“My last couple of post were failed attempts to convey just how difficult it is for me to accept harsh treatment, and how O.D.R.C. staff apply their rules unequally. Try to imagine being punished for something you not only did not do, but something that obviously never occurred. Imagine being punished with individuals who have done things.”
Archive for January, 2021
Injustice Behind Bars — a new prison post from Shane Crum
Sunday, January 31st, 2021Judge orders Austin babysitter Rosa Jimenez freed from prison, questions guilt
Wednesday, January 27th, 2021
laura skelding
State District Judge Karen Sage made the ruling after a 2½-hour hearing Tuesday afternoon in which three top pediatric airway specialists testified that 21-month-old Bryan Guttierez most likely swallowed, on his own, the compacted mass of paper towels that led to his death — and that there was no way Jimenez could have forced the wad down the boy’s throat, as prosecutors argued at her 2005 trial.
“I do not believe that Ms. Jimenez should spend another night in jail if it can be prevented,” Sage said.
Read the full article by Chuck Lindell in the Austin America-Statesman.
Please Join us for an Important Educational Event!
Friday, January 22nd, 2021A Conversation with Judith Levine
February 5, 2021 @ 11:10am EST via Zoom
RSVP to ehorowitz@sfc.edu for Zoom link
Join Judith Levine and Emily Horowitz for a conversation about Judith’s new book THE FEMINIST AND THE SEX OFFENDER (Verso, 2020).
At the heart of the conspiracy theory that stirred many in the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6 was the lie that a cabal of Democratic and “deep state” pedophiles are trafficking and killing thousands of children. A demented “Save the Children” campaign led to a near coup d’etat and the death of five people. This is what people fighting for fairness for “sex offenders” are up against. How can feminism help us understand the hatred of the “sex offender”? How can social justice movements work together to end personal, political, and state violence?
The Feminist and the Sex Offender, co-authored by Judith Levine & Erica Meiners, makes a powerful feminist case for accountability without punishment and sexual safety and pleasure without injustice.
With analytical clarity and narrative force, The Feminist and the Sex Offender contends with two problems that are typically siloed in the era of #MeToo and mass incarceration: sexual and gender violence, on the one hand, and the state’s unjust, ineffective, and soul-destroying response to it on the other. Is it possible to confront the culture of abuse? Is it possible to hold harm-doers accountable without recourse to a criminal justice system that redoubles injuries, fails survivors, and retrenches the conditions that made such abuse possible?
Drawing on interviews, extensive research, reportage, and history, The Feminist and the Sex Offender develops an intersectional feminist approach to ending sexual violence. It maps with considerable detail the unjust sex offender regime while highlighting the alternatives we urgently need.
Rest in Peace Donald Connery
Monday, January 18th, 2021
I first met Don 24 years ago, at a conference about wrongful convictions in Salem, Massachusetts. Our last email exchange, not that long ago, reminisced about that conference. Don also told me that he was finishing his book on the Michael Pardue case and planned to immediately start on his next one. At the age of 94.
My email correspondence with Don began not long after Salem. He was one of the first supporters of Bernard Baran, the NCRJ’s first major case. Although then approaching 80, Don would drive from Connecticut to Worcester, Massachusetts to attend the many hearings that preceded Baran’s release. I well remember the many delightful breakfasts and lunches we shared at that time. Don would also make the longer drive to Bridgewater, Massachusetts to visit Baran in prison.
When the NCRJ was founded in 2002, Don graciously accepted our invitation to serve on our Board of Advisors. Don was devoted to the NCRJ, frequently attending Annual Meetings and teleconferences.
Don was a true gentleman and scholar. He led a fascinating life and was a most entertaining conversationalist. You can learn more about this amazing man by reading this obituary from the New York Times.
A Prison Post from Shane Crum: Unfair Treatment
Saturday, January 9th, 2021“I see inmate after inmate get caught being high or in possession of drugs, and nothing of any significance happens to them. For that matter, in a few short weeks after being caught, they are likely to get one of the coveted institutional jobs. I get a really minor rules infraction, and I lose my institutional job, educational opportunities, my merit status, and it could take me years to get only a small part of that back.”
