dpstein -- All Comments -- In These Times

All 3 comments by...

dpstein

- 29 Sep 06
- 11:53 am
it's also important to appreciate how in the mainstream media all prisons are invisibilized. . . like the Law and Order TV show, which never shows prisons; incarceration as a paradigmatic institution of "democracy" is never considered. these practices of course should not shock anyone aquainted with conditions of U.S. prisons. however what should be shocking is the fervor with which the likes of Matt Lauer are incensed at the possibility of these being "illegal" especially when it is the decision of those hawks in DC to decide what's legal and what isn't. the question for Lauer should be if these …

Posted to Tracking the CIA Torture Flights
- 28 Sep 06
- 11:34 am
Similar to the Holocaust, the genocidal violence of prisons does not stop or begin with "medical testing." Would the Holocaust have been "reformed" had Dr. Mengele not engaged in his horrible actions? Like the victims of the Holocaust, prisoners are designated as beings who are not fully human. Thus within this cultural logic, locking these people in cages, coercing experimentation, and utilizing SHUs are not aberrations from otherwise kind and just norms. Horrible treatment of prisoners is the norm. Just like extinguishing of human life during the Holocaust was the norm. Methods shift and change, but genocide is genocide and prison …

Posted to End Medical Experimentation on Prisoners Now
- 05 Sep 06
- 12:21 pm
In many ways the private prison industry is at least more overt in their stance towards the oppression of people as a result of the prisoner trade. Whereby, in California you have the Prison Guards Union operating with a 22 million dollar annual budget, at least 3 full-time lobbyists, and a staff of 90 pushing tough on people (also known as "tough on crime") legislation. You have the guards union supporting the victims rights movement with both budget and office accomodations. . . lots of people are making lots of money off the prisoner trade, CCA and the GEO group are …

Posted to Follow the Prison Money Trail