“More condemned men – 180 – are buried here than 29 other states have executed in their entire history. Most share the ignominy of a nameless tombstone marked only with their inmate number, a death date and a simple “X” … executed.”
Excerpt from Ron Franscell’s story about Death Row Cemetery “Peckerwood Hill” at The Bayou, a Beaumont Enterprise blog.
Email from Josh Bardavid, Esq.
We are confused by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) spokesperson’s denial that the Hazahzas have been strip-searched and mistreated while in detention. These allegations were made in court filings as sworn statements. ICE and the Emerald Corporation were afforded every opportunity to deny, refute, and/or respond to these allegations in Court under oath. They chose not to do so. If ICE believes that what the Hazahzas allege to be untrue, then we welcome them to respond under oath.
Email from Jay Johnson-Castro.
Greetings amigos…
Is it legal to imprison innocent children? Is it moral? Is it humane? What kind of human can answer “yes” to any of those questions? On the contrary…it is absolutely inhumane and immoral…and therefore thoroughly illegal. Criminal.
The architect of fascism, Benito Mussolini himself said, “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power.”
The next walk is being planned. It is the Hutto Walk II. It will be a showdown. It will be American Democracy vs. American Fascism.
Nonetheless…we need your input, your support and networking. The walk will once again be from the Capitol of Texas …in Austin …to the Hutto prison camp of innocent children in Taylor , Texas . It is tentatively scheduled for April 13-15th. If this plan catches on…we would hold the Hutto Vigil VII on April 15th.
This would occur four months after our first walk and first vigil that we did December 14-16 (2006). Could you please let me know if you or your organization would be willing to support and or assist in this? If there is anything that you can do to share this notice, please do. If your network or organization can help in any way…please let us know how you can help. If your media can let your audience know…please do. If you can do some research…please let us know. If you can lend some legal assistance please do. Print matter, web help. We’re open to your input.
Here’s the reasoning behind this second walk and seventh vigil…
All that the Whitehouse, Chertoff and ICE have done since the first walk and the first vigil is justify, defend, lie, willfully misinform and cover up…along with bringing in some plastic plants, remove the razor wire, expand the education and give the kids teddy-bears that they previously denied the children. The media still cannot interview the children or their mothers. So much for freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
To this day…the only ones freed have been by means of big money and legal maneuvering. That is not what we the people want. We want the children and their parents freed! NOW! Not months or years from now. We don’t want a bunch of drawn out political game playing. Every day that a child is locked up…is a day of suffering. A day of callous cruel and inhumane criminality being committed with impunity.
From the very beginning…we have been demanding freedom for the children, reuniting of families and the cessation of concentration camps. Does anyone believe that the White House’s henchmen, Chertoff & ICE, will yield to the voice of we the people and our wishes? I for sure do. If this is a democracy…they have to! It’s true that they don’t yield to the people or Congress over the Iraq war. We believe that if they don’t comply with the will of “we the people”…that the we the “government of the people, by the people and for the people” will cease to abnegate our role…and rise to the cause of the preservation of American principles and we will not continue to allow fascism to get further entrenched in our land of liberty.
This isn’t Iraq . This is not about funding and supporting our troops there at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives and $2 Billion a week. […] Standing up to free the children is however about courage vs. cowardice on the part of each and every one of us. This is about stopping the corrupt flow of money from the elitist shadow government…along with their politically purchased puppets…who commit these atrocities on the pretext of national security. This is about the preservation of the American ideals and our nation’s moral conscience. Talk about saving face with the world community. Imagine how the world is beginning to feel about America …an America that permits the imprisoning of innocent children and helpless refugees!!!
We must exercise all of our rights and freedoms that are constitutionally guaranteed…or continue to loose them. This is no time for seeing if we can somehow tear away from the normal routine of our lives and try to squeeze in a moment of protest and dissention. This is all about the future of our country…for our children and grand-children.
We cannot be silent about the imprisonment of innocent children just because they are not ours, or that they are of another country or race. We must also protect and defend their mothers as well…some of whom have been victims of sexual violations…in the ICE prison camps of CCA, Emerald, GEO, KBR and MTC.
For those with dedication to a faith…one of the principles of all forms of sincere worship is the caring for innocent children and helpless women (I Pet. 1:27;Isa. 58:7;An-Nisa 4:75 ) Such worshipers would compassionately provide food, clothing and shelter…even in their own homes…to suffering children and women. That surely would not allow for cells in a “for-profit” prison camp.
We the people cannot be silent and allow concentration camps like Raymondville, Laredo and Del Rio to continue to be built to hold an additional 30,000 immigrants. If someone wishes to use the framing adjective illegal to brainwash the public to look down on desperate people…may they learn the truth through transparency. What is truly “illegal” is the imprisoning of innocent people for-profit, without cause and without defense.
To be effective, successful…and yes, victorious…we Americans need to come out of the shadows of fear of the fascism that is spreading all around us like malignant cancer. We need to come out of our hiding places and the safe havens of cyberspace…and be counted…openly and publicly. We need to muster up the courage that it takes to preserve the freedoms that our country guarantees…not only for us…but for all fellow humans that share the same inalienable rights that we do. If we don’t protect the innocent while we have the opportunity…we will become the next victims…with no one left to protect us. And then…what kind of country will our children and grandchildren live in?
On this Hutto Walk II and Hutto Vigil VII…we will give those in positions of authority one last opportunity to do the right thing…and a final warning if they don’t. Free the innocent children now. Turn them over to the loving and caring people of America and the organizations that have a heart and a conscience.
The voice of grass roots American will not only be heard…but will prevail. Those who are committing these atrocities are committing criminal acts. From prison guards, county commissioners, private prison owners and operators, federal agents all the way to the administration…as we speak…we hold them responsible. We the people are the majority. The dark side is the minority. If they do not comply, if they do not “cease and desist” to commit these illegal acts, if they do not sever themselves from this criminal activity…we the people, the majority of this 21st century American democracy, will seek indictments against anyone and everyone of those who continue to be complicit with these crimes. We would rather have the accomplices of concentration camps prosecuted…than allow them to continue to abuse these innocent children. We would rather have the participants and accomplices of these atrocities on the inside of their prison camps…where they now hold these children, their mothers or anyone humbly seeking refuge in the land of the free.
This is not a game. We all have things and priorities lined up in our lives. We all have our pet causes. But…this is about the freeing of innocent people…and the preservation of our country as the land of the free. We have to be the freedom fighters at home…and the domestic battle is on.
When sworn in, the President pledged to “support and defend
the
Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic”. He has not only failed to protect us from the domestic enemy…he and the corporate elitists who pull his strings are the principal domestic threats against our Constitution and the freedoms that it guarantees.
Since the Congress has yet to successfully stand up against the demise of the Constitution, the Geneva Convention, the Bill of Rights, the Rights of the Child…who is left to defend, protect and preserve the fundamental human liberties? We the people! And we better do something more than blog with log in names! We must defend the Constitution and the rights and equality of every fellow human. We have to do so openly and with as much courage as we would expect from a combat soldier on the battle front.
Why will we be victorious? Because we will fight with our hearts and our minds. The dark side fights with weapons of fear and cruelty. The same dark side, with all of its secrecy and police state, cannot deal with conviction, passion, morality, dedication and loyalty…along with intelligent reasoning, truth and transparency. How do we know? Because without one act of violence…we got the media into razor wire protected Hutto…to check it our for us. Likewise…we will now open wide the doors of Hutto without one act of violence…and the children and their mothers will walk out. The police state will be ineffective…if we stand together.
Does anyone remember watching the Berlin wall get torn down? Who tore it down? The Russians government? Hell no!!! It was the people! People from both sides of the wall. They were joined by people from all over the world who flew in to share in the elimination of such a demented device. The whole world rejoiced at the demise of cruel human rulership. When Hutto’s doors are opened and the children and their mothers are set free…the world will once again have cause for international rejoicing. They will rejoice with us! And…they will rejoice because the spirit of America ’s freedoms will once again be the banner and the envy of the world.
So…we will continue to walk against the prison camp that holds these children from some 30 countries. Share with us in our protest against such atrocities. Share with us in what very well might go down in American history as one of the acts that preserved the American that the world loved so much.
Just two weeks to prepare. Your thoughts are very welcome?
Jay
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Connecting.the.dots…making.a.difference…
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Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr.
Del Rio , Texas , USA
Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila , Mexico
Two stories from 1998 capture the spirit of prison boosters making plans for the Rolling Plains Prison project–gm
Abilene Reporter News
Tuesday, June 9, 1998
Jail to be built at Haskell
By DUSTY GARISON
and ROY A. JONES II
Staff Writers
HASKELL – A regional jail to house 200 prisoners will be built here, the first of its kind in the state, elated Haskell city and county officials announced Monday.
And the project, which will create 55 to 60 jobs, could get even bigger if other area counties vote to join in the plans for the Rolling Plains Regional County Jail and related facilities.
No tax dollars will be used for constructing the not-for-profit regional jail, which will be owned and operated under the joint auspices and authority of Haskell County and the city of Haskell, officials said.
Daily operations and administration will be handled by a professional prison management company to be named later.
Haskell officials hadn’t even had time to announce their plans for a 100-bed facility to the public before Jones County commissioners voted to lend their support.
When the Jones commissioners voted to contract for three years to house their prisoners in the regional jail, Haskell officials promptly doubled the size of the planned facility to 200 beds.
Jones County has been plagued by jail overcrowding problems for months and has been paying both Taylor and Fisher counties for holding about 20 Jones County prisoners.
Haskell County Judge David Davis said different groups have tried to develop regional jails for Texas counties since 1979, but this will be the first time counties have come together to house inmates in a shared facility.
Cooperation was the key to landing the project, which could eventually include a youth detention facility and a privately run prison, creating up to 400 new jobs, he said.
It started with an unprecedented show of cooperation from the Haskell City Council, the Haskell County Commissioners Court and the Development Corporation of Haskell, he said.
Three months after the leaders of those groups formed the Rolling Plains Regional Corporation to seek to build some type of detention facility, the representatives voted unanimously Monday to participate in a regional county jail.
The vote followed a presentation by James Parkey of Corplan, the firm serving as project developer and consultant. Parkey later explained the plans to the Jones County commissioners.
Parkey stressed the facility will not be a private jail but will be owned and operated under the joint auspices of the city and county. The project has the full endorsement and approval of Haskell County Sheriff Johnny Mills, Davis said.
Parkey said financing for the project will come from private investors with no tax dollars used in the construction. Funds will come from private “certificates of participation,” financial notes generally purchased by Wall Street investment firms.
Davis said he is proud to be part of the unique partnership and thankful for the cooperative efforts of all concerned.
“I’ve been keeping up with activities of local governments for over 25 years, and I’ve never seen this kind of cooperative spirit,” he said. “Different governments might work together temporarily during a natural disaster, but for everyone to come together to support this kind of endeavor is a tremendous boost for this area.
“We appreciate the confidence of our constituents in their support of this facility,” the judge added. “We also are proud and gratified our neighboring counties are willing to come on board with us.”
The Jones County participation came on a split vote – along the same lines that has characterized the court’s stance on jail overcrowding, support for Sheriff Robbie Wedeking and moving of the 911 dispatch office from the jail to the courthouse basement.
Commissioner Buz Wylie made the motion to contract with the Rolling Plains Regional Jail for three years. Steve Lollar seconded the motion. Commissioners James Clawson and Mike Polk both voted against the contract, and County Judge Brad Rowland broke the tie by voting for the deal.
Haskell Mayor Ken Lane said while jails and prisons may not be “the most desirable kind of industry,” the local ownership and control will have several advantages for Haskell and the surrounding area.
“It will be ours,” he said. “This will be something that won’t be moved or taken away from us. It’s not like some industry where the stroke of a pen on Wall Street would mean the loss of local jobs. These are jobs that we’re creating for our own people.”
Monty Montgomery, executive director of the Development Corporation of Haskell, was also thrilled with the affirmative votes.
“A 200-bed facility means 55 to 60 jobs. By the time that payroll turns over several times, the economic impact throughout this entire area will be tremendous.”
So when will construction begin?
Montgomery said that will be determined after Corplan officials, along with representatives of the Development Corporation and others, will meet with officials from at least six other area counties in hopes they will also participate in the state’s first regional jail.
“We want to get through with these meetings as soon as possible so we can move on to the next phase,” which would be selecting a site and a contractor, he said.
The corporation already has two or three sites in mind, he indicated. At least one is on land owned by the city near the airport, according to discussions when Montgomery first proposed the idea to several counties in May 1997.
At that time, Bob Dearing, deputy director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards in Austin, said any community building a regional jail “would make our day.”
“It’d be the greatest thing that ever happened,” he said, pointing to the overcrowded state prison system.
Of the fledgling Haskell effort he said, “If these guys do it, they will be pioneers.”
Roy Jones can be reached at 676-6728 or (800) 588-6397 or jonesr@abinews.com
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Wednesday, March 4, 1998
Haskell forms corporation to build jail, prison
By ROY A. JONES II / Abilene Reporter-News
HASKELL — In a special joint meeting Monday, the Haskell City Council, the Haskell County Commissioners Court and the Development Corporation of Haskell agreed to form a special not-for-profit corporation to build a detention facility that could mean up to 400 new jobs.
The main purpose of the “Rolling Plains Regional Corporation” will be to develop and build a regional county jail, a youth detention facility and a privately run prison.
Haskell Mayor Ken Lane said the corporation could seek to build any or all of the project. If all three are built, it could mean nearly 400 jobs for Haskell and the area, he said.
Officials hope to have the paperwork finished and a prison contractor in place by April 1. Construction would cause no tax liability for the county’s residents, they said.
Lane pointed out that while jails or prisons may not be “the most desirable kind of industry,” the local ownership and control will have several advantages for Haskell and the surrounding area.
“It will be ours,” the mayor said. “This will be something that won’t be moved or taken away from us. It’s not like some industry where the stroke of a pen on Wall Street would mean the loss of local jobs. These are jobs that we’re creating for our own people.”
Haskell County Judge David Davis said he was thrilled with the unprecedented level of cooperation between the county and city.
“We’ve worked together on roads and things like that, but to have this level
of cooperation on a project of this size is nearly unheard of anywhere in the area,” he said.
Monty Montgomery, executive director of the Development Corporation of Haskell, echoed the comments.
“It is my understanding that the city and the county have not always had the opportunity to work together in the past to bring jobs to this region,” he said. “That’s changing. As goes the city, so goes the county and vice versa.
“We’re very excited about the prospects this corporation will offer.”
Davis noted the facilities will be built without incurring any taxpayer liability.
“The company that we’re talking to assures us that once these projects are completed and paid for they’ll be owned by the corporation, and no taxpayer money will be needed to operate,” Davis said. “That’s one of the things I think is so great about this situation.”
A steering committee comprising members of both city and county government is being organized to draft bylaws for the new corporation.
Davis stressed the need for all parts of the county to continue to work together.
“It’s going to have to be a Haskell County project with all the parts of the county working together,” he said. “We don’t need any dissention about this. These projects are too important.
“Things are going along pretty well for Haskell County right now, as far as I can see, and we have to continue working together for the next five, 10 or 20 years.”
(Correspondent Dusty Garison contributed to this report.)
MoPress 