Since my judge seems to loathe modern technology, I’ll have to extradited back home for trial rather than doing a video conference to enter my plea.(In case any of you have forgotten, my home state placed a detainer on me several months ago. So now I have STATE charges in addition to my federal ones.)
So what ever happened to that “no double jeopardy” clause in the Constitution? It seems that lawmakers have the ability to twist the rules whenever it suits them, so now I’m going to get the snot kicked out of me. AGAIN.
Well, maybe not so much this time. My attorney has a deal on the table that will give me only two years of probation on the condition that I complete my federal sentence. Sounds good to me. (It’s not like I was planning escape anytime soon.) And since the two years of state probation will be up long before I’m done serving my federal sentence, I’ll never feel a thing.
So why bother in the first place? Can’t the state just drop the bloody charges if all they’re going to give me is probation time that I’ll never see? Nope. WHY? It’s all about the Benjamins, baby.
Beans, bread, cabbage. I’m NOT talking about food here; I’m referring to the Almighty Dollar.
If there’s money to be made, then the state is going to make it. If you still haven’t realized that our modern prison system is nothing but a huge money-making machine which runs off of citizens being conscripted into slavery, WAKE UP. And no, I’m not kidding about the slavery part.
Most Americans get a warm and fuzzy feeling whenever they think about the Constitution, and rightfully so. Freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, etc., are all good things. However, there are some things in the Constitution that I don’t agree with. Check out the Thirteenth Amendment which says that:
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
So yes, your pal Joe is a modern day slave.
I don’t think that the average person realizes this, or even cares. We’re only criminals, right? So what if felons are slaves?
It’s wrong for several reasons. First of all, the United States has more prisoners per capita than any other country, and this is NOT by mistake. Charge the taxpayers $36,000 a year to house one felon, but then in reality spend only about $10,000 a year for the same felon, and you’ve got massive profit. The federal and state governments are making huge amounts of money under the guise of justice. The byproduct of this is all the needless suffering they are causing people and their families.
Secondly, imprisonment doesn’t work as a punishment. Look at the war on drugs. It’s FAILED. There are more drugs floating around today than ever. Any time you outlaw something that’s in demand, you create a black market. The ban on drugs has made it worth the risk for people to sell them. A person with with little or no education, no references, and no job history can make several thousand dollars a week selling cocaine. It’s so attractive that many people are willing to take the risk of going to prison when they become drug dealers. There are people in here right now who are planning to go back to selling drugs as soon as they get out. I know too many people who just aren’t willing to sling burgers for $7.50 an hour after they’ve spent the last ten years making five grand a week.
Also, it’s my personal opinion that you should be able to do anything you want so long as it doesn’t harm another person. So if your drug of choice is crack, meth, or chocolate-covered Krispy Kremes, go right ahead and indulge yourself. You should have the right to your own body. Just don’t smoke the crack right before you drive me to the airport, okay? Now that could cause some harm. ;)
Finally, we shouldn’t enslave our own people – it sets a bad example for everyone else. There are a lot of countries that pay attention to our politics and elections, and ultimately follow our lead. Now, I do believe that a small, small percentage of people who can’t control themselves in society and constantly hurt others should be held in some way. But let’s get rid of the mass enslavement. It’s barbarism in the 21st century.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: I want to go on record with being in disagreement with Joe’s “personal opinion” that recreational drugs should be legal. However, I do support his right to express his opinion.]
Just curious, where does Joe get the "in reality spend only about $10,000 a year" statistic? I'm not disagreeing. I've just never heard that before and would like to verify it.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you on the whole money situation thing. I know someone that is going through the federal system and it is all about money. That is all it is in my opinion. FYI to everyone: Dont ever get into trouble, it really costs you alot of money to go through the system. I speak from experience.
ReplyDeleteJoe,
ReplyDeleteThe probation term, if it ends up being two years, is quite doable though I'm sure you and Editor would rather be without it. It's better than parole I suppose though it also depends what state you are serving probation in.
Inmates absolutely generate revenue for a number of entities, public and private, associated with incarceration and supervised release. Even though you aren't physically out there performing slave labor, you are generating money; maybe something akin to humans sitting in pods their whole lives generating energy in "The Matrix". Either way, I never got the feeling someone was spending $36k on my state prison stay! A lot of the money probably goes to pensions and costs outside of prisons-I'm not sure.
Hope the trip to the state court isn't a pain and you aren't upended from a "good" living situation.
-Richard
Joe, I am curious however, since the state will never benefit from your "work" how do they benefit from bringing the charges? Unless they get some sort of kickback from the feds for prosecting crimes
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteIf you're looking for an official dollar amount pulled out of some book, then forget it. As I'm looking around and seeing how little we have to do in prison, I'm sure that the BoP is WAY under-spending the amount of tax money allotted per inmate. We get 3 "meals" a day, then there is power, electricity and staffing expenses. As far as the rec yard goes, the upkeep is actually paid by INMATES through us being overcharged at commissary. (That's verifiable).
Yes, there are "classes" for us to take as rehabilitation, and we are required to get GED's if we don't have one or a high school diploma. Many of the classes are taught by inmates, and more of these are a joke. Several months ago I wanted to take a class in creative writing that I saw advertised on the compound. In actuality, the class was teaching prisoners how to create GRAFFITI. Like on a wall. Yes, I'm serious. Get it? "Creative" writing. So much for trying to get some higher learning....
So again, I can't give you an official number. All I'm saying is that corners are being cut with our imprisonment and rehabilitation. I don't know if the number is as low as $10,000, but anyone can compare the amount of money they're raking in to what we're actually getting out of it. Something doesn't add up.
Richard,
ReplyDeleteI *wish* I had two years of probation, Richard. As far as probation goes for s.o.'s in the federal system these days, I got the standard sentence.
The rest of my natural life.
I think that's a whole new rant there. Murderers don't have lifetime probation, but *I* do? Is downloading cp worse than murder? I think not. I hear that probation should get easier the longer you've been on it, but still...
If they weren't in prison, people would have contributed to society in various ways. But first of all, they would have paid taxes and bought all kinds of things. Even if they operated largely outside the legal economy, at least some of their money would have ended up being used for purchases from legal businesses, thus contributing to the legal economy. At least some sales transactions would have been legal, so sales taxes would have been paid, not to speak of the indirect effect if more business from those people would have translated into more jobs and more income taxes. Doesn't the government actually lose more money by putting people in prison instead of allowing them to keep their jobs or inject ill-gotten funds into the economy? I'm not saying that crime is all right. I'm just talking about numbers.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteThe state uses slam-dunk cases like mine (where the feds have ALREADY prosecuted and won) to increase its *successful prosecution* numbers. (The penalty doesn't matter in this case.) It just needs to boost its numbers. Sometimes there are financial or political "perks" in meeting certain prosecution goals. Sometimes it's just to keep the public happy, and to give the public a false sense of security.
In SOME instances, a particular PROSECUTOR is trying to boost his/her numbers for political reasons. The prosecutor may have his eye on the District Attorney's job. Or he may want to appear tough on crime for some other office. Perhaps he is padding his "kills" on his resume so that he can land a cushy civilian job.
Make no mistake: The state DOES profit, even in cases such as mine.
Lifetime probation with no end :- / I'm not sure how to reframe that sentence to make it better. Maybe at least it's not lifetime intensive parole for sex offenders? That is a hard way to live outside the walls from what I've been told.
ReplyDeleteYes probation does get easier to deal with over time but I am not sure how I would approach lifetime probation. Then again being on state probation for almost 10 years feels like a lifetime to me. You just incorporate it into your life along with other unavoidable/unpleasant things such as managing diabetes or being on chemotherapy. Does that make sense? Again, as discouraging as lifetime probation sounds to be, there have to be ways to successfully integrate it into your life.