Our Justice Today

Ok. Gonna rant for a minute. Or more.

Many of you don't think twice about the people that get locked away behind bars. I know I rarely, if ever, did before the unthinkable happened to my family. I always thought, "Well, they must have done SOMETHING to be put in there."

 How naive of me. How little did I know that it really doesn't take much when you don't know much. Being ignorant of the law because you, or people you surround yourself with, do not or have not been involved with the criminal justice system can eventually become a big problem in your life.

 When you're facing the fact that someone you love has been ripped away and you don't know what to do to help, you know they don't know anything about how the cops, investigators, prosecutors, and others work, and you have absolutely no way to talk to your loved one, you scramble to find a lawyer and pray that he will be the kind of person to fight with everything he can to help get your loved one out. You pay as much as possible because you believe this lawyer will do everything in his power to work for you.

 Then, when the air finally clears, you find out that the prosecutors are charging your loved one with ridiculous charges that you know are not right but your loved one has already signed the plea bargain because his lawyer told him that you can never win against the Feds and your loved one is pushing just to get all of this over with, you just decide - ok, we will get through this. We will survive this.

 Then you find out that these ridiculous charges also come with a ridiculous amount of time because, even though you know your loved one never harmed anyone and never "attempted" to harm anyone, those "attempted" charges come with the exact same mandatory minimum as the full blown actual crime. All because, during those old "tough on crime" days, our legislature allowed the Bureau of Prisons to recommend sentences for crimes, and made those sentencing guidelines part of the Federal regulations that must be followed, with no leeway given to judges or juries to adjust that sentence based on the individual case.

So now, your loved one is facing an extraordinarily long time behind bars with very little or no chance for an appeal or parole. Ok, we will face this. We will continue to pray for some type of criminal justice reform that will allow people to have their case heard over, or looked at again, or have those minimum mandatory sentences repealed and retroactively applied.

 So.....now we find that, while in jail or prison, the food is horrid and inedible in many places, there are some jails and prisons that are run more by the prison gangs than the Corrections Officers, and there are some places so full of mold, bugs, and other contaminants that your loved one has the potential to get sick. And then, he may or may not get the medical attention he needs. It just depends on the way that particular jail or prison is run.

 So.....now we figure out that we can put money on the "books" so our loved one can buy commissary items to increase his daily caloric intake, keep his basic daily hygiene routine, wear shoes and clothing that don't fall apart, and continue to stay in touch. All of these basic items, food, soap, shampoo, socks, shoes, underwear, toothpaste, stationary, envelopes, stamps, books, magazines, HAVE to be purchased through the prison canteen. Phone cards also have to be purchased through a prison approved corporate business.

These items are not priced like your local Walmart. A single block of Ramen noodles is almost a dollar. It's not unreasonable to pay up to, or over, 25 cents per minute for a phone call. And if you have a problem with a product or phone call? Good luck getting restitution.

According to the BOP, all people in prison should be placed within 500 miles, if possible, from their families because regular visits reduce recidivism rates. Great! So why, in all the Federal government wisdom, do they continually place people far enough away from their loved ones to make it hard to have regular visitation? It usually takes a good bit of money when you have to travel. Gas, food, lodging, airfare.

Then you have the restrictive visitation regulations once you do get a chance to visit. Many people get turned away because they happen to be wearing something that the visitation guards deem "inappropriate". You cannot take anything in with you except for money for the vending machines and it's a limited amount. The visitation rooms are generally uncomfortable and crowded.

I'm sorry this was so long but my point is: Don't think it will never happen to you.

Learn about the criminal justice system in your country. Vote for those legislators that want to reform this system into a more humane approach to rehabilitation over punishment.