Kevin Zeese
The Journey Begins -- Day One

September 22, 2000

The first event of the Journey for Justice began at 11:00 AM at the Harris County Correctional Center.  Harris County currently has 7,700 prisoners and a new building currently under construction will add space for 3,000 more people.  The Harris County Jail will soon hold 10,000 people!  This is the feeding system for Texas prisons -- the largest source of prisoners in the State that leads the US in incarcerating peop le.

Journeyers demonstrated in front of the jail and courthouse, passed out flyers and rallied the crowd.  From the courthouse we went to the Federal Detention Center where Scott "Bullhorn" Bledsoe of Jacksonville, FL spoke to the crowd.&n bsp; He urged the people to reject the corrupt war on drugs.  The police came up and told him he could not use a bullhorn.  ; He asked to see the ordinance -- noting his free speech rights.  The officer left him to get a copy of the ordinance and Scot t continued to speak into the bullhorn.  The officer returned with an ordinance that said that they could only speak to a certa in decibel level and not shout from an automobile.  Scott pointed out he was not violating the ordinance.  By that time th e press conference was ready to start so Scott stopped using the Bullhorn to attend the event.

At Tranquility Park, across the street from Federal building, the Journeyers held a press conference that showed the growing reform movement in Houston.  Joining Drug Policy Forum of Texas, the Journey for Justice and Common Sense for Drug Pol icy were the ACLU, Corpus Justice (focused on police brutality), the Green Party and Libertarian Party.  Look for an article in the Houston Chronicle about the first day of the Journey.

A caravan of 19 Journeyers from seven states riding in two RV's, two cars and a portable prison left Houston at 3:30 .  In route to Conroe, TX Kay Lee and Tiffany Landreth traveled in the portable cell.  We arrived in Conroe at 7:00 PM.

Tomorrow the daily paper in Bryan, Texas - the Bryan Eagle - will have an advance article on the Journey.  On D ay Two we are scheduled to visit three state prisons located near Huntsville, Texas.  If you look at "prison town" in the dicti onary there is a picture of Huntsville.  Family members and friends of prisoners will see the Journeyers rallying on behalf of the prisoners of the drug war.

Webmaster:  Art Smart
Latest Revision 23-Sep-00