police and prisons

This July 2010 marks 10 years since Philadelphia was the site of the 2000 Republican National Convention. The week of August 1, 2000, thousands of activists took to the streets of Center City Philadelphia for direct action against police brutality and the prison industrial complex.

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Human Rights Coalition Action Alert- June 7, 2010
Prisoners in SCI-Forest's Restricted Housing Unit are being assaulted, threatened and denied food, & their legal paperwork and personal possessions are being destroyed by vengeful, racist guards.

Dear friends and colleagues,

After a few years break, Prison Health News is back and better than ever -- with four extra pages of health care and advocacy information in each issue, and a network of over 2,000 subscribers and contributors in prisons and jails across the country.

In 2001, Prison Health News was launched to meet a critical need for information written by and for people who have been in prison or are currently behind the walls.   Our readers are living inside a system that denies them prevention tools and treatment information about HIV, hepatitis, and other health issues.  They are dealing with medical neglect, daily humiliations driven by intense stigma, and the destruction of their communities by mass imprisonment.  Prison Health News works to build community across the prison walls that divide us.

May 18, Harrisburg PA: After two days of testimony from state prisoners and PA Department of Corrections staff, a six-person jury ruled against Ravanna Spencer in his lawsuit against guards who beat him during a cell extraction at SCI-Camp Hill in 2006.

Maybe everyone else might want to try and gloss this over, but we sure as hell won’t.

Here’s the deal: back in April, Sgt. Robert Ralston claimed that he was shot by a robbery suspect while on patrol in West Philadelphia, or to make it more nuanced, a black man with cornrows and a mark or tattoo under his left eye. Anyone who deals with police brutality issues regularly, and particularly with how cops act when their own get shot, knows what happened next. An all-out manhunt went down. This is the same police department who can see nothing wrong in pulling people out of cars and collectively beating them down while news helicopters tape the scene, or with bum-rushing a baby shower and assaulting attendees while looking for a suspect that wasn’t there, or even with dropping a bomb on a city block because they are pissed off at a few political activists (May 12th was the 25th anniversary of the infamous MOVE bombing). So Philly’s all-out manhunts tend to be a problem, especially where shot-up cops are concerned.

Sign a petition calling for an end to Phila Police - I.C.E. collaboration.

In late April Arizona Governor signed Senate Bill 1070 into law. SB 1070, also know as the ‘Papers Please’ law, mandates that all police officers inquire about immigration status if the officer has “reasonable suspicion” that a person is undocumented. This state sanctioned racial profiling has received intense opposition from across the country, with major political and cultural figures such as basketball player Charles Barkley speaking out against it.

Philadelphia has been participating in a program similar to SB1070 for the past 2 years.

The Philadelphia Police Department collaborates closely with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency that focuses on deportation and detention. In the early winter of 2009 Mayor Nutter re-established a policy of "non-inquiry," which prohibits police officers or any other city employee from asking about immigration status.

Scott also refused to testify and was taken to jail, but two days after Scott’s detention he was charged with conspiracy under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). If convicted, he faces 3-5 years in prison. He was released on November 30th pending trial (set to begin on September 13th, 2010). AETA was signed into law in late 2006 after being pushed through Congress by influential biomedical and agri-business industry groups.

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Human Rights Coalition Action Alert- May 9, 2010

HRC report spurs retaliation by SCI Dallas staff

Prisoners beaten, shackled and starved by vengeful guards in campaign of terror

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***Sign-making & Action planning Sunday, May 2 @7:30pm at the A-space, 4722 Baltimore Ave.***

Monday, May 3

3-5:30pm

The Mexican Consulate
21 S. 5th St, between
Market & Chestnut
Philadelphia

WHY TAKE ACTION NOW?
On April 27, 2010, a Solidarity caravan representing members of Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) was brutally attacked by paramilitary forces.  Two people were killed, one injured and many more have disappeared.  See below for more information in English & Spanish.

This year marks 25 Years since the bombing of our Family!  At 9:00am MOVE is delivering MURDER charges to The Courts on May 12th, Charging officials with the Vicious Murder of 11 Innocent MOVE family members!  There will be a 10:00 am press conference at The AFSC, located at 15th & Cherry Sts., about the Murder Complaints.