I would like my fellow comrades to know how thousands of inmates in the Pennsylvania State prison system were politically manipulated and deceived by a man named Ernie Preate. Ernie Preate is a former Attorney General of Pennsylvania. He lost his job and was sentenced to a minor prison term because he was caught stealing money. Now Mr. Preate is a so-called left-wing activist for prisoners rights. He came to this prison and many other state prisons in Pennsylvania and made speeches. At this time, Ed Rendell was running for governor. Ernie Preate informed us that if Ed Rendell got into office, he would give us "good time / earned time."
Pennsylvania gives out very harsh prison sentences. And the "good time / earned time" package that the reactionary scum Ernie Preate was talking about would have dramatically reduced the sentences of a lot of state prisoners. So naturally, the inmates wanted Ed Rendell to become governor. I personally know many inmates who got their family members on the outside to vote for Ed Rendell. I however did not; neither I nor my family members believe in voting. I just wanted to shed light on how these scumbags will manipulate prisoners and attempt to suck votes out of their family members.
Me and my friends stay informed on political and judicial matters taking place in this state, and we have not heard any concrete proof that such a bill (a "good time / earned time" bill) is even being considered.
[MIM searched for "Ed Rendell" and "Department of Corrections" on the internet and found no sites referring to "earned time" reforms. However, we did learn that Ed Rendell kept the veteran Secretary of Corrections from the previous governor, Jeffrey Beard. Governor Rendell also opposes any moratorium on the death penalty, claiming the death penalty as implemented is fair. This should not be too surprising, as Rendell sent 24 people to death row while he was District Attorney in Philadelphia. 21 of the 24 were black (http://citypaper.net/articles/2003-05-01/cb.shtml).]
It is evident to me that we were lied to. When are we gonna stand up and stop going for this? We should refuse to attend any speeches given by politicians.
--A Pennsylvania prisoner, October 2003