Please listen to this audio clip. Play particular attention to the 2.09 mark on the audio. This is when Rose Braz, campaign director of Critical Resistance begins to speaks.
Audio Clip: NPR's News & Notes - Companies Cashing in on People's Prison Stripes?
Ms. Braz speaks in a way that most frustrates me regarding what can be heard among left wing extremists.
She says "Other than private prisons Slavery is the only institution that derives its profits solely off of denying people of their right to freedom."
Given who we are locking up in this country, which is poor people of color then the prison system today have to be the key racial justice struggle we face"
"If a prison system was really about rehabilitation, the goal of that system then should be to work itself out of business."
I will admit it. Liberals are more descent human beings than the rest of us.......in their own minds that is.
All of these comments above are incredibly naive or stupid - depending on how politically correct one chooses to be.
First this lady equates the prison system to slavery with respect to the denial of a person's 'right to freedom'. Would someone venture to ask this woman if she believes that anyone should be locked up in any prison, anywhere as punishment for their decision to break the laws of this country? Thus the entire concept of "denying someone's right to freedom is really the debate at hand? A person who "got it" would make note that all Americans have their right to freedoms protected. Upon violating societal trust then the government is inclined to step in and remove them from society for a certain period of time. I wonder if Ms. Braz believes that the assault or killing of innocent Americans by a criminal represents a denial of their freedom by the criminal and what she would do about it?
Secondly she makes the case that since a disproportionate amount of people who are being incarcerated today are among the poor and minority that this is a civil rights issue that must be addressed. I ask that Ms. Braz bring in the MINORITY VICTIMS who live in the communities that are either in fear or destroyed by the antics of those who have violated the law as a counter balance to her abstract theory.
She says further that private prisons are a direct descendant to the practices of selling prison labor which itself descended from slavery. Once again she willfully perverts the role of these private prisons. These firms are providing a service that augments the government's ability to handle such a task in their own facilities. Where as the operation of the government owned facilities is represented as a line item on the state budget - it is a gross perversion of logic to then conclude that by sending individuals over to a private prison for detention within the confines of their being found guilty and then sentenced to a certain amount of time in detention.
Recently I debated another person regarding the fantasy surrounding the differences between government workers constructing airport runways and water control levees as compared to having private firms that have been contracted by the government to do so. At the end of the day - one's ideological biases defines the differences in views.
To be clear - the ruling that an American citizen should be held in detention is only the right of the government. This power must be closely guarded and open to inspection by the traditional system of checks and balances. As we specifically talk about the function of detention of these individuals as their sentences are carried out I demand that this only be done with close oversight by the government authorities that have "outsourced" the detention of these individuals to a certified private firm. I ask that there always be a government official on hand to monitor the operation to insure that it is up to par with the preexisting standards. In summary - as long as these firms are operating under the AUTHORITY of the government agency and up to the STANDARDS as set forth by the government agency then there is no magical state that is achieved in being locked up in a government owned facility or a certified private firm.
Lastly Ms. Braz says that a prison system should have the goal of working itself out of business. This statement actually pissed me off as being so idealized and ridiculous that she should be ashamed of stating it publicly. Let's logically walk through the process.
A person has been alleged to have broken the law. He is detained by the law enforcement authority. He is given a trial by a jury of his peers. He is found guilty. He is sentenced by the judicial authority. The judiciary authority turns this person over to the state correctional authority to hold this person in detention for a given term. As we apply Ms. Braz's standard to the last step - could someone tell me how the correctional authority can stop the judicial authority from sending new inmates to them and thus fullfil their idealized goal?
Let's back up a bit. Can the government as a whole serve out the goal to put the correctional facilities out of business? Around the world there are examples of this - the entire society becomes a repressed, prison-like environment that being inside of a cell or outside in public is only an incidental difference in terms. Fortunately this country has not traveled down this path - yet.
Other than this - the government could choose to not enforce its own laws or they could water down all of the punitive responses to the violations of law that the virtual effect of what Ms. Braz discusses is achieved.
Please note that Ms. Braz and other liberally inclined individuals who stand where she stands on the ideological continuum do not ask THE INDIVIDUAL IN SOCIETY who is seeking to produce a different societal outcome to do anything in particular to bring forth this improved condition. Her plan is focused almost exclusively on THE GOVERNMENT and what they need to do to bring this environment forth upon the people.
I can imagine that Ms. Braz envisions that the government will provide the social programs, the counseling, the redistributed resources - necessary to bring forth this wonderful environment.
But wait - Ms. Braz - what about those who commit a HATE CRIME during this Utopian period in our time of existence? Will you allow these people who were motivated by HATRED to maintain their freedoms or will they said to be a victim of their environ just the same. A mental reorientation program could correct them from their hateful thoughts, no doubt.
I am obliged to ask Ms. Braz what I have learned to be an effective reality check on their theories: "Would you point to one particular country around the world that most closely approximates the conditions that you speak of so favorably?"
2 comments:
Hi... first (and last) time poster. I started reading this blog because I thought there was a balanced, intelligent viewpoint. I've cancelled this blog from my RSS feeds and won't be back because the writing's simply become unsufferably right-wing and lazy.
I've seen Ms. Braz interviewed on many occasions. I agree with her at points and disagree with her at other points. I don't think she's Satan, and that she says some things that are valid. Even if you completely disagree with her opinion, rather than addressing Braz's arguments head on (example: tossing up a left-field remark about "MINORITY VICTIMS" rather than addressing her remarks about disproportionate enforcement, among others), this queer cherrypicking of the weirdest points has really brought the blog down. Disagreements over vision in our community are not legitimate dialogs in need of discussion, but issues of "left-wing extremists" "infiltrating" the Black community. The headline "theoriest" I am guessing refers to the proper word "theorist" but I am not sure.
Before you attack me, just know I used to be a fan of this blog who isn't coming back to read your remarks. I am saddened how poor the writing here has gotten. Good luck. I hope you concentrate on post quality instead of quantity in the future.
I am sorry that you have removed me from your link.
Let's focus on Ms. Braz's content and see if what you say is born out or not. I don't believe that I "attack" anyone. I try to present the facts and at times these facts connect some of the problems that we are dealing with as a society with the popular sentiments that are adopted to deal with it.
I maintain my position that Ms. Braz is illogically attacking an entity that has no control over who it receives as it is asked to execute a sentence on behalf of the judiciary. The judiciary is ruling on the laws that it has received from the legislature - the representatives of the people.
Of course she is going to talk about the lobbying money that is used to 'sway' lawmakers into adopting stiffer penalties and thus fill their coffers. This makes no sense. This is yet another tail wagging the dog scenario.
We can look at various states and municipalities and make note that many of them are running out of confinement space. In fact many of them are under court order to REDUCE prison overcrowding lest a judge come in and starts to release people. This is true in both the most conservative - fire breathing areas of the country as well as the most liberal - "we must develop the full human being" areas as well. Why would an elected official who's prison dollars are threatening to consume other vital services engage in such a "tail wagging the dog" scenario as they try to pad the pockets of these private prisons or the government owned prisons for that matter? This theory only plays well in certain corners.
This conspiracy theory provides the logical bridge that is needed to span the cavern that is present in her argument. It is NOT the prison that should try to put itself out of business. It is the COMMUNITY - in partnership with government, educational institutions and business who should try to create the appropriate ecosystem to insure that the maximum amount of their human resources are channeled into a certain positive direction.
You specifically asked me about disproportionate enforcement between the races.
I have addressed this many times on this very blog. The attempt by those who seek to advance this argument is to compile all of the law enforcement districts for a region into one and then make note of the racial differences that are rendered. As with the Atlanta Journal Constitution analysis about death penalty convictions - the LOCAL PREVAILING LAWS (and related social conditions) speak to a good portion of the disparity in sentencing.
I have countered, for example, that when we look at the drug related homicide statistics between Black and White it is clear that the "drug game" between these two communities is vastly different. When several high profile drug related homicides take place or when an area is overrun the police response is going to be different and more acute in the problem area.
See the data right here on drug related homicide rates by race: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/race.htm
In fact some of the key "Police on Black" conflicts that we can point to over the years have been in the context of either a "community initiated" demand that the police DO SOMETHING about the crime in the community (92 year old Kathry Johnston caught up in "aggressive policing" in a crime ridden, drug infested community) OR from the government itself as it attempted to drive down the embarrassing violent crime figures in certain communities as their rates are compared with other areas.
I simply cannot decouple the crime/violence from the drug situation within our communities. In watching MSNBC prison series so many of the people who are incarcerated pointed to how DRUGS had destroyed their lives and led them down a pathway of wrong choices. Thus the comment "there are more White people who use crack than Black" does not translate into what we see on the streets and the disproportionate number of Black VICTIMS in the community that are made to suffer.
We are at a fork in the road as a community. Many of you will choose to "racism chase", making note that WHITE FOLKS have a numerically greater number of drug users yet are not incarcerated as frequently as Black people are. The logical outcomes for this has been to lobby for less incarceration for Black folks. Just as equal of an outcome would be to have White folks locked up more. Neither of these points key upon the main point that remains - in dealing with the incarceration problem you are still dealing AFTER THE FACT situation that rampant drug use and distribution is destroying our communities.
I, right or wrong, demand that the improved outcomes that we seek as a people be primarily expressed via our own ability to organize more infrastructure within our own communities to deal with this drug situation that is ripping so many of our communities apart. If indeed the White folks are getting away with their drug use then they are choosing to allow their own communities to suffer.
We are speaking in the context of a situation where Black people live in regions in which the political power making these laws that the judges are bound to have been installed into office BY US. If it were that easy to just reduce the "targeting" or the sentencing with no other consequences there in - WHY haven't these people done so?
You seem to be bothered by my heavy use of "Left Wing" with respect to the Black community. Maybe you need to view the blogs that I see around the Internet. We have Black people proudly detailing the political prowess of the "Black Progressive" (liberal). They dominate all aspects of our community.
This is GREAT....if you are into headcount. It doesn't translate into much for me though. Instead I want the problems fixed in our community in a more comprehensive and systematic manner so that there might be something to be proud about as a Black elected official looks upon the political district that he governs and sees growth rather than oxidation.
Finally - My intent is not to be BALANCED. So if I fail to do so - I wasn't trying to be. As the masthead indicates - my goal is to purge the force that enjoys undue power in the Black community from its current perch. I am only interested in supporting them in direct proportion of their utility of their leadership in addressing our problems.
If I am unbalanced it is because my "one man" band is competing against an entire machine that is coordinated in advancing a different agenda that has thus far fallen short despite their continued popularity.
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