6 ms·

Nothing Has Made Me Feel More American Than Going to Jail

29 points by danso 5y ago

aww_dang 5y ago
The author seems somewhat aloof, as if due to his credentials he doesn't belong there. Perhaps a more compassionate view might observe that nobody deserves to be mistreated. The obligatory identity politics angle comes off as wooden and forced - compartmentalizing, objectifying the individuals. There's a story here if the author is willing to tell it straight. The political buzzwords and slanted historical references feel misplaced. They don't add to the story. Instead they distract.
- commandlinefan 5y ago
  > due to his credentials he doesn't belong there It was suspicious that he never mentioned what, exactly, he was on probation for in the first place.
  - spuz 5y ago
    I think it would be mis-leading to specify what his crime was. If he had, it might be interpreted as trying to say that he didn't deserve to be treated the way he was treated simply because his crime was relatively minor. In fact, I think the point he is trying to make is it doesn't matter what crime you committed in the past - no one should have to endure the conditions he experienced.
  - sseveran 5y ago
    Some context can be found here: https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/ccsu-professor-suspended-after-arrest/1969215/ https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/ccsu-professor-sus...
  - throwaway28735 5y ago
    > The probation-violation charges Shankar is facing stem from Aug. 7, 2012, when state police charged him with driving with a suspended license, criminal impersonation, and failure to drive in the proper lane, court records show. Because he was on probation for fraud and drunken-driving convictions in 2011, Shankar also was charged with the probation violations. https://www.journalinquirer.com/page_one/board-of-regents-to-revoke-jailed-prof-s-promotion/article_71bbce90-dd0b-11e3-a923-0019bb2963f4.html https://www.journalinquirer.com/page_one/board-of-regents-to... > According to records, 39-year-old Ravi Shankar has been in and out of the courtroom more than 20 times. https://fox4kc.com/news/jailed-university-professor-gets-promoted-while-behind-bars/ https://fox4kc.com/news/jailed-university-professor-gets-pro...
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
newsbinator 5y ago
I agree the identity politics stuff is misplaced. The author violated parole and got sent to prison. Nobody who works there is nice. But still some parts are egregious: > One C.O. responsible for assisting those with mental health issues would announce his shift by trumpeting, “Screws and schizos, come get your Skittles!”
- commandlinefan 5y ago
  Unnecessary and inappropriate if true, absolutely. Still, the implication that this is anywhere on the level of "public whipping, branding, dunking, pillory, mutilation" makes me inclined to disregard nearly everything the author has to say.
  - yuq13 5y ago
    Go to jail. The one I was in had a fire extinguisher full of pepper spray that they occasionally used on the entire room when two people were fighting in a corner (it was an excuse). I was also tased in the shower and split my head open, requiring stitches, after falling naked onto the tile floor because I didn’t hear orders to line up over the water and other voices. I lost consciousness to the sounds of laughter from the staff. Those are two of my tamest stories. There are more. Public whipping, no, but far worse happens in the American correctional system. If you’re inclined to disregard such reports or ignore what they’re saying because they’re not exactly to your liking, I’m not inclined to regard your opinion — it’s also how I know you haven’t done time.
    - arcticbull 5y ago
      It also speaks to the level of desensitization of the American public that anything short of "public whipping, branding, dunking, pillory, mutilation" is totally fine because bad people go to the bad place. When literally 1% of America is in prison right now. The world's leading jailer. I refuse to believe Americans are orders of magnitude worse people than any other westerners.
      - 5y ago
biffstallion 5y ago
Dont do the crime if you can't do the time... simple really.
ryan93 5y ago
This guy commits lots of low level crimes. Something off about him. Like just not capable of making good decisions.
stockholm_sloth 5y ago
Reading the article... the guy makes it sound like he was in jail for some victimless crime or something. But upon further research he was caught red-handed committing theft and fraud. The way he uses his race and profession as some sort of crutch and excuse is just embarrassing for all humans. Cry me a river! People like him are the reason jails exist in the first place. Does he even get that?
- eigenspace 5y ago
  As has been said elsewhere in the comments, the point isn't about the severity of his crimes. The point is that people shouldn't be treated so poorly in prisons. The idea that it's okay to horribly mistreat prisoners because they're 'bad people' is ghastly and outdated. The purpose of prisons should be to keep dangerous people away from regular people, and to rehabilitate the people capable of rehabilitation, not to punish 'bad people' because it makes us feel good.
  - stockholm_sloth 5y ago
    Congratulations on your stoic decision to become a prison guard. I am sure you will show them how it's done!
    - soco 5y ago
      This is not exactly a constructive comment, sorry to mention it but you seem to be new around here. Do you have a counter argument to give?
    - eigenspace 5y ago
      That's an incredibly lazy, facetious reply. The character of individual prison guards is hardly the major factor here. It's not some statistical anomaly that American prisons are such awful, expensive, ineffective, and cruel places. What's wrong is institutional and requires political action.
  - commandlinefan 5y ago
    > people shouldn't be treated so poorly But... there's nothing in the article that suggests that they were treated particularly poorly. He was called "big bang theory", the basketball hoops were different heights, letters were opened and pictures were confiscated, and somebody referred to people with mental health issues as "screws and schizos". That's it? That's your entire indictment of the unfair treatment of people who actually did do horrible things to other people? Sure, there's room for improvement, but... not really that much room.
kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y ago
I'm old enough to remember that the terrible situation in jail was the number 1 deterrent for doing crime. The phrase "don't do the crime if you can't do the time" really meant something when the prospect of going to a hell-on-earth prison was real. Not saying that this should come back, but...jail isn't supposed to be pleasant. It's part of the peace-keeping process. Sort of a "see? It _can_ get worse" punishment.

29 points by danso 5y ago

The author seems somewhat aloof, as if due to his credentials he doesn't belong there. Perhaps a more compassionate view might observe that nobody deserves to be mistreated. The obligatory identity politics angle comes off as wooden and forced - compartmentalizing, objectifying the individuals. There's a story here if the author is willing to tell it straight. The political buzzwords and slanted historical references feel misplaced. They don't add to the story. Instead they distract.

commandlinefan 5y ago
> due to his credentials he doesn't belong there It was suspicious that he never mentioned what, exactly, he was on probation for in the first place.
- spuz 5y ago
  I think it would be mis-leading to specify what his crime was. If he had, it might be interpreted as trying to say that he didn't deserve to be treated the way he was treated simply because his crime was relatively minor. In fact, I think the point he is trying to make is it doesn't matter what crime you committed in the past - no one should have to endure the conditions he experienced.
- sseveran 5y ago
  Some context can be found here: https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/ccsu-professor-suspended-after-arrest/1969215/ https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/ccsu-professor-sus...
- throwaway28735 5y ago
  > The probation-violation charges Shankar is facing stem from Aug. 7, 2012, when state police charged him with driving with a suspended license, criminal impersonation, and failure to drive in the proper lane, court records show. Because he was on probation for fraud and drunken-driving convictions in 2011, Shankar also was charged with the probation violations. https://www.journalinquirer.com/page_one/board-of-regents-to-revoke-jailed-prof-s-promotion/article_71bbce90-dd0b-11e3-a923-0019bb2963f4.html https://www.journalinquirer.com/page_one/board-of-regents-to... > According to records, 39-year-old Ravi Shankar has been in and out of the courtroom more than 20 times. https://fox4kc.com/news/jailed-university-professor-gets-promoted-while-behind-bars/ https://fox4kc.com/news/jailed-university-professor-gets-pro...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

newsbinator 5y ago

I agree the identity politics stuff is misplaced. The author violated parole and got sent to prison. Nobody who works there is nice. But still some parts are egregious: > One C.O. responsible for assisting those with mental health issues would announce his shift by trumpeting, “Screws and schizos, come get your Skittles!”

commandlinefan 5y ago
Unnecessary and inappropriate if true, absolutely. Still, the implication that this is anywhere on the level of "public whipping, branding, dunking, pillory, mutilation" makes me inclined to disregard nearly everything the author has to say.
- yuq13 5y ago
  Go to jail. The one I was in had a fire extinguisher full of pepper spray that they occasionally used on the entire room when two people were fighting in a corner (it was an excuse). I was also tased in the shower and split my head open, requiring stitches, after falling naked onto the tile floor because I didn’t hear orders to line up over the water and other voices. I lost consciousness to the sounds of laughter from the staff. Those are two of my tamest stories. There are more. Public whipping, no, but far worse happens in the American correctional system. If you’re inclined to disregard such reports or ignore what they’re saying because they’re not exactly to your liking, I’m not inclined to regard your opinion — it’s also how I know you haven’t done time.
  - arcticbull 5y ago
    It also speaks to the level of desensitization of the American public that anything short of "public whipping, branding, dunking, pillory, mutilation" is totally fine because bad people go to the bad place. When literally 1% of America is in prison right now. The world's leading jailer. I refuse to believe Americans are orders of magnitude worse people than any other westerners.
    - 5y ago

biffstallion 5y ago

Dont do the crime if you can't do the time... simple really.

ryan93 5y ago

This guy commits lots of low level crimes. Something off about him. Like just not capable of making good decisions.

stockholm_sloth 5y ago

Reading the article... the guy makes it sound like he was in jail for some victimless crime or something. But upon further research he was caught red-handed committing theft and fraud. The way he uses his race and profession as some sort of crutch and excuse is just embarrassing for all humans. Cry me a river! People like him are the reason jails exist in the first place. Does he even get that?

eigenspace 5y ago
As has been said elsewhere in the comments, the point isn't about the severity of his crimes. The point is that people shouldn't be treated so poorly in prisons. The idea that it's okay to horribly mistreat prisoners because they're 'bad people' is ghastly and outdated. The purpose of prisons should be to keep dangerous people away from regular people, and to rehabilitate the people capable of rehabilitation, not to punish 'bad people' because it makes us feel good.
- stockholm_sloth 5y ago
  Congratulations on your stoic decision to become a prison guard. I am sure you will show them how it's done!
  - soco 5y ago
    This is not exactly a constructive comment, sorry to mention it but you seem to be new around here. Do you have a counter argument to give?
  - eigenspace 5y ago
    That's an incredibly lazy, facetious reply. The character of individual prison guards is hardly the major factor here. It's not some statistical anomaly that American prisons are such awful, expensive, ineffective, and cruel places. What's wrong is institutional and requires political action.
- commandlinefan 5y ago
  > people shouldn't be treated so poorly But... there's nothing in the article that suggests that they were treated particularly poorly. He was called "big bang theory", the basketball hoops were different heights, letters were opened and pictures were confiscated, and somebody referred to people with mental health issues as "screws and schizos". That's it? That's your entire indictment of the unfair treatment of people who actually did do horrible things to other people? Sure, there's room for improvement, but... not really that much room.

kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y ago

I'm old enough to remember that the terrible situation in jail was the number 1 deterrent for doing crime. The phrase "don't do the crime if you can't do the time" really meant something when the prospect of going to a hell-on-earth prison was real. Not saying that this should come back, but...jail isn't supposed to be pleasant. It's part of the peace-keeping process. Sort of a "see? It _can_ get worse" punishment.