Prison Justice Resources
- Thursday, October 22, 2015, 8:30am – 3:00pm, (lunch provided), Bloomsburg University
Coming Home: Connecting Returning Citizens with a Place to Call Home
Communities are safer when people leaving the justice system – returning citizens – have homes they can afford, supports guidance and supervision. People released from prison with a stable home are 2 1/2 times less likely to be rearrested. Communities are safer, taxpayers save money, and people get a second chance.
Hosts/Sponsors:- Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency
- Pennsylvania Department of Human Services – Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
- Bloomsburg University
- Columbia Montour County Homeless Task Force
[Details to be announced]
- October 23-26, 2015 – Breaking the Chains of Mass Incarceration
This event, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Council of Churches, will be held at the Red Lion Hotel and Conference Center in Harrisburg beginning the evening of Friday, October 23 and running through Sunday, October 25. The event will be followed on Monday, October 26 with a day of action at the Capitol. Plenary speakers for the event include Dr. Harold Dean Trulear, Glenn E. Martin, and Dr. Geert Dhondt.
For details and registration, see this announcement.
Events sponsored by Muhlenberg College – Center for Ethics
(For more information about these events, check the events calendar at www.muhlenberg.edu/main/aboutus/cfe/)
- Monday, Sept. 14, 2015 – Visit to Eastern State Penitentiary: Eastern State is (in)famous for its Quaker-inspired theory that complete isolation – and silence – would lead to rehabilitation of inmates.
- Tuesday, Sept 15, 2015, 7:00 PM, Trumbower Lecture Hall Screening of Dawn Porter Documentary, Gideon’s Army.
- Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, 6:45 PM, Miller Forum, Moyer Hall. Dawn Porter: “Defending America in the Age of Mass Incarceration.” Former lawyer turned documentarian, she is currently working with Michelle Alexander on a film version of “The New Jim Crow.”
- Monday, Sept. 21, 2015, 6:45 PM, Event Space in Seegers’ Union. Daryl Johnson: “Domestic Extremism: Radical Subcultures in America.” Johnson was an HSA agent who was driven out of the agency by politicians alarmed at his report on right-wing domestic terror groups. Johnson now heads a consulting firm specializing in security issues and recently took part in a New York Times Room for Debate discussion of ‘the rea;’ threats to our security.
- Wednesday, Sept. 30 2015, 6:45 PM, Miller Forum, Moyer Hall. Robert Entman: “The Political Communication of Threat and the Tolerance of Inequality.” Professor of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. He has done extensive research into news framing, particularly with reference to questions of race and power. He will explore why the U.S. has experienced the sharpest increase in economic inequality among all advanced Western democracies, and how inequality has threatened and created insecurity in the lives of many if not most American families.
- Tuesday, October 20, 2015, 6:45 PM, Miller Forum, Moyer Hall. Roseanne Scotti: “Does the War on Drugs Make Us Safe?” Drug Policy Alliance, State Director for New Jersey. Scotti brings the statistics and facts to help us understand the conflicting claims surrounding the War on Drugs.
Other Topics
- Larry Pickens: Faith and Values: Reaching beyond faith’s common boundaries (Morning Call: August 15, 2015)
- Thursday, September 24, 2015 (4-6pm) – Sacred Heart Hospital
Inaugural meeting of Lehigh Valley Food Policy Council – forming nine working groups: 1) Food Access, 2) Consumer Education,3) Urban Agriculture, 4) Food Waste, 5) Land Use, 6) Promoting Local Food Economy, 7) Farming, 8) Distribution, and 9) Entrepreneurship.
For details, see this announcement. - Good and Cheap: Eat Well for $4 a day, is a Cookbook by Leanne Brown, intended to be a resource for healthy meals for people who depend on SNAP/Food Stamps. The author’s website is www.leannebrown.com, and you can download a free PDF copy of the cookbook here.
Pennsylvania Budget Debate 2015
- DHS Secretary Advocates for Adequate Human Services Budget Funding in Lehigh County, PA – Allentown news conference, August 19, with Ted Dallas, Secretary, PA Deparment of Human Services, Greg Edwards, and Jude-Laure Denis.
- Citing state budget impasse, Bethlehem Area withholds charter school payments (Morning Call, Aug. 18, 2015)
- Wolf weighs GOP offer that includes $400 million for schools (PennLive, Aug. 19, 2015).