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NYC jails want to ban physical mail, then privatize scanning of digital versions

theintercept.com

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Re: NYC jails want to ban physical mail, then privatize scanning of digital versions

#171

Post by notch656c »

mabbo wrote: post #158
TylerE wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s never going to happen when 99% of places refuse to hire ex cons, or if they do at all only for the most unpleasant minimum wage “jobs”.

Well, what if the ex-con's former prison had a bond on them- if this person ends up committing a crime against your business, you get the full costs covered, less 10%. The prison would be incentivized to do this so as to help prevent recidivism. They'd also be incentivized to get that person the help they need so they don't commit crimes and can do the job too.

The reason I would be hesitant to hire the ex-con is not because they're bad. OR I think they're going to be bad to me and thus I need extra insurance or whatever.

The reason I wouldn't hire them is because the system salivates to put those people back in the system, and I prefer to hire someone less likely to get pulled into the abyss at any random moment and cause me to lose out on my trained workforce. Their PO, any officer scanning automatic plate readers, customs agents, whoever, they're all chomping at the bit to pull that person back out of society and employment.

Re: NYC jails want to ban physical mail, then privatize scanning of digital versions

#172

Post by throwawayxxx111 »

sokoloff wrote: post #33
flerchin wrote: post #23

I cannot imagine being a software dev for these projects. I'd rather work on a porn-site.

What’s wrong with working on a porn site? I’d feel better about working on a porn site than at least one of FAANGs.

Nothing per se, but I’d hazard that very few porn sites can make the claim that they don’t host videos that were posted un-consensually or under exploitive circumstances, nor that they are taking meaningful steps to limit the display of those videos to minors.

Re: NYC jails want to ban physical mail, then privatize scanning of digital versions

#173

Post by ipaddr »

D13Fd wrote: post #104
indymike wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OP is talking about why these kinds of things exist.

> The OP is talking about why these kinds of things exist. No they are not: >jails are powerful in all the wrong ways. . . . This is what corrupted power looks like. . . . Police departments are often the same. The article talks about prisons scanning mail. The OP then says that prisons are corrupt, then throws in that by the way, police departments are too. OP's opinion about police department corruption has nothing…

They are part of the same system where if one is happening it is more likely the idea will happen

Re: NYC jails want to ban physical mail, then privatize scanning of digital versions

#175

Post by TAKEMYMONEY »

vagrantJin wrote: post #128
TAKEMYMONEY wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed we shouldn't speak so broadly, but let's not be naive here. Part of the reason California legalized adult filmmaking was to reduce trafficking. In California they have agents, everywhere else they have pimps. Just one example: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/adult-film-performer-pl...

Pimps are not neccesarily traffickers. It might be hard to digest but a large majority of people in the industry go in by choice. We should have tougher law enforcement to weed out the bad apples, but that is difficult since this isssue seems to involve two things that are extremely nebulous and difficult to weigh. Sex and morality.

> "Pimps are not neccesarily [sic] traffickers"

Right, they just use force, fraud, and coercion as they recruit, transport, and provide their victims as prostitutes. Totally different...

> "a large majority of people in the industry go in by choice"

Cool, can you share your stats that a "large proportion" of people go in by choice?

Re: NYC jails want to ban physical mail, then privatize scanning of digital versions

#176

Post by JoshTko »

mabbo wrote: post #81

I feel like the prison system is the victim of perverse incentives. The goal given to them is "house this person securely for a specific length of time at the lowest cost possible ". They are rewarded for cutting costs. But the total cost we pay is the cost to imprison this person the second and third time when they re-offend. It's the policing costs when they're homeless because they can't find housing or get a job.…

The only incentive should be recidivism rate.

Re: NYC jails want to ban physical mail, then privatize scanning of digital versions

#177

Post by Buttons840 »

danuker wrote: post #136
D13Fd wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article is about prison mail. It has nothing to do with police officers and does not mention the "government monopoly on violence."

Digitized mail is one more straw on the camel's back. It is an example of the deeper issue: the prison-industrial complex going backwards on rehabilitation, because it is following the bad incentives written into law. Meanwhile, in Norway, the incarceration rate is 10x lower, while the 2-year recidivism is about 20% instead of the US's 50-60% [1]. [1] - https://web.archive.org/web/20100509171347/http://www.time.c...…

Yes. To connect this with my point. The prisons will end up with a fancy IT mail system. The jail will be able to provide digital mail for a fee, while not providing physical safety for the inmates. Priorities are wrong.

Re: NYC jails want to ban physical mail, then privatize scanning of digital versions

#178

Post by rahimnathwani »

scrollaway wrote: post #168
rahimnathwani wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, and the operators of prisons have never been known to collude with judges. /s

I don’t know of a single argument that can’t be dismantled with “right, and people have never been found to cheat the system?”… Is judges colluding with prison operators a frequent and normal occurrence? The US prison system is bad, but to my knowledge these things are the exception.

It's not about people cheating the system. It's about predicting what will happen under a given system of incentives.

Re: NYC jails want to ban physical mail, then privatize scanning of digital versions

#179

Post by yladiz »

D13Fd wrote: post #117
smcl wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the big deal? People on HN explore adjacent topics quite frequently, and the idea that both police and prisons exist to exert power over (and frequently choose to exercise violence upon) the population is a very common and uncontroversial feeling. Not trying to "out" you here, just trying to understand why you're fighting so hard on their behalf, but do you maybe have a friend or relative that works in the pol…

> What's the big deal? People on HN explore adjacent topics quite frequently, and the idea that both police and prisons exist to exert power over (and frequently choose to exercise violence upon) the population is a very common and uncontroversial feeling. It's popular right now to bash the police as corrupt and as not having people's best interest at heart. But the fact is that those are only some of the police. And…

Can you provide the evidence you mention at the end of your comment?

Re: NYC jails want to ban physical mail, then privatize scanning of digital versions

#180

Post by bryanrasmussen »

_trampeltier wrote: post #167
rahimnathwani wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this 1/3 of the current prison population, or is it 1/3 of prison sentences handout in a certain period? I could believe the latter. But I assume that sentences for fare evasion are shorter than for other types of theft, or more serious things like murder?

Sadly population

https://www.prisonstudies.org/country/germany
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