WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Contributor:  Carlton Johnson

Segment 1: Rev. Stan Moody on the demise of LD1611 (the solitary confinement reform bill)

Segment 2:  Administrative Assistant for the Trenton Legion Hall, Rae Jean Young talks about Texas Hold ‘Em and Christmas fundraisers.

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Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Excerpts from the Maine State Legislature’s debate on LD1611 (solitary confinement reform) yesterday

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Producers/Hosts: Amy Browne & Meredith DeFrancesco

Guest contributor: Meaghan LaSala

Topic: LD1611– Legislation to address abuses of solitary confinement in Maine’s prisons

Also: A broadcast of “Outside the Box”, produced by Larry Dansinger, on the topic of “Charity vs. Change” (which is also archived individually at: http://archives.weru.org/outside-the-box/outside-the-box-3210 )

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Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Topic: LD 1611: “An Act To Ensure Humane Treatment for Special Management Prisoners”

As we’ve reported previously on RadioActive,  State Representative Jim Schatz (D-Blue Hill) has introduced legislation that is aimed at reducing abuses of solitary confinement in Maine’s prisons.  Today we take a closer look at the legislation, the reasons it was proposed, and why it has drawn widespread support from a growing, diverse coalition of groups & individuals in the state.
Prisoners on the Special Management Units, or SMU, spend 23-24 hours per day in solitary confinement.  LD 1611 “An Act To Ensure Humane Treatment for Special Management Prisoners”, would, if passed, do several things to reduce abuses on the SMU’s in Maine’s prisons.   It would protect severely mentally ill prisoners from being placed there, require the discharge of those who develop major mental illnesses while in solitary, restrict the use of restraints, chemical agents and other corporal punishment, require a system of reviews— and a need for justification for long-term placement on the SMU, and prevent prison officials from transferring prisoners out of state if they were to be placed in prisons that still allow such abuses.

Guests: Emily Posner, Mainers Against the Abuse of Solitary Confinement, www.maineprisonproject.org
Reverend Stan Moody, former state legislator, former chaplain at the Special Management Unit, or SMU at Maine State Prison. He’s the  author of “Crisis in Evangelical Scholarship” and “McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry”, and author of several articles about his experiences there, that have been published in Village Soup.  He currently serves as pastor at the Meeting House Church in Manchester.  FMI: www.stanmoody.com & www.villagesoup.com
Alysia Melnick, Maine Civil Liberties Union FMI: www.mclu.org
Sheila Comerford, Executive Director, Maine Psychological Association
Link to text of LD 1611:http://www.mainelegislature.org/LawMakerWeb/summary.asp?ID=280035042

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Producers/Hosts: Amy Browne & Meredith DeFrancesco

The Natural Resources Council of Maine is calling upon it’s membership to attend public hearings in Augusta tomorrow on what it calls “Three of the most important bills of this legislative session”.   Matt Prindiville, the Project Director of the Toxics and Clean Production campaign at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, is with us today to tell us why the NRCM considers LDs 1662, 1631 and 1568 to be so important.  FMI: www.nrcm.org

And as we’ve reported in the past on RadioActive,  legislation has been introduced that would regulate the use of Solitary Confinement in Maine prisons, which many believe is being used abusively.    At a press conference in Augusta this morning it was announced that a coalition of groups has come together to work for the passage of LD 1611 “An Act to Ensure Humane Treatment of Special Management Unit Prisoners” (sponsored by Rep. Jim Schatz, Blue Hill), including the Maine Civil Liberties Union, the Jeremiah Project, the Maine Psychological Association, the NAACP- Portland Branch, and the Maine Council of Churches. We speak to Emily Posner of Mainers Against the Abuse of Solitary Confinement.  FMI: maineprisonjustice.org

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Producer/Host: Adam Lacher with production assistance from Jeffrey McCarter

Topic: Former Black Panthers Discuss U.S. Political Prisoners and Social and Ecological Justice

What are the ten points of the Black Panther platform? How is Common Ground Relief related to the Meg Perry Center in Portland, Maine? Who are the Angola 3?

Speakers: Robert King, to date the only free member of the imprisoned Panthers known as the “Angola 3″. Was exonerated after 29 years in solitary confinement; Malik Rahim, Louisiana Black Panther Party co-founder and co-founder of Common Ground relief just one week after Katrina hit.

**Also available is the speech in it’s entirety,divided into 3 sections that are each approximately one hour in length. Click on links below**

FMI: www.angola3.org , www.commongroundrelief.org

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