Thursday, September 02, 2010

We're the Only Ones Custodial Enough

Nearly 90,000 raped in lockup, study finds [More]
Would you look at that--a population under total state control, disarmed, guarded, watched, confined...

Anyone who doesn't think sadistic degradation doesn't fit into the old behavior control punishment-for-displeasing us-or-we-just-want-to-break-you toolkit...

Not to mention the entertainment potential!

Kind'a makes one wonder why they should allow themselves to go quietly...particularly if they haven't done anything but claim their rights.

[Via Ed M]

8 comments:

PeaceableGuy said...

"Kinda makes one wonder why they should allow themselves to go quietly...particularly if they haven't done anything but claim their rights."

Decisions such as these should be carefully considered and courses of action decided upon as much as possible well in advance of actually requiring to make such a decision.

The question posed is, of course, quite valid.

Defender said...

Any politicians who describes the prison system as "correctional" or "rehabilitative" should have his mouth washed out with prison cell toilet water.
This is one of the other, though related, issues I care about. It's one I wrote my elected officials about, when I thought it made a difference. It's why those convicted of victimless "crimes" go hard-core. It's why the worst of the worst aren't worried about another temporary stay in prison; they get to dominate people there the same way they dominate the streets.
Being a quiet, sensitive, gentle man, I would suffer worst in prison. I would not go quietly.

W W Woodward said...

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was passed about ten years ago and was intended to go into effect within approximately two years after its passage.

Problem: All the reps and senators who voted for passage of the act failed to appropriate money to implement it. Nobody seemed to want to put their money where their mouths were. And, there was some question as to all the whereases in the original proclamation accompanying the bill. A lot of allegations as to the percentages and reports supporting the claims of sexual assaults in prisons and jails weren’t very well backed up by actual relevant statistics.

When I read the original bill I was reminded of some of the statistics that accompany reports on the Mexico “assault weapons” reports, and the “evil gun show” problems and, the prophecies concerning rivers of blood that will follow open and or concealed carry.

I’ve been working in a jail for about the last 18 years and have seen thousands of inmates come and go. It’s a sad thing for anyone to be sexually assaulted. It just shouldn’t happen, but from my personal observations as a jailer as well as 23 years as a peace officer it appears that the chances of being sexually assaulted out in the real world are considerably higher than being a rape victim in jail.

[W3]

Defender said...

Just read over on Sipsey Street that Mike Vanderboegh was in jail today briefly after someone may have set him up in a road rage incident. Other driver not charged, MVB arrested for loaded gun in car without a ... PERMIT.
It was just another ordinary day... and the nail that sticks up is the one most likely to get hammered.

PeaceableGuy said...

WWWoodward, the point is that in jail/prison, a prisoner has little to no control over his (or her) wellbeing. He's completely at the mercy of his captors.

The point of being an armed free person is not to somehow be magically immune from any sort of assault - it is to be able to take necessary action to defend against such attacks if all else fails.

In prison/jail, you're a naked squishy human because the captors will kill you otherwise, and the captors still allow violent assault of the worst type to occur. I believe a good word for this is "inhuman".

nk said...

You control women by making them comfortable. You control men by putting them into a brutal environment where they are too busy trying to survive to make trouble for you.

Anonymous said...

The cheap and easy first step is to segregate prisoners by weight class. 100 pound guys shouldn't be thrown into a cell with 250 pound guys. The sports of boxing, wrestling, MMA and even rowing recognize the fundamental unfairness of being outweighed. Lock up with people of the same weight gives more of a fighting chance.

W W Woodward said...

Okay, Peaceable and nk, my 40 plus years of experience in the criminal justice system count for nothing.

My wise father told me years ago to avoid attempting a debate with a man who already has his mind made up because, I would only succeed in wasting my time and pissing him off.

So. I won't

[W3]