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Yep, that's exactly what a private prison system leads to. You can see the system working as intended here. 5 years is... just ridiculous. There's no words for

by akuji1993 9y ago

Yep, that's exactly what a private prison system leads to. You can see the system working as intended here. 5 years is... just ridiculous. There's no words for this kind of injustice.

thatswrong0 9y ago
Private prisons have basically nothing to do with this. They house very little of the prison population (less than 10% IIRC)
- Guvante 9y ago
  Private prisons lead to lobbying for harsher convictions to improve the bottom line of those prisons, that is why they often come up.
  - evanpw 9y ago
    So do police and prison guards' unions, and they're much larger: https://reason.com/blog/2015/06/02/are-for-profit-prisons-or-public-unions https://reason.com/blog/2015/06/02/are-for-profit-prisons-or....
    - Retric 9y ago
      Prison guard unions and private prisons are effectively the same thing. They are both groups that directly benefit by increasing the prison population.
- enraged_camel 9y ago
  >>Private prisons have basically nothing to do with this. Incorrect. Private prisons have lobbyists that contaminate the system further upstream to ensure a steady supply of inmates. They do this by lobbying legislators for harsher prison sentences on trivial crimes.
  - syshum 9y ago
    While I am completely opposed to the quasi not really private prisons (they should not be called Private, a Private company has competition, these corporations are Government Contractors) The idea their lobbying efforts have had any effect on punishment guidelines is laughable. 1. The Public in General Votes for "Tough on Crime" politicians, the Public wants "criminal" to pay, they are just to ignorant to understand who "criminals" are as they picture the person is a ski mask robbing and raping them, not some person filling out a government form incorrectly 2. The Police Unions, Guard unions, and various other Non-Profit Groups lobby far far far more effectively than any of the For-profit Government Contractors for very very harsh punishments, and for the creation of new laws and regulations to make even more criminals every year.
zeveb 9y ago
I find five years a bit surprising, but what do you think the proper penalty would be for a felon committing voter fraud should be? Edit: I'm utterly amazed that this comment has been downvoted to silence. Disenfranchising felons — i.e., those who have committed extremely serious crimes — is while somewhat controversial a long-standing practice. The woman in question committed voter fraud by voting without being legally permitted to. This raises some questions. Are felons seriously not told they may not vote? Why not? Is five years a reasonable sentence (I don't really think so in this case, but for someone who commits large-scale voter fraud it might be)? Certainly the woman seems hard-done-by. At the end of the day, though, she did commit a crime under the laws of the state, and while the sentence seems harsh some sentence is necessary.
- sampo 9y ago
  If you come from a country (like most European countries) where people are allowed to vote both on probation, and also in prison, then the whole act of voting wouldn't even be a fraud in your home country. But different countries have different practices on what is a crime.
  - creaghpatr 9y ago
    You would also be required to present photo ID in order to vote.
- jartelt 9y ago
  I would prefer 0 days in prison because I don't think voting while a felon should be a crime. But, if we still want to call this situation voter fraud, how about we sentence them to community service? This person is not a danger to society, so I see no reason to put them in prison. More prion just messes up their life further and costs everybody a lot of precious tax dollars.
  - daveFNbuck 9y ago
    While I agree that what this woman did shouldn't be voter fraud, community service isn't sufficient deterrent for actual voter fraud. People put in lots of volunteer hours to help get their preferred candidate elected, so they'd probably be willing to risk community service too. Voter fraud is very dangerous to society, as society depends on our trust in institutions.

Yep, that's exactly what a private prison system leads to. You can see the system working as intended here. 5 years is... just ridiculous. There's no words for this kind of injustice.

thatswrong0 9y ago

Private prisons have basically nothing to do with this. They house very little of the prison population (less than 10% IIRC)

Guvante 9y ago
Private prisons lead to lobbying for harsher convictions to improve the bottom line of those prisons, that is why they often come up.
- evanpw 9y ago
  So do police and prison guards' unions, and they're much larger: https://reason.com/blog/2015/06/02/are-for-profit-prisons-or-public-unions https://reason.com/blog/2015/06/02/are-for-profit-prisons-or....
  - Retric 9y ago
    Prison guard unions and private prisons are effectively the same thing. They are both groups that directly benefit by increasing the prison population.
enraged_camel 9y ago
>>Private prisons have basically nothing to do with this. Incorrect. Private prisons have lobbyists that contaminate the system further upstream to ensure a steady supply of inmates. They do this by lobbying legislators for harsher prison sentences on trivial crimes.
- syshum 9y ago
  While I am completely opposed to the quasi not really private prisons (they should not be called Private, a Private company has competition, these corporations are Government Contractors) The idea their lobbying efforts have had any effect on punishment guidelines is laughable. 1. The Public in General Votes for "Tough on Crime" politicians, the Public wants "criminal" to pay, they are just to ignorant to understand who "criminals" are as they picture the person is a ski mask robbing and raping them, not some person filling out a government form incorrectly 2. The Police Unions, Guard unions, and various other Non-Profit Groups lobby far far far more effectively than any of the For-profit Government Contractors for very very harsh punishments, and for the creation of new laws and regulations to make even more criminals every year.

zeveb 9y ago

I find five years a bit surprising, but what do you think the proper penalty would be for a felon committing voter fraud should be? Edit: I'm utterly amazed that this comment has been downvoted to silence. Disenfranchising felons — i.e., those who have committed extremely serious crimes — is while somewhat controversial a long-standing practice. The woman in question committed voter fraud by voting without being legally permitted to. This raises some questions. Are felons seriously not told they may not vote? Why not? Is five years a reasonable sentence (I don't really think so in this case, but for someone who commits large-scale voter fraud it might be)? Certainly the woman seems hard-done-by. At the end of the day, though, she did commit a crime under the laws of the state, and while the sentence seems harsh some sentence is necessary.

sampo 9y ago
If you come from a country (like most European countries) where people are allowed to vote both on probation, and also in prison, then the whole act of voting wouldn't even be a fraud in your home country. But different countries have different practices on what is a crime.
- creaghpatr 9y ago
  You would also be required to present photo ID in order to vote.
jartelt 9y ago
I would prefer 0 days in prison because I don't think voting while a felon should be a crime. But, if we still want to call this situation voter fraud, how about we sentence them to community service? This person is not a danger to society, so I see no reason to put them in prison. More prion just messes up their life further and costs everybody a lot of precious tax dollars.
- daveFNbuck 9y ago
  While I agree that what this woman did shouldn't be voter fraud, community service isn't sufficient deterrent for actual voter fraud. People put in lots of volunteer hours to help get their preferred candidate elected, so they'd probably be willing to risk community service too. Voter fraud is very dangerous to society, as society depends on our trust in institutions.