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Announcement :: Civil & Human Rights |
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Demonstration Against 5 Deaths in Local Jail |
Current rating: 0 |
by Brian Dolinar
Email: briandolinar (nospam) gmail.com (verified) |
30 May 2006
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Court Watch demonstration Wed, May 31, 1pm at courthouse. |
Five Deaths At County Jail
By Brian Dolinar
With the death of Quentin Larry on May 28, now five inmates have died in the Champaign County Jail over a three-year period. Individuals should not die in police custody – even if they are drug addicts. Citizens must demand an independent investigation into all five of these incidents.
Deaths in the local jails became an issue in 2004 when three suicides occurred within six months at the county jail. In the average year, eight to nine jail suicides are documented in Illinois. In 2004, jail suicides in Champaign County were one third of the total in the state.
The third suicide was particularly suspicious. Police claimed Joseph Beaver hanged himself from a telephone cord in the booking area.
Public outcry prompted Sheriff Dan Walsh to hire a mental health counselor and take precautionary measures in the downtown and satellite jails. Yet it is clear that not enough has been done.
In July 2005, one man died in police custody of natural causes. This most recent incident involving Quentin Larry, which the police are calling “drug related,” makes five deaths of individuals in police custody.
In November 2005, a rogue police officer was exposed in the local jail. Sergeant William Alan Myers is currently charged with aggravated battery and obstructrion of justice for using a Taser on an imate. Myers tased a restrained man four times in an empty cell. Investigation found that he had tased three other individuals, including one African American woman who says she was pregnant at the time.
Sheriff Walsh and State's Attorney Julia Rietz say they have pressed charges against Myers and have done all they can.
How many more must die before we see real reform in the local jails?
We don't need the new $30 million jail that both Walsh and Rietz are calling for.
We need counselors, social workers, educators, and other alternatives to mass incarceration.
Join us for a Court Watch demonstration Wednesday, May 31, 1pm at the county jail, downtown Urbana.
Come to Court Watch meetings on Saturdays, 4pm at the Independent Media Center, downtown Urbana, Broadway and Elm, in the old post office.
Sponsored by Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice, Visionaries Educating Youth and Adults (VEYA), Anti-War, Anti-Racism Effort (AWARE), and the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center.
Contact us at lifestratinst19 (at) sbcglobal.net. |
This work is in the public domain |
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Re: Demonstration Against 5 Deaths in Local Jail |
by Not so fast...
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
31 May 2006
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Your post makes it seem that Myers killed someone, but he did not so I am perplexed as to lumping his situation in with the deaths. Myers will recieve punishment for his actions, but your comment that Reitz and Walsh have done all they can is leading. What else should they be doing? Was the woman pregnant as she claimed? Also, are you suggesting that Joseph Beaver was killed by a CO? Why was the death suspicious? What would you have done to prevent Mr. Larry from essentially killing himself? I am also curious how you would have prevented an individual from dying of natural causes. These are some thoughts I am tossing out there for comment. Aside from the changes in the telephones, counselors, and other precautions, what else would you do to see 'real' reform? Keep in mind that the CCCC is a temp holding facility. People who are sentenced for lengthy terms get sent elsewhere. |
