Recently 18 yr old grafitti artist , Israel Hernandez , was apprehended after being chased by over 20 police officers for painting graffiti on an abandoned building in Miami Beach, Fl. Upon being apprehended a taser gun was excessively and irresponsibly applied, that resulted in the DEATH and KILLING of this young man. We deplore any more excessive use of force and police BRUTALITY in our country .

After more than 30 years as host and producer of The Prison Show on KPFT I have covered the criminal justice beat nationally.

CDCR (CA Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation) has launched a STG (Security Threat Group) program to be codified into the Title 15. It allows, among many things, long term indefinite isolation of inmates at great expense to the State. It lays the foundation for no one to be allowed out of SHU (Security Housing Unit) and into a SDP (Step Down Program) without agreeing, before entering, the SDP to snitch on others for the CDCR, while in SDP, at great risk to their families and their own safety. You can not simply disavow yourself of gang activity and work toward rehabilitation goals. You must agree to be a confidential informant. It also has a broad brush struck of who can be labeled an STG. It can done on a "suspicion" by a guard, with no proof. There are ways beside the use of SHU's to isolate active gang members from general population without the expense and inhumane treatment of SHU's.

In 2004, a 16 year old runaway named Cyntoia Brown was picked up in Nashville, Tennessee, by a forty-three year old man who planned to have sex with her in exchange for money. At the time, Cyntoia was living in a motel room with an adult male pimp, Cut-throat, who had been prostituting her and violently abusing her sexually, mentally, and physically, while also providing her with drugs. Late that night, as Cyntoia was lying naked in the bed with the man who had picked her up for sex, her paranoia growing from the drugs and abuse she had suffered, Cyntoia became convinced that the man intended to cause her bodily harm. She fired one bullet at the man, killing him. She then picked up some items to bring back to her pimp so she would not be beaten. She drove the man's car to a Wal-Mart parking lot and walked back to her pimp's motel room. Cyntoia was quickly arrested, charged as an adult, and convicted of first degree murder. She was sentenced to a life sentence (60 years in prison), and will be required to serve 51 calendar years before she can be considered for parole. Since 2004, Cyntoia has been working diligently to make amends for her crime. Today, Cyntoia is an incredibly intelligent, compassionate, and resilient young woman. She recently graduated with an Associates of Arts degree with a GPA of 4.0 from Lipscomb University's LIFE Program (Lipscomb Initiative For Education), and she will soon earn her Bachelor's degree from Lipscomb. As she has progressed in her rehabilitation, Cyntoia has served as a beacon of light in the prison environment. She has helped other inmates earn their GEDs, worked in various meaningful jobs, and encouraged those around her to be their best selves. She has maintained meaningful relationships with positive mentors in the community, many of whom feel that they have become better people through their friendship with Cyntoia. Watch this video clip: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/videos/sentencing-children-cyntoias-story/

Three times I have been called and informed that a friend has been lost to heroin. Two out of three of these did not have to end in death - the other person or people doing the drugs with them failed to call for help in a timely manner when my friends overdosed. In one of these instances they waited for HOURS. Why were they not arrested at once? Why is an investigation needed? The doctor said this friend would have lived if help was sought after immediately. It seems pretty cut and dry.... intentional negligence is claiming lives when these people could have been saved. It is happening all the time, and those who are not impacted don't even know it. Those who stand by and do nothing should be automatically detained on pending manslaughter charges, and if a homicide investigation is warranted they can sit in custody while the detectives complete that. Stop letting them get away with this. Parents are losing children, children are losing their parents, and we are losing friends, while people who had an opportunity to seek help roam freely.

Jodi Ann Arias is a convicted felon/murderer who resides at the Estrella Jail in Arizona. She has recently started a book club at this facility. It is unknown if she intends to profit off of this "organization", but we must sign this petition in order to shut down any intentions she may have for personal gain. Please sign this petition if you agree with the above.

Darrick Washington was shot in the chest by a sheriff deputy in 2010 but yet he is the one being charged with attempted murder on a law enforcement officer. He was a 16 year old unarmed child at the time whose dreams of continuing to play football was taken away by an officer using excessive force. To view the news report go to http://www.clickorlando.com/news/NAACP-questions-teen-s-attempted-murder-charge/-/1637132/4692220/-/ka9m18z/-/index.html

Israel Hernandez was killed by the Miami Beach Police for scribbling an "R" pictured here on a McDonald's wall. The 18-year-old skater was chased down, pushed up against a wall, and tased, after which he started to show signs of "medical duress." One witness even said the officers were congratulating each other after tasing him. Hernandez might have been fleeing out of fear of deportation. He was a recently documented Columbian immigrant. Regardless of the circumstances, no one should have to die for scribbling an "R" on a wall. Sign and share to tell the Miami Beach Police department that you want the officers who did this to be held accountable and action taken to make sure this never happens again.

Around 3:00 a.m. on March 24, 2012, Molly Young was called to the Carbondale apartment of a former boyfriend, Richie Minton (a dispatcher for the Carbondale Police Dept.) with a plea of "Help me." He had been drinking the night before. She was killed by a gunshot wound to the top left side of her head (Molly was right-handed) shortly afterwards. Her former boyfriend's father and lawyer were at the scene before Illinois State Police were able to arrive on scene, and the Carbondale Police allowed her former boyfriend to wash his hands and change his clothing before evidence was gathered. He also refused to submit to any forensic testing or to even be interviewed. Molly was left to lay in his bedroom floor for 7 hours after the 911 call until search warrants were signed. There are many more inconsistencies and errors in the handling of this case by local police. The Jackson County State's Attorney made no charges after his investigation and a coroner's jury decided the cause of death as undetermined. Information pertaining to this case can be found at the Carbondale Times website. http://carbondaletimes.com/021413young

Innocent people are being wrongly convicted without sufficient evidence. This is a big problem in the USA. Not everyone can afford a good attorney and you have your public defenders who are suppose to protect you, but because they are overwhelmed with so many clients they don't even remember your case and will do anything to move on to the next case. We as the people should help the innocent. Why is it so easy for information to be falsified to hurt the innocent? For example football player (Brain Banks) who was innocent, he was convicted and did time in prison. All for what because of a lie. We need to defend the innocent.

On February 1, 2013, My brother took me out to a bar for my birthday, during which we were accosted by police. They beat my brother unconscious, and wrote on the report that he was hostile and needed to be restrained. My brother suffers from a disorder where he is incapable of violent behavior, and I have notified the FBI about the criminal behavior of the police, but it is not enough. Our story is one of thousands.

Free Emilia Carr