Other Congressional news

Congressman Rush Says Decriminalization Should be Considered

Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL) told the Chicago Sun-Times in a recent interview that decriminalization of drug offenses is a "possibility worth exploring". Rush told the paper that "[t]here should be some open discussion pro and con about this issue...I believe that somehow we've got to look at, at least have a discussion about how do we take the profit out of drug use. And we've got to be bold about it."

Rush, a co-founder to the Illinois Black Panther Party in 1968, is now a four-term Congressional incumbent from Chicago's South Side and the chairman of the Congressional Urban Caucus.

Claims under the Privacy Act

If you have had your bank records or other financial documentation seized or examined by the government for any purpose, you may have a claim under the Privacy Act. A claim might include punitive and compensatory damages against those agents and institutions that invaded your privacy regardless of the outcome of your criminal or civil case. If you had a money laundering charge or were investigated for bank fraud or an IRS violation, it is quite possible that protective provisions of the Privacy Act were violated. In certain drug cases too, when the government has accessed your financial records, there may have been a violation of your rights that can result in you recovering damages.

For information and a questionnaire, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
Privacy Act Defenders, Mercer Square, 13073 Old Dublin Pike, Doylestown, PA, 18901 -- Email: padsonj@hotmail.com

The Right To Financial Privacy

If your financial records were improperly released for examination by agencies of the government, you may have a claim under the Right to Financial Privacy Act. If your case involved bank fraud, an S.E.C. or I.R.S. violation, money laundering or drugs, or any case where the U.S. government has accessed your financial records, there is a good chance that the banks or other financial institutions may have illegally turned over your documents. You may be able to recover damages for these violations. Send an S.A.S.E. for more information to:
Privacy Act Defenders, Mercer Square, 13073 Old Dublin Pike, Doylestown, PA, 18901 -- Email: padsonj@hotmail.com

Nader bashes private prisons

According to an Ohio news reporter, Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader on September 27th blasted the corporate prison industry as well as the Clinton Administration and George W. Bush for encouraging its growth. Nader was campaigning in Youngstown where he called the prison industry "one of the most ill-conceived ventures that corporations have ever entered into."

Nader also challenged Vice-President Gore and Governor Bush to return more than $100,000 in 'soft money' that for-profit prison corporations have given to both Republican and Democratic National Campaigns.

Nader reportedly made these statements in a state where Corrections Corporation of America, the largest multinational prison corporation operating in the United States, operates a 1,700-inmate facility in Youngstown, the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, and plans to build two more facilities and add 5,500 beds in the Youngstown area.

Apparently, Nader also questioned the safety of private prisons and the economic rationale behind them. "So-called cost saving techniques have resulted in reductions in human rights and health care quality studies have shown that private prisons are just as expensive to the taxpayer as public ones, and without factoring in the manifold costs to society of a poorly run correctional system." Our reporter added that the growth of the corporate prison industry also brings with it the specter of increased use of prison labor in the coming century.

Describing what drives the prison industry, Nader was said to say, "Politicians pander to fears of crime, the prison population booms, and corporations view what should be considered a national crisis as a profit- making opportunity." Nader also noted that "CCA sold this prison as a valid form of economic development, received tax breaks and free utilities from gullible public officials, and is now underpaying its own workers." He cited figures showing some CCA salaries at $24,600, barely a living wage.