Hi Steve, Your poem about the week really drives home the desolation of prison. I cannot imagine. I don't know if you live in solitary confinement or with other people. I don't know what solitary confinement in a prison would be like, but I have been thinking that it is cruel and unusual punishment. I almost went mad being in "lockdown" for coronavirus, and I wasn't even in a jail! I wanted to let you know that you are heard. I hope a glimmer of positivity can happen this week. --De
Hi Doug, Thanks for sharing your words. This is the first time I am replying to any prisoner. Your thoughts and feelings are very similar to mine, even though you are locked up and I'm out here. It's a shame that white people in this country are just learning about racism and police brutality -- as if it's something new! I am hoping that REAL change happens, but, you know, there were protests and riots a few years ago in Ferguson for Michael Brown and these things keep happening to black people. Since police officers cannot be sued in civil court for excessive force, as I'm sure you know, I hope that a law passes to allow police officers to be held accountable. I do feel somewhat bad for some "good cops" because I know a few who really help their communities. But it's really the system as a whole. And I can't help but wonder if all these white people saying "Black Lives Matter" will fade away when it's not cool or trendy anymore. Will these people forget? I am not black, but I am multi-racial. And I have a small business as a dog-walker / pet sitter. On my instagram page, I shared a photo one of my clients sent me... it was of her dog sitting next to chalk on a sidewalk that said "Black Lives Matter." The next day, I saw my instagram account lost 30 followers! I am assuming they unfollowed me because they did not like the sharing of "Black Lives Matter." It is a shame that people react that way. Any way, I hope the US and the world begin to be tolerant of others, and then eventually ACCEPTING of all people. And I hope you are doing OK with the whole coronavirus. I hear it has been tough in prisons with it spreading around. --De
Charlie DeTar A 14 child in my country and in yours CANNOT GIVE CONSENT Here’s the part of the blog you need to re read, because you don’t get it,
“Later on I learn about the early 2000's travesty/ tragedy of Justin Berry, the kid who was raking in thousands of dollars a month before the barbarians with badges threatened him with federal prison, at aged 14 or 15, for his years of "producing and distributing child pornography" ... of HIMSELF. “
A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD CHILD CANNOT GIVE CONSENT
he shouldn’t even have named, or even KNOWN the name of the child involved in that case because the law omits the child name for its safely. He is OBVIOUSLY in contact with other paedophiles who are furnishing with this information.
And you transcribed his post. It makes you culpable too. Are you too young to understand the implications of what you are involving yourself with here? Re read the post. The other two he wrote are fine. There has been some fishing in his past posts. You’ll be pleased to know I coped and pasted them for a well known media outlet.
You, by allowing this, which is against your own guidelines. Are screwing up the great work Between the Bars is doing. They need another moderator. You are clearly clueless. Your role as a human being is to protect people . Protect 14 year old Justin Berry. Protect Dymitri Harszeuski from himself.
Yup. It goes without saying, but since you all but accuse me of it @tenzintenzin, I will say: I categorically disapprove of all forms of child abuse, molestation, psychological manipulation, or grooming, and disapprove of the promotion of any of those things.
However, I also don't believe that this blog post amounts to any of those things.
More importantly: I don't believe that our current approaches to incarceration are constructive, and don't believe that categorically silencing people because of past convictions will lead to any reduction in harm to children. On the contrary, I believe that a punitive carceral approach will lead to more aggregate harm than other approaches to justice and healing.
Some people do very bad, hurtful, and even terrible things, it's true. How do we reduce the likelihood that people will do such things? We've tried locking them up and throwing away the key, and the results have not been good.
@tenzintenzin how would you handle teenagers who take inappropriate pictures of themselves? Do you really think incarceration is an effective way to prevent that?
WOW! They're writing people up for not having a mask on? Crazy. But they were also getting kinda crazy out here with it too. I do think they should be mandatory though, because of those few stubborn ones who will continue to sweatily shake hands and horseplay. While they may have the right to make themselves sick, they should not have the right disregard public safety and make others sick.
Update. I received an email from Charlie DeTar who runs this site. He points out he won’t be taking the offending post down, the post that breaks community guidelines, because he says that Harszeuski has freedom of speech. Protecting a serial child predators post which targets children, read it, he is calling for ‘tweens’ to resist with defiance. The boy he is talking about is 14, the boy who photographed himself sexually and distributed those photos to adults. A 14 year old child cannot give consent to a sexualised act, or experience. Jail and being closeted in protective custody is doing nothing to stop Harszeuskis obvious urges and interest in pedophillia beyond his cell.
Between the bars is a blog site for inmates who want to connect in the world. Harszeuski with the help of Charlie DeTar is making it a grooming site, a place to fish for ‘tweens’ Nothing to do with free speech, Charlie helping out his blogging friend.
Any of the other inmates who posted on here if they knew their work was being displayed with chomos, paedophiles, I don’t think they would feel confident they were posting on the right platform.
I’ve notified several different agencies about Harszeuski and DeTar. Perhaps they might encourage the site to make the right decision and carefully read through this post in particular, the other ones are fine, and remove it. Removing it is the right and responsible thing to do.
Freedom of speech isn’t freedom to groom children. Wasn’t written to protect Harszeuskis skewed logic.
Thanks for writing! I finished the transcription for your post.
I'm glad to hear that you got to speak to Jeannie, and that you've been given free calls during lockdown. It must be difficult having to wear masks whenever you leave the cell, especially with pre-existing health conditions that make breathing even more difficult. I hope you're okay!
The news on the open wound on your shoulder sounds good (relatively speaking), and it's certainly positive that they were trying to move it along and get you appointments as quickly as possible!
I believe that it's always good to reflect on memories, even if they are somewhat painful ones (which, by the sounds of it, memories to do with your mother are to an extent). Having a parent leave you is incredibly difficult, and I can understand completely why Mother's Day is a day of reflection for you as a result.
Thank you again for writing, and best wishes from England,
Thanks for writing! I finished the transcription for your post.
I just wanted to start off by saying that you write so beautifully, and your phrasing of concepts such as disconnection is so clear, making your points accessible and relatable.
It is also inspiring to hear that through mindfulness, you have been able to turn your life around (even in the confines of prison!) and are an even better person for it. Your plan to run a mindfulness workshop is so lovely, and is such a selfless thing to do, and would no doubt benefit many people who are in need of finding a little ray of hope.
RSS
Your poem about the week really drives home the desolation of prison. I cannot imagine.
I don't know if you live in solitary confinement or with other people.
I don't know what solitary confinement in a prison would be like, but I have been thinking that it is cruel and unusual punishment. I almost went mad being in "lockdown" for coronavirus, and I wasn't even in a jail!
I wanted to let you know that you are heard. I hope a glimmer of positivity can happen this week.
--De
Thanks for sharing your words. This is the first time I am replying to any prisoner. Your thoughts and feelings are very similar to mine, even though you are locked up and I'm out here. It's a shame that white people in this country are just learning about racism and police brutality -- as if it's something new! I am hoping that REAL change happens, but, you know, there were protests and riots a few years ago in Ferguson for Michael Brown and these things keep happening to black people. Since police officers cannot be sued in civil court for excessive force, as I'm sure you know, I hope that a law passes to allow police officers to be held accountable.
I do feel somewhat bad for some "good cops" because I know a few who really help their communities. But it's really the system as a whole. And I can't help but wonder if all these white people saying "Black Lives Matter" will fade away when it's not cool or trendy anymore. Will these people forget?
I am not black, but I am multi-racial. And I have a small business as a dog-walker / pet sitter. On my instagram page, I shared a photo one of my clients sent me... it was of her dog sitting next to chalk on a sidewalk that said "Black Lives Matter." The next day, I saw my instagram account lost 30 followers! I am assuming they unfollowed me because they did not like the sharing of "Black Lives Matter." It is a shame that people react that way.
Any way, I hope the US and the world begin to be tolerant of others, and then eventually ACCEPTING of all people.
And I hope you are doing OK with the whole coronavirus. I hear it has been tough in prisons with it spreading around.
--De
A 14 child in my country and in yours CANNOT GIVE CONSENT
Here’s the part of the blog you need to re read, because you don’t get it,
“Later on I learn about the early 2000's travesty/ tragedy of Justin Berry, the kid who was raking in thousands of dollars a month before the barbarians with badges threatened him with federal prison, at aged 14 or 15, for his years of "producing and distributing child pornography" ... of HIMSELF. “
A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD CHILD CANNOT GIVE CONSENT
he shouldn’t even have named, or even KNOWN the name of the child involved in that case because the law omits the child name for its safely. He is OBVIOUSLY in contact with other paedophiles who are furnishing with this information.
And you transcribed his post. It makes you culpable too. Are you too young to understand the implications of what you are involving yourself with here?
Re read the post. The other two he wrote are fine. There has been some fishing in his past posts. You’ll be pleased to know I coped and pasted them for a well known media outlet.
You, by allowing this, which is against your own guidelines. Are screwing up the great work Between the Bars is doing. They need another moderator. You are clearly clueless. Your role as a human being is to protect people . Protect 14 year old Justin Berry. Protect Dymitri Harszeuski from himself.
T
However, I also don't believe that this blog post amounts to any of those things.
More importantly: I don't believe that our current approaches to incarceration are constructive, and don't believe that categorically silencing people because of past convictions will lead to any reduction in harm to children. On the contrary, I believe that a punitive carceral approach will lead to more aggregate harm than other approaches to justice and healing.
Some people do very bad, hurtful, and even terrible things, it's true. How do we reduce the likelihood that people will do such things? We've tried locking them up and throwing away the key, and the results have not been good.
@tenzintenzin how would you handle teenagers who take inappropriate pictures of themselves? Do you really think incarceration is an effective way to prevent that?
WOW! They're writing people up for not having a mask on? Crazy. But they were also getting kinda crazy out here with it too. I do think they should be mandatory though, because of those few stubborn ones who will continue to sweatily shake hands and horseplay. While they may have the right to make themselves sick, they should not have the right disregard public safety and make others sick.
AF
I received an email from Charlie DeTar who runs this site. He points out he won’t be taking the offending post down, the post that breaks community guidelines, because he says that Harszeuski has freedom of speech.
Protecting a serial child predators post which targets children, read it, he is calling for ‘tweens’ to resist with defiance.
The boy he is talking about is 14, the boy who photographed himself sexually and distributed those photos to adults. A 14 year old child cannot give consent to a sexualised act, or experience.
Jail and being closeted in protective custody is doing nothing to stop Harszeuskis obvious urges and interest in pedophillia beyond his cell.
Between the bars is a blog site for inmates who want to connect in the world.
Harszeuski with the help of Charlie DeTar is making it a grooming site, a place to fish for ‘tweens’ Nothing to do with free speech, Charlie helping out his blogging friend.
Any of the other inmates who posted on here if they knew their work was being displayed with chomos, paedophiles, I don’t think they would feel confident they were posting on the right platform.
I’ve notified several different agencies about Harszeuski and DeTar. Perhaps they might encourage the site to make the right decision and carefully read through this post in particular, the other ones are fine, and remove it. Removing it is the right and responsible thing to do.
Freedom of speech isn’t freedom to groom children. Wasn’t written to protect Harszeuskis skewed logic.
T
Thanks for writing! I finished the transcription for your post.
I'm glad to hear that you got to speak to Jeannie, and that you've been given free calls during lockdown. It must be difficult having to wear masks whenever you leave the cell, especially with pre-existing health conditions that make breathing even more difficult. I hope you're okay!
The news on the open wound on your shoulder sounds good (relatively speaking), and it's certainly positive that they were trying to move it along and get you appointments as quickly as possible!
I believe that it's always good to reflect on memories, even if they are somewhat painful ones (which, by the sounds of it, memories to do with your mother are to an extent). Having a parent leave you is incredibly difficult, and I can understand completely why Mother's Day is a day of reflection for you as a result.
Thank you again for writing, and best wishes from England,
Mimi
♡♡♡
Thanks for writing! I finished the transcription for your post.
I just wanted to start off by saying that you write so beautifully, and your phrasing of concepts such as disconnection is so clear, making your points accessible and relatable.
It is also inspiring to hear that through mindfulness, you have been able to turn your life around (even in the confines of prison!) and are an even better person for it. Your plan to run a mindfulness workshop is so lovely, and is such a selfless thing to do, and would no doubt benefit many people who are in need of finding a little ray of hope.
I wish you all the best,
Mimi