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Great thread, of course. I read the original one lurking LF. Some of the stuff in there (and now here) is almost beyond belief. The idea of having prisoners pay for their spell inside is a new one to me, even if it seems like the logical conclusion of the current prison system. To my mind, all this is basically the inevitable result of running prisons for profit, and I can't see any way of improving it beyond nationalising all the prisons. The other trouble is that the default position of a huge number of Americans is 'If you can't do the time, don't do the crime' - can you imagine the response from the right if Obama tried to improve prison conditions? They literally think that the second you break the law you immediately waive any and all basic human rights. They almost seem to consider getting repeatedly anally raped to be part of the punishment (at least, this is my impression from US popular culture). e: the report that cites high recidivism as a positive for the prison is a perfect example of why running prisons for profit is a terrible, terrible idea - it illustrates that privately run prisons, who make a profit on each prisoner they take in, have absolutely no incentive to reform inmates, and in fact benefit from forcing them deeper into a vicious cycle of crime and incarceration. The New Black fucked around with this message at 01:45 on Jul 26, 2010 |
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Jul 26, 2010 01:42
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Oryx and Friends posted:Racial profiling in America fun - I was just riding my bike around right now and noticed a police officer driving around really slowly. I thought this interesting (note - I am white and thus would suffer no consequences from bothering this police officer) and decided to follow at a distance. He drove around a bit and then stopped in front of one house. The house just happened to be my Iranian friend's house! He was stopped outside for at least two minutes before I approached and asked what the officer was about. He said he was just patrolling and then drove away, though I'm not sure at all about this. I think the truly appaling level of anti-Islamic sentiment in the US is really laid bare by a lot of those cartoons that were posted in the LF thread after the whole "NASA muslim outreach" thing. The government says it wants NASA to help with outreach to the Muslim world, and basically every conservative cartoonist made a cartoon showing Obama kissing the feet of a middle eastern suicide bomber. They literally believe that all Muslims are a) arabs and b) terrorists.
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Jul 26, 2010 05:37
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Billy Idle posted:But I suppose that's off-topic. I'm glad to see this thread being restarted here now that LF has been placed out of view; I was a big reader and fan of all the HidingFromGoro threads. The only problem is we all seem to be pretty much in agreement that this is a terrible situation - I guess we should start talking about how to change it, but I'm pretty much without realistic ideas on that front. It would take a massive shift in public opinion and/or some kind of nationwide grassroots campaign. Which seems unlikely. And to top it off, as far as I can tell the problem seems to be getting worse if anything. quote:Lets not forget that prison serves as a means of disenfranchisement since people on probation or parole are often forbidden from voting except after undergoing some restorative process or other waiting period. I never really got this either. As far as I'm concerned, once you've been released from prison you've paid your "debt to society" (and in many cases, several times over). You should be treated as any other citizen, and that includes the restoration of voting rights - after all, you're a (nominally) free citizen of the country, why shouldn't you be allowed to participate in its democracy? Obvious cycnical answer is that Republicans in power generally don't want
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Jul 26, 2010 10:15
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mew force shoelace posted:Does any other country have anything like our sex offender registry stuff? Criminal for life stuff for any crime for that matter. The UK definitely has one. Sometimes people on it get vigilante'd. Also the occasional pediatrician. And people whose addresses the Sun misprints instead of the real ones.
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Jul 26, 2010 14:24
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21stCentury posted:Seriously, though, anyone remember that Greyhound beheading case? It made me pretty angry when the mother of the victim went on the news and tearfully asked why the government didn't lock up every schizophrenic permanently. I think in general people need to stop going to the families for any kind of reasonable response. They're pretty much (and maybe understandably) just on the look out for vengeance against anyone they can find. You can see this in particular when someone who is blatantly innocent is acquitted and the families say "This is a slap in the face for us and a desecration of our loved one's memory". Generally speaking they care about someone suffering for what happened, not getting actual justice.
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Jul 27, 2010 00:39
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So I just read through the Joe Arpaio site, and I have to ask: how is he still sheriff? I can see how he gets elected time and again, but after the multiple suspicious deaths and violent assaults in his custody, how has there not been some kind of proper police investigation into him? Or do I not understand how the US system works? I mean, surely at some point he's got to be held accountable?
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Jul 27, 2010 04:13
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21stCentury posted:Holding Law Enforcement accountable for the deaths of criminals is being soft on crime. Well, I'm aware of all the cops who shoot random unarmed people, taser protesters to death and so on and get away scot free, but this seems of a different order to me - systematic, deliberate and horrific abuse over a long period of time. I just figured there had to be a line somewhere even cops can't cross.
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Jul 27, 2010 04:23
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Zeitgueist posted:They love him. They eat his poo poo up. They swing from his balls. Yeah but thats sort of my point - I can see how his electorate loves him, but isn't there some kind of mechanism for dealing with this from higher up in the chain of command? Or is he answerable to nobody except the people in his county? E: I mean, can't the FBI or the justice department do something? E2: understand I don't really know much about the specifics of organisational heirarchy in US law enforcement. E3: According to wikipedia: In March 2009, the United States Department of Justice notified Arpaio of that they were investigating him for civil rights violations, in unfairly targeting Hispanics and Spanish-speaking people.[39] In October 2009, it was reported that the FBI was investigating Arpaio for using his position to settle political vendettas.[44] In January 2010, it was reported that the Department of Justice has impaneled a grand jury to investigate allegations of abuse of power by Arpaio.[45] In March 2010, it was reported that an investigation into Arpaio is "serious and ongoing", according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.[46] So thats some good news I guess, though whether it ever comes to anything, we'll have to see. The New Black fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Jul 27, 2010 |
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Jul 27, 2010 05:10
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Fire posted:DnD/LF/Smart People response: "Fuuuuuuck I swear part of the problem here is popular culture. Our screens and books are full of noble, honest, responsible cops who solve important crimes and are understanding with witnesses, and if they ever meet the occasional bent cop they expose them and all is well. There just seems to be a total disconnect to reality, which I imagine to be somewhere between the Wire and Bad Lieutenant: New Orleans. I just realised I totally undermined my point by referencing yet more popular culture. oh well.
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Aug 2, 2010 04:40
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people should be rioting in the streets!" 
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tendrilsfor20 posted:Hey, look at that! As soon as a congressman goes to prison, he's all for prison reform! Well I guess then all you guys have to do is find some way to send the majority of your politicians to prison, and hey, you'll have prison reform.
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Aug 12, 2010 02:04
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