5 ms·

Everyone should want prisons to be better; it isn’t that hard to imagine of some unfortunate circumstances that can lead to you or someone you know ending up th

by pm90 1y ago

Everyone should want prisons to be better; it isn’t that hard to imagine of some unfortunate circumstances that can lead to you or someone you know ending up there; its in everyone’s best interest to keep it effective, efficient and as painless as possible to make it through the system.

sharts 1y ago
Not just prison but the mental health system. Heck even the health system. A large proportion of people in prison are there because of mental issues and there was nowhere else to put them since nobody can navigate that mess and there is little to no funding for it. Particularly since (public) mental health institutionalization was deemed to infringe on “freedom” (and also not profitable) the only options today are prison or running around the streets until inevitably they do something that warrants imprisonment. There are some things that markets can invigorate through innovation. But public health and safety certainly isn’t one of those things.
rossant 1y ago
Yes, and it's a fallacy to imagine you'll never end up there if you don't ever do anything wrong. The proportion of totally innocent people in prison is all but negligible. Hard to believe but true.
- pfannkuchen 1y ago
  While true that some people do end up in that situation, I think the probability of the average hner ending up in that situation is basically zero. The people who are overrepresented in being harassed by police tend to be underrepresented in technology circles.
  - s5300 1y ago
    [flagged]
  - rectang 1y ago
    A lot of immigrants read HN, and immigrants are getting plenty harassed these days.
  - ljlolel 1y ago
    My friend in tech went to federal prison for years (weed)
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
  - john01dav 1y ago
    https://youtu.be/cuIRvn89988 https://youtu.be/cuIRvn89988
  - steelframe 1y ago
    This guy just went to federal prison on a 25-year sentence: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=Syonyk https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=Syonyk https://www.idoc.idaho.gov/content/prisons/resident-client-search/details/161762 https://www.idoc.idaho.gov/content/prisons/resident-client-s... Some of his blog posts in the past several months also highlight the dismal state of prison tech, which I suppose is on-point for this thread: https://www.sevarg.net/ https://www.sevarg.net/
    - pfannkuchen 1y ago
      Yeah brb accidentally sexually assaulting a minor under 16, could happen to anyone.
      - nujabe 1y ago
        The only person who suggested that was yourself. > I think the probability of the average hner ending up in that situation is basically zero. You were proven incorrect. There’s no need to move goal posts, it’s not that serious, just accept it and move on.
        pfannkuchen 1y ago
        You have reading comprehension difficulties. From the post I was replying to: “and it's a fallacy to imagine you'll never end up there if you don't ever do anything wrong” “IF YOU DON’T EVER DO ANYTHING WRONG” But you are right, interacting with this sort of person on the internet is probably a waste of my own time.
        deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
        nujabe 1y ago
        I bet you think Ulbricht did something wrong too.
        1y ago
  - aspenmayer 1y ago
    I was in a relationship, and they were cheating on me, but I did not know that at the time. They also were not sober, which I only found out after the fact. I went to their mom's place to get my things that were there and try to talk to her if possible, and the situation became untenable because of them being unreasonable. I decided to go, and wanted the cat to be in the house while I packed the car. I was a bit more concerned with this issue than might have been reasonable, but didn't use force or anything I can't explain. I needed to recover a legally owned firearm from the property, but didn't want to inflame the situation. I was just concerned for the cat. I told them I would call the authorities if they weren't going to try to resolve the situation without me doing so. I placed the cat inside the door and made a move to go back to our old shared room, as we both stayed with her mom occasionally. They flipped out and hit me with a ceramic dog bowl in the face, nearly knocking one of my teeth out. I was so confused. I knew they didn't want me there, but I wasn't seeking to stay. I wanted to get my things and go, and I wanted the cat to not have to be in a carrier in the heat, because that is cruel and not safe for the animal. I insisted that I call the authorities at this point, and they did too. The police arrested me, and charge stacked me with multiple felony charges. The case was dropped a year and a half later, mere days before my jury trial was set to begin. My public defender tried to get me to take their deal: 20 years suspended sentence, 10 years time served. I dodged a bullet. I made a bad call by dating this person, and I had no idea how bad it was until that day. I'm sure I was culpable by being there and allowing this to happen. I could have walked away. I didn't mean to be party to this situation, and I don't like violence or conflict, but it has been normalized in my life due to circumstances prior to the relationship, so I didn't see the warning signs beforehand. I am single now, and am working on myself. I have been given a second chance, and wish my ex well. I don't hold any ill will. It's just not worth it. I think that these cases are common, or at least ones like it are more common than you think. The authorities have to deal with the situation in front of them, and I don't think folks understand how charge stacking works, or the plea bargain system. I had to tell my lawyer to do their job because I wasn't taking a deal, and that is only because I know enough to know better. Most folks aren't as blameless as I was, and I know I wasn't entirely so, but I did know I didn't break the law in any way, even if I would have done things differently. This is not to say other folks don't deserve punishment, or leniency. I can only speak for myself. I made a mistake, but I didn't deserve to be a felon over it. I didn't even break the law, though I didn't handle the situation well at all. It was a learning experience, to be sure. Until you've had to try to bond out on felony charges, I think you should not assume how probable these things are. It could happen to anyone. Be good to each other.
  - rossant 1y ago
    I'm a white guy working in science and tech, and I only avoided jail by sheer luck (believe it or not, one day my 4-month-old baby vomited at the nanny’s, and if it had happened a few hours earlier I would have been the one arrested by the police). Context: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37650402 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37650402 I know several HNers who went through the same situation. By my calculations, the risk is about 1 in 3,000 among young parents. tl;dr: I'll NEVER be alone with a baby under 12 months. Everyone I know who learns about this issue ends up thinking the same.
ACCount37 1y ago
Sure feels like the prison system is in a dire need of better incentives. Prisons should have strong incentives to reduce recidivism. I.e. 50% of the payment private prisons get per person being held back under a "no reoffense" clause. Which would encourage prisons to treat their inmates better, among other things.
LatteLazy 1y ago
This is true in an ideal world where we have unlimited resources and all other services are already fully funded. But that is not the world we live in. How many laptops will you remove from schools to provide to prisons? How many people should lose Medicare coverage to pay to have someone manually check the gbs of material a flash drive sent to or from a prisoner contains? And all this because lawyers don’t want to just hit print?

by pm90 1y ago

sharts 1y ago

Not just prison but the mental health system. Heck even the health system. A large proportion of people in prison are there because of mental issues and there was nowhere else to put them since nobody can navigate that mess and there is little to no funding for it. Particularly since (public) mental health institutionalization was deemed to infringe on “freedom” (and also not profitable) the only options today are prison or running around the streets until inevitably they do something that warrants imprisonment. There are some things that markets can invigorate through innovation. But public health and safety certainly isn’t one of those things.

rossant 1y ago

Yes, and it's a fallacy to imagine you'll never end up there if you don't ever do anything wrong. The proportion of totally innocent people in prison is all but negligible. Hard to believe but true.

pfannkuchen 1y ago
While true that some people do end up in that situation, I think the probability of the average hner ending up in that situation is basically zero. The people who are overrepresented in being harassed by police tend to be underrepresented in technology circles.
- s5300 1y ago
  [flagged]
- rectang 1y ago
  A lot of immigrants read HN, and immigrants are getting plenty harassed these days.
- ljlolel 1y ago
  My friend in tech went to federal prison for years (weed)
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
- john01dav 1y ago
  https://youtu.be/cuIRvn89988 https://youtu.be/cuIRvn89988
- steelframe 1y ago
  This guy just went to federal prison on a 25-year sentence: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=Syonyk https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=Syonyk https://www.idoc.idaho.gov/content/prisons/resident-client-search/details/161762 https://www.idoc.idaho.gov/content/prisons/resident-client-s... Some of his blog posts in the past several months also highlight the dismal state of prison tech, which I suppose is on-point for this thread: https://www.sevarg.net/ https://www.sevarg.net/
  - pfannkuchen 1y ago
    Yeah brb accidentally sexually assaulting a minor under 16, could happen to anyone.
    - nujabe 1y ago
      The only person who suggested that was yourself. > I think the probability of the average hner ending up in that situation is basically zero. You were proven incorrect. There’s no need to move goal posts, it’s not that serious, just accept it and move on.
      - pfannkuchen 1y ago
        You have reading comprehension difficulties. From the post I was replying to: “and it's a fallacy to imagine you'll never end up there if you don't ever do anything wrong” “IF YOU DON’T EVER DO ANYTHING WRONG” But you are right, interacting with this sort of person on the internet is probably a waste of my own time.
        deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
        nujabe 1y ago
        I bet you think Ulbricht did something wrong too.
        1y ago
- aspenmayer 1y ago
  I was in a relationship, and they were cheating on me, but I did not know that at the time. They also were not sober, which I only found out after the fact. I went to their mom's place to get my things that were there and try to talk to her if possible, and the situation became untenable because of them being unreasonable. I decided to go, and wanted the cat to be in the house while I packed the car. I was a bit more concerned with this issue than might have been reasonable, but didn't use force or anything I can't explain. I needed to recover a legally owned firearm from the property, but didn't want to inflame the situation. I was just concerned for the cat. I told them I would call the authorities if they weren't going to try to resolve the situation without me doing so. I placed the cat inside the door and made a move to go back to our old shared room, as we both stayed with her mom occasionally. They flipped out and hit me with a ceramic dog bowl in the face, nearly knocking one of my teeth out. I was so confused. I knew they didn't want me there, but I wasn't seeking to stay. I wanted to get my things and go, and I wanted the cat to not have to be in a carrier in the heat, because that is cruel and not safe for the animal. I insisted that I call the authorities at this point, and they did too. The police arrested me, and charge stacked me with multiple felony charges. The case was dropped a year and a half later, mere days before my jury trial was set to begin. My public defender tried to get me to take their deal: 20 years suspended sentence, 10 years time served. I dodged a bullet. I made a bad call by dating this person, and I had no idea how bad it was until that day. I'm sure I was culpable by being there and allowing this to happen. I could have walked away. I didn't mean to be party to this situation, and I don't like violence or conflict, but it has been normalized in my life due to circumstances prior to the relationship, so I didn't see the warning signs beforehand. I am single now, and am working on myself. I have been given a second chance, and wish my ex well. I don't hold any ill will. It's just not worth it. I think that these cases are common, or at least ones like it are more common than you think. The authorities have to deal with the situation in front of them, and I don't think folks understand how charge stacking works, or the plea bargain system. I had to tell my lawyer to do their job because I wasn't taking a deal, and that is only because I know enough to know better. Most folks aren't as blameless as I was, and I know I wasn't entirely so, but I did know I didn't break the law in any way, even if I would have done things differently. This is not to say other folks don't deserve punishment, or leniency. I can only speak for myself. I made a mistake, but I didn't deserve to be a felon over it. I didn't even break the law, though I didn't handle the situation well at all. It was a learning experience, to be sure. Until you've had to try to bond out on felony charges, I think you should not assume how probable these things are. It could happen to anyone. Be good to each other.
- rossant 1y ago
  I'm a white guy working in science and tech, and I only avoided jail by sheer luck (believe it or not, one day my 4-month-old baby vomited at the nanny’s, and if it had happened a few hours earlier I would have been the one arrested by the police). Context: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37650402 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37650402 I know several HNers who went through the same situation. By my calculations, the risk is about 1 in 3,000 among young parents. tl;dr: I'll NEVER be alone with a baby under 12 months. Everyone I know who learns about this issue ends up thinking the same.

ACCount37 1y ago

Sure feels like the prison system is in a dire need of better incentives. Prisons should have strong incentives to reduce recidivism. I.e. 50% of the payment private prisons get per person being held back under a "no reoffense" clause. Which would encourage prisons to treat their inmates better, among other things.

LatteLazy 1y ago

This is true in an ideal world where we have unlimited resources and all other services are already fully funded. But that is not the world we live in. How many laptops will you remove from schools to provide to prisons? How many people should lose Medicare coverage to pay to have someone manually check the gbs of material a flash drive sent to or from a prisoner contains? And all this because lawyers don’t want to just hit print?