Category: Prison and Criminal Justice
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What was really missing from the movie “Lincoln”
Like many people, I found the movie Lincoln absorbing. And, overall, there were two glaring omissions that pained me. First off, yes, I was transported by the great performances by the lead actors, and a bunch of the supporting cast as well (I especially liked Tommy Lee Jones as the white abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens). I…
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See Guantanamo, Close Guantanamo
Amnesty is really getting the word out with their travelling prison tour to show people just how horrible our illegal prison in Guantanamo is. They also have a 3-d online replica of a Guantanamo cell. They’re also organizing visits to congressional offices for the week of June 30-Jul 3. I’m on the list for that…
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No More Exclusion Zones (sound of applause)
Mayor Potter did the right thing when he let Portland’s exclusion zones lapse on September 30. I didn’t blog about it right then, but I did jet off a quick letter to the editor that got printed (I just got the Google alert). Since the Oregonian archive will soon conceal my letter from view (unless…
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Another wasteful war: the War on Drugs
FAMM has sent some encouraging news recently: that the Senate will be holding a hearing on crack cocaine sentencing issues later this month, and that there are several bills that could possibly address our wasteful policy of locking people up for being addicted to drugs (well, certain drugs). FAMM’s latest newsletter included a story of…