TTT newsletter archives
Here is an archive list of all published newsletter issues with the most recent issue listed first.
TruthToTell, Mon., Feb 20@9AM: SELECTING OUR JUDGES: Retention? Or Election? - KFAI FM 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org ; TruthToTell Feb 13: CRIMINAL JUSTICE DISPARITIES: Blacks/Latinos/Natives Targeted for Prison
Remember – call and join the conversation – 612-341-0980 – or Tweet us @TTTAndyDriscoll or post on TruthToTell’s Facebook page.
HELP US BRING YOU THESE IMPORTANT DISCUSSIONS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST – PLEASE DONATE HERE!
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TruthToTell, Mon., Feb 20@9AM: SELECTING OUR JUDGES: Retention? Or Election? - KFAI FM 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
Minnesota’s system of electing judges once relied on an important caveat in the little known law known as the Canon of Judicial Ethics or Minnesota Code of Judicial Conduct. That caveat, known as Canon #5, prevented judicial candidates from taking political stands on issues that might well come before them as judges or justices. It was an important rule for most of the lawyers and judges – of any political persuasion – practicing before the bar (the term for the legal community) to keep the process relatively clear of politics. Politics, they insist(ed), have no place in seeking judgeships because of the neutrality that serves as the ideal for presiding over trials and considering appeals.
Of course, it’s something of a myth that politics – or at least one’s personal and political bent – doesn’t find its way into many of the court’s judgments, but, at least campaigns for judge could speak more to qualifications for the bench and less about the way a judge would likely rule in most cases.
However, a relative minority of the legal community, more often than not from the ideological right, but certainly not limited to that stripe, argued and still argue that the public has an inherent right in elections to hear about where a judicial candidate stands on key issues facing society, or, perhaps, even how they would rule in some cases.
One Minnesota lawyer, Gregory Wersal, himself a repeated candidate for the Minnesota Supreme Court, challenged what he considered the inappropriately restrictive Canon 5 and took that case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he won a landmark 5-4 decision (Republican Party of MN v. White) that has since opened the door to highly politicized judicial races across the country (since most states’ Canons contained similar prohibitions).
Actually, most judges, once in office, are almost never challenged unless they committed mayhem of some sort. Those who do go after a sitting judge are considered a bit dumb because the lack of voter engagement almost always reelects the judge and the former opponent is now likely to come before this judge in a courtroom. While theoretically committed to impartiality in such cases, judges may, indeed, hold a grudge for having been dragged through an expensive and, perhaps, embarrassing campaign for reelection. Result: most sitting judges run unopposed.
This is why Wersal was considered outside the mainstream and thus dismissed as a fly in the ointment – until his argument received the blessing of the Supremes.
For many respected present and former justices and judges, this was and abandonment of the fundamental principles of English Common Law, let alone a longstanding ethic that kept the courts and campaigns for them clear of open ideological battles. While Minnesota has not quite yet descended into the degrading contests the legal community feared in opposing Wersal, nasty campaigns in Wisconsin and several other states have shown them that Minnesota, at least, should establish a satisfactory (and more dignified, to be sure) alternative to wide open elections.
Wisconsin’s degeneration into one Supreme Court justice choking his female colleague represents to many the state of the judiciary in our neighboring state.
Since then, such legal luminaries as former US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (who voted "aye" in the 5-4 decision and would later regret it); former Vice President Walter Mondale; former Governor Al Quie; current State Supreme Court Justice Alan Page; retired Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz (and former Republican House member); current Hennepin County Judge Kevin Burke; former Chief Judge and now president of the American Judges Association; and recently retired Chief Justice Eric Magnuson, now a regular legal representative of Republicans and Republican causes, are among many who have come forward with an entire new system of judicial selection for Minnesota – Merit Selection and Retention Elections.
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL will talk with staff and officers of the Coalition for Impartial Justice about the proposed system and why it’s better than what some might call democracy.
GUESTS:
BRIAN RUSCHE – Executive Director, Joint Religious Legislative Coalition
SARAH WALKER – President, Coalition for Impartial Justice; Co-Chair, Second Chance Coalition
RYAN KELLY – Executive Director, Coalition for Impartial Justice
TruthToTell, Mon., Feb 20@9AM: SELECTING OUR JUDGES: Retention? Or Election? - KFAI FM 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
Remember – call and join the conversation – 612-341-0980 – or Tweet us @TTTAndyDriscoll or post on TruthToTell’s Facebook page.
HELP US BRING YOU THESE IMPORTANT DISCUSSIONS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST – PLEASE DONATE HERE!
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TruthToTell, Mon., Feb 20@9AM: SELECTING OUR JUDGES: Retention? Or Election? - KFAI FM 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
Minnesota’s system of electing judges once relied on an important caveat in the little known law known as the Canon of Judicial Ethics or Minnesota Code of Judicial Conduct. That caveat, known as Canon #5, prevented judicial candidates from taking political stands on issues that might well come before them as judges or justices. It was an important rule for most of the lawyers and judges – of any political persuasion – practicing before the bar (the term for the legal community) to keep the process relatively clear of politics. Politics, they insist(ed), have no place in seeking judgeships because of the neutrality that serves as the ideal for presiding over trials and considering appeals.
Of course, it’s something of a myth that politics – or at least one’s personal and political bent – doesn’t find its way into many of the court’s judgments, but, at least campaigns for judge could speak more to qualifications for the bench and less about the way a judge would likely rule in most cases.
However, a relative minority of the legal community, more often than not from the ideological right, but certainly not limited to that stripe, argued and still argue that the public has an inherent right in elections to hear about where a judicial candidate stands on key issues facing society, or, perhaps, even how they would rule in some cases.
One Minnesota lawyer, Gregory Wersal, himself a repeated candidate for the Minnesota Supreme Court, challenged what he considered the inappropriately restrictive Canon 5 and took that case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he won a landmark 5-4 decision (Republican Party of MN v. White) that has since opened the door to highly politicized judicial races across the country (since most states’ Canons contained similar prohibitions).
Actually, most judges, once in office, are almost never challenged unless they committed mayhem of some sort. Those who do go after a sitting judge are considered a bit dumb because the lack of voter engagement almost always reelects the judge and the former opponent is now likely to come before this judge in a courtroom. While theoretically committed to impartiality in such cases, judges may, indeed, hold a grudge for having been dragged through an expensive and, perhaps, embarrassing campaign for reelection. Result: most sitting judges run unopposed.
This is why Wersal was considered outside the mainstream and thus dismissed as a fly in the ointment – until his argument received the blessing of the Supremes.
For many respected present and former justices and judges, this was and abandonment of the fundamental principles of English Common Law, let alone a longstanding ethic that kept the courts and campaigns for them clear of open ideological battles. While Minnesota has not quite yet descended into the degrading contests the legal community feared in opposing Wersal, nasty campaigns in Wisconsin and several other states have shown them that Minnesota, at least, should establish a satisfactory (and more dignified, to be sure) alternative to wide open elections.
Wisconsin’s degeneration into one Supreme Court justice choking his female colleague represents to many the state of the judiciary in our neighboring state.
Since then, such legal luminaries as former US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (who voted "aye" in the 5-4 decision and would later regret it); former Vice President Walter Mondale; former Governor Al Quie; current State Supreme Court Justice Alan Page; retired Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz (and former Republican House member); current Hennepin County Judge Kevin Burke; former Chief Judge and now president of the American Judges Association; and recently retired Chief Justice Eric Magnuson, now a regular legal representative of Republicans and Republican causes, are among many who have come forward with an entire new system of judicial selection for Minnesota – Merit Selection and Retention Elections.
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL will talk with staff and officers of the Coalition for Impartial Justice about the proposed system and why it’s better than what some might call democracy.
GUESTS:
BRIAN RUSCHE – Executive Director, Joint Religious Legislative Coalition
SARAH WALKER – President, Coalition for Impartial Justice; Co-Chair, Second Chance Coalition
RYAN KELLY – Executive Director, Coalition for Impartial Justice
TruthToTell Mon Feb 13@9AM: CRIMINAL JUSTICE DISPARITIES: Blacks/Latinos/Natives Targeted for Prison - KFAI 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
Remember – call and join the conversation – 612-341-0980 – or Tweet us @TTTAndyDriscoll or post onTruthToTell’s Facebook page.
HELP US BRING YOU THESE IMPORTANT DISCUSSIONS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST – PLEASE DONATE HERE!
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Do we have the slightest notion how deeply divided this country remains regarding race and, of course, class?
One wonders, when it costs so much to be racist and divisive and mean.
Do we at all understand what the criminal justice system has done to accommodate the bias, to feed the troll of the supremacy whites feel toward people of color – especially Blacks, Latinos and American Indians?
One wonders, when we watch those charged with serving and protecting all of us, the police in fact zero in on people of color for ticketing and arrests (think racial profiling, and “driving while Black” and the hundreds of captured Rodney King-style videos and documented stories of police abuses dating to the pre-Civil War days up to the present day), and those responsible for charging and prosecuting crime disproportionately seek greater punishment and fewer plea bargains for Black men, and judges responsible for the fair dispensation of punishment, send more men and women of color to prison than many whites who have committed similar crimes.
In this light, why would anyone wonder why so many young men of color, many without hope and the stability complete families and jobs and an equal education system should not eventually see how incarceration might well become a rite of passage, something to boast about, as so many do, and thus so willing to serve time when they belong in school or a job or certainly at home.
Then, when these inmates (mostly men) are finally freed, they’re stymied by stigma and a felony record from renting an apartment or home, from working a decent job that would keep them from returning.
Why would we question why they eventually go back in? Probably for a drug violation like the huge percentage of their brothers and sisters, usually using, and re-addicted.
As Michelle Alexander, an associate professor of law at Ohio State University, and the author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” writes:
“Convictions for non-violent crimes and relatively minor drug offenses — mostly possession, not sale — have accounted for the bulk of the increase in the prison population since the mid-1980s.
African-Americans are far more likely to get prison sentences for drug offenses than white offenders, even though studies have consistently shown that they are no more likely to use or sell illegal drugs than whites.”
Let us hasten to add here that laws were clearly written to inordinately penalize Blacks for their likely use of crack cocaine while penalties for the powdered version of cocaine more often favored by whites were one-tenth of those for crack in the certain knowledge that there is no discernible difference between the forms and that Blacks engaged in more crack use.
Those disparities are but one of many in the criminal justice system.
Since 1980, this nation’s total state and federal prison population has risen from roughly a half-million prisoners to well over 2.3 million as of 2008. That is 1 of every 100 Americans now behind bars, more than any other first-tier country. By age 23, aboutone third of young people will have been arrested for a crime greater than a traffic violation.
At least 40 percent of these inmates were black, 35 percent were white, and 20 percent were Hispanic (Harrison & Beck 2006). Sixty percent are Black or Latino. Blacks, in other words, comprise about 12 percent of the U.S. population buttwo-fifths of the prison population.
The disparities are even more dramatic for males, and particularly for males in their twenties and thirties. In 2005, 8.1 percent of all black males age 25 to 29 were in prison, compared to 2.6 percent of Hispanic males and 1.1 percent of white males. Although the absolute numbers are much smaller, the pattern for females is similar. (emphasis mine)*
Moreover, while in prison, inmates are expected to work for all but slave wages for corporations that contract with the prison system to manufacture various goods, among them furniture. This is another program entirely.
The numbers are there for all to see and it’s a shameful commentary on everything we’ve ever claimed to hold dear about our country’s stated commitment to both the common welfare and equality and justice under the law.
Hell, even Newt Gingrich and other conservatives are now decrying the rate of imprisonment and they, of course, see this as both a blot on the nation’s so-called commitment to a stable society, but also, of course, the inordinate costs that have grown out of a long-developed era of Republican “tough on crime” initiatives at the state and federal level. Their recommendations for change mirror those of progressive liberals.
Minnesota is no exception to this system, although some advancements have been made, thanks to the Second Chance Coalition, like removing check-offs from employment applications that force job seekers to admit that they’ve been convicted of a felony. This is often the insuperable barrier to that job.
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI talk with one-time law enforcement, incarceration and post-incarceration advocates and a psychologist about their take on these horrendous conditions, the toll they’re taking not just on the young men and the Black and other communities of color, but on society as a whole, and what we can possibly do about these disparities that often reflect the culture itself.
GUESTS:
STATE SEN. JOHN HARRINGTON (DFL-St. Paul) -Judiciary and Public Safety Committee; former St. Paul Police Chief
SARAH CATHERINE WALKER - COO, 180 Degrees; Cofounder/Chair, Second Chance Coalition
JESSE MASON, PhD - Psychologist; Psychology Professor and Director of the African American Male Education Empowerment (AME) Program and Coordinator of the Student African American Brotherhood Initiative at Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC)
JONATHAN MAURER-JONES – Program Manager, Democracy & Justice 4 All, TakeAction/Minnesota
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OTHER LINKS:
TruthToTell, Mon. Feb 6@9AM: WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH ALEC?: Corporations Control Our Democracy–KFAI 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
Remember – call and join the conversation – 612-341-0980 – or Tweet us @TTTAndyDriscoll or post on TruthToTell’sFacebook page.
HELP US BRING YOU THESE IMPORTANT DISCUSSIONS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST – PLEASE DONATE HERE!
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TruthToTell, Mon. Feb 6@9AM: WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH ALEC?: Corporations Control Our Democracy–KFAI 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
This is the stuff of novels and conspiracy films.
The once obscure, even friendly-sounding acronym for an equally innocuous corporate name – ALEC – for the American Legislative Exchange Council – has suddenly been thrown into the glare of exposure lately. ALEC-controlled state legislators across the country are literally flooding their bodies with bills designed to seize the moment – that moment in time when the upheaval in legislative membership has given us Republican majorities in Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, Kansas, among others – to pass wildly radical rightwing reforms of various states’ educational priorities and constructs, environmental and energy production regulations, access to elections and other voting rights, increasing imprisonment in the service of privatizing prisons, undermining universal health care, and other issues made visible by governors and lawmakers like Wisconsin’s.
Thousands of state legislators – overwhelmingly Republican – past and present, mostly present, are members of this heretofore secret and very powerful brotherhood. Now, they openly recruit members. That is matched by corporate members and their lobbyists and together they are writing the laws they want to govern us from here on out.
In Minnesota, former Republican Secretary of State, now state Representative Mary Kiffmeyer is ALEC’s state chairperson here. Other prominent Minnesota Senators and Representatives are ALEC operatives in their respective chambers – eight current senators and eighteen House members that we know of, including Senate President Pro Tem and Education Chair, Gen Olson,Speaker of the House Kurt Zellers and the two primary Education chairs, Reps. Pat Garofalo and Sondra Erickson.
This is the tip of the ALEC/Corporate cartel iceberg. The rest is well below the surface – some would say underground, including the 30-year history of gradually changing the face of the United States and Minnesota’s culture of divisive and exclusionary politics and social and educational policy. And we examine the effects of this organizations on Minnesota’s legal, electoral and educational landscape with three counter-advocates working with several others to expose this axis of rightwing corruption of our democracy and the very Constitution itself – part of it employing our public police forces to protect their secrecy and to arrest dissenters, even the journalists covering them.
Leading us ahead are published reports and curricula describing this secret society phenomenon in detail – one of the key reports, Common Cause Minnesota's Legislating Under the Influence: How Corporations Write State Laws in Minnesota.
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI talk with those advocates as we continue our series of programs opening the doors of groups and individuals out to undermine this core tenets of a document already thrown under the bus in the pursuit of profits and political control.
GUESTS:
MARY CECCONI – Executive Director, Parents United for Public Schools (website under renovation)
CARLA FERRUCCI – Executive Director, Minnesota Association for Justice (formerly MN Trial Lawyers Assn.)
MIKE DEAN – Executive Director, Common Cause Minnesota
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TruthToTell Jan 30: TEACHER CONTRACTS(cont’d) & GRAD ASSISTANT UNIONIZING–LISTEN/DOWNLOADHERE
Last time, we included representatives from the Minneapolis teachers union – the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers – the long-standing bargaining unit for those standing in front of our kids. This week, those reps found themselves forced to withdraw by personal circumstances, so we’re bringing back the critics and hope to clarify their positions. Those stakeholder groups - like Action for Equity and Put Kids First Minneapolis started attending the meetings and, in no uncertain terms insisted that, as progressives who support collective bargaining and closing the gaps. In coalition with others, and calling it "Contract for Student Achievement," they advanced five key ideas for last Fall’s bargaining. They, and their ideas for reforms, ran into a brick wall, essentially dismissed as interlopers with no business being part of the process. We talk with our returning advocates.
In Segment Two, we learn about the effort to organize University of Minnesota Graduate Assistants into a UAW local (GSWU/UAW). Grad Assistants are those research and teaching aides who do much of the work collecting and imparting knowledge to undergraduates and other graduate students while administrating classes and compiling data for professors and instructors as they work their own way toward masters degrees and PhD.
GUESTS:
LYNNELL MICKELSEN – Co-Founder of Put Kids First Minneapolis and one of the authors of the Contract for Student Achievement
CHRIS STEWART – former Minneapolis School Board Member; CEO, Action for Equity; and Co-Chair, Education Work Group of the African-American Leadership Forum
SARA NELSON – Teaching Assistant, Geography, UofM – Spokesperson, UAW Grad Student local
SCOTT THALLER – Research Assistant, Physics, UofM – Spokesperson, UAW Grad Student local
TruthToTell, Mon. Jan 30@9AM: TEACHER CONTRACTS (cont’d) & GRAD ASSISTANT UNIONIZING–KFAI 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
Remember – call and join the conversation – 612-341-0980 – or Tweet us @TTTAndyDriscoll or post on TruthToTell’s Facebook page.
HELP US BRING YOU THESE IMPORTANT DISCUSSIONS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST – PLEASE DONATE HERE!
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TruthToTell, Mon. Jan 30@9AM: TEACHER CONTRACTS (cont’d) & GRAD ASSISTANT UNIONIZING–KFAI 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
We return to the subject of teacher contract issues in Minneapolis after running out of time last week…if ever sufficient time is possible. And we talk with Grad Assistant organizers at the UofM trying to unionize their colleagues.
As we said last time, all school districts in the state of Minnesota – have been negotiating their teachers’ contracts over the last many months, some arriving at agreement well before some others. St. Paul in the throes of its negotiations. Minneapolis Schoolsconcluded theirs last Fall.
Core Minnesota city schools, especially Minneapolis and St. Paul – contain more kids of color than white students in their classrooms – and have been shown among the worst in the nation for their achievement gaps – that scholastic chasm separating white children from kids of color, especially Black, Latino and Native children.
Teacher-bashing seems to come easy for some who see their organizing efforts as a threat to the notion that teachers should do only what they’re told to do and should be subject to parental and administrative overlords. But, what role can and do teachers also play in keep the gap alive? As we said last week, many parents, advocates and educators cite the clear disparity in the color of students and the person teaching them.
Change ain’t easy – for people or groups of them. Organizations who have maintained insider relationships long enough usually want no other stakeholders involved in their “business,” and suggest such public decision should remain private.
Last time, we included representatives from the Minneapolis teachers union – the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers – the long-standing bargaining unit for those standing in front of our kids. This week, those reps found themselves forced to withdraw by personal circumstances, so we’re bringing back the critics and hope to clarify their positions. Those stakeholder groups - like Action for Equity and Put Kids First Minneapolis started attending the meetings and, in no uncertain terms insisted that, as progressives who support collective bargaining and closing the gaps. In coalition with others, and calling it "Contract for Student Achievement," they advanced five key ideas for last Fall’s bargaining. They, and their ideas for reforms, ran into a brick wall, essentially dismissed as interlopers with no business being part of the process. We talk with our returning advocates.
In Segment Two, we learn about the effort to organize University of Minnesota Graduate Assistants into a UAW local (GSWU/UAW). Grad Assistants are those research and teaching aides who do much of the work collecting and imparting knowledge to undergraduates and other graduate students while administrating classes and compiling data for professors and instructors as they work their own way toward masters degrees and PhD.
Why organizing efforts in general always seem to bang heads with highly resistant administrations seems so strange. Here’s a thought: ask General Motors or Ford and other large corporations if they would really want their unions to go away – and you will hear a whispered, “Hell, no”. Such bargaining units are critical to the bottom line because they keep workers in line. And yet – almost no cooperation melts away in the initial stage establishing a local.
Join TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI as we give some vent to and ask some key questions of critics of the Minneapolis teacher negotiations and hear from grad students about their work to essentially herd the cats of academia – the often ego-driven ranks of deans and professors and administrators and their graduate assistants.
GUESTS:
LYNNELL MICKELSEN – Co-Founder of Put Kids First Minneapolis and one of the authors of the Contract for Student Achievement
CHRIS STEWART – former Minneapolis School Board Member; CEO, Action for Equity; and Co-Chair, Education Work Group of the African-American Leadership Forum
SARA NELSON – Teaching Assistant, Geography, UofM – Spokesperson, UAW Grad Student local
SCOTT THALLER – Research Assistant, Physics, UofM – Spokesperson, UAW Grad Student local
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TruthToTell, Mon., Jan 23@9AM: TEACHER CONTRACTS: Who Should Have a Say in What? - AUDIO IS HERE
Join TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI as we give some vent to and ask some key questions of critics of the Minneapolis bargaining process and let St. Paul’s Chief Negotiator explain where the laws and contract terms diverge.
GUESTS:
LYNNELL MICKELSEN – Co-Founder of Put Kids First Minneapolis and one of the authors of the Contract for Student Achievement
LOUISE SUNDIN – Past President, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT);
CHRIS STEWART – former Minneapolis School Board Member; CEO, Action for Equity; and Co-Chair, Education Work Group of the African-American Leadership Forum
JAY RITTERSON – retired Minneapolis School teacher; President, Committee of Thirteen (MFT Pension PAC); Professional Development Trainer Consultant
TIM CASKEY – Chief Negotiator/Director of Human Resources, St. Paul Schools
TruthToTell, Mon. Jan 30@9AM: TEACHER CONTRACTS (cont’d) & GRAD ASSISTANT UNIONIZING–KFAI 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
Remember – call and join the conversation – 612-341-0980 – or Tweet us @TTTAndyDriscoll or post on TruthToTell’s Facebook page.
HELP US BRING YOU THESE IMPORTANT DISCUSSIONS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST – PLEASE DONATE HERE!
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TruthToTell, Mon. Jan 30@9AM: TEACHER CONTRACTS (cont’d) & GRAD ASSISTANT UNIONIZING–KFAI 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
We return to the subject of teacher contract issues in Minneapolis after running out of time last week…if ever sufficient time is possible. And we talk with Grad Assistant organizers at the UofM trying to unionize their colleagues.
As we said last time, all school districts in the state of Minnesota – have been negotiating their teachers’ contracts over the last many months, some arriving at agreement well before some others. St. Paul in the throes of its negotiations. Minneapolis Schoolsconcluded theirs last Fall.
Core Minnesota city schools, especially Minneapolis and St. Paul – contain more kids of color than white students in their classrooms – and have been shown among the worst in the nation for their achievement gaps – that scholastic chasm separating white children from kids of color, especially Black, Latino and Native children.
Teacher-bashing seems to come easy for some who see their organizing efforts as a threat to the notion that teachers should do only what they’re told to do and should be subject to parental and administrative overlords. But, what role can and do teachers also play in keep the gap alive? As we said last week, many parents, advocates and educators cite the clear disparity in the color of students and the person teaching them.
Change ain’t easy – for people or groups of them. Organizations who have maintained insider relationships long enough usually want no other stakeholders involved in their “business,” and suggest such public decision should remain private.
Last time, we included representatives from the Minneapolis teachers union – the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers – the long-standing bargaining unit for those standing in front of our kids. This week, those reps found themselves forced to withdraw by personal circumstances, so we’re bringing back the critics and hope to clarify their positions. Those stakeholder groups - like Action for Equity and Put Kids First Minneapolis started attending the meetings and, in no uncertain terms insisted that, as progressives who support collective bargaining and closing the gaps. In coalition with others, and calling it "Contract for Student Achievement," they advanced five key ideas for last Fall’s bargaining. They, and their ideas for reforms, ran into a brick wall, essentially dismissed as interlopers with no business being part of the process. We talk with our returning advocates.
In Segment Two, we learn about the effort to organize University of Minnesota Graduate Assistants into a UAW local (GSWU/UAW). Grad Assistants are those research and teaching aides who do much of the work collecting and imparting knowledge to undergraduates and other graduate students while administrating classes and compiling data for professors and instructors as they work their own way toward masters degrees and PhD.
Why organizing efforts in general always seem to bang heads with highly resistant administrations seems so strange. Here’s a thought: ask General Motors or Ford and other large corporations if they would really want their unions to go away – and you will hear a whispered, “Hell, no”. Such bargaining units are critical to the bottom line because they keep workers in line. And yet – almost no cooperation melts away in the initial stage establishing a local.
Join TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI as we give some vent to and ask some key questions of critics of the Minneapolis teacher negotiations and hear from grad students about their work to essentially herd the cats of academia – the often ego-driven ranks of deans and professors and administrators and their graduate assistants.
GUESTS:
LYNNELL MICKELSEN – Co-Founder of Put Kids First Minneapolis and one of the authors of the Contract for Student Achievement
CHRIS STEWART – former Minneapolis School Board Member; CEO, Action for Equity; and Co-Chair, Education Work Group of the African-American Leadership Forum
SARA NELSON – Teaching Assistant, Geography, UofM – Spokesperson, UAW Grad Student local
SCOTT THALLER – Research Assistant, Physics, UofM – Spokesperson, UAW Grad Student local
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TruthToTell, Mon., Jan 23@9AM: TEACHER CONTRACTS: Who Should Have a Say in What? - AUDIO IS HERE
Join TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI as we give some vent to and ask some key questions of critics of the Minneapolis bargaining process and let St. Paul’s Chief Negotiator explain where the laws and contract terms diverge.
GUESTS:
LYNNELL MICKELSEN – Co-Founder of Put Kids First Minneapolis and one of the authors of the Contract for Student Achievement
LOUISE SUNDIN – Past President, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT);
CHRIS STEWART – former Minneapolis School Board Member; CEO, Action for Equity; and Co-Chair, Education Work Group of the African-American Leadership Forum
JAY RITTERSON – retired Minneapolis School teacher; President, Committee of Thirteen (MFT Pension PAC); Professional Development Trainer Consultant
TIM CASKEY – Chief Negotiator/Director of Human Resources, St. Paul Schools
TruthToTell, Mon., Jan 23@9AM: TEACHER CONTRACTS: Who Should Have a Say in What? - KFAI FM 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
Remember – call and join the conversation – 612-341-0980 – or Tweet us @TTTAndyDriscoll or post onTruthToTell’s Facebook page.
HELP US BRING YOU THESE IMPORTANT DISCUSSIONS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST – PLEASE DONATE HERE!
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TruthToTell, Mon., Jan 23@9AM: TEACHER CONTRACTS: Who Should Have a Say in What? - KFAI FM 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul – as all districts in the state of Minnesota – have been negotiating their teachers’ contracts over the last many months, some arriving at agreement well before some others. St. Paul in the throes of its negotiations. Minneapolis concluded theirs last Fall.
Reams of data have now shown that the core cities, especially the Minneapolis District – with more kids of color than white students filling their classrooms – remain among the worst in the nation for their achievement gaps – that chasm separating white children from kids of color, especially Black, Latino and Native children. Some Minnesota citizens would see this as another sign that children of color cannot, somehow, learn, because – well, because they’re not white.
Others know better. But this sense of white supremacy can have devastating effects on those children as their mentors try hard to move the State Legislature toward funding the closing of such gaps, but them widening when efforts fail. Lawmakers have done little to adequately finance education or its funding mechanisms while insisting that all education decisions are so local that they can do little to even up the disparities, especially in districts where the gaps are so blatant, they can’t be assigned anywhere but to a persistent race and class bias at almost every level. Poverty is not an uncontrollable element of society. It’s a reason, not an excuse.
What roles do our teachers play in maintaining this gap? Many parents, advocates and educators cite the clear disparity in the color of students and the person teaching them. Many also say that the system of teacher seniority, or tenure, is archaic as the sole determinant for decisions affecting who gets which classrooms where and who gets laid off first if the crunches come – as they most certainly have. Older teachers may be the best. But they may not be, and the system, for the most part, cannot take reality that into consideration in its hiring or firing decisions.
Change comes hard for most people, not least for organizations who have maintained insider relationships long enough not to want other stakeholders involved in their “business.”
The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers – the city’s teachers union is no exception, certainly. As the long-standing bargaining unit for all those who earn their livings at the front of all classrooms in the city’s school district, it, like all others of its kind, want very few changes – aside from a few harmless tweaks – not only to the way they’ve represented those teachers and maintained their contract provisions, but also to the very act of negotiating what is clearly a public document. Anyone outside the union and the district’s negotiating team and, finally the School Board, they say, is a non-expert, no matter whom the outsiders represent, and should have no say in contract terms.
Those groups, like Action for Equity and Put Kids First, both insisting they are strong progressive, even DFL, parents and citizens who support collective bargaining, tried putting several ideas on the negotiation table for last Fall’s bargaining, and generally hit a stone wall, essentially dismissed as interlopers with no business being part of the process.
In St. Paul, the School District is currently in negotiation with its teachers’ union – the St. Paul Federation of Teachers, whose President, Mary Cathryn Ricker, has been our guest a couple of times. That union group has, for the first time in Minnesota, it is said, asked for a provision casting classroom sizes in concrete – specific sizes for specific grades – right in the contract, which would essentially nullify what has thus far been an entirely administrative function.
How much of an uproar is this causing? We’ll try for some answers to that question.
Join TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI as we give some vent to and ask some key questions of critics of the Minneapolis bargaining process and let St. Paul’s Chief Negotiator explain where the laws and contract terms diverge.
GUESTS:
LYNNELL MICKELSEN – Co-Founder of Put Kids First Minneapolis and one of the authors of the Contract for Student Achievement
CHRIS STEWART – former Minneapolis School Board Member; CEO, Action for Equity; and Co-Chair, Education Work Group of the African-American Leadership Forum
TIM CASKEY – Chief Negotiator/Director of Human Resources, St. Paul Schools
INVITED, but declining to appear:
LYNN NORDGREN – President, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers
INVITED, but unable to appear:
JEAN O’CONNELL, Chair, St. Paul School Board
TruthToTell, Mon., Jan 16 @9AM: Cops and Mentally Ill: Training a Tough Culture to Cool It; TruthToTell Jan 9: MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Fears Overcoming Reality?
Remember – call and join the conversation – 612-341-0980 – or Tweet us @TTTAndyDriscoll or post on TruthToTell’s Facebook page.
HELP US BRING YOU THESE IMPORTANT DISCUSSIONS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST – PLEASE DONATE HERE!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TruthToTell, Mon., Jan 16 @9AM: Cops and Mentally Ill: Training a Tough Culture to Cool It
Back in the 1970s, a monumental landmark court case unlocked the doors of this country’s state hospitals and other institutions housing – more like warehousing – hundreds of thousands, perhaps a couple million mentally ill men and women on the strength of a new standard of commitment: that anyone not posing a danger to themselves or others could not be forced into what was essentially incarceration of people with mental illnesses. The court told the system to fix itself.
It never really did.
What the politicians failed to do was follow up on mandates calling for community-based housing and treatment facilities and services that could help treat and shelter people afflicted with such persistent illnesses as schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder (once called manic depression), especially those that, under serious circumstances could result in erratic and dangerous behavior or outbursts – especially those who stopped the treatments that stabilized their brain chemistry.
Instead, many of those millions were often left homeless and/or unemployable, therefore unable to cope in an amorphous world where others avoided contact or responded violently to the unstable expressions of their illnesses. For whatever reason, many of those saddled with bi-polar disorder cease taking their meds when they start to feel “normal,” and find themselves back in the wide swings of mood that characterize bi-polar disorder. The manic phase can be intoxicating and the depressive phase often suicidal or violent. The mental illnesses most at risk (some may not seem dangerous)*:
All cases of schizophrenia (a psychotic disorder)
Severe cases of major depression and bipolar disorder (mood disorders)
Severe cases of panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (anxiety disorders)
Severe cases of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (typically, a childhood disorder)
Severe cases of anorexia nervosa (an eating disorder).
*(Timothy A. Kelly (2002) "A Policymaker’s Guide to Mental Illness.” Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation.)
Such has been the case with several mentally ill citizens of communities across the country facing down police officers all too ready to react with fatal or deadly force. Some of this is contrived – a method of suicide by cop – i.e., intentional death by confrontation with police officers they know will shoot to kill if a weapon is brandished or they feel threatened by anyone advancing on them.
One case of the “quick-draw” killing of a mentally ill Minneapolis woman actually resulted in some serious retrospection by the officers involved and resulted in the formation of a foundation designed to stave off such fatal clashes between cops and the mentally ill they confront through training – Crisis Intervention Teams – or CIT. That foundation – the Barbara Schneider Foundation – born out of the death twelve years ago of an otherwise respected and active community person who died in the midst of a psychotic episode when police responded to complaints about excessive noise from an apartment and came face-to-face with a distraught Schneider wielding a knife. One of the cops involved, Minneapolis Police Sgt. William Palmer, remembered all too well 10 years later how he felt forced to respond with deadly force.
Police killings of mentally ill citizens (*EDP = emotionally disturbed person) continue to occur – and, of course, some cops can be killed in the process as well:
Ki Yang, 46, St. Paul - shot, 2003. Suffered from schizophrenia and had a history of violent episodes
David Cornelius Smith, 28 – Bipolar - Tasered 2010 by Minneapolis police–died twice at scene, died 10 days later
James Ludwig, Vietnam vet, homeless and mentally ill (emotionally disturbed), surrounded and shot to death by St. Paul Police 1993
Officer Richard Francis – 27-yr veteran Chicago cop – shot while trying to subdue an EDP*
Andrew Hanlon, 20 – Irish immigrant – shot to death by Silverton, Ore. Cop claiming threat
Francisco Martes, 40 – homeless EDP – shot dead after wielding a knife around a cop
Kelly Thomas, 37 – homeless w/ schizophrenia - tasered and beaten to death by six Fullerton, CA cops
Craig Edward Prescott, 38 – bi-polar former sheriff’s deputy tasered, water-balled and crushed in his cell by 8 other deputies – April 2009
Pierre Abernathy – a mentally ill citizen of San Antonio, Texas – was tased and beaten to death by a group of at least six police officers on August 4, 2011
The list goes on. Mostly men, often homeless.
Questions persist about why the police, as an institution and culture cannot or will not make as part of their earliest training methods to subdue mentally ill and agitated men and women without killing. They have the armor and they have the firepower – why not the skill?
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI talk with two representatives of the Barbara Schneider Foundation in search of some answers.
Other Story Links:
The Prison System as a Gulag for People with Serious Mental Illness
Center for Problem-Oriented Policing
Responses to the Problem of People with Mental Illness
Newsweek article: Cops and the Mentally Ill
MARK ANDERSON, Executive Director, Barbara Schneider Foundation
RENEE JENSON, Community Collaborations Coordinator, Barbara Schneider Foundation
WITHDRAWN: Representative of Hennepin County Sheriff's Dept.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TruthToTell Jan 9: MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Fears Overcoming Reality?-AUDIO IS HERE
What is your perception of marijuana? Are you dead set against its use? Or could you be persuaded that what is actually called cannabis (marijuana is a Spanish term assigned by someone a long time ago) is a plant about as beneficial as broccoli when consumed as directed?
How much do we really know about this controversial plant called pot, weed, grass, reefer and, no doubt, a couple of other names – almost anything but “good” for most politicians and the larger law enforcement community?
Minnesota is not among the 16 states and the District of Columbia that have, by one means or another, usually by a citizens ballot petition, enacted laws removing most of their prior penalties for the cultivation, processing and distribution of cannabis for a significant number of ailments, most of them including AIDS, anorexia, arthritis, cachexia, cancer, chronic pain, glaucoma, migraine, persistent muscle spasms, including those associated with multiple sclerosis, seizures associated with but not limited to epilepsy, and severe nausea. Covered conditions vary, but, in every case, a doctor’s formal approval for its use is required and, in most instances, even an approved patient cannot possess more than one ounce or, perhaps an ounce-and-a-half.
However, although a law allowing the use of marijuana as a medical treatment has not yet passed in Minnesota (this state does not allow citizens initiative or referendum as most of those approving states do, but that’s another issue for another day), Minnesotadoes allow possession of one and one-half ounces of marijuana without penalty. Where you got the stuff might be interesting to law enforcement, since holding any amount above the 1-1/2 ounces is a felony (even in states where’s it’s been approved).
That said – the real arguments that haunt marijuana’s life in these United States, for either medical or recreational use,may be more political than scientific at this stage. Those who have discovered and benefitted from its salutary properties don’t give a hang about what makes it work so well for them. On the other hand, the spectre of “reefer madness” may be dancing through the memories and perceptions of others persuaded that cannabis is as addictive as cocaine and thus bound to ruin the life of anyone daring to consume it. The 1930s film of the same name depicts users as going off their nut in response to smoking marijuana. No one has ever witnessed such a reaction. But it was this perception that got the stuff placed on the Federal Government’s drug list as a Schedule I substance, right up there with heroine and cocaine.
It’s been condemned as a “gateway” drug to the worst of addictions, and yet its proponents insist that at least a half-dozen prescription drugs – namely oxycodone, oxycontin, and others – have been abused literally to death, especially young people, whereas no one is known to have overdosed on marijuana.
We talk with advocates for legalizing cannabis in Minnesota (and elsewhere), at least for medical purposes, but, in the long run, at least, to get the Feds to remove its ranking as a Schedule I substance. The state of Washington has an initiative ballot question legalizing pot entirely, not just for medical purposes.
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI query three members of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) of Minnesota, each with their own stories about why they believe this stuff is a godsend to sick people, and may, in fact, be highly beneficial to take in on a regular basis, illness or no.
GUESTS:
RANDY QUAST ~ Executive Director, MN NORML
KURT HANNA ~ Treasurer, MN NORML
KATHY RIPPENTROP ~ Medical Marijuana Caregiver, MN NORML Member
Remember – call and join the conversation – 612-341-0980 – or Tweet us @TTTAndyDriscoll or post on TruthToTell’s Facebook page.
HELP US BRING YOU THESE IMPORTANT DISCUSSIONS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST – PLEASE DONATE HERE!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TruthToTell, Mon., Jan 16 @9AM: Cops and Mentally Ill: Training a Tough Culture to Cool It
Back in the 1970s, a monumental landmark court case unlocked the doors of this country’s state hospitals and other institutions housing – more like warehousing – hundreds of thousands, perhaps a couple million mentally ill men and women on the strength of a new standard of commitment: that anyone not posing a danger to themselves or others could not be forced into what was essentially incarceration of people with mental illnesses. The court told the system to fix itself.
It never really did.
What the politicians failed to do was follow up on mandates calling for community-based housing and treatment facilities and services that could help treat and shelter people afflicted with such persistent illnesses as schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder (once called manic depression), especially those that, under serious circumstances could result in erratic and dangerous behavior or outbursts – especially those who stopped the treatments that stabilized their brain chemistry.
Instead, many of those millions were often left homeless and/or unemployable, therefore unable to cope in an amorphous world where others avoided contact or responded violently to the unstable expressions of their illnesses. For whatever reason, many of those saddled with bi-polar disorder cease taking their meds when they start to feel “normal,” and find themselves back in the wide swings of mood that characterize bi-polar disorder. The manic phase can be intoxicating and the depressive phase often suicidal or violent. The mental illnesses most at risk (some may not seem dangerous)*:
All cases of schizophrenia (a psychotic disorder)
Severe cases of major depression and bipolar disorder (mood disorders)
Severe cases of panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (anxiety disorders)
Severe cases of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (typically, a childhood disorder)
Severe cases of anorexia nervosa (an eating disorder).
*(Timothy A. Kelly (2002) "A Policymaker’s Guide to Mental Illness.” Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation.)
Such has been the case with several mentally ill citizens of communities across the country facing down police officers all too ready to react with fatal or deadly force. Some of this is contrived – a method of suicide by cop – i.e., intentional death by confrontation with police officers they know will shoot to kill if a weapon is brandished or they feel threatened by anyone advancing on them.
One case of the “quick-draw” killing of a mentally ill Minneapolis woman actually resulted in some serious retrospection by the officers involved and resulted in the formation of a foundation designed to stave off such fatal clashes between cops and the mentally ill they confront through training – Crisis Intervention Teams – or CIT. That foundation – the Barbara Schneider Foundation – born out of the death twelve years ago of an otherwise respected and active community person who died in the midst of a psychotic episode when police responded to complaints about excessive noise from an apartment and came face-to-face with a distraught Schneider wielding a knife. One of the cops involved, Minneapolis Police Sgt. William Palmer, remembered all too well 10 years later how he felt forced to respond with deadly force.
Police killings of mentally ill citizens (*EDP = emotionally disturbed person) continue to occur – and, of course, some cops can be killed in the process as well:
Ki Yang, 46, St. Paul - shot, 2003. Suffered from schizophrenia and had a history of violent episodes
David Cornelius Smith, 28 – Bipolar - Tasered 2010 by Minneapolis police–died twice at scene, died 10 days later
James Ludwig, Vietnam vet, homeless and mentally ill (emotionally disturbed), surrounded and shot to death by St. Paul Police 1993
Officer Richard Francis – 27-yr veteran Chicago cop – shot while trying to subdue an EDP*
Andrew Hanlon, 20 – Irish immigrant – shot to death by Silverton, Ore. Cop claiming threat
Francisco Martes, 40 – homeless EDP – shot dead after wielding a knife around a cop
Kelly Thomas, 37 – homeless w/ schizophrenia - tasered and beaten to death by six Fullerton, CA cops
Craig Edward Prescott, 38 – bi-polar former sheriff’s deputy tasered, water-balled and crushed in his cell by 8 other deputies – April 2009
Pierre Abernathy – a mentally ill citizen of San Antonio, Texas – was tased and beaten to death by a group of at least six police officers on August 4, 2011
The list goes on. Mostly men, often homeless.
Questions persist about why the police, as an institution and culture cannot or will not make as part of their earliest training methods to subdue mentally ill and agitated men and women without killing. They have the armor and they have the firepower – why not the skill?
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI talk with two representatives of the Barbara Schneider Foundation in search of some answers.
Other Story Links:
The Prison System as a Gulag for People with Serious Mental Illness
Center for Problem-Oriented Policing
Responses to the Problem of People with Mental Illness
Newsweek article: Cops and the Mentally Ill
MARK ANDERSON, Executive Director, Barbara Schneider Foundation
RENEE JENSON, Community Collaborations Coordinator, Barbara Schneider Foundation
WITHDRAWN: Representative of Hennepin County Sheriff's Dept.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TruthToTell Jan 9: MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Fears Overcoming Reality?-AUDIO IS HERE
What is your perception of marijuana? Are you dead set against its use? Or could you be persuaded that what is actually called cannabis (marijuana is a Spanish term assigned by someone a long time ago) is a plant about as beneficial as broccoli when consumed as directed?
How much do we really know about this controversial plant called pot, weed, grass, reefer and, no doubt, a couple of other names – almost anything but “good” for most politicians and the larger law enforcement community?
Minnesota is not among the 16 states and the District of Columbia that have, by one means or another, usually by a citizens ballot petition, enacted laws removing most of their prior penalties for the cultivation, processing and distribution of cannabis for a significant number of ailments, most of them including AIDS, anorexia, arthritis, cachexia, cancer, chronic pain, glaucoma, migraine, persistent muscle spasms, including those associated with multiple sclerosis, seizures associated with but not limited to epilepsy, and severe nausea. Covered conditions vary, but, in every case, a doctor’s formal approval for its use is required and, in most instances, even an approved patient cannot possess more than one ounce or, perhaps an ounce-and-a-half.
However, although a law allowing the use of marijuana as a medical treatment has not yet passed in Minnesota (this state does not allow citizens initiative or referendum as most of those approving states do, but that’s another issue for another day), Minnesotadoes allow possession of one and one-half ounces of marijuana without penalty. Where you got the stuff might be interesting to law enforcement, since holding any amount above the 1-1/2 ounces is a felony (even in states where’s it’s been approved).
That said – the real arguments that haunt marijuana’s life in these United States, for either medical or recreational use,may be more political than scientific at this stage. Those who have discovered and benefitted from its salutary properties don’t give a hang about what makes it work so well for them. On the other hand, the spectre of “reefer madness” may be dancing through the memories and perceptions of others persuaded that cannabis is as addictive as cocaine and thus bound to ruin the life of anyone daring to consume it. The 1930s film of the same name depicts users as going off their nut in response to smoking marijuana. No one has ever witnessed such a reaction. But it was this perception that got the stuff placed on the Federal Government’s drug list as a Schedule I substance, right up there with heroine and cocaine.
It’s been condemned as a “gateway” drug to the worst of addictions, and yet its proponents insist that at least a half-dozen prescription drugs – namely oxycodone, oxycontin, and others – have been abused literally to death, especially young people, whereas no one is known to have overdosed on marijuana.
We talk with advocates for legalizing cannabis in Minnesota (and elsewhere), at least for medical purposes, but, in the long run, at least, to get the Feds to remove its ranking as a Schedule I substance. The state of Washington has an initiative ballot question legalizing pot entirely, not just for medical purposes.
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI query three members of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) of Minnesota, each with their own stories about why they believe this stuff is a godsend to sick people, and may, in fact, be highly beneficial to take in on a regular basis, illness or no.
GUESTS:
RANDY QUAST ~ Executive Director, MN NORML
KURT HANNA ~ Treasurer, MN NORML
KATHY RIPPENTROP ~ Medical Marijuana Caregiver, MN NORML Member
Remember – call and join the conversation – 612-341-0980 – or Tweet us @TTTAndyDriscoll or post on TruthToTell’s Facebook page.
HELP US BRING YOU THESE IMPORTANT DISCUSSIONS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST – PLEASE DONATE HERE!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TruthToTell, Mon., Jan 16 @9AM: Cops and Mentally Ill: Training a Tough Culture to Cool It
Back in the 1970s, a monumental landmark court case unlocked the doors of this country’s state hospitals and other institutions housing – more like warehousing – hundreds of thousands, perhaps a couple million mentally ill men and women on the strength of a new standard of commitment: that anyone not posing a danger to themselves or others could not be forced into what was essentially incarceration of people with mental illnesses. The court told the system to fix itself.
It never really did.
What the politicians failed to do was follow up on mandates calling for community-based housing and treatment facilities and services that could help treat and shelter people afflicted with such persistent illnesses as schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder (once called manic depression), especially those that, under serious circumstances could result in erratic and dangerous behavior or outbursts – especially those who stopped the treatments that stabilized their brain chemistry.
Instead, many of those millions were often left homeless and/or unemployable, therefore unable to cope in an amorphous world where others avoided contact or responded violently to the unstable expressions of their illnesses. For whatever reason, many of those saddled with bi-polar disorder cease taking their meds when they start to feel “normal,” and find themselves back in the wide swings of mood that characterize bi-polar disorder. The manic phase can be intoxicating and the depressive phase often suicidal or violent. The mental illnesses most at risk (some may not seem dangerous)*:
All cases of schizophrenia (a psychotic disorder)
Severe cases of major depression and bipolar disorder (mood disorders)
Severe cases of panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (anxiety disorders)
Severe cases of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (typically, a childhood disorder)
Severe cases of anorexia nervosa (an eating disorder).
*(Timothy A. Kelly (2002) "A Policymaker’s Guide to Mental Illness.” Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation.)
Such has been the case with several mentally ill citizens of communities across the country facing down police officers all too ready to react with fatal or deadly force. Some of this is contrived – a method of suicide by cop – i.e., intentional death by confrontation with police officers they know will shoot to kill if a weapon is brandished or they feel threatened by anyone advancing on them.
One case of the “quick-draw” killing of a mentally ill Minneapolis woman actually resulted in some serious retrospection by the officers involved and resulted in the formation of a foundation designed to stave off such fatal clashes between cops and the mentally ill they confront through training – Crisis Intervention Teams – or CIT. That foundation – the Barbara Schneider Foundation – born out of the death twelve years ago of an otherwise respected and active community person who died in the midst of a psychotic episode when police responded to complaints about excessive noise from an apartment and came face-to-face with a distraught Schneider wielding a knife. One of the cops involved, Minneapolis Police Sgt. William Palmer, remembered all too well 10 years later how he felt forced to respond with deadly force.
Police killings of mentally ill citizens (*EDP = emotionally disturbed person) continue to occur – and, of course, some cops can be killed in the process as well:
Ki Yang, 46, St. Paul - shot, 2003. Suffered from schizophrenia and had a history of violent episodes
David Cornelius Smith, 28 – Bipolar - Tasered 2010 by Minneapolis police–died twice at scene, died 10 days later
James Ludwig, Vietnam vet, homeless and mentally ill (emotionally disturbed), surrounded and shot to death by St. Paul Police 1993
Officer Richard Francis – 27-yr veteran Chicago cop – shot while trying to subdue an EDP*
Andrew Hanlon, 20 – Irish immigrant – shot to death by Silverton, Ore. Cop claiming threat
Francisco Martes, 40 – homeless EDP – shot dead after wielding a knife around a cop
Kelly Thomas, 37 – homeless w/ schizophrenia - tasered and beaten to death by six Fullerton, CA cops
Craig Edward Prescott, 38 – bi-polar former sheriff’s deputy tasered, water-balled and crushed in his cell by 8 other deputies – April 2009
Pierre Abernathy – a mentally ill citizen of San Antonio, Texas – was tased and beaten to death by a group of at least six police officers on August 4, 2011
The list goes on. Mostly men, often homeless.
Questions persist about why the police, as an institution and culture cannot or will not make as part of their earliest training methods to subdue mentally ill and agitated men and women without killing. They have the armor and they have the firepower – why not the skill?
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI talk with two representatives of the Barbara Schneider Foundation in search of some answers.
Other Story Links:
The Prison System as a Gulag for People with Serious Mental Illness
Center for Problem-Oriented Policing
Responses to the Problem of People with Mental Illness
Newsweek article: Cops and the Mentally Ill
MARK ANDERSON, Executive Director, Barbara Schneider Foundation
RENEE JENSON, Community Collaborations Coordinator, Barbara Schneider Foundation
WITHDRAWN: Representative of Hennepin County Sheriff's Dept.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TruthToTell Jan 9: MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Fears Overcoming Reality?-AUDIO IS HERE
What is your perception of marijuana? Are you dead set against its use? Or could you be persuaded that what is actually called cannabis (marijuana is a Spanish term assigned by someone a long time ago) is a plant about as beneficial as broccoli when consumed as directed?
How much do we really know about this controversial plant called pot, weed, grass, reefer and, no doubt, a couple of other names – almost anything but “good” for most politicians and the larger law enforcement community?
Minnesota is not among the 16 states and the District of Columbia that have, by one means or another, usually by a citizens ballot petition, enacted laws removing most of their prior penalties for the cultivation, processing and distribution of cannabis for a significant number of ailments, most of them including AIDS, anorexia, arthritis, cachexia, cancer, chronic pain, glaucoma, migraine, persistent muscle spasms, including those associated with multiple sclerosis, seizures associated with but not limited to epilepsy, and severe nausea. Covered conditions vary, but, in every case, a doctor’s formal approval for its use is required and, in most instances, even an approved patient cannot possess more than one ounce or, perhaps an ounce-and-a-half.
However, although a law allowing the use of marijuana as a medical treatment has not yet passed in Minnesota (this state does not allow citizens initiative or referendum as most of those approving states do, but that’s another issue for another day), Minnesotadoes allow possession of one and one-half ounces of marijuana without penalty. Where you got the stuff might be interesting to law enforcement, since holding any amount above the 1-1/2 ounces is a felony (even in states where’s it’s been approved).
That said – the real arguments that haunt marijuana’s life in these United States, for either medical or recreational use,may be more political than scientific at this stage. Those who have discovered and benefitted from its salutary properties don’t give a hang about what makes it work so well for them. On the other hand, the spectre of “reefer madness” may be dancing through the memories and perceptions of others persuaded that cannabis is as addictive as cocaine and thus bound to ruin the life of anyone daring to consume it. The 1930s film of the same name depicts users as going off their nut in response to smoking marijuana. No one has ever witnessed such a reaction. But it was this perception that got the stuff placed on the Federal Government’s drug list as a Schedule I substance, right up there with heroine and cocaine.
It’s been condemned as a “gateway” drug to the worst of addictions, and yet its proponents insist that at least a half-dozen prescription drugs – namely oxycodone, oxycontin, and others – have been abused literally to death, especially young people, whereas no one is known to have overdosed on marijuana.
We talk with advocates for legalizing cannabis in Minnesota (and elsewhere), at least for medical purposes, but, in the long run, at least, to get the Feds to remove its ranking as a Schedule I substance. The state of Washington has an initiative ballot question legalizing pot entirely, not just for medical purposes.
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI query three members of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) of Minnesota, each with their own stories about why they believe this stuff is a godsend to sick people, and may, in fact, be highly beneficial to take in on a regular basis, illness or no.
GUESTS:
RANDY QUAST ~ Executive Director, MN NORML
KURT HANNA ~ Treasurer, MN NORML
KATHY RIPPENTROP ~ Medical Marijuana Caregiver, MN NORML Member
TruthToTell, Mon., Jan 9 @9AM: MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Fears Overcoming Reality?-KFAI FM 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
Remember – call and join the conversation – 612-341-0980 – or Tweet us @TTTAndyDriscoll or post onTruthToTell’s Facebook page.
HELP US BRING YOU THESE IMPORTANT DISCUSSIONS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST – PLEASE DONATE HERE!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TruthToTell, Mon., Jan 9 @9AM: MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Fears Overcoming Reality?-KFAI FM 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
What is your perception of marijuana? Are you dead set against its use? Or could you be persuaded that what is actually calledcannabis (marijuana is a Spanish term assigned by someone a long time ago) is a plant about as beneficial as broccoli when consumed as directed?
How much do we really know about this controversial plant called pot, weed, grass, reefer and, no doubt, a couple of other names – almost anything but “good” for most politicians and the larger law enforcement community?
Minnesota is not among the 16 states and the District of Columbia that have, by one means or another, usually by a citizens ballot petition, enacted laws removing most of their prior penalties for the cultivation, processing and distribution of cannabis for a significant number of ailments, most of them including AIDS, anorexia, arthritis, cachexia, cancer, chronic pain, glaucoma, migraine, persistent muscle spasms, including those associated with multiple sclerosis, seizures associated with but not limited to epilepsy, and severe nausea. Covered conditions vary, but, in every case, a doctor’s formal approval for its use is required and, in most instances, even an approved patient cannot possess more than one ounce or, perhaps an ounce-and-a-half.
However, although a law allowing the use of marijuana as a medical treatment has not yet passed in Minnesota (this state does not allow citizens initiative or referendum as most of those approving states do, but that’s another issue for another day), Minnesotadoes allow possession of one and one-half ounces of marijuana without penalty. Where you got the stuff might be interesting to law enforcement, since holding any amount above the 1-1/2 ounces is a felony (even in states where’s it’s been approved).
That said – the real arguments that haunt marijuana’s life in these United States, for either medical or recreational use, may be more political than scientific at this stage. Those who have discovered and benefitted from its salutary properties don’t give a hang about what makes it work so well for them. On the other hand, the spectre of “reefer madness” may be dancing through the memories and perceptions of others persuaded that cannabis is as addictive as cocaine and thus bound to ruin the life of anyone daring to consume it. The 1930s film of the same name depicts users as going off their nut in response to smoking marijuana. No one has ever witnessed such a reaction. But it was this perception that got the stuff placed on the Federal Government’s drug list as aSchedule I substance, right up there with heroine and cocaine.
It’s been condemned as a “gateway” drug to the worst of addictions, and yet its proponents insist that at least a half-dozen prescription drugs – namely oxycodone, oxycontin, and others – have been abused literally to death, especially young people, whereas no one is known to have overdosed on marijuana.
This week, we talk with advocates for legalizing cannabis in Minnesota (and elsewhere), at least for medical purposes, but, in the long run, to get the Feds to drop its ranking down to a Schedule III substance, available by prescription. The state of Washington has an initiative ballot question legalizing pot entirely, not just for medical purposes.
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI query three members of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) of Minnesota, each with their own stories about why they believe this stuff is a godsend to sick people, and may, in fact, be highly beneficial to take in on a regular basis, illness or no.
GUESTS:
RANDY QUAST ~ Executive Director, MN NORML
KURT HANNA ~ Treasurer, MN NORML
KATHY RIPPENTROP ~ Medical Marijuana Caregiver, MN NORML Member
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TruthToTell Jan 2: MOVE-TO-AMEND: The Case Against Corporate Personhood - AUDIO HERE
Back in early November TruthToTell brought you a great conversation with David Cobb, former Green Party Presidential candidate and national spokesperson for MoveToAmend – the strengthening effort to remove the designation of personhood from corporate entities in the United States. That corporate personhood has seriously damaged this republic is clear in any analysis of this nation’s economic, political and social history and the deference courts have paid to corporations regarding the Bill of Rightsand a myriad of other claims that compete with real persons.
This week, we are presenting both an encore of that discussion and the remainder of the hour with MTA Minnesota Coordinator,Nathan John Ness and two of his colleagues with an update on MoveToAmend’s current wok in light of the Occupy movement and their symbiotic relationship.
Here’s a bit of what we used to announce that show last month:
What do we mean by corporate personhood – and why is this not a good thing?
In 1819, the Supreme Court, in Dartmouth College v. Woodward, recognized corporations as having the same rights as natural persons for the purpose of entering into contracts and enforcing those contracts. Later, in 1886, the Court’s Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad decision (118 U.S. 394 [1886]) recognized corporations as persons for the purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment (states must provide equal protection under the law to all people within their jurisdiction).
Those two rulings have thus provided the century-old underpinnings for a number of subsequent decisions equating corporations with real people, two of the most recent being Buckley v. Valeo, which equates campaign finance with free speech – a true precedent in its own right – followed by last year’s 5-4 Citizens United (Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission) ruling, yanking all restrictions on corporate (and union) campaign monies and allowing unlimited dollars to flow directly to support or defeat candidates, just not to the campaigns themselves.
The 2010 elections demonstrated starkly the fallout from all of these rulings on the make-up of Congress, especially the reversal of the Democratic House majority to Republicans, and of several governorships and state legislative bodies. The best examples of the latter are Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and Florida, and the passage of truly onerous, anti-worker, anti-teacher legislation. Corporate personhood gave life and power to the Koch brothers’ wealth as the primary financing tool of both the Tea Party entities and specific electoral contests in those states.
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI engage local and national advocates on the role of corporations and Move to Amend.
GUESTS:
DAVID COBB – former Presidential Candidate for the US Green Party, National Projects Director of Democracy Unlimited and official spokesperson for MOVE to AMEND (Recorded)
NATHAN JOHN NESS – Minnesota Organizer for MOVE to AMEND (Recorded and Live)
PHYLLIS RODEN – Move To Amend activist, Conference on a Constitutional Convention at Harvard participant (Live)
ROBIN MONAHAN – Move To Amend activist who, with his brother, Laird, walked the length of the US in 2010 to bring attention to corporate personhood. (Live)
ruthToTell, Mon., Jan 9 @9AM: MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Fears Overcoming Reality?-KFAI FM 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
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TruthToTell, Mon., Jan 9 @9AM: MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Fears Overcoming Reality?-KFAI FM 90.3/106.7/KFAI.org
What is your perception of marijuana? Are you dead set against its use? Or could you be persuaded that what is actually calledcannabis (marijuana is a Spanish term assigned by someone a long time ago) is a plant about as beneficial as broccoli when consumed as directed?
How much do we really know about this controversial plant called pot, weed, grass, reefer and, no doubt, a couple of other names – almost anything but “good” for most politicians and the larger law enforcement community?
Minnesota is not among the 16 states and the District of Columbia that have, by one means or another, usually by a citizens ballot petition, enacted laws removing most of their prior penalties for the cultivation, processing and distribution of cannabis for a significant number of ailments, most of them including AIDS, anorexia, arthritis, cachexia, cancer, chronic pain, glaucoma, migraine, persistent muscle spasms, including those associated with multiple sclerosis, seizures associated with but not limited to epilepsy, and severe nausea. Covered conditions vary, but, in every case, a doctor’s formal approval for its use is required and, in most instances, even an approved patient cannot possess more than one ounce or, perhaps an ounce-and-a-half.
However, although a law allowing the use of marijuana as a medical treatment has not yet passed in Minnesota (this state does not allow citizens initiative or referendum as most of those approving states do, but that’s another issue for another day), Minnesotadoes allow possession of one and one-half ounces of marijuana without penalty. Where you got the stuff might be interesting to law enforcement, since holding any amount above the 1-1/2 ounces is a felony (even in states where’s it’s been approved).
That said – the real arguments that haunt marijuana’s life in these United States, for either medical or recreational use, may be more political than scientific at this stage. Those who have discovered and benefitted from its salutary properties don’t give a hang about what makes it work so well for them. On the other hand, the spectre of “reefer madness” may be dancing through the memories and perceptions of others persuaded that cannabis is as addictive as cocaine and thus bound to ruin the life of anyone daring to consume it. The 1930s film of the same name depicts users as going off their nut in response to smoking marijuana. No one has ever witnessed such a reaction. But it was this perception that got the stuff placed on the Federal Government’s drug list as aSchedule I substance, right up there with heroine and cocaine.
It’s been condemned as a “gateway” drug to the worst of addictions, and yet its proponents insist that at least a half-dozen prescription drugs – namely oxycodone, oxycontin, and others – have been abused literally to death, especially young people, whereas no one is known to have overdosed on marijuana.
This week, we talk with advocates for legalizing cannabis in Minnesota (and elsewhere), at least for medical purposes, but, in the long run, to get the Feds to drop its ranking down to a Schedule III substance, available by prescription. The state of Washington has an initiative ballot question legalizing pot entirely, not just for medical purposes.
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI query three members of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) of Minnesota, each with their own stories about why they believe this stuff is a godsend to sick people, and may, in fact, be highly beneficial to take in on a regular basis, illness or no.
GUESTS:
RANDY QUAST ~ Executive Director, MN NORML
KURT HANNA ~ Treasurer, MN NORML
KATHY RIPPENTROP ~ Medical Marijuana Caregiver, MN NORML Member
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TruthToTell Jan 2: MOVE-TO-AMEND: The Case Against Corporate Personhood - AUDIO HERE
Back in early November TruthToTell brought you a great conversation with David Cobb, former Green Party Presidential candidate and national spokesperson for MoveToAmend – the strengthening effort to remove the designation of personhood from corporate entities in the United States. That corporate personhood has seriously damaged this republic is clear in any analysis of this nation’s economic, political and social history and the deference courts have paid to corporations regarding the Bill of Rightsand a myriad of other claims that compete with real persons.
This week, we are presenting both an encore of that discussion and the remainder of the hour with MTA Minnesota Coordinator,Nathan John Ness and two of his colleagues with an update on MoveToAmend’s current wok in light of the Occupy movement and their symbiotic relationship.
Here’s a bit of what we used to announce that show last month:
What do we mean by corporate personhood – and why is this not a good thing?
In 1819, the Supreme Court, in Dartmouth College v. Woodward, recognized corporations as having the same rights as natural persons for the purpose of entering into contracts and enforcing those contracts. Later, in 1886, the Court’s Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad decision (118 U.S. 394 [1886]) recognized corporations as persons for the purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment (states must provide equal protection under the law to all people within their jurisdiction).
Those two rulings have thus provided the century-old underpinnings for a number of subsequent decisions equating corporations with real people, two of the most recent being Buckley v. Valeo, which equates campaign finance with free speech – a true precedent in its own right – followed by last year’s 5-4 Citizens United (Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission) ruling, yanking all restrictions on corporate (and union) campaign monies and allowing unlimited dollars to flow directly to support or defeat candidates, just not to the campaigns themselves.
The 2010 elections demonstrated starkly the fallout from all of these rulings on the make-up of Congress, especially the reversal of the Democratic House majority to Republicans, and of several governorships and state legislative bodies. The best examples of the latter are Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and Florida, and the passage of truly onerous, anti-worker, anti-teacher legislation. Corporate personhood gave life and power to the Koch brothers’ wealth as the primary financing tool of both the Tea Party entities and specific electoral contests in those states.
TTT’s ANDY DRISCOLL and MICHELLE ALIMORADI engage local and national advocates on the role of corporations and Move to Amend.
GUESTS:
DAVID COBB – former Presidential Candidate for the US Green Party, National Projects Director of Democracy Unlimited and official spokesperson for MOVE to AMEND (Recorded)
NATHAN JOHN NESS – Minnesota Organizer for MOVE to AMEND (Recorded and Live)
PHYLLIS RODEN – Move To Amend activist, Conference on a Constitutional Convention at Harvard participant (Live)
ROBIN MONAHAN – Move To Amend activist who, with his brother, Laird, walked the length of the US in 2010 to bring attention to corporate personhood. (Live)
