Archive for the ‘Prisons and crime’ Category
Tuesday, March 1st, 2005
I am so grateful that Clancy pointed to Deborah Stone's powerful juxtaposition of American torture and her mother's experience of lung cancer:On the morning of May 7, the day I was to learn about air hunger, Mom had awakened before me. When I came into the kitchen, my arms out ...
Posted in International Affairs, International law and structures, Prisons and crime, Society and culture | Comments Off on The inhumanity of justification
Sunday, August 1st, 2004
So the U.S.A. has 2.1 million people in prison. Add this to the fact that "crime rates have been declining since 1990, but the prison population has risen by 49% during this time." This is the biggest prison population in the world, and an unusually high proportion of the population. ...
Posted in Prisons and crime | Comments Off on The prison population in the United States
Thursday, October 23rd, 2003
Nathan Newman notes that up to 300,000 prisoners in the USA are seriously mentally ill - while there are only 80,000 people in mental hospitals - according to a new Human Rights Watch report. That's one in five prisoners.
Posted in Prisons and crime | Comments Off on Prisoners and mental health
Monday, July 7th, 2003
Seems the first report of Ireland's new Inspector of Prisons is quite hard hitting - including calling for two of the main prisons to be demolished! It took a bit of digging (on the incredibly ugly, if functional, website of the Department of Justice) but I managed to find the ...
Posted in Prisons and crime | Comments Off on Prisons in Ireland
Monday, April 14th, 2003
From the Guardian's wonderful 'Informer' email service:
"I came here thinking I wouldn't need any Arabic at all - just 'Put your hands up' and 'Put your weapons down.' They've been teaching me how to talk to the thieves. Things like, 'You are lying, I'm not stupid,' and 'If you steal, ...
Posted in International Affairs, Prisons and crime | Comments Off on You thought ‘3 strikes’ laws were tough?
Sunday, March 16th, 2003
So it seems that the penalty for trespassing could be death in the US of A.
Posted in Prisons and crime | Comments Off on Death penalty for trespassing?
Monday, March 10th, 2003
I wonder when the US will cease with cases like this and remove the death penalty?
Posted in Prisons and crime | Comments Off on Death Penalty
Sunday, March 2nd, 2003
Following on from this earlier story, the latest report on forced medication and the US justice system is just disquieting. Bodily integrity would seem to be a fairly basic principle that should only be overturned in extremis. Of course, there are voices raised in opposition.
Posted in Prisons and crime | Comments Off on Forced Medication