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[Mantonio]

Normally it is not rad to act like Pat Reynolds. When dealing with the likes of Mr. Asshole though, I say don your cape, cause we're goin' to the beach!

[linnea]

Yikes. Ash, I hope I didn't offend you. I know precious little about the American justice system, and even less about the prison system. Most of my knowledge has come from films like the Shawshank Redemption.

I have also heard a bunch about the prison system from a good friend of mine, Nick, is a stalwart supporter of Mumia Abu-Jamal and a vocal activist against the American prison system. In his spare time, he does volunteer prison outreach, like collecting books to donate to prison libraries. Hearing stories like Abu-Jamal's and like Asatta Shakur's is enough to cast real doubt into the (mis)handling of justice in this country.

Of course, there are violent assaults every day, but one stands out in my memory. A woman at my university was kidnapped and gang-raped by a bunch of gang members who were doing an initiation rite. Against all odds, she survived. Several of the gang-member attackers killed themselves as the police were closing in on them, but a few were captured and sent to prison.

After hearing about this case and being angry beyond words, I made a tasteless joke about giving cartons of cigarettes and toilet plungers to the prison warden, and I will never forget the look on my friend Nick's face. Grimly, and with his face drawn, he told me that several NYPD officers sodomized an African immigrant with a toilet plunger and nearly killed him. Not a funny joke at all, Somebody nice. I'm sure that the rapists (in both the university case and hopefully the NYPD case) got their comeuppance, much like Jeffrey Dahmer. However, thinking about innocent people who were crushed by the system (such as the main character in Shawshank Redemption) is just as painful as thinking about the victims that were hurt by the perpetrators.

Why am I talking about all this depressing and awful stuff? I don't really know. All I know is that we're dealing with a broken system, I feel victimized and helpless after hearing about the extent of Mr. Stalker's activities, and I don't like it at all. However, Ash is right - enough of the pity party and let's move on.

[AlohaDawg]

Yep, Mr. Asshole, you are indeed a real man. Let's see how far your charade holds up in the big house, motherfucker.

That was the heart of my statement, I hope you find some solace in it while the big wheel o' justice grinds. In the meantime, be safe and aware and take the steps necessary for you, not him, to control the situation.

'Dawg: At this point I don't mind people asking, if it's done with respect and without prejudice. I did something wrong, paid for it as mandated by law, and have moved on to become a person summed up by far more than that experience through my own labor.

August: Footnotes? More like trenchent observations of Hell's gaping anus.

Jough: Long enough to understand my hate for it, short enough to not begin loving it.

Now, if y'all think this place can handle a frank discussion of the American form of incarceration, fine. Somebody fire up another thread with a question(s) and we can all take a whack at it. But no more here, my little disclosure shouldn't overshadow the fact that Linnea has a real and immediate problem.

ON THAT NOTE: Linnea? Good luck. This seems like a classic case for the 'why me?' train of though. Please spend your time on proactive means of dealing with this and above all, be ready to do what is necessary for an outcome that's favourable to you.

This makes me wonder how many other of my well adjusted and highly intelligent friends and acquaintances have spent time in the belly of the beast.