4 ms·

What does it mean to be from Hawaii vs. Mississippi? Kind of a lot?

• smt88 11y ago
  I'm not saying states shouldn't be able to determine certain things. But the federal government should be able to overrule asinine state policies after public debate (still subject to testing in court). When that testing happens, as it does now, the determining factor shouldn't be "states vs federal rights". It should be, "Does this state have a good reason to differ from the rest of the country?" In this case, where inmates' families are being harmed, there is no reason for Hawaii to differ from Mississippi.
  • harryh 11y ago
    Maybe in a poorer state like Mississippi the revenue state raised by more expensive phone calls is needed to properly pay for the prisons in question? I'm not saying I believe that argument, but I don't live in Mississippi, I don't pay taxes in Mississippi, and I'm extremely unlikely to ever end up in a Mississippi prison. Maybe it should be the job of Mississippians to weigh the pros and cons of these things?
    • toomuchtodo 11y ago
      If you can't pay for your prisons without extorting the families of convicts, stop locking people up.
    • smt88 11y ago
      I understand that you're proposing something hypothetical. So let's assume that it's true: Mississippi needs the revenue to run the prisons. The federal government should be able to say, "No, sorry Mississippi, you aren't going to run your prisons on the backs of the families of inmates." Why should someone have to pay extortionist prices to speak to a loved one? They likely had nothing to do with the crime (or the criminality of the inmate), and it's not fair to punish them just for being unlucky enough to love someone who becomes a convict.
      • harryh 11y ago
        I'm pretty sure that the loved ones of prisoners are being punished (by, you know, being physically separated from the prisoners) regardless of the cost of phone calls. Again, I'm not saying you're wrong. Were I a Mississippian, I'd prolly be in favor of cheaper phone calls for prisoners. But aren't we drawing a line in kind of a weird place? - OK to lock someone up in a cage. - OK to charge them $0.11/minute to talk to someone outside of that cage. - NOT OK to charge $1/minute to talk to someone outside of that cage. And given how weird that line is, should it really be drawn by outsiders who feel no effects of where the line is drawn?
        • toomuchtodo 11y ago
          > And given how weird that line is, should it really be drawn by outsiders who feel no effects of where the line is drawn? Yes. That how treating humans humanely works.
          • harryh 11y ago
            Why are outsiders better equipped to decide what is and is not humane than members of the actual community in question?
            • toomuchtodo 11y ago
              Because human rights are, as they say, "inalienable"; the local community doesn't get to vote on them.
              • harryh 11y ago
                Inexpensive phone calls are a human right? Keep in mind this wasn't a ruling by SCOTUS citing the constitution. It was a ruling by the FCC meaning that ultimately it WAS a community voting on them. The only debate here is the size of the community that should get a vote.
                • 11y ago
  • ams6110 11y ago
    You seem to misunderstand the entire notion of limited federal government as defined in the constitution. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
    • arcticbull 11y ago
      Don't you think that ship has sailed? That's simply not true anymore, and it might be time to recognize that. Just look at the way federal funds set speed limits nationwide. Turns out if you set the right incentive structure, it just doesn't matter as rights are set aside in exchange for compensation. I think ultimately the federal government gets what it wants because it holds the biggest purse-strings and that's all that matters at the end of the day.
• liveoneggs 11y ago
  other than racial demographics, what does it mean?
• liveoneggs 11y ago
  other than racial demographics, what does it mean?