Torture Report Builds Criminal Reform Momentum

Torture Report Builds Pressure on Criminal Justice Establishment

 

By Derek Gilna

 

            As a native of Chicago, born on the South Side no less, I have always had a rather jaded view of the criminal justice system, even as I worked as a Consumer Protection Attorney for the State of Illinois, protecting defrauded consumers from crooked businessmen.   While in private practice I did nothing but defense work, once again bucking the power brokers one case at a time.  However, like many others in the legal profession, I did not recognize the creeping and (now) obvious over-incarceration of not only people of color, but also everyone else out of what the media felt was mainstream. However, the media has now begun to recognize the truth, and  pressure is building for change.

            However, the times have changed and so have I, and I am not alone.  Over the past decade I have worked to redress the balance in the justice system, as a prisoner rights advocate, post-judgment specialist, and a writer for prisoner rights publications. However, in the past two or three years I have been pleasantly surprised how momentum has grown for reform on both the state and federal level.

The recent publicity from Ferguson and New York City has awakened the general public to the fact that the police and criminal justice system is populated by too many individuals who feel that they are above the law, and that their misdeeds have no consequences. The general public has been exposed to not only this, but also rampant IRS misconduct and other evidence of government incompetence and overreach, and rocked by the disclosures that the same government that spies on us on a daily basis has tortured people, according to no less an authority than the former POW Senator John McCain.  Just yesterday, George Will, a noted conservative journalist, was quoted on national television saying that the issue is not just torture in Guantanamo but in American prisons! (How is denying proper medical care in’ the greatest country in the world’ not torture?)

The national discussion has changed.  People are no longer buying the “tough on crime” mantra.  For those already on the inside, however, the message appears to come a bit late, but it is no time to lose hope.  Judges, prosecutors, and prison officials also read the news and watch television.  Now is the time to take action on your own quest to gain your freedom.  Contact me if you feel that you would like to try.  Thank you.

 

Derek Gilna, 113 McHenry, #173, Buffalo Grove, IL.  60089.

(847) 878-0160 owever, times have changed and so have I