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Justice Blocked with ‘Kill at Will” Laws
Secretive partnership exposed
by Marc H. Morial
T h e re h as n e v e r
been any doubt that
G eorge Z im m erm an
pulled the trigger that
killed a 17-year-old,
u n a rm e d
F lo r id a
y o u th
nam ed
T rayvon M artin. But
n o t m u c h is k n o w n a b o u t
Zim m erm an’s accomplice. His name
is A LEC, which stands for the A m eri
can Legislative E xchange C ouncil.
A LEC is a corporate-financed
m em bership organization fo r con
servative state legislators that, in
conjunction w ith the N ational Rifle
A ssociation (N R A ), w rote and p ro
m oted the “ Stand Y our G round”
law , w hich so far has sh ield ed
Z im m erm an from arrest and
p ro secu tio n .
Stand Y our G round is e s
sentially a “ Kill at W ill” law ,
w hich allow s a gunm an to use
dead ly force if that person
believes he o r she is in im m i
nent d an g er o f death or great
bodily harm .
S in ce th e law w as p assed in
F lorida in 2005, the “ju stifiab le h o
m icid e” rate in that state has ju m p ed
300 percent. A L E C has used its
close relatio n sh ip w ith co n serv a
tive law m akers in state legislators
throughout the country to pass sim i
lar legislation in 25 states - and the
tragic body count is grow ing.
It is bad enough that since its
founding in 1981, A LE C has been
the shadow au th o r o f num erous
p ieces o f legislation aim ed at b o o st
ing corporate pow er and profits,
reducing w orker rights, w eakening
environm ental protections, and re
stricting voter rights.
N ow , the organization is actively
supporting a law w hich is m oving
this country back to the law less
days o f the W ild W est w hen it w as
com m o n practice to “ shoot first and
ask questions later.” T hat is not the
kind o f A m erica w e o r o ur children
deserve in the 21st century.
T h at is w hy last m onth, I stood
w ith a coalition o f civil rights groups
and hundreds o f outraged citizens
at a rally in front o f A LE C headquar
ters in W ashington, D .C. W e cam e
to pull back the curtain so that the
w orld could m eet the team o f g h o st
w riters w ho have w ritten these kill-
at-w ill law s and spread this poison
around the nation.
W e cam e to spread the disinfect
ing sunlight o f truth on the real force
behind these deadly laws and to de
m and that the organization end its
prom otion o f Stand Y our G round and
other sim ilar firearm s legislation.
T he sam e team o f ghost-w riters
is poisoning the constitutional right
to vote by p rom oting these d esp i
cable v o ter ID law s th ro u g h o u t the
nation. A L E C ’s m odel voter ID leg
islation, w hich is being pro m o ted in
dozens o f states, has the potential
to disenfranchise m ore than five
m illion voters during this all im p o r
tant presidential electio n year.
F ortunately, the secretive p a rt
nership betw een big business and
co n serv ativ e politicians is com ing
u n d er in creasin g scru tin y across
the country. In fact, the C en ter for
M ed ia and D em ocracy has created
a w ebsite: A L E C E x p o sed .o rg , re
vealing the bills the organization
supports, as w ell as its corporate
and political backers.
T his should give everyone pause
w hen an inside-the-beltw ay group
can w rite and prom ote law s that
corrupt the dem ocratic process, give
a free pass to crim inal b ehavior and
tram ple on o u r civil rights. Last
m onth, w e m arched for ju stic e for
T rayvon M artin. B ut until w e get to
the b ottom o f the N R A /A L E C re la
tionship and their m otivation for
p ro m o tin g law s that go b ey o n d
com m ercial interests, w ho know s
w ho A L E C ’ s next v ictim w ill b e .
Marc H. Morial is president and
chief executive officer o f the Na
tional Urban League.
Money Runs the Show in Prison System
Time to stand for the public good
by
R ev . S ala
W J. N olan
G onzales
C o r r e c tio n s C o r p o r a tio n o f
A m erica has ju s t m ade $250 m illion
available to b uy state prisons, and
launched a m arketing effort in 48
states to en courage governors to
contract fo r th eir m anagem ent. T he
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47 47 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
prison com pany
is asking fo r 20
y e a r c o n tr a c ts
w ith assured o c
cupancy rates o f
90 percent.
State g o v ern
m ents seek cash from selling p ris
ons to private corporations because
they can no lo n g er afford to run
them . T h e e n v iro n m en t o f v e n
geance and “get to u g h ” posturing
on crim e that pervaded the political
env iro n m en t in the 1980s rem oved
ju d icial discretion w ith three-strike
law s and m andatory m inim um sen
tences, and converted m isd em ean
ors into felonies. T he result has
been m ass incarceration.
T he U .S. im prisons 2.3 m illion
adults and holds m illions m ore on
probation or parole. O ur judicial
system controls one in every 32
adults in o u r country. O ur in car
ceration rates exceed those o f every
o th er nation.
M o n ey ru n s th e sh o w . O n ce
people are charged w ith crim es, the
econom ic burden is such that 90
percent take plea bargains and never
go before a ju ry . It gives m e pause
that the people w e put in prison are
o ur poorest, and that m ost o f them
leave behind children w ho are only
fu rth er buried in poverty and d y s
function.
E ven m ore d isturbing is the soli
tary confinem ent, w hich has becom e
an integral practice in U .S. prisons.
T oday, 4 4 states and the U .S. g o v
ern m en t operate p risons en tirely
dedicated to isolation. A n estim ated
80,000 inm ates are h oused in single
room s, som e w ithout w indow s, for
23 hours a day and an h o u r alone in
an o u td o o r cage, w ith only lim ited
interactions w ith guards.
Intended fo r the w orst o f the
w orst, solitary co n fin em en t is now
o rdered fo r m inor infractions, and is
routine fo r the m entally ill, w ho are
vastly ov errep resen ted in prisons
and w hose conditions are only m ade
w orse by it. Solitary co n fin em en t
can last w eeks, years, o r decades,
despite its perm anent and d ev astat
ing dam age, and its international
recognition as torture.
T he A m erican C ivil L ib erties
U nion and the U N Special R appor
teur on T orture appeared before the
U N H um an Rights C ouncil to call for
a review o f ram pant solitary co n
finem ent in U .S. prisons. Isolation
offers no pretense o f rehabilitation,
and results in increased violence
and despair. A nd now prisoners
w ho w ere sentenced to long term s
in the 1980s are com ing out.
Ironically, in the face o f econom ic
hardships, prison adm inistrators are
review ing the cost effectiveness o f
solitary co n fin em en t and harsh sen
tencing. T hey are finding that so
cialization, ed u catio n , alternative
sentences and reh ab ilitative p ro
gram s are far m ore effective and
trem endously cheaper. T hey are also
safer for co m m unities o f return.
O ur prisons are broken. W e need
to fix them . It is tim e fo r their effe c
tiveness to be ex am in ed in the light
o f day. W e need to see the actual
costs o f harsh pun ish m ent and m ass
incarceration. W e need to u n d er
stand that rehabilitation is not only
hum ane, but effective and co st-effi
cient.
W e are called to a system o f
ju stic e that offers a possibility o f
redem ption, and that treats inm ates
w ith decency and respect. O u r p ris
ons are broken. D o w e sell them to
the h ighest bid d er for fast cash, and
guarantee 90 p ercent occupancy?
O r do w e stand up fo r restitution,
reh abilitation, and the restoration
o f the public good?
Rev. Saia W.J. Nolan Gonzales is
Minister fo r Criminal Justice and
Human Rights in the United Church
o f Christ.
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