25
TO LIFE
Last
week, I read a message out of the USA. Somebody had yelled, 'Hijack',
inside a plane. The man was sentenced to life in prison. I could not
believe my eyes, not that we don't have a class-justice in the
Netherlands, if you throw something at our queen, you stay behind
bars for years, but this was bizar.
The
next day, I understood the article. In 27 states, judges use the
“3-strike system.”, which means, that after two sentences, even a
mild offense can lead to a sentence of “25 to life”. At this
moment 150.000 inmates serve a life-sentence (of the 2 million+
prisoners inside) and the numbers are growing fast. Many State
prisons are in some cases extremely overcrowded and violent. Gang
wars go on, behind bars and attacks and assassinations are carefully
planned.
This
continuous thread, safety procedures are extremely strict and the
prisonguards are well armed. Officers guarding the fences, have a
license to kill, when riots break out.
Inmates
can turn everything into a weapon. A toothbrush, a platic bag, but
most off all metal. To give you an idea, what happens, we can look at
“Pelican Bay”, an infamous prison, with a history of violence (in
2000 1 prisoner was shot and 19 wounded, during a massive fight, with
about 100 casualties). Mexican gangmembers attacked the blacks. When
the area was cleared dozens of home-made knives were found. So when a
razorblade is missing, the prison is on high alert. All prisoners are
removed from their cells (832 cells, 2 or more inmates per cell) and
dozen of officers search each cell for potential weapons. After
hours, an officer calls out. “I found the razorblade!” When the
camera zooms in, it is obvious, that this is NOT a razorblade. It's a
small piece of metal (alluminum), which can, after many hours, been
turned in to a sharp object. It's a kind of tunnelvision. The guards,
too attribute to the violence and aggression. Because the real
weapons are the prisoners themselves. They train a lot, flock
together by race or gang and start conspiring. What else can you
expect, if you know that you will spend your life behind bars. Can
make you quite desperate.
