All of US or None - San Diego

Full Focus - Amend California's 3 Strikes.

2012-01-22T19:23:00.000-08:00

Overcrowding in Prisons- California's prisons are overcrowded and the State pays big bucks to house inmates. So is our prison system working? We'll discuss whether three strikes is helping or hurting our state. KPBS Reporter Rebecca Tolin looks at a non-profit agency called "Second Chance" that helps people just getting out of prison or jail transition to the outside world. Guest host Laura Casteneda welcomes guests: David Berry, Deputy District Attorney and Rev. Dennis Malone, Families to Amend California's 3 Strikes.

*Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity

2011-09-20T03:04:00.000-07:00

*Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity is a coalition based in the Bay Area with international supporters of prisoner rights advocates, lawyers, family& community members and anti-prison activist organizations. The coalition and hunger strike was initiated by prisoners in Pelican Bay State Prison. Coalition partners include: Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, All of Us or None, Campaign to End the Death Penalty, California Prison Focus, Prison Activist Resource Center, Critical Resistance, Kersplebedeb, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, American Friends Service Committee, and a number of individuals throughout the United States and Canada. Check out a growing list of over 200 organizations internationally that have signed on in support of the hunger strike. To get in contact with the coalition, email: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity@gmail.comhttp://myemail.constantcontact.com/Tomorrow--Support-the-CA-Hunger-Strike-.html?soid=1102350576074&aid=iaAadH_6Kaw

Protests Grow in Solidarity With California Prisoners As Hunger Strikes Enters Third Week

2011-08-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

Support the historic prisoner-led protest against torture in CA's prisons

2011-08-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

25-Years to Life for a Traffic Violation

2011-05-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

California’s Three Strike Law - We must abolish this evil and the system that supports it, that type of hate will surely ruin a nation. Rev. Dennis Malone

My Name is Henry Hendrix. I am currently serving a 25-years to life prison sentence for a traffic violation (Evading Arrest) and two juvenile prior offenses that date back well over 35-years ago. I was 16-years old on my first prior, and 17-years old on the second prior. Both were serious, but not violent - I was just a kid when I took these plea bargains; I am currently into my 16th year of 25 years to life for a traffic violation.
There are still thousands of men and women like myself who are serving life in California's prisons for non-violent crimes. California is the only state that warehouses non-violent offenders under its Three Strike Law. Over 4,000 men and women are serving life sentences for crimes like petty drug possession, receiving stolen property, petty theft, evading arrest, and joy riding. While murders,, rapist., and child molesters do receive goodtime/worktime credits, the non-violent inmates sentenced under California’s three strikes law do not receive any type of goodtime/worktime credits toward their sentence, and must serve a minimal of 25-years before becoming eligible for parole. Most of these inmates have already served over half their sentence, and are up in age. They will surely be in need of the medical services the Federal Receiver is asking for in order to bring California’s prison system into compliance with all constitutional requirements.
California continues to have enormous budget deficits, and a prison system that is extremely overcrowded and draining state funds that would normally be used for education. However, the politicians continue to portray non-violent three strike inmates as dangerous criminals who deserve a life sentence for crimes that normally carry 6-months to 1-year in the county jail. Most have never killed, molested, or raped anyone. They are drug abusers who have committed petty drug related offenses, and with drug and alcohol treatment could become productive tax paying citizens, instead of tax burdens.
While all other inmates are being paroled and released, the 4,000 or so non-violent inmates under California’s Three Strikes Law still find themselves languishing in prison until they have served at least 25-years on their life sentence.
If you would like to help in changing this law please contact:
Henry Hendrix #J-13498, P.O. Box 715071 Represa, Ca.95671-5071 HLH61@Hotmail.com

End Employment Discrimination

2011-05-06T01:01:00.000-07:00

Campaign to End Employment Discrimination Goes National

The question “Have you been convicted?” appears on applications for jobs, housing, vocational licensing, benefits, entrance to college, student loans and insurance. It is part of a pattern of discrimination that denies formerly-incarcerated people the right to sustain ourselves and our families. Initiated and led by formerly-incarcerated people, LSPC project All of Us or None’s Ban the Box campaign—to eliminate the box requiring criminal records disclosure and to end unnecessary background checks—has sparked a national movement. Ban the Box policies have been adopted in 6 states and 23 cities or counties nationally, including California!
For more information, please visit All of Us or None

Sentencing Law and Policy: "Alternative sentencing programs show growing success in Oklahoma"

2011-03-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

Sentencing Law and Policy: "Alternative sentencing programs show growing success in Oklahoma"

Time For A Political Response to the Crisis of Mass Incarceration: Join the Campaign To End Mass Incarceration

2011-02-04T13:45:00.000-08:00

Time For A Political Response to the Crisis of Mass Incarceration: Join the Campaign To End Mass Incarceration

Governor Brown Unveils Budget, Demonstrators Protest 20 January, 2011 (15:00) | Uncategorized | By: HHS Network CA KFMB-TV | CBS San Diego

2011-01-22T10:28:00.000-08:00

Future of Prevention Funding Lies in Broad, Public-Health Approach

2010-07-10T23:36:00.000-07:00

Future of Prevention Funding Lies in Broad, Public-Health Approach

Portugal legalizes drugs, crime usage falls. [VIDEO]

2010-06-26T06:13:00.000-07:00

Portugal legalizes drugs, crime usage falls. [VIDEO]

Prisoner Release 101 Video

2010-06-07T23:16:00.001-07:00

Legal Scholar Michelle Alexander on "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness"

2010-03-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

Legal Scholar Michelle Alexander on "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness"

Part II: Michelle Alexander on “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness”

2010-03-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

Part II: Michelle Alexander on “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness”

Expungement Clinic "A Clean Slate 2009"

2010-02-13T15:17:00.000-08:00

2010-02-05T16:51:00.000-08:00

NEW JAIL AND PRISON CREDIT LAWS TAKE EFFECT

February 2, 2010 -- Effective January 25, 2010, several new laws took effect which will grant additional sentence credits to jail inmates and state prisoners.

Prisoner Release 101:

the truth about inmate release under new law

Monday, February 22, 2010

7pm – 9:30pm

Joyce Beers Center in San Diego

1230 Cleveland Ave., Suite M-100

San Diego, California 92103

Free to Public

· California’s inmate population will be reduced by 6,500 this year to comply with law.

· California is under federal court order to cut the number of inmates by 40,000.

· In January San Diego County jails gave early release to about 260 inmates.

These are low-level offenders such as drug users, who need services for successful reentry.

Panel of Speakers Includes:

Craig Gilmore, California Prison Moratorium Project & Californians United for a Responsible Budget

Caroline Stewart, L.C.S.W., A New PATH

Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, Drug Policy Alliance

Rev. Dennis Malone, All of Us or None & A New PATH

Judy Patterson, Second Chance STRIVE

Dennis Moore, Bethel A.M.E. Prison Ministry

And more…

Moderator: John de Miranda, Ed.M. Stepping Stone & Faces and Voices of Recovery

Please RSVP to: Gretchen Burns Bergman, Executive Director & Co-Founder A New PATH

619-670-1184 or anewpath@cox.net. Website: www.anewpathsite.org.

Thoughts to Ponder

2009-11-03T16:56:00.000-08:00

Thoughts to Ponder

Rev. Dennis Malone
Sunday through Saturday:

Day 1

All too often, when we battle for the right, it turns out that both the victor and the vanquished have sustained defeat.

Day 2

Too often we engage in a fight merely to convince ourselves that we are not afraid.

Day 3

On every mountaintop of intellectual thought are to be found relaxation for the mind, strength for the soul, and communion for the spirit.

Day 4

The two major problems of life are: making a temporal living and the achievement of eternal survival. And even the problem of making a living requires religion for its ideal solution.

Day 5

Skill is one of the real sources of the satisfaction of living.

Day 6

Be not deceived by the tempting rewards of dishonest achievement; be willing to toil for the later returns inherent in honest endeavor.
Day 7

As a pleasure seeker you should aim always to be a producer as well as a consumer.

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Enough is Enough

2009-06-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

Clean Slate Training

2009-06-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

Clean Slate

In an effort to address the devastating impact of criminal conviction records,
we have designed a training to provide basic and essential information on how to modify these records.

California Penal Code §1203.3, 1203.4, 1203.4a and 1203.4b allows the sealing, dismissal and discharge of criminal records and outlines the process for applying for a certificate of rehabilitation or pardon. The campaign we are inviting you to learn about is called “Clean Slate.”

Many people who have been to jail or on probation do not realize the remedies
available to them that allow certain convictions to be dismissed from their criminal
records. Conviction dismissals enable people to check “no” on the employment
application that requires applicants to disclose prior criminal convictions.

We offer free training given by attorneys to assist you in providing the
information to help people get their records dismissed. If you are interested in either participating in training or wanting more information regarding this campaign, please contact All of Us or None-San Diego (619) 288-3248

Next San Diego Clinic Date:

All of Us or None-San Diego
Art & Culture Center
3925 Ohio Street
San Diego, CA 92104
619. 288-3248

National Day of Action for Jail & Prison Voting Rights.

2008-08-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

Making Our Votes Count:
National Day of Action for Jail & Prison Voting Rights

On Saturday, August 16, 2008, All of Us or None will sponsor a historic national mobilization to publicize the voting rights of people with past convictions, people on probation and parole, and prisoners in county jails. This mobilization was initiated by All of Us or None, a national organizing initiative of formerly-incarcerated people, prisoners, and our families based in San Francisco. The mobilization is being co-sponsored by The Ordinary Peoples Society in Dalton, AL, the New Bottom Line Criminal Justice Consortium, and other organizations around the country. We are fighting to win full restoration of all of our rights after a conviction or imprisonment. One of the most important rights people lose by going to prison is the right to vote, so voter re-enfranchisement is key to successful reentry back into the community. People who have been in prison are determined to build political power in order to win back our rights, and one expression of political power is exercising our right to vote.

In California, All of Us or None was a named plaintiff in a lawsuit where judges ruled in December 2006 that prisoners serving sentences in county jails have the right to vote. In order to publicize and enforce this ruling, All of Us or None-California will sponsor voter education and registration efforts in 7 counties on August 16. In Alameda, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, San Mateo, Sacramento, San Diego, and Orange Counties, members of All of Us or None and allied voting rights organizations will register voters in county jail visiting lines. In addition to informing family members of their right to register and vote, we will distribute information regarding voter registration procedures inside each county jail. Dorsey Nunn, co-founder of All of Us or None noted, “Confusion and misinformation about voting rights of incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated people, and people with past convictions happened over the course of decades, at a minimum through benign neglect, and at worst deliberate disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of people. The lessons coming out of Florida in 2000 were not only a question of hanging chads, but the open suppression of Black votes through the manipulation of felony conviction status.”

In San Diego, CA members of All of Us or None will be registering people to vote and providing voter information in visiting lines at San Diego Central Jail. Rev. Dennis Malone a local organizer for All of Us or None said, “We’re so much more than are felony conviction would ever allow us to be or become”. Here, the effort is joined by ACORN and other organizations around the country will also be registering voters in county jail and prison visiting lines on August 16. Formerly-incarcerated people throughout the U.S. are determined to unite to make our votes count and our voices heard in this year’s election.
Join us in a National Day of Action for Jail & Prison Voting Rights.

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Runner Initiative

2008-07-24T14:24:00.000-07:00

The Runner Initiative: Running California's Economy into the Ground with Failed Correctional Policies

Jakada Imani(Executive Director of Ella Baker Center for Human Rights) speaking at Coalition to Defeat George Runner's Initiative Launch Press Conference with Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero (back) and California NAACP President Alice Huffman
By Zachary Norris, Esq.
Books Not Bars
Notable elected officials, unions, and civil rights and faith-based organizations have joined forces in opposition to a proposed California ballot initiative that would bankrupt California by pumping billions of dollars into prisons and failed "anti-gang" laws and "tough on crime" policies of the past. The Coalition to Defeat George Runner's Initiative held a press conference May 7, 2008, announcing the formation of the new coalition, which includes the California Federation of Teachers, California Church IMPACT, the California NAACP, and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. The press conference coincided with other coordinated events taking place throughout the state (Sacramento, Los Angeles, Fresno) in a coordinated Coalition Day of Action.
The “Criminal Penalties and Laws State Spending Statute”, a potential November ballot initiative introduced by State Senator George Runner, would bust the state budget by directing billions of dollars to fund prisons, probation, and police in the midst of a budget crisis that has caused drastic cuts to education and health care. This potential statewide ballot proposal, also known as the "Runner Initiative" or "Safe Neighborhoods Act," is a far reaching-measure that stiffens criminal penalties and introduces laws reminiscent of failed polices of the past that did not increase public safety, but instead substantially increased California's prison population and wasted California tax dollars.
"The Runner Initiative's name on the November ballot is as misleading as what it proposes to do for our community. The so-called 'Safe Neighborhoods Act' will not lead to safer streets, less crime or a reduction in drug dealing in our community," said United States Congresswoman Barbara Lee. "The Runner Initiative doesn't address the core problems or create real solutions. In light of the current California budget crisis, we cannot afford to irresponsibly spend even more California tax-dollars on a failed policy of only funding prisons and criminalizing youth."
The multi-billion dollar initiative would shift state resources away from education, crime and violence prevention and toward increased incarceration of youth and young adults from low-income communities of color who already have limited opportunities for education, employment and rehabilitation. The initiative would cost Californians one billion dollars in the first year, and half a billion per year thereafter; plus additional unfunded mandates that local and county governments will be forced to pay.
Jakada Imani, Executive Director of The Ella Baker Center For Human Rights, adds, "George Runner isn't waging a war on crime. He is waging a war on our schools; in this time of budget crisis, he is waging a war on health-care and social services in our state that will also drive local governments into a ditch. In the end, Runner's initiative makes us less safe. Effective public safety results from employment and a strong economy, which is based on a strong school system."
Senator Runner’s initiative employs scare tactics that deceive the public into believing that existing sentencing laws are not adequately protecting them. California’s penal code already provides for sentencing enhancements for gun-related and gang-related offenses. Opponents of the Runner Initiative have likened it to other "wedge" issues, and identified this stunt as an attempt by Senator Runner to divide Californians by distracting voters from real solutions that would address public safety issues, such as consistent investment in community-based crime prevention and after-school programs. The Coalition to Defeat George Runner’s Initiative is dedicated to uniting California voters -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- to defeat this fiscally irresponsible measure.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's projected $12 billion budget already exceeds that of higher education. Currently, California prisons house 170,469 people, with an additional 3,275 people shipped out of state due to overcrowding that has resulted from failed policies similar to the Runner Initiative. Many prisons are packed at more than 200 percent, forcing some inmates to sleep outside and on floors. Underscoring the prison system's failures is California's 70% recidivism rate, the highest in the country.
The San Francisco City and County Board of Supervisors and the City Council of Berkeley both passed resolutions against the initiative, joining United States Congresswoman Barbara Lee, State Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, Latino Caucus Chairperson Assemblymember Joe Coto, Senator Leland Yee, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums in opposing the Runner Initiative.
Zachary Norris is the Director of Books Not Bars, a campaign of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.
For more information or to participate in the coalition, please visit www.defeatrunner.org

California Prison system will eventually break California completely. Currently the federal receiver has approved the hiring of hundreds of officers under the assumption they are to assist in getting the inmates seen. This will cost the taxpayers billions. And make CCPOA much richer. But will it improve medical care? No. There currently is a substantial amount of officers that have little to do. Or the job duties are not even acceptable in any other prison system in any other state. Such as sitting for hours to open and shut a gate. The previous receiver hired ex-directors, some left CDCR and went to the receiver office under very questionable terms. Hiring of professionals such as teachers, nurses, physicians should to be the focus. This receiver has maintained all the same staff. Bottom line there has to be extensive mandatory job trainings attend by all inmates. A tougher approach on the drug rehab program also has to be addressed. You stay clean you get time off. You use in or out of the system you get a lot of time added on. But you will work or attend a job program otherwise you do your full sentence. No inmate should ever parole from a lock up unit. Medical needs to be ran specifically by medical staff, not custody. If custody can not ensure without adding hundreds of more officers per institution that the inmates can't get to their appointments then maybe its time California gets rid of CCPOA and hires private security from schools. It would be cheaper and you could hold the staff more accountable. It’s out of control and we are over due to make drastic changes. It’s affecting our schools and our communities. It’s draining every resource California has. I think it's about time the Teacher's Union finally woke up and saw that they were ALLOWING the governor to take their money to fund that which only creates more crime. Sending minor offenders to prison is like sending them to Crime College. They live with the BIG offenders, and then have new skills when they get out. There are much more effective and less costly means to accomplish what society truly needs - to continue doing what we've been doing and expecting different results is insanity. So, yes - let's put more money into prisons since it isn't working - we don't need more education/skill centers that just might create productive tax paying citizens. We must starting screaming our message out loud from every mountain top.

Take this as an open invitation to attend our monthly community meeting; Golden Age Complex 740 South 36 Street 6:30 – 8:00 P.M. last Thursday each month. All of Us or None is a national organizing initiative to strengthen the voices of formerly incarcerated felons, and our families. Discrimination against one group of society has collateral damage towards all groups. Plan on attending an All of Us or None meeting and become part of a movement towards an equitable solution. All of US or None - San Diego

Peace & Blessings,

Rev. Dennis Malone

NORA

2008-06-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

No More Cuts

2008-05-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Calendar

2008-04-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

Insider on the Outside

2008-04-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

Rev. Dennis P. Malone an active advocate for social justice and community economic development. Since 1991 and currently the Executive Director and co-founder of All of Us of None San Diego, engaging in effective policy change.

Meetings?

Monthly Community Meetings Info: Last Thursday of the month: 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm (Call for confirmation of meeting schedule) Golden Age Complex 740 - 36th Street (Conference Room) San Diego, CA 92113

Website:

All of Us or None San Diego

Email Contact

Mission:

Through uniting, mobilizing, and supporting prisoners, ex-offenders, and their allies, All of Us or None San Diego will ADVOCATE for fundamental changes within the criminal justice system, and EDUCATE our community about the abuses those involved with the justice system face. Additionally, we will ELIMINATE discrimination against former prisoners by transforming public perception and policy, and FACILITATE parolees' successful reintegration into society and reunification with their families.

Quote:

"Neither mistakes nor convictions should ever define who we truly are; we are much greater. Our mistake today is allowing others to deny our higher definitions of self. We shall henceforth promote our victories and share boldly our successes." - Rev. Dennis Malone

2008-04-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

2008-04-02T20:02:00.000-07:00