How the Clintons are using the Shock Doctrine on the issue of prison reform
Recently Bill Clinton came out with -well if not a mea culpa- then at least a mild admission that his policies put way too many people in prison. So much, in fact, that there wasn't enough money leftover in the budget for social programs...
But while it is definitely a wise call on the part of the Clintons and their advisers to "get ahead of the issue" before it bites them in the ass, they are really only telling a small part of the tragedy of the US's mass incarcerations, their role in it and the massive damage it has done disproportionately to the poor and minorities.
Over the last several decades the U.S. prison population has increased by over 400 percent. It began to escalate wildly with Ronald Reagan and his war of drugs, but continued its sharp rise under Clinton with his 1994 Crime Omnibus which included the three strikes and mandatory sentencing which have now been struck down by some courts as unconstitutional. And less you think that Hillary had no part in this, she was in fact a powerful lobbyist for the crimes bills both as a First Lady and then later as a NY Senator, saying:
“We need more police, we need more and tougher prison sentences for repeat offenders. The three strikes and you’re out for violent offenders has to be part of the plan. We need more prisons to keep violent offenders for as long as it takes to keep them off the streets.”
WHY DO I SAY SHOCK DOCTRINE?
First, a reminder of what the Shock Doctrine is:
"The shock doctrine is a theory for explaining the way that force, stealth and crisis are used in implementing neoliberal economic policies such as privatization, deregulation and cuts to social services. "
The crisis facing mostly minorities today as a result of the unprecedented mass incarcerations and their ripple effects is now something that Hillary, as a candidate in 2016, is all fired up to tackle! Yes, you could say that it is yet another case of evolving, or you could say that it bears a strong resemblance to the other cases of Shock Doctrine we have seen that probably don't need mentioning. Still, there is something nauseating about seeing one of the architects of this misery now stand up as a champion of the very people that suffered the most, and use their own bloody bodies as bait to earn her votes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States
The effects of such high incarceration rates are also shown in other ways. For example, a woman who has been recently released from prison is ineligible for welfare in most states. She is not eligible for subsidized housing, and for Section 8 she has to wait two years before she can apply. In addition to finding housing, she also has to find employment, but most likely she can not find a job because she has a criminal record so no one wants to hire her. Essentially, a woman who has been recently released from prison comes into a society that is not prepared structurally or emotionally to welcome her back.
Marc Mauer, assistant director of the non-profit group Sentencing Project, has remarked that "[...] what we don't see are the ripple effects of what they mean: For the generation of black children today, there's almost an inevitable aspect of going to prison". For every mother that is incarcerated in the United States there are about another ten people (children, grandparents, community, etc.) that are directly affected.
In The New Jim Crow in 2010, legal scholar and advocate Michelle Alexander contended that the U.S. incarceration system worked to bar black men from voting. She wrote "there are more African Americans under correctional control -- in prison or jail, on probation or parole -- than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began". Alexander's work has drawn increased attention through 2011 and into 2013.
What is the effect of mass incarceration on urban black families?
http://urbanportal.org/issues/entry/what_is_the_effect_of_mass_incarceration_on_urban_black_families/
More than seven times as many people are incarcerated in the United States as in Europe. The main victims of the prison boom are minority, particularly African American, men, who, as sociologist Bruce Western has found, are eight times more likely to have served time in prison than white men. The effects of mass incarceration extend beyond the prisoner and his immediate experience of confinement, and can have a significant impact on the prisoner’s family. A slew of recent studies by Western and others suggests that the wave of mass incarceration contributes to the decline of families and the social fabric that binds them, leading to the further disintegration of already-disadvantaged inner-city neighborhoods.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Go ... TO ... THE ... LINK ... LOOK ... FOR ... "OMNIBUS CRIME BILL" (the fourth from the bottom) ... and for good measure, look at the second one from the bottom, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Both, have Bernie voting for the laws that created the maa=ss incarceration of the poor and PoC, that he now decries ... and his fans would hang upon First Lady (and non-legislator) Clinton's neck.
and snarky bullshit are what passes for Clinton supporter's communications these days apparently.
Read the whole crime bill. Aspects were good. Other were bad. I accept that he had a bit role in the over all matter.
You and your ilk have decided that Clinton has none even when she is on record supporting some of the most odious parts such as three strikes for drug related offenses. Hillary fucking LOVED the Reagan war on drugs.
But laugh it up funny man. Shit like this is going to sink the Clinton ship yet again. 
is completely appropriate, where 2 or 3 Bernie supporters attempting to hang responsibility for the mass incarceration of the poor and PoC, go to a link that lists Bernie's votes filtered for "crime" and listed in (reverse) chronological order, can't seem to find the part that says "Omnibus Crime Bill" and "Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994."
It is made even more appropriate, when Bernie supporters say stuff like:
In a discussion holding HRC (a non-member of Congress) to account for the actions of her President husband; but, the legislator that actually voted for the bill that is proximate caused the mass incarceration is termed, as "having a bit role in the over all matter" ... (noted: voting for something is having a bit role in the over all matter ... like ... perhaps, HRC's Iraq War vote?) ... Are you serious?
Let's see ... being on record supporting something, as the wife of the President vs. being on record VOTING for that thing, as a sitting legislator ... hmmm ... who "
had) a bit role in the over all matter"? Me and my ilk understand just now ridiculous that is!
Apparently, so did Bernie ... see the Omnibus Crime Bill and Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 votes.
Okay.
ETA: Oh yeah ... Now go alert on that!
Do you have any legislation or public admissions to her mea culpa for supporting the war on drugs, the crimes bill, and mass incarceration?
I'll wait. 
But, apparently, that is excusable as having "a bit role in the over all matter."
And pointing out a candidate's weak record on an issue that impacts the poor and minorities to convince people not to vote for that candidate is so transparently . . . blah blah blah.
You're more than welcome to search my posts for anything alertable, I think I've had either five or six hides total since DU3 and never had a time out so I'm not one of the more egregious offenders.
Bear in mind that the hyper incarceration of black men is a subject I've posted about on DU in the past, well before the current focus on the subject, here's one of my posts from 2012 and it's not the only one.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1364125
and, BTW, I wasn't questioning your concern for the hyper-incarceration of Black men. I was just commenting on the use of that issue to score, transparently thin, political points, is the OP does ... and you seemed to recognize what I was commenting on, before you came to your senses.
But you are correct ... he did mention it.
Add to it our punitive culture and it makes for a really bad mix.
Doing time together
In Doing Time Together, sociologist Megan Comfort examined how wives and girlfriends are affected by the incarceration of their male partners. She uncovered that the women’s experiences were characterized by costly travel to distant prison facilities, expensive collect calls, long waiting times during visitation hours, and disrespectful treatment by prison staff. Comfort argues that these experiences constitute a “secondary imprisonment” of the women who wait for and visit their incarcerated partners.
disrespectful treatment by prison staff.
And this sentiment regarding HRC is spot on.
Kick. This should be at the top of the Greatest.
has done to individuals, families and communities in the last 20 years. End the neoliberal US PIC!
and those that agree with that narrative, will just accept it ... and on most occasions, no one will look into the claim.
Here we have HRC being responsible for the mass Black incarceration created by the Omnibus Crime Bill that her husband signed ... because she may, or may not, have promoted it (I haven't found much on that point); but, you what I DID find?
I seems HRC ... well, Bill ... had a little help with creating the wave ... Guess who voted "YEA" on, both, the Onmibus Crime Bill of 1994 AND the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994?
That's right ... Bernie.
https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/27110/bernie-sanders/20/crime#.VZconelRHIU
Oops!
