The Last Disenfranchised Class

[Iron Star]

The Last Disenfranchised Class
by Rebecca Perl

It was 1986, and Jan Warren knew she had to do something to change her life. She wanted to get home to California where her father had just died and left her a produce business. But Warren, 35, was stuck on the East Coast with no money, in a dead-end relationship and pregnant. Desperate, she made a mistake: She agreed to sell cocaine for her cousin. It was the only time Warren had ever sold drugs, and it turned out to be a police sting.

Under strict New York drug laws, Warren was given fifteen years to life. And one sunny Memorial Day in the prison yard, Warren suddenly understood that serving time in prison was going to cost her more than her physical freedom. "I knew people who had died in the wars. I thought of them on Memorial Day--that's what you were supposed to do," said Warren, now 52. "But on that holiday, I realized that something was missing. It was the American flag. It was gone. I couldn't see it. And that should have been my first clue. If you saw the flag you might think of yourself as a citizen with certain inalienable rights, and the truth is, that's wrong."

http://thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20031124&s=perl

One of my cousins was recently convicted for 'cultivation' of marijuana (he was transporting a few cannabis plants to a friends house at night when a cop pulled him over for accidently running a red light) and was sentenced to three years in prison. :angry:

[Marxist in Nebraska]

Prisoners... I would agree with the title of the article. More than not having the right to vote, prisoners are often subjected to what amount to sweatshop working conditions. They are forced to work, for next to no money. It is such a great racket that now we have corporations pushing "privatized prisons"--a great money-making enterprise (which means severely parasitic and exploitative--would capitalism have it any other way?).

[Iepilei]

I often find it disgraceful that many prisoners live in conditions people would kill for on the outside.

I'm sorry, kids, but I don't believe living in a 10x8 cell with crappy food, cable television, penthouse magazines, and conjugal visits is "inhumane." Hell, I don't even consider it much of a punishment. I believe prison labour is a good idea to offset the cost of housing these criminals. I have little to no mercy for murders, rapists, thieves, or the like. I believe there should be a way out for those who are intent on following it - but it should be so narrow that the slightest slip will cause one to fall.

Sure people should be allowed access to fresh water and food. I believe these people should be taken care of as they are in the possession of the state, but I don't believe giving them ample living conditions and forcing the people they've attacked to pay for it is justice! The death penalty is weak, and acts as nothing more than a euthanasia for the criminal mind. People should PAY for their injustice to society by contributing back to it. Why should we have to pay these people at all? They've got what they need as far as food and shelter go. What would they use the money for in prison?

Drugs? Yes, what a completely kosher rehabilitation method. Bottom line, we've got to stop making it seem as if these criminals deserve a golden cup because they grew up in harsh conditions are had abnormal amounts of B-Vitamins when they were a kid. They fucked up, and as such they should pay. Granted there are extreme exceptions, but those can be hashed out quickly and painlessly. A person with a tumor the size of satellite dish may have grounds for understanding in a murder trial. But competent individuals have the ability to recognise good from bad, and straight up they chose the evil route.

And I'm not talking political prisoners, minor drug offenders, and the likes. I believe these people are imprisoned injustly by a method of stupid laws which do nothing more than increase prison input. Each case should decide it's own fate, really. And I certainly don't believe marijuana offenses should be considered an "OFFENSE" at all. It's as relatively harmless as nicotine and alcohol so let the pot-heads light up and be content with their lives. Meanwhile, throw the PCP and Heroine junkies in their own branch of a prison system so they can work to clean themselves up.

[redstar2000]

I often find it disgraceful that many prisoners live in conditions people would kill for on the outside.

I'm sorry, kids, but I don't believe living in a 10x8 cell with crappy food, cable television, penthouse magazines, and conjugal visits is "inhumane." Hell, I don't even consider it much of a punishment. I believe prison labour is a good idea to offset the cost of housing these criminals.

America now has more than two million people in prisons and jails, more people than are in our mercenary armed forces and almost as many as work for minimum-wages at Wal-Mart (the largest American employer).

I have read that spending any significant time in prison subtracts 20 years from your life expectancy...it is far and away the best predictor of pre-mature death.

I have also read that it is possible that the number of prison rapes and gang/rapes actually exceed the number of such crimes on the outside.

Prison labor is, of course, slave labor and it's no surprise that private prisons "buy" and "sell" inmates as their bottom lines dictate. As an extraordinarily high percentage of inmates are people of color, one can only wonder when the auction sites on the net will be established..."For Sale or Lease: 100 strong, healthy field-hands, terms available".

Prison medical care is now also contracted out to private companies...which have an obvious financial incentive to provide as little care as possible. As the inmate population ages (due to ever-increasing length of sentences), they will die sooner...much sooner. And some of them will die in great pain.

The outrageous injustice of all anti-drug laws must weigh particularly heavy on those who see their lives wasting away...for nothing. They did not kill or rape or even steal; they only tried to get a small amount of pleasure or make a living selling someone else a bit of pleasure.

I predict that future historians of communist societies will look back and paint America's gulags in the same colors as they'll use for Russia's and Germany's. And American drug laws will be mentioned in the same paragraph that describes the Nazi Nuremberg laws of 1935.

It's really all the same, isn't it?

http://anarchist-action.org/forums/images/smiles/redstar.gif

The RedStar2000 Papers (http://www.anarchist-action.org/marxists/redstar2000/)
A site about communist ideas

[canikickit]

America now has more than two million people in prisons and jails, more people than are in our mercenary armed forces and almost as many as work for minimum-wages at Wal-Mart (the largest American employer).

Redstar, I've heard it said that if the US' prison population continues to grow exponentially, by 2050 (or thereabouts) the incarcerated population will exceed the population outside of prison.
Do you have links to the current population, or do you feel this hypothesis (?) is realistic?

[redstar2000]

Well, what's been happening in a number of states is that the prison population has grown so much that the states can't afford to build prisons fast enough. So, like it or not, they are compelled to release quite a few "non-violent offenders" on "early parole".

The Federal Government is under no such restraint, of course...and can theoretically keep building additional prisons indefinitely.

Most prisoners are relatively young, of course...and, as the proportion of young people in the population continues to slowly decline, it's thought that the growth in inmate population will plateau at some level not too much higher than now.

But, of course, that doesn't take into account other factors: the growing number of illegal immigrants (mostly young males), the passage of yet more draconian legislation, the appointment of an ever-larger number of "hanging judges", etc.

So I suspect that even "exponential" growth has its limits. If it is true that 30 million Americans use marijuana on a regular basis, I don't see how they can imprison 30 million people.

But I expect them to try.

http://anarchist-action.org/forums/images/smiles/redstar.gif

The RedStar2000 Papers (http://www.anarchist-action.org/marxists/redstar2000/)
A site about communist ideas

[Marxist in Nebraska]

Originally posted by redstar2000+Nov 7 2003, 07:55 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (redstar2000 @ Nov 7 2003, 07:55 PM) I have read that spending any significant time in prison subtracts 20 years from your life expectancy...it is far and away the best predictor of pre-mature death.

I have also read that it is possible that the number of prison rapes and gang/rapes actually exceed the number of such crimes on the outside.

Prison medical care is now also contracted out to private companies...which have an obvious financial incentive to provide as little care as possible. As the inmate population ages (due to ever-increasing length of sentences), they will die sooner...much sooner. And some of them will die in great pain. [/b]
Outrageous statistics... thanks for those, rs2k...

I have to disagree with the rosy picture of prison life painted by Iepilei. Just read rs2k&#39;s posts--he does a great job of showing how torturous prison life really is.


redstar200]Prison labor [email protected] of course, slave labor and it&#39;s no surprise that private prisons "buy" and "sell" inmates as their bottom lines dictate.[/b]

Right. How can any leftist support the prison system, or make any excuses for it when it is an institution of slave labor?