[Peace] Court Watch demonstration TODAY

[Brian Dolinar]

Court Watch demonstration TODAY 1pm at courthouse, downtown Urbana.

We demand an independent investigation into 5 deaths at the local jail!

	With the death of Quentin Larry on May 28, now five inmates have died
in the Champaign County Jail over a three-year period.  Individuals
should not die in police custody – even if they are drug addicts.
Citizens must demand an independent investigation into all five of
these incidents.
	Deaths in the local jails became an issue in 2004 when three suicides
occurred within six months at the county jail.  In the average year,
eight to nine jail suicides are documented in Illinois.  In 2004, jail
suicides in Champaign County were one third of the total in the state.
	The third suicide was particularly suspicious.  Police claimed Joseph
Beaver hanged himself from a telephone cord in the booking area.
	Public outcry prompted Sheriff Dan Walsh to hire a mental health
counselor and take precautionary measures in the downtown and
satellite jails.  Yet it is clear that not enough has been done.
	In July 2005, one man died in police custody of natural causes.  This
most recent incident involving Quentin Larry, which the police are
calling "drug related," makes five deaths of individuals in police
custody.
	In November 2005, a rogue police officer was exposed in the local
jail.  Sergeant William Alan Myers is currently charged with
aggravated battery and obstructrion of justice for using a Taser on an
imate.  Myers tased a restrained man four times in an empty cell.
Investigation found that he had tased three other individuals,
including one African American woman who says she was pregnant at the
time.
	Sheriff Walsh and State's Attorney Julia Rietz say they have pressed
charges against Myers and have done all they can.
	How many more must die before we see real reform in the local jails?
	We don't need the new $30 million jail that both Walsh and Rietz are
calling for.
	We need counselors, social workers, educators, and other alternatives
to mass incarceration.

Peace, BD	

-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
204 S. Lynn St.
Champaign, IL 61820
briandolinar at gmail.com