Pill for Aids

Healthy gay men who took an anti-AIDS pill every day were well protected against contracting H.I.V. in a study suggesting that a new weapon against the epidemic has emerged.

Enlarge This Image

Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

Truvada, a combination of antiretroviral drugs made by Gilead Sciences, costs around $13,000 a year in the United States.

Related

• An AIDS Advance, Hiding in the Open (November 28, 2010)

• U.N. Reports Decrease in New H.I.V. Infections (November 24, 2010)

Readers' Comments

Readers shared their thoughts on this article.

• Read All Comments (73) »

In the study, published Tuesday by theNew England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that the men taking Truvada, a common combination of two antiretroviral drugs, were 44 percent less likely to get infected with the virus that causes AIDS than an equal number taking a placebo.

But when only the men whose blood tests showed that they had taken their pill faithfully every day were considered, the pill was more than 90 percent effective, said Dr.Anthony S. Fauci, head of the infectious diseases division of the National Institutes of Health, which paid for the study along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

“That’s huge,” Dr. Fauci said. “That says it all for me.”

The large study, nicknamed iPrEx, included nearly 2,500 men and was coordinated by the Gladstone Institutes of the University of California, San Francisco.

The results are the best news in the AIDS field in years, even better than this summer’s revelation that a vaginal microbicide protected 39 percent of all the women testing it and 54 percent of those who used it faithfully.

Also, Truvada, a combination of tenofovir and emtricitabine that prevents the virus from replicating, is available by prescription in many countries right now, while the microbicide gel is made in only small amounts for clinical trials.

The protection, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, is also the first new form available to men, especially men who cannot use condoms because they sell sex, are in danger of prison rape, are under pressure from partners or lose their inhibitions when drunk or high.

It “does not involve getting permission from the other partner, and that’s important,” said Phill Wilson, president of the Black AIDS Institute, which focuses on the epidemic among blacks.

Michel Sidibé, the head of the United Nations agency that fights AIDS, called it “a breakthrough that will accelerate the prevention revolution.”

AIDS experts and the researchers issued several caveats about the study’s limitations, emphasizing that it looked only at gay men and Truvada. More studies, now under way, are needed to see whether the results can be duplicated, whether other antiretroviral drugs will work and whether they will protect heterosexual men and women, prostitutes and drug users who share needles.

There is no medical reason to think the pill would not work in other groups, since it attacks the virus in the blood, not in the vaginal wall as a microbicide does. Pre-exposure prophylaxis became possible only in recent years as newer, less-toxic antiretroviral drugs were developed.

Some scientists fear that putting more people on the drugs will speed the evolution of drug-resistant strains, though that did not occur in the study.

Because Truvada is available now, some clinicians already prescribe it for prophylaxis, Dr. Fauci said, but whether doing so becomes official policy will depend on discussions by theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, medical societies and others, which could take months.

Although the C.D.C. would prefer that doctors wait for further studies, more will probably prescribe the drugs now that this study is out, said Dr. Kevin Fenton, chief of the agency’s AIDS division, so the C.D.C. will soon release suggested guidelines.

The agency will suggest that the drug be prescribed only with close medical supervision and used only with other safe-sex practices.

“The results are encouraging, but it’s not time for gay men to throw away their condoms,” Dr. Fenton said.

AIDS advocacy groups were very excited by the results.

“If you comply with it, this works really well,” said Chris Collins, policy director of amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research. “This is too big to walk away from.”

Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC, an organization that lobbies for AIDS prevention, called the study “a great day for the fight against AIDS” and said gay men and others at risk needed to be consulted on the next steps.

In the study, 2,499 men in six countries — Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, South Africa, Thailand and the United States — were randomly assigned to take either Truvada or a placebo and were followed for up to three years. For ethical reasons, they were also given condoms, treatment for venereal diseases and advice on safe sex. There were 64 infections in the placebo group and 36 in the group that took Truvada, a 44 percent risk reduction.

Two in the Truvada group turned out to have been infected before the study began. When the remaining 34 were tested, only 3 had any drug in their blood — suggesting that the other 31 had not taken their pills.

Different regimens, like taking the pills not daily but only when sex is anticipated, also need testing.

Also, many men in the study failed to take all of their pills, and some clearly lied about it. For example, some who claimed to take them 50 percent or 90 percent of the time had little or no drug in their bloodstreams.

The pills caused no major side effects, though men who began to show signs of liver problems were taken off them quickly. Some men stopped taking the pills because they disliked relatively minor side effects like nausea and headaches. Also, some stopped bothering once they suspected that they might be taking a placebo.

“People have their own reasons,” Mr. Collins said. “People don’t take their Lipitor every day either.”

A major question now is who will pay for the drug.

In the United States, Truvada, made by Gilead Sciences, costs $12,000 to $14,000 a year. In very poor countries, generic versions cost as little as 40 cents a pill.

Globally, only about 5 million of the 33 million people infected with the AIDS virus are on antiretroviral drugs, and in an era of tight foreign-aid budgets, that number is not expected to rise quickly.

Hundreds of millions of Africans, Eastern Europeans and Asians are at risk and could benefit from prophylaxis, but that would cost tens of billions of dollars.

In this country, insurers and Medicare normally pay for the drugs, and the Ryan White Act covers the cost for the poor, but none of these payers yet have policies on supplying the drugs to healthy people.

No participant in the study developed resistance to tenofovir. Three were found to have strains resistant to emtricitabine, but investigators believe that all three were infected before the study began at levels low enough to have been missed by their first H.I.V. tests.

Another concern was that the participants would become so fearless that they would stop using condoms, but the opposite effect was seen — they used condoms more often and had fewer sex partners. But that can also be a result of simply being enrolled in a study and getting a steady diet of advice on safe sex and free condoms, the investigators said.

Other trials of pre-exposure prophylaxis have about 20,000 volunteers enrolled around the world. Their results are expected over the next two years.

A version of this article appeared in print on November 24, 2010, on 

keeping track,, IH

Pell Grant restored to Prisoners seeking education

Other exciting news that you may have heard is that
Julie Weiss told me that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island will
introduce legislation to repeal the Pell Grant ban on prisoners.
Finally, Jon Marc Taylor who wrote his doctoral thesis on Pell Grants
and prisoners told me in a phone conversation that two staffers from
Julie's group will visit him in prison to receive as much info as
possible about the issue. Charlie and Pauline

Back to School: A Guide to Continuing Your Education after Prison

Some inmates are able to pursue educational goals during a period of
incarceration, but few leave prison feeling that they have fully met
their educational needs. In the recent national Serious and Violent
Offender Program evaluation, 94% of adult male inmates interviewed as
they approached release identified education as a personal reentry
need. Inmates facing release from prison want to know how they can
either continue or begin to access adult education, post secondary
education, and/or occupationally specific education and training
programs. But there are some challenges in moving from knowing you
need it to knowing how to get it!

In 2008 the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Prisoner Reentry
Institute, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,
developed a planning and information guide for inmates nearing
release. In 2010, the Department of Education updated the guide to
reflect the most recent information on federal student financial aid.
Back to School includes topics ranging from setting personal
educational goals and committing to a long term plan of educational
development, to knowing exactly where to go and what to ask for to
find, access, and pay for an educational program.

This 64 page document is in the public domain and can be downloaded
and reproduced from the web site of John Jay College at
(http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/BacktoSchoolSummer2010Revision.pdf ). Free
copies are available in limited quantities from the Department of
Education’s materials distribution center, EDPubs. (Visit EDPubs at
www.EDPubs.gov, call 1-877-4EDPUBS, or write to ED Pubs; P.O. Box
22207; Alexandria, VA 22304 and request item number ED005088P.)
 

Constitution Day September 2010

So you think you know the Constitution..lol

http://www.constitutionfacts.com/?page=quiz.cfm

“The Constitution, on this hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the Judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please.”



— Thomas Jefferson
hmm TJ had his visionary glasses on that day

http://www.constitutionfacts.com/?section=constitution&page=readTheConstitution.cfm

and I QUOTE..
POWER FORBIDDEN TO CONGRESS


Section 9. [1] The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.



[2] The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.



[3] No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.



[4] No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken. (Note: See the Sixteenth Amendment.)



[5] No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.



[6] No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.



[7] No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.



[8] No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Section 10. [1] No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.



[2] No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.



[3] No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Monroe Doctrine Review by James Monroe

James Monroe's seventh annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823. The European powers, according to Monroe, were obligated to respect the Western Hemisphere as the United States' sphere of interest.



President James Monroe’s 1823 annual message to Congress contained the Monroe Doctrine, which warned European powers not to interfere in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere.


Understandably, the United States has always taken a particular interest in its closest neighbors – the nations of the Western Hemisphere. Equally understandably, expressions of this concern have not always been favorably regarded by other American nations.


The Monroe Doctrine is the best known U.S. policy toward the Western Hemisphere. Buried in a routine annual message delivered to Congress by President James Monroe in December 1823, the doctrine warns European nations that the United States would not tolerate further colonization or puppet monarchs. The doctrine was conceived to meet major concerns of the moment, but it soon became a watchword of U.S. policy in the Western Hemisphere.


The Monroe Doctrine was invoked in 1865 when the U.S. government exerted diplomatic and military pressure in support of the Mexican President Benito Juárez. This support enabled Juárez to lead a successful revolt against the Emperor Maximilian, who had been placed on the throne by the French government.






Almost 40 years later, in 1904, European creditors of a number of Latin American countries threatened armed intervention to collect debts. President Theodore Roosevelt promptly proclaimed the right of the United States to exercise an “international police power” to curb such “chronic wrongdoing.” As a result, U. S. Marines were sent into Santo Domingo in 1904, Nicaragua in 1911, and Haiti in 1915, ostensibly to keep the Europeans out. Other Latin American nations viewed these interventions with misgiving, and relations between the “great Colossus of the North” and its southern neighbors remained strained for many years.






In 1962, the Monroe Doctrine was invoked symbolically when the Soviet Union began to build missile-launching sites in Cuba. With the support of the Organization of American States, President John F. Kennedy threw a naval and air quarantine around the island. After several tense days, the Soviet Union agreed to withdraw the missiles and dismantle the sites. Subsequently, the United States dismantled several of its obsolete air and missile bases in Turkey.






(Information excerpted from Milestone Documents [Washington, DC: The National Archives and Records Administration, 1995] pp. 26–29.)




recently brought to my attention.. history fans..

George Allen address the National Jewish Retreat this week

George Allen.. excerpts..
http://www.georgeallen.com/speeches?ContentRecord_id=9f9dc4c7-7cac-41dd-85ea-a0f3277fd530
My Political Philosophy was mostly guided by Gov. Ronald Reagan, who came to LA Rams practices. Then, at UVA studying Thomas Jefferson’s Statute of Religious Freedom and the Declaration of Independence. For me, Mr. Jefferson, in his 1801 Inaugural Address, best defined the Sum of Good Government as:




“…A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.”



In my book “What Washington Can Learn from the World of Sports”, I write “No One Pays to See Officials Officiate”.



Prior to that day, the Jewish aspect made no sense because there was never any discernable reason to think my mother’s parents, my grandparents – the Lumbrosos or Garcin, my grandmother – were of the Jewish faith. I knew my father was raised Catholic and we all were raised as Presbyterians-Protestants.




I then followed up and asked if any of her family way back were of the Jewish religious faith? I asked my mother about the possible Portuguese and Jewish roots, I simply said “is there anything to this, many centuries ago?”



After this last of my innocent, cross-examination questions in between spoons of cereal, my mother very seriously told me that she would tell me “something” but only if I swore not to tell anyone. No one. I replied “okay”. She insisted that I “swear” on Popop’s head that I tell no one. Popop was the nickname for my grandfather and “swearing on Popop’s head” was code for deadly serious Top Secret. I said “yes, okay. I Swear on Popop’s head that I won’t tell anyone. What is it?”
My mother then haltingly told me that “Popop was Jewish.”
I was surprised. Mostly thinking why all these years this was kept a secret and this was a fascinating discovery. I thought there must be a good way to share this newly discovered aspect with others. I thought it to be interestingly positive. My first audible response to my mother was “why didn’t you ever tell us?” and “amazing, people need to know this.”

Georgetown University Pathology Lab closed; Breast Cancer Testing HER 2

http://www.darkdaily.com/?s=HER2
Last Friday, The Washington Post broke the news that Georgetown University Hospital (GUH) had closed the pathology laboratory that performed certain breast cancer tests. The action—described as an “unprecedented” suspension by GUH Chief Medical Officer Stephen Evans, M.D.—was taken in response to an investigation of the pathology laboratory by federal officials.

The closure of the laboratory followed an inspection on July 19, 2010 by officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and inspectors from the College of American Pathologists (CAP). Hospital officials say the molecular testing laboratory in question will be closed as long as four to eight weeks. During this time, specimens are being referred to outside laboratory testing sources.
The events described by the Post indicate that allegedly improper testing of breast cancer patients for HER2 took place during an 11-month period, beginning in May 2009. Georgetown University Hospital has confirmed issues with breast cancer testing and it is known that the tissues of 249 women have been retested by independent labs.
Post reporters Lena H. Sun and Carol D. Leonnig wrote that “the [GUH] lab received failing results from a quality-control assessment of its HER2 testing in January 2010, and in the following weeks an employee asked supervisors to notify patients and recommend retesting. In an April complaint to hospital administrators, she alleged that nothing had happened, according to a federal official and Georgetown staff. The tests were outsourced later that month, and the two women’s physicians were notified of the new, positive findings in the past two weeks as federal regulators began their inspection of the lab.”
According the timeline of events presented by The Washington Post, an employee of the pathology laboratory, upon learning about the failing results of the quality control testing done in January 2010, had asked supervisors to notify patients possibly affected by the findings and recommend retesting.
The matter didn’t end there. Reporters Sun and Leonnig described the situation, writing that “The employee, whose name has not been released, hired a lawyer, who brought her complaint to top hospital officials in April, a federal official and Georgetown staff said. The employee alleged that the lab director, Dan Hartmann, and other supervisors had rejected her suggestion in March that patients be alerted to the problem or their samples retested.”

Dan Hartmann, Ph.D., is identified on the Georgetown University web site as Professor in the Department of Pathology and Scientific Director of the Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory.

Apparently, unsatisfied with the response by hospital administration to the April complaint, Debra Katz, the attorney for the laboratory staff member, filed a formal complaint to CMS early in July. A copy of the complaint was also sent to the College of American Pathologists. Both organizations then began investigations into the matter. The Washington Post reported that a federal official had said that the complaint “expressed concern that Georgetown was taking a long time to do the retesting and was not sharing the problem with patients.”

The Post wrote that, “In interviews this week, Evans said the hospital learned early this year that lab staff members were not using proper temperature, timing, and tissue-embedding methods in processing samples. That caused the lab to fail the quality-control test for HER2, he said. The lab corrected its procedures, he said.”

For its part, Georgetown University Hospital has vigorously asserted that it wants its “policies and procedures to impeccable,” and that the laboratory “passed two subsequent quality control tests, voluntarily performed retesting that showed a high accuracy rate and is sending other work to outside labs.” For corrective action, “the hospital is increasing the number of quality control workers at the lab,” among other steps.
As to the patients possibly affected by these issues, Georgetown provided some information. The Post said that, around the time of the July 19 visit by CMS officials and CAP inspectors, Georgetown University Hospital “began alerting the physicians of patients whose tests came back positive for HER2 breast cancer. After two rounds of outside retesting, six patients were found positive, and their physicians were notified. Four of those had separately received other independent negative results. In the end, Georgetown said, only two patients were misdiagnosed.”

For pathologists and clinical laboratory managers, the events unfolding at the pathology laboratory department at Georgetown University Hospital are both a reminder and a warning. Setting aside the issues relating to laboratory testing quality and integrity, this situation has many hallmarks of the classic whistleblower case.

Was this laboratory staff member correctly requesting a necessary response to valid concerns about lab test accuracy and quality that might affect the diagnoses and treatment decisions of those patients affected by the breast cancer tests in question? It seems the action to suspend testing at the Georgetown molecular diagnostics laboratory in July would indicate that the basic issues triggered by this employee’s request to her supervisor earlier this year had some merit.
Thus, it would be timely for pathologists and clinical laboratory managers to review the policies and procedures in place at their respective laboratories to ensure that employees who call attention to situations of lab testing accuracy or quality are handled responsibly, ethically, and to the best interests of the patients whose specimens were tested.

Improper Genetic Testing and Delayed Corrections Lead to Shut Down at Georgetown
Dark Daily recent news coverage on HER2

WOW ,, good for the lab employee, hope they have a job .. and retain his/her attorney
I am not surprised at all...

as a Med Tech and oncology tech,, Good for them,, I am sure Georgetown will fix this.. should have never happened however.

John Kerry snaps about Isabel... his yacht

I couldn't help it,, when I saw that
http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/john-kerry-yacht-sales-tax-rhode-island/2010/07/27/id/365777?s=al&promo_code=A5D4-1
Top News

Sen. John Kerry on Monday snapped at reporters and tried to dodge questions about his new $7 million, 76-foot yacht.

On Friday, the Boston Herald reported that the Massachusetts Democrat had berthed his yacht Isabel in Rhode Island and suggested he was seeking to avoid paying about taxes..
What? Avoid paying taxes.. now who would want to do that?. LOL
Article says Rhode Island does not charge sales taxes on yachts.. unlike Massachusetts..
I have mixed feelings about this because,, I actually agree with John Kerry, why in  the world
would anyone want to give away 70K ,, yes 70k in taxes? ....
so there ya go....not a limosine liberal afterall.. proof positive

Obama use your brain McChrystal is having PTSD temporary aberation

Watching the McChrystal scandola .. generated by the Rolling Stone reporter..
maybe McChristal is suffering from extended post war or PTSD
You should not accept his resignation or buy into this media feeding frenzy
just make amends.. people have anger and aberrations and react strangely and lash out
under stress .. it is not about you Barack Obama,,
he is just responding to stress. He needs to remain there or troops and efforts will be demoralized.
For a change David Gergen and I agree.. a reprimand is Ok; other than that
remember he is a warrior under stress

Gulf Oil Spill DEBACLE continues Pelicans and Dolphins

This is totally outrageous. Two weeks ago after hearing about the oil spill--I suggested
that ANYBODY and ANYTHING be used, tires, submarines, mud, tires,,
to stop the leak,, now it turns out for some reason the exterior containment Islands to prevent the oil
from reaching the nesting areas also are not working. I just typed in the Oil absorbing
and what came back.. BOOMS designed for oil spills .. all of this is already available
Dolphins are washed up, the Pelicans are covered with oil,,
and guess what a COMMISSION to study this is appointed!!
The Corp of Engineers who were part of the Hoover Dam know how to work with huge water issues
the Navy does; the Coast Guard does; BP should just PAY for everything, obviously
their expertise is limited.. they DRILL wells. they don't contain WELLS for living
evidently someone slept through quality control
Kits, Spill Containment Berms, Spill Pallets, Spill Containment Booms, Safety Cabinets and Spill Clean-up Products

Your online source for absorbents and spill control products. Our top quality products include pads, mats, socks, booms, spill kits, spill containment berms, oil spill containment booms, storm water products, spill pallets, marine absorbents, safety cabinets, poly drums and much more.

That was just my first time hit... sigh..

Great Supreme Court Decision‏

*Justices Bar Life Terms for Youths Who Haven’t Killed**By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS*WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court has ruled that teenagers may notbe locked up for life without chance of parole if they haven't killedanyone. By a 5-4 vote Monday, the court says the Constitution requires thatyoung people serving life sentences must at least be considered forrelease. The court ruled in the case of Terrance Graham, who was implicated inarmed robberies when he was 16 and 17. Graham, now 22, is in prison inFlorida, which holds more than 70 percent of juvenile defendantslocked up for life for crimes other than homicide. "The state has denied him any chance to later demonstrate that he isfit to rejoin society based solely on a nonhomicide crime that hecommitted while he was a child in the eyes of the law," JusticeAnthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion. "This the EighthAmendment does not permit." Chief Justice John Roberts agreed with Kennedy and the court's fourliberal justices about Graham. But Roberts said he does not believethe ruling should extend to all young offenders who are locked up forcrimes other than murder; he was a "no" vote on the ruling. Life sentences with no chance of parole are rare and harsh forjuveniles tried as adults and convicted of crimes less serious thankilling, although roughly three dozen states allow for the possibilityof such prison terms. Just over 100 prison inmates in the UnitedStates are serving those terms, according to data compiled byopponents of the sentences. Those inmates are in Florida and seven other states -- California,Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska and South Carolina --according to a Florida State University study. More than 2,000 otherjuveniles are serving life without parole for killing someone. Theirsentences are not affected by Monday's decision. Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissentedfrom Monday's ruling. Thomas criticized the majority for imposing "its own sense of moralityand retributive justice" on state lawmakers and voters who chose togive state judges the option of life-without-parole sentences. --

Gulf Coast Oil Spill.. where are all the engineers?

Correcting my own blog.. yes I know it was deep underwater spill
Where are all those Navy underwater engineers? This impacts the entire USA for a LONG time
why can't they deliver some junk subs and plug the hole? nuclear subs can go that far and explore the area and figure it out.. surely! Maybe the alien underwater technology can be of some use.. sigh,,this is friggin planetary emergency and ALL contingencies MUST be used and explored!
or check out the Pyramid for the
scheme about side angle venting off the main leak? I saw that on Ancient History or Nat Geo
that is amazing about the big pyramid having those V vents in there to produce Hydrogen
it could happen that way.. why can't the underwater weapons etc/ engineers adapt and employ ..and check out technology used .. where is Red Adair when we need him?

I am not an engineer and I can even project better scenarios than the one I saw on CNN where they are putting a big rigged cap on it and stand back and PRAY..
yes I do pray this will take more than sticking a finger in the dyke and hoping it holds

http://www.redadair.com/

DA MAN

On the CURE front international and prison reform front

UNITED STATES HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN CORRECTIONAL PRACTICES
A contribution to the 2010 UN Universal Periodic Review
By NGO International CURE





The Universal Periodic Review (UPR), established by the UN General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006, is a new human rights mechanism. Through the UPR, the Human Rights Council (HRC) reviews, on a periodic basis, the fulfillment by each of the United Nations’ 192 Member States of their human rights obligations and commitments. The 2010 UPR includes an assessment of the United States adherence to its commitments. CURE’s assessments in the following concern only issues in correctional practices as guided by ratified human rights documents



I. ACCESS TO THE COURTS

II. CONTROL UNITS

III. EDUCATION IN PRISON

IV. MEDICAL CARE IN PRISONS

V. SEXUAL SECURITY

VI. COMMUNITY TIES; VOTING and FAMILY

VII. DEATH PENALTY and LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE

VIII. LIFE WITH PAROLE

IX. MENTALLY ILL IN PRISON

X. PRIVATE PRISONS

XI. TELEPHONE SERVICE IN PRISONS

XII. SLAVERY, FORCED LABOR, AND WORK IN PRISONS

XIII. SEX OFFENDERS



I. ACCESS TO THE COURTS

A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS

Article 14, Paragraph 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by the US: “Minimum guarantees: to be informed promptly and in detail in an understandable language the nature and cause of charges; to have adequate time and facilities for preparation of a defense and communication with counsel of one’s own choosing; or legal assistance assigned without payment if one is indigent; to have free assistance of an interpreter.”

Article 2, Paragraph 3 states: “Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes: To ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms as herein recognized are violated shall have an effective remedy, notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”
Article 5 (a) of the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD): “the right to equal treatment before the tribunals and all other organs administering justice.”

B. ANALYSIS.

A report, titled “Lessons Not Learned,” by the Innocence Project, detailed 23 wrongful convictions in New York that have been overturned through DNA evidence.
1. Eyewitness misidentification played a role in 13 of the 23 wrongful convictions in New York that were overturned.
2. In 10 of the 23 cases in New York, innocent people falsely confessed or admitted to crimes that DNA later proved they did not commit.
3. Limited or unreliable forensic science played a role in 10 of the 23 wrongful convictions in New York that were overturned.

C. VIOLATIONS.

ICCPR: Inadequate legal defense for persons living in poverty results in many false convictions of innocent persons. Over one-hundred individuals in capital cases have been exonerated, through subsequent DNA technology, after spending years in prison for crimes they did not commit. This extent of injustice in high visibility capital cases is a certain indicator of more injustice in non-capital cases.

Capital juries are death qualified which means jurors have to be willing to give the death penalty in order to serve. The prosecution customarily has an unlimited budget and resources whereas public defender offices are traditionally staffed by lawyers carrying large caseloads with limited budgets. This often means limited, if any, investigation. Interrogation techniques are often manipulated by law enforcement, witnesses are threatened, confessions are coerced, eyewitness testimony is extracted with prejudicial techniques, jailhouse informants are used to gain convictions. Prosecutors cannot be prosecuted even for hiding exculpatory evidence.

Police are permitted to lie to defendants to get confessions. In many cases, defendants do not have any communication with their attorneys, even in capital cases, and little preparation takes place prior to trial. Despite a Supreme Court ruling requiring 2 lawyers and 2 investigators, one of which must be a mitigation specialist for capital trials, this is still not the norm.

Foreign nationals who are arrested are frequently not permitted to contact their consulate for help. Non English speaking defendants are often not provided with interpreters.

Denial of effective redress of constitutional violations. Persons who seek their rights must not be punished because of those efforts. The constraints on access to legal review imposed by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PLRA) have been significant impediments to the redress of violations of prisoners’ rights. By keeping constitutional claims out of court, the PLRA places severe limitations on the possibility of challenging and redressing abusive prison conditions through litigation.


ICERD: Racial discrimination has dominated our criminal justice system. People of color are convicted disproportionately to their makeup in the overall population, particularly if the victim is white. Juries continue not to reflect the actual population. Drug laws are less severe for the so-called white drugs vs. drugs commonly found in the poorer, non white population.

D. RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. Change jury qualification to eliminate “death qualification” in capital juries. Make certain juries actually reflect the racial make-up of the community.
2. In capital trials enforce ABA recommendations: defense team must have 2 lawyers, 2 investigators,
one of which is a mitigation specialist.
3. Implement videotaping in interrogations, double-blind eyewitness identification techniques.
4. Eliminate police freedom to lie to defendants to obtain confessions.
5. Jailhouse informants are unreliable and should only be used after extreme scrutiny of deals made for their testimony.
6. Prosecutors should be subject to prosecution and lawsuits for not disclosing exculpatory evidence.
7. Foreign nationals should be put in contact with their consulate immediately after arrest. Non-English speaking defendants should be provided with interpreters at every step in legal processes.
8. DNA and other forensic testing should be provided.
9. Amend the PLRA to eliminate the barriers to effective redress of constitutional violations.




II. CONTROL UNITS

A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS

Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.”

B. ANALYSIS.

Brain damage. Without sustained social interaction, the human brain may become as impaired as one that has incurred a traumatic injury. …One of the paradoxes of solitary confinement is that, as starved as people become for companionship, the experience typically leaves them unfit for social interaction.” (Atul Guwande, New Yorker, March 30, 2009)


C. VIOLATIONS.

A study of a hundred randomly selected inmates at California’s Pelican Bay supermax prison, noted that after months or years of complete isolation, many prisoners “begin to lose the ability to initiate behavior of any kind—to organize their own lives around activity and purpose.”… “Chronic apathy, lethargy, depression, and despair often result. In extreme cases, prisoners may literally stop behaving,” becoming essentially catatonic. (Craig Haney, a psychology professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz)

Such debasement of human beings clearly violates the intent of Article 7 of the ICCPR.

D. RECOMMENDATIONS.

1. Current practice of prolonged isolation in control/segregation units should be stopped completely.
2. There should be narrowly defined criteria for placement into control/segregation units so that they are used only for prisoners who are the most serious threats to safe and humane operations of correctional facilities. Placement in such units may never be done for prisoners with known psychiatric problems.
3. There should be a clearly articulated system in place for prisoners to work their way back to open population settings over a reasonable period.
4. The conditions inside the cells must not lead to adverse sensory deprivation, overstimulation, or disorientation, due to lack of natural light or excessive sound/noise/music. Deprivation of food, water or sleep, or spatial disorientation must be avoided at all costs. Restraints should not be used for punishment.
5. The mental health of all prisoners who are in control/segregation units should be regularly reviewed by properly trained and certified mental health professionals. If, in the opinion of these professionals, the inmates need treatment, it should be provided immediately, including transfer to a psychiatric setting if necessary.



III EDUCATION IN PRISON

A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states, in Article 26.1: “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available, and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.”

Article 10.3 of the ICCPR: “The penitentiary system shall comprise treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social rehabilitation.”

Article 5 of the ICERD: “to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race…the right to education and training.”

B. ANALYSIS.

Especially for ex-offenders, adequate vocational training is key to economic survival and re-integration into society, In the workplace of the United States, this usually requires vocational training beyond secondary schooling. Specialized occupational training in careers like electrical installation, plumbing, welding, building construction, air conditioning, heating, auto mechanics, and semi professional skills that are available in community colleges, are essential.

C. VIOLATIONS.

1. UDHR: Post secondary vocational training, that is needed for economic survival in the U.S., is seriously inadequate in most U.S. places of detention.

In 1995, the U.S. Congress terminated all federal funding (financial aid via PELL Grants) for post-secondary education in prisons. Within five years the U.S. Congress established post secondary grants for financial aid of youthful offenders and now such funds are available for offenders up to the age of 35. However, funding is not adequate and the level of commitment must be changed to cover all ages of the incarcerated. These social exclusions and inadequacies violate the intent of Article 26 of the UDHR.

Compounding the reentry problem, laws needlessly deny licenses to persons with criminal records that are unrelated to the work involved.

2. ICERD:The grossly disproportionate inclusion of African-Americans and Hispanics in the prison systems of the U.S., and the relative inadequacy of Correctional Education, effectively deprives such persons of equal educational opportunity, thus violating Article 5 of the ICERD.

D. RECOMMENDATIONS.

1. Federal and state laws and regulations should generally include correctional education as beneficiaries on a par with public education.
2. Steps should be taken to enhance education in places of detention so that educational content and quality there will approach a par with public education.
3. Federal funding of financial aid for post-secondary education in prisons (PELL Grants for prisoners) should be restored, on a par with federal aid in public education.
4. Unwarranted restrictions on work licenses should be removed.
5. To facilitate investment in correctional education, the use of lower cost technologies such as distance learning and online video should be encouraged and funded, as supplements to standard education delivery.




IV. MEDICAL CARE IN PRISONS

A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS

1. The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CAT): Deliberate indifference to the pain and suffering of those in custody evidenced by the denial of medical care, unreasonable delay in the provision of care, or the provision of substandard and ineffective care is prohibited by Article 16, which obligates each State Party to “undertake to prevent in any territory under its jurisdiction other acts of cruel or degrading treatment or punishment”

2. The U.S. Constitution: The 8th amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. In Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976), the Court concluded that deliberate indifference to serious medical needs of prisoners constitutes "unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain," whether the indifference is displayed by prison doctors in their response to the prisoner's need or by prison guards who deny or delay access to treatment or interfere with the treatment.

B. ANALYSIS.

All inmates with substance use disorders should be provided evidence-based treatment and aftercare. We would then break even on this investment in one year if just over 10 percent of those receiving such services remained substance and crime free and employed. For each succeeding year that these inmates remained substance and crime free and employed, the nation would reap a huge economic benefit in reduced crime, lower arrest, prosecution, incarceration and health care costs, and economic benefits from employment. (Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University)

Documentation Of Various Instances Of Deficient Medical Care

· ACLU Lawsuit Charges Grossly Inadequate Medical Care At State Prison In Nevada
http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/aclu-lawsuit-charges-grossly-inadequate-medical-care-state-prison-nevada

http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/challenging-grossly-inadequate-medical-care-ely-state-prison

· Healthcare Behind Bars, Part 1: Prisoners of the system
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20070219/REG/70216010#

· Access To Health Care Among U.S. Prisoners Is Inadequate
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/135684.php



The Prison Litigation Reform Act

· A review of the Act Prepared for Second Circuit Court of Appeals (2004) http://www.wnylc.net/pb/docs/plra2cir04.pdf

· Reform the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA)

In enacting the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) in 1996, Congress sought to curb what was perceived to be an overwhelming number of frivolous prisoner lawsuits. There certainly are frivolous prisoner lawsuits that have been kept out of court by the PLRA. However, after a decade of experience under the legislation, it is clear that the PLRA is also keeping countless serious claims from reaching the courts—including claims of physical and sexual abuse, indifference to inmate on inmate rape, gross mistreatment of confined juveniles, and markedly deficient medical and mental health treatment. This effectively prevents courts from exercising their role of protecting constitutional rights. http://www.savecoalition.org/pdfs/save_final_report.pdf



C. VIOLATIONS.

1. CAT: The systematic failure to provide adequate resources to provide care to inmates, as illustrated by the placing in judicial receivership the medical services of the California Department of Corrections, also constitutes an 8th amendment violation and, by implication, a violation of Article 16 of The Convention.

2. Only 11 percent of inmates with substance use disorders receive any type of treatment during incarceration; few of those receive evidence-based care. (“Behind Bars II: Substance Abuse and America’s Prison Population” CASA; February 2010).

3. Many other instances of failure to provide prisoners and detainees with constitutionally adequate medical and psychiatric care. The articles referenced in the Annex provide a glimpse of the failure of penal institutions to provide constitutionally adequate care.


4. Medical co-pays from inmates are sometimes large when compared to their income, and can deter timely and preventive medical treatment.




D. RECOMMENDATIONS

1. All inmates with substance use disorders should be provided evidence-based treatment and aftercare.

2. Provide adequate resources and staff training to ensure constitutionally sufficient medical care.

3. Institute a structure of review of prison performance independent of prison administrative structure. For example, establish an independent ombudsman to review prisoner complaints and to monitor the indices of prison administrative performance.

4. Eliminate or reduce medical co-payments by inmates in accord with their income.






V. SEXUAL SECURITY

A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS

The Preamble to the Article 3 of the ICCPR states: “The States Parties to the present Covenant shall undertake to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights set forth in the present Covenant.”

Article 7 of that Covenant states: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.”

B. ANALYSIS.

Prison rape not only threatens the lives of those who fall prey to their aggressors, but it is potentially devastating to the human spirit. Shame, depression, and a shattering loss of self-esteem accompany the perpetual terror the victim thereafter must endure." (U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun).

The sexual assault of prisoners, whether perpetrated by corrections officials or by other inmates, amounts to torture under international law. Torture is prohibited by international conventions and treaties, including the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), both of which have been ratified by the United States.

C. VIOLATIONS

1. Sexual assault. In 2009, the State of Michigan paid $100 million to settle a class-action by more than 500 female prisoners who said they were sexually assaulted by prison guards.

2. Sexual abuse. In a 2007 survey of prisoners across the country, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
found that 4.5 percent (or 60,500) of the more than 1.3 million inmates held in federal and state prisons
had been sexually abused in the previous year alone. A BJS survey in county jails was just as
troubling; nearly 25,000 jail detainees reported having been sexually abused in the past six months.

Incarcerated women have undergone intrusive pat-downs and body searches in public by male guards.

D. RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Adopt and enforce the national standards that were developed under the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

2. Ratify the OPCAT, which establishes a system of regular visits undertaken by international and national bodies to places of detention in order to prevent torture and other forms of ill treatment.

3. Prohibit pat-downs and body-searches of women by male officers.

4. Adopt severe penalties for staff violence against women inmates.

5. Swiftly prosecute, and widely publicize punishment, for all violence by staff on women inmates.




VI. COMMUNITY TIES; VOTING and FAMILY

A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS

1. Article 21 (1) of the UDHR states that “Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country directly or through freely chosen representatives,” and (3) of the UDHR states that “the will of the people shall be expressed ...by universal and equal suffrage.”


2. Article 17 of the ICCPR states: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, home, or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honor and reputation.”


B. ANALYSIS.

1. Restoring a person’s right to vote is a critical element to successful reentry into society after incarceration, and consistent with our democracy’s modern ideal of universal suffrage.

2. If offenders are to achieve a relatively stable lifestyle post-release, continued contact with family and friends is needed.

3. Research shows that children are the unintended victims of a prison sentence, with many children of prisoners less likely to complete secondary school and more likely to become homeless or unemployed and more likely to come into contact with the juvenile justice or criminal justice systems. The likelihood of the children of an imprisoned parent ending up in prison increases by 6 times; they are also six times as likely to have mental health problems. (report by Justice Action)

C. VIOLATIONS.

1. Article 21 (1) of the UDHR: Nationally, an estimated 5.3 million Americans are denied the right to vote because of laws that prohibit voting by people with felony convictions. Of these, 4 million are out of prison and living and working in the community. Two states permanently ban voting by anyone with a felony record of any sort.

Also, 13% of all adult black men or nearly 1.4 million are disenfranchised. This represents one-third of the total disenfranchised population.

2. Article 17 of the ICCPR: Only a few states have visits where the family is together for 48 hours.

Some correctional facilities are now limiting mail to only postcards. This is certainly a violation of privacy in regard to the family which the state must have a special obligation to uphold.

D. RECOMMENDATIONS.

1. Voting should be permitted and facilitated for all persons incarcerated and for those already released from prison.

2. There should be periodic private family visits that can continue supportive relationships among all family members of persons incarcerated.

3. Close relations with family should be facilitated, including ordinary privacy of correspondence.




VII. DEATH PENALTY and LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE

A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS

1. Article 6-1 of the ICCPR: “Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.”

2. Article 6-2 of the ICCPR: “In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes… and not contrary to the provisions of the present covenant.“

3. The “Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” adopted by the United Nations in July 1998, declares that in all life sentences, a review is mandated after twenty-five years and /if warranted/ a lesser sentence may be imposed (Article 110 No. 3). By October 2009, 110 states had become party to the treaty, with 38 states signed but not yet ratified.

4. Article 10.3 of the ICCPR: “The penitentiary system shall comprise treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social rehabilitation.”

5. Article 1 of the ICCPR: “All peoples have the right of self determination. By virtue of that right they …freely pursue their cultural development.”

B. ANALYSIS

1. Since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence. (Staff Report, House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil & Constitutional Rights, Oct. 1993, with updates from DPIC). From 1973-1999, there was an average of 3.1 exonerations per year. From 2000-2007, there has been an average of 5 exonerations per year.

2. In the United States 35 states with death penalty statutes also can impose life without parole. 14 states which do not have death penalty statutes may impose life without parole, including the District of Columbia. Alaska is the only state that does not impose life without parole.

3. A report released by The Sentencing Project, “The Meaning of 'Life': Long Prison Sentences in Context” (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/life-without-parole), indicates a dramatic increase in life without parole sentences and notes that prisoners are generally serving longer terms of incarceration: “Of the lifers in prison, one in four (26.3%) is serving a sentence of life without parole, having increased from one in six (17.8%) in 1992. In six states - Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota - all life sentences are imposed without the possibility of parole. Seven states - Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania - have more than 1,000 prisoners each serving sentences of life without parole. The increase in prison time for lifers is a result of changes in state policy and not due to increases in violent crime.”

C. VIOLATIONS


1. The high rate of exonerations of persons on death row awaiting execution is proof of the “arbitrary deprivation of life,” with inadequate proof of a “most serious crime.”

2. The rapid increase and the high rate of life-without-parole testifies to the arbitrary “slow death” deprivation of life as a result of politically motivated changes in state policy and not due to increases in violent crime or greater need for public safety.

3. Several other human rights are brought into question. For example, the right to the opportunity to reform one's life, to change, to grow positively in maturity and responsibility; and the right for an opportunity for “conversion or transformation” (which is held dear by many religious and social groups in our country) and to become a contributing and productive member of society.


D. RECOMMENDATIONS.

1. The death penalty should be abolished.

2. The opportunity for parole or sentence reduction, based on demonstrated rehabilitation, should be a recognized right for all prisoners, including those with a life sentence (in accord with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court).





VIII. LIFE WITH PAROLE

A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS

1. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD):
Article 2: 1(c) Each State Party shall take effective measures to review governmental, national and local policies, and to amend, rescind or nullify any laws and regulations which have the effect of creating or perpetuating racial discrimination wherever it exists.

2. International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR):

Article 10.3. The penitentiary system shall comprise treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social rehabilitation.

B. ANALYSIS

1. In five states-Alabama, California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and New York-at least 1 in 6 people in prison are serving a life sentence.

2. The highest proportion of life sentences relative to the prison population is in California, where 20% of the prison population is serving a life sentence, up from 18.1% in 2003. Among these 34,164 life sentences,

3. There are 6,807 juveniles serving life sentences;

4. There are 4,694 women and girls serving life sentences.

5. Life in prison is the most severe punishment available for juveniles. Every state allows for life sentences for juveniles, and 46 states hold juveniles serving such terms. Juveniles serve life sentences in nearly every state, but more than 50% of the national population is located in five states: California (2,623), Texas (422), Pennsylvania (345), Florida (338), and Nevada (322).

6. In 1967, the President’s Crime Commission recommended that parole boards be staffed by correctional professionals rather than political appointees. However, parole boards remain the domain of political appointees and two-thirds of states lack any standardized qualifications for service. This has resulted in a highly politicized process that too often discounts evidence and expert testimony. In the case of life sentences with the possibility of parole, the range of time that must be served prior to eligibility for release varies greatly, from under 10 years in Utah and California to 40 and 50 years in Colorado and Kansas. The median length of time served prior to parole eligibility nationally is in the range of 25 years. However, eligibility does not equate to release and, owing to the reticence of review boards and governors, it has become increasingly difficult for persons serving a life sentence to be released on parole.

C. VIOLATIONS.

1. Racial and ethnic minorities serve a disproportionate share of life sentences. Two-thirds of people with life sentences (66.4%) are nonwhite, reaching as high as 83.7% of the life sentenced population in the state of New York. Seventy-seven percent of juveniles sentenced to life are youth of color. This violates the ICERD Article 1-1, Article 2–1, and Article 5(a).

2. There is a broad range in the severity and implementation of the statutes and arbitrary mechanisms for release on parole. This violates the ICCPR Article 10-3.

D. RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Restore the Role of Parole

The opportunity for parole, based on demonstrated rehabilitation, is a right for all, including those with a life sentence. Parole boards should be staffed with members who have a background in corrections or relevant social services in order to best assess suitability for release. They should also use risk-based release polices that consider a range of static and dynamic factors including criminal history, offense severity, prison disciplinary record, and program participation while incarcerated. An example may come from Canada, where all persons serving life are considered for parole after serving 10 to 25 years. In the interest of public safety, some individuals sentenced to life will serve the remainder of their natural lives in prison. However, this reform would provide that a decision on release be made by a professional parole board at the time of eligibility, taking into account a person’s prospects for a successful transition to the community.

2. Prepare Persons for Release From Prison

The emergence of reentry as a criminal justice policy issue in the last decade has largely ignored persons serving a life sentence. Typically, reentry programs are provided to persons within 6 months of their release date and offer transition services in the community upon release. However, for persons serving a life sentence, their release date is not fixed and they are often overlooked as policymakers and correctional administrators consider reentry strategies. Additionally, persons serving a life sentence have unique reentry needs based upon the long duration of their prison term. The failure to design reentry strategies for persons serving a life sentence neglects 1 in 11 persons in prison by denying them the opportunity to participate in valuable programming. Reentry and reintegration principles must be extended to persons serving a life sentence. Correctional programs can contribute to a successful release and persons serving life should be encouraged to access the types of services that will help them transform their lives and improve their presentation before the parole board.




IX. MENTALLY ILL IN PRISON



A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS


1. Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states: No one shall be subject to torture, or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.



2. Article 1 of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT): “severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental,…intentionally inflicted...for an act he or a third person has committed.”

B. ANALYSIS



1. There is now a huge population of mentally ill persons in our prisons and jails. The American Correctional Association has recognized that holding mentally challenged individuals in isolation can exacerbate their problems and bring about additional mental problems. Several federal courts have found that the conditions of confinement in isolation units can constitute cruel and unusual punishment which is prohibited by Article 7 of the ICCPR.


2. It would also qualify as torture defined in the CAT, Article 1, if correctional officials knowingly place mentally ill persons in disciplinary units.


3. Prisoners, who are seriously mentally ill, fall under the protection of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990. This act was amended to include serious mental illness as a disability in 2008 and enacted January 2009 to state: (1) Mentally ill people have the rights to accommodation plans to meet the needs of their disability, (2) They have the right to have access to an (ADA) representative to oversee Correctional Institutions compliance.





C. RECOMMENDATIONS



1. Ensure that mentally Ill prisoners are treated in accord with their lack of culpability, lack of awareness and impaired judgment due to their disabilities. Ensure that consideration is given for any adverse affects that certain psychotropic medications could cause to the mentally ill prisoner both physically and mentally. Ensure that the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Title II, Federal Regulation is recognized and complied with by all Correction facilities.


2. Approve OPCAT (the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture) to monitor for abuse in places of detention. Appoint nationally recognized experts on mental health issues such as: The Bazelon Law Center, Treatment Advocacy Center, National Disability Rights Network and National Association of Mentally Ill (NAMI) to a National Oversight Committee to establish National Standards and Guidelines for the treatment of mentally ill prisoners.


3. Ensure that mentally ill prisoners are not placed in extensive isolation and receive professional
treatment. Ensure that emotionally disturbed persons are not placed in isolation without a qualified
examination for mental illness.


4. Expand community based mental health services and develop therapeutic units within the prisons to
handle the mentally ill in an appropriate setting.





X. PRIVATE PRISONS

A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS and VIOLATIONS

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

1. Article 7 No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. (See also: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5).

Violation. – Little is more degrading than for prisoners to be treated as commodities, to be warehoused in for-profit private prisons like chattel. Private prison companies view prisoners as investments, not people; the privatization of prisons for profit is equivalent to the privatization of prisoners for profit, which is demeaning to their humanity and dignity as human beings. The United States holds over 128,000 prisoners in privately-operated for-profit prisons.

2. Article 8, Sec. 1. No one shall be held in slavery; slavery and the slave-trade in all their forms shall be prohibited. (see also: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 4).

Violation – Private prisons operate on a per-diem payment system, where they are paid per prisoner per day they are incarcerated. This mirrors the system of slavery, which also is a for-profit enterprise that involves imprisoning people against their will. Private prison companies are modern-day extensions of the slave trade, in which prisoners are used to generate profit. The largest private prison companies in the United States are listed on the stock exchange, and the trade in prisoners for profit has become an acceptable form of legitimized slavery.

3. Article 10, Sec. 3. The Penitentiary system shall comprise treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social rehabilitation.

Violation – The objective of private prison companies is to generate profit, not to reform or rehabilitate prisoners. Such companies have a duty to their shareholders to make money; they do not have a duty to help prisoners better their lives. Studies have shown that prisoners held in private prisons in the United States have higher recidivism rates than those in public prisons.


B. RECOMMENDATIONS:

The for-profit private prison industry, by its nature, is antithetical to the principles expressed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Therefore, it is recommended that for-profit privately-operated prisons be proscribed by the United States in compliance with its obligations under those documents.







XI. TELEPHONE SERVICE IN PRISONS

A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS

Article 22 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights states, “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others…. “

B. ANALYSIS:

Incarcerated persons and their loved ones should have access to technology that will facilitate cost-effective communication. They should be able to communicate with each other, as long as there is no risk to security. One very effective tool for preventing torture and abuse is to ensure that vulnerable, confined persons have ready access to persons who are not confined.

C. VIOLATIONS:

In far too many jails and prisons in the United States, the rates charged to inmates for making telephone calls are much higher than comparable rates for calls placed by persons not incarcerated and much higher than the actual cost of providing the inmate calling service. There are several reasons for those high charges:

Commissions paid by the phone company to the jail, prison system, or other governmental entity.
Refusal to provide the less expensive debit or prepaid call option.
Surcharges required by some phone companies for processing an advance payment.
Denial of access to less expensive technologies by blocking inmate calls to cell phones or VoIP services.

Such practices limit the communication between incarcerated persons and their loved ones. It is not unusual for persons who are incarcerated for lengthy periods to lose contact with family members entirely. In some cases, these practices also limit one’s access to an attorney.

While security concerns and their associated costs are sometimes cited as a rationale for these policies, the fact is that there are jails and prisons that provide calls at reasonable rates, allow less expensive debit calls, and allow calls to cell phones and VoIP phones – all without compromising security.

D. RECOMMENDATIONS:

Prevent commissions paid by phone companies to governmental units.
Provide the less expensive debit calling option for all persons incarcerated.
Eliminate all surcharges.
Allow calls by inmates to outside cell phones and VoIP phones.
If necessary, set benchmark per-minute rate limits on all phone calls.
Phone contracts in private correctional facilities should not cost more than the cost in the state’s public facilities.



XII. SLAVERY, FORCED LABOR, AND WORK IN PRISONS

A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS
1. Article 10.3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR): “The penitentiary system shall comprise treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social rehabilitation.”

2. Article 5, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

3. Articles 22, 23, and 24, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, provide that “Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security…the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work…to equal pay for equal work…to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity…the right to form and to join trade unions.”

B. ANALYSIS.

Productive work, that develops good work habits and skills for economic survival, and enables economic support for and relations with family, is a cornerstone of the rehabilitation process.



C. VIOLATIONS.

1. Article 5, UDHR: Wherever in the United States punishment for incarcerated persons’ refusing to work results in segregation or solitary confinement, in withholding of food or access to basic support or human interaction, violations occur.

2. Although the ICCPR excludes from “forced labor” “any work…required of a person who is under detention in consequence of a lawful order of a court,” (Article 8(3c)), slave labor or denial to incarcerated persons access to remunerative work sufficient to support oneself and ones’ family are rarely a consequence of any criminal sentence or court order, making all cases in which either slave or forced labor, absent sentence or court order, a violation of human rights with respect to incarcerated persons.

3. Articles 22, 23, and 24, UDHR: By law and custom, US incarcerants earn extremely little or no wages and are excluded from civilian labor force participation, impoverishing themselves and their families. United States’ Prison labor frequently denies incarcerated persons any choice in prison work assignments, affords neither employer nor worker investment in Social Security, pays in gratuities only a fraction of that required for “equal pay,” far below even minimum amounts, ensuring poverty for the incarcerated and his family, and denying incarcerated workers any union or participatory rights whatsoever.




D. RECOMMENDATIONS.



1. Respecting the right of incarcerated persons to access to remunerative employment sufficient to human dignity and at least partial support of oneself and family.



2. Preserving and propelling, wherever possible, offenders’ access to the legal labor force, normal investment in social security and health insurance programs, and participation in workplace trade unions.



3. Segregation or solitary confinement as well as denial of food or basic support solely for refusal to accept a work assignment should cease. Wherever possible, incarcerated persons should be afforded both influence and choice in work assignments. Appropriate impartial hearings should be available before any sanctions are applied.



4. Limiting slavery and forced labor to those instances in which either forced labor or slavery are required by terms of a criminal sentence.





XIII SEX OFFENDERS



A. RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS

1. Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.”

3. Article 17 states: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, home, or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honor and reputation.”

B. ANALYSIS.
1. Bureau of Justice Statistics show that within 3 years following their 1994 state prison release, only 5.3 percent of sex offenders (men who had committed rape or sexual assault) were rearrested for another sex crime.
2. Other BJS surveys have shown that 70 percent of all men in prison for a sex crime were men whose victim was a child. In almost half of the child-victim cases, the child was the prisoner’s own son or daughter or other relative.


C. VIOLATIONS.
1. Many states are broadly implementing arbitrary residency restrictions where a person with a sex offense may live. This often banishes such persons to outlying or rural locations which makes it difficult to reach job centers and public transportation. This can disrupt community involvement of the banished persons and prevent families from living together and developing solid relationships. Similarly, sex offenders are arbitrarily restricted from placement in halfway houses, thus obstructing their recovery and re entry as more productive citizens. In general, there are inadequate safeguards against unnecessary abuse.
2. Civil commitment is used by numerous states to detain a person convicted of a sex offense at the completion of the prison sentence, based on the premise the person may re-offend. The extended time was not meted out by the court at the time of sentencing. Committees arbitrarily determine if a person will be held. Though the Supreme Court has judged this is not additional punishment, it leads to an arbitrary violation of the person’s rights, with inadequate safeguards against abuse.





D. RECOMMENDATIONS.



1. Criminal justices' current efforts to respond to sex abuse issues is primarily punishment and tracking. Neither include evidence-based treatment and change that has been shown to be effective in most cases. Further research and analysis is needed to better identify and quantify those therapies that are most effective.



2. An approach with more prevention and control as the focus should be implemented:



a) Utilize funding for successful, evidence-based, therapy practices for those who have abused, using money previously spent on ineffective tracking methods and realigned confinement sentences.



b) Funding should go to intervention assistance with family services and child services where known dysfunctional family history is known to have led to abuse.



c) Education to families on the actual dangers of sex abuse - within the circle of their own friends, acquaintances and family- can give young people tools to be safe.





Allen J. Beck & Paige M. Harrison, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sexual Victimization in State and Federal PrisonsReported by Inmates, 2007 (2007).

Allen J. Beck & Paige M. Harrison, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sexual Victimization in Local Jails Reported by Inmates, 2007 (2008).

Sentencing Project Report 2009-“ No Exit|The Expanding Use Of Life Sentences In America”

ibid.

More than half of all prisoners, including jail inmates, are mentally ill. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept of Justice, Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates, at 1 (2006). REPORT,American Bar Association- Criminal Justice Section, Robert M.A. Johnson, Chair, Criminal Justice Section, February 2007.


ACA Standard 4-4256.

Jones EI v. Barge, 2001; Ruiz v. Johnson, 1999; Madrid v. Gomez, 1995.

Confronting Confinement, A Report of the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons, Katzenbach and Gibbons,Vera Institute 2006.

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=497