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NEWS & LETTERS, March 2003
The system ain't broke, and it can't be fixed
"In the government you call civilized, the
happiness of the people is constantly sacrificed to the splendor of the empire.
Hence the origin of your codes of criminal and civil laws; hence your dungeons
and prisons. We have no prisons; we have no pompous parade of courts; we have no
written laws, and yet judges are as highly revered among us as they are among
you, and their decisions are as much regarded. We have among us no exalted
villains above the control of our laws. Daring wickedness is here never allowed
to triumph over helpless innocence. The estates of widows and orphans are never
devoured by enterprising swindlers. We have no robbery under the pretext of
law." --Thayendanegea, Mohawk tribe (ca. 1742-1807) With the historic events of the past month (especially
former Illinois Governor George Ryan's pardons and/or sentence commutations for
all condemned Illinois state prisoners) the current "hot topic"
pendulum has swung stateside. This is encouraging news for prisoners as we
ponder the conundrum of why so many Americans protest against U.S. foreign
policy while simultaneously acquiescing to fascism here at home. The primary misconception that I urge people to address
is the notion that the criminal justice system has somehow "broken
down" and may need to be fixed. As the castaways of this ultra-civilized
society, prisoners realize this is reformist rhetoric. If left unchecked, it
will lead to more status quo lip service and not much in the way of substantive
reform, let alone abolition. Any study of the past 500 years of imprisonment in
America will indicate that "The System" is performing exactly the
function it was implemented to perform--namely the criminalization, punishment,
warehousing and murder of former slaves and all other dregs of a pristine,
civilized society. In addition to the stiflingly repressive conditions of
confinement (across-the-board) experienced by prisoners, a major factor largely
overlooked is that the injustices and criminal acts perpetrated against capital
defendants by the "justice" system (in other words, the set-ups,
coerced confessions, ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial
misconduct, judicial activism, and so on) are in fact perpetrated against each
and every poor criminal defendant in the U.S. If people continue to take part in the scam that
"The System" was implemented to serve and protect the people and that
U.S. courts of law are fact-finding bodies whose purpose is to adjudicate cases
by the concepts of impartiality and fairness, anyone can arrive at the
preposterous conclusion that the system is broke and needs to be fixed. Aaron Patterson was kidnapped off the streets, tortured
by cops (even though his dad was a cop and tried to intervene on his behalf) and
sentenced to death without one single piece of evidence (other than a coerced
signature to a cop-written confession). And Miguel Castillo rots in prison for
17 years for a murder on the streets of Chicago (though at the time Castillo was
in the Cook County Jail serving a 60-day misdemeanor sentence). These are not merely minor glitches, to be worked out,
nor are they even major and fundamental flaws, but rather the intended results
of an inherently corrupt, classist, racist system that has conditioned people
into viewing the torture of others as some sort of spectator sport. Furthermore,
these outrageous and blatant examples of corruption and criminality (by the
system) are not the exception (as the media alludes) but rather the rule. In my own case, the cops, prosecutor, my well-paid yet
highly incompetent defense attorney, and the judge decided that a radical
political activist and former political prisoner should not have the legal right
to protect his wife or himself from an armed attack by three drug-addled
assailants. To add insult to injury, as further punishment I was sentenced to
the maximum extended term for having the integrity to refuse their
"deal" of the taking the minimum sentence in exchange for a guilty
plea. Whatever reason, George Ryan made the radical move of
breaking ranks with his former co-conspirators, perhaps because with the heat on
his own back, he decided he might as well return fire on the way out the back
door. In any event, it cannot be said enough that this is in fact the only break
in their system. We need to move quickly and decisively in support of a
nationwide death penalty moratorium and real, concrete changes within the
judicial system, as well as significant relief from the extremely repressive
conditions within the prison system. The alternative leaves people in the
precarious position of having to bear the brunt of the reactionary backlash by
the ultra-Right. --Richard M. Flood No. B-56680, P.O. Box 711, Menard, IL 62259-0711 |
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