In The Life Of A Connecticut Prisoner Vol. 2 No. 3
By Richard Stevenson

Greetings Free World! Well, it's happened again. Are you surprised? I send my condolences to the family and friends of our brother Walter Scott. My heart goes out to you as I ache to protect my own children. This is something that we all here in prison are talking about because we are grateful that the murder by yet another official was caught on camera for all to see that the abuse we have been alleging for hundreds of years can not now be denied.

I implore everyone to learn to look up and read case law (legal cases that have been decided by the various appellate courts). This is one of the surest ways for you to learn what your rights are and how laws are interpreted by the courts. The reason wealthy people are generally not harassed by the police is because they know that money gives one access to individuals who know the law. How often do you hear about police officers abusing lawyers? It happens of course but not often.

It's not enough to know what the U.S. Constitution or your state Constitution says. You must be able to interpret, assert, then enforce your rights. If I could, I would make it mandatory for high-schoolers to demonstrate their ability to research case law before graduating. Please! Go to the library and ask the librarian to teach you. Go to your nearest law library and ask a student for assistance. Trust me when I say that you will be amazed at many of the cases you have never heard of. Many of the cases that are brought to court by prisoners will affect you.

In this most recent case I'd like you all to know that police officers get indignant at and angry at having to chase someone down. Hailing from New York I can attest that this is a sure fire way for someone to catch a beat down. Also, mind that if this is what they will do out in the open imagine what they to us behind solid walls and a roof!

So be careful in advocating getting tough on crime. There is no such thing. This is simply just a euphemism that those who seek or are in power use to covertly take away rights you...

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...knowingly wouldn't give away. In researching case law you will come to understand exactly what rights you actually have and what rights you thought you had. I would also recommend that you all become registered users (free of charge) of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Here you can access the very same statistics used by the Department of Justice at the Bureau of Justice Statistics. This is where I learned that the people least likely to commit any other crime after release from prison are those convicted of murder. Research the recidivism rates and you will be surprised at who else is least likely to commit another crime.

Getting tough on crime will not work for the same reason a war on poverty, terrorism, et all will never work because it's fighting the results of actions rather than preventing them in the first place. The plain fact is that if officers in South Carolina were wearing body-cams Mr. Scott would be alive today. Because they will be wearing them soon countless other people will live. So why not just go ahead and make all police departments wear them? Don't wait for more murders.

Black Lives Matter!

Rich.

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