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Tag: Prison

Farm Bill Hemp Amendment Blocks People With Felonies From Growing Hemp
A pair of hands in handcuffs reaches upwards. Some advocates say a hemp amendment to the 2018 Farm Bill would legalize hemp at a cost to vulnerable people. (Pixabay / KlausHausmann, public domain)
July 11, 2018
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Farm Bill Hemp Amendment Blocks People With Felonies From Growing Hemp

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

A hemp legalization amendment in the 2018 Farm Bill prevents anyone with a felony drug conviction from growing hemp.

Some existing hemp entrepreneurs could even find themselves shut out.

“I have a very successful business, I’ve been in this from the get go,” said Veronica Carpio, an experienced hemp producer and president of Grow Hemp Colorado, at a hemp conference in New York last month.

Despite her undeniable contributions to the industry, a past felony cannabis conviction endangers her continued involvement. “If this bill passes, I’m out.”

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Juneteenth Prison Protest Targets Prison Slave Labor In Austin, TexasAnarchists gathered for the Juneteenth prison protest on June 18, targeting the Texas Correctional Industries showroom and another prison office.
A pair of masked anarchists at the Texas Correctional Industries Showroom, wearing black clothes, hold a banner reading "Stand with Striking Prisoners!" The banner depicts the state of Texas with bars across it, and a fist breaking through the bars. June 18, 2018. (Kit O'Connell)
June 25, 2018
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Juneteenth Prison Protest Targets Prison Slave Labor In Austin, Texas

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, and Journalism

Last week, Austin anarchists marked Juneteenth a day early with a protest against modern-day slavery.

Juneteenth, honored on June 19 each year, marks the day that news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached slaves in Texas. However, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution legalizes unpaid or shockingly underpaid slave labor by those behind bars. The Juneteenth prison protest in Austin targeted two offices operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Around dawn, activists scaled flag poles at the Austin offices of the TDCJ parole board to replace the U.S. and Texas flags with an anti-prison slavery banner. Later, more anarchists (and this reporter) gathered to protest at a showroom where corporations come to hire prison labor.

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Texas is one of the few states where prisoners receive no paid compensation for their labor, yet are expected to afford commissary items, $100 medical copays, and post-release expenses,” a representative of the group told me.

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Mainstream Media Ignores Mass Hunger & Work Strikes By Prisoners Nationwide
Greek activists offer solidarity to the U.S. prison strike. (It's Going Down)
October 4, 2016
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Mainstream Media Ignores Mass Hunger & Work Strikes By Prisoners Nationwide

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

As hunger strikes and sporadic work stoppages continue at prisons across the country, the historic prison movement and the brutal retaliation inmates have faced because of it remain largely unreported in the mainstream media.

The media blackout continues even though tens of thousands of inmates are believed to have taken part in the ongoing strike, and a shift of guards at Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama also refused to work on Sept. 24.

“It’s interesting that the foreign press has been better to us,” said Azzurra Crispino, media co-chair of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, part of the Industrial Workers of the World union, which is supporting the strike. Inmates can join the IWW for free, regardless of their prison work status.

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Prison Strike Organizer Melvin Ray: ‘International Human Rights Issues’ In Prisons Would Embarrass The US
Atlanta Georgia: A banner in solidarity with the National Prison Strike reads "Tear Down The Walls." (It's Going Down)
September 14, 2016
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Prison Strike Organizer Melvin Ray: ‘International Human Rights Issues’ In Prisons Would Embarrass The US

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Inmates around the country are demanding an end to inhumane conditions behind bars by participating in a growing wave of work stoppages, strikes, and other forms of activism.

A major nationwide strike began on Friday to mark the 45th anniversary of the Attica Prison riots. Prisoners in 24 states and 40 facilities were expected to participate.

Although many of the prisons or units involved in the strike are on lockdown and not allowing communication with the outside, on Sunday, MintPress News obtained an exclusive interview with Melvin Ray, an organizer in the Free Alabama movement, who is incarcerated at William E Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama, about 30 miles west of Birmingham.

“This is something we have to do on the inside, regardless of what people think on the outside, but we would like people to know and understand what we’re doing here even if they don’t agree and support it,” Ray told MintPress.

Read morePrison Strike Organizer Melvin Ray: ‘International Human Rights Issues’ In Prisons Would Embarrass The US
Austin Anarchist Black Cross: Solidarity With National Prison Strike (Audio Interview)
Activists hold a banner that reads "End Prison Slavery" while protesting at Texas Correctional Industries' showroom in south Austin, Texas in solidarity with the National Prison Strike. September 9, 2016. (Kit O'Connell)
September 13, 2016
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Austin Anarchist Black Cross: Solidarity With National Prison Strike (Audio Interview)

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and MintPress News

On Friday, I attended a small Austin protest held in solidarity with the national prison strike. This historic event was expected to take place at dozens of facilities around the country and potentially involve hundreds of inmates, and was scheduled to coincide with the 45th anniversary of the Attica Prison riots.

About 15 people protested in South Austin at the showroom of Texas Correctional Industries, a private corporation that sells products made through unpaid prison labor. Although prisoners are not paid for their work, which is mandatory, TCI brought in over $88 million in fiscal year 2014.

I interviewed an anonymous member of the Austin Anarchist Black Cross for my article in The Texas Observer on the protest but, as so often happens in journalism, great quotes get cut because you run out of space. Fortunately, I obtained permission to share the interview on SoundCloud.

Read moreAustin Anarchist Black Cross: Solidarity With National Prison Strike (Audio Interview)
Texas Activists Protest Modern-Day ‘Slavery’ in Prisons
A member of the Austin Anarchist Black Cross, wearing a bandanna on her face, reads the demands of striking prisoners over a bullhorn at the Texas Correctional Industries Showroom. September 9, 2016. (Kit O'Connell)
September 12, 2016
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Texas Activists Protest Modern-Day ‘Slavery’ in Prisons

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and The Texas Observer

While prison inmates launched a nationwide strike last Friday — the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison riots — a small but vocal group of activists gathered in Austin to support their cause.

Hundreds of inmates have joined the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee(IWOC), a division of the Industrial Workers of the World union and a major motivator of the strike. Inmates at 40 facilities in 24 states were expected to take part, and some Texas prisoners have been engaging in work stoppages since April.

Prisoners say they want their work to count toward time off their sentences, improved living conditions in prisons, better access to attorneys during disputes, and an end to an annual $100 copay on medical services.

Read moreTexas Activists Protest Modern-Day ‘Slavery’ in Prisons