Racial profiling in Rhode Island
According to a study by Northeastern University, African American and Latino motorists were more than twice as likely to be searched after being pulled over for a traffic stop in Rhode Island. Think there’s racial profiling in Rhode Island? The study certainly seems to suggest as much, and a number of state legislators and the [...]
Station Nightclub Fire Documentary
There is a documentary film project under way about the Station Nightclub fire of February 20, 2003. In 2010, Paul Lonardo helped Gina Russo write a book called From the Ashes about the loss of her fiancé, and of her survival from the fire. Local documentary filmmaker David Bettencourt is working on adapting and expanding Gina’s story for [...]
Lock-em-up-unless-they’re-bankers Kilmartin
Striking a vital blow against accountability, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin endorsed the “50-state” settlement on foreclosure fraud yesterday, led by the Iowa Attorney General, Tom Miller. The settlement essentially allows banks to skip away from the crimes they committed in the course of foreclosing on a few million people’s houses. To recap: this settlement has [...]
RI Voters’ Poll: Seeking Major Changes In Marijuana Policy
A new poll of 714 Rhode Island Voters indicates overwhelming support for medical marijuana, compassion centers, and decriminalization of less than one ounce of the plant. The medical marijuana law, gone unused by Rep. Bob Watson (if he were to qualify) garnered support of 72%, including a whopping 82% of Dems, 61% GOP, and 57% [...]
Wyatt’s Wall Streeters to RI: “Buy My Prison, PLEASE!”
Recent talk continues about the state buying a troubled asset, the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls. The thinking is that the state could purchase the outlandishly overvalued prison, refinance it, and operate a modest profit margin while saving the bondholders on Wall Street. Naturally, such a deal would take decades, if ever, to pay [...]
Why Getting Tough Is Weak
This week the Senate Judiciary voted to eliminate Good Time for people convicted of murder or serious sex offenses (1st degree child molestation, 2nd degree child molestation, kidnapping of a minor, and 1st degree sexual assault). (Good Time is the 10 days per month a prisoner receives for good conduct. In a month where the [...]
How To Confront a Candidate, or How to Drink Liberally.
It is often bemoaned that candidates only talk about certain issues, only debate the same topics, and hardly ever disagree on anything of true substance. “My economic package is better than yours.” “I’m tougher on our enemies than the other guy.” Blah, blah, blah. When we consider that Obama, Bush, and McCain all agreed on [...]
Will Rep. Bob Watson’s 2nd Drug Arrest in 9 Months End His Political Career?
The Providence Journal (and everyone else) is reporting that Rep. Bob Watson was arrested again for possession of marijuana early Sunday morning. When the police arrived, they saw a white Volvo sedan in the lot, with its rubber tire missing from the rim on the front driver’s side. The driver’s side door was open and [...]
Racial Profiling Prevention Act
Have you or anyone you know ever been racially profiled? Sick and tired of police abusing their power? Well the Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM) has been working very hard on the Racial Profiling Prevention Act since last fall. To gather support, the Racial Profiling Coalition is holding a press conference on this Wednesday, Jan. 25th at 3:00pm inside [...]
Philadelphia Freedom: Is This The New Swing Vote?
A coalition of seventeen organizations have recently embarked on a revolutionary voter registration drive, and what better place to be revolutionary than Philadelphia? The Returning Citizens Voter Movement is directed towards formerly incarcerated people, engaging many more people with felony records who never went to prison, and far more people without records who have a [...]
National “Occupy” Day in Support of Prisoners: February 20th
A proposal passed yesterday by the General Assembly of Occupy Oakland is to generate a national day of action that will call attention to prisons across America. While presidential candidates take to their stumps, one might be unaware that America is the international leader of incarceration with no competition in sight. February 20th, amidst American Black [...]
Dr. King’s Legacy: RIPTA Called Out by Community to Re-hire Fired Workers
Next Thursday, on January 19th, at 6:30pm, members of the RIPTA board will be at Direct Actions for Rights & Equality (DARE), answering calls to reinstate two employees who were unjustly fired last month. The fundamental question is: are people with criminal histories are sentenced to a life of unemployment? Even the New York Times [...]
Getting Kicked Out and Arrested at a Romney Event
My friend Matt from the Harvard Kennedy School has a blog post up about a disturbing situation at a Mitt Romney campaign event he was attending, which, in my opinion, is emblematic of a larger trend of slowly taking away the rights and freedoms of people to speak out in dissent. We see this occurring [...]
Attorney General Kilmartin Announces Rhode Island Criminal Justice Hall of Fame
Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin today announced the creation of the Rhode Island Criminal Justice Hall of Fame to honor outstanding professionals who have worked to improve and uphold the principles of the criminal justice system in Rhode Island. Kilmartin also announced the inaugural class of inductees to be honored at a reception on Thursday, [...]
New National Report Highlights RI Public Defender
Back in February I posted about the fact that underfunded Public Defenders are a smokescreen for the real issue: underfunded prosecutors and courts cannot handle the number of crimes coming at them. A new report by Justice Policy Institute, System Overload: The Costs of Under-Resourcing Public Defense, continues the one-sided argument- although making some excellent points. The latest [...]
Top Ten Reasons Wyatt Prison is an Epic Scandal
With the recent bankruptcy filing by Central Falls, RI, many are asking what will happen to the city’s most notorious flagship, the Wyatt Detention Facility. The city will not disappear, no more than Bridgeport, CT disappeared along route 95 ten years ago. Bridgeport is roughly the size of Providence, is Connecticut’s largest city, and some [...]
Thou Shalt Not Kill, Except…
Its been about two months since Governor Chafee signed the bill that posthumously pardoned John Gordon, the last man executed by the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. During the hearing a great many people spoke eloquently about the terrible injustice of a man who (in hindsight) was so clearly innocent that he propelled [...]
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