Re: some U.S. observations and notes

From: Phil Osborn (philosborn@altavista.com)
Date: Sun Dec 30 2001 - 17:36:04 MST


The myth of innocense:

The first time you are actually arrested in the U.S. and put into a cell or holding tank, you will discover just what a fabrication this "innocent until proven guilty" sham is. You, the "innocent," may well find yourself:

a> forced to stand in line for hours on end for "processing." Not so bad until you consider all the people with physical problems, such as bad knees, for whom this little hardship quickly becomes sheer torture and potentially permanently damaging, not to mention the fact that you generally won't be allowed to go to the restroom. In Orange County, it was common to force arrestees to stand motionless for many hours, sometimes all night. If you tried to sit down or complained, you were beaten up by the guards. (All this applies to men arrestees, of course. Women usually get special treatment.)

b> gratuitously beaten up for "resisting arrest." As a cab driver in OC in the mid-'80's who witnessed plenty of arrests and carried a lot of arrestees from the fail, I can assure you that this happens A LOT. Even if you're not beaten up as such, the wrist locks that are commonly used by police during arrests, even if you make no sign of resistance and are totally cooperative, have a very high incidence of permanent damage to the wrists, making typing or mouse work agonizing.

c> stuck in a cell with truly violent inmates. As in the case of one man I carried in my cab, weeping, after he was raped by a long-term inmate, after being arrested at a bar where some other people had started some kind of brawl. He was there with some friends to celebrate his upcoming marriage. He looked like the ultimate milqueotoast, pudgy, middle-aged, short, glasses, balding, high-pitched voice. So the female guards assumed he was gay and stuck him with a 300 pound monster just for kicks. They then watched as he was repeatedly raped. He was asking me what he was supposed to tell his fiance, now that he might have HIV.

d> threatened with all kinds of dire legal and extra-legal consequences unless you admit to whatever they want to charge you with, regardless of guilt.

e> hit with a bail requirement that you cannot possibly afford to pay up front, meaning that you forfeit a percentage - usually 5 - 10 % of the total - to a bail bondsman. So, for an offense in which you are found innocent, you still may be out of pocket hundreds or thousands of dollars (plus your legal fees). Of course, the bail that the judge sets is based upon the seriousness of the charges, as theoretically related to the likelihood of your skipping town, so this gives the DA or the police taking the report from you every advantage in unofficial plea bargaining prior to your hearing (see "d" above.).

This is the short list off the top of my head. The reality of U.S. justice is that in spite of having the highest % of people incarcerated in the world, most people have little or no recourse within the justice system in dealing with actual criminals, such as local gang members shaking them down, trashing their homes and vehicles, etc. If they take matters into their own hands, then they risk enormous legal penalties, which have escalated beyond all sanity in the past few decades. And if someone in power doesn't like you, there are a multitude of ways to destroy you, or keep you completely defeated by endless hassles.

Happy New Year.

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