Category Archives: Victimless Crimes

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How to Reverse Incarceration in Louisiana: Thirteen Steps to Stop Being First in Being Last Common Dreams Here are a dozen plus ways for Louisiana to stop jailing many more of its citizens than Iran or China. One. Decriminalize victimless crimes - don't arrest people for stupid non-violent crimes in the first place. Two. Stop racial profiling. African ... and more »

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How to Reverse Incarceration in Louisiana: Thirteen Steps to Stop Being First in Being Last - Common Dreams

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Posted: Mar 05, 2017 12:01 AM

Now that President Trump has followed through on his campaign promise and started the deportation process for criminal illegal aliens, Democrats and the media are united in outrage. One talking point dominates all others: Immigrants have a much lower crime rate than Americans do, so its unfair to target them. This begs the question: To these liberals, how many American victims of illegal alien crime would it take to for it to matter to you?

There are regular reports of violent crimes committed by illegal aliens horrific gang-related murders have occurred recently in New York, Washington, D.C., and Houston but the true crime rate among illegal aliens is not known. Most states do not keep those records for reasons we can only guess, plus there is no way of knowing the real number of illegals in the country. That fact hasnt stopped liberal commentators and politicians from stating unequivocally that we Americans are the real crime problem in this country.

Although it may be true, and from a sheer numbers standpoint it undoubtedly is, its also irrelevant. Victims of crimes committed by illegal aliens would not have been victims if those people were not in this country. Every person murdered by an illegal alien would still be alive.

This is a simple fact those who spout this made-up statistic hope people dont realize, because their entire argument would fall apart if they did.

Kate Steinle, the young woman murdered in San Francisco by an illegal alien with multiple convictions and deportations, would not have been murdered that July day in 2015 if the man who did it had not been in the country illegally in the first place.

Democrats dont care. In addition to doing all they could to ignore Steinles murder, they even voted against Kates Law, which would impose a minimum sentence of five years for already-deported illegal aliens who re-enter the country. Like I said, Democrats dont care.

Democrats would rather pander for the potential votes of illegal aliens should they be granted citizenship than defend Americans.

At President Trumps address to a joint session of Congress, Democrats went so far as to invite illegal aliens and their children to be their guests in the House gallery.

In the build up to the speech, one woman in particular garnered a lot of Democratic and media sympathy.

The children of recently deported illegal alien Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos were invited guests to the presidents speech, and their plight was widely reported in incredibly sympathetic, if not accurate, terms.

CNN had five reporters (seriously, five people) file a story on them entitled, Trumps speech disheartens deported moms kids. If Guadalupe had hired a PR firm, it couldnt have drafted a more glowing press release.

Guadalupes sad tale of woe was easy to find across the media, but the reason she was deported wasnt as readily available.

The New York Times, of all places, is where you can find it, though its only casually mentioned in their story.

After mentioning Guadalupe had been meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials for nearly a decade, the Times noted these annual meetings were a requirement since she was caught using a fake Social Security number during a raid in 2008 at a water park where she worked.

Thats a politically correct way of saying she committed fraud or stole someones identity the Times doesnt say which. But those are the only ways an illegal alien could get a legitimate job.

Although certainly not murder or drug dealing, neither option is a victimless crime either an American was denied a job by fraud and/or another had their identity stolen. And thats the real truth Democrats dont want you to think of illegal aliens have countless victims who may not know for years, if ever, that they were victims.

Still, Democrats do not care.

This is to say nothing of the cost to society. The cost of educating illegal alien children is significantly higher than Americans because of the language barrier. This siphons off valuable taxpayer resources from American children, usually from poor urban areas, making those children victims of illegal immigration.

Again, Democrats do not care. Theyd rather focus on an illegal alien being arrested after giving a defiant press conference than reality.

Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime simply because not all illegal aliens are members of MS-13 or Democrats want to pretend it is. Real people suffer real consequences when someone enters the country illegally or overstays a visa.

The question is: What is the magic number of Americans who must be victims of these crimes before Democrats will care more about those victims than about the potential voters now in our country illegally? If recent actions are any indication, no number is high enough.

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For Democrats, How Many American Victims Are Enough? - Townhall

Kate Fischer Glass came to America with her mother in 1880 when she was just 18, fleeing a hard life in Hungary. She had five children with her husband but lost one in infancy and raised the rest as a single mother after her young husband died too.

Bertha Grossman Reisman worked in her familys business, the Kensington Carpet Company, in the early 1900s. She met her husband there, and the couple opened a millinery store, where Bertha became known for finding the perfect hat for every customer.

The women never knew each other but their families became inextricably intertwined last weekend, when vandals toppled more than 150 headstones at the historic Mount Carmel Jewish Cemetery in Wissinoming, where both women are buried.

And now, both women are among the first whose stories are being collected by the National Museum of American Jewish History. The goal: To show that overturned grave markers are more than smashed granite and to humanize and honor the memories of those interred in the nearly 200-year-old cemetery.

These were not victimless crimes, museum CEO Ivy Barsky said. There are people and families who care about those graves and those legacies, and we wanted to make them three-dimensional for the museum audience, for those families, and maybe even for the perpetrators of those crimes so they understand who suffers because of this.

The museum is posting the stories online and welcomes submissions from loved ones of all those buried at Mount Carmel, regardless of whether their headstones were damaged, as well as families affected by the desecration that occurred last week at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.The project was created in the spirit of the museum's existing Its Your Story exhibit, in which visitors can document their life stories in recording booths.

At Mount Carmel, Glass gravestone was damaged, and Reismans was not. But Reismans great granddaughter Beth Kissileff wrote: If any in that place have been harmed, all have been.

Police have not determined who caused the damage, which a relative visiting Mount Carmel discovered Sunday morning. A $50,000 reward has been offered ($15,000 from Mayor Jim Kenney's office; $12,000, city Councilman Allan Domb; $10,000, the Anti-Defamation League; $10,000, an anonymous donor; and $3,000, the Fraternal Order of Police-Lodge 5) for tips leading the arrest and conviction of those responsible. Tipsters can call Northeast Detectives at (215) 686-3153 or -3154.

Police have called the desecration "abominable" and "reprehensible" but haven't classified it as a hate crime.

Trump even suggested Tuesday the vandalism and recentbomb threats to Jewish community centers were a ploy to make "others look bad."

Still, plenty of others have blasted the cemetery vandalism as anti-Semitic. Volunteers of all faiths have flocked to the cemetery on the edge of the city to help restore it.

Its bringing out the absolute best in people, Barsky said. Our friends and strangers are responding in incredible ways.

At the museum Tuesday, at least one out-of-town visitor hadnt heard of the cemetery vandalism. Still, museum-goer June Park said he wasnt surprised, given the uptick in anti-Semitic and xenophobic hate groups and incidents that accompanied President Trumps campaign and inauguration.

We have Voldemort in charge, at this point in our history, said Park, 27, of Minnesota, referring to the villain in the Harry Potter series. Insanities are happening everywhere.

Katharine and Michael Bowlus, who stopped to tour the museum during a weekend trip from their home in Jacksonville, Florida, had heard news reports of Mount Carmels misfortune.

It is always shocking to read that Americans who espouse the love of freedom express their hatred for people they dont even know in such heartless and cruel ways, said Michael Bowlus, 61. Intolerance is becoming tolerable in our country, and that is the antithesis of the basis of our freedoms.

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Museum collects stories to show vandalized gravestones are more than just toppled rock - Newsworks.org

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Rori Picker Neiss, the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis, said that since the arrest, there are mixed emotions and the community still feels a sense of vulnerability.

"Because of his feeling of wanting retribution against one individual, to then call in these threats and to cause such fear and disruption in our lives, of so many others," Niess said.

Niess said that since the threats, there has been a heightened need for more security.

"That's one of our top priorities," she said, "we want to make sure that each and every one of our institutions and each and every one of our members feels that we are all doing everything that we can to make sure that we are secure."

Niess said that the sense of vulnerability isn't just within the Jewish community.

"We turn to our partners like the Muslim community and the African American community, the immigrant community; there are so many communities that are feeling marginalized in various ways," she said.

"I really want him to understand that these aren't victimless crimes," she said. "It's not just calling in a bomb threat, these have a tremendous impact not only on the Jewish community, but on the entire region."

Niess said that the Jewish Federation has been organizing public forums to update the community about the security measures they have put in place in an attempt to prevent any type of attack.

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Feelings of vulnerability fomenting among local Jewish community - fox2now.com

The first thing everyone has to come to grips with is that the police have way more power to intervene in our individual lives then they were ever meant to have. If you cant understand or even try to open your mind to the fact that this is the reality of the world we live in, then you are a true statist. Read and educate yourself my poor American friends

The first official municipal police force was created in the 1830s in response to the industrial revolution between 1820 and 1840. The more we advanced industrially the more people came looking for work, thus, the natural increase in crime, and why policing became a government entity. Prior to this time period, we had watchmen, who were volunteers in the community who looked after everyone and their property during the night. The original role of policing, however, was not at all a pre-crime preventative measure, which is the nonsense we deal with today, but rather a watch-guard-just-in-case measure. Its no different than anyone hiring private security to stand guard for them or their property nowadays. And yes, there is a difference.

Today, cops patrol all day and all night looking for anything and everything they can to give them a legal reason to stop and frisk you, stop and pull you out of your vehicle, etc. They have gone from protecting when requested to to interfering with everyones personal movements and lives in hopes of preventing something. That is called pre-crime, and is immoral as hell. I dont recall anywhere in the 4th Amendment that says the government can stop you for any reason they deem necessary, or set up and stop you at a checkpoint for whatever reason without a warrant based on probable cause.

Having come from law enforcement myself, I can tell you that its not at all what the general public thinks it is. For the most part, its a bunch of power hungry thugs willing to violate any and every right you have in the name of justice. The police, at least in many jurisdictions, dont give a damn about you personally, nor your individual rights. They will violate the hell out of them. Theyre just there to do their job, even if that means violating the constitution, your civil liberties, etc., all in the misguided notion of public safety when you werent a danger nor were you going to be a danger to anyone. The days of Protect and Serve, are long gone. All we have now is Harass and Violate, at least in many jurisdictions, if not most.

The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington D.C., has done a study on this that can be read here. The study is mostly based on statistics from the DOJ, and Bureau of Justice statistics. Heres what they have found: law enforcement officers are almost three times as likely to sexually assault you than the average everyday person. Also, when you remove victimless crimes and only focus on crimes against persons or property, then guess what? Cops are just as likely to commit those types of crimes as anyone else, despite your occupation. To quote Frederic Bastiat, If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind? The point is, and the real deal is, personally and professionally, cops are no better than the rest of us. End. Of. Story. Myself having worked in law enforcement, and also working on the civilian side of life, and having my God given civil rights violated on NUMEROUS occasions in my civilian career by police even when I had committed no crime, nor had done anything wrong at allYeah, I see it for what it is. Current law enforcement is nothing but a militarized enforcement arm of the state. To be clear, current law enforcement is the military occupying force by the state, within our local communities. I see it clearer than most anyone else for what it actually is. My perspective having worked on both ends of the spectrum is unique.

Not only are we equal as humans in our faults, but try dialing 911 and see if the police get there in time to prevent anything. Im certainly not going to bet on that, because the facts show in only 5% or less of cases when you called 911 the police are able to arrive and stop whatever crime was being committed, or capture the criminal involved. This means 95% of the time or less, you are on your own. This is just ONE of the reasons why you have the right to own guns.

My conservative, pro 2nd Amendment friends ROAR at having the right to protect themselves via the 2nd Amendment and that they have it to protect themselves from criminals because a cop is too heavy to carry around, yet the very second you say you dont need cops as much as people think, theyll throw you under the bus. Are you hypocritical much, my conservative friends? I think so. You cannot say I have the 2nd Amendment to protect myself and also if we need to overthrow the government, yet at the same exact time, worship that very government (the police), you are talking about taking down should it come to government tyranny.

The way to end the War on Cops, while simultaneously allowing us to exercise our individual God-given liberties, is simple. Police need to stay at their station house or at another assigned static location until they are called for assistance, period. You are not needed for nanny state nonsense. Stay put until you are called and allow us our liberties to move about and go about our day without looking over our shoulder and worrying about getting a citation for some nonsense when there is no victim whatsoever. You cannot protect anyone and everyone. Its literally impossible. Nationally there are roughly 1 million of you, and that includes corrections officers in comparison to over 300 million of us. Does that mean we want or need more cops? No, absolutely not or we would have a full on police state even more than we already have infringing on our rights every single day. Go out and spread yourself out throughout the community, but park and wait. Dont patrol, dont profile people, dont do anything, but park, and wait. That is truly the most efficient way of policing. Do you realize how much taxpayer dollars go to just fuel your vehicles why you ride around looking for citizens to turn into criminals? When you get a 911 call, then go. Ill support you on that all day long so long as theres an actual victim, simply because your presence and intervention was requested. Until then, stay put, and sit in your patrol car. Leave everyone alone unless your presence is requested. Its simple.

Featured image: Daily Wire (AP Photo / Nick Ut)

* Shane Foster has worked his entire career in military law enforcement, corrections, and as a private investigator. He has a unique perspective into how law enforcement operates from within its ranks, our judicial system, as well as our privacy laws and how every day our individual freedoms and liberties are gradually taken away from us and our individual rights abused on a regular basis.

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How to End the War on Cops and Restore our Liberties at the Same Time - Being Libertarian

Mary Burkett, Washington County Republican Party 7:04 a.m. MT March 3, 2017

Mary Burkett(Photo: Jud Burkett / The Spectrum & Daily News)Buy Photo

Police are given discretion as to which cases they will pursue. They make choices about the severity and intent of a crime.

Prosecutors have discretion about which cases they will take to trial, whether to plea bargain and which offenses are most worth going to trial.

Juries, according to the law, have discretion. In many cases, jurors do not know it.

HB332 (Criminal Procedure Revisions) is before the Utah State Legislature and addresses ensuring that judges instruct juries about their discretion. Take a few minutes to read the summary (le.utah.gov), the first few and last paragraphs of the bill. It is designed to ensure that juries are fully informed of their options when deciding a verdict, including jury nullification.

Most of us dont know that jury nullification is a valid option. Simply put, someone can break a law and show in court that the law is unjust. The jury can then return a not guilty verdict. This is where juries have discretion.

Womens March, media fuel divisive movement

Its a remarkable idea. As the Libertas Institute explains, Juries serve as one component of a much larger justice system a final checkpoint to help ensure, as far as possible, that innocent individuals are not wrongfully convicted or that well-intentioned laws do not create an injustice by being unfairly applied to a particular person or circumstance.

However, there are judges and lawyers who do not like the idea of jury nullification so they withhold this vital information from the jury. Its much easier to control an ignorant jury. HB332 will stop this withholding of information.

There are high-profile cases in which juries have likely gone rogue.

The O.J. Simpson jury may very well have practiced nullification by finding the defendant not guilty even though they thought he had committed two murders but because the investigating detectives were seen as racists, they were justified to find him not guilty.

Other legal experts have called the George Zimmerman verdict in the Trayvon Martin case a classic example of jury nullification.

In 2009, Doug Darrell was charged with cultivating marijuana for distribution in New Hampshire. He said that the marijuana was being grown for personal use and religious purposes. His attorney actually had to ask the judge to tell the jury they had the right to nullify and they did.

Circumstances surrounding most jury nullification cases include unjust laws, unjust sentencing guidelines, victimless crimes and particulars of a single case, including mitigating factors.

Jury nullification is neither a Democrat or Republican issue, although many Libertarians have taken it up as a cause.

The bigger point is simple. And very important. When there are injustices, juries, a group of regular Americans pulled from voter rolls, can right wrongs. Its one of the many ways that the Founders showed their faith in their fellow citizens.

Its an optimistic view of the future, so contrary to the view liberals hold toward their fellow Americans. Where liberals treat their fellow Americans like victims, constantly trying to allow the government to interfere with their lives, with the intent of fixing things citizens are better served to fix themselves, our Founders and today, conservatives, have high hopes and expectations for the American people. We have faith in our fellow citizens, as demonstrated by the idea of jury nullification.

A few of the great resources online to learn more include Fully Informed Jury Association, Cop Block, Truth in Justice and the Libertas Institute.

Mary Burkett is a member of the Washington County Republican Party.

Read or Share this story: http://www.thespectrum.com/story/opinion/2017/03/03/legislature-should-ensure-juries-know-their-options/98681444/

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Legislature should ensure juries know their options - St. George Daily Spectrum

In response to the recent desecration at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia of more than 500 headstones, the National Museum of American Jewish History is embarking on a collecting project to preserve the stories of the people who are buried there.

To the Editor:

In response to the recent desecration at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia of more than 500 headstones, the National Museum of American Jewish History is embarking on a collecting project to preserve the stories of the people who are buried there. The Museum is asking those who have friends or loved ones interred at Mount Carmel Cemetery to share a picture of their loved one (and/or the headstone, if available) and a personal story of up to 150 words by posting it on MtCarmelStories.tumblr.com or by e-mailing curatorial@nmajh.org.

The project is also open to those whose families were affected by the desecration that occurred at St. Louiss Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery last week.

We would like those who did this to understand that these are not victimless crimes. The individuals buried at Mount Carmel were human beings with names, stories, and families. They contributed to the world while they were here and continue to do so through the loved ones they left behind. We honor their memories, said Ivy Barsky, the Museums CEO, and Gwen Goodman, Director.

NationalMuseum of American Jewish History

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Preserving stories from Mt. Carmel - South Philly Review

The AUC rightwing paramilitaries left victims all over Colombia. Here family members mourn at a funeral in Buga, about 160 miles south-west of Bogot, in 2001. Photograph: Oswaldo Paez/AP

Hernn Giraldo Serna and the men who were under his command in a broad area of northern Colombia murdered more than 270 farmers, indigenous leaders and leftist organizers.

They forcibly disappeared and tortured many of their victims; thousands more fled their homes in fear. Giraldo won the nickname the Drill for the dozens of young girls and women he raped. Twenty-four bore his children.

But when Giraldo faces a federal court in Washington DC on Friday it wont be for any of those crimes. Rather, he will be sentenced for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States when he was a leader of a rightwing paramilitary group through which he lorded over the northern slopes of Colombias Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

However, in a precedent-setting twist to the case, the family of Julio Henrquez, who was tortured and murdered by Giraldos henchmen in 2001, will be allowed to address the court about the impact of his crimes.

Fridays hearing marks the first time that Colombias brutal paramilitary leaders who escaped trial for crimes against humanity at home because of drug charges in the United States will face their victims in a US court, according to the Henrquez familys attorneys.

Roxanna Altholz, who represents the Henrquez family, said part of the conspiracy Giraldo has pleaded guilty to was offering armed protection to drug traffickers. And part of that armed protection was Julios murder because he was undermining the drug trade by organizing farmers to replace coca for other crops, she said. Coca is the main ingredient in cocaine.

Nadiezdha Henrquez said that she, her sister Bela and their mother, Zulma, would tell the story of her father Julios murder one more time in the hopes of seeing some sort of justice. He was addressing a meeting with farmers when two masked men burst in, and dragged him into white pickup truck. He was never seen alive again.

We want to make the court understand that there are people whose lives are destroyed by this supposedly victimless crime of drug trafficking, she said in an interview in Bogot before travelling to Washington. We want to influence the judges decision on how long Hernn Giraldo will stay in prison.

They will make a plea for the stiffest sentence possible, which is life in prison, and describe what it would mean for them and the communities of Colombias northern coast, where he once reigned, if he were to return home after a short sentence.

He is a very dangerous figure for the people of that area. If he returns, he will resume his business and the fear we lived with for so many years will return, said Zulma, Henrquezs widow.

Giraldo, 68, is one of 14 former leaders of the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) who were extradited to the United States on drug trafficking charges in 2008 just as they began to confess as part of a demobilization deal the human rights crimes they committed in their purported fight against leftist Farc rebels and anyone perceived to be a supporter.

Critics claimed that justice for thousands of murder, rape, torture and disappearance victims was thwarted by the paramilitary leaders extraditions, although most continued to cooperate with Colombian prosecutors investigating the crimes.

Giraldo is the last of those extradited to face sentencing, after he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic cocaine.

Prosecutors are asking for a 20-year sentence, which would be reduced by half through the 10 years he has already served since turning himself in 2006 in Colombia before his extradition the United States in 2008.

In a memorandum seen by the Guardian, Giraldos defence suggests a 12-year sentence, arguing that he was compelled to become involved in the AUC because of patriotism and a sense of duty, honor, and obligation to protect the peasant community against leftist guerrillas.

The drug trafficking, according to Giraldos lawyers, was just a way to make money to maintain the counter-insurgency force.

In 2007, Henrquezs body was found in a clandestine grave. He was missing his jaw and a foot. Two bullets had pierced his skull.

Two years later, after Giraldo had been extradited to the US, a Colombian court convicted him of Henrquezs forced disappearance. He was sentenced in absentia to 37 years in prison and ordered to pay compensation to the family. But the sentence has not been executed because of the charges in the United States and a pending sentence under the special peace process mechanism.

But while Henrquezs family has been unable to get redress in Colombia, they hope to find justice in the US court. And acceptance of Henrquezs widow and daughters as victims in a case of international drug trafficking could open the door to future non-US victims of traffickers to have their say in court as well.

Victims of [the Mexican drug boss Joaqun] Chapo Guzmn or other leaders of cartels or members of security forces or politicians who face drug charges could also face their victims in US court, said Altholz.

Its a new way to look at drug conspiracies, she said. It says those tons of cocaine and ounces of heroin that reach the US are tainted with blood.

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Families of victims of Colombia's paramilitaries get their day in US court - The Guardian

COMMENTARY: The New Mexico Legislature is considering two bills that would support the babies of incarcerated women. Both bills either save money for the state and counties, or involve minimal costs.

The New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force and a number of respected pro-social organizations strongly advocate for the passing of both bills as concrete ways to support the physical and social health of mothers and infants in our state.

SB 277: Alternative Sentencing for Pregnant and Lactating Offenders (Ortiz y Pino)

Women offenders are often appropriate for diversion to alternative incarceration programs, as many have been convicted of non-violent or victimless crimes. SB 277 would allow the court to decide to either temporarily release or to place in community custody (eg. house arrest) a pregnant or lactating offender during the most vulnerable months of the fetus/childs life. This would happen only in cases where the women provided no perceived risk to public safety.

Courtesy photo

Lissa Knudsen

Alternative sentencing would allow a mother to access appropriate medical care, simplify visiting, make it more possible for her to attend foster care agency conferences and Family Court proceedings, and ultimately ease the reunification process when she is released. Participating in alternative sentencing might even prevent her children from entering or staying in foster care, depending on her personal circumstances. Once her child reaches 18 months of age, the mother would be expected to finish her sentence.

According to a Journal of Criminal Justice article, the adult children of incarcerated mothers are nearly four times as likely to serve time on probation and nearly three times as likely to be convicted of a crime at some point during their lifetime. By allowing mothers and children to form bonds and be housed together, the consequences of mother incarceration are lessened considerably.

SB 277 saves money, too when inmates with high-risk pregnancies need medical care, the city or county is responsible for the cost. Medicaid cannot pay for services provided while the patient is behind bars, but if they are out on release, Medicaid will pay for the care. Medical care can be costly for high-risk inmate pregnancies, allowing these non-violent women to access medical care outside of corrections reduces overall costs and provides rural counties and cities with significant savings.

The N.M. Association of Counties, the American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, the N.M. Pediatric Society, New Mexico Academy of Family Physicians, the N.M. Public Health Association, Southwest Womens Law Center, N.M. Association of Social Workers, New Mexico Voices for Children, Womens Agenda, PB&J Family Services, Wings for LIFE International, and the Gordon Bernell Charter School all support this bill.

This bill has made it through two committees and was approved by the senate on a 33-6 vote.

SB 293/HB 277: Lactation Policies for Female Inmates (Padilla/Maestas Barnes)

Of course, release or delayed jail time will not be an appropriate option for some female inmates. Considering the proven health and social benefits of breastfeeding to both the mother and the infant, SB 293 (and its mirror bill HB 277) would allow incarcerated mothers who wish to breastfeed or maintain their milk supply the ability to provide their infants with mothers milk.

This would be accomplished through the support they need to either express milk for delivery to their infant or, in some cases, to breastfeed their infants during daily visits. If the mother expresses her milk, accommodations would be made for freezing, storing and making the milk available for on-site pick up by the childs caregiver.

There are several precedents for this type of accommodation, including the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, the Ohio Prison System, Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Oregon, Travis County Jail in Texas, and the Washington County Jail in New York. All of these provide lactation support programs for the inmates.

Across the country, correctional facilities have provided four types of breastfeeding support (expressed milk can be frozen and distributed to caregiver on a biweekly basis):

An imprisoned mothers actions should not condemn her children to lose their rights to the benefits of breastmilk and breastfeeding. When children cant access the immunity-building and nutritional benefits of breastmilk (as well as the bonding that breastfeeding promotes) becausetheir mothers are in correctional facilities they, too, are sentenced to the lifelong ramifications of imprisonment.

Babies born to incarcerated mothers are more likely to end up incarcerated themselves. However, we know that babies who are breastfed are better able to bond with their mothers, thus reducing child abuse rates and improving other social outcomes. County jail officers have reported that mother inmates in breastfeeding support programs are motivated and have fewerbehavioral problems than mothers whoare not able to do anything for their off-site child.

The American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, the N.M. Pediatric Society, New Mexico Academy of Family Physicians, the N.M. Public Health Association, Southwest Womens Law Center, N.M. Association of Social Workers, New Mexico Voices for Children, N.M. Womens Agenda, PB&J Family Services, Wings for LIFE International, and the Gordon Bernell Charter School all support this bill.

This bill has made it through four committees and is scheduled to be heard on both the Senate and House floors this week.

In a tough budget year it is understandable that new programs bring up concerns about costs. However, HB 277/SB 293 and SB 277 have the power to lessen costs through reducing recidivism and reducing health-care costs for mother and child. Alternative sentencing will shift costs from municipalities to Medicaid. The lactation policies bill is flexible, allowing for each correctional facility to design a program that best matches itsresources and needs. For WIC-eligible children of incarcerated mothers, costs can be as minimal as providing storage bags for the milk. The N.M.Corrections Department has stated that even if the bill does not become statute, itenvisions being able to implement a lactation program within itsgiven budget.

Whenever programming is considered for the incarcerated population, safety is a concern. The courts will decide who would be eligible for release (using the criteria of what is in the best interest of public safety). Corrections administrators and medical providers will decide which inmates will be eligible to participate in the lactation support programs. Remember that women offenders are not generally dangerous and mother offenders are even less so. Programs like these provide opportunities for mothers to build self-efficacy and self-esteem, thus improving their outlook and motivation. It also promotes bonding, attachment and reduces child abuse rates.

Although there are safety concerns that may arise regarding the storage and transfer of the expressed milk, breastmilk is food and can be stored like food. Staff will receive training on how to label, store, and deliver expressed milk. These types of procedures are not complicated and are already done in child care facilities, NICUs, and other places that provide expressed human milk to babies.

We know rates of substance abuse are high among women who are incarcerated. The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, and Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine all support breastfeeding by women who are enrolled in a supervised methadone (or buprenorphine) maintenance program and have negative screening for HIV infection and illicit drugs. Moreover, breastfeeding has been shown to reduce the symptoms of neonates experiencing neonatal abstinence syndrome as a result of in utero opioid exposure. This is, in fact, the best possible treatment. Medical providers test mothers both at birth (current standard of practice) and throughout the lactation period. This ensures that mother is not using illicit substances while lactating and that breastfeeding continues to be medically recommended.

Human milk should be the standard of nutrition care for babies born to mothers who are incarcerated. SB 277 saves the state both in incarceration costs and in labor and delivery costs. Both bills promote breastfeeding and thus decrease incidences of life-threatening infections and lengthy of hospital stays, improve mother and child bonding, and reduce child abuse rates and health care costs. Ultimately both of these bills help New Mexican babies have the best possible start to their lives regardless of their mothers crimes.

Lissa Knudsen, New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Forcechair, is a PhD Student in the Communication and Journalism Department (focusing on health communication) at the University of New Mexico, and she lives in downtown Albuquerque with her 12-year-old daughter.

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Breastfeeding bills aim to help children of incarcerated mothers - NMPolitics.net

A visitor to the vandalized Jewish Mount Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia views toppled tombstones, Feb. 26, 2017. (Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images)

(JTA) Two Philadelphia unions said they will provide free services to help repair and secure the citys vandalized Mount Carmel Cemetery.

More than 100 gravestones were toppled and damaged at the Jewish cemetery in the Wissinoming section. The vandalism was discovered Sunday.

Bobby Henon, a Philadelphia City Council member with union ties who represents the Wissinoming neighborhood, tweeted Monday evening that the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council offered to replace the toppled headstones and that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union Local 98 offered to install additional lighting and security cameras.

Labor leader John Dougherty of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council told reporters that the vandalism is a cowardly act of anti-Semitism that cannot be tolerated. His workers also offered to re-sod and clean the cemetery grounds.

Meanwhile, aGofundme campaignfor the Philadelphia cemetery launched by a private citizen, Raphael Caroline, 31, in the hours after the vandalism was discovered has raised nearly $20,000 in 24 hours, double its original goal.

The Jewish Federation of Philadelphia announced that a volunteer cleanup of the cemetery will begin at noon Tuesday and run every day from noon to 4 p.m.

The federation said it will begin cleaning up the cemetery Tuesday and asked for volunteers.

Representatives from the Jewish Federation will be on hand as well as up to 50 people per hour cleaning and working to help restore this important Philadelphia landmark, the federation said in a statement.

In response to the vandalism, the National Museum of American Jewish History, which is located in Philadelphia, has initiated a project to preserve the stories of the people who are buried there. The museum has called on those who have relatives or friends buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery to share a photo of the person, and one of the headstone, if possible, and a personal story of up to 150 words. They can be posted at http://MtCarmelStories.tumblr.com or emailed tocuratorial@nmajh.org.

The project is also open to those whose families were affected by the desecration that occurred last week at the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in the St. Louis area.

We would like those who did this to understand that these are not victimless crimes, said Ivy Barsky, the museums CEO and Gwen GoodmanDirector. The individuals buried at Mt. Carmel were human beings with names, stories, and families. They contributed to the world while they were here and continue to do so through the loved ones they left behind. We honor their memories.

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Philadelphia labor unions offer to repair, secure vandalized Jewish cemetery - Jewish Telegraphic Agency