Tribute to Dr. Jon Marc Taylor, a Prison Education Crusader
"On December 27, at the ago of 54, Missouri state prisoner and prison education crusader Dr. Jon Marc Taylor died of a heart attack in his prison cell. For those who knew him, and those who knew of his amazing transformation and contributions to the field of prison education, he will be sorely missed.
The story of Jon Marc Taylor is anything but the typical story of a prisoner. Incarcerated since the age of 19 as a result of crimes committed in 1980, Dr. Taylor is perhaps the very ideal of reformation and rehabilitation. While incarcerated he earned his high school diploma, bachelor's of science and master's of arts through Ball State University, and finally his Doctorate in Public Administration from Kennedy Western University.
These are merely his educational feats, his advocacy feats, such as leading the charge to restore prisoner Pell grant eligibility, are a whole other story of remarkable success and realizing the seemingly impossible..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris...c-ta_b_9104560.html?utm_hp_ref=crime&ir=Crime
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James Ridgeways Solitary Reporting
"...there may be no reporter in the United States who has collected more stories of solitary-confinement prisoners than the veteran investigative reporter James Ridgeway.
Since it is virtually impossible for a reporter to gain access to a solitary-confinement unit, Ridgeway came up with another strategy. I wanted to use the prisoners themselves as reporters, he told me. Of course, thats taboo in the mainstream press, since we all know theyre liars and double dealers and escape artists. He chuckled. But breaking that taboo didnt bother me at all, he said. My position was: all we want to do here is, we want to know what is going on inside.
Each week, Ridgeway leaves his home in Washington, D.C., walks to his local post office, and returns with about fifty letters from men and women locked in solitary-confinement units in prisons around the country. The letters began arriving in 2010, soon after Ridgeway launched a Web site, called Solitary Watch, with an editor named Jean Casella. When we started, there was nobody writing about this, she said. Ridgeway was then seventy-three years old. He dug into his retirement fund to help cover startup costs, and now, when he goes to the post office each week, he pushes a walker...
Ridgeway will turn eighty this year. Lately, his eyesight has been weakening, making it much harder for him to read and file all the letters that sit in piles atop his desk. I have so many right now I cant face them, he said. But he has no plans to stop. Most of these guys I write to, all they want is to reach out and have a human hand, he said. I used to think they wanted their cases dealt with, but all they really want is just to have some sort of correspondence, some kind of contact with the outside world..."
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/james-ridgeways-solitary-reporting
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicago Announces New Police Training For Dealing With Mentally Ill
The U.S. Justice Department is currently investigating the Chicago police's use of deadly force, among other issues.
"CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, facing sharp criticism over police shootings of civilians, announced reforms on Friday to address how police and other emergency workers respond to the mentally ill, including new crisis training for officers...
The reforms would increase the number of officers who receive a 40-hour "Crisis Intervention Team," training course, which teaches the best ways to de-escalate situations with people in crisis, especially the mentally ill, the mayor's office said.
The number of officers who receive this training would expand to 2,800 from 1,890 this year, so each district will have a CIT officer staffed on every watch.
In addition, all of the department's 12,000 police officers would receive eight hours of training on mental health awareness, and 911 dispatchers will be trained on identifying situations requiring crisis-intervention tactics..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...72?ir=Crime§ion=us_crime&utm_hp_ref=crime
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------