Curtis Ray Davis II was wrongly convicted of murder. He served nearly 26 years in Louisiana’s Angola State Prison before his conviction was overturned and he
  • Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    8 months ago

    There’s a mass without roofs, there’s a prison to fill

    There’s a country’s soul that reads post no bills

    There’s a strike and a line of cops outside of the mill

    There’s a right to obey and there’s a right to kill

  • GrymEdm@lemmy.world
    0·
    8 months ago

    The reason it won’t change is because states like Alabama are making 450 million annually from prisoner slave labor. "The inmates work against their will and the ADOC takes 40% of gross earnings “purportedly ‘to assist in defraying the cost of his/her incarceration’”.

    Israel calls hostage-taking without charges or trial “administrative detention”, states call slavery “convict leasing”. The world is barely more compassionate than it was during classical slavery, they’re just better at hiding it behind language and laws.

    • Eldritch@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      I think there is one thing we could do that would make it this more acceptable. And that is to guarantee everyone’s right to vote. Including prisoners. They must be allowed to vote in the state in which they reside.

      Just that little change would see so many states like Alabama Texas and Kansas trying to get rid of large prison systems. They have them generally for the sole purpose of disenfranchisement. If all of a sudden jail was not a system for disenfranchisement, and worse, those being housed there had a say in the local governments. Governments. You would suddenly see a much bigger focus on reducing overall prison populations and rehabilitation.

    • jkrtn@lemmy.ml
      0·
      8 months ago

      The country needs to amend the emancipation amendment because that is some half-assed bullshit.

    • Drusas@kbin.run
      0·
      8 months ago

      They can have their sentences effectively be longer because they refuse to work. You know how people get their sentences shortened due to “good behavior”? Refusing to work is seen as not having good behavior.

    • GrymEdm@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 months ago

      According to this article detailing a recent federal lawsuit that has been filed, "Inmates, according to the complaint, “live in a constant danger of being murdered, stabbed, or raped that is so profound that the federal government has sued Alabama for inflicting cruel and unusual punishment, and if they refuse to work, the State punishes them even more.”

      Further on, it continues, “The complaint alleged that in addition to subjecting inmates to harsh conditions and an ever-looming threat of solitary confinement, the work programs created an irreconcilable reality: incarcerated individuals were routinely denied parole on grounds that confinement was necessary for public safety while those same individuals worked regularly at fast-food restaurants and other local businesses without supervision.”