A plea from penitentiary: 'Please try to help us'

[viverlibre]

It all sounds terrible, but it is very easy to stay on the right side of the law. Although it does happen occasionally, very few first-time, low-level drug offenders are actually locked up. This is contrary to what you hear and read, but I know of many cases of repeat offenders, even in law and order Madison County, who are plead down to misdemeanors and let off with a small fine. (some need to go to jail - at least a short stay in county jail - because they never learn). The few low-level offenders who actually go to prison (and this number is much lower than most think) is because of incompetent public defenders. Never go cheap on your lawyer.

[tijlover]

It costs taxpayers roughly $40k-$50k to incarcerate one inmate. Give a younger man a life term: 30 years X $50k comes to $1.5 million. And that inmate could live another 10-20 years.

It costs taxpayers, on a national average, $42.5k a year to have one homeless person on our streets. Emergency room visits, hospitalizations, rehab, medicine account for much of that expense. And so the unemployable released inmate may contribute to that, as who's going to hire an ex-felon?

More and more cities are looking to alternatives to incarceration. It couldn't come soon enough!

[sammyreynolds1977]

Originally Posted by tijlover

It costs taxpayers roughly $40k-$50k to incarcerate one inmate. Give a younger man a life term: 30 years X $50k comes to $1.5 million. And that inmate could live another 10-20 years.

It costs taxpayers, on a national average, $42.5k a year to have one homeless person on our streets. Emergency room visits, hospitalizations, rehab, medicine account for much of that expense. And so the unemployable released inmate may contribute to that, as who's going to hire an ex-felon?

More and more cities are looking to alternatives to incarceration. It couldn't come soon enough!

They're looking for alternatives to incarceration for non violent offenders. They're not looking at alternatives for murders. If you kill someone you go to prison. That's what they were designed for.

[Threestep2]

Has anyone looked at other threads OP started?

[Bamaman1]

The press is on to Parchman Prison for losing a bunch of prisoners in 2020 to murder and suicide. I cannot imagine what life in such a hellhole would be like. It's home to just over 4,000 prisoners, 3000 of which are black. And it's like a bunch of small prisons on a huge piece of land. Only about 190 prisoners are involved in farming.

Wikipedia has a long read on Mississippi State Prison in Parchman, and it is very interested reading.

My experience with incarceration has been limited to our local jails. I have a friend that's a sheriff and one that's his jail administrator The jail was built for 150 and has 250 inmates at any given time.

Before any prisoner is taken into most state prisons, they most generally have a long history in the local jails. Most inmates have hard drug problems--mostly meth. They're often unable to pay "fines" in local courts, and often held for not showing up for court hearings. Unemployment (when not in jail) is rampant, and they turn to petty crimes and thievery to fund their dismal way of life. They're let out after 3 months in jail, and will often be right back in jail within a couple of months for doing more stupid things. It's a way of life for hundreds and hundreds of millennials in our community.

The state prison systems in the Deep South are always so overloaded that they don't have the capacity to take many of those in the county prison systems. To be placed into these state prisons often requires criminals to do very violent crimes. And has been previously said, plea bargains are rampant. Don't let them tell you that state prisoners are not violent offenders, as most are really bad and dangerous people. The common thread, as previously mentioned, is hard core drug users, but they're also cursed with personality disorders and illnesses.

Our granddaughter was murdered by a career meth cook. He served one year of a 10 year sentence in state prison for sale of marijuana, and had only been out of prison a month. The D.A.'s office said don't expect the guy to live through his 30 year sentence as he is such a problem to the prison guards and other inmates.

Let me just say that to be a prisoner in a Deep South state prison is not cool. It's hard to believe that in the future, most of these people are going to be turned out onto society. And they have always been unprepared for life as a child and as an adult. And a vast majority are borderline psychotic. And no help is provided with virtually no mental health resources. Frightening.

[Listener2307]

Originally Posted by Bamaman1

The press is on to Parchman Prison for losing a bunch of prisoners in 2020 to murder and suicide. I cannot imagine what life in such a hellhole would be like. It's home to just over 4,000 prisoners, 3000 of which are black. And it's like a bunch of small prisons on a huge piece of land. Only about 190 prisoners are involved in farming.

Wikipedia has a long read on Mississippi State Prison in Parchman, and it is very interested reading.

My experience with incarceration has been limited to our local jails. I have a friend that's a sheriff and one that's his jail administrator The jail was built for 150 and has 250 inmates at any given time.

Before any prisoner is taken into most state prisons, they most generally have a long history in the local jails. Most inmates have hard drug problems--mostly meth. They're often unable to pay "fines" in local courts, and often held for not showing up for court hearings. Unemployment (when not in jail) is rampant, and they turn to petty crimes and thievery to fund their dismal way of life. They're let out after 3 months in jail, and will often be right back in jail within a couple of months for doing more stupid things. It's a way of life for hundreds and hundreds of millennials in our community.

The state prison systems in the Deep South are always so overloaded that they don't have the capacity to take many of those in the county prison systems. To be placed into these state prisons often requires criminals to do very violent crimes. And has been previously said, plea bargains are rampant. Don't let them tell you that state prisoners are not violent offenders, as most are really bad and dangerous people. The common thread, as previously mentioned, is hard core drug users, but they're also cursed with personality disorders and illnesses.

Our granddaughter was murdered by a career meth cook. He served one year of a 10 year sentence in state prison for sale of marijuana, and had only been out of prison a month. The D.A.'s office said don't expect the guy to live through his 30 year sentence as he is such a problem to the prison guards and other inmates.

Let me just say that to be a prisoner in a Deep South state prison is not cool. It's hard to believe that in the future, most of these people are going to be turned out onto society. And they have always been unprepared for life as a child and as an adult. And a vast majority are borderline psychotic. And no help is provided with virtually no mental health resources. Frightening.

I agree. I know someone who is very likely headed to Parchman. His relatives don't really want his there, but they sure as hell don't want him back, either.
For now he is in a county jail. There is a chance he may get to stay there after sentencing. Sentencing has been postponed during the COVID-19 shut down. His family actually could bail him out, but they just don't want him back.
Life gets complicated when your wife is a pole dancer......

[Bamaman1]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

I agree. I know someone who is very likely headed to Parchman. His relatives don't really want his there, but they sure as hell don't want him back, either.
For now he is in a county jail. There is a chance he may get to stay there after sentencing. Sentencing has been postponed during the COVID-19 shut down. His family actually could bail him out, but they just don't want him back.
Life gets complicated when your wife is a pole dancer......

I see you're in NE Mississippi. The shake & baker that shot our granddaughter in the back was from Rienzi and the murder happened in Booneville. The guy caused so much trouble in the local jail awaiting trial that they took him from the penalty hearing directly to a medium security prison in middle Mississippi. And he's slated to get out around age 70. The D.A. said don't expect him to live that long as the other prisoners have a way of dealing with such people.

You're right about relatives also being victims of a kind. By the time they've been through the local justice system time after time after time, the relatives are sick of bailing them out of jail. And they're sick of the embarrassment they cause. Eventually they give up on a person that never repents for their sins and when they never want to make a positive change in life.

And the COVID 19 situation is also causing problems in the justice system. Jails and prisons are hesitant to bring anyone into their care as (1) they don't want to pay the bills if they are positive for the virus and (2) jailers don't want outside virus' introduced into their jails that are already in a fine balance of germs.