He never talked about the other type of fishing...in a lot of prisons they are in rooms with doors, not bars. Inmates will pump out the gas traps in their toilets and drop lines into the shared plumbing with things tied to help them get tangled. They can then pull the lines through and tie stuff to them.
The underground economy of solitary confinement
61–70 of 166 posts
Re: The underground economy of solitary confinement
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
> they would quit Most prisons exist in places that are economically depressed with few if any other jobs. In some cases, the entire existence of a town revolves around the prison. Quitting is hardly an option when it’s the only real option for putting food on your table and a shelter over your head.
They could leave town. There's always another option.
You need to be able to save up enough for a rent deposit (often 2-3 months of rent), afford moving costs, coordinate support for kids if you're moving away from existing support (other family/friend/etc), and deal with a lot of stress of moving out of town. If you have something better you're moving to, but that's often hard for people to coordinate. Spending all that to go get a similar pay job, perhaps in same industry, on the hope/chance that you'll be around more/better opportunities... it's a hard call for many folks to do, assuming they can even think that far ahead or strategically. Many folks are likely more consumed with day to day (especially if they've got kids).
Re: The underground economy of solitary confinement
#63I spent 3 years in US prisons for drug charges picked up when I was an addict and did a 90-day stint in solitary for breaking up a fight between two acquaintances. AMA. I'll start with: Yes, "fishing" is one of the first things you learn. It's not just for solitary, you use it to get stuff under other people doors when you're not out of your cells on a regular unit too, or when you don't want guards to suspect someth…
Holy shit I didn't know that. Those guards belong in jail themselves, what they did is torture. Prison exists to remove from society people who are incompatible with it, nothing more and even that must be constantly questioned and re-evaluated. Nobody deserves to have their dignity stripped away like that.
Once you fall into Prison Conditions Twitters, it's pretty eye opening.
Like the guy who was boiled to death with hot water for funsies:
https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/florida-wont-charge-priso...
Or where rat poison is regularly fed:
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/22-rikers-island-prisoners-sic...
Re: The underground economy of solitary confinement
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Those guards belong in jail themselves... The guards are just the product of a system/culture.
Don't make apologies for people who choose torture and who chose to participate in said system / culture. It's a job; if they had morals they would quit, whistleblow, or punish colleagues for this behaviour. I can't believe the pay would be THAT good. There's clearly no adequate chain of command or repercussions for this crime.
I find it interesting when folks look at themselves as different than others. I don't have any first hand knowledge of what is going on with these guards, but I do know that I am not better than them. I am just as human and have all of the same frailties so I cannot say what I would do in their situation. At best I can say I hope I would do better.
Re: The underground economy of solitary confinement
#65The US prison system is so brutal and things like solitary confinement, which is torture, totally normalised. We need to call attention to these things.
There's a video on YouTube of a prison warden who went into solitary for 48 hours. He said it was painful - but that, considering how violent some of the prisoners he had to hold were, he would still not rule out its use. It's not an ideal option in any way, but sometimes it's just the least-bad option. In my opinion, we should focus on overuse and abuse of solitary confinement, but elimination is not possible for so…
Solitary obviously seems very bad. Being locked in a congregate living setting with someone aggressive, brutal, much stronger than you, with all the time in the world and no better entertainment option than you, also seems very bad.
What will you do with someone who has beaten the shit out of another inmate?
Re: The underground economy of solitary confinement
#66I did three stints in solitary. First for writing to my wife and explaining how I traded coffee for stamped envelopes, which got me an extortion charge. On the last day of my "sentence" in solitary I had my trial and was found "not guilty" of the charge. Of course, it was like Alice in Wonderland, I did my time then got my trial. (during this time in solitary though they went through all my property and figured out I…
How were the other prisoners? Did you feel physically threatened by them?
Re: The underground economy of solitary confinement
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't make apologies for people who choose torture and who chose to participate in said system / culture. It's a job; if they had morals they would quit, whistleblow, or punish colleagues for this behaviour. I can't believe the pay would be THAT good. There's clearly no adequate chain of command or repercussions for this crime.
I find it interesting when folks look at themselves as different than others. I don't have any first hand knowledge of what is going on with these guards, but I do know that I am not better than them. I am just as human and have all of the same frailties so I cannot say what I would do in their situation. At best I can say I hope I would do better.
Most people fail to understand the psychological impact of jobs continually interfacing with some of the worst people in society. I say this not as an apology or excuse, but simply as a statement of fact and a challenge that needs to be overcome. It happens to prison guards, Police, EMTs, and many others.
A portion of the people you work with want to kill you or each other given the chance. Over time this leads you to dehumanize and hate them. Over time, this view gets generalized to most of the people in your care.
Re: The underground economy of solitary confinement
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
Holy shit I didn't know that. Those guards belong in jail themselves, what they did is torture. Prison exists to remove from society people who are incompatible with it, nothing more and even that must be constantly questioned and re-evaluated. Nobody deserves to have their dignity stripped away like that.
It also exists to make people compatible with society again. Or at least should be.
Not in the US. The US prison system is for punishment first. A system that focuses on rehabilitation does not treat people this poorly, in general.
Re: The underground economy of solitary confinement
#69The US prison-industrial complex is really disgusting and before anyone brings it up: private prisons aren't why. Those are still the minority of prison populations (but yes they're still bad).
Price gouging (ie commisary, cost of phone calls, charging for video vists in prison, copays to see a doctor, institutionalized rape as a form of punishment and control and yes, solitary confinement).
Prosecturos, legislators and juries seek extended prison sentences as a form of vengeance and being able to appear "tough on crime" yet the outcomes are very racially-based. You can see this in the lengths of sentences for similar circumstances that only vary on race, the likelihood of the death penalty and the fact that cases that are ultimately exonerated (eg by DNA evidence) are heavily slanted towards minorities (meaning they were wrongfully convicted to begin with).
Our current president was one of the key architects of the 1994 crime bill (signed into law by Bill Clinton) that was a massive contributor to mass incarceration for low-level drug possession crimes in particular.
And when people do get out we give them a scarlet letter for life in the form of the "are you a felon?" question that should be illegal. We throw people in prison who were out on probation or parole for merely being charged with a felony (note: CHARGED not CONVICTED).
It's really depressing how comfortable so many Americans are with this level of cruelty.
Re: The underground economy of solitary confinement
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was on computers a lot as a kid and sort of taught myself programming (very poorly) in my early years. When I caught this charge, I had just turned 18. It really ruined my life. Currently, I work in tech. For a very long time I was barely making ends meet, working in a fast food restaurant for minimum wage while trying to interview to get a developer job. I went through 8 interview processes, and received offers fr…
I never understood the whole felon thing, if that is allowed discrimination outside certain roles how can those people ever be expected back to society? Ofc, they are going to do more crime if it is their only realistic option for reasonable income.
It is not in any single employer’s interest to take on the risks of hiring a felon, as long as the supply of labor remains plentiful.