About american prisons

To make the telephone ring…

If you wanna make Carlo able to call you

GTL (Global Tel Link Intl) announces the availability of Inmate International AdvancePay. This program allows friends and relatives of inmates to establish an AdvancePay account via Western Union from over 150 countries and territories.
 
How does it work?

Customers must locate their nearest Western Union Agent location and either complete a blue form with their personal information or provide the required information to the Western Union agent. Customers must provide the following information:

  Pay To Company Name: GLOBAL TEL LINK INTL
Company Code: VGTL AL

Amount to be Paid: The amount the customer wishes to be applied to their phone account Account Number: Customer’s full telephone number including country and city code

  ***For customers in Canada, Puerto Rico, USVI or located within the North America Dialing Plan use:
Pay To Company Name – GLOBAL TEL LINK INTL Code CityCode – VAPAY State – AL

  Amount to be Paid – The amount the customer wishes to be applied to their phone account–  Account Number – customer 10 digit phone number***
An inmate will only be able to use these funds to dial a specific number the customer has selected as their account number. Once the money transfer is complete – the inmate will be able to place a call to that designated number in approximately 24 hours.

updating

Nothing has changed since december, when Carlo was sentenced. His detention (9 years) was confirmed. Another injustice perpetrated on him.
He’s still waiting for a Ct-scan. The suspect of having a lung cancer is driving him mad. He’s tired, very tired and sad. We are trying to contact everyone who knew him in the past, someone who lives in America. For us, here in Italy, It’s very difficult contact american istitutions.

We found an ex girlfirend of Carlo on myspace. She didn’t reply to us and make private her profile after our e-mail. We knew that something like that could happen…  and We’re sad, but we’ll keep on trying.

Carlo needs justice. He’s unfairy locked up and we won’t stop helping him untill He will be free again!

Carlo Parlanti, the resentence on December 10

Carlo Parlanti, waiting for the resentence on December 10^th.
A conversation with Katia Anedda

After almost a month of delayed transfers, Carlo Parlanti has reached the Avenal Prison, at last. On December 10^th the resentence will take place. We have met his girlfriend, Katia Anedda.

Katia, you are leaving to Los Angeles, in order to be present during the resentence. What about the situation?
On December 4^th we have managed to have Mr Charles Kelly Kilgore as defending counsel for Carlo. I must say thank you to Mr Marco Zacchera (MP), who, as I have already said, is a great politician and a great Italian man. I want to thank the municipality of Montecatini as well: they are helping us, they are helping Carlo non only as a townsman, but first of all as a citizen whose rights have been regularly violated.

What do you expect by the resentence?
Me and his family, we hope that with all the new certifications, with a report which testifies that false evidences have been produced, and furthermore taking into consideration all the contradictions occurred during the trial, something new should happen. On October 10^th, on the Human Rights Day, the resentence will take place. It will then be clarified if Carlo should be confirmed the nine years detention (maximum penalty) or if there can be a reduction. I hope that the Ventura attorney does its duty, taking into consideration false evidences, misgivings about medical examinations, contradictions, and sheds light on what they already know: Carlo’s innocence.

Carlo’s history has now become a media case: he is the symbol of Italian prisoners abroad
There are thousands of people who, without knowing Carlo nor me, just reading the trial transcriptions and the testimonies, feel indignant about this case. These people are the ones who vote for our representatives. I wonder why the ones we have voted pretend that Carlo doesn’t exist. I’m leaving on December 6^th and during the week end I will have the opportunity to meet Carlo again and I will hug him for all those wonderful people who care about us.
That’s why our group of bloggers wants to lauch the same initiative that Katia Anedda organised last Christmas: A lighted candle for Carlo.
On December 10^th, all over the world celebrations will take place on the Human Rights Day. That same day, at 1.30. in Ventura it will be decided if it’s time for justice for Carlo Parlanti.

Photographs can be sent to this email address: katia@carloparlanti.it. They will be posted on a dedicated web page, to testify the solidarity of the people towards Carlo.

mails from Carlo

11-11-2007

On Friday I wrapped up my few things (the essentials to write and the Holy Bible) and tomorrow I should be leaving for Avenal. On Friday I wrote something for Italy, first through Enrica. Today I’m trying with Val, but I know that they won’t be sent until tomorrow. I feel a bit better, since I received your mail and the one from V. But my heart is full of pain and hate L I’m so tired. […] May be it is the fear of cancer but I feel I’m going to collapse. I need something to be done. [..] Please my love, I need something to be done, because I can’t resist anymore (here Carlo uses a crying emoticon)

13-11-2007

The only thing I can say now, is that the sentence has been postponed again because of the motion of the attorney and that in order to keep my mouth shut they have decided to pospone my transfer as well. Being here I can’t talk to you by telephone. Moreover, as I wrapped everything up on Friday, this is the last letter I can write to you at a determinable future. L I’m trying to have the envelopes back, but as usual they laugh at me. […] If I can’t even write, I could go insane or I could kill myself.
Please, help me, I’m imploring you. And you,my loce, don’t forget that I love you and that I’m thinking of you even if I can’t write.

A gift for Katia

This is a portrait of Katia, made by Richard Arciniega B82619. It’s a gift from Carlo to Katia for her Birthday…. We can read the Voice of Avenal State prison’s inmates HERE

Carlo’s going to die ….

We receieved a letter from Val, the Katia Anedda’s american friend. She visited Carlo a few days ago, so she wrote these terrible words…
We don’t understand the silence of media, of Human Rights associations and the silence of OUR politicians. Carlo’s going to die. YOU are killing him!

“I got to see Carlo this afternoon and he was literately crying because he really doesn’t know what’s happening with things.  Please don’t tell Katia  but Carlo looked so bad today the only way I can describe the way he looked is to compare him to a Holocaust victim.”

And this is a letter for Katia.

“Ciao Katia,

Please forgive me for not getting this you yesterday…..!!  I was able to visit Carlo but he looked very bad……!  He has lost a lot of weight and he doesn’t have all his voice, very hard to hear him.  I told him that I send him information Friday but he is begging for more.  First he said that he want you to complain to the prison system about his bad treatment.  He said that he didn’t care anymore because it can’t get any worse.  He wants to hear about the investigation, he wants to know if Franco did what he said he was going to do.  He wants to know about the press conference and about FBI investigation.  He thinks he is going to be in Wasco for another couple of weeks but I have to work all weekend so I don’t know if I’m going to have enough time to go see him, I’m going to try very hard.  He is worried that they won’t do another CT scan in the five weeks like they said.  Also I asked him about the Hepatitis C but all he knows is that they gave him vaccine for hepatitis A & B but were supposed to get another injection in 2 -3 weeks but didn’t.  If you have anything more than what I just sent him please can you give it to me so I can mail to Carlo.  Valentina sent me some information for Carlo that I will put in the mail today.
 
Val

American efficiency

 

This article was translate by Carlo Parlanti for show what is the justice in America

AMERICAN EFFICIENCY by Claudio Giusti

The American Judicial system is efficient because there are no real trials, there are no appeals and  there are no motivations given for the verdicts. This system has produced the largest mass imprisonment since Stalin.
According to the United States Government 96% of the guilty verdicts for felony are obtained through plea bargaining. Only 40% of the verdicts for criminal homicide – manslaughter or murder – are obtained by trial and almost all civil disputes, thanks to the “American Rule”, are resolved by agreement. For all misdemeanors (lesser crimes) the procedure is even speedier and it is said that in two thirds of the cases the proceedings last less than than a minute. This is due to the fact that, in the lower courts that handle these matters, a defence attorney is not mandatory,  in fact it is often not even permitted. The accused may insist on demanding a real trial, in which case the matter is carried to a higher court; but until then he goes to jail.  It is standard practice to keep those who require a public defender in prison, and to keep them there for the length of time equal to the probable sentence; they are then conducted before a judge, chained to one another a dozen at a time, the pubic defender will obtain a guilty verdict for them whereupon the judge will impose a “time served” sentence. This system allows the enormous amount of work to be “taken care of”; work resulting from more than 14 million arrests every year made by the 18,000 United States police agencies – even though 50% of serious crimes are not even reported.  There are only 150,000 trials by jury, familiar to those outside the U.S. from exported TV shows and films, and they have the big advantage of not requiring motivation either for the verdict or the sentence. The jury does not have to explain why they find you guilty while sending you to the gallows or how they came to that conclusion, nor do they have to explain how they evaluated the evidence and testimony, and, for that matter, neither does the judge. Sentences are normally carried out immediately and the convict is taken to and from prison and courtroom directly. In many cases, the judge may opt for “probation”, even for serious crimes and or long sentences.  This enormous quantity of arrests and convictions has produced the largest mass incarceration since the ones carried out by Stalin and the huge American Gulag detains 2,350,000 convicts – in 2005 the increment alone was as large as the entire prison population of Italy. 1,450,00 are serving sentences longer than one year in state or federal prison, as compared to the 200,000 thirty years ago. 130,000 are serving life sentences, one fourth of which are L.W.O.P. (life without parole) and 2,000 of these were child offenders at the time of their crime.  There are more than 100,000 minors in reformatories and 15,000 juveniles sent to adult prisons; every year 2,300,000 children are arrested: 500,000 are not yet fifteen, 120.000 between 10 and 12 and 20,000 less than 10 years old. The arrest of a 4 year old is not exceptional. There are 100,000 minor girls in prison.  500,000 of the 800,000 crowding the county jails are not waiting so much for a trial as for someone who will provide any kind of legal counsel. The rest are serving sentences less than a year. Let us add to those the 4,200,000 on probation, the 800,000 on parole, who have not fully served their  sentence, the 5 million that have lost their civil rights, and lastly add the minors that have at least one parent behind bars. We can see how an incarcerated subclass comprising 5% of the total American population was created in the last thirty years. The turn over is amazing: 2,200,000 on probation in 2003 and 600,000 in prison. It is not possible to calculate the turn over in county jails. In America an appeal is not a constitutional right and only death sentences have an automatic trial review, which is not a new trial. American appeal is only a verification if the proceedings were formally correct; the witnesses are not readmitted, there is no jury and the convict has lost any (theoretical) presumption of innocence.  A capital appeal can become a never ending ordeal, back and forth, between state and federal courts, but for everybody else the prospects are quite different. An appeal is rarely granted, in fact never after plea bargaining. Times can drag out forever; Texas had to pass a special law in order to release the 13 innocent defendants in the Tulia travesty. It is common for somebody to serve a “mere” 5 to 10 year sentence before being recognized as innocent. There is no problem with the statute of limitation because the clock stops when the judicial process starts. The judicial system foresees appeal courts and supreme courts at the state and federal level. Each state has at least one federal judicial district, belonging to one of 11 federal circuits (not counting District of Columbia with its 2 Circuit Courts). The  Federal Supreme Court is the highest court. The State and Federal Appeal Courts in general have absolute decisional power to hear and to reject cases without explanation. The Federal Supreme Court receives from 7 to 8 thousand requests a year to verify the constitutional integrity of convictions, but issues only 60-70 opinions. It is not correct to say that American judges have political biases, because they are fully part of the political world; they are politicians to all effects. Whether attorney or prosecutor, they have behind them a life of political activity . They are sometimes elected, but more often than not they are simply appointed by other politicians, and in the end they are all held to account for their decisions. A judge may pay dearly for handing down a sentence disliked by a majority of voters.

Wasco prison, 30th October, a letter from Carlo

This is a letter from Carlo, sent to an american friend for Katia. It’s terrible to read his words, but we have to do it, to understand.
READ WITH US

Dear sweet ,today I finally received my envelopes from Ventura so I can write again to you and katia It may seem little but communicating with you, also if in a one way kind of way fills my heart with joy! I also received your letter from the 24th (the one with 10 stamps inside), so I know that you had receiving my letters from mercy. And that comforts me even more because I’ve been able to be near to you and because my accounts on what was happening have been (or will be) posted for people to know.By the way did you send Katia also my accounts in english to you or did you post them? I think that right now the quantity of info in english (and other languages) should be increased, but let my go by step so you’ll understand why! yesterday (the 29th) I got called to the program office around 9 am and the sergent marvelled at my being barefooted; he asked me why then got my size and fetched a pair of shoes for me after five days! :S I couldn’t even start being happy at having some shoes that they called me again to go at visiting because the italian conusle was here with Enrica to visit me: sholud I add anything?

But maybe it was just a coincidence! I spoke with them an hour complaining also about the envelops and not being able to write (and the bible too) And today I got miracously my poor properties from Ventura…shocking, eh? Btw as usual they took the hard cover out of the bible and the benedetto XVI book and they broke the bible as You can see form the attached map.. the most important thing is I can write , you can wrte me too ( ) and they told me it’s only a layover, so I’m not gonna being here 6 months. the c.o that gave me some sheet say at least 2/3 weeks , Enrica said sooner than that, bu you know, how it is :S The guard and the person at mercy made me understand they had seen the website. The guard that took me here said something like: “so you’re famous, they tell me”, to star talking with me; even the guard that took me to the visit yesterday asked me question for 15 minutes afterwards!!! Maybe it’s time to increase the efforts to penentrate english blogs and the us/ uk media, especially using the pictures report and the press conference communicate ( I’m dying to see it myself!:S) Write me soon please and bring me some joy in this grey hell…I love you, Carlo

We can’t say “Happy birthday,Carlo!”

Tomorrow, the 1 st November will be Carlo’s Birthday.

We would like to ear our voices singing “Happy bithday” to Carlo  with Katia and Carlo, happy and FREE. We would like to sit all together around a table to eat the Carlo’s birthday cake. 
We would like to see Carlo opening our gifts.These things we like to do TOMORROW will be impossible to do, because Carlo is not here with Katia, with his family, with his friends. Carlo is still inmate in Wasco Prison, in U.S.A., for a crime he didn’t committ. He’s innocent. He was unfairy convicted, so THIS IS A CRIME.We can’t say now “Happy birthday, Carlo”. We can’t give him any gift.
NOW WE WANT ONLY JUSTICE FOR CARLO.
If you have a conscience, if you hope in JUSTICE, help us to help Carlo.
Read his absurd story and spread it all over the world, SIGN the petition for Carlo.
Thank you…and Happy Birthday Carlo!