Wasted Honor -- - Say What you Need To Say......: Correctional Officers - Poll: Should Employers Access Your Facebook Page?

Wasted Honor -

Carl R. ToersBijns is the author of the Wasted Honor Trilogy [Wasted Honor I,II and Gorilla Justice] and his newest book From the Womb to the Tomb, the Tony Lester Story, which is a reflection of his life and his experiences as a correctional officer and a correctional administrator retiring with the rank of deputy warden in the New Mexico and Arizona correctional systems.

Carl also wrote a book on his combat experience in the Kindle book titled - Combat Medic - Men with destiny - A red cross of Valor -

Carl is considered by many a rogue expert in the field of prison security systems since leaving the profession. Carl has been involved in the design of many pilot programs related to mental health treatment, security threat groups, suicide prevention, and maximum custody operational plans including double bunking max inmates and enhancing security for staff. He invites you to read his books so you can understand and grasp the cultural and political implications and influences of these prisons. He deals with the emotions, the stress and anxiety as well as the realities faced working inside a prison. He deals with the occupational risks while elaborating on the psychological impact of both prison worker and prisoner.

His most recent book, Gorilla Justice, is an un-edited raw fictional version of realistic prison experiences and events through the eyes of an anecdotal translation of the inmate’s plight and suffering while enduring the harsh and toxic prison environment including solitary confinement.

Carl has been interviewed by numerous news stations and newspapers in Phoenix regarding the escape from the Kingman prison and other high profile media cases related to wrongful deaths and suicides inside prisons. His insights have been solicited by the ACLU, Amnesty International, and various other legal firms representing solitary confinement cases in California and Arizona. He is currently working on the STG Step Down program at Pelican Bay and has offered his own experience insights with the Center of Constitutional Rights lawyers and interns to establish a core program at the SHU units. He has personally corresponded and written with SHU prisoners to assess the living conditions and how it impacts their long term placement inside these type of units that are similar to those in Arizona Florence Eyman special management unit where Carl was a unit deputy warden for almost two years before his promotion to Deputy Warden of Operations in Safford and Eyman.

He is a strong advocate for the mentally ill and is a board member of David's Hope Inc. a non-profit advocacy group in Phoenix and also serves as a senior advisor for Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council in Chino, California As a subject matter expert and corrections consultant, Carl has provided interviews and spoken on national and international radio talk shows e.g. BBC CBC Lou Show & TV shows as well as the Associated Press.

I use sarcasm, satire, parodies and other means to make you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Correctional Officers - Poll: Should Employers Access Your Facebook Page?

Several lawmakers are investigating whether this practice is illegal.

By Lisa Rossi

Maryland is considering two bills that would make the practice illegal and two U.S. senators have asked the U.S. attorney general to look into whether the practice violates federal law. Opponents of the practice have said it not only violates personal privacy, it could put a prospective employer at risk for discrimination complaints. But some say the practice, if done legally and ethically, could help some companies make sure they don’t hire someone who could put a company’s reputation at risk.

“Employees in sales, public relations and customer service function as representatives for the companies they work for, so employers have a legitimate interest in ensuring potential workers won’t embarrass the company,” wrote Timothy Lee, of the think tank the Cato Institute, in a recent story on Bloomberg Business Week. Facebook’s Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan recently posted that employers might put themselves at risk if they ask prospective employees to provide passwords.

“For example, if an employer sees on Facebook that someone is a member of a protected group (e.g. over a certain age, etc.) that employer may open themselves up to claims of discrimination if they don’t hire that person,’ Egan wrote. The controversy over employers asking for Facebook passwords has made headlines in Maryland.

Former correctional officer Robert Collins said that last year he was asked to give his Facebook password to his superior at the Maryland Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services. Collins told CBS Baltimore he asked corrections officials what they were looking for and was told, “I’m looking through your messages, through your wall, through your pictures and through your posts to make sure that you’re not flashing any gang signs or involved in any illegal activity.”

In April of 2011, the Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services made the review of social media sites during the interview process for correctional officer applicants voluntary, according to a press release.

They will also not be asked to supply log-in or password information, the press release said. Maryland corrections officials said questions about social media activity are designed to eliminate candidates who engage in illegal activity or have gang affiliations.

http://catonsville.patch.com/articles/poll-should-employers-access-your-facebook-page-a20431af“The department is doing its due diligence to check any avenue to look for signs that someone might be having association with a gang--and it is a problem inside prisons,” Rick Binetti, a Maryland corrections spokesman, told Patch Monday. “The majority of violence in prison is driven through gangs and trading and contraband, and it’s not unique to Maryland.”

The ACLU of Maryland is among the groups pushing for a state law barring employers from asking for Facebook passwords or to access private accounts. The ACLU has said in an email to supporters that the Maryland Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services policy change to make the social media review voluntary does not go far enough, and said efforts to access private accounts is a "gross infringement of privacy."

House Bill 964 and Senate Bill 433 prohibit employers from asking employees or job applicants for information to access any personal electronic communications accounts. Nationally, two Democratic senators, New York’s Chuck Schumer and Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal are calling for investigations into whether employers are violating federal law when they ask for Facebook passwords during job interviews, according to the Huffington Post.

Other states are considering legislation on the issue as well, including Illinois, California and Massachusetts, which has a bill under consideration that forbids employers from “friending” job applicants in order to see private Facebook sites as well, the Huffington Post reported.