I love reading this blog it really gives me something to laugh at!! I need a woman..... What about the one you talked into hi-jacking a helicopter to get you out? And your hunger strike? What a joke since the past ten years you have been saying I might not live through this next hunger strike.. Your so full of $*&^ its funny
I've been wanting to leave a reply on this post but have been thinking for the last few hours about what to say. I knew immediately that what you described here was wrong, but my mind wasn't processing it, not the way I wanted to make sense of what you said at least. It seems to be easier to comprehend if I switch the genders... a female prisoner, being watched by a male guard - then it makes sense in my mind how wrong it is.
Then I think about 'that' & the way I needed to process your pain and I realise that's how we're conditioned, so then I'm left thinking about how wrong THAT is also. Obviously sexual harrassment is sexual harrassment in all its forms!
I guess a prison sentence means losing 2 things immediately, the first being freedom and the second privacy but what you've described here is more than that. You have to consent to losing your privacy but you should never have to trade your dignity (which is how I have understood what you're saying here).
What you describe is definately a power imbalance and it seems that at the very least, these female guards need re-training. It's one thing to do your job and all it entails, but it's another to violate someone's dignity in that process. I am sorry this has happened to you. It's not ok.
Comment - Part 2 - I took a couple of criminology classes here in Australia and my lecturer had spent some years researching in & around various U.S. prisons and your system is used as an example in our Universities as… basically, what not to do. We are told if we keep lengthening prison sentences and taking the ‘hard stand against crime’, as, yes, the media and politicians push for, and not focus on rehabilitation (which isn’t unachievable! - even without any professional assistance, as you seem to know only too well), we will end up going the same way as the U.S.A. and that’s not at all where we want to be. I don’t know if the fact that Australia started our modern identity as a penal colony, as the English sentenced criminals to deportation here in the 1800s, whether that has anything to do with the reason why we’re a bit more relaxed and don’t believe most people should be shut away without ever being given a second chance.
I know none of this information will be specifically helpful to you; I just wanted to let you know that you’d sparked some level of thought as I read through your post.
You used the phrase “rational decision maker” twice here; I would definitely suggest that there is not a lot of rationale being utilized in these decisions. How can people possibly show their level of reform if they’re never given an opportunity to? I would like to say - Lighten up America! Everyone deserves a fair go and I think, has a responsibility to contribute to society. It couldn’t be more obvious that your system is not working – your sentences are high and your crime rate high, our sentences are low and in comparison, our crime rate is low (doesn’t really take a genius to work it out does it). Of course simply reducing sentences isn’t the answer either, the whole societal structure has to be strengthened also.
Finally, I wanted to say that I read your profile before I typed my reply, just to try and get a feel for who I was speaking to and I smiled when I saw you say you were going to work on your sense of humor. For that reason I feel I must acknowledge your last sentence. I’ll elaborate a little more. When I first saw you’d mentioned George Bush I thought ‘oh no, and you had me hanging on every word up until that point’ (not a very internationally well respected man is George Bush, although our Prime Minister of that time was good mates with him :D), but then I thought about it “even George Bush said that we are a nation of second chances” and I saw the humor. I see your work there is paying off too :D
I hope you continue to find the strength to never give up your goal! Thank you for writing!
Comment - Part 1 - I really enjoyed reading this post. I’ve only fairly recently discovered this site, so this is the first of your posts that I’ve read. I can see (with 87 posts currently on this blog site) I could have many late nights reading through the others :D
Thank you for speaking about this book. I hadn’t heard of it before but I will definitely get myself a copy. I have a very close friend serving life in Arizona so I related to a lot of the things you were saying here.
When you mentioned the problem is the propaganda, news media & politicians demonizing you, as sensationalism sells and wins votes; I agree they are certainly contributing factors, but from a more ‘outside looking in’ viewpoint, I think there are more factors at play here also. I live in Australia and our system is a lot more lenient than that of the U.S.A. a ‘Life’ term of imprisonment here is 15 years, and I think eligibility for parole is after 8 – Just think, with the time you’ve already served you could have completed THREE life terms here already & be heading into your 4th - that’s mind boggling!). Although our countries are allies & we have a strong connection with the U.S., I think we see Americans as extremists (on many levels) who don’t stop to consider the consequences of that excessive level of behavior. As I was reading this paragraph in your post I found myself thinking that I would hope future generations of decision makers will be less-extremist, and become more lenient on offering the most challenging members of our society a second chance and even encouraging a ‘fair go’. I’m not sure that is a natural progression though, sadly. My other thought was that as more and more American’s are sentenced to prison terms for longer and more prisons are continually built, surely it’s only a matter of time before EVERY person in the U.S. is touched by having a loved one residing within the prison system, and therefore may be inclined to look at the situation differently – from a more personal perspective – perhaps this will spark the sensible change in thinking that’s required there.
RSS
And your hunger strike? What a joke since the past ten years you have been saying I might not live through this next hunger strike.. Your so full of $*&^ its funny
Then I think about 'that' & the way I needed to process your pain and I realise that's how we're conditioned, so then I'm left thinking about how wrong THAT is also. Obviously sexual harrassment is sexual harrassment in all its forms!
I guess a prison sentence means losing 2 things immediately, the first being freedom and the second privacy but what you've described here is more than that. You have to consent to losing your privacy but you should never have to trade your dignity (which is how I have understood what you're saying here).
What you describe is definately a power imbalance and it seems that at the very least, these female guards need re-training. It's one thing to do your job and all it entails, but it's another to violate someone's dignity in that process. I am sorry this has happened to you. It's not ok.
Thank you for sharing.
Nicki
I took a couple of criminology classes here in Australia and my lecturer had spent some years researching in & around various U.S. prisons and your system is used as an example in our Universities as… basically, what not to do. We are told if we keep lengthening prison sentences and taking the ‘hard stand against crime’, as, yes, the media and politicians push for, and not focus on rehabilitation (which isn’t unachievable! - even without any professional assistance, as you seem to know only too well), we will end up going the same way as the U.S.A. and that’s not at all where we want to be. I don’t know if the fact that Australia started our modern identity as a penal colony, as the English sentenced criminals to deportation here in the 1800s, whether that has anything to do with the reason why we’re a bit more relaxed and don’t believe most people should be shut away without ever being given a second chance.
I know none of this information will be specifically helpful to you; I just wanted to let you know that you’d sparked some level of thought as I read through your post.
You used the phrase “rational decision maker” twice here; I would definitely suggest that there is not a lot of rationale being utilized in these decisions. How can people possibly show their level of reform if they’re never given an opportunity to? I would like to say - Lighten up America! Everyone deserves a fair go and I think, has a responsibility to contribute to society. It couldn’t be more obvious that your system is not working – your sentences are high and your crime rate high, our sentences are low and in comparison, our crime rate is low (doesn’t really take a genius to work it out does it). Of course simply reducing sentences isn’t the answer either, the whole societal structure has to be strengthened also.
Finally, I wanted to say that I read your profile before I typed my reply, just to try and get a feel for who I was speaking to and I smiled when I saw you say you were going to work on your sense of humor. For that reason I feel I must acknowledge your last sentence. I’ll elaborate a little more. When I first saw you’d mentioned George Bush I thought ‘oh no, and you had me hanging on every word up until that point’ (not a very internationally well respected man is George Bush, although our Prime Minister of that time was good mates with him :D), but then I thought about it “even George Bush said that we are a nation of second chances” and I saw the humor. I see your work there is paying off too :D
I hope you continue to find the strength to never give up your goal! Thank you for writing!
Nicki
I really enjoyed reading this post. I’ve only fairly recently discovered this site, so this is the first of your posts that I’ve read. I can see (with 87 posts currently on this blog site) I could have many late nights reading through the others :D
Thank you for speaking about this book. I hadn’t heard of it before but I will definitely get myself a copy. I have a very close friend serving life in Arizona so I related to a lot of the things you were saying here.
When you mentioned the problem is the propaganda, news media & politicians demonizing you, as sensationalism sells and wins votes; I agree they are certainly contributing factors, but from a more ‘outside looking in’ viewpoint, I think there are more factors at play here also. I live in Australia and our system is a lot more lenient than that of the U.S.A. a ‘Life’ term of imprisonment here is 15 years, and I think eligibility for parole is after 8 – Just think, with the time you’ve already served you could have completed THREE life terms here already & be heading into your 4th - that’s mind boggling!). Although our countries are allies & we have a strong connection with the U.S., I think we see Americans as extremists (on many levels) who don’t stop to consider the consequences of that excessive level of behavior. As I was reading this paragraph in your post I found myself thinking that I would hope future generations of decision makers will be less-extremist, and become more lenient on offering the most challenging members of our society a second chance and even encouraging a ‘fair go’. I’m not sure that is a natural progression though, sadly. My other thought was that as more and more American’s are sentenced to prison terms for longer and more prisons are continually built, surely it’s only a matter of time before EVERY person in the U.S. is touched by having a loved one residing within the prison system, and therefore may be inclined to look at the situation differently – from a more personal perspective – perhaps this will spark the sensible change in thinking that’s required there.