The Wall contains fascinating stories written by ‘guests’ in our country’s prisons. All of them are there for drug offenses. It’s part of a larger website called The November Coalition, a nonprofit devoted to ending the insanity of our not even close to working drug policy.
I stumbled on this site through this story about a prisoner being moved between facilities.
Diesel Therapy: Torturing Prisoners Legally Takes The Bus
Transit, better known as “diesel therapy” to the feds, is maybe the worst part of being incarcerated. Imagine being handcuffed with a chain around your waist securing the handcuffs to your stomach area. You can’t move your arms up and down or side to side. Your feet are shackled, limiting you to baby steps. Now get on a bus. And then be stuck on the bus with similarly shackled convicts forever. (It starts at three or four in the morning, and 12 to 16–hour days are the norm.) You can try and guess where you’re going, but you never will. After five institutions and nine years in the feds, I’ve learned to dread transit more than anything.
Maybe would should serve champange and show a movie. Give me a break, these guys are convicted prisoners. A certain amount of discomfort is normal. And I’m sure we’re not talking about casual users here but, pushers, dealers and drug lords. So stop your crying about losers. If they weren’t in jail for drugs, I’m sure they would be for something else.
Stand stolidly on one side of the line all your life, then stumble once and see how fast your situation and viewpoint changes.
The war against drugs is a ludicrous excercise in government stupidity and extravagance, it ain’t working and reality isn’t even a factor in it’s prosecution. You’d think a country that traveled the same path during Prohibition would have learned it’s lesson, but history failed to teach anybody anything.
We need to legalize, regulate and tax the drug trade, then all the adrenalin junkies that are fighting the drug war (on both sides) can go get real jobs.
I completely agree. These people have a complete weakness in their character. I’m tired of people crying over these morons and thugs. My brother-in-law and his former-wife are one of them and they have done nothing but hurt the people around them with their faulty character and corrupt moral system. I’m tired of this premise that if they weren’t in jail for drug offenses they would be good law abiding people. It is simply not true and is a liberal pipe dream.
Gee, guys. I wish I could totally blow off reading the articles and still have all the facts, just like you!
Now, let’s hear what you think about Guantanamo, Abu Ghiraib and the process of extraordinary rendition, shall we?
Fascinating!
See, kids? You really CAN get by in life on personal annecdote and conjecture. And remember, if someone offers you something to read?
Just say no!
“Now, let’s hear what you think about Guantanamo, Abu Ghiraib”
I have no problem with either. Housed there are the worst of the worst, who have no regard for human life and would think nothing of killing you, just because you don’t read the koran. If released they would no doubt resume killing again. They can all rot there for all I care.
It shows you how much of the lies about prisoners in both our regular system and in our gulag archipelago gets swallowed by the bleaters.
I don’t see how someone turned in by their neighbor for a bounty is automatically a terrorist, just as I don’t see how anyone selling or using Marijuana should be in jail at all.
I have no problem with either. Housed there are the worst of the worst, who have no regard for human life and would think nothing of killing you, just because you don’t read the koran.
Someone hasn’t been paying attention to the news. It turns out that the large majority of prisoners at both Gitmo and Abu Gharib didn’t have anything at all to do with terrorism. At Gitmo there are a great number who were caught up by Afghan and Pakistani tribal “warlords” and turned in just to collect a bounty. At Abu Gharib it was established that most of the prisoners were picked up for things like midemeanors, petty thefts and in once case, for stealing a taxi.
You go right on believing that the only people who are arrested or detained are people who are guilty of terrorism if that’s the sort of fertilizer that you find comforting. I might recommend you read Franz Kafak’s “The Trial” or even Orwell’s 1984 but I doubt either would get through to you. And speaking of Orwell, isn’t it about time for the daily two minute hate?
#8, thank you, you said it better then I was going to.
One of the major difference between the American penal system and that of the civilized world is concept. The Americans truly believe in punishment and have little compunction of seeing someone incarcerated in spite. The concept of innocent until convicted doesn’t exist. The civilized world is much more interested in rehabilitation and making the person a contributing member of society. Sentences reflect the crime and the prisoner is afforded many programs to help integrate back into society upon release.
Prison systems bent on punishment include:
United States,
Russia,
China,
Saudi Arabia
Prison system geared towards reforming the prisoner include:
Most of Europe,
Australia,
Canada,
New Zealand
Mr Fusion, take a walk through your local state prision and tell me how many are canadates for reform. Maybe 10% at most.