Florida Courier - September 05, 2014

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PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID DAYTONA BEACH, FL PERMIT #189

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Maryland spotlights role of African-Americans in War of 1812 See Page B1

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VOLUME 22 NO. 36

www.flcourier.com

SEPTEMBER 5 – SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

COOKED TO DEATH

In the latest installment of the Florida Courier’s series on Blacks and mental health, we review the Miami Herald’s spotlight on the state’s inability to handle mentally ill prison inmates. BY JENISE GRIFFIN MORGAN FLORIDA COURIER

Darren Rainey was forced into a scalding hot shower at the Dade Correctional Institution on June 23, 2012, and allegedly left there for two hours as part of a punishment ritual. When his body was removed from the locked shower, chunks of his skin had fallen off. According to a grievance Dade Correctional Institution inmate Darren Rainey, complaint from a fellow who was mentally ill, died after being allegedly inmate, Rainey screamed over and over, “I can’t take locked up for hours in a scaldingly hot shower.

it no more, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.” A medical document showed that Rainey’s skin was so badly burned from the scalding shower that it had shriveled from his body, a condition called “slippage.” As of August 2014, Miami-Dade Medical Examiner Bruce Hyma had not released an autopsy report or told Rainey’s family how he died. The medical examiner’s office says that it is waiting for the police to finish

their investigation into the battling it out while guards placed bets and watched. death.

Regular practice? Human rights groups, including the ACLU and NAACP, have called for a federal investigation into the gruesome death of the 50-year-old Rainey, who had been diagnosed with a mental illness. A series of investigative stories by the Miami Herald daily newspaper highlighted Rainey’s death and how the state mistreats its inmates with mental health issues. Reports allege that the punishment for prisoners by corrections officers has ranged from the scalding showers to sexual abuse to starvation diets to inmates

THE GANTT REPORT

Happy birthday, LG!

‘Fixing the problems’ The Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) is the third-largest state prison system in the country with an operating budget in 2012-13 of approximately $2.1 billion. More than 100,000 inmates are in DOC prisons and another 145,000 offenders are on community supervision. Last month, DOC Secretary Mike Crews announced system-wide reforms, which will include better training of corrections officers in handling mentally ill inmates. See RAINEY, Page A2

Aristide probe launched Former Haiti president’s quiet life disturbed BY JACQUELINE CHARLES THE MIAMI HERALD /MCT

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Political consultant Lucius Gantt of the Gantt Report celebrated his latest birthday on August 29. That same day, his client, the National Alliance of the Caribbean island of St. Maarten, won enough votes in the national election to lead a coalition controlling the nation’s government. Read Gantt’s message to Florida Democrats on Page A2.

For a twice-deposed, twice-exiled leader who longed for home, Haiti’s firebrand former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, remains holed up behind closed doors. The reclusive former leader has missed many of life’s milestones since his return to Haiti 3 ½ years ago: a relative’s funeral, a public birthday celebration, a daughter’s college orientation. Now, as a revived criminal case against him sparks renewed interests and mounting tensions on the streets of Port-au-Prince, the populist leader is being forced back into the spotlight. Fearing his imminent arrest, supporters in recent weeks clashed with U.N. peacekeepers, erected barricades of burning tires and kept vigil outside of his gated compound on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. The crowd of a few hundred has been a far cry from the thousands who once paralyzed the country in spontaneous demonstrations to support Aristide, first as a popular Roman Catholic priest, then as a polarizing president struggling to deal with the opposition. Despite their relatively small number, those who had camped outside the home are part of a See ARISTIDE, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS

Does ‘just a sip’ hurt kids? BY DAVID TEMPLETON PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE / MCT

A parent enjoying an alcoholic drink might find his or her young child to be curious about what’s in that bottle or glass. It raises the question: Should the parent offer the child just a taste? Will it remove the temptation or encourage use or even abuse?

No benefit University of Pittsburgh researcher John E. Donovan said previous research findings prompt his recommendation against par-

ALSO INSIDE

NATION | A6

ents’ offering their children a taste of alcohol. Even if research, so far, shows no harm from only a taste, it also has shown no benefit. So why encourage alcohol consumption? His current study published online in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research sought to identify factors that prompt children to taste or sip alcohol at ages as young as 8 or 10.

Parental approval key Research already has identified two factors predicting whether a 12-year-old child has tasted alcohol – the child’s attitude toward giving it a try and a family environment supportive of alcohol use. But the study led by Donovan, a Ph.D. and associate professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at Pitt, and co-written by Brooke S.G. Molina of Pitt’s departments of psychiatry and psychology, found that parental ap-

proval more so than the child’s psychological proneness is key to whether children 8 or 10 years old already have tasted alcohol. “Children who sipped alcohol before age 12 reported that their parents were more approving of a child sipping or tasting alcohol and more likely to be current drinkers than those yet to have a sip,” he said. Parents’ comments confirmed that conclusion. The study involving 452 children (238 girls and 214 boys 8 or 10 years old), and their families from Allegheny County, Pa., sought to identify factors that predict whether a child will start to sip or taste alcohol before age 12.

Anti-hazing program helps high school students SPORTS & EVENTS | B2

North Carolina A&T trounces Alabama A&M in MEAC/SWAC Challenge

Family gatherings A previous study Donovan conducted determined that nearly two-thirds (66 percent) of 12-year-olds have at least tasted alcohol. See ALCOHOL, Page A2

CULTURE | B3

‘From depressed cities to depressed suburbs’

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 COMMENTARY: REV. JESSE L. JACKSON SR.: A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD | A5


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