Comments on: Torture in the USA http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/ In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:12:24 +0000 hourly 1 By: loosely twisted http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130479 loosely twisted Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:20:51 +0000 http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130479 The first thought that came to my mind when watching this clip, (beyond trying not to throw up), is Why am I getting important news like this from another COUNTRY?! That question alone, will give me nightmares for months now. I am finding it hard to articulate the disconnect that I feel from society around me. I feel like I am in some twisted Twilight Zone episode and it will end with me being carted away in handcuffs because I found out half of the inmates were innocent on trumped up charges to fuel the Industrial Prison Corporatocracy, and I went into rescue them with an AK-47 myself. Please tell me, I am not the only one who doesn't recognize my own country, and feel like I just soiled myself by admitting it? How long is it going to take before people stand up and say 'NO MORE?!' I am going to go crawl under my pillow now and pray I can sleep peacefully. HAHAHA like that's going to happen. LT. The first thought that came to my mind when watching this clip, (beyond trying not to throw up), is Why am I getting important news like this from another COUNTRY?!

That question alone, will give me nightmares for months now. I am finding it hard to articulate the disconnect that I feel from society around me.

I feel like I am in some twisted Twilight Zone episode and it will end with me being carted away in handcuffs because I found out half of the inmates were innocent on trumped up charges to fuel the Industrial Prison Corporatocracy, and I went into rescue them with an AK-47 myself.

Please tell me, I am not the only one who doesn’t recognize my own country, and feel like I just soiled myself by admitting it?

How long is it going to take before people stand up and say ‘NO MORE?!’

I am going to go crawl under my pillow now and pray I can sleep peacefully.

HAHAHA like that’s going to happen.

LT.

]]> By: Progressive Gold » Blog Archive » Remember The Bastille http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130464 Progressive Gold » Blog Archive » Remember The Bastille Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:42:42 +0000 http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130464 [...] Jill at Feministe: The prison guards stand over their captives with electric cattle prods, stun guns, and dogs. Many [...] [...] Jill at Feministe: The prison guards stand over their captives with electric cattle prods, stun guns, and dogs. Many [...]

]]> By: Cola Johnson http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130432 Cola Johnson Tue, 09 Oct 2007 06:51:41 +0000 http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130432 On a trip home to see my parents this summer, I saw some road workers out in the country. Having known many road workers personally, I automatically assumed that they were ODOT or what have you. I was mistaken. I'm reminded of the short story by Ursula K. Le Guin <em>SQ</em> from <em>The Compass Rose</em>... I'm sure there are better examples, but she paints a portrait of a world where more than half of the world's population is in rehabilitation centres, and the rest make their living inside the facilities that house them. There's something horribly wrong with all this. On a trip home to see my parents this summer, I saw some road workers out in the country. Having known many road workers personally, I automatically assumed that they were ODOT or what have you. I was mistaken.

I’m reminded of the short story by Ursula K. Le Guin SQ from The Compass Rose… I’m sure there are better examples, but she paints a portrait of a world where more than half of the world’s population is in rehabilitation centres, and the rest make their living inside the facilities that house them.

There’s something horribly wrong with all this.

]]> By: Dap http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130414 Dap Tue, 09 Oct 2007 03:18:21 +0000 http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130414 How do you get through law school without talking about prisoners? Seems impossible to this outsider. How do you get through law school without talking about prisoners? Seems impossible to this outsider.

]]> By: Torri http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130411 Torri Tue, 09 Oct 2007 02:37:47 +0000 http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130411 just last night I was watching the <a href="http://www.sheriffleefl.org/about/jaildetention/celldogs.aspx" rel="nofollow">cell dogs</a> program on animal planet and thinking how great it is. Then you see this and see the nasty underbelly is routinely covered up. just last night I was watching the cell dogs program on animal planet and thinking how great it is.
Then you see this and see the nasty underbelly is routinely covered up.

]]> By: Torture in American prisons « Vox ex Machina http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130356 Torture in American prisons « Vox ex Machina Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:30:01 +0000 http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130356 [...] by Vox on October 8th, 2007 Via Feministe. The video is pretty graphic and may potentially be [...] [...] by Vox on October 8th, 2007 Via Feministe. The video is pretty graphic and may potentially be [...]

]]> By: Mercurial Georgia http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130355 Mercurial Georgia Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:15:59 +0000 http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130355 When I was in high school law class (Toronto, Canada), I scoffed at the 'healing circle' chapter, but now, I think, there is a place for them. People who commit violent crimes to control, oppress, destroy, others, need to be separated from society (though still treated humanely for the souls of their captor's sake). People who committed non-violent crimes really shouldn't be locked up at all. When I was in high school law class (Toronto, Canada), I scoffed at the ‘healing circle’ chapter, but now, I think, there is a place for them. People who commit violent crimes to control, oppress, destroy, others, need to be separated from society (though still treated humanely for the souls of their captor’s sake). People who committed non-violent crimes really shouldn’t be locked up at all.

]]> By: Prison Torture Within U.S. Borders « Our Descent Into Madness http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130350 Prison Torture Within U.S. Borders « Our Descent Into Madness Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:01:43 +0000 http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130350 [...] one enlightening but completely hearth-wrenching, peace-shattering post today- or this week, even- make it this one. So you know what you’re in for; this description of an event which was recently caught on [...] [...] one enlightening but completely hearth-wrenching, peace-shattering post today- or this week, even- make it this one. So you know what you’re in for; this description of an event which was recently caught on [...]

]]> By: peter http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130330 peter Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:18:45 +0000 http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130330 I spent 23 years as a criminal defense attorney in the U.S.. In that time I saw incarceration rates per capita triple. It is a mystery to me why a core government function like maintaining a prison system is being outsourced (rather like outsourcing military functionns to Blackwater). If the state cannot afford to build and maintain a prison system sufficient for its' rate of imprisonment then it nedds to examine its' criminal code to reduce the rate of imprisonment. Likewise, prisons must never be places off degradation, humiliation and fear. When a human is subjected to these factors and then later returns to society they are more twisted than ever. If the government fells it must cage a human being and restrict that human's ability to either defend himself from attack or flee then thhe government hhas a duty to provide a safe and secure environment. It is immoral to use the the threat of rape and murder as part and parcel of thhe prison system. I dealt with many police officers and prosecutors who saw the inevitability of prison rape as part of the punishmnent my clients deserved. Sorry to go off like this but you really hit a nerve with this article. It is a critical moral question for society which nobody is discussing. A civil society can be judged by how it treats prisoners. I spent 23 years as a criminal defense attorney in the U.S.. In that time I saw incarceration rates per capita triple.

It is a mystery to me why a core government function like maintaining a prison system is being outsourced (rather like outsourcing military functionns to Blackwater). If the state cannot afford to build and maintain a prison system sufficient for its’ rate of imprisonment then it nedds to examine its’ criminal code to reduce the rate of imprisonment.

Likewise, prisons must never be places off degradation, humiliation and fear. When a human is subjected to these factors and then later returns to society they are more twisted than ever. If the government fells it must cage a human being and restrict that human’s ability to either defend himself from attack or flee then thhe government hhas a duty to provide a safe and secure environment. It is immoral to use the the threat of rape and murder as part and parcel of thhe prison system. I dealt with many police officers and prosecutors who saw the inevitability of prison rape as part of the punishmnent my clients deserved.

Sorry to go off like this but you really hit a nerve with this article. It is a critical moral question for society which nobody is discussing. A civil society can be judged by how it treats prisoners.

]]> By: Mnemosyne http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130327 Mnemosyne Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:09:47 +0000 http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/08/torture-in-the-usa/#comment-130327 <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2005/LAW/01/16/graner.court.martial/index.html" rel="nofollow">Charles Graner</a> was a corrections officer in civilian life, which is one of the reasons he was assigned to Abu Ghraib. He freely admitted that he used the same techniques on the prisoners at Abu Ghraib that he did on the prisoners he supervised in the US. And yet somehow that whole aspect of it was swept under the rug, because no one dares mention in our "law and order" society that maybe treating prisoners like animals isn't exactly the best way to make them fit to return to society when their sentence has been served. Charles Graner was a corrections officer in civilian life, which is one of the reasons he was assigned to Abu Ghraib. He freely admitted that he used the same techniques on the prisoners at Abu Ghraib that he did on the prisoners he supervised in the US. And yet somehow that whole aspect of it was swept under the rug, because no one dares mention in our “law and order” society that maybe treating prisoners like animals isn’t exactly the best way to make them fit to return to society when their sentence has been served.

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