From the
Des Moines Register:
The Iowa State Penitentiary has abolished an "honor" program for convicts serving life sentences, sparking an uproar in which 40 inmates have filed grievances in protest.
The "honor lifer" program had existed in the Fort Madison prison's maximum-security unit since 1975. The program had granted extra privileges to 44 inmates in Cellhouse 318 who had records of hard work and good conduct. The inmates all had been convicted of crimes that include murder, rape and kidnapping.
Warden John Ault scrapped the program last month after two recent incidents in which some inmates housed in the honor lifer unit tested positive for illegal drugs, said Fred Scaletta, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Corrections.
Ault replaced the honor lifer program with a new system that rewards good behavior, said prison spokesman Ron Welder. But some privileges previously available to honor lifers have been eliminated, he added. These include an annual banquet with visitors that was paid for by inmates; semi-private visits with friends and family in a windowed office; letting inmates choose the paint color in their cell; and permitting leathercraft tools and sports gear in cells.
Filed grievances? Give me a break. The way I look at it they didn't take away all the inmates perks...they are, of course, still alive.
From the Des Moines Register:
1 comment:
"Journey Toward Justice" Changed my mind about the Death Penalty. A Book Recommendation: This is the Companion book to John Grisham's The Innocent Man, Journey Toward Justice by Dennis Fritz. Journey Toward Justice is a testimony to the Triumph of the human Spirit and is a Memoir. Dennis Fritz was wrongfully convicted of rape and murder after a swift trail. The only thing that saved him from the Death Penalty was a lone vote from a juror. Dennis Fritz was the other Innocent man mentioned in John Grisham's Book which mainly is about Ronnie Williamson, Dennis Fritz's co-defendant. Both were exonerated after spending 12 years in prison. The real killer was one of the Prosecution's Key Witness. Read about why he went on a special diet of his while in prison, amazing and shocking. Dennis Fritz's Story of unwarranted prosecution and wrongful conviction needs to be heard. Look for his book in book stores or at Amazon.com , Journey Toward Justice by Dennis Fritz, Publisher Seven Locks Press 2006. .
Read about how he wrote hundreds of letters and appellate briefs in his own defense and immersed himself in an intense study of law. He was a school teacher and a ordinary man whose wife was brutally murdered in 1975 by a deranged 17 year old neighbor. On May 8th 1987, Five years after Debbie Sue Carter's rape and murder he was home with his young daughter and put under arrest, handcuffed and on his way to jail on charges of rape and murder. After 10 years in prison he discovered The Innocence Project, a non-profit legal organization. With the aid of Barry Scheck and DNA evidence Dennis Fritz was exonerated on April 15,1999 Since then, it has been a long hard road filled with twist and turns and now on his Journey Toward Justice. He never blamed the Lord and solely relied on his faith in God to make it through. He waited for God's time and never gave up.
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