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I’m genuinely terrified of the American Prison system. I had a brief brush with the Law at one point in the past; but reading about what goes on in there and ho
by pm90 5y ago
I’m genuinely terrified of the American Prison system. I had a brief brush with the Law at one point in the past; but reading about what goes on in there and how it completely fucks over people is just incredible.
I sincerely believe that if there’s any one thing that will end the American experiment, it will be its Prison system. Generations of poor people being brutalized and radicalized, creating an incredibly violent culture both inside and out… it’s just not sustainable to keep imprisoning millions of people.
I don’t know what the solution is. I suspect we will need to invest massively in both keeping people out of prisons and creating conditions in society that make it less likely for people to fall into destitution.
- jordanpg 5y agoI agree. Along with the death penalty, the history books are going to be extremely unkind to us on this, and deservedly so. “A society should be judged not by how it treats its outstanding citizens but by how it treats its criminals.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- pkukkapalli 5y agoYeah, I feel like this article's outrage at the inability of prisoners to get used books is unwarranted. What actually deserves this level of outrage is the violence encountered by many in prison as you mentioned. Imagine going to prison for a small-time felony, and having to deal with widespread rape[1], gangs[2], and drugs[3]. Many of the people are in prison did seriously bad things, and should be allowed out any time soon. But, the eighth amendment also says people should not be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment [4]. But perhaps I'm just soft like Tom DuBois from The Boondoks. [1]:https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/07/25/prison-rape-allegations-are-on-the-rise https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/07/25/prison-rape-al... [2]:https://hcsdmass.org/inmates-join-prison-gangs/ https://hcsdmass.org/inmates-join-prison-gangs/ [3]:https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/11/07/the-never-ending-drug-hustle-behind-bars https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/11/07/the-never-endi... [4]:https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/eighth_amendment https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/eighth_amendment
- rileymat2 5y agoThere is plenty of outrage to go around, but couldn't prison conditions contribute to such violence?
- kingcharles 5y agoIt's really fucked up. I just did eight years in county jails which are way worse than prisons as they are designed only for very short holding periods and therefore have none of the facilities of a prison. For instance, I didn't see daylight or breathe fresh air for most of those eight years.
- dkn775 5y agoI suggest reading “federal prisoners handbook” by Chris Zoukis, amazingly informative read. Very dry but it’s well done, he was a prisoner.