I'm trying to figure out where to begin.
I've come to believe that the greatest problem plaguing the entire
system is the lack of accountability. It's only been in the last
few weeks that Florida Governor Jeb Bush finally held former
Secretary of Corrections James Crosby accountable for his corrupt
activities and mismanagement of the FLDOC. Please don't be fooled
by believing that this came about because of a desire on the part of
our Governor or our State Attorney General Charlie "Chaingang
Charlie" Crist, to do the right thing. It only happened because the
FBI and the FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) had built a
case that was soon to become public. (The Governor had to act in
order to separate himself from the man him and "Chaingang Charlie"
have long supported.) It was also political survival for both Bush,
who aspires to greater political heights in the future and for Crist
who is now campaigning for Governor of the state of Florida
with "Law and Order" being the backbone of his campaign. Throughout
the FLDOC, officers and administrative staff, along with those in
medical and the private company Aramark Food Services (a company in
which it's said the Bush family has large stock holdings) are free
to say and do whatever they choose to, or choose not to do.
I can't prove this to be true, as I have no tape recorders or video
cameras to capture the evidence, and the system will surely call me
a liar and show you all kinds of policies, procedures and rules to
show how diligently they manage everything, but it's all a facade,
an illusionary wall that hides "the systems" untruths from a public
who wants to believe that a person with a badge is the honorable
hero who is underappreciated. A lot of them are too, but
unfortunately far too many are far from it.
Though I can't prove a lot of what I'm going to be writing, it can
be proven. There are those who have worked in "the system" and have
spoken out about what's really going on. They've been harassed,
threatened, fired and swept under the rug; they've quit their jobs,
gone to the press and to the courts. But it's been to no avail
because for every one person who speaks out, "the system" presents
ten more to discredit them. And sadly, the public doesn't care;
they don't want to see the truth, because they are blinded by their
hatred of crime and criminals. I also understand society's
attitude toward those who commit crimes, especially those who prey
on the innocent, but the time has come for people to start viewing
the situation with their minds and not their emotions.
The hardest fact for the public to accept is that by turning a blind
eye to the "hows" and "whys" of the care, custody and control of our
prisoners, they are responsible to varying degrees when a monster
just released from custody directs his anger toward an innocent
victim. I'm not attempting to justify the acts of such a predator,
I just want you to see the culpability involved, so please read
on.
I give you two scenarios:
A man is arrested; let's say for rape. During the arrest he is
beaten, let's say like Rodney King was. When he is taken to the
police department, he is set in a chair; bent over at the waist and
his hands are cuffed to an eyebolt on the floor behind his legs
under the chair. He's denied any medical treatment for the beating
he's already received and for the next 10 hours, he is interrogated,
punched, kicked and psychologically beaten down by the good cop /
bad cop games you see working all the time on television* (see ABC
News Primetime, March 30, 2006 False Confessions Not Hard to Get,
Says Expert http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?
id=1783918&page=1 ) and in the movies. After he confesses to his
crimes, along with a couple that weren't his, he's taken to jail and
put in a cell, still without medical care since "we don't want proof
of injury." (He will be healed by the time he sees a lawyer; weeks
or months later and everyone will scoff at his claims that he was
ever beaten.)
This man will sit in jail anywhere from one to five years waiting
for trial (if he even goes to trial) or he's waiting to enter into a
plea bargain (which are probably 70% or more of what criminal
defendants do). It's a given that during this phase, the State's
Attorney will not play by the rules and said criminal will be
sentenced either to more time then the law allows or to a higher
degree of criminal charge then he should be, or of course, both of
these; with a slew of procedural rules violated, to boot. The judge
won't demand everything is done by the book and if the Public
Defender doesn't make too much of a stink, it's off to prison he
goes.
Okay, I will grant you that this entire scenario doesn't occur every
time someone is arrested, but I will guarantee you that it does
happen. It might only happen every now and then (I'm being generous
here in order to err on the side of caution) but you must stop and
understand that the crimes perpetrated against those like Polly
Klauss and Jessica Lundsford are less then 1% of crimes committed.
And while all of the above abuses of authority don't occur together,
they happen in varying degrees in almost every criminal case,
increasing with the severity of the crimes one might be charged
with. Where am I going with all this? Bear with me just a bit
longer and you will see...
So, our scumbag is now heading to prison. He arrives at one of
Florida's three reception centers and upon stepping off the bus, he
has what's suppose to be a professional correctional officer in his
face screaming at him and everyone else just arriving (usually 50 or
so per bus). He's called every name in the book but his own, he's
stripped naked and made to stand shoulder to shoulder in line with
all the other naked men (does this remind you of the US Military
scandal in Abu Ghraibi?); he's made to bend over while squatting,
grab both of his butt cheeks and spread them. The inmate remains in
that position until an officer (CO) steps behind all the inmates,
one at a time, and makes them cough. It's claimed that this is to
insure no contraband is smuggled anally, but that's a bunch of crap
(no pun intended). In my 20 years, I've never seen or heard of
anyone having anything "fall out" or be "seen" in this manner; not
even those who I know actually did have contraband (drugs, money and
other things you just wouldn't believe) hidden in this manner.
This practice is solely one of utter humiliation and all inmates
must comply at any time a CO feels like making them or any time they
get a visit. Poor Baby, you might say. And I understand, I really
do, but please read on...
After the "strip `em and spread `em" procedure is done, all his hair
is shaved off his head, he's put in a blue uniform with a white
stripe down the leg; he's given a number and ceases to be an
individual. He's treated like a child, boot camp recruit and play
toy all rolled up into one. He's forced to do whatever a CO wants
him to, including sweeping the sun off of the sidewalk (I kid you
not) and if he rebels in any way, he will be handcuffed, smacked
around and put into a confinement cell for varying lengths of time.
Eventually he will be sent to a permanent institution where he must
remain for three to five years before he can attempt to get
transferred somewhere else. A transfer is usually sought because,
contrary to the FLDOC's written statement, most prisoners are housed
too far from their home for any of their family to visit, thus,
isolating our guy even further. Since a 15 minute phone call costs
our families close to $6.00, even phone contact is very limited as
most prisoners are of low income homes.
This guy gets no education, no job training, is taught no social
skills and gets no psychological treatment (unless he asks for it,
but even then, 30 or 40 minutes of limited counseling once a month
is far short of the hour long weekly sessions recommended by
psychiatric professionals for basic treatment, much less than
recommended for serious disorder treatment.) On top of all this,
our guy is subjected to constant verbal and psychological harassment
from officers who themselves, have little education, less
professionalism and lack the mentality to exercise absolute
authority over a class of men they despise. Unwarranted use of
physical force, chemical agents* (see: Prisoners Sue DOC for
Excessive Gassing
http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/fci/pepperspraysuit.html ) and the
malicious destruction of the little personal property one is
allowed* (see: a XANGA online journal: Inside the Slam, Lockdown,
Nov. 9, 2005 http://www.xanga.com/puddlejumpertwo ), all serve to
build within this hated being, a rage so intense that the many hours
of anything meaningful to occupy one's mind, are filled with hatred
and the fantasies of violent thoughts.
Now after 10, 15 or 25 years, this man is released back into the
real world. He usually has no place to live, no clothes to wear
(other then what he's wearing) and very little, if any, chance of
finding a job. He has no food, no toiletries, no transportation.
He is a social zero. The $100.00 the state gives him upon release,
doesn't last a minute in today's economy so now he has nothing but a
bad attitude and nothing to lose. Yes, there are groups and
services out there to help ex-felons, but they have their own uphill
battle that they lose more often then not. They are underfunded,
understaffed and there's really little they can do for a guy like
one I've just explained. No employer wants to hire him, no woman
wants to date him, no bank or company will give him credit; he is
the perfect example of "the system's" multi billion dollar failure.
So what does this failure now do? He steals your money because he
has none; he starts doing drugs to escape the truth of failure and
have a little "fun." He brutalizes, he robs, he rapes and he
kills. When he finally snaps, all the seething rage and hatred
directs itself at some innocent person he makes suffer for every
wrong done to him for so many years.
And whether they accept it or not, that innocent blood is on the
hands of every DOC employee who perpetuates any abuse of authority
toward prisoners and on every DOC employee who knows, whether
they've seen it or heard it, that abuse occurs and does nothing
about it. That blood is on the hands of every judge, prosecutor and
clerk who violates the statutes and procedures of the law, as well
as those who know it occurs and yet do nothing to stop it. That
blood is on the hands of every cop who beats a suspect, lies on the
witness stand and manipulates or plants evidence as well as every
cop who turns a blind eye and upholds the infamous "Blue Wall of
Silence." That blood is on the hands of every politician who allows
employers of these agencies, qualified immunity and makes it nearly
impossible to hold them accountable for their actions and when
they're caught, allows them to only give up their jobs and rarely
holds them criminally accountable. And lastly, sadly, that blood is
on the hands of society itself, whose apathy toward all things
within "the system" has allowed things to get so horribly out of
control that this system creates more crime, criminals and victims
than it deters, all in the name of power and the almighty dollar.
I challenge any honest, well intentional citizen who scoffs at the
idea of the abuses throughout "the system" to simply get a job in
any area and see for yourself. If you do, just go with the flow,
don't voice any moral or ethical objections or opinions and "the
system" will soon reveal itself.
Now, hopefully, you can see where I have been going with this
scenario. The scenario I described is not made up. I've used only
my own experiences and those of others I can personally verify, to
create the monster making scenario. I don't justify or condone any
crime committed by someone released from prison, I just wanted you
to see the roots of their failure.
Now however, I'm going to give you scenario #2. It will be shorter
I promise and is solely, a product of my imagination.
Our guy is the same one as before. He's been arrested by the police
and they use only the amount of force necessary to take the suspect
into custody. The officers dealing with him are professional,
polite and honorable. The arrest, and every interaction with any
officer are videotaped with fiber optic technology with a belt-
mounted receiver. Being taped means all rules and laws will have to
be meticulously obeyed. Which is a good thing, right?
During questioning, detectives are given any tool they need to
ascertain the truth. New brain pattern recognition technology is an
ideal crime fighting tool. Areas of the brain activate when a
suspect is lying, and another activates with actual memory
stimulation signaling truth. When faced with proof of their guilt,
most criminals confess. For those who don't, good solid police work
can be amazingly successful and his trial will determine innocence
or guilt. During all court proceedings, the law is applied equally
to the rich and to the poor by prosecutors who view their job not as
one to exact justice on criminals, but rather, as one to see justice
in its purest form for the public and for those facing the
consequences of violating the law. Judges would be in their
positions to interpret legal disputes and insure proper applications
of law. This system would have in place penalties that would disbar
and / or incarcerate any judge, prosecutor, defense attorney or
police officer who knowingly manipulated the law, rules or procedure
and remove others from the courtroom into lesser roles for making
mistakes due to a lack of due diligence.
Once our guy is sentenced, he is sent to prison and treated by all
staff in a professional unbiased manner, humanely and fairly. If he
has family wishing to be a part of his rehabilitation, he will be
housed as close as possible to them and his visits and phone calls
will be affordable and easily accessed.
Education, vocational and social training, will be mandatory in
order for him to complete his commitment. Psychological counseling
will be thorough and doctors will have the means to invoke judicial
review and continued hospitalization, similar to that in place with
the Jimmy Rice Act, for those deemed a continued threat to society.
Upon release, this man will have his civil rights restored and will
be placed in transitional housing (if it's needed.) Companies who
are given tax break incentives and are a part of the vocational
training within the system will allow this man to work, earn a
livelihood and offer health care (or contribute to a public health
care fund.) Other companies and banks would offer government
insured lines of credit for our guy's initial re-entry into society
for transportation, clothes, food and other necessities.
Within weeks of his release, this man will be a working, tax paying
productive member of society able to provide for himself and when he
is embraced by a community instead of ostracized, a family of his
own. A family that will be the best deterrent to keep him from
further crime.
That's my vision. A vision I know is possible given time, resources
and a large enough group of voting citizens demanding our
politicians do it. Which guy would you want walking in your
neighborhood? Obviously, it's scenario #2, so let's all do
something about it. Let's make as many ordinary people as possible,
aware of what's really happening and why it's in all of our best
interest to stop what's currently going on inside our criminal
justice system.
Once someone is shown what's going on, they are accountable for
their part. Either they choose to condone the current doings
within "the system" or they can choose to help change it. All it
takes for evil to prevail is for good men and women to do nothing
about it. So if someone says "screw the criminals, the system's
fine"; when they become a victim of a recidivist, they are as fault
as well.
I have to stop here, but I will get back to what's going on more
specifically in prisons, the courts, etc., next time. I hope this
makes as much sense to you as it does to me.
`Til Next Time ~
The Unforgiven
They dedicate their lives / To running all of his / He tries to
please them all / This bitter man he is / Throughout his life the
same / He's battled constantly / This fight he cannot win
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