McHenry County Blog

Vince Gaddis

The McHenry County College Student Peace Action Network continues to bring provocative programs to Crystal Lake.

The next one will be bout privatized prisons, to be held on March 4th.

I wonder if the local version of this phenomenon will be discussed.

What’s that?

The Sheriff’s Department’s making money by housing illegal immigrants on the top floor of the county jail.

The press release is below:

MCC’S STUDENT PEACE GROUP TO HOST EVENT

ON PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

[Feb. 23, 2010.Crystal Lake, IL]  The McHenry County College Student Peace Action Network (SPAN) will host an informational seminar featuring Dr. Vincent Gaddis on March 4th, 2010 at 7:00pm in the College’s Conference Center.  The event is titled

“The United States: Leading Jailer of the World.”

According to Human Rights Watch, the United States incarcerates more people than any country in the world, including the far more populous nation of China.  In 2008, the American penal system held more than 2.3 million adults, China was second with 1.5 million and Russia a distant third.

The United States leads not only by the sheer number of inmates but in the rate at which it incarcerates its citizenry, outpacing nations like Iran and Saudi Arabia.  In Germany, 93 people are in prison for every 100,000 adults and children whereas in the United States, the rate is eight times higher or 750 per 100,000.

As incredible as it sounds, 1 in 100 adults are now locked up in America and for Hispanic and black men, imprisonment is far more prevalent.  Dr. Gaddis will analyze the structural flaws within our system that lead to these astounding statistics.

Imprisonment has become the answer to many of the social problems rooted in poverty.

The practice of locking up the poor from racially marginalized communities has become big business.

What once was considered government work has increasingly been turned over to private contractors, creating a monstrous “prison industrial complex” whose profit depends on people to punish.

Dr Gaddis calls for a revolution – “a revolution in values.”  He persuasively argues that what we need is not new prisons, but a powerful movement for social transformation in health care, housing, education, drug programs, jobs, and education.

The event is part of SPAN’s Current American Issues Information Seminar Series. SPAN is made up of students promoting peace nationally and locally through action and education. The event is co-sponsored by Pax Christi and the McHenry County Peace Coalition. The event is free and open to the public.

The college is located at 8900 U.S. Hwy. 14, Crystal Lake.  For more information, contact the MCC Student Activities Office at (815) 455-8772.

Cassidy Tire had this sign up the week that Sgt. Jason McLeod was honored in Crystal Lake.

Donations to the widow and her children may still be made by calling Marie Davis at 815-477-5050.

The McHenry County College Student Peace Group, or course, had no way of knowing its timing would be bad.

They canceled NIU Professor Marc Falkoff’s talk about his book

“Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak”

Now its on for the Thursday after next Tuesday’s election.

The group’s press release follows:

MCC’S STUDENT PEACE GROUP RESCHEDULES EVENT FEATURING GITMO LAWYER ON FEB. 4th

[Jan. 26, 2010.Crystal Lake, IL] The McHenry County College Student Peace Action Network (SPAN) has rescheduled a controversial event focusing on a book of poetry by Guantanamo Bay detainees. for Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. in the college’s conference center.

The keynote speaker, Marc Falkoff, a Northern Illinois University criminal law professor who represented 16 detainees, plans to speak about a book that he edited titled “Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak.”  The moderator will be Todd Culp, Ph.D., political science instructor at MCC.

Falkoff initially was scheduled to speak at the college in December, but the event was canceled because of security concerns. SPAN had planned the December speaking engagement well in advance, but publicity about the event stirred up controversy as it coincided with funeral visitation for Sgt. Jason A. McLeod, a 22-year-old from Crystal Lake who died in a mortar attack in Afghanistan.

Northern Illinois University criminal law Professor Marc Falkoff

He will discuss the torture the prisoners suffered, the false information elicited, the disarray of evidentiary files, and the telling resignations of  key military prosecutors.  According to Dr. Falkoff, a very real problem exists,

“politics rather than principle reigns at Guantánamo.  As concerned American citizens, we can learn what action we can take to demand accountability and redress of grievances.”

Following the program, he will be available to sign books.

The event is part of SPAN’s Current American Issues Information Seminar Series. SPAN is made up of students promoting peace nationally and locally through action and education. The event is co-sponsored by Pax Christi and the McHenry County Peace Coalition. The event is free and open to the public.

The college is located at 8900 U.S. Hwy. 14, Crystal Lake.  For more information, contact the MCC Student Activities Office at (815) 455-8772.

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Here’s background from NIU on the professor:

Background: Falkoff comes to NIU after three years as an attorney with Covington & Burling in New York. The firm, which is considered the top pro bono law firm in the nation, once named Falkoff the Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year during his time there. He earned his juris doctorate from Columbia and also holds a Ph.D. in literature from Brandeis. While this is his first full-time faculty appointment, he taught for several years as an adjunct member of the faculty at the Brooklyn Law School. He is currently working on behalf of 17 Yemeni men who are being held without charges by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay.

Why NIU? “NIU has a very high commitment to public interest law, and that is extremely important to me.”

Goals: “I want to give my students a solid grounding in legal theory, but also instill in them an appreciation for the amount of social good they can do in the world as a lawyer. Personally, I want to not only do excellent scholarly work, but also maintain my real-world focus. It is very important for me to do both, and that is actually something that is encouraged here.”

The McHenry County Peace Coalition, the Student Peace Action Network and Pax Christi will sponsor a health care forum at McHenry County College on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, at 7 PM.

Speakers will be

• Jane Hansen, Family Nurse Practitioner
• David Borris, Illinois Main Street Alliance
• Hal Snyder, M.D.
• John Gaudette, Illinois Director, HCAN

According to press release,

“The event will include an overview of the current health care system and provide a better understanding of the health care crisis facing Americans. Borris will address the need for reform in the health care industry to assist small business owners, Dr. Snyder, a volunteer organizer with HCAN, has studied the various bills in Congress and he will dispel many myths circulating throughout the country and explain how the reform legislation will impact U.S. residents. Gaudette will explain how the public can have a say in the outcome of this pending legislation in Congress.

“The event is part of SPAN’s Current American Issues Information Seminar Series. SPAN is made up of students promoting peace nationally and locally through action and education. The event is co-sponsored by Pax Christi and the McHenry County Peace Coalition.”

“The college is located at 8900 U.S. Hwy. 14, Crystal Lake. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the MCC Student Activities Office at (815) 455-8772.”

The last time a controversial subject was presented at MCC–the Illinois Minutemen’s presentation of Ohio Sheriff Daniel Beck–protesters were relegated to the opposite side of the building.

And, signs and all sorts of other things were not allowed, as you can see from the sign.

Crystal Lake Police were out in force. Protesters were relegated to a parking lot facing Route 14 on the Northwest side of the MCC building complex.

Here’s what is on the poster:

“America’s health care system is a disaster causing vast amounts of suffering and unneeded expense.

“Now is the time to work together to correct its’ many flaws, however myths perpetuated by the health industry itself appear to be derailing this process by creating confusion in the public discourse.

“We have assembled a panel of experts to help sort fact from fiction.

“Jane Hansen who holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA in economics from Wellesley will begin the evening by presenting an overview of the current health care system. This will provide a better understanding of the present health care crisis facing our country.

“David Borris, proprietor of Hel’s Kitchen Catering, will address the need for reform in the health care industry to assist small business owners.

“Dr. Hal Snyder is a volunteer organizer with Health Care for America Now who has studied the various bills in Congress. He will dispel the many myths circulating throughout our country and tell the truth about the reform legislation and what it will do for us.

“Illinois Director of Health Care for America Now, John Gaudette, will explain what’s happening in Congress and how we can have a say in the outcome.”

“If you have questions regarding the pending legislation in Congress, please join us.”