Author: admin
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A Man is Worth More Than the Worst Thing He's Done
The ‘ ‘unfulfilled” good judgment of the foregoing can be found in Legislative Act 730 ILCS 5/1—1—2 which mandates, but does not enforce or even practice the “purpose” of prisons: to prescribe sanctions proportionate to the seriousness of the offenses and permit the recognition of differences in rehabilitation possibilities among individual offenders prevent arbitrary or…
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CORONAVIRUS & PRISON: A Call for Help from the Inside
CORONAVIRUS & PRISON: A Call for Help from the Inside BY: Stanley Howard As of early—December 2020, the United States leads the world with over 16 million confirmed coronavirus cases and close to 300, 000 deaths, and action must be taken to protect everyone including prisoners. With the news of promising vaccines being celebrated, the…
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PRISONER SALARIES in I.D.O.C.
PRISONER SALARIES Prisoners are the engine that powers all the functions that prisons need to run smoothly. We do the cleaning, clerking, and cooking as well as the maintenance and repairs on prison buildings and equipment. We are the ground keepers, the gardeners both inside and outside the immediate area around the prisons . We…
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Justice for Jackie
Justice for Jackie For three decades I have lived among a multitude of “fallen” men while serving time. To me, most are unremarkable men who let the weight of their daily existence overwhelm and wear them down. This is a micro explanation of how men enter prison. The details of their crimes are a myriad…
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BRING PAROLE BACK TO ILLINOIS By: Stanley Howard
BRING PAROLE BACK TO ILLINOIS By: Stanley Howard October 10, 2020 Illinois is one of a few states in the entire country without a parole system that evaluate prisoners to decide if and when a prisoner should be released. The current system is inadequate and needs to be dismantled and replaced with one that is…
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Profile in Excellence: Building A Bridge to The Outside World
PRISONERS EXCHANGE: Profile in Excellence Featuring Sherman ‘Spearo’ Spears Building A Bridge To The Outside World In a necessary move to stem the spread of the covid—19 virus, the nation’s prisons were forced to lockdown in March of 2020. That lockdown will most likely remain in place for the rest of the year. However,…
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Innocent Prisoners Are Going to Die of the Coronavirus
While millions of americans shelter in place, one group simply cannot escape the coronavirus: prisoners. Among them are hundreds of people who have plausible claims that they are innocent, whose cases were working their way through the courts—until the coronavirus ground regular court business to a halt. What these stories reveal is the threat the virus…
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No need to wait for pamdemics: The public health case for criminal justice reform.
We offer five examples of policies that could slow the spread of a viral pandemic in prisons and jails – and would mitigate the everyday impact of incarceration on public health. by Peter Wagner and Emily Widra, March 6, 2020 Prison Policy Initiative The United States incarcerates a greater share of its population than any other nation in the…
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Transformational Rhythms The Journey Pt. 4
Entrepreneurship/ Intrapreneurship Is the final class offered here in the Transformational Rhythms series at Dixon Correctional Center. Each of the 3 proceeding classes were important steps that prepared me to understand this class. Before taking the Entrepreneurship/ Intrapreneurship class I thought I knew about what makes businesses an organizations work. I believed that all that…
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Transformational Rhythms The Journey Pt. 3
Thriving Teams After completing FFL and TTL, the next class up is Thriving Teams (TT). I remember thinking that I probably won’t jibe with this class because as a long term prisoner i’d become conditioned to avoid working with others. That is a typical trait among those who have been incarcerated for 20 yrs. or…