Error message

Deprecated function: Array and string offset access syntax with curly braces is deprecated in include_once() (line 20 of /home/caucusni/public_html/includes/file.phar.inc).

This interview may be of interest to some

Submitted by janis b on Sat, 05/09/2020 - 12:24am

This is an interview with Chesa Boudin (25 min), recorded this morning by my favourite interviewer. It is about incarceration in America, and more. He is the son of Weather Underground parents, and the District Attorney of San Francisco.

San Francisco's recently elected district attorney Chesa Boudin has a unique perspective on the legal system: his 75-year-old father David Gilbert (a former member of the radical left wing group the Weather Underground) is in prison serving a life sentence for murder.
Boudin is a lawyer, writer, and lecturer specializing in the U.S. criminal justice system and Latin American policy.
His mission is to reform the American criminal justice system and reduce incarceration rates. His policies include challenging California's controversial 'three strikes' law.
He's also concerned about the impact of Covid-19 on prisoners.

Tags:

Interview Chesa Boudin

Vote

Comments

Submitted by on the cusp on Sat, 05/09/2020 - 4:38am

Thank you for the fabulous interview, janis.

I was licensed to practice law in Nov. of 1986. In spring of 1988, I tried a murder case.
I quoted Shakespeare about mercy given and taken.
And from out of the air, I spoke to that jury about something I had never read, or never heard.
I said, and still say almost every single day of my life since, is that we judge people in a courtroom on the worst day of their life.
We have no mechanism to judge them on their best day.
I hope the petition to free the DA's father is a success.
I hope a trend toward a more humane and considered punishment-to-fit-the-crime will occur, and
a diminution of for-profit prisons ensues.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by janis b on Sun, 05/10/2020 - 12:43am

Hi otc

@on the cusp

"I hope a trend toward a more humane and considered punishment-to-fit-the-crime will occur, and
a diminution of for-profit prisons ensues."

I couldn't agree more, thank you.

[video:https://youtu.be/7uvY5qU7ayg]

Submitted by mimi on Sat, 05/09/2020 - 4:59am

thx, just listened to it in full, and wondering if

I shsould send it to my son. Cheda Boudin gives some answers, that I didn't have, listening to my son's stream of thoughts for hours firing from his mind.

I'll take a nap over it.

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by ScienceTeacher on Mon, 05/11/2020 - 12:10am

Great interview showing the human face of incarceration.

It is so terrific that the number of people in the SF jails has been reduced by 40% if I understood the interview correctly. Even before Covid-19 struck it would have been a great thing.

The PTB could have opened places like empty schools for low-risk and most pretrial inmates from the jails. Prisoners close to parole could also be sent to these temporary facilities.
Some of the offenders in prison for less serious crimes who have good behavior could be moved to the some of the space in the jails.
Elderly prisoners who are not likely to be dangerous need to be moved to places where they can safely quarantine.

Covid-19 is a disaster in a prison. These prisoners get to be the guinea pigs for epidemiological studies. We can hope most prisoners are young enough to recover. Hopefully most of them will avoid strokes or permanent damage to their lungs and circulatory systems.

The plasma of many people who have recovered from Covid-19 contains antibodies that can attack the virus and help fight it. This plasma can make a big difference to the outcome for other people with serious cases of Covid-19.
https://health.mountsinai.org/blog/mount-sinai-to-begin-the-transfer-of-...

On Friday, the FDA approved a clinical trial specifically for Johns Hopkins that will allow its researchers to further test the therapy as a means of preventing otherwise healthy people, notably front-line medical staff, from getting sick. FDA approval is pending for a second Hopkins clinical trial on patients who are slightly or moderately ill to see if the serum will keep them out of ICUs and help bring them back to health.

https://hub.jhu.edu/2020/04/08/arturo-casadevall-blood-sera-profile/

Recovered prisoners will be able to donate plasma to help people who are suffering from Covid-19.

Who gets this potentially life-saving plasma?
Does it only go to save the lives of people who are seriously ill?
Does it go to protect health care workers who have been exposed?
Does it go to protect wealthy politicians?
Can the prisoner decide?

Can prisoners who recover designate plasma recipients if they donate?
(For example, if they donate can they insist that their grandmother get some plasma to protect her even if she is not very ill?)

Should prisoners be paid for donating their plasma?
If so, how much?

After they are released can former prisoners sell their plasma?

Submitted by janis b on Sun, 05/10/2020 - 12:45am

That's interesting science,

@ScienceTeacher

and even more interesting questions you present. Thank you.

It is so terrific that the number of people in the SF jails has been reduced by 40% if I understood the interview correctly. Even before Covid-19 struck it would have been a great thing. The PTB could have opened places like empty schools for low-risk and most pretrial inmates from the jails. Prisoners close to parole could also be sent to these temporary facilities. Some of the offenders in prison for less serious crimes who have good behavior could be moved to the some of the space in the jails. Elderly prisoners who are not likely to be dangerous need to be moved to places where they can safely quarantine. Covid-19 is a disaster in a prison. These prisoners get to be the guinea pigs for epidemiological studies. We can hope most prisoners are young enough to recover. Hopefully most of them will avoid strokes or permanent damage to their lungs and circulatory systems. The plasma of many people who have recovered from Covid-19 contains antibodies that can attack the virus and help fight it. This plasma can make a big difference to the outcome for other people with serious cases of Covid-19. https://health.mountsinai.org/blog/mount-sinai-to-begin-the-transfer-of-... On Friday, the FDA approved a clinical trial specifically for Johns Hopkins that will allow its researchers to further test the therapy as a means of preventing otherwise healthy people, notably front-line medical staff, from getting sick. FDA approval is pending for a second Hopkins clinical trial on patients who are slightly or moderately ill to see if the serum will keep them out of ICUs and help bring them back to health. https://hub.jhu.edu/2020/04/08/arturo-casadevall-blood-sera-profile/ Recovered prisoners will be able to donate plasma to help people who are suffering from Covid-19. Who gets this potentially life-saving plasma? Does it only go to save the lives of people who are seriously ill? Does it go to protect health care workers who have been exposed? Does it go to protect wealthy politicians? Can the prisoner decide? Can prisoners who recover designate plasma recipients if they donate? (For example, if they donate can they insist that their grandmother get some plasma to protect her even if she is not very ill?) Should prisoners be paid for donating their plasma? If so, how much? After they are released can former prisoners sell their plasma?

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sat, 05/09/2020 - 2:13pm

Thanks, janis. Originally life in prison was reserved for

heinous crimes committed against other persons, sort of an alternative to the death penalty. It was also applied in many places to "habitual offenders". The whole point of "3 strikes" laws is to be able to apply it more frequently and more easily and to try to corral within it crimes that are essentially property crimes.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by on the cusp on Sat, 05/09/2020 - 2:40pm

3 strikes removed

@enhydra lutris judge's discretion. Some were furious, the lazy ones liked not having to, I don't know, ...JUDGE.
It is very handy for sending pocs to prison for life.
Estelle Unit in Huntsville, TX, is full of infected prisoners. It is 40 miles away, and at least 3 of my clients work there.
All prison workers say they do not go to work. They go to prison.
Just going inside to interview a client, or participate in a parole revocation hearing takes all I have. I can barely breathe inside those walls.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by janis b on Sun, 05/10/2020 - 12:49am

Thanks el

@enhydra lutris

Who would have ever thought that this aspect of life and culture would have been more humane decades ago. Damn!

"The whole point of "3 strikes" laws is to be able to apply it more frequently and more easily and to try to corral within it crimes that are essentially property crimes." Oy!