4 ms·

>But it is easy to get thrown in jail. This is especially true if your skin isn't white enough: How many stories do you hear of folks being in jail for having t

>But it is easy to get thrown in jail. This is especially true if your skin isn't white enough: How many stories do you hear of folks being in jail for having the description, "Tall black male?". I'm sorry to break your narrative, but this is NOT true in my experience at all. 99.999999% of the time, if you end up in jail, you knowingly engaged in questionable activity or associated yourself with criminal deviants. Doesn't matter what your skin color is despite the imbalanced frequency of reporting in the US.

alexilliamson 6y ago
Do you work at a jail? You must have lots of firsthand experience if you can calculate that frequency with precision to the millionths.
- 0xBA5ED 6y ago
  "99.9999999%" means "almost always". It isn't a precise calculation, which you know. Just look at the US arrest statistics. See how many total arrests there are annually and ask yourself how many of those could be for "no good reason". Even if it's a high percentage like 10%, it is still very unlikely to occur to the average person.
Broken_Hippo 6y ago
Everyone arrested is innocent. You seem to forget that. Maybe you just don't have much experience, or don't realize the vague descriptions police will use to bring folks in. Systematic racism makes this more likely if you aren't white. Systematic racism is a big issue. You can be arrested for being homeless or stealing food if you are starving (not everywhere has available shelters nor food pantries to go to, nor do shelters provide safe places for a family). I don't think this is being deviant. They'll sure charge you bail, though. And again, sometimes it is just a mistake. Live in a legal state and forget to take those joints out of the care before going to an illegal state? Well, now you have a drug charge. You can't teach nor be a pharmacist now. People get arrested for "drugs" that aren't all the time (leaves, candy, etc), but I'm guessing you haven't spent much time around the sort of person that gets stopped for this sort of thing (generally, just young and alternative-looking with a crappier-than-average car). Some of them go to jail waiting on the stuff to be tested. Your experience isn't broad enough. Just because you haven't seen these things in your corner of the world doesn't mean it is false.
- 0xBA5ED 6y ago
  >Maybe you just don't have much experience, or don't realize the vague descriptions police will use to bring folks in >but I'm guessing you haven't spent much time around the sort of person that gets stopped for this sort of thing >Your experience isn't broad enough This is awfully presumptuous. >Live in a legal state and forget to take those joints out of the care before going to an illegal state? It is common knowledge that marijuana is not legal everywhere and there are a lot of restrictions. Honestly, "forgeting" your drugs in your car deserves a drug charge if you transport it somewhere illegal. People should be expected to maintain a minimum degree of personal responsibility in a civilized society. This includes following basic rules. I can't speak on the experiences of the homeless.
  - Broken_Hippo 6y ago
    Yeah, presumptuous, but based off of the words you chose to type - and continue to type. Often, I find that discussion of "personal responsibility" often comes without a minimum of empathy or understanding. It is really easy to become comfortable with some things you buy regularly to be in your car, and really easy to forget that it is in your car. People forget things all the time. This is a common human error, and penalizing folks for life for a simple error seems harsh. And sure, you can't speak on being homeless, but you can read about it and emphasize, at least. If anything, you can pretend you are planning on being homeless. Most of the stuff written won't enlighten you on being in a big city, and are written by folks that managed to come out the other side. Like this. http://guide2homelessness.blogspot.com/2004/10/introduction-to-project.html http://guide2homelessness.blogspot.com/2004/10/introduction-...

alexilliamson 6y ago

Do you work at a jail? You must have lots of firsthand experience if you can calculate that frequency with precision to the millionths.

0xBA5ED 6y ago
"99.9999999%" means "almost always". It isn't a precise calculation, which you know. Just look at the US arrest statistics. See how many total arrests there are annually and ask yourself how many of those could be for "no good reason". Even if it's a high percentage like 10%, it is still very unlikely to occur to the average person.

Broken_Hippo 6y ago

Everyone arrested is innocent. You seem to forget that. Maybe you just don't have much experience, or don't realize the vague descriptions police will use to bring folks in. Systematic racism makes this more likely if you aren't white. Systematic racism is a big issue. You can be arrested for being homeless or stealing food if you are starving (not everywhere has available shelters nor food pantries to go to, nor do shelters provide safe places for a family). I don't think this is being deviant. They'll sure charge you bail, though. And again, sometimes it is just a mistake. Live in a legal state and forget to take those joints out of the care before going to an illegal state? Well, now you have a drug charge. You can't teach nor be a pharmacist now. People get arrested for "drugs" that aren't all the time (leaves, candy, etc), but I'm guessing you haven't spent much time around the sort of person that gets stopped for this sort of thing (generally, just young and alternative-looking with a crappier-than-average car). Some of them go to jail waiting on the stuff to be tested. Your experience isn't broad enough. Just because you haven't seen these things in your corner of the world doesn't mean it is false.

0xBA5ED 6y ago
>Maybe you just don't have much experience, or don't realize the vague descriptions police will use to bring folks in >but I'm guessing you haven't spent much time around the sort of person that gets stopped for this sort of thing >Your experience isn't broad enough This is awfully presumptuous. >Live in a legal state and forget to take those joints out of the care before going to an illegal state? It is common knowledge that marijuana is not legal everywhere and there are a lot of restrictions. Honestly, "forgeting" your drugs in your car deserves a drug charge if you transport it somewhere illegal. People should be expected to maintain a minimum degree of personal responsibility in a civilized society. This includes following basic rules. I can't speak on the experiences of the homeless.
- Broken_Hippo 6y ago
  Yeah, presumptuous, but based off of the words you chose to type - and continue to type. Often, I find that discussion of "personal responsibility" often comes without a minimum of empathy or understanding. It is really easy to become comfortable with some things you buy regularly to be in your car, and really easy to forget that it is in your car. People forget things all the time. This is a common human error, and penalizing folks for life for a simple error seems harsh. And sure, you can't speak on being homeless, but you can read about it and emphasize, at least. If anything, you can pretend you are planning on being homeless. Most of the stuff written won't enlighten you on being in a big city, and are written by folks that managed to come out the other side. Like this. http://guide2homelessness.blogspot.com/2004/10/introduction-to-project.html http://guide2homelessness.blogspot.com/2004/10/introduction-...