This... is amazing. Well done.

Punishment and rehabilitation should never be about profit (or politics, for that matter).

The whole situation saddens me. :(

When government is run like a business--monetary profit above all else--this is one of the results.

What do you expect from a capitalist country?

Using the prisons for a source of cheap, easy-to-work-to-death labor is not a mere capitalist invention, nor is it new. But this latest scam is taking the thing to a whole new level: actively using the "justice" system not to merely exploit a defenseless workforce, but to actually *produce* it.

Didn't the Nazi's do this to the extreme? (As well as a few other countries during WWI and II?)

The shorter list to produce to that question, is which country *hasn't* done this practice?

Italy. No forced labour for criminals here. Just jail or probation.

Only if you restrict yourself to the current state and not its precursors. From context, it seems that the earlier posters were including precursor states.

right

so true, so true

Sometimes a judge just has a chip on their shoulder and it doesn't matter what any lawyer says.

If you don't have money, nobody's on your side- public, private or otherwise.

Privatizing the prision system = Conflict of interest?

Nahhhhhhhhhh.......

Dear Karno,

If you were to finish this, many people would read it. Myself included.

If you intend to finish this side project, let us know soon. =3

The paranoia - it runs rampant and deep!

I'm no fan of non-state run prisons.

Prisons should be run by the state, and should go back to their self-sufficiant nature like they had in the old days.

Not saying we need chain gangs, but we need more prisoners doing stuff like cleaning beaches, removing graffiti, growing their own food, etc. Stuff that saves tax payers money.

Preach it Brother!

Karno, you should go see "ATLAS SHRUGGED".

wouldn't it be better if he read it?

You know, it just came to me. Have you ever thought of becoming a journalist? Not like the regular ones, I was thinking 'gonzo journalist' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzo_journalism) Like Spider Jerusalem. I'm sure, with the internet, there could be some money in it.

No shit. My family went through total BS in small claims court (guy owed 12 grand, he took it up a level and knocked it down to 4 even though the rental laws are clear he owed the other 8, superior court judge didn't even bother to look it up) and later found out about 80% of small claims are never paid. Another instance where a lawyer consulting my father tried to push for more charges, which would have turned back on him and resulted in a heavy fine. Turned out the lawyer and the guy being sued went to church and played golf together. Some justice system we have.

This reminds me: do you read and/or comment at "Who Is IOZ?"? You might fit in well there: IOZ is a good writer, a total misanthrope, and an excellent source of anti-capitalist surliness delivered in an entertaining manner.

Straight from the Bucket of Truth.

I hate our "justice" system.

The justice system seems to exist, in part, to supply the privatized "corrections" industry with a slave labor force that can be leased out for pennies an hour to produce cheap goods that compete with (or rather obliterate) domestic production. One of the main beneficiaries of this slave labor is the US Dept of Defense. The federal prison industry produces 100% of all military helmets, ammunition belts, bullet-proof vests, ID tags, shirts, pants, tents, bags, and canteens. Along with war supplies, prison workers supply 98% of the entire market for equipment assembly services; 93% of paints and paintbrushes; 92% of stove assembly; 46% of body armor; 36% of home appliances; 30% of headphones/microphones/speakers; and 21% of office furniture. The domestic slave trade is a multi-billion dollar business, authorized by the 13th Amendment which exempts prisoners from laws against forced labor. The prison corporations profiting from this labor do not even have to pay the $0.21/hour that the prisoners get, because it comes out of tax dollars, so they make profit on both ends.

Oh you're always so darn optimistic Karno.

Hmmm.

This does a great disservice to the various court-appointed attorneys who believe they can change the system for the better, work hard for their clients, and all for a fraction of the paycheck that their private-practice counterparts would get.

The fact that you regard these guys as heroes for doing this, illuminates just how screwed the "normal" system is.
"Look! We're just going to beat you with willow sticks, not spiked iron clubs like we normally do! Isn't that wonderful of us?!"

My partner, the most loving man I have ever known, is one of them (well sometimes). And yes, he's a hero to me. >_>

as a resident of these United States, I sadly have to agree with this. Just gets worse & worse every day.

There is still justice in (American) courts, Would you prefer England where one is guilty until proven innocent? It's all gone pear shaped, and maybe after the collapse there will be more "us" than "them" and still will normalise.