| | | Page 1, 2, 3 | America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World.
| The Rain is Ours
User ID: 696131 (OP)
 United States
7/4/2009 5:56 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
Colorado Water laws prohibit the use of rain barrels or any methods to catch rain for use. They claim the rain has already been legally allocated to the state and individual may not capture and use water to which he/she does not have a right. |
| Yes Master
User ID: 696131 (OP)
United States
7/4/2009 5:57 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
Illinois
A state law requires that a man's female companion shall call him "master" while out on a date. The law does not apply to married couples. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 718214
 France
7/4/2009 5:58 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
Nice you're discovering it !
at the end... |
| Check your State
User ID: 696131 (OP)
United States
7/4/2009 6:01 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
Alabama
State code allows only 5 minutes for one to vote. Source: Section 17-9-13 of Alabama Code Link
California
In Los Angeles, It is not legal to bathe two babies at the same time in the same tub.
In Riverside, Kissing on the lips, unless both parties wipe their lips with carbonized rose water, is against the local health ordinance.
In Walnut, No person shall wear a mask or disguise on a public street without a permit from the sheriff. Source: 17-32 Mask or disguise--Wearing.
In Walnut, It shall be unlawful for any person to fly, above an altitude of ten feet above the ground, or near any electrical conductive public utility wires or facilities, any kite or balloon which has a body or any parts, tail, string or ribbon Source: 17-1 Kite flying restricted
Colorado
Colorado Water laws prohibit the use of rain barrels or any methods to catch rain for use. They claim the rain has already been legally allocated to the state and individual may not capture and use water to which he/she does not have a right. Link
Illinois
A state law requires that a man's female companion shall call him "master" while out on a date. The law does not apply to married couples.
In Zion, It is illegal for anyone to give cats, dogs, or other domesticated animals a lighted cigar.
Indiana
In Indianapolis, No horse shall be driven or ridden on any street in the city at a speed in excess of ten (10) miles per hour. Source: Code 1975, § 29-5 Link
Iowa
In Ottumwa, It is illegal for any man, within the corporate city limits, to wink at any female with whom he is "unacquainted."
Kansas
In Topeka, Servers are forbidden to serve wine in teacups.
Kentucky
A female shall not appear in a bathing suit on any highway within this state. section 1376m-1, 1376m-2 Repealed: January 1, 1975
Louisiana
In New Orleans, Fire Code outlaws the cursing of firefighters while they are in the performance of thier duties. Source: Sec. 74-2 Link
Maryland
In Baltimore, It is illegal to take a lion to the movies.
Minnesota
Many municipalities in Minnesota (including Anoka County) still have a Vagrancy law on the books that makes it misdemeanor for a person, with ability to work, who is without lawful means of support, and does not seek employment, and is not under 18 years of age. Link
Mississippi
A state law prohibits the seduction of a female over the age of eighteen by promised or pretended marriage. Source: § 97-29-55. Codes, 1892, § 1298;
Nebraska
It is not legal for a tavern owner to serve beer unless a nice kettle of soup is also brewing.
Nevada
In Reno, It is unlawful for any person to carry on, conduct or maintain any marathon dancing or marathon walking Source: Code 1966, § 11.12.130
New Jersey
In Bergen County, Blue laws still in effect. The only retail outlets permitted to be open on Sundays are grocery stores and liquor stores. Link
New York
It is against the law to throw a ball at someone's head for fun.
A license must be purchased before hanging clothes on a clothesline.
A fine of $25 can be levied for flirting. This old law specifically prohibits men from turning around on any city street and looking "at a woman in that way." A second conviction for a crime of this magnitude calls for the violating male to be forced to wear a "pair of horse-blinders" wherever and whenever he goes outside for a stroll.
In Carmel, A man cannot be seen in public while wearing a jacket and pants that do not match.
In Greene, During a concert, it is illegal to eat peanuts and walk backwards on the sidewalks.
In Ocean City, It is illegal to eat in the street in residential neighborhoods, and the only beverage you can drink on the beach is water in a clear plastic bottle.
In Ocean City, It is illegal for men to go topless in the center of town.
In Staten Island, You may only water your lawn if the hose is held in your hand.
In Staten Island, It is illegal for a father to call his son a "faggot" or "queer" in an effort to curb "girlie behavior."
New York City
You may not smoke within 100 feet of the entrance to a public building.
Women may go topless in public, providing it is not being used as a business.
It is illegal to have permit dancing in an establishment that sells food without a cabaret license. Link
It is illegal for a woman to be on the street wearing "body hugging clothing."
Citizens may not greet each other by "putting one's thumb to the nose and wiggling the fingers".
North Carolina
It is illegal to hold more than two sessions of bingo per week, and those sessions may not exceed 5 hours each session. Source: § 14-309.8. Link
Ohio
In Oxford, It is unlawful for a woman to appear in public while unshaven. This includes legs and face.
In Youngstown, You may not run out of gas. Source: Youngstown City Ordinances, Section 331.44 Link
Tennessee
It is unlawful for any person to import, possess, or cause to be imported into this state any type of live skunk, or to sell, barter, exchange or otherwise transfer any live skunk, except that the prohibitions of this section shall not apply to bona fide zoological parks and research institutions. Source: 70-4-208. Unlawful importation of skunks - Penalty.
You must beleive in god to be elected into office. You also are not permitted into office if you were in contendant in a duel. Source: Tennessee Constitution - Article IX Link
West Virginia
If any person arrived at the age of discretion profanely curse or swear or get drunk in public, he shall be fined by a justice one dollar for each offense Source: §61-8-15. Profane swearing and drunkenness; penalty.
It is illegal to taunt someone for not accepting a challenge for a duel. Actual: If any person post another, or in writing or in print use any reproachful or contemptuous language to or concerning another, for not fighting a duel, or for not sending or accepting a challenge, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not more than six months, or fined not exceeding one hundred dollars. Source: §61-2-24. Taunting for nonparticipation in duel; penalty.
State code deems it unlawful for any person to have in his possession or to display any red or black flag. Source: West Virginia Code 61-1-6 Link
Wisconsin
The serving of colored oleomargarine or margarine at a public eating place as a substitute for table butter is prohibited unless it is ordered by the customer. Source: 97.18(4)
In Sun Prairie, No rider of a bicycle shall remove both hands from the handlebars or practice any trick or fancy riding in any street in the city nor shall any bicycle rider carry or ride any other person so that two persons are on the bicycle at one time, unless a seat is provided for a second person. Source: Section 10.32.020 Manner of operation restricted.
In Wauwatosa, No person shall spit... upon the floor or stairways of any public hall or building or upon the floor ...or upon any sidewalk abutting on any public street or alley of said city.
[link to tjshome.com] |
| G. House
User ID: 718219
United States
7/4/2009 6:02 PM
 | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate, and total documented prison population in the world.
As of year-end 2007, a record 7.2 million people were behind bars, on probation or on parole.
Of the total, 2.3 million were incarcerated.
More than 1 in 100 American adults were incarcerated at the start of 2008.
The People's Republic of China ranks second with 1.5 million, while having four times the population, thus having only about 18% per the US incarceration rate. Quoting: Land of the Jailed 696131
The People's Republic of China?
What a GREAT example!
Life for most in that country is pretty close to being in prison.
So you see their brilliance?
You make the whole friggen country a prison. |
| Born Yesterday
User ID: 696131 (OP)
United States
7/4/2009 6:04 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
Nice you're discovering it !
at the end... Quoting: Anonymous Coward 718214
Better late than never??? |
| One World Prison
User ID: 696131 (OP)
United States
7/4/2009 6:09 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
You make the whole friggen country a prison. Quoting: G. House
Why stop there?
One world order = One world prison
Complete with our New Universal Trackable Identification Chips that can administer pain via satelite.
Oh the Joy! |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 716167
United States
7/4/2009 6:31 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
We have the highest incarceration rate because they make it so easy on prisoners. Face it, some people don't have any ambition,are on drugs, just don't give a shit, so it's easy to have the govt. take care of them in prison. Give em a coke and a smoke and they're happy to spend the rest of their lives as a guest of the U.S. taxpayer. |
| Prison is Torture
User ID: 696131 (OP)
United States
7/4/2009 6:42 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
We have the highest incarceration rate because they make it so easy on prisoners. Face it, some people don't have any ambition,are on drugs, just don't give a shit, so it's easy to have the govt. take care of them in prison. Give em a coke and a smoke and they're happy to spend the rest of their lives as a guest of the U.S. taxpayer. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 716167
They don't allow smoking in prison, nor do they serve soda pop, that I am aware of.
I have never heard of or met any of these "Happy" prisoners you speak of. Do you know any personally? My guess is that most of them would rather not be in Jail.
The law creates criminals.
Without the law there would be no crime, or criminals. |
| But Wait, There's More
User ID: 696131 (OP)
United States
7/4/2009 6:47 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
[link to www.bored.com]
Oregon
Beaverton:
You must buy a $10 permit to be allowed to install a burglar alarm.
• Canned corn is not to be used as bait for fishing.
• Dishes must drip dry.
Eugene:
It is illegal to show movies or attend a car race on Sundays. It is legal to conduct a horse race or a symphony concert.
Hood River:
Juggling is strictly prohibited without a license.
• In Oregon anyone with a bad reputation is prohibited from distributing malt beverages.
Salem:
it's illegal for patrons of establishments that feature nude dancing to be within two feet of the dancers.
Willowdale:
no man may curse while having sex with his wife.
• It is against the law for animals to have sex in the city limits.
• It is illegal to buy or sell marijuana, but it is legal to smoke it on your own property.
• It is illegal to whisper "dirty" things in your lover's ear during sex.
• It's against the law for a wedding ceremony to be performed at a skating rink.
• It's against the law in Willowdale, Oregon, for a husband to curse during sex.
Portland:
saying that it is illegal to own bolt cutters but yet they sell them in all the local hardware stores. One of our friends got pulled over for carrying a bolt cutter down the street and the police took it away from him saying it was illegal for him to have. (Reader Submitted)
Klamath Falls:
It's illegal to walk down a sidewalk and knock a snakes head off with your cane.
Marion:
Ministers are forbidden from eating garlic or onions before delivering a sermon.
• Ministers are forbidden from eating garlic or onions before delivering a sermon.
Myrtle Creek:
One may not box with a kangaroo.
• No more than two people may share a single drink.
• One may not bathe without wearing "suitable clothing," i.e., that which covers one's body from neck to knee.
• One may not box with a kangaroo.
• People may not whistle underwater.
• Portland: It's against the law for a wedding ceremony to be performed at a skating rink. People may not whistle underwater. You cannot wear roller skates in restrooms.
Salem:
Women may not wrestle in Salem. Springfield It is illegal to own a reptile within the city limits, unless you are a school or city, as a pet.
Stanfield:
It is against the law for animals to have sex in the city limits. Cloth towel dispensers are banned from restrooms. No more than two people may share a single drink.
• The "Peer Review Statute" prohibits you from finding out details of any written or oral discussion about your medical treatment. Not even a court of law can. All you can access is what the doctor or nurse voluntarily records in your chart.
• You may not pump your own gas in service stations.
• You must let your dishes drip dry. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 683425
United States
7/4/2009 6:52 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
so funny!! |
| LURKING
User ID: 656081
United States
7/4/2009 6:55 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
Mississippi
A state law prohibits the seduction of a female over the age of eighteen by promised or pretended marriage. Source: § 97-29-55. Codes, 1892, § 1298; Quoting: Check your State 696131
It's also illegal to turn a team of horses around on State Street. (Downtown Jackson)
"The Truth is so valuable that it must be protected with a bodyguard of lies"
Winston Churchill
Punted from GLP for the last time by unresponsive mods. Have gone to greener pastures where there is more professionalism. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 717656
United States
7/4/2009 6:56 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
Yes, of course...it's called "free market capatializm"
- VERY profitable, and now a significant part of
local economies all over the US...sad but true.
Why would investors want to see fewer prisons and
prisoners...that would equate to LESS PROFIT!
That is a bad thing! |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 642285
United States
7/4/2009 6:59 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
If you're poor or black or hispanic or all three - your chances of going to prison in America are some 25 times higher than any other country in the world.
Prison is BIG BUSINESS HERE. Some is making over sixty thousand dollars per year to keep one inmate in prison in California. Hell, if you gave the convict the sixty k per year, his need to commit criminal acts would probably be eliminated for good. Hell, you could even tax it, too! But no! They'd rather spend it punishing someone! What Bullshit! |
| chitahuri
User ID: 624792
United States
7/4/2009 7:00 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
LET FREEDOM RING.. from the ding of the metal of a prison cell
Last Edited by genes of Isis on 7/4/2009 at 7:01 PM
"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."
— George Orwell |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 718002
 Canada
7/4/2009 7:04 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
For a second I thought the title of this thread was "America Has the Highest Reincarnation Rate in the World". That would be really interesting if true! |
| Prison = Is Porn
User ID: 696131 (OP)
United States
7/4/2009 7:25 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
Anagrams for Incarceration:
Cocain Terrain
Into Cancer Air |
| Anagrams
User ID: 696131 (OP)
United States
7/4/2009 7:52 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
Anagrams for Incarceration:
Cocain Terrain
Into Cancer Air Quoting: Prison = Is Porn 696131
Independence Day = End In Decayed Pen
Fourth of July = Jury of Hot Flu |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 679335
United States
7/4/2009 7:56 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
How free can we really be, if we have the highest incarceration rate in the world? Quoting: Seriously 696131
How can we be free with 1000s and 1000s of laws on the book? Each law is an elimination of a freedom.
How can some people still harbor the delusion of living in a free country? |
| Mind Control
User ID: 696131 (OP)
United States
7/4/2009 8:14 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
Each law is an elimination of a freedom.
How can some people still harbor the delusion of living in a free country? Quoting: Anonymous Coward 679335
Why does the caged bird sing? |
| Wraithwynd
User ID: 717743
United States
7/4/2009 8:20 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
The US has the most charges to throw at people, we have succeeded making crimes out of a lot of stuff that other countries do not see as 'crime'.
Our revolving door policy has much to do with the lack of rehabilitation, for most other nations an ex-con is just and ex-con. Here in the States it is the public's duty to continue to punish the ex-con by denying them work, denying them opportunities to educate them self, seek training, etc.
We the People (Yeah you) contribute to the problem by not insisting that your local county/state come up with programs like halfway houses. Further if a halfway house is proposed everyone screams 'Not in My backyard!' thus there is a huge gap between the needs and the ability to meet these needs.
the US also has the highest sentences for most crimes as well, thus we keep our prisoners in longer, leading to higher population of prisoners.
BTW the way it is going with law makers making more laws, sooner or later you will break a law and become a criminal.
Criminals have no rights, if everyone is an ex-con then we don't have to dispose of gun rights, right to vote and other things that are stripped from felons.
Think on that, then wonder why the US is criminalizing more and more things. |
| Criminalization
User ID: 696131 (OP)
United States
7/4/2009 8:34 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
Criminals have no rights, if everyone is an ex-con then we don't have to dispose of gun rights, right to vote and other things that are stripped from felons.
Think on that, then wonder why the US is criminalizing more and more things. Quoting: Wraithwynd
We are all members of the F.F.A.
Future Felons of America |
| Prisonbound
User ID: 696131 (OP)
United States
7/4/2009 8:50 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
Future Felons of America Quoting: Criminalization 696131
Welcome to Future Felons of America
I wrote this as the introduction to Clive Sharp's book How to Survive Federal Prison Camp (Loompanics, 1997). This is its first appearance outside the book.
Welcome to FFA. No, not Future Farmers of America, that pleasant little relic of the days when America was the land of the free.
I'm talking about Future Felons of America, the club to which millions of us now belong. Our membership is growing by leaps, bounds and midnight kicks on our doors. You may not want to be part of this contemporary American FFA. (Who in their right mind would?) But it's best to face facts; in a country where would-be rulers, elected and unelected, are desperate to regulate every activity, we are all law breakers or soon to become so.
You and I, friends, are likely to end up in prison.
Worse, we're increasingly likely to end up in the custody of the federal prison system. Activities that were once the business of the states-or nobody's business but your own-are being taken over by control freaks in Washington, DC whose favorite masturbatory fantasy is that they can micro-manage every human activity 24 hours a day and punish everyone who deviates from their desires. That means your chances of going to federal prison-or a federal prison camp like the ones described in this book-are getting "better" every day.
Here are just a few of the "crimes" that can already land you in the federal system:
Taking one prescription pill out of its drugstore bottle and carrying it around in a different container. (Just think of all those dangerous, blue-haired old lady felons lurking in your neighborhood with pills stashed in daily-dose containers from their local Wal-Mart!)
Making a mistake on an Environmental Protection Agency reporting form-even if everyone agrees it was just a mistake and that no pollution was involved.
Driving past a school with an otherwise perfectly legal gun in your car-even driving a block away from a school you didn't know was there!
Manufacturing or selling a container that someone might use to store illegal drugs. (Kinda makes you wonder why Wal-Mart doesn't get busted for selling "drug paraphernalia" to those blue-haired ladies, doesn't it?)
Digging dinosaur bones if you're not a university professor or government employee.
Putting a picture of a naked lady on a wine bottle label (unless an ATF agent decides it's "art," which automatically makes it okay).
Sitting in the car while an acquaintance goes into a house to do a drug deal.
This last one comes under the heading of "conspiracy." And conspiracy is one of a raft of ill-defined "crimes" the feds are using as a catch-all for anyone they want to bag. In addition to "conspiring" by doing nothing, you might be accused of "violating someone's civil rights" by punching him in the nose or "participating in organized criminal activity" just for talking about the wrong subject or being in the wrong place with the wrong people.
What organized criminal activity does this latter charge refer to? Don't ask. If the government had an actual crime-like murder or robbery-to charge you with, believe me, they would. "Participating in organized criminal activity" simply means you've gotten together with your buddies and done something a bureaucrat doesn't like.
The feds can always find you guilty of something. If they want to.
The Real Reason for All Those Laws
And that's the rub. If they want to. Because these laws, of course, aren't designed to stop evildoers at all. They're designed to allow selective control of people who make waves, deviate from convention, own independent businesses, criticize unjust authority, and otherwise insist on living their lives as they see fit. Or they're designed to let enforcers arrest a lot of people so they can brag about their successes in "fighting crime"-and so they can confiscate valuable private property under the hundreds of new and existing civil forfeiture laws.
No one really seems to know how many federal laws and regulations we're living under today, but five million pages is the most reliable number I've heard. (Eleven million pages of combined state and federal legis-regulation.) The silly federal "crimes" above don't even begin to scratch the surface of the pointless, harmless things you can be sent to prison for.
And the control freaks are cranking out new crimes out at the rate of 200 pages a day!
Two hundred pages a day. Now, obviously, all the violent, nasty, fraudulent stuff was made illegal a hundred or more years ago. Protections against murder, armed robbery, fraud, rape and such are basics and were taken care of by the people and the states long before any of us were born. Even new technology and changing times haven't really brought about the need for defining new crimes. Theft by computer is still theft and is covered by laws made long, long ago. Rape by battery-operated dildo is still rape. Homicide by genetically engineered toxin is still homicide.
Even when you consider truly new things some government might need to deal with (like, maybe, disposal of nuclear wastes), there simply can't be any legitimate reason for the volume of legis-regulation spewing out of Washington DC and the state capitols today.
Ayn Rand said it best in her novel, Atlas Shrugged: "There is no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws."
And that's the way it is in America today. And getting worse.
Don't Expect Justice
I know it's considered silly and naïve these days to mention the U.S. Constitution. As Douglas Wilder, a recent governor of Virginia, said, "I don't care what those men wrote 200 years ago." And as Bill Clinton famously added, the founders of this country were too radical and the government now has to move to limit freedom. Maybe you don't care about the Constitution, either. You, as a private individual, don't have to. It wasn't written to tell you what you can or can't do.
However, that beleaguered old document is still the supreme law of the land, which every government agent has pledged to obey. And nowhere does the Constitution give the federal government any authority over crimes, other than counterfeiting, treason, and unspecified crimes that occur outside the territory of the states. Since it's quite clear from Amendments 9 and 10 that the federal government has only those powers specifically delegated to it by the Constitution, the hundreds of thousands of federal laws on the books and the thousands of new pages being passed by Congress and their regulatory co-conspirators every year are illegal as hell. Just about every one of them.
Isn't that interesting? Every time some marshal, DEA agent, ATF agent or other masked, black-clad fedgoon arrests you for a federal "crime," he really ought to be arrested himself!
But, of course, that isn't going to happen. Because all that matters today is power, not justice, not fundamental principles of law. The Congresscreature who makes tyrannical laws is never going to be forced to pay for its crimes. The judge who enforces bad laws and lies to juries about their rights is never going to pay for the destruction she wreaks upon people. The fedgoon is never, never, never going to be called to account for his rampages. (Remember that Deputy U.S. Marshal Larry Cooper got a reward for shooting Sammy Weaver in the back, Lon Horiuchi was slipped into the Witness Protection Program as a reward for murdering Sammy's mother, and not a single agent has paid for the mass murder of the Branch Davidians. Besides which, damnit all, no president of the United States has gone to prison yet.)
The president of Wal-Mart isn't going to get busted for selling plastic pill boxes to the blue hairs, either. And it's not because Wal-Mart, that quite likable store, is merely pursuing peaceful, legitimate business activity for which no one in a free society could ever be busted. Remember, that doesn't matter any more. What matters to the feds is that Wal-Mart is rich, powerful and politically connected. It knows how to play the government game. It pays its "regulatory fees," its "permits" and its other forms of tribute (legal bribery) to the powers-that-be. It goes along to get along. Its executives hobnob with politicians and no doubt "donate" $10,000 per plate for rubber chicken at political fundraisers in order to be allowed to survive in a burgeoning police state.
But a poor immigrant can-and did-go to federal prison for making bottles someone might have been able to use to store crack cocaine, even though he had no knowledge of, or connection with, such use. He didn't have connections. He didn't grease the palms of the right government bureaucrats. So he was fair game for goons and their pet judges.
Modern America is divided into those who are above the law, those who manage to squeak their way around the law-and those who can, at any moment, be crushed by the law. Like you and me.
Don't expect fairness. Don't expect justice. Just grit your teeth, strengthen your gut and get ready to survive when it happens to you. If you're lucky, if you're really lucky, you'll end up in a mere prison camp instead of a hard-core prison, and your mental and physical survival job will be a little easier.
Listen to Those Who've Been There
I haven't been in federal prison. Nor any prison. I've never even spent a night in the county jail. Heck, I haven't even had a speeding ticket in 10 years! (Though I did get that on the Interstate. Hmmm, I wonder why Congress hasn't thought of making speeding on the Interstate a federal felony-yet?)[Note 1] I am your stereotypical law-abiding citizen-or would be if such a thing were possible in America today.
So why should you listen to me when it comes to surviving federal prison camp? One answer is: you shouldn't. You shouldn't listen to anybody. Any-one-body, that is. To prepare yourself, you should find out as much as possible from as many different sources as possible. Listen to Clive Sharp, who wrote this book and offers his prison-survival advice in a cool, "just the facts, M'am," manner. Listen to Donald B. Parker, whose words appear after mine and again at the end of this book; he speaks from three-time voice of experience.
Listen to Dr. Reinhold Aman, in his book Hillary Clinton's Pen Pal, who turns his federal-prison bitterness into some of the sharpest-humored words ever written about incarceration. Listen to G. Gordon Liddy (Will). Listen to Jim Hogshire, whose book, You Are Going to Prison explains with gut & grit how to survive most any prison experience. Read Norma Jean Almodovar's harrowing, saucy and brave Cop to Callgirl, which details her experiences in the Los Angeles Jail and the California prison system. Read and learn to prepare for your own future, in whatever prison system you may end up.
Though I haven't been in prison myself, friends and acquaintances have. They got there mostly because they talked to the wrong people about the wrong subjects (political ones) at the wrong time.
Some got conned by federal informants, posing as friends, into violating rules and regulations.
Some of them got there as casualties in the War Against (Some) Drugs.
A few got there because they wouldn't yield on principles-a fatally unfashionable thing to do, these days.
As I admitted, I'm a Goody Two-Shoes at heart; I don't hang out with lowlifes. These are terrific people I'm talking about here. Smart, hard-working individuals with creative hearts, strong principles and independent streaks a mile wide. Exactly the kind of people a sensible government would respect and leave alone. Exactly the kind of people who build strong communities and strong nations. But because they've refused to bow to the obsessive wishes of control freaks, they've been ripped from their jobs, families and lives.
I'm talking about a Ph.D microbiologist, yanked out of his research lab and pitched into a camp for years, where he gets to do nothing more productive than wash dirty laundry.
I'm talking about a good mother, ripped away from her children because her religion forbids her to pay income taxes, forced to watch from a distance as those children grow up motherless, fatherless, and filled with bursting rage.
I'm talking about a business man, branded a "racketeer" so that the government could seize his home, trucks and bank account. He once employed 11 people. Now he sits in a cell, just trying to employ his own time so that he doesn't go nuts. His wife has since left him-as most wives of convicts do.
I'm talking about a father of four, thrown into jail, wife and son shot dead by federal officers, surviving children hustled into the custody of relatives.
These folks never hurt anybody. But they have been and are being hurt-as you will be. They relate experiences we'd probably rather not think about:
They tell of being put under "suicide watch." Oh, yeah, that sounds humane. What it really means is that voyeurs with video cameras get to watch you piss, shit, play with yourself, or however else you manage to spend your days. It's all part of the process of breaking down your will, of reminding you that your entire life is now under their control.
My friends tell of solitary confinement. Solitary always sounded like a relatively good thing to me, since I have the soul of a monk. But picture "solitary" not meaning one, but two-two prisoners lying on the concrete floor of a windowless, unfurnished 4 x 10 cell, with one prisoner screaming night and day, throwing himself against the walls. Maybe throwing himself at you in his fits of insane, irrational loathing. Picture being put in this coffin-space with this madman for days simply because you stood up for your own rights.
They tell of having the clothes and spending money they brought to prison unaccountably "lost" by prison personnel.
They tell of waiting days, weeks, months for medical treatment. (Never believe the idiots who are so jealous of convicts' "free medical care"!)
They tell of earning 11 cents per hour working behind the walls for profit-making U.S. corporations.[Note 2] Hey, not many of us are against businesses making money. But isn't there something called slave labor? Don't we damn countries like China for producing goods that way? (Mark my words, this little-known, but growing, alliance between prisons and corporations is another important reason for the boom in prison building and law spewing. Convicts make a handy-dandy-literally captive-work force. And don't imagine your local congressbeast isn't discussing this happy possibility with the president of your local mega-corporation right now.)
The political prisoners-those who have media and Internet contacts on the outside-tell the worst tales of all. They relate with shudders and fury their experience of Diesel Therapy. Both Clive Sharp and Donald B. Parker mention Diesel Therapy elsewhere in this book, so I won't dwell on it. But rest assured, those who've endured it say it's worse than anyone could describe. Picture spending up to six months on a bus, shackled hand, foot and waist, not even able to take down your own pants without struggle or wipe your own butt clean at a rest stop. You never know where you're going. You're not able to let your family or friends know where you are. You have no way of knowing when the endless trip will cease. You have no access to your own books, paper, pencils or stamps. Back and forth across the country you go, in all kinds of temperatures and conditions, on an endless journey to nowhere-all so that you won't be able to get word to those on the outside who might help publicize your case. And they say there's no cruel and unusual punishment allowed in America!
Even if you "behave," that doesn't mean you'll have it easy. Simple, everyday things can be almost unendurable. I remember phone conversations with one friend who served more than a year in county jail while awaiting his trial, sentencing and transfer to the federal system. He would call me collect from a common room. The level of noise behind him was such that we had to shout at each other to be heard. And in nearly every conversation, there was another prisoner, very near him, yipping and howling like a dog. For hours. Yipping and howling at full, dog-pound volume.
My friend endured this philosophically. I remember thinking at the time that I would scream, myself, if I had to listen to that much longer.
Someday, I may have to listen to that, or something like it. Maybe listen for years. As I sit here typing this in the beauty of a spring-green garden, with two gentle dogs at my feet and my true love nearby, it's nearly inconceivable. I lead a peaceful life, and I wish with all my heart to keep this joy until my last breath on earth.
But every day I-like you-harmlessly violate some unknown number of federal laws or regulations. And I-like a growing number of others-speak out loudly and often against the injustices of an out-of-control government. So I have to face the fact that, someday, the Sauron-Eye of Washington, DC will turn in my direction.
On that day, if the stormtroopers of some multi-agency task force are too lazy to find actual violations on which to grab me, it will be easy enough for them to twist free speech into "conspiracy" or to fake evidence of criminal activity. (Another useful by-product of the War on (Some) Drugs-just grab a little dope or "meth lab equipment" out of the evidence room and plant it on anybody you don't like.)
And on that day, my friend, when they've reached the point of rounding up little ladies guilty mainly of having fierce opinions, a lot of you fine readers will already be "inside." I hope we're all prepared.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I later learned that, approximately six months before I wrote Welcome to Future Felons of America, Congress had indeed passed at least one law making speeding a federal crime--punishable by up to five years in prison. Public Law 104-208, Division C, Title I, Section 108 says: "Whoever flees or evades a checkpoint operated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service,or any other Federal law enforcement agency, in a motor vehicle and flees Federal, State, or local law enforcement agents in excess of the legal speed limit shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than five years, or both." Courts have ruled that it is legal to turn away from a roadblock. But Congress wants you to serve five years in federal prison if you speed while doing so, even if you are speeding away from local police or sheriff's deputies, and whether you're on the interstate or a lonely dirt track in the desert.
This requires some explanation. Most corporate jobs within prisons actually pay well, by prison standards. They pay at least minimum wage and sometimes as much as $6-8.00 per hour. Generally, they are considered plum jobs. The slave-wage accusation made by my friends refers to several different possibilities, two of which are facts, one of which is a persistant rumor. First, prisoners don't receive their entire wage. In addition to all the usual pay deductions, they may end up with only cents on the dollar after paying fines, contributing to victim-restitution funds and so on. Then, there are those prison workers who may provide some support service--such as janitorial service--that benefits a corporation with an on-site facility without actually being a corporate job. Third, there are rumors that some corrupt officials may actually take prisoners' pay. Even with the relatively "good" pay of most corporate jobs, the growing use of literally captive labor by U.S. corporations is ominous.
© 1997 and 1998 Claire Wolfe. This article may be reprinted for non-commercial purposes, as long as it is reprinted in full with no content changes whatsoever, and is accompanied by this credit line. The article may not be re-titled, edited or excerpted (beyond the limits of the fair use doctrine) without the written permission of the author. For-profit publications will be expected to pay a nominal reprint fee. |
| Quote from Above
User ID: 696131 (OP)
United States
7/4/2009 9:04 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
The Real Reason for All Those Laws
And that's the rub. If they want to. Because these laws, of course, aren't designed to stop evildoers at all. They're designed to allow selective control of people who make waves, deviate from convention, own independent businesses, criticize unjust authority, and otherwise insist on living their lives as they see fit. Or they're designed to let enforcers arrest a lot of people so they can brag about their successes in "fighting crime"-and so they can confiscate valuable private property under the hundreds of new and existing civil forfeiture laws.
No one really seems to know how many federal laws and regulations we're living under today, but five million pages is the most reliable number I've heard. (Eleven million pages of combined state and federal legis-regulation.) The silly federal "crimes" above don't even begin to scratch the surface of the pointless, harmless things you can be sent to prison for.
And the control freaks are cranking out new crimes out at the rate of 200 pages a day! |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 717522
 Mexico
7/4/2009 9:27 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
We have the highest incarceration rate because they make it so easy on prisoners. Face it, some people don't have any ambition,are on drugs, just don't give a shit, so it's easy to have the govt. take care of them in prison. Give em a coke and a smoke and they're happy to spend the rest of their lives as a guest of the U.S. taxpayer. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 716167
I'm gonna go way out on a limb here and guess that you have never been in jail. If you think it is so cushy why don't you go light up a fat joint at the police station? Then you won't have to work anymore, you will have cable tv, free room and board, and Bubba will take good care of you at night! |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 702125
United States
7/4/2009 9:28 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
It could be because in other countries they are not tolerated and if you make a mistake it is a one time thing. You do not make it again, Period. Eye for an Eye.. |
| F.F.A.
User ID: 696131 (OP)
United States
7/4/2009 9:31 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
From Future Felons of America,
Modern America is divided into those who are above the law, those who manage to squeak their way around the law-and those who can, at any moment, be crushed by the law. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 186317
 Costa Rica
7/4/2009 9:34 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
The criminal justice industry is a big money maker. The more prisoners the more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
Hundreds of thousands of these prisoners...are being forced to work for as little as 20¢ an hour, some as low as 75¢ a day!
They produce everything from clothing, eyewear, furniture, electronic cable assemblies, aircraft parts, computer circuit boards, mattresses, printing, data entry, vehicle parts, "shrink-wrap" Microsoft software, meatpacking, telemarketing, and on and on.
The apparel industry has lost 8,000 jobs to the federal prison system alone
[ link to www.plp.org]
Seen Coolhand Luke?
Southern Prison REALLY suck.
. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 186317
Costa Rica
7/4/2009 9:37 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
The Real Reason for All Those Laws
And that's the rub. If they want to. Because these laws, of course, aren't designed to stop evildoers at all. They're designed to allow selective control of people who make waves, deviate from convention, own independent businesses, criticize unjust authority, and otherwise insist on living their lives as they see fit. Or they're designed to let enforcers arrest a lot of people so they can brag about their successes in "fighting crime"-and so they can confiscate valuable private property under the hundreds of new and existing civil forfeiture laws.
No one really seems to know how many federal laws and regulations we're living under today, but five million pages is the most reliable number I've heard. (Eleven million pages of combined state and federal legis-regulation.) The silly federal "crimes" above don't even begin to scratch the surface of the pointless, harmless things you can be sent to prison for.
And the control freaks are cranking out new crimes out at the rate of 200 pages a day! Quoting: Quote from Above 696131
and once you get mixed up in the system, it´s hard to get out of it.
. |
| Anonymous Coward
User ID: 718337
United States
7/4/2009 9:43 PM | | Re: America Has the Highest Incarceration Rate in the World. | Quote |
Propaganda = Drugs, Sex, Rock and Roll to jail= Makes $$$$ =
Bottom line is this:
If you live in America you are a criminal.
Everybody is a criminal whether they realize it or not.
There are so many laws on the books that nobody truly knows how many laws they are breaking at any given time.
Remember, ignorance of the law is no excuse.
Have you read every law?
Do you know how many laws exist?
Do you know how many new laws are created every year?
There are so many rediculous laws on the books it's mind boggling. Quoting: We are all Criminals 696131
We need to remove about 90% of the laws from the books. All things should be legal unless they infringe on the rights of someone else. |
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