ISSUE
30
The JUSTICE
JOURNAL OF
Ma r / A p r
2014
In this issue:
VOTE & OPPRC Stand with familiesP.1
Voting Rights Commission P.2
VOTE’S MISSION:
Upcoming Legislation to watch P. 3
FIP Arts P. 4
VOICE OF THE
(VOTE) is an
organization dedicated to
building the political
power of people most
impacted by the criminal
justice system, especially
formerly incarcerated
persons (FIPs,) their
families and loved ones.
Through leadership
development, community
education and voter
mobilization, VOTE will
ensure that our
constituents are at the
center of transforming the
criminal justice system.
Upcoming Events P. 5
EX-OFFENDER
Contact VOTE:
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.vote-nola.org
P.O. Box 13622,
New Orleans, La 70185
Norris holds a mic for Margie Lee-Huitt
VOTE and OPPRC Stand Up With People Victimized By OPP
After another person perished in the
onerous Orleans Parish Prison, outraged
citizens, VOTE and the Orleans Parish
Prison Reform Coalition stood with the
family of William Lee to demand answers
and urgent action to end the violence
permeating from the jail. Lee died in OPP
mysteriously after an altercation with
another prisoner. Willie’s mother,
Margie Lee-Huitt spoke at an
approximately 80 people strong rally
held in late March, less than a week after
Willie died, to testify in the court of
public appeal about how she was denied
the right to witness her son’s body after
having been told about his death
through the grapevine, not the Sheriff’s
office. There was also controversy
surrounding the circumstances of his
death. He had been in an altercation
with another prisoner that left him
breathless and when he was finally taken
for treatment, 2 hours after initially
reporting trouble breathing, he was said
to have died of heart failure in a
statement from the Sheriff’s office that
was unconfirmed by the Coroner. There
were conflicting reports from inside OPP
that Willie was pepper sprayed by guards
although he was already complaining of
shortness of breath.
VOTE has been a leader along with other
OPPRC members in decrying the conditions in
which prisoners as well as citizens have been
held hostage for decades by the willful
disregard that elected officials have for the
criminogenic effects of OPP. Even though the
jail has been under investigation for many
years and is now under another federal
consent decree meant to address issues of
unconstitutional confinement, Sheriff Gusman
has done nothing to improve the deplorable
ways people are kept. This has caused the
coalition to yell louder than the 1438 bed cap,
which is now under attack through a provision
that could allow additional facilities to remain
open when the new jail comes online, and
now demand that people be let out. Not only
that people be let out, also that they not be
allowed to go in there in the first place.
People do not forfeit their humanity after
they have acted out of desperation and
committed a “crime.” People are still being
put into a dangerous and violent facility
where up to 73 people a month were sent to
LSU hospital for emergency care. People are
being thrown into cages where they are not
fed properly and subjected to unsanitary
living and bathing quarters for misdemeanors
and failure to be able to afford fines.
Cont’d on next page
Voting Rights Commission
Cont’d from last page
The guards are traumatized and mistreated by the system of inequity just like the prisoners, both
originating from within the same class, which perpetuates the cycle of abuse within OPP while
exacerbating street violence and contributing to an overall torturous environment inside OPP walls.
We cannot incarcerate our way out of the social ills which racialized poverty causes. We are in a
pinnacle point in history where we are resisting the particular ill of incarceration and the ways it is
used to oppress people. It is going to take bold leadership to dismantle this system and lofty
visionaries to build alternatives, both of which are urgently needed to end the crisis of incarceration
and ensure that Willie Lee is no longer a story on repeat.
Norris, Gahiji and allies at the Voting Rights
Commission at Delgado College
The National Voting Rights Commission is currently conducting a nationwide tour to receive testimony
about how people are experiencing voting throughout the country. On April 7th New Orleans was the
fifteenth stop on the tour. The regional and state hearings, of which there will be over 25, will compile
reports to conclude their findings. The commission is organized by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil
Rights Under Law. The hearings are open to testimony from the general public as well as voting rights
activists and others with concerns on access to voting polls, registration and the myriad other issues
surrounding the essential civil right.
Some of the other topics that the commission has been hearing people talk about include voter
registration, disenfranchisement of formerly incarcerated people, election administration challenges,
voting discrimination, redistricting, and issues for individuals with disabilities, non-English speaking
voters, and communities of color.
VOTE’s Executive Director Norris Henderson spoke before the panel of commissioners to express his
concern about disenfranchisement and the civil death that occurs upon exiting prison. One of the
notable things Norris expressed was the idea that if people are removed from the polls that they
should also be relieved of their necessity to pay taxes. “Because this country was founded on no
taxation without representation, then if someone can’t vote they shouldn’t have to pay taxes.”
VOTE’s newest board member and long-time VOTE member Bruce Reilly also testified or lectured, on
the history of the Louisiana’s Constitutions as they relate to disenfranchisement of people with
conviction histories. The full audio can be heard here.
Legislation to Watch
The Louisiana State Legislature will convene its session beginning March 10, 2014 and will conclude
June 2, 2014. This year we look forward to moving bills that will help to remove barriers for formerly
incarcerated people to acquiring gainful employment and reclaiming their right to vote. The legislature
can benefit from an inactive citizenry to pass bills that are not in our best interest so we have to pay
attention to what is happening in Baton Rouge so that we can effectively advocate for formerly
incarcerated people, currently incarcerated people our larger communities and for equitable justice.
Let the legislation knows where we stand. You can find more about the rules of the session here:
http://house.louisiana.gov/Agendas_2014/2014%20RS%20Session%20Bulletin%20-%20House.pdf
HB283 by Representative Patricia Smith
VOTING/REGISTRATION: Provides relative to registration and voting by a person convicted of a felony
HCR85 by Representative Patricia Smith
Requests agencies in state government to adopt ban the box employment policies
HB 14 by Representative Austin Badon
Amends the criminal penalties for second and subsequent convictions of possession of marijuana and
prohibits the application of the Habitual Offender Law when all underlying criminal convictions are for
possession of marijuana.
HB18 by Representative Joseph Lopinto
Repeals pilot program statutory provisions regarding alternative methods of incarceration and
electronic monitoring. Update: passed and signed into law as Act 2, effective date August 1st
HB1257 by Representative Joseph Lopinto
PROBATION: Provides for the procedures by which conditions of probation may be modified, changed,
or discharged and procedures by which a defendant's probation may be terminate
HB12 by Representative Patricia Smith
Repeals certain provisions of crime against nature held to be unconstitutional and amends crime
against nature and aggravated crime against nature relative to the repeal of the unconstitutional
provision.
HB781 by Representative Major Thibault
Provides for the creation of a pilot program to rehabilitate and support offenders
HB130 by Representative Dalton Honore
Removes convictions for offenses involving marijuana,
Tetrahydrocannabinol or chemical derivatives thereof, or synthetic cannabinoids from the habitual
offender law.
HB71 by Representative Kenny Havard (This one would deny death row appeals after 2 years)
Repeals exception to the time period to file post-conviction relief petitions for persons who are
sentenced to death.
HB55 by Representative Joseph Lopinto
Rewrites the provisions of expungement law.
HB100 by Representative Herbert B. Dixon (creates new fees)
Establishes court costs to pay for settlements to wrongfully convicted individuals
More information and more upcoming legislation are available at legis.la.gov.
F.I.P. ARTS: Jency Williams, Origami
Formerly incarcerated people are stigmatized. Constantly judged for their pasts and perceived as dangerous
criminals. In order to change the culturally accepted stereotypes of formerly incarcerated people we must
highlight the brilliance, the compassion, the endurance, the strength, the inventiveness and the humanity
FIPs bring to our communities. This section of the newsletter intends to highlight FIPs for their art, their
talent and their genius. Please submit FIP created and FIP centered short works to [email protected] to
be published in this section, all ownership will be retained by the artist, please do not send any work
without their explicit approval.
Jency Williams is a formerly incarcerated VOTE member that has found expression through the art of paper
folding, or origami. “I started learning from a classmate in 5th grade. Then I started getting books on it. I
increased in skill levels as I progressed. Since then I have done it off and on. It wasn't until last year I went full
force. I offered my self to instruct whom ever wanted to learn. I was offering kids a positive way to occupy
themselves. And with their interest in social media I started a Facebook page where they could view all of my art
( Twice Folded).Origami is fun you really teach yourself. It's calming. Yet you have to stay focused and
concentrate. You get to enjoy an oriental art that is done worldwide. It's even taught on YouTube.” He is willing
to teach and share his art with the world if you are interested in learning how to do origami or purchasing one of
his works you can reach him at 504-638-3807 or by emails at [email protected].
Upcoming Events/Meetings
Upcoming Events/Meetings
Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition
Mondays 4pm
Hope House 916 St Andrew Street
VOTE Members’ Meeting
Wednesday June 4th 6pm
Seventh Ward Center 1910 Urquhart
Greater New Orleans Organizers’ Roundtable
Saturday June 14th 4-7pm
Seventh Ward Center 1910 Urquhart
The Movement Forward: Mississippi Freedom Summer 50th Anniversary,
June 25-29, 2014; Jackson, Mississippi
More information here.
The Mississippi Freedom Summer 50th Anniversary Conference will convene in Jackson, Mississippi both to
recognize the accomplishments and those who worked for changes to the politically segregated Mississippi and
to discuss how to continue the struggle toward Mississippi reaching its full potential for all of its citizens.
VOTE Calendar:
https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=seculvu27f5339orkeguh61ebs%40group.calendar.google.com&ct
z=America/Chicago
VOTE Issue 25 August/September 2012
Please Support VOTE!
V.O.T.E. is now capable of receiving donations directly from the V.O.T.E. website. Different giving
options are available. There is a recurring donation, for those generous folks who wish to give monthly,
quarterly or yearly. There is also the option to give just once, and a donor can choose to give loud and
proud, by revealing their name, they can donate anonymously or dedicate their donation to another
person, place or thing.
Click Here to Donate Now!
V.O.T.E. also accepts donations by mail in the form of checks or money orders made out directly to
VOTE or Voice Of The Ex-Offender and mailed to:
VOTE
P.O. Box 13622
New Orleans, La 70185
JOIN US FOR THE MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP MEETING AT 6PM
Wednesday June 4h AT The 7th Ward Center
1910 Urquhart Street, NO, LA 70117