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Some use this to be cynical of the Civil Rights movement. Which is a weird critique, when the reason they had to be careful about their image was because of th
by manachar 5y ago
Some use this to be cynical of the Civil Rights movement.
Which is a weird critique, when the reason they had to be careful about their image was because of the general white supremacist and racist ideology of the time.
For example, American prisons are generally awful places where we mostly fail to provide prisoners the basic human rights we are required to provide. We even joke about prison rape as being appropriate punishment, despite it being clearly a cruel and unusual punishment. But, since prisoners are often not exactly sympathetic to the majority of the population, prison reform is an uphill battle.
- rufus_foreman 5y agoIs prison rape unusual? I thought it was quite common.
- angelzen 5y agoIt's a reference to the eighth amendment: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
- rufus_foreman 5y agoSomething that is cruel and usual is not cruel and unusual.
- geofft 5y agoIt's very rare for rape to be a legally mandated punishment, which I think makes it an "unusual punishment," even if it's not a particularly unusual occurrence (either among the punished, or among the world at large). A couple thousand US prisoners have died of covid and hundreds of thousands have been infected with it, but that doesn't mean that intentionally inflicting people with covid is now a usual punishment.
- rufus_foreman 5y agoThe parent comment says "We even joke about prison rape as being appropriate punishment", I don't read that as referring specifically to legally mandated punishment, do you?