Coming Soon to a Ballot Box Near You

Posted by Jeremy Bearer-Friend at 2:59 PM | 3 Comments | Permalink

With the Presidential election and Wall Street's meltdown dominating headlines, it's hard to find news about the ballot measures you'll see in the voting booth this November. California is just one state whose ballots are riddled with important issues that effect young people. So here at Wiretap, we wanted to give you a quick rundown of what to expect and how to get involved in the fight for your rights.

Proposition 2

This measure makes it illegal to confine pregnant pigs, calves raised for veal, and egg-laying hens in spaces that don't allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs. Although many animal rights advocates cheer this measure, some vegans have raised concerns that this law will make it more acceptable to eat animal products. The Humane Society is Prop 2's largest supporter, with more details here: http://yesonprop2.com/

Proposition 4

Prop 4 makes it harder for teenage girls to get abortions without parental consent. If this law passes, it would be illegal for a teenager to terminate her pregnancy without a parent being notified within 48 hours. To stop a parent from being notified, the young person would have to go to juvenile court and request a waiver from the judge. To help protect a woman's right to choose, you can join the Campaign for Teen Safety here: http://www.noonprop4.org/

Proposition 5

Prop 5 is a drug policy reform effort that reduces criminal charges for non-violent drug offenses, shortens parole for drug offenses, and increases funding for drug rehab programs. With Prop 5, California could lead the nation in a new era of drug policy. For more info, visit: http://www.drugpolicy.org/statebystate/california/nora/

Proposition 6

Prop 6 would increase prison sentences for young people and suspected gang members. Officially dubbed the "Safe Neighborhoods Act", the bill is also known as The Runner Initiative by youth advocates who call the measure a deceptive and costly attack against young and undocumented people. For more, visit: http://www.defeatrunner.org/

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Go To Iraq Or Go To Jail

Posted by Jeremy Bearer-Friend at 10:00 AM | Comment Now | Permalink

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.

According to the Army's own policies for the new program, "under no circumstances will any [recruiter] threaten, coerce, manipulate, or intimidate future soldiers, nor may they obstruct separation requests... At no time will any [recruiter] tell a Delayed Entry Program member he or she must go in the Army or he or she will go to jail."

So when Eric Gonzalez and Eric Martinez, two high school friends in Texas who signed a Delayed Entry contract, were told they'd go to jail if they didn't join the Army, they realized something wasn't right. They came up with a plan to tape record the recruiter's illegal and dishonest claims, then leak it to the press.

Here's an excerpt of what Irving was told after repeatedly explaining he wanted to go to college instead of joining the army:

"You want to go to school? You will not get no loans, because all college loans are federal and government loans--so you'll be black barred from that. As soon as you get pulled over for a speeding ticket, they're gonna see you're a deserter, they're going to apprehend you, take you to jail.

"So guess what? All that lovey-dovey 'I wanna go to college' and all that? Guess what? You just threw it out the window, because you just screwed your life."

So how would you know if a military recruiter was lying to you? And even if you did know they were lying, whom would you go to? Who could you tell?

Worse yet, how many teenagers are in Iraq and Afghanistan right now because they were told they didn't have a choice?

To take action on this issue visit: http://www.notevenone.org/takeaction.html

Prison abolition and Paris Hilton

Posted by Jeremy Bearer-Friend at 12:01 AM | 3 Comments | Permalink

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?

Sadly, another shining opportunity to talk about race and criminal injustice passed us by. The conversation instead deteriorated into a rabid tough-on-crime frenzy, with newscasters presuming audiences want bigger jails full of more and more non-violent offenders.

In a bizarre reaction to the obvious corruption of the LA County Jail system, most commentators called for an expansion of the reach of the jail, rather than questioning the jail to begin with.

If the audience for these broadcasts knows the jail is corrupt, and if they all agree that they've seen this corruption play out over and over again on TV loops across the world, why are they demanding that we give more credence and authority to this corrupt system? Why is there any trust in these jails at all?

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