Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Barbarous Confinement and Now We Treat Incarcerated Inmates in the United States.

It is said that the way we treat the most vulnerable of our citizens is the ultimate and real test of value and morality of our society.  A society that only caters to the rich, famous and well-off of its people, act similar and no different than the pagan Romans did during the time of the Roman Empire.

Sadly it is normal and commonplace for the torture of prisoners in countries such as China, Iran, Pakistan and other oppressive totalitarian regimes around the world. 

If asked most Americans would argue that as a civilized country we do not torture our prisoners.  Unfortunately the facts prove otherwise and they are sadly and tragically mistaken by believing that we do not engage in inhuman conduct on men and women who are incarcerated in this country.

Although admittedly the forms of torture that we apply in United States, in most, but not all cases, is much more subtle, it nevertheless has devastating consequences on the physical and mental well being of the prisoners subject to such abuse.

In the practice of criminal law for over 21 years I have received hundreds if not thousands of letters from inmates complaining of abuses, both physical and mental, which never get addressed by the prison authorites.

Such forms abuse and torture is most often inflicted by the jailers in the form of mental abuse in which prisoners are denied basic medical care, stopping or interfering with mail service, phone calls, and denial of commissary service, to name a few.  Additionally, some guards feel that they have the right and duty to degrade prisoners at-will with various racial, ethic, gender and racial slurs and other insulting
abusive names to numerous and insulting to name in this blog.  The numerous ways which they inflict their mental abusive is as creative and sick as the jailers individual imagination, and sadly the imagination borders on the psychotic, in some cases.

If a prisoner complains, or files a grievance against the guard he is abused even more so as to make an example of the prisoner that complaining will only get you more abuse.  If complains further, and prison authorities suspect that the prisoner is telling the truth, the prisoner is transferred to another prison in which the conditions of confinement are more severe and the abuse continues.  Rarely, are the guards actions disciplined because after all “who would believe the testimony or statement from a convicted felon and inmate.”  The guards know this and continue to abuse with impunity.

It is time that the State of New Jersey appoints an independent advocate to oversee some of the abuses and attempt to abate them.  The money spent would be well spent since it would not only be morally right and conform to the principals of justice, but would ultimately save tens of thousands of dollars which the State must spend every year defending lawsuits filed by prisoners in both the Federal and State courts.  Instead of defending the prisoner jailers when they have committed injustices, the State should attempt to weed these bad jailers out of the system, and justly compensate the prisoners, so as to deter the jailers from engaging in future misconduct. 

“If you want Peace Work for Justice.”  Pope John Paul, I

Sanzone Firm
Law Office of Vincent J. Sanzone, Jr.
P.O. Box 261
277 North Broad Street
Elizabeth, N.J. 07207
(908) 354-7006
Dated: December 14, 2011

  



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