News

A Different Kind of Justice

Dec 18, 2013 No Comments

By Dianne Frazee-Walker

Following the aftermath of the third media worthy shooting in Colorado, the time has arrived for shedding light onto positive news in Colorado.

According to the news media, the federal government is taking a more serious look at how mental illness is connected to violent crimes. Gun control news has accelerated. However, it is evident that stricter gun control laws are not the only answer to this festering problem.

Colorado recently added their eighth mental illness pilot project to their judicial system. Currently, there are approximately 300 similar projects across the nation.

Leave it to Aspen, Colorado, the innovative ski resort town burrowed in the Rocky Mountains to launch a program designed for mentally ill offenders.

It is no surprise the glitzy town of Aspen would offer such a lavish solution to a problem narrowly addressed within the criminal justice system. Aspen locals have historically nick named the Aspen jail the “Club Med” of the correctional system.

The Wellness Program, generated earlier this year has evolved over the past several months.

The motive of the program is to provide appropriate sentencing alternatives for mentally ill offenders, sentencing alternatives which reduce recidivism rates.

For people with mental illness, jail rarely is the proper place to get needed treatment, but that is often exactly the place where they repeatedly end up.

Distance Learning: Rhema Bible College

Dec 18, 2013 No Comments

Master the Word of God with Home Study that is Flexible and Affordable.

The Word of God is full of truth about unconditional love, overflowing joy, and perfect peace. But if you don’t know these Bible truths, chances are you’re not enjoying their benefits. RHEMA Correspondence Bible School can help! RCBS is a non-accredited home Bible study course that is designed with you in mind. This study program allows you the flexibility of paying for one lesson at a time and you may complete the lessons at your own pace. You will receive a certificate of completion for each completed study unit and a RHEMA Correspondence Bible School diploma upon completion of all six units. Enroll and pay online, and take a giant first step toward learning The Word. Image courtesy www.malte-yvonne.com

Flexible
Enroll anytime; choose your topic of study; study at your own pace!

Affordable
Pay as you go – only $25 per lesson!*
(* US Residents rate. Foreign rates are listed on the application form.)

About RCBS

Flexibility

The RCBS study program allows you to pay for one lesson at a time and to complete lessons at your own pace.

Finally Out and Among the Living

Dec 17, 2013 No Comments

By John Jay Powers

Jack Powers is an inmate in the federal Bureau of Prisons convicted of bank robbery and escaping from prison. He spent more than a decade in extreme isolation at the ADX where he amputated his fingers, earlobes, a testicle and his scrotum. He has tried several times to commit suicide. “The world outside is like another planet,” he wrote from ADX. “I feel like I am trapped within a disease.” Powers is a plaintiff in a civil rights lawsuit against the federal government regarding its use of longterm solitary confinement for the mentally ill. – S.G.

After 12 long, hard years at the ADX Control Unit Supermax Prison in Florence, Colorado, I’m finally out and among the living. Oh, I’m not on the streets. I’m here among the general population of a federal penitentiary in the dry and dusty desert of Tucson, Arizona.

For a guy who has lived alone in a cement box for more than a decade, the transfer here was really something. First there was a bus and then air-service called “Con-Air” – big passenger jets flown around the U.S. by the Marshalls Service. I had the opportunity to speak with other prisoners and see a couple of cities both from land and air. It was a trip for me for sure.

When we pulled up at the pen, I was all prepared to go straight to the segregation where, once again, I’d be put into solitary confinement. Instead, a number of prison officials met me inside the door and told me that I’d be going directly into the population – into the best unit, in fact, where I’d have single cell. I was so shocked by this turn-around that I began to shed tears.

Distance Learning: Durham College

Dec 17, 2013 No Comments

Image courtesy durhamlords.comCorrespondence

Learn from home, from work, or in our labs and create your own study schedule at your own pace. Our correspondence courses are offered on a monthly intake basis and your study kit will be mailed at this time. You have 14 weeks from the start date of your course to complete.

Correspondence course information

Register by phone, fax, mail or in-person for the course of your choice. Be sure to use the course codes listed.
Your study kit will be couriered to your home from the School of Continuing Education prior to the course’s start date.
Course fee includes a $25 supply cost (non-tax deductible).
If your course uses a textbook (the title and ISBN number are listed in your study kit), the text can be purchased from the Campus Bookstore. It is not included in the price of the course. You may contact the bookstore at 905.721.3026 and request that your textbook be couriered to you at an additional cost to you.
You are assigned an instructor and are provided with the instructor’s fax and/or telephone numbers for consultation.
Assignments are to be mailed or faxed to the Continuing Education office at the Oshawa campus for your instructor to receive and mark. Self-addressed, stamped envelopes are included in your study kit for your convenience.
Any student-initiated refunds will be subject to a $30 cancellation fee if you withdraw within two weeks of the official start date of your course. After this time no refund will be issued.
If you are intending to pursue a college diploma using any of the listed credit courses, please ensure that you have the required prerequisite. You may be asked to provide official transcripts and/or course outlines as proof.

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Federal Bureau of Prisons Population Report: December 12, 2013

Dec 16, 2013 No Comments

On December 12, 2013, the Federal Bureau of Prisons released its latest BOP Population Report. This report details the number of federal prison inmates, the name of each federal prison and its population number, the name of each privately-managed secure facility and its population number, and the populations at the various types of CCM offices.

Sam Houston State University

Dec 13, 2013 No Comments

Image courtesy dallasvoice.comThrough the Correspondence Course Division, Sam Houston State University provides the opportunity for qualified individuals to obtain college credit through correspodence course study.

Correspondence courses offer a challenging and rewarding opportunity to earn credit for college courses without attending an organized class. Students may study at their own rate and at the time and place of their choosing. This service has been proven highly beneficial for those who desire to continue their college work, to teachers who wish to take courses leading to additional certification or who are in need of additional study in the disciplines they teach, and to citizens who wish to broaden their learning.

Unless otherwise specified, each correspondence course carries three semester hours of college credit and includes an amount of work similar to that required for a course taken in residence.

Correspondence courses are not offered at the graduate level, nor can any correspondence course taken at any level or at any institution count toward a graduate degree at Sam Houston State University.

“Sam Houston State University is accredited by the Commission of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097; Telephone number 404.679.4501) to award bachelor, masters, and doctoral degrees.”

IMPORTANT

Arkansas State University Distance Learning

Dec 12, 2013 No Comments

Correspondence Courses A correspondence course is a home study course offered by a school under which instructional and examination materials are provided to students who are not physically attending classes. Differences in Correspondence Courses There are several differences between correspondence courses and regular courses taught on campus for students wishing to apply for and receive

Close-up view of library shelves filled with books, ideal for concepts of education and literature.

Book Review: Against Their Will

Dec 12, 2013 No Comments

Against Their Will: The Secret History of Medical Experimentation on Children in Cold War America By Allen M. Hornblum, Judith L. Newman, and Gregory J. Dober Palgrave-MacMillan, 266 pages, $27.00, Reviewed by Christopher Zoukis According to Oswald Spengler, “Moral is a conscious and planned causality of conduct, apart from all particulars of actual life and character,

Seattle Central Community College Correspondence Courses

Dec 11, 2013 No Comments

Correspondence Courses: Overview Image courtesy partners.ecenglish.com

The Correspondence Courses Program is an opportunity to enroll in and complete courses from Seattle Central Community College from your home or work. The courses enable individuals to earn credits towards an A.A. or A.A.S. degree.

Correspondence courses are open enrollment. Students who register for these courses have two quarters (180 days) to complete course requirements.

Financial Aid may not be used for Continuous correspondence courses and full–time tuition fees are not applicable. Loan deferment eligibility is not available for these courses.

Tuition cost per course is $554.20 for Washington state residents and $654.20 for non–residents which includes a 20.00 non–refundable materials fee.

There are no required on–campus meetings for correspondence courses. However, some courses require students to take their exams on campus. Students who are unable to come to campus to take their exams are responsible for finding their own proctor to supervise exams.

Rethinking Life Behind Bars

Dec 11, 2013 No Comments

By Dianne Frazee-Walker

“Courtney called out, ‘Mom, you promised you weren’t going to leave us no more,’ ” Ms. George recalled, her eyes glistening. “I still hear that voice to this day, and he’s a grown man.”

Stephanie George, serving a life sentence without parole in Louisiana for a minor drug infraction still recalls the heartbreaking pleas from her eldest of 3 sons, Courtney, then 8, in 1997.

Ms. George is one of a half a million people in the U.S. locked away in prison for non-violent drug crimes.

When Ms. George was sentenced 15 years ago, her children were 5, 6 and 9. They have been raised by her sister, Wendy Evil, who says it was agonizing to take the children to see their mother in prison. They would fight over who gets to sit on their mother’s lap.

A lockbox, containing a half-kilogram of cocaine seized by police in Ms. George’s attic was sufficient evidence for Judge Vinson to be convinced of a crime severe enough for Ms. George to be separated from her children for the rest of her life.

Judge Vinson, whose reputation is anything but libertarian, defends that a formula dictated by the amount of cocaine in the lockbox and her previous criminal record was what determined Ms. George’s sentence.

Ms. George and Judge Vinson had conflicting views about the cocaine filled lockbox stashed away in Ms. George’s home. Ms. George claimed the cocaine was hidden in the attic and she was not aware it was hidden in her house. She insisted her drug dealing boyfriend placed the cocaine in the lockbox and hid it in the attic.

Originally, Ms. George and Judge Vinson did agree on the fairness of the sentence imposed by federal court because Ms. George was a known drug dealer and the cocaine was found in her house, even though her boyfriend was responsible for putting it there. The punishment for drug possession does not entail a life sentence.