And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.1 >Date: Sat, 02 Jan 1999 13:44:08 -0500 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: "John V. Wilmerding" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: SOCKO Letter: What a Prison Sentence Really Means! >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Paul Wolf really understands the kind of story and point-of-view that CERJ >is looking for: > >Date: Sat, 02 Jan 1999 10:31:55 -0500 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: Paul Wolf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: What a prison sentence really means > >John - I read this on the maptalk list and thought it might interest the >readers of your cerj list as well. With these writing skills, this may be >Jeff Goodman's first printed op-ed piece, but I doubt it will be his last. PW > >Hello, > >I have had 8 letters tto the editor published, and finally, my first >editorial. I hope that you find it interesting. > >I wrote many such editorials while I was incarcerated and will continue to >write until this insanity ends. Please keep up the excellent work. > >Happy New Year, Jeff Goodman > >To be published Wednesday, December 30, 1998 > >Commentary: What a Prison Sentence Really Means > >Jeff Goodman > >When I was sent to prison, the judge mentioned just the length of my >sentence. Had he included the entire scope of my punishment, he may have >said it differently: > >"Mr. Goodman, I sentence you to take responsibility for every social ill -- >past, present and future. Each time America runs out of foreign enemies, >it apparently turns on itself to find more. By way of media, politics and >indifference, people who break the law, good law or bad, become those >enemies and are then responsible for every social malady. Whether this is >logical, you >are the culprit. > >"You are sentenced to live in a maladaptive, alien environment that defies >description. You'll be stripped of your work skills, your self-worth and >your humanity while at the same time face the daily threat of assault, >rape, false accusations and unjustified punishment. You will live like >this for seven years. If you manage to reenter society as a productive >person, some will say prison was just what you needed. If not, others will >say, 'I told you so.' > >"Because of counterproductive prison policies, you are sentenced to live in >a world of cruelty and indifference that engenders the very behavior it >purports to alleviate. If you share this with those outside of the prison >system, you will be called a liar; most won't believe that millions are >spent on the proliferation of facilities that perpetuate harm, not repair it. > >"You are sentenced to consume $150,000 in taxpayer dollars for your prison >stay. While lawmakers cite the ever-growing cost of incarceration as a >public necessity, you will learn that 10 percent of that amount goes >towards your daily needs, while the other 90 percent pays for a bloated >prison bureaucracy immune from any cost-benefit analysis. These tax >dollars will be siphoned from >school programs, child care and job training, all of which do make our >communities healthy and safe and save millions in the process. Despite the >media frenzy that portrays society as seething with crime, you'll learn >that relatively few prisoners represent a danger to our communities; we're >mad at most felons, not scared of them. So you'll wonder why the majority of >prisoners aren't on home arrest, a logical move that would save millions of >dollars and obviate the need for more prisons. > >"Practical education programs, universally proven to drastically reduce >recidivism, will be almost nonexistent. In fact, you will be disciplined >for possessing more than 10 books. Therefore, you will live in an >environment where recidivism it tacitly encouraged, a fact not lost on >those who want to run prisons for profit. > >"It is true that there are some counseling programs in prison and some >people will benefit from them. Yet, if you attempt to describe the >futility of a therapeutic environment placed within an atmosphere replete >with dehumanizing policies, you will be told that your intentions are >distorted and without merit. > >"You are sentenced to bear the wrath of a misinformed society. While >you're experiencing everything I just said, you will be told how easy you >have it. The media will find your Christmas meal more newsworthy than the >damage caused by lawmakers who jostle for the next 'get tough' policy at >the expense of society's well-being. Your privilege to have this >once-a-year meal will be presented as so outrageous, a debate will ensue >over which 'luxury' to take away next. Politicians will focus on violent >sociopaths and pronounce their horrific crimes as a yardstick to measure >the innate danger and incorrigibility of all law-breakers, including you. > >"Finally, as perhaps the most perverse component of your sentence, I hereby >prohibit society from ever listening to you. Your comments on crime and >punishment will be ignored. You, as well as others, will see the big >picture, but few will care about the politics of crime and its role in our >growing prison population. You will know that most prisoners are guilty of >breaking the >law, but only a few need to be separated from society. You will know that >it is the reporting and sensationalism of crime that has skyrocketed, not >crime itself. Unfortunately, though you will one day return to society >with firsthand knowledge of our prison system, few will care; most see only >the door leading into prison, not the one leading out. > >"Therefore, if your opinion ever gets printed in a newspaper, you will not >only be perceived as just another lawbreaker unable to accept the >consequences of his actions, but of being manipulative as well. Society >will know this to be so because you once broke the law. > >"You are hereby sentenced to be a messenger whose message will be forever >perceived as tainted, self-serving and disingenuous, regardless of its >veracity and accuracy. > >"No one will believe you. > >"You have been sentenced to be a criminal." > >-- Jeff Goodman, of Eagan, is a software engineer. He spent time in prison >as a first-time nonviolent offender. > >-- >To subscribe to the CERJ E-Mail distribution list, simply send >an E-mail message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. Please include your name >and your state, province, or country of residence. Thank you! >-------------------------------------------------------------- >John Wilmerding, Gen'l Secretary | E-Mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >=================================| Web: http://www.cerj.org >*CERJ* International Secretariat | ICQ Number: 18723495 >---------------------------------+============================ >Campaign | 217 High Street | For | A >for | Brattleboro, VT | Justice | AR >Equity- | 05301-3018 USA | that | ART >Restorative | Telephone & FAX | Restores | EAR >Justice | [802] 254-2826 | Equity | HEAR >================================================= HEART >Work together to reinvent justice using methods | EARTH >that are fair; which conserve, restore and even | HEARTH >create harmony, equity and good will in society | >>>|CERJ|<<< >============================================================== >We are the prisoners of the prisoners we have taken - J. Clegg > <<<<=-=-=FREE LEONARD PELTIER=-=-=>>>> If you think you are too small to make a difference; try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.... African Proverb <<<<=-=http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ =-=>>>> IF it says: "PASS THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW...." Please Check it before you send it at: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blhoax.htm
