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Christmas in Prison

This is a Christmas shout-out to all those who are spending the holidays behind bars, and to the friends, families, and lawyers who visit them.

John Prine:

The search light in the big yard
swings round with the gun
and spotlights the snowflakes
like the dust in the sun.
It's Christmas in prison
there'll be music tonight
I'll probably get homesick
I love you. Goodnight.

< R.I.P. James Brown | Freedom of Speech? Depends What You Say >
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    yes bx58, even to them (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by cpinva on Mon Dec 25, 2006 at 04:14:24 PM EST
    christmas is, after all, a celebration of the birth of a guy who loved "even the least among us", and assured that all are capable of redemption in his father's eyes.

    sad, pathetic and vile as some of them may be, they are still, deep down, our fellow human beings. maybe if enough of us treated them as such, it might rub off. or not. who knows?

    would it really kill you to give a thought to them once a year?

    it really doesn't make their victims any less, really and truly. who knows, if one them sees the light, and does something constructive with the rest of their life, that victim's death or injury might not have been totally in vain.

    Does this "shout out" go to the truly (1.00 / 2) (#1)
    by bx58 on Mon Dec 25, 2006 at 01:48:58 PM EST
    guilty murderers, robbers and rapists?

    How about a "shout out" to their victims?

    This is a prime example of why I could never get aligned with the kook-left.

     You're tempted to go down to DC and march against this insane war but the prospect of having "Free Mumia" or some other bogus cause hog the show...you don't go.

    I was going to (none / 0) (#2)
    by Edger on Mon Dec 25, 2006 at 02:14:58 PM EST
    try to explain this to bx58... but I think if he was able to get it I wouldn't need to. Anybody else care to?

    Merry Christmas, bx58.

    Parent

    BX58, you're on the wrong site (none / 0) (#8)
    by Jeralyn on Mon Dec 25, 2006 at 06:01:22 PM EST
    BX58, if that is your attitude, you're on the wrong website.  This site is dedicated to preserving the rights of those accused of crime.  If you're not in that spirit, but looking for a victim-oriented site, there are more than enough to go around.

    Yes, even the guilty who are spending time behind bars this year are human beings. We are all more than the sum of our misdeeds.

    If you can't appreciate the humanity behind TChris's post, don't let the door slam you on the way out.

    Parent

    I don't know where to begin.. (1.00 / 1) (#7)
    by bx58 on Mon Dec 25, 2006 at 05:23:52 PM EST
    I made it clear I wasn't including the hundreds of thousands of petty criminals,drug offenders or the thousands of innocent people in prison.

    As far as cpinva's claim that if a murderer "sees the light" the victims death might not have been totally in vain. What hogwash.

     Why don't you volunteer to be a murder victim so someone can get to see the light?

    And as for the "tough on crime Reagan epoch" the prison population skyrocketed during the reign of the "so-called" liberal Clinton Administration.

    My "kook-left" comment stands. When people care more for the murderers than the victims, that's crazy, stupid and kooky. Loved the Matthew/Jesus quotes.

    Crazy, stupid, and kooky (5.00 / 1) (#14)
    by syinco on Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 10:28:35 AM EST
    When people care more for the murderers than the victims, that's crazy, stupid and kooky.

    What's crazy, stupid, and kooky is when people interpret any statement in support of offenders' rights as more sympathetic to the offender than the victim.  That simply does not follow.    

    As Jeralyn said, there are plenty of victim-oriented sites (and organizations) available, as well there should be.  I, for one, recognize and appreciate that, as I suspect do many of the commenters here, even though it's generally not stated explicitly.

    Achieving justice, whatever that may mean, requires an appropriate balance of interests towards the victim, society, and the offender.  I think it seems to many of us here, whether case by case or systemically, that we are failing to achieve that balance and thus failing to achieve justice.  In my view, this site is in part an attempt to rectify that.  

    I can tell I'm probably just wasting my breath, but it just amazes me how often I see such single-minded thinking on what is fundamentally a very difficult problem ...  

    Parent

    I don't know how some people can (1.00 / 2) (#16)
    by bx58 on Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 08:11:01 PM EST
     reconcile defending the purveyers of violence in our blood-drenched society?

     I saw Jeralynn on TV arguing AGAINST strict labeling of violent video games. The thug mentality in music,video games; just the whole moneymaking popular culture.

    In the same breath they defend the by-products of this cash-crop, murderers and rapists.

    Some Freudian stuff must be going on.

    Parent

    I'm probably wasting my time here - but... (none / 0) (#17)
    by Edger on Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 08:18:38 PM EST
    bx58 - Go over Jeralyns' post again - carefully.

    You are reading things into it that are not there.

    If there is any freudian stuff happening it is inside you.

    Parent

    BX 58 is limited to four comments a day (none / 0) (#9)
    by Jeralyn on Mon Dec 25, 2006 at 06:03:21 PM EST
    BX58, you are limited to four comments a day here. Take my word for it, this site is not for you.  Please don't use it as your chattering box.

    Parent
    I come in here to get all views (1.00 / 2) (#10)
    by bx58 on Mon Dec 25, 2006 at 06:23:39 PM EST
    I guess that's not true for you.

    Tell me want you want to hear and I'll do it, for you on Christmas.

    Parent

    Someone put the kabosh on this (1.00 / 2) (#11)
    by bx58 on Mon Dec 25, 2006 at 10:35:25 PM EST
    thread.

    It wasn't me.

    Suppression does breed suppression.

    Parent

    The oscar for (1.00 / 1) (#13)
    by Wile ECoyote on Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 05:06:44 AM EST
    blog melo-drama in small letters goes to- cpinva for:

    i'm going out on a limb, and guess that bx, a member of his/her family, or a friend, was a victim of violent crime. guess what? so have many of us been, as well. it's horrible, unfair, you want revenge, for yourself or a loved one.

    guess what else? you get over it, and life goes on, whether you like it or not. spending the rest of your days in hate-filled agony does nothing, for you or your loved one. i hope you do recover some day.

    happy new year.  

    wile (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by cpinva on Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 03:14:24 PM EST
    do you even have a clue what you're blathering on about, ever?

    you see, taking quotes, totally out of context, is such a lovely, classic right-wing smear tactic. you've learned well, grasshopper. :)

    happy new year to you too.

    ps: make it in BIG letters next time, i prefer upper case. :)

    Parent

    Your response to violent crime (2.33 / 3) (#18)
    by Pancho on Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 08:54:48 PM EST
    is to "get over it"?

    My response is to lock up the MF that committed the crime and not give a damn for even ONE second that he spends Christmas in prison.

    The left needs to stop providing excuses for those that are unwilling to work for a living.

    As for those non-violent offenders in prison for drug charges, I am sorry, but I saw no improvement during 8 years of the Clinton administration. The war on drugs did not begin with GW.

    Parent

    bx58's just a little behind the times (none / 0) (#3)
    by jackl2400 on Mon Dec 25, 2006 at 02:40:15 PM EST
    Well, perhaps we won't give a shout out to the "guilty murders, robbers and rapists", but to the roughly half the prison population that's there because of non-victim crimes like drug possession and sales.

    What bx58 said might have been more appropriate during the Reagan "tough on crime" epoch say in 1986, but the "lock em up and throw away the key" and "three strikes" pendulum has swung too far.  While it won elections for some pols, spending more on prisons than higher education has not been good for the country.

    Perhaps if bx58 read up on the November Coalition www.november.org or Families against Mandatory Minimums site, or Steve Tucker's story http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A10762 (10 years in fed prison for working in a hydroponics store) he might realize there's more to this issue that "Free mumia".  There was even a story in the NYT yesterday about conservatives worrying about prison recidivism and acknowledging that the lack of empathy for prisoners was wrong and contributing to the problem.

    Merry xmas.

    Do they take kids to prison (none / 0) (#5)
    by JSN on Mon Dec 25, 2006 at 04:14:33 PM EST
    on Christmas so they can spend Christmas with Mom or Dad?

    Visit the imprisoned (none / 0) (#6)
    by lennonist on Mon Dec 25, 2006 at 04:20:33 PM EST
    Merry Christmas to all talkleft readers.  Your "shout out" to the people in jail and the comments of BX58 about how this made he or she unwilling to join the "kook" left, made me think of this passage from the bible, which describes the words of the man whose birthday we celebrate today.  This is from Matthew 25: 35 and describes the words of Jesus Himself:  

    "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
    I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
    "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
    When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
    When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
    "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

    You can call TChris or anyone else here "kooky" but would you consider the possibility that we aren't necessarily pro-criminal or anti-victim when we speak this way?  Perhaps we're simply pro-redemption, or trying to make sure people remember an often forgotten group that Jesus himself told us to visit.    

    Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night...

    bx58, are you really that blind, (none / 0) (#12)
    by cpinva on Mon Dec 25, 2006 at 11:14:53 PM EST
    or just intentionally stupid?

    As far as cpinva's claim that if a murderer "sees the light" the victims death might not have been totally in vain. What hogwash.

    you infer that somehow i think it's ok for the victims to have been victimized, as long as a murderer "sees the light". of course, i implied nothing of the sort. i certainly made no "claim". try to differentiate, will you?

    geez, you probably also believe that the majority of women who prefer artificial christmas trees have breast implants as well, 'cause bill o'reilly told ya so!

    i'm going out on a limb, and guess that bx, a member of his/her family, or a friend, was a victim of violent crime. guess what? so have many of us been, as well. it's horrible, unfair, you want revenge, for yourself or a loved one.

    guess what else? you get over it, and life goes on, whether you like it or not. spending the rest of your days in hate-filled agony does nothing, for you or your loved one. i hope you do recover some day.

    all that said, it doesn't negate my central premise: regardless of their crimes, they are still ultimately part of the human race. the measure of any society is how they treat the least among them, and these people are pretty much the least.