Daily Dose of Sultnpapper 03/19/18> Why is it that so many people are in prison in the USA? I’m glad you asked…
Last week I shared the story of James and his fight to beat his speeding ticket. During this adventure and documenting it in my daily dose column I uncovered just how many tickets this little justice court was processing in a week and the value of those tickets. I said I would at some point go research the county court system and I still intend too, but today I am going to try and explain to folks both here in the USA and around the world just why so many folks are locked up behind bars in this country.
People around the world look at the United States and our incarceration numbers and are astounded at the number of people in prison here; we lead the world in having people caged up for crimes committed. But are all those people locked up in custody actually guilty of a crime? The answer might surprise you, and the answer is more than likely “no”.
This is a complex issue and there are many reasons why people end up in prison who never committed the crime they had been charged with. The primary reason boils down to the financial resources of the person charged to properly defend themselves when arrested and charged with a crime. The second reason is judicial immunity of the government employees involved in cases that have lead to such high numbers of people ending up in prison. Between these two items it has come down to the reality that over 95% of all criminal charges are no longer adjudicated before a jury, where the jury will decide the innocence or guilt of the person charged.
All too often people who don’t have the financial resources to hire “qualified” legal help end up being charged with crimes that carry some very stiff prison sentences if found guilty of the crime they are charged with. The so called “justice system” has a way of extracting guilty pleas from innocent people through the means of plea bargaining. The fear of very lengthy prison sentences has lead to innocent people accepting a shorter prison sentence for a crime they did not commit, in order to avoid the lengthy prison sentence if they are found guilty at trial.
In the USA indigent people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer can have one appointed and paid for by the courts. How nice we are as a society to help those poor folks. This situation could best be described using the following analogy.
Two baseball teams are playing a game and one team’s pitcher couldn’t make it to the game so the manager of the opposing team lends the team without their pitcher one of his players; to stand in and pitch for them. Do you really think that the pitcher who is being “loaned out” is going to try and keep his regular team mates from hitting and scoring runs? Hell no, he’s not, it is a sham and any person in their right mind knows this. The court scenario is no different than the baseball diamond, the game is played for entertainment purposes and just like the game, justice isn’t found in the judicial system any longer, it is also for entertainment at best.
Given the choice of a potential 15 years in prison for a conviction on armed robbery charges or 5 five years for a guilty plea to a lesser charge of improper display of a firearm even folks who committed neither will accept the five years. In most cases they have been already incarcerated awaiting trial for a year or more because they couldn’t post bail and that time spent in jail counts toward their prison time as time served. Then they also have a chance at early parole if they mind their p’s and q’s while locked up, so the reality is they might spend an additional 18 to 24 months locked up before they can get out. The prospects of that scenario are better to them than the 15 year sentence if convicted.
The second part of the equation that has lead to the large prison population is that we have way too many laws that we are held accountable too. Here in the USA ignorance of the law is no excuse, you are expected to know the laws and abide by those laws. Far too many things have been criminalized in the USA and the Supreme Court no longer hears cases regarding new laws but instead applies what is called a “rational basis test”. Trust that it is anything but rational, but that is for another time to discuss.
Law enforcement people and court employees have something called “judicial prosecutorial immunity”, and there are two types of immunity. Did you know that prosecutors cannot be sued for their professional misconduct in court?
Qualified immunity applies to all public officials, and it essentially says that even if your rights or civil liberties have been violated the official cannot be sued if they acted in good faith of the law. With immunity these police and court officials are basically given a free pass in order to keep things flowing through the courts, it is like an assembly line building widgets, just keep the line moving. Arrest, charge, prosecute then plea bargain and ship the defendant off to prison. It is easier and faster than trying cases, and even though the sentences are generally less lengthy there is a constant inflow of prisoners to replace the ones who are exiting the prison system.
This corruption of the system has gone unnoticed by the general public, but it is by design and plan of the government system. The system that was set in place using juries was to insure that justice is served; the current method of operation essentially takes the jury out of the equation for over 95% of the cases. Juries actually have the responsibility to judge both the law and the facts of the case; this is something that most juries are never informed of. If a jury is properly instructed they can determine that a law is unjust and can find the defendant not guilty based on their judgment of the law. This is a well kept secret in the court rooms; plenty of juries could find plenty of laws that could be considered unjust or unlawful if the jurors only knew their role.
Prosecutors base their performance on the number of convictions that they facilitate, just watch any election where the county prosecutor is up for re-election, they will always be touting how many convictions they have gotten while they have been in office. They don’t say that they have made sure that justice has been served; they know damn well that they have strong armed plenty of people into accepting plea bargains when the person had nothing to do with the crime charged. That court appointed attorney will help facilitate these plea bargains by telling the defendant this will be your quickest and safest way to get back home, 18 to 24 months and you’re out, or it could be 15 years before you will ever walk the streets again.
So, for those of you who wonder why the USA is a prison factory I hope this has opened your eyes to what is taking place in the “judicial system” here. Most people here in the USA don’t know the truth about what goes on here, and those people are the same folks who try and avoid jury duty when called. Next time you are called for jury duty keep in mind that damn near a hundred people have been put in prison without even getting the chance for you to hear their case.
Get informed and do you part to change the system, the vote you cast as a juror has more impact than any vote you can cast in an election every two or four years.
There is an organization, The Fully Informed Jury Association; they have plenty of great information that as a prospective juror you should really know. Please check them out at www.fija.org , it is your duty to be informed; don’t let the safe guards of a jury trial be further corrupted by your lack of concern, you may just find yourself at some point answering bogus charges. We can make a difference, we just need to try harder and speak up for justice.
Until next time,
@sultnpapper
Egads! The system has been rigged! But it is not only in the US. Itis all over the world. The systems are broken, somebody is making a pocketful of money and nobody cares if someone is innocent or not. And nobody is going tofix the broken system as long as they are making money...
Absolutely correct @cecicastor , the system though isn't broken in the eyes of the people running this cash cow, it is working just fine and that's the way they want to keep it. It is the people who have let it get to this and still don't realize what they have done, only when it bites them on the ass will they realize and care, as long as it is not directly affecting them they turn a blind eye to it, and that is a true shame.
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Thank you very much, always a pleasure to see this notice on a Daily Dose column. I will have to get over and see who else is traveling on the train today.
Hey @saltnpapper. I really really enjoyed this post. You bring up some extremely valid points that the world needs the know about. Everything you said is so true.
Here is an example from my own experience with the law. I had someone who got in trouble and was locked up. I went to visit them and during the jail phone call I mentioned being an addict (I was actively using with the person at the time) and stated that their charges were ridulous because they were not this huge dealer they played it out to be. They were an addict who was caught bringing some home for us. They were given over 17 heavy charges for having one small bag on them.
A week later I was completely surprised when I was randomly picked up on a warrant while out and about one day. It was a grand jury indictment. I had never been in trouble with the law and had absolutely no idea why I was being arrested. They told me at the station that I was charged with possession, distribution and conspiracy to distribution. The papers they handed me stated that I was with the person who I made the visit to in jail the day they got arrested. I never was with them and all of their paperwork proved that. Apparently deeper into the law you can get all of those charges even possession for just knowing that someone has something on them. I was facing 44 years.
I tried to fight it but like you pointed out, I had no money and was given a public defender through the state. In the end they said they would lessen the charges to just conspiracy to possession and drop the others, if I did not take the plea than they would add a charge of purjury plus the original charges and I would have to fight all of them. I was told if I fought it than I would be stuck with conspiracy to distribution and sent to women's prison. I took the plea for the lesser charge and got probation for one year. The cop did eventually state that he had me indicted because they wanted to scare me into giving them deeper information into the person who originally got arrested. They needed something to make those heavy charges stick on the other person. I had no information for them and was stuck to face all of this just because they wanted me to talk. I lost two very good jobs as well as my certified nursing assistant license.
I cant imagine how many people are in the system due to basically being bullied into it. Thank you for this wonderful post which is packed with knowledge! I found you through @amariespeaks and I am glad she gave you a shout out so I could meet you 😊
Thank you @magicalmoonlight for taking the time to find me and for sharing your first hand experience on just how the system works. Also thanks to @amariespeaks for turning you on to me, she is doing her part to also expose just how corrupted the judicial system has become with her currently running series on the prison system. Part one has as some statistical information that is just mind boggling for an average person who just is starting to look at this problem.
Your case is proof as to just how the system works, stack a bunch of bogus charges in front of someone who doesn't have the knowledge or finances to fight those charges and then plea bargain them down to a guilty plea on a lesser charge. In your case with getting probation, it is more than likely that the women's correctional facilities were full or above 90% capacity. They need to keep some space available in order to be able to house any truly violent defendants who deserve prison time upon conviction.
The probation just allows them to keep an eye on you and make sure that you jump through all their ridiculous demanding conditions, that way if any space becomes available the can lock you up at that time.
It is a shame that this system is allowed to continue to operate like this, but until more people start paying attention and demanding change it will continue to ruin lives such as yours by taking away job opportunities.
My daily dose column isn't always about law, government and corruption but those subjects do frequent it on a pretty regular basis as those areas interest me very much. You never know what is going to in there but I encourage you to keep an eye on it if those things interest you. Thank you so much and I hope to see you again soon around here.
You are so full of knowledge and so right. That makes sense as to why they place people on probation. Probation is also for the money, cant forget the $1,000 I had to pay. It is sad, they like to stick a bunch of bogus charges just hoping one will stick. I never fully understood why they would want so many people in prison, so many people to house, feed and pay for.
You will see me around! I love what you do with the daily dose of sultnpapper. Keep up the great work :)
Thanks, enjoy having you here with me. How silly of me not to mention that probation does come with a cost to the probationer. Thanks for pointing that out. Every $1,000 adds up for these courts, nice racket they are running I'd say.
this is such an important topic! Especially this:
well all your points are important honestly - I am in the process of a entire series looking into the U.S. prison industrial system. If you care to check it out it's right here I am in the research process and will have part 2 coming out soon.
I like your blog a lot! you've got a new follower in me :)
Thank you for the follow and compliment. I did take the opportunity to read the post from 29 days ago announcing your planned series and part 1 of the series. Both very well done and I look forward to reading part 2 as well.
There are plenty of reasons that we are in this situation here in the USA and trust me that we are in this exact situation not by accident but by design. Courts are no longer courts of law, the are commerce courts that administrate contracts. All crime is commercial in the USA.
Proof of this can be found in how courts accept pleas. It is in "law" that you are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Courts will not accept a plea of "innocent" from a defendant. The choices of pleas are; guilty, not guilty , and no contest. Words have meanings and the plea of "innocent" and "not guilty" do not have the same meaning. There is plenty more that I could go into, but just think about that one for a while, if you are truly in a court of law then why can't you plead "innocent" as the law presumes you to be?
yes! I know exactly what you're saying - the legal jargon they use is very specific and it is on purpose. It is a set up. This is how they rig the trails for the real criminals and are able to get off those with the "best" lawyers. The judicial system is merely a legal obstacle course - if you know where the loop holes are and see the pitfalls in certain wordings then you will walk free no matter the truth... this is a huge monster with multiple heads and we're busy trying to cut the heads off instead of going for the heart like we should... if you get my metaphor lol
I get your metaphor, the heads just keep growing back. Common law is the original law of the land here in the USA, you can't find a common law court any more. The education system is one key to the erosion of the common law, it slowly changed how the younger children learned & what they learned about law. This was done by replacing civics classes in schools with American government classes.
This ended up taking away teaching the principals of common law, it then focused on teaching statutory law which is codes and statutes.
There is a big difference in being an American and a United States citizen but most people believe the two terms to be synonymous, they are not. It is in the distinction of the terms that needed to blurred because only citizens are governed by codes and statutes. Americans are governed by the law of the land which still is common law, we have become so ignorant in law that very few know this fact.
The United States government functions based on the consent of the citizens to be governed. Being a governed citizen is a choice, yet very few realize this.
To understand how screwed up his country has become people who actually believe in the constitution and bill of rights are looked at as right wing terrorists by most people.
oh I am totally on the same wavelength - and I couldn't agree more with you in regards to the manipulation of the educational system (they are creating conforming, obedient little drones who just sit, listen and do as their told by the "authority" figure) and also your last statement about right wing terrorists, which is absolute lunacy.. people have lost the entire meaning of the constitution and bill of rights.. this liberalism movement frightens me..do they not realize they are boxing and categorizing people into even smaller, more divided boxes by which we all become slaves to political correctness and obedience?
I'm very happy to have been sent over to your blog - you are very insightful :)
We'll have to catch up some time on a discord channel and chat, where might you be found on discord? We seem to be of like minds on several things.
oh definitely! I'm on there as amariespeaks#9425
:-) great to see evolution of ideas on the topic guys!
Hi @sultnpapper,
Your article reminds me of this article by @amariespeaks.
https://steemit.com/blog/@amariespeaks/20-minute-blog-a-day-warm-up-to-my-prison-industrial-complex-series
Maybe the both of you could bounce a few ideas ideas around on the subject, as it seems to be a very large one.
@bifilarcoil
Thanks, I see that she has commented as well. I'll check her story out now.
You are welcome!
thank you @bifilarcoil for mentioning me :) I don't know how I missed this comment - I should have just replied to your comment but I over looked it! #networkingfail
blockchain lag?
@bifilarcoil - connecting bullshit
who wants to pay attention to this. or read it. these fuckers get away with everything by packaging it in boring legal mumbo. lawyers put us to sleep... money fuckers build and house the cages.... under payed staff guarding products not prisoners.
I do , I do,..... it isn't blue water and sandy beaches but it does need to be explained. It is a sad situation that people are expected to live by laws and a legal system that they have no understanding of and can easily find themselves in trouble. The way you put is accurate and concise, you just cut all the story telling, which I sometimes over do.
woops, i guess i wrote that in a misconstrued way... yeah... i meant it in the big 'who' not that your post is shit and i dont want to pay attention or read it. i like the story telling side and the digging into the grit and specifics of things that many people tend to just not want to go there...im glad you do
No harm, no foul, as they say in street basketball games. I thought you might just be having a bad day or something.
Adding to your several legitimate reasons why so many people here are in prison, consider this. In our now privatized and for-profit prison system (can you imagine anything more obscene!!) the states sign contracts with the prison corporations that guarantee over 90% "occupancy."
Otherwise, they are hit with penalties. So there is a strong incentive to keep sending people to prison in the criminal justice system. There have been several scandals in the news when it was revealed that some judges were financially rewarded by sending young juveniles to jail -- to help meet these quotas and keep the prisons profitable.
The obsessive desire for $$$ -- the heart's-blood of capitalism -- has corrupted our culture beyond belief. As long as there is money to be made sending people to prison ... you can be damn sure we'll see plenty of it.
In Sweden, they are actually closing prisons ... because they don't need them any more. The emphasis there is sincerely on rehabilitating people to return to society as functioning, contributing citizens ... not on squeezing a dollar from the opportunity to ruin someone's life.
Once again ... priorities. Ours could sure use some adjustment.
Yes, it is a major contributing factor but just like it and all the other reasons, it falls on deaf ears and blind eyes. A society that has been robbed of it's physical gold and silver by the banks and government and continues to do business with and trust both institutions is unlikely to care about how the courts and prisons are being run, that is the plain and simple truth.
Luckily we have Blockchain technology now. Just push that to the judiciary system and put an end to all of this, folks! Good luck 😊.
The last thing the "legal" system will ever agree to is transparency, you can bet on that as a sure to win bet.
It is a sad state of affairs and when I first came here and saw some stats about prison numbers here I was shocked and then curious and did some research and had almost forgotten that till you post brought it all back to me
Such a sad state really and good for no one well except yet again the lawyers
The law profession is a real trap for honest people, when you read the oath that a lawyer has to take to be admitted to the BAR in order to work , then you realize you are actually screwed. The lawyers take an oath that basically says the court is above all things, including their client, and they are to uphold the "integrity of the court " first and foremost. Nowhere in their oath does it say that they will do what is right or that they will represent the interest of the client.
Young law school graduates probably never see the oath they have to swear too in order to work in that profession until they are hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt from Law School and college and about to be admitted to the BAR, which at that point they end up selling their soul to the devil, because they are saddled in debt.
WOW I never knew that but I am not that surprised to be honest
Hey, I wrote a blog back in November that actually has the oath that attorneys in Texas take to be admitted to the BAR, it is an interesting read when you read their oath with the fancy words and phrases. I then take their oath and translate it into common everyday English so people could understand what it says. here is the link if you care to read it.
https://steemit.com/blog/@sultnpapper/daily-dose-of-sultnpapper-11-10-17-not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity
Off to check it out now
Fine... U do get my meaningless Upvote, but it is because you bring up real issues, about real problems... Since I am in the prison capital of the whole world... Makes me feel special that I'm still kinda free... Check it out
...Louisiana is way worst then China, or Philippines.... U get in jail cause is trending... Judje had a bad day...Angola becomes ur prefix....maybe for life... Most of the time..for what? Just cause....
"Kinda free" is about as good a description as can be given, yet you realize it and most people born and raised here don't begin to see that the "freedom" we boast about is anything but true freedom.
Some states are worse than others and Louisiana justice ranks right up there , Angola is probably the worst prison to get sentenced too.