AOC condemns solitary confinement for Paul Manafort

Ever been there or just talking theory?

I have been there. There is worse; Not by much, but it IS worse.

America: slightly more humane prisons than the worst ones in the world!

USA! USA! USA!

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In order;

  1. Nobody should be held in jail awaiting prosecution unless that person is a danger to others
  2. Nobody should be held in a jail that’s not safe
  3. Nobody should be held in solitary unless they are a danger to others
  4. Nobody should be held in Rikers
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It is a common defense of white collar criminals that they will not survive in prison, when asking for lighter sentences.

But they studied it and found that white collar crooks do better in prison than your average person, because they can learn and exploit systems of rules, and organize and exploit people.

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If there is anyone who would do that it would be Manafort. But I’d have to see the study to see what populations it studied and what it meant by “better” in terms of surviving in a giant and violent prison like Rikers.

Well he’s old and also a super duck and kind of a dumb ass, also rich, also effed over probably every race and ethnic group, so probably someone would find reason to kill him.

I sailed my old boat through the east river three times, on the short list of greatest experiences of my life but passing by Rikers and thinking of all the poor souls in the there while I was as free as I’ll ever be was weird and sad.

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In general people in solitary got there through their own actions. He’s there for safety, instead.

Paul shouldn’t be in solitary. He deserves to have a cellmate.

I nominate Donald Trump as his cellmate. :slight_smile:

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I suppose in theory the prison could have “safe” and “unsafe” areas separated by a fence.

Manafort has already been convicted in two different cases, so if he wasn’t in jail he would be in prison.

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Oh, right. So it’s short term only while he is on trial, then it’s back to Club Fed. I don’t have a huge problem with that, and I think AOC picked the wrong poster-child for prison reform. But I still think she’s the bee’s knees.

But flight risk is a thing, and confinement seems appropriate in some cases. We could argue about the term jail, however: I would even a person under house arrest to be jailed.
Full agreement on the other points (I guess, since I don’t know shit about Rikers).

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I suspect that’s why she said he should be released.

Although, he has already shown a willingness and talent for embedding himself in White Power groups…

Flight risk is a rare thing, that bail/bond does not solve. Ankle bracelets are a much better solution.

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There’s a term in German legalese which is “Verdunklungsgefahr” (danger of collusion or danger of supression of evidence) which usually is an additional factor. Though I am not sure of their weight in court decisions to keep people in “Untersuchungshaft” (pre-trial custody, which
definitions and terms differr slightly between Switzerland, Austria and Germany), ankle bracelets would not prevent this.

Additionally, the German-speaking countries of Europe have laws which regulate electronic monitoring (e.g. by bracelets) which are quite specific. As far as I know, they are only an option if you are actually sentenced, and even then only in special cases. It is quite mindebending to argue electronic monitoring is a stronger restriction of your personal freedom than actual pre-trial custody in a cell, but here we are. (Europe has some very other attitudes to surveillance than the US, and electronic monitoring is usually discussed in that context).

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Wow. Who knew that German (accused) criminals were so much worse that American ones?!

That’s not even remotely true.

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That’s false. There’s abundant evidence that demonstrates solitary is given disproportionately to people of color, young people, the poor, etc.

A few links:

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/11/30/a-new-report-gives-the-most-detailed-breakdown-yet-of-how-isolation-is-used-in-u-s-prisons

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