dynasty2007
07-02-2006, 04:15 PM
Greetings One & All,
I am thrilled to report that there is currently a bona fide campaign to restore Family Visits (FV's) to Lifers & Closed Custody prisoners!!!
After we lost Gordon v. CDC, many of us had little hope of ever getting FV's. But our prayers have been answered. The proposal, which was actually written by a prisoner, has been approved, petitions have been printed, & we must now gather 373,816 signatures by August 25th in order to get the initiative placed on the ballot this coming November for voters to (hopefully) vote into law.
In a nutshell, the initiative calls for the "Director of Corrections" to permit all prison inmates (except those on Death Row or assigned to reception centers or AdSeg/security housing units) to participate in the prison system's FV program, provided they meet the following criteria: A) having or obtaining a high school diploma or equivalent; B) agreeing to random drug testing; & C) participating in an Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous program. It requires that inmates be given an annual opportunity to take a high school equivalency test & limits denial of FV's as a disciplinary measure. It incorporates existing legal restrictions on child victim visits to inmates. The summary of estimate by the Legislative Analyst & Director of Finance of the fiscal impact on state & local governments is probably going to be our biggest challenge to overcome: "Potential state costs of as much as a couple tens of millions of dollars in the long term, primarily in one-time costs for the construction of additional FV units in prisons."
Gathering the necessary number of signatures is absolutely vital to the success of this measure. Time is of the essence! We have LESS THAN EIGHT WEEKS before the deadline. Therefore, volunteers are desperately needed throughout the state NOW to gather signatures from registered CA voters. If we don't gather the necessary signatures in time, the initiative will be re-filed to be included on the November 2008 ballot & I believe we will have to begin obtaining signatures all over again. So let's do it now rather than waiting another two years, folks! We need our FV's! We need that quality private time with our loved ones. For those of us with sick or older prisoners, time is especially precious.
As with most grassroots efforts, there are no funds with which to pay anyone. But should it pass, the rewards will be far greater than monetary compensation. Also, the campaign is in dire need of stamps; please send to the following address. To obtain petitions & instructions, please contact Carmen at:
Family Visiting Project
5960 South Land Park Drive #158
Sacramento, CA 95822
916/801-7457 (cell) (calls will be returned within 24 hours)
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get your petitions ASAP so you can begin gathering signatures! Our prisoners are counting on us to make this happen. LET'S DO IT!!!
Visualizing FV's Reinstated,
Chris
I am thrilled to report that there is currently a bona fide campaign to restore Family Visits (FV's) to Lifers & Closed Custody prisoners!!!
After we lost Gordon v. CDC, many of us had little hope of ever getting FV's. But our prayers have been answered. The proposal, which was actually written by a prisoner, has been approved, petitions have been printed, & we must now gather 373,816 signatures by August 25th in order to get the initiative placed on the ballot this coming November for voters to (hopefully) vote into law.
In a nutshell, the initiative calls for the "Director of Corrections" to permit all prison inmates (except those on Death Row or assigned to reception centers or AdSeg/security housing units) to participate in the prison system's FV program, provided they meet the following criteria: A) having or obtaining a high school diploma or equivalent; B) agreeing to random drug testing; & C) participating in an Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous program. It requires that inmates be given an annual opportunity to take a high school equivalency test & limits denial of FV's as a disciplinary measure. It incorporates existing legal restrictions on child victim visits to inmates. The summary of estimate by the Legislative Analyst & Director of Finance of the fiscal impact on state & local governments is probably going to be our biggest challenge to overcome: "Potential state costs of as much as a couple tens of millions of dollars in the long term, primarily in one-time costs for the construction of additional FV units in prisons."
Gathering the necessary number of signatures is absolutely vital to the success of this measure. Time is of the essence! We have LESS THAN EIGHT WEEKS before the deadline. Therefore, volunteers are desperately needed throughout the state NOW to gather signatures from registered CA voters. If we don't gather the necessary signatures in time, the initiative will be re-filed to be included on the November 2008 ballot & I believe we will have to begin obtaining signatures all over again. So let's do it now rather than waiting another two years, folks! We need our FV's! We need that quality private time with our loved ones. For those of us with sick or older prisoners, time is especially precious.
As with most grassroots efforts, there are no funds with which to pay anyone. But should it pass, the rewards will be far greater than monetary compensation. Also, the campaign is in dire need of stamps; please send to the following address. To obtain petitions & instructions, please contact Carmen at:
Family Visiting Project
5960 South Land Park Drive #158
Sacramento, CA 95822
916/801-7457 (cell) (calls will be returned within 24 hours)
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get your petitions ASAP so you can begin gathering signatures! Our prisoners are counting on us to make this happen. LET'S DO IT!!!
Visualizing FV's Reinstated,
Chris