Conrad Black: Views on improving prison system

Prison made Conrad Black a “better man,” said Judge Amy St. Eve upon sending him back in for another eight months.
By his own account the former media baron and member of the House of Lords was made “a humbler, more sensitive person” by his stay as inmate No. 18330-424.
And like Martha Stewart and Jonathan Aitken (a British cabinet minister imprisoned for perjury in 1999) before him, Black has become a passionate advocate for prison reform.
While his “victory lap” in a Miami prison ends Friday, here are some of his suggestions for improving the U.S. and Canadian prison system for those friends he leaves behind.
Scrap federal mandatory minimum sentencing:

Read on...

Black wields a poison pen in jailhouse memoir

Conrad Black leaves his Palm Beach, Fla., mansion for the drive to Coleman penitentiary on March 3, 2008.

Here is the scene.

March 3, 2008. Conrad Black takes note of the “sparkling-blue, foam-capped Atlantic” as he and Barbara Amiel exit their palatial home in Palm Beach, Fla., headed for the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex.

Prior to departure, Black wonders if Amiel’s “tiny, white, lamblike puppy” will remember him upon his return.

The couple finds the “indifferent visage” of the penitentiary — monolithic, banal — to be matched by the personnel. They enter the correction centre. They are ignored. Amiel speaks: “My husband, Conrad Black, is here to self-surrender.”

Read on...

Conrad Black drops bid to return to Canada

Theresa Tedesco, Chief Business Correspondent, Financial Post · Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Conrad Black leaves the Dirksen Federal Building following a hearing detailing the terms of his bail July 23, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois.

Conrad Black has withdrawn his request to return to Canada while a U.S. appeals court reviews his fraud convictions, sources say.

Lawyers for the 65-year-old former newspaper baron, who was released on bail two weeks ago, have notified U.S. Federal District Court Judge Amy St. Eve that Lord Black will not be filing additional disclosure about his finances as a pre-condition before she would entertain his request to return to his Toronto home.

Sources say Lord Black, who is said to have renewed his expired British passport and is visiting New York, is not yet prepared to file a sworn affidavit providing a complete accounting of his financial affairs.

Read on...

Bush's Bizarre Pardon List

By Jenny Booth, The Times of London UK. Posted November 25, 2008.

A hip-hop artist and a former Detroit police sergeant are among 16 people to be pardoned or to have their prison sentences commuted by President Bush.

A Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist and a former Detroit police sergeant are among 16 individuals to be pardoned or to have their prison sentences commuted by President Bush.

The new round of White House pardons announced late last night are Mr. Bush's first since March, and come less than two months before the end of his presidency.

Read on...

I've read conflicting reports about whether Conrad Black has asked for clemency or not. I guess the Times of London should know and it looks like Conrad is asking. The pace of pardons and clemency has been slow but Crimbrary predicts an avalanche of both coming soon. Tom