Alphecca

How about a class action suit against the ACLU for screwing up the judicial system?

Let's be real careful about one distinction here - jail versus prison. Jail is where people go when they have been accused of a crime and are either denied bail or (in most cases) lack the money to make bail. Prison is where they go if they have been found guilty.

Jail should not be punishment. What are we doing punishing people who haven't been found guilty of a crime? Jail should be as comfortable and safe as we can make it without spending a ridiculous amount of money. The purpose of jail is mostly just to make sure that people stick around for their court date and then you do have that small minority of cases in which someone is held there because it's so likely that they are guilty of a violent crime that the public has to be protected.

Once a guy goes to prison, that's a different story. I don't want to see anyone there be tortured, but they are there to be punished and it's appropriate for the experience to be unpleasant.

There's nothing in either conservative or liberal values which suggests that people who haven't been found guilty of a crime should be punished. That would be un-American. I don't see anything in that article you link to that suggests that the alleged victims are 'thugs' or members of street gangs.

I spent a night in jail once when I was in college. Most of the other guys who were there were stuck there just because they didn't have the $500 or whatever for bail that a guy like you or me would be able to scrape up easily. Believe me, spending weeks or months in a place like that is already bad enough without someone shooting pepper spray in your face for the 'fun' of it. Some of those guys were probably guilty, some were innocent. But none had been pronounced 'guilty' by a judge or jury. There but for the grace of God go you or I. Have a little compassion for them.

"Jail is where people go when they have been accused of a crime and are either denied bail or (in most cases) lack the money to make bail. Prison is where they go if they have been found guilty."

I don't know how it is where you live, but where I am at you can spend up to a year in jail (NOT the state prison) for a some misdemeanors.

http://www.usu.edu/journalism/faculty/sweeney/resources/anatomy.htm

Drawing the distiction between people on remand and people found guilty of a crime.

Prison (for those found guilty) is not supposed to be pleasant, but I don't believe abuse, bullying and intimidation should have a place there.

I do have some sympathy for the crooks who get their hands on and beat the crap out of child molestors, rapists and those who prey on the elderly, even crooks have girlfriends, daughters, mothers and grannies.

The Chinese have an interesting idea. Part of their penal code states that prisoners should be subjected to the discipline of work. Ken rockwell had a link saying something about that about a year ago.

The French also give their convicts the chioce of going to work for a french contractor overseas.

Both of these ideas have the possibility of giving some wayward youngsters the first chance to have a daily routine, and the chance of learning a skill. I think we should be giving them that chance.

Now for the ones that need to be separated from society for the rest of their lives (I dis agree with the death penalty, but aggree with giving judges the option of life sentences meaning life).

Why are our states spending big money keeping these mutants at first-world costs?

I'm sure china, India, pakistan, bangaladesh etc would give us good bids to house them (at adequate standards) but on cheaper land and with cheaper building costs, labour and feed costs.

Then, if new evidence comes to light, they are still alive for appeals etc. (over the net of course).

Roger Baldwin was one of the two founders of the ACLU, around 1920.

Entry of Roger Baldwin in the Harvard reunion book on the occasion of the 30th anniversary reunion of his class of 1905 (1935), "I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and sole control of those who produced the wealth: communism is the goal."

This philosophy has driven the ACLU since its founding. It may be less overt today than it was 50-70 years ago, but it's still at their core. They work toward their goal by undermining as many of the orderly structures of the society as they can, in any way they can. Look at what the ACLU does from that perspective and you'll have a better idea why they do what they do.