When Will The Justice Department Take Action ?

Open letter from the Rivera Family
full page ad in USA Today with a letter from the Rivera family.
The ad is in Thursday, July 10th's edition of USA Today.
An Open Letter, from the Rivera Family.
Jose's death did not have to happen. Jose served in the United States Navy and survived two tours in Iraq. But it wasn't the war that killed him - he survived the war. We lost our son and brother on June 20, 2008 at the hands of inmate improvised weapons at the United States Penitentiary in Atwater, CA, where Jose was a Correctional Officer. And as a Federal Correctional Officer, dealing with the most violent criminals in the United States, he was not armed, nor was he provided an armored vest.

Under federal Bureau of Prisons policy, Jose could only be armed with a radio. He was taken from us because of the situation in Federal Prisons today. The Justice Department is cutting back on staff and cutting funding for programs that could prevent the kind of violence that took Jose's life. Overcrowding, underfunding and depriving our Officers of the tools they need to defend themselves will only lead to more violence and more lives lost. Just this week at the United States Penitentiary in Hazelton, WV there was another lockdown due to an assault, tragically proving that what happened at Atwater was not an isolated event-it's happening across the country.

If federal prison funding continues to decline, incidents such as these will skyrocket.
When will the Justice Department take action?
Do more Correctional Officers have to die?
Jose is gone. His death is senseless. We can't bring him Back.
Please let Congress know that this tragedy could have been prevented.
Call your Representatives and Senators at 202-225-3121 and tell them that the underfunding and overcrowding of federal Prisons is unsafe, reprehensible and will be the cause of more tragic deaths.
Sincerely,
The Rivera Family

A website I highly recommend:
prisonofficer.org
This site is primarily for Correctional Officer and Staff. All forms and members of the Law Enforcement Community are welcome. Some Public Discussions
Topics include:
Public Discussions - Information and Knowledge Base Information -Archive for Correctional and Law Enforcement - Unions and Associations - Regional Discussion - United States Local Discussion for all 50 States: State, County, and City welcome - U.S. Federal and Military forums -PO.Org Staff, Support, and Suggestions Correctional Officers and Law Enforcement ONLY - What's Going On? and Donations.

To all my friends at prisonofficer.org - I am not "60 Minutes", but I hope this helps getting your voices heard.

Barbara's Journey Towards Justice Reviews 360Mission Website Join in For Our Families, Schools and Communities

This is a excellent site I found on My Journey. I made a post of it, with the hope of more people participating in for our families, schools and communities.

360 degrees Mission
Click Here For Site

Even as the crime rate is dropping, the criminal justice system continues to grow. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, there will be 30 new federal prisons built over the next 7 years. Throughout this unprecedented growth, there have been few opportunities for critical examination of what is working and what isn't. It is our hope that this site will challenge your perceptions about who is in prison today and why. We also hope that it will generate ideas, big and small, about how we can reduce crime and strengthen our communities without continuing this unprecedented rate of incarceration.
Over the next two years, we are continuing to work with educators and students to develop local dialogues in schools and communities. We will be partnering with radio producers and journalists across the country to tell stories about how crime and incarceration affects not just the people who are directly involved, but whole families and communities.
They have a direct link to add new stories and updates.

About The Story Link

From 360dgress Mission:

Over the past year, we have been collecting the stories of inmates, correctional officers, lawyers, judges, parole officers, parents, victims, and others whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system. In tandem with a new series on National Public Radio, Prison Diaries, we've conducted interviews and given inmates and officers tape recorders so they could keep audio diaries of their experiences in prison.
Each story is focused around a specific case and is told from the perspectives of the people involved. As you listen to the stories, you can explore each speaker's personal space by navigating 360 degrees -up, down, and around-prison cells, offices, judges' chambers, and living rooms.

To address many of the issues affecting our nation's growing prison population, we will add new stories throughout the year. Be sure to bookmark this site and come back often.

You will need the QuickTime plug-in to view the panoramic photos.

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You can leave a comment here and tell me what you think of this great site or better yet, join in on My Journey. You can email me with a site suggestion for consideration to add to My Reviews or Post in Barbara's Journey Toward Justice.