Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Decarcerate the Garden State - Work in Progress Lyric - Please Write More Verses!

Decarcerate the Garden State
DECARCERATE!
THE GARDEN STATE!
DECARCERATE!
NORTHERN STATE!
DECARCERATE!
SOUTHWOODS STATE!
DECARCERATE!
TRENTON STATE!
DECARCERATE!
NEW JERSEY STATE!

Justice is late
In the Garden State
Racialized everything
Sealing our fate

But if it’s landlord abuse
Then its just a fine
Or Foreclosure Fraud
They break out the wine

Poisoned Water
Toxified air
Who we supposed to call
The system don’t care

But the cop pulls you over
Says I SMELL POT
And even if you’re clean
They can plant it on the spot

They falsify testimony
From the state crime lab
Racial profiling
So mostly Blacks get nabbed

25 K
Arrested every year
For cannabis allegations
Spreading the fear

And being Black in NJ
You have 3 times the chance
Getting popped for pot
The prohibition dance

Careers are made
On putting people in chains
Lobbyists paying
To have it all arranged

The cop and guard unions
Offering bags of cash
To the bought politicians
For their campaign stash

Prosecutors Judges
Lawyers and Bail Bonds
Buying the third house
As they slap the cuffs on

The time is now
The time is late
Decarcerate
The Garden State
Decarcerate Edna Mahan State
DECARCERATE!
BAYSIDE STATE
DECARCERATE!
EAST JERSEY STATE!
DECARCERATE!
THE YOUTH CORR STATE
DECARCERATE!
SOUTHERN STATE!
DECARCERATE!
NEW JERSEY STATE!


DECARCERATE
THE UNITED STATES
DECARCERATE
THE POLICE STATE


The cop he filed a phony report
Now his family is feeling a little bit short
NJ COM tearing up for the cop in the cell
But what about the 1000s locked away in hell
Because of the phony reports from a 1000 cops
A thousand forced pleas . . . It's got to stop!

Why not offer him a deal and let him walk
Let him serve up a meal . . . Make him talk
About the other dirty cops doing dirty things
But it's always the community that is taking the sting!

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Tainted Cop, Tainted Evidence, Tainted Trials and Plea Deals – We Demand Commutation!

There are a couple of stories going on here but none of them are that we need to be sympathetic to crooked filthy cops when they get busted especially for messing with evidence and reports that send people to prison.


To be clear – the threats of violence and depredation that the reporter is allowing the family so much column inches about is the same for everyone getting incarcerated.   Indeed my view is that the criminal justice and carceral system is so rotten to the core that it is not even fit for its own designers and that would hold true for filthy corrupt cops.  We should not seek revenge for this dirty copper but at the same time any suffering he is subject to is no more than anyone else and these papers are not reaching out to the families of all the victims of this dirty cops tainted evidence.  It probably has not even crossed the reporter’s mind – since we should be concerned only for cops that might end up subject to the violence, depredation and torture of NJ corrections facilities.

The bigger story here – that this media source needs to shift its focus ro – in this case and the other case of the Bloomfield cop – who went to prison based upon tainted evidence - Indeed this needs to be a statewide media effort – consolidate a list of all the dirty falsifying, perjuring, evidence planting, Miranda violating, charges wobbling, evidence suppressing police, prosecutors and courts that allow the tainted testimony and evidence to come in.

This is not going on in a vacuum.  Decarcerate the Garden State has attempted to focus attention both of the media and the elected officials on the 12:1 statistic that has come out of the  Sentencing Project.  In NJ a Black resident is 12 times as likely to end up incarcerated as a white resident.  This statistic makes NJ number one in this regard – it has the worse disparity of this statistic in the whole country.   The average state has a 5:1 to 6:1 ratio which itself is horrific.

Our organization has called for an across the board audit of police departments, prosecutors offices and courts to determine how racially motivated decision making is being employed to create this horrific disparity.  We are also demanding immediate sentencing commutation relief for those found to have caught a sentence or a longer sentence based upon racially motivated policing, prosecutions, judgments and sentencing.

While we are calling upon elected officials and the government to take up these demands – we realize that it is unlikely to occur until we develop a greater groundswell to make these demands – we have to create a statewide environment where the elected officials can not check their twitter, Facebook or e-mail accounts without being inundated with these demands and when they venture out into the community – they need to be interrupted with concerned residents raising these demands and issues.

In the meantime, we are calling upon NJ residents to begin to gather the evidence of racially motivated polcing and prosecution.   Our call is for the cities, counties and courts that are guilty of employing racial decision making to be the ones to take the legal action calling for the release (time served) or sentence reductions of those who caught sentences / longer sentences.

We also have to start a database as to where we can prove there are cops and other officials that have tainted their legal hand as witnesses, experts, presenters of evidence. 

This is another area we need to press for Decarceration – and review of legal proceedings and possible retrials if the state believes it has evidence minus the tainted evidence these dirty cops have proffered.

For those interested in helping in any of these regards – call / text 908-881-5275 or write Decarc@DecarcerateNJ.org .






Friday, July 22, 2016

First Congregational Church of Montclair Sept 9 Solidarity Statement



July 2016 To All NJ Area Organizations and Individuals in the Struggle for Justice,

 First Congregational Church of Montclair is writing to express solidarity with all who fight for freedom throughout New Jersey and the country to bring attention to issues of mass incarceration in US prisons and detention centers. As a congregation passionate about fighting for social justice, we want to support the movement to end mass incarceration and improve the rights of the currently incarcerated. As such, FCC is a member of a local task force working to bring attention to the issues of mass incarceration and to end solitary confinement in New Jersey. Prisoners across multiple states have issued a call for a strike on September 9, 2016, which is the 45th anniversary of the Attica State Prison Uprising.

FCC wants to show solidarity with the striking prisoners by this letter of support and by attending educational rallies, marches, and protests in New Jersey in support of this movement. For more information on FCC, please see our website at www.firstcongmontclair.com For more information on Decarcerating the Garden State, please see the website decarceratenj.blogspot.com

In Peace and Justice,
Rev. Ann Ralosky and First Congregational Church of Montclair

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Hip-Hop Liberation Workshop

Since the 1980's, hip-hop has been used as a political outlet for urban communities across the nation. Who knew that the lethal combination of poetic lines with funky beats, rap, scratching records, and break-dancing would forever be influential for social change throughout history. Violence, police brutality, poverty, oppression, discrimination, and incarceration are just a few of the core issues that hip hop lovers use to get conversations started in hope to bring about political revolution.


On July 30th, Decarcerate the Garden State is offering the Hip-Hop Liberation Workshop in efforts to educate the public on the current unjust political system that uses the mighty green dollar to oppress people of color. Through writing, poetry, song, dance (or any other artistic form for that matter), artists will be able to express their opinions on the various ways we are oppressed from the shutting down of schools in urban cities to mass incarceration. This is also another way for the community to unite to not only have opinions heard, but to offer solutions for these issues. There will be several stations available for artists to bounce ideas off of one another to help create works of art that are not only fun, but informative. These stations include a writing station, producing station (artists will learn how to make a beat come to life), as well as a recording station. Towards the end of the workshop, those who have completed their projects will be able to share with the group. This project doesn't stop when the workshop has ended, the goal is to spread your art to someone else in the community to educate them on the issues America has been fighting against for too long. The workshop will be held at the First Unitarian Society of Plainfield, in Plainfield, New Jersey from 3:30PM until 9:00PM. And yes, refreshments will be served.

We find that in many urban schools, budget cuts are often made from creative curriculum such as music, theater, and dance. The Hip Hop Liberation Workshop will lay the pavement for youth to express themselves in a positive manner on the day-to-day struggles of those living in neighborhoods that have long been forgotten. We are breaking the chains of oppression!


Sunday, July 17, 2016

Let's Collect the Evidence!

INVESTIGATING RACIAL DETERMINISM IN NJ CRIMINAL “JUSTICE”

Decarcerate the Garden State wants to collect evidence of racial determinism in NJ’s criminal justice system.   It was rently revealed by the Sentencing Project , that a NJ Black resident is 12 times as likely to end up incarcerated as a white.  This is the worse disparity of probability for incarceration in the nation – most states have a ratio around 6:1.  We call upon elected officials to make a priority to figure out who is incarcerated in NJ and who caught longer sentences based upon racial determinism in NJ’s criminal prosecution, and then to take legal action to immediately commute their sentences and to release those who were impacted by such racial decision making in criminal justice immediately or reduce their sentences.

If you have information about someone who might have been subject to arrest, prosecution, conviction and sentencing based upon racial decision making, please contact us at Decarc@DecarcerateNJ.org or 908-881-5275.  

We will keep the sources of information private and we are prepared to work with you to demand immediate or earlier release of those who were subjected to racial decision making by police, prosecutors and courts.

We call upon government at the local and state level to actively pressure and to assist in legal action toward such sentencing commutation relief for those targeted for heavier prosecution and sentencing because of their race.   We call upon government to launch the same sort of investigation and to use its vast resources to take over this evidence gathering effort that we are initiating.  We need your help to make this happen.  Also if there are organizations that are better equipped than we are to follow through with this sort of evidence gathering effort and related advocacy for the over sentenced – we can assist you and hand this effort over.  We are not trying to be the cog in the wheel of this effort – only to jump start it.

PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS CAN BE USED TO FIND THE ROOT OF RACIAL DETERMINISM IN NJ CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Most of us have heard of PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS.  It is a means of capturing every bit of data possible and statistically analyzing it to predict behavior – purchasing, voting, and police even think they can predict future criminal behavior.

If industry can do this sort of analysis based upon every single key stroke, every link you share and every network interaction . . . then there is a tremendous ability to use the information provided by The Sentencing Project as a starting point for research and evidence gathering about the administration of criminal “justice” in NJ.

We need to call upon every level of NJ government to immediately take up the call.  The question is – does the 12:1 NJ stat indicate that something is wrong?  Most people I would ask would probably say yes.  However, the lack of action by state legistlators, the governor and local elected officials to the results of this report suggests that instead, the elected political office holders of NJ have basically a “turn your back on it” attitude to how criminal justice is enforced.

While a law has passed one legislative body calling for “racial impact statements” before the creation of new criminal justice legislation in NJ – and that is possibly a good thing – no action has been taken to our knowledge toward addressing the results of these policy in ruining people’s lives who are in prison and maybe should not be or in prison for much longer than they should be.

I would suggest that elected officials now have to own up to their hands off – look the other way policies while obviously racial factors have been applied to criminal justice, enforcement, prosecution, judgment and sentencing in the state of NJ.  If they do nothing about the impact it has had on their constituents it means they support it, condone it and believe that everything is just right and the way it should be.

Has their been one elected official to come forward to say that they will do what needs to be done to provide relief to those who are incarcerated in part due to racially motivated decision making by police, prosecutors and courts?  Has their been any call for an investigation to see who is inside that needs to be outside?  Has their been any echo to our call for sentencing commutation relief for those who have been victimized by such racial decision making?

So yes – lets call for the investigation.  Call for a quest – an inquiry.  How did NJ end up with this 12:1 ratio?  What were the factors?  How are decisions motivated to produce these racialized results?  And who among the incarcerated is deserving of relief?  Those should be some of the goals of such an official inquiry.  However – fact be known – it is not going to happen any time soon.

So. . . .

Let us conduct our own investigation!  Let us gather the evidence.  Families, communities, friends, attorneys, if you have data – contact us today and let’s get this process started!

If you have information about someone who might have been subject to arrest, prosecution, conviction and sentencing based upon racial decision making, please contact us at Decarc@DecarcerateNJ.org or 908-881-5275.

Losing Muhlenberg Hospital: A crime committed against Plainfield



On July 11th, 2016, Plainfield's mayor held a Town Hall to present the developers the city selected to convert the former Muhlenberg Hospital site into a medical mall and veterans and/or senior citizen housing. The city is cooperating with JFK as it dictates that nothing that competes with JFK will be permitted to occupy the space. If this "non-competition clause," attached to JFK's agreement to "let" the city of Plainfield use the land, is not an admission by JFK that they merged with Muhlenberg for the sole purpose of destroying their "competition," I don't know what is.
The city claims that reinstating a hospital is not financially feasible and hasn't issued a request for proposals to reinstate a hospital. Instead, community members are told, "If you know anyone who is willing to rebuild the hospital, tell us" and "our plan can't be perfect." If JFK isn't permitting competition, anyone interested in rebuilding our hospital wouldn't be permitted to.

History of the Closure of Muhlenberg Hospital
In 1997, JFK Medical Center, located in Edison, NJ (a predominantly White and Asian community with a median household income of $86,000) "merged" with Muhlenberg Regional Medical center, located in Plainfield, NJ (a predominantly Black and Latino community with a median household income of $52,000) to become “Solaris."

Muhlenberg was a self-sustaining hospital, founded in 1877 by parish leaders of Grace Church, named for the Reverend William Augustus Muhlenberg, an Episcopal priest and social activist. In 1997, it was well endowed and fully capable of serving most medical needs of everyone in the community and beyond.
JFK was a much younger hospital, founded in the 1960's in what was a predominantly white community, during the height of the civil rights movement in Plainfield. In 1997, JFK was struggling financially.
“Solaris” embarked on a mission to destroy Muhlenberg in order to enrich JFK, tricking much of the general public and officials into believing Muhlenberg was “no longer economically viable,” blaming the poor, accusing them of depleting the hospital’s resources.
Money making units were transferred or sold. The insured were guided to have their tests and elective procedures performed at JFK, while the uninsured remained at Muhlenberg. $50 million was spent on new equipment and programs. Muhlenberg’s profit making real estate outside of Plainfield was sold.
Inappropriate meetings were set up to inform Muhlenberg staff of the financial situation of the hospital. They were usually told the hospital either had a positive net income or a negative net income of approximately $1 million. Then, all of a sudden, they were notified that Muhlenberg was $16 million in debt.
The pretense of an attempt to sell the hospital also occurred. The process was controlled by JFK through a Realty Group named Caine Brothers. Potential buyers had to sign nondisclosure agreements and no firm price was ever set. There is no list of potential buyers available for public review.
In 2007, the decision was made to close the hospital. Amongst great protest, Muhlenberg closed on August 13, 2008, leaving many without adequate health care. JFK Health Systems claims ownership of the property, although they are not in possession of the deed. Most of the property has been completely neglected and is now filled with water and mold.
The mayor stated, when he was councilman for the 3rd ward, that "there is no reason why Muhlenberg cannot be reopened as a full-service, acute-care facility." His words were very deceptive. An emergency room (acute-care facility) still existed on the property, and his wording led many to believe he meant a hospital.
At a public meeting two years ago, the mayor proposed the site be developed for private medical offices and housing. He was met with great protest from the audience. Instead of responding to their reasonable protests, he went ahead and recruited developers to implement his plan.
The new emergency room, now separate from the moldy main building, opened in 2015 and is not full service.

The Need for Well Funded Quality Healthcare in Plainfield
There continues to be a great need for a full-service hospital in Plainfield.
The U.S. infant mortality rate ratio for non-Hispanic black relative to non-Hispanic white populations for the 3 years of 2008–2010 was 2.28. New Jersey had the highest rate ratio (3.4) for 2008–2010. Black women are less likely to receive ultrasounds and amniocenteses but are more likely to undergo riskier procedures such as cesarean sections.
JFK kept the money willed to Muhlenberg for maternity care, while patients of the only clinic in Plainfield were steered toward and accepted by Trinitas Hospital, which is 35 minutes away by car, and 70 minutes away by bus. The shuttle bus that carries patients between the Muhlenberg site and JFK takes 15 minutes.
Plainfield is number 9 on the top 10 cities in NJ with the highest HIV/AIDS cases. HIV patients especially need quality health care that is nearby and comprehensive.
The city has not yet made a broad effort to reach out to the community to test for HCV, which is ten times more prevalent than HIV, and to cure with the new safe and effective medicine that was approved by the FDA last month.
There is limited or no public transportation to the closest hospitals, which are all located in majority white communities with traffic courts en route to the hospitals filled with black people.


What Must Be Done

The City of Plainfield must hire a lawyer who will fight to gain control of the land.  Once Plainfield has gained control of the land, we will have no problem finding people to rebuild our hospital.  Don't believe the lie that is constantly being told: that Plainfield can't afford a hospital.  DEMAND THE RETURN OF OUR HOSPITAL - A HOSPITAL THAT IS EVEN BETTER THAN THE ONE THAT WAS TAKEN FROM US.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Plainfield Decarceration Petition Launched

Courtesy https://plainfieldview.wordpress.com/2016/07/12/plainfields-march-for-equality/
A couple days back I wrote about ways that local communities can work with (or work on which ever the case might be) their local elected officials in local municipal government including the mayor and local council or committee members, as well as members of the local school board toward decarceration efforts.

http://decarceratenj.blogspot.com/2016/07/how-can-we-decarcerate-locally.html

Then yesterday, having heard about efforts of Plainfield youth to demonstrate against the ongoing spate of street executions by police in ruthless killings often caught on video, I reached out to Brittany Wheeler, one of the key coordinators of the Plainfield march.  In addition to the concerns she is raising about in town around the issue of police violence targeting the Black communities across the country, Brittany also expressed concerns about the local Plainfield budget and how 60% is spent on policing, vs. the amount spent on all other matters including youth activities.

We discussed the idea of pushing for decarceration measures at the local municipal level in Plainfield and we worked together on drafting a petition with a number of suggestions for ways the Plainfield Council and Mayor can take actions to help in the struggle to reduce mass incarceration and to provide direct support around the issue in Plainfield.

Brittany spearheaded the circulation of the petition at the successful march through Plainfield Monday night, filling out at least 4 sheets with signatures mostly from participants in the march - at 12 signatures a page that amounts to almost 50 signers on the first night of circulation!

Asked about why she is coordinating the local petition, Brittany states;

"With incarceration rates at an all time high and up for debate during the upcoming presidential election something needs to be done about it. This petition is just the first step. Black and whites commit the same crimes at similar rates (especially minor infractions like Possession of marijuana), but because of the systematic racism in this country black men are more likely to be arrested than a white man. We are coming together as a community to help those who have lost their voices due to the system. We are breaking down the walls of white supremacy in this country so all ppl can be treated equally."


As for the justice rallies in Plainfield, according to Brittany, they plan to continue each Monday, 6:30 pm starting on the corner of 4th and Watchung.

The following is the full text of the petition, which will be on hand Saturday from 1:30 - 4:30 pm when Decarcerate the Garden State is in Plainfield at the little park where Front and Park intersect, handing out leaflets and newspapers and hopefully recording a music video (at 2:30 pm).


PLAINFIELD DECARCERATION PETITION

As members / supporters of Decarcerate the Garden State’s goals of reducing incarceration in the State of NJ and particularly in Plainfield, NJ, we hereby call upon our council and mayor to take the following actions:
* Pass a resolution calling for legislation to be passed with the goals of reducing NJ prison population by 50% or better.
* Direct police attention away from victimless and minimal infractions like cannabis, other small quantity drug issues, other minimalist issues toward more pressing community issues.
* Review the police budget and based upon shifting away from enforcement of minimalist infractions, reallocate funds from police to youth activities and other quality of life issues.
* Based upon Sentencing Project findings of 12:1 ratio where a Black NJ resident is 12 times as likely to end up in prison as a white, statistically analyze Plainfield arrest and prosecution records to determine how Plainfield contributes to this statistic by applying racial factors to policing and prosecution.  Follow up with legal action to provide sentencing relief to those incarcerated due to the racial factors.
* Provide support to Plainfield families seeking sentencing relief
* End the practice of considering assessed fines as a source of local revenue in budgeting
* Provide assistance to local Plainfield Decarceration organizations in organizing discussions and provide fast track approval for use of outside and indoor venues for such activities
* As corruption in policing and prosecution surfaces including evidence tampering, provide complete review and dismiss convictions that relied on evidence from such corrupt sources.


NAME                                        CELL                                        EMAIL                                        TOWN (PF for Plainfield)
_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Return completed petition to: ___________________________________ 

NINE NINE TOOLBOX

NINE NINE TOOLBOX

These are the pieces - you can use them or build from scratch - your shot to call!

Video (anyone that wants to take another go at doing a video – all good!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9mwsA_oACA

Downloadable – with beat and vocal lyrics:
https://soundcloud.com/bohiti/nine-nine-decarcerate

Five Stems – including everything but the voice – courtesy of Oskar Castro – permissions granted
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B9uQ8XvsdGsJV295RURtQ3gtNXc&usp=drive_web

Five stems of beat together – minus vocals – good for practicing vocals and also if you like the combined sound and want to build on that:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7QtByV9XZAHcUVVYlJ4cjlvanc/view?usp=sharing WAV
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7QtByV9XZAHVklTdVZDMklpbEU/view?usp=sharing MP3

This is a combination of the full original with two additional piano tracks (performed piano – not synthesized) – there is a quotation from the John Lennon Attica State song in this:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7QtByV9XZAHZHBlem1EVzM3STA/view?usp=sharing

Individual piano tracks (performed not synthesized) courtesy of Robert Colby-Witanek, permissions granted:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7QtByV9XZAHX0JIS1lOMGRpWTg

Original lyrics, permissions granted:

Nine Nine 
copyright 2016 Decarcerate the Garden State

Nine Nine
Attica State
September Nine
Was Attica State

Nine Nine
Now Enslaved
September Nine
When We Break the Chains

When we put down the tools
And we give it a rest
Non Violent
Enslavement Protest

13th Amendment
Supposed to set us free
Read it again
Was never meant to be

punishment for crime
duly convicted
your labor is now 
forcefully conscripted

Nine Nine
Attica State
September Nine
Was Attica State

Nine Nine
Now Enslaved
September Nine
When We Break the Chains

Corporations
Standing in line
Your free labor
Pumps their bottom line

Government saving
On those pension jobs
It got millions of free workers
Whose labor gets robbed

On September 9
We gonna make a change
Gonna take a stand
Gonna turn the page

No matter how we’re treated
Our lives have worth
We’ll say “Not today”
When they Call us to work


We're exposing the system
Prison for profit
Money off enslavement
We’re gonna stop it

We’re gonna free the enslaved
By freeing  ourselves
Laying down our tools
Leave them on the shelf

No more work for pennies
Or even less
The system is wicked
We’re Giving it a rest


Nine Nine
Attica State
September Nine
Was Attica State

Nine Nine
Decarcerate
September Nine
The Garden State

Related Links:



Sunday, July 10, 2016

How Can We Decarcerate Locally?



As laws that govern criminal justice are mostly enacted at the state or federal level it might not be readily apparent what can be done at the local level – including by those with political power or educational power as mayors, local council or committee members or school board members.  However there are several ways that local governing bodies and even individual local elected officials and board members as well as candidates can have positive impact on the Decarceration struggle.  This piece will offer some suggestions as to the kinds of things that can be done.  There are probably many other additional actions and measures that can be taken to aid this progress.

Mayor / Council / Committee

 A council can pass a resolution supporting, for example, NJ Decarceration Act we had proposed calling for 50% reduction in NJ’s incarceration, as well as other decarcerating measures.  Of course that would include issuing a press release and notifying the entire NJ legislative body and the governor about the resolution and urging action.

A council and mayor can direct the police to focus attention away from nuisance behavior issues, cannabis and other low level drug enforcement, stop and frisk /broken windows policies of police enforcement, etc.

The mayor and council / committee can pull the files of the police to look for racial determinants in how they arrest, who they arrest, how they charge, how many charges they press for similar crimes, what they dismiss and do not dismiss – a total statistical analysis to determine where racial factors and other unsavory police practices are being applied.  The purpose should be two-fold – to make staff corrections (reductions possibly which could provide savings) and apply other corrective measures and secondly to identify those whose lives were adversely affected and take legal action to get them relief from possible unjust convictions and sentencing.

The mayor and council / committee can research the local residency and citizenry and identify those that are incarcerated and families who have members that are incarcerated.  The local governing body members can reach out to the families and offer to help them seek redress if there were possibly racial factors or other unsavory factors applied in their incarceration or if they are incarcerated for minimalist crimes that should not result in incarceration.  They can assist in advocacy for amnesty and commutation.

Police budgeting issues need to be reviewed with an eye toward shifting resources toward providing youth services and other services that meet the community needs and improve the quality of local life.

Local judges and prosecutors can be interviewed before hiring to assure that they are not mass incarcerators and that they can apply leniency when appropriate.  The practice of sentencing those who can not afford fines should be ended.  While bail reform is pending, local courts can implement the measures sooner and stop requiring bail from indigent defendants on low level crimes immediately instead of awaiting for the bail reform implementation.  This would also provide savings in jail costs.

The idea of using criminal justice fines assessment as a revenue source needs to be completely abandoned.

The mayor and council can assure that requests for Decarceration activities on streets and in public buildings are approved quickly without too much red tape or attempts to tax free speech through imposition of fees for street usage, for example. 

The local governing body can itself provide organizing for panel discussions and other events where the issue of mass incarceration is opposed.

When there are cases of corruption in the courts or the police station among police, the local governing body needs to assure that all cases that were tainted by the corruption.  In the case of a police officer, cases need to be evaluated to determine if there still would have been a guilty verdict without the evidence proffered by the corrupted officer.  The city needs to take legal action to provide relief to those incarcerated due to such flawed evidence.  Same if a judge or prosecutor is determined to be corrupt – the cases they presided over need to be reviewed and sentencing relief provided in such cases.  The onus is on the city to take the legal action to bring about the relief if it was the city’s employees that have been proven to be corrupted.

This list is a work in progress – if you have more ideas for the list call or text 908-881-5275 or write Decarc@DecarcerateNJ.org .

We will be consolidating the above into a petition to local governing bodies and be starting one in each city where we are doing work.

The following are suggested actions of school boards:

Develop a decarceration curriculum and integrate it into social studies including history of the mass incarceration, discussions around what interests it serves, the entities that profit from it both in a for profit and federal, state and local run system, the 13th Amendment incarceration exclusion maintaining enslavement of the incarcerated and the growing struggle challenging same, conditions in NJ and US systems, the racial dynamics including NJ nationally leading 12:1 statistic in the likelihood of incarceration for it’s Black vs. white residency.

Another curriculum change needed is the subject of Individual Rights Awareness.  This is especially true because in one way or another – local school districts are managing their discipline handling in a way that involves police and county prosecutors.  All too often youths are able to tricked by police into incriminating themselves – often about things they really have no connection to, ending up with lengthy incarceration terms.  Students need to be taught what their rights are, how to assert their rights, the law and history of such individual rights.

Work with teachers to encourage the creation of Decarceration student advocacy chapters to plug into statewide and national efforts.   Assure that the board and the superintendent are supportive and that the groups get full recognition but without any attempts by the administration to control the political positions taken by the groups.

Support students who express a decarcerating message or a message about racialized policing through their art or otherwise through their school project work.  Stand up to police union bullies that try to force administrative action against the students and their teacher.

When teachers like Marylin Zuniga allow students – regardless of the grade level – to do a decarcerating action like writing a get-well letter to an incarcerated man or woman who is facing deteriorating health due to medical neglect – support her and defend her instead of allowing some leader of an out of state cop union whose organization is wrought with corruption, violence, racism, etc. to force a local board to join in a political lynch mob against the teacher.

This list is a work in progress – if you have more ideas for the list call or text 908-881-5275 or write Decarc@DecarcerateNJ.org .

Individual Representatives / Campaigning for Election
Of course as an individual, you can urge the governing body you are part of to take the above suggested actions, all, one or some of them.  It is best to do so publicly to put it on the record where you stand.  You can also help motivate your constituents to participate – to form a local Decarceration committee to work on Decarceration projects.  You can write statements as an individual supporting legislative action or events like NJ’s September 9 Solidarity efforts. 


This all goes for those campaigning for office.  However in that case you should make clear that you are going to continue to fight for Decarceration whether you are elected or not – and of course you should follow through on that election year pledge in either case.

Immediate Release: Plainfield Decarceration Event July 16 1:30-4:30 pm

For Immediate Release
Contact: Bob Witanek 908-881-5275


DECARCERATE THE GARDEN STATE COMING TO PLAINFIELD

At the invitation of some local Plainfield residents, Decarcerate the Garden State plans to hold an educational event and leafleting this Saturday, July 16, 1:30 to 4:30 pm.

The event will include:
  • Distribution of NJ Decarcerator Papers and fliers promoting Decarceration and Sept 9 Statewide Mobilizations as well as a meeting with Decarceration Activists from Plainfield and Elsewhere.  Members of Decarcerate the Garden State will address the following topics:
  • 13th Amendment and Enslavement of Incarcerated will be highlighted.
  • September 9th Events in Solidarity with a Multi State Prison Strike will be Described/
  • The 12:1 NJ racial ratio of incarceration probability will be discussed.
  • The group’s demands for Sentence Commutation Relief for those incarcerated due to racial factors (with longer sentences, etc.) will be explained as well as demands for Racial Score Cards for Prosecutiors, Courts and Police Departments.
  • A discussion of what kinds of activities can be planned in Plainfield and Union County between now and September 9 and beyond will occur.


The group also hopes to record audio and video for use in a music video featuring the group’s song Nine Nine Decarcerate which can be viewed on You Tube at the following link.  Decarcerate the Garden State is especially urging youth to attend to make the music audio and video recording successful.

They will also be circulating the petition co-authored by Decarcerate the Garden State and the organizer of local "Equality" marches against recent killings around the country by police which calls for the local Plainfield Government to take several steps to aid the decarceration struggle.

http://decarceratenj.blogspot.com/2016/07/plainfield-decarceration-petition.html

Decarcerate the Garden State co-founder and organizer of the event Bob Witanek states:
“Like many communities impacted by poverty with a large percentage of Black and Latino residents, Plainfied is a community devastated by mass incarceration.  Given that it is clear racial factors are being employed by those hired by the state, county and local governments in prosecution offices, courthouses and police departments are deploying racial factors – resulting in the nation’s worse ratio of probability between Black and white likelihood of incarceration, 12:1 – it is perfectly logical that this event will be held in Plainfield.

We have a significant number of local residents that have expressed interests and through our outreach in the housing developments in Plainfield we heard several first hand reports about how the racial factors in NJ’s criminal justice administration is impacting the local community.  We hope that Plainfield residents can be made aware of the event through media and local communications and so that Plainfield can help in the fight to correct these problems with solutions that can benefit the city as a whole.”

Witanek stressed the importance of youth involvement because it is the youth that are being subjected to “life interrupting incarceration.”

For more information, call or text 908-881-5275 and visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/1102670146438008/

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Immed Adv Release - Decarceration Event Plfd Sat 7/16

Response to Distortions in SJ Times Editorial About Decarcerate the Garden State

WHY HAS THE SJ TIMES NOT BOTHERED TO PRINT THE RESPONSE FROM COMMISSIONER HESPE TO OUR URGING TO ADD PERSONAL RIGHTS AWARENESS TO THE CURRICULUM?  ASK THEM AT: sjletters@njadvancemedia.com


The following is a "letter to the editor" response to a South Jersey Times editorial that misrepresents the position of my letter as co-founder of Decarcerate the Garden State to Commissioner Hespe calling for Personal Rights Awareness curriculum to be added to NJ's curriculum for all public school students:


From: Bob Witanek 
Sent: Jul 10, 2016 1:16 PM
To: sjletters@njadvancemedia.com
Cc: dave.hespe@doe.state.nj.us
Subject: Re: Response to Distortions in SJ Times Editorial About Decarcerate the Garden State 



 I appreciate NJ dot com's continued interest in the urging I made to Commissioner Hespe regarding a Personal Rights Awareness addition to the NJ curriculum.  I also appreciate the link to the letter, press release and related commentary from our blog site where I published my letter to Hespe.  
http://decarceratenj.blogspot.com/2016/07/letter-to-hespe-schools-have-obligation.html
However this editorial is a distortion of the position.  Here is the actual urging from my letter:
" NJ Must Provide Mandatory Rights Instruction to All Public School Students"

" . . . - given the role that the public schools you preside over are referring student matters to the police, it behooves this same statewide school system to equip the students with knowledge of their rights when they are forced into encounters with police - in this case - by the public schools.
Students need to be advised of their right to ask for their parents and an attorney and their right to remain silent. 
Also districts need to send letters to parents explaining what their varying police policies are and that parents have an interest in informing and educating their children as to what their rights are."

Nothing about "clamming up".  No contradiction to what the editors culled from the ACLU.  

The editors have made a straw man argument here - putting words in my mouth that were not in my letter.

They actually end up agreeing with me that the students should not have been interviewed without their parents.  I would suggest that the editors take a look at this comment or contact me to discuss further why their editorial is a distortion.

My letter did not spell out exactly of WHAT the Personal Rights Awareness curriculum would consist.  It only called for the creation of same.  Defense attorneys and Civil Liberties experts as well as professional educators would devise the course work.  It could include scenarios and classroom discussion about various hypothetical situations.  There would be room to explore the nuances of "the right to remain silent" vs. collective safety in an emergency situation for example.

The South Jersey Times could have made the same point without implying that we are saying anything that we in fact not at all saying - it could have made recommendations of what should be in such a course.  Actually it did end up on that note - but the way it couched it - it comes across as in opposition to our position (falsely implying that we are saying that students should never ever talk to cops).

It was a poorly written editorial that probably harms the effort to increase youth rights awareness - that these days could be the only thing standing between them living a happy life and ending up incarcerated for a substantial part of that life.



Bob Witanek

Co-founder Decarcerate the Garden State


  1. Ari Rosmarin ‏@A_Rosmarin  10h10 hours ago
    .@bwitanek Also @TheSJTimes misstates @ACLUNJ KYR advice: we don't say cooperate; we say don't resist. To stay alive. There's a difference.
    2 retweets2 likesReply Retweeted 2 Like 2 More
  2. Ari Rosmarin ‏@A_Rosmarin  10h10 hours ago
    Misguided editorial. @bwitanek & DecarcerateNJ are right: never too early to know your rights w cops.

This is in response to the editorial at this link:
http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/07/post_173.html


Saturday, July 9, 2016

Community Music Video Recording - Looking For Invites

Decarcerate the Garden State is looking for opportunities to make music videos in your community.

We particularly want to partner up with youth groups and individual youths, families, etc.

We bring lyric sheets and video recording equipment.

We bring a back ground sound track maybe with or without the lyrics.

We need one or a few youth to hopefully learn the lyrics to serve as the chorus leaders.

Everyone that comes - youth and adult as well - participates.

Everyone joins in the chorus . . .

Nine Nine
Attica State
September Nine
Was Attica State 
For the rest of the piece - the crowd should jump in and out - saying a line - half a line - word - to add some inflection and exclamation.

It will be rough but it will be street chorus.  The sound we collect and the vids we collect will be posted individually but also made available for mixing into remixes of the piece.

If you would like to help bring your community together around such a recorded performance, call 908-881-5275 (or text) - write Decarc@DecarcerateNJ.org .

We do plan to attempt to do this at the Plainfield event this Saturday July 16:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1102670146438008/

Full song:

Nine Nine 
copyright 2016 Decarcerate the Garden State

Nine Nine
Attica State
September Nine
Was Attica State


Nine Nine
Now Enslaved
September Nine
When We Break the Chains

When we put down the tools
And we give it a rest
Non Violent
Enslavement Protest

13th Amendment
Supposed to set us free
Read it again
Was never meant to be

punishment for crime
duly convicted
your labor is now
 
forcefully conscripted

Nine Nine
Attica State
September Nine
Was Attica State

Nine Nine
Now Enslaved
September Nine
When We Break the Chains

Corporations
Standing in line
Your free labor
Pumps their bottom line

Government saving
On those pension jobs
It got millions of free workers
Whose labor gets robbed

On September 9
We gonna make a change
Gonna take a stand
Gonna turn the page

No matter how we’re treated
Our lives have worth
We’ll say “Not today”
When they Call us to work

We're exposing the system
Prison for profit
Money off enslavement
We’re gonna stop it

We’re gonna free the enslaved
By freeing  ourselves
Laying down our tools
Leave them on the shelf

No more work for pennies
Or even less
The system is wicked
We’re Giving it a rest
Nine Nine
Attica State
September Nine
Was Attica State

Nine Nine
Decarcerate
September Nine
The Garden State

Related Links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9mwsA_oACA