Those Prison Phones...?

A few years ago, at least two concerned readers contacted us about cell phones in prisons. Specifically, these individuals were aware of two local felons who had access to communication devices they used to post Facebook updates. As we looked into it, we found at least one more who was using illegal communications. Why hadn't it been stopped?

According to the DOC at that time, the powers that be had decided to wait until new prisons were built in order to implement new cell phone blocking technology. So far these prisons have not arrived, but two raids have put the kibosh on many of these phones, ostensibly including those belonging to J.J. Common of Franklin County and Jerry Don Crowden of Lauderdale.

A February raid netted 48 devices in St. Clair, while a Holman raid this past week saw the confiscation of 16 more. The DOC has promised more impromptu raids, but is also asking for the public's help. From the Department of Corrections:

ADOC is asking that the public contact the ADOC Investigations and Intelligence Division at 1-866-293-7799 with information that may lead to the arrest of anyone attempting to introduce illegal contraband into state prisons. The public may also report suspicious activity by going to the ADOC Website.

Those Pesky Prison Phones & Jerry Don Crowden

News reports from Montgomery indicate our governor is not a fan of building new prisons. If we have no new prisons, we have no new cell phone blocking technology. What we do have is a DOC which says it currently doesn't have the ability to police smart phones accessing the Internet for any and all purposes.

Some months ago, a reader contacted us several times about a cell phone in the possession of Jerry Don Crowden, a noted local ne'er-do-well who won't see daylight for 15 more years. In the past, Crowden has used a cell phone to open a Facebook account to contact family members and make connections with women who ostensibly sent him money. 

For a while, Crowden's account went black; however, our reader has sent us a new link for this Lauderdale bad boy. He's now operating under the name J. D. King.

J.D. King

Can he be stopped? Just think how many others must have similar phones hidden away from the prying eyes of guards. Our advice here is to the ladies reading this. No, he's not different. Yes, he just wants your money. No, you can't change him. Write these admonitions on your fridge and repeat them several times daily if this will help you not to become the latest victim of a prison scam.

Now a worst case scenario; Crowden has two escapes to his credit. He could be using this form of communication to plan a daring escape. If he should show up at anyone's door, be advised he's not going anywhere for a long, long time. As a sex offender, he's barred from work release and passes, so you know he didn't get home in any honest way. Be vigilant.

Those Prison Facebook Blues

From the Alabama Department of Corrections Prisoner Handbook:

YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE IN YOUR POSSESSION A CELLULAR TELEPHONE, SIM CARD, BATTERY CHARGER, OR OTHER MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT; OR PARTICIPATE IN ANY FORM OF SOCIAL MEDIA (TWITTER, FACEBOOK, ETC) WHILE INCARCERATED IN ANY ADOC FACILITY. 

POSSESSION OF CELL PHONES / OTHER MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT, OR PARTICIPATION IN ANY FORM OF SOCIAL MEDIA IS CONSIDERED A CLASS C FELONY AND PUNISHABLE UP TO TEN (10) YEARS INPRISONMENT. 

A Class C Felony? Ten extra years? Sounds serious. Yet few seem to care.

We recently mentioned an inmate in the state system, an inmate who had come to the attention of one of our regular readers. While we didn't mention the inmate by name at that time, we will now: Jerry Don Crowden. The Florence man is currently serving a 20 year sentence in Holman Prison.

After our blog, the same reader again contacted us. It seems he had previously turned Crowden over to authorities, but our bad boy is still using Facebook to communicate with friends. Or is he?

A "sister" seems to do most of the communicating, but our reader tells us that he went to school with Crowden who had no siblings. We're not able to verify this one way of the other, but a contact did believe Crowden may have had one or more half-siblings via various relationships of his father. Still, if anyone should be charged with aiding Crowden, the story of a faithful sister attempting to ease her sibling's burden while in prison would garner some sympathy votes.

If you're not familiar with Crowden, here's a few lovely casual snaps:

A life dotted with jail time, escapes, and prison sentences would seem to take its toll. Crowden began his first trek down south at the age of 19; here's a brief rundown of his crimes that actually made it to court:

1992-1993 - Second Degree Rape and Second Degree Theft of Property

1996 - Second Degree Theft of Property

1999-2000- Second Degree Escape, Second Degree Theft of Property, First Degree Theft of Property

2007 - Violation of the Sex Offender Act, Second Degree Theft of Property, Third Degree Burglary, First Degree Promoting Prison Contraband

2013 - Second Degree Theft of Property x 2, First Degree Promoting Prison Contraband, Second Degree Receiving Stolen Property, Third Degree Burglary, Third Degree Escape

Yes, Jerry Don Crowden is currently three years into his fifth prison stretch. Some felons never learn.

This is Crowden's FB page: Jerry Crowden. Check out the updated cover from July 6th. Whether Jerry Don has a smart phone or just a SIM card, he's in violation of DOC rules. Somehow we doubt that this Bad Boy Florence native cares.

Municipal Elections/Ranking Criminals

From readers:

Would you please remind your readers that any resident interested in qualifying to run for office may do so July 5 through July 19, 2016. Call or visit your local town or city clerk’s office. The town of Rogersville for example is in desperate need of candidates, both men & women, for mayor and council. Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their towns and cities.

and

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We're hearing demands of a total house cleaning not only in Rogersville, but also in Sheffield. While it's unfortunate, there are frequently too few qualified citizens who actually wish to run.

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A few days ago we did an article on J.J. Common, calling him our sociopath with the longest rap sheet. A reader sent a public comment to ask if Jerry Don Crowden didn't actually deserve that distinction. While Crowden is indeed serving a 20 year sentence at this point, his list of crimes is still not as long as Common's.

We at one time thought of ranking criminals, and had a few readers ask us to do so. Yet how do you rank crimes? Are three rapes equal to one murder? Three arsons equal to one rape? Assigning a point system sounds good, but actually establishing arbitrary values would be extremely hard. 

We think most of our readers realize that a criminal's sentence depends on the location of his crime, how much money he has for a defense attorney, and whom he knows. It's sad, but it's the truth.

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We have a new food review up by Cherry Pitts:

Taco Bell - North Florence

We happily accept food reviews, so if you've eaten somewhere noteworthy recently, please send us a review.

Unneeded Certificate of Need?

It must have been a really interesting year--1974. Richard Nixon resigned, Patty Hearst was kidnapped, and the Federal government decided to rope in certain aspects of our health care. Why the latter? It seems the theory was too many hospitals or similar endeavors would increase health care costs for the consumer.

Approximately 13 years later, the Federal government abandoned its stance, but all but 17 of the 51 boards remained in effect, including the one in Alabama. Just what does our CON Board cover? Here's the basic list:

• Construction, establishment, or acquisition of new healthcare facilities, including:
• general and many specialized hospitals
• skilled nursing facilities
• intermediate care facilities
• skilled or intermediate care units in veterans' homes
• rehabilitation centers
• Ambulatory Surgery Center
• facilities for End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) treatment (dialysis)
• some alcohol and drug abuse facilities
• home health agencies
• hospice
• Addition of beds or change of bed classification
• Any medical equipment whose associated cost is greater than $2,647,548
• New annual operating costs greater than $1,059,019
• Any capital expenditure for or on behalf of a healthcare facility or organization in excess of $5,295,096

Please note that the expenditure limits are indexed annually. The amounts indicated are for FY 2012.

Quite long for just the basics, isn't it? Don't you wish the government would take that much interest in payday loan stores?

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So what happens if the CON Board denies RegionalCare its request for a new hospital--at least the one RC wants to build? The denied party has 15 days to appeal; all appeals will be heard and acted on within approximately five months. And if RC should also lose the appeal? That isn't clear. A private source tells us they could apply again in 24 to 48 months, but we can't find that in any state literature.

And what if RC should decide a smaller hospital isn't worth its time or money? The Brentwood hospital conglomerate would then owe Lauderdale County 40 million. We don't see that happening, but it will nonetheless be interesting to see how this plays out.

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By now we assume Jerry Don Crowden is safely back in the Florence-Lauderdale Detention Center. We've had several readers contact us to say this was Crowden's third escape--not second as reported in PNS, but we've been unable to verify that.

If you missed the Pen-N-Sword article on Crowden, his release date is 2029. He isn't eligible for Good Time and we don't see him making parole. Of course, now he has a new escape charge. Here's hoping Lauderdale County tries him this time as a habitual offender.



Shoalanda

What the TimesDaily Doesn't Tell Us...Or Is That Ronnie Willis?

Saturday morning saw an escape from the Florence-Lauderdale Detention Center. Perhaps you read about it in the TimesDaily...or perhaps you were lucky enough to read about it in Pen-N-Sword. These two news outlets gave different accounts of why the escapee Jerry Don Crowden was incarcerated to begin with.

We often hear, and we at Shoalanda usually agree, that the TD is a cheerleader for local business and nothing more. This could be the reason the possibility of danger to the public was played down, yet the Florence Police Department page on Facebook gave at least part of the info on Crowden that PNS published. The difference?

Reading the article in today's TD that announces Crowden's capture, we notice that the info on Crowden came from Ronnie Willis' office. Perhaps that's the problem?

No, Jerry Don Crowden wasn't arrested in May for his most recent crime spree. He was returned here from prison in May for additional court appearances. Obviously he didn't want to go back. Perhaps now he'll be incarcerated for the rest of his natural life. The Shoals will be safer.

Jerry Don Crowden

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Have you often wondered what the Certificate of Need Board is and why it has so much authority over local health care? You can thank the Federal government for the original CON premise. Tomorrow we'll talk about it in some depth and what an unfavorable ruling for RegionalCare could mean.



Shoalanda

Capital Punishment Laws Not Administered Fairly?

Yesterday we looked at the 18 crimes that qualify for capital punishment in Alabama and how they are hardly fair in themselves. Still such laws are necessary and will never be perfect. How about how they're administered?

Commit murder while in the process of raping your stepdaughter? Shaun Shapley got 25 years, agreed to it, and is now still contesting his plea bargain. Fair? Hardly.

Shoot into your estranged wife's vehicle as she's fleeing after a heated argument? Tony Woods wasn't convicted for Capital Murder but for only Felony Murder. Where's the logic?

Strangle your ex-sister-in-law during an argument, pull both pairs of pants down (we translate this as a rape attempt), and dismember her body? Ronald Weems was indicted for only Felony Murder--there just aren't words for this.

Now a man who may or may not have mental problems, one who's been the victim of several crimes, shoots into what he deems a suspicious car he's attempting to stop at 3:00 in the morning, accidentally kills an occupant, and he's indicted for Capital Murder. We're guessing it won't play in court, and we'll have some new information on this tomorrow.

So, to the point, what can we do to correct the problems with Alabama's capital murder laws? Short of completely starting over, it's not going to be easy...

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Jerry Don Crowden? What can you say about this 40 year-old man who's been in trouble since before he was 10 years old? When he was about 10 his father was killed in a horrible car crash. I don't know anything else about Jerry Don's dad, but at least one Facebook commenter has posted he wasn't such a law abiding citizen himself.

When I first saw Jerry Don's name in the paper, the Law and Order section, many years ago, I hoped someone would get him some help. Over the years he's threatened to burn down his mother's house and to tie his truck to a teacher's house and pull it down, committed statutory rape (he was 30; she was 14), and been involved in as much crime as John Dillinger ever was. And he's just been arrested again.

I'm not sure there's any hope for Jerry Don now. I'm also not sure if he's been convicted of any violent crimes, so the best/worst he can get is a life sentence with the possibility of parole. It's what he deserves, but I still have to ask if anyone ever really tried to help him.

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Congratulations to Valdosta State in their Division II championship victory today!



Shoalanda