I Know This is Wrong, But I Am Really Having a Hard Time Not Enjoying it Anyway (Again)
[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.]
Update: There are claims that the story is bogus. Of course there were claims that the John Edwards story was bogus, too, so who knows?
The abuse of people in prison is wrong. When a man is sentenced to prison, he is not sentenced to be beaten, or raped, by guards or fellow prisoners. It is additional punishment and punishment should be given only by a court of law. And indeed the beating and/or rapes only have a tangential relationship to the evil in their soul—it is much more closely related to issues such as who is stronger or more vicious. And when you learn that a black man is beaten (although not raped) by skinheads because he bragged about sleeping with white women, then the wrongness of it takes on an additional dimension.
So what makes it really, really hard not to feel schadenfruede about the story of a black man being beaten by racist skinheads in prison? Because the man is O.J. Simpson.
Disgraced gridiron great O.J. SIMPSON was beaten unconscious in a brutal prison yard attack, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.
That would be the National Enquirer, which has enjoyed strange new respect ever since they broke the story about John Edwards.
Inmates cheered as a muscular young skinhead knocked him to the ground, punching and kicking him to a bloody pulp and inflicting injuries so severe he secretly spent nearly three weeks in the infirmary before he recovered.
The humiliating beating left 63-year-old Simpson in agony – and threw him into a spiral of depression so deep that he’s now afraid to venture out of his cell, divulge sources.
You can read the whole thing for details. And it is wrong. He was not sentenced to that. I am not kidding or winking at this. The prison officials need to get control of the situation; indeed, that needs to be done in general. Being beaten and/or raped should not be part of the punishment in American prisons.
But, God help me, I can’t help but enjoy it a little in this case.
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]
I hate to be a killjoy, but it just seems sad to me.
Just think of it. This guy had a crazy great career. He made a pile of money. Everybody loved him. Now he’s 63 years old – still trying to pretend he’s the same guy who made that commercial running through the airport – nobody even pretends anymore to believe that he didn’t murder his wife – he’s lost his children – not even Jesse Jackson will stand up for him now. The very last shred of self-respect he might have had (in a sick way) was thinking that he was a tough guy, and now here he is hiding in his cell. If I were the warden, I’d have the guy on suicide watch.
Whatever your problems, whatever is going wrong in your life right now, you are WAY more blessed than this loser.
Gesundheit (cfa313) — 2/17/2011 @ 7:01 amOJ made Bad Choices
happyfeet (ab5779) — 2/17/2011 @ 7:06 amIn all cases, but especially for OJ Simpson, I have always hoped that justice would be done.
jim2 (851efa) — 2/17/2011 @ 7:09 amYou are a very bad man, Aaron.
As am I.
SPQR (26be8b) — 2/17/2011 @ 7:12 amThere are reports that the story is bogus:
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpps/news/spokesman-rumors-of-oj-simpson-attack-not-true-dpgoha-20110217-fc_11917549#
jim2 (851efa) — 2/17/2011 @ 7:13 amHe stabbed two people, and nearly decapitated one, I still don’t think the punishment fits the crime
narciso (e694f9) — 2/17/2011 @ 7:16 amthanks, updated.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 2/17/2011 @ 7:16 amnarc
well, unfortunately he was not convicted of that crime. and while i disagree with the jury, i don’t denounce them for it.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 2/17/2011 @ 7:33 amScott…
That was really inappropriate.
Funny, but inappropriate.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 2/17/2011 @ 7:37 amthe instances wherein the Enquirer what is National is afforded the strange new respect seem to show no clear pattern
happyfeet (ab5779) — 2/17/2011 @ 7:48 amHe was acquitted for all of the wrong reasons, and this is wrong as well – but karma’s indeed a bitch.
Dmac (c50897) — 2/17/2011 @ 7:58 amthat’s because they are basically 1-3, having totally flubbed both Boehner and the Palins,
narciso (e694f9) — 2/17/2011 @ 7:58 amdmac
its nothing compared to what he will get in the next life.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 2/17/2011 @ 8:03 amThey need to execute or truly lock up more of the prisoners who commit rape and murder.
SGT Ted (5d10ae) — 2/17/2011 @ 8:03 amIf you want to see something “wrong,” turn on the Investigation Discovery Channel at 10pm ET tonight (Thursday). It repeats 3 hours later and on Saturday. Note what happened to the male victim (it was something the ringleader learned in prison). The murder of the female victim was equally brutal.
This is the premiere episode of “Sins and Secrets” on the ID Channel. It concerns the Christian-Newsom torture-murders in Knoxville, Tennessee.
DN (e13e38) — 2/17/2011 @ 8:09 amFight on!
Ed from SFV (adab2a) — 2/17/2011 @ 8:19 amThe only reason I can think of to explain society’s tolerance of prison abuse is that the unwritten law is that if you reject the social compact your punishment will be to live without the protections of the law. You will be locked in a place where the law of the jungle is the reality and you will find out what it is like to live without the protections of a law-abiding society.
Anon Y. Mous (25a0bd) — 2/17/2011 @ 8:26 amDN: that was truly despicable. I followed all the trials on various websites and CourtTV (now TruTV). No punishment would be good enough for the guilty.
As for O.J., when I read he threw a party for the jurors soon after the verdict, that pretty much sealed the deal for me. What a farce. Guess he won’t be searching for Nicole’s killer anytime soon. Not many golf courses in prison.
PatAz (6b2e01) — 2/17/2011 @ 8:26 amFine Aaron… I’ll rephrase…
This story has given me a dangerous case of shadenpriapism…
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 2/17/2011 @ 8:46 amThe esteemed Mr Worthing wrote:
So, you are saying that the prisoner can only be raped in prison if the judge sentences him to that? 🙂
The Dana with the Enquiring mind (3e4784) — 2/17/2011 @ 8:47 amIt doesn’t matter how guilty OJ is, the story of his beating is a sad one anyway. I honestly feel *no* joy at it and find it weird, Aaron, that you would.
ellersburgwhoresonellis (90ee52) — 2/17/2011 @ 9:03 amis that if you reject the social compact your punishment will be to live without the protections of the law.
Fine, but the problem is that many felons are non – violent criminals, many of whom have been locked up for fairly minor drug offenses. I see no reason for this kind of dogmatic outlook among this group who are currently incarcerated.
Dmac (c50897) — 2/17/2011 @ 9:14 amTo hell with OJ. But why is it so hard to design prisons that keep inmates from attacking each other? Isn’t there an inexpensive way to arrange things so that prisoners have no physical contact with one another?
gp (72be5d) — 2/17/2011 @ 9:24 amIn a word, gp, no.
Long answer – Yes, it is possible. A large enough facility could house inmates in their own cell. It would be possible for these cells to have everything needed, from a small TV (set INTO the wall, covered with Plexiglas) to allow for telepresence classes (add in a webcam, even) and even limited entertainment (and can all be shut off remotely for punishment). They could have a chin-up bar, and the floor would have room for exercises. Meals could be delivered by staff or some other system. The TV could be used for commissary purchases. Let them out for medical checks, visits, etc.
The problem is, such a place would not only be expensive, but would probably not be allowed under the coddling we give prisoners these days.
So while we could, the reality is that we can’t.
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 2/17/2011 @ 9:34 amYou control women prisoners by providing them a comfortable environment. You control men prisoners by putting them into a brutal environment. That’s been known for a very long time. The brutality in our prisons is not an accident.
nk (db4a41) — 2/17/2011 @ 9:39 amScott
Lol.
Dana
no. But heh.
Scott
i think the real problem in creating a rape-and-beating-proof prison is liberal objections that what we would have to do to create it would amount to “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 2/17/2011 @ 9:40 amThere’s pretty good evidence to suggest that solitary confinement, over an extended period of time, leads to psychosis. See, eg, http://www.prisoncommission.org/statements/grassian_stuart_long.pdf.
The particular problem with this is that the symptoms induced result in increased difficulty re-integrating with society. That is to say, solitary-confinement-induced psychiatric problems make it harder for the criminal, once released, to function as a normal civilian, and make it correspondingly more likely that they will (a) be a threat to society after release, and (b) be re-arrested and re-inarcerated.
Which is to say, as a pragmatic matter, it’s a terrible idea to use the technology Scott describes for anyone who hasn’t been sentenced to life without parole.
aphrael (e0cdc9) — 2/17/2011 @ 9:41 amThat much-maligned sheriff in Arizona has the right idea about how to treat prisoners. Pity they don’t bring back chain gangs too. Look what it costs to house most of those incarcerated. How much recidivism occurs after they are released? I’m sure they need cable tv, college educations, gyms for working out, endless appeals, sympathy from airhead women and even elective surgeries for things like sex change operations- all on the public dime.
I was reading comments about Justin Bieber’s put down of the American medical system. For some reason many believe lonely so-called Faux news is extremist and needs to be slapped down. Ditto for radio with Rush or Beck. Some are even saying they go to BBC news for UNBIASED news. What planet do these imbeciles live on? I don’t mind if libtards spew their nonsense on MSNBC, CNN, alphabet networks, etc. but does gall me my tax dollars support PBS, NPR, NEA and so forth.
Calypso Louie Farrakhan (798aba) — 2/17/2011 @ 9:55 amAt the time of OJ’s verdict I could understand that blacks thought justice was done and the white man got his comeuppance, but irritated that so many white morons thought his football credentials warranted a free pass or that the ‘cheating’ Nicole deserved to die. And here I thought they had broken up and OJ was banging other women.
Is it possible crime rates would be lower if potential miscreants had to deal with harsher environment and conditions? I figured OJ would be top dog in any prison with his celebrity status and large available funds. And isn’t it possible the real killer is in prison with OJ now?
Why don’t we ever hear prison stories about a guy who learns to speak 5 languages – masters higher mathematics and philosophy and world history – writes a major literary work on bits of fabric – and spends years tunneling out of prison after which he finds a wondrous treasure in a cave on an island and turns into an avenging angel for truth and justice?
Is the Count of Monte Cristo just too much to expect these days? Not even ONCE out of all the millions of prisoners?
No. All we get are stories of disgusting rapes and murders.
Gesundheit (cfa313) — 2/17/2011 @ 9:56 amGesundheit asked:
Oh, but you are forgetting Stanley “Tookie” Williams, who wrote a children’s book whilst incarcerated, and was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.
The Dana who remembers (3e4784) — 2/17/2011 @ 10:02 amIt’s hard to believe that a skinhead was allowed to be anywhere near O.J.
Icy Texan (4325bb) — 2/17/2011 @ 10:06 amMr. nk is right prison is inherently violent for guys. It’s like what happened to Ben Affleck’s dad in The Town. Ouch. But remember he was very sanguine about it cause he knew it just is what it is.
If someone wanted to start a petition for to make the prisons less violent I’d probably sign it in California but if I were in Texas I’d probably say hey how much is this gonna cost?
happyfeet (a55ba0) — 2/17/2011 @ 10:36 amThe truth is that prisoners get out, and then have to live among us. If there are skinheads beating up blacks in race wars, like I see on TV shows sometimes, that’s not acceptable. That will produce awful ex cons.
I do want prison to be hard and unpleasant, but I don’t smile at the thought of even this murderer OJ being brutalized by our system (and I think the story is a hoax). It’s just not practical, and it’s not really justice.
I would much rather our prison system require prisoners to earn their release than spend time alone for release. For example, a person sentenced to 20 years might serve 10 and be paroled under our present system. I would change that. A person sentenced to 20 years would be able to cut two years off their sentence, up to 50% of their sentence, for certain accomplishments.
Things like a high school diploma, mastering a foreign language, learning a skilled trade, and properly instructing others. There would be rigid certification tests. Instead of flying below the radar and behaving, in exchange for early release, prisoners would be forced to develop. Those who can’t are those who shouldn’t be released early anyway.
And we need to find more ways to exploit their labor to help fund their incarceration.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 2/17/2011 @ 10:42 amThen again, nk’s right. It’s their fault they are in prison, and it’s impractical to run a prison the way I think we should, unless we can come up with some unlikely way to pay for it.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 2/17/2011 @ 10:46 amDustin, more of that is available in prison systems than you realize.
There is a reason that the prisoners do not take advantage of it.
SPQR (26be8b) — 2/17/2011 @ 10:54 amLet me be clear: I know prisoners in our country are given a lot. If they want to make the right choices, we will help them become model citizens. I am not ignorant of this.
I’m saying we should not parole anyone early unless they earn it with more than mere good behavior. We should help them make the right choices. If a prisoner doesn’t have a high school diploma and a couple of skills, and hasn’t taught those skills to other prisoners, he serves his full sentence.
Those who are not able to learn a skill are also not able to survive without returning to crime, anyway, so it makes sense to hold them as long as we can.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 2/17/2011 @ 11:02 amSimply pipe liquefied Soylent Green to a faucet in each cell.
Old Coot (f5db2b) — 2/17/2011 @ 11:03 amI have thought on this very matter for many years, and believe I have come across a solution, and would very much like to deliver my modest proposal to the government…
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 2/17/2011 @ 11:06 amFor example, a person sentenced to 20 years might serve 10 and be paroled under our present system
Many states have changed this so that whatever someone is sentenced to today, they will serve 85% of that time. However, such changes have never been (and cannot really be) retroactive to people already imprisoned under sentences set before the change.
aphrael (e0cdc9) — 2/17/2011 @ 11:10 amThat’s true, Aphrael. It’s even more true for the federal system.
Any reform like I suggest would take decades to implement, for that very reason. I think this country needs to recognize that we have a huge prison population and work on how to make it more affordable and more successful at reform.
but I also know that a lot of people think about this all the time, and my ideas are a bit pie-in-sky.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 2/17/2011 @ 11:31 amThe 85% “real time” is a complicated formula. Karl has explained it before, better than I could.
nk (db4a41) — 2/17/2011 @ 11:52 amI just hope he wasnt hurt bad enough that it hinders his effort to find the real killers.
Joe (6120a4) — 2/17/2011 @ 12:04 pmWith all the talk of population control and the adulation of fat assclowns like algore and mikey moore, why not adopt the euroweenie approach to incarceration in case of people convicted of murder? How many life sentences over there are actually ten years or less? I know liberals deem eye for an eye cruel and unusual punishment but would it not justice for OJ to suffer proportionally to what he dished out? I used to think Muslims had right idea cutting off thieving hands, but then you see a young girl stoned to death after her uncle raped her? Screw the caliphate wannabes, just take their goodies at a fair rate and redistribute to their masses.
Calypso Louie Farrakhan (798aba) — 2/17/2011 @ 12:48 pmAnd why must prisoners have it good? Make the suckers work their asses off. It was good enough for Paul Newman’s role.
#33, #34, #36
I like your idea, Dustin. The incarcerated should receive release on probation as a reward for “correcting” themselves. Probation to continue until the entire sentence is fullfilled.
Felipe (02954a) — 2/17/2011 @ 1:53 pm“we need to find more ways to exploit their labor to help fund their incarceration.” But then you have the problem of undercutting the labor market for non-criminals.
There must be a way to design jails to keep people isolated from one another cheaply. Put Temple Grandin on the job; I bet she knows how.
It’s just bizarre to me that prisoner-on-prisoner violence/rape is such an accepted part of our culture that it’s a prime topic of our popular humor. I don’t shed any tears over what injustices befall _violent_ criminals like OJ, but there must be many nonviolent prisoner victims.
gp (e5c5cb) — 2/17/2011 @ 1:59 pmgp
mmm. you remind me of a joke norm macdonald told about the killing of matthew sheppard.
“So this guy killed a guy because he didn’t want a gay dude hitting on him. And so now he is going to prison. Wow, that plan backfired.”
(that’s a paraphrase, obviously)
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 2/17/2011 @ 2:06 pmThe inmates run the mad house prisons and the so called wardens and administrator are too cowardly to do anything about it. Time to show the prisoners, aka criminals, that they are prisoners. Everytime one acts up double their sentence or make it automatically a life sentence for any violence comitted while in prison. Send all the lifers to one prison and allow them to kill each other at will. The last man standing can face a firing squad.
Scrapiron (7a38de) — 2/17/2011 @ 2:46 pmPut Sheriff Joe, Az, in charge and watch them calm down. One large barbwire prison in the desert, no heat, no air conditioning and bologna sandwiches with a water chaser three time a day.
Scrapiron (7a38de) — 2/17/2011 @ 2:49 pmRight on, Scrapiron.
PatAz (6b2e01) — 2/17/2011 @ 4:12 pmWhen I was in Iraq I lived in a tent eating MREs and T-rations in desert heat that exceeds that of AZ.
We would have considered baloney sandwiches an improvement in our diet.
Yup I subscribe to the Arapaio incarceration method.
SGT Ted (5d10ae) — 2/18/2011 @ 5:15 am