Rio Thompson was released from the South Dakota State Penitentiary in February. As he prepared for his winter release, he sent this letter to Dakota Free Press describing his own state of mind and his view of life in prison:
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There was a moment seven years ago when the governor’s office acknowledged that South Dakota’s incarceration rate and demographic is indicative of a justice system run amok.
http://news.sd.gov/newsitem.aspx?id=13262
“While their crime rates are similar, South Dakota’s incarceration rate is higher than that of neighboring states and is about double the rates of North Dakota and Minnesota.
“The South Dakota prison population has grown by more than 500 percent since 1980, from about 600 inmates then to more than 3,600 today. If the state does not contain that growth, it is estimated that the prison population will exceed 4,500 inmates by 2022, at a cost of more than $224 million to taxpayers.”
But looking at the penitentiaries provides a superficial and misleading view of t.he problem. Justice projects point out that how and why inmates ended up in prison reveals a corrupt and perverse system from laws that protect law enforcement agencies from scrutiny to justice procedures that are designed as an economic development scheme for lawyers, judicial employees, and corrections personnel. We can condemn the people who operate the system, but retreat behind the myth of South Dakota nice in regard to the kind of culture that created and supports the system.
Only related to the word, “Honor.”
There are honorable Republicans and they are the source of this new ad. Watch for a dishonorable friend of Pootie among the snippets.
https://short1.link/0Kss3b
This woman, Ruth Wison Gilmore, is a prison abolitionist. She’s probably done more deep research and investigation of prison systems in the USA and worldwide than anyone.
I read this unpaywalled piece about her thoughts on changing our system of criminal retribution and was more impressed than by anything else on prisons.
I learned that much of what we think we know about US prisons is untrue, and in the early 1990s I worked in a minimum security prison as a case manager for inmates soon to be released.
Ms. Gilmore’s thinking is not extremely rare. She is not the only prison abolitionist. In fact, in the early ’90s the professional corrections journal included a consensus among wardens for much of what she recommends!
I hope Mr. Thompson reads this, in addition to others. I’m very interested in thoughtful and experienced opinions.
https://short1.link/K60HBC
Debbo,
You tagged me on Facebook with this article, but alas I couldn’t comment while being in Facebook jail for 30 days. It is some trumped up charge about telling a congressman what he could do with a loaded shotgun.
This is an intriguing article and concept. I’m reminded of what the Lakota elders would tell me about how Indians didn’t have prisons, that was a white man’s concept.
Think about it, when Columbus landed on our shores he didn’t encounter any prisons.
That is notable Roger. No prisons. I wonder if the Aboriginal people of Australia had prisons before England sent their convicts? Ironic.
White people . . . . . 🙄🙄🙄 Maybe white people have become dominant because we’re the worst? 🤔
So no prisons at all?
Steve, https://short1.link/K60HBC
I didn’t ask for a video. I am asking all of you.
Ruth Wison Gilmor I saw this yesterday but it was behind a paywall.
Prisons, like welfare- only for the truly needy.
Debbo is a Great American She-Ro. She’s had more life building experiences than any of us and puts them in humble perspective for us all to share. It’s an honor to have her as a friend. (You too, Roger).
MADO … Make America Debbo Again!
You humble me, Porter.
And yes, Debbo is an incredible woman, I had the honor of meeting her a few years ago at a Rick Weiland rally and found that she all you say she is and more.
Roger and Porter, cut it out! 😊
Steve, I don’t have a simple answer to your question on this very complex issue. Hence the link. The article is really well done and thoughtful. I invite you to read it because it’s time well spent.
Prison’s are working so well we made it an industry!!! A couple years back California wanted to allow wealthy people to pay for a better cell and better food (wasn’t allowed). I like her line about low prison time: where life is precious life is precious. Just watched Grass is Greener on Netflix on the high incarceration rate for marijuana use after 3 strikes people got 15 years for one joint. They wanted to control the counterculture movement that originated in jazz music (in their eyes). Western culture can celebrate certain things but mass incarceration is not one of them something is deeply wrong. What happened in Mexico first thought their culture/laws would be patterned after Spain. Spain has a .8 murder rate per 100,000 the U.S. 6.2., Mexico 21.5. We should want to learn from other countries. Does anyone come out of prison a better person??? Or just hardened, with fewer opportunities to change, ….. but we want our pound of flesh. Our vengeance satisfied. There remains something very rigid and puritantical about our culture and laws.
A link from article also good reading “If Prisons Don’t Work, What Will?”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/05/opinion/mass-incarceration-sentencing-reform.html?module=inline