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Possible "Fight Club" at New Jersey's South Woods State Prison – The Appeal

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Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Feb 09, 2023
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Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Feb 09, 2023
New Jersey’s prison watchdog agency has received reports that staff at New Jersey’s South Woods State Prison’s “Restorative Housing Unit” (RHU) are committing acts of violence and egging on fights between incarcerated people, the state’s Corrections Ombudsperson confirmed to The Appeal. Ombudsperson Terry Schuster told The Appeal via email that on Feb. 3, his office sent five of those complaints to the Department of Corrections’ Special Investigations Division (SID) to be formally investigated.
“The allegations relate to security staff using excessive force and encouraging violence between incarcerated people,” Schuster said. “We received individual contacts from several people incarcerated on the RHU throughout January and escalated five of them—different alleged incidents that suggested a pattern—to SID for a formal investigation.”
“We passed them on because they were concerning,” he said.
In a written statement, the Department of Corrections told The Appeal it was “aware of talk in the community about allegations of a ‘fight club’ at the prison,” but called the accusations ”false rumors.” The department added that it maintains “a zero-tolerance policy regarding the mistreatment or exploitation of incarcerated people.” Anyone who believes they are being exploited or abused should contact SID or the Office of the Ombudsperson, reads the statement.
“At this time, there is no merit to these allegations,” the department said. “Any suggestions of a ‘fight club’ or of incarcerated persons being encouraged to fight at South Woods State Prison are not based in fact or supported by information from verified sources.”
When asked about the status of a SID probe, the DOC said it does not comment on investigations as a matter of policy.
Complaints to the ombuds office spiked since the start of the year. From Jan. 1 to Feb. 7, 25 people incarcerated in the South Woods RHU or their family members contacted the ombuds office. About half of the complaints since January have alleged “violence, threats, harassment, disrespect, and retaliation,” said Schuster, who cautioned that his office had not yet confirmed the veracity of the allegations. From October to December 2022, 15 people housed in the South Woods RHU or their loved ones had contacted the ombuds office.
The state’s Dignity Act, which Governor Phil Murphy signed into law in 2020, grants the ombudsperson the authority to, with some exceptions, conduct scheduled and unannounced inspections of prisons, investigate complaints, communicate with incarcerated people, and examine prison records. The ombuds office is independent from the Department of Corrections.
There are nearly 140 people housed at the RHU at South Woods, Schuster said. People are sent to the unit for violating prison rules, which can range from assault to refusing to follow an officer’s direction.
“I want to be cautious about suggesting that I can say anything conclusively right now, except that as the RHU population has gone up, our office has seen a spike in contacts, including many that sound concerning for reasons related to safety and protection from harm,” Schuster told The Appeal.
New Jersey first began using RHUs in 2021, less than a year after the state’s then-new Isolated Confinement Restriction Act (ICRA) went into effect. The law places limitations, with some exceptions, on the use of “isolated confinement”—defined as more than 20 hours in a cell during a 24-hour period. The law also institutes protections for vulnerable populations, including elderly prisoners, those 21 and younger, and people with mental illnesses or developmental disabilities. Under the law, a person cannot be held in isolation for more than 20 consecutive days.
Local advocates say the RHU is the DOC’s euphemism for solitary confinement, what had previously been called administrative segregation, or “ad seg.”
“As far as we can tell, the only thing that the DOC did was to change the name of the administrative segregation housing units to ‘Restorative Housing Units,’” said Amos Caley, the lead organizer for the New Jersey Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement, which advocated for the legislation, in an email to The Appeal. “Isolated confinement and the culture of brutality continues unchecked.”
Schuster said additional staff have recently been added to “increase access to recreation, showers, and other out-of-cell activities.” He said his office this year will monitor out-of-cell time and the implementation of the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act.
In a statement to The Appeal, the DOC defended its use of RHUs, which, they said, “is designed to encourage incarcerated people to improve behavior patterns.”
“Incarcerated persons in the RHU are afforded the opportunity to participate in authorized out-of-cell programming and congregate interactions, structured activities, and educational programs to prepare them for reintegration into general population,” the department said.
Over the last several years, prison guards at multiple New Jersey prisons—including South Woods, Bayside State Prison, and the all-women Edna Mahan Correctional Facility—have been accused of abusing incarcerated people. In some instances, officers have been criminally charged. The state’s former corrections commissioner, Marcus Hicks, resigned in 2021 following public outcry over an attack on several women housed in Edna Mahon’s RHU.
While incarcerated in New Jersey, Antonne Henshaw, co-founder and director of a reentry aid group called the Transformative Justice Initiative, was in and out of solitary confinement, spending a total of about seven years in isolation. Shortly after Henshaw came home from prison, he joined the campaign to pass the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act. In solitary confinement units, he said, violence is “par for the course.”
“You’re gonna get tuned up before you get put in a cell,” said Henshaw. “A lot of times I went to the hole I hit every corner on the way there as if I fell. If you’re going to the hole, it’s going to be rough. It’s going to be rough. That’s just what they do.”
If you or a loved one were victimized at the South Woods RHU, please contact the author at elizabeth@theappeal.org
Disclosure: From 2018 to 2019, Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg worked for New Jersey Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement, which advocated for the passage of the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act. The author is also on a short-term contract as the Storytelling Coordinator with Second Look, a campaign to create a pathway for incarcerated elders to be resentenced . Amos Caley is the group’s campaign organizer. 
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Boxing News: WBA #1 Akui shuts out WBC #16 Vayson … – Fight News

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Akui01 1
By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda
WBA top-ranked flyweight Seigo Yuri Akui (18-2-1, 11 KOs), 111.75, impressively scored a shutout decision (all 100-90) over previously unbeatenWBC#16 light flyweight Filipino Jason Vayson (10-1-1-1NC, 5 KOs), 111.5, over ten speedy rounds on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Having relinquished his national 112-pound belt after three successful defenses, the sturdy-built Akui kept a pressure on the fast-moving Filipino footworker with his heavy left jabs, steadily piling up points. The eighth and ninth saw Akui almost catch and finish the durable Vayson, who barely had a narrow escape. Akui, 27, may be a good opposition against either WBA titlist Artem Dalakian or WBO champ-to-be Jesse Rodriguez.
BoxRec: Seigo Yuri Akui
BoxRec: Jayson Vayson
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Too small to be boxing
I wish the world would do something special for floyed mayweather like they do when the honour other goats or greats he had done amazing things it’s crazy how the world don’t appreciate what he has done man I’m sitting here thinking about what he has done he changed the game stop playing give it up ya hurd lol that’s crazy come on don’t wait tell he is gone give it up now I’m begging please please

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David Goyer Shares Details About David Fincher’s Two-Hour ‘Blade’ Meeting: ‘It Was Such a Fleshed-Out Pitch’ – Yahoo Entertainment

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David Fincher hasn’t worked on a blockbuster franchise since making his infamous directorial debut on “Alien 3” — a film that he has since disavowed due to what he saw as excessive studio interference — but he has flirted with taking on big properties on multiple occasions. He spent years developing an adaptation of Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” for Disney with the intention of casting Brad Pitt. And more recently, he was briefly attached to direct Pitt in a “World War Z” sequel.
Fincher obsessives who are curious about his would-be blockbusters received an interesting tidbit this week when David Goyer made an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. Goyer is best known for writing DC movies for both Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder, but he began his career as a superhero scribe by writing all three “Blade” movies. On the podcast, he revealed that he collaborated with Fincher to develop the first film, with the “Fight Club” director being considered to helm the project.
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“I developed a draft with Fincher before he had done ‘Se7en,’” Goyer said. “I think he had done ‘Alien 3’ and maybe he was developing ‘Se7en.’ I developed a draft with him. I remember going to our producers office… There was this giant conference table. Fincher laid out 40 to 50 books of photography and art with Post-It notes inside them. He said, ‘This is the movie.’”
Goyer revealed that Fincher pitched his vision for the film with predictably meticulous detail. While Fincher did not ultimately end up directing “Blade,” the screenwriter explained that his creative influence was felt throughout the finished product.
“[Fincher] took us on a two-hour tour around the table of the aesthetics of this scene, that character,” Goyer said. “It was such a fully fleshed-out visual pitch… I had never seen something like that before. A lot of that thinking infused my further revisions.”
Fincher’s next film, the Michael Fassbender-led serial killer drama “The Killer,” recently premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. Netflix will release the film in theaters on Friday, October 27 before it begins streaming on Friday, November 10.
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Boxing News: Early Results from Verona, NY » September 25, 2023 – Fight News

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By Boxing Bob Newman at ringside
In a highly skilled and very tactical fight, Junior Lightweights Abraham “Super” Nova and Adam “Blu Nose” Lopez lived up to the predictions that they might deliver the fight of the night. After three tactical rounds, things heated up in the fourth with a nice toe to toe exchange late in the round. In the fifth, a beautiful right-left-right combination deposited Lopez hard on his back. As Nova tried to cut off the ring and follow up on his advantage, he could be heard saying, “It’s my birthday…I got to get this win,” to a retreating Lopez. (It is in fact Nova’s 29th birthday). Nova was credited with another knockdown in the sixth, as Lopez tried to hold on after being raked along the ropes and stumbled to the canvas when he couldn’t keep his grip on a backpedaling Nova. Lopez managed to gather himself in the seventh and actually appeared to take the eighth, snapping Nova’s head with some beautiful combinations at the end of the round.
Nova was able to hop on his bicycle in the ninth and hold off a charging Lopez with his jab. The tenth and final round was something out of the movies. Both men teed off on each other seemingly non-Stop for easily two out of the three minutes that the round lasted. It was amazing that nobody went down, but Nova capped the round and the fight off by staggering Lopez with the final blows of the fight. Even though 2023 is only 14 days old, it will take some doing to pass this is the round of the year! The final scores were 97-91 and 98-90 twice, all for Nova who comes back with a hard fought win after his loss to Robeisy Ramirez last year, raising his record to 22-1 15 KOs. The hard luck Lopez falls to 16-4, KOs.
Photos: Bob Newman
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Other Results…
Jr. Lightweight prospect Haven Brady, Jr. had a tougher than expected task in Colombian Ruben Cervera. While Brady looked to pick his shots, Cervera was landing a few of his own, bloodying Brady’s lower lip by the end of the second. It became a game of single shots where Brady would vocalize with each blow he threw. Seconds before the end of the fifth, Cervera nailed Brady with an overhand right that stunned him. Cervera tries to follow up and one of his blows did land after the bell, prompting a warning from referee Benjy Esteves, Jr. It appeared that Brady was a bit busier each in each round and really capped it off in the eighth and final round by controlling the ring and dictating the action to the final bell. The final tally read: 78-74, 79-73 and 80-72, all for Brady, Jr. who moves to 9-0, 4 KOs. Cervera slides to 13-4, 11 KOs.
* * *
Local darling Bryce Mills, fighting in front of hometown fans for the first time in his young career put on a solid, workman like performance over tough Margarito Hernandez. Mills displayed excellent skills, footwork and angles in systematically controlling Hernandez over the six rounds. At the end of the second, referee Charlie Fitch called in the doctor to check for bleeding from the left ear of Hernandez, which turned out to be a cut just inside the ear and not internal bleeding from the eardrum. Try as he might Mills could not stop or even drop Hernandez and he did take a few shots from the gritty Washingtonian. In the end, all three judges saw it 60-54 for Mills 11-1, 4KOs. Hernandez slips under .500 at 3-4-1.
* * *
Rising welterweight knockout artist Brian Norman, Jr. tried to blitz Rodrigo Coria in the opening round and almost pulled off the trick. Coria appeared out on his feet seconds into the about, the bottom strand of rope in the neutral corner holding him up, but referee Mark Nelson let matters continue when Coria fought back. Norman Jr. appeared to tire and then paced himself for the rest of the round, letting Coria off the hook. The pace slowed markedly the second, then Norman picked things up a little bit more in the third, but Coria did back Norman to the ropes with some good body work. Coria controlled the fourth with good jabs and body work again along the ropes.
The fifth round saw both men doing good work, each taking a turn controlling pieces of the action. In the seventh, Coria landed some telling headshots in rapid succession, buckling Norman’s knees and having him groggy along the ropes. Norman was able to escape and survive the round but the crowd was now revved up! Seconds into the eighth and final round, Norman had Coria in a neutral corner when he himself was clipped and buckled again. He quickly recovered encountered cleanly, dropping Coria to his knees and bringing the crowd to its feet. It wasn’t over though as Coria fought back and stunned Norman again along the ropes. There would be no knockout. The scores were 79-72 and 77-74 twice, all for Norman, Jr. who moves to 23-0, 19 KOs, while the gallant Coria falls to 10-5, 2 KOs.
* * *
In the second fight of the night, featherweight prospect Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington controlled Juan Antonio Lopez over 6 pedestrian rounds for a 60-54 sweep on all three judges’ scorecards. Lopez talked almost as much as he threw punches, trying to psych out the highly touted prospect Carrington. Neither fighter was hurt along the way. “Shu Shu” moves to 6-0, 3 KOs, while Lopez falls to 17-13-1, 7 KOs.
* * *
In a rare battle of novice unbeatens, Dante Benjamin, Jr. took on Emmanueal Austin in a scheduled six round light heavyweight opener. After a half round of feeling each other out, Benjamin shook Austin with a combination, finally dropping him near his own corner. A follow-up barrage had Austin reeling, forcing referee Mark Nelson to stop matters at 2:50 of the opening stanza. Benjamin Jr is now 5-0, 3KOs, while Austin loses his first at 6-1, 6KO.
That’s a great win for Nova coming off a blowout loss.
I absolutely HATE when they put another sport on right before the fight because you know it’s going to run over. It’s worst when it’s baseball, but with all those timeouts at the end of close basketball games, those things can run on and on and on.
Let’s see him step it up now

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