Prosecutor, judge, public defender used story invented by young white man to remove Loren Robinson from Benton Harbor forever
Berrien County "Trial" this week turns out as expected:
Benton Harbor man Loren Robinson, 26, convicted on four charges - Likely to get life in prison
Josh Karamalegos, white, partied and did drugs with several BH young African-American men and concocted a story so his father would pay for the drugs. Prosecutor Jennifer Smith, judge Dennis Wiley, and public defender Jim Miller used this made-up story, along with an all-white jury, to convict Loren Robinson. Josh K., who was found in possession of a large quantity of crack-cocaine, is free.
Adding to the kangaroo nature of the court, prosecutor Smith called a 5 minute sidebar to discuss her accusation that court watcher, Rev. Edward Pinkney, snorted.
ANOTHER LIFE DESTROYED BY BERRIEN COUNTY DEATH COURT
The report on this blog, Oct. 29, 2010:
...Loren Robinson...about to get a life sentence along with three friends. Det. Smigielski wants to save a young white man (name unknown at present) who's father is wealthy. The story starts with this white man coming to BH from Niles, Michigan for the pupose of doing drugs. He smoked over two thousand dollars worth, but didn't have money to pay the four BH men he was partying with.
He had a plan to fake a kidnapping with the threat of murder so his father would pay off his drug debt. After his father brought the money, father and son fought and police were called. They searched the man and found a large amount of crack cocaine.
Smigielski liked the story concocted by the young man from Niles and told him to tell it in court. So, four more Black men will be removed from Benton Harbor (for the purpose of redevelopment of the land) to the brutal confines of Michigan prisons.
Showing posts with label Prison Conditions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prison Conditions. Show all posts
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Two recent letters from Berrien County prisoner Jessica Thomas to Rev. Edward Pinkney
Berrien County: Brutal Plantation
Dear Rev. Pinkney,
I am writing this letter to inform you that I would not have gotten as much time as I did if I had said my brother killed Clay.
Smigielski is looking for anybody who will lie for him. He told me he will help me get out if I lie for him in court. Then he went to my sister Kendra and lied to her.
He is like a mad man. The hate that is inside this man is out of control. He is just like Collins.
I am writing you to let you know what is going on.
Jessica Thomas
Dear Rev. Pinkney,
Just a few lines to let you know what is going on in Berrien County jail. I was beaten, maced, tazed, choked, kneed in my back, finger stuck behind my ear, all my clothes stripped off by a white male guard, beaten by men and women guards, was put in padded crazy cell [padded] and strapped to a chair for hours. All because I asked about my handcuffs being too tight. My hand was bleeding and I did not want to give them my other hand until they stopped the bleeding.
They said I was already using the phone in the holding cell, and could not use it again, but I was supposed to be able to use it all day and all night.
Another African-American named Marilyn Murphy came to jail with breast cancer - the judge sentenced her to 45 days in jail. She had an appointment for surgery and she had to cancel it because she did not want to be shackled at the appointment. She would be too ashamed and embarrassed.
A caucasian woman named Mindy was in jail and was released to go have an abortion. She was free of shackles and handcuffs and was allowed to leave and return 4 days later - her word was good enough for them.
I finally got xrayed where a guard beat my hand. My bones are damaged. I was pregnant at the time and given an abortion pill that was illegal. A deputy told me I had to be locked up until my wounds healed. I also have witnesses and names for you.
I was denied a visit from my mother and family. The wounds are still visible and I believe they will be there forever.
There are many more concerns. Lady guards giving African-American administrative lock down all day everyday. You should come talk to some of the ladies in the jail to see how they are treated. It is unfair, unjustifiable, and definitely wrong. Please come see me.
Jessica Thomas
Berrien County: Brutal Plantation
Dear Rev. Pinkney,
I am writing this letter to inform you that I would not have gotten as much time as I did if I had said my brother killed Clay.
Smigielski is looking for anybody who will lie for him. He told me he will help me get out if I lie for him in court. Then he went to my sister Kendra and lied to her.
He is like a mad man. The hate that is inside this man is out of control. He is just like Collins.
I am writing you to let you know what is going on.
Jessica Thomas
Dear Rev. Pinkney,
Just a few lines to let you know what is going on in Berrien County jail. I was beaten, maced, tazed, choked, kneed in my back, finger stuck behind my ear, all my clothes stripped off by a white male guard, beaten by men and women guards, was put in padded crazy cell [padded] and strapped to a chair for hours. All because I asked about my handcuffs being too tight. My hand was bleeding and I did not want to give them my other hand until they stopped the bleeding.
They said I was already using the phone in the holding cell, and could not use it again, but I was supposed to be able to use it all day and all night.
Another African-American named Marilyn Murphy came to jail with breast cancer - the judge sentenced her to 45 days in jail. She had an appointment for surgery and she had to cancel it because she did not want to be shackled at the appointment. She would be too ashamed and embarrassed.
A caucasian woman named Mindy was in jail and was released to go have an abortion. She was free of shackles and handcuffs and was allowed to leave and return 4 days later - her word was good enough for them.
I finally got xrayed where a guard beat my hand. My bones are damaged. I was pregnant at the time and given an abortion pill that was illegal. A deputy told me I had to be locked up until my wounds healed. I also have witnesses and names for you.
I was denied a visit from my mother and family. The wounds are still visible and I believe they will be there forever.
There are many more concerns. Lady guards giving African-American administrative lock down all day everyday. You should come talk to some of the ladies in the jail to see how they are treated. It is unfair, unjustifiable, and definitely wrong. Please come see me.
Jessica Thomas
Monday, October 18, 2010
Documentary spotlights Berrien inmates, kids
DePaul University film team hopes to capture how severely children are affected when a parent is serving time
By Scott Aiken - H-P Thursday, September 9, 2010
ST. JOSEPH - When a mother is convicted of a crime and goes to jail, the punishment may not fall on her alone.
Children, unable to understand why their parent is gone, often suffer lasting harm.
"The effect of a woman leaving for a few months is devastating, it's heart-wrenching," said Kim Clark, part of a documentary film team that has been working in the Berrien County jail since July....
Policy matters wrote on Sep 9, 2010 4:46 PM:
"...There is nothing at all contradictory about the notion that very bad social outcomes - in this case, the prospect of children growing up with one or both parents incarcerated and the myriad associated problems - can be a result of both irresponsible personal behavior and bad policy. Certainly, parents ought to consider the well-being of their children when they engage in risky, illegal,and unethical behavior. Acknowledging this fact, however, it is still the case that incarceration policies in this country are badly out of whack. The rate at which we imprison people is the highest in the world, there is little evidence of any safety benefits accruing to this rate, and there is a great deal of harm that comes from placing almost two and a half million people behind bars at any given time. One of the harms being the incidence of broken families. "
outsideinthecold wrote on Sep 9, 2010 5:16 PM:
" America, land of the free, has the largest prison population in the world. Since 1980, the US prison population has risen 400% and the trend continues upward.
The cost to our society is simply unsustainable. One-third of all black males are either in jail, or on parole/probation. Half of all black males have criminal records...We continue to enforce a 'War on Drugs' that costs over $100,000,000,000 a year and has only made the black market more lucrative for both the suppliers and dealers as well as members of the arrest and punishment industry while creating an unemployable underclass that is a cause, in large measure, of the results reported in the HP story. "
Gotta Wonder wrote on Sep 9, 2010 5:18 PM:
" I understand that we should have zero tolerance for crime. But this documentary is addressing a particular aspect of crime and its effect on children.
I think the point is, who will teach these children? Their parents may not be the best role models, but who really gets punished when they are incarcerated and not even able to care for their children in the most basic sense? So, who gets the job? Grandparents, the State, and perhaps a little attention from a social worker at school.
Particularly with women, I think there is a lot of incentive to go straight and sober up, so to speak, if it means rebuilding the family. I think the Fresh Start program has had some success.
It isn't necessarily in the best interest of children of offenders or society to issue lengthy sentences to mothers. Once the bond of mother and child is removed, mothers lose incentive to improve their lives and the kids start to drift toward crime. We are talking about people who have been raised in a cycle, a culture, a heritage of crime. "
Policy matters wrote on Sep 10, 2010 10:21 AM:
" To Logician: There is nothing in my first post to suggest that I think incarceration is never appropriate for parents. What I am claiming is that our country locks up far more people than is optimal, with no appreciable safety benefit, an enormous burden on state budgets, and a host of very serious social harms. One of these social harms, as depicted by the documentary in question, is borne by the children of the incarcerated.
Prison time is no doubt warranted for parents who pose a genuine threat to society. Likewise, all parents ought to be compelled by the state to abide by the law. There is quite a lot of careful thought, however, to suggest that this compulsion as currently applied is grossly inefficient in many ways. What we need, and what is clearly possible, is a criminal justice system that better provides the desirable outcomes of a safe and orderly society without the massive externalities of the current system. Such a system will almost certainly entail locking up many fewer people, parents included. "
rukahs wrote on Sep 10, 2010 1:37 PM:
" These jails are owned by private corporations they rely on incarcerations....more people in jail=$ "
http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2010/09/09/local_news/1848670.txt
DePaul University film team hopes to capture how severely children are affected when a parent is serving time
By Scott Aiken - H-P Thursday, September 9, 2010
ST. JOSEPH - When a mother is convicted of a crime and goes to jail, the punishment may not fall on her alone.
Children, unable to understand why their parent is gone, often suffer lasting harm.
"The effect of a woman leaving for a few months is devastating, it's heart-wrenching," said Kim Clark, part of a documentary film team that has been working in the Berrien County jail since July....
Policy matters wrote on Sep 9, 2010 4:46 PM:
"...There is nothing at all contradictory about the notion that very bad social outcomes - in this case, the prospect of children growing up with one or both parents incarcerated and the myriad associated problems - can be a result of both irresponsible personal behavior and bad policy. Certainly, parents ought to consider the well-being of their children when they engage in risky, illegal,and unethical behavior. Acknowledging this fact, however, it is still the case that incarceration policies in this country are badly out of whack. The rate at which we imprison people is the highest in the world, there is little evidence of any safety benefits accruing to this rate, and there is a great deal of harm that comes from placing almost two and a half million people behind bars at any given time. One of the harms being the incidence of broken families. "
outsideinthecold wrote on Sep 9, 2010 5:16 PM:
" America, land of the free, has the largest prison population in the world. Since 1980, the US prison population has risen 400% and the trend continues upward.
The cost to our society is simply unsustainable. One-third of all black males are either in jail, or on parole/probation. Half of all black males have criminal records...We continue to enforce a 'War on Drugs' that costs over $100,000,000,000 a year and has only made the black market more lucrative for both the suppliers and dealers as well as members of the arrest and punishment industry while creating an unemployable underclass that is a cause, in large measure, of the results reported in the HP story. "
Gotta Wonder wrote on Sep 9, 2010 5:18 PM:
" I understand that we should have zero tolerance for crime. But this documentary is addressing a particular aspect of crime and its effect on children.
I think the point is, who will teach these children? Their parents may not be the best role models, but who really gets punished when they are incarcerated and not even able to care for their children in the most basic sense? So, who gets the job? Grandparents, the State, and perhaps a little attention from a social worker at school.
Particularly with women, I think there is a lot of incentive to go straight and sober up, so to speak, if it means rebuilding the family. I think the Fresh Start program has had some success.
It isn't necessarily in the best interest of children of offenders or society to issue lengthy sentences to mothers. Once the bond of mother and child is removed, mothers lose incentive to improve their lives and the kids start to drift toward crime. We are talking about people who have been raised in a cycle, a culture, a heritage of crime. "
Policy matters wrote on Sep 10, 2010 10:21 AM:
" To Logician: There is nothing in my first post to suggest that I think incarceration is never appropriate for parents. What I am claiming is that our country locks up far more people than is optimal, with no appreciable safety benefit, an enormous burden on state budgets, and a host of very serious social harms. One of these social harms, as depicted by the documentary in question, is borne by the children of the incarcerated.
Prison time is no doubt warranted for parents who pose a genuine threat to society. Likewise, all parents ought to be compelled by the state to abide by the law. There is quite a lot of careful thought, however, to suggest that this compulsion as currently applied is grossly inefficient in many ways. What we need, and what is clearly possible, is a criminal justice system that better provides the desirable outcomes of a safe and orderly society without the massive externalities of the current system. Such a system will almost certainly entail locking up many fewer people, parents included. "
rukahs wrote on Sep 10, 2010 1:37 PM:
" These jails are owned by private corporations they rely on incarcerations....more people in jail=$ "
http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2010/09/09/local_news/1848670.txt
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
The sad fact of the matter is that too many killer cops are still walking around free
I call it murder by Cynthia McKinney, Jan. 31, 2010
They shot this Black man in his genitals and in his back. It sounds like a hate crime to me. How else could one describe it?
Well, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, it was self-defense. But how many times have we heard self-defense by cops used as a cop out?
Well, what about Amadou Diallo? Amadou Diallo was murdered on February 4, 1999 by New York Police Department (NYPD) cops who mistook a wallet for a gun. They claim that they thought he was going to shoot them and so they shot him in self-defense. One officer fell as if he had been shot. 41 bullets later, Amadou Diallo had been shot 19 times. Young Amadou was only 24 years old. He could survive the itinerant life of an African trading family, moving from Africa to Asia, but he couldn't survive the mean, racist streets of America. And the killer cops went free. Diallo's mother and step-father settled with the City of New York for $3 million in a lawsuit alleging wrongful death, racial profiling, and violation of Amadou's civil rights.
Kathryn Johnston was 92 years old when she was murdered by Atlanta Police Department (APD) officers who claim that they shot her in self-defense after narcotics officers broke into her home on November 21, 2006 using a "no-knock" warrant. Police forced their way into Johnston's home and claimed to have found a stash of marijuana there. The APD officers claimed that she had injured them with her rusty revolver. Sadly, it was all lies. Later, it was learned that the Atlanta Police officers were actually injured by friendly fire after discharging their firearms 39 times; that they planted marijuana in the Johnston basement; lied on the drug warrant authorizing the raid; invented an informant justifying the raid; and pressured an actual drug informant to lie for them. Atlanta's lying, killer cops did serve time--either for manslaughter, conspiracy to violate Johnston's civil rights resulting in death, or perjury. The three officers were also required to reimburse the Johnston estate the $8,000 cost of her burial.
In the wee hours of November 25, 2006, Sean Bell was murdered in a hail of 50 bullets fired by officers in the New York Police Department. Bell was celebrating his upcoming wedding and was leaving the club where he had just held his bachelor party. Police opened fire after they suspected the victim had a gun. Bell was struck 4 times in the neck and torso and died from his wounds. When no gun was to be found, they concocted a mystery witness who could possibly have had a gun. New York's killer cops were acquitted on all charges.
Although Diallo, Johnston, and Bell were Black, Blacks in the United States are not the only ones who can be victimized by murderous U.S. law enforcement. While on a visit to Cuba, I had the opportunity to meet and apologize to the widow of Filiberto Ojeda Rios, a leading Puerto Rican Independentista. Wanted by U.S. authorities for actions stemming from his belief that Puerto Rico was a U.S. colony that should be independent, Ojeda Rios was murdered on September 23, 2005, shot by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at his home. An FBI press release stated that Ojeda Rios opened fire on the FBI and that the FBI retaliated, but that claim was not substantiated by an Inspector General's report that noted that the FBI opened the attack on Ojeda Rios with a "flash bang" device. Ojeda Rios shot 10 times and the FBI fired one hundred times. Ojeda Rios was struck in the lung by a single sniper's bullet, fell to the floor, and bled to death over 12 to 15 hours with no medical help allowed to save his life.
Continue reading at http://www.gp.org/cynthia/display.php?ID=30
I call it murder by Cynthia McKinney, Jan. 31, 2010
They shot this Black man in his genitals and in his back. It sounds like a hate crime to me. How else could one describe it?
Well, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, it was self-defense. But how many times have we heard self-defense by cops used as a cop out?
Well, what about Amadou Diallo? Amadou Diallo was murdered on February 4, 1999 by New York Police Department (NYPD) cops who mistook a wallet for a gun. They claim that they thought he was going to shoot them and so they shot him in self-defense. One officer fell as if he had been shot. 41 bullets later, Amadou Diallo had been shot 19 times. Young Amadou was only 24 years old. He could survive the itinerant life of an African trading family, moving from Africa to Asia, but he couldn't survive the mean, racist streets of America. And the killer cops went free. Diallo's mother and step-father settled with the City of New York for $3 million in a lawsuit alleging wrongful death, racial profiling, and violation of Amadou's civil rights.
Kathryn Johnston was 92 years old when she was murdered by Atlanta Police Department (APD) officers who claim that they shot her in self-defense after narcotics officers broke into her home on November 21, 2006 using a "no-knock" warrant. Police forced their way into Johnston's home and claimed to have found a stash of marijuana there. The APD officers claimed that she had injured them with her rusty revolver. Sadly, it was all lies. Later, it was learned that the Atlanta Police officers were actually injured by friendly fire after discharging their firearms 39 times; that they planted marijuana in the Johnston basement; lied on the drug warrant authorizing the raid; invented an informant justifying the raid; and pressured an actual drug informant to lie for them. Atlanta's lying, killer cops did serve time--either for manslaughter, conspiracy to violate Johnston's civil rights resulting in death, or perjury. The three officers were also required to reimburse the Johnston estate the $8,000 cost of her burial.
In the wee hours of November 25, 2006, Sean Bell was murdered in a hail of 50 bullets fired by officers in the New York Police Department. Bell was celebrating his upcoming wedding and was leaving the club where he had just held his bachelor party. Police opened fire after they suspected the victim had a gun. Bell was struck 4 times in the neck and torso and died from his wounds. When no gun was to be found, they concocted a mystery witness who could possibly have had a gun. New York's killer cops were acquitted on all charges.
Although Diallo, Johnston, and Bell were Black, Blacks in the United States are not the only ones who can be victimized by murderous U.S. law enforcement. While on a visit to Cuba, I had the opportunity to meet and apologize to the widow of Filiberto Ojeda Rios, a leading Puerto Rican Independentista. Wanted by U.S. authorities for actions stemming from his belief that Puerto Rico was a U.S. colony that should be independent, Ojeda Rios was murdered on September 23, 2005, shot by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at his home. An FBI press release stated that Ojeda Rios opened fire on the FBI and that the FBI retaliated, but that claim was not substantiated by an Inspector General's report that noted that the FBI opened the attack on Ojeda Rios with a "flash bang" device. Ojeda Rios shot 10 times and the FBI fired one hundred times. Ojeda Rios was struck in the lung by a single sniper's bullet, fell to the floor, and bled to death over 12 to 15 hours with no medical help allowed to save his life.
Continue reading at http://www.gp.org/cynthia/display.php?ID=30
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, HBO program from Botswana
If you are lucky enough to see this wonderful detective show, you will delight in the methods used with those who commit crimes. Framing? Arrest? Conviction? Jail? Prison? Quite the opposite: forgiveness and restitution, among others. And, one can understand how these methods are effective.
We know that Resorative Justice programs exist in the US, certainly not in Berrien County, one of the harshest and most punitive areas of the country where lives are permanently destroyed on a daily basis. Maybe someday citizens will come forward to establish a RJ program in Berrien, and through some miracle, will succeed.
(After doing a search, we found that some libraries carry DVD's of the first season (08-09) of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.)
If you are lucky enough to see this wonderful detective show, you will delight in the methods used with those who commit crimes. Framing? Arrest? Conviction? Jail? Prison? Quite the opposite: forgiveness and restitution, among others. And, one can understand how these methods are effective.
We know that Resorative Justice programs exist in the US, certainly not in Berrien County, one of the harshest and most punitive areas of the country where lives are permanently destroyed on a daily basis. Maybe someday citizens will come forward to establish a RJ program in Berrien, and through some miracle, will succeed.
(After doing a search, we found that some libraries carry DVD's of the first season (08-09) of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.)
Monday, April 27, 2009
Eleven Year Old Article and It's Even Worse Now
Fall 1998
Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex By Angela Davis
Five times as many black men are presently in prison as in four-year colleges and universities.
What is the Prison Industrial Complex? Why does it matter?
Imprisonment has become the response of first resort to far too many of the social problems that burden people who are ensconced in poverty. These problems often are veiled by being conveniently grouped together under the category “crime” and by the automatic attribution of criminal behavior to people of color. Homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness, and illiteracy are only a few of the problems that disappear from public view when the human beings contending with them are relegated to cages. Prisons thus perform a feat of magic. Or rather the people who continually vote in new prison bonds and tacitly assent to a proliferating network of prisons and jails have been tricked into believing in the magic of imprisonment. But prisons do not disappear problems, they disappear human beings. And the practice of disappearing vast numbers of people from poor, immigrant, and racially marginalized communities has literally become big business.
http://www.colorlines.com/article.php?ID=309
Fall 1998
Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex By Angela Davis
Five times as many black men are presently in prison as in four-year colleges and universities.
What is the Prison Industrial Complex? Why does it matter?
Imprisonment has become the response of first resort to far too many of the social problems that burden people who are ensconced in poverty. These problems often are veiled by being conveniently grouped together under the category “crime” and by the automatic attribution of criminal behavior to people of color. Homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness, and illiteracy are only a few of the problems that disappear from public view when the human beings contending with them are relegated to cages. Prisons thus perform a feat of magic. Or rather the people who continually vote in new prison bonds and tacitly assent to a proliferating network of prisons and jails have been tricked into believing in the magic of imprisonment. But prisons do not disappear problems, they disappear human beings. And the practice of disappearing vast numbers of people from poor, immigrant, and racially marginalized communities has literally become big business.
http://www.colorlines.com/article.php?ID=309
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Is this possible in Berrien County, Michigan?
Thank You, Michael Phelps!
Ten Reasons to Get High About Pot in 2009
By Norm Kent, 2/6 http://www.counterpunch.org/kent02062009.html
Okay, it is only the first week of February and more people this year have already died from peanut butter than pot...Building jails and keeping people in prisons costs more money than communities can afford...The necessities of twenty first century law enforcement have reduced pot to secondary priorities. More and more cities are encouraging cops to treat simple pot possession as a civil traffic infraction and just write a ticket. As those progressive initiatives take hold, pot prosecutions will diminish and pot users will be treated more fairly.
Ten Reasons to Get High About Pot in 2009
By Norm Kent, 2/6 http://www.counterpunch.org/kent02062009.html
Okay, it is only the first week of February and more people this year have already died from peanut butter than pot...Building jails and keeping people in prisons costs more money than communities can afford...The necessities of twenty first century law enforcement have reduced pot to secondary priorities. More and more cities are encouraging cops to treat simple pot possession as a civil traffic infraction and just write a ticket. As those progressive initiatives take hold, pot prosecutions will diminish and pot users will be treated more fairly.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Herald Palladium WATCH
One woman propaganda machine: Wendy-Dant Chesser, Herald Palladium board, Cornerstone Alliance President, Harbor Shores Trustee, Alliance for World-Class Communities officer. (H-P sold in 2000 to Paxton Media Group, Paducah, Ky. Whirlpool VP Jeff Noel from Ky.)
Can we believe the validity of ANY "drug arrest" stories in Benton Harbor"
Ok, so Andrew Collins, drug-planter extraordinaire, is behind bars. Everyone knows the BHPD is corrupt, and Collins wasn't the only one. Just 2 week ago, approximately 6 BH cops with dogs forced occupants of a house into the yard while they "searched" the house.
All were eventually allowed back in - cops said no drugs were found. But, cops re-entered with the occupants and "happened" to notice crumbs of some variety of drug on the refrigerator. An occupant stated that it would be a foolish place to put them because of heat from the refrigerator. 3 of the occupants were taken to Darth Vader's castle, the Berrien County Courthouse, and charged.
THIS IS HAPPENING ALL THE TIME IN BENTON HARBOR AND NO ONE IS DOING ANYTHING
Does anyone reading the following story believe it? Does it make you feel safer? ---
Drug raid nets four arrests
2/12/09 H-P
BENTON HARBOR - An investigation of alleged drug trafficking at ********* St. led to the arrest of four people Wednesday morning, Berrien County sheriff's officers reported.
Sgt. Robert Boyce of the sheriff's Narcotics Unit said the arrests were made after police served a search warrant at the address and found suspected marijuana with a street value of $850 and other drug evidence.
Those arrested, who all live in the house, were booked at the Berrien County jail.
They are: ***********, charged with possession with intent to deliver marijuana and maintaining a drug house, both second offenses; ************, marijuana possession and maintaining a drug house; **********, marijuana possession; and **********, marijuana possession and an outstanding warrant alleging contempt of court.
Boyce said the search warrant was obtained after a two-week investigation prompted by citizen complaints about drug activity at the house.
At the time the search warrant was served, ********* attempted to flee out a second story window but was apprehended by police, Boyce said.
The other three suspects were inside the residence.
One woman propaganda machine: Wendy-Dant Chesser, Herald Palladium board, Cornerstone Alliance President, Harbor Shores Trustee, Alliance for World-Class Communities officer. (H-P sold in 2000 to Paxton Media Group, Paducah, Ky. Whirlpool VP Jeff Noel from Ky.)
Can we believe the validity of ANY "drug arrest" stories in Benton Harbor"
Ok, so Andrew Collins, drug-planter extraordinaire, is behind bars. Everyone knows the BHPD is corrupt, and Collins wasn't the only one. Just 2 week ago, approximately 6 BH cops with dogs forced occupants of a house into the yard while they "searched" the house.
All were eventually allowed back in - cops said no drugs were found. But, cops re-entered with the occupants and "happened" to notice crumbs of some variety of drug on the refrigerator. An occupant stated that it would be a foolish place to put them because of heat from the refrigerator. 3 of the occupants were taken to Darth Vader's castle, the Berrien County Courthouse, and charged.
THIS IS HAPPENING ALL THE TIME IN BENTON HARBOR AND NO ONE IS DOING ANYTHING
Does anyone reading the following story believe it? Does it make you feel safer? ---
Drug raid nets four arrests
2/12/09 H-P
BENTON HARBOR - An investigation of alleged drug trafficking at ********* St. led to the arrest of four people Wednesday morning, Berrien County sheriff's officers reported.
Sgt. Robert Boyce of the sheriff's Narcotics Unit said the arrests were made after police served a search warrant at the address and found suspected marijuana with a street value of $850 and other drug evidence.
Those arrested, who all live in the house, were booked at the Berrien County jail.
They are: ***********, charged with possession with intent to deliver marijuana and maintaining a drug house, both second offenses; ************, marijuana possession and maintaining a drug house; **********, marijuana possession; and **********, marijuana possession and an outstanding warrant alleging contempt of court.
Boyce said the search warrant was obtained after a two-week investigation prompted by citizen complaints about drug activity at the house.
At the time the search warrant was served, ********* attempted to flee out a second story window but was apprehended by police, Boyce said.
The other three suspects were inside the residence.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Herald Palladium WATCH
One woman propaganda machine: Wendy-Dant Chesser, Herald Palladium board, Cornerstone Alliance President, Harbor Shores Trustee, Alliance for World-Class Communities officer. (H-P sold in 2000 to Paxton Media Group, Paducah, Ky. Whirlpool VP Jeff Noel from Ky.)
Herald Palladium reports what it wants, how it wants (or how Whirlpool wants)
- truth be damned. Always keep this in mind when reading this "paper."
Example: City Editor reports below that Rev. Pinkney is still in prison (he's been at home since 12/24)
Commentary in CAPS.
Berrien County, MI Cops Plant Drugs and Steal Cars, Money, Etc.
Collins cases could lead to string of lawsuits
Several (several?) arrested for drug crimes by ex-cop hope to have charges dismissed
By Jim Dalgleish - H-P City Editor (no less) Wed., Jan. 28, 2009
BENTON HARBOR - Marlon Sanders admits to satisfaction in knowing that former policeman Andrews Collins is likely headed to prison.
"I'd say what goes around comes around," said the 23-year-old Benton Harbor man, interviewed Tuesday at his father's house.
Sanders is one of 24 people whose drug convictions Berrien County Prosecutor Arthur Cotter said should not stand. Cotter, noting Collins' criminal behavior as a Benton Harbor Police Department narcotics officer, is seeking dismissals of the convictions.
However, Cotter's efforts are almost academic for Sanders, who completed a 16-month prison term last April for possession of narcotics less than 50 grams. BANCO AND BH RESIDENTS WOULD LIKE TO SEE SANDERS AND MANY, MANY OTHERS SUE BERRIEN COUNTY AND BHPD FOR 10 MILLION EACH]
"One of the things I'm mad about is I spent time in prison for no good reason," said the slender, softspoken Sanders. He said "scary" isn't a powerful enough word for prison life in Jackson. He can't get back the time spent in prison, but he said he would like redress. He said he wants to sue and is looking for a lawyer.
He said it's improbable that Collins' supervisors didn't know the young detective was skirting the rules. [CHIEF MINGO, AL COTTER, PETE MITCHELL, AND ON UP KNEW ALL ABOUT COLLIN'S AND OTHERS' ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES. THIS OF COURSE HAS NEVER BEEN REPORTED.]
He said it was known on the street that Collins was dirty. "People'd run if they saw Collins," he said.
Sanders said he filed a harassment complaint with the department against Collins in July 2006.
[CHIEF MINGO DID NOTHING] He said Collins had stopped him and searched him four times in previous weeks for walking through areas known for drug sales. [COLLINS AND OTHER COPS WHO DO THIS HAVE NO RIGHT]
Sanders said his arrest came the day after he filed the harassment complaint.
[THIS SAYS EVERYTHING ABOUT MINGO]
Deputy Chief Randel Pompey said he couldn't respond to Sanders' claims because all department records pertaining to Collins had been turned over the FBI.
Sanders was arrested along with Quacy Roberts as they walked along High Street on a hot July afternoon. Roberts and Sanders said in separate interviews that Collins was working with another city narcotics officer, who had to have known how Collins operated.
Roberts, 32, athletically built and more animated than Sanders, said the two officers during the course of the arrest and processing at the police department produced three rocks of crack cocaine no larger than rice kernels. Furthermore, Roberts said the officers used the state's civil forfeiture law to seize from him $1,500 in cash - which Roberts said his mother gave him so he could buy siding for her house.
But he said the civil forfeiture paperwork listed the take at $15. He said he wonders what happened to the other $1,485. [CRIME ROLLS ON IN THE BHPD. COPS HAVE BEEN STEALING MONEY FOR YEARS FROM BH RESIDENTS. NEVER REPORTED.]
The Benton Harbor Police Department, like many police departments, uses civil forfeiture seizures to supplement their budgets. [AGAIN, COPS STEALING MONEY AND, AS USUAL, GETTING ORDERS TO DO SO FROM ABOVE - WAAAY ABOVE]
Among the questions surrounding the reversed convictions is whether the city will have to reimburse those who lost cash, cars and other items - some of which were sold with the money supporting the department. [NOTHING WAS "LOST" - IT WAS STOLEN - AND SHOULD ALL BE RETURNED: CASH, CARS, AND OTHER ITEMS. FULL REPARATIONS ARE REQUIRED. H-P EDITOR SHOULD SUPPORT THIS.]
City Manager Richard Marsh said he is studying the question. [MARSH SHOULD BE FIRED]
Cotter is seeking to have Roberts' conviction for narcotics possession less than 25 grams dismissed. Like Sanders, Roberts had already served his time, one year in the Berrien County jail. He was released in November. He said he talked to one lawyer about suing the city.
Prosecutors offered him plea bargains after the arrest, but he said was certain he could beat the charge at trial because there was no physical evidence linking him to the drugs. [UNTIL COLLINS PLANTED THE DRUGS]
It didn't work out that way.
He said his jury was all white and unwilling to believe police officers were capable of concocting evidence. [AT LEAST THE TRUTH IS COMING OUT: POLICE & THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM ARE DISHONEST & OPERATE OUTSIDE OF THE LAW. HONEST REPORTING COULD HAVE CHANGED ALL OF THIS.]
Sanders said he accepted a plea deal, bucking advice from Edward Pinkney, the outspoken critic of Berrien County's court system who is now in prison for threats issued against a Berrien judge. (what?) [REV. EDWARD PINKNEY KNEW THAT COLLINS WAS PLANTING DRUGS ON PEOPLE AND HE SPOKE ABOUT IT SEVERAL TIMES AT CITY COMMISSION MTGS. NOTHING WAS EVER DONE. DEFENSE ATTY. BRIAN BERGER WAS WORKING WITH PROSECUTOR COTTER - PINKNEY SPOKE TO BERGER ABOUT 3 PLANTINGS ON A. GIBBS, C. MCKINNEY, Q. ROBERTS - BERGER AIDED AND ABETTED PROSECTOR COTTER TO GET THEM ALL CONVICTED. AGAIN, WHERE WERE THE OBJECTIVE REPORTS?]
"I was scared of what they would do to me if I took it to trial and I lost," Sanders said.
[ANYONE IN COURT IN BERRIEN HAS REASON TO BE SCARED. EVEN THE MEDIA WILL SUPPORT THEIR ARRESTS, CONVICTIONS, IMPRISONMENT.]
Word of Collins' ways had reached at least two defense lawyers. Scott Sanford, on the Berrien drug court roster of court-appointed lawyers, said Collins' arrest "didn't come as a shock to me and a lot of other defense attorneys. ... Where there's smoke, there is fire." [HE DID NOTHING MAKING HIM AS GUILTY AS COLLINS]
Sanford, based in St. Joseph, called the Collins situation "sickening because we have to rely on those police reports. And I'm sure the law enforcement community feels the same way."
[SANFORD HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO CORRECT THIS AND FAILED]
St. Joseph lawyer Brian Berger, also on that roster, said he heard of the problems.
[REV. PINKNEY TOLD BERGER POSSIBLY 20 TIMES THAT DRUGS WERE BEING PLANTED.]
"Defendants at times claimed there was some wrongdoing on Officer Collins' part, but that was never proven," he said.
Berger said prosecutors, judges, juries and even defense lawyers rely on police reports and testimony as the most reliable building blocks in criminal cases. [IN BERRIEN COUNTY, THEY DO NOT WANT PROOF - ONLY CONVICTIONS]
"I don't believe police officers up and down the line are lying," Berger said.
[NOT ONLY ARE THEY LYING, BUT SO IS BERGER, SINCE HE KNEW THE TRUTH]
"I think (Collins) is an isolated case. At least I hope it's an isolated case."
[COLLINS MAY BE ARRESTED, BUT DRUG PLANTING AND ALL THE REST GOES ON TODAY IN BERRIEN COUNTY - BERGER KNOWS ALL ABOUT IT AS DOES THE ENTIRE COURTHOUSE & THE MEDIA.]
One woman propaganda machine: Wendy-Dant Chesser, Herald Palladium board, Cornerstone Alliance President, Harbor Shores Trustee, Alliance for World-Class Communities officer. (H-P sold in 2000 to Paxton Media Group, Paducah, Ky. Whirlpool VP Jeff Noel from Ky.)
Herald Palladium reports what it wants, how it wants (or how Whirlpool wants)
- truth be damned. Always keep this in mind when reading this "paper."
Example: City Editor reports below that Rev. Pinkney is still in prison (he's been at home since 12/24)
Commentary in CAPS.
Berrien County, MI Cops Plant Drugs and Steal Cars, Money, Etc.
Collins cases could lead to string of lawsuits
Several (several?) arrested for drug crimes by ex-cop hope to have charges dismissed
By Jim Dalgleish - H-P City Editor (no less) Wed., Jan. 28, 2009
BENTON HARBOR - Marlon Sanders admits to satisfaction in knowing that former policeman Andrews Collins is likely headed to prison.
"I'd say what goes around comes around," said the 23-year-old Benton Harbor man, interviewed Tuesday at his father's house.
Sanders is one of 24 people whose drug convictions Berrien County Prosecutor Arthur Cotter said should not stand. Cotter, noting Collins' criminal behavior as a Benton Harbor Police Department narcotics officer, is seeking dismissals of the convictions.
However, Cotter's efforts are almost academic for Sanders, who completed a 16-month prison term last April for possession of narcotics less than 50 grams. BANCO AND BH RESIDENTS WOULD LIKE TO SEE SANDERS AND MANY, MANY OTHERS SUE BERRIEN COUNTY AND BHPD FOR 10 MILLION EACH]
"One of the things I'm mad about is I spent time in prison for no good reason," said the slender, softspoken Sanders. He said "scary" isn't a powerful enough word for prison life in Jackson. He can't get back the time spent in prison, but he said he would like redress. He said he wants to sue and is looking for a lawyer.
He said it's improbable that Collins' supervisors didn't know the young detective was skirting the rules. [CHIEF MINGO, AL COTTER, PETE MITCHELL, AND ON UP KNEW ALL ABOUT COLLIN'S AND OTHERS' ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES. THIS OF COURSE HAS NEVER BEEN REPORTED.]
He said it was known on the street that Collins was dirty. "People'd run if they saw Collins," he said.
Sanders said he filed a harassment complaint with the department against Collins in July 2006.
[CHIEF MINGO DID NOTHING] He said Collins had stopped him and searched him four times in previous weeks for walking through areas known for drug sales. [COLLINS AND OTHER COPS WHO DO THIS HAVE NO RIGHT]
Sanders said his arrest came the day after he filed the harassment complaint.
[THIS SAYS EVERYTHING ABOUT MINGO]
Deputy Chief Randel Pompey said he couldn't respond to Sanders' claims because all department records pertaining to Collins had been turned over the FBI.
Sanders was arrested along with Quacy Roberts as they walked along High Street on a hot July afternoon. Roberts and Sanders said in separate interviews that Collins was working with another city narcotics officer, who had to have known how Collins operated.
Roberts, 32, athletically built and more animated than Sanders, said the two officers during the course of the arrest and processing at the police department produced three rocks of crack cocaine no larger than rice kernels. Furthermore, Roberts said the officers used the state's civil forfeiture law to seize from him $1,500 in cash - which Roberts said his mother gave him so he could buy siding for her house.
But he said the civil forfeiture paperwork listed the take at $15. He said he wonders what happened to the other $1,485. [CRIME ROLLS ON IN THE BHPD. COPS HAVE BEEN STEALING MONEY FOR YEARS FROM BH RESIDENTS. NEVER REPORTED.]
The Benton Harbor Police Department, like many police departments, uses civil forfeiture seizures to supplement their budgets. [AGAIN, COPS STEALING MONEY AND, AS USUAL, GETTING ORDERS TO DO SO FROM ABOVE - WAAAY ABOVE]
Among the questions surrounding the reversed convictions is whether the city will have to reimburse those who lost cash, cars and other items - some of which were sold with the money supporting the department. [NOTHING WAS "LOST" - IT WAS STOLEN - AND SHOULD ALL BE RETURNED: CASH, CARS, AND OTHER ITEMS. FULL REPARATIONS ARE REQUIRED. H-P EDITOR SHOULD SUPPORT THIS.]
City Manager Richard Marsh said he is studying the question. [MARSH SHOULD BE FIRED]
Cotter is seeking to have Roberts' conviction for narcotics possession less than 25 grams dismissed. Like Sanders, Roberts had already served his time, one year in the Berrien County jail. He was released in November. He said he talked to one lawyer about suing the city.
Prosecutors offered him plea bargains after the arrest, but he said was certain he could beat the charge at trial because there was no physical evidence linking him to the drugs. [UNTIL COLLINS PLANTED THE DRUGS]
It didn't work out that way.
He said his jury was all white and unwilling to believe police officers were capable of concocting evidence. [AT LEAST THE TRUTH IS COMING OUT: POLICE & THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM ARE DISHONEST & OPERATE OUTSIDE OF THE LAW. HONEST REPORTING COULD HAVE CHANGED ALL OF THIS.]
Sanders said he accepted a plea deal, bucking advice from Edward Pinkney, the outspoken critic of Berrien County's court system who is now in prison for threats issued against a Berrien judge. (what?) [REV. EDWARD PINKNEY KNEW THAT COLLINS WAS PLANTING DRUGS ON PEOPLE AND HE SPOKE ABOUT IT SEVERAL TIMES AT CITY COMMISSION MTGS. NOTHING WAS EVER DONE. DEFENSE ATTY. BRIAN BERGER WAS WORKING WITH PROSECUTOR COTTER - PINKNEY SPOKE TO BERGER ABOUT 3 PLANTINGS ON A. GIBBS, C. MCKINNEY, Q. ROBERTS - BERGER AIDED AND ABETTED PROSECTOR COTTER TO GET THEM ALL CONVICTED. AGAIN, WHERE WERE THE OBJECTIVE REPORTS?]
"I was scared of what they would do to me if I took it to trial and I lost," Sanders said.
[ANYONE IN COURT IN BERRIEN HAS REASON TO BE SCARED. EVEN THE MEDIA WILL SUPPORT THEIR ARRESTS, CONVICTIONS, IMPRISONMENT.]
Word of Collins' ways had reached at least two defense lawyers. Scott Sanford, on the Berrien drug court roster of court-appointed lawyers, said Collins' arrest "didn't come as a shock to me and a lot of other defense attorneys. ... Where there's smoke, there is fire." [HE DID NOTHING MAKING HIM AS GUILTY AS COLLINS]
Sanford, based in St. Joseph, called the Collins situation "sickening because we have to rely on those police reports. And I'm sure the law enforcement community feels the same way."
[SANFORD HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO CORRECT THIS AND FAILED]
St. Joseph lawyer Brian Berger, also on that roster, said he heard of the problems.
[REV. PINKNEY TOLD BERGER POSSIBLY 20 TIMES THAT DRUGS WERE BEING PLANTED.]
"Defendants at times claimed there was some wrongdoing on Officer Collins' part, but that was never proven," he said.
Berger said prosecutors, judges, juries and even defense lawyers rely on police reports and testimony as the most reliable building blocks in criminal cases. [IN BERRIEN COUNTY, THEY DO NOT WANT PROOF - ONLY CONVICTIONS]
"I don't believe police officers up and down the line are lying," Berger said.
[NOT ONLY ARE THEY LYING, BUT SO IS BERGER, SINCE HE KNEW THE TRUTH]
"I think (Collins) is an isolated case. At least I hope it's an isolated case."
[COLLINS MAY BE ARRESTED, BUT DRUG PLANTING AND ALL THE REST GOES ON TODAY IN BERRIEN COUNTY - BERGER KNOWS ALL ABOUT IT AS DOES THE ENTIRE COURTHOUSE & THE MEDIA.]
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Andrew Collins was not a lone actor
What Whirlpool executives, prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys, police chiefs, cops, and other criminals in Berrien were his accomplices? Those who afforded him his well-known confidence and arrogance...
More media web comments:
Posted on Dec 1, 2008
This officer [Collins] operated in the Narcotics Office for years prior to this incident. And how is it possible that the department just figured out what was going on in February? They didn’t. That’s when their hands were tied and they had to do something. Numerous complaints were filed on this officer yet nothing was ever done. Up until this incident he was exempted from all violations because he brought money into the Benton Harbor Police Department, lots of money. If fingers are to be pointed for wrong doing, they should start at the top with the Chief. He is who let him run around reckless and operate any way without retribution or even the thought of being disciplined for his actions. So the real question is, why wouldn’t he try and get away with something like this if the Chief is on his side?
Posted on Dec 1, 2008
A lot of residents in Benton Harbor were affected by Collin's actions. Numerous complaints were filed on him and nothing was done. Like one of the other comments said, BHPD knew what was going on and never did anything. I hope Collins gets everything he deserves. To the other lady who posted “Don't forget this man has a family and people who love him”, what about the families he affected by his corruption? He wasn’t serving the duty he got hired for. I hope he gets the maximum that is allowed!
Posted on Dec 1, 2008
I know Andy...and I know he is not a wonderful guy. He was just looking for approval from his superiors, even if it meant breaking the law.
Posted on Dec 2, 2008
Thanks, Thanks alot Officer Collins. You just made Police Officers' jobs ever more difficult by your illegal actions. When a bad cop does bad, he makes all officers look bad.
Posted on Dec 3, 2008
What about the children of the people he has arrested (probably unlawfully), crying for their parent? We are all supposed to have sympathy, compassion and understanding for cops, while none is afforded their *victims*. Comfort yourself with one of their popular quotes, "guess you should have thought about that before you did it".
Posted on Dec 4, 2008
If you think it is only a few doing this then it is you who are ignorant, or you're corrupt and playing along. You might be able to get people who have never experienced police corruption to believe you, but more and more people are becoming witness to the corruption and the inconsistencies in your so-called truth.
Posted on Dec 8, 2008
When an Officer breaks the very law he is sworn to protect, there is no excuse - nice or not. He assaulted someone in Feb. and obviously has a criminal personality.
More media web comments:
Posted on Dec 1, 2008
This officer [Collins] operated in the Narcotics Office for years prior to this incident. And how is it possible that the department just figured out what was going on in February? They didn’t. That’s when their hands were tied and they had to do something. Numerous complaints were filed on this officer yet nothing was ever done. Up until this incident he was exempted from all violations because he brought money into the Benton Harbor Police Department, lots of money. If fingers are to be pointed for wrong doing, they should start at the top with the Chief. He is who let him run around reckless and operate any way without retribution or even the thought of being disciplined for his actions. So the real question is, why wouldn’t he try and get away with something like this if the Chief is on his side?
Posted on Dec 1, 2008
A lot of residents in Benton Harbor were affected by Collin's actions. Numerous complaints were filed on him and nothing was done. Like one of the other comments said, BHPD knew what was going on and never did anything. I hope Collins gets everything he deserves. To the other lady who posted “Don't forget this man has a family and people who love him”, what about the families he affected by his corruption? He wasn’t serving the duty he got hired for. I hope he gets the maximum that is allowed!
Posted on Dec 1, 2008
I know Andy...and I know he is not a wonderful guy. He was just looking for approval from his superiors, even if it meant breaking the law.
Posted on Dec 2, 2008
Thanks, Thanks alot Officer Collins. You just made Police Officers' jobs ever more difficult by your illegal actions. When a bad cop does bad, he makes all officers look bad.
Posted on Dec 3, 2008
What about the children of the people he has arrested (probably unlawfully), crying for their parent? We are all supposed to have sympathy, compassion and understanding for cops, while none is afforded their *victims*. Comfort yourself with one of their popular quotes, "guess you should have thought about that before you did it".
Posted on Dec 4, 2008
If you think it is only a few doing this then it is you who are ignorant, or you're corrupt and playing along. You might be able to get people who have never experienced police corruption to believe you, but more and more people are becoming witness to the corruption and the inconsistencies in your so-called truth.
Posted on Dec 8, 2008
When an Officer breaks the very law he is sworn to protect, there is no excuse - nice or not. He assaulted someone in Feb. and obviously has a criminal personality.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Tracking a Champion
by Phil Bassett, http://www.peoplestribune.org/PT.2009.01/PT.2009.01.12.html
I know a winner when I see one. I could sense it in Edward Pinkney the first time I saw him speak in 2005. Since then, I've watched him brave assaults on his dignity that would have sent lesser men to the crazy house or to their grave.
Just before Thanksgiving, I secured a TV studio equipped with a speakerphone and a fifteen-minute appointment to interview Rev. Pinkney. My friend John Mann was with me, and we waited tensely in the minutes before the appointed time, wondering if it was all going to fall through. If you know anything about the judicial system, you will know why we were concerned.
When Pinkney comes on, his no-nonsense attitude is evident, his spirit untouched by his current surroundings. He tells a story about a guard accusing him of doing others' legal work (is that a crime?), shaking him down and breaking his radio. He then relates how another guard told him to take his radio to have it repaired only to be accused, when he got there, of being there without permission. He talks about life at Ojibway: "…you are in a place where you don't have soap to wash your hands…" and, using toilet paper, "you roll one sheet at a time." Although his voice always carries a hint of humor, he states matter-of-factly, "I'm very concerned about not only my health, but also my safety."
John asked him why they arrested him the day after Cynthia McKinney came to town to support him. He says simply, "They can't stand to see that much power in one man."
He states emphatically, "We have to channel our energy toward justice for all, not one, two, three people… We have to think of every single person—even the ones who don't want to fight, even the ones who don't want to stand up. We have to stand up for them, to show them there is another way of doing things"
He insists that this fight is not about him. If that were the case, he says, "If they get rid of me, they get rid of everybody." Unfortunately for Berrien County, the opposite has happened: putting the Reverend in a cage has only opened them up for ever greater scrutiny, as the ACLU is now bringing Pinkney's appeal. The National Lawyers Guild has teamed up with him as well. Perhaps the rampant racism that passes for justice in St. Joe will be dragged out in the light for a little while.
Fast-forward to December 18th—a hearing in the BC courthouse to decide the amount of Pinkney's bail pending his appeal. The magistrate, Dennis Wiley, puts me in the mind of a cowboy in a judge suit. I've got a few adjectives to describe him, but "judicious" is not one of them. He sits fuming, hair uncombed, trying to look like a calm bloody lunatic, inventing new ways to stall this proceeding. But this time, with the young ACLU guns present, even the assistant prosecutor is not going along with the usual miscarriage of justice in good old St. Joe. Although the judge practically insisted that he take a few days to come up with written arguments, he didn't take the bait, and the hearing rolls on. As of this writing, though, Pinkney has still not been released. The last I heard, Wiley refused to sign the necessary papers to allow him to return home to his wife.
Last night, I spoke to Dorothy Pinkney. Although her husband isn't home yet, she sees light at the end of the tunnel. "It's the season of miracles," she says.
Pray for a big one.
[Pinkney was released on Dec. 24th, pending his appeal.]
I know a winner when I see one. I could sense it in Edward Pinkney the first time I saw him speak in 2005. Since then, I've watched him brave assaults on his dignity that would have sent lesser men to the crazy house or to their grave.
Just before Thanksgiving, I secured a TV studio equipped with a speakerphone and a fifteen-minute appointment to interview Rev. Pinkney. My friend John Mann was with me, and we waited tensely in the minutes before the appointed time, wondering if it was all going to fall through. If you know anything about the judicial system, you will know why we were concerned.
When Pinkney comes on, his no-nonsense attitude is evident, his spirit untouched by his current surroundings. He tells a story about a guard accusing him of doing others' legal work (is that a crime?), shaking him down and breaking his radio. He then relates how another guard told him to take his radio to have it repaired only to be accused, when he got there, of being there without permission. He talks about life at Ojibway: "…you are in a place where you don't have soap to wash your hands…" and, using toilet paper, "you roll one sheet at a time." Although his voice always carries a hint of humor, he states matter-of-factly, "I'm very concerned about not only my health, but also my safety."
John asked him why they arrested him the day after Cynthia McKinney came to town to support him. He says simply, "They can't stand to see that much power in one man."
He states emphatically, "We have to channel our energy toward justice for all, not one, two, three people… We have to think of every single person—even the ones who don't want to fight, even the ones who don't want to stand up. We have to stand up for them, to show them there is another way of doing things"
He insists that this fight is not about him. If that were the case, he says, "If they get rid of me, they get rid of everybody." Unfortunately for Berrien County, the opposite has happened: putting the Reverend in a cage has only opened them up for ever greater scrutiny, as the ACLU is now bringing Pinkney's appeal. The National Lawyers Guild has teamed up with him as well. Perhaps the rampant racism that passes for justice in St. Joe will be dragged out in the light for a little while.
Fast-forward to December 18th—a hearing in the BC courthouse to decide the amount of Pinkney's bail pending his appeal. The magistrate, Dennis Wiley, puts me in the mind of a cowboy in a judge suit. I've got a few adjectives to describe him, but "judicious" is not one of them. He sits fuming, hair uncombed, trying to look like a calm bloody lunatic, inventing new ways to stall this proceeding. But this time, with the young ACLU guns present, even the assistant prosecutor is not going along with the usual miscarriage of justice in good old St. Joe. Although the judge practically insisted that he take a few days to come up with written arguments, he didn't take the bait, and the hearing rolls on. As of this writing, though, Pinkney has still not been released. The last I heard, Wiley refused to sign the necessary papers to allow him to return home to his wife.
Last night, I spoke to Dorothy Pinkney. Although her husband isn't home yet, she sees light at the end of the tunnel. "It's the season of miracles," she says.
Pray for a big one.
[Pinkney was released on Dec. 24th, pending his appeal.]
Thursday, December 18, 2008
For profit chain gangs in Michigan?
Reposted from MWRO Blog
Having family and friends in prison teaches you a lot about what things are like from "the inside." MWRO's comrade and Benton Harbor political prisoner, Rev. Edward Pinkney, has been moved around to at least half a dozen Michigan prisons since he was sentenced a few months ago for quoting the Bible. Doing time is a difficult experience for all involved and the guilty should be punished. But punishment should be fair and not exploit an already marginalized group.
In Michigan, incarcerated men and women in many prisons work for Michigan State Industries (MSI)--a 1980 Dept of Corrections program that assigns jobs to all able-bodied prisoners. Fundamentally, MSI goals sound like a good idea, i.e., they provide "an opportunity for prisoners to learn marketable skills and to acquire sound work experience" while attempting "to address the problem of crime and the tension and idleness in prison resulting from overcrowding...." MSI has a map of all prison production locations where they sell and bid out items such as furniture, bed sheets, and outdoor banners online or through its Lansing showroom.
However, Rev. Pinkney's experience has given him and us some insights into prison conditions and prison work. Last week he wrote:
Prison labor is not new. It's been used for centuries to help contain incarceration costs and keep prisoners disciplined and busy. But in recent times, it's being increasingly used in for profit ventures. MWRO opposes the slave labor practice of requiring incarcerated human beings to make or build products for the highest bidder. Not only do these conditions prevent a worker from demanding a fair price for his or her labor, it contributes to abusive and inhumane conditions beyond typical institutional incarceration.
(Image courtesy of Flickr)
Having family and friends in prison teaches you a lot about what things are like from "the inside." MWRO's comrade and Benton Harbor political prisoner, Rev. Edward Pinkney, has been moved around to at least half a dozen Michigan prisons since he was sentenced a few months ago for quoting the Bible. Doing time is a difficult experience for all involved and the guilty should be punished. But punishment should be fair and not exploit an already marginalized group.
In Michigan, incarcerated men and women in many prisons work for Michigan State Industries (MSI)--a 1980 Dept of Corrections program that assigns jobs to all able-bodied prisoners. Fundamentally, MSI goals sound like a good idea, i.e., they provide "an opportunity for prisoners to learn marketable skills and to acquire sound work experience" while attempting "to address the problem of crime and the tension and idleness in prison resulting from overcrowding...." MSI has a map of all prison production locations where they sell and bid out items such as furniture, bed sheets, and outdoor banners online or through its Lansing showroom.
However, Rev. Pinkney's experience has given him and us some insights into prison conditions and prison work. Last week he wrote:
"Prison officials can control virtually every aspect of a prisoner's life. They can decide her/his actions - when (s)he will awake and when (s)he sleeps, how much is spent on food, who can visit prisoners and for how long, whether to force a prisoner to sleep on a metal grating without a mattress, how long a prisoner waits for medical treatment, whether a prisoner spends 24 hours a day in a cell or 12 hours a day at back-breaking labor, and what arbitrary (useless) rules will be followed. How and when to punish prisoners in many different ways, including depriving them of all food except "nutri-loaf" (tasteless ground-up leftovers pressed into a loaf). It is all up to the Dept. of Corrections.
In many states there is a move to remove gov. administration of prisons and privatize them for corporate profit. The labor of the prisoners belongs to the state but when the state transfers their interest to a private corporation, the labor of prisoners belong to the corporation. A corporation will run the lives of prisoners and decide how they shall labor and what they shall labor at. Do you see chances for profit here?"
Prison labor is not new. It's been used for centuries to help contain incarceration costs and keep prisoners disciplined and busy. But in recent times, it's being increasingly used in for profit ventures. MWRO opposes the slave labor practice of requiring incarcerated human beings to make or build products for the highest bidder. Not only do these conditions prevent a worker from demanding a fair price for his or her labor, it contributes to abusive and inhumane conditions beyond typical institutional incarceration.
(Image courtesy of Flickr)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Michigan must reduce excessive prison costs
Editor, (HP, 11/20/08)
Does it concern people that, if found guilty of embezzlement, Michiana village official Mary Jo Nallenweg may be sent to prison for 10 years at a cost to taxpayers of over $300,000? Why the eagerness to confine her in our overcrowded prisons when the loss so far has been estimated at less than $10,000? Does this make sense to you? Who would benefit from that? At the current expense of over $30,000 a year per prisoner, our prison system is bankrupting our state.
If she is found to be guilty, do we really want to subject this young woman to a system which cannot prevent the abuse and neglect of its inmates? Or would we rather have her apologize to her victims and make generous restitution, followed by years of community service to atone for her mistakes? The notion that prisoners are “paying their debt to society” overlooks the basic fact that it costs the rest of us more to lock them up than we spend on the education of children in Michigan. When restorative justice has been tried, it has been more effective in preventing future offenses, as well as having been a humane and financially sound method of correction.
The European Union scoffs at how our country wastes tax money on imprisoning more citizens per capita than any other civilized nation in the world. EU nations have agreed that it is neither necessary nor productive to imprison offenders who don’t pose a threat to society. In other nations, a prison sentence is considered to be a last resort, not the first option a prosecutor would announce even before a conviction. The time has come for taxpayers to let our prosecutors and legislators know that we want restitution for the victims of crime, not a huge bill for unnecessary incarceration. It’s time to give non-violent offenders opportunities to make up for their misdeeds, rather than to charge taxpayers with the enormous expense of locking them up for years.
Send a letter to Art Cotter, Berrien County prosecutor, to ask him to find a better way to spend our money – on crime prevention, restitution for the victims and on our children’s education. Let your voice be heard!
Joyce Gouwens St. Joseph
Does it concern people that, if found guilty of embezzlement, Michiana village official Mary Jo Nallenweg may be sent to prison for 10 years at a cost to taxpayers of over $300,000? Why the eagerness to confine her in our overcrowded prisons when the loss so far has been estimated at less than $10,000? Does this make sense to you? Who would benefit from that? At the current expense of over $30,000 a year per prisoner, our prison system is bankrupting our state.
If she is found to be guilty, do we really want to subject this young woman to a system which cannot prevent the abuse and neglect of its inmates? Or would we rather have her apologize to her victims and make generous restitution, followed by years of community service to atone for her mistakes? The notion that prisoners are “paying their debt to society” overlooks the basic fact that it costs the rest of us more to lock them up than we spend on the education of children in Michigan. When restorative justice has been tried, it has been more effective in preventing future offenses, as well as having been a humane and financially sound method of correction.
The European Union scoffs at how our country wastes tax money on imprisoning more citizens per capita than any other civilized nation in the world. EU nations have agreed that it is neither necessary nor productive to imprison offenders who don’t pose a threat to society. In other nations, a prison sentence is considered to be a last resort, not the first option a prosecutor would announce even before a conviction. The time has come for taxpayers to let our prosecutors and legislators know that we want restitution for the victims of crime, not a huge bill for unnecessary incarceration. It’s time to give non-violent offenders opportunities to make up for their misdeeds, rather than to charge taxpayers with the enormous expense of locking them up for years.
Send a letter to Art Cotter, Berrien County prosecutor, to ask him to find a better way to spend our money – on crime prevention, restitution for the victims and on our children’s education. Let your voice be heard!
Joyce Gouwens St. Joseph
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