Forgotten Majority

Advocating for the just and humane treatment of those who are incarcerated.

Author: Managing Editor

  • Plea For Compassionate Release

    Grant compassionate release for Katherine Telemachos I am writing this letter to support a conditional medical release for Katherine Telemachos #710098. She is currently incarcerated and is dying. She has been incarcerated since 1991 at the age of 19 and has been in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections for approximately 20 years. […]

  • THE RESURRECTION OF JIM CROW

    Contributing Editor Richard P. Burton, Sr., Director October 2011                          PROJECT R.E.A.C.H., INC.   In the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court legitimized the “Jim Crow” system of segregation that had been imposed on Blacks in the decades following the Civil War. Despite the fact that  segregation laws violated the 14th and 15th […]

  • LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE FITTING OR FOUL?

    New York Times   9/12/11 Authored by Esther Brown   Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty                                                                                                                                                            THE MISUSE OF LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE “The Supreme Court ruled last year that it is cruel and unusual punishment to sentence a juvenile to life without parole when the crime is short of homicide. In the majority […]

  • TIME TO BREAK THE SILENCE

                                   PROJECT R.E.A.C.H., INC.                                      A non-profit 501 (c)(3) (Re-enfranchisement) Organization The lips of many leaders have remained tight and voices silent, relative to the horrific conditions surrounding the criminal/juvenile justice system, a system which continues to plague many African American, Hispanic and poor communities throughout the United States.  We have reached out to […]

  • BREAKING NEWS! DRUG CONVICTIONS OVERTURNED IN FLORIDA

    FEDERAL JUDGE MARY SCRIVEN RULES FLORIDA’S DRUG LAWS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. As quoted below from National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) 1660 L St., NW, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 872-8600 • Fax (202) 872-8690 • assist@nacdl.org “WASHINGTON, DC (July 27, 2011) – A federal judge in Orlando has declared Florida’s strict-liability controlled substances act […]

  • LONG TERM EFFECTS OF POVERTY

       PROJECT R.E.A.C.H. INC.  JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA  and the LONG TERM EFFECTS OF POVERTY  As I ponder the events surrounding violence in Jacksonville and the recent shootings that left three dead and a little boy seriously injured. I find myself reflecting on the efforts of PROJECT R.E.A.C.H. INC., to highlight the root causes of drugs, gangs and […]

  • EDWIN BUSS, SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, OUSTED.

                             Edwin Buss Florida’s prison system, with 144 facilities and 102,000 inmates is the third-largest in the nation, with a $2.3 billion budget.  Wednesday brought the resignation of  it’s Secretary,  Ed Buss, who held a’ six month-long tenure and earned an annual salary of $144,999.  Buss, 45, came to Tallahassee from Indiana, where he ran that state’s […]

  • DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PAROLE AND PROBATION DEFINED

    To simply clarify, there is no Parole in the state of Florida.  Probation is not parole and there is a huge difference between the two. Definitions from the ‘Lectric Law Library’s Lexicon:   The Florida Parole Commission                        Tena M. Pate Chair PAROLE “Any form of release of an offender from imprisonment to the community by a releasing […]

  • SHIVERING MEMOIRES OF AN EX-INMATE

    This narrative is the memoire of an ex-inmate who chose to share the pangs of his incarceration in a Florida prison.  It gives outsiders a peek at dirty deeds committed behind prison walls without condemnation.  If others would come forth, once free  and no longer in a position to become victims of retaliation and truthfully tell their story, those actions committed in […]

  • IS MASTURBATION AN INSTITUTIONAL VIOLATION?

    Historically, masturbation was socially prohibited as a physically and psychologically destructive behavior.  Today it is more widely accepted as a normal and enjoyable part of human sexuality (Hillman 1975).  However, masturbation, when it occurs in a Florida prison, can result in a subsequent jail sentence..