tagged w/ Imprisoned
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Not only are LGBT youth highly overrepresented among the nation's homeless, they are imprisoned at a much higher rate than their heterosexual peers. And once behind bars they continue to be victimized. The Nation examines their plight in an online article and the below accompanying video. An excerpt:
Across the United States, the brutal and dysfunctional juvenile justice system sends queer youth to prison in disproportionate numbers, fails to protect them from violence and discrimination while they're inside and to this day condones attempts to turn them straight. Antigay policies aren't just a problem in the Deep South or rural regions. According to Jody Marksamer of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, one of co-authors of a recent report on LGBT youth in the juvenile justice system, "These things happen in every state."
The road to incarceration begins in pretrial detention, before the youth even meets a judge. Laws and professional standards state that it's appropriate to detain a child before trial only if she might run away or harm someone. Yet for queer youth, these standards are frequently ignored. According to UC Santa Cruz researcher Dr. Angela Irvine, LGBT youth are two times more likely than straight youth to land in a prison cell before adjudication for nonviolent offenses like truancy, running away and prostitution. According to Ilona Picou, executive director of Juvenile Regional Services, Inc., in Louisiana, 50 percent of the gay youth picked up for nonviolent offenses in Louisiana in 2009 were sent to jail to await trial, while less than 10 percent of straight kids were. "Once a child is detained, the judge assumes there's a reason you can't go home," says Dr. Marty Beyer, a juvenile justice specialist. "A kid coming into court wearing handcuffs and shackles versus a kid coming in with his parents—it makes a very different impression."Not only are LGBT youth highly overrepresented among the nation's homeless, they... more
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Over the phone, Krystal has a calm and lilting Southern accent. She identifies as a woman now, but when she entered Louisiana's juvenile justice system at 12 years of age, she presented herself as a boy and used male pronouns. Today, she's 18 and was just recently released from the system. Being closeted about her gender identity was never an option for her. "It's very obvious with me because of how I walk, talk, the way I do things," she says. And while her sentencing judge had told her that she wouldn't be in prison for long, it was five years before a sympathetic counselor made a formal request for her release. In her letter to the judge, the counselor mentioned in passing that Krystal had confided in her that she was probably transgender, and that she was in a romantic relationship with another boy at the facility. On the voicemail he left in response to the counselor's report, the judge openly laughed and called the recommendation a joke. He said that based on those facts, he would absolutely deny the request for a release hearing. "Many judges in rural Louisiana still conflate sex offenses with sexual orientation and gender identity," says Wesley Ware of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana. It was months before Krystal was finally set free.Over the phone, Krystal has a calm and lilting Southern accent. She identifies as a... more
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This man is about to be made wealthy. He was left sleeping on a plane, and he will retain an attorney in the case and hold a press conference later today. He was left alone and locked in a jet on the tarmac four hours after he consumed three drinks during a flight. He was later discovered by a cleaning crew, locked up again, and then questioned by federal officers who were concerned about terrorists.
His suit will allege false imprisonment, infliction of emotional distress and negligence against the airline for leaving a sleeping passenger on the plane and locking him in. Not coincidentally, he is dreaming of hundred-dollar bills.This man is about to be made wealthy. He was left sleeping on a plane, and he will... more
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By Sherwood Ross - BLN Contributing Writer
An army sergeant who had received 22 honors including a Combat Action Badge prior to being wounded in Iraq by a mortar shell was told he was faking his medical symptoms and subjected to abusive treatment until he agreed to a "personality disorder"(PD) discharge.
After a doctor with the First Cavalry division wrote he was out for "secondary gain," Chuck Luther was imprisoned in a six- by eight-foot isolation chamber, ridiculed by the guards, denied regular meals and showers and kept awake by perpetual lights and blasting heavy metal music---abuses similar to the punishments inflicted on terrorist suspects by the CIA.
"They told me I wasn't a real soldier, that I was a piece of crap. All I wanted was to be treated for my injuries," 12-year veteran Luther told reporter Joshua Kors of "The Nation" magazine (April 26th). "Now suddenly I'm not a soldier. I'm a prisoner, by my own people. I felt like a caged animal in that room. That's when I started to lose it." The article is called "Disposable Soldiers: How the Pentagon is Cheating Wounded Vets."
Luther had been seven months into his deployment at Camp Taji, 20 miles north of Baghdad, when a mortal shell exploded at the base of his guard tower that knocked him down, slamming his head into the concrete. "I remember laying there in a daze, looking around, trying to figure out where I was at," he said. Luther suffered permanent hearing loss in his right ear, tinnitus, agonizing headaches behind his right eye, severe nosebleeds, and shoulder pain.
The sergeant took a Chapter 5-13 PD discharge in order to escape his confinement, becoming one of 22,600 soldiers so separated since 2001, a discharge that relieves the Pentagon of the responsibility and cost of long-term care for the wounded. An Army major told Luther to sign the discharge papers or "you're going to be here a lot longer." Luther recalled, "They had me broke down. At that point, I just wanted to get home." Many of the PD discharge recipients are soldiers who have served two and three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, author Kors writes.
Sgt. Angel Sandoval, who served under Luther, said Luther's insistence on his wearing ceramic plates strapped to his bulletproof vest saved his life and described Luther as "one of the greatest leaders I had." Yet this is the man the Army imprisoned when he requested medical treatment. "This should have been resolved during the Bush administration. And it should have been stopped now by the Obama administration," Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, is quoted as saying about PD discharges. "The fact that it hasn't is a national disgrace."
Luther's case is no isolated example, writes Kors, noting that in the past three years "The Nation" has uncovered more than two dozen such cases. "All the soldiers were examined, deemed physically and psychologically fit, then welcomed into the military. All performed honorably before being wounded during service...Yet after seeking treatment for their wounds, each soldier was diagnosed with a pre-existing personality disorder, then discharged and denied benefits," Kors writes.
This past December, he reports, VA doctors found Luther to be suffering from migraine headaches, vision problems, dizziness, nausea, difficulty hearing, numbness, anxiety and irritability---and diagnosed him with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, declaring the veteran 80 percent disabled. The diagnosis cleared the way for the sergeant to receive disability benefits and lifetime medical care.
With his health improving, Luther has vowed to fight the military on behalf of other soldiers who got a raw deal like himself. He founded Disposable Warriors, a one-soldier operation near Fort Hood, Texas, that assists soldiers fighting their discharge and those appealing their disability rating, Kors reports. Luther says the base had 12 suicides last year as of June 2nd but reported only two. Luther is quoted in a November 21, 2009, article on "Truthout" as saying there is only one mental health professional for every 1,263 soldiers "and that is the first failure."
After opening Disposable Warriors, Luther found a threatening note on his car windshield that read: "Back off or you and your family will pay!!" Whoever wrote that note doesn't know Chuck Luther very well. #
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(A U.S. Air Force veteran, Sherwood Ross is a free-lance writer and publicist residing in Coral Gables, Fla. He formerly reported for the Chicago Daily News and worked as a wire service columnist. Reach him at sherwoodross10@gmail.com.)
Source: http://www.blacklistednews.com/news-8343-0-3-3--.html
http://www.digitaljournal.com/img/5/4/1/4/3/i/5/6/0/o/800px-US_injured_soldier.jpgBy Sherwood Ross - BLN Contributing Writer
An army sergeant who had received 22... more
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Mexico’s Illegal Alien Laws Much Tougher Than Arizona’s…Is Mexico Racist?
Hypocrite Calderon condemns ‘racial discrimination’
The Washington Post
By Jerry Seper
Mexican President Felipe Calderon denounced as “racial discrimination” an Arizona law giving state and local police the authority to arrest suspected illegal immigrants and vowed to use all means at his disposal to defend Mexican nationals against a law he called a “violation of human rights.”
Click for Full Story and VIDEO... Mexico’s Illegal Alien Laws Much Tougher ...http://ctpatriot1970.wordpress.com/2010/05/05/video-mexicos-illegal-alien-laws-much-tougher-than-arizonas-is-mexico-racist/Mexico’s Illegal Alien Laws Much Tougher Than Arizona’s…Is Mexico... more
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This week on infoMania Spike TV tells you how stupid people die, reality tv stars have trouble with English, Shark Week reminds us that sharks are out to kill all humans, Brett explores the strange phenomenon of YouTube haul videos, Bryan goes cruising for gay characters on television commercials, and Sergio counts down the top R&B jams on iTunes.
infoMania is a half-hour satirical news show that airs on Current TV. The show puts a comedic spin on the 24-hour chaos and information overload brought about by the constant bombardment of the media. Hosted by Conor Knighton and co-starring Brett Erlich, Sarah Haskins, Ben Hoffman, Bryan Safi and Sergio Cilli, the show airs on Thursdays at 10 pm Eastern and Pacific Times and can be found online at http://current.com/infomania/ or on Current TV. And make sure to check out our facebook profile for special features at http://infomaniafacebook.com.This week on infoMania Spike TV tells you how stupid people die, reality tv stars have... more
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