Probably the most vulnerable among us are those who are incarcerated. I’m all for law and order, as well as punishment, but very few of those incarcerated actually killed somebody or are otherwise going to spend the rest of their lives there. Many of them haven’t even been convicted of anything yet, they just don’t have the ability to bond out prior to their trial. Many times these people are physically abused by correctional officers who have the ability to run roughshod over the population. And people don’t care because they view them as criminals.
For instance, there was a North Carolina case that just popped up in the news, which captured the beating of an inmate on video – leading to a civil lawsuit. But if it were not videotaped, nobody would believe it.
In West Virginia, we have some of the worst jails in the country. I’m not talking about the prisons, but the jails – places where people go who are awaiting trial, or who were sentenced to a short sentence of incarceration. It seems like every other day there is a correctional officer being fired for sexually assaulting inmates, or dealing drugs with inmates. And these are just the one’s who get caught. I’ve heard countless stories from different clients of the abuse perpetrated by guards. And most of them are almost identical, despite the fact that these people had never met each other.
Don’t be surprised if the Department of Justice announces an investigation….
– John H. Bryan, West Virginia Attorney.
Just want to say thanks for the straight-up in regards to the jails, the courts, the legal system in general. I am so glad that someone from your side of the fence has the courage to speak up.
I spent a night in jail recently after being arrested for disorderly conduct (which became persistent after the officer physically injured me; my research of this behavior led me to this blog.)
I’m a 44-year-old woman who has never been in trouble in my life. I didn’t know how to use the phone or get my lunch. I didn’t know that I could have posted my own bond with the credit cards locked up with my other possessions.
The women with me were very kind to me, which makes me that much more appalled at the conditions they have to endure. They helped me with everything.
They were just a group of women who had different misfortunes and made mistakes addressing them. None of them were a threat to other people, but they were treated as sub-human. It’s sickening. Thank you for writing about this and drawing attention to it.