After watching this video, I can understand why the prisoners had captured 39 prison guards and faculty for the cruel conditions they were receiving at the prison. This may seem wrong to some viewers but look at it this way would you like to be treated with so much disrespect you are basically a slave in a prison just waiting to die, because that is the type of life these prisoners had they had little to no freedom in their living quarters and they were just treated like animals in a cell. I don’t think hearing about this can really justify how bad these conditions were for everyone there, yes what the inmates did may seem wrong because they captured the guards and staff but it was simple fight or flight instinct kicking in and you don’t see many of them being able to escape a maximum-security prison that easy. This is also why 43 died and 83 were seriously injured because they tried to run or fight the guards and in return they decided they would rather die than live in the conditions they were in that prison. I also agree with Elliot Barkley when he said “We are men! We are not beasts and do not intend to be beaten or driven as such” I agree with this statement because we are all human beings and no human should ever have to live in such cruel and unreasonable conditions. I would like to note that if our government had the proper funding for this prison or the correct trained officials maybe this outbreak could have been prevented but no one notices how easy just a little bit more of funding this could make it all. If our government had a better handle on all our prisons maybe there wouldn’t be such terrible living conditions and so many riots within our prisons that kill or injure this many people.
I agree with you on this because I can see your point of view when it comes to them getting treated like slaves. I did not think of it that way, but I totally see where you are coming from. I would not want to just sit there and get treated like a slave when john said he saw staff and administration commit federal crimes and nothing happens to them. I feel like more riots will keep happening if nothing is done about it. Just hearing about it, does not justify what is actually going on inside those walls. –Bears456
I totally agree with you carl. What do you expect people to do if they are put in a position like this. I know their criminals but they still deserve respect and if they don't get it from the people who are supposed to supervise and protect them. They are just as bad as that person. I think this prison was abusing these rights on purpose as well, which is unfair to inmates. McBrightyalife456
This video just comes to show how bad our prisons really are and how there are a lot of people in prison for being wrongfully convicted. Now I totally understand why the Attica Prison Revolt happened and why we still have prison riots to this day with a large number of fatalities. They basically had all the prisoners in there to pass away. They were getting everything they needed to live day to day. Jeffery was in prison for 16 years for a murder and rape charge he didn’t commit. Why did it take 16 years for them to finally realize Jeffery was innocent? I strongly believe that the verbal abuse and physical violence will never change inside of prisons because the staff members think they can treat the inmates however they want and it is okay. Or inmates doing it among one another because of the crimes they may have committed. I don’t understand how they only had six toilets for that many people. That is unsanitary and disgusting. Mental health should be treated as a disciplinary issue! Some inmates cannot help that they have a mental health issue! Every prisoner with mental health should be properly medicated and have some sort of checkups throughout the year. John admitting that he has seen prison guards and prison administers committing federal crimes in a prison and not getting consequences for their actions. I totally agree that the state will most likely always believe the staff and administrators of the prison because deep down who would want to believe a criminal. The staff members are dehumanizing the inmates and are treating them with no respect. No one deserves to live this way, criminal or not. Things need to change as soon as possible, so lives can be saved. –Bears456
I agree are prisons are terrible, especially the ones that can not make the prisoners feel safe. I feel that we need to start monitoring prisons more and more just because you never know what may happen. If certain prisoners do not get the medicine they need to live or to be sane then how can we trust these guards to save our lives in a catastrophe. If they treat prisoners like animals just because they may have done one wrong thing how will they treat the rest of us. Illini456
our prisons are being over populated because people are being wrongfully accused. The guards at these prisons are treating these poor people so wrong it is very unfair to many of the people that are behind bars for all of the wrong reasons. To make an accurate decision on whether these people are to be incarcerated or not I feel they should do a little more digging on the case before they wrongfully convict someone Thunder456
Watching this video has explained multiple issues and wrong doings that occur behind bars. After hearing the mistreatment that prisoners underwent it's heartbreaking to hear that these people, who are still human, are being treated like they're less than that. Guards were not thinking about how they'd feel if they were in the inmate's shoes. They do not see them as people, they don't feel as though prisoners deserve respect, but they do. Listening to this video is upsetting but I could not imagine how awful it would be to be in those prisoner's shoes. I don't think that what they did, capturing a staggering 39 guards and facility staff members, was what they should have done or was right in any way. But, I can see why they did what they did. If i was treated like that I'm sure I'd want to take matters into my own hands rather than trying to bring the issues up with staff members or people who could legally fix the problem. I feel as though if our prisons retrained our guards and staff members things like this would not occur, we wouldn't see as many prison riots, we wouldn't be dealing with inmate deaths due to neglectful guards and employees. I know our country doesn't necessarily have the money to reform and fix all the problems our prisons have but there needs to be a change before more incidences like this happen, before more fatalities happened. Like Mr. Barkley said, "We are men," and I strongly believe our prisoners need to be treated as such. How can prison employees expect to be respected if they are treating their inmates as if they were animals. If our prisons worked on fixing what needs to be fixed we can avoid more events like these.
It is heartbreaking that prisoners are being treated like they are not a human being at all. Yes, they are in prison because of what they have done. But it was not right to treat them like an animal by taking away their rights as a human being. What those prisoners did was wrong. I believe they did it because the higher ups do not care about their situation and nothing is being done so they take matters into their own hands. This event happened 44 years ago, and I believe that this event brings some changes in state and federal prison level. Hopefully that our government keeps on trying to improve and fix the prison system. -M.Scott456
I would have to agree with you on this that it is very heartbreaking to hear and see what these inmates were going through and like you said they are still humans and how would the guards feel if it was them behind bars as an inmate they wouldn't like the treatment they are getting but they are the ones giving it. I would also like to say that yes what the inmates did was wrong capturing the guards and staff but if you were an inmate at that prison would you do something better or just side with the huge riot that is trying to take over the prison? CarlBaconWho456
This video really do open your eyes up to more things that are happening in Prison. It may even get you to understand why there are prison riots, or why people may act crazy in prison. The prison system is setup to where prisoners feel no hope to living. They are only giving the bear necessities to live day to day. They aren't treated like humans. As most people are thinking they are treated like animals that are locked away. Its is utterly insane to me that Jeffery was locked away for 16 years for a crime he did not commit. Why did it take 16 years for a innocent man to be released? I feel as though the way technology is developing now of days there is no way that jeffrey should have spent 16 years in prison. As he stated more than half the inmates he came in contact with has some type of mental illness. But they were not receiving the correct or proper treatment that they should have. Why is this? Why are we charging people on average a dollar per minute to call loved one in prison but we are not giving these people the proper health care they need. I believe that charging people a dollar per minute to talk to a loved one in prison is ridiculous. As stated in the video there are estimated to be 2.7 million kids around the world with a loved one in prison. From poor to rich to there are kids that need and want to talk to their fathers or mothers in prison but may not be able to due to the money. At the end of the video it talks about how there are now female firefighters in prison due to a rehab program. There should be way more programs like this in prison so that when they get out they feel like they have a chance. They will feel like they have a little leap if they study a trade in prison. Which in hopes will stop them from coming back. -latte456
I totally agree with your statement. It's very upsetting on how prisoners are treated in prison. Yet, they may have did something to be in there but they don't deserve to be treated like animals. Another thing you stated that I agreed with is Jeffrey serving 16 years of a crime he didn't commit. Like it shouldn't be take all them years to know if a person commit something not. In my opinion serious crimes like that should be taking care immediately. No one shouldn't have to wait 16 years just to find out that they didn't do anything. To conclude you state good points in your statement from the video. savage456
While watching this video, I found the main point to be that prisoners should are not animals and should not be treated like animals no matter what type of crime they have done. While hearing the story of the Attica Prison where the inmates took over got me thinking, if the prison officials want to treat their prisoners like they are animals, then shouldn’t they be treated the same way to know what it feels like. If these prisoners get treated like this, then I feel like the ones that have mental health problems may actually believe that they are an animals just because of the way they are being treated. The ones that do have mental health problems the only thing that the prison will do to try and make this prisoner better is put them in solitary confinement; they won’t find the need to try and give them medicine to help with their problem. If these people never get the help they need, then when they get back into society with people who do not have mental problems, they may not know how to react to being in the same room or building with these people. I think that prison guards should have to go through a certain course or class which would teach them how to act toward certain prisoners or if they was a riot to happen, they may not know what to do or how to deal with it in the correct way. If we had more cameras in prisons then we may be able to deter guards from beating prisoners or we may also be able to stop prison fights. We also need to stop overcrowding prison cells which may require to build more prisons and we also need to have more places for prisoners to go to the bathroom instead of having say one toilet for 25 prisoners. Illini456
I agree with your post and I basically said the same thing in mine about inmates with actual mental illnesses and how bad things like this can affect them. When they feel as if they are being treated like animals they do have a larger chance of actually believing that and they do not improve as people and that's where larger problems are caused and if they do get out of prison they may or may not end up right back in their because they do not know any better and weren't treated properly in order to get better. swaggyy456
Although I do agree with what you are saying but I noticed a couple things. You mentioned that the guards should be trained to deal with these situations, in fact the do have training and protocols to handle situations such as these. there is always room for improvement and learning but for the most part they can react promptly and swiftly to these situations. Second, two wrongs have never made a right and in treating someone the way that they have done is not justified. Should there be consequences for the actions of the guards, yes with out hesitation but it should be done in the manner that should have originally happened for the inmates. When society turn to the same actions as punishment for what others have done then we are no better than what the guards were themselves.
In this video there are so many points to cover about major prisons in the united states like the reason that Attaca happened was because prisoners were fed up with have awful treatment that they were experiencing. All guards that work in a prison know the outcomes which could happen like the same things that happened in Attaca like holding guards for ransom and killing certain guards and even other prisoners that wouldn't follow. Prisoners all over the world all want respect with guards and with the other inmates. Prisoner abuse is found with prisoners among prisoners or guard among prisoners. There is also a high number of prisoners who are innocent but were just thrown in prison because of faulty evidence I believe every case that is faulty should be opened back up and seen if not guilty the second go around. Another main reason is the "pay to play" in jails and prisons. This is them have to spend large amounts of money on commissary or phone calls to home and to friends. There are 2.7 million children in the world who have either one or both parents in prison and they have to spend money to even contact their loved ones. Lots of people are fighting to have free calls and free commissary for all prisons but it will never pass because the state is making too much money to give it all up. There are way too many states that have large or many prisons located that prisons are so overcrowded and that means more and more money which who doesn't want money. So I think that it will never change.
After watching the video I immediately thought of the show "Orange Is the New Black" although I know the show is not real they based their last season off of an accident this like. In the show they held some of the guards and wardens hostage because they were fed up with how they were being treated and wanted to be treated more as humans than animals. In the show it is an all women prison and after watching this video it shows that these kind of things due truly happen anywhere and to anyone. In the video Elliot Barkley was quoted when he said "We are men! We are not beasts and do not intend to be beaten or driven as such," I agree with this statement because he is completely right even though they did bad things how are they expected to come out as better people when they are not treated as people. The reason prisoners begin to act out like this is because they do not feel equal, do not get me wrong anyone us jail should not be treated as royalty but still deserve decency. In prisons some people are already being treated wrongfully by other other prisoners which would be expected but when they are treated poorly by guards and people in those kinds of positions that gets to a person mentally and I feel like some people hit a certain point and begin to take their own lives because they honestly feel as if they can no longer take the pain which is sad. Like I stated in my post on the other article you never know what kind of problems cause a person to end up in jail therefore when you dehumanize someone it causes them to go into natural defense mode in order to protect themselves and I feel like this is what happened in Attaca. swaggyy456
I agree that prisoners act out against the prison guard because they don't feel like they are getting equal treatment and expect to be treated better. I think that prisoners should be treated more like humans and not animals. No person should feel dehumanized whether they are in jail or not. I agree that the mentality of people can go once they are in prison so long, and agree that is when people may begin to take their lives or attempt to. I think that you are right and the prisoners do go into a natural defense mode when they are threatened or treated badly. NightTrain456
I agree to your post! Just from reading articles previously and watching things come across the internet which yes I know everything isn't true, but it shows that people that were once normal go downhill fast in prisons. I use to question how? But now I could see why because yes prison isn't suppose to be a vacation but anyone that is behind bars should still be pointed some kind of respect and some kind of help if needed. I believe the defense mode completely. I'm sure we would go into defense mode if we were in there because I have always kept it in mind that all of us are always one wrong move to this day to possibly be living like other inmates.
After watching this video I realized how bad some prisoners really have it. This video brought to life what actually goes on in prison, and the conditions some inmates face. The guest on the show stated that the verbal and physical abuse that occurred during the time of the Attica prison riot has not changed and is still used on prisoners today. One interesting point that one man made was that special housing may have a direct link to mental health problems with prisoners. As said in the video some officers or “higher ups” may turn the other cheek when issues or problems arise with the prisoners. The other guest on the show states that there is a difference between prison conducted by the federal government and the state operated prison which I think should not be the case. Another interesting point he made was that prisoners aren’t being medicated in prison or might not be given the right medication. Some prisoners potentially forced to sign documents if they know to much or have access to the press, because the prisons are afraid that the prisoners may expose them to the public and deemed a high threat prisoner. Due to mass incarceration a many prisoners may be innocent but still incarcerated due to wrongful practices. One guest stated that 75% of wrongful conviction is due to misidentification. I think that the representation of prisoners in court should be changed so there is an equal playing field between the plaintiff and the defendant. I think it's interesting that one guest thinks there is a presumption of guilt in the court of law instead of a presumption of innocence. In this video they state that private prisons should be done away with because they are operated as a for profit company, and only make money if the prisons are full. Many of these conditions are not humane and should be done away to protect prisoners especially non violent prisoners. NightTrain456
I totally agree with ending private prisons. It isn't right to run prisons the way they do. People are not money. It's like selling someone into slavery, or prositution. That's a very dramatic statement, but it's just an example to kind of show my point. If we put people in our private prisons, especially just to fill them so they can make profit, that is just as bad if we think about it. Rugby_4
After watching this video it just made me think that prisoners have it badly. This video showed how the prisoners is treated like animals and not humans. Hearing the things they go through is very disturbing. One thing that Jeffrey Deskovic stated that I didn’t like was when he was falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit. The reason I said I didn’t like it because serious crimes like this should be resolved as soon as possible! People shouldn’t have to wait around to found out the truth of them doing the crime because it’s wasting time that they can’t get back. Deskovic also made another interesting point which was about how verbal abuse still haven’t changed and how they have cameras for protection but it doesn’t stop nothing because the physical violence still occur. According to the mass incarceration prisoners are still detain due to the way of the incarceration. Another thing I listen to was the how the prison is operated and set up. We need to stop putting a lot of prisoners in one little space and have a lot of area where they can be a least comfortable. In this video they were basically treated like straight animals. Another thing that stood how on how Deskovic stated how the key factor on how people are sent to prison is how we are not using best practices to be clear on what the prisoner actually did. Lastly, I believe that Jeffrey Deskovic is doing a right thing to have a foundation to help prisoners who falsely convicted for a crime that they didn’t commit and how he state good facts on how they need to improve on using the right procedures and get us to see the truth of why they are falsely convicted. savage456
I can't agree more with what you said on Jefferey Deskovic, how can they put someone away for that many years with those charges and not have ALL the evidence to be able to prove it. Other then obviously being treated poorly and missing out on 16 years of his life that he'll never get back and more insight on how prisons run as a prisoner, how do they justify him after spending all of that time being punished for something he didn't even do. I don't even know how to put into words how irritated I am for him. It's amazing what he is doing know to help other prisoners who were like him and was falsely accused.FoxRacing456
After watching this video clip, I understand that there are many convicts that are and were falsely accused. This shows a lot of negligence that we have in our court system. In my opinion, these private prisons should be done away with. It is not fair to the people who are in a non-private prison to be isolated from some of these other prisoners. The convicts that are in these private prisons may be getting things differently than the convicts in a non- private prison. Is there a way we could ever tell? There really is not a way of knowing if the folks in private prison are getting lesser or more treatment then non-private prisons. The only people that know are the ones that are on the inside. if they are in prison who on earth are they going to tell? There is no one to tell and there certainly is no proof that anyone is going to give out. To stay InTouch with your loved ones that are incarcerated, It can get extremely expensive. The people who help you set up your “profile” to talk to these loved ones cannot give you a rate on the amount of money that you will be spending per minuet on the phone. We have incarcerated more women in just the past few years than the United States has ever incarcerated. The separation of a mother and their children or child is very common now days. This is also very tragic to the child or children. The United States now has one third of the incarceration rate in the world. If you think about that it is very upsetting and most of these females are incarcerated due to the war on drugs. The question now is who is taking care of the child or children of the mother? Thunder456
How have prisons reformed since Attica in 1972- Are Federal and State prisons inmates treated the same, federal prisons are much better. This video had a news cast interview with two previous inmates one of which had been sentenced and served 16 years of a crime he didn't even commit, after proper DNA he was proven innocent. His view is that the prison need to be reformed to help inmates have better conditions. These conditions need to be changed. Another inmate, because he had connections with the media before being incarcerated was labeled as a high threat security inmate and was treated unfairly, he believes the prisons need to be reformed to treat all inmates fairly. 2.2 million inmates are given food, clothing and a bed. Luxuries such as connections to the outside world such as family and loved ones, comes at a high price. Companies are making a profit off inmates such as phone. A female who was a former inmate, which by the way female incarcerations have increased throughout the past years.., The impact of these women being in prison has caused children to be raised without their mother. Conspiracy charges are making sentences that are so long that these women don't have an opportunity to get out early for crimes that doesn't warrant being incarcerated, Black women more so then white, not a fair system. This has caused multiple family members being in prison while their children are being taken care of by others. Only 7% of female inmates are inmates that warrant incarceration. Prisons aren't not all against reform however, female inmates in California are being trained to become firefighters, an asset to our society. However more reform needs to be done to reduce the high numbers of inmates and for treatment of all inmates an their living conditions. FoxRacing456
I have to be honest, a lot of this piece comes across more as a hit piece than genuinely concerned investigative journalism. I tend to distrust RT in general, not out of any personal animosity towards the journalists themselves, but rather on the basis that it is owned by the Russian government. The Russian government has taken an increasingly militant attitude towards the United States, due mostly to Putin’s imperial ambitions, in my mind. I don’t buy that they had any serious effects on the presidential election, but I don’t believe that Russia is our ally, either. Therefore, I tend to distrust what they put out, on the basis that it is published by an international adversary that exercises very strict control over its media.
In spite of this, I do acknowledge that many of the points they make are entirely valid. Prisons have long suffered from overcrowding and the abuses that stem from overincarceration in general. These are inexcusable abuses against human dignity, and I wish to see them ended swiftly and efficiently (although this IS the government we’re talking about here, so I can’t realistically expect that).
The greatest problem, I think, is not any lack of funding, but overcriminalization. I’m very staunchly on the side of personal liberty, and I hold that nothing should be a crime that does not harm another person. The War on Drugs, one of the prime causes of overincarceration, is in my opinion merely smoke and mirrors, designed to blame inanimate narcotics for problems that stem from animate people and from no other root cause. To continue waging it is as foolish as continuing to espouse Prohibition was in 1933, and will one day be just as unpopular a proposition, I believe. It has expanded police presence and authority, and results in more expenditure of blood and treasure that we can ill afford as a society when treatment is both more humane and requires no jackboots to enforce.
I agree with your skepticism of RT, they definitely have a very sketchy history. The involvement of the Russian government within Russian media is worrying and it appears that by bringing RT to the US, they're also trying to bring that influence of the Russian government with them. Regardless, the content of this report, at least, seems to be reputable.
It has been realized by most that we have a large amount of people incarcerated in America. In fact, we have the highest amount across the entire world. We have 2.2 million people incarcerated as I sit here and type. That is almost the population of Chicago, Illinois. Can we fix that? Can we the people, citizens, law enforcement, etc; help reduce the size of our prisons? Do we have to incarcerate them? The population of prisons in the United States has rised 646% from 1980 to 2010, as it says in the video above. I understand that the world has changed since then. New laws, new drugs, more technology, more danger, and so on have been going on in our country between those thirty years. But, is that the only reason why we have such a mass amount? Of course I believe a large number of population in our prisons should be there. I'm just saying, some definitely shouldn't be, or may be not as long. For an example, they said in the video that a 70 year old grandmother was sentenced thirty years in prison for cocaine. Why? We need to ask ourselves, is that fair? Is that all right to do? Is the state and federal prisons just looking for money? Charging one dollar per minute to a inmate that wants to talk to his or her family is absurd. I believe that they should earn certain rights, of course. But not be charged for simple life necessities. I know that was all jumbled up, and there are other points that I could have made. But long story short, America has an issue with mass incarceration. And we definitely have an issue with treating our inmates poorly. We can do way better, we just need to work together, find a certain mindset and figure out how. Rugby_4
Honestly it bugs me that their are actually elderly in a prison, they belong in a nursing home. If my 70 year old grandma got locked up over boogersugar id be pretty upset. although we also need to ask how much cocaine this 70 year old grandmother have. was she making a selling or was it just for recreational use? what is the media leaving out for us to not know? Did a grandchild get a hold of said cocaine? ~myhearseisnotafuneralcar456~
Watching this video on just a short segment of prison incarceration has given me the outlook that most if not, all prisons are broken in their own ways or dealing with the same problems. Just starng from the beginning where both advocates say everything in prison all starts with the higher ups for prisons no maer if its a state prison or a federal prison. Starng with an issue I feel that come up a lot and thats just simple help for the prisoners. If prisons aren't giving treatment that is necessary to inmates, then i think its safe to say you're going to have unhappy people that are going to react the only way they know how to. Most inmates that out lash are problems of the system, have mental problems, are mad at the world, etc.. We have to find a system to and put it into place to help inmates get the proper needs that should be always avalible to them other wise we will keep having the same troubles we have. Something else that made me concerned was with how much the women population has gone up. There was a lady that stated that we are now incarcerang women for things we wouldn't have incarcerated them for back in the older days. The fact that women population is going up means there are more and more children with a parent or two in the system. If we have children living a life with a parent or two parents in the system then I feel like the child has a good chance of being part of the system themselves. There's a lot of men and women in the system that are in there on the same case because they are being charged with the same charges in court. Which if we have both parents in the system then that's another thing we need to work on. We need to find or think of programs that can help get children and parents back on their feet to better their lives and get somewhere. At last, we need to find where the prisons systems are completely failing at and help support them get back on their feet. We need to be more careful and quit giving so many breaks on the wrong kind of people we have controlling state and federal prisons. unknownzeeha456
Knowing what I previously did about the prison revolt at Attica and what I had learned from the video, I can honestly say that I fully understand why many of the prisoners who have lashed back do as they have. To begin with, I know there is a decent sized percentage of prisoners who have been falsely convicted, and being locked away like dogs for something you did not do would be incredibly difficult. As an advocate of the death penalty, I do not believe that murderers, rapists, or pedophiles should be locked away their whole life and given an easy life. Although, what would happen if we were to put an innocent man to death. My issue is the people who are spending years for drug related charges, tax evasion, and crimes that did not hurt others. People are not treated like they should be. The eighth amendment is set up to save people from cruel and unusual punishment. It baffles me that people are treated the way that they are in some prisons. Everyone deserves the basic rights of life, such as proper meals, hygiene, and exercise. It seems as if America turns a blind eye to the way prisoners are treated, and it's disgusting. Prisoners are still people regardless of what crime they have committed. My last issue is as they stated, private prisons SHOULD NOT be a thing. A prison should be a rehabilitation center, not a place to raise funds. As professor Graff always explained if Walmart opened a prison, they would only focus on their profit, not on the well being of the people inside it. They would cut corners and do as they could to raise more money. The closing of private prisons would lead to better treatment for prisoners and better laws for the treatment of those workers and those locked up. LowAndSlow456
Firstly, I'm very wary of Russia Today. Their content seems to serve the political agenda of Russia rather than reporting in the interest of fair media. When a news agency has a history of reporters resigning from that agency due to a presence of propaganda and censorship, maybe it isn't such a reputable news source. Regardless, assuming that this report is based upon reputable sources, it just further demonstrates my previous points in the "Show me your Prisoners" blog post. Prisoners are lacking in the basic necessities secondary to the American people's lack of interest in what happens to convicted criminals. This, in turn, has caused relaxed or lack of regulations for private prisons. Private prisons are allowed to get away with charging exorbitant costs for phone calls. Another issue is that American society currently seems to prefer seeing convicted criminals punished rather than rehabilitated. A 30 year sentence for possession of cocaine is excessive and unnecessary. Without proper rehabilitation, drug users are going to be released only to start using drugs again. Only seeing as they've been cold turkey for however long their sentence is, they go back to their usual dose of their preferred drug and end up overdosing, hence putting an additional unnecessary strain on the EMS and Hospital systems as a whole. It's in the greater interest of the country to rehabilitate drug users and alcohol users, not lock them away. By doing so, we can greatly reduce the amount of people who are currently within State and Federal prisons. This would also greatly relieve our spending in the corrections sector. The idea of jailing drug addicts is a very counter-intuitive idea. You'd think that the corrections system would want to keep inmates out of jail once they're discharged. Rehabilitating them would be the way to do that, but yet, we still aren't offering rehab as much as we should be. This leads me to think that maybe some corrections facilities, specifically private ones, want their inmates to come back in order to sustain or drive up profits. Regardless, things need to change.
I was greatly disturbed by this videos. I don't see how they could just treat prisoners like animals. Its truly sad to be honest and it was a pain to watch this video. Its as if people of America have no regards to what happens after a person is sent to prison. A question that ran through my mind is why are people so for harsh punishment rather than using methods to rehabilitate. TJGirl456
I often wonder what type of offenses are committed by the inmates percentage wise such as how many 1st degree murderers, sex offenders, drug charges make up the prison. what baffles me is that a sex offender who harmed a child will get less time than the person who was at the wrong place at the wrong time when a drug bust goes down. If one chooses to do drugs that is on them a child doesn't have a choice on being assaulted those who harm children are disgusting, those who do drugs need help. Also there is so much that gets overlooked in prison such as murder, rape, more drugs, even sanitation. Not all prisoners are supposed to be their in the first place. Prisons are overcrowded as if it was a concentration camp. If we Didn't sentence people for petty little things our prisons Wouldn't be so over ran. We would probably even have the proper staffing that would be needed. Also if their was proper staffing inmates might get the help that they need such as counseling, psychiatric care, education, medical assistance, all in all to help rehabilitate them. The state always provides care after the damage is done instead of helping. what good does that do instead of fixing a leak we just patch it only for the hole to keep growing bigger. The whole system needs replaced wen need resaults not temporary fixes. ~myhearseisnotafuneralcar~
This video shows me that there are a lot of things that happen behind state and federal prison walls. They are not being treated fairly as a human being but else those higher ups, prison guards, and employees treat them as animals in an overcrowded cell. Lack of rehabilitation, verbally and physically abusing them, and not treating their mental health issue properly but instead, they make it as a disciplinary issue. I understand why those prisoners started a prison revolt in Attica that causes 43 people dead and 89 others seriously injured. I believe some of these people who are serving time are wrongly convicted. This was way back 44 years ago like Jeffrey Deskovic said that “misidentifications been the cause of wrongful convictions which is 75% of the cases” and I do believe that it still happens in state and federal level. He served 16 years in prison for rape and murder charges that he did not commit. John Kiriakou said “he personally witnessed prison guards and prison administrators committing federal crimes in prison” this happen inside a federal prison where he served his time. State and Federal level prison make changes since the Attica Revolt there are now rehabilitative programs, the introduction of schooling and security cameras that did not exist before that provide some level of protection. But I believe that verbal and physical abuse will not change no matter what. The thing that will make the prison improvement within this days is that those people who are running it will be more humane, fair, and to understand how those prisoners feel for cruel treatment. I believe special training for prison guards and staff must be required that will teach them how to respond to some situation like gang violence or riot. And to stop overcrowding cell blocks which will require more funding for the new building. Also, I believe that private prison should be done because it is wrong to make a profit off prisoners. -M.Scott456
This video stated that on September 9th 1971 in the Addica Correctional Facility near Buffalo New York. A prison riot broke out consisting of 39 guards and employees held hostage by inmates to demand better living conditions and programs.Studies show that there are more than 2.4 million people in some sort of incarceration. I think that if people are being sent to jail the conditions should be at least fair if not anything at all. I understand they made mistakes but we still get that right to be treated as people. My thoughts on the man that had to sit in jail for 16 years to wait for some DNA to come back, that ended up not being his, is that it's unfair. I honestly would have been upset and pushed a lawsuit. Instead he took a more positive and effective route. He used his bad situation to become an advocate for prisoner's wrongfully accused and prison reform. Another advocate who sided with him, and was also a victim of the system spoke on behalf of his experiences in prison. He said he was made to sign all types of paperwork because he was deemed as a threat to the jail, due to his access to the media. He believed that they were fearful of what he would see, so it was a way for them to protect themselves. He also said he witnessed sworn in guards committing federal crimes but couldn't help because when he told. They viewed him as just another product of their system. I can see why this affected him but the fact that he overall was a good civilian should have been enough. Andrea James from Boston is also an advocate for incarcerated women, she herself served some time incarcerated. She started an organization called Families for Justice. Building People Up Not Prisons. This advocate believes the main issue for women is receiving access to the right to a fair trial. She says that it is hard to get people to exercise their rights without the doubt of not being released from prison. I don't think that women shouldn't go to jail but i think something should be worked out with women that have children. I agree with Andrea's stance on incarcerating mothers with non violent offenses because overall the child and community suffers the results. When you take away a child's primary caregiver, your removing a productive member of society from the community. I view it this way because who is going to be left to guide and discipline the child or even make mistakes from the child to learn from. I agree that this is a human rights issue because we should treat others the way we want to be treated and I'm pretty sure if the shoe was on the other foot it'd be different.The fire training program they do in Oregon is a great way to support positive reinforcement. McBrightyalife456
Prisoners are still people with rights. They at one point did break the law but if it was that bad give them the death penalty. Animals get locked away. Prisoners get locked away. Punishment is prison where they dont get all the same freedom once had. Im not saying make it DisneyLand but domt make it a fate worse then death. Prisons are controlled security buildings for inmates who break laws in the outside world. Controlled Security is just making sure there behaving in time-out basically. To be placed in prison you usually have a sentence of 1 and up years. Believe it or not some of these prisoners did not do the crime. They took the rap for a friend or innocent. This is very rare but it happens too. These people are serving time for others to have justice. We on the outside see them as locked away animals. I guess thats supposed to mean we won. To expand a prison make sure there's a cause. Put Trump away next then maybe this will all make sense. We as citizens just want to be safe and our children. Prisoners are separated from us and put somewhere so we know we're safe. Leave it at that!! They get out and cant get a job so they may return again. Many prisoners find God and get an eduacation. So I guess we care but we dont kind of thing. -Detective Stabler
Unfortunately, it seems as if most people don’t care about people who are in prison because they automatically think they are bad and are in there for a good reason or that they deserve to be in there for the rest of their life. It seems as if most civilians only care about their “tax dollars” being wasted on people in prison and consider them a waste of life when most of them are in there for drug related charges and maybe just need a little guidance in life to help them become a better person instead of treating them like dirt. -PizzaLover456
Regarding the video, it’s sad to think about what is really going on behind state and federal prisons. It seems that no one ever really thinks about how people behind bars are being treated. Just because they are in prison and obviously depending on what they are in there for, it doesn’t mean they should be treated like animals or any less of a human being. Prisoners who are being mistreated is not a popular subject and doesn’t seem to get brought up a lot but I’ve heard and read stories about the horrors behind prison walls and it seems as if it goes both ways between the guards and prisoners. Disregarding heinous crimes that are committed, I believe people who are in prison for ‘lesser’ convictions deserve another chance at life and deserve respect even if the guards or other people do not agree with the decisions that they made to get them there. I honestly think that prisoners who are being mistreated and are eventually let out of prison, will only repeat the same behaviors that were shown to them behind prison walls. The amount of people that are locked up and how over crowded the prisons are is quite disturbing also. It’s good to know that there are some people out there who an advocate for this kind of stuff and trying to do what they can to stop the abuse that is going on within some prisons. I think a lot of it starts with how the prison guards treat the prisoners, treating each other with respect goes a long way. Also, helping the prisoners get back on their feet and reminding them that life is precious and to make the best of it. Help them change their ways and point them in the right direction. -PizzaLover456
I feel that the Attica riot was an eye opening event to the way prisoners were treated back then and I'm sure that it also help to shape the way that they are treated today. The fact that yes the inmates committed crimes and yes some very heinous they are still human beings, and does not give guards the right to treat them as animals and slaves. Maybe the inmates did go about it the wrong way, but especially back then there were not a lot of things inmates could do to fight for rights. They did what they felt they had to do to change the way they were treated and being held. I am sure that in the same or very similar situation that most if not all of us would at least attempt similar actions. Prisoner, guard, or civilian I feel that we should always stand up for what is right and for what we believe in. Sometimes that means doing things that may be outlandish or a bit extreme in order to get the message heard. I am not saying go out and commit a crime or start riots just because you feel you have been wronged or because something happened you didn't like. What I am saying is that if push comes to shove and you have to defend your position then I hope that as a society that we would shove back. Back to just Attica I believe that the situation was more justified and that in an over all case that it helped to bring our prison system up to where they are today. With that I feel that they still have work to do to better some areas in the prisons and the way that inmates are treated and provided for. But overall we have came along way since the riot at Attica.
After watching this video, I can understand why the prisoners had captured 39 prison guards and faculty for the cruel conditions they were receiving at the prison. This may seem wrong to some viewers but look at it this way would you like to be treated with so much disrespect you are basically a slave in a prison just waiting to die, because that is the type of life these prisoners had they had little to no freedom in their living quarters and they were just treated like animals in a cell. I don’t think hearing about this can really justify how bad these conditions were for everyone there, yes what the inmates did may seem wrong because they captured the guards and staff but it was simple fight or flight instinct kicking in and you don’t see many of them being able to escape a maximum-security prison that easy. This is also why 43 died and 83 were seriously injured because they tried to run or fight the guards and in return they decided they would rather die than live in the conditions they were in that prison. I also agree with Elliot Barkley when he said “We are men! We are not beasts and do not intend to be beaten or driven as such” I agree with this statement because we are all human beings and no human should ever have to live in such cruel and unreasonable conditions. I would like to note that if our government had the proper funding for this prison or the correct trained officials maybe this outbreak could have been prevented but no one notices how easy just a little bit more of funding this could make it all. If our government had a better handle on all our prisons maybe there wouldn’t be such terrible living conditions and so many riots within our prisons that kill or injure this many people.
ReplyDeleteCarlBaconWho456
I agree with you on this because I can see your point of view when it comes to them getting treated like slaves. I did not think of it that way, but I totally see where you are coming from. I would not want to just sit there and get treated like a slave when john said he saw staff and administration commit federal crimes and nothing happens to them. I feel like more riots will keep happening if nothing is done about it. Just hearing about it, does not justify what is actually going on inside those walls. –Bears456
DeleteI totally agree with you carl. What do you expect people to do if they are put in a position like this. I know their criminals but they still deserve respect and if they don't get it from the people who are supposed to supervise and protect them. They are just as bad as that person. I think this prison was abusing these rights on purpose as well, which is unfair to inmates. McBrightyalife456
DeleteThis video just comes to show how bad our prisons really are and how there are a lot of people in prison for being wrongfully convicted. Now I totally understand why the Attica Prison Revolt happened and why we still have prison riots to this day with a large number of fatalities. They basically had all the prisoners in there to pass away. They were getting everything they needed to live day to day. Jeffery was in prison for 16 years for a murder and rape charge he didn’t commit. Why did it take 16 years for them to finally realize Jeffery was innocent? I strongly believe that the verbal abuse and physical violence will never change inside of prisons because the staff members think they can treat the inmates however they want and it is okay. Or inmates doing it among one another because of the crimes they may have committed. I don’t understand how they only had six toilets for that many people. That is unsanitary and disgusting. Mental health should be treated as a disciplinary issue! Some inmates cannot help that they have a mental health issue! Every prisoner with mental health should be properly medicated and have some sort of checkups throughout the year. John admitting that he has seen prison guards and prison administers committing federal crimes in a prison and not getting consequences for their actions. I totally agree that the state will most likely always believe the staff and administrators of the prison because deep down who would want to believe a criminal. The staff members are dehumanizing the inmates and are treating them with no respect. No one deserves to live this way, criminal or not. Things need to change as soon as possible, so lives can be saved. –Bears456
ReplyDeleteI agree are prisons are terrible, especially the ones that can not make the prisoners feel safe. I feel that we need to start monitoring prisons more and more just because you never know what may happen. If certain prisoners do not get the medicine they need to live or to be sane then how can we trust these guards to save our lives in a catastrophe. If they treat prisoners like animals just because they may have done one wrong thing how will they treat the rest of us. Illini456
Deleteour prisons are being over populated because people are being wrongfully accused. The guards at these prisons are treating these poor people so wrong it is very unfair to many of the people that are behind bars for all of the wrong reasons. To make an accurate decision on whether these people are to be incarcerated or not I feel they should do a little more digging on the case before they wrongfully convict someone Thunder456
DeleteWatching this video has explained multiple issues and wrong doings that occur behind bars. After hearing the mistreatment that prisoners underwent it's heartbreaking to hear that these people, who are still human, are being treated like they're less than that. Guards were not thinking about how they'd feel if they were in the inmate's shoes. They do not see them as people, they don't feel as though prisoners deserve respect, but they do. Listening to this video is upsetting but I could not imagine how awful it would be to be in those prisoner's shoes. I don't think that what they did, capturing a staggering 39 guards and facility staff members, was what they should have done or was right in any way. But, I can see why they did what they did. If i was treated like that I'm sure I'd want to take matters into my own hands rather than trying to bring the issues up with staff members or people who could legally fix the problem. I feel as though if our prisons retrained our guards and staff members things like this would not occur, we wouldn't see as many prison riots, we wouldn't be dealing with inmate deaths due to neglectful guards and employees. I know our country doesn't necessarily have the money to reform and fix all the problems our prisons have but there needs to be a change before more incidences like this happen, before more fatalities happened. Like Mr. Barkley said, "We are men," and I strongly believe our prisoners need to be treated as such. How can prison employees expect to be respected if they are treating their inmates as if they were animals. If our prisons worked on fixing what needs to be fixed we can avoid more events like these.
ReplyDeleteXielxs456
It is heartbreaking that prisoners are being treated like they are not a human being at all. Yes, they are in prison because of what they have done. But it was not right to treat them like an animal by taking away their rights as a human being. What those prisoners did was wrong. I believe they did it because the higher ups do not care about their situation and nothing is being done so they take matters into their own hands. This event happened 44 years ago, and I believe that this event brings some changes in state and federal prison level. Hopefully that our government keeps on trying to improve and fix the prison system. -M.Scott456
DeleteI would have to agree with you on this that it is very heartbreaking to hear and see what these inmates were going through and like you said they are still humans and how would the guards feel if it was them behind bars as an inmate they wouldn't like the treatment they are getting but they are the ones giving it. I would also like to say that yes what the inmates did was wrong capturing the guards and staff but if you were an inmate at that prison would you do something better or just side with the huge riot that is trying to take over the prison?
DeleteCarlBaconWho456
This video really do open your eyes up to more things that are happening in Prison. It may even get you to understand why there are prison riots, or why people may act crazy in prison. The prison system is setup to where prisoners feel no hope to living. They are only giving the bear necessities to live day to day. They aren't treated like humans. As most people are thinking they are treated like animals that are locked away. Its is utterly insane to me that Jeffery was locked away for 16 years for a crime he did not commit. Why did it take 16 years for a innocent man to be released? I feel as though the way technology is developing now of days there is no way that jeffrey should have spent 16 years in prison. As he stated more than half the inmates he came in contact with has some type of mental illness. But they were not receiving the correct or proper treatment that they should have. Why is this? Why are we charging people on average a dollar per minute to call loved one in prison but we are not giving these people the proper health care they need. I believe that charging people a dollar per minute to talk to a loved one in prison is ridiculous. As stated in the video there are estimated to be 2.7 million kids around the world with a loved one in prison. From poor to rich to there are kids that need and want to talk to their fathers or mothers in prison but may not be able to due to the money. At the end of the video it talks about how there are now female firefighters in prison due to a rehab program. There should be way more programs like this in prison so that when they get out they feel like they have a chance. They will feel like they have a little leap if they study a trade in prison. Which in hopes will stop them from coming back. -latte456
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your statement. It's very upsetting on how prisoners are treated in prison. Yet, they may have did something to be in there but they don't deserve to be treated like animals. Another thing you stated that I agreed with is Jeffrey serving 16 years of a crime he didn't commit. Like it shouldn't be take all them years to know if a person commit something not. In my opinion serious crimes like that should be taking care immediately. No one shouldn't have to wait 16 years just to find out that they didn't do anything. To conclude you state good points in your statement from the video. savage456
DeleteWhile watching this video, I found the main point to be that prisoners should are not animals and should not be treated like animals no matter what type of crime they have done. While hearing the story of the Attica Prison where the inmates took over got me thinking, if the prison officials want to treat their prisoners like they are animals, then shouldn’t they be treated the same way to know what it feels like. If these prisoners get treated like this, then I feel like the ones that have mental health problems may actually believe that they are an animals just because of the way they are being treated. The ones that do have mental health problems the only thing that the prison will do to try and make this prisoner better is put them in solitary confinement; they won’t find the need to try and give them medicine to help with their problem. If these people never get the help they need, then when they get back into society with people who do not have mental problems, they may not know how to react to being in the same room or building with these people. I think that prison guards should have to go through a certain course or class which would teach them how to act toward certain prisoners or if they was a riot to happen, they may not know what to do or how to deal with it in the correct way. If we had more cameras in prisons then we may be able to deter guards from beating prisoners or we may also be able to stop prison fights. We also need to stop overcrowding prison cells which may require to build more prisons and we also need to have more places for prisoners to go to the bathroom instead of having say one toilet for 25 prisoners. Illini456
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post and I basically said the same thing in mine about inmates with actual mental illnesses and how bad things like this can affect them. When they feel as if they are being treated like animals they do have a larger chance of actually believing that and they do not improve as people and that's where larger problems are caused and if they do get out of prison they may or may not end up right back in their because they do not know any better and weren't treated properly in order to get better.
Deleteswaggyy456
Although I do agree with what you are saying but I noticed a couple things. You mentioned that the guards should be trained to deal with these situations, in fact the do have training and protocols to handle situations such as these. there is always room for improvement and learning but for the most part they can react promptly and swiftly to these situations. Second, two wrongs have never made a right and in treating someone the way that they have done is not justified. Should there be consequences for the actions of the guards, yes with out hesitation but it should be done in the manner that should have originally happened for the inmates. When society turn to the same actions as punishment for what others have done then we are no better than what the guards were themselves.
DeleteCountry456
In this video there are so many points to cover about major prisons in the united states like the reason that Attaca happened was because prisoners were fed up with have awful treatment that they were experiencing. All guards that work in a prison know the outcomes which could happen like the same things that happened in Attaca like holding guards for ransom and killing certain guards and even other prisoners that wouldn't follow. Prisoners all over the world all want respect with guards and with the other inmates. Prisoner abuse is found with prisoners among prisoners or guard among prisoners. There is also a high number of prisoners who are innocent but were just thrown in prison because of faulty evidence I believe every case that is faulty should be opened back up and seen if not guilty the second go around. Another main reason is the "pay to play" in jails and prisons. This is them have to spend large amounts of money on commissary or phone calls to home and to friends. There are 2.7 million children in the world who have either one or both parents in prison and they have to spend money to even contact their loved ones. Lots of people are fighting to have free calls and free commissary for all prisons but it will never pass because the state is making too much money to give it all up. There are way too many states that have large or many prisons located that prisons are so overcrowded and that means more and more money which who doesn't want money. So I think that it will never change.
ReplyDelete-Shark456
After watching the video I immediately thought of the show "Orange Is the New Black" although I know the show is not real they based their last season off of an accident this like. In the show they held some of the guards and wardens hostage because they were fed up with how they were being treated and wanted to be treated more as humans than animals. In the show it is an all women prison and after watching this video it shows that these kind of things due truly happen anywhere and to anyone. In the video Elliot Barkley was quoted when he said "We are men! We are not beasts and do not intend to be beaten or driven as such," I agree with this statement because he is completely right even though they did bad things how are they expected to come out as better people when they are not treated as people. The reason prisoners begin to act out like this is because they do not feel equal, do not get me wrong anyone us jail should not be treated as royalty but still deserve decency. In prisons some people are already being treated wrongfully by other other prisoners which would be expected but when they are treated poorly by guards and people in those kinds of positions that gets to a person mentally and I feel like some people hit a certain point and begin to take their own lives because they honestly feel as if they can no longer take the pain which is sad. Like I stated in my post on the other article you never know what kind of problems cause a person to end up in jail therefore when you dehumanize someone it causes them to go into natural defense mode in order to protect themselves and I feel like this is what happened in Attaca.
ReplyDeleteswaggyy456
I agree that prisoners act out against the prison guard because they don't feel like they are getting equal treatment and expect to be treated better. I think that prisoners should be treated more like humans and not animals. No person should feel dehumanized whether they are in jail or not. I agree that the mentality of people can go once they are in prison so long, and agree that is when people may begin to take their lives or attempt to. I think that you are right and the prisoners do go into a natural defense mode when they are threatened or treated badly.
DeleteNightTrain456
I agree to your post! Just from reading articles previously and watching things come across the internet which yes I know everything isn't true, but it shows that people that were once normal go downhill fast in prisons. I use to question how? But now I could see why because yes prison isn't suppose to be a vacation but anyone that is behind bars should still be pointed some kind of respect and some kind of help if needed. I believe the defense mode completely. I'm sure we would go into defense mode if we were in there because I have always kept it in mind that all of us are always one wrong move to this day to possibly be living like other inmates.
Deleteunknownzeeha456
After watching this video I realized how bad some prisoners really have it. This video brought to life what actually goes on in prison, and the conditions some inmates face. The guest on the show stated that the verbal and physical abuse that occurred during the time of the Attica prison riot has not changed and is still used on prisoners today. One interesting point that one man made was that special housing may have a direct link to mental health problems with prisoners. As said in the video some officers or “higher ups” may turn the other cheek when issues or problems arise with the prisoners. The other guest on the show states that there is a difference between prison conducted by the federal government and the state operated prison which I think should not be the case. Another interesting point he made was that prisoners aren’t being medicated in prison or might not be given the right medication. Some prisoners potentially forced to sign documents if they know to much or have access to the press, because the prisons are afraid that the prisoners may expose them to the public and deemed a high threat prisoner. Due to mass incarceration a many prisoners may be innocent but still incarcerated due to wrongful practices. One guest stated that 75% of wrongful conviction is due to misidentification. I think that the representation of prisoners in court should be changed so there is an equal playing field between the plaintiff and the defendant. I think it's interesting that one guest thinks there is a presumption of guilt in the court of law instead of a presumption of innocence. In this video they state that private prisons should be done away with because they are operated as a for profit company, and only make money if the prisons are full. Many of these conditions are not humane and should be done away to protect prisoners especially non violent prisoners.
ReplyDeleteNightTrain456
I totally agree with ending private prisons. It isn't right to run prisons the way they do. People are not money. It's like selling someone into slavery, or prositution. That's a very dramatic statement, but it's just an example to kind of show my point. If we put people in our private prisons, especially just to fill them so they can make profit, that is just as bad if we think about it. Rugby_4
DeleteAfter watching this video it just made me think that prisoners have it badly. This video showed how the prisoners is treated like animals and not humans. Hearing the things they go through is very disturbing. One thing that Jeffrey Deskovic stated that I didn’t like was when he was falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit. The reason I said I didn’t like it because serious crimes like this should be resolved as soon as possible! People shouldn’t have to wait around to found out the truth of them doing the crime because it’s wasting time that they can’t get back. Deskovic also made another interesting point which was about how verbal abuse still haven’t changed and how they have cameras for protection but it doesn’t stop nothing because the physical violence still occur. According to the mass incarceration prisoners are still detain due to the way of the incarceration. Another thing I listen to was the how the prison is operated and set up. We need to stop putting a lot of prisoners in one little space and have a lot of area where they can be a least comfortable. In this video they were basically treated like straight animals. Another thing that stood how on how Deskovic stated how the key factor on how people are sent to prison is how we are not using best practices to be clear on what the prisoner actually did. Lastly, I believe that Jeffrey Deskovic is doing a right thing to have a foundation to help prisoners who falsely convicted for a crime that they didn’t commit and how he state good facts on how they need to improve on using the right procedures and get us to see the truth of why they are falsely convicted. savage456
ReplyDeleteI can't agree more with what you said on Jefferey Deskovic, how can they put someone away for that many years with those charges and not have ALL the evidence to be able to prove it. Other then obviously being treated poorly and missing out on 16 years of his life that he'll never get back and more insight on how prisons run as a prisoner, how do they justify him after spending all of that time being punished for something he didn't even do. I don't even know how to put into words how irritated I am for him. It's amazing what he is doing know to help other prisoners who were like him and was falsely accused.FoxRacing456
DeleteAfter watching this video clip, I understand that there are many convicts that are and were falsely accused. This shows a lot of negligence that we have in our court system. In my opinion, these private prisons should be done away with. It is not fair to the people who are in a non-private prison to be isolated from some of these other prisoners. The convicts that are in these private prisons may be getting things differently than the convicts in a non- private prison. Is there a way we could ever tell? There really is not a way of knowing if the folks in private prison are getting lesser or more treatment then non-private prisons. The only people that know are the ones that are on the inside. if they are in prison who on earth are they going to tell? There is no one to tell and there certainly is no proof that anyone is going to give out. To stay InTouch with your loved ones that are incarcerated, It can get extremely expensive. The people who help you set up your “profile” to talk to these loved ones cannot give you a rate on the amount of money that you will be spending per minuet on the phone.
ReplyDeleteWe have incarcerated more women in just the past few years than the United States has ever incarcerated. The separation of a mother and their children or child is very common now days. This is also very tragic to the child or children. The United States now has one third of the incarceration rate in the world. If you think about that it is very upsetting and most of these females are incarcerated due to the war on drugs. The question now is who is taking care of the child or children of the mother? Thunder456
How have prisons reformed since Attica in 1972- Are Federal and State prisons inmates treated the same, federal prisons are much better. This video had a news cast interview with two previous inmates one of which had been sentenced and served 16 years of a crime he didn't even commit, after proper DNA he was proven innocent. His view is that the prison need to be reformed to help inmates have better conditions. These conditions need to be changed. Another inmate, because he had connections with the media before being incarcerated was labeled as a high threat security inmate and was treated unfairly, he believes the prisons need to be reformed to treat all inmates fairly. 2.2 million inmates are given food, clothing and a bed. Luxuries such as connections to the outside world such as family and loved ones, comes at a high price. Companies are making a profit off inmates such as phone. A female who was a former inmate, which by the way female incarcerations have increased throughout the past years.., The impact of these women being in prison has caused children to be raised without their mother. Conspiracy charges are making sentences that are so long that these women don't have an opportunity to get out early for crimes that doesn't warrant being incarcerated, Black women more so then white, not a fair system. This has caused multiple family members being in prison while their children are being taken care of by others. Only 7% of female inmates are inmates that warrant incarceration. Prisons aren't not all against reform however, female inmates in California are being trained to become firefighters, an asset to our society. However more reform needs to be done to reduce the high numbers of inmates and for treatment of all inmates an their living conditions. FoxRacing456
ReplyDeleteI have to be honest, a lot of this piece comes across more as a hit piece than genuinely concerned investigative journalism. I tend to distrust RT in general, not out of any personal animosity towards the journalists themselves, but rather on the basis that it is owned by the Russian government. The Russian government has taken an increasingly militant attitude towards the United States, due mostly to Putin’s imperial ambitions, in my mind. I don’t buy that they had any serious effects on the presidential election, but I don’t believe that Russia is our ally, either. Therefore, I tend to distrust what they put out, on the basis that it is published by an international adversary that exercises very strict control over its media.
ReplyDeleteIn spite of this, I do acknowledge that many of the points they make are entirely valid. Prisons have long suffered from overcrowding and the abuses that stem from overincarceration in general. These are inexcusable abuses against human dignity, and I wish to see them ended swiftly and efficiently (although this IS the government we’re talking about here, so I can’t realistically expect that).
The greatest problem, I think, is not any lack of funding, but overcriminalization. I’m very staunchly on the side of personal liberty, and I hold that nothing should be a crime that does not harm another person. The War on Drugs, one of the prime causes of overincarceration, is in my opinion merely smoke and mirrors, designed to blame inanimate narcotics for problems that stem from animate people and from no other root cause. To continue waging it is as foolish as continuing to espouse Prohibition was in 1933, and will one day be just as unpopular a proposition, I believe. It has expanded police presence and authority, and results in more expenditure of blood and treasure that we can ill afford as a society when treatment is both more humane and requires no jackboots to enforce.
-Arsenal 456
I agree with your skepticism of RT, they definitely have a very sketchy history. The involvement of the Russian government within Russian media is worrying and it appears that by bringing RT to the US, they're also trying to bring that influence of the Russian government with them. Regardless, the content of this report, at least, seems to be reputable.
Delete-TheTurk456
It has been realized by most that we have a large amount of people incarcerated in America. In fact, we have the highest amount across the entire world. We have 2.2 million people incarcerated as I sit here and type. That is almost the population of Chicago, Illinois. Can we fix that? Can we the people, citizens, law enforcement, etc; help reduce the size of our prisons? Do we have to incarcerate them? The population of prisons in the United States has rised 646% from 1980 to 2010, as it says in the video above. I understand that the world has changed since then. New laws, new drugs, more technology, more danger, and so on have been going on in our country between those thirty years. But, is that the only reason why we have such a mass amount? Of course I believe a large number of population in our prisons should be there. I'm just saying, some definitely shouldn't be, or may be not as long. For an example, they said in the video that a 70 year old grandmother was sentenced thirty years in prison for cocaine. Why? We need to ask ourselves, is that fair? Is that all right to do? Is the state and federal prisons just looking for money? Charging one dollar per minute to a inmate that wants to talk to his or her family is absurd. I believe that they should earn certain rights, of course. But not be charged for simple life necessities. I know that was all jumbled up, and there are other points that I could have made. But long story short, America has an issue with mass incarceration. And we definitely have an issue with treating our inmates poorly. We can do way better, we just need to work together, find a certain mindset and figure out how. Rugby_4
ReplyDeleteHonestly it bugs me that their are actually elderly in a prison, they belong in a nursing home. If my 70 year old grandma got locked up over boogersugar id be pretty upset. although we also need to ask how much cocaine this 70 year old grandmother have. was she making a selling or was it just for recreational use? what is the media leaving out for us to not know? Did a grandchild get a hold of said cocaine? ~myhearseisnotafuneralcar456~
DeleteWatching this video on just a short segment of prison incarceration has given me the outlook that most if not, all prisons are broken in their own ways or dealing with the same problems. Just starng from the beginning where both advocates say everything in prison all starts with the higher ups for prisons no maer if its a state prison or a federal
ReplyDeleteprison. Starng with an issue I feel that come up a lot and thats just simple help for the prisoners. If prisons aren't giving treatment that is necessary to inmates, then i think its safe to say you're going to have unhappy people that are going to react the only way they know how to. Most inmates that out lash are problems of the system, have mental problems, are mad at the world, etc.. We have to find a system to and put it into place to help inmates get the proper needs that should be always avalible to them other wise we will keep having the same troubles
we have. Something else that made me concerned was with how much the women population has gone up. There was a lady that stated that we are now incarcerang women for things we
wouldn't have incarcerated them for back in the older days. The fact that women population is going up means there are more and more children with a parent or two in the system. If we have children living a life with a parent or two parents in the system then I feel like the child has a good chance of being part of the system themselves. There's a lot of men and women in the system that are in there on the same case because they are being charged with the same charges in court. Which if we have both parents in the system then that's another thing we need to work on. We need to find or think of programs that can help get children and parents
back on their feet to better their lives and get somewhere. At last, we need to find where the prisons systems are completely failing at and help support them get back on their feet. We need to be more careful and quit giving so many breaks on the wrong kind of people we have controlling state and federal prisons.
unknownzeeha456
Knowing what I previously did about the prison revolt at Attica and what I had learned from the video, I can honestly say that I fully understand why many of the prisoners who have lashed back do as they have. To begin with, I know there is a decent sized percentage of prisoners who have been falsely convicted, and being locked away like dogs for something you did not do would be incredibly difficult. As an advocate of the death penalty, I do not believe that murderers, rapists, or pedophiles should be locked away their whole life and given an easy life. Although, what would happen if we were to put an innocent man to death. My issue is the people who are spending years for drug related charges, tax evasion, and crimes that did not hurt others. People are not treated like they should be. The eighth amendment is set up to save people from cruel and unusual punishment. It baffles me that people are treated the way that they are in some prisons. Everyone deserves the basic rights of life, such as proper meals, hygiene, and exercise. It seems as if America turns a blind eye to the way prisoners are treated, and it's disgusting. Prisoners are still people regardless of what crime they have committed. My last issue is as they stated, private prisons SHOULD NOT be a thing. A prison should be a rehabilitation center, not a place to raise funds. As professor Graff always explained if Walmart opened a prison, they would only focus on their profit, not on the well being of the people inside it. They would cut corners and do as they could to raise more money. The closing of private prisons would lead to better treatment for prisoners and better laws for the treatment of those workers and those locked up.
ReplyDeleteLowAndSlow456
Firstly, I'm very wary of Russia Today. Their content seems to serve the political agenda of Russia rather than reporting in the interest of fair media. When a news agency has a history of reporters resigning from that agency due to a presence of propaganda and censorship, maybe it isn't such a reputable news source. Regardless, assuming that this report is based upon reputable sources, it just further demonstrates my previous points in the "Show me your Prisoners" blog post. Prisoners are lacking in the basic necessities secondary to the American people's lack of interest in what happens to convicted criminals. This, in turn, has caused relaxed or lack of regulations for private prisons. Private prisons are allowed to get away with charging exorbitant costs for phone calls. Another issue is that American society currently seems to prefer seeing convicted criminals punished rather than rehabilitated. A 30 year sentence for possession of cocaine is excessive and unnecessary. Without proper rehabilitation, drug users are going to be released only to start using drugs again. Only seeing as they've been cold turkey for however long their sentence is, they go back to their usual dose of their preferred drug and end up overdosing, hence putting an additional unnecessary strain on the EMS and Hospital systems as a whole. It's in the greater interest of the country to rehabilitate drug users and alcohol users, not lock them away. By doing so, we can greatly reduce the amount of people who are currently within State and Federal prisons. This would also greatly relieve our spending in the corrections sector. The idea of jailing drug addicts is a very counter-intuitive idea. You'd think that the corrections system would want to keep inmates out of jail once they're discharged. Rehabilitating them would be the way to do that, but yet, we still aren't offering rehab as much as we should be. This leads me to think that maybe some corrections facilities, specifically private ones, want their inmates to come back in order to sustain or drive up profits. Regardless, things need to change.
ReplyDelete-TheTurk456
I was greatly disturbed by this videos. I don't see how they could just treat prisoners like animals. Its truly sad to be honest and it was a pain to watch this video. Its as if people of America have no regards to what happens after a person is sent to prison. A question that ran through my mind is why are people so for harsh punishment rather than using methods to rehabilitate.
ReplyDeleteTJGirl456
I often wonder what type of offenses are committed by the inmates percentage wise such as how many 1st degree murderers, sex offenders, drug charges make up the prison. what baffles me is that a sex offender who harmed a child will get less time than the person who was at the wrong place at the wrong time when a drug bust goes down. If one chooses to do drugs that is on them a child doesn't have a choice on being assaulted those who harm children are disgusting, those who do drugs need help. Also there is so much that gets overlooked in prison such as murder, rape, more drugs, even sanitation. Not all prisoners are supposed to be their in the first place. Prisons are overcrowded as if it was a concentration camp. If we Didn't sentence people for petty little things our prisons Wouldn't be so over ran. We would probably even have the proper staffing that would be needed. Also if their was proper staffing inmates might get the help that they need such as counseling, psychiatric care, education, medical assistance, all in all to help rehabilitate them. The state always provides care after the damage is done instead of helping. what good does that do instead of fixing a leak we just patch it only for the hole to keep growing bigger. The whole system needs replaced wen need resaults not temporary fixes. ~myhearseisnotafuneralcar~
ReplyDeleteThis video shows me that there are a lot of things that happen behind state and federal prison walls. They are not being treated fairly as a human being but else those higher ups, prison guards, and employees treat them as animals in an overcrowded cell. Lack of rehabilitation, verbally and physically abusing them, and not treating their mental health issue properly but instead, they make it as a disciplinary issue. I understand why those prisoners started a prison revolt in Attica that causes 43 people dead and 89 others seriously injured. I believe some of these people who are serving time are wrongly convicted. This was way back 44 years ago like Jeffrey Deskovic said that “misidentifications been the cause of wrongful convictions which is 75% of the cases” and I do believe that it still happens in state and federal level. He served 16 years in prison for rape and murder charges that he did not commit. John Kiriakou said “he personally witnessed prison guards and prison administrators committing federal crimes in prison” this happen inside a federal prison where he served his time. State and Federal level prison make changes since the Attica Revolt there are now rehabilitative programs, the introduction of schooling and security cameras that did not exist before that provide some level of protection. But I believe that verbal and physical abuse will not change no matter what. The thing that will make the prison improvement within this days is that those people who are running it will be more humane, fair, and to understand how those prisoners feel for cruel treatment. I believe special training for prison guards and staff must be required that will teach them how to respond to some situation like gang violence or riot. And to stop overcrowding cell blocks which will require more funding for the new building. Also, I believe that private prison should be done because it is wrong to make a profit off prisoners. -M.Scott456
ReplyDeleteThis video stated that on September 9th 1971 in the Addica Correctional Facility near Buffalo New York. A prison riot broke out consisting of 39 guards and employees held hostage by inmates to demand better living conditions and programs.Studies show that there are more than 2.4 million people in some sort of incarceration. I think that if people are being sent to jail the conditions should be at least fair if not anything at all. I understand they made mistakes but we still get that right to be treated as people. My thoughts on the man that had to sit in jail for 16 years to wait for some DNA to come back, that ended up not being his, is that it's unfair. I honestly would have been upset and pushed a lawsuit. Instead he took a more positive and effective route. He used his bad situation to become an advocate for prisoner's wrongfully accused and prison reform. Another advocate who sided with him, and was also a victim of the system spoke on behalf of his experiences in prison. He said he was made to sign all types of paperwork because he was deemed as a threat to the jail, due to his access to the media. He believed that they were fearful of what he would see, so it was a way for them to protect themselves. He also said he witnessed sworn in guards committing federal crimes but couldn't help because when he told. They viewed him as just another product of their system. I can see why this affected him but the fact that he overall was a good civilian should have been enough. Andrea James from Boston is also an advocate for incarcerated women, she herself served some time incarcerated. She started an organization called Families for Justice. Building People Up Not Prisons. This advocate believes the main issue for women is receiving access to the right to a fair trial. She says that it is hard to get people to exercise their rights without the doubt of not being released from prison. I don't think that women shouldn't go to jail but i think something should be worked out with women that have children. I agree with Andrea's stance on incarcerating mothers with non violent offenses because overall the child and community suffers the results. When you take away a child's primary caregiver, your removing a productive member of society from the community. I view it this way because who is going to be left to guide and discipline the child or even make mistakes from the child to learn from. I agree that this is a human rights issue because we should treat others the way we want to be treated and I'm pretty sure if the shoe was on the other foot it'd be different.The fire training program they do in Oregon is a great way to support positive reinforcement. McBrightyalife456
ReplyDeletePrisoners are still people with rights. They at one point did break the law but if it was that bad give them the death penalty. Animals get locked away. Prisoners get locked away. Punishment is prison where they dont get all the same freedom once had. Im not saying make it DisneyLand but domt make it a fate worse then death. Prisons are controlled security buildings for inmates who break laws in the outside world. Controlled Security is just making sure there behaving in time-out basically. To be placed in prison you usually have a sentence of 1 and up years. Believe it or not some of these prisoners did not do the crime. They took the rap for a friend or innocent. This is very rare but it happens too. These people are serving time for others to have justice. We on the outside see them as locked away animals. I guess thats supposed to mean we won. To expand a prison make sure there's a cause. Put Trump away next then maybe this will all make sense. We as citizens just want to be safe and our children. Prisoners are separated from us and put somewhere so we know we're safe. Leave it at that!! They get out and cant get a job so they may return again. Many prisoners find God and get an eduacation. So I guess we care but we dont kind of thing.
ReplyDelete-Detective Stabler
Unfortunately, it seems as if most people don’t care about people who are in prison because they automatically think they are bad and are in there for a good reason or that they deserve to be in there for the rest of their life. It seems as if most civilians only care about their “tax dollars” being wasted on people in prison and consider them a waste of life when most of them are in there for drug related charges and maybe just need a little guidance in life to help them become a better person instead of treating them like dirt.
Delete-PizzaLover456
Regarding the video, it’s sad to think about what is really going on behind state and federal prisons. It seems that no one ever really thinks about how people behind bars are being treated. Just because they are in prison and obviously depending on what they are in there for, it doesn’t mean they should be treated like animals or any less of a human being. Prisoners who are being mistreated is not a popular subject and doesn’t seem to get brought up a lot but I’ve heard and read stories about the horrors behind prison walls and it seems as if it goes both ways between the guards and prisoners. Disregarding heinous crimes that are committed, I believe people who are in prison for ‘lesser’ convictions deserve another chance at life and deserve respect even if the guards or other people do not agree with the decisions that they made to get them there. I honestly think that prisoners who are being mistreated and are eventually let out of prison, will only repeat the same behaviors that were shown to them behind prison walls. The amount of people that are locked up and how over crowded the prisons are is quite disturbing also. It’s good to know that there are some people out there who an advocate for this kind of stuff and trying to do what they can to stop the abuse that is going on within some prisons. I think a lot of it starts with how the prison guards treat the prisoners, treating each other with respect goes a long way. Also, helping the prisoners get back on their feet and reminding them that life is precious and to make the best of it. Help them change their ways and point them in the right direction.
ReplyDelete-PizzaLover456
I feel that the Attica riot was an eye opening event to the way prisoners were treated back then and I'm sure that it also help to shape the way that they are treated today. The fact that yes the inmates committed crimes and yes some very heinous they are still human beings, and does not give guards the right to treat them as animals and slaves. Maybe the inmates did go about it the wrong way, but especially back then there were not a lot of things inmates could do to fight for rights. They did what they felt they had to do to change the way they were treated and being held. I am sure that in the same or very similar situation that most if not all of us would at least attempt similar actions. Prisoner, guard, or civilian I feel that we should always stand up for what is right and for what we believe in. Sometimes that means doing things that may be outlandish or a bit extreme in order to get the message heard. I am not saying go out and commit a crime or start riots just because you feel you have been wronged or because something happened you didn't like. What I am saying is that if push comes to shove and you have to defend your position then I hope that as a society that we would shove back. Back to just Attica I believe that the situation was more justified and that in an over all case that it helped to bring our prison system up to where they are today. With that I feel that they still have work to do to better some areas in the prisons and the way that inmates are treated and provided for. But overall we have came along way since the riot at Attica.
ReplyDeleteCountry456