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To: Elmer Flugum who wrote (438)	3/8/2007 8:13:31 PM
From: HG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 536

Such hypocracy and such contradictions.... S.C. may cut jail time for organ donors By SEANNA ADCOX, Associated Press Writer Thu Mar 8, 4:59 PM ET COLUMBIA, S.C. - Inmates in South Carolina could soon find that a kidney is worth 180 days. Lawmakers are considering legislation that would let prisoners donate organs or bone marrow in exchange for time off their sentences. A state Senate panel on Thursday endorsed creating an organ-and-tissue donation program for inmates. But legislators postponed debate on a measure to reduce the sentences of participating prisoners, citing concern that federal law may not allow it. "I think it's imperative that we go all out and see what we can do," said the bills' chief sponsor, Democratic Sen. Ralph Anderson. "I would like to see us get enough donors that people are no longer dying." The proposal approved by the Senate Corrections and Penology Subcommittee would set up a volunteer donor program in prisons to teach inmates about the need for donors. But lawmakers want legal advice before acting on a bill that would shave up to 180 days off a prison sentence for inmates who donate. South Carolina advocates for organ donations said the incentive policy would be the first of its kind in the nation. Federal law makes it illegal to give organ donors "valuable consideration." Lawmakers want to know whether the term could apply to time off of prison sentences. "We want to make this work, we really do," said Republican Sen. John Hawkins. "But I want to make sure no one goes to jail for good intentions." Mary Jo Cagle, chief medical officer of Bon Secours St. Francis Health System in Greenville, urged senators to find an allowable incentive. "We have a huge need for organs and bone marrow," Cagle said. But Melissa Blevins, executive director of Donate Life South Carolina, said any incentive would break the law and the principle behind donations. "It really muddies the water about motive. We want to keep it a clearly altruistic act," she said. Under the proposals, money for medical procedures and any prison guard overtime would be paid by the organ recipient and charitable groups. The state would also decide which inmates could donate. Corrections Department Director Jon Ozmint said he believes inmates would donate even without the incentive. "There are long-term inmates who would give if they knew a child was dying," he said. "They're lifers. They know they're going to die in prison." More than 95,300 Americans are awaiting an organ transplant, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. About 6,700 die each year.

To: Elmer Flugum who wrote (438)	3/8/2007 8:15:21 PM
From: HG	Respond to of 536

And right after this one...! Tell Colorado's Governor That Slavery is Illegal. Say "NO" to Prison Labor in the Fields. Slavery is illegal in the United States...or that’s what we believe. However, it looks like modern day slavery has just been OK’d in the great state of Colorado. Yesterday's Los Angeles Times features an article called "Colorado to use inmates to fill migrant shortage". It seems that Colorado's farmers have been having a labor shortage ever since passing what its Legislature promoted as the nation's toughest laws against illegal immigration last summer. Their solution: Use convicts as farm workers. According to the Los Angeles Times article, "Prisoners who are a low security risk may choose to work in the fields, earning 60 cents a day. They also are eligible for small bonuses." This is just wrong. 60 cents a day for toiling all day in the fields...this is not the American way. As today's Los Angeles Times editorial said, "Turning prisoners into farmers is no solution. People aren't sentenced to hard labor anymore, so only volunteers are available for prison work programs." The Colorado situation shows the negative economic effect of a strictly punitive approach to our immigration crisis. It demonstrates the need for thoughtful, humane, bipartisan solutions like AgJOBS--a bipartisan bill negotiated by the UFW and the nation’s agricultural industry--which would let undocumented farm workers earn the right to permanently stay in this country by continuing to work in agriculture. E-mail Colorado's Governor today and tell him that allowing growers to hire prisoners to work in the agriculture is nothing more than legalized slavery. Tell him the solution to the nation's immigration crisis is not prison labor.