"What we basically did was pass a truth-in-sentencing bill,'' Geller said. ``If we want to sentence a child to be raped in prison, we should say so. We do not condone that in a civilized society.''
We don't? Well, my goodness. That would certainly be a surprise to the more than 100 teenagers currently in Florida's adult prisons, now wouldn't it? To say nothing of the countless others in prisons around the country in places not so enlightened as Florida.
I'm not saying that this law isn't a good idea. (A relatively good idea, of course -- it doesn't mean the teens won't be sexually assaulted, but it's ever so much more acceptable to be sexually assaulted by another teenager, right?) What I am saying is that for the most part, once you get into prison, at any age, people simply don't care what happens to you. And they don't consider that most of the people in prison actually will come out, some day. "Civilized society" seems to feel that people being brutalized and killed in prison--some who are there for quite minor crimes -- is just one of those costs we have to bear. (The fact that, if death sentences are anything to judge by, more than a quarter of the prisoners may be factually innocent of the crimes of which they were convicted is, of course, entirely irrelevant.)
It would be interesting to get an actual truth in sentencing law, wouldn't it? I just picture sentences being read by Anne Robinson from "The Weakest Link", somehow: "You are seventeen, and have been convicted of the heinous crime of repetitive shoplifting. You have been sentenced to serve five years in an adult prison, where we expect and hope that you will be repeatedly brutalized and violated. When you try to complain that this violates your rights to humane treatment, just remember: we don't care. If we're being quite honest, we really hope that you die in prison and spare society the expense of having to send you back the next time. You WILL be forgotten and we hope never to see you again. Good-bye!"
Copyright © 2001, Iain Jackson, after-words.org
[Archives: 2001 and after]
Archives before February 5, 2001
Search entries:
12/19/2001: vive la france
12/19/2001: princess, redux
12/19/2001: yemen and rumsfeld
12/18/2001: you're NOT in the army now
12/18/2001: interesting donation
12/18/2001: shame on winn dixie, indeed
12/18/2001: saudi princess
12/17/2001: new resolve
12/17/2001: a victim of the attack ... yeah, right
12/17/2001: polluters ho!