Local Vermont:"Interrupted Life: Incarcerated Mothers in the United States" at UVM

The national art exhibit "Interrupted Life: Incarcerated Mothers in the United States" will open at UVM’s Davis Center’s Fireside Lounge on November 9th and run through the 20th.

The exhibit, designed to offer insight into the lives of women who are incarcerated, raises questions about the equality and equity of the American justice system through race, class, gender and sexuality. The effects of incarceration on Vermont children and their families will be on display in the form of artwork, writings and photography produced by women incarcerated at the Northwest State Correctional facility in Swanton, Vt. A video created by teenagers telling the story of what it is like to have a parent in prison will also be shown.

TIMES ARGUS: Vermont senators split on funds for Gitmo closing

By Louis Porter VERMONT PRESS BUREAU - Published: May 21, 2009

MONTPELIER — A vote on funding to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center requested by President Barack Obama resulted in the $80 million being stripped out of a war funding bill in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday.

Vermont's two U.S. senators, Democrat Patrick Leahy and Bernard Sanders, an Independent, split on the spending provision. Leahy was one of six senators voting in support of funding the closure; Sanders voted against the money needed to shut down the prison.

The New York Times called the Senate vote a "strong rebuke of the Obama White House."

Sanders said he voted against funding to close the facility in Cuba — despite voting differently on a related measure in 2007 — because he wants a clear and thorough examination of why the roughly 240 prisoners there are being held and an accounting of what will happen to them.

"A couple of years ago I was one of the few to vote against a resolution dealing with Guantanamo because I wanted to make it very clear that I believed that (President) Bush's decision to keep Guantanamo open was a disaster for the image of the United States and for our entire foreign policy," Sanders said.

"I agree with President Obama that Guantanamo must be shut down," he added, "and in my view should be shut down as soon as possible. I want to make absolutely certain that torture is never again part of America's interrogation practices and all detainees are treated under the rules of the Geneva Convention."

But before funding the closure of Guantanamo is approved, a commission examining issues such as why the detainees of the camp were taken there, whether their status as enemy combatants is legitimate and what will happen to them should complete its work, Sanders said.

"I think it is prudent to review the plan they develop before we spend $80 million of taxpayers' money," he said. "A number of important questions remain unanswered about the rather complicated issue of not only how you close down the facility — you can close down a facility in five minutes — but what you do with the prisoners."

For similar reasons he will likely vote against the underlying war funding bill when it comes before the Senate, perhaps as early as today, Sanders said.

"I don't believe we are seeing the kind of exit strategy we need for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said.

"Whether it is George Bush or Barack Obama, my job is to take a hard look at the plans that an administration brings forth," Sanders said. "I happen to be a strong supporter of Barack Obama, but that doesn't mean he is right on every issue."

Leahy was one of the six senators voting with Obama on the matter.

Leahy "believes it would be a mistake to start negating options before we know what the options are," said David Carle, a Leahy spokesman. [Continue reading the Porter article here.]

H/T to Blurt/Shay Totten, who also reports the Sanders - Leahy split.

RebelReports - In Closed-Door Meeting With Rights Groups, Obama Suggests He'll Use 'Preventive Detention'

By Jeremy Scahill

Just when you think President Obama’s policies on war, civil liberties and Guantanamo couldn’t possibly look any more like the Bush/Cheney regime’s than they already do, the administration goes ahead and proves you dead wrong. In a meeting Wednesday with several human rights groups including the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights and Human Rights Watch, Obama said he was “mulling the need for a ‘preventive detention’ system that would establish a legal basis for the United States to incarcerate terrorism suspects who are deemed a threat to national security but cannot be tried,” according to two participants in the “private session.” [read all of Scahill here]

Oh, Sheet!

Radio Netherlands

The [Dutch] Justice Ministry is distributing toilet paper in prisons printed with information on safe sex, hygiene and dealing with aggression. The rolls carry illustrated slogans such as "wash your hands more often" and "always use a condom, also with a blow-job". The one-week trial scheme is aimed at investigating whether this way of providing information could be used to influence prisoner behaviour.

Christian Democrat MP Rikus Jager has raised objections to the scheme with Justice Minister Nebahat Albayrak, the Telegraaf newspaper reports. Apart from the extra expense, Mr Jager thinks the explicit toilet paper could distress victims of sexual abuse.



COMMENT: Is this Dutch toilet humour? But just think: The SOS (sex lessons on a sheet) messages could be expanded to schools and hospitals. The Telegraaf reports the scheme has been successful at Rotterdam's Erasmus Hospital ('wash your hands'). America's public health officials take note! Social Libertarians, too!

Photo: Radio Netherlands