My name is Vances Hernandez-Smith a/k/a "MoSo" .
I am a prisoner in Wisconsin. I am also prisoner advocate and litigator.
 |
| Vances Hernandez- Smith, now 67, in GBCI |
I agree with many that "the “time is right" for us to make a move toward more "Justice" as the past 8 years have really "Broken" the promise of what America could, be. However, I am now of the opinion that at lease the "Voice in the wilderness" is at least able now to be perceived, whereas previously, things that were more human and bent toward justice, were out of ear shot, as those Extreme Right Wing Republicans controlled everything from both houses of the legislative branch, the Executive branch , the Judicial Branch, and the Fourth Branch, i.e the Press. They have pretty much succeeded in their goals, as they have started world war three, bankrupted the Country, while Enriching the already Wealthy.
The only part of their "Plan" that they did not succeed in, was to hold on to power for the next generation, as was stated by house Speaker, and disgraced, Tom Delay. Additionally, they got so drunk with power, it cost them to make a few mistakes which once exposed, caused their true nature and agenda to get exposed and now the entire Country sees, what most of us, on what's called "the left" knew all along.
There were many people who wept when Bush got elected, as we knew what the agenda was and what the results would be. Now, the entire County "sees" it and were so shocked, it allowed for us to elect a Barak O'Bama. So now, the problem is we can't let them get away with what they have done in the past.
We are the Victims of what they have done in the past. This hold "got tough on crime" scare and the "War against drugs" was nothing but the precursor for the now exposed "Scare tactic" used to win the election with the "War on terror", and the "Terrorist". This was all a tactic engineered under Carl Rovewas made part of the republican strategy which was first "Tested" in Texas and Wisconsin under Governor Tommy Thompson. And part of this Plan/agenda, was to lock-up as many people who could eventually become Democratic Votors, so they had to be "Disenfranchised" by incarceration.
If a person thinks this is some far slung wild ranting of a lunatic, I would highly recommend them to read a judicial decision, which represent one of the great profiles in courage, as the Judge had to give a complete history lesson on how such "Conspiracies" were hatched in the pass by the U.S. Government, and it over turned the crack cocain law. It really had to give a history lesson, so one might not think this is some radical Liberal Judge, who issued such a land mark decision out of thin air. So please take the time to read this decision, especially each foot note. The case is cited as U.S. V, Clary, 846 F. Supp. 768 (E.D. Mo. 1994). This decision was rendered at the height" of the Conspiracy, and it set them back where this decision almost Exposed what was really going on in the Government.
But this Judge really stepped up the plate and said and did what many did not have the guts to do back then. The corrupted Politician and Corporations had a iron grip on power. I'm sure you may remember those days in the past, where the Media, press, Government Bodies, or the Courts, were willing to stand up to them.
Anyway, my point now is, I know now, just to get back on course and just to where we were at before, there has to be some Radical steps taken. And in order to get the public to buy into these changes, we will have to make the case, we, as prisoners, were the first Victims of what has now been exposed which came to its Apex under the Bush Administartion. They never had any plans on following the law and giving old law prisoners the right to a parole, nor to a "Fair and just” sentence, The old plan was to keep all these people locked up for the rest of their lives, no matter how unjust or wrong it would be. And so now, we have these new crowd that have got stuck in this "Group think" and are afraid to "Undo" what has been done in the past.
what we are saying happened in the past, is true. With the exposure of Bush, Chaney, Tom Delay, Alberto Gonzales, Scooter Lidy, etc, etc, was all just the tip of the iceberg. I have a lot of evidence to support what these people have been doing over the years. So, this is what I think needs to be done.
we have to first expose and explain why the system is like it is. And it's not because it was the best thing to do. It was done simply to take advantage of the poor, ignorant, and weak, for Political gain , power and money by using the same old tactics used to destroy the "Reconstruction Era" of the Civil War. They use laws as a weapon to carry out destruction of a "Class of people". And now, there is this "Group think" mentality where no one is willing to "snap out of it", so it takes some Radical tactics to shock them back into reality.
They see the new vision but want to sweep under the rug, what has been done in the past by these same people they now see leaving power all over the Country. Most were either cowards, crooks, or corrupted. So now, we have to tell the truth of what has occurred in the past. This is the only way we can really move forward and progress. So I would like to work with you in the future in getting this message out and doing something about it.
I would really like to start the discussion on many other things in society that has been, up to now, "Politically Incorrect" to raise one's voice about, such as the legalization of drugs* It is these drug laws that causes more crime and then the drugs themselves. Again, this present situation was studied and analyzed by social scientists, on the prohibition era. Thus, they knew what the effects would be on the poor, ignorant, and weak, once they enacted these drug prohibition laws. Whether a person personally approves of the use of drugs is not the issue. The issue is what are the effects of the laws? It has followed the well known science of Supply and Demand and escalated the value to where the "Profit" Is so great, it causes all kinds of social ills, from drug wars, gangs^ robberies and destruction of the individual. Again, this is not the result of the drug itself, but the laws that have been deliberately passed for this very purpose. Most people have been fooled and hoodwinked into believing that the drugs is the problem, where truth is the laws themselves are the problems. But
it would take a lot of explaining to really clarify what needs to be said. But such issues goes to the root of what is going on today, why so many youths are getting in trouble and incarcerated. It gives these Extreme right wing republicans the ability to make the argument the world Is coming to an end and we need more Cops, a police state tougher laws, more prisons and the relinquishments of our Constitutional rights in the name of "Safety". However, if the profit were removed from the drug culture, it would cut the crime rate over 50%. And save Families and. Communities. It Is the laws that are tearing a11 this down.
____ These are considered "Radical" ideals . However, they are true. And just as the definition of insanity has been defined as a person who does the same thing over and over again, yet expects a different result each time,we too, must show that most of the same "liberal agendas" from the past, such as "prison reform""Drug programs" “reduced penalties" for drugs have all failed in the past. In fact, this is how the Extreme Wing Republicans took power.
But the reason these things failed, is because they didn't go far enough. All one need do is look to Countries such as Denmark and Copenhagen. As the Right Winger have scared the public into believing that if such policies and practices were taken in America, the sky would fall. One really has to wake the American people up otherwise this problem we have with crime and violence and the destruction of the Youth, will never go away, we will keep going in circles. Something new and Radical should now be tried. And if we don't get it right now. it will probably never get taken care of and many generations will be at risk of repeating the same mistakes and fall in the same traps as we did. So I really hope to make some progress in this area someday soon.
I hope to hear from you soon and that my letter will be helpful.
Yours truly
Vances Hernandss-Stnith a/k/a MoSo. Waupun Correctional Inst. P.O. Box 351 Waupun,Wisc. 53963.
Please feel free to write this man, he would love to get a discussion going . OR you can post your answers online, but make sure you give your address and email so we can get your response to him and he can write backl> NO Wisconsin pisoners have email.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬--__________________________________________________
Senator Lena Taylor
Wisconsin State Capitol
Madison, Wi 53707
Dear Sen. Taylor,
I'm writing in regards to the situation with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and the Politics of the parole system.
My intent is to write vou with some suggestions on how to make our criminal justice system more effective and getting more bang out of the buck, so to speak. I believe chat if alot of the handy work of the prior republican administration of Governor Tommy thompson, was undone, alot of progressive ideals were carried out, the Correctional system could be a success and a model for the world, whereas now, it is the disgrace of the world.
However, I'm aware it would be hard to get public support for new radical changes unless they are convinced of the mission. So in this reqard, I believe no progress can be made moving forward, unless the evil deeds of the past are exosed. There can be no disoute that the extreme right Wing Republican that just left power had done a wonderful job of hood winking the public and keeping them in a constant state of fear, for economic and political gain for their agenda. Tommy Thompson was a part of this agenda and has left many of these "Policies" and "Peoples" in place and it will be hard to undo them, this is why we have the highest incarceration rate of minorities in the Country.
We now have a great opportunity to make some progressive policies and changes, but I'm afraid nothing will work, until we look back and recognize and expose alot of wnat has been done in the past. This Bush administration and it's now defunked ideology was dealt from the bottom up and people like us down here on the bottom, has been it's first Victims.
The so called "War on drugs" was created and manafactured to create the fear and hysteria we see today, and not to mention the real increase in crime. And when many of the Black and Latino Men have been removed" from the household for a generation or more, what would one expect from the next generation growing up, but a worse generation. So my point is, just as General Esienhower warned of the dangers of the military industrial complex becoming an out of control "Monster", the Prison industrial complex has achieved the same evil. This Moster has now become so powerful, no politician can say or do anything against it without risking their own career ending destruction.
For years Americans have been getting "bilked" out of Billions of Dollars from inflated defense costs and prices, fraud and waste, and right out theft by these Corporations which had gained so much control and power over the political process in America, And thus, no Politician had the nerve to whisper a peep about this waste,-fraud and corporate greed for fear of being tagged as "Un-American". Well, we have the same the results from this Extreme Right Wing Republican agenda. And because of this, we now need a radical change in our American Foreign Policy because of the results of these policies. So too we now need a Radical change due to the results of these Correctional Policies which were successfully carried out by these same people.
From my experience of almost 20 consecutive years of incarceration for petty crimes and as a Prisoner Advocate and Litigator, I have had a, front row seat in experiencing and seeing the results of these past debunked and discredited policies and practices and have figured out a way to reverse them.
First, it has to be recognized that the Correctional and Parole system is broken since it has become Politicized. Parole decisions are not based on proper administrative, statutory and legal criteria, but instead, are based on mostly "Political considerations". This began under the Tommy Thompson administration, which, along with alot of the other corrupt Republicans embarked on their agenda to not only lock up as many possible democratic voters, i.e. Minorities and poor people, as possible. So he started the practice of choosing a Parole Chairman who would ignore the Legislature intent behind the old law parole system, which were controlled by State Law, and instead, make parole decisions based on "his" Political agenda.
Many inmates have sought suits in State and Federal Courts arguing these "new" policies designed to increase the length of incarceration violated the Ex Post Facto laws of the United States Constitution. As proof, we had contracts signed by the Secretary of the DOC, which "Guaranteed" an increase in the amount of time Wisconsin Prisoners would serve on their old law Sentences, in exchange for Federal Grants pursuant to Title 42 U.S.C. 51137-1 (Crime Control Act of 1994). The records show each year, Wisconsin met or exceeded its "Quotas and was awarded Millions of dollars in Federal grant money.
Since then, even under the present Governor, the Parole Chairman's parole decisions have been seen as a reflection of the Governor, rather than a "Independent" decision rendered in accords with the law. This is why we have this prison over crowded and do not release of old law prisoners who would and should have been released many years ago.
We have the statistics which show prisoners who were unfortunate enough not to have received a parole before these Republicans took over, and who received the same or similar sentences of inmates who did receive parole, has served almost double the amount of time than what would have been served when they were first sentenced and sent to prison. And as stated, this increase is based solely on the "Politics" rather than the proper and legal criteria they're suppose to be.
However the problem now is, just as it was with the military industrial complex, no Politician is willing to speak up and tell the truth about these past illegal and corrupted practices and Policies.
I think if an investigation is conducted and these past illegal and corrupted practices were made known to the public, only then would it be politically possible to carry out the necessary radical changes necessary to correct and bring back "Justice" in the justice system. Right now, it just as corrupt as what is now known about the "financial system" the Iraque War and former U.S. Attorney General, Roberto Gonzales.
So I would recommend to start to consider and study legislation which would first, make it more easy for prisoners to seek postconviction relief and sentence modifications. Under the old Republican era, they had pretty much closed the door in this area with "conservative" Judicial decisions, which has all but forclosed this avenue for prisoners. Such legislation would allow Circuit Court Judges to grant reductions in sentence to well deserving prisoners who have demonstrated they deserve release or a reduced sentence.
Of course, this has been held in past judicial decisions as beyond the court's jurisdiction, because it was a province of the Parole Boards. So legislation could make it clear the Courts could now consider such things as "New Factors".
In addition, legislation should be passed to revamp the postconviction statute under 974.06. Again, before the Republican agenda tool effect in the Judiciary, inmates could seek relief from unjust convictions and sentences as a matter of course. If a Constitutional violation or error was found, it was remedied through the courts. However, the Conservative Activist Judges all but blocked this long held interpretation of the postconviction statute, and in 1994, "changed it" through a judicial decision, all but cutting off any access to the courts once convicted, known as the Escalona-Nanangjo bar.
Such legislation would send the signal to courts that the manafactured and ignor the law, conservative extreme Right Wing era is over. It has been a failed ideology and has ruined and bankrupted the Country. It's time now for some Radical change that is more progressive and inlightend. We who are the lest of thee, needs help.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter and I hope you will take some action.
Sincerely Yours,
Vances Hernandez-Smith #
61811 Waupun Correctional Inst. P.O. Box 351 Waupun,Wise. 53963.
No comments:
Post a Comment