[Peace-discuss] Can AWARE add themselves in?

[E. Wayne Johnson]

Tamms should be phased out quickly as well as most of Illinois's massive 
prison system.

We should all be able to agree that there is very little merit in 
incarcerating people for
minor infractions of questionable laws.  There are people imprisoned in 
Illinois for
actions that really don't merit incarceration.

The penal system in Illinois is a big business and it is time that it be 
choked back as it
is harming the society through its actions and its high cost of operation.

The people should be calling for a scrutinization of what appears to be 
cruel and unusual punishment.
Cruel punishment may have become less and less unusual but that is an 
indication of
how bad things have become.

Maybe the prisons should just be torn down to the ground, but perhaps 
they could
be but to some useful purpose as retreats or teaching centers or public 
spaces
like libraries, gymnasiums, etc.




On 5/14/2012 7:50 AM, Carl G. Estabrook wrote:
> So what should be done? What should Illinois citizens be pushing for?
>
>
> On May 13, 2012, at 6:35 PM, E. Wayne Johnson wrote:
>
>> Tamms is in an economically depressed area with little industry other 
>> than agriculture
>> and agriculture employs very few people.
>>
>> Illinois does not provide an environment
>> conducive to industrial employment and business development, so it is 
>> quite unlikely
>> that any new employer will come into the area.  The general policy 
>> and theme for the past 20 years has been
>> that "you won't make Widgets in southern Illinois".
>>
>> So if you close Tamms prison you will put people out of work, and you 
>> will put them out of work rather permanently,
>> which will raise significant opposition against your principled cry 
>> against incarceration, torture,
>> the Police state, and the legal-law enforcement-penal industrial 
>> complex of authoritarian worms.
>>
>> You may be doing the right thing in one sense, but you will be 
>> creating another
>> problem in damaging the commensal/co-parasitic relationship between 
>> Big Brother
>> and the impoverished Tamms area.
>>
>> You can de-worm the horse and kill all the worms almost instantly.  
>> But the
>> if the infestation is heavy, the gut will look like hamburger after 
>> the worms detach and
>> the sudden removal of the worms may likely
>> result in the sudden demise of the parasite's host.
>>
>> Likewise, closure of Tamms will decimate the local economy.  We can agree
>> that the idea of prisons sucked from the beginning.  But the inmates 
>> are not the
>> only ones in prison.
>>
>>
>> On 5/14/2012 6:36 AM, Stuart Levy wrote:
>>> Yes!  AWARE just voted that we would be happy to be on the list of 
>>> groups that support closure of TAMMS.
>>>
>>> On 5/13/12 2:09 PM, Barbara kessel wrote:
>>>> Here is the list I asked you to add AWARE on to at your meeting 
>>>> tonight. the list will go to Governor Q on Tuesday morning.
>>>> Thanks, Barbara
>>>>
>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>>> From: *Barbara kessel* <barkes at gmail.com <mailto:barkes at gmail.com>>
>>>> Date: Wed, May 9, 2012 at 10:13 AM
>>>> Subject: Could we agree by e-mail to add the Interfaith Alliance?
>>>> To: Conrad Wetzel <wetzelmc at hotmail.com 
>>>> <mailto:wetzelmc at hotmail.com>>, Nancy Stagg <nsstagg at sbcglobal.net 
>>>> <mailto:nsstagg at sbcglobal.net>>, "Rev. Vanessa Buchanan" 
>>>> <Rev.v.Buchanan at gmail.com <mailto:Rev.v.Buchanan at gmail.com>>, Eric 
>>>> Jakobsson <jake at ncsa.illinois.edu <mailto:jake at ncsa.illinois.edu>>, 
>>>> "Rev. Underwood" <kingjames5804 at att.net 
>>>> <mailto:kingjames5804 at att.net>>, Patsy Howell <ummtamala at yahoo.com 
>>>> <mailto:ummtamala at yahoo.com>>
>>>> Cc: Laurie Jo Reynolds <lauriejoreynolds at gmail.com 
>>>> <mailto:lauriejoreynolds at gmail.com>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>>> From: *LJ Reynolds* <lauriejoreynolds at gmail.com 
>>>> <mailto:lauriejoreynolds at gmail.com>>
>>>> Date: Wed, May 9, 2012 at 12:16 AM
>>>> Subject: Fwd: list of organizations that support closure
>>>> To: barbara kessel <barkes at gmail.com <mailto:barkes at gmail.com>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hi Barbara,
>>>> We are in Springfield now.  We are going to give legislators and 
>>>> the governor a list of organizations that support the closure of 
>>>> Tamms. Maybe not today, but soon. I'm adding some organizations to 
>>>> the fact sheet.
>>>>
>>>> What organizations that you are part of may we add to the list?
>>>> Or maybe you know of others?
>>>>
>>>> I will send the revised fact sheet soon.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> LJR
>>>> 773-505-3896 <tel:773-505-3896>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Organizations that support Tamms closure
>>>>
>>>> ACLU of Illinois
>>>> ACLU Prison Project
>>>> Amnesty International
>>>> Amnesty International Midwest Regional Office
>>>> Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern University School of Law
>>>> Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
>>>> Human Rights Watch
>>>> Illinois Coalition Against Torture
>>>> John Howard Association of Illinois
>>>> Mental Health America of Illinois
>>>> Mental Health Summit
>>>> Midwest Coalition for Human Rights
>>>> National Lawyers Guild of Chicago
>>>> National Religious Campaign Against Torture
>>>> Uptown People's Law Center
>>>> Tamms Year Ten
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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