what's wrong with the people of Kentucky?

[donsu]

that they allow this to go on

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/6767572.htm

BRUTALITY OR BLUFF?
Jail's conditions may be stuff of horror films

WILLIAMSTOWN - Beyond the tidy picnic tables and exercise yard, behind the pink-hued cinderblock walls of the Grant County Detention Center, inmates say scenes of horror unfold that the human conscience can usually fathom only in medieval prisons or on the sets of sadistic Hollywood movies.

An onslaught of federal lawsuits -- 13 in the past six months -- has unleashed gruesome story after story about brutality in the newly expanded jail, which houses more than 300 local, state and federal inmates, whose crimes run the gamut from speeding to murder. The allegations have sparked the interest of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., which is investigating the claims but would not comment on its criminal inquiry.

-snip-

• One guard is fond of spiking inmates' toothbrushes and deodorant with mace, Christopher Hughes told his lawyer, Hill. Hughes said the same jailer first broke his hand by kicking the metal food-slot flap down over his fingers, then feigned concern, asked to see the inmate's injured hand -- and twisted it hard. Hughes has not sued; Hill said the assault occurred more than a year ago, too distant to file suit.

-snip-

• Two lawsuits describe a system so perverse that two young men -- one an 18-year-old, 125-pound high-school senior arrested for speeding and evading police, the other a mentally disabled 24-year-old with a history of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest -- were thrown in cells with hardened criminals and raped. As the younger of the two was being put in cell 101 with a group known as "The Aryan Brotherhood," jailers told the men already there to teach the 18-year-old -- "fresh meat" -- a lesson he wouldn't forget.
-snip-
------------------------

this is a long article - at one point it asked "and why should society care?"

Guess Kentucky citizens don't care.

[Red_Viking]

1. DoJ Civil Rights Division?

We still have one? Incredible.

RV

[Yavin4]

13. Yeah. The Civil Rights Division is One Guy Named "Lou"

Nicest guy in the world. One day they'll give Lou a phone and a computer. One day, Lou, one day.

[carolinayellowdog]

2. What's wrong with your rhetorical question?

Well, if all the people of Kentucky are responsible for what goes on in one county seat, then all the people of the US are responsible for what goes on in one state, and all the people of the world are responsible for what goes on in one country.

Why, then, do we see questions like yours so much more often than questions like "What's wrong with the American people?" and "What's wrong with humanity?" I submit that it is because some people find some kind of comfort in pretending that "what's wrong" can be bounded quite specifically by the borders of a state or region that "those others" live in.

[donsu]

3. I'm still asking

nt

[Don_G]

4. More Accurately....

What's wrong with the people in a poor, rural and heavily "freeper" area of one state? Not all of us Kentuckians are like that and I find it insulting for anyone to suggest that I'm either like that or support actions like these.

[leftyandproud]

6. I assume freepers don't give a shit about criminals. *NT*

[Yavin4]

14. Getting Gang Raped by a Group of Aryans

is the number one fantasy of Freepers.

[donsu]

7. I'm still asking

nt

[Jack The Tab]

5. This isn't a problem with just Kentucky, mind you...

This is nationwide. This type of shit is only going to get worse as more and more prisons privatize.

I think the most telling part of this article is the end where the man says "remember, most of these people are coming back out"

This is a horrible problem for our country. Think of all the non-violent (i.e. drug) inmates, most of them normal, adjusted working people, thrown into this environment.

[Raenelle]

8. Here's a story that might shed some light.

In Louisville, they have a bronze statue in one of their parks to their Confederate war dead. Kentucky fought on the Union side in the Civil War.

I asked about that and was told that the population was split about the war. OK, point taken. But that was true in every border state. The equivalent would be a commemorative statue in Tennessee to our Union war dead.

[Shadoobie]

9. My experience

I just moved from Kentucky to Minnesota after spend three years there. Prior to Kentucky I lived in Ames, IA; Chicago south suburbs; Michigan and some time in Ohio.

I remember an newpaper article from Fall 2000 where a referendum was on the ballot to raise property taxes and average of $30/year in order to fund the County's (eastern KY) first public library. Yes, the COUNTY'S FIRST library. It failed. see: http://www.oakridger.com/stories/112400/stt_1124000020.html

As many as 44% of Kentuckians are functionally illiterate.

On the radio one day, I heard an ad for a local gun event. The style was similar to what hear for monster truck races and wrestling events. Anyway, they were touting all the special weapons you can try at their ranges (uzi, grenades, other explosives ("make little mushroom clouds"). I guess it was the whole "fun for whole family, bring the kids" that bothered me.

The main industries in Kentucky are:
1)Coal - with deregulation, more power plants are being built at the site of coal mines with little environmental regulation. A friend worked at the state EPA (writing permits) and many companies went over her head to get special permits. Mountains are being levelled and mining waste is constantly leaking into the waterways. (The Ohio River has a nice brown color to it.)

2) Tobacco - With budget deficits and inadequate spending on social services, God forbid the state raise taxes on tobacco (Currently, $0.03 per pack of cigarette and zero taxes on chewing tobacco). Also, 21% of middle school students smoke.

3) Bourbon and Horse Racing - nothing really wrong here except that an economy based on consumers drinking a lot and blowing money on gambling does not seem very healthy.

Another personal experience was with the eduacational system. We sent our daughter to a Catholic School for kindergarten. Two reason: 1) the private schools are much better than the public schools. My wife has a degree in early childhood education so I trust her judgement. 2) Thought not strict Catholics, many of our ethnic traditions are centered around Catholicism and we wanted out children to appreciate that. That being said, we spent $4000 for one year of Kindergarten and my wife still had to supplement more than she thought she should. When we knew we were moving to Minnesota. My wife and I made a trip to check out schools so that we would know where to move. The Catholic schools in were just as good as in KY but tuition was about half. The public schools were amazing, though. We felt that we would have to supplement over the summer so that our daughter would not be that far behind. Needless to say, we are going with public schools and supplementing the religious education.

Overall, the "individuals" I met in Kentucky were wonderful but I was left with the impression that the population as a whole was not really interested in bettering themselves. I don't have any regrets about leaving. I even took a cut in pay to do so. Maybe another KY DUer that has lived there longer can give a better perspective.

-Greg

[donsu]

10. thanks for the info - gives a better picture for why the jails are so bad

nt

[Ramsey]

11. The question as framed is offensive

Maybe "the people" of Kentucky weren't aware of this situation. I have many family in friends in Louisville who are very socially conscious and activist, one of whom is a lawyer at a state agency, with whom I discuss politics all the time, and this subject has not come up.

You have posted an investigative report from a Kentucky newpaper, so you prove that the local media is at least trying to inform people of the problem. Nonetheless, this kind of abusive treatment of prisoners is hardly limited to Kentucky. Here is a page from Yahoo, just an example, with similar stories from all over the country:

http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=us&cat=prisons

And here is a quote from the article itself:
"Kelsey Kauffman of Indiana, a former corrections officer who has devoted decades to studying prison brutality and its causes, said violence by guards and inmates is a perpetual -- and expected -- fact of jail life. She has written a book on the topic and lectures on the subject nationwide.

"You take the most despised population, criminals, and put a staff over them that is overworked, underpaid, undertrained and undersupervised -- and you're surprised when there's brutality?" said Kauffman. "The only way to diminish these problems is to have adequate training and supervision and accountability."

So why aren't you asking: what's wrong with the people of the United States, that we ALL allow this to go on??

[Oracle]

12. McConnel attempt to look hip in his pinstripes!

What a fucking clown! I know I speeled his name wrong, but who really gives a shit?

he must have a mistress somewhere 9poor woman) to go out in public thinking he's player.