Subject: Re: Practical request for info
From: Gord West (gordwest@idirect.com)
Date: Thu Nov 02 2000 - 16:33:29 CST
Dear Jeanne Flavin/Fordham and list:
First, your friend/aunt is about to become engaged in one of the crucial
"flash points" or contradictions in contemporary, especially American,
society. Secondly, there is a long tradition of church involvement which
should be helpful for her, in spite of its contradictory involvements!
More specifically, a number of us are "prison critics", ranging from "civil
libertarians", and "reductionists" on through "restorative justice" folks,
to "penal abolitionists"--that's right: it's not a question of just
abolitioning the death penalty, nor of abolitioning prisons themselves, but
of abolitioning the entire PENAL JUSTICE SYSTEM!
I am myself connected with a number of resources which may be helpful:
W. G. West and Ruth Morris, eds., THE CASE FOR PENAL ABOLITION, Toronto,
2000, Canadian Scholars Press
http://www.cspi.org
CSPI has a number of other publications in the area.
Additionally, a Toronto non-profit of relevance is Rittenhouse: A New
Vision of Transformative Justice, which advocates penal abolition while
maintaining both public education and direct service programs. Our
websites for homepage and JUSTRITT newsletter (updated bi-monthly) are
located at :
http://www.interlog.com/~ritten
We are also connected directly with ICOPA, The International Conference
Circle on Penal Abolition, which can be reached through:
http://www.interlog.com/~ritten/icopa.html
and the mirror sites at
http://members.xoom.com/icopa/home.html.
ICOPA held an international conference with 600 persons attending from 22
countries of all continents in May, 2000 in Toronto; through Canadian
Scholars Press, Ruth Morris and others are editing a collection from the
major papers. The next conference will be organized by Uju Agomoh, of
Prisoners Resource and Welfare Action (PRAWA), in Lagos, Nigereria in 2002.
ALL of these websites have link pages to sites with similar concerns, and
are on web-rings with similar concerns. In particular, for your needs, I'd
recommend in particular checking out the links to Hal Pepinsky, PARC, CERJ,
and the bibliographies at Justice Action. (cc addresses above.) Also, note
Jim Consedine's material: he is an RC worker priest from New Zealand, so
may be of particular use to your aunt; some of his writing is available
through the Maryland Justice Policy Institute:
http://www.md-justice-policy-inst.org
Hope this helps, not only your friend in her inquiries, but also to provide
and circulate material among the critical justice community.
In solidarity,
Gord West,
for Rittenhouse and ICOPA
bodega@sprintmail.com wrote:
> Today I received a letter from my "hip" aunt who normally works with
> compulsive gamblers and people seeking treatment for drug use. A Roman
> Catholic nun, she has recently been asked to get involved in prison
> ministry. She asked a very basic question: "What do I want to
> consider regarding prisoners' re-entry into society?"
>
> My initial reaction was "Consider that as long as society hasn't
> changed, there's a limit to what you can accomplish! Abandon prison
> ministry and start trying to accomplish lasting widespread social
> change!" but that seemed a bit bleak. So I pose the question to you.
> I promise to relay every response. Feel free to post to the list or to
> me as an individual, as you see fit.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Jeanne Flavin/Fordham
-- ...late in the century of Joyce and Borges, of cubism and surrealism, of Wittgenstein's loss of faith in logical positivism and of post-structuralism's gonzo metaphysics, the production of reproduction was again redefined. From the moment of its sequicentennial in 1989 photography was dead--or, more precisely, radically and permanently displaced--as was painting 150 years before. (Mitchell, 1992: 20) DIGITAL PRAXIS, Ste 44, 140 Wellesley St E,Toronto, ON, Canada. M4Y 1J1 (tel: 416 961-3617) Website: http://webhome.idirect.com/~gordwest
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