My son was in a bar fight, another person got hurt and my is now incarcerated for making a bad decision. He is being unjustly mistreated by prison staff, had his belongings stolen, purchased new things only to have those stolen as well, is afraid of the other prisoners (they call him names and have even threatened him for not standing up to the first inmate that stole from him). However, I know that I am not the only one concerned about this and that is afraid for their loved one's safety. Many other family members and friends are afraid to complain because they worry that those complaints will result in the inmates being punished. This also involves companies making huge profits from the inmates, their families, and taxpayers: the healthcare facilities that are supposed to be there to help sick inmates (my son gets medication for seizures) and have let inmates die, the phone service company that profits by allowing inmates to call us, the company that allows us to send money to an inmate's account and then provides very overpriced merchandise for the inmates to purchase at the prison canteen, while making huge profits from this, the company that allows us to buy the inmates some additional clothing so they can dress for the seasonal weather conditions. This inhumane treatment needs to stop.

Corrections officers routinely violate prisoner’s rights and have created a system of abuse through ignorance and lack of sanitation. Some of the human rights violations and complaints from prisoners are: 1. Overcrowding occurs regularly with no individual pods for women. Over 30 women in a pod crammed into approximately 22 beds. 2. There was only one shower for over 30 women. A violation of State of Tennessee Rule 1400-1-.04 paragraph 7. 3. There were over four women forced to sleep on the floor in each cell. There were only 8 beds but 12 women in cell E-4. 4. Lice infested, no lice combs given, only toxic pesticide shampoos given. 5. No socks given, only shower thongs. 6. Mice were coming up through a drain in women’s shower. 7. Mattress pads were thin ¼ -½ inch thick. 8. Women weren’t given any outdoor time or exercise area and were forced to stay locked in a small area without any fresh air or sunlight for months at a time. When they were allowed out, it was at odd hours like 6 am. 9. No soap or shampoo given except a packet of toxic chemicals because of claims that prisoners were using bars of soap as a weapon, yet jail personnel had no problem passing out razors. 10. Family members were not allowed to donate books to the library because they claimed people were smuggling in drugs in books when all they had to do was flip through the books. 11. The court is charging prisoners $15 a day to stay in jail for drug use instead of putting them into a rehabilitation program. Over 90% of the prisoners were in there for drug use. There is no mental health assistance for prisoners with psychiatric issues, which Petitioner estimates accounts for at least half of the population. 12. Prisoners are literally being starved to death and inmates are spending 25-$50 a week on commissary food with no actual healthy food available to purchase. Greene County is estimated to be making over $100,000 a year on commissary. Diet consisted of: Breakfast, 5 am: gravy, non-fat watered down milk, 8oz, two slices of bread, spoiled mandarins and one boiled egg. Lunch, 10:30 am: 2 slices of wheat bread and one slice cheese and one 2x2 in. white cake. Dinner: Powdered milk if you could call it that; mostly water, beans, spoiled collard greens, 2 slices bread. 13. The temperature inside the cells was freezing cold at around 40-50 degrees and inmates are only given a short sleeve jumpsuit to wear with thongs, one blanket, and one sheet. a. Visitors are forced to visit through glass; they can’t see or hear the other side, even when they are non-violent. 14. In order to visit or to write to a prisoner, a prisoner has to put the person on visitation list which how would they know someone wanted to visit them in the first place if they can‘t contact them? 15. No bottled water for sale or given out. Tap water contains poisons of toxic sodium fluoride, chlorine, and arsenic, the same chemical formulation that was alleged by John Kerry to have been used to gas the Syrians. 16. Only two tables that seat 4 people each for 30+ females and one television with nowhere to sit and watch. There are no tables in F pod and inmates are forced to eat on the floor. 17. There is black mold growing on the showers and walls. The mold had been painted over and black mold was still coming through. Only one shower and two toilets for 30 inmates in F Pod. 18. Several Prisoners had sinus problems related to mold exposure, nutritionally deficient diet and poisonous water. 19. The overcrowding and unsanitary conditions led to increased illnesses with no proper cleaning sprays. 20. No access to a clock so inmates could prepare for court or other appointments. 21. No access to law books or library for inmates to assist them in preparing for court or to conduct research. 22. Prisoners had witnessed another girl who was brought in a few weeks prior to Petitioner who had overdosed and was foaming at the mouth. Instead of taking her to the hospital, prison staff put her in the drunk tank. 23. Toilets are placed in direct line with the beds so you have no privacy when going to the bathroom and other inmates can see your private parts. 24. Fluorescent lights are left on all day and all night long creating an unhealthy environment. 25. No access to a doctor or Naturopathic Doctor. The doctor only comes on Mondays. 26. No posted menu as they aren’t following it anyways and don’t want any evidence showing the prisoners that. 27. Staff is inattentive to prisoner’s needs and is not doing checks every hour as State of Tennessee rules state. 28. Bunk beds are unsafe with no guard rail on top and top bunk is hard to get to with no ladder or assistance to get up there. 29. Violation of 1400-1-.10 section 8 as there are only two benches that seat 4 people each so almost all prisoners must eat at their bunk bed. 30. Ice chest in cel unsanitary as prisoners dip dirty cups into it. 31. Complete violation of 1400-1-.12 32. No library services, I was told we could donate books and magazines, but jail personnel said all library services had been discontinued because they claimed drugs were being smuggled in books! Well then they should check them. 33. Phone service hours were not posted and there was no privacy. 34. No outdoor light or access to exercise at all. State of Tennessee Rule in Paragraph 2 in .12 35. Complete violation of rules 1400-1-.15 as prisoners are being denied soap, TP, unacceptable footwear, no socks, no comb per paragraph 2 and instead are being told that someone had used it as a weapon so they had to take it away, yet they are being given sodas in plastic bottles that can also be used as weapons and no access to bottled water. 36. Also paragraph 5 says inmates are to have a mattress in good repair. The mattresses are under ½” thick and blankets were torn leaving inmates to freeze to death. 37. Inmates are supposed to have access to a phone. However, you need to have a pin number in order to use the pay phone. CO’s routinely did ...

People are appealing to the courts and not being heard. The Judges and DA's in Smith County Texas are known for not going through all of the procedures of the legal system. Families need for the Federal Government to look into these 50yrs to life sentences and see if the time is merited. My husband received a life sentence for an alleged misdemeanor assault that all the evidence pointed towards his innocence, but yet he was convicted of the crime. We need someone to look at this county's cases that are being appealed, but not being heard. Injustice anywhere is a threat everywhere

Christopher Rossing was brutally beaten and taken against his will on the early morning hours of August 23, after bars closed Friday August 22, 2014 in Howard Lake, MN. His family and volunteers searched for Christopher for nearly two months, and on October 11, 2014, charred human remains were found spread out in a corn field directly across from the accused kidnapper's property. Authorities were notified and a further search of the accused property by the sheriff's office revealed more severely charred human remains and teeth in their fire pit. We the family and the public have significant concerns if persons such as this are able to roam our streets with not one but several prior violent assault charges still open and past domestic assault charges including domestic assault misdemeanor charges on two minors. We want justice in this murder, and are asking our state elected officials to ensure that the Wright County authorities and the BCA to have all available resources and available manpower to help assist in any way possible to ensure that all DNA evidence is processed as submitted as evidence in the case of kidnapping as well as the highest degree of murder charges are brought against this violent repeat offender and the accused co-offender Gwen Butcher so no other person or family can be harmed or victimized by these repeat criminals. We are desperately seeking Justice for Christopher Rossing, who lost his life tragically at just 25 years old. Help us ensure justice in the murder and cover-up of the murder in the case of Christopher Rossing. JUSTICE FOR CHRISTOPHER 2015

From Marjorie Cohn, writing in Truthout: Reading the 499-page torture report just released by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was a disgusting experience. Even after many years of writing books and articles about the Bush torture policy, I was unprepared for the atrocious pattern of crimes our government committed against other human beings in our name. One of the most hideous techniques the CIA plied on detainees was called "rectal rehydration" or "rectal feeding" without medical necessity - a sanitized description of rape by a foreign object. A concoction of pureed "hummus, pasta with sauce, nuts and raisins" was forced into the rectum of one detainee. Another was subjected to "rectal rehydration" to establish the interrogator's "total control over the detainee." This constitutes illegal, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and a humiliating outrage upon personal dignity. Several detainees were waterboarded, a technique whereby water is poured into the nose and mouth to cause the victim to think he's drowning. One detainee in CIA custody was tortured on the waterboard 183 times; another was waterboarded 83 times. Waterboarding has long been considered torture, which is a war crime. Indeed, the United States hung Japanese military leaders for the war crime of torture after World War II. Other "enhanced interrogation techniques" (EIT) included being slammed into walls, hung from the ceiling, kept in total darkness, deprived of sleep - sometimes with forced standing - for up to seven and one-half days, forced to stand on broken limbs for hours on end, threatened with mock execution, confined in a coffin-like box for 11 days, bathed in ice water, dressed in diapers. One detainee "literally looked like a dog that had been kenneled." The executive summary of the torture report was made public, but the 6,700-page report remains classified. The summary depicts the CIA at best, as keystone cops, at worst, as pathological, lying, sadistic war criminals. The CIA lied repeatedly about the effectiveness of the torture and cruel treatment. Interrogations of detainees were much more brutal than the CIA represented to government officials and the American public. Bush's CIA directors George Tenet, Porter Goss and Michael Hayden should be charged with crimes, along with their minions who carried out the torture. In light of the gruesome revelations in the torture report, it is high time President Barack Obama fulfilled his constitutional duty to enforce the law. The US Constitution states the president "shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed." Yet Obama refuses to sanction prosecutions of those responsible for the torture. When the United States ratified the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the Geneva Conventions, we promised to prosecute or extradite those who commit or are complicit in the commission of torture. The report documents torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, all of which violate US and international law. The War Crimes Act punishes torture as a war crime. The Torture Statute (Statute) provides that whoever "outside the United States" commits or attempts to commit torture shall be imprisoned for not more than 20 years "and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life." The statute defines torture as an "act intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon another person within his custody or physical control." When the United States ratified the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the Geneva Conventions, we promised to prosecute or extradite those who commit or are complicit in the commission of torture. A ratified treaty is part of US law under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause. Yet the Obama administration persists in its refusal to bring the culprits to justice.

WE ARE WELL TRAINED PROFESSIONAL BUS OPERATORS AND SOME PEOPLE DO THE DUMBEST THINGS WHILE CROSSING THE STREETS OF NY. WE ARE NOT CRIMINALS AND REFUSE TO BE TREATED AS SUCH!!!!!!

My son was convicted of a crime and at the time he was 18 and now 39 years old. He has been in Texas Department of Corrections since 1994. He was given a life sentence, with a possibility of porale in 40 years. According to prison time, he has been in there 40 years. Prison time is somewhat different from regular time. For some reason the 40 years seems to never come. So I'm asking if you would please sign my petition. Please allow my son a fair chance for a parole hearing.

We need to restore, respect, integrity, honestly, loyalty, and set an example by having leaders that lead, have vision and set examples by following the laws they create. No one is above the law.

In Santa Cruz County, California, many people are refused their prescribed medication when they go to Santa Cruz County Jail. The prescribed medication that they take regularly, under the direction of their doctor. It can be very dangerous and even life threatening, to be suddenly cut off of a prescribed medication, especially when it is against the advice and direction of the doctor who knows them and prescribed the medication! But this hasn't stopped the medical director at this jail, Dr. Terry B. Lapid, from behaving so recklessly... This is why I'm hoping this petition might bring change to how things are done when it comes to inmates receiving their important, prescription medications... I know firsthand how dangerous this can be, because my boyfriend recently went to jail. He is prescribed methadone. When he got to the jail, they were very eager to take a urine sample. After many attempts to find out what they wanted the sample for, he found out... They told him that if he tested dirty for ANYTHING else, he would not be given his prescribed medication. That includes testing "dirty" for marijuana, alcohol, or any other prescription medications that he couldn't show proof of having at the time, etc... ANYTHING ELSE!! My boyfriend smokes pot, and had a prescription for it, but it expired a few months previously. This meant he was cut off, suddenly, from methadone, which is a very important medication for some people to take! It causes complete chaos, cutting someone off of a medication like that suddenly! And not only that, but his doctor who prescribes him methadone wanted him to continue taking it! Dr. Lapid went against his doctors advice, and had complete disregard for my boyfriend's wellbeing, health and LIFE! People's lives are NOT a game to be played with! Like my boyfriend, many people in jail are waiting for their guilt or innocence to be determined in court. So this means that someone who may not even be guilty of a crime, are having their lives thrown into upheaval, being denied their prescription medication, for no reason! They are being punished for nothing! It is NOT justice, it is completely unethical and recklace for Dr. Lapid to ignore the advice and direction of a person's regular doctor. These are people's LIVES! If Dr. Lapid refuses to give EVERYONE their prescribed medication, when the prescribing doctor is advising that they continue taking it, he needs to lose his job, and be replaced with someone who can do the job properly.

For too long we have let Pat Lynch be a divisive & destructive voice in our great city. It's time for a change.

Stanley L. Cohen is an attorney, international human rights activist, and a true American Hero fighting for justice and defending our Constitution. Stanley is an advocate for many people the government would like to silence or put in jail: Palestinian freedom fighters, Muslim preachers, North American natives living on Indian reservations, marijuana dealers, anti-war protestors, radical squatters, the homeless, "hacktivists", anti-Zionists and everyone in between. Mr. Cohen has been unfairly targeted by U.S. authorities who seek to silence him and end his law practice. Recently, after years of unfair prosecution and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, Mr. Cohen has pled guilty to charges of "impeding the IRS" and has been sentenced to 18 months in prison beginning on January 6, 2015. In October 2014 Stanley Cohen traveled to the Middle East to negotiate the release of American Aid Worker Peter Abdul-Rahman Kassig who was held hostage by ISIS captors. Talks to save Peter Abdul-Rahman Kassig went on for weeks, backed by the U.S. Kassig was killed by his Isis captors on 16 November after one of the prime negotiators, a Muslim cleric, was arrested and imprisoned in Jordan. See the full story in the Guardian and you will understand how vital it is that Stanley remain free: http://www.theguardian.com/news/2014/dec/18/-sp-the-race-to-save-peter-kassig Stanley is HERO, a dear friend and trusted advisor. He always puts the cause of justice, human rights and the needs of others for legal representation above himself. One minute in prison is one minute too much. Stanley must remain free to continue his lifelong dedication to the practice of law. Please stand together to seek justice for Stanley L. Cohen and ask President Obama to pardon him and keep him free.

Patrick Lynch, President of the NYC Police Union, recently told a gathering of police officers "Our friends, we’re courteous to them. Our enemies, extreme discretion. The rules are made by them to hurt you. Well now we’ll use those rules to protect us.” The enemies he is talking about are anyone who opposes the grand jury decision in the case of Eric Garner, those who oppose police policy. He has even identified NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio as an enemy. His thinly veiled threat to use "extreme discretion" is very dangerous when coming from the head of the union that represents the largest police force in the country and rivals many national militaries in the world. Patrick Lynch is a a dangerous extremist who should not be leading the NYC Police Union.