The Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project is an all volunteer effort that strives to encourage self-education among prisoners in the United States. By providing free reading materials upon request, we hope to aid in the rehabilitation process and stimulate critical thinking behind bars.

Three more guards suspended in connection with jail beating

by midwestpagestop...
Associated Press
January 9, 2007

CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) - The Lake County sheriff has suspended three more jail guards in connection with the beating of an inmate awaiting transfer to a state prison for a murder conviction.

That brings to nine the number of guards suspended with pay as authorities investigate the attack on Tommy Ford, 41.

Sheriff Roy Dominguez did not release the names of the guards.

Ford was hospitalized in intensive care following the Dec. 26 attack in the county jail.

submitted on Tue, 2007-01-09 16:52

prisoners' inventions

by midwestpagestop...

Browsing through boing boing at work, I found a link to a page and a book detailing inventions that people created out of necessity in prison. The project is described:

This project was a collaboration with Angelo, an incarcerated artist. He illustrated many incredible inventions made by prisoners to fill needs that the restrictive environment of the prison tries to supress. The inventions cover everything from homemade sex dolls, condoms, salt and peper shakers to chess sets. We collaborated on this project with Angelo for over two years. We had many additional collaborators who made a book, exhibition of re-created inventions and a prison cell possible. This page offers an overview of the project thus far.

submitted on Tue, 2006-12-26 16:43

Two prison-related articles in this Sunday's NY Times.

by midwestpagestop...

The Right Has a Jailhouse Conversion

For Young Offenders, Justice as Impoverished as Africa

submitted on Mon, 2006-12-25 01:52

The Prison Industrial Complex | A Guide to Beginning Research

by midwestpagestop...

Corinna, a longtime pages volunteer has created a web site that details resources for researching the prison industrial complex around Bloomington.

She writes:

This research guide lists information sources found in the IUB library system as well as the Monroe County Public Library and shall serve as a guide for Monroe County residents and IU students in general inquiry or beginning research into the Prison Industrial Complex. It shall help provide a basic understanding of the term as well as a jumping off point for further research into different areas of the PIC.

You can find the research guide at http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/~cmanion/prisonresources.html

submitted on Tue, 2006-12-12 15:51

New Prison Blog Posts

by midwestpagestop...

Shannon receives books from the MPPP and also posts to a blog by mail. Here are two recent posts from his blog, Perservering Prison Pages:

The War on Terror

terrorist n. person who uses violent methods of coercing a government or community. (THE OXFORD AMERICAN DESK DICTIONARY AND THESAURUS, 2ND ED.)


Hmmm.... I'd love to comment further but Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is too far from Arizona. You never truly know what'll happen in this indefinite "state of war" we're in.

Maybe Bush should assert his "Executive Powers" in wiretapping and spying on his own family. Possibly then he'd be able to gain control over that foreign nation. Yeah, I know it was a cheap shot, but it was oh-so easy ... lol.

Breakfast with Bill: A Sinister Plan

"Mornin', Bill." I greeted a soft spoken, friendly prisoner I've been eating meals with the past month. "Mornin'" He responded, with a warm smile on his country-boy face. "How's the pancakes?" I asked. "Not too bad. I've had better though." He answered.

submitted on Mon, 2006-12-11 19:23

New York Times: Prisons Push California to Seek New Approach

by midwestpagestop...

From Prisons Push California to Seek New Approach - New York Times:

By nearly every measure, the California prison system is the most troubled in the nation. Overcrowding, inmate violence, recidivism, parole absconders and the prison medical system are among its many festering problems.Now, with the November election behind them, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers from both parties say the time is ripe for the first major overhaul of the system since the 1970s.

submitted on Mon, 2006-12-11 19:09

Midwest Pages to Prisoners Volunteer Call-Out Meeting

by midwestpagestop...

Midwest Pages to Prisoners Volunteer Call-Out Meeting
Thursday, September 7 - 7PM
at the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project Space (310 A
S. Washington St., next to Boxcar Books, across from
3rd St. Park)

After a summer of inconsistent volunteer numbers, unprecedented financial stability for the project, and an overwhelming amount of book donations and prisoner book requests, we're looking to redefine and reorganize our project's volunteer goals. If you're interested in being involved behind the scenes in the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project, please come to a meeting at the Pages space on Thursday, September 7 at 7 pm.

submitted on Sat, 2006-09-02 18:02

Citizens for Effective Justice interview on WFHB's Interchange tonight

by midwestpagestop...

Mylo Roze will be interviewing representatives of Citizen's for Effective Justice on tonight's (8/29) interchange program on WFHB. Mylo writes:

Rev. Hal Taylor & Vid Beldavs, the President & Secretary (respectively) of Citizens for Effective Justice, an advocacy group for prisoners in Monroe County Jail that started up in reaction to the TASERing death of James Borden in the Jail about 3 years ago.  They have received a large grant & are being integrated into County governance.

You can listen to Interchange starting at 6pm on WFHB in Bloomington at 98.1 (and 91.3) FM or stream it on the web from wfhb.org.  I believe that there a podcast and archive of the show will be posted at http://news.wfhb.org/ eventually.

submitted on Tue, 2006-08-29 14:17

“The Hardest Question Ever” Shadow Puppet Show and Community Dialog

by midwestpagestop...

In ecological terms, an indicator species is life that can draw
attention to the condition of an ecosystem and even warn of an
impending biological crisis. The Pittsburgh-based performance group, The Indicator Species,
tries to draw attention to social crisis - the unbounded growth and
abuse of the prison industrial complex and violence in our communities
- in their shadow puppet performance, The Hardest Question Ever, which will be performed Thursday, July 6 at the Monroe County Public Library Auditorium at 6pm.  Admission to this performance is free.

submitted on Mon, 2006-06-12 00:28

VICTIM-OFFENDER CONFERENCING TRAINING

by midwestpagestop...

The Community Justice & Mediation Center is pleased to announce a
unique professional development opportunity:

VICTIM-OFFENDER CONFERENCING TRAINING

July 27- 30, 2006, in Bloomington, Indiana.

- funded in part by a grant from the Victim-Offender Mediation
Association (www.voma.org )

- to be held in the IU Law School

Internationally renowned instructors Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz and Mark
Yantzi will train participants in the theory and practice of
restorative justice, focusing on such topics as

submitted on Mon, 2006-06-12 00:22

Volunteer!

During Indiana University's Fall and Spring semesters:
  • Mondays 7-9pm
  • Thursdays 7-10pm
  • Sundays 2-5pm
During Indiana University's Winter Break and Summer semesters:
  • Thursdays 8-10pm
  • Sundays 2-5pm
at 118 S. Rogers Suite #2 Bloomington, IN 47404 Please read our volunteering page for more information.

Donate!

You can also support us by donating materials, books, and/or money. We are always in need of packing materials and reusable manilla envelopes. Please contact us before donating books. Checks can be made out to "Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project" and sent to or dropped off during normal business hours at Boxcar Books at 408 E. 6th St. Bloomington, IN 47408 You can donate to our project online using PayPal by clicking on the button below.

Contact!

The Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project
c/o Boxcar Books and Community Center, Inc.
118 S. Rogers
Suite 2
Bloomington, IN 47404

1.866.598.1543 (toll-free)

mwpp [at] pagestoprisoners.org

Bookmooch

The Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project would like to thank BookMooch for their generous support. BookMooch, an online community for exchanging used books, has generously donated points to us so we can request specific books from BookMooch members.

There are many other groups that work towards the same goals as the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project. Read more.

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