Take your pick: prison or war.

That's what some army recruiters are telling high school students in Houston, Texas to scare teenagers into joining the army.

On July 29th, 2008, a local CBS affiliate in Houston broke this story about illegal army recruitment tactics and a shady new strategy called the "Delayed Entry Program." As part of a $5 billion recruitment budget for 2008--that's right, $5 billion—Army recruiters ask high school students to sign a non-binding contract that says they intend to enlist in the army upon graduation.

Every time a wrongfully convicted person is released from prison, we must wonder to ourselves what it must have been like to deal with such a tragedy. Imagine walking freely in the streets of America one day - doing as you please - only to be picked up and thrown in prison the next. Suddenly, you are expected to be sit for an eternity in a 8 x 8 x 12 prison cell, thinking about the horrors of a crime that you did not commit, a crime you know virtually nothing about. The unnecessary trials and tribulations of a wrongful conviction don't just bring a great deal of pain to the exoneree, but to the exoneree's family as well.

"Who would want to be a prosecutor, knowing that if they made a mistake then people are going to be clamoring for them to go to jail?" Those were the words chosen by former prosecutor Robert Rogers in a recent CNN interview when commenting on current Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins's idea of holding prosecutors criminally responsible for knowingly sending innocent people to prison.

Today, May 27th, is a very important day. Today marks the start of the trial of Alvin Clay of Little Rock, Arkanasa. To say that this trial would be a stretch of the backbone of our justice system, a presumption of innocence, would be an understatement.

For many Americans in neighborhoods struggling with drugs and violence, the justice system is a threatening burden bringing fear instead of protection. While it may be right to say that those who have nothing to hide have no reason to be afraid, those who fight on the side of justice sometimes find themselves victim of their own network. This is the seat Alvin Clay after nearly a decade as a defense lawyer.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Jena Six case, please read this earlier post by Angie on the blog last month.

Over the course of the summer, there has been much interest about this issue on the grassroots level and continues to garner more national attention. Color of Change has been at the forefront of creating opportunities for activism, advocacy, and organizing for justice in the case of the Jena Six.

You'd think the anti-prison activists would be cheering. Never in the history of California's prison expansion has there been such undivided media attention on the corruption of California courts, cops and jails. For 24-hours-a-day, for over 23 days, every local TV station, online news source or print paper was reporting on the inconsistent, illegal and incompetent practices of the LA County jail system. All thanks to one Paris Hilton.

The story they told was a simple one: rich, white people are treated differently by California law enforcement than the rest of us. And at a time when California is spending more money on prisons and jails than ever before, when more women and people of color are locked up than ever before in US history, this story couldn't be more timely.

Most readers of Wiretap are familiar with this gruesome state of affairs. The prison industrial complex is present in our everyday lives, at the root of so many of the problems we spend our lives fighting against. But it's not a story we expect to find running 24-7 on CNN.

So why wasn't this a media justice victory? Where were the voices of anti-prison activists?

Check out this important Washington Post article about how the gains made against crime in the nineties are falling apart.  There are two crucial factors at play.  One is that America tried to lock up anyone we could find associated with the drug game and someone who went in a small time dope-boy is coming out mad hard.  Real rehabilitation programs, job training, GED programs are getting cut and prison rape, murder and violence is rising.  Folks experiencing this are the ones coming back into communities (lots of implications for AIDS too, but that's another story).  The other interesting point is how people are not dying over drugs and territory as much as over respect issues.  The place where my family lives, Boston, is falling apart this summer with murders and a large percent have to do with honor, how someone looked at you, exc.  The debate I would like to get started is how much hip-hop is fueling kids to react to any slights as points of honor to be defended to the death.  Reputation is everything; whoever goes farthest to defend it gets the most respect.  I think we need to invest a lot more in violence prevention and mediation training programs because at one point they did a lot to reduce teen violence, but they have since been cut back a great deal, particularly in Massachusetts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/11/AR2006081101333.html?referrer=emaila

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