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> 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 ban

> 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.

eigenspace 6y ago
Yeah, this article in particular is not really the one I'd pick if I wanted to highlight the problems with American prisons. It's anecdotal anyways. Even the best, most compassionate prisons in the world probably have lots of quite negative anecdotes. However, the horrors of the American prison system are pretty well documented, and I'm not sure it's really controversial to say that these are very bad places to find oneself, significantly worse than the prisons of many other western developed nations, and a much larger percentage of America's population is in prison than any other democratic nation.
ultrastable 6y ago
maybe this particular article doesn't expose the worst aspects of prisons, but overall there might be some room for improvement, eg https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/20/an-inmate-died-after-being-locked-in-a-scalding-shower-for-two-hours-his-guards-wont-be-charged/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/2... besides, a misdemeanor & driving w/ a suspended license hardly confirms that "horrible things" have been done to other people. I'm sure even the most casual observer of the US has some awareness of the vast numbers in jail for non-violent drug offenses. quite aside from the above, even the assumption that committing a crime is what's put an inmate inside is off the mark: https://csgjusticecenter.org/publications/confined-costly/ https://csgjusticecenter.org/publications/confined-costly/

eigenspace 6y ago

Yeah, this article in particular is not really the one I'd pick if I wanted to highlight the problems with American prisons. It's anecdotal anyways. Even the best, most compassionate prisons in the world probably have lots of quite negative anecdotes. However, the horrors of the American prison system are pretty well documented, and I'm not sure it's really controversial to say that these are very bad places to find oneself, significantly worse than the prisons of many other western developed nations, and a much larger percentage of America's population is in prison than any other democratic nation.

ultrastable 6y ago

maybe this particular article doesn't expose the worst aspects of prisons, but overall there might be some room for improvement, eg https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/20/an-inmate-died-after-being-locked-in-a-scalding-shower-for-two-hours-his-guards-wont-be-charged/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/2... besides, a misdemeanor & driving w/ a suspended license hardly confirms that "horrible things" have been done to other people. I'm sure even the most casual observer of the US has some awareness of the vast numbers in jail for non-violent drug offenses. quite aside from the above, even the assumption that committing a crime is what's put an inmate inside is off the mark: https://csgjusticecenter.org/publications/confined-costly/ https://csgjusticecenter.org/publications/confined-costly/