#lwop

[unofficialyouthmediabrand]

[June 15] Trump takes L, Florida's 'slow death penalty'

Here’s the recap from today’s Twitch stream:

Trump took a pretty serious L on his first day in court – granted, it was something handed to most criminal defendants, but still a little surreal. Todd and Greg came through to walk us through that, and explain the MAGA rapper who showed up.

Here’s the article:

Then, Lawrence of The Marshall Project came through to explain Florida’s ‘slow death penalty’.

Here’s the doc (starts at 1:05):

These are also definitely worth reading:

And, of course, #vicebookclub.

The show is taking a break on Tuesday, and will be back on Thursday.

[the-eldritch-it-gay]

Every disabled perspn should be allowed extra PTO

[mrjasonmills]

[mus1g4]

Are there any states which print the inmates sentence onto the uniform? I've always thought it would be humiliating (and kinda hot) to look down at my uniform and see the term LWOP or 20-LIFE stencilled there so everyone knows what a loser I am.

Wow! Great idea. The only place I know that does something like that is Russia. Your cell nameplate, ID card, and uniform stencil all identify your crime.

Every convict knows your crime. Every guard knows your crime.

No where in the United States or western Europe follows that program.

[hushedhippie]

46 hours away from being able to go on LWOP to seek treatment for my anorexia and mental health…if my tilt test for POTS comes back negative and all of what I’m experiencing is psychological, then I’ve decided to go inpatient to get the help and treatment I need. It’s a scary decision but one I feel confident in:/

[humanrightsupdates]

Kenneth Smith is scheduled to be executed in Alabama on 25 January 2024. His jury voted for life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, but the judge imposed a death sentence, under a judicial override system outlawed in Alabama in 2017. The state tried to execute Kenneth Smith in 2022, but this attempt by lethal injection failed. The state will this time deprive him of oxygen using nitrogen gas, an execution method not previously used. Twenty-two years old at the time of the crime, Kenneth Smith is now 58. His prison record is one of non-violence, self-improvement and helping others.

The crime involved the murder of a 45-year-old woman in her home in Alabama on 18 March 1988. The prosecution submitted evidence that her husband had recruited Billy Williams, who then engaged Kenneth Smith and John Parker, to kill her. The husband, a preacher who was in debt and wanted to collect life insurance, committed suicide a week after the murder; Billy Williams was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (LWOP); John Parker, was sentenced to death, and executed in 2010. Kenneth Smith was also sentenced to death, but his 1989 conviction and death sentence were overturned on appeal because of racist prosecutorial jury selection tactics at the trial. At the 1996 retrial, Kenneth Smith was again convicted. The jury – made up of seven Black women, four Black men, and one white woman – voted 11-1 for LWOP, but the judge overrode their decision and passed a death sentence.

The judge found one aggravating factor – that the murder was committed for pecuniary gain – and decided that this outweighed the mitigating circumstances, which were Kenneth Smith’s young age at the time of the crime, his lack of significant history of prior criminal activity, good prison record, childhood deprivation and neglect, as well as his remorse and voluntary confession to his participation in the crime. The judge would later suggest in an interview that he had overridden the jury’s vote because Kenneth Smith “deserved the death penalty” and that “some people serving on juries… don’t want the responsibility to sentence someone to death”.

The state is proposing to attempt again to execute Kenneth Smith, this time by the method of “nitrogen hypoxia” during which nitrogen is fed by tube into an airtight face mask worn by the person being executed, depriving him or her of oxygen and causing eventual death. The US Supreme Court noted in 2019 that nitrogen hypoxia had “never been used to carry out an execution” and that the first state to do so would be “the first to experiment with a new untried and untested method”. Now Alabama, a state with a record of botched executions and a lack of transparency and inquiry into such failures, is the one moving ahead with this method. Kenneth Smith’s lawyers assert that he is being used as “the test subject for this novel and experimental method” and that “if not performed correctly, execution by nitrogen hypoxia can result in another botched execution that risks leaving Mr Smith with permanent injuries”.

Take action now

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

Lifers. A growing number of lifers are accumulating in the prisons, and they constitute a social group and an active force in prisoner public affairs. Their numbers have increased because the California courts, guided by the dictates of new punitive laws, such as “three strikes, you’re out,” and the punitive spirit of the general population are sending more people to prison with life sentences. These lifers, who have sentences of 15 years to life, 25 years to life, life with possibility of parole, and life without possibility of parole (LWOP), are serving much more time than during any previous period. For example, before the current punitive era, which started in 1976, prisoners sentenced for first degree murder in California (as well as most other states) served an average of 13 years. Only one person with a life sentence for murder was released from 1999 to 2002. Many contemporary lifers have served 20 years or more. Consequently, the percentage of lifers in the prison population is steadily increasing. Short termers come and go, but lifers remain and accumulate in the prisons.

In 2001, approximately 20 percent of Solano prisoners were lifers. Most lifers have an indeterminate sentence, seven to life, 15 to life, or 25 to life. A minority are LWOPs. Those with the possibility of parole are serving time for first and second degree murder, kidnapping with bodily injury or robbery, and a “third strike,” that is, a third felony conviction after two convictions for “serious felonies.”

As their numbers have increased, lifers have become an important force in the informal social organization of prisoners. Lifers have always been relatively less troublesome for management. In earlier periods, when the number of lifers was smaller, most other prisoners, who were serving much shorter sentences, usually respected lifers, left them alone but shoved them aside as unimportant actors in the prison social order. However, now that they constitute one-fifth of the prison population, they are too prominent to ignore.

Lifers know the law, the prison rules, and the ropes better than anyone else. Some of them have become convict legal experts— “writ writers”—who file petitions and lawsuits for themselves and help other prisoners with theirs. They know and are known by many of the staff, particularly the sergeants, lieutenants, and even the wardens, some of whom they have been around for years. In regard to prisoner relationships to individual staff members, lifers, compared with other prisoners, have a better idea of what to watch out for, what they can get away with, and what special considerations they can obtain.

In addition, as the years go by, lifers become more acquainted with each other and increasingly pull together, forming a social network. This friendship network extends across racial and age boundaries. Lifers don’t necessarily hang together like cars of homeboys. But they do know, respect, and to some extent cooperate with each other. Consequently, they are an important presence in the convict world and constitute a body of elder statesmen. They are sought out for advice and relied upon as go-betweens in conflicts between prisoners and between prisoners and staff.

- John Irwin, The Warehouse Prison: Disposal of the New Dangerous Class. Afterword by Barbara Owen. Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing Company, 2005. p. 99-100

[the-italian-pasta]

Putting in LWOP cuz my tire exploded yesterday so I couldn’t go to work, feeling very meh about it :/

[the-final-straw-blog]

Don Bosco Park Defense in Bologna + Bernard Jemison on Conditions & Resistance in AL Prisons

This week, two segments plus Sean Swain

Don Bosco Park Defense in Bologna

First up, an interview submitted by audio comrades in Italy about the struggle against the cementization of the city of Bologna and the defense of Don Bosco park from the expansion of a university, highways… the whole urban landscape without the input of the residents so the city can move a school rather than renovate it. This struggle, including the occupation and defense of the park, represents an innovation in urban struggles in Italy which consciously takes inspiration from the struggle to Stop Cop City in so-called Atlanta and the activities of the park defenders has forced the left-leaning municipal government and mayor to temporarily suspend the cutting of trees. [00:02:04 - 00:27:10]

Bernard Jemison on Conditions and Resistance in AL Prisons

Then, you’ll hear Bernard Jemison, an incarcerated activist held in Holman prison in Alabama talking about conditions inside the ADOC recent calls for prisoner strikes in the state by the Free Alabama Movement and their outside supporters, as well as his views on the demands being made. [00:27:57 - 01:05:10]

The demands that we mention are the following:

BILL TO REPEAL THE HABITUAL OFFENDER ACT ON THE TABLE

CIVIL CLASS ACTION LITIGATION FOR PAROLE ALREADY FILED. EVERYONE NEEDS TO SIGN UP.

PAROLE BILL ON THE TABLE

WE NEED TO ABOLISH LWOP AND CREATE AN AVENUE FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS.

NO MORE NITROGEN GAS EXECUTIONS..

STOP SELLING OUR ORGANS.

A few articles on the subjects worth reading include:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/death-rate-alabama-prisons-five-091450767.html

https://www.alabamasmartjustice.org/reports/hfoa

https://www.al.com/news/montgomery/2024/03/alabama-legislature-seeks-to-solve-missing-organ-issue.html

https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/crime/2024/03/15/death-rate-in-alabama-prisons-is-five-times-the-us-average/72936145007/

Statement of support by CCR for a strike called for by Free Alabama Movement: https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/center-constitutional-rights-stands-solidarity-mass-prison-strike

Social media accounts Bernard thinks are doing a good job covering these issues:

@Hopedealersprisonreform is Bernard on TikTok

@truthbehindbars is a private facebook Bernard contributes to

@prison_toks on TikTok

. ... . ..

Featured Track:

On Point (instrumental) by House of Pain

Check out this episode!

[fitbritt]

She had to navigate an office environment in which men - or some men - saw their female colleagues and underlings as having been hired for their own pleasure and entertainment. Sexual innuendo and advances. Porn. Where power imparted women were expected to serve as flings and office wives. She sensed a huge amount of sexual tension in an environment where female underlings were arrayed like contestants. Said he liked to be around pretty, smart women. If I were willing to work for him for a year or so and get the budget up and running, he would make sure I had a shot at management. He was a sexual harasser. And the other men in the office made fun of him for it. Men allowed to have sex with foreign nationals, married or not. Women hounded. Assumed women were weaker and not as strong minded and will allow themselves to be used.

It was automatically assumed that a woman was no more than an adjuct of her husband and that women were expected to go LWOP (leave without pay) or resign when their spouses were transferred overseas. Only option is to go overseas as a dependent. She kept hoping a slot would materialize, enabling her to get her spy career back on track. Instead the station chose to avail itself of her free labor as a wife.

Station began sending her Lisa out under "housewife cover" the term for women whose very inconspicuousness made her useful.

[trench]

Ethan Crumbley sentenced to LWOP for Oxford High School shooting

By now, you should know the story. In late November 2021, a then 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley shot and killed four students of Oxford High School in Michigan. With the handgun his parents bought him, Crumbley shot and killed 16-year-old Tate Myre, 14-year-old Hana St. Julian, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin, and 17-year-old Justin Shilling. Several others were also severely wounded in the…

[mrjasonmills]

[airacoon]

Jul 29

So yesterday is Friday and for some reason, my mood is genuinely nice. Probably because:

a. It's Friday AND pay day

b. I got my LWOP back

c. I'm scheduled to go home because of my dentist appointment on Monday.

d. I've been so down in the past few days. This is the pambawi

So I didn't put myself into so much work. Thinking I'd work at home on the weekends anyway for an important presentation on Thursday.

I ended the day by watching Barbie in the Cinema 🏩 My mood was so good no one can destroy it.

********

So, I managed to go home (finally) and when I arrived...

FLOOD. The water went into our house. My room. Our things are all over the place.

I'm stressed. I want to go back to that apartment. But I have to think clearly before making the next move.

>> The lesson here is to communicate with this "family" and ask first if there's flood before going home.

********

No-context lesson of the day:

Learn to let go, Aria. You are never going to get the acknowledgement you want. Ref your grudges and go abt your life.

[brownkatana]

I’m the older sister in an immigrant household I feel like I am in jail and I don’t know when I’m gonna go out, despite that I know I didn’t get convicted to LWOP.

[honors410-1011]

What Break Do Children Deserve: A Timeline of Supreme Court Cases

An understanding of where the first attempts to modify the juvenile justice system is crucial in order to understand the current rulings on the sentencing of adolescents. Justice Kennedy, a member of the Supreme Court, has been pivotal to shifting how adolescents are treated by the justice system. He has often been the deciding vote that turned the tide in favor of leniency towards juveniles.

The first questions raised pertaining to adolescents was whether capital punishment should be allowed for juveniles 15 years old and younger. Thompson v. Oklahoma followed a case in 1988 in which 15-year-old William Wayne Thompson and three others murdered his former brother-in-law. Thompson's attorneys claimed his death sentence was unconstitutional since there is a great capacity for growth and change in younger individuals, making capital punishment harsh and inappropriate. The Supreme Court agreed that there is a distinction in culpability between juveniles and adults. The final ruling was that the execution of individuals under 16 is unconstitutional as it violates the 8th amendment.

About a year later, the Court was asked to determine if the age limit should be extended to 16 or 17, which would prohibit execution of anyone at or under these ages. Stanford v. Kentucky followed the case of Kevin Stanford, a 17-year-old who raped and murdered Barbel Poor after robbing her place of work. The Court refused to extend the same leniency to older age groups so execution as a punishment remained for older age divisions.

Discussion on juvenile death penalty would reemerge in 2005, where the Supreme Court was faced with the Roper v. Simmons case. Majority of the judges would overrule Stanford which enforced that executing individuals under the age of 18 violates the 8th amendment. The Court noted that a lack of maturity in juveniles makes it difficult to claim that adolescents were fully knowledgable when committing the crime.

The Court's final decision on Roper v. Simmons, allowed the court system to challenge other extreme sentences as it pertains to juveniles. Graham v. Florida in 2010 followed the case of Graham and three other juveniles who attempted to rob a restaurant. One of Graham's accomplice used a metal bar to strike the manager in the back of the head. After Graham continued to commit crimes, he would be sentenced to life in prison without parole (LWOP). The Court agreed that life in prison without the possibility of parole for nonhomicide offenses violated the 8th amendment. Therefore, giving juveniles a LWOP sentence was deemed unconstitutional.

Approximately two years after the Graham case, there were further modifications to the juvenile justice system. In Miller v. Alabama, the Court prohibited LWOP for adolescents who committed homicides before the age of 18.

Four years after the decision for Miller v. Alabama, the Court decided that Miller should be retroactive. In Montgomery v. Louisiana the majority of the Court agreed that current adults who were sentenced as juveniles and given LWOP could have their case reexamined and be potentially set free. It took several years to rectify the policies that would determine how severely juveniles were punished. Even now, it's difficult to ensure that states follow the new adjustments.

Sources:

https://slideplayer.com/slide/14055342/

https://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/what-break-do-children-deserve