"Have you ever had a riot?"
June 23, 2016 6:33 AM Subscribe
The editor's note on why they went to these lengths is also pretty harrowing, and it's at two removes from Bauer's experiences.
posted by Etrigan at 6:53 AM on June 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 6:53 AM on June 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
"I should tell you upfront that the job only pays $9 an hour...
But, you do get three free counseling sessions.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:55 AM on June 23, 2016 [6 favorites]
But, you do get three free counseling sessions.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:55 AM on June 23, 2016 [6 favorites]
I also thought of Newjack. Highly recommend it.
posted by Wretch729 at 7:06 AM on June 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Wretch729 at 7:06 AM on June 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
Birch holds most of the elderly, infirm, and mentally ill inmates, though it doesn't offer any special services.
Of course not.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:13 AM on June 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
Of course not.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:13 AM on June 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
Haven't read the whole thing yet but it was about as horrible as I expected.
posted by KaizenSoze at 8:08 AM on June 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by KaizenSoze at 8:08 AM on June 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'll third the Newjack recommendation and add that just about every thing Conovet's written has been great.
posted by jonmc at 9:00 AM on June 23, 2016
posted by jonmc at 9:00 AM on June 23, 2016
It shows how cynical I can be that I was zero surprised by any of the words in the following few paragraphs. Thanks for the post.
The idea of privatizing prisons originated in the early 1980s with Beasley and fellow businessman Doctor Robert Crants. The two had no experience in corrections, so they recruited Hutto, who had been the head of Virginia's and Arkansas' prisons. In a 1978 ruling, the Supreme Court had found that a succession of Arkansas prison administrations, including Hutto's, "tried to operate their prisons at a profit." Guards on horseback herded the inmates, who sometimes did not have shoes, to the fields. The year after Hutto joined CCA, he became the head of the American Correctional Association, the largest prison association in the world.
To Beasley, the former chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, the business of private prisons was simple: "You just sell it like you were selling cars, or real estate, or hamburgers," he told Inc. magazine in 1988. Beasley and Crants ran the business a lot like a hotel chain, charging the government a daily rate for each inmate. Early investors included Sodexho-Marriott and the venture capitalist Jack Massey, who helped build Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wendy's, and the Hospital Corporation of America.
The 1980s were a good time to get into the incarceration business. The prison population was skyrocketing, the drug war was heating up, the length of sentences was increasing, and states were starting to mandate that prisoners serve at least 85 percent of their terms.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:12 AM on June 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
The idea of privatizing prisons originated in the early 1980s with Beasley and fellow businessman Doctor Robert Crants. The two had no experience in corrections, so they recruited Hutto, who had been the head of Virginia's and Arkansas' prisons. In a 1978 ruling, the Supreme Court had found that a succession of Arkansas prison administrations, including Hutto's, "tried to operate their prisons at a profit." Guards on horseback herded the inmates, who sometimes did not have shoes, to the fields. The year after Hutto joined CCA, he became the head of the American Correctional Association, the largest prison association in the world.
To Beasley, the former chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, the business of private prisons was simple: "You just sell it like you were selling cars, or real estate, or hamburgers," he told Inc. magazine in 1988. Beasley and Crants ran the business a lot like a hotel chain, charging the government a daily rate for each inmate. Early investors included Sodexho-Marriott and the venture capitalist Jack Massey, who helped build Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wendy's, and the Hospital Corporation of America.
The 1980s were a good time to get into the incarceration business. The prison population was skyrocketing, the drug war was heating up, the length of sentences was increasing, and states were starting to mandate that prisoners serve at least 85 percent of their terms.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:12 AM on June 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Nine bucks an hour and in charge of "bad" people with effectively no oversight. What could go wrong?
I'm so tired of America's "justice" system. The war on drugs, for profit prisons, overworked public defenders and the dominance of the plea bargain for the poor, execution of the innocent, overuse of solitary confinement, overcrowding, the Reid technique, institutionalized sexual assault, mandatory minimums, reliance on forensic pseudoscience, police brutality, judicial elections(!), criminalization of mental illness. Even the Supreme Court annoys the hell out of me. Everything is just so incredibly broken and dehumanizing.
posted by xyzzy at 9:38 AM on June 23, 2016 [56 favorites]
I'm so tired of America's "justice" system. The war on drugs, for profit prisons, overworked public defenders and the dominance of the plea bargain for the poor, execution of the innocent, overuse of solitary confinement, overcrowding, the Reid technique, institutionalized sexual assault, mandatory minimums, reliance on forensic pseudoscience, police brutality, judicial elections(!), criminalization of mental illness. Even the Supreme Court annoys the hell out of me. Everything is just so incredibly broken and dehumanizing.
posted by xyzzy at 9:38 AM on June 23, 2016 [56 favorites]
I really appreciate the way that Bauer unflinchingly examines the Zimbardo-ization of his own impulses-- how much he begins to crave violence, authority, retribution, inflicting humiliation. The environment is designed to do that to the guards, even someone like Bauer, who has endured unjust incarceration himself.
Reading the whole story just makes me feel sick. How do we fix this? How can we even begin?
posted by a fiendish thingy at 10:16 AM on June 23, 2016 [13 favorites]
Reading the whole story just makes me feel sick. How do we fix this? How can we even begin?
posted by a fiendish thingy at 10:16 AM on June 23, 2016 [13 favorites]
She warns us repeatedly, however, that to become corrections officers, we'll need to pass a test at the end of our four weeks of training. We will need to know the name of the CEO, the names of the company's founders, and their reason for establishing the first private prison more than 30 years ago. (Correct answer: "to alleviate the overcrowding in the world market.")
whut
posted by Sauce Trough at 10:58 AM on June 23, 2016 [6 favorites]
whut
posted by Sauce Trough at 10:58 AM on June 23, 2016 [6 favorites]
whut
posted by Sauce Trough at 1:58 PM on June 23 [+] [!]
posted by RolandOfEld at 11:04 AM on June 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Sauce Trough at 1:58 PM on June 23 [+] [!]
posted by RolandOfEld at 11:04 AM on June 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
... and Jesus, it gets darker at the end, as if that were somehow possible in a rational world.
posted by RolandOfEld at 11:07 AM on June 23, 2016
posted by RolandOfEld at 11:07 AM on June 23, 2016
Lots of good stuff in the article, but here's my takeaway: I will never again complain about my job.
posted by math at 11:07 AM on June 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by math at 11:07 AM on June 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
Bauer is doing a Q&A at Gawker right now
posted by soren_lorensen at 11:09 AM on June 23, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by soren_lorensen at 11:09 AM on June 23, 2016 [4 favorites]
My favorite part is where the prison's "inmate court" has the power to add days to a prisoner's sentence, extra days that the prison then gets paid for. Only 96% guilty rate? I'm surprised it's so low.
posted by absalom at 11:25 AM on June 23, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by absalom at 11:25 AM on June 23, 2016 [6 favorites]
My favorite part is where the prison's "inmate court" has the power to add days to a prisoner's sentence, extra days that the prison then gets paid for.
It sounds more like they can take away "good behavior" time, which doesn't add to the sentence so much as it un-subtracts from the sentence. But yeah, putting the exact amount the company gets right after that was a nice and well-deserved twist of the knife by Bauer.
posted by Etrigan at 11:27 AM on June 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
It sounds more like they can take away "good behavior" time, which doesn't add to the sentence so much as it un-subtracts from the sentence. But yeah, putting the exact amount the company gets right after that was a nice and well-deserved twist of the knife by Bauer.
posted by Etrigan at 11:27 AM on June 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
From the author's Q&A:
The pay seems quite low and the stress quite high. Wouldn’t many of these guards be better off working at McDonald’s or Walmart when all other things are considered? Or do those places have more stringent hiring practices than prison?
Even though unemployment is really high in the area and the average family makes just $25,000 a year, CCA could not get enough people to work at the prison for $9 an hour. Some of the guards had previously worked at Walmart, but came to CCA because they would give full-time employment, and limited health insurance. Walmart, on the other hand, wasn’t giving people full time work, so they couldn’t qualify for benifits. There were a good number of single moms that worked as guards, presumably because they needed the health care.
It's all interlinked. Lack of universal health care allows Walmart and other large corporate employers to underpay their own workers, and allows CCA to make 9$ with health benefits look downright attractive.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:37 AM on June 23, 2016 [33 favorites]
The pay seems quite low and the stress quite high. Wouldn’t many of these guards be better off working at McDonald’s or Walmart when all other things are considered? Or do those places have more stringent hiring practices than prison?
Even though unemployment is really high in the area and the average family makes just $25,000 a year, CCA could not get enough people to work at the prison for $9 an hour. Some of the guards had previously worked at Walmart, but came to CCA because they would give full-time employment, and limited health insurance. Walmart, on the other hand, wasn’t giving people full time work, so they couldn’t qualify for benifits. There were a good number of single moms that worked as guards, presumably because they needed the health care.
It's all interlinked. Lack of universal health care allows Walmart and other large corporate employers to underpay their own workers, and allows CCA to make 9$ with health benefits look downright attractive.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:37 AM on June 23, 2016 [33 favorites]
My favorite part is where the prison's "inmate court" has the power to add days to a prisoner's sentence, extra days that the prison then gets paid for. Only 96% guilty rate? I'm surprised it's so low.
Also pretty great how the guy whose sentence ends stays in prison for AN EXTRA YEAR because of the prison's policy that he can't leave the premises until he has an in-state address to go to upon release, and his only family lives in a different state.
!!!!!!
posted by a fiendish thingy at 11:44 AM on June 23, 2016 [13 favorites]
Also pretty great how the guy whose sentence ends stays in prison for AN EXTRA YEAR because of the prison's policy that he can't leave the premises until he has an in-state address to go to upon release, and his only family lives in a different state.
!!!!!!
posted by a fiendish thingy at 11:44 AM on June 23, 2016 [13 favorites]
Also pretty great how the guy whose sentence ends stays in prison for AN EXTRA YEAR because of the prison's policy that he can't leave the premises until he has an in-state address to go to upon release, and his only family lives in a different state.
That might not be the prison's fault; that very well could be the terms of his parole. This isn't at all uncommon. I mean, it's still massively fucked, and they sure as hell didn't do a great job of helping the guy out, but they might not be legally allowed to release the guy until the terms of his parole are up.
posted by furnace.heart at 12:35 PM on June 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
That might not be the prison's fault; that very well could be the terms of his parole. This isn't at all uncommon. I mean, it's still massively fucked, and they sure as hell didn't do a great job of helping the guy out, but they might not be legally allowed to release the guy until the terms of his parole are up.
posted by furnace.heart at 12:35 PM on June 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
a mural of two anchors inexplicably floating at sea.
I have to assume that the two floating anchors are a metaphor for fundamental dysfunction.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 12:44 PM on June 23, 2016 [12 favorites]
I have to assume that the two floating anchors are a metaphor for fundamental dysfunction.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 12:44 PM on June 23, 2016 [12 favorites]
I couldn't finish it because I know prisons are horrible and my worst fears were being confirmed with every word. I do applaud Bauer and Mother Jones for doing this project though. Bauer has certainly shown himself to be someone who absolutely puts his money where his mouth is and is willing to put himself in great danger for greater good.
I do think this article could have benefited from some stronger editing around how Bauer presents vernacular speech and presentations of rural Southerners. In his Q&A on Gawker he talks about keeping phonetic spelling as a neutral choice but it isn't neutral. He doesn't spell the speech of "standard" English speakers phonetically (nor does he identify race in characters who, I presume, are white?). There is just a little flavor of 'backward hick' here that I don't think he in any way intended.
Still, this is a quibble and I think he is doing really good work here and I'm glad Mother Jones is creating this kind of work. I think it's time to send them a donation.
posted by latkes at 12:52 PM on June 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
I do think this article could have benefited from some stronger editing around how Bauer presents vernacular speech and presentations of rural Southerners. In his Q&A on Gawker he talks about keeping phonetic spelling as a neutral choice but it isn't neutral. He doesn't spell the speech of "standard" English speakers phonetically (nor does he identify race in characters who, I presume, are white?). There is just a little flavor of 'backward hick' here that I don't think he in any way intended.
Still, this is a quibble and I think he is doing really good work here and I'm glad Mother Jones is creating this kind of work. I think it's time to send them a donation.
posted by latkes at 12:52 PM on June 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
This is true, but there is more. I see conspiracies brewing. Things I used to view as harmless transgressions I now view as personal attacks. When a physically disabled man doesn't leave the shower in time for count, I am certain he is testing me, trying to break me down, to dominate me. . . . I don't care about the rules, per se; many of them seem arbitrary. But I become obsessed with the notion that people are breaking them in front of me to whittle away at my will. I write inmates up all day long. One paper after another, I stack them, sometimes more than 25 disciplinaries in a day. Some inmates are clever; they know how to get under my skin without breaking the rules. So I shake down their beds and look for a reason to punish them.
I have seen the same dynamic play out inside the minds of teachers and administrators in schools. The personalization of rules you don't even personally care about. An improperly maintained system compromises and corrupts all its participants.
posted by absalom at 1:04 PM on June 23, 2016 [23 favorites]
I have seen the same dynamic play out inside the minds of teachers and administrators in schools. The personalization of rules you don't even personally care about. An improperly maintained system compromises and corrupts all its participants.
posted by absalom at 1:04 PM on June 23, 2016 [23 favorites]
nor does he identify race in characters who, I presume, are white?
He actually does identify white characters as white in multiple instances - dunno about all instances. I also noticed that he made a point of always identifying characters as black though (even though he said from the beginning that this is in effect the default for guards and inmates).
posted by atoxyl at 1:25 PM on June 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
He actually does identify white characters as white in multiple instances - dunno about all instances. I also noticed that he made a point of always identifying characters as black though (even though he said from the beginning that this is in effect the default for guards and inmates).
posted by atoxyl at 1:25 PM on June 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
When CCA (which runs 61 prisons, jails, and detention centers on behalf of US taxpayers) learned about our investigation, it sent us a four-page letter warning that Shane had “knowingly and deliberately breached his duty to CCA by violating its policies,” and that there could be all manner of legal consequences. The letter came not from CCA’s in-house counsel, but from the same law firm that had represented a billionaire megadonor in his three-year quest to punish us for reporting on his anti-LGBT activities. When he lost, he pledged $1 million to support others who might want to sue us, and, though we won the case, were it not for the support of our readers the out-of-pocket costs would have hobbled us.I'm really hoping we don't start seeing these footnotes after every important piece of journalism. But I bet that we do.
posted by rorgy at 2:00 PM on June 23, 2016 [24 favorites]
This was a hell of a read (although nothing in it shocked me, as it's an area I've done pretty extensive work in), and I applaud the author's work both in terms of courage and writing. My only quibble, though, is with adding to the chorus of voices decrying private prisons; all prisons are horrible spaces of injustice and oppression, and we can do better. I sometimes worry that focusing on the particular and peculiar horror that is private prisons will ultimately excuse other carceral systems.
posted by still bill at 2:09 PM on June 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by still bill at 2:09 PM on June 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
I'm still only about halfway through and the little parentheticals with CCA's responses to worst stuff that Bauer heard and observed are just darkly humorous at this point:
One guard told me he just filled in the suicide watch log every couple of hours and didn't bother to watch the prisoners. (CCA's spokesman says the company is "committed to the accuracy of our record keeping.")posted by indubitable at 3:09 PM on June 23, 2016 [11 favorites]
That was compelling. I was struck by the dysfunction and violence but also the frequency of violence. It felt like i was reading about years of prison life.
posted by Monochrome at 4:40 PM on June 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Monochrome at 4:40 PM on June 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
I finally read the whole thing. Though the narrator gets out in the end, and there's a sense that the reporting may ultimately have made the world and the lives of some of the people in the story incrementally less fucked, I feel like I just finished some kind of horror novel. This is one of those areas of American life where looking closely just seems to reveal this bottomless well of nightmarish shit.
posted by brennen at 5:06 PM on June 23, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by brennen at 5:06 PM on June 23, 2016 [9 favorites]
Miss Lawson, the assistant chief of security, is acting as the judge, sitting at a desk in front of a mural of the scales of justice. "Even though we treat every inmate like they are guilty until proven innocent, they are...?" She pauses for someone to fill in the answer.
"Innocent?" a cadet offers.
"That's right. Innocent until proven guilty."
There are many examples of bafflingly dystopian logic in the article but this one must win some kind of award.
posted by Spatch at 5:43 PM on June 23, 2016 [8 favorites]
"Innocent?" a cadet offers.
"That's right. Innocent until proven guilty."
There are many examples of bafflingly dystopian logic in the article but this one must win some kind of award.
posted by Spatch at 5:43 PM on June 23, 2016 [8 favorites]
One inmate's mother read about me in the news and asked an attorney to connect us. When the lawyer told me her son's name—Damien Coestly—it took me back to my first day on the job, when I was working suicide watch. It had been a year since I'd pulled my chair across from him as he sat on the toilet, his entire body hidden under his suicide blanket. He had told me to "get the fuck out of here" and threatened that if I didn't he would "get up on top of this bed and jump straight onto [his] motherfucking neck." He had gone on hunger strike repeatedly to protest the limited dietary options and inadequate mental health services. In June 2015, he hanged himself. His autopsy said he weighed 71 pounds.fwiw, I clicked through one of their donation links and gave them money after I finished reading the article. this reporting is more important than a thousand Vox think pieces.
posted by indubitable at 6:50 PM on June 23, 2016 [8 favorites]
I just absolutely 100% cannot understand why nobody ever seems to comment on the inherent conflict of interest in for-profit prisons, where they are contractually guaranteed a minimum capacity of prisoners and are paid for each day each prisoner is incarcerated. Maybe "conflict of interest" isn't the right term. I don't know, I'm not a lawyer. But but but--honestly. It leaves me all but speechless.
posted by scratch at 6:50 PM on June 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by scratch at 6:50 PM on June 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
Oh, and I learned recently there is such as thing as a for-profit foster care agency.
The takeaway: every time you think it can't get worse, it gets worse (and by "it" I mean everything).
posted by scratch at 6:53 PM on June 23, 2016 [4 favorites]
The takeaway: every time you think it can't get worse, it gets worse (and by "it" I mean everything).
posted by scratch at 6:53 PM on June 23, 2016 [4 favorites]
It's difficult to watch Orange is the New Black and realize Litchfield, our fictional soap opera prison, has its shit more together than actual prisons with real human lives. For shame.
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 7:33 PM on June 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 7:33 PM on June 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
When I made public-records requests in a couple of states for a more recent accounting of lawsuits settled by CCA, the company intervened, arguing that a list of settlements involving claims of medical malpractice, wrongful deaths, assaults, and the use of force "constitutes trade secrets."
posted by tilde at 8:57 PM on June 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by tilde at 8:57 PM on June 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
It's difficult to watch Orange is the New Black and realize Litchfield, our fictional soap opera prison, has its shit more together than actual prisons with real human lives. For shame.
I think the one good thing I took from this was that everyone who had been anywhere near another prison kept saying that this place was exceptionally bad. So I guess other prisons do have it more together. The prison in the OITNB book is even more together than the one on the show. Hopefully this reporter landed at the worst of the worst. Not that it makes it ok for things to be this bad, or that that means that the "better" places are fine. I just take comfort in knowing that other places are at least better, if not actually good.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:59 PM on June 23, 2016
I think the one good thing I took from this was that everyone who had been anywhere near another prison kept saying that this place was exceptionally bad. So I guess other prisons do have it more together. The prison in the OITNB book is even more together than the one on the show. Hopefully this reporter landed at the worst of the worst. Not that it makes it ok for things to be this bad, or that that means that the "better" places are fine. I just take comfort in knowing that other places are at least better, if not actually good.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:59 PM on June 23, 2016
The article is amazing, and I'm glad he focuses on services and how services help prisoners and alleviate violence and aggression.
I dont want people to rot in prision (though I want people to go to prison for violent offences). I want prisoners to have therapy, I want then to have anger management, substance abuse training. I want integration programs that help people transfer back to the outside world. I want then to have good health care and educational oppertunitues. I want prisoners to get what they need and have the ability to communicate with family and friends as much as they please for free! I think jobs should be at least minimum wage, and that the inmate can use it for some expenses, but the money for family, children or a security deposit upon release.
Prison shouldn't be a hotel, but it should allow for people to engage in meaningful activity every day.
This story horrifies and saddens me.
posted by AlexiaSky at 9:06 PM on June 23, 2016 [7 favorites]
I dont want people to rot in prision (though I want people to go to prison for violent offences). I want prisoners to have therapy, I want then to have anger management, substance abuse training. I want integration programs that help people transfer back to the outside world. I want then to have good health care and educational oppertunitues. I want prisoners to get what they need and have the ability to communicate with family and friends as much as they please for free! I think jobs should be at least minimum wage, and that the inmate can use it for some expenses, but the money for family, children or a security deposit upon release.
Prison shouldn't be a hotel, but it should allow for people to engage in meaningful activity every day.
This story horrifies and saddens me.
posted by AlexiaSky at 9:06 PM on June 23, 2016 [7 favorites]
I was in a riot at a CCA-run State Jail several years ago. I got beaten up a little and gassed, but the worst part was the month of bologna sandwiches served during the subsequent lockdown.
posted by battleshipkropotkin at 9:51 PM on June 23, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by battleshipkropotkin at 9:51 PM on June 23, 2016 [11 favorites]
I've long thought that if a crime is committed by an employee of a company in a way that is beneficial to the company (or even if that's just the intent), the penalty for that crime should be applied not just to the employee but also to everyone above that employee in the chain of command, all the way up to the CEO.
I've been thinking about prison a lot the last few days (in part thanks to having just caught up on OITNB, and believe me I know how extremely privileged that is), and I'm starting to think that something similar should be applied to the prison system. If someone goes to prison, then gets out and commits further crimes, the prison system that failed to rehabilitate them and find them a place in the outside world should be served a penalty based on the degree of that failure. The current system provides no incentive at all for prisons to rehabilitate their charges, and in the case of for-profit prisons there is actually a financial incentive to try to foster recidivism.
posted by IAmUnaware at 10:04 PM on June 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
I've been thinking about prison a lot the last few days (in part thanks to having just caught up on OITNB, and believe me I know how extremely privileged that is), and I'm starting to think that something similar should be applied to the prison system. If someone goes to prison, then gets out and commits further crimes, the prison system that failed to rehabilitate them and find them a place in the outside world should be served a penalty based on the degree of that failure. The current system provides no incentive at all for prisons to rehabilitate their charges, and in the case of for-profit prisons there is actually a financial incentive to try to foster recidivism.
posted by IAmUnaware at 10:04 PM on June 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
Miss Roberts opens a letter with several pages of colorful child's drawings. "Now, see like this one, it's not allowed because they're not allowed to get anything that's crayon," she says. I presume this is for the same reason we remove stamps; crayon could be a vehicle for drugs. There are so many letters from children—little hands outlined, little stockings glued to the inside of cards—that we rip out and throw in the trash.
This literally broke my heart.
posted by disconnect at 6:12 AM on June 24, 2016 [8 favorites]
This literally broke my heart.
posted by disconnect at 6:12 AM on June 24, 2016 [8 favorites]
This really exposes what the bulk of "private enterprise" is all about. Those of us in the tech industry might talk about how we are creating new technologies and services that improve lives, but the bulk of these "privatization" schemes are just about taking a fee and figuring out how to cut expenses to the bone to provide just the bare minimum legally passable service in order to squeeze out every last dollar for oneself.
Prison privatization is pretty simple: the government pays a private company to imprison people, and the private company hires fewer guards, pays them less, and provides fewer services than the publicly run prisons do. That doesn't help anyone other than the private prison company shareholders.
posted by deanc at 7:03 AM on June 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
Prison privatization is pretty simple: the government pays a private company to imprison people, and the private company hires fewer guards, pays them less, and provides fewer services than the publicly run prisons do. That doesn't help anyone other than the private prison company shareholders.
posted by deanc at 7:03 AM on June 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
There are so many letters from children—little hands outlined, little stockings glued to the inside of cards—that we rip out and throw in the trash.
Yeah, it seems so obvious to me that they should copy those, ideally in colour, but even B&W would be better than throwing them out. And they should notify the families that these things are being thrown out. Maybe if they knew that the families would send copies themselves.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:04 AM on June 24, 2016 [5 favorites]
Yeah, it seems so obvious to me that they should copy those, ideally in colour, but even B&W would be better than throwing them out. And they should notify the families that these things are being thrown out. Maybe if they knew that the families would send copies themselves.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:04 AM on June 24, 2016 [5 favorites]
I should also add that one of the big lobbying interest groups against marijuana legalization is the private prison industry.
posted by deanc at 7:08 AM on June 24, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by deanc at 7:08 AM on June 24, 2016 [8 favorites]
Maybe if they knew that the families would send copies themselves.
The fact that access to color inkjet printers and scanners grows every day it seems particularly cruel to not notify families.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:20 AM on June 24, 2016
The fact that access to color inkjet printers and scanners grows every day it seems particularly cruel to not notify families.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:20 AM on June 24, 2016
Maybe if they knew that the families would send copies themselves.
The fact that access to color inkjet printers and scanners grows every day it seems particularly cruel to not notify families.
I'm surprised they haven't already thought of this and started buying up sleazy rent-to-own places that will graciously provide families with a printer/scanner for $10 a week forever.
posted by Etrigan at 7:25 AM on June 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
The fact that access to color inkjet printers and scanners grows every day it seems particularly cruel to not notify families.
I'm surprised they haven't already thought of this and started buying up sleazy rent-to-own places that will graciously provide families with a printer/scanner for $10 a week forever.
posted by Etrigan at 7:25 AM on June 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
I'm not quite finished yet, but the part about China and the shit storm of that person's life was truly heartbreaking. Here we see how the most vulnerable are kicked and abused from start to finish, and the state (I mean the in the sense of 'nation') just joins in. This is a terrible world. Truly. Excellent journalism however.
posted by Myeral at 7:45 AM on June 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Myeral at 7:45 AM on June 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
crayon could be a vehicle for drugs
I have learned something today.
posted by archimago at 10:07 AM on June 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
I have learned something today.
posted by archimago at 10:07 AM on June 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
When he lost, he pledged $1 million to support others who might want to sue us, and, though we won the case, were it not for the support of our readers the out-of-pocket costs would have hobbled us.
I hope everyone who was shrugging their shoulders at the Thiel-Gawker story is PAYING ATTENTION NOW.
posted by praemunire at 10:09 AM on June 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
I hope everyone who was shrugging their shoulders at the Thiel-Gawker story is PAYING ATTENTION NOW.
posted by praemunire at 10:09 AM on June 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
Seconding a fiendish thingy -- Bauer's willingness to reflect on his own internal changes makes this an even more valuable document.
I struggled to remember that this was covering such a short span of time -- it seemed so long and deep and vivid that a week felt like months.
posted by brainwane at 10:47 AM on June 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
I struggled to remember that this was covering such a short span of time -- it seemed so long and deep and vivid that a week felt like months.
posted by brainwane at 10:47 AM on June 24, 2016 [4 favorites]
I don't even think I can adequately describe my feelings after reading that story. It's horrifying. I wish I could say shocking, but when it comes to the US criminal justice system, I'm not sure there's much of anything that would surprise me when it comes to how bad things are.
I have to give so much credit to Bauer for putting himself through this and for his reporting, including what he experienced and how his thoughts and actions changed while he was there. It's hard not just to report and observe on your surroundings, but also on yourself, including parts of yourself that you're not proud of.
And of course, credit to Mother Jones as well for backing this whole thing. This is the kind of thing that really proves the importance of investigative journalism, when it's done right. I'm not exactly well off, but I definitely made a donation to them after reading this. As horrifying as the events described in this article are, it's only more horrifying to think about all this not being made public. (And of course, there are certainly similar situations that don't get made public.)
Also, thanks to roomthreeseventeen for posting this FPP. This is the kind of thing that I could easily miss if I didn't see it on mefi.
posted by litera scripta manet at 12:09 PM on June 24, 2016 [5 favorites]
I have to give so much credit to Bauer for putting himself through this and for his reporting, including what he experienced and how his thoughts and actions changed while he was there. It's hard not just to report and observe on your surroundings, but also on yourself, including parts of yourself that you're not proud of.
And of course, credit to Mother Jones as well for backing this whole thing. This is the kind of thing that really proves the importance of investigative journalism, when it's done right. I'm not exactly well off, but I definitely made a donation to them after reading this. As horrifying as the events described in this article are, it's only more horrifying to think about all this not being made public. (And of course, there are certainly similar situations that don't get made public.)
Also, thanks to roomthreeseventeen for posting this FPP. This is the kind of thing that I could easily miss if I didn't see it on mefi.
posted by litera scripta manet at 12:09 PM on June 24, 2016 [5 favorites]
It took me most of last night to read this story. I kept having to take breaks. Like others have mentioned, I too thought more time had passed then actually did. At one point he describes a series of events and then states it'd only been two weeks. I had been imagining it as being months until I read that.
I have a friend who works as a corrections officer at the city jail. It's a bit different because jail is generally temporary holding. Still, he comes back with tales that are quite shocking. And much like the author, he's someone who is quiet and has a demeanor that you wouldn't think was suited for that kind of work. When he describes having to be intimidating or even a physical confrontation, you can see his body shift and become more imposing and rigid. And that's not who he's ever been. You can see the work has changed him, but he's also still very thoughtful about it. One of his observations that I keep coming back to is how most inmates lack any sort of planning or ability to look to the future, and so they don't really have a full connection between their actions and the consequences of such actions.
I hope that all of the prison based media were seeing these days is a sign that the US is starting to wake up to the horrors of both prisons and our criminal justice system. Between Orange is the New Black, Making a Murderer, Serial, this and similar articles to name a few- there has been a big surge in interest in prison and how our country deals with criminal activity. Maybe this is a sign there will finally be broader support for making changes.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 1:25 PM on June 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
I have a friend who works as a corrections officer at the city jail. It's a bit different because jail is generally temporary holding. Still, he comes back with tales that are quite shocking. And much like the author, he's someone who is quiet and has a demeanor that you wouldn't think was suited for that kind of work. When he describes having to be intimidating or even a physical confrontation, you can see his body shift and become more imposing and rigid. And that's not who he's ever been. You can see the work has changed him, but he's also still very thoughtful about it. One of his observations that I keep coming back to is how most inmates lack any sort of planning or ability to look to the future, and so they don't really have a full connection between their actions and the consequences of such actions.
I hope that all of the prison based media were seeing these days is a sign that the US is starting to wake up to the horrors of both prisons and our criminal justice system. Between Orange is the New Black, Making a Murderer, Serial, this and similar articles to name a few- there has been a big surge in interest in prison and how our country deals with criminal activity. Maybe this is a sign there will finally be broader support for making changes.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 1:25 PM on June 24, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm not quite finished yet, but the part about China and the shit storm of that person's life was truly heartbreaking.
"That person" is sort of de-gendering here. She's a trans woman who was forced into a men's prison and repeatedly abused, let's not add insult by carefully referencing her in gender neutral ways.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:36 PM on June 24, 2016
"That person" is sort of de-gendering here. She's a trans woman who was forced into a men's prison and repeatedly abused, let's not add insult by carefully referencing her in gender neutral ways.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:36 PM on June 24, 2016
I've done antiviolence workshops in a couple of prisons in California. I'd rather be at Litchfield than any of the places I've been. Litchfield, at its core, is humane. Real prisons are inhumane in a way that is difficult to describe unless you've seen it.
Real inmates are not allowed to go for a jog - it's a "security risk". They walk circles around the yard instead. They literally spend 20 years of their life walking around in circles.
Real inmates do not get to roam the halls like in Litchfield. Their movement is tightly restricted, even on medium security levels.
Guards treat inmates like the (minor spoiler) new hires at Litchfield in S4 - some are ok, but some clearly get off on doing extra aggressive searches on people, yelling at them for extremely minor stuff, etc.
Every minor detail of their life is controlled by somebody else. When to get up. When to brush their teeth. When to eat. When to shower. When to socialize.
The library at one of the yards I work at has the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil monkeys with the caption - "shut your mouth - that is how you grow old". This was put there by library staff, not inmates.
Prison is awful. It's awful by its very nature, but a lot of people go out of their way to make sure it is as awful and infantalizing as possible.
posted by zug at 10:54 PM on June 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
Real inmates are not allowed to go for a jog - it's a "security risk". They walk circles around the yard instead. They literally spend 20 years of their life walking around in circles.
Real inmates do not get to roam the halls like in Litchfield. Their movement is tightly restricted, even on medium security levels.
Guards treat inmates like the (minor spoiler) new hires at Litchfield in S4 - some are ok, but some clearly get off on doing extra aggressive searches on people, yelling at them for extremely minor stuff, etc.
Every minor detail of their life is controlled by somebody else. When to get up. When to brush their teeth. When to eat. When to shower. When to socialize.
The library at one of the yards I work at has the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil monkeys with the caption - "shut your mouth - that is how you grow old". This was put there by library staff, not inmates.
Prison is awful. It's awful by its very nature, but a lot of people go out of their way to make sure it is as awful and infantalizing as possible.
posted by zug at 10:54 PM on June 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
Oh yeah, and there are no rules that guards have to follow. Each guard says whatever the heck they want, and they can change their minds from day to day about what is and isn't allowed. You never know if or when you'll get things you've actually been promised that you're supposed to get. That might actually be the worst part.
posted by zug at 10:55 PM on June 24, 2016
posted by zug at 10:55 PM on June 24, 2016
Real inmates are not allowed to go for a jog - it's a "security risk". They walk circles around the yard instead. They literally spend 20 years of their life walking around in circles.
Real inmates do not get to roam the halls like in Litchfield. Their movement is tightly restricted, even on medium security levels.
Piper both jogs and roams the halls in the book, which takes place in a real prison. Remember that OITNB both book and movie don't take "even on medium security levels", they're minimum security. And the prison in the book (i.e the real one) comes off as much better (less violent, less arbitrary) than the one in the show. I was wondering as I read the article how much of this is about low vs. medium security and how much of it is about men's vs. women's prisons, and of course how much of it is about public vs. for-profit operation, though you seem to be saying that it isn't the latter.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:46 AM on June 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Real inmates do not get to roam the halls like in Litchfield. Their movement is tightly restricted, even on medium security levels.
Piper both jogs and roams the halls in the book, which takes place in a real prison. Remember that OITNB both book and movie don't take "even on medium security levels", they're minimum security. And the prison in the book (i.e the real one) comes off as much better (less violent, less arbitrary) than the one in the show. I was wondering as I read the article how much of this is about low vs. medium security and how much of it is about men's vs. women's prisons, and of course how much of it is about public vs. for-profit operation, though you seem to be saying that it isn't the latter.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:46 AM on June 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
So much in this article that is disturbing and horrifying. I'm impressed at the bravery and honesty of the writer, and how he details the impact that corrections work had on him, how despite his intention to be an observer he became paranoid and cruel.
When I was a kid I read a biography of William Penn which described him encountering, as a boy, a cartload of people being taken to debtor's prison. I remember being grateful that we had moved beyond that and that the USA was such an awesome, free, safe place to live. I think I was about 7.
posted by bunderful at 2:14 PM on June 25, 2016
When I was a kid I read a biography of William Penn which described him encountering, as a boy, a cartload of people being taken to debtor's prison. I remember being grateful that we had moved beyond that and that the USA was such an awesome, free, safe place to live. I think I was about 7.
posted by bunderful at 2:14 PM on June 25, 2016
Part of my former job as a mental health caseworker was going into the county jail to do emergency screenings. I had no idea what to expect before I went in there. And at first it was overwhelming, but I got used to it pretty quickly. It's just a county jail in a small town, of course, but it's sort of similar looking to the prison in OITNB in looks. Institutional, but clean. White walls, bright lights. Even natural light in the hallways from windows facing into an interior courtyard. I never realized how much that helped the feel of the place. The inmates wore extremely faded black and white stripes, so the overall impression was shapeless, sagging grays. Everyone had their sob story, very few seemed truly intimidating. I got very used to walking through that facility on my own.
Until I had to visit a county jail in the next county over, a much more populous area. Suddenly, this was JAIL, like you see on TV. It was incredibly dark and oppressive. The walls were dark blue, for some reason the lighting was dim, which I'd think was a terrible idea. It felt like a tomb, with constant sets of barred doors to walk through, hearing the heavy clang behind you. The inmates wore orange, and they looked angry. It was one of the most unsettling places I've ever been. An it was still just a county jail. But I realized what a difference the environment can make.
The real problem with my local county jail was the medical treatment. They had a jail doctor who came in twice a week for a few hours to see inmates. He was literally the lowest bidder. Most of what he dealt with was mental health issues, so do you think he was a psychiatrist? Ha. Yeah, he was an allergist. When someone with a mental illness came into the jail and was on a medication, the jail wouldn't pay for it. So he'd change them to something on his list of approved meds that cost less than $5. I'm serious, I saw his handwritten list of what to prescribe for what. He would prescribe things like haloperidol and fucking thorazine for schizophrenia. These are meds that haven't really been used in a generation. Not only are they not as effective as modern options, but they have PERMANENT LIFELONG SIDE EFFECTS. Plus pulling someone off their normal meds has them going through withdrawal.
The only way someone could stay on their regular meds was if their family or someone paid for it and brought the pills to the jail. But for people who normally had their meds paid for by the local mental health authority, we couldn't do anything, because the state was now officially paying the jail to care for them. And the jail would just deny the meds because they were expensive. And by offering the $4 medication that is still technically on the books as a treatment for an illness, they got away with it because they weren't denying ALL care. I had clients come out of jail in psychotic states, suicidal, and just heard horror stories. And this is at a short-term facility without the kind of grievous abuses detailed in this articles, as far as I could tell.
posted by threeturtles at 8:18 PM on June 25, 2016 [9 favorites]
Until I had to visit a county jail in the next county over, a much more populous area. Suddenly, this was JAIL, like you see on TV. It was incredibly dark and oppressive. The walls were dark blue, for some reason the lighting was dim, which I'd think was a terrible idea. It felt like a tomb, with constant sets of barred doors to walk through, hearing the heavy clang behind you. The inmates wore orange, and they looked angry. It was one of the most unsettling places I've ever been. An it was still just a county jail. But I realized what a difference the environment can make.
The real problem with my local county jail was the medical treatment. They had a jail doctor who came in twice a week for a few hours to see inmates. He was literally the lowest bidder. Most of what he dealt with was mental health issues, so do you think he was a psychiatrist? Ha. Yeah, he was an allergist. When someone with a mental illness came into the jail and was on a medication, the jail wouldn't pay for it. So he'd change them to something on his list of approved meds that cost less than $5. I'm serious, I saw his handwritten list of what to prescribe for what. He would prescribe things like haloperidol and fucking thorazine for schizophrenia. These are meds that haven't really been used in a generation. Not only are they not as effective as modern options, but they have PERMANENT LIFELONG SIDE EFFECTS. Plus pulling someone off their normal meds has them going through withdrawal.
The only way someone could stay on their regular meds was if their family or someone paid for it and brought the pills to the jail. But for people who normally had their meds paid for by the local mental health authority, we couldn't do anything, because the state was now officially paying the jail to care for them. And the jail would just deny the meds because they were expensive. And by offering the $4 medication that is still technically on the books as a treatment for an illness, they got away with it because they weren't denying ALL care. I had clients come out of jail in psychotic states, suicidal, and just heard horror stories. And this is at a short-term facility without the kind of grievous abuses detailed in this articles, as far as I could tell.
posted by threeturtles at 8:18 PM on June 25, 2016 [9 favorites]
'She's a trans woman who was forced into a men's prison and repeatedly abused, let's not add insult by carefully referencing her in gender neutral ways...'
It wasn't my intention to do that, but if I examine myself closely, I do see that I struggled to form my comment in the most appropriate way. As a trans woman forced into a men's prison, China was (is?) clearly among the most vulnerable, and I just wanted to point that out.
posted by Myeral at 5:33 AM on June 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
It wasn't my intention to do that, but if I examine myself closely, I do see that I struggled to form my comment in the most appropriate way. As a trans woman forced into a men's prison, China was (is?) clearly among the most vulnerable, and I just wanted to point that out.
posted by Myeral at 5:33 AM on June 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
I hope that all of the prison based media were seeing these days is a sign that the US is starting to wake up to the horrors of both prisons and our criminal justice system.
Qft
posted by tilde at 7:28 AM on June 27, 2016
Qft
posted by tilde at 7:28 AM on June 27, 2016
I was wondering as I read the article how much of this is about low vs. medium security and how much of it is about men's vs. women's prisons
It's also state vs. federal; federal prisons are generally more professionally run, and that's where Kerman was. A federal minimum security women's prison is going to be a lot more civilized than a Louisiana medium security men's prison.
posted by tavella at 9:05 AM on June 27, 2016
It's also state vs. federal; federal prisons are generally more professionally run, and that's where Kerman was. A federal minimum security women's prison is going to be a lot more civilized than a Louisiana medium security men's prison.
posted by tavella at 9:05 AM on June 27, 2016
Shane Bauer was just interviewed about this on "Politicially Reactive," the new podcast from W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu.
posted by trillian at 10:06 AM on June 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by trillian at 10:06 AM on June 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
NEW HARI KONDABOLU PODCAST!!! Subscribing immediately. Thank you trillian!
posted by brainwane at 11:15 AM on June 30, 2016
posted by brainwane at 11:15 AM on June 30, 2016
« Older The consequences will be wide-ranging if the canal... | WOOOOOOOOOO: the Tangled History of the Oldest... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Drowsy Philosopher at 6:50 AM on June 23, 2016 [10 favorites]