Category Archives: Law

I was told that these people were going to be prosecuted —Susan Leavens

Received 27 July on

Shouldn’t the people running the facilities … be held accountable? -jsq

Ms.
Jane Osborn,

I believe this was not meant to make the public’s attention. When I
was told to write statements I was told that these people were going to
be prosecuted. Several months went by and this remained silent, I waited
for the county board memebers to to do the right thing. What happened
was the infamous memo; which indicated we were not allowed to contact any
law enforcement agency about crimes or we would be held accountable for
discrediting a county employee. And it would be considered as an attack
against a county employee. Whoever if we contacted our county manager
it would be handled (I’m not quite sure how many times he needed to be
contacted about the issues at the shelter). As I clearly remember in the
first meeting he had at the shelter many years ago… Joe Prichard said
“I’ll fire everyone except Linda Patelski, Kay Jones and Michelle
Shultz” so I’m a little confused, the memo we got on September 22,
2010 said we wouldn’t be retaliated against if we followed the chain
of command (so does it mean if we report crimes to law enforcement we
will be retaliated against?) Clearly so, I assure you. The issues need
to be resolved.

-Susan Leavens

Where is law enforcement? —Jane Osborn

Received 27 July on

Shouldn’t the people running the facilities … be held accountable? -jsq

And I continue to ask, since my email of a couple of months ago to
the Sheriff never received an answer, where is law enforcement when
there clearly are illegal acts of animal cruelty occurring here? We
made a big deal (appropriately) several years ago about a dog that was
intentionally set on fire by local people, but these violations are all
the more difficult to understand since they appear to be happening at
the hands of the very people sworn to protect our county’s animals.

-Jane Osborn

CCA and The GEO Group have been accused of human rights abuses —United Methodist Church

Methodists lobby private prison companies CCA and GEO
as shareholders about human rights issues.
Seems like this doesn’t help with the 2008 United Methodist Church
Resolution 3281, Welcoming the Migrant to the US, which advocated the
“elimination of privately-operated detention centers,”
but at least they’re doing something.
I expect what they’ll accomplish by such lobbying is to demonstrate
that private prison companies have no intention of addressing
human rights issues, because that would cut into their profits.

Published by General Board of Pension and Health Benefits of The United Methodist Church July 2011,

Faith-Based Investors Take a Closer Look at Private Prisons,

In 2011, members of the United Methodist Interagency Task Force on
Immigration approached the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits


(General Board) with concerns about two private prison companies in
the General Board’s investment portfolio: Corrections Corporation of
America (CCA) and The GEO Group, Inc. The United Methodist Interagency
Task Force on Immigration was created following the General Conference
of 2004. Membership includes representatives from the General Board of
Global Ministries (GBGM), the General Commission on Religion and Race,
the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS), Methodists Associated to
Represent the Cause of Hispanic Americans (MARCHA) and two bishops. In
addition, GBCS has shared its concern that CCA and The GEO Group have
been accused of human rights abuses of young people, immigrants and
people of color.

CCA and The GEO Group are the two largest private prison companies in the
U.S., operating and/or owning, respectively, 111 and 118 correctional,
detention and/or residential treatment facilities. In 2010, CCA earned
nearly $1.7 billion; The GEO Group, $1.3 billion.

Investor Engagement with Private Prisons

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Quitman 10 host organization of NAACP in Brooks County



The Quitman 10 started out as activists, and now they’re
taking it a step further: they hosted an
organizational meeting for an NAACP branch in Brooks County.

George Boston Rhynes was there and made this video
of students singing about

education, not incarceration:




Education, not Incarceration

Organizational Meeting, Brooks County NAACP,

Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, 18 July 2010

Videos by George Boston Rhynes for K.V.C.I.

George videoed the whole meeting and posted it on

his blog.
He wrote in

his introduction to this series of videos:

Continue reading →

Disparity in Criminal Justice

Is a private prison “good clean industry” as a local leader once told me?



According to the CRF [Constitutional Rights Foundation], over 25 percent
of black males and 16 percent of Hispanic males spend time in prison,
while only 4 percent of white males do so. Blacks make up only 12 percent
of the United States population.

Why?

Continue reading →

The lawyers are in charge at VLCIA —Roy Copeland

Thanks, Roy, for clarifying that:



“It’s forthcoming. I can’t tell you anything because quite frankly,
lawyers have their own schedules. I literally do not know specific
details because I’m not privy to that information as of this moment.”

Well, it’s good to know somebody’s in charge at the Authority.

My mistake in thinking
they just elected you Chairman.

Much more in David Rodock’s story in the VDT today,

Decision still looms for future of once proposed biomass plant site.

-jsq

VDT gets feisty with VLCIA over biomass

After noting that the Industrial Authority still hasn’t resolved

still hasn’t decided about Sterling Planet’s land purchase offer
even though

they had a meeting last week at which they could have,
with their new executive director and their new chairman,
the VDT editorialized today:

The IA promised a future of more open communication.



And yet Tuesday, the board’s attorney refused to answer any questions
regarding the potential sale of the land to the company, citing a caveat
in the Open Records Act that protects information involved in a current
legal issue. The Times issued an Open Records request Tuesday to obtain
the information requested or copies of the litigation documents, assuming
that since the attorney cited this exemption, there is an active lawsuit
over the land sale.

Good point!

The VDT acknowledged its own mistake and moved to correct it:

Continue reading →

Lawsuit against school charter surrender

In Tennessee, supporters of education decided to fight a bogus consolidation attempt.

Lawrence Buser and Sherri Drake Silence wrote for the Memphis Commercial Appeal 12 February 2011,

Shelby County Schools files suit over Memphis charter surrender:
Complaint says city shirking duty to kids; rapid takeover ‘impossible’



Shelby County school leaders have taken their fight against consolidation
to the courts, filing a federal lawsuit Friday alleging that the city
school board’s “irrational” charter surrender deprives Memphis students
of their constitutional rights.

In the lawsuit, suburban district leaders also blast the city of Memphis
and the Memphis City Council for supporting “the (MCS) board’s unplanned
and un-thoughtful effort to abandon its obligations to the children
of Memphis.”

Hm, I wonder if there would be
legal grounds for this around here?

-jsq

The end game is …. —Karen Noll

Received yesterday on

“the qualified voters voting thereon in each separate school system proposed to be consolidated”. -jsq



Questions abound: Why is it that Lowndes County residents will not be
voting on the most important issue to face their school system since
its inception in 1950?

If I lived in the county I’d be mad that CUEE and the Chamber of Commerce
chose to leave my vote out of such a very important decision.

Quick fact: Consolidation alone will not save money & Consolidation alone
will not improve academic success, according to

the Vinson Institute report commissioned by CUEE and the Chamber.


Further Query: Why would CUEE and the Chamber of Commerce spend $50
grand to collect the signatures for the petition causing the City of
Valdosta to spend thousands of tax dollars (2 staff dedicated to task &
4 temps hired) to verify the signatures on the petition?

Continue reading →

Joe Pritchard notified of euthanasia violation March 2011


Joe Pritchard told us in May:

“We were not able to substantiate … accusations other than that … castration of pig.”

Yet he was notified in March of a euthanasia violation and missing drugs.

This PDF
contains an inspection report dated “03-18-11” from the Ga. Dept. of Ag.
Animal Protection Section.
The images contain excerpts related to a euthanasia violation. -jsq


Recordkeeping – Page 186 on 01-26-11 was

missing on the Euthanasia paperwork. Total of 36cc

unaccounted for. Violation 40-13-13.08 [11] issued.

Continue reading →