solid walls are good from our earliest fairy tales; only the piggy who builds a big brick house can defend himself and defeat the huffing and puffing big bad wolf. Build walls, stay safe.

Good will stay only on the light side and all evil will be contained within secure brick storage containers surrounded by the tallest of walls. If we can push and shove everything dark and ‘evil’ behind brick walls we then will have nothing to fear, right? So we build walls…first with our houses, surrounded by walls and fences…but wait! Two sets of walls can still be penetrated so we build walls around entire neighborhoods. Walls and fences around our schools, our cars, our communities but still we are vulnerable so we expand the walls to surround the country…

As we continue madly building and constructing walls within walls surrounded by…walls, we seem to have forgotten one very important piece of the picture; we have forgotten that every time we build up more walls, we trap people within them, outside of them – divided by them, conquered by the solitariness that comes from living in the shadows of so many damned walls!

For every four new prison walls that are constructed, thousands of lives will ultimately end up decimated and de-constructed. We have built so many walls that it is an inevitable law of gravity and nature that the walls will crumble and start to collapse around us; history bears this lesson out thousands of times over. How many millions of Americans are already being crushed by the weight of these monstrous and inhumane walls? How many more must be destroyed before we come to our senses and realize that instead of building more walls, what we need to do is to work on building bridges that span the distance and division that the walls have created?

No one could argue that some degree of separation from society does keep us safe from ‘the worst of the worst’ of our offenders. But the majority of people sitting behind towering walls in this country right now are not ‘the worst’ – in fact, they are a far cry from it. They are mothers who need drug treatment or safe shelter from an abuser; they are sisters who sold fifteen minutes and a piece of their soul in an alleyway in order to afford their next meal. They are our little brothers who found family and acceptance in neighborhood gangs since mom OD’d and dad is doing a dime for dealing pot…they are fathers, grandfathers and yes, grandmothers. What they are not is 3-headed boogeymen with fangs and claws and all of the other images the screaming, fear-mongering media heads try to portray them as.

Since we cannot see over the walls it is easy to forget that these are people who are just on the other side of them. We remove ourselves and distance ourselves from them in any and every possible way up to and including the subtle shift in lingo we use for all things prison, er, I mean ‘corrections’ affiliated. Political correctness and the softening and blurring of the edges of reality know no bounds. We have replaced a ‘prison system’ with a ‘department of corrections’. We do not put people in prison cells anymore; we now apparently house them in ‘dorms’ inside ‘correctional facilities’ or ‘institutions’. Last but not least, we are not housing prisoners or convicts but rather, inmates and offenders. As though changing the wording somehow removes them from our realm of responsibility…

People need to wake up and start seeing beyond the thinly sugar encrusted walls our politicians talk us into believing in and realize that we are all responsible for what happens to the millions of American citizens that are held prisoner behind the seemingly impenetrable walls that we feel so comforted and protected by. What is going on behind the walls, out of our view; the abuse, the neglect…the downright shameful and torturous conditions is doing anything but keep us safe.

Until there is real and genuine transparency and accountability in our prisons, we are all going to be continually exposed to “the man with the bomb in his hand” as more and more of our brothers and sisters are being driven to violent, drug induced, sensory deprived and unnecessary madness before being set free to navigate through the mad maze of walls that our society has become.

We can’t wait much longer; we’ve been living with our eyes closed for far too long now and it is high time we “see the man with the bomb in his hand” and take the practical and necessary steps to diffuse the bomb or else risk the fallout when hundreds of thousands of people pushed beyond human limitations finally explode, “the day lights up with fire” and our precious walls crash down upon us all.

Rebecca McFarland
©2010

Scott Watch: Unconstitutional Living Conditions

2010-05-18T13:39:00.000-04:00

Unconstitutional Living Condition ~ Unedited ~By Jamie Scott ~ Please Forward to Media Outlets

April 20, 2010

Jamie Scott # 19197
CMCF/2A-B-Zone
P.O. Box 88550
Pearl, MS 39288-8850

The living condition in quickbed area is not fit for any human to live in. I have been incarcerated for 15 years 6 months now and this is the worst I have ever experience. When it rain out side it rain inside. The zone flood like a river. The rain comes down on our heads and we have to try to get sheets and blankets to try to stop it from wetting our beds and personnel property. Because the floors are concrete and it have paint on it, it makes it very slippery when it rain and there have been numerous of inmates that have broke their arms and hurt there self do to this. Above our heads there are rows and rows of spiders as if we live in the jungle. There are inmates that have holds in there bodies left from spider bites, because once they are bitten it take forever to get to the clinic for any help. There are mold in the bathroom ceiling and around the walls and toilets. The toilets leak sewage from under them and they have the inmate men to come in and patch them up occasionally. The smell is awful. The showers are two circular poles with five shower heads on each pole. The floor in the shower is also concrete and slippery. There is nothing to hold on to when you exit the shower so there have been many inmates that have hurt there self in the process. Outside the building there is debirs where the unit is falling apart. Each day we are force to live in these conditions. The staph infection is so high and we are force to wave in toilet and sewage water when we have to go to the bathroom. I have witness to many inmates die at the hands of this second rate medical care. I do not want to be one of them. When this is brought to the health department or anyone attention. The MDOC tries to get the inmate to try to pamper it up so if someone comes in it want look as bad as the inmates said it did. I am fully aware that we are in prison, but no one should have to live in such harsh condition. I am paranoid of catching anything because of what I have been going throw with my medical condition. We are living in these harsh conditions, but if you go to the administration offices, they are nice and clean and smell nice because they make sure the inmates clean their offices each day. They tell us to clean the walls. Cleaning the walls will not help anything. Cleaning the walls will not stop the rain from pouring in. it will not stop the mold from growing inside the walls and around us. It will not stop the spiders from mating. They have 116 inmates on each wing, and we live not five feet from each other in order to pack us in. We have the blowers on the ceiling and if the inmates are acting crazy or the staff come in mad they use the blowers as a form of punishment. The taxes payers really are lead to believe we are been rehabilitated. That is a joke. All we do is sit in this infected unit and build up more hate. Rehabilitated starts within you. If you want to change you will change. One thing about MDOC, they know how to fix the paper work up to make it seen as if they are doing their job. You can get more drugs and anything else right here. I have witness a lot in my time here. Do I sound angry, I am not I am hurt and sick. Because they have allowed my kidney to progress to stage five which been the highest. They told me years ago I had protein in my urine, but I went years without any help. Now, it seen the eyes are on me because my family are on their case. Every inmate is not without family. Yes, you do have many inmates that family have giving up on, but my sister and I are not them. I do not want special attention; I want to treat, and to live how the state says on paper we are living. The same way when it is time for the big inspection we are promised certain food if we please clean up to pass this inspection. So I beg of anyone to please understand Mississippi Department of Correction is a joke. They will let you die or even kill yourself. We are told when visitors come into the prison do not talk to them. Well I have the right to talk to anyone and if the health department or anyone comes I will talk to him or her, because this is my life and I should or anyone else should be force to live like this. They use unlawful punishments to try to shut us up. I need help. I need a inmate to help me, but for some reason they will not allow me to move with my sister, so she can help me. There are mother and daughter, aunties, and nieces housed together and also there are a total of 12 inmates acting as orally for others inmates. I have all the names of the inmates acting as a orally if need to be giving. However, the subject of my sister is been danced around. A form of discrimination. My sister (Gladys Scott) and I were housed together for over ten years and not once have we ever caused any problem. We were spit up because in 2003 the Commissioner came with the order to separate all family members. Because its payback because my family is holding them accountable to do what they are paid to do. Also, do to the fact Mr. Daniels on it’s a New Day & Grassroots are keeping the supports inform that is been pointed out to me in a negative way. Now that I am sitting everyday because of my sickness I have time to use my typewriter. MDOC have gotten away with to much. In addition, some of the things that go on here I truly believe that Mr. Epps do not know.

Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice: Hunger Strike!

2010-05-15T13:34:00.002-04:00

The Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice are conducting a Hunger Strike at the Department of Justice Headquarters in Washington, DC on June 21, 2010.

Contacts: Ruby Sales / B.J. Janice Peak-Graham

1-706-323-0246
- spirithousedc@gmail.com

We, who are three strikes removed from the center of the power structure of this country, want to raise the political consciousness of the nation while standing as the moral soul of the nation. We are Gray-Haired Witnesses who have struggled from time immemorial within the Black community. We are building towards a movement in history and we need all people of good will to be a part!

When Ida B. Wells stood up, she set in motion a resistance movement where many Americans broke their silence against lynching and said NO. She stood for a race of people bereft of political power or resources. More than 100 years later Gray-Haired Witnesses, Black women with a new Freedom Movement calling on this nation, stand in the spirit of those proud men and women who won hard-fought for victories in struggle and blood. We speak to the totality of the struggle of the Black woman who is debased regularly as uneducated, immoral, subhuman, whore, bad mother, and welfare queen. We also recognize the systemic racism that leads the police to even arrest the Black woman in
the first place, the racism during sentencing, during incarceration, in dealing with social services, education, health discrimination, and beyond.

Over the last 20 years, the women’s population in US prisons has more than tripled. Most women are in prison as a result of drug selling, addiction, domestic violence and criminal acts mostly related to men. Too many are victimized by biased and negligent lawyers and judges. The evidence of oppression against Black and poor women significantly increased and continues to mount. Our Sisters are victimized, and subsequently our families, by enormous health care disparities, and emotional degradation through corporate media demonization of our image and place in our community. We now see a coalition of corporate, cultural and political wars fully embracing a White supremacist culture of domination and terrorism.

Our primary focus is the case of the Mississippi Scott Sisters, Jamie and Gladys, whose almost 16 yrs of unjust incarceration is a shocking revelation of the pure nothingness with which our lives are deemed in the eyes of this society and world, where such egregious travesties of justice are heaped upon our women with hate-filled arrogance and in plain view! In 1994, the State of Mississippi sentenced Jamie and Gladys Scott to consecutive double-life terms each for two counts of armed robbery they did not commit. They did not have prior criminal records, vigorously maintained their innocence, approximately $11 was said to have been netted, no one was harmed or injured and no weapon was ever recovered.

In January, 2010, Jamie Scott suffered failure of both kidneys. The combination of absymal health care under deplorable conditions has culminated in her steep decline to stage 5 (end stage) kidney disease. Jamie Scott has now effectively been sentenced to death. We must address this specific issue with urgency and demand that an Inspection and Observation Team be allowed into the Pearl, MS prison where Jamie Scott is being held for independent evaluation, as well as call on this government to free Jamie and Gladys Scott, wrongfully convicted and with no business being incarcerated in the first place! The case of the Scott Sisters is a horrific representation of the cases of countless other Black and poor women who have been denied the benefits of true justice and been incarcerated wrongly and in the process punishing, injuring and destroying Black families and children across the nation.

The Gray-Haired Witness are calling on all people of good will to fast and strike and resist with us across the nation on this day. The greatest asset we have is our body, mind and spirit and our willingness to step out of the daily flow of life and stand tall for what is right and just. In the tradition of race women throughout history and our survival, we declare our presence and we will not be silent and we are not afraid. Our lives have prepared us to come to this place, at this time.

STAND WITH US IN WASHINGTON, DC AND HELP TO BUILD THIS EVENT.

WE ASK THAT YOU STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH US:

1. Organize attendees to come to the event on June 21.

2. Sign your organization/club/church/mosque/temple, etc. on in solidarity with the event.

3. Put a statement in support on your website and link to our blogspot. Send a mailing to your email list and memberships.

4. Assist in distributing literature for this event to build it to the maximum level.

5. Assist in garnering press now and at the event.

6. Organize a local fast where you are and send a press release to local news outlets about the hunger strike and your local support efforts.

7. Dress and wear buttons in solidarity with us on that day.

8. Assist with donations towards expenses earmarked "Gray-Haired Witnesses" at http://www.spirithouseproject.org/donation.cfm.

We call on our Sisters, our Brothers to join with us to demand what is right. We must speak loudly and clearly to the devaluation of Black women's bodies and lives. We want people of all colors to wage a struggle and stand with us on these issues because none of us are free until we are all free.

SHAKEERAH ABDUL AL-SABUUR, Paralegal

FATIRAH AZIZ, ICFFMAJ, African American Freedom & Reconstruction League, Quba Institute

MAE JACKSON, Art without Walls

MARPESSA KUPENDUA, M'Backe House of Hope, Inc.

DEBRA D. NAPIER, PhD.

BJ JANICE PEAK-GRAHAM, OUR COMMON GROUND Communications, Inc., Progressive Alternative Talk Radio

RUBY NELL SALES, Founder and Co-Director of SpiritHouse project - Public theologian, educator and long time runner for justice

JAMIA SHEPHERD, Founder/President of S.O.P.E. - Support Our People's Efforts

http://www.grayhairedwitnesses.blogspot.com

The SpiritHouse Project

100 6th Street

Columbus, GA 31901

Phillip Gibbs, James Green, and the colors of Resistance.

2010-05-14T15:15:00.000-04:00

Those of us who know Vietnam protest history at all know about the white kids murdered by the Ohio National Guard while protesting at Kent State in 1970. Look again at all our history books: the anti-war movement is usually given a righteous young white face - despite the fact that the black community was in overwhelming opposition to the expanding war, since their young men made up most of the US Army's front line fodder. In fact, Martin Luther King was beginning to vociferously challenge both the racism of the war and US imperialism when he was assassinated two years earlier.

So, today the story is about the kids killed in Mississippi at Jackson State College during their own uprisings just ten days after Kent State - the kids that even our leftier history teachers often forget to mention. They were 21-year old Phillip Lafayette Gibbs, and 17-year old high school senior James Earl Green. I was going to post the Democracy Now transcript on it - which isn't bad - but you'll have to Google if that's what you want. Here's the link to Jackson State College's Gibbs-Green Memorial page instead. Like the pages missing from our history books - the whole chapters left out - this school's page was strangely hard to find.

Jackson Co. NAACP Celebrates Oppressors: The Resistance Responds.

2010-05-13T13:27:00.000-04:00

No Banquets! Free Jamie and Gladys Scott!
Represent Our Resistance
By Dr. Lenore J. Daniels, PhD
BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board
May 6, Issue 374

We, the Black masses, don't want these leaders who seek our support coming to us representing a certain political party. They must come to us today as Black Leaders representing the welfare of Black people. We won't follow any leader today who comes on the basis of political party. Both parties (Democrat and Republican) are controlled by the same people who have abused our rights, and who have deceived us with false promises every time an election rolls around.
-Malcolm X

Jamie Scott suffers from kidney disease. She receives inadequate medical care, but the Jackson County Branch of the NAACP in Mississippi last month (April) held a banquet, “NAACP: One Nation, One Dream,” to honor individuals and organizations for their outstanding service to the community. Christopher Epps, commissioner for the Mississippi Department of Corrections was recognized for his - work.

Epps (Black American) is the “longest serving commissioner in the history of the agency,” according to MDOC’s website. Appointed by Gov. Ronnie Musgrove in 2002 and then reappointed by Gov. Haley Barbour in 2004, Epps must have done his work quite well.

Mrs. Evelyn (Rasco), Jamie’s mother, spoke to Epps in March of this year on behalf of her daughter. Jamie, she told him, is very ill; she needs serious medical care. Jamie and her sister Gladys were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to double life each for an $11 dollar robbery. The wallet re-appeared with the money. The accusers admitted to supplying false testimonies against the young women then. But its 15 years latter and now Jamie is ill.

Epps told Mrs. (Rasco) that he would do “everything in his power” and work to have the Scott sisters released from prison, according to legal analyst Nancy Lockhart. Now it seems that Epps isn’t so sure this is his work - securing medical care for Jamie or securing the release of Jamie and Gladys. Maybe Jamie isn’t so ill. Maybe she isn’t so truthful about her experiences with the prison’s medical personnel.

“I’ve talked with Jamie many times. I know Jamie. I can’t imagine Jamie would lie. I have never known Jamie to lie,” Lockhart told me.

No, I can’t imagine that any woman in the end-stage of kidney disease, receiving inadequate treatment, living in a cell with spiders and moldy walls would lie about her condition. No, not many could imagine a woman lying about the pain and bleeding of 4-5 caterers that had been placed in her neck or the bleeding from the caterer (placed in her groin) that fell out. No human being would imagine another would be lying while they suffer from a life-threatening disease.

But Epps seems to have doubts. Something is wrong with this story!

I agree. Something is strange about this story!

The Jackson County Branch rewards Christopher Epps for his outstanding community work! People have to be congratulated for their community work - in this post-racial era! That’s strange considering that surveillance teams are watching and recording a good many of them!

Immigrant communities, particularly Latino/as and Haitian communities, are working to organize resistance to the legalization of racial profiling and racial terror. Native Americans are working to organize resistance to the effort of the government to run bulldozers over their lands and their lives. Muslim communities are working to organize resistance to the targeting of their mosques and community organizations.

While community organizations, focusing on the fallout of war waged against Black Americans, organize to tackle housing, unemployment, gentrification of neighborhoods, and high infant mortality rates, the Black community isn’t organized to confront the U.S. Empire that perpetuates these conditions. On the contrary, mainstream Black organizations fear losing their credibility with Empire and, in turn, they fear losing economic and political support.

These organizations can’t identify themselves as critics of the U.S. Empire. So banquets - out of reach of Jamie, her sister, and their mother - are organized to do what? Honor whom? Collaborators, obedient servants - who are also intended to serve as symbols of Black success? Look at the number of Black Americans who can afford to attend the awards banquet! Look at the “exceptional,” outstanding professional Blacks honored for their work.

In the meantime, NAACP representatives aren’t knocking on Black residents’ doors to urge them to come out, stand together to engage in civil disobedience. The NAACP won’t organize troops of people from the communities of Red, Black, Brown, and Muslim to appear in Washington D.C. and demand an end to the laws and policies that have incarcerated 2.3 million Americans.

Be practical! How could we remain the NAACP without government funding?

But the question should be - how do members of the NAACP continue to tell themselves that its organization represents Black Americans, including the poor, imprisoned, and working class in the tradition of Black solidarity?

Do they know that the Black community is collapsing from without and well as from within? Or is the NAACP an organization that does what is safe for the NAACP to sustain its life. It’s safe to honor Epps, but it’s not safe to free the incarcerated like Jamie and Gladys.

When the NAACP planned a study on the effects of prison in the lives of juveniles, Nancy Lockhart approached the regional director about the Scott Sisters’ case. Lockhart was told that the Sisters “didn’t qualify” for the study, but he would refer their case to the “criminal division of the NAACP” and recommend that the division treat the case in the same manner they are treating the Troy Davis case! Lockhart: “How long was Troy Davis in prison before the NAACP responded to his wrongful conviction?” Other legal organizations did the work to free Davis long before the NAACP took note of his imprisonment.

Is it that Davis’ case like Mumia’s case has received international support and it is therefore safe enough for the NAACP?

As Michelle Alexander writes in The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, “mass incarceration depends for its legitimacy on the widespread belief that all those who appear trapped at the bottom actively chose their fate.” No group believes this fallacy more than the Black middle class. While a few more Blacks per year are seated at banquet tables, oblivious to the day-to-day plight of Blackness in the U.S., there’s a steady increase of Black children and young people hurdled into the criminal justice system each year. Unfortunate environment! Wrong parents! The judgment of a divine mind! Jamie and Gladys Scott are just not - exceptional--they’re just common.

Overlook them! They can’t vote! They don’t count!

The system has regulated our relations with one another to its benefit and our detriment.

Consequently, we no longer, as a collective, heed Martin Luther King's warning that, to quote from Alexander, “racial justice requires the complete transformation of social institutions and dramatic restructuring of our economy, not superficial changes that can [be] purchased on the cheap.” Work that contributes to the continuation of U.S. Empire’s practice of aggression can’t transform or dramatically restructure the institutions that enslave the majority of humanity.

The horrors of Empire are more easily recognized when on display over there. But the horrors of U.S. Empire are here. Palestine is here. The West Bank and Gaza are here in the U.S. in the barrios, on the reservations, in urban communities, and in rural prisons. We don’t see it, but the War on Drugs and immigrant laws lock away Black and Brown people here. Unarmed young men are shot 20, 30, and 41 times for being Black while they hold a cell phone, or ride a subway, or attend a bachelor’s party.

The re-settlement scheme, otherwise known as gentrification, forces people to sleep on park benches and in public library sitting rooms. Systemic unemployment and low wages create conditions of impoverishment for thousands of children here. Racial profiling and militarized borders and neighborhoods subject people to fear and shame. Here in the U.S., millions of people for whom the political and economic domestic policies resemble the foreign policies enforced over there, these conditions are too close for Americans to see.

It’s sad to see Black organizations lacking the will and desire to break free and work on behalf of those abused, tortured, imprisoned, killed by the Empire. It’s hard to see how such organizations can direct a movement that would bring about structural transformations in the U.S. Consequently, we can’t put the spotlight on the kind of work that only strengthens aggressive strategies, except to condemn that work as inhumane.

But we shouldn’t have to see Jamie die before we remember that the U.S. has never played fair with Black Americans. If we recall our ancestors, we’ll remember the meaning of work. Let Malcolm and King be pleased for a change!

Mrs. (Rasco) isn’t getting any younger. “She’s an elderly woman, and Gladys needs to be able to care for her sister,” Lockhart said.

Let’s give Jamie Scott the spotlight and honor her with compassion. Free Jamie and her sister Gladys!

--------------------------------------------------

SEE:

Appeals Court Affirms that Mississippi Death Row Conditions are Unconstitutional http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/appeals-court-affirms-mississippi-death-row-conditions-are-unconstitutional
Civil Rights Lawyers and Mississippi Department of Corrections Agree to Overhaul Violent Supermax Unit http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/civil-rights-lawyers-and-mississippi-department-corrections-agree-overhaul-violent-
Contact:

www.freethescottsisters.blogspot.com

Mrs. Evelyn Rasco - rqueenbee2222@yahoo.com
Nancy Lockhart thewrongfulconvictions@gmail.com or call 843 217 4649

Christopher B. Epps, Commissioner cepps@mdoc.state.ms.us (601) 359-5600

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member, Lenore Jean Daniels, PhD, has been a writer for over thirty years of commentary, resistance criticism and cultural theory, and short stories with a Marxist sensibility to the impact of cultural narrative violence and its antithesis, resistance narratives. With entrenched dedication to justice and equality, she has served as a coordinator of student and community resistance projects that encourage the Black Feminist idea of an egalitarian community and facilitator of student-teacher communities behind the walls of academia for the last twenty years. Dr. Daniels holds a PhD in Modern American Literatures, with a specialty in Cultural Theory (race, gender, class narratives) from Loyola University, Chicago. Click here to contact Dr. Daniels.

Scott Watch: Jamie's Health Deteriorating

2010-05-12T02:53:00.000-04:00

---------update on Jamie from Free the Scott Sisters-----------------

Jamie Scott did not receive dialysis today as the fistula in her armed has clogged up! It is my understanding that it may be unclogged at this present time.

After passing out today, Jamie was rushed to the hospital by ambulance, from prison. At the hospital she was given an antibiotic shot. Jamie has many boils over her body which are running pus and blood. The doctors at the hospital cleaned the boils and Jamie was sent back to the prison.

Jamie does not sound well at all.

Please contact these officials and let them know that Jamie Scott, #19197, needs to be hospitalized ASAP as she has infections throughout her body that need immediate treatment! Please ask the individuals below to ensure that Jamie Scott remains in the hospital until the infection clears totally.

-------------------------

Attorney General Eric Holder
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
HOTLINE: 202-353-1555
PHONE: 202-514-2000
202-307-6777 fax
AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

Dr. Gloria Perry, Medical Department (601) 359-5155
gperry@mdoc.state.ms.us

Christopher Epps
601-359-5600
CEPPS@mdoc.state.ms.us
723 North President Street
Jackson, MS 39202

Governor Haley Barbour
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
1-877-405-0733 or 601-359-3150
Fax: 601-359-3741
(If you reach VM leave msgs, faxes, and please send letters)

============

Visit and LINK to: http://www.freethescottsisters.blogspot.com
Subscribe to our group: Send a blank e-mail to scottsistersupdates-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and share information!
Facebook Group: Free The Scott Sisters
Facebook Fan Page: Free The Scott Sisters
Free the Scott Sisters Petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Free-Jamie-Gladys/index.html
Free the Scott Sisters Flyer: http://www.scribd.com/doc/28847395/Scott-Sisters-Flyer-Black-23-Mar-2010-20
Legal Transcripts: http://www.scribd.com/Scott%20Sisters

Gray-Haired Witnesses Hunger Strike – June 21, 2010 Washington, DC for the Scott Sisters

2010-05-06T06:26:00.002-04:00

WE ARE THE GRAY-HAIRED WITNESSES
We Stand in wisdom and with courage as the moral consciousness of a Nation

The Call
In 1896, Ida B. Wells, the African American crusader for justice and defender of democracy, said these words, “One had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or a rat in a trap.” Her proclamation was a rallying cry for the nation to stand up against lynching and the right of Black men and women to live and move freely with white vigilante groups desecrating and torturing our bodies. When Ida B. Wells stood up, she set in motion a resistance movement where many Americans broke their silence against lynching and said NO. She stood for a race of people bereft of political power or resources. More than 100 years later Gray-Haired Witnesses, Black women with a new Freedom Movement calling on this nation, stand in the spirit of those proud men and women who won hard-fought for victories in struggle and blood. Thousands of ordinary Black people joined with thousands of people of all races to stand with courage to fight for the rights and liberties that are inherent in the Constitution. On the other hand, other people worked relentlessly to move the nation backwards by building an America where only one race and their freedom and bodies mattered. Truth be told, people of color have always lived under the weight of a lockdown society that use laws, torture, and incarceration to attempt to hold us in our places. Like Ida Wells Barnett, we did not back down despite economic, political and social reprisals.

We stand on this history today. We stand before you as Gray-Haired Witnesses asking freedom-loving people of all colors who believe in the dream of Ida B. Wells, of a just, safe and open America for all peoples regardless of our different social locations to break the veil of silence and stand strong in a renewed spirit of moral consciousness for this country. The greatest asset we have is our body, mind and spirit and our willingness to step out of the daily flow of life and stand tall for what is right and just. The jagged tears in the social and cultural infrastructure of Black and poor communities and families are unconscionable and unacceptable to us. We come ready to repair them. In the tradition of race women throughout history and our survival, we declare our presence and we will not be silent and we are not afraid.

Who We Are
We come from a long line of women who refused to bend under the lash of chattel slavery from the time we were first dragged upon these shores until the 21st century slavery of today's prison industrial complex! We witnessed a people living under severe oppression, and with limited resources create the capacity to win without ever discharging the first shot. We were present and part of the crossover from Jim Crow laws into a better place and with some protection. Out of that experience, and of that wisdom, we cannot remain silent and insist on pressing forward for ourselves and our people. Our history and the whispers of ancestral pleadings will not allow us to not meet our obligations to raise up our voices calling for justice and restoration of our people. We are the elder women, the daughters of the American slave system, Jim Crow oppression and the American Freedom Movement. We are gray-haired witnesses who have struggled from time immemorial within the Black community. We who are three strikes removed from the center of the power structure of this country. Our lives have prepared us to come to this place, at this time.

The Mission
Over the last 20 years, the women’s population in US prisons has more than tripled. They are our Sisters. Too many are victimized by biased and negligent lawyers and judges. The evidence of oppression against Black and poor women significantly increased and continues to mount. Our Sisters are victimized, and subsequently our families, by enormous health care disparities, and emotional degradation through corporate media demonization of our image and place in our community.

We speak to the totality of the struggle of the Black woman who is debased regularly as uneducated, immoral, subhuman, whore, bad mother, and welfare queen. Since 80% of women in prison are Black women, all forms of media promote the idea that Black women are worse than other women. Most women are in prison as a result of drug selling, addiction, domestic violence and criminal acts mostly related to men. We also recognize the systemic racism that leads the police to even arrest the Black woman in the first place, the racism during sentencing, during incarceration, in dealing with social services, education, health discrimination, and beyond.

We want to raise the political consciousness of the nation while standing as the moral soul of the nation. We assume this posture because we are ‘bridgers’ and remnants. Many of us lived through segregation and worked to dismantle it through various movements for human dignity, equal rights and justice. We now see a coalition of corporate, cultural and political wars fully embracing a White supremacist culture of domination and terrorism. They use their power and resources to lock down-out and up people of color, especially Black people. They seek to weaken our defenses and power to resist by attacking the strongholds that carried us through enslavement, segregation, and Northern oppression. As part of this campaign they slander and dehumanize the entire Black community in the media and other public spaces.

This is perfectly illustrated by the case of the Mississippi Scott Sisters, Jamie and Gladys, whose almost 16 yrs of unjust incarceration is a shocking revelation of the pure nothingness with which our lives are deemed in the eyes of this society and world, where such egregious travesties of justice are heaped upon our women with hate-filled arrogance and in plain view!

In 1994, the State of Mississippi sentenced Jamie and Gladys Scott to consecutive double-life terms each for two counts of armed robbery they did not commit. They did not have prior criminal records, vigorously maintained their innocence, approximately $11 was said to have been netted, no one was harmed or injured and no weapon was ever recovered. Witnesses testified that they were coerced and threatened to lie on the Scott Sisters and their unbelievable convictions rest entirely on a combination of contradictory, coerced, and potentially perjured testimony by the victims and two other people charged with the crime who were offered lighter sentences for their cooperation. Even if the Scott Sisters were guilty of this crime, the sentence is absolutely unheard of and draconian, at best, and is cruel and unusual punishment without a doubt!

We call on our Sisters, our Brothers to join with us to demand what is right, to require that our government and people of goodwill climb aboard our open train to democracy. We must speak loudly and clearly to the devaluation of Black women's bodies and lives. We want people of all colors to wage a struggle and stand with us on these issues because none of us are free until we are all free. .

The Declaration
We declare that we will act, do what we must, what is required to protect our community, our families and our children from systemic harm which results in their destruction. We will not be pressed down. We will witness from our rich history, in wisdom and with courage.

Immediate and Urgent Plan of Action
Sadly, there is truly a sense of urgency as in January, 2010, both of Jamie Scott's kidneys shut down and during her nightmarish roller-coaster ride of attempting to get competent and effective medical care has suffered so much maltreatment that she has quickly declined to stage 5 (end stage) kidney disease. Jamie Scott has now effectively been sentenced to death.

We must address this specific issue with urgency. It is now a matter of life or death for Jamie Scott. We cannot allow her to further endure inadequate and incompetent medical care which assures her death.

· GRAY-HAIRED WITNESSES HUNGER STRIKE – JUNE 21, 2010 Washington, DC

WE WILL BE HUNGER STRIKING AT THE DEPT. OF JUSTICE IN WASHINGTON, DC DURING JUNETEENTH TO DEMAND FREEDOM FOR JAMIE AND GLADYS SCOTT!

We are demanding an Inspection and Observation Team be allowed into the Pearl, MS prison where Jamie Scott is being held.
More information to come.

Please contact us at: spirithousedc@gmail.com

Please visit: http://freethescottsisters.blogspot.com/search/label/Case%20Summary for complete information on the horrific case of the Mississippi Scott Sisters and Jamie Scott's fight for life.

Scott Watch: Jamie's friend passes away.

2010-05-05T19:03:00.004-04:00

Mrs. Rasco received word that last evening a 13 yr. friend of Jamie Scott's took a few steps toward her and fell down dead. The guards ran to her aid and tried CPR and everything that they could, but the woman had passed away.

Jamie became hysterical, vomited blood and began losing breath. The guards there ...calmed Jamie, prayed with her, and stayed with her until her heart rate returned to normal. This woman had issues with her medication and health care in the prison for years, and was just questioning her medication earlier that day. The consensus among the inmates was that this woman's death was just another example of the poor medical care in that hellhole.

The issue remains of Jamie vomiting blood, as well as reporting that there are large, infected knots spread in various parts of her body which are painfuland full of pus and blood. Jamie is terrified that she will be the next one to die and reports that her body is again full of infection. She has also been told that she has become anemic and that her blood sugars are only checked on a once weekly basis!

Please support by participating in two action requests!--

1. ACTION

Jamie needs to be hospitalized and cleared of these infections! There also needs to be a determination about the level of medical care she is receiving as it is apparent that she is not being monitored carefully as these infections continue to thrive and remain untreated until there is a demand from the outside.

Please contact these officials and let them know that Jamie Scott, #19197, needs to be hospitalized ASAP as she has infections throughout her body that need immediate treatment!

Attorney General Eric Holder
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
HOTLINE: 202-353-1555
PHONE: 202-514-2000
202-307-6777 fax
AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

Dr. Gloria Perry, Medical Director
(601) 359-5155
gperry@mdoc.state.ms.us

Christopher Epps, Commissioner MDOC
601-359-5600
CEPPS@mdoc.state.ms.us
723 North President Street
Jackson, MS 39202

Governor Haley Barbour
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
1-877-405-0733 or 601-359-3150
Fax: 601-359-3741
(If you reach VM leave msgs, faxes, and please send letters)

2. ACTION
Please e-mail, the following persons at The American Bar Association in support of the Scott Sisters. Please blind Copy (bcc) and paste in all e-mail addresses. A 1-800 number is also included below. Our goal here is to have thousands contact the ABA as there is power in numbers.

PilchenI@staff.abanet.org
KEnglehart@staff.abanet.org
CurdB@staff.abanet.org
windsorp@staff.abanet.org

American Bar Association
Attention: President Carolyn Lamm
321 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60654-7598
800.285.2221

Dear President Lamm:

I would like to bring your attention to the Case of The Scott Sisters. In the state of Mississippi, Jamie and Gladys Scott were convicted of armed robbery. A jury found the sisters guilty in 1994, transcripts conflictingly state that $11 dollars was netted. The sisters received double life sentences each for this crime, had no prior criminal records, and no one was injured in any way.

A 14 year old testified that he was coerced and threatened to be sent to Parchman Penitentiary if he did not lie on the sisters by signing a statement. Other witnesses stated that the sisters were not involved in this crime. Jamie and Gladys Scott were convicted with no physical evidence. The sisters are in need of a pro bono criminal law attorney.

Currently, an attorney is handling Jamie Scott’s medical issues as she has had kidney failure and is receiving sub standard medical care via the MDOC and Wexford Health Sources, Inc.. Jamie Scott is in stage 5 of kidney failure, which is the final stage.

I am requesting that you assist in securing a criminal attorney to review their prior appeals process and determine additional ways to re enter state or federal court. Above all, the sisters should be immediately exonerated. Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Sincerely,

(Your name)

Case Summary: http://freethescottsisters.blogspot.com/search/label/Case%20SummaryLegal Transcripts: http://www.scribd.com/doc/21748820/Scott-transcript

============

Jamie and Gladys want to thank all of the supporters so much for everything that's being done on their behalf, they are so happy to receive mail and to know that we are out here fighting for them and want to make sure that you know how grateful they are!

FREE THE SCOTT SISTERS!

www.freethescottsisters.blogspot.com

Diabetes: Invest now or pay big later. Patient education essential.

2010-05-04T17:59:00.005-04:00

NCCHC CorrectCare

Pay Now or Pay Later: Why the Goal Is Control With Diabetes
By Rebecca B. Jones, RN, BSN, CDE

An epidemic is sweeping the United States. Diabetes affects over 20 million people, almost a third of whom do not know that they have the disease. People with this disease often find out only when an organ has already sustained damage.

The impact extends beyond health. From 1997 to 2002, the annual cost for this disease in medical expenditures and lost productivity rose 35% and the average per capita cost for treatment rose more than 30%.

At any given time, nearly 80,000 people with diabetes are incarcerated. Most of those have type 2 diabetes, which for years was erroneously thought to be a less serious form of the disease. Although any inmate health problem has associated costs for practitioner visits, medications and adjunct therapy, the price tag is even higher for unrecognized and uncontrolled diabetes.

Controlling Complications
Numerous studies, the most familiar being the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial, offer convincing evidence that good control of diabetes, as shown by a lower hemoglobin A1C level, can prevent or reduce the complications (and their related costs) of the disease.

What are those complications? It is well-documented that people with diabetes are two to four times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke. They are 10 times more likely to have an amputation; in fact, comprehensive foot care programs can reduce amputation rates by as much as 85%, according to the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes also is the leading cause of new cases of blindness and of kidney failure in the United States.

The ADA Position Statement on Diabetes Management in Correctional Institutions reflects these findings and provides a framework of preventive and therapeutic interventions that can save health care dollars and achieve better inmate health. The statement addresses such issues as initial and ongoing screening for diabetes, frequency of testing for complications, diabetes management plans, and preventive and educational measures.

ADA clinical practice recommendations also form the basis of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care’s clinical guidelines on diabetes, which are tailored to care in correctional settings.

Although the details of these position statements and guidelines may seem formidable at first glance, good diabetes care primarily requires two things: good understanding of diabetes and knowledge about current therapies, and an organized, methodical approach to management of the inmate’s diabetes care.

One of the most challenging aspects of care is simply staying on top of who gets what test when! For me, an invaluable tool is a spreadsheet of all inmates with diabetes. It notes the required testing and the last results, making it easy to see at a glance who has elevated A1C levels or other out-of-range test results. Another plus of organizing the data this way is that it prevents unnecessary repeats of costly lab work as well as the dreaded FTC (fell through the cracks) syndrome.

Easy as A-B-C
Especially in a correctional facility, the goal is control. All inmates with diabetes should have a management plan that monitors and optimizes their glycemic control. The management plan should focus on three key components, labeled as the ABCs of diabetes management:

A — The A1C test, which measures the average blood glucose level over the past 60 to 90 days, is the gold standard for how well a person’s diabetes is managed overall. Although the goal should be individualized, the management plan should strive for the near-normal A1C goal of less than 7%.

Good glycemic control is achieved through therapies of diet, exercise and medication (if needed). Regular finger-stick blood glucose tests are necessary because they measure the daily effects of the therapies and give practitioners the information needed to make adjustments. Daily blood glucose tests tell us how to fine-tune the therapy; A1C tests tell us the overall success of those adjustments.

B — Blood pressure control is essential in diabetes management. People with diabetes are at especially high risk of coronary artery disease and kidney disease. Blood pressure should be controlled to less than 130/80 mmHg.

C — Cholesterol and triglyceride control are especially important for people with diabetes because of the increased incidence of coronary artery and other blood vessel disease. Often, lipid control follows normalization of blood glucose levels.

I also focus on two other components:

D — Diet, more correctly referred to as medical nutrition therapy, focuses on a healthy way of eating. MNT, by the way, could benefit all inmates in reducing their risk for chronic diseases.
There is no such thing as the “diabetic diet,” at least not any more. Instead, diabetes MNT considers the timing and amounts of carbohydrate intake and choosing “good” fats. It also seeks to add fruit and vegetables to meals and increase fiber intake. This can be very challenging in correctional institutions, but it can be done. Often, there is an almost complete lack of understanding by inmates of making better food choices and portion control.

Which leads to the last, and surely the most important, element of any diabetes management plan:

E — Education. For 25 years I have taught thousands of patients and professionals about diabetes management, and I have learned a valuable lesson: The more you know about diabetes and its management, the better the outcomes.

Knowledgeable health professionals provide better care for patients. And knowledgeable patients make better choices, communicate more effectively with the providers and self-manage their disease better. Diabetes self-management training (DSMT) is a standard of care in the free world, and it can improve the care and cooperation of inmates.

Staff education for both the health care staff and correctional officers should be ongoing to ensure that they have the information and skills to effectively manage inmates with diabetes.

The Bottom Line
Diabetes management really comes down to this: Pay me now or pay me later. You can invest in staff and inmate education, take the necessary steps to follow the standards of care, and make the effort to organize and optimize the medical management of inmates with diabetes, resulting in better outcomes. If you don’t, you most likely will find yourself continually throwing money after the medical problems that plague those with poor diabetes control.

Better glycemic control reduces the complications of diabetes. Fewer complications reduce the health care dollars spent. In the words of Dr. Robert A. Rizza, in an address at the 2006 annual scientific sessions of the ADA, “It costs less to properly treat diabetes than it does to treat the complications that you get if you don’t properly treat diabetes. It’s a wise investment no matter how you look at it.”

— About the author: Rebecca B. Jones, RN, BSN, CDE, is a nurse consultant in Wetumpka, AL. To contact her, send an e-mail to thrive.survive@gmail.com.
The position statements and clinical guidelines cited above may be accessed online. For the ADA documents, visit www.diabetes.org. The NCCHC guidelines are posted at the Resources section of our Web site. Additional resources are available from the American Association of Diabetes Educators, www.aadenet.org.

[This article first appeared in the Fall 2006 issue of CorrectCare.]

Diabetes care in prison: American Diabetes Association

2010-05-04T00:58:00.013-04:00

This long article about managing diabetes in prison is from the American Diabetes Association's journal, "Diabetes Care", January 2008. Clicking on the title will give you the pdf version with charts and all the footnotes.

Also, a new widget has been added to the left margin of this blog, with the link to the National Commission on Correctional Health Care's standards on diabetes management. Click on the large "Diabetes" sign for that pdf.

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Diabetes Management in Correctional Institutions

American Diabetes Association

At any given time, over 2 million people are incarcerated in prisons and jails in the U.S (1). It is estimated that nearly 80,000 of these inmates have diabetes, a prevalence of 4.8% (2). In addition, many more people pass through the corrections system in a given year. In 1998 alone, over 11 million people were released from prison to the community (1). The current estimated prevalence of diabetes in correctional institutions is somewhat lower than the overall U.S. prevalence of diabetes, perhaps because the incarcerated population is younger than the general population. The prevalence of diabetes and its related comorbidities and complications, however, will continue to increase in the prison population as current sentencing guidelines continue to increase the number of aging prisoners and the incidence of diabetes in young people continues to increase.

People with diabetes in correctional facilities should receive care that meets national standards. Correctional institutions have unique circumstances that need to be considered so that all standards of care may be achieved (3). Correctional institutions should have written policies and procedures for the management of diabetes and for training of medical and correctional staff in diabetes care practices. These policies must take into consideration issues such as security needs, transfer from one facility to another, and access to medical personnel and equipment, so that all appropriate levels of care are provided. Ideally, these policies should encourage or at least allow patients to self-manage their diabetes. Ultimately, diabetes management is dependent upon having access to needed medical personnel and equipment. Ongoing diabetes therapy is important in order to reduce the risk of later complications, including cardiovascular events, visual loss, renal failure, and amputation. Early identification and intervention for people with diabetes is also likely to reduce short-term risks for acute complications requiring transfer out of the facility, thus improving security.

This document provides a general set of guidelines for diabetes care in correctional institutions. It is not designed to be a diabetes management manual. More detailed information on the management of diabetes and related disorders can be found in the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Clinical Practice Recommendations, published each year in January as the first supplement to Diabetes Care, as well as the “Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes” (4) contained therein. This discussion will focus on those areas where the care of people with diabetes in correctional facilities may differ, and specific recommendations are made at the end of each section.

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INTAKE MEDICAL ASSESSMENT

Reception screening

Reception screening should emphasize patient safety. In particular, rapid identification of all insulin-treated persons with diabetes is essential in order to identify those at highest risk for hypo- and hyperglycemia and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). All insulin-treated patients should have a capillary blood glucose (CBG) determination within 1–2 h of arrival. Signs and symptoms of hypo- or hyperglycemia can often be confused with intoxication or withdrawal from drugs or alcohol. Individuals with diabetes exhibiting signs and symptoms consistent with hypoglycemia, particularly altered mental status, agitation, combativeness, and diaphoresis, should have finger-stick blood glucose levels measured immediately.

Intake screening

Patients with a diagnosis of diabetes should have a complete medical history and physical examination by a licensed health care provider with prescriptive authority in a timely manner. If one is not available on site, one should be consulted by those performing reception screening. The purposes of this history and physical examination are to determine the type of diabetes, current therapy, alcohol use, and behavioral health issues, as well as to screen for the presence of diabetes-related complications. The evaluation should review the previous treatment and the past history of both glycemic control and diabetes complications. It is essential that medication and medical nutrition therapy (MNT) be continued without interruption upon entry into the correctional system, as a hiatus in either medication or appropriate nutrition may lead to either severe hypo- or hyperglycemia that can rapidly progress to irreversible complications, even death.

Intake physical examination and laboratory

All potential elements of the initial medical evaluation are included in Table 5 of the ADA’s “Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes,” referred to hereafter as the “Standards of Care” (4). The essential components of the initial history and physical examination are detailed in Fig. 1. Referrals should be made immediately if the patient with diabetes is pregnant.

Recommendations

Patients with a diagnosis of diabetes should have a complete medical history and undergo an intake physical examination by a licensed health professional in a timely manner. (E)
Insulin-treated patients should have a CBG determination within 1–2 h of arrival. (E)
Medications and MNT should be continued without interruption upon entry into the correctional environment. (E)

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SCREENING FOR DIABETES—

Consistent with the ADA Standards of Care, patients should be evaluated for diabetes risk factors at the intake physical and at appropriate times thereafter. Those who are at high risk should be considered for blood glucose screening. If pregnant, a risk assessment for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) should be undertaken at the first prenatal visit. Patients with clinical characteristics consistent with a high risk for GDM should undergo glucose testing as soon as possible. High-risk women not found to have GDM at the initial screening and average-risk women should be tested between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation. For more detailed information on screening for both type 2 and gestational diabetes, see the ADA Position Statement “Screening for Type 2 Diabetes” (5) and the Standards of Care (4).

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MANAGEMENT PLAN—

Glycemic control is fundamental to the management of diabetes. A management plan to achieve normal or near-normal glycemia with an A1C goal of less than 7% onmouseout="___yoonoLink.onYoonoOut(this)" onmouseover="___yoonoLink.onYoonoOver(event,this)" onclick="___yoonoLink.onYoonoClick(this)" keywords="diabetes management" class="yoono-link-hover yoono-link-active-link">diabetes management at the time of initial medical evaluation. Goals should be individualized (4), and less stringent treatment goals may be appropriate for patients with a history of severe hypoglycemia, patients with limited life expectancies, elderly adults, and individuals with comorbid conditions (4). This plan should be documented in the patient’s record and communicated to all persons involved in his/her care, including security staff. Table 1, taken from the ADA Standards of Care, provides a summary of recommendations for setting glycemic control goals for adults with diabetes.

People with diabetes should ideally receive medical care from a physician-coordinated team. Such teams include, but are not limited to, physicians, nurses, dietitians, and mental health professionals with expertise and a special interest in diabetes. It is essential in this collaborative and integrated team approach that individuals with diabetes assume as active a role in their care as possible. Diabetes self-management education is an integral component of care. Patient self-management should be emphasized, and the plan should encourage the involvement of the patient in problem solving as much as possible.

It is helpful to house insulin-treated patients in a common unit, if this is possible, safe, and consistent with providing access to other programs at the correctional institution. Common housing not only can facilitate mealtimes and medication administration, but also potentially provides an opportunity for diabetes self-management education to be reinforced by fellow patients.

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NUTRITION AND FOOD SERVICES—

Nutrition counseling and menu planning are an integral part of the multidisciplinary approach to diabetes management in correctional facilities. A combination of education, interdisciplinary communication, and monitoring food intake aids patients in understanding their medical nutritional needs and can facilitate diabetes control during and after incarceration.

Nutrition counseling for patients with diabetes is considered an essential component of diabetes self-management. People with diabetes should receive individualized MNT as needed to achieve treatment goals, preferably provided by a registered dietitian familiar with the components of MNT for persons with diabetes.

Educating the patient, individually or in a group setting, about how carbohydrates and food choices directly affect diabetes control is the first step in facilitating self-management. This education enables the patient to identify better food selections from those available in the dining hall and commissary. Such an approach is more realistic in a facility where the patient has the opportunity to make food choices.

The easiest and most cost-effective means to facilitate good outcomes in patients with diabetes is instituting a heart-healthy diet as the master menu (6). There should be consistent carbohydrate content at each meal, as well as a means to identify the carbohydrate content of each food selection. Providing carbohydrate content of food selections and/or providing education in assessing carbohydrate content enables patients to meet the requirements of their individual MNT goals. Commissaries should also help in dietary management by offering healthy choices and listing the carbohydrate content of foods.

The use of insulin or oral medications may necessitate snacks in order to avoid hypoglycemia. These snacks are a part of such patients’ medical treatment plans and should be prescribed by medical staff.

Timing of meals and snacks must be coordinated with medication administration as needed to minimize the risk of hypoglycemia, as discussed more fully in the medication section of this document. For further information, see the ADA Position Statement “Nutrition Principles and Recommendations in Diabetes” (7).

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URGENT AND EMERGENCY ISSUES—

All patients must have access to prompt treatment of hypo- and hyperglycemia. Correctional staff should be trained in the recognition and treatment of hypo- and hyperglycemia, and appropriate staff should be trained to administer glucagon. After such emergency care, patients should be referred for appropriate medical care to minimize risk of future decompensation.

Institutions should implement a policy requiring staff to notify a physician of all CBG results outside of a specified range, as determined by the treating physician (e.g., less than 50 greater than 350 mg/dl).

Hyperglycemia

Severe hyperglycemia in a person with diabetes may be the result of intercurrent illness, missed or inadequate medication, or corticosteroid therapy. Correctional institutions should have systems in place to identify and refer to medical staff all patients with consistently elevated blood glucose as well as intercurrent illness.

The stress of illness in those with type 1 diabetes frequently aggravates glycemic control and necessitates more frequent monitoring of blood glucose (e.g., every 4–6 h). Marked hyperglycemia requires temporary adjustment of the treatment program and, if accompanied by ketosis, interaction with the diabetes care team. Adequate fluid and caloric intake must be ensured. Nausea or vomiting accompanied with hyperglycemia may indicate DKA, a life-threatening condition that requires immediate medical care to prevent complications and death. Correctional institutions should identify patients with type 1 diabetes who are at risk for DKA, particularly those with a prior history of frequent episodes of DKA. For further information see “Hyperglycemic Crisis in Diabetes” (8).

Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia is defined as a blood glucose level less than 60

Security staff who supervise patients at risk for hypoglycemia (i.e., those on insulin or oral hypoglycemic agents) should be educated in the emergency response protocol for recognition and treatment of hypoglycemia. Every attempt should be made to document CBG before treatment. Patients must have immediate access to glucose tablets or other glucose-containing foods. Hypoglycemia can generally be treated by the patient with oral carbohydrates. If the patient cannot be relied on to keep hypoglycemia treatment on his/her person, staff members should have ready access to glucose tablets or equivalent. In general, 15–20 g oral glucose will be adequate to treat hypoglycemic events. CBG and treatment should be repeated at 15-min intervals until blood glucose levels return to normal (less than 70 mg/dl).

Staff should have glucagon for intramuscular injection or glucose for intravenous infusion available to treat severe hypoglycemia without requiring transport of the hypoglycemic patient to an outside facility. Any episode of severe hypoglycemia or recurrent episodes of mild to moderate hypoglycemia require reevaluation of the diabetes management plan by the medical staff. In certain cases of unexplained or recurrent severe hypoglycemia, it may be appropriate to admit the patient to the medical unit for observation and stabilization of diabetes management.

Correctional institutions should have systems in place to identify the patients at greater risk for hypoglycemia (i.e., those on insulin or sulfonylurea therapy) and to ensure the early detection and treatment of hypoglycemia. If possible, patients at greater risk of severe hypoglycemia (e.g., those with a prior episode of severe hypoglycemia) may be housed in units closer to the medical unit in order to minimize delay in treatment.

Recommendations

Train correctional staff in the recognition, treatment, and appropriate referral for hypo- and hyperglycemia. (E)
Train appropriate staff to administer glucagon. (E)
Train staff to recognize symptoms and signs of serious metabolic decompensation, and immediately refer the patient for appropriate medical care. (E)
Institutions should implement a policy requiring staff to notify a physician of all CBG results outside of a specified range, as determined by the treating physician. (E)
Identify patients with type 1 diabetes who are at high risk for DKA. (E)

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MEDICATION—

Formularies should provide access to usual and customary oral medications and insulins necessary to treat diabetes and related conditions. While not every brand name of insulin and oral medication needs to be available, individual patient care requires access to short-, medium-, and long-acting insulins and the various classes of oral medications (e.g., insulin secretagogues, biguanides, α-glucosidase inhibitors, and thiazolidinediones) necessary for current diabetes management.

Patients at all levels of custody should have access to medication at dosing frequencies that are consistent with their treatment plan and medical direction. If feasible and consistent with security concerns, patients on multiple doses of short-acting oral medications should be placed in a “keep on person” program. In other situations, patients should be permitted to self-inject insulin when consistent with security needs. Medical department nurses should determine whether patients have the necessary skill and responsible behavior to be allowed self-administration and the degree of supervision necessary. When needed, this skill should be a part of patient education. Reasonable syringe control systems should be established.

In the past, the recommendation that regular insulin be injected 30–45 min before meals presented a significant problem when “lock downs” or other disruptions to the normal schedule of meals and medications occurred. The use of multiple-dose insulin regimens using rapid-acting analogs can decrease the disruption caused by such changes in schedule. Correctional institutions should have systems in place to ensure that rapid-acting insulin analogs and oral agents are given immediately before meals if this is part of the patient’s medical plan. It should be noted however that even modest delays in meal consumption with these agents can be associated with hypoglycemia. If consistent access to food within 10 min cannot be ensured, rapid-acting insulin analogs and oral agents are approved for administration during or immediately after meals. Should circumstances arise that delay patient access to regular meals following medication administration, policies and procedures must be implemented to ensure the patient receives appropriate nutrition to prevent hypoglycemia.

Both continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion and multiple daily insulin injection therapy (consisting of three or more injections a day) can be effective means of implementing intensive diabetes management with the goal of achieving near-normal levels of blood glucose (9). While the use of these modalities may be difficult in correctional institutions, every effort should be made to continue multiple daily insulin injection or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion in people who were using this therapy before incarceration or to institute these therapies as indicated in order to achieve blood glucose targets.

It is essential that transport of patients from jails or prisons to off-site appointments, such as medical visits or court appearances, does not cause significant disruption in medication or meal timing. Correctional institutions and police lock-ups should implement policies and procedures to diminish the risk of hypo- and hyperglycemia by, for example, providing carry-along meals and medication for patients traveling to off-site appointments or changing the insulin regimen for that day. The availability of prefilled insulin “pens” provides an alternative for off-site insulin delivery.

Recommendations

Formularies should provide access to usual and customary oral medications and insulins to treat diabetes and related conditions. (E)
Patients should have access to medication at dosing frequencies that are consistent with their treatment plan and medical direction. (E)
Correctional institutions and police lock-ups should implement policies and procedures to diminish the risk of hypo- and hyperglycemia during off-site travel (e.g., court appearances). (E)

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ROUTINE SCREENING FOR AND MANAGEMENT OF DIABETES COMPLICATIONS—

All patients with a diagnosis of diabetes should receive routine screening for diabetes-related complications, as detailed in the ADA Standards of Care (4). Interval chronic disease clinics for persons with diabetes provide an efficient mechanism to monitor patients for complications of diabetes. In this way, appropriate referrals to consultant specialists, such as optometrists/ophthalmologists, nephrologists, and cardiologists, can be made on an as-needed basis and interval laboratory testing can be done.

The following complications should be considered.

Foot care: Recommendations for foot care for patients with diabetes and no history of an open foot lesion are described in the ADA Standards of Care. A comprehensive foot examination is recommended annually for all patients with diabetes to identify risk factors predictive of ulcers and amputations. Persons with an insensate foot, an open foot lesion, or a history of such a lesion should be referred for evaluation by an appropriate licensed health professional (e.g., podiatrist or vascular surgeon). Special shoes should be provided as recommended by licensed health professionals to aid healing of foot lesions and to prevent development of new lesions.
Retinopathy: Annual retinal examinations by a licensed eye care professional should be performed for all patients with diabetes, as recommended in the ADA Standards of Care. Visual changes that cannot be accounted for by acute changes in glycemic control require prompt evaluation by an eye care professional.
Nephropathy: An annual spot urine test for determination of microalbumin-to-creatinine ratio should be performed. The use of ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers is recommended for all patients with albuminuria. Blood pressure should be controlled to less than 130/80
Cardiac: People with type 2 diabetes are at a particularly high risk of coronary artery disease. Cardiovascular disease risk factor management is of demonstrated benefit in reducing this complication in patients with diabetes. Blood pressure should be measured at every routine diabetes visit. In adult patients, test for lipid disorders at least annually and as needed to achieve goals with treatment. Use aspirin therapy (75–162 mg/day) in all adult patients with diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors or known macrovascular disease. Current national standards for adults with diabetes call for treatment of lipids to goals of LDL ≤100, HDL >40, triglycerides less than 150

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MONITORING/TESTS OF GLYCEMIA—

Monitoring of CBG is a strategy that allows caregivers and people with diabetes to evaluate diabetes management regimens. The frequency of monitoring will vary by patients’ glycemic control and diabetes regimens. Patients with type 1 diabetes are at risk for hypoglycemia and should have their CBG monitored three or more times daily. Patients with type 2 diabetes on insulin need to monitor at least once daily and more frequently based on their medical plan. Patients treated with oral agents should have CBG monitored with sufficient frequency to facilitate the goals of glycemic control, assuming that there is a program for medical review of these data on an ongoing basis to drive changes in medications. Patients whose diabetes is poorly controlled or whose therapy is changing should have more frequent monitoring. Unexplained hyperglycemia in a patient with type 1 diabetes may suggest impending DKA, and monitoring of ketones should therefore be performed.

Glycated hemoglobin (A1C) is a measure of long-term (2- to 3-month) glycemic control. Perform the A1C test at least two times a year in patients who are meeting treatment goals (and who have stable glycemic control) and quarterly in patients whose therapy has changed or who are not meeting glycemic goals.

Discrepancies between CBG monitoring results and A1C may indicate a hemoglobinopathy, hemolysis, or need for evaluation of CBG monitoring technique and equipment or initiation of more frequent CBG monitoring to identify when glycemic excursions are occurring and which facet of the diabetes regimen is changing.

In the correctional setting, policies and procedures need to be developed and implemented regarding CBG monitoring that address the following.

Infection control
Education of staff and patients
Proper choice of meter
Disposal of testing lancets
Quality control programs
Access to health services
Size of the blood sample
Patient performance skills
Documentation and interpretation of test results
Availability of test results for the health care provider (10)

Recommendations

In the correctional setting, policies and procedures need to be developed and implemented to enable CBG monitoring to occur at the frequency necessitated by the individual patient’s glycemic control and diabetes regimen. (E)
A1C should be checked every 3–6 months. (E)

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SELF-MANAGEMENT EDUCATION—

Self-management education is the cornerstone of treatment for all people with diabetes. The health staff must advocate for patients to participate in self-management as much as possible. Individuals with diabetes who learn self-management skills and make lifestyle changes can more effectively manage their diabetes and avoid or delay complications associated with diabetes. In the development of a diabetes self-management education program in the correctional environment, the unique circumstances of the patient should be considered while still providing, to the greatest extent possible, the elements of the “National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education” (11). A staged approach may be used depending on the needs assessment and the length of incarceration. Table 2 sets out the major components of diabetes self-management education. Survival skills should be addressed as soon as possible; other aspects of education may be provided as part of an ongoing education program.

Ideally, self-management education is coordinated by a certified diabetes educator who works with the facility to develop polices, procedures, and protocols to ensure that nationally recognized education guidelines are implemented. The educator is also able to identify patients who need diabetes self-management education, including an assessment of the patients’ medical, social, and diabetes histories; diabetes knowledge, skills, and behaviors; and readiness to change.

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STAFF EDUCATION—

Policies and procedures should be implemented to ensure that the health care staff has adequate knowledge and skills to direct the management and education of persons with diabetes. The health care staff needs to be involved in the development of the correctional officers’ training program. The staff education program should be at a lay level. Training should be offered at least biannually, and the curriculum should cover the following.

What is diabetes
Signs and symptoms of diabetes
Risk factors
Signs and symptoms of, and emergency response to, hypo- and hyperglycemia
Glucose monitoring
Medications
Exercise
Nutrition issues including timing of meals and access to snacks

Recommendations

Include diabetes in correctional staff education programs. (E)

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ALCOHOL AND DRUGS—

Patients with diabetes who are withdrawing from drugs and alcohol need special consideration. This issue particularly affects initial police custody and jails. At an intake facility, proper initial identification and assessment of these patients are critical. The presence of diabetes may complicate detoxification. Patients in need of complicated detoxification should be referred to a facility equipped to deal with high-risk detoxification. Patients with diabetes should be educated in the risks involved with smoking. All inmates should be advised not to smoke. Assistance in smoking cessation should be provided as practical.

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TRANSFER AND DISCHARGE—

Patients in jails may be housed for a short period of time before being transferred or released, and it is not unusual for patients in prison to be transferred within the system several times during their incarceration. One of the many challenges that health care providers face working in the correctional system is how to best collect and communicate important health care information in a timely manner when a patient is in initial police custody, is jailed short term, or is transferred from facility to facility. The importance of this communication becomes critical when the patient has a chronic illness such as diabetes.

Transferring a patient with diabetes from one correctional facility to another requires a coordinated effort. To facilitate a thorough review of medical information and completion of a transfer summary, it is critical for custody personnel to provide medical staff with sufficient notice before movement of the patient.

Before the transfer, the health care staff should review the patient’s medical record and complete a medical transfer summary that includes the patient’s current health care issues. At a minimum, the summary should include the following.

The patient’s current medication schedule and dosages
The date and time of the last medication administration
Any recent monitoring results (e.g., CBG and A1C)
Other factors that indicate a need for immediate treatment or management at the receiving facility (e.g., recent episodes of hypoglycemia, history of severe hypoglycemia or frequent DKA, concurrent illnesses, presence of diabetes complications)
Information on scheduled treatment/appointments if the receiving facility is responsible for transporting the patient to that appointment
Name and telephone/fax number of a contact person at the transferring facility who can provide additional information, if needed

The medical transfer summary, which acts as a quick medical reference for the receiving facility, should be transferred along with the patient. To supplement the flow of information and to increase the probability that medications are correctly identified at the receiving institution, sending institutions are encouraged to provide each patient with a medication card to be carried by the patient that contains information concerning diagnoses, medication names, dosages, and frequency. Diabetes supplies, including diabetes medication, should accompany the patient.

The sending facility must be mindful of the transfer time in order to provide the patient with medication and food if needed. The transfer summary or medical record should be reviewed by a health care provider upon arrival at the receiving institution.

Planning for patients’ discharge from prisons should include instruction in the long-term complications of diabetes, the necessary lifestyle changes and examinations required to prevent these complications, and, if possible, where patients may obtain regular follow-up medical care. A quarterly meeting to educate patients with upcoming discharges about community resources can be valuable. Inviting community agencies to speak at these meetings and/or provide written materials can help strengthen the community link for patients discharging from correctional facilities.

Discharge planning for the patients with diabetes should begin 1 month before discharge. During this time, application for appropriate entitlements should be initiated. Any gaps in the patient’s knowledge of diabetes care need to be identified and addressed. It is helpful if the patient is given a directory or list of community resources and if an appointment for follow-up care with a community provider is made. A supply of medication adequate to last until the first postrelease medical appointment should be provided to the patient upon release. The patient should be provided with a written summary of his/her current heath care issues, including medications and doses, recent A1C values, etc.

Recommendations

For all interinstitutional transfers, complete a medical transfer summary to be transferred with the patient. (E)
Diabetes supplies and medication should accompany the patient during transfer. (E)
Begin discharge planning with adequate lead time to insure continuity of care and facilitate entry into community diabetes care. (E)

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SHARING OF MEDICAL INFORMATION AND RECORDS—

Practical considerations may prohibit obtaining medical records from providers who treated the patient before arrest. Intake facilities should implement policies that 1) define the circumstances under which prior medical records are obtained (e.g., for patients who have an extensive history of treatment for complications); 2) identify person(s) responsible for contacting the prior provider; and 3) establish procedures for tracking requests.

Facilities that use outside medical providers should implement policies and procedures for ensuring that key information (e.g., test results, diagnoses, physicians’ orders, appointment dates) is received from the provider and incorporated into the patient’s medical chart after each outside appointment. The procedure should include, at a minimum, a means to highlight when key information has not been received and designation of a person responsible for contacting the outside provider for this information.

All medical charts should contain CBG test results in a specified, readily accessible section and should be reviewed on a regular basis.

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CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH DIABETES—

Children and adolescents with diabetes present special problems in disease management, even outside the setting of a correctional institution. Children and adolescents with diabetes should have initial and follow-up care with physicians who are experienced in their care. Confinement increases the difficulty in managing diabetes in children and adolescents, as it does in adults with diabetes. Correctional authorities also have different legal obligations for children and adolescents.

Nutrition and activity

Growing children and adolescents have greater caloric/nutritional needs than adults. The provision of an adequate amount of calories and nutrients for adolescents is critical to maintaining good nutritional status. Physical activity should be provided at the same time each day. If increased physical activity occurs, additional CBG monitoring is necessary and additional carbohydrate snacks may be required.

Medical management and follow-up

Children and adolescents who are incarcerated for extended periods should have follow-up visits at least every 3 months with individuals who are experienced in the care of children and adolescents with diabetes. Thyroid function tests and fasting lipid and microalbumin measurements should be performed according to recognized standards for children and adolescents (12) in order to monitor for autoimmune thyroid disease and complications and comorbidities of diabetes.

Children and adolescents with diabetes exhibiting unusual behavior should have their CBG checked at that time. Because children and adolescents are reported to have higher rates of nocturnal hypoglycemia (13), consideration should be given regarding the use of episodic overnight blood glucose monitoring in these patients. In particular, this should be considered in children and adolescents who have recently had their overnight insulin dose changed.

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PREGNANCY—

Pregnancy in a woman with diabetes is by definition a high-risk pregnancy. Every effort should be made to ensure that treatment of the pregnant woman with diabetes meets accepted standards (14,15). It should be noted that glycemic standards are more stringent, the details of dietary management are more complex and exacting, insulin is the only antidiabetic agent approved for use in pregnancy, and a number of medications used in the management of diabetic comorbidities are known to be teratogenic and must be discontinued in the setting of pregnancy.

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SUMMARY AND KEY POINTS—

People with diabetes should receive care that meets national standards. Being incarcerated does not change these standards. Patients must have access to medication and nutrition needed to manage their disease. In patients who do not meet treatment targets, medical and behavioral plans should be adjusted by health care professionals in collaboration with the prison staff. It is critical for correctional institutions to identify particularly high-risk patients in need of more intensive evaluation and therapy, including pregnant women, patients with advanced complications, a history of repeated severe hypoglycemia, or recurrent DKA.

A comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to the care of people with diabetes can be an effective mechanism to improve overall health and delay or prevent the acute and chronic complications of this disease.

UN: Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners

2010-05-04T00:17:00.000-04:00

Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:

Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners

Text in PDF Format

Adopted by the First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held at Geneva in 1955, and approved by the Economic and Social Council by its resolutions 663 C (XXIV) of 31 July 1957 and 2076 (LXII) of 13 May 1977

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS

1. The following rules are not intended to describe in detail a model system of penal institutions. They seek only, on the basis of the general consensus of contemporary thought and the essential elements of the most adequate systems of today, to set out what is generally accepted as being good principle and practice in the treatment of prisoners and the management of institutions.

2. In view of the great variety of legal, social, economic and geographical conditions of the world, it is evident that not all of the rules are capable of application in all places and at all times. They should, however, serve to stimulate a constant endeavour to overcome practical difficulties in the way of their application, in the knowledge that they represent, as a whole, the minimum conditions which are accepted as suitable by the United Nations.

3. On the other hand, the rules cover a field in which thought is constantly developing. They are not intended to preclude experiment and practices, provided these are in harmony with the principles and seek to further the purposes which derive from the text of the rules as a whole. It will always be justifiable for the central prison administration to authorize departures from the rules in this spirit.

4. (1) Part I of the rules covers the general management of institutions, and is applicable to all categories of prisoners, criminal or civil, untried or convicted, including prisoners subject to "security measures" or corrective measures ordered by the judge.

(2) Part II contains rules applicable only to the special categories dealt with in each section. Nevertheless, the rules under section A, applicable to prisoners under sentence, shall be equally applicable to categories of prisoners dealt with in sections B, C and D, provided they do not conflict with the rules governing those categories and are for their benefit.

5. (1) The rules do not seek to regulate the management of institutions set aside for young persons such as Borstal institutions or correctional schools, but in general part I would be equally applicable in such institutions.

(2) The category of young prisoners should include at least all young persons who come within the jurisdiction of juvenile courts. As a rule, such young persons should not be sentenced to imprisonment.

Part I

RULES OF GENERAL APPLICATION

Basic principle

6. (1) The following rules shall be applied impartially. There shall be no discrimination on grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

(2) On the other hand, it is necessary to respect the religious beliefs and moral precepts of the group to which a prisoner belongs.

Register

7. (1) In every place where persons are imprisoned there shall be kept a bound registration book with numbered pages in which shall be entered in respect of each prisoner received:

( a ) Information concerning his identity;

( b ) The reasons for his commitment and the authority therefor;

( c ) The day and hour of his admission and release.

(2) No person shall be received in an institution without a valid commitment order of which the details shall have been previously entered in the register.

Separation of categories

8. The different categories of prisoners shall be kept in separate institutions or parts of institutions taking account of their sex, age, criminal record, the legal reason for their detention and the necessities of their treatment. Thus,

( a ) Men and women shall so far as possible be detained in separate institutions; in an institution which receives both men and women the whole of the premises allocated to women shall be entirely separate;

( b ) Untried prisoners shall be kept separate from convicted prisoners;

( c ) Persons imprisoned for debt and other civil prisoners shall be kept separate from persons imprisoned by reason of a criminal offence;

( d ) Young prisoners shall be kept separate from adults.

Accommodation

9. (1) Where sleeping accommodation is in individual cells or rooms, each prisoner shall occupy by night a cell or room by himself. If for special reasons, such as temporary overcrowding, it becomes necessary for the central prison administration to make an exception to this rule, it is not desirable to have two prisoners in a cell or room.

(2) Where dormitories are used, they shall be occupied by prisoners carefully selected as being suitable to associate with one another in those conditions. There shall be regular supervision by night, in keeping with the nature of the institution.

10. All accommodation provided for the use of prisoners and in particular all sleeping accommodation shall meet all requirements of health, due regard being paid to climatic conditions and particularly to cubic content of air, minimum floor space, lighting, heating and ventilation.

11. In all places where prisoners are required to live or work,

( a ) The windows shall be large enough to enable the prisoners to read or work by natural light, and shall be so constructed that they can allow the entrance of fresh air whether or not there is artificial ventilation;

( b ) Artificial light shall be provided sufficient for the prisoners to read or work without injury to eyesight.

12. The sanitary installations shall be adequate to enable every prisoner to comply with the needs of nature when necessary and in a clean and decent manner.

13. Adequate bathing and shower installations shall be provided so that every prisoner may be enabled and required to have a bath or shower, at a temperature suitable to the climate, as frequently as necessary for general hygiene according to season and geographical region, but at least once a week in a temperate climate.

14. All parts of an institution regularly used by prisoners shall be properly maintained and kept scrupulously clean at all times.

Personal hygiene

15. Prisoners shall be required to keep their persons clean, and to this end they shall be provided with water and with such toilet articles as are necessary for health and cleanliness.

16. In order that prisoners may maintain a good appearance compatible with their self-respect, facilities shall be provided for the proper care of the hair and beard, and men shall be enabled to shave regularly.

Clothing and bedding

17. (1) Every prisoner who is not allowed to wear his own clothing shall be provided with an outfit of clothing suitable for the climate and adequate to keep him in good health. Such clothing shall in no manner be degrading or humiliating.

(2) All clothing shall be clean and kept in proper condition. Underclothing shall be changed and washed as often as necessary for the maintenance of hygiene.

(3) In exceptional circumstances, whenever a prisoner is removed outside the institution for an authorized purpose, he shall be allowed to wear his own clothing or other inconspicuous clothing.

18. If prisoners are allowed to wear their own clothing, arrangements shall be made on their admission to the institution to ensure that it shall be clean and fit for use.

19. Every prisoner shall, in accordance with local or national standards, be provided with a separate bed, and with separate and sufficient bedding which shall be clean when issued, kept in good order and changed often enough to ensure its cleanliness.

Food

20. (1) Every prisoner shall be provided by the administration at the usual hours with food of nutritional value adequate for health and strength, of wholesome quality and well prepared and served.

(2) Drinking water shall be available to every prisoner whenever he needs it.

Exercise and sport

21. (1) Every prisoner who is not employed in outdoor work shall have at least one hour of suitable exercise in the open air daily if the weather permits.

(2) Young prisoners, and others of suitable age and physique, shall receive physical and recreational training during the period of exercise. To this end space, installations and equipment should be provided.

Medical services

22. (1) At every institution there shall be available the services of at least one qualified medical officer who should have some knowledge of psychiatry. The medical services should be organized in close relationship to the general health administration of the community or nation. They shall include a psychiatric service for the diagnosis and, in proper cases, the treatment of states of mental abnormality.

(2) Sick prisoners who require specialist treatment shall be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals. Where hospital facilities are provided in an institution, their equipment, furnishings and pharmaceutical supplies shall be proper for the medical care and treatment of sick prisoners, and there shall be a staff of suitable trained officers.

(3) The services of a qualified dental officer shall be available to every prisoner.

23. (1) In women's institutions there shall be special accommodation for all necessary pre-natal and post-natal care and treatment. Arrangements shall be made wherever practicable for children to be born in a hospital outside the institution. If a child is born in prison, this fact shall not be mentioned in the birth certificate.

(2) Where nursing infants are allowed to remain in the institution with their mothers, provision shall be made for a nursery staffed by qualified persons, where the infants shall be placed when they are not in the care of their mothers.

24. The medical officer shall see and examine every prisoner as soon as possible after his admission and thereafter as necessary, with a view particularly to the discovery of physical or mental illness and the taking of all necessary measures; the segregation of prisoners suspected of infectious or contagious conditions; the noting of physical or mental defects which might hamper rehabilitation, and the determination of the physical capacity of every prisoner for work.

25. (1) The medical officer shall have the care of the physical and mental health of the prisoners and should daily see all sick prisoners, all who complain of illness, and any prisoner to whom his attention is specially directed.

(2) The medical officer shall report to the director whenever he considers that a prisoner's physical or mental health has been or will be injuriously affected by continued imprisonment or by any condition of imprisonment.

26. (1) The medical officer shall regularly inspect and advise the director upon:

( a ) The quantity, quality, preparation and service of food;

( b ) The hygiene and cleanliness of the institution and the prisoners;

( c ) The sanitation, heating, lighting and ventilation of the institution;

( d ) The suitability and cleanliness of the prisoners' clothing and bedding;

( e ) The observance of the rules concerning physical education and sports, in cases where there is no technical personnel in charge of these activities.

(2) The director shall take into consideration the reports and advice that the medical officer submits according to rules 25 (2) and 26 and, in case he concurs with the recommendations made, shall take immediate steps to give effect to those recommendations; if they are not within his competence or if he does not concur with them, he shall immediately submit his own report and the advice of the medical officer to higher authority.

Discipline and punishment

27. Discipline and order shall be maintained with firmness, but with no more restriction than is necessary for safe custody and well-ordered community life.

28. (1) No prisoner shall be employed, in the service of the institution, in any disciplinary capacity.

(2) This rule shall not, however, impede the proper functioning of systems based on self-government, under which specified social, educational or sports activities or responsibilities are entrusted, under supervision, to prisoners who are formed into groups for the purposes of treatment.

29. The following shall always be determined by the law or by the regulation of the competent administrative authority:

( a ) Conduct constituting a disciplinary offence;

( b ) The types and duration of punishment which may be inflicted;

( c ) The authority competent to impose such punishment.

30. (1) No prisoner shall be punished except in accordance with the terms of such law or regulation, and never twice for the same offence.

(2) No prisoner shall be punished unless he has been informed of the offence alleged against him and given a proper opportunity of presenting his defence. The competent authority shall conduct a thorough examination of the case.

(3) Where necessary and practicable the prisoner shall be allowed to make his defence through an interpreter.

31. Corporal punishment, punishment by placing in a dark cell, and all cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments shall be completely prohibited as punishments for disciplinary offences.

32. (1) Punishment by close confinement or reduction of diet shall never be inflicted unless the medical officer has examined the prisoner and certified in writing that he is fit to sustain it.

(2) The same shall apply to any other punishment that may be prejudicial to the physical or mental health of a prisoner. In no case may such punishment be contrary to or depart from the principle stated in rule 31.

(3) The medical officer shall visit daily prisoners undergoing such punishments and shall advise the director if he considers the termination or alteration of the punishment necessary on grounds of physical or mental health.

Instruments of restraint

33. Instruments of restraint, such as handcuffs, chains, irons and strait-jackets, shall never be applied as a punishment. Furthermore, chains or irons shall not be used as restraints. Other instruments of restraint shall not be used except in the following circumstances:

( a ) As a precaution against escape during a transfer, provided that they shall be removed when the prisoner appears before a judicial or administrative authority;

( b ) On medical grounds by direction of the medical officer;

( c ) By order of the director, if other methods of control fail, in order to prevent a prisoner from injuring himself or others or from damaging property; in such instances the director shall at once consult the medical officer and report to the higher administrative authority.

34. The patterns and manner of use of instruments of restraint shall be decided by the central prison administration. Such instruments must not be applied for any longer time than is strictly necessary.

Information to and complaints by prisoners

35. (1) Every prisoner on admission shall be provided with written information about the regulations governing the treatment of prisoners of his category, the disciplinary requirements of the institution, the authorized methods of seeking information and making complaints, and all such other matters as are necessary to enable him to understand both his rights and his obligations and to adapt himself to the life of the institution.

(2) If a prisoner is illiterate, the aforesaid information shall be conveyed to him orally.

36. (1) Every prisoner shall have the opportunity each week day of making requests or complaints to the director of the institution or the officer authorized to represent him.

(2) It shall be possible to make requests or complaints to the inspector of prisons during his inspection. The prisoner shall have the opportunity to talk to the inspector or to any other inspecting officer without the director or other members of the staff being present.

(3) Every prisoner shall be allowed to make a request or complaint, without censorship as to substance but in proper form, to the central prison administration, the judicial authority or other proper authorities through approved channels.

(4) Unless it is evidently frivolous or groundless, every request or complaint shall be promptly dealt with and replied to without undue delay.

Contact with the outside world

37. Prisoners shall be allowed under necessary supervision to communicate with their family and reputable friends at regular intervals, both by correspondence and by receiving visits.

38. (1) Prisoners who are foreign nationals shall be allowed reasonable facilities to communicate with the diplomatic and consular representatives of the State to which they belong.

(2) Prisoners who are nationals of States without diplomatic or consular representation in the country and refugees or stateless persons shall be allowed similar facilities to communicate with the diplomatic representative of the State which takes charge of their interests or any national or international authority whose task it is to protect such persons.

39. Prisoners shall be kept informed regularly of the more important items of news by the reading of newspapers, periodicals or special institutional publications, by hearing wireless transmissions, by lectures or by any similar means as authorized or controlled by the administration.

Books

40. Every institution shall have a library for the use of all categories of prisoners, adequately stocked with both recreational and instructional books, and prisoners shall be encouraged to make full use of it.

Religion

41. (1) If the institution contains a sufficient number of prisoners of the same religion, a qualified representative of that religion shall be appointed or approved. If the number of prisoners justifies it and conditions permit, the arrangement should be on a full-time basis.

(2) A qualified representative appointed or approved under paragraph (1) shall be allowed to hold regular services and to pay pastoral visits in private to prisoners of his religion at proper times.

(3) Access to a qualified representative of any religion shall not be refused to any prisoner. On the other hand, if any prisoner should object to a visit of any religious representative, his attitude shall be fully respected.

42. So far as practicable, every prisoner shall be allowed to satisfy the needs of his religious life by attending the services provided in the institution and having in his possession the books of religious observance and instruction of his denomination.

Retention of prisoners' property

43. (1) All money, valuables, clothing and other effects belonging to a prisoner which under the regulations of the institution he is not allowed to retain shall on his admission to the institution be placed in safe custody. An inventory thereof shall be signed by the prisoner. Steps shall be taken to keep them in good condition.

(2) On the release of the prisoner all such articles and money shall be returned to him except in so far as he has been authorized to spend money or send any such property out of the institution, or it has been found necessary on hygienic grounds to destroy any article of clothing. The prisoner shall sign a receipt for the articles and money returned to him.

(3) Any money or effects received for a prisoner from outside shall be treated in the same way.

(4) If a prisoner brings in any drugs or medicine, the medical officer shall decide what use shall be made of them.

Notification of death, illness, transfer, etc.

44. (1) Upon the death or serious illness of, or serious injury to a prisoner, or his removal to an institution for the treatment of mental affections, the director shall at once inform the spouse, if the prisoner is married, or the nearest relative and shall in any event inform any other person previously designated by the prisoner.

(2) A prisoner shall be informed at once of the death or serious illness of any near relative. In case of the critical illness of a near relative, the prisoner should be authorized, whenever circumstances allow, to go to his bedside either under escort or alone.

(3) Every prisoner shall have the right to inform at once his family of his imprisonment or his transfer to another institution.

Removal of prisoners

45. (1) When the prisoners are being removed to or from an institution, they shall be exposed to public view as little as possible, and proper safeguards shall be adopted to protect them from insult, curiosity and publicity in any form.

(2) The transport of prisoners in conveyances with inadequate ventilation or light, or in any way which would subject them to unnecessary physical hardship, shall be prohibited.

(3) The transport of prisoners shall be carried out at the expense of the administration and equal conditions shall obtain for all of them.

Institutional personnel

46. (1) The prison administration shall provide for the careful selection of every grade of the personnel, since it is on their integrity, humanity, professional capacity and personal suitability for the work that the proper administration of the institutions depends.

(2) The prison administration shall constantly seek to awaken and maintain in the minds both of the personnel and of the public the conviction that this work is a social service of great importance, and to this end all appropriate means of informing the public should be used.

(3) To secure the foregoing ends, personnel shall be appointed on a full-time basis as professional prison officers and have civil service status with security of tenure subject only to good conduct, efficiency and physical fitness. Salaries shall be adequate to attract and retain suitable men and women; employment benefits and conditions of service shall be favourable in view of the exacting nature of the work.

47. (1) The personnel shall possess an adequate standard of education and intelligence.

(2) Before entering on duty, the personnel shall be given a course of training in their general and specific duties and be required to pass theoretical and practical tests.

(3) After entering on duty and during their career, the personnel shall maintain and improve their knowledge and professional capacity by attending courses of in-service training to be organized at suitable intervals.

48. All members of the personnel shall at all times so conduct themselves and perform their duties as to influence the prisoners for good by their example and to command their respect.

49. (1) So far as possible, the personnel shall include a sufficient number of specialists such as psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, teachers and trade instructors.

(2) The services of social workers, teachers and trade instructors shall be secured on a permanent basis, without thereby excluding part-time or voluntary workers.

50. (1) The director of an institution should be adequately qualified for his task by character, administrative ability, suitable training and experience.

(2) He shall devote his entire time to his official duties and shall not be appointed on a part-time basis.

(3) He shall reside on the premises of the institution or in its immediate vicinity.

(4) When two or more institutions are under the authority of one director, he shall visit each of them at frequent intervals. A responsible resident official shall be in charge of each of these institutions.

51. (1) The director, his deputy, and the majority of the other personnel of the institution shall be able to speak the language of the greatest number of prisoners, or a language understood by the greatest number of them.

(2) Whenever necessary, the services of an interpreter shall be used.

52. (1) In institutions which are large enough to require the services of one or more full-time medical officers, at least one of them shall reside on the premises of the institution or in its immediate vicinity.

(2) In other institutions the medical officer shall visit daily and shall reside near enough to be able to attend without delay in cases of urgency.

53. (1) In an institution for both men and women, the part of the institution set aside for women shall be under the authority of a responsible woman officer who shall have the custody of the keys of all that part of the institution.

(2) No male member of the staff shall enter the part of the institution set aside for women unless accompanied by a woman officer.

(3) Women prisoners shall be attended and supervised only by women officers. This does not, however, preclude male members of the staff, particularly doctors and teachers, from carrying out their professional duties in institutions or parts of institutions set aside for women.

54. (1) Officers of the institutions shall not, in their relations with the prisoners, use force except in self-defence or in cases of attempted escape, or active or passive physical resistance to an order based on law or regulations. Officers who have recourse to force must use no more than is strictly necessary and must report the incident immediately to the director of the institution.

(2) Prison officers shall be given special physical training to enable them to restrain aggressive prisoners.

(3) Except in special circumstances, staff performing duties which bring them into direct contact with prisoners should not be armed. Furthermore, staff should in no circumstances be provided with arms unless they have been trained in their use.

Inspection

55. There shall be a regular inspection of penal institutions and services by qualified and experienced inspectors appointed by a competent authority. Their task shall be in particular to ensure that these institutions are administered in accordance with existing laws and regulations and with a view to bringing about the objectives of penal and correctional services.

Part II

RULES APPLICABLE TO SPECIAL CATEGORIES

A. Prisoners under sentence

Guiding principles

56. The guiding principles hereafter are intended to show the spirit in which penal institutions should be administered and the purposes at which they should aim, in accordance with the declaration made under Preliminary Observation 1 of the present text.

57. Imprisonment and other measures which result in cutting off an offender from the outside world are afflictive by the very fact of taking from the person the right of self-determination by depriving him of his liberty. Therefore the prison system shall not, except as incidental to justifiable segregation or the maintenance of discipline, aggravate the suffering inherent in such a situation.

58. The purpose and justification of a sentence of imprisonment or a similar measure deprivative of liberty is ultimately to protect society against crime. This end can only be achieved if the period of imprisonment is used to ensure, so far as possible, that upon his return to society the offender is not only willing but able to lead a law-abiding and self-supporting life.

59. To this end, the institution should utilize all the remedial, educational, moral, spiritual and other forces and forms of assistance which are appropriate and available, and should seek to apply them according to the individual treatment needs of the prisoners.

60. (1) The regime of the institution should seek to minimize any differences between prison life and life at liberty which tend to lessen the responsibility of the prisoners or the respect due to their dignity as human beings.

(2) Before the completion of the sentence, it is desirable that the necessary steps be taken to ensure for the prisoner a gradual return to life in society. This aim may be achieved, depending on the case, by a pre-release regime organized in the same institution or in another appropriate institution, or by release on trial under some kind of supervision which must not be entrusted to the police but should be combined with effective social aid.

61. The treatment of prisoners should emphasize not their exclusion from the community, but their continuing part in it. Community agencies should, therefore, be enlisted wherever possible to assist the staff of the institution in the task of social rehabilitation of the prisoners. There should be in connection with every institution social workers charged with the duty of maintaining and improving all desirable relations of a prisoner with his family and with valuable social agencies. Steps should be taken to safeguard, to the maximum extent compatible with the law and the sentence, the rights relating to civil interests, social security rights and other social benefits of prisoners.

62. The medical services of the institution shall seek to detect and shall treat any physical or mental illnesses or defects which may hamper a prisoner's rehabilitation. All necessary medical, surgical and psychiatric services shall be provided to that end.

63. (1) The fulfilment of these principles requires individualization of treatment and for this purpose a flexible system of classifying prisoners in groups; it is therefore desirable that such groups should be distributed in separate institutions suitable for the treatment of each group.

(2) These institutions need not provide the same degree of security for every group. It is desirable to provide varying degrees of security according to the needs of different groups. Open institutions, by the very fact that they provide no physical security against escape but rely on the self-discipline of the inmates, provide the conditions most favourable to rehabilitation for carefully selected prisoners.

(3) It is desirable that the number of prisoners in closed institutions should not be so large that the individualization of treatment is hindered. In some countries it is considered that the population of such institutions should not exceed five hundred. In open institutions the population should be as small as possible.

(4) On the other hand, it is undesirable to maintain prisons which are so small that proper facilities cannot be provided.

64. The duty of society does not end with a prisoner's release. There should, therefore, be governmental or private agencies capable of lending the released prisoner efficient after-care directed towards the lessening of prejudice against him and towards his social rehabilitation.

Treatment

65. The treatment of persons sentenced to imprisonment or a similar measure shall have as its purpose, so far as the length of the sentence permits, to establish in them the will to lead law-abiding and self-supporting lives after their release and to fit them to do so. The treatment shall be such as will encourage their self-respect and develop their sense of responsibility.

66. (1) To these ends, all appropriate means shall be used, including religious care in the countries where this is possible, education, vocational guidance and training, social casework, employment counselling, physical development and strengthening of moral character, in accordance with the individual needs of each prisoner, taking account of his social and criminal history, his physical and mental capacities and aptitudes, his personal temperament, the length of his sentence and his prospects after release.

(2) For every prisoner with a sentence of suitable length, the director shall receive, as soon as possible after his admission, full reports on all the matters referred to in the foregoing paragraph. Such reports shall always include a report by a medical officer, wherever possible qualified in psychiatry, on the physical and mental condition of the prisoner.

(3) The reports and other relevant documents shall be placed in an individual file. This file shall be kept up to date and classified in such a way that it can be consulted by the responsible personnel whenever the need arises.

Classification and individualization

67. The purposes of classification shall be:

( a ) To separate from others those prisoners who, by reason of their criminal records or bad characters, are likely to exercise a bad influence;

( b ) To divide the prisoners into classes in order to facilitate their treatment with a view to their social rehabilitation.

68. So far as possible separate institutions or separate sections of an institution shall be used for the treatment of the different classes of prisoners.

69. As soon as possible after admission and after a study of the personality of each prisoner with a sentence of suitable length, a programme of treatment shall be prepared for him in the light of the knowledge obtained about his individual needs, his capacities and dispositions.

Privileges

70. Systems of privileges appropriate for the different classes of prisoners and the different methods of treatment shall be established at every institution, in order to encourage good conduct, develop a sense of responsibility and secure the interest and co-operation of the prisoners in their treatment.

Work

71. (1) Prison labour must not be of an afflictive nature.

(2) All prisoners under sentence shall be required to work, subject to their physical and mental fitness as determined by the medical officer.

(3) Sufficient work of a useful nature shall be provided to keep prisoners actively employed for a normal working day.

(4) So far as possible the work provided shall be such as will maintain or increase the prisoners, ability to earn an honest living after release.

(5) Vocational training in useful trades shall be provided for prisoners able to profit thereby and especially for young prisoners.

(6) Within the limits compatible with proper vocational selection and with the requirements of institutional administration and discipline, the prisoners shall be able to choose the type of work they wish to perform.

72. (1) The organization and methods of work in the institutions shall resemble as closely as possible those of similar work outside institutions, so as to prepare prisoners for the conditions of normal occupational life.

(2) The interests of the prisoners and of their vocational training, however, must not be subordinated to the purpose of making a financial profit from an industry in the institution.

73. (1) Preferably institutional industries and farms should be operated directly by the administration and not by private contractors.

(2) Where prisoners are employed in work not controlled by the administration, they shall always be under the supervision of the institution's personnel. Unless the work is for other departments of the government the full normal wages for such work shall be paid to the administration by the persons to whom the labour is supplied, account being taken of the output of the prisoners.

74. (1) The precautions laid down to protect the safety and health of free workmen shall be equally observed in institutions.

(2) Provision shall be made to indemnify prisoners against industrial injury, including occupational disease, on terms not less favourable than those extended by law to free workmen.

75. (1) The maximum daily and weekly working hours of the prisoners shall be fixed by law or by administrative regulation, taking into account local rules or custom in regard to the employment of free workmen.

(2) The hours so fixed shall leave one rest day a week and sufficient time for education and other activities required as part of the treatment and rehabilitation of the prisoners.

76. (1) There shall be a system of equitable remuneration of the work of prisoners.

(2) Under the system prisoners shall be allowed to spend at least a part of their earnings on approved articles for their own use and to send a part of their earnings to their family.

(3) The system should also provide that a part of the earnings should be set aside by the administration so as to constitute a savings fund to be handed over to the prisoner on his release.

Education and recreation

77. (1) Provision shall be made for the further education of all prisoners capable of profiting thereby, including religious instruction in the countries where this is possible. The education of illiterates and young prisoners shall be compulsory and special attention shall be paid to it by the administration.

(2) So far as practicable, the education of prisoners shall be integrated with the educational system of the country so that after their release they may continue their education without difficulty.

78. Recreational and cultural activities shall be provided in all institutions for the benefit of the mental and physical health of prisoners.

Social relations and after-care

79. Special attention shall be paid to the maintenance and improvement of such relations between a prisoner and his family as are desirable in the best interests of both.

80. From the beginning of a prisoner's sentence consideration shall be given to his future after release and he shall be encouraged and assisted to maintain or establish such relations with persons or agencies outside the institution as may promote the best interests of his family and his own social rehabilitation.

81. (1) Services and agencies, governmental or otherwise, which assist released prisoners to re-establish themselves in society shall ensure, so far as is possible and necessary, that released prisoners be provided with appropriate documents and identification papers, have suitable s and work to go to, are suitably and adequately clothed having regard to the climate and season, and have sufficient means to reach their destination and maintain themselves in the period immediately following their release.

(2) The approved representatives of such agencies shall have all necessary access to the institution and to prisoners and shall be taken into consultation as to the future of a prisoner from the beginning of his sentence.

(3) It is desirable that the activities of such agencies shall be centralized or co-ordinated as far as possible in order to secure the best use of their efforts.

B. Insane and mentally abnormal prisoners

82. (1) Persons who are found to be insane shall not be detained in prisons and arrangements shall be made to remove them to mental institutions as soon as possible.

(2) Prisoners who suffer from other mental diseases or abnormalities shall be observed and treated in specialized institutions under medical management.

(3) During their stay in a prison, such prisoners shall be placed under the special supervision of a medical officer.

(4) The medical or psychiatric service of the penal institutions shall provide for the psychiatric treatment of all other prisoners who are in need of such treatment.

83. It is desirable that steps should be taken, by arrangement with the appropriate agencies, to ensure if necessary the continuation of psychiatric treatment after release and the provision of social-psychiatric after-care.

C. Prisoners under arrest or awaiting trial

84. (1) Persons arrested or imprisoned by reason of a criminal charge against them, who are detained either in police custody or in prison custody (jail) but have not yet been tried and sentenced, will be referred to as "untried prisoners" hereinafter in these rules.

(2) Unconvicted prisoners are presumed to be innocent and shall be treated as such.

(3) Without prejudice to legal rules for the protection of individual liberty or prescribing the procedure to be observed in respect of untried prisoners, these prisoners shall benefit by a special regime which is described in the following rules in its essential requirements only.

85. (1) Untried prisoners shall be kept separate from convicted prisoners.

(2) Young untried prisoners shall be kept separate from adults and shall in principle be detained in separate institutions.

86. Untried prisoners shall sleep singly in separate rooms, with the reservation of different local custom in respect of the climate.

87. Within the limits compatible with the good order of the institution, untried prisoners may, if they so desire, have their food procured at their own expense from the outside, either through the administration or through their family or friends. Otherwise, the administration shall provide their food.

88. (1) An untried prisoner shall be allowed to wear his own clothing if it is clean and suitable.

(2) If he wears prison dress, it shall be different from that supplied to convicted prisoners.

89. An untried prisoner shall always be offered opportunity to work, but shall not be required to work. If he chooses to work, he shall be paid for it.

90. An untried prisoner shall be allowed to procure at his own expense or at the expense of a third party such books, newspapers, writing materials and other means of occupation as are compatible with the interests of the administration of justice and the security and good order of the institution.

91. An untried prisoner shall be allowed to be visited and treated by his own doctor or dentist if there is reasonable ground for his application and he is able to pay any expenses incurred.

92. An untried prisoner shall be allowed to inform immediately his family of his detention and shall be given all reasonable facilities for communicating with his family and friends, and for receiving visits from them, subject only to restrictions and supervision as are necessary in the interests of the administration of justice and of the security and good order of the institution.

93. For the purposes of his defence, an untried prisoner shall be allowed to apply for free legal aid where such aid is available, and to receive visits from his legal adviser with a view to his defence and to prepare and hand to him confidential instructions. For these purposes, he shall if he so desires be supplied with writing material. Interviews between the prisoner and his legal adviser may be within sight but not within the hearing of a police or institution official.

D. Civil prisoners

94. In countries where the law permits imprisonment for debt, or by order of a court under any other non-criminal process, persons so imprisoned shall not be subjected to any greater restriction or severity than is necessary to ensure safe custody and good order. Their treatment shall be not less favourable than that of untried prisoners, with the reservation, however, that they may possibly be required to work.

E. Persons arrested or detained without charge

95. Without prejudice to the provisions of article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, persons arrested or imprisoned without charge shall be accorded the same protection as that accorded under part I and part II, section C. Relevant provisions of part II, section A, shall likewise be applicable where their application may be conducive to the benefit of this special group of persons in custody, provided that no measures shall be taken implying that re-education or rehabilitation is in any way appropriate to persons not convicted of any criminal offence.

NCCHC Health Care Links

2010-05-03T23:45:00.001-04:00

National Commission on Correctional Health Care Links

NCCHC has partnered with the Academy of Correctional Health Professionals to cosponsor the best educational conferences and other programs. To learn how membership can benefit you, visit the Academy at www.correctionalhealth.org.

NCCHC Supporting Organizations
NCCHC is supported by the major national organizations representing the fields of health, law and corrections.

Academy of Correctional Health Professionals	www.correctionalhealth.org
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry	www.aacap.org
American Academy of Pediatrics	www.aap.org
American Academy of Physician Assistants	www.aapa.org
American Academy of Psychiatry & the Law	www.aapl.org
American Association of Public Health Physicians	www.aaphp.org
American Bar Association	www.abanet.org
American College of Emergency Physicians	www.acep.org
American College of Healthcare Executives	www.ache.org
American College of Neuropsychiatrists	www.osteopathic.org
American College of Physicians	www.acponline.org
American College of Preventive Medicine	www.acpm.org
American Correctional Health Services Association	www.corrections.com/achsa
American Counseling Association	www.counseling.org
American Dental Association	www.ada.org
American Dietetic Association	www.eatright.org
American Health Information Management Association	www.ahima.org
American Jail Association	www.corrections.com/aja
American Medical Association	www.ama-assn.org
American Nurses Association	www.ana.org
American Osteopathic Association	www.osteopathic.org
American Pharmacists Association	www.aphanet.org
American Psychiatric Association	www.psych.org
American Psychological Association	www.apa.org
American Public Health Association	www.apha.org
American Society of Addiction Medicine	www.asam.org
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials	www.astho.org
International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology	www.aa4cfp.org
John Howard Association	www.john-howard.org
National Association of Counties	www.naco.org
National Association of County and City Health Officials	www.naccho.org
National Association of Social Workers	www.socialworkers.org
National District Attorneys Association	www.ndaa.org
National Juvenile Detention Association	www.npjs.org/njda.php
National Medical Association	www.nmanet.org
National Sheriffs' Association	www.sheriffs.org
Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine	www.adolescenthealth.org
Society of Correctional Physicians	www.corrdocs.org
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Federal Agencies, Health
Health and Human Services	www.hhs.gov
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality	www.ahrq.gov
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention	www.cdc.gov
CDC Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention	www.cdc.gov/hiv/dhap.htm
CDC National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention	www.cdc.gov/nchstp/od/nchstp.html
CDC National Prevention Information Network	www.cdcnpin.org
Division of Immigration Health Services	http://inshealth.org
Food and Drug Administration	www.fda.gov
Health Resources and Services Administration	www.hrsa.gov
National Institute on Drug Abuse	www.nida.nih.gov
National Institutes of Health	www.nih.gov
Public Health Service	www.usphs.gov
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration	www.samhsa.gov
Surgeon General	www.surgeongeneral.gov
Occupational Safety and Health Administration	www.osha.gov
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Federal Agencies, Justice, Corrections
U.S. Department of Justice	www.usdoj.gov
Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services	www.immigration.gov
Bureau of Justice Statistics	www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs
Corrections Program Office	www.ojp.usdoj.gov/cpo/
Federal Bureau of Prisons	www.bop.gov
National Criminal Justice Reference Service	www.ncjrs.org
National Institute of Corrections	www.nicic.org
National Institute of Justice	www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/
Office of Justice Programs	www.ojp.usdoj.gov
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention	http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/
Return to Top

Miscellaneous
Healthfinder	www.healthfinder.gov
Library of Congress “Thomas” (legislative information)	http://thomas.loc.gov/
Medline / PubMed	www.pubmed.gov
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report	www.cdc.gov/mmwr
National Guideline Clearinghouse	www.guideline.gov
National Network on Tobacco Prevention and Poverty	www.nntpp.org
Office of National Drug Control Policy	www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov
World Health Organization	www.who.int

Diabetics more liely to suffer depression.

2010-05-03T21:52:00.001-04:00

Study links diabetes, depression

BY Dave Goldiner
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, June 19th 2008, 12:25 AM

Helping kidneys go the distance

A new study says people with Type 2 diabetes are more likely to be depressed - and vice versa.

Doctors concede they need to study patients more closely to determine whether the disease is causing depression or whether something about depression could lead to Type 2 diabetes.

"The psychological stress associated with diabetes management may lead to elevated depressive symptoms," Dr. Sherita Hill Golden writes in a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"We were able to show that there's a bidirectional association," she said.

Diabetes causes high blood sugar levels, which can be fatal if left untreated. It can be treated with insulin and changes in diet and exercise.

About 21 million Americans suffer from diabetes and 30 million have symptoms of depression.

To explore the relationship, Golden's team at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine analyzed data on nearly 7,000 patients who underwent three examinations between 2000 and 2005.

Among nearly 5,000 participants with no symptoms of depression at the start of the study, rates of occurrence of depression during followup were similar for people without diabetes and those with untreated Type 2 diabetes.

Those undergoing treatment for Type 2 diabetes were twice as likely to experience depression.

They also found that patients who had symptoms of depression were about 30% more likely to develop diabetes during the study than people without depression.

The doctors say the link between depression and diabetes may be related to lifestyle factors, such as diet and physical activity.

"Future studies should determine whether interventions aimed at modifying behavioral factors will complement current Type 2 diabetes prevention strategies," Golden wrote.

dgoldiner@nydailynews.com

Mississippi Prison Watch

SPLC Lawsuit Targets Abuse, Neglect of Children Held in Jackson, Miss., Detention Center

Off Parole; On With Life

This youth prison has violent, abusive conditions But the company that runs it makes millions

Barbour suspends sentences for Scott sisters

Free the Scott Sisters: Grace calling Mississippi.

Sisters may or may not be guilty, but Mississippi assuredly is

NYT: So Utterly Inhumane

Please Help Pardon the Scott Sisters.

March for Freedom: Awareness for Wrongful Convictions, Oct 2nd 2010

Scott Watch: Praying for a Mississippi Miracle

UPDATE FROM MRS. EVELYN RASCO SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

Federal Judge Says Prosecutor Lied and Overturns Mississippi Death Sentence

the Desaparecidos of 9/11

March on the Mississippi Attorney General's Office

Urgent appeal - PLEASE take action today!

From Mississippi Justice Facebook Cause:

March in support of Frederick Bell August 17th

Please read and sign petition for wrongfully convicted Frederick Bell

Scott Watch: Mother and Child Reunions

911 Mississippi State Prisons

Color of Change: Come to Mississippi.

Conditions of confinement: Why we call and write.

Prisoners are patients too: June 2010 MDOC agreement on standards of care.

Endorsement by Imprisoned Women´s Rights Watch of the Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice

Gray-Haired Witnesses: June 21 Fast.

Mumia and the Gray-Haired Witnesses.

Scott Watch: A Dirty Injustice in today's South?

Scott Watch: Michelle Alexander and the Gray-Haired Witnesses

When the "Worst of the Worst" Describes the Prison, Not the Prisoners

When the "Worst of the Worst" Describes the Prison, Not the Prisoners

ACLU files motion to dismiss suit against MDOC

Walls Won't Protect Us from Bombs

Scott Watch: Unconstitutional Living Conditions

Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice: Hunger Strike!

Phillip Gibbs, James Green, and the colors of Resistance.

Jackson Co. NAACP Celebrates Oppressors: The Resistance Responds.

Scott Watch: Jamie's Health Deteriorating

Gray-Haired Witnesses Hunger Strike – June 21, 2010 Washington, DC for the Scott Sisters

Scott Watch: Jamie's friend passes away.

Mrs. Rasco received word that last evening a 13 yr. friend of Jamie Scott's took a few steps toward her and fell down dead. The guards ran to her aid and tried CPR and everything that they could, but the woman had passed away.

Please support by participating in two action requests!--

Please contact these officials and let them know that Jamie Scott, #19197, needs to be hospitalized ASAP as she has infections throughout her body that need immediate treatment!

Currently, an attorney is handling Jamie Scott’s medical issues as she has had kidney failure and is receiving sub standard medical care via the MDOC and Wexford Health Sources, Inc.. Jamie Scott is in stage 5 of kidney failure, which is the final stage.

I am requesting that you assist in securing a criminal attorney to review their prior appeals process and determine additional ways to re enter state or federal court. Above all, the sisters should be immediately exonerated. Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Sincerely,

(Your name)Case Summary: http://freethescottsisters.blogspot.com/search/label/Case%20SummaryLegal Transcripts: http://www.scribd.com/doc/21748820/Scott-transcript

============

Jamie and Gladys want to thank all of the supporters so much for everything that's being done on their behalf, they are so happy to receive mail and to know that we are out here fighting for them and want to make sure that you know how grateful they are!

Diabetes: Invest now or pay big later. Patient education essential.

Diabetes care in prison: American Diabetes Association

Diabetes Management in Correctional Institutions

INTAKE MEDICAL ASSESSMENT

Reception screening

Intake screening

Intake physical examination and laboratory

Recommendations

SCREENING FOR DIABETES—

MANAGEMENT PLAN—

NUTRITION AND FOOD SERVICES—

URGENT AND EMERGENCY ISSUES—

Hyperglycemia

Hypoglycemia

Recommendations

MEDICATION—

Recommendations

ROUTINE SCREENING FOR AND MANAGEMENT OF DIABETES COMPLICATIONS—

MONITORING/TESTS OF GLYCEMIA—

Recommendations

SELF-MANAGEMENT EDUCATION—

STAFF EDUCATION—

Recommendations

ALCOHOL AND DRUGS—

TRANSFER AND DISCHARGE—

Recommendations

SHARING OF MEDICAL INFORMATION AND RECORDS—

CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH DIABETES—

Nutrition and activity

Medical management and follow-up

PREGNANCY—

(Your name)

Case Summary: http://freethescottsisters.blogspot.com/search/label/Case%20SummaryLegal Transcripts: http://www.scribd.com/doc/21748820/Scott-transcript