This is from Sherry Swiney, founder of The Patrick Crusade. If anyone would like a registration form, let me know and I will email or snail mail one to you.

Perhaps us Alabama people could get together here - have a PTO GTG within the confines of this event? Just a thought! Montgomery is about 4 hours from me and is very manageable. Just let me know!

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Hi Everyone,

The registration date for our Convention in Montgomery, Alabama, has been extended from Janury 30, 2003 to February 28, 2003. We have reserved 100 rooms at the Ramada Inn for guests. They gave us a special deal of $50 per night, single or double. If you share a room with a friend, you can split the cost. We got an extension on holding the rooms to give people a chance to get their reservations made. We cannot hold them after Februry 28th or we would have to pay for all of them, and we don't have the money for that. So, call and make your reservations now, and please send in your registration fee.

We have people lined up for some of the workshops, and we are speaking with others awaiting their confirmation. The fee helps pay for their travel expenses, their room, and the banquet room for the convention. We need to know how many people are attending so we can pin down the agenda of this important event.

Attached is a photo of our registration form, so you can print it out and mail it in. See you there! With bells on.

So far, we are planning our Convention to start Friday morning at 11 a.m. with a Welcome Brunch. There will be exhibits of prisoner's artwork and framed poems. There will be the Wall of Shame. There will be a short film called, "The Last Graduation". There will be entertainment as well.

The children are in for a special treat at the Children's Workshop, which is confirmed. We have confirmation that Johnny Cochran will be there. We have already invited the new Governor and his wife, and the new Prison Commissioner.

We need a Restorative Justice expert(s) to come forward to do a Workshop on the topic.

This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to get together in one place to listen, to learn, and to participate in letting the Public know how important the issue of Justice in Alabama really is.


Blessings,
Sherry Swiney
www.patrickcrusade.org

I myself am planning on attending if I can manage to get off work. I will know hopefully tomorrow when I submit my request for days off. I encourage everyone in the Alabama area to attend. We must let our voices be heard, I know we did this with our votes during elections. Very rarely have I walked away from a gathering of family members that I haven't walked away in a different light.

vicki

I am going to look into going - am not at all sure yet!

The Alabama town hall committee, family members, friends and concerned citizens of incarcerated persons all over Alabama are being called upon to come together to participate in and make a success of a mobilization convention on the human rights of Alabama’s incarcerated. The Theme is: Justice in Alabama.

The convention will be held in Montgomery, Alabama on April 25 and 26 of 2003, at the statehouse Ramada inn located on 924 Madison Avenue. We need as many family members, friends, loved ones, and citizens concerned about the plight of the Alabama inmate and all inmates to come out to the convention. We want you to walk and talk with Alabama’s legislators and senators so that you can tell them your thoughts, feelings, ideas and concerns for more humane treatment, more humane conditions, more humane alternative sentencing for all prisoners, including more use of community based facilities over long-term incarceration. Legislators and senators from all over the state (Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile, Selma, Decatur, Talladega, Dothan, etc.) Already have been invited and most have accepted an appearance at the convention.

Workshops are being planned for the following Restorative Justice issues:

a. Families of prisoners (the impact of prison on family relationships, visitation for the incarcerated and criminalization of the poor).

b. Reentry programs, strategies, and tactics to meet the needs of returning long-term inmates to society successfully.

c. Adequate medical care.

d. Good time for all Alabama prisoners and alternative sentencing programs.

e. Fair, equal, and non-discriminatory treatment of the incarcerated by Alabama’s board of Pardons and Parole.

f. The children and how they are affected. How do they cope? Are they forgotten?



REGISTRATION FEES FOR FAMILY MEMBERS ARE $20.00. HOTEL - $50.00 PER NIGHT PLUS TAX.

REGISTRATION FEES FOR GROUPS ARE $35.00. MEETING ROOM WILL BE PROVIDED BY HOST.





vicki

This sure sounds interesting. I only hope that I can go.

Hi Everyone,

The registration date for our Convention in Montgomery, Alabama, has been extended from Janury 30, 2003 to February 28, 2003. We have reserved 100 rooms at the Ramada Inn for guests. They gave us a special deal of $50 per night, single or double. If you share a room with a friend, you can split the cost. We got an extension on holding the rooms to give people a chance to get their reservations made. We cannot hold them after Februry 28th or we would have to pay for all of them, and we don't have the money for that. So, call and make your reservations now, and please send in your registration fee.

We have people lined up for some of the workshops, and we are speaking with others awaiting their confirmation. The fee helps pay for their travel expenses, their room, and the banquet room for the convention. We need to know how many people are attending so we can pin down the agenda of this important event.

Attached is a photo of our registration form, so you can print it out and mail it in. See you there! With bells on.

So far, we are planning our Convention to start Friday morning at 11 a.m. with a Welcome Brunch. There will be exhibits of prisoner's artwork and framed poems. There will be the Wall of Shame. There will be a short film called, "The Last Graduation". There will be entertainment as well.

The children are in for a special treat at the Children's Workshop, which is confirmed. We have confirmation that Johnny Cochran will be there. We have already invited the new Governor and his wife, and the new Prison Commissioner.

We need a Restorative Justice expert(s) to come forward to do a Workshop on the topic.

This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to get together in one place to listen, to learn, and to participate in letting the Public know how important the issue of Justice in Alabama really is.

vicki

Please if you need a registration form email me and I will be glad to send it in email..

vicki

Convention time is nearing and I encourage each and everyone to attend. Please even if at the last moment you decide to attend get in those cars and come and support our efforts. We have got to stand together and be heard, the guys can't do it without getting hurt and we all know this. It has happened before in Alabama prisons when the inmates has had enough they begin to riot. I truly believe none of us wants this to happen. Please think about coming and the door is always opened no one will be turned away.

vicki

Ok everyone the convention Starts Friday. If your still in limbo and really want to attend get in your cars and come. We are having a welcome bruch that starts at 11:00 Freddie Gaines a former inmate will be speaking to us. Dr Suzana Jones will be speaking on marriage/relationships/visitation/ financial problems. there are gonna be two or three films shown last graduation- making the right choice - Becky and Michael Pardue will be speaing this is just a few of the things instore for everyone. The convention will end with entertainment a banquet and door prizes. The commission Campbell will also be there on Friday night.

vicki

Could someone fill me in on the CONVENTION,on how it went?
ANY good news for the inmates?Any knowledge on how soon the paroling will begin?This is very interesting and I would like to know the turn out.Thank you all.

Ok I copied and pasted Sherry's letter that she sent out... in my own words the convention was "awesome" It gave us so much information and support. The work shops was really great.

vicki



Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to let all of you know how the first day of the Families of Inmates First Annual Convention went. In a word: it went beautifully. We'll have a complete run-down on our website, along with photos and hopefully a video tape from the TV news stations that was there....etc. But I wanted to give you all a sneak preview.

The convention room was about 1/2 full in the morning (most people had to work today). During that period, we showed a video on private prisons while everyone ate the brunch provided (buffet style). The film generated a LOT of interest because the information in that film was new information for the majority of the audience. The focus of the film was on prison as big business with human beings as the commodity.

After the film, the workshops began and by then many more people had arrived, so the workshops were a complete success.

After the workshops, we showed the video on the "Last Graduation" which many PC members have seen. The focus of this film was on how beneficial prisoner education is to reducing recidivism and crime in general. Of course, that was before the Pell Grants were taken away.

We received a number of requests from groups and individuals who wanted to know where to get copies of these films, which I will provide to them as soon as I get back to my Kentucky location next week.

Next was the 6:00 p.m. round-table question and answer session where the audience was able to ask questions of the panel. The Alabama Prison Commissioner, Donal Campbell, was there too. Stan Bailey of the Birmingham News was there to report on the commissioner. The first thing the commissioner said was that he wasn't going to be taking any audience questions, which disappointed everyone. However, he was obliged to take questions from the State Representative who just stood up anyway and asked is pointed question. The commissioner stayed about an hour and then had to leave, but the questions from the audience continued with the rest of the panel.

The panel consisted of:

Lisa Kung, Southern Center for Human Rights
Cynthia Dillard, Executive Chairman of the Parole Board
Gladys Riddle, Parole Board Member
Dr. Beverly Love, Prison Medical Board
Reverend James Jemisone, over Manor Homes (for inmates who are EOS'd or paroled)
Mark Gilmore, former Councilman (22 years as councilman)
Senator Quniton Ross
John Muhammud, local Muslim minister
Representative Alvin Holmes
Doris Baker, from Decatur Freedom Marches
Wilson Myers, attorney

PC member, Pam Thrasher, did an excellent job with her question to the panel, and so did many others in the audience, many of whom had not heard of the Patrick Crusade before the convention but who will be working with us in the near future :-). We've made the Family Members of Inmates a division of the PC and hope to have some of the other organizations decide to become divisions of PC as well. This will enable them to keep their autonomy while at the same time giving us a better "working together" tool - because the power is in the numbers, etc., as you all know.

Many of our new or new-to-be members were anxious to take advantage of the special deal PC has on ordering PC business cards and mailing labels to be used on letter campaigns. A lot of them bought PC pens and pendants to wear to their churches and other family meeting functions and were quite taken about them being such "first class". If this keeps up, I may just break even one of these days :-).

The press was there, and they seemed to pay special photo attention to the large spread of beautiful inmate hand-crafted leather works and other artwork that was on display. These items will be auctioned or raffled off tomorrow (they were donated by the inmates to help us pay for the convention). Some will be given away as door prizes.

The owner/operator of the Ramada Inn was extraordinary. He's only 19 years old and just graduated from high school last year. We invited him to say a few words to the audience. While the workshops were going on, he spent time reading all of our exhibits and because of that, he's been transformed into an avid activist for human rights. His speech was awesome :-).

Today's session closed about 9:00 p.m. Tomorrow we begin at 8:00 a.m. with breakfast and then workshops, one more film, and general discussions (everyone plans to wear their PC T-shirts and/or Convention T-shirts then change later for the banquet), so T-shirt sales were terrific. Curtis Lockett, who discovered the treatment for sickle cell anemia, which we find also works on HIV/AIDS patients, will be presenting his story (see his story in our HORROR STORIES section on our website). He and his group have been successful in getting his treatment into the prisons in Mississippi so now we want to get his treatment into Alabama prisons.

The banquet will begin at 6:00 p.m. The evening will end with the entertainment we've scheduled (live music several kinds, contemporary, jazz, etc.). Tomorrow should prove to be even more exciting and successful than today - and that's saying something.

Blessings to all,
Sherry Swiney

During visitation Brian and I usually wind up sharing a table with one of the guys from his dorm and the guy's mom, so I have gotten to know them over time, and as usual, Sunday we shared a table with them... it turns out his mom was at the conference, and I was just thrilled to hear about how well it turned out, she said it was really great and said there were 400-500 people there. I told her how terrific that was when back in March they were afraid they'd have to cancel it!! Wish I could have been there, glad you had a great time Vicki...