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, August 28, 2012

Action Alert ~~NO MORE Prisons

ACTION ALERT:
Governor Brewer: NO MORE For-Profit Prison Contracts!
 
Today a diverse group of over 50 statewide and national leaders and organizations sent a letter to Governor Brewer asking her to halt plans to award a multi-million dollar contract for up to 2,000 prison beds to a for-profit prison corporation.
 
Please help us by raising your voice and calling or emailing the Governor and telling her NO MORE!
 
Time is running out. The Department of Corrections will award a new contract for up to 2,000 more private prison beds THIS FRIDAY, August 31st. Please call today!
 
Take Action!  Tell Governor Brewer NO MORE For-Profit Prison Contracts!
We can’t afford to waste millions more every year on more prison beds that we don’t even need. CALL TODAY!
 
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer:  (602) 542-4331 or 1-800-253-0883 (outside Maricopa County only); azgov@az.gov
 
 
NO MORE For-Profit Prisons in Arizona!
·        We DON’T NEED more prison beds. Arizona’s prison population is dropping, and projected to continue to decrease for two years
·        For-profit private prisons are MORE EXPENSIVE than state-operated facilities. A recent study estimates that Arizona taxpayers are wasting $3.5 million per year on for-profit beds
·        For-profit prisons have poor safety standards, are chronically understaffed, and do little to rehabilitate prisoners
 
Arizona can save millions and do more for public safety by investing in evidence-based alternative sentencing policies, like most other states—including conservative states like Mississippi and South Carolina—have already done.
 
 
**If you can blind copy or cc us, we will have a better idea how effective this initiative is.  If you receive responses, even boiler-plate ones, please forward those to us, if possible.

 
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Caroline Isaacs, 520.256.4146 (cell); cisaacs@afsc.org
August 28, 2012
Broad Coalition of State and National Leaders, Organizations
Voice Opposition to Plan for More For-Profit Prisons
Phoenix: A diverse group of organizations, elected officials, faith leaders and educators sent a letter to Governor Jan Brewer today urging her to halt plans for up to 2,000 more private prison beds. The list of over 50 leaders and organizations includes several Arizona elected officials—both Democrat and Republican—from the state, county and city levels of government. Also signed on to the letter are Arizona groups such as the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, the National Organization for Women’s Phoenix/Scottsdale chapter, and the Center for Economic Integrity.
National groups also weighed in, including many organizations and think tanks concerned with prison privatization. Bob Libal, the Executive Director of Grassroots Leadership, which co-organized the sign-on letter, stated that Arizona is regarded as an anomaly—a state that is spending millions on expanding its prison system while most other states are reducing prison populations and reaping huge budget savings.
Of particular note was the participation of religious groups and faith leaders. Many national churches and denominations have taken formal positions against for-profit incarceration, including the United Methodist Church USA, Presbyterian Church USA, US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Bishops of the South, the Episcopal Church, and the United Church of Christ. The letter to Governor Brewer was signed by the national bodies of several large denominations: the United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, the Church of Scientology, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, and the Presbyterian Criminal Justice Network.
Arizona faith leaders are also signed on, including the Arizona Ecumenical Council; Bishop Stephen Talmage of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America;The Rt. Rev. Kirk Stevan Smith, with The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona; andBishop Minerva G. Carcaño, Resident Bishop of the Phoenix Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church.
The letter to Brewer lists a multitude of reasons to scuttle plans to sign a new contract for up to 2,000 more for-profit prison beds. It cites the fact that Arizona’s prison population is declining, and argues that new beds are not only unnecessary, they are actually more expensive than prisons run by the state. A recent investigation estimates that Arizona taxpayers are wasting $3.5 million per year on for-profit prison beds.
The letter also details a litany of problems in Arizona’s existing private prisons, including security flaws such as malfunctioning alarms and security cameras. It points to the escapes from a private prison in Kingman in 2010 and argues that the poor conditions and understaffing that contributed to that tragedy have been reported in all the state’s private prisons. It also reports that the other for-profit prison corporations bidding on the contract also have their share of scandals, mismanagement, and abuses.
Other organizations and individuals have chosen to send their own letters to the Governor in addition to the sign-on letter. The Arizona Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness penned its own letter asking the Governor to nix plans for new prisons, and a retired Arizona prison warden wrote a letter in opposition to planned prison expansion.
“The Governor appears to be out of step not only with the public, but also with correctional experts and even members of her own party on this issue,” said Caroline Isaacs, Program Director for the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker watchdog group that opposes for-profit prisons and organized the sign-on letter.
#####
The American Friends Service Committee is a non-profit organization that works for justice and human rights both nationally and internationally. The Arizona office, based in Tucson, advocates for criminal justice reform.
Caroline Isaacs,
Program Director,
American Friends Service Committee, Arizona Area Program
103 N. Park Ave., Ste. 111
Tucson, AZ 85719
520.623.9141
www.afsc.org/tucson
 
 
 
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