Anti-Wall Street protesters rally against prison conditions

[cory777]

Reuters

Hundreds of anti-Wall Street demonstrators and prison reform activists joined forces outside the gates of a prison in San Quentin, California on Monday to protest high incarceration rates and harsh living conditions.

Speakers rallying at the San Quentin State Prison said the state's sentencing laws are too strict. They called for an end to solitary confinement and the death penalty and said children should not be tried as adults.

"I myself experienced more than 14 months of solitary confinement," said Sarah Shourd, 33, an American who was imprisoned in Iran after being arrested while hiking near the Iraq border in 2009.

"And after only two months my mind began to slip," she said.

link - http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/21/us-california-prison-protest-idUSTRE81K01U20120221

Activist News - http://activistnews.blogspot.com/

[phasma ex machina]

1. k&r

[Tripod]

2. Most people in prison, belong there.

Too bad for them.

[saras]

3. Most Americans deserve a Republican administration. Too bad for them.

Work for a corporation? You support the Repubs - own it.
Buy disposable junk from corporations? You support the Repubs - own it.
Support right-wing laws because the right moved the goalposts so far to the right? You support the Repubs - own it.
Buy factory food? Drive a car? Have private insurance? Work as a manager? You're the problem. The 1% would have no money or power without you.

So as far as I'm concerned, every American who isn't fighting a real war 24/7 against corporate rule really deserves Santorum or Romney for president. Most of them except the youngest have known for a long time exactly what they're doing, and who they're working for.

I can hardly think of a worse curse for humanity than that everyone get what they deserve.

Just sayin'

[raouldukelives]

6. Ah, the old "Put your money where your mouth is"

I'm with you 100%. Or is that 99%? But I digress. The most important vote anyone can make right now is with their money. The players will change but the game remains the same so to speak. Speak up at the shareholders meeting for the little people once in awhile. Call in to that radio show. Champion your "Insert pet cause here". It matters but naught in the long run if your energy & dollars go to support the 1% and thereby endorse and expand the current practices.

[Vattel]

4. Your post is fucking stupid.

The issues raised by the OP are serious and deserve a serious reply.

[Comrade Grumpy]

9. Really? Half of all inmates are non-violent offenders, one quarter are in for drug offenses.

America leads the whole planet in incarceration, both in absolute numbers and per capita. We have more people in prison for drugs than all of Europe has in prison for everything!

There are way too many people in prison in the US who don't belong there. This country has a huge carceral complex for which a steady supply of new prisoners is the raw material.

And barbaric sentiments like the one expressed above--on a progressive web site, no less!--are part of the reason we have so many people in prison unnecessarily.

Prison should be reserved for those we fear, not those we're mad at.

[Tripod]

13. That is not true.

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. So which part isn't true?

[Tripod]

16. With drug offenses, comes violence.

Most of the people in prison come with a violent crime, or a thread of it. In retrospect most of them are in prison for being a violent offender, or fertilizing it. I don't think that our society is doing right with the imprisonment of many, but common! All most all af them deserve to be there because they are fucked up in one way or another,,,,,, have violated the laws. I don't want to have to explain this shit to you again.

[Comrade Grumpy]

15. Please elaborate. If I'm mistaken on my facts, I want to know it.

[Tripod]

17. Read reply number 16.

[nineteen50]

7. We need to ask ourselves

why does America have so many people in prison?

[Uncle Joe]

8. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, cory.

[Comrade Grumpy]

10. California spends more money on prisons than universities.

How fucked up is that?

[mulsh]

11. I'd like to see OWS protest at one of our corp prisons, like the one in Kern County.

I don't consider Sarah Shourd a viable spokes person for prisoners.

Why kind of an idiot goes to the Iraq/Iran border for a bit of post college hiking?

[kenichol]

12. Glad to hear this.

Our huge prison population is a disgrace; long-term solitary confinement IS torture. End the war on drugs.